My Parents

My dad and mom ---high school pictures.

Nostalgia

I was being lazy this morning. It was time to get up, but we're on Christmas break and I didn't have to get up for any pressing reason. I decided to stay in bed. The ceiling fan was on, the air was cold, and I was all comfy in my bed. It was just too cold to get up. My mind wandered back in time when I was young and living at home. My bedroom had a north window and since we didn't have air conditioning we slept with the windows open. Every so often a cold front would come through in the summer and cold air would blow across my bed. It felt so wonderful. The air was cold, my bed was warm, and it was a weekend so I didn't have to get up for school! One definition for nostalgia is what I experienced this morning: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. Now in no way do I want to return to the past, but at least in my memories I was taken back quite a few years. Nostalgia, what a wonderful word.

Main Entry:
nos·tal·gia
Pronunciation:
\nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
New Latin, from Greek nostos return home + New Latin -algia; akin to Greek neisthai to return, Old English genesan to survive, Sanskrit nasate he approaches
Date:
1756

Didn't take long

I'm not cooking today. I have decided I need a break. The boys just got back from Taco Delite so they shouldn't be hungry in an hour. The rest can eat a sandwich after they go to the store. (did I mention that we are out of bread??) Seriously....... I am not cooking tonight.

Besides that I have been busy today. Just because I don't have a "job" doesn't mean I'm not busy. I have been organizing receipts and getting stuff ready to file our taxes when we get what we need to do so. Also I have been listing items for sale on eBay. They are having a ten cent special today. I just hope not everyone spent all their money for Christmas.

Other than that I've just done the usual.....dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc. Arrrggghhh...... I'm not even finished with my post and someone just asked me what we're having for dinner!!!!!

something to think about.....

"We are what we repeatedly do."

Aristotle Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)

A Must Read

We had a really nice Christmas this year. We broke our "traditional" tradition of opening presents Christmas morning and opened them Christmas Eve morning. Everyone had to go back to work the day after Christmas and we decided together to go ahead and open them up so we would have more time to enjoy them. It's a good thing also; for with all the books and DVDs that were received it will take a while to get through them all. Christmas day everyone was sitting around with a book in their hands and Donald announced, "Guess this is what we get for teaching them how to read."

Our kids are simply amazing. It is so wonderful to see all the love and thought that they put into gifts for each other. Everyone has jobs this year so there were lots of gifts under the tree. It was the norm for them to have three or four gifts for each other. Donald and I were talking about it. Neither of us remember buying presents for our brothers or sisters. I don't really remember even being that nice to my brother. I wonder if being home-schooled has anything to do with their love for each other. By that I mean all the time spent together as a family. Now they fuss and fight occasionally, but usually work it out among themselves. They also stick up for each other if one of them are mistreated. Once a kid called Daniel a name and Bethany chased him down the street and told him he better never do that again! I guess he could tell by the look in her eye that she was dead serious. It didn't happen again.

Christmas Day we slept in and had "Bubble Bread" for breakfast and later read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. If you haven't read it you really must. It's only seven short chapters and always makes us laugh and cry. When the kids were younger I would read it to them on the last day of school before Christmas. Somehow we quit doing that and Bethany decided we needed to read it together as a family. Seven of us and seven chapters equaled one chapter each. It really makes the Christmas story and the meaning of Christmas even more special.

Forever Christmas

Chris Tomlin \ Forever

Give thanks to the Lord
Our God and King
His love endures forever
For He is good,
He is above all things
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
With a mighty hand and outstretched arm
His love endures forever
For the life that's been reborn
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
Sing praise, sing praise Yeah
Forever God is faithful
Forever God is strong
Forever God is with us
Forever Forever
From the rising to the setting sun
His love endures forever
By the grace of God
We will carry on
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
Sing praise, sing praise Yeah
Forever God is faithful
Forever God is strong
Forever God is with us
Forever
Forever
Forever God is faithful
Forever God is strong
Forever God is with us
Forever
Forever
Forever
His love endures forever
His love endures forever
His love endures forever
Forever
Sing praise, sing praise
Sing praise, sing praise

Merry Christmas Everyone! I woke up today with this song. It's a fitting Christmas song! Because God gave us a Saviour oh so many things are possible!

Excellent Advice

I signed up for an E-quip Devotional from Kevin Kinchen quite some time ago. I have mentioned him before I believe. The devotional I received today says this. It is so true and so awesome!
(Pastor Kevin Kinchen / pastorkevin@e-quip.org)

"Folks, the bottom line is Jesus wants to be your PEACE! He wants to be your COMFORT. He wants to be your PATIENCE. He wants to be your STRENGTH. He wants to be your POWER. So, STOP trying to make it on your own. STOP being so stubborn and set on figuring it all out by yourself. You simply will NOT succeed that way. CAST ALL YOUR CARES ON HIM......because HE CARES FOR YOU! That means HE will do "the caring" for you! You don't have to stay awake all night "caring" about all your problems. Let the Lord "care" about them! Let HIM handle them! Amen? Amen! Dive into the Lord and into His Word and His Presence and let Him infuse you with His STRENGTH and His POWER. Let Him take that thing you have been so frustrated and confused about and watch as He turns it into PEACE and PATIENCE. Ooooooh I hope you are catching this! I will leave you with this last sobering thought. I came to this incredible revelation the other day. No matter how tough your situation is you are going through, no matter how hard it is, and no matter how impossible it may seem that you will make it, GOD IS ENOUGH. And the other part of that is the fact that you can either TRUST HIM and go through this thing HAPPY and FULL OF JOY, or you can TRUST YOURSELF and go through it FRUSTRATED AND FRAZZLED. But you know what? Either way, you are going to go through it. That is just LIFE. You have to go through some STUFF, everybody does. I figure, you and I might as well go through it HAPPY and FULL OF JOY, amen? Amen! It sure beats the alternative, that's for sure."

Darth Tater

Remember Mr. Potato Head? Meet Darth Tater! There's a whole new generation of lovable Mr. Potato Heads! (Okay, need a little help??.....Star Wars' own Darth Vader.)

Cinnamon and Sugar

Bright went with us on an errand. We went by Taco D. for a coke for Hannah. I ended up getting Cinnamon Delites for the dog. Of course he can't have all of them (Bethany would NOT like that at all! Plus I know he doesn't need them either.) So Hannah and I helped eat them and made quite a mess in the car. Bright was much neater in that he just licked the cinnamon and sugar from his off the car mat. I never have to worry about food on the floor. Everyone needs a dog to help keep their house and car clean.

Pretty Paper

My days off are rushing by without getting what I had planned accomplished. I still don't have anything on my bedroom walls. However I DO have the stuff to put on them. Rebekah found some awesome pictures (translated: EXCELLENT PRICE) at Burlington Coat Factory. I never would have thought to look for pictures at a coat store! I found the perfect one and it was only $30.00. The ones I had found that I really wanted were anywhere from $100 to $400. Like I'm ever going to pay that much for a picture!! I made black and white copies of some of the kids' pictures and also of Donald and me when we were dating. I have black frames and am going to get those hung sometime too. There is always so much that has to be done: like dishes, and laundry, and shopping, and cooking, and well........ you get the general idea.

Besides all that there is running around getting kids where they need to be. Mainly Hannah! She is one busy girl! Between choir practice and choir performances and her part time jobs and Christmas parties there are things she needs to get done also. I love my life. I also appreciate Ben's help with my schedule.

I spent the day yesterday cooking and getting Hannah and her friend Sarah places they needed to be. I told Donald I would bake stuff for him to take to work to give as presents. That was one big job and took an extra trip to the store, but they turned out nicely with Bethany's help putting the tissue paper into the sacks. You would think that would be easy, right?? For some reason it never looks quite right when I do it. In my spare time I think I'll take a "stuffing tissue in a gift sack" class. In the meantime I'll rely on Bethany!

Guess I'll go start the laundry and try to straighten up a bit. Then maybe I'll have time to hang some pictures.

My Saturday

I had a post all typed up Saturday; then I hit the wrong key and deleted it. I decided I wasn't going to type it all over again. Today though I believe I'll tell you about it. It was about something that hasn't happened to me in a looooong time.

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning. I felt rested and ready to greet the day. However it WAS Saturday and everyone else was still asleep and the house was so quiet. I got on the computer for a while and then decided I'd go back to bed for a bit.

I woke up and looked at my alarm clock. It said 12:32 p.m.!! My first thought was that Donald had played a trick on me and ran my clock up several hours. I looked at his clock; it said the same. Just for good measure I looked at the cable box which displays the time. Same time! I haven't slept that late in ages. The last time I can remember was in high school to be exact. I felt SO rested though. I must have been because I got the house cleaned. I did two bathrooms, swept and mopped the floors, vacuumed, and put some pictures in frames for our bedroom. The only thing I didn't do was cook dinner (unless you count frying a couple of eggs for Donald cooking). I had cream of wheat and later a big bowl of popcorn with real butter. The kids were gone so they were on their own.

I've decided there are two scriptures that can go with this tale. Either Psalm 4:8.......
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
or Proverbs 6:9......How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

I guess I could take a poll, but I'm afraid the second verse would get more votes. I'm going with the first one! (And yes, I do have a song to go with this:)

Daydream Believer (The Monkees)

Oh, I could hide neath the wings
Of the bluebird as she sings.
The six oclock alarm would never ring.
Whoops its ringing and I rise,
Wipe the sleep out of my eyes.
My shavin razors cold and it stings.

Cheer up, sleepy jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen.

You once thought of me
As a white knight on a steed.
Now you know how happy I can be
Oh, and our good times starts and end
Without dollar one to spend.
But how much, baby, do we really need.

Cheer up, sleepy jean
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen.

Three Short Sermons

Woo-hoo! Last day of school, then Christmas holiday! No time, gotta run.

p.s. Wonder if we'll get a sermon that ends at 12:00 noon???

(you'd have to be at our church Christmas party to get this one)

Tuesday's Thoughts

This thought came to me last night. I don't want to offend anyone with my blog. This is not an attack or directed at anyone except myself. Are you ready??? drum roll.................

Spirituality Stinks

Yep, that's it. And I agree with my thought. For way too long I tried so hard to be "spiritual" and "holy" and "pleasing to God." All it brought me was condemnation, frustration, and doubt. I was making it all about me, instead of trusting in the ONE who had already accomplished all that I was striving for.

My relationship with God is just that.....a relationship. He knows me and I know Him. He speaks to me and lets me know when I need to straighten up. He's always with me; even when I doubt and fear. I think it makes Him very sad to see me struggle so. He died that I might have life and have it abundantly. There are no more rules and regulations for me. I listen to Him and He leads me in the way I should go. He does that in many ways that I won't go into here.

Our pastor asked us a question last week. He asked if we were willing to lay aside our beliefs and let God teach us? For someone coming from my background that's pretty radical. I was always taught "what to believe." Now it's a "who to believe." I have been thinking about this a lot this week. I'm not sure I know how to do that; to totally wipe my mind's slate clean and start over without anything there. But I want to. I desire that.

I think that's a thought worth saying again: Spirituality Stinks!

Imagine

1 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in - we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. 2 The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:1-3 (The Message)

Can you imagine what it would be like to actually have experienced this? To be with Jesus in the flesh? To look Him in the eye, maybe have him lay His hands on you and pray? Imagine greeting Him and sharing a meal with Him. He was flesh and blood; He lived in a body just like ours, yet He was sinless. He experienced happiness, hurt, anger, aches and pains; unbearable pain He didn't have to go through. He could have stopped it all with one word. He didn't. He died for us so we can live. Let us not forget what Jesus did for us. Whether we accept Him and live in Him is up to each of us. We can decline His gift of Himself or we can accept Him and have a life we could never have dreamed possible.

Not a Word

My friend, Cora Mae, sent me this last week. I haven't tried it yet; I'm saving it for when I feel really stressed.

Detox for the Holidays for Women

Stress relief diet. This is a specially formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds during the day.

Breakfast

1 grapefruit

1 slice whole wheat toast

1 cup skim milk

Lunch

1 small portion lean, steamed chicken

1 cup spinach

1 cup herbal tea

1 Hershey's kiss

Afternoon Tea

The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag

1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner

4 glasses of wine (red or white)

2 loaves garlic bread

1 family size supreme pizza

3 Snickers Bars

Late Night Snack

1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly fromthe freezer)

Remember: Stressed spelled backward is desserts.

Here's another one from Cora Mae. She sent this a long time ago and I saved it because I think it's so funny.

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say, "Esther, I'd like to ride in that helicopter." Esther always replied, "I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars."

One year Esther and Morris went to the fair, and Morris said, "Esther, I'm 85 years old. If I don't ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance." To this, Esther replied, "Morris that helicopter is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars."

The pilot overheard the couple and said, "Folks I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word, I won't charge you! But if you say one word, it's fifty dollars."

Morris and Esther agreed and up they went. The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word. When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, "By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!"

Morris replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know, fifty dollars is fifty dollars."

unachieved and postponed

To say I've been busy lately is an understatement. I have been too busy. However I am finished buying Christmas gifts except for one gift. I'm pretty sure I know what that one will be unless I have a revelation before I purchase it. I never reached my goal last week of getting caught up with school. So I made it my goal to start over again tomorrow. Then Rebekah asked me to go to Sherman with her tomorrow and since that is one of my favorite things to do I said yes. I worked it out about who would take who where and who would pick up who when and I'm going. Since I just got back yesterday it isn't necessary, but then again it will be quality time with Rebekah and Ben so I could categorize it a necessity. So Tuesday my goal will be to get caught up! Of course I'll begin working on it tomorrow morning since we aren't leaving till after lunch.

I looked up the word "revelation" in Meriam Webster's online dictionary. One of the definitions says this: something that is revealed by God to humans. I like that definition and I like revelations. They can be revealed in a heartbeat or it can take however long God wants it to take. Either way works for me. I feel like I am oh so slowly getting a revelation of who God is. Honestly it's probably just a glimpse, but it's incredible. It has changed my life~! I can't even begin to describe it. He's indescribable. He incredible. He's the great I AM. He loves and cares for me! And He loves and cares for you also. Do you have a relationship with Him? Are you known by Him?

Burnt Cheese

The last few weeks I have been struggling with some stuff. You know, nothing is REALLY wrong but everything seems wrong. I haven't lost hope in God though and I know I can trust Him. He has been so faithful in the past, even when things were hard. I woke up with a song today (Praise God!). I've been singing "Lord, I'm amazed by you.........how much you love me."

Then I get on the computer and check out Dawn's blog BECAUSE I SAID SO. She's the lady who sold Pokemon cards her kids had put in her grocery cart on eBay. You can find her blog if you look under my favorites.

I won't go into all the details, because if you click on this link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120193732976&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:us
you can read it for yourself. Let me just say that God spoke to me through this and I am so humbled and grateful to belong to Him.

Lord, I AM amazed by you!

brrrrrrr!

After turning on the air conditioner yesterday a cold front came through in the late afternoon and we opened the windows. Nice cool air turned into frigid air overnight. It was 28 degrees when I got up according to weather.com. I'm quite certain they are in the ballpark as it was COLD when I took Bright out this morning. He was even ready to come back inside! It's amazing how quickly the temperature can change.

Jeffrey's going away party was a blast. A lot of people came to say goodbye and we all squeezed into our living room, dining/kitchen, halls, and even my bedroom at times where I showed off my color washed walls. I'll miss him for sure. Hannah took some pictures and we prayed for him and ate and visited and had a good time (at least I did).

My goal for today is to get caught up with schoolwork from last week and at least do Physical Science and Algebra. Those classes are broadcast live each weekday and I do not like to get behind on them. With the kids' jobs and life happening it is far too easy to get behind. So I'm a woman with a mission to accomplish today. Pray for my kids! (and me)

Texas Weather

Me to self: "I can't believe I'm turning on the air conditioner in December!" (Bethany was hot also, so it's not just me.)

Also you might want to know that I played hookey and skipped church this morning. We are having a going away party at our house tonight and I didn't feel good yesterday so today it's time to clean. Bethany helped me and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Thanks, Bethany.

Words not needed; Hannah's pictures

Choose Life

This has been on my heart for several days now. After it was brought to my attention "again" I decided to post about it. I have a friend who sends me the most awesome e-mails. She has a knack of sending "new" ones (further defined as emails I have not seen). I love it.

The last one I received in part said this: Three things in life that can destroy a person -

1. Anger

2. Pride

3. Unforgiveness

Now I have definitely been angry. I believe according to the Bible we can be angry and not sin. (Ephesians 4:26-27) "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV) Now I don't believe every time I get angry I can categorize it under this heading. I most definitely can be angry and sin.

I do battle with pride at times, but the one that really stood out to me was unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is like a canker sore; it spreads and spreads, eats and eats, and hurts and hurts. It not only hurts the one with unforgiveness, but those around them also. I have battled with this in the past; I hate it. I hate the way it imprisons me and makes me focus on myself. I hate the way it steals my joy and dampens my relationship with the Lord. I hate what it does to my family and friends. I hate what it does to me.

It's a choice. I can choose not to forgive and harm myself and others. I can choose to forgive and have life. God puts it this way in Deuteronomy 30:19 I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. (The Message) Proverbs 18:21 Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit - you choose. (The Message)

God wants me to make the right choice; He wants me to choose to forgive. Matthew 7:12 should help me do this. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (The Message) I definitely don't want to be judged the way I have judged others in the past. Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. (NIV)

If we want to have life we simply must choose to forgive. It's hard. It can seem unfair, especially if we've have been harmed wrongfully. Life happens; hurts happen. Deal with it and get on with life!

A million reasons

Did you read about the guy who tried to open an account in a bank by depositing a fake $1,000,000 bill? After the bank teller wouldn't comply he started to curse at the bank workers so they called the police. He was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery. The second count came after investigators learned that earlier he had bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check. Stolen checks and counterfeit bills; this guy was on a roll. There was a slight problem however.......

The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill.

I think if I was going to go to all the trouble to make fake money I would make something in circulation. But then again that's just me!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21999010/gt1/10547/

At least I got a good laugh today.

Can it really be???

Happy 15th Birthday, Hannah! I love you.................

A walk of faith

Pastor Paul's message yesterday was great. To sum it up he said, "God simply wants us to Trust Him, Believe Him, Worship Him, Have a Relationship with Him." One thing I appreciate about Pastor Paul is that he makes it simple. I also appreciate how he shares his struggles with us and his victories. One of his quotes is, "Dream Big Dreams, Ask Big Things."


Think about God as "I AM." Our pastor is right; we need that revelation. Exodus 3:14 (God's Word) God answered Moses, "I Am Who I Am. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: 'I Am has sent me to you.'"


"I AM" really needs no explanation. He is!


Here are some points he made yesterday. He paralleled each of these to an event in the Bible.
While taking notes, I personalized it for myself.


(1) Do everything God tells me. - Noah and the ark

(2) The Lord will fight for me. - Moses and the Red Sea

(3) God will provide for me. - Moses and the desert


(4) Don't go without the presence of God. - Moses


(5) Don't be afraid, those who are with me are more than those who are against me. - Elisha and
the army


(6) The Lord is with me. - Gideon and the Midianites

(7) God is able to save me - Fiery Furnace

(8) I serve the Living God; His kingdom will never be destroyed. - Daniel and the lions den

He also talked about "your Goliath" and how a situation can seem insurmountable and words can cause us to fear. On the upside he reminded us that (a) our abilities are not a factor (b) don't fear the size of the problem (c) recognize who the enemy is coming against, and (d) stay faith positive. As usual I have an opportunity to see if I really believe God or if I am going to look at a particular situation and my feelings. Isn't it encouraging how God sometimes gives us the answer before we run head on into something? Now I have a choice: am I going to believe my feelings and emotions and past experience in this situation or am I going to believe God has a way of escape? It's definitely going to be a struggle today to keep focused on the positive, but it is possible because......

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Christmas and Movies

Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas Season has officially begun at our house. We even have newly purchased packages of Christmas lights waiting to be put on our house. While putting up our tree Thanksgiving night we found that almost every string of lights for our tree wasn't working properly. Donald said "trash em" and Ben and Hannah made a Wal-Mart run.

Donald helped me in the kitchen while I finished cooking our Thanksgiving meal. I figure he shaved 1 1/2 to 2 hours off the preparation time. He opened cans, washed dishes, emptied the contents of cans, washed dishes, stirred things, washed dishes, got things I needed thus saving me many trips to the pantry, washed dishes; did I mention that he washed a few dishes??? I really appreciated his help and enjoyed cooking with him. The dressing was especially good; he determined it to be because of the great stirring he administered while mixing the ingredients.

I really have the Christmas spirit. I've decided it's because I've already started shopping and have several gifts underneath the tree. Seriously though I am so far ahead of myself this year. Usually about the middle of December I realize I need to start thinking about it. Maybe it's because I live life so much differently now that I used to. I used to have to be prepared and plan forever before anything. There's much less stress this way. Or maybe it's just combined into one frantic frenzy instead of spilled out over many days. I prefer it this way.



I have been singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".......and am thinking about Christmas Vacation. I love that movie~! Chevy Chase is great as Clark Griswold. Maybe it's because of family holidays we've experienced that I love this so much. I can just relate to the whole scenario. I hope a squirrel doesn't fly out of our artificial tree and I'm holding my breath that the cat doesn't get inside and get fried underneath a chair. I think the reason I love it so much is because it makes me laugh every time I see it!



We always watch a Christmas movie Thanksgiving night. We only have Miracle on 34th
Street on VHS and last year the sound was really bad. You can't buy it in town or at least the kids couldn't find it. So I've ordered it online and hopefully it will be here soon. We opted for While You Were Sleeping and decided to add it to our list of have to watch movies at Christmas. It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas have to be viewed also.



I've been thinking about making Caramel Popcorn. That sounds pretty good right about now. We had chicken, onion, sweet pepper, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese fajitas for lunch. It's about time for dessert. Guess I'll go pour some popcorn in the hot air popper and go from there. Either way you can't miss with popcorn.

Here I Sit

I should be cooking for Thanksgiving, but here I sit. I have so much to do today. I worked so hard yesterday to get schoolwork caught up for our break. That means I pushed the kids to get everything caught up so I'd be caught up. I did the ironing also. I want to enjoy our break; after I get all the cooking done. Today I'm so tired all I want to do is nothing~!

Our family loves Thanksgiving, yet we don't always have the traditional turkey. We prefer brisket, but since a grocery store had buy a spiral ham and get a free turkey we are having turkey tomorrow. (If I ever get it in the oven to cook that is~!) We will probably eat the ham and I'll use the turkey for turkey salad sandwiches. I'll just substitute the turkey for chicken and add lots of mayonnaise and pickles and my family will go for it. Last year I let everyone choose one thing they wanted me to fix and that's what we had for our meal. It doesn't matter whether it goes with anything else or not.

This is our menu for tomorrow along with who wanted what: Donald wants dressing and angel eggs (when our kids were little I called "deviled" eggs angel eggs). I guess he gets to choose two things since he's.......well, Donald. Rebekah wants homemade rolls. Bethany wants, as usual, broccoli casserole. Benjamin wants fresh green beans stir fried with olive oil, garlic, lemon pepper, etc. Daniel couldn't come up with anything that he wanted that hasn't been mentioned so I'm going to make him a chess pie. Hannah wants fruit salad and whipped cream (not cool whip) like my mom makes. We all agreed on mashed potatoes because I'm making egg gravy. I don't call it giblet gravy because I only put boiled eggs in it; not whole mind you, chopped boiled eggs. Since I only have one small oven holidays can be a challenge if I don't think ahead and plan on when to bake what. What do I want? Someone to clean up after we've eaten.

The kids usually watch the Thanksgiving Day parade while I cook. Later will be football for Donald. Then tomorrow night we'll put up the Christmas tree and exclaim over each other's decorations while we listen to Christmas music. After we're finished with the tree we turn off all the lights and ooh and aah a few times. We are always quite smug and satisfied after the tree is up and decorated. Then there's the Christmas movie to watch along with Chex Mix and egg nog or apple cider. Somewhere along the way we'll raid the refrigerator and have leftovers. This is our holiday tradition. It's great~!

I really do need to get busy. I have to go to the store again today, because Walmart was out of white cornbread mix and their bananas were really nice and green yesterday. My planning ahead always means another trip to the store.

We are so blessed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone~!

Things I've Learned

I have a choice in how I look at things.

Laughter is good medicine.

No matter how long I wait to mop the kitchen floor the day I do something sticky will be spilled.





Don't buy anything that says "hand wash only" because after the second or third time it will go into the washing machine regardless.

Don't be too hard on myself.

My bad attitude affects everyone in the house. On the other hand a good attitude and kindness works wonders.

God REALLY does love me.

It's okay to take some time for myself.

The glass is half full.

Don't take myself too seriously.

God can and does use me.

God speaks to me, too.

It's okay to like myself.

Jesus........plus nothing

I am on a quote-binge I guess. I love quotes that are meaningful. We were blessed yesterday to have Scott Windrum from WindSong Ministries at our church. He is an awesome man of God and such an encourager. I don't know about you, but I can always use encouragement. You can check out his website at http://www.skyring.org/windsong/page2.html

Here are some of his quotes from yesterday. I hope I got these word perfect because they are awesome~!

Jesus...........plus nothing!

I could be wrong about a lot of things, but I'm not wrong about Jesus Christ. (John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. )

Maybe God wants to do more on this side of death than we ever imagined!

We can acknowledge the negative but always end up with the positive!

Sometimes things are so good they have to be true!

You can have fun on purpose!

I throw a pity party and God won't even show up.

Act IV Scene I

Time: almost 7:00 p.m.

Scene: in the car returning from an out of town shopping trip

(cell phone rings)

Me: (seeing it's my dear husband) Hi, we're almost home. We're running late.

Him: Okay, I was just checking on you.

Bethany: Was that Dad?

Me: Yes, he was just checking on us.

Bethany: That's sweet.

Hannah: Maybe he's just hungry!

Another definition of strength....

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands- and then eat just one of the pieces.
-- Judith Viorst

Chocolate and science (find dates the first use of chocolate to some 500 years earlier than previously known)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/12/ancient.chocolate.ap/index.html

Facing Your Giants

I have finally finished reading "Facing Your Giants" by Max Lucado. It is an excellent book; I just got sidetracked from it while painting our bedroom and bathroom. Here a few quotes from this book that I really like.

1. The God who guided David guides you.

2. We all need a nevertheless.

3. Humility doesn't mean you think less of yourself but that you think of yourself less.

4. God examines hearts. When He finds one set on Him, He calls it and claims it.

5. Forgiveness is choosing to see your offender with different eyes.

6. A reverent heart and a dancing foot can belong to the same person. (I really like this one!)

7. What do you do with the "but God" moments in life?

8. See your struggle as God's canvas. On it He will paint His multicolored supremacy.

9. Never give up.