A new START... 2009

To think its actually going to be 2009... amazing!

2008 was such a FAST and eventful year... where did it go? 

Now a new year awaits... another chance to do it RIGHT! 

What will you do RIGHT in 2009? Will you spread a little joy and happiness and merriness? 

(A merry heart doeth good like a medicine! Prov 17:22). 

Will you be a dose of "good medicine" to those you interact with?

Don't be a grumbling, mumbling critic! Don't rain on everyone's parade... SMILE! It's contagious! Spread JOY like there is no time to waste!

Ah... space, the best frontier!

The post-Christmas clean is refreshing, isn't it? The tree is down, boxed and gone! The ornaments and decor are packed away... I can't wait to vacuum up the debris! I LOVE that "SPACE" created in the void! The next project is the kitchen with cookie crumbs, candy wrappers and other stuff to clear away! 

AND the family room's view today is LESS SNOW...YAY! Like the wicked witch of the west, it's "melting"! It's almost gone...  I can feel spring around the corner, well... perhaps a month or two off, but I am getting cabin fever... flowers are developing in the process... in my computer designing, if not in my garden!

The fence blew down in the wind storm and the neighbor's sweet yellow lab , Abby, as expanded her territory to include our yard! Our noisy dogs object loudly! We will have to rebuild the fence and install at least one fence post, as two 8 foot sections blew over. [We may need to leave air space between the cedar boards this time. This is the second or third time this section has fallen in wind storms. Maybe we should have bought cyclone fencing at the beginning!]

Winter will pass... sometime! Hopefully soon! BLOOM, flowers, BLOOM!

New dress on!

We found this darling photo of Charity, our firstborn, when looking for another photo the other day! Wasn't she a cutie patootie!? (I think this was actually taken around Christmas and developed in the spring when money was available.) She loved that dress almost as much as we did!

Turn OFF the snow machine! (OK, its OFF!)

Okay, the snow has stopped (for now!) We did not get pix before the storms, but this table was bare on Wed AM 12/17, before the first 8 inches fell. It shrunk to six inches before the Sat night storm hit our house. Two or three inches fell before the first photo here. The second was taken this morning when we awoke to our power off (and no heat, of course, regardless of new furnace!)

Enough is enough, you know? These days give me deja vu' from Vermont days!

UPDATE:Finally found the pavement under the snow after lunch today! YAY!

David Cool-Shoes

Recently David's shoes wore out and mom bought him new Vans! He got the new sweat jacket too! What a sweet smile on that boy... is he COOL or what?!

MORE Snow!

Al is shoveling his second pass on the driveway! When he finished the first pass, he found two more inches where he had shoveled. The pile reminds me of Vermont on a light snow day.

Its only 9 PM and they expect it to snow all night. This current storm has already dumped 4 inches on top of the 6-8 inches from Wednesday's storm. Our tables are deep with the stuff!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ... somewhere else, thank you!

Snow...

We have WAY too much snow! We took our Toyota (with snow tires) into the shop for regular maintenance on Wednesday. Then it snowed! LOTS of snow for us! Like 8+ inches in our yard and street. They don't plow these streets.

 Now we have the spare car without snow tires and snow too deep for cars that do have snow tires... Somehow we need to get into town and get the Toyota back! We need snow tires, and probably chains too!

10 Cookie rules...

1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories 
because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.

3. If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free, rule #1 is yours also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones! 

7. Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!

10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It's a rule!

Tagged again... running in circles, I think

1. I AM... too far behind to catch up by Christmas!
2. I WANT... NOT MUCH MORE than I have already... no room for it!
3. I HAVE… too many blessings to store... want some?
4. I KEEP... relocating the storage piles.
5. I WISH I COULD... sing on key
6. I HATE… growing old in body while my heart is still so young.
7. I FEAR... not finding my loved ones in Heaven
8. I HEAR... Hubby's computer music
9. I DON'T THINK... I should answer this.
10. I REGRET... some things said
11. I LOVE... so many things
12. I AM NOT... sleepy tonight
13. I DANCE... but not too often lately
14. I SING... along with my ipod at the gym (oops!)
15. I NEVER... get far from home anymore.
16. I RARELY... talk on the phone
17. I CRY WHEN I WATCH... old family movies
18. I AM NOT ALWAYS... right (thank God!)
19. I HATE THAT... I can't see my siblings more often
20. I'M CONFUSED ABOUT...  why I can't remember so much anymore.
21. I NEED... to get caught up some day

I tag Joy... just because I can! (nanner, nanner)

Merry Christmas, Mary!

Today let's consider Mary, the mother of Jesus… the ONLY WOMAN present that first Christmas night!  I want you to imagine what AWE she must have experienced!

The shepherds related to Joseph and Mary how the angels had told them the wonderful NEWS of a Savior’s coming to their little village of Bethlehem! They wanted to SEE and WORSHIP Him!

 Luke 2:10-15  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.               

And what WAS Mary’s response that night?

Luke 2:19  But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

We get more insight to Mary's thoughtfulness later in the same chapter:

• Luke 2:33  And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
  
• Luke 2:51  And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
  

That night of Jesus' birth Mary might have pondered:

The conception of her firstborn son when an ANGEL announced His soon arrival thru her!
The amazing 9 months carrying the Savior of the world
The exciting participation in Elizabeth’s delivery of John

• What will YOU ponder during the season of our Saviors’ birth?
  
• Will you reflect on His first visit to YOUR HEART?
  
• Will you remember to tell others how wonderful He has been to your life?
  

Devotion prepared for Ladies Christmas Fellowship at Bible Baptist Church, Port Orchard.

Elves for FUN

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

New Signature (Siggie)

I was aching to Scrap, but not enough time to do a full page, so I did a SIGGIE for the holiday...

Want one?

Happy Thanksgiving! Giving more thanks...

Isn't today just a WONDERFUL day that the Lord has made?

I just finished the pie making with Joy EARLY this morning. I am SO THANKFUL for daughters who are sharing the big job of meal preparation when we have a big event for our BIG FAMILY. Truly its a blessing to share the load. Over the years we have fallen into a pattern of who prepares which part of the meal, and this year Joy decided to try her hand at pie making (normally Ruth's contribution to the meal, but she won't be with us today). So all of us planned to bring pies and Joy came early to learn how to make my "tart" lemon meringue pies, my specialty that developed over the years. She did an AWESOME JOB!  [We hit a few snags when we discovered that my sugar supply was almost depleted and we had to borrow some very early.] But we finished by 6:30 AM and were able to play a hand of cribbage over a cup of tea before she went home to spend the morning with her two boys. (She won!)

Brunch?  Looks like mincemeat pie is on the menu for our mid day meal, since early dinner at 2:00 is too long to wait for food... yummy day in store!

Have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones! See you!

UPDATE: Dinner done and food and fellowship was GREAT! After the meal, Sally beat me in a hand of cribbage... so I am on a SLIDE! Twice in a day! (Just wait!)

I'm tagged AGAIN? Well, I am thankful, anyway...

Ten things I am thankful for (can't top Alice's cool photo list, so won't try).

1. My salvation... (don't leave home... or earth... without it!) and my church!
   
2. My family... well, everyone knows ten numbers won't cover each one by name, so I will start with my three remaining siblings who give me nieces, nephews, etc. to love and pray for.
   
3. My spouse who gives me way more than I will ever deserve.
   
4. My four lovely daughters and best friends... who love me in spite of me.
5. My nineteen growing and glowing grandchildren, of all ages (well, 2-almost 20, anyway).
6. My special times with aforementioned grandchildren, who never cease to amaze me with their mental, spiritual and physical growth. This often makes me recall some of the unusual things I would think up, too! They keep you on your toes!
7. Sons "by law" that have become SONS in the flesh, that someone else "grew up" for us!
   
8. My computer with internet... who knew? Friends across the world at your fingertips!
9. My health, both mental and physical... I enjoy it while I have it! I won't take it for granted!
10. MY BIBLE! Oh, yeah (thought I forgot, didn't you?)... like air, ya GOTTA have it! Makes the day so much better (and gives some good answers for those inquisitive youngun's)

Let's see, I tag... ummm... how about Lindsey! I have been watching your blank blog for a week and I see you are feeling better...YAY! Good to see you again! Go for it!

Hydrangeas

It's hard to believe that I LOVE hydrangeas, I know...  (just kidding)

I am so disappointed on the years when my primary bush fails to produce blooms, or dries up immediately after flowering. 

But then there are the years that it produces LUSH VIBRANT blooms in purples, pinks and variations in between.... AHHH! Lovely. That's the time to take LOTS of photos!

Thus, I made my blog header and background so I can see the "good year" for more than a few months!  

Hope you enjoy them... (I sure do!)

Amy's house...

I woke up at "Amy's House"... 

This past two weeks we were caring for Al's infected cyst, then it's removal and wound care. I remember thinking I would like to just get away for a few days with hubby. Apparently my mind decided to go without me!

Amy is a sweet and soft-spoken friend I met on the message board that I frequent. I spent some time with her when I went to the convention in October. I see her smiling face whenever I visit the board. She is a Christian and has been an encouragement to me a few times when I have been "down".

Amy told me she lives in the San Diego area and works at the big zoo there. Having only been to San Diego a few times, last night as I dreamed, my mind conjured up some beautiful home for her family on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean... more like Monterey than San Diego, actually. And I woke with a chuckle that the few minutes of peaceful interlude at the ocean was "just the ticket"... I felt renewed and refreshed for the new day. [and I didn't have to go thru the airport security checks, either.] Thanks, Amy! It was a lovely visit!

Tuesday's BIG Surprise...

Yesterday I arrived at Joy's house to monitor homework with the two youngest boys after school. When I walked in I saw a laptop open and on the chair (they are not allowed access to unsupervised computers). Just as I asked why they had this laptop open, Gordy (who lives in Texas) came around the corner and said hello. WOW! Nice surprise! That sure explains a lot of unusual activities of late! 

Glad he could be home for a few days. 

Lenka sightings...

Joyce and my hubby went to meet Lenka in Oct. 

I made a scrap page to remember it.

Then Joyce and Alice went to see Lenka last week and took the page for her to sign.   Her comment is seen to the left of her name "WOW". Pretty cool!

Homework...

Several times each week I monitor homework with my teenage grandsons before their mom gets home from work. We have some curious conversations prior to getting down to business.

Yesterday Ethan and I had this discussion before he did his science homework.

Ethan:  My science teacher was telling us today that we use too much water in our country and we should not bathe every day to conserve water. 

Me:   He wouldn't want to be around you if you didn't bathe every day.

Ethan:  EXACTLY!

Me:  Interesting... in health class they teach you to bathe every day to protect the environment.

Ethan: And in science class they tell you NOT to bathe every day to protect the environment.

Me: In science class they teach you to protect the WATER from your body odor and to protect the AIR in your health class! I guess the lesson here is that you should should run around fast in the shower... EVERY DAY!

An oldie, but a goodie...

When we were painting the auditorium building (2005?) , we had a great plan to get two coats of paint on the room in only one day. Instead, What a DAY! Here is a note I wrote to Lyle and Ron in China...

"We are painting ourselves to death. Hope you will pray for us often...

Yesterday we tackled spraying the building inside, but found the sprayer not clean from previous usage by other party. Hose completely blocked with dry paint. With plans to paint the light first coat by early afternoon so the evening crew could put a final coat on, this is how the day actually went.

• Day started at 3:30 am. Rise and Walk
• Planned to start painting at 10 am, so we were at Home Depot (HD) at 8 am with 2 vehicles for ceiling tiles, 5 big buckets of paint. Hmm... no paint available in that finish in Gig Harbor store.
• Drop tiles at office, and both vehicles to Silverdale store for more tiles, and hopefully paint. (now 9:30)
• Store has lots of tiles, all the final coat paint. Head back with all of it (NOTE: now have 4 veh trips to HD in just under 2 hr... Keep count, as it gets interesting)
• Back at office at 11, and we cannot locate the manual for sprayer.
• 11:30 Go home for early lunch and call around to "Borrowers" to trace the missing manual
• 1:00 Return to office to paint after a "power nap"
• still no manual, but have some memory of use. Stir paint, prepare area and start spraying... clogged line
• 2:00 to Home Depot, Gig Harbor again. Get spayer nozzle (after locating the ONLY paint clerk) (trip 5)
• ($135 and several hours later, it's now 2:45. Hook new spray gun to NEW hose and the new gun pours paint out of fittings, and nothing from sprayer worth using!
• 3:30 Cannot use new gun. Clean and return it to HD by 4 PM (trip 6)
• 4:30 Return to office and find Mr Hughes has cleaned original spray gun with solvent, per rental store help (WE own the machine, but they have been SO helpful!)
• Manual has been located and delivered...so helpful!
• 5:PM, workers arrive to spray second layer and find the first just starting. Workers start rolling on the "recycled paint" provided by Mr Turk. By now it has clogged the sprayer so badly, I am sent to HD to get MORE PAINT, drywall primer, to replace donated paint, which can still be rolled on, but not sprayed. (trip 7)
• 8:30 PM Ran out of primer. Run to HD again (trip 8: Store clerks now ask, "are you STILL HERE?" and "are you BACK AGAIN?" LOL)
• 9 PM still painting, but workers dropping off fast. Finish almost the big room, back rooms, 2 baths, most of hall, some beams. (TIRED.. Hubby now lame)
• 10 PM home at last, too painful to sleep. Still lame."

New photo trick!

    Look what I learned to do this week on my own... have seen it elsewhere and wondered, "how did they do that?"  

    This shows our sunny yellow home on Cabrini. I can use any word or photo to make a personal calendar page, greeting card, holiday card ... Send me your ideas! I LOVE THIS! (can you tell it takes very little to excite me? LOL)

Tagged, I am it... thanks, Alice!

I'm tagged, I'm it?!? I hate this! It might be my only blog entry!  (Thanks, Alice!)

I had to look at my scrambled files to find the sixth photo that was actually a photo to get this... (I keep my photos everywhere and need to reorganize the folders.)

This photo of Preacher and Bro Blue was taken Oct 5 2008 at Bro Blue's retirement service, that Al preached. Memorable shot of them!

Joyness... you are tagged! Go for it