Happy New Year Everyone! Hard to imagine it's 2011. I can honestly say, I've been around on this earth for a while now. I've seen some amazing times, some hard times, lots of changes, a few surprises but the bottom line is I have a successful destiny ahead of me.
I can easily be accused of being nostalgic. That would be true. I'm big on tradition and I love to ruminate on the past full of wonderful memories. But I'm not walking backwards always looking behind. I'm looking forward! So much ahead, so much to do and see! I can glance back at the past, when I was younger or when the kids were little etc. and appreciate those times but I don't want to go back there and relive them. I have already lived them (and learned from them)! There is more to live ahead! Why not just add to the pile of great moments and memories and lessons!
Even better, I have a guarantee. It is one of the many perks of following Christ. "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." (Proverbs 4:18). Sometimes things start out a little murky, and I can't see the direction I'm to take but as time goes on, just like the breaking of dawn, everything becomes clearer until it's like full daylight and I can see every detail. If you are in the dark, I suggest you wait a little while until the sun comes up!
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed." (Proverbs 16:3). You see - it's a guarantee to success!
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." (1Cor. 2:9). I trust Him to bring me wonderful suprises. And as for the struggles I didn't see coming I trust Him to walk me through them.
So here's to a new year. A year full of success in all you do for that is what you are destined for!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Angels All The Way
Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year! Let's just get that out of the way shall we?
But I'm giving my tree a break this year. The poor thing was snatched off the Christmas Tree lot at Home Depot at a rock bottom price as there were only a couple days left until the big day. We lovingly decorated it with all our favourite ornaments and memories. Went to bed ready for Christmas Eve and I woke to find it laying face first on my carpet, acting all embarrased like, as it had poured all it's water onto my presents and soaked my rug. Thank you Amelia. Hope you had a good time tugging that ornament off that you just had to eat and pulling the tree down with it. So we propped er back up. Tied her to the Curtain rod and redecorated the whole thing. Randi dragged the carpet upstairs and over the banister in an attempt to dry and I stuck all the presents by the fire to warm up. And there was my angel, the pinnacle of the tree, holding her little lights in each hand that don't light up anymore. They are little blackened bulbs now. But she keeps smiling even if she is not lighting the way.
We are angel people, not star people. My parents had a lovely little angel with gold foil wings, alabaster hair and a beautiful wax face that had been delicately carved. One year the angel hung out too close to the fire and that was the end of her lovely little nose and rosebud mouth.
Recently, my son's girlfriend told me about an angel her mother used to own that they always put on the tree top. There she was, holding her two little lights in each hand much like my angel used to, and as Mara (at that time about 9) gazed in wonder those little lights suddenly blazed up and became flames of fire. Chaos ensued and the scored angel was promptly disposed of. Can you imagine what a little girl would be thinking as this angel decided it was time to torch the tree???
Even though some angels go bad and try to burn down your house or not light at all, or turn into a blob of wax, we still stick with them. It's angels all the way in this house.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Cookie Belly and Other Christmas Maladies
But Christmas doesn't come without its issues. You can't have a rose without thorns ya know.
To name a few: stress, perpetual busy-ness, a few extra pounds, hangovers and of course cookie belly.
Cookie belly plagues my household a lot at this time of the year. Both myself and my new daughter aka ballerina billet Kelli have a passion for baking, especially cookies. And then we sample the dough at different intervals, sample each batch, sample when they are still hot and then when they are cold and voila, you have a cookie belly. That's a belly that feels far to full and uncomfortable with a major sugar rush at the same time. The next morning you wake up with pants that have shrunk on their own accord.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Sign of the Times
Yesterday was my day off, if you can call it that. It's the day I have "off" of my job that I go to and the day I try to jam in as many chores as possible. So after wandering around Walmart for a while which I hate doing so I finally said to myself "Self, what are you doing here, get out!" I left and headed to the Mall.
I'm not much of a Mall person either but, it's a sign of the times - christmas is coming; there is shopping to be done. I'm a get in, get it and get out kind of girl but yesterday as I was heading back to the exit there was the Christmas train out in a huge display.
This train set(s) is up every year but honestly, I have not taken the time to check it out since the kids were little and would stuff there little noses up against the glass on their tippee-toes to see the trains putter by through the little villages and hills.
I thought, slow down, you are moving to fast. You got to make the morning last. So I took the time to check out the little trains moving around the track and all the activity of train town.
There is a parade, which I remembered, going through a town with names of local stores. One of the floats in the parade is called "3 men in a hot tub" and sure enough, it is a hot tub with three men in it. I did not remember one of them being naked but sure enough, there is a little guy in there wearing no clothes....
Around the corner there is a fire going on with thick cotton ball puffs painted grey on the roof to indicate smoke and the police are there trying to keep order and the fire truck of course. There is a few men hanging around pointing, gesturing towards the ladder or the roof or something.
But one part, I did not really remember is a fenced in area with a barn called "Jurassic Park Day Care". There are a lot of dinosaurs lazying around inside the fence. I guess this is where you drop your dinosaur off before heading to work. Sticking out of the top window of the barn is the back end of either a brontosaurus or T-rex (not sure as I could only see his butt). Very clever.
Made me think I should really take the time in the midst of this busy season to check out the small details that make Christmas extra special. In fact, next time I'm in the mall I'm going to give that whole train set up a good going over, see what other little surprises are there to be discovered.
The Christmas chaos is starting to rev up. We can get overwhelmed, overbooked and overfed. Slow down and take the time to discover the little wonders of the season, whether that be the incredible unique beauty of a single snowflake or the back end of a dinosaur sticking out a window.
I'm not much of a Mall person either but, it's a sign of the times - christmas is coming; there is shopping to be done. I'm a get in, get it and get out kind of girl but yesterday as I was heading back to the exit there was the Christmas train out in a huge display.
This train set(s) is up every year but honestly, I have not taken the time to check it out since the kids were little and would stuff there little noses up against the glass on their tippee-toes to see the trains putter by through the little villages and hills.
I thought, slow down, you are moving to fast. You got to make the morning last. So I took the time to check out the little trains moving around the track and all the activity of train town.
There is a parade, which I remembered, going through a town with names of local stores. One of the floats in the parade is called "3 men in a hot tub" and sure enough, it is a hot tub with three men in it. I did not remember one of them being naked but sure enough, there is a little guy in there wearing no clothes....
Around the corner there is a fire going on with thick cotton ball puffs painted grey on the roof to indicate smoke and the police are there trying to keep order and the fire truck of course. There is a few men hanging around pointing, gesturing towards the ladder or the roof or something.
But one part, I did not really remember is a fenced in area with a barn called "Jurassic Park Day Care". There are a lot of dinosaurs lazying around inside the fence. I guess this is where you drop your dinosaur off before heading to work. Sticking out of the top window of the barn is the back end of either a brontosaurus or T-rex (not sure as I could only see his butt). Very clever.
Made me think I should really take the time in the midst of this busy season to check out the small details that make Christmas extra special. In fact, next time I'm in the mall I'm going to give that whole train set up a good going over, see what other little surprises are there to be discovered.
The Christmas chaos is starting to rev up. We can get overwhelmed, overbooked and overfed. Slow down and take the time to discover the little wonders of the season, whether that be the incredible unique beauty of a single snowflake or the back end of a dinosaur sticking out a window.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
A Mouse in the House and Other Such Critter Encounters
Winter is in its way here in Canada. There is a definite chill in the air. So who can blame Mr. Mouse for moving his abode from the sunny grasses of my backyard to inside my 4 walls. Doesn't seem to matter that there are also 3 humans, 1 dog and two cats in here already. Apparently, we can all get along.
Amelia, the dog, though she sometimes takes the stance of a pointer (one paw bent in the air, back straight and nose pointed in the general direction of a suspicious object), is quite useless at catching anything.
Clare, well she is just too old and crabby. She can't hear, she sleeps all the time and she has a problem determining where the heck the kitty litter is.
But Frodo.....how disappointing. My big boy born in the wild by a feral mom no less. Who was raised on the ins and and outs of hunting mice. He simply is not doing his job. Oh, he's met Mr. Mouse, watched Mr. Mouse, even played with Mr. Mouse, but he has not shown Mr. Mouse the door.
So now when I go down to do the laundry, there he is twitching his cute little nose and whiskers at me and then I catch a glimpse of his little white belly and tippy tail as he scampers off. I hope he didn't invite his friends.
I don't mind mice. I don't really want them in my house either. But it seems until Frodo gets his act together or I break down and set a trap, it is what it is. Now RATS, on the other hand, that is a different story.
I used to work in a dog kennel where rat disposal was part of the job. I had it all worked out though. I simply let CeCe (sounds like seesee) out of her pen, barking chaos would ensue as all the other dogs would I suspect place their bets, and CeCe would eventually nail that rat, give it a quick shake, break it's neck and voila, one dead rat ready for me to dispose of. All I had to do was bury the sucker.
Then, there was the squirrel visit, clearly something right out of the movie Christmas Vacation. I was typing away at the computer, much like today. The dog and cat were both snoozing behind me in their respective chairs. Suddenly I hear the plink, plink of the piano. I take a quick look around me. Only me and the pets are in the house and not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. So I tiptoed into the music room see who was playing my piano. Mr. Squirrel was just heading out and we kind of ran into each other. I screamed, Squirrel screamed and we both headed in different directions; me up the stairs and Squirrelly into the clutches of the now very much awake dog and cat. Thus the craziness began with Squirrel, Amelia and Frodo all tearing up the place. Clare slept through it all. I eventually cornered the poor squirrel in the shelf on a bookcase and I promptly sealed the front of it with a garbage bag and called my hubby to get home right now and do something about this! With a little luck we eventually got the squirrel back outside. That is probably the last time he will try his paws on making music.
So back to Mr. Mouse. He really must go. Maybe if I wake Clare up and point her in the right direction, she'll perk up and do what comes naturally. Maybe Frodo will get his lazy butt in gear. Maybe Amelia will come up with a brilliant idea in her silly head. Maybe I'll set a trap. Or maybe, we will all live in harmony until spring. As long as Rat and Squirrel don't show up!
Amelia, the dog, though she sometimes takes the stance of a pointer (one paw bent in the air, back straight and nose pointed in the general direction of a suspicious object), is quite useless at catching anything.
Clare, well she is just too old and crabby. She can't hear, she sleeps all the time and she has a problem determining where the heck the kitty litter is.
But Frodo.....how disappointing. My big boy born in the wild by a feral mom no less. Who was raised on the ins and and outs of hunting mice. He simply is not doing his job. Oh, he's met Mr. Mouse, watched Mr. Mouse, even played with Mr. Mouse, but he has not shown Mr. Mouse the door.
So now when I go down to do the laundry, there he is twitching his cute little nose and whiskers at me and then I catch a glimpse of his little white belly and tippy tail as he scampers off. I hope he didn't invite his friends.
I don't mind mice. I don't really want them in my house either. But it seems until Frodo gets his act together or I break down and set a trap, it is what it is. Now RATS, on the other hand, that is a different story.
I used to work in a dog kennel where rat disposal was part of the job. I had it all worked out though. I simply let CeCe (sounds like seesee) out of her pen, barking chaos would ensue as all the other dogs would I suspect place their bets, and CeCe would eventually nail that rat, give it a quick shake, break it's neck and voila, one dead rat ready for me to dispose of. All I had to do was bury the sucker.
Then, there was the squirrel visit, clearly something right out of the movie Christmas Vacation. I was typing away at the computer, much like today. The dog and cat were both snoozing behind me in their respective chairs. Suddenly I hear the plink, plink of the piano. I take a quick look around me. Only me and the pets are in the house and not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. So I tiptoed into the music room see who was playing my piano. Mr. Squirrel was just heading out and we kind of ran into each other. I screamed, Squirrel screamed and we both headed in different directions; me up the stairs and Squirrelly into the clutches of the now very much awake dog and cat. Thus the craziness began with Squirrel, Amelia and Frodo all tearing up the place. Clare slept through it all. I eventually cornered the poor squirrel in the shelf on a bookcase and I promptly sealed the front of it with a garbage bag and called my hubby to get home right now and do something about this! With a little luck we eventually got the squirrel back outside. That is probably the last time he will try his paws on making music.
So back to Mr. Mouse. He really must go. Maybe if I wake Clare up and point her in the right direction, she'll perk up and do what comes naturally. Maybe Frodo will get his lazy butt in gear. Maybe Amelia will come up with a brilliant idea in her silly head. Maybe I'll set a trap. Or maybe, we will all live in harmony until spring. As long as Rat and Squirrel don't show up!
Friday, October 29, 2010
When you Blow It....and We all do
Three Steps to Sin:
1) Contemplation
2) Rationaliation
3) Consent
P.S. - sin always affects others
Ruth Bell Graham
I think Ruth pretty much nailed this one. Short, sweet, to the point and pretty darn accurate. Odd, how easy it is to sin, especially when you consider we actually have not one but 3 choices to make. We have to choose to contemplate it, choose to rationalize, and choose to consent. That means we have 3 chances to stop the process too, knowing there are dire outcomes (sin always affects others,not to mention yourself) if we move onto step 2 or 3!
Yet, we all do it, we all mess up.
Which is why I love the story of Peter and the crowing rooster. Here is Jesus with his disciples having their last supper together before his death on th cross. Jesus knows what is coming, he probably feels quite alone as there is no one else around the table even amongst his closest friends, who get his pain.
Jesus looks at Peter and says "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31).
Peter emphatically insists "Lord I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!"
But Jesus says "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Later that night, when Jesus is arrested Peter follows at a distance. He is attempting to keep his fiery words of complete and utter loyalty. So as he sits by the fire trying to look inconspicuous, someone across the way is staring intently and accuses "This man was with him!" Peter quickly contemplates what to do. He rationalizes, if he admits it, he will be caught and then what good would he be to Jesus! So he gives his consent and lies "I don't know him." He does this two more times, getting louder and more insistent believing his lie. After the third time the rooster crows and Jesus turns and looks straight at him. It is a knife to Peter's heart, he knows he has blown it and he runs out to weep bitterly. We can all relate to how Peter felt. I know I Can!
Afterwards, Peter gave up on himself, he went back to fishing. He probably felt, "I'm no good to even be called a disciple of Jesus. I'm just a dumb old fisherman, that's all I'm good for."
So when he finds himeself sitting around another camp fire, this time with Jesus, he can barely look him in the eye. He hangs his head in shame. But Jesus reinstates him, not once, twice, but three times, wiping off each of Peter's mistakes. He directs Peter to do the very thing he now has expertise on, looking after Jesus' sheep. Peter has been through it, he has been sifted by Satan, he knows what it feels like to blow it. Jesus knew this would happen, he was praying for Peter even before the events took place.
"And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
The best person to remove a sliver out of another's eye is the one who has been through the same thing, who has removed not just a sliver, but a whole plank.
When we blow it we can come back stronger, and be there, with compassion, understanding and grace to help someone else through.
1) Contemplation
2) Rationaliation
3) Consent
P.S. - sin always affects others
Ruth Bell Graham
I think Ruth pretty much nailed this one. Short, sweet, to the point and pretty darn accurate. Odd, how easy it is to sin, especially when you consider we actually have not one but 3 choices to make. We have to choose to contemplate it, choose to rationalize, and choose to consent. That means we have 3 chances to stop the process too, knowing there are dire outcomes (sin always affects others,not to mention yourself) if we move onto step 2 or 3!
Yet, we all do it, we all mess up.
Which is why I love the story of Peter and the crowing rooster. Here is Jesus with his disciples having their last supper together before his death on th cross. Jesus knows what is coming, he probably feels quite alone as there is no one else around the table even amongst his closest friends, who get his pain.
Jesus looks at Peter and says "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31).
Peter emphatically insists "Lord I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!"
But Jesus says "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Later that night, when Jesus is arrested Peter follows at a distance. He is attempting to keep his fiery words of complete and utter loyalty. So as he sits by the fire trying to look inconspicuous, someone across the way is staring intently and accuses "This man was with him!" Peter quickly contemplates what to do. He rationalizes, if he admits it, he will be caught and then what good would he be to Jesus! So he gives his consent and lies "I don't know him." He does this two more times, getting louder and more insistent believing his lie. After the third time the rooster crows and Jesus turns and looks straight at him. It is a knife to Peter's heart, he knows he has blown it and he runs out to weep bitterly. We can all relate to how Peter felt. I know I Can!
Afterwards, Peter gave up on himself, he went back to fishing. He probably felt, "I'm no good to even be called a disciple of Jesus. I'm just a dumb old fisherman, that's all I'm good for."
So when he finds himeself sitting around another camp fire, this time with Jesus, he can barely look him in the eye. He hangs his head in shame. But Jesus reinstates him, not once, twice, but three times, wiping off each of Peter's mistakes. He directs Peter to do the very thing he now has expertise on, looking after Jesus' sheep. Peter has been through it, he has been sifted by Satan, he knows what it feels like to blow it. Jesus knew this would happen, he was praying for Peter even before the events took place.
"And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
The best person to remove a sliver out of another's eye is the one who has been through the same thing, who has removed not just a sliver, but a whole plank.
When we blow it we can come back stronger, and be there, with compassion, understanding and grace to help someone else through.
Friday, October 15, 2010
This Week in the News!
I hope you all have had a great week! It's Friday for me, week's nearly done. And it's been a pretty typical one. Ups and downs, ins and outs, highs and lows - zoom another week gone in my life in the blink of an eye.
It started with the most gorgeous Thanksgiving weekend ever. We drove the kids back to their respective schools....the other side of Toronto...on the holiday Monday. Needless to say, I would not recommend that little, I mean long, bumper-to-bumper drive. Why weren't all these people snug in their Grandma's farmhouse eating turkey in the backwoods somewhere???
We got home late but Tuesday was back to work so with sleepy limbs and fuzzy eyes I headed into the office. "What....I have to do the Minutes for 2 meetings back to back all afternoon?"...."And what are we talking about??" I magooed my way throught that and somehow produced two coherent sets of Minutes. Came home to find cheques in the mail from the government!!! Yeah!! None for me however, two for Adrian, one for Randi. But, it all pans out for the whole family in the end, believe me.
Did Laundry
Made Cookies
Made Lentil and Sweet potatoe soup
All those other everyday things we women do. Blah blah blah
I had dance last night and survived yet again!
So here we are on Friday, my day off. I paid the bills via the internet (I love internet banking). And find that this week, we have no money so we will be on a tight budget.
I will be getting groceries today, working out and maybe, if I'm lucky, will get in that 3:00 nap!
This weekend will include yardwork and prep for winter, who keeps hinting he's coming for a visit soon. I have a lovely backyard
It started with the most gorgeous Thanksgiving weekend ever. We drove the kids back to their respective schools....the other side of Toronto...on the holiday Monday. Needless to say, I would not recommend that little, I mean long, bumper-to-bumper drive. Why weren't all these people snug in their Grandma's farmhouse eating turkey in the backwoods somewhere???
We got home late but Tuesday was back to work so with sleepy limbs and fuzzy eyes I headed into the office. "What....I have to do the Minutes for 2 meetings back to back all afternoon?"...."And what are we talking about??" I magooed my way throught that and somehow produced two coherent sets of Minutes. Came home to find cheques in the mail from the government!!! Yeah!! None for me however, two for Adrian, one for Randi. But, it all pans out for the whole family in the end, believe me.
Did Laundry
Made Cookies
Made Lentil and Sweet potatoe soup
All those other everyday things we women do. Blah blah blah
I had dance last night and survived yet again!
So here we are on Friday, my day off. I paid the bills via the internet (I love internet banking). And find that this week, we have no money so we will be on a tight budget.
I will be getting groceries today, working out and maybe, if I'm lucky, will get in that 3:00 nap!
This weekend will include yardwork and prep for winter, who keeps hinting he's coming for a visit soon. I have a lovely backyard
Hope you all have a great Friday a great weekend and enjoy the everyday things of life.
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