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Joy-Stealers

Certain things in life should be joyous. Period.

I hate it when things that should be joyous come with extra baggage to complicate matters. Some of the issues come from human idiocy. Other things, well, I just have to believe in God’s timing. Whether I understand and agree, or not.

Things that should be joyous are engagements and weddings, graduations, championships, pregnancies and birth, retirements, etc. You know the list.

Some joy-stealers that come to mind…
Being at a wedding where the bride should be marrying the best-man.
Finding out you’re pregnant – but you’re not married.
Graduating – 6 months after your class because you were a credit short.
Having a grandchild on the way when its parents already can’t pay the bills.
Retiring – but not by choice – health issues made that decision for you.

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t experienced joy-stealers. What I’ve listed are dramatic examples but not unusual today. I don’t even have the answers for dealing with joy-stealers without resentment. I know in my heart that God’s timing is always right. Knowing and understanding, well, not always the easiest.

Like Martina McBride sings…do it anyway. Be joyous anyway.

Bloggers Anonymous

I was reading a couple of my favorite blogs and I was struck by a couple of things. One touches on what I mentioned in a recent post. Bloggers want to be heard. Another thing I've noted is that blog readers tend to read and go. They don't like to leave comments. They remain...(insert creepy music here) ANONYMOUS! (creepy music fades out)

When you set up a blog they tell you to put a poll on your site to get participation. Ask questions in your blog and folks will answer in their comments. Well, it must not be working because I keep seeing bloggers asking people to comment and the readers rarely do. Well, as much as I'd like to hear from my readers, if they're more comfortable remaining anonymous, that's ok. After all, my kids generally read these posts because I hound them with "have you read the blog???" all the time. They know there's likely going to be a quiz... My husband - well, he will read occasionally - he knows I hate it that my blog isn't set as his homepage or something equally important and eye-catching.

I did have my first "non-family-member" comment last night. I was thrilled! Yes! "Somebody heard what I said..." Of course, my youngest son is still grieving that not a single stuffing recipe was left following my blog request. He wasn't overly thrilled by my creation and I think I heard him thank God for Stove Top that night before bed.

So hey, leave a comment, reply to a comment, or just read and go...it's all good. Bottom line...I'm glad you stop by here.

Any comments???

New Toys

Is there really anything quite like new toys? Just when I think I'm beyond getting excited over gadgets and such, somthing comes along and I feel just like a kid again. I've received a few such items in the last year...

The first was my TiVo receiver and service (thank you, Mother Wiren!). A year later and I'm still thrilled with it - actually even more thrilled with it. It's absolutely wonderful! Quite a recommendation coming from someone who used to think they were "just plain stupid."

Next came my "Smart Phone." This is a combination cell-phone and PDA (personal digital assistant). I have my phone, contacts, calendar, memo pad, bible, games, calculator, camera, video camera, memo-mate, etc. Definitely some "say-wow" stuff here. Again, since I have gadgets for music, pictures and such, I don't use all the features of my smart phone. The ones I do use, however, are terrific! It's rare you find the novel covers or cases for the smart-phones - mostly because of their size I would imagine. I did come across one, though. The case I have looks like a sneaker; black canvas and white rubber. At least it's not quite as manly looking now!

Side note here...Would you believe I found a purse with 3 outside pockets on the front just perfect for my digital camera, smart-phone, and IPod. Life is good.

The next one was my IPod. Yes, I truly love my IPod. This is another gadget that I thought was stupid and ridiculous - before I got one and realized what all they can do. I routinely carry around movies, television shows and series', my photographs, podcasts, audiobooks, and a TON of my favorite music. This is one gadget that's way too cool. I almost feel sorry for today's youngsters - they won't know to appreciate all these great things. My kids know that ITunes gift cards are always welcome here!

My newest toy that makes me go "ooh-aah" is my new GPS. It's an early Christmas present from my husband. It's a TomTom One XL-S (the model has only been out for about a month). It's very user friendly and comes "ready to go - right from the box." If you've been considering a GPS - go for it! This one has the voice that announces turns, street names, etc. You can choose from different voices but if you want to hear street names you have to stick with a computerized voice. the clarity is very good. I think the voice feature is a definite plus. The really high-end models also perform as MP3 players, photo storage, etc. Since I already have all that in my IPod, I hardly need it in my GPS. It's great to type in my destination and then see how far away it is, how long it will take to get there, what time it will be when I get there, which way I'm going to turn next, the name of the next road I need, the name of the next major road I need, etc. If you veer off track it advises you to turn around either "at the first opportunity" or at _________ and it will give you a street name. If there's more than one way to get to your destination and you choose a different one - no problem. The GPS will re-figure the route and pick up without skipping a beat. You can also choose alternate routes. All sorts of great stuff. Enough that it's even fun having it on when I travel my regular day-in, day-out roads. It's also interesting to see which route it chooses as the fastest. Sometimes it's the way I've always gone - and sometimes it isn't. With it being this much fun here at home I can't wait to see how useful it will be when we're on a trip!

I love new toys! Even at my age.

I hope you get lots of great toys for Christmas!

Thanksgiving Reflections...

Wow! I've got to say that our Thanksgiving has been very nice. I enjoyed cooking, our dinner turned out well, Ken's mom was with us, and we were all feeling blessed by all we have to be thankful for. Christopher and Abbey's excitement was definitely contagious.

Now, keeping with tradition, we did get out early Friday morning in search of goodies. We didn't find everything (still in stock) we were looking for but we did pretty well just the same. We went back out for a bit on Saturday and found an early birthday present for Ken as well as a Christmas present for me!

Sunday was more on the quiet side and time to start focusing on Monday and the week ahead. Ken and the kids got started on the derby cars for AWANA. The December 5th race will be here before we know it. So far they're looking good! Just between you and me, Abbey will be racing her pick-up-truck this time around and while I don't know the proper name, Christopher's car is looking way-cool! Elisa and Darrell are back home safe and sound and I talked to Matthew and Shannon on the phone. Seems Matthew made a pecan pie!

I started playing a bit with my new GPS and am really looking forward to using this new toy on a regular basis. We're all tired (in a very nice way) and as the leftovers get eaten and our thoughts turn to Christmas, I find that Thanksgiving 2007 is already fading into a fond memory.

I hope you can say the same... Have a wonderful week!

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Our Thanksgiving Menu

Breakfast
Homemade sticky buns
Swiss Scramble Breakfast Casserole

Midday Snack
Cocktail Smokies
Port Wine Cheese Log with Assorted Crackers
Eggnog and Apple Cider

Thanksgiving Dinner
Fried Turkey (Thank you, Sweetheart!)
Mashed Potatoes and gravy (turkey and beef/brown)
Stuffing (mediocre "made from scratch")

Cranberry Sauce
Pineapple Casserole

Sweet Potato Balls
Green Bean Casserole
Corn
Cran-Broccoli Salad

Crescent Rolls

Apple Pie
Vanilla Ice Cream
Coffee

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is probably my last post prior to Thanksgiving. With a long list of things to get done and a big meal to prepare and serious shopping to plan for - I don't know when I'd find the time!

Seriously, I'm going to try something new and attempt to get a lot of tasks knocked out tomorrow, Wednesday, instead of keeping everything for Thursday. I don't know what it would be like to have some pre-dinner free time on Thanksgiving day. I sure like the idea of finding out, though.

Our gathering will be a bit smaller this year with only my mother-in-law joining the 4 of us currently at home. Our family's to the point where we head in different directions and meet different obligations. I've been in touch with my father in Florida a good bit this week. His wife was hospitalized over a week ago with some complications from her recent bypass surgery. From what he told me this morning it appears she'll be heading home Wednesday. He said they'd head to Cracker Barrel for their Thanksgiving meal if she's up to it. Either way I know they'll be glad she's out of the hospital.

More from Florida... my sister-in-law, Carol, is our token turkey this year. Thanksgiving lands on her birthday and I'm really hoping she'll take the day off - but I bet she won't. After a couple days of shopping and a couple spent resting we blink and it's my niece's 14th birthday exactly one-week after her mother's. From what I understand we'll have their family here for a quick visit that week. We'll miss them and my mother-in-law at Christmastime, however.

My oldest brother will be the host for my middle daughter's Thanksgiving festivities this year. Ahhh...to watch the sun rise on the beach and celebrate all you're thankful for with friends and loved ones the same day! I sure didn't appreciate it when I had it. Things rarely change, though. Here I have access to the mountains (which I love!) and rarely make the drive to enjoy their majesty.

My oldest son is also visiting the Sunshine State. He caught a ride with his older sister but will continue on further south to Fort Lauderdale. He'll be catching up with family and playing a lot of video games. I'll bet he doesn't even see the beach!

Well, that's about it for now. I should probably get some sleep if I'm going to get a jump on that ol' early bird!

Stay safe!

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving...

Books, Books and More Books

This is another one of those days that I have no idea what I'm going to write but wanted to write *something*

Books came to mind as I retrieved my latest Amazon.com order. Oh goodie! In this batch we have "Presidential Trivia" and Frommer's "Irreverent Guide to Washington D.C. " (always a good choice AFTER your trip!). There's so much about Washington I want to learn about and the quirky stuff was appealing as a starting place.

Anyway, leaving Washington, we come across Christopher's *NASB Study Bible for Boys. Now, I would probably qualify as a bible collector. Not old, rare, collector varieties - just the quantity variety. *NASB for Precepts Studies, *NIV for Beth Moore studies, *NLT for its easily understood text. *KJV for its poetic quality that I have trouble understandig, *NKJV, well, I guess because it's new. My most recent acquisition is a NCV - The "Women of Faith Amazing Freedom Bible." It's pretty, has a great magnetized closure flap that makes it good for travel and it's supposed to be an easily read and understood translation.

Now, it might be argued that Christopher is getting a respectable collection as well. His new curriculum offers *KJV or *NASB and he didn't have a *NASB Bible - but, he does now.

This order ends with "Love & Respect." Probably THE Best marriage book available today. If you're engaged, married a year or 30 - read this book. I'm so glad our Pastor told us about this book.

*NASB=New American Standard Bible, *NIV= New International Version, *NLT= New Living Translation, *KJV=King James Version, *NKJV=New King James Version, *NCV=New Century Version.

Now, you go on and read this post and I'll go look through my new books!

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Last week I had the pleasure of taking my two youngest kids and a 4-yr old we were babysitting to a new little place in our downtown area called Silver Chair. It's a used book store/coffee bar in a converted house that's lovely and quaint. From a friend's recommendation I knew they had an area for kids, so as a special treat I decided we'd stop. As luck would have it we arrived a short while before their scheduled story-time, complete with related crafts and coloring pages! The kids had a nice time, and I enjoyed browsing the large and impressive collection of books the owner had on hand. I did end up with a book about the history and tales of our American Flag. I'm still on my US History kick following D.C. The kids - not as interested in history, chose a video "The Little Toaster."

While waiting for the kids time to finish I sat in an overstuffed, comfy chair, enjoying my coffee, and casually looked over the titles on a shelf next to me. Well, my imagination started getting the best of me! Now remember, this is some "down" time for me while I wait for the kids. I'm not trying to solve the world's problems or anything - just fill some time with a little fun.

This game actually got its start from the first title that caught my eye..."Emotionally Weird." Well, this was an easy one to place myself in the middle of. Then again, there's not too many people I know who aren't emotionally weird in one way or the other. That's ok - it just added to my amusement; you know what they say about small minds...

Continuing on I came across Tara Road, Under a Sheltering Sky - Now, with tongue firmly in cheek , we have a new story right here. How about "Emotionally Weird on Tara Road Under a Sheltering Sky" Now there's some vivid imagery!

Side by side on the shelf were "Inheritance" and "Pay or Play." Now really, I don't make this stuff up - well, actually I do. But nevermind that. This story just gets more interesting with the addition of "Three Wishes" and "Man on the Mountain."















I get a sense of melancholy when I imagine "The Patriarch" as "The Forgotten Man" with "A False Sense of Well Being," I wonder at the images created from the "Tournament of Shadows" at "Hatrack River" as recorded in "The Cloud Atlas." Mostly, though, with "Time and Tide," I'll continue my games, "Holding Out" and avoiding "The Rescuer," and hearing my 6-yr old say "That's All Right, Mama."

Have a great week and most of all, "Happy Thanksgiving!" I hope you're surrounded by loved ones. I really believe that no matter how good or bad we think we've got it - we can always find plenty to be thankful for. What a tremendous blessing!

P.S. My daughter specifically told me not to go with the Book Title entry - thought I was too strange on this one, AND, my husband just came downstairs complaining about all my books in the bathroom! I told you...Books, Books, and More Books!

Toast: "To Family...Cheers"