Be Still and Know...Then and Now

Which for me can be a bit dangerous. However with my fluctuating hormonal state I have to take the functional brain activity when I can get it. The other day at the pottery studio we were talking, that is not unusual, we are always chattering about all sorts of things, however one of our newest Pottery Peep’s commented on a picture I had posted on Facebook of my latest painting. She and I had been friend for years but apparently it had never come up in conversation “I had no idea you were an artist!” she said. There are things that may be, at times, to personal to share about ones self for fear that you place your heart out there for all the world to see. Plus sometime I just think the whole thing is just not noteworthy enough to bring up in conversation. Also at the age I am I am finding that I am less and less concerned of what other folks think of me, however I am a bit more sensitive where my creative endeavors are concerned. It is sort of like wanting to please your favorite a...

If you read my last P365 post you know that I just had a yard sale. I have had many yard sales in the past, however I am contemplating their effectiveness in light of how tired I am now. Yard Sales may be a wonderful thing but they may also be for the young at heart as well as body! By Saturday evening I was exhausted, not to mention a bit underwhelmed with the cash pay off I received for my efforts. I do have a few observations that I will share about human nature as well as my tired and tested, although less than scientific Yard Sale Philosophy. Over the years and my several yard sales I have noticed that most people fit into five different Yard Sale categories. 1. The Drive By These people are the folks who just slow down in their car and then crane their neck trying to get a good look at all your stuff as they slowly roll by in there car. My opinion of the Drive By is that they are not truly gifted in the art of the Yard Sale. They are not willing to put forth the proper ef...

If you have seen the movie The Bucket List then you know where the idea come from. We have all done it at one point in our lives. We begin to think and dream about all the tings that we have done in our lives and think about all the things that we would hope to do in the future. In my last Wednesday Hodgepodge the first question was: 1. What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don't have a bucket list let's pretend you do. I began to think of all the wonderful places and things I hope to do one day. Experience the Northern Lights Walk on the Great Wall of China Visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Visit the Holy Land Go to Rome, Paris, England, New Zealand, Spain, Australia, Ireland, Easter Island, Bali, Tahiti… Participate in a CIA Boot Camp and Cooking Vacation A fall tour of the east coast and New England Visit the Smithsonian Win the lottery so I can afford to do all these amazing things…. After I hit the post button this question stayed in my head for...

I don’t know if this is true or not. It was one of those forward this email kind of things. I sure hope it is, but even if it isn't I loved the message!   Wouldn't this be great if it was taught in every school. A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in 20 ways to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results: God is like. BAYER ASPIRIN He works miracles. God is like. A FORD He's got a better idea.. God is like. COKE He's the  real thing. God is like. HALLMARK CARDS He cares enough to send His  very best. God is like. TIDE He gets the stains out others leave behind. . God is like. GENERAL ELECTRIC He  brings good things to life. God is like. WAL-MART He has everything. God is like. ALKA-SELTZER Try Him, you'll like Him God is like. SCOTCH TAPE You can't see Him, but you know He's there. God is like.. DELTA He's ready when you are. God is like. ALLS...

I think to date this is one of my fav pictures of the girl child!   ArcSoft Photo Studio 5.5

   

Researchers at the southern offices of the Board of Domestic Household Affairs have expressed extreme concern over a blog post that appeared on the world wide web over the weekend. It seems that a rare and unexplained anomaly occurred at one of our satellite offices resulting in the spontaneous and unexplained replication of an ordinary roll of household bathroom tissue. On further investigation it appears that some rare and very explicit photographic evidence of this anomaly has also been established. Researchers are predicting that along with this spontaneous regeneration of bathroom tissue we may also expect anomalies to occur in the form of empty tea pitchers spontaneously refilling themselves after having been put back in the refrigerator empty. The Director of the Board of Domestic Household Affairs has issued a warning, but was unwilling to call for a nationwide investigation without further scientific data to support these findings. The Board has sent a team of investiga...

Y’all remember the best selling book that came out a few years ago. 90 minutes in heaven? As I was pulling out of the Kohl’s parking lot an idea came to me about the sequel. I am thinking of entitling it “90 Minutes in Hell”. That is precisely how long I struggled in and out of about 15 different bathing suits in the Kohl's dressings room. I am thinking of having the main character experience a psychotic break from reality due to the post traumatic stress of the experience not to mention the bad lighting in the dressing rooms and gaudy prints. She slips further into her delusions when faced with the dangling tag which reads “Hip Minimize” only to realize that it is in fact a meaningless sales ploy. While standing at the register she receives the added blow to her psyche as the final total flashed before her eyes! The MC then has her final break from reality and exits the building. As she is walking to her car she experiences a complete break from reality as steps into the ...

There is a brand new Kroger just a few blocks from my house. I have never done much shopping at Kroger, being the rather spend thrift that I am I have found them to be a bit on the pricy side for me on certain things. They had there grand opening this weekend and I think that everyone in our city showed up to do their grocery shopping. The problem for me will not be the question of to shop or not to shop…it will be to shop or not shop with out first stopping to buy a Starbucks. Will the allure of the Venti Low Fat Ice Coffee with a shot of classic syrup draw me away for my ever faithful Ingles just a few more miles down the road. The had an amazing floral section and the produce department was incredible. I did notice that some of the items I usually purchase were a bit more expensive, bananas at Ingles are always 49 cents a pound and they had them for 59 cents a pound. I purchased a few Kroger brand products to give myself a comparison to the ones I usually buy at Ingles so we wi...

For as much as I love Wednesdays with my morning bible study, lunch with Skoots1mom and then dinner at church and prayer shawl after dinner I love my Thursdays morning as well. Most of the time I don’t have to be anywhere so I don't set my alarm. I laze around in my pj’s a little longer and I linger over my coffee just a bit more than normal. The activities that are typical for a Thursday mornings are reading, watching a saved chick flick on the DVR or maybe working on my painting for a bit, sometimes I try a new recipe. I just sortta let the day unfold and wander into things as I feel led. This morning I had an extra treat as the Hubs had a service call at a local business so he joined me in an extra cup. While we were enjoying our coffee we turned on the morning news. Old habits are had to break, for a very long time we have been loyal watchers of Good Morning America. I am trying to wean  us off to a morning news show with a bit more substance in their reporting but sometimes ...

So you wanted to see the DD’s whisk boom new hair cut! Saturday I took the DD to get her hair trimmed. She informed that she wanted to get layers in her hair.  I was not entirely sure exactly what that meant however it was clear as I watched the stylist hack away at the lower ends of her hair that my idea of layers and her idea of layers were two entirely different things. I was getting my hair trimmed, being the ancient decrepit and obviously fashion challenged mom type person that I am I opted for the non-whisk broom treatment. Just an inch off the bottom all the way around please! I was in the chair opposite from her and I was working with an extreme deficit that I had to remove my glasses while the woman worked to trim my hair so I thought possibly I was imagining things.   Am I dreaming or couldn't we just attach a handle and give the kitchen floor the once over.   I have now officially moved from the sort of old column into the really old column because now ...

I just paid hard earned money to have my daughters hair cut to look like the bottom of a worn out whisk broom!

I can think of various choice adjectives to describe the aging process. For me it has been a surprising journey rather like stepping upon a mine field wearing a blind fold. You just never know when the next unexpected explosion will happen. If you are a regular visitor you know that Skoots1mom and I are very good friends. She and I are in the same accountability groups among other things. We have know each other for a very long time. Getting older at time feels like membership into an exclusive club, especially for those of us who struggle to maintain some level of hormonal balance, most times I fail miserably but I will say that the theory of “Strength in Numbers” has some validity. No one can sympathies more to the emotional and physical trauma of hot flashes, lettuce moments, insomnia and forgetfulness better than someone who is down in the trenches right along with your. However I have read stories of certain species turning on each other in extreme circumstances. I saw a disco...

I need to be working on my Disciple, my mind is a bit unfocused, random thoughts keep going through my head. In the span of a few minutes on the news this morning I heard a report about a woman in Florida who shot and killed both her children because they were mouthy and rude to her and then they ease into a report on the upcoming academy awards, doesn't this sound a bit incongruent to you? The unrest in Egypt, things seems so very bad in the world all the time and I just have to wonder what in the world in happening. Then there are moments during Sunday worship when you feel so filled up with how great God really is and all the harshness of the secular environment we live in is pushed aside for a few moments. So how do you balance your own personal life against the world view. How do you balance defining your area of service against trying to maintain a household and live with in your means? How do you sleep though the night without waking ever few minute drenched in sweat? ...

It’s a line from a John Lennon song. Today as I read some of the blogs out there I noticed a defiant theme. Folks were contemplating the year that had just gone by and looking to the new year ahead. They were making plans for things to come, for habits to break and for new things on the horizon. I think we all think about the things we want to achieve in the new year. It’s part of turning over a new leaf and a new year. You look back at the previous year and you dissect your mistakes and you chew on your irritations. I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions however there are a few things that I know will continue to do: I will continue to love my husband, children and my dog. I will continue to study God’s word. I will continue to spend time with my accountability sisters every Thursday evening. I will shamelessly boast about having the most beautiful granddaughter on the planet. I will continue to ask the age old question “How hard could it be?” I will continue to have as many l...

Some days the planets align in proper order and I am able to achieve certain levels of organization. Other days the universe goes spinning off kilter and there is no hope of getting from point a to point be in a straight line. This morning I have experienced what can only be decided as one of my clearer moments, hormonally speaking. I was able to give my pantry and freezer contents the once over and make a detail inventory of both. I tossed out the 7 bags of frozen leftover pancakes that had an inch of freezer burn on them and removed an old bag of ice that had been in there since July. With pen and notepad in hand I made a twp page list of the contents. Baring any sudden and prolonged power loss we have enough food to last us possibly until Armageddon. I am now off to the grocery store with a meager list of milk, eggs and bread and a few other perishable items that can not be stored up until the end of time. Needless to say I will find it difficult to restrain myself if I ...

It’s good to shake off the gloominess….   Blessings R

As weekends go this one was very busy. Friday was party prep at skoots1mom ’s house. Saturday was party day and my anniversary, such that it was with the hubs out of town! He is returning home on Thursday of this week (hopefully) and you can bet that there is a date night planned in the very near future to celebrate together! Sunday morning I took the stares. Now this may not sound like a big deal to y’all, and in reality just taking the stairs once is not really that big of a deal but it’s a start. A new re-beginning to adding more activity into my day!  Sunday the DD was commissioned at church for her upcoming mission trip to Mexico! Momma is, as always, fighting the Nervous Nellie’s I get before putting my baby on a plane to a different country. God is good and I know He will be with all the members of the team! Sunday the DD had her end of the years party with her girls group! They had a cook out and played games and generally had a great time! This bring me to t...

Y’all my husband has been out of town on business for what seems like forever and it will be another two weeks or more before he is back home. I will admit to enjoying my time off in the kitchen when he is away on business trips but after a while when an extended business trip comes up my “Missing Him” quotient is running high right now.  Also, my hormones are kicking my butt rhetorically speaking that is, but sometimes the emotional overload that they bring with it at times feel like a physical beating. My plate is not nearly as full as some, many of my friends are all dealing with the expectation of graduations and weddings. I am attending the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friendsthis evening. Her oldest daughter is getting married today. She has been hanging on by a thread for the past few months with the wedding frenzy. I know she will be glad to have the girl married and off on her own. She will miss her terribly as she is moving to California after the wedding....

  Y’all I was sitting at the ol’ desktop I miss my laptop so much catching up on some of my weekly reads when my ever faithful daytime companion, my sweet wonderful Buster went berserk! He began barking his sweet little head off and at first I thought he was at the front door, but no. I got up to investigate. He was standing in the hallway with his hackles raised literally. The hairs on his back were standing straight up and he was barking for all his 24 pounds would allow. He was hunkered down ready to pounce at the offending intruder in my bedroom. I walked a bit further into my room with a bit of hesitations to what could be upsetting him so. Maybe a small mouse or other creature had found it’s way  into our suburban abode. His barking erupts again and he is pacing back and forth with more agitation and I finally realize what all the fuss is about. Would you like to see the intruder?                  ...