new opportunity

Oh, I love being in women's Bible studies! Love the Tuesday group, love the Thursday group. I would be hard-pressed to choose which one I like best!

We had a great time in the Word yesterday. When I returned home, I received a phone call inviting me to be involved in another ministry.

I said yes.

I toured this facility a few months ago and was so impressed. Carefully designed and thought out, this is so much more than a domestic abuse shelter. Financial, nutritional, job, parenting and emotional counseling are all available to these gals. Training in life skills. There are several bedrooms set up for moms and up to 5 kids. There is a common cooking and living area.

The safety of the women and children is also taken into consideration. Security cameras abound and the facility is just a block from the sheriff's department.

Different organizations and individuals sponsored each of the bedrooms and made it their goal to decorate them in a homey, comfortable fashion. They are all downright cute and practical. I wouldn't mind living there! Especially in the shabby chic room which is so charming and cozy.

This is a faith-based organization and I am so grateful to be able to be a small part of bringing comfort and hope and peace to these dear ladies and children whose lives have been turned upside down.

One of the gals I pray with at the food pantry is the first resident. She is very excited about being able to live there.
~~~~~
Supposed to be in the mid-70's today. Time to break out the capris and sandals and go play in the dirt!

sub

Today, I am the substitute teacher for Bible study.

I love leading a Bible study.

I am also (as you may know) the substitute choir director for the children's choir.

I love leading a children's choir (or any choir for that matter).

I'm thankful for these opportunities to step in and serve...and hope someday they will lead to other opportunities.

It is my goal to always be ready and willing to serve.

And able?

Only by the strength and grace that He gives.

embarrassment at church. a haiku

Messy windblown hair.
Check the mirror, then, oh no
Sign on the door? MEN

saturday with Joshua

Five and a half more weeks until we get to see this handsome boy!


turban Josh

face-making Josh

messy Josh

slippered Josh

Josh with his beautiful Mommy

Josh with his maternal grandpa

driveway Josh

He looks soooo grown-up here - he'll be two in a month!

min.

I received an email from a friend and among other things, she informed me that a mutual friend had recently begun blogging.

So, I read the dozen or so posts she had on her blog. One thing lead to another and I found myself checking out one of her links.

A post about a guy who owns 75 things. That is it. He can pack to move anywhere in the world in about 15 minutes.

Now to be fair, he is not including books, nor furniture shared with his roommate.

So, of course, this set me to thinking.

Could I live with only 75 things (think so)?

Do I want to? Not really, I guess, but the idea of such simplicity really appeals to me. When we moved we downsized. When we arrived here we downsized even more. Having less stuff is freeing.

Of course we could do even more. And I want to. But we are a l-o-n-g way from 75. I think we have 75 pens and pencils alone!

I know it took us over a month to disperse all of my mother-in-law's belongings after she died. I don't want the kids to have to do that with our stuff.

Though, I'll never be a minimalist, I'd really like to have less stuff.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21

I'm motivated to keep working on downsizing.

Anybody need some pens or pencils?

speak easy

I grew up in a very loving, stable home. For this, I am so grateful. And part of the stability meant that there were rules that must be obeyed.

Some of the rules involved our speech.

'Oh, be careful little mouth, what you say;
Oh, be careful little mouth, what you say;
For the Father up above is looking down in love,
So, be careful little mouth what you say.'

We were not allowed to say things like: 'dumb', 'stupid', 'shut up' or 'hate'. (Even now, I cringe to type these words - sorry Mom and Dad - just trying to make a point here.) Those were swear words. I don't think I heard the really bad words until I was in high school. Yep, pretty naive and glad for it.

My sister, in yesterday's comments, referred to the name calling and spitting that took place in Washington, D.C. prior to the health care vote. Name calling and spitting! I can not imagine being so angry as to lose control of myself and call someone a name or spit on them. (Sounds more like something a two year old or a junior high school bully would do.)

Whatever happened to civility? Neither name calling or spitting or shouting are any way to make your voice heard, let alone win an argument or persuade someone to see your point of view.

"Oh, yeah, well, since you spit on me I see how strongly you feel about this, therefore I will come around to your way of thinking."

Don't think so.

Let your speech always be with grace,
as though seasoned with salt,
so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
Colossians 4:6

~~~~~~
A few people have mentioned that they have had trouble commenting here. Sometimes Blogger behaves badly for me too!

Here is my dear friend Ann's comment regarding yesterday's blog:

I wrote about your Mom and how it made me smile to think of her going to the dump with earrings, scarf, and shoes to match her outfit. And just how cute I think your Mama is, both inside and out.

Ann, you are so right! I love my cute little mommy!

that's garbage

How can you not love a hyacinth? Especially one this shade of purple!

So far, my facebook friend has not responded to my comment on his status yesterday. Also, no comments here but I got one supportive email and one shout out on facebook from momawake who couldn't get my comments to work. Thanks!



I heard this disturbing statistic on the radio yesterday:
"According to the United Nations Environment Program, Americans spend more for trash bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for everything!".

Wow! Can that be possible? Shame on us.

We generate about one bag of garbage every 3-4 weeks. I wonder if we can do better than that? We recycle glass, tin, plastic, paper, and cardboard. We haven't started composting yet because of the skunks....one day I hope to have a compost tumbler, but they are rather pricey. (Maybe someone who is about to retire could make one for us.) I know, I'm so demanding.

Today is 'take all the recyclables and garbage to the dump day'. Mom is going to accompany me. A girls day out. Woohoo! As I left Mom and Dad's this morning, Mom (who always looks cute in anything she wears) asked what she should wear for our special time out on the town.

I told her casual would be just fine. I don't think the County inmates who run the dump will mind if we don't get too gussied up.

Hope you are having as much fun as we are today - I've gotta go coordinate my work gloves with my sweat pants!

dear friend,

I'd like to respond to your facebook status:

How most Republicans in Congress can claim they're Christian is an interesting sleight of hand trick. Didn't Christ heal the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and raise Lazarus from the dead? So why have most Republicans become the enemy of every generous impulse in our national character?

First of all, your indictment made me so sad. Yes, absolutely Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry and clothed the naked and commanded His followers to do the same.

There's the catch, and why I was not in favor of this particular health care reform bill. (Note, I did not say I'm not in favor of health care reform.) Jesus commanded His followers to
care for the sick and needy, not the government.

I object to the current health care reform bill on three levels:
1) As one who is pro-life, I cannot support government funding of abortion (and yes, I realize that this was taken out of the bill, but only at the 11th hour.)
2) As a mother and grandmother, I cringe at the debt we are taking on for the future generations
3) There is a reason why people laugh at the punch line - 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'. I have little to no faith that the health care reform bill as passed by the house will help.

Our state representatives enumerated the ways it will hurt our state budget. Paying for mandated health care reform will divert money from education and infrastructure projects.

It is a complicated issue and I don't pretend to have the answers. All I know is what Jesus called me to do. If I am faithful, I can do my little part to help those in need. I know it is a drop in the bucket and doesn't fix all the problems, but it is a start.

We recently had a meeting of the food pantry workers at our church. There were about 100 of us there. People who faithfully give their time and money to help. Every week we give a bag of groceries and milk and bread and meat to each recipient.

Without a government mandate.

I'm posting this as a comment to my friend's facebook status and waiting for the slings and arrows to fly.

lemon meringue was my idea

In anticipation of my aunt's second visit in a week, I had decided to make a lemon meringue pie. The previous weekend's banana cream was tasty, but not pretty. I wanted to master pretty.

But, on Friday, after running a ton of errands and finishing two Bible study lessons, and walking three miles with my neighbor, I was feeling lazy. I knew I should go ahead and pre-bake a pie crust, but it occurred to me that I didn't even really like pie crust. And pie crusts contain a lot of calories. Fat calories. Who needs that?

(Cue the ''Windows 7 - it was my idea' commercial with ethereal music playing in the background and swap out a beautiful super model for me.)

I thought to myself, 'Why do I need a pie crust with the lemon meringue?' Why can't I just make lemon meringue?'

So, I did.


And served them in little custard cups. So pretty, so easy. Soooo yummy.

And it was my idea. ~smile~

My sister blogged about my niece's weekend appendectomy here.

looks like

another beautiful day. My aunt returns today, so it will be good to see her again and hear about her adventures over the past week.

When I got up this morning, I checked facebook, only to find out my niece had an emergency appendectomy in the middle of the night. Praying for you, Christina! Speedy recovery!

Our Jon had his appendix removed 6 days after he had returned home for a summer long mission trip to Czech Republic. While there is never a good time to have your appendix removed, we were so thankful he didn't have to have surgery over there!
~~~~~~~
Praying for a friend who is facing a very tough day today. And another one who buried her father yesterday while her mother hangs on by a thread. May the God of all comfort, comfort you.

seriously. not.

I had a longish, thought-provoking (imho) post planned for today.

But the sun is shining, teeny tiny baby lettuce and radish seedlings are beginning to appear.

And. I planted pansies yesterday.

I can't be serious when I look at sweet pansy faces.

spring cookies decorated by Miss Emilee

Have a beautiful day! It is almost spring!

photo journal part 2

So proud of her creations.

Grandma is telling her youngest grandchild the Resurrection Story.
(or you can make your own)

Emilee proceeded to retell the Resurrection Story using a bunny puppet and a teddy bear puppet. 'Jesus died for our sins,' she told us,' and used his superpowers to raise from the dead.'

photo journal part 1

Wonderful, long talks with my aunt
hope I'm as active and sharp as she is when I reach her age

Hooray! We are coloring eggs!

Concentrating on intensifying the colors

Pleased with the results.

fam fun

I've been thoroughly enjoying my aunt's visit. Dad told us we were getting a lot of exercise....of our lower jaws. Yes, we've been talking a lot!

After she leaves today, I go to Bible study. When I get home from Bible study, Cheryl and Emilee arrive.

Then we'll start another kind of fun. I hard boiled a dozen eggs last night so we can color 'em up today. Nothing like decorating eggs with a five year old.

Hope y'all are having as much fun as I am!

mastering the meringue

We have certainly enjoyed our visit with my aunt this weekend. She leaves this morning - Nashville bound - but will return on Saturday.

My banana meringue pie was tasty, but not pretty. The meringue separated from the edges of the crust despite my following the directions which clearly said 'smooth the meringue to the edges of the pastry to avoid separation'. So, I need more practice and will master the meringue no matter how many calories I have to consume to do so.

Making this pie brought back childhood memories. Mom makes great pies. When we would go visit my paternal grandparents in New York each summer, my grandpa would request that Mom make a pie.

She obliged. I remember her spreading the meringue on the hot lemon filling and using the back of the spoon to lift up the cute little meringue curly cues. Seemed magical.

Good memories of good times oh so long ago.

Tomorrow Miss Emilee and sister-in-law Cheryl arrive. We will decorate Easter eggs.

Hopefully I'm better at boiling eggs than I am at pie making!

hooray for company!

The lightning flashed, the thunder crashed and the rain poured. We had a few minutes of pea sized hail and there were flood warnings throughout the area. But after all that, this:


In order to make the most of the rainy day, I spent about two hours doing Bible study, made sugar cookies for my choir girls (did I tell you I have six now?) and baked a pie crust.

I also planted some grass in my garage. Yep, in the garage. I've always wanted to do a little Easter centerpiece with real live grass and this year I finally remembered to plant the grass ahead of time. I'll show you pictures when the time comes (and if things don't turn out the way I want them to, we'll just pretend I never mentioned it, K?).

I have grand plans for that pie crust today. I haven't made a banana cream pie in years...no, probably decades. But today I'm making a banana cream pie with real meringue on top. I haven't made meringue in years...no, probably decades. I think it is time. 'Specially 'cuz I have a hankerin' for some banana cream pie. But even more special....my aunt is arriving from NC this afternoon and I think banana cream pie will top off our turkey dinner just right (and if things don't turn out the way I want them to, we'll just pretend I never mentioned it, K?).

My lovely sister-in-law and my adorable niece Emilee are coming next week for an overnighter as well. I foresee cookie decorating and Easter egg dying in our future. And probably a visit to the park. Have a great weekend everyone!

the crocuses were a bit afraid to open up yesterday...which is good...
hail would not be their friend

a tale of two doggies

KimmeeSue

The milder weather has brought our neighbors outside. I enjoy taking a walk around the block and chat with folks we haven't seen all winter.

Yesterday, my neighbor J. and I were walking (we usually get out a few times a week together). Her little poodle, Pebbles, always accompanies us. This past winter she has worn a number of stylish puppy jackets, but yesterday did not need one.

As we were finishing up the three mile loop, we saw Mom walking KimmeeSue. Pebbles and KimmeeSue are great friends so they greeted each other as only dogs do and J. and I chatted with Mom.

All of a sudden Pebbles started whining and whimpering. A split second later Kimmee began having one of her infrequent seizures. As J. and Mom and I calmed and petted and reassured Kimmee, Pebbles kept her nose right up to Kimmee. So sweet. Pebbles is as compassionate as her owner.

I ran to Mom and Dad's to get their car. Kimmee, still in full seizure, jumped into the back seat. She feels very secure in that car - it is where she goes when their are thunder storms in the area.

Once I pulled the car into the garage, Kimmee jumped from the back seat into the front seat (while still seizing). I carried her into the house and after a bit she was fine. Thirsty, but fine.

This all lasted 5-6 minutes.

Isn't it remarkable that Pebbles sensed that something was about to happen? And that she felt responsible to comfort Kimmee? And that Kimmee, while still suffering from her seizure could jump not only into the car, but from back seat to front seat.

I tell ya, dogs are amazing people.

(I called J. and Pebbles later to assure them that Kimmee was okay and thank them for being there to help us. )

welcoming

The first crocus. The knowledge that spring is indeed coming. What a wonderful sight! Welcome, spring!

Mom, Dad and I attended a visitation last night. She was a friend from Mom and Dad's church and her name suited her perfectly.

Joy.

I did not know her well, but she always had a smile. She always made one feel welcome. Even when we visited her in the nursing home and she could not speak because of her tracheotomy tube, she smiled and greeted us with such a warm welcome.

We talked about this yesterday in Bible study (we were a little off topic...). The importance of making people feel welcome. I often forget to set people at ease and let them know how glad I am to see them.

Becoming more welcoming is on my mind.

Crocuses welcome spring. 'Hooray, spring is here!'
Joy would welcome her visitors. 'I'm so glad to see you!'
And Joy was welcomed into heaven with a 'well done, good and faithful servant.'
In the spirit of welcoming, thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I am truly grateful for the time you take to read my ramblings.

it might be here

The weather was so nice that Mom and Dad walked over to our house twice. The second time they found me bending over this delicate little wildflower,
identification book in hand.
Mountain Bluet.

I think spring arrived in southeast Tennessee yesterday.

Though the morning was chilly, the day quickly warmed. Windows were opened. Laundry was hung .

I hoed the garden and planted carrots, two varieties of lettuce and two varieties of radish.

We saw our first crocus.

Pat and I walked around the block three times at various times throughout the day. During one walk we discovered that our neighbor had a wheelbarrow full of sod. He cut this from the edges of his driveway for a brick laying project. These cuttings were perfect for some bare spots in our yard. With his permission and blessing we took the sod and patched it in our yard.

Another walk around the block - 2/3 of a mile - took us well over an hour to complete because there were other neighbors strolling around.

Everyone was in a good mood.

Sunshine and warm temperatures will do that. Hope you are enjoying hints of spring wherever you are!

free

He sat down across the table from me. The first thing I noticed about him - his kind eyes. We chatted for a few minutes. He seemed a little nervous, as people often are on their first visit to the food pantry.

I reassured him and joked with him. He is just a little older than my oldest son. Since he was new to the area, I asked him what brought him here. He seemed eager to tell me his story.

He had spent time in prison, he said, as he watched my face for reaction. I smiled at him, encouraging him to tell me more. Being in prison was the best thing that could have happened to him, he said.

In prison, he met Jesus Christ. And though behind bars and razor-wire fence, for the first time in his life he was free. He attended wonderful Bible studies and awesome worship services (his words).

Released from prison, he moved down here to get away from old friends and bad influences. He has a place to live and a job. Just needed a bag of food to get him started.

I asked him if he had found a church home yet.

"No, I'm a little reluctant to start looking for churches. I'm heavily covered with tattoos and feel uncomfortable with people staring at me."

I was silent for a moment, wishing desperately that I could whole-heartedly invite him to our church. But I did have reservations about how well he would be received. Many would welcome him with open arms....but I knew there would be some....

I held his hands and prayed with him. Rejoicing in his salvation and his Savior. Praying for God's provision and that he would soon find a church home where he could experience the awesome worship he encountered in prison.

And all the while, my heart breaking that he felt more freedom in prison than he would in many churches.

Lord Jesus, forgive us for judging people by their appearance. Help us to see them as You do. Help us to be welcoming to all who seek you and make our churches havens for those who hurt and awesome places to worship You. Amen.

awww and owww

After bagging up groceries for the food pantry yesterday, I slipped into the fellowship hall where a sale was in progress. The proceeds from consignment sale of children's clothing is to benefit children attending church camp this summer. Soo.... I bought some pink, flowery, ruffly things for our little granddaughter (sorry for the poor quality of the pics - couldn't find good light in the house).
The items I bought didn't look like they had ever been worn and they were adorable. And reasonable. And for a good cause - my granddaughter and our church kids! I bought some things for Joshua too, but they are not pink and ruffly and flowery.

~~~~~
I had a tooth extracted on Wednesday. Friday, I developed dry socket which is fairly ouchy. I'm helping at the food pantry again this morning. The temporary pain I am in will be a good reminder of the long term pain many of our pantry friends experience. Pat is taking good care of me, he ran to town to get me some oil of cloves - that stuff really helps! The pain meds aren't boo tad either. :) Lalala

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It is supposed to be beautiful here!

~~~~~~~
Here are some thought provoking posts to read since I'm not feeling particularly wordy:
Part one
and
part two.

prepared

Periodically, I yammer on in my blog posts about the importance of buying things on sale and stocking up.

It appears that someone has actually been listening:

picture from homesteading today

~~~~~
And, if you are not sure what to prepare for supper, check out Kelly's new blog.
Kelly is my daughter-in-law Kristi's sister and will have all kinds of yummy ideas for y'all.
~~~~~
Please notice the new widget on my sidebar. Not only are we counting the days 'til our granddaughter's arrival, we are preparing for Pat's retirement. Won't be long now!

a long rambling post about regional dialects

depending on where you are from, these mountains are purdy, preddy or pretty

Another reason I enjoyed watching the Olympics – especially hockey- was hearing the old familiar ‘northwoods’ accent.

I have always enjoyed listening to people’s accents and trying to discover where they are from. This probably started when I was in college and on a summer singing team (1973, remember, Kathee?). One night we stayed at a home in Ypsilanti, MI. The lady we stayed with had a decidedly southern accent. She sounded like my grandmother.

When I asked her where she was from and she responded ‘southern Illinois’ and I said where in southern Illinois and she said Metropolis, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Do you know Birdie Lingle?” I asked.

Know her? she responded. “ I lived right next to their produce warehouse.”

“She’s my grandmother,” I practically shouted.

“You’re Carolee’s girl? I taught your daddy how to diaper you!”

She proceeded to bring out a shoebox of photographs. Sho’ ‘nuff, there were photos of my grandma, my long deceased grandpa (he died when Mom was 19) and mom. We called Grandma that night and it was great fun reuniting these friends.

So ever since that wonderful, serendipitous occasion, when I meet new people, I hang on their words to discern their origins. If you tell me you are going to ‘pahk the cah’ or course that is somewhere in the northeast. ‘R’s are often a giveaway (warsh the car), as are ‘o’s and ‘I’s’. I usually have a pretty good idea if you are from the northeast, southeast Ohio, Kintucky, Tinnessee, or Minnesoata (intentional misspellings). Or Canada, eh?

Hockey in the northwoods is not really called hockey. It’s ‘hahckey’. And I loved hearing it called that again, if only for a few weeks.

There is one other accent I can pretty easily identify, From an email forwarded to my parents:

1. Grachki (grach'-key): Chicagoese for 'garage key' as in, 'Yo, Theresa, waja do wit da grachki? How my supposta cut da grass if I don't git intada grach?'


2. Sammich: Chicagoese for sandwich. When made with sausage, it's a sassage sammich; when made with shredded beef, it's an Italian Beef sammich, a local delicacy consisting of piles of spicy meat in a perilously soggy bun.

3. Da: This article is a key part of Chicago speech, as in 'Da Bears' or 'Da Mare' -- the latter denoting Richard M. Daley, or Richie, as he's often called.

4. Jewels: Not family heirlooms, but a popular name for one of the region's dominant grocery store chains. 'I'm goin' to the Jewels to pick up some sassage.'

5. Field's: Marshall Field, a prominent Chicago department store. Also Carson Pirie Scott, another major department store chain, is simply called ' Carson 's.'

6. Tree: The number between two and four. 'We were lucky dat we only got tree inches of snow da udder night.'

7. Over by dere: Translates to 'over by there,' a way of emphasizing a site presumed familiar to the listener. As in, 'I got the sassage at the Jewels down on Kedzie, over by dere.'

8. Kaminski Park : The mispronounced name of the ballpark where the Chicago White Sox (da Sox) play baseball. Comiskey Park was renamed U.S. Cellular Field (da Cell)

9. Frunchroom: As in, 'Get outta da frunchroom wit dose muddy shoes.' It's not the 'parlor.' It's not the 'living room.' In the land of the bungalow, it's the 'frunchroom,' a named derived, linguists believe, from 'front room.'

10. Use: Not the verb, but the plural pronoun 'you!' 'Where use goin'?'

11. Downtown: Anywhere near The Lake, south of The Zoo (Lincoln Park Zoo) and north of Soldier Field.

12. The Lake: Lake Michigan. (What other lake is there?) It's often used by local weathermen, 'cooler by The Lake.'

14. Braht: Short for Bratwurst. 'Gimme a braht wit kraut.'

15. Goes: Past or present tense of the verb 'say.' For example, 'Den he goes, 'I like this place'!'

16. Guys: Used when addressing two or more people, regardless of each individual's gender.

17. Pop: A soft drink. Don't say 'soda' in this town. 'Do ya wanna canna pop?'

18 Sliders: Nickname for hamburgers from White Castle, a popular Midwestern burger chain. 'Dose sliders I had last night gave me da runs'

19. The Taste: The Taste of Chicago Festival, a huge extravaganza in Grant Park featuring samples of Chicagoland cuisine which takes place each year around the Fourth of July holiday.

20. 'Jeetyet?': Translates to, 'Did you eat yet?'

21. Winter and Construction: Punch line to the joke, 'What are the two seasons in Chicago ?'

22. Cuppa Too-Tree: is Chicagoese for 'a couple, two, three' which really means 'a few.' For example, 'Hey Mike, dere any beerz left in da cooler over by dere?' 'Yeh, a cuppa too-tree.'

23. 588-2300: Everyone in Chicago knows this commercial jingle and the carpet company you'll get if you call that number -- Empire!

24. Junk Dror: You will usually find the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen filled to the brim with miscellaneous, but very important, junk.

25. Southern Illinois: Anything south of I-80. This is where Smothers' is from...

26. Expressways: The Interstates in the immediate Chicagoland area are usually known just by their 'name' and not their Interstate number: the Dan Ryan ('da Ryan'), the Stevenson, the Kennedy (da 'Kennedy'), the Eisenhower (da 'Ike'), and the Edens (just 'Edens' but Da Edens' is acceptable).

27. Gym Shoes: The rest of the country may refer to them as sneakers or running shoes but Chicagoans will always call them gym shoes!

Having lived in the 'Chicawgo' area from 1968-1978 and again from 1983-1986, I completely understood all 27 of these definitions. And now I have an irrational urge to go call Empire (588-2300....Empire!).

Olympics

Generally, I let the Olympics go by without paying too much attention. Televised sporting events are a good opportunity for me to get some needlework done. I will watch the Super Bowl or Packer games to be sociable (and will cheer and holler at the television at the appropriate times), but never think to turn on a game or event if I am home alone.

But this year, this year, we actually knew an Olympic athlete. We have known her since her family moved to the Northwoods. Our families homeschooled together, worshipped together and fellowshipped together. Jon was baptized in ‘their’ lake. Jon and Jinelle’s brother double-dated for prom. Jinelle’s mom and I worked at the food pantry together.

Knowing an actual Olympian gave the games a whole new meaning. We watched every one of the USA women’s hockey games. We watched the opening ceremony, seeing her first when the USA entered the arena and later during a shot when the IOC president was speaking. We know her!

We screamed and hollered and jumped up off Mom and Dad’s couch (we don’t have satellite tv and for some reason these very important games were not televised on network tv).

We even got our neighbors caught up in USA women’s hockey fever. I sent them the link for Jinelle’s blog . And during Sunday school on Sunday the husband leaned over and whispered – ‘We watched your little girl play hockey.’ I smiled. Jinelle is six feet tall.

They handily won their first three games. The gold medal game was against Canada. Big rivalry. BIG rivalry.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an exciting game, but in the end the USA women lost.

Lost the game, but won the silver medal.

And our admiration.

(Especially since they didn’t celebrate their medal by smoking cigars and drinking champagne like a certain team from the north which shall remain nameless. )

complaining about the weather

A colder and snowier winter than normal produces two things down here in southeast Tennessee.

The first thing is complaining. 'Will winter ever end?' 'It is soooo cold!' 'I'm gonna move to Florida!'.

Of course, this amuses me no end. This winter, though harder than most down here is no where near as long and cold and snowy as we endured (and you are enduring) in the northwoods. I try to be sympathetic....

I no more understand complaining about the weather than I understand the newscasters who interview seismologists and ask 'why can't you predict when earthquakes will happen'? (We continue to pray for the people of Haiti and now...Chile.)

Some things are unknowable. Some things (like the weather) are beyond our ability to change. So, we endure or enjoy.

I choose enjoy.

A rainy, blustery day is a perfect day for reading a book, sewing, cleaning a closet, writing letters to sweet friends, trying a new soup recipe. Same goes for below-zero days.

The second thing bad weather produces here in southeast Tennessee is great beauty. And when the temperatures are mild and the sun is shining.... time to head out and enjoy.

We are so blessed to be in a valley surrounded by mountains. If you look closely at the above picture, you can see the snow covered mountains in the distance. (My camera doesn't do it justice.) This sight (taken from the highest point in our subdivision) is simply breath-taking.

On a cold, sunny day following a few snowy days, the light reflects off the mountains and they are dazzling.

My neighbor and I walk and are awe-struck. We alternate between saying, 'Wow' and 'How can people not believe in God?'
Today is cold and blustery. The snow that is falling is not accumulating here in the valley, but the mountains are getting several inches.

I'm forecasting another beautiful, breath-taking day.

click on photos to enlarge...it will help....some

Oh, my. Did I just come back from a two week break from blogging and write a post about the weather! ?! I wouldn't blame you if you never came back here again. I'll try to do better....sorry!