More Blessings

A weekend full of blessings.
Road trip through some of God's most beautiful forests.
Stroll through the gounds of the annual Ice Castle.
Visit with musical friends in their winter accommodations.
Summer tourist town gets wintery...people do not leave at first snow!
Great seats to watch the tubist play during the afternoon concert.
Close fellowship and reconnecting with number one daughter.
Pizza thoughtfully provided by number one son-in-law.
Peaceful warm rest through the chilly night.
Orange juice and applesauce cake.
Watching the "Pickers" at a whole new time.
Benefits of knowing someone who got a Christmas bonus...ham dinner with all the fixins.
Final concert, appreciating trombonist soloist.
Home, through scattered snow showers and lights from Canada.
Truck phone call with son, unhurried and chatting with whole family.
Wonderful Weekend!

Blessings

It doesn't take much to scatter blessings.
Make a pair of mittens.
Give a couple hands full of seeds to a mission in Uganda.
Send some "survival" food items to a fellow going into Transition housing.
Write a letter.
Thank a friend.
Print out a devotion from the Internet for a fellow believer.
Crochet a scarf by taking some holes and attaching them together.
It's fun....and what better to do with your time?

...to the Skating Rink

And now that the temperature has arisen, the trucks have sanded, and the slush is replicating itself herewith. Yes, it's warmer. And, yes, it's more treacherous. On the back roads, the snow is being recreated, and it's not pretty. It's rather brown. The driving there is "purty greasy", as Dad used to say. SLOW DOWN!

...to the Deep Freeze

Well, it was below zero yesterday and today.
Schools were closed, despite the sunshine.
Of course, if your kid was walking to school, he might have expired on the way.
IF he wasn't wearing the appropriate cold weather gear.
That would include mittens, hats, boots.
Many kids today are too "cool" to wear those things.
You know. The weather has to bow to their desires, not the other way around.
I guess that's part of the reason for closing school.
Administrators knew the weather was not to be changed.
Unfortunately, some parents seem to think their children can call all the shots.
And no one was sad for lack of school.
Of course, this is the time of year for mid-terms and Regents exams.
I guess everything will be on schedule tomorrow.
And the weatherman is taking our wishes into consideration and bringing the temperatures up.

The Ice Box

I don't take any credit for this, but our temperature outside is right at the zero mark. That is Farenheit. Which means we are 32 degrees below freezing...and going down. Our weather person says Sunday our temps will not even rise above zero all day, no matter if there is sunshine or not. Of course, weather persons are not the ultimate authority.

If you know Suzy...

That's one we forgot to sing yesterday at a friend's 80th birthday party. I was part of the "entertainment" at the old folks' home, as we shared birthday cake and other delicacies and honored Carol, my friend's mother. Funny. My mom's name is Carol too, and I can never remember the birthday girl's!

We sang "You Are My Sunshine", "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", "Down By The Old Mill Stream", "This Land is Your Land", "Amazing Grace", "The Old Rugged Cross", "Shine on, Shine on Harvest Moon", and several others.

A couple of the fellows requested "The Wabash Cannonball", but it's not in my repertoire. One of the ladies knew it, so we hummed along on the verse and finished up with "The Wabash Cannonball".

It was fun.

...Twenty-four Little Hours....

"What a difference a day makes....!
Yesterday the sun was shining and the temperature was MINUS 23 degrees.
Today the clouds are gray and unyielding, and it is raining!
Must be global warming all over again.

Osteo

I took the questionnaire to see if I was a candidate for osteoporosis.
I got good grades on smoking, alcohol, weight and body build; not so good on age, race, and exercise. Some of these things I can't change.
What I can, I will try to do. Of course, that would include eating foods high in calcium and Vitamin D. No prob.
It's a lifetime plan.

Rise Up!

Since it is a "new year" and resolutions are expected, here's the way I'm dealing with that.

I have been going to NRB TV at 9am most weekday mornings. There smiles Jennifer Brindley, the energetic hostess for the "Rise Up Ministry" half hour show. She says she lost 80 pounds. I haven't read her story yet, but she looks like she's always been this size. Probably 10 or 12. At least there's no flesh hanging on her extremities, so she must have done some work before getting on this show.

She greets us in action. "March it out", she says. So, we do.
Then, we go into verious other planned movements that stretch our lazy muscles as she gives us Bible verses and other inspirations to keep at it.
"Go at your own pace"....but "Sitting down is not an option".

I appreciate the fact that she doesn't get into any really athletic activity; it's mostly all cardio and stretching. I'm hoping that as I continue to "rise up", it will get easier to complete the half hour.

About 3/4 of the way through, she leaves us for about a minute so we can get some water. How thoughtful! She also warns us that when we come back, she will meet us on the floor for stomach exercise. This gives us time to manage a sip of water and whatever contortions we need to do to meet her on the floor.
Good thing we don't have cameras in our living rooms. That would not be pretty!

So, this is how my "new year" is progressing. She has said several times that it takes 6 to 8 weeks for us to see any difference. I'm not sure what differences we should be looking for, but I'll let you know.

IF I continue for those weeks, and IF there are any differences!

It's a "coming-down, covering-up, staying-in" day.
Suggested activities include reading, writing, and returning to the bliss of bedtime oblivion.
This is what the bears think of just before they go into hibernation.
Peace and quiet to you all.

Violets

Shrinking Violets? OK. That's your prerogative as a "follower".
Feel free to join in as you get more comfortable here.

By the way, what's with the spelling of "prerogative"?
IF I hadn't checked, I would have spelled it "perogative".
That's the way I say it.
Heavens, does this mean I've been wrong all these years?
What a frightening thought!
And, look, it's even pronounced that way.
Wrong on two counts!

Today you have learned another little known fact of miniscule importance.
I'm not perfect.

From Whence...?

I see I have another "follower". Where do you folks come from? How did you find this poor excuse for a blog?

I've read some of your home pages. We have very little in common, other than being members of the human race. Why would you sign on as my "follower"?
It boggles my mind that people I've never met would go to the trouble.

I guess this is one of the blessings of the Internet. Kinda spooky!

Anyway...welcome to my world. I will never be an international traveler or a muslim or an artist. Well, I did go to Europe in 1964, but that's really not a qualification. I was with a tour group and I did not vary much from the brochure. And I have read a book about the Qur'an. And I create a few things in crochet, but generally not far from the pattern.

Nevertheless...the beat goes on!

more of the same

How come in the summer we don't gripe about "another day of perfection"? Now that it's winter, it takes only two days of lack of sunshine to spark a "it seems like forever since we've seen that big bright ball". I guess there is something to the SADD angle. I'm not sure what those letters stand for, but I get the impression they mean that some folks miss the sunshine a LOT. And they get all grumpy and out-of-sorts.

Glad I'm not that way. I carry my sunshine around inside of me. Although, I must admit, I really am glad to see the sun when it peeks its face from behind the blanket of clouds.

Hmmm..."face", "blanket". Maybe the sun just likes to sleep in a lot in winter. I can empathize with that!

White

Today is not your mid-winter brown. Today is white.
It's on the ground and in the air. Welcome back to the Real World.

New Day

Well, it certainly was an unexpected pleasure to see the mercury at 58F! This doesn't usually happen in January in Northern New York. So we took advantage of the situation and washed our vehicles outdoors...or, at least, we rinsed some of the road salt and grime off them. I guess maybe the New Year really did bring something new!

1-1-11

Well, that was fun.
And the only time I will be able to write 1-1-11.
With all the organizational hoopla regarding a "new year", it's pretty much like yesterday so far.
We have a New Day every day; that's really what we should focus on.
Years are much too long to relate to.
Have a great New Day!