New Years Eve

I get pretty excited about New Years Eve. I get a good book and settle in and say Yippee at midnight and then I am off to bed. May have a glass of wine with the book. New Years Day is even worse. By then I have finished the book so am really bored. Will fix lunch with the requisite black eyed peas and ham, then I will either clean house or take the Christmas decorations out of the shop window. If I were in New Jersey, I could spend the day watching the Mummers Parade. That is the best thing I ever did on New Years Day. I drove the family nuts because I wanted to watch from morning to night. That thing goes on all day and evening long. It just fascinates me and next year I am going to be there. That is my goal for 2010. See the Mummers Parade. If you have never seen it you have missed a real treat and if you have seen it, don't depress me by saying you don't like it!
Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years Eve and gets up in time to see all the football games. Actually, I bet you could start football this morning and stay up all night and all the next day and night and find a game someplace on the tv. Don't suggest it to Bill because he will probably try it.

Grandad's Big Night

Cowboys rule!!! At least I hope they do tonight so Bill and Tom will have a good new year.
I don't know anyone who enjoys those games more, and I hope it is a good game, but I also really, really, really hope they win. Bill never gets cranky if they lose (that is a prerequisite for being a good Cowboy fan) but he really enjoys it when they win. As long as it is a good game, he will be happy.
I have never enjoyed football on tv. I guess I need the weather and the crowd and the smell of the stadium to get in the mood. That goes for any sport. Love them in person, hate them on tv.
Ride 'em Cowboys!!

Christmas Calories

I had been given to believe that calories did not count at Christmas. Well, believe me, that is not true. I ate candy and pie and dressing and some more candy and gained 2 pounds. Somehow, there must be a way to remove calories from Christmas food. After all, it is to celebrate the Lord's birth...so would he want us to celebrate that with carrots and oatmeal? I don't think so. Maybe now I will have to celebrate my health and get rid of those two pounds plus the 2 I seemed to find at Thanksgiving and the other 2 I picked up celebrating Tim's ordination and things like that. Notice how I manage to blame the celebrations? I am good the rest of the time. Back to oatmeal and carrots. I want to be ready for the next big celebration and it appears I have some work to do before that happens.

The Grand Committment

I noticed that the reading of John Calvins "The Institutes" is to begin Jan 1. I have never read the institutes, I know their importance and the significence of them, but I have never read the 2 book writing. So I will join others on the Princeton Theological Seminary website and begin the reading. I found a copy at Amazon on sale for $50 and I had a $25 gift certificate so got the two books withfree shipping at a $60 savings. Now I am committed. You read (you can actually listen online) each day except Sunday and Christmas and finish by the end of the year. There are papers written each week by scholars and you are invited to leave comments anytime. So there is no excuse and I hope I can encourage others to join me and we can have a weekly discussion group. Aaron had encouraged each of us on COM to read it this year, but he didn't tell us about this opportunity.
I will be reading and hopefully understanding. It is a good thing to use your mind. Use it or lose it and I can't afford to lose anymore of it. Good Sabbath

Day Off

Yea! I am taking the day off. Closed the door early Friday and won't be back until Monday.

Thanks to Rachel for making the surprise present for Tom a success. I think he enjoyed it and I don't care what she says, she is a good writer. I thank her for the story, it was quite good. Now she is mad at me because I am publicly saying something nice about her. Don't care. Thanks, Rachel.

I am going to get my Christmas decorations down and the house back in order so I can get back to work next week and not have to worry about it all.

Wow, this orange is hard to read. I must remember not to use it again. Hope everyone is ready to celebrate the new year. We can be hopeful for a better year for the country and for the economy.
May your New Year wishes be granted.

21st Century

ok, GRANDCHILDREN!!!
I have joined the 21st century. I am sitting here at my computer writing a blog and listening to Johnny Ray sing Little White Cloud That Cried on my Pebble MP3 player that I figured out all by myself. I think I am good for another dozen years or so at this rate. Yea, Gran

Happy Boxing Day

Happy Day After Christmas. I hope everyone received something they liked. I had a lot of things I liked a lot. I especially love the new large print study Bible, even if it is too big to hold!! Over 3000 pages, but it is filled with good information for study and the print is a bit bigger so I can read it easier. Then my little Pebble is nice. Just hangs around my neck with enough music to keep me happy and easy to use. Never thought a ped egg would be a great gift, but it is really nice. Books, smelly stuff, angel, and candy. All things I can use. Ghost gave me some good calendars since my friend Marla died and she used to supply me with 5 or 7 calendars from Scotland. She loved Christmas and I miss her. I am sorry she did not get to see her grandchildren grow up. That is one of the best gifts of all. God gives us what we need and some special things as well. Such as good family.
Many thanks to all who helped make it a happy day for all.
Have a good day. I am going to get some end of year business out of the way and then I am taking Saturday off to just goof off.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas day. Enjoy the family you have with you and relax in the day.
When I was little, Christmas morning was exciting, with packages under the tree and the visit from Santa the night before. Christmas dinner was wonderful because Dad had smoked a turkey for a week before Christmas. My cousin Pat always thought it was ham because he didn't like turkey and Uncle Harry and Dad told him it was ham. Woe to any of us who said the word turkey. I bet he was 50 before he knew it was turkey. That and Uncle Harry's shrimp salad are the only two things I remember eating on Christmas day. I am sure we had pie and other things, but I don't remember them. I have never again eaten turkey as good as that. I can still smell it. Dad would soak it in a special brine he mixed up in the garage. Then for days they went in the smoker he built and it had to be tended every 3 or 4 hours, day and night. I remember the smell of the hickory as he wet it down. Those turkeys were the best ever and he smoked many of them each year. People all around town hoped to get on the list. He would only do so many, how ever many the smoker would hold. Family came first, then good friends and then maybe one or two other special people.
I bought a smoked turkey one year, and it wasn't like that. So now I have a turkey breast in the oven.
Merry Christmas....have a wonderful day.

Joy and Peace

As we approach Christmas Eve night, I wish you the symbols of Advent. Hope, Joy, Peace and Love. Nothing else is important. I wish I could put my arms around everyone I love this year and hug them for Christmas. But I can put my heart around all of you and give you a hug of love. Enjoy the day and be kind to one and all. God bless us, everyone.

Let it snow

I am almost finished with Christmas orders in the shop. I have two sewing projects left and 1 embroidery order. So we have done well. Now, it can snow. Everyone I love will be someplace safe by tonight, so I would welcome a Christmas snow. But, I don't think it will happen. It is cold and was icey this morning, but I think the sun is going to come out tomorrow. I am sure you wanted a weather report!
I enjoy people when they come in with gifts to be embroidered. It is nice to see folks enjoying the gift giving instead of being bummed out about it.
It is also good to be ahead of schedule, even though that probably means we didn't have as big a Christmas business as usual. But I am not stressed and frustrated and worn out this year and that is good. So, I hope everyone else is having a good run up to the holiday.

Santas Work Almost Done

Rachel and I have been working on a present for someone we love and it is almost finished and ready to be mailed. It is so much fun when you get a good idea to surprise someone with on Christmas. You hope they like it and because you had so much fun doing it, it would be ok if they didn't like it. Each year, I get inspired by someones gift. The rest have to suffer with stuff like money and clothes and the things they want for Christmas. But I have had a good time and that counts for something!!! It is the love that goes with a gift that matters and this one goes with a lot of love.
Now, you can all guess who gets it!!!

Good Day

We had a lovely day with Rebecca and Jason. I am happy to report that his is a pleasant, nice mannered, ambitious and happy young man. He seems to have a very caring way about him and appears to be very caring of Becky as she is of him. I think this is a good mark of maturity and am pleased to see it in both of them. He has a good sense of humor and is at ease with strangers. He knows who he is and who he has been and what he wants to be. So, it was nice to see her happy and she looked radiant.
The only fly on the day was having to let Amy go back to NJ. We loved having her this week. It is special to have her around and we all enjoyed it. The people at church were pleased to have her as liturgist today and she is more professional each time I see her work.
All in all it has been a good day. She left Duncan at 1pm Sun and will not arrive in Philly until 9:20am Monday as it stands now. I hope she gets in then, as she still has to drive an hour to Princeton and gather up things for the 1.45 hour trip to Stillwater. Then on to NYC on Tue to get Jo and bring her back to Stillwater for Christmas. Good thing she has lots of energy. I think I remember having that kind of energy at that age and I believe I remember that I enjoyed it. Now a 1 hour drive is all I want.
Anyway, I have had my Christmas family joy and will wait for the day to celebrate the real reason for the season.
Peace

Childhood Christmas

It is getting close. I remember when I was a little girl and the Myers family(Mothers sister and family) would come for Christmas at our house. Sometimes Gran was there and sometimes at one of the other cousins house. They had 3 boys and since I was the only girl and the youngest, I got spoiled rotten and tormented beyond belief. As Tom was 8 years my senior, I don't remember him being in on the meaness.

We always had a Christmas program, but I don't remember the boys doing anything. Tom may have been forced to play his clarinet sometimes, I am not sure. I know they had to suffer through my recitations. Either The Night Before Christmas, the Christmas Story from Luke, Little Orphan Annie (why that one you are asking? It was one of Grans favorites, so if she were there it had to be done) and another poem by the same poet. Uncle Harry told some of his tall tales that I believed. We all slept on the floor and in the morning we destroyed the Christmas Tree. I remember the first year I didn't get a doll. Wow, that was a hard Christmas. One year I received a white Bible and that was special. I always had a chenille robe to wear and slippers and I still have a picture of me when I was about 10 in the robe I remember most. I think that was also the year I didn't get a doll.

It was a sweet and special time. During and just after the war, we enjoyed candy and that was special. New shoes were a great item. So were new wool coats. Dad and Uncle Harry always played practical jokes on each other and I loved being in on them. One year during the war, Dad would buy a bag of Bull Duram anytime he could and save it. Uncle Harry rolled his own cigarettes and he used Bull Duram. It wasn't easy to obtain and he cherished his Bull. For Christmas one year, Dad took all those sacks of Bull and built a man out of them. It was quite a feat and must have taken him days to complete. Uncle Harry slapped his knee and laughed in his loud, booming Armenian voice and had tears in his eyes. He loved that man and it took him awhile to take it apart to smoke the Bull. Those were fun times. I believe we almost always had snow, but I am sure if you look at the weather history you will find that is not true.

When it snowed, we always took the sleds to the 'bluffs' or 'white hill'. I am not sure why none of us ever died during those outings. Cold!! My word...we came home with wet clothes and tried to dry them out and get back to the hill before the snow was all gone. I can still smell the wool drying by the fire and the open kitchen stove. Yuk..that is a nasty smell.

Rachel and Tim and Joey will enjoy the snow this year. Well, perhaps everyone will but me. It almost never snows in Duncan, just ice.

People are good

I know people are basically good. Becky's boyfriend, Jason, was due in to Wichita last night from
Korea. The wind was too bad for them to land and he had to return to Denver. Well, that broke both their hearts, but he will be in this afternoon. The good part is this; when they got back to Denver, the pilot announced they had a soldier coming home for Christmas from Korea and he hadn't seen his family for a year, so would they let him deplane first. When he got up to leave, the passengers applauded and he was stunned. Then when he was eating dinner, a couple came and ate with him and paid for his meal. Then when he checked out of the hotel, the hotel would only let him pay $25 and now the airline has bumped him to first class. He was really surpirsed at the kindness of people and most appreciative. People really are good, if they have a chance. I know Becky will be very glad when he is on the ground and they can be together. I am anxious to meet him, they are coming saturday and taking Amy back to OKC to catch her plane Sunday afternoon.
It will have been a whirlwind week, but I have enjoyed it. Tim and Rachel are expecting a foot of snow today and Joey is in the middle of a storm, I think. Rachel did a job for me and I can't say what it is right now, because it will ruin the surprise for someone that reads this. But she did a great job and I appreciated it. I am so lucky to have such a fantastic family. All around, they are talented, kind, sweet, loving and good. What a great Christmas!!!

Terrorists

Yesterday I heard them say that they are trying to guard against terrorists using our financial system to destroy us. I think they are a bit late with their thinking. I think the terrorists have already taken us hostage financially and we are just too foolish to recognize it. Then I heard Donald Trump say that the people who were 'Madoffed' got what they deserved because they were just greedy. Imagine him saying that, but then I guess he thinks he works for his money and they didn't. Seems we need to just go back to doing what we need to do and making things and selling them at a reasonable profit and taking care of each other and the needy and those who are helpless . People get panicked and don't understand what is going on and no one sems to be able to reassure them. Me, I am going to make Doug dig me a garden!!!
Anyway, I think we are our own worst terrorists. Just need to settle down and keep our wits about us. But then I am a pretty simplistic person and not clever about money.

Strange Visit

Amy went to Wichita this morning to visit Rebecca and see her apartment. She will be back tonight, after making a stop in Guthrie at the cemetary. She said she felt like she wanted to make a visit to the cemetary this Christmas, didn't know why, but wanted to go. Well, I know why. Every time there is a significent happening in my life, I like to go the the cemetary and spend some time. Maybe it is because I grew up going to the cemetary and it is a comfortable place for me, with lots of family around. Mother and Dad would have been married 82 years this Dec 11th. It does not seem they have been gone so long, but Amy and I have always been able to make that connection with them and feel their strength and love when we visit Guthrie. I guess that is because we grew up that way because I know we are not closer to their memory in Guthrie than anywhere else. Just know it was a place Mother liked to be so it is a meeting place. Anyway, Uncle Harry and Dad always planned to meet there for their political arguments and discussions of world affairs. So it is not unreasonable. Anyway, it will probably give her some affirmation and strength to plow on with her plans for the ministry and counseling.
We all have our special places of meditation and thinking. Central Park, the cemetary, baseball park, local lake, special birds, smells, sounds.......focusing our thoughts. So let's focus on the baby Jesus and the manger this week.

Happy Birthday

I had a wonderful birthday with gorgeous flowers, angel, throw, dinner, phone calls, cards, wonderful family and good friends and employees. I don't know what else a person could want. It is the being considered worth a fuss that makes birthdays ok things. Otherwise they would be miserable days. Had a lot of busiiness that day and a customer brought me a gift because she liked the job I had done for her. Don't tell me there are not some really special people out there. The more I look around, the more good I see. People do care about each other. Just sometimes they let something get in the way of being good to each other. And that is a shame, because it is much easier to be nice than mean.
To all my family and friends, thank you for a nice birthday. And the best gift was having Amy with me.
I remember when I was a child, Mother always made sure I had something really special for my birthday so I wouldn't feel cheated having it so near Christmas. That was kind of her, but I always enjoyed sharing my birthday month with Jesus. I was twice blessed in this life, once with a fantastic family spanning many generations and knowing Jesus. What more can you ask?
Blessings of the season on all of you. And thank you.

Saturday

Wow, it is already Saturday and tomorrow is a big day, in many ways. So much to do, but I am a little bit ahead of my work schedule, so that is good. If the weather cooperates and everyone can get where they are going, that will be a real blessing. Anything else is a plus. Becky is all excited to have Jason coming home and I am excited to meet him and have him with us for a day. It makes me happy to see the children happy and especially when they are on the brink of something new in their lives. This is my Christmas wish...Let them all be happy and healthy and a blessing to their fellow man. (or woman, as the case may be).
Now, work things call....and a Sunday School lesson to prepare.

My Baby

I am starting to get excited. My baby is coming home for a few days next week and I am going to be so happy to see her. Daughters are wonderful inventions of God. They are a delight when they are little, and a pleasure when they grow up to be women, but when they get old enough to be your real friend...that is fantastic. Sons are nice and I would not want to give mine up, they have their own special place, but daughters are the gift for having lived. Granddaughters are right up there with them, too. I will get to see one at Christmas and the other two early in the new year.
Now, I must hurry back to work so I will be caught up when she gets here...or even ahead. Since my embroidery help went home sick a few days ago, I need to stick to my schedule.The nicest part of having her is that I don't have to clean house for her. She understands and doesn't care.

Christmas Shopping

I am doing shopping tonight, some I can do on line and some I just get ideas about. Every year, there are some people I can find dozens of gifts for and none for other people. This year, I have a good vibe about everyone but one on my list. That causes some concern because that person is quite special and the gift I was making will not be ready on time and I am struggling to find a replacement that has meaning for me. Gifts are only special when the giver has been able to find that something that speaks to the recipient of the love that went into the selection or making of that gift. Something they can really use, really want, really don't need but would enjoy, really be surprised by..........Here's hoping you are having good luck with your shopping and you will be pleased with your selections and the gift receivers will be delighted. Happy shopping

Peace

Bill and I lit the Advent candles today and it seemed surreal to be standing there talking about peace while looking into faces that looked more like hate and panic. As we look at next sunday and the coming of Peter Steinke and the first action committee meeting (which I am a member of
the idea of peace seems a long way away. I don't understand how a church can get to this point. We should be of one accord and ready and willing to serve the cause of Christianity. Next Sunday will be the Advent Sunday of Joy. Perhaps we can have one hour of joy before we have that meeting and then we will all remember it is not about us but about Jesus and get down to the job of being Christians and doing the work of God. Perhaps Peace will fall on you today. I hope so.

Pancakes

Today was our Scout troop's pancake day. It is amazing how many people show up for that event. There are two big troops in town, ours and the Methodist and they each have a pancake day and they are always good. Today the pancakes were delicious and it made me wonder why restaurants can't make good pancakes. We don't have one place in town that can make a decent pancake and that is frustrating because it is one thing that I eat on my diet that satisfies me. Anyway, this year they were good and the bacon was good, but Bill says the sausage was cold and it was so gray I wouldn't have eaten any even if it had been on my list. All in all, it was fine. Why don't I make my own pancakes? Never have been very good at that. Always see lots of folks and that is nice. This afternoon is the Christmas parade and I have my music playing on the sidewalk and the sun is shining and I hope it will be a good day for the kids.

White Christmas

I am listening to Bing Crosby sing White Christmas on the internet. On the sidewalk I have Christmas music from the 40's. Christmas, of course, is timeless..a blend of eras, cultures, races, and creeds among those Christians for whom Christmas is the biggest connection to each other.
We all love a white Christmas, unless we or loved ones are traveling. I remember one year we were on our way to Guthrie to spend Christmas with grandparents and Amy was about 6. All the way there she kept saying (aloud and to herself when her brother threatened to beat her up) "make it snow, make it snow." We chided her about it and I don't know if it was the form of a prayer or a plea to Santa or just a chant. Now, it was not in the forcast to have snow, but some people didn't understand that. By the time we arrived in Guthrie the snow flurries were coming down. By morning we had a beautiful snowscape that we all enjoyed. I always think of her when I hear Bing Crosby sing that song. Perhaps she has always had faith that I did not see. I do know that now she is certainly a faithful person. Perhaps not that God will make snow when she asks for it, but that God will provide what she needs when she needs it. And for everyone else if they leave it in His hands.

Happiness

I have spent a lot of time in the past months deciding what my happiness IS. It is not having lots of money, it is not having lots of friends, it is not having lots of energy, it is not having lots of all those things I always thought I needed to be happy. It is simply being alive and having peace. All those other things may make me happier for awhile, but being at peace seems to be the one thing that you have to have to be happy. So, I am at peace with God, with my family, with friends, with myself. My only roadblock to peace seems to be in the church. That is ironic. That is where peace should abound. So to acheive peace there, we may have to participate in some upheaval. When that peace is accomplished, I look forward to more complete peace. But probably when that time gets here, there will be something else to threaten my peace. May Christmas bring peace to all I love and even those I do not love. If ever there is a time for peace it must surely be Christmas.

Losing a Friend

We lost a good friend yesterday. John Douthit died. They had just sold their house and moved to a house across the street from one of their sons. Bill and John served together on the school board and then when we were in Scotland, they were sent over for a two year stint and we enjoyed each others company a lot. He and Bill played a lot of golf together. We had some really good times and made some interesting trips around the island together.
John was a gentle man with a great sense of humor and full of patience. I will miss his smile and laugh. You know when you reach our age that friends begin to leave you and I would not wish him to spend another sick day on this earth, but I will miss him and am grateful to have had his friendship for these many years.

Good Food

We had good barbque and some strange dessert that was good, but not brownies. I entered a protest.
On my way to the City today, I thought about the book, Three Bags Full, that I read and bored you all with. I had discussed a piece in it with my sunday school class this week and it all finally fell into place today. It is theologically very deep. I had missed the theological point of it until this morning. Perhaps the author did not intend that message, but it is there. Now you have to read it. Not with that in mind, but I want to see if you see it, too. Even if you don't, it is a fun read and worth the time to enjoy it. I plan to read it again. Don't be surprised if it shows up in your Christmas box.

COM

Tomorrow I go to the City for an all day Committee on Ministry meeting. Normally it is a hard meeting with churches and ministers misbehaving and needing help. Tomorrow will be some of that, but the big thing is our examination of a minister receiving her call to the little parish in SW Ok. It will be good to see those 3 churches served with a permanent pastor again, and a joy to see
Sue ordained and serving the Presbytery. Plus, we get lunch..which means that maybe Martin is barbecuing tonight and Aaron is making brownies. They do that for us each Christmas and we do enjoy the food and the time for fellowship. I have another year to serve on that committee and though it is time consuming and sometimes draining, I have enjoyed it because it is wonderful to see troubled churches find their way to become better and stronger churches. I love watching the new ministers begin their work and finding their way into the Presbytery work. So, it will be my day to serve and then back to the Christmas work.

Tradition

I got the tree up Thanksgiving day and yesterday put some lights in the window, so today I guess I will get out the decorations and do the tree. We put up the decorations at the church this afternoon and no one remembered where anything went. As we were making it up on our own, someone said' but this isn't traditional'. I love tradition, but maybe we sometimes need to look at a new approach and view.
So it is with my tree. I think I will do something different to it this year. But one thing must stay. The black devils claw. Dad always put it in the tree to aggravate Mother. We have always put it on our tree since they died and I will always have it there. Some traditions are too precious to give up. Anyway, decorations are not what make Christmas. Remembering the reason is the thing.

Nearly December

I am always anxious for December to arrive, but alas, it leave too soon. So much to enjoy, the Christmas lights, the decorations, church services, music, pure joy and excitement. Family, friends, 2 birthdays, Jesus and me! Each year I vow to do better and take some time to simply enjoy the season and the month. Each year, I get stuck in work and busy stuff and then it is gone before I know it has arrived. This year will be different. I will get to see Amy and Becky and her boyfriend. I will really miss not seeing Joey and Rachel and Tim and Tom, but I will be thinking of all of them a lot. Perhaps it will be a month of making a start on fixing our church. I know that today I need to find a way to make the new music box play Christmas music on the sidewalk, work on a couple of Christmas projects, and perhaps do a bit of shop work and get the statements in the mail. Then perhaps I will make my Christmas shopping list. What a busy month. I need to make a start.....so I am off with the resolution to enjoy the month.

After Thanksgiving

Wow!! I love this day. Christmas music from my computer to drive all the employees nuts. Christmas music in the car. Christmas music on the street from my speakers. I love that part, people just dance down the sidewalk and wave. Music is great. The big window has said goodbye to the turkey and fall leaves and the gingerbread men and lights take their place. It is not so crazy busy with customers today and I can enjoy the thoughts of the season. I even have my tree up at home!! Not decorated, but ready. I need my decorating buddy, Rachel, for that. May the best of the Christmas season be yours and may it begin today (if it hasn't already).

Thanksgiving

I may eat too much tomorrow to remember this. But Happy Thanksgiving!!! I am thankful for all of my family. I have been so blessed to have such a great bunch of folks to call family. Bill, who has been a good and kind and loving husband for these 51 years. Doug who keeps me on the straight and narrow and watches out for my stupid tricks and has always been a sweet and loving son. Amy who makes my heart sing with her sweet spirit and strength of character, she is my hero. Joey who is kind and considerate and always surprises and delights me. Becky, with her sweet and loving ways always has a wonderful hug and smile. Rachel the spirit of light and joy with great talent and wit. Tim who is my son, and in all the ways he can, makes me glad to be a Mom. My precious brother Tom who is always there for me. Martha the neice I can depend on and enjoy. All of my extended family that I have enjoyed all my life. I thank God for each of you and wish you happiness and joy in the coming season of Christmas. May all the good things in life be yours and may you enjoy each other and make the most of this wonderful world in which we live. Happy Thanksgiving.

Internet Purchase

I don't buy a lot on the internet, but sometimes I have no choice and that seems to happen more often than not. Given a choice of the box store north of town and the internet, I will choose the later.
The boom box we got last Christmas for the shop broke a month or so ago. Now that I want music on the street for the holidays, I don't have any. I ordered a cd player that I think will work with my speakers, but I haven't seen it yet. The girls remember I did place the order, but I can't find any record of doing that. I always print out a confirmation and if I did I can't find that. So, do I get another one so I will have it for this weekend? If I do, surely the other one will arrive the next day. If it does, then I will have a spare when the next one breaks. I don't like buying from the internet, but it is better than the box store. I need to get with the program and live in this century, I guess. My, life was easy when I could just go to Kresses, Lintzes, The Dixie and Western Tire. Pretty restricting, but easy. Cash on the barrel head for anything they had. If you didn't find it, you did without. Good shopping

Sheep and Goats Day

Todays sermon was Sheep & Goats. Mercy, I have always been fond of goats, but I guess I should not want to be one. In all seriousness, I realized that we must be diligent about knowing when bad things happen to people in this economic crisis we face. We are so used to people being able to take care of themselves, that we will have a hard time realizing that people we know can be hit hard by the events of the world. And if we don't know it and take care of them, we will become goats and maybe not even know it. So strive for sheepdom. That reminds me, I must send the book about the sheep around. Advent will be here next week and that is a time of hope. So we should all have hope.

Charles Dickens

I don't know if it is my age or if it is true, but Dickens seems to be ageless. His writings seem as impressive and as pertinent today as they were in his day. People used to flock to read his latest chapter in the newspaper, like people flock to see the latest soap opera episode. Both of which seem to be a telling commentary on the day. Seems to me that his spoke to the social ills of the world while soap operas speak more to the moral ills. (Truthfully, I have not seen one in probably 20 years, but I bet I would recognize the characters and the situations.)
What brought this on? You may well ask. Last night I went to see the Duncan Little Theatre's performance of A Christmas Carol. It was very well done and all 30 of the cast did a good job. Clearly they had a good time as did the audience. But I never tire of the renditions of old Chuck's work. He understood people, the era, the problems, the humor, the fears, the hopes, the dreams, the realities, the faith....he just had a wonderful insight into the world. There are not many authors today who can do that job as well. My hat's off to you, Mr. Dickens. Thank you for a warm and pleasant evening and for always stirring our conscience. God Bless Us Everyone!!!

Mess

I wonder why we are all in such a mess. By all, I mean all that I seem to be involved in. The state of the economy in this nation, the church I worship in, the town I live in, the shop I work in, the family I live in. Maybe it is because of leadership. Lack of good leadership results in lack of confidence and lack of confidence results in a mess. That would make me squarely to blame in 4 of the 5 messes I look at now. Ouch. I guess I can fix my four and do better at leadership, but I don't want to take the blame for the country. Good leadership means instilling confidence and guiding people to faith and trust in that leadership. Ok, I did my best at church...maybe not. Maybe I was not willing to be disliked any more than I already am and did not want to do the last final big act that might have made a difference. Lack of trust in myself is what stopped me from that act. In the shop, I sat back and did not want to anger anyone and correct their behavior and lack of faith in my decision to act is what stopped that act. I am just worn out from being on the 'wrong side' of decision making that stopped me from an act that might make a difference in town. Being honest about what I want to do with my time might keep me from being frustrated about not being somewhere or doing something to keep a family member happy with me.
The big thing here is not wanting anyone to be upset with me. Not caring about what people think is a big problem. So look out world!! I am through with all the pussyfooting about. It is time to stand up and be counted. I am not so old that I don't matter. I have valid opinions and am lots smarter than many. My rights and wishes and needs count for something, too.
I am turning a corner. I will trust myself to know that I am doing the best thing and then do it. I know God gave me brains to use and it is time to use them.
Don't worry, none of this is about you...it is about others. All will be well. Just needed a little pep talk! Have a wonderful day and do what you know is best to do. You are the best judge of it all. God will keep us going straight if we listen.
Do you hear that Washington? Pay attention.

Windy

It is a cold blustery day and the wind in blowing ninety miles an hour. Maybe not that bad, that's what my Gran used to say when it was really windy. Reminds me of those car guys that came with their begging bowls yesterday. Blustery and windy. My goodness, don't they have a public relations dept that could have told them you don't take a limo and wear your tux when you go to the welfare office!!! Mercy me...they surely don't have the brains to run a company like they run if that is all the good sense they have. Bring back Lee Iacoca (sp?)he turned things around in the 70's (or maybe it was 80's). Folks didn't like him, but he did the job. I don't want to see people out of jobs but they should take a good look and figure out how to fix themselves. That is what we have to do with our small businesses. If we refuse to find the problem and fix it then we cease to exist. Sometimes it is hard to change things, but it sure can be done and they had better do it quick or I am going to start making buggy whips because the day of the horse and buggy may be on the way back! So stand back and watch the wind blow through DC and maybe it will blow out some cobwebs and good sense may return .

Uneventful

This has been an uneventful day. Get up, go to work, go home and I suppose to bed to do it all over again tomorrow. At least, I hope that will be the case. Still, I suppose there is never an uneventful day. Someplace, somehow , I am sure I played a part in some event, even if I don't know it. So, it won't be a wasted day. Enjoyed talking to a grand daughter. I guess you can call that an event. But I am boring today. The end.

Grace Abides

Last night I was at a meeting and on the way home, had a flat tire (rear blowout, actually) but it took awhile to realize what was wrong. Silly me, I thought it was something wrong with the exhaust. That's what it sounded like. I saw a church ahead with a big empty parking lot and lots of security lights, so pulled in there. Called AAA and locked the door and waited for 30 min while he came and changed it for me. This morning I went to get a new tire (really a set of tires) and went to a place I have never used before. Having become put out with the one I used to patronize, I decided to try this place that was recommended by the AAA guy. They are reputable people, just not convenient. Got a really good price and a beautiful set of tires. I had been warned by the 'son person 'that I needed new tires a month or so ago and I ingnored him. Should have listened. I'm lucky I wasn't hurt and everything worked out well. That is a bit of grace come my way and I appreciate it. Never know when it will fall on you, so should not be stingy about bestowing a bit of grace on someone else. May grace abide in your life.

what matters

What really matters? I know I get so wrapped up in stuff that I think it all matters. The shop, church, politics, civic life. All of that consumes time and energy and is deserving of that effort. But does it matter in the end? Don't think so. Well, church matters, but not the way we do church. God matters. In the great scheme of things, God matters most. But aside from that, what else matters. I'll tell you..Family matters. A business neighbor and casual friend lost a daughter this weekend at the age of 49 and just two years ago he lost a son at the age of 49. He is in his mid 80's, works hard every day and is a kind sweet man. He is beyond devestation today. I think it will be difficult for him to go on, but he will because she had a daughter and 3 grandkids that he will be there for. It is only family that keeps him going. All the hard work we do for the world, for friends, for the church, it will all be gone in a blink of an eye. But the effort we put into family will be there forever. I think that is why people often want to know about their ancestors. That does not get too important until we get older, but sooner or later, we all want to return to our roots and discover what made us what we are. We still need to be productive members of society, but it should not be an overwhelming disappointment if things don't turn out like we want them. But God and family...we shouldn't fail them.

Regression

I need to regress to Halloween. About the popcorn balls. I forgot to mention that I grew up during World War 2 and there was a strict ration on food. Especially sugar. To get any kind of sweet treat for Halloween was special. Popcorn balls, using lots of the sweet stuff, was pretty special. Also, costumes were all homemade and I seemed to be the perpetual gypsy. So there was a definite difference between then and now. Taking someones sugar ration was a big deal and my mother worked at the ration board so I heard stories daily about hoarders and wasters. We were strict with what was rationed in our house and gave away those precious things we did not have to have to others who needed them. So maybe, just maybe, there was a bit of guilt about accepting candy.
Oh, yes. I got my color fixed. Simple, just took awhile to figure it out. Really, too easy...so I won't tell you, lest you think I am really a simpleton.

Music

Hey, I lost my color!! What's going on here? I should change the title of this blog to TECHNOLOGY IDIOTS!!
Why do the things that are always on your screen, suddenly disappear and where do they go and how do you get them back? I know the experts say that old(er) people should make a point of learning new things each day or week to keep the neurons in their brain firing and working well. Perhaps I need to go to school to learn about computers and then my brain will be healthier and it will be useful.
This is really making me mad, so before I blow all this grace stuff right out of the water, I am going to spend the rest of the morning finding out how to fix this little problem. In the grander scheme of things, this is but a tiny irritation; but on my scheme of things, this is a big irritation.
Tomorrow you will know how successful I have been.

Thanksgiving

It is creeping up on us. Of all the things I am thankful for is family. What would one do without them? A few minutes ago, I heard quiet sobbing on the other side of the shop. I went to look and found one of the employees in deep grief. She had just had a phone call from her husband saying his brother just died, before he could get there. We sent her off on her way to deal with that death. She has had so many these last two or three years. And being native american, she they have great extended families so their losses are multiplied. But how blessed are they to have so many. When one is in grief, many others are there to share with them and get them through it. That is how families are,and their groups are bigger than families, they are like clans, who take care of their own.
I had a discussion the other day with a man who said that though he understands and appreciates the family systems approach to working with churches, he believes we may be missing the boat. He thinks that churches work more on a clan system than family. He says there are many clans that make up the bigger tribe. I am coming to believe he may be on to something.
All the same, I am thankful for family, near and far, close or extended, whatever. Just nothing can take the place of a close family. Friends are great, but family is comfortable.
Get ready for the big turkey day. I am goind to buy a bird this week and I have all the other stuff in the pantry.Alas, there will be a very small family to share it with. I would invite someone, but the other two thirds of the group would not appreciate it.

Hunger

I was given a flyer the other day about a project called EMPTY BOWLS. The theory is this; A group decides what local food charity they want to support and then set about the task of creating lots of bowls. Pottery, I suppose, but I am sure they are not professional, or even usable, just symbolic. They have an event, usually a soup dinner, but can include silent auctions or art sales, or craft sales. For a donation of a set sum, $10-20, they get a bowl of soup and a bowl to take home to remind them of the hungry in their community.

Usually the money goes to a food pantry, but some cities give cash or store chits so people can go buy what they like to eat. It is to educate people and help us feel the power people feel when they help erase world hunger.

Interesting concept. For a group that have people who would like to spend a day a week or month preparing bowls, it would be a good project. The bowls seem to be all sizes and shapes and with varied decorations. None are fancy. It would be good for the givers and the receivers and the people in between.

There is a website for information about EMPTY BOWLS.

Christmas?

I guess it will be Christmas soon. Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is near and the Christmas lights have gone up on the lamp posts on Main Street. Looked out the window the other day and we have new lighted snowflakes (left over from the lights in the park that has been shut down) going up. I used to try not to put in my Christmas windows until after Thanksgiving, but that never seemed to work and by then we are too busy to do a good job of the window. So, we will start putting it in this weekend and leave the little window for Thanksgiving and when that is over we will put our traditional Manger in the little window. We are doing a gingerbread man
window this year and have made a little quilt for the little bed with all sorts of gb men and gb houses on it. Now, I need to get some gingerbread spray so people will think we have cookies. Can't actually have cookies, because I would eat them all.
It will be here before we know it and as usual I will be scrambling around trying to get it all finished. I have 4 Christmas projects started for family gifts, I am hopeful one of them will be complete in time. I seem to get slower each year.
We need to slow down anyway and remember the reason for the season. Be prepared to have a blessed Christmas. Get ready early so you can enjoy it. That is my goal this year.

A New Day

Well, it is over. At long last, the hard fought campaign is over and we have a new president. I am so proud of the American public for getting out in record numbers. Both men were admirable, but I think it must be that time in our American lives when we need to turn a corner and begin to look at ourselves again in a new light. Hopefully, this will take us in a new direction that leads us back to civility and decency. We can pray for that. It is sorely needed. Hopefully, we will give him a chance, he will need our patience, our help and our prayers. I know we are in such trouble that it will take all the strength and patience we have. I know we need to learn new ways of doing things. Perhaps we will be able to turn our collective lives along a path to decency and good will.
In history, there are times when the world takes a turn. Hopefully this will be a right turn that will restore our pride in ourselves and our obligation to the world. It is not always the preson who does that, but the time in history. I think we are at that time in history.
I never thought about this as a racial campaign. But as I watched last night, and saw the tears from so many black people, I realized what a unique and inspiring event had just taken place. When I was but a child I remember our beloved Sarah, (who would come to our house to clean and iron, )would take me on the bus to town to meet my parents at the shop we owned. We would get on the bus and she would go sit on the back bench while I had to sit in a seat in front. I always wanted to sit on that back bench, but she wouldn't let me. I remember going to the train station and getting a drink of water and my grandmother reminding me to use the white only fountain. I never understood why. I never could figure out why there were four restrooms in every public building. Two of them were not always in view, but they were there. Sarah would wait outside the store for me if I had to go to town to get something for Mother. Those days have been gone so long, that I believe I honestly thought racial equality had come to America. But last night, I realized it had not come. Not until last night, when a black mother could honestly tell her child that it could be anything it wanted to be in America. At least one door was always closed to them... they were always told, 'pick something else, you can't be president'. However you feel about the election, last night was a very defining moment in our history. And YOU were there!!

Voting

I have to be in the City tomorrow for a meeting and decided not to let fate keep me from voting, so I went today. 9am, courthouse..usually empty the day before an election, but I had to wait 30 min to vote and was number 1477. That is sometimes all that show up to vote in the entire city!!
As if Ok could make a difference to anyone in this election!! But I had a couple of locals I was interested in helping. And I would not miss this historical vote for anything.
I am glad that people care this year. I am glad I voted today. Be sure you vote. Don't let anything keep you from it. No matter who you vote for, it must be done. I am thankful to have the privilege.

CPR

We had a nurse give a CPR course after church yesterday. Since most of us are old, we thought it would be prudent to bone up on the life saving technique. It had been about 25 years since I took that course, and of course they have made some changes. If you don't know the new routine, it is 2 breaths, 30 compressions , done 5 times in 2 minutes..so you can see you need to get busy. It is to the beat of "Stayin' Alive". I am sorry I never learned that song. Anyway it is fast. Now there is the added protection of AED machines (I think that is what they are called..the portable defibs) and they are truly remarkable machines. They analyze and won't let you shock unless the information it processes determines it is a shockable situation. It tells you everything three times, so you don't get it wrong. I really need to find out the proper name for them since you are supposed to yell for one when you are sending someone to call 911.
The main thing I learned new is this. It is vital to strip the patient of clothing on the chest. However, whenever, wherever, whoever. You can't use the defib if you don't, but your hands will slip on clothes and you can't find the right point of contact.
Truly, many lives are saved because someone is available that knows the drill. Just hope I am not the only one around if you go down! It takes a lot of strength, but I suppose God provides that in times of emergency.
The machines cost around $1500, but every church and public building should have one. We are working on a way to get the stewardship committee to pony up the funds for us. If not, we will find another way. How sad to think one of us could be saved if it were available.
Now, go learn or take a refresher course. A couple of hours well spent.

VINDICATED?

Either I am vindicated about my stand on Halloween or I have unprecedented influence over those with whom I come in contact!!!
Since neither my daughter or my granddaughter like Halloween, I would like to think it is my undeniably strong leadership qualities that can convince others to believe as I believe.
Happily, I think they are just smart people who can make up their own minds and are just smart enough to understand the silliness of the day in question.
So, I am not influencial, but at least I am smart.
As this is All Saints Day, I was hoping to qualify for that. Oh, wait...maybe you have to be dead.

I was hoping that perhaps I had the great ability to influence some votes. But I believe I would fail that test.
So here is something about which all will agree. Tomorrow, don't forget to sleep an extra hour. Now, I feel influencial.
Happy end of daylight savings time.

Halloween

This is Reformation Day. Oh, I guess it is also halloween. I never liked Halloween. Still don't. Not for any of the reasons that people say it should not be celebrated. Just didn't like the idea of dressing up in silly outfits and wandering around and begging for candy. It does not seem to make much sense to me. When I was a little girl, I was scared to death of Halloween.
My mother loved popcorn balls and the old lady up the street made the best ones in town. So, Mother would send me out with instructions to be sure and go to her house early so I would be sure to get a popcorn ball. She knew I didn't like them and would bring it home to her.
The only problem is that the little old lady, who I knew from church, scared me silly at Halloween. They lived in a big old 3 story house on top of a hill and they had lots of spooky trees around it. She always dressed up like a witch and had a cauldron and smoke and eerie noises and she said my name. I still shiver when I think about it. I would circle the block several times and watch others come and go. Finally, when I thought the popcorn balls might be getting short, I would screw up the courage to ring the bell. My blood turned cold as I waited for her to say, "Come in, Rosella. "
I would take that popcorn ball home and give it to my mother and go to my room and get a book and go to bed. Never did get much candy, I was too worried about getting that popcorn ball. I still don't like Halloween and I am not too crazy about popcorn balls!
By the way, she taught sunday school at our church and I loved her. I never understood why I could not get past that fear. I always passed her house on the way to school, and I would walk across the street so I would not have to walk so close to it.
I remember Mother taking me to her house when I was 7 or 8, her son was a sailor and he was killed in WW2. Perhaps I associated her house with death and sadness and I always paired Halloween and death.

Failure to plan

We have a saying in the shop. "Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part." But, of course, it does. The less time we are given for a job, the harder we work and faster we go. Why should we give special effort to someone who does not think ahead. It seems that those who are diligent and get their work done on time should have as much effort put forth on their job as the guy who waits until the last minute.
So, with grace we serve and just complain a bit. Hopefully God will be as kind to me when I ask Him at the last minute. So far, He has been gracious to take time to work on my needs when I do not plan ahead. For that I am grateful.
I need to remember that when I get cranky about customers.

HOSPITAL UPDATE

The title should not be ominous. I was just finishing some work for the hospital and I began to think about the evolution of the hospital here. What started as three separate hospitals when we came her 50+ years ago, has come a long way. It finally was merged into one new hospital in the 70's and was run by the regional board. It made money and grew and expanded and the money was put back into the foundation.
They built a new rehab center across the street, began hospice work, then expanded some more and put in all the fancy machines that can read you inside out. Expanded again.
Built units across the street south for a nursing training center. Then added a childrens unit, that does I don't know for sure what, but they take kids on tours and show them how things work and how to stay healthy.
Then they built a new cancer unit with beautiful chemo bays to make that awful process as pleasant as possible. How nice all of our people will not have to travel for their treatments. It has just opened.
Now thay are adding a new unit that will be one of only a few in the country. Sanford Health is establishing a new childrens hospital that will be research based but will care for children from across the nation. They only have 2 or 3 sites in the country. Anyway, it will be up and running next year I think.
So, from three little hospitals run by doctors to a multi purpose hospital that will be top of the line in childrens research..we have come a long way.
It is important to have a vision...without one you go no where. With one, the boundries are limitless.

A Need for Civics Class

I was most distubed today when I was told by a woman that she didn't see any reason to vote because only those 5 states would have their votes counted. I asked what states and she replied, "Florida and Ohio and them"
Turns out, she does not understand the electoral college and thought her vote would not be counted and couldn't figure out how only certain states got counted.
Lordy, are our schools that bad? Does the media not understand that people maybe don't know the rules and they would better serve the cause in education rather than pol head talking.
It saddens me. She has a real opinion on the campaign, but did not register to vote, because all this time she thought her vote in Oklahoma did not count for anything.
I for one will be glad for it to be over and maybe we can get back to running the country and letting business take care of itself.
I'm still for Hillary!!

Academics`

Doing Academic Team shirts today. Boy, that takes me back. The girls always enjoyed them. We loved watching the meets. Really clever kids, you sit and wonder how they have time to learn all that stuff. What with tv, internet, movies, music, out of school activities and some of them working. I guess today it is even worse with the computer giving them even more access than they had 10 years ago. I suppose they must learn a lot on that computer. But the history and english and math...schools must be doing a good job or else they are just really smart kids.
I love watching kids learn. But I wouldn't be a good teacher because those who didn't want to learn would have me pulling my hair out and today you can't pull their hair out! It is even fun to watch the grown up kids learning. I guess learning is just fun and exciting to see happen. I even like it when I learn something. I think that must be every day. Learning is fun. I want to be on an academic team. Maybe I will make a shirt for me!

Crepe Myrtles

Crepe Myrtles are pretty shrubs, that can grow up to be unruly treelike things. They bloom in late summer and always look pretty. I always wanted one, but could never decide between the purple, cerise, pink or white. Now there are other colors and it is even more confusing.
A lady in our town, decided that we needed to be the crepe myrtle capital of the world. I don't know why. As I drive around other towns, I realize that they have lots and lots of crepe myrtles and as I look around my town, I realize that we don't have very many. Since the city council made a proclamation that we will now be known as the crepe myrtle capital, there have been a few people plant them in their yards. The city has planted some on the highway.
Now, when I go to towns that have more than we have, I feel like it is my civic duty to take my little hatchet and cut them down. Or maybe it is my duty to plant some trees. Even if I don't have room for them?
Is that how we define ourselves? Deciding something sounds good and then trying to fit into the parameters? Or tearing down what gets in the way of our definition? Or maybe saying it was not a good idea to begin with and look within for a right definition?
I am not going to tell anyone that our town is the crepe myrtle capital of the world. I may plant one, if I ever decide which color I want, but I will not plant it to raise the numbers. If I do it, I will do it because I have always wanted a crepe myrtle.
And please, don't call me a maverick.

Girls, take care

There was an article in the Dallas newspaper about retired women. Only they are not retired. They hoped to be and thought they would be ok in their old age, but when the day arrived, they discovered that they had not been at all careful with saving and investing for their future. They live too long, they get paid less, no one cares about them saving for the future and they find they can't afford good care, or a good place to retire to when they can't live at home anymore or work. So they are working as waitressses in places like McDonalds to make enough money to just exist...not the way they want to live, just decently.
So, this is my advice. Look after your finances. Don't let anyone else do it for you. Find a way to put a little bit each week into an account and then invest it and when you are old and maybe alone, you can take care of yourself. If you wait too late to start, you will be wearing a funny chicken hat and cleaning tables. That is a sad state of affairs and I am glad I have a home that is not expensive, and a family and the good health to keep working at what I like to do.
Never thought I would see old women in those kind of jobs. I guess that is what happens when you outlive men!

HANDS ON JOY

I am making quilt blocks for a christmas quilt for the doll bed for the christmas window. As I send designs to the embroidery machine, it made me think. This quilt is all about gingerbread. Many years ago, we made gingerbread men and cookies and decorated them with red hots and gum drops and white icing. If we wanted a house, it took lots of trays of gingerbread, engineered to stand up, not eat, and we spent days making the house and cookies. Now we buy the elements already made at the store and the box has all the candy and gingerbread and everything we need to make a truly remarkable house. What's the difference? Well, aside from the time, there was the smell of gingerbread all through the house for days. The joy of seeing the house stand up, not crumbled in a heap, the joy of the essence of Christmas in the smells of the season.
I know, I have these designs on the embroidery machine, but I did have to digitize or edit them. If I did them by hand, they might be ready by 2012 if I could see to do the intricate work.
I think we miss a lot by not being hands on, but I know I can produce 550 (or more) of these quilts in the time it would take me to do one by hand. So what is the trade off? I am sure I would rather spray some gingerbread scent in the store than do them by hand, but I do still remember the great joy of doing it by hand and when it is given to someone, they know that a lot of work and love went into the product. Well...I can just love more people this way and as long as I think it through and plan it well, surely it can carry that much joy and love. So move over past, get out of my way...I have lots to do.

Horses

It is getting near Breeders Cup time when all of the really wonderful race horses come together for a big payoff and a super day of racing. For the first time, the girls will have their day and the boys will have their day. There are a few girls that have opted to enter the boys playgound, but for the most part they are staying with their gender races. Note that none of the boys are allowed to play with the girls, even if they don't mind being called sissy.
Wonder if they have been told about equal rights? True, some are opting to compete with the boys and it will be on the same set of rules, but for the most part, the owners are happy to let the girls be girls.
Horses are magnificent creatures. They have the most interesting eyes, truly a window into their souls. Some are gentle and loving and like people and some are mean and hateful and don't like anyone, not even themselves. But the mean ones, they usually pick out some person they tolerate...I guess they are forced to do that so they can be sure of food and care. It seems they usually pick a helpless person, though, so they are still the dominate one.
They are very much like people. The youngsters are like children and as they mature they become truculent teenagers and then mellow out into adults. Predictable and steady.
Let the girls have their day and celebrate it. I wonder if our girls don't miss some of that pampering and gentleness that came with being a girl in a guys world. I am all for girls rights, but it is nice to have a door opened and a comforting arm when things are bad.
Go girls...I think I will take the day off to watch and then work on the boys day to make it up.
Girls Rule!!!

Well Worn

My precious grandaughters love quilts. I used to love quilts, well, still do for that matter. In fact, I am sad that I no longer have a quilt made by my grandmother. But the girls use their quilts and I am glad. Quilts were utilitarian when they were first designed. Now, they are objects of beauty and meant to be hung or otherwise displayed. The quilts I make are meant to be used and loved. The girls love theirs to death and repair often have to be made. The good part of being the maker of them is that I can usually repair them. They may look a bit different but they work. It reminds me that sometimes we get broken and the Maker repairs us, perhaps a bit different, but workable. Maybe even better.
Since the girls love quilts, perhaps I had better get started making new ones. With modern washers and dryers they don't last as long as they used to last. Also, people are inclined to wash them more often than in the days when they had to be hung on the line to dry.
Maybe I need to find out their color preferences. They do change from age to age!

Fall

Fall is now my favorite time of year. No, it is not for the beautiful colors. Although they can be lovely, I guess, in some parts of the world. In Oklahoma things tend to go directly from green to brown and neither are my favorite colors. It is the weather. Fall weather always makes me feel refreshed and comforted. The wind is not blowing, there are usually not storms and tornados, and it is not extreme. Just crisp, like biting into a nice apple. Gentle, like a nap in a hammock. Peaceful, like a sleeping baby. See...those are some of the most wonderful 'likes' there are. So fall is crisp, gentle and peaceful. I love it. Even if it does come equipped with football, it is still the best time of the year.

I can't see

Had to have my eyes dilated today and I can't see. I know, it will be better in a few hours, but this is most frustrating and I have discovered that I am pretty useless without my eyes. I don't know what to do. I can find my way around the computer, but can't read what is there if it is less than 30 point. Nearly fell over my own feet getting in the shop. Now this was a real treat...Bill is still wearing his dark glasses from his cataract surgery when he drives, so here we came in the car, both in dark glasses. Bet it scared a few people off the road. Melody wanted to know where our friend, the other blind mouse, was.
We just all take our good health for granted and it is distressing when things are notnormal. We should all take a few minutes a day to be thankful for our blessings, especially of health.
Oh, the macular degeneration is of the dry variety and unless it changes, I will just have a general diminishing of vision that will be slow and gradual and will probably not make me blind unless I live to be 120 years old. So, I will keep a close watch on them so if it switches over, I will know it pretty quick and they have new treatments that can help a little. I am thankful for what I do not have and will just complain about what I do have.
But, I am grateful all day long for the health of my family.

Full Circle

This morning, Grandad said his life may have come full circle. With the financial world being in an upheaval, he remembered he started his life in the Great Depression and we all hope we do not end it in another one. We used to have things in place to ensure that would not happen, but apparently some of them have faded away and we need to be strong, intelligent, frugal, helpful and prayerful to avert the big disaster that happened a hundred years ago. And yes, it began about that long ago when people were prosperous and threw caution to the wind and lived for today and not for the future. When people let morality declline to the point that nothing was a shock.
I was thinking about all the money our church is spending because we just don't know how to be nice and how all that money is spent just on us. We are a financially secure church and that money should be spent on people who are going to need help. Not just a soup kitchen (if, God forbid) that becomes a reality, but on helping others now,,,,with classes on how to make healthy and cheap foods, how to manage debt, how to make do on fewer clothes that are still fashionable and pretty, how to do..I don't know, the list goes on. But we have so many good teachers in our congregation that we could do a lot to help people through this crisis. But no. We need to worry about ourselves. Seems there is a lot of that "me" stuff out there. Time to take a look outside ourselves and see what we can do.

It's greek to me

Oh, wait...that is hebrew to me. What do I know? I read polity exams with great confidence and now they expect me to read an exam when I don't even understand the source papers. Ah, well, they say that they can explain what I need to know and if the candidate can't explain it so I understand it then they didn't do a very good job!!!!
So, perhaps everyone will say a prayer for those people whose papers cross my desk. My guess is they will all pass.
I never did get time to really study my resource papers, what with all the garbage going on at FPC, but hopefully I will be up to speed in the next couple of hours when they finish the indoctrination.
Hope the world is still going on out there...we will be reading until 10 or later tonight and back at it again at 8 in the morning. Very interesting work, but frustrating. The tests are pretty easy this year and still some can't seem to get it.
But grace abounds, I have only failed 1 so far and that may be a good thing or it may be bad.

NEW DRESS?

I am busy getting ready for a lot of things in the next few days. Of course, there is the sunday school lesson to ready for tomorrow, then Peter Steinke begins his miraculous unravelling of our problematic congregation after church tomorrow and I have to finish the last book I am reading. I am liturgist so have to make sure everything is ready for the supply pastor to do communion.
Then fly to Dallas late in the afternoon for reading group. Make sure I have everything I need for the worship service Monday aft and complete my study and last minute check of my sources for the reading. Then, I have not yet successfully crossed the waters of the electronic sea, because neither I, nor 2 of my trusted electronic genuises have been able to burn a cd for my cd player to play the accompaniment of the two hymns I want them to sing. Yes, I know, I can play them off my computer, but it takes me awhile to find everything and get it turned on and started in the right place and I want everything to be smooth and without wasting time between segments of the service. Well, maybe someone will appear with a guitar.
Now, I am tired and I have yet to get to the title of this blog. I NEED a new dress. I hate shopping, and my brief foray into the one store in this town that MIGHT have had a dress was a bust! So, do I waste the time, gasoline, patience and energy driving to Lawton to look for one, or do I just go with the same old tried and true I have been wearing for the past two years? Probably the later, but I really do NEED a new dress.
I will be out of circulation until next Friday, so there will likely not be any new information until then. Maybe I will find a lamp post that provides a connection.
Keep those poor students in your heart as we wade through their exams next week. I hope they know that we do it with grace and mercy!!
You can vote on the dress...do I shop or do I not?

ELECTRONICS!!!!YUK

I know it is wrong to hate electronics because where would we be without them. I do remember manual typewriters and carbon paper and mimeograph machines and cutting stencils and ditto machines and wind up phonograph players and radios!!! I really do, and I appreciate the new age of electronics, but just now we are trying to get the cd player, that is hooked up to play outside on the sidewalk, to work. I must admit my frustration level zooms up to above a 10 when it just sits and looks at me and suddenly comes to life as if it will work and then goes dark again. But when it ate the open button and sat with a gaping hole as though laughing at me...that was the end. I will sing to myself!!
I guess I just like things that I can fix. As it is in all of life, I prefer to fix things myself. So, I am going to give it another rest and see if it will have a restorative life saving event.
Now, if it is contagious and my computer becomes infected with whatever bug electronics pass around, I will be really frustrated and go looking for my old typewriter.

Anxious Reading

I have been reading some books preparing for the meetings we are to have at the church. Reading about anxiety brings me up short. I probably fail at the test. It is hard to be a non-anxious presence. I used to be able to do that when I had kids. You had to be non-anxious...but as I got older, I forgot and became more reactive. There are times when I am expecting trouble that I can keep my mind on the calm and rational response instead of the reactive reptillian brain stuff. But some people just bring out the snake in me!!
It is a serious issue and if people remembered to absorb the issue, think it through and look for solutions, things are never as bad as we suppose them to be.
Peter Steinke says we need to keep out of the reptillian brain and move to the neo-cortex...it is a long trip for some of us!!!!!

It's not about me

It's not about me...that is a funny saying...I never suspected it was ever about me. I was brought up to believe it was about other people. Their needs and desires came first. If there was anything left of your money, time or energy after others had been seen to, then you could be concerned with yourself.
Where did that go? Churches are often all about them, not about God.
Society is mostly about itself, not other societies.
People are more concerned with what they want, not what they can do for others.
Maybe that is a generational thing and I am out of step, but it seems to me that a large part of our economic problems stem from people just thinking about what they want.

Sight

I guess I always thought that I could survive anything if I could see well enough to read. I still think that. Today Bill had cataract surgery, allowing him to have very good vision in both eyes now. It is possible he may not need glasses anymore, but I think he will. Still his eyes are better than they have been for 50 years.
I wish my cataract surgery had been that successful, but then I have a different problem with my eyes than he does. Still, what I can see, I see clearly...not blurry like with cataracts. I will probably always complain about mine and the added information that I am in the process of macular degeneration keeps me grateful for the vision I have. If the macular stays the dry variety, I will be ok. If it moves to the wet kind then we will have a big problem, so I am hopeful and trusting that it will not become wet.
If you cannot see you miss the sunsets, the beautiful smiles, the colors of the flowers, the pictures of exciting events of your loved ones lives.
However, with technology as it is, I know you can hear books and tv can be enjoyed without seeing. Guide dogs are great and I suppose it would be a new adventure. Still, I hope I don't have to deal with it, but I know it would not be the worst thing in the world. So I will be happy and grateful for what I have and thank God for his blessings.

old friends

They say old friends are the best, but that is not really true. They are just old. We went to Bill's 60th class reunion and it was just a gathering of old people trying not to look old. Out of 126 graduates there were 76 left and of the ones that came, I didn't see any oxygen tanks, walkers, or even canes. I guess they just stayed home. We ran into traffic so were a bit late arriving and everyone was seated at tables. He hardly remembered the three at our table (the rest were spouses or guests) so we looked around for Tom and Lois Ann and a couple more. Found them later during the program. They didn't have much in common because I was determined not to discuss ailments. After a really bad 3 hour program and a great lunch, we had about 15 min to visit. What I know is this. People who loved to hear themselves talk, still love that. Everyone else just wanted to go home. And so it was. Maybe in another 5 years we will go again and it will begin to be a survival game!!
I don't think I will go to my next one. Friends from your middle years are best. So enjoy them and keep them handy.

Hectic

Here I am, all strung out over things I don't need to string out over. Just need to prioritize, organize and agonize. Perhaps I should leave out the last 'ize'.
I wonder why we let ourselves get all worked up and in a panic over things we just need to either do, put off or let go of.
So, work needs to be done today and I will make a list of those things I have to do, should do and can put off.
Then I will wait for Martha and figure out what to do once she gets here, no sense in making 5 contingency plans as I am sure none of them will work out like I think.
Then I will put off my preparations for reading week, because I have a few days to accomplish that task and need to have my wits about me and my full power of concentration.
I will put off until saturday night my sunday school lesson preparation because I can get it done in one evening.
I will call Tom again to wish him happy birthday, since I missed him early this morning.
I won't bother the family with phone calls or emails unless it is really important, as they will get in touch if there is trouble or great joy.
Already it seems more manageable. I think I will make it!!
Thanks

Tests

The other day, a friend said I should take the Myers Briggs (maybe that isn't the correct last name) personality test. I am always up for a test, so I did. And what did I find out? What you already know. I am an extrovert, judgemental person who likes to play by the rules and make decisions and then act on them. What a surprise!! What did surprise me was that during the question answering I found myself thinking about what I was saying. Do I really think rules are more important than the effect they cause. Am I really so scared of diversity from the norm? Will I really stand up and fight for what it says in the 'book' rather than for what I can see might be a better way? Apparently I am. I don't know why, perhaps I am afraid of chaos. That must be it. I like a well ordered dependable way of doing things. Strange, since I am sort of a maverick (to use a phrase I am coming to hate). But I like my change to be orderly.
Must be why my desk is always neat and my house always picked up and tidy!!!!! Now, there is a conundrum! So, are those kind of tests valid or do we manipulate them to say what we think of ourselves or wish we were.
Ah, well, that is a thorny question and I wish it were the most difficult of the day, but I suspect it is but a gracenote on the day. Here now and gone as soon as you click this off your computer.
Have a good day thinking about more important matters.

Who's on first?

Do you ever have days when you don't know who's on first and then get to the point you don't even care? Well, I am there today. Every plan I had for the week has gone astray and every issue I care about is at 6's and 7's. Now, I don't even care. I will just let God get me through it and let the chips fall where they may. Probably it will all work out better than the way I had it planned.
So, I will be gone tomorrow afternoon, then I will be going to Wichita wed and thurs and Martha is coming fri to get her stuff and sat I am going to Dad's 60th class reunion and sunday back home. Then I think I will be home for a week before Peter Steinke comes and I leave for Dallas reading week.
I know God has time for me, but I could have saved Him a lot of trouble if I could have done it my way. Well, I tried, but apparently He likes to have His way!!
Shalom

Technology

While it is a force to be reckoned with, sometimes technology is a real pain. Talk about losing control...when we give our lives over to technology I think we have given over control to the tecky gods. (I know that is not the proper spelling) I am sitting here with credit cards I cannot run because the machine I use is probably 20 years old and the support people can't even find the instruction book. It is perfectly functional, but technology has outpaced it and I have been forced to buy a new one. So, I did. Except they didn't deliver it and the nefarious place in the sky that takes my information and translates it into money in my bank account thinks the new machine has been delivered and so has shut down my old faithful machine. Now we get to do the old song and dance again when the bank opens monday. That will take another two days and meanwhile my money is of no use to me.
How many computer pieces and IPods and cell phones can we afford to have sitting around in the way before we yell and make someone find a way to recycle electronic stuff. At least an old tv cabinet could be made into furniture. You can find a way to reuse almost anything but electronic gadgets and we seem to buy more and more of them every day. I am feeling overrun by them and suspect new homes will be built with a room in which to store them. Or perhaps a new and progressive business is out there waiting to be born..."eternal electronic cemetaries", where your beloved IPod can rest in peace. It will never return to dust, so it must not have a soul. The technology gods are a soul-less bunch. Heartless, too. I still love my pen and paper.

CHOCOLATE LOVERS UNITE

What a dastardly deed!~!!! Forget the economy, there is a real crisis in America. Hershey's, that icon, second only to Coke, has fallen!! They have changed their formulas without letting us know. To save money they have taken out the cocoa butter and substituted veggie oil in their chocolate. Of all the sneaky and mean things to do.
The only saving grace for them is that they have NOT altered the flat Hershey bar, Kisses and the peanut butter choc thing, (whatever that is that I don't eat).
Apparently they changed the packages to read "chocolate candy" or "chocolatey" to be legal, but you would not notice if you weren't looking. So, others may take the same road. Be aware, if it is milk chocolate, it must contain cocoa butter. If it does not list it in the ingredients, it is not milk chocolate.
Usually, I prefer the dark choc but I still like a good old fashioned flat hershey bar and that is still safe. But I will be watching.
How dare they, with things like that going on, I have decided that whichever politician takes them on and puts them back on the right track will get my vote. Watch out for apple pie and motherhood...it may be next on the chopping block.
I would happily take a smaller size bar if they will go back to the real thing.

Why I mark up my books.

I was reading the new Presby Outlook today and there was an article on the saving of thousands of trees during GA this summer when everything was sent out electronically. Now, for me, reading on line is difficult. Not just general reading, but serious study and needing to go from one article to another. They stated that educators readily admit that learning is enhanced when a reader underlines, marks, writes in the margin and dog ears pages. I AM VINDICATED!!!!
Thank you, America...I love reading electronically, but not studying. I don't know how the younger generation does that. I am sure they do a lot of skimming and often miss the nuances an author inserts in his work.If I can't dog ear, or write in the margins, or circle, I have trouble going back and finding that certain piece of information that I really wanted to remember. But the biggest reason? I love picking up a book that my mother or grandmother read and finding that little nugget of information hiding in the margin. Gives me a great insight to their thoughts. Brings them close to me for a moment and stirs memories that make me smile. And that is enough of a reason. When you inherit my books, you must look between the covers and see what I really thought and if I left you a special message for the ages.

Baggy Pants

I have to buy Bill a new belt today. He is walking around like a young kid with baggy pants. He takes a step and pulls up his pants. Takes another step and pulls up his pants. I don't know what would happen if he had to run. We are both watching what we eat, but he eats more than I do and he is losing weight and I'm not. I was concerned about it, but the Drs aren't, so guess I should just buy some new clothes for him and be happy for him. I read that it takes 300 more calories to breathe if you have COPD, but I don't recommend it as a dietary measure. So, we are off to the City today so he can go to a Presbytery Budget and Finance Committee meeting. I will take the time to begin studying for the ord exam reading week and I will go buy him a new belt. If you want a smile, just picture him hopping around trying to keep his britches up.

Too Insular

All of us are too insular. We get very concerned about our lives and forget there are others out there that are not as fortunate as ourselves. That happens in our daily lives, our business lives and our church lives and our community lives. I know I am guilty of not taking the time to find a way to utilize the talents of someone that is not at the top of their game. We all forget to find ways to use the marginilized and they often have the best spirit and happiest attitude. When we don't use them and make them part of our life and or organization, we simply miss what could be the best part of our day. I have a customer that drives us all nuts, but she tries and she wants to be part of this world. If I take time to deal with her and give her credit for something she does or says, I find that I have had a few happy moments that I would otherwise have missed. If I take the time or effort to let someone struggle through a task, I often find that I have slowed down enough to enjoy their success and learn something about them and myself.
The world is tipsy just now, and it makes us all jumpy, but if we would take the time to look at the world through their eyes, we would see a different place. Not that we don't have to be concerned and try to help make things better in this world. Maybe we just need to slow down and let the sun shine through and enjoy the work we do, step by step. Then we will appreciate the world we live in and not take it for granted. Then we will find time to say 'thanks for this world'.
Put on a smile today and find someone to make happy by letting them do a good job that you could have done a lot faster and easier. It will refresh you.

What in the World?

What in the world is going on? The most trusted names in financial circles going down. The world turned upside down by war and hatred. The country locked in political battle. The trusted name of Mother Nature turning in some really nasty performances. What is going on?
Probably nothing more than usual. We just get more frightened by the pundits telling us hourly on tv that the world is crashing. We should just keep on with our work and not panic. Keeping our wits about us and doing things that seem intelligent instead of emotional...staying faithful to our family and friends...watching out for those who are hurting and in need...staying strong in our faith...being frugal with the resources we have...praying for those in power. Maybe that will give us strength to get through all this mess without having a meltdown. Shalom

The Big Blow

It appears that Ike was big and bad, but not as big and bad as first thought. Martha made a safe evacuation and I hope her home comes through it safely as well as the church, but I suppose that is asking for a lot. Grateful to have her our of harms way. Becky was inundated with 10" of rain last night and I can't reach her, so just hope she is ok. How many families are worried about their loved ones today and can't find information about them? I watched the wind and rain off and on all night long and I don't know why anyone would stay through all of that. Kind of like going out in the yard to watch the tornado rip down the street a couple of blocks away. We just can't seem to keep our eyes away from disaster. Maybe it is because we are so glad it isn't us. Maybe we are just curious about how bad it can be. Maybe we are just morbid folks, and maybe it is because we are concerned for others in the midst of trouble. Maybe it doesn't matter...maybe that is just how we are.
Anyway, the big blow apparently took a sudden, tiny turn and saved the coastline from the disastrous surge that was expected. Maybe God just tweaked it a bit and hopes we will find time to say thank you.
"Thanks God."

birthdays

Sept is a month of birthdays in my family. My grandmother had a birthday in sept and my brother was born on her birthday. I never quite forgave him for that, because she was so special to me that I couldn't believe she would share her bd with Tom and not me. Of course, I was not a spoiled child!!
Then my first grandchild was born in sept and managed to miss everyones birthday. She was the smart one, didn't play favorites.
My son in law has a sept bd.
So sept people are pretty special to me. Do they all have something in common? Well, they are all Libras and are supposed to be intellectual, have initiative and get things going. Seems to fit them all. Now, all you Libras out there. Get your smart juices flowing and get something started. You may need to find another zodiac partner to finish it because I don't know if you are good at that aspect of life.!!! Happy Birthday