Be Still and Know...Then and Now

Well, I see many of you are doing an end of the year retrospective so I thought I would toss mine on the heap as well.  In thinking about the past year of my life I have to share that there have been many new things, many (many, many, many) difficult things, many painful things, lots of laughter and nearly as many tears to accompany the laughs.  I began this blogging journey on February 14 (ya know it did not even conncet with me that I started this love affair with blogging on Valentines Day, kind of cool I think) but 126 post later I have found this blogging experience to be one of the most rewarding avenues I have journeyed down this year.  Over this past 365 days I have encountered so many amazing faith filled bloggers. As I have read your post and you have read mine we have opened our lives and our heart up to each other. I have received comfort, support and a belly laugh when I needed it most.  Thank you seems very inadequate but it is all I have.  Contemplating what I ...

Merry Christmas Here is my contribution to this years "I see what you're saying - Christmas Edition" It is breif (3:25 minute video) of the Holidays at my house. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Blessings Robin

I slept until 7:30 and woke to a really good cup of coffee, I am savoring the last of my holiday half & half.  Made a trip to Goodwill to drop off a donation, gotta get that last minute tax deduction. I am sure that my four trash bags full of old clothing will be just the difference in bringing us our huge tax return check (NOT) but they are out of my garage. My DH turned up some dirt in the front bed, as it was surprisingly warm enough to get out and plant a few iris bulbs given to me by a friend. Took a nap! My sweet DH brought me a bunch of yellow roses. They are beautiful! I continue to wait with great expectation for my Christmas Cactus to bloom.  This was right before Christmas..It is almost ready to bloom now!!!!! Bla Bla Bla, no sintelating stories today or deep revelations. I am just basking in the lazieness of the day! Blessings Robin

Well after several long evenings with lap top positioned on my knee and ignoring the television and my family I have finally put the finishing touches on my "I see what you're saying" video.  I have to confess to experiencing moment of obsession over these last few day as I assembled all my necessary pictures and clips, but I also have to share that I now feel like Steven Spielberg as I learned to maneuver around my Movie Maker program.  We all wait with great anticipation for Tuesday to see what everyone has put together. Now on to a completely unrelated topic.  To answer a question that few of you who commented on my "Female-No Alarm" post had. Much to my dismay I never was able to find out exactly what "Female - No Alarm!" actually meant.  It remains a mystery! The world - or me may never know! Blessings Robin

Several weeks ago (12/5 thru 12/7) God was kind and the circumstances fell into place for me to be able to join my husband for the weekend in Puerto Rico .  Before telling you all about how wonderful my trip was I had to take a few moments and share with you a truly unique experience I had at the airport.  Being the travel impaired individual that I am I left the house at 6:30 am to insure that I would have ample time to make my 11:05 flight. God took pity on me and for a Friday morning the expressway was remarkable free of traffic.  I arrived at the MARTA station and purchase my Breeze pass, again my inexperience was showing as I ended up paying for two round trip fairs instead of one, but as each trip is only $1.75 I was only slightly inconvenienced and the cards are re-usable as well so I shrugged it off and proceeded up the stairs to my train.  The trip to the airport takes about 45 minute so I opened a book ( The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers, which by the way is ve...

Oh my where does the time go!  I have post whirring around in my head, menu plans that need planning, gifts to wrap, working part time, let me clarify so you get the full picture........working part time at an office that is currently moving from an old and cramped office space to a new and more spacious office where I will actually have my very own office with a desk and a chair, it does not take much these days to make me happy. I thought packing my home was a chore. Let's just say yuck! The chaos will be short lived hopefully and all will be back to normal by the middle of next week. Another added bonus is that all the real heavy and complicated parts of the move were taken care of by professional movers. Big yaaaaaa ! Add in the reality of generally being old and to use my new favorite word "decrepit" I find that it at time is simply easier to sit and do nothing rather than obsess over all the thing that have not been done, written or planned, moved or unpacked. A big...

Hello to all, I saw a report on Good Morning America this morning about a press release from Microsoft about a potential security risk using their Explorer browser software. It seems that hackers have forund a flaw in the program (are we surprised!!!! maybe Mac’s are not a bad idea after all) and are able to access secure passwords and other information stored in Explorer. Microsoft is urging people to refrain from using Explorer browser. The news report also said that Microsoft is working on a security patch to fix this problem. Since I am not able to use my browser at home (I am posting this at the office) I am not able to give you the ABC website with the link to this report. So until Microsoft fixes this problem all those who use Microsoft Explorer, me included will be at risk of having their personal information accessed by unscrupulous hackers. Now I realize that little old me is probably safe from prying eyes, I mean who am I in the grand scheme of things...

The Lemonade Award Which recognizes blogs that reveal great attitude and/or gratitude. My sweet accountability sister and fellow blogger skoots1mom honored me with an award. I have to tell you that there are not many people who you can completely count on in this life. I know that with out reservation that the friendship we share is one that is built on trust, love and a shared belief in our Heavenly Father. She is one of my dearest friends and has on many occasions been the strength that has held me up when I simply could not bear up under the weight of some very dark valleys. In an effort to be obedient (well maybe halfway obedient, like skoots1mom I am only going to honor a few of my blogging friends) I am following the directions and passing this award on to several bloggers that I read that for me bring so many different things to my life, not to mention the specified great attitude of gratitude. Sassy Granny has a unique wit and depth, you may read about history, science, h...

Several days ago a sweet friend sent me an email with several Maxine cartoons attached. The older I get the more similar Maxine and I become.

Before we get to the incredibly Rocket Scientists portion of this blog, I am officially launching my first Mr. Linky opportunity for all to participate in, woo hoooo. I wanted to give you all a glimpse into no doubt what has happen and is happening all over the world. Our homes are taken from a state of clutter and chaos as we unpack and unwrapped all the decorations and begin the transformation. So here goes. The Before................................................... The After......................................... Now for the Rocket Scientist portion of this post! I am so impressed with myself for figuring this out, you all will have to forgive me. I am sure (I hope) it will wear off quickly! So what is your favorite ornament? I shared with you in a previous post abut my favorite Christmas ornaments. We all have them, the ones made by tiny hands with glitter construction paper and lots of glue. I wanted to share with you my most precious Christmas ornaments. The first one was ma...

Pool side The view from the balcony of our room!

It is with great regret (LIKE SO TOTALLY NOT!) that I share with all of you that I will probably not be posting to my bog for the next few days. Sadly, I have to take a trip to Puerto Rico ( OH MY STARS!!, my husband has totally redeemed himself for jetting off and leaving me at home a few month ago to this sunny destination while I was at home with a nasty cold) and bask in the sun and lay on the beach and generally relax and totally not think about my last few Christmas gifts that need purchasing or the nasty day to day dramas that life brings my way. If I can pull myself away from my lounge chair on the beach I may post a few pictures so you can all feel (totally jealous) like your there with me. I am flying out in the morning and will have Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and I will fly home on late Sunday afternoon. I have to praise Jesus for my sweet accountability sister who is opening her home to my daughter for the weekend, my husbands frequent flyer miles, a ...

I figured since I was decorating my house for the holidays my blog needed a bit of a holiday make-over as well! Blessings Robin

I was thinking this morning about how the transformation that happens in my home after thanksgiving? It is a slow gradual process as the tree gets put up and the decorations get put on. I love unwrapping all my precious homemade ornaments and finding just the right spot to place then on the tree. One of my favorites is a small baby Jesus ornament that my son made when he was a very little boy. It is made with Popsicle sticks and a peanut wrapped up in a small piece of blue cloth, Baby Jesus in the Manger, it is the sweetest ornament and quite possible my favorite. (I will post a picture of the ornament as soon as I come across it, all the ornaments are still waiting to be unboxed) But as I was standing in my kitchen pouring my coffee I thought to myself that today is the day that I will make the switch. I will take all my Christmas coffee mugs down from their shelf and put all my normal everyday coffee cups away. This for me will then signal the beginning of the holidays. It is such sm...

Wooo Hooo for me! It doesn't take much to make me feel like a rocket scientist! I figured out how to do a Mr. Linkey! I don't have anything I want you to link up to I just wanted to see if I could figure it out. I was feeling a bit inferior to all the other fabulous blogs out there who do the wonderful carnivals and vlogs or flogs and whatever else. Hmmmmm....the possibilities are now opening up before me for future Mr. Linkey applications..... Blessings Robin A.K.A Mr. Linkey Rocket Scientist

It is amazing the difference perspective brings to my life. When I think of my life and where I am at the ripe old age of 49. I see so many things that are surprising. I thought that the number 50 would bother me, but as I step into the year that I will draw near to this milestone I find that I am not as bothered by this approaching landmark as I thought I would be. The grey hairs kind of bug me at times, but not enough to exert the time, energy and expense to get rid of them. A blogging friend of mine called them credentials, Wow! I like that!! They aren’t grey hair or wrinkles they are credentials, have mercy!!!! The aches and pains are an inconvenience, but I have the perspective to recognize that they are minor in comparison to other physical health issues of some others that I know. The short term memory loss, (now what was I saying, why did I come in here and why are my car keys in the freezer?) this can be a blessing as it clears away the mind and allows me to simply lets go of ...

Your Native American Name Is... What a hoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nadie Kokyangwuti Your name means: Wise Middle Aged Spider Woman What's Your Native American Name? If you play let me know what your name is!!!!!! Wise Middle Aged Spider Woman signing off for now!!!!!

The other day during my bible study our facilitator opened up our study time with a prayer. Now this in itself is not unusual, we always open with a word of prayer. What I noticed were three words she spoke at the end of her prayer. After the prayer was over I leaned over and whispered to a friend that these words brought back a memory of my grandmother. I do not recall a prayer from her mouth that did not include these three words. It is one of those regrets in life that I learned the hard way, I wish now I had paid more attention to those precious moments and possible written some of them down, but sadly I did not. The ignorance of youth and the illusion that we have all the time in the world is such a fantasy. I have such a clear picture of my grandmother sitting at the head of our table and bowing her beautiful silver haired head to bless our meal. Her hands were so gnarled from arthritis that it was painful to look at them but none the less she would lift them and attempt to place...

It’s in the air, the anticipation, the preparation, and the smells from the kitchen. I have a cake cooling on the counter, a pan of brownies in the oven, a pot of green beans in the crock pot and there are plans for homemade Mac and Cheese later. With all this busyness the payoff is the gathering tomorrow at my sister’s house for our family thanksgiving. In my blog hopping this morning there was a very similar theme going on. It seems that as the holidays grow nearer our thoughts are more focused on the things to come then the things of today. I know for myself with all the turmoil on the nightly news who would not want to place all their attention on sweet potato soufflé and looking for the perfect stuffing recipe. With Thanksgiving just around the corner I am thinking about my life and all that I am thankful for. It at times is difficult to set aside the other aspect of life that at times scream louder then the praises, yet the wonderful thing about anticipation and preparation is t...

This recipe is not necessarily very thanksgivvy, but I tried it just yesterday and was so happy with the outcome I had to share it. It is one I saw on Food network, a Paula Dean recipe so of course it is loaded with butter, mayonnaise, and CHEESE etc…. however I did make a few substitutions if you feel like lightening it up a bit. I found that with my substitutions I was still very good. My substitutions are in italics. It will be a keeper for many future evening meals and covered dish suppers. Chicken Florentine Ingredients: 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach 6 chicken breast halves (about 4 pounds), cooked, boned, and shredded 2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup I substituted the 98% fat free mushroom soup 1 cup mayonnaise I substituted about ½ to ¾ cup light mayonnaise 1 cup sour cream I substituted Fat free Sour Cream 2 cup grated sharp Cheddar I cut this back by half and only uses a cup of cheese 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice I zested about half of t...

I am not sure what it is about the turn of seasons, but for me with the change in temperature and the falling of the leaves spur in me a desire for warm comforting smells emanating from my kitchen. I think that there can be no better smell than the yeasty aroma of a loaf of homemade bread filling my home. The aroma begins with the first pouring of the warm water over the dry yeast and the tiny little microbes or whatever they are spring into action. The little bubbles signaling to me that a mysterious process is taking place. The scent lifts from my mixer bowl and fills the kitchen. As the bread proofs in a warm oven it grows, and grows and again the heady aroma fills the air. The feel of the dough in my hands as I form it into loaves, it is soft, firm, pliable, elastic and again fragrant. This beginning perfume is only intensified as it is altered by the heat of my oven. The raw yeast smell transforms into a full and fragrant fall bouquet. The smell of the homemade bread laden with ci...

I love how clicking over to my blog leads me to so many different thoughts and people. This morning I was comforted by a wonderful Scottish poem and then I checked in on 2 cup of coffee and she had bounced off a blog and did a post which was spurred off of someone else’s blog and so on and so on and so on and there you have the six degree of blogeration so I thought I would add my (I've lost count what degree it is ) of separation to this random chain in the blogosphere . So here it is for all it’s worth! What is your writing process? For me it is a definite prompting. There are times when it seems as if there is a tiny voice in my head that tells me to write it down, there are multiple scriptures that reference God specifically telling his people to write something down, no I am far from saying that what I place down on paper is prophetic, but it is just an example of how best to describe my process. I will be doing something random and then a thought or germ of an idea will fla...

Que the fireworks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Release the balloons !!!! Let the confetti fly!!!! Pop the corks!!!!! Because we have a winner........................................................ In a highly scientific process involving a plastic bowl, some scrap paper and the assistance of my DD I am proud to announce the winner of my 100 th post give away is..... A Portland Granny Applause!!! Applause!!! Applause!!!!! Let's all do the Happy Dance!!!! Wooo Hooooo !!!!!!!