This and That

We're in the process of remodeling bathrooms and painting the inside of our house, I got to sing a special at Mother & Daddy's church, I've had a birthday, Brittany, one of our granddaughters, came and stayed a week, a friend was killed in a motorcycle accident, my work buddy's mom had a heart attack, I've done a Beth Moore Bible study; just to name a few things that have happened recently. Yet, I can't seem to find anything to blog about. I just don't take the time to do it and to me my life seems so run-of-the-mill. I love to read other people's blogs; they seem so much more interesting and imaginative than mine.

I have not done very well keeping my weight off. I've kept 38 pounds of the 58 that I lost off,(the weight sure comes back on faster than it came off), and am trying desparately to get back on track. So far, since Wednesday, I've done good, but my house is still in an upheaval which makes me stressed, which makes me want to eat. My exercise bike is out of place and can't get to it right now. Walking hurts--arthritis in my feet. Excuses, excuses, excuses. I know what I should be doing, what I should be eating, etc. So why don't I "just do it?" Enough whining! OK, I'm better, now. :)

We had a wonderful time while Brittany was here-went to Wonderland Park, went to Splash Amarillo, went to the show and saw "UP" in 3D, ate out a LOT, but it was sure good and fun!
(Even Emily got to come spend a couple nights with us.) It was great getting to know our 13 year old Brittany. She's quite a young lady and I enjoyed having her here.

We are going to Amarillo this evening to meet Scott and his family at the Dilla Villa for a meal and to watch the ballgame with the Wayland bunch, if we don't get rained out. Looking forward to it.

Better wrap this up. Gotta go home and get things together to go to Amarillo, spending the night at Mother and Daddy's after the ball game.

To Blog or Not to Blog....

that is the question! Since I haven't blogged in eons, I guess my answer is NOT. I spend way too much time "computering", what with 3 email accounts, and FaceBook-I play around on it much more than I should! I also read others' blogs; I used to read actual books a lot, but now, not so much! I watch entirely too much TV and usually have my laptop in my lap while doing it. What has become of my life?! It really is time for me to set some limits on these activities. We are starting a new women's Bible study at church Sunday--"Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman"' by Beth Moore. I'm really looking forward to it. I volunteered to be the facilitator because I know that way I'll really DO the study. This should help me set some priorities with my time and in the process I'll mature at least a little as a Christian and grow closer to God.

Reflecting and No peas!!!

Several things have come to me in the form of emails and devotionals that have me reflecting on 2008 and the start of 2009. Thanks to all of you, by the way.

I won't say 2008 was a total "bust," but I sure had a lot of "pity parties" last year! For one, on 9/19/2007, I weighed 139.8 pounds; on 9/24/2008, I weighed 146.4! That's a gain of 6.6 pounds in one year. Now I'm suppose to be maintaining at right around 141 pounds, my TOP goal weight. But have I been? Well, NO! Yesterday I weighed in at a whopping 154 pounds (on my scales at home; I was too embarrassed to go to the official weigh in at the Weight Watchers meeting.) That's 7.6 pounds in less than 4 months!!! So TODAY I am re-committing (again) to follow what I know will work. You see, on 4/26/2005, I weighed 198.2 pounds, so I CAN lose, albeit slowly. The trick is to KEEP it off. I've had so many "pity parties" about not being able to eat EVERYTHING I WANT and still keep the weight off, or about NOT having the metabolism to burn off EVERYTHING I EAT without extra exercise, like a couple of women I know--I've got to quit comparing myself to others. Those kinds of "pity parties" have the pounds leaping back on. So they HAVE to STOP NOW!

Another "pity party" involves my spiritual relationships. I'm having a very difficult time because we still DO NOT have a pastor at our church. It's been over a year! I love my Sunday School class and that is probably what has kept me attending church each Sunday, but I am getting frustrated with our pastor search committee. I know they are "seeking God's will," but it looks to me like the church might just disintegrate before they find someone "suitable." Yes, I KNOW I'm suppose to be looking to Jesus and NOT a pastor, but we desperately need some human leadership, which we're NOT getting from the DEACONS.....just my opinion. One deacon and his wife have completely quit coming! Stop looking at others, only at Jesus, right? I've also let my own personal "quiet time" slip...MY FAULT, and no one else's. This is another area only I can remedy with God's help. Another very important re-commitment is in order here. Pray for me!

Yet, another "pity party" is about family relationships. Our oldest grandchild, Jessicca, is going through a difficult time in her life and has all but cut herself off from us. Traci, our daughter, her mother, is divorced from her dad. She chose to live with her dad in Texas since the beginning of the divorce proceedings-over 2 years ago, while her younger sister, Brittany lives with her mom in Michigan. Jessicca is very angry with her mom about the divorce and does not want to have anything to do with her mom or this side of the family right now, and it is breaking my heart! She was suppose to come to our house the week after Christmas with Traci and her new husband, Bobby, and Brittany. Traci didn't MAKE her come, so she DIDN'T! And it made me very, very sad. We had a good time with them and Scott & his family, but I really missed Jessicca. Another prayer matter! GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL!

There have been a lot of other "pity parties" that didn't make the top 3 in 2008, but at least my health was good that year! No hospitals, no surgeries, not anything I can even remember! That brings us to the start of 2009.....

Guess who didn't eat her black eyed peas on New Years Day 2009. I could have myself another "pity party;" seems I've been sick most of 2009 already. I had a touch of the intestinal crud while the kids were here and off and on the next week, then I took this cold that I can't seem to shake. Could there be a correlation? No black eyed peas? hmmmm........ (Did I NOT eat them last year???)

"It's OK to say Merry Christmas!"

Our choir director gave out buttons that say "It's OK to Say Merry Christmas" on them. I wear mine everywhere. About 2 weeks ago, I was shopping in the United Supermarket in Pampa. While I was checking out, the checker said to me, "You are an answer to my prayers." It seems she had been struggling with how to greet people during the Christmas season. She told me that if she knew the people she generally said, "Merry Christmas." But she wasn't sure what to wish everyone else. She'd even prayed about it. God used my button to answer her prayers, because it IS OK to say Merry Christmas! Isn't God Awesome?!!

Bah, Humbug-Never Again!

Okay, so I'm not so good at this "blogging" thing. It's been a while since I've blogged, so, just a quick thought. This is the first year EVER that we haven't done ANY Christmas decorating. About the only Christmassy thing here are the wrapped presents stacked on the piano bench. It's really very sad! But we decided since no one will be here for Christmas this year, until the week after Christmas around New Year's eve, we'd forgo any decorating. Also it is getting very hard for either one of us to crawl around in the attic and get the Christmas decorations down. But we both decided it just hasn't seemed like Christmas and we will NEVER NOT decorate again.

Thursday Thirteen? Tips for a Lifetime

1. Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.

2. Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot griddle- perfect shaped pancakes every time.

3. To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

4. To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.

5. Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan-the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.

6. To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing.

7. To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove-top-skillet will be much easier to clean now.

8. Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces-no more stains.

9. When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead-no white mess on the outside of the cake.

10. If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato-it absorbs the excess salt for an instant "fix me up".

11. Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator-it will keep for weeks.

12. Brush beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield beautiful, glossy finish.

13. Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it back up.

14. When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corns natural sweetness.

15. To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh-if it rises to the surface, throw it away.

16. Cure for (some) headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

17. Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

18. If you have problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

19. Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

20. To get rid of itch from mosquito bite: try applying soap on the area for instant relief.

21. Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they are said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march--see for yourself.

22. Use air-freshener to clean mirrors: It does a good job and better still, leave a lovely smell to the shine.

23. When you get a splinter, reach for the scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.

OK, so I went a little overboard. How about Thursday Twenty-Three? No? Well, maybe you can try some of these. I haven't tried them all, but they sound interesting, anyway.

After thoughts.......

If you read my first post, you know that I ruined my camera when we went to Hawaii. It turns out it was the camera that got ruined, not just the battery. So I found me a new Canon Power Shot SD 1100 IS Digital ELPH and ordered it online. It came in yesterday. Yea! The menus and settings, etc. are like the Digital ELPH I had, only this one is much better 8 Mega Pixels, 3x Optical Zoom, Optical Image Stabilizer, 2.5" LCD, PureColor II. It fits in my purse, AND it's pink! I think I'm really going to like it. I took pictures of it with my really old hp Photosmart 612. That's a little strange, but so am I! (I included the picture of me holding it so you can see how small it is.)