I watched the funeral service this evening for President Gerald Ford. Although I am too young to remember much, if anything, about his presidency, I do remember my Grammy coming to the house on election day. She asked me who I thought should be the next president - Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter. I said that I thought Mr. Ford should be the next president and when she asked me why, I said because he seemed like a nice grandpa. I remember crying when they told me later that Jimmy Carter had won and would be our next president instead.

And so tonight, I watched and cried for Mrs. Ford who lost her love of nearly 60 years and for their children and grandchildren and those who dearly loved this man. I cried because I miss my Grammy, especially at this time of year.

I wish that I could drive down to DC and walk in the rotunda, to pay my respects to this man but I don't want to make the trip alone. So I will stay close by the television and absorb as much as I can. I so appreciated one of the eulogies tonight that ended with "well done, good and faithful servant". It is what we all want to hear some day and I believe he already heard them, Tuesday evening after his passing.

It has been a busy week. I feel like I have constantly been on the go since the Friday before Christmas (and surely before that!) And as my vacation week winds down, I am thinking of all the things I wanted to do but didn't quite get to yet.

I did organize the pantry and the hall closet. I still want to organize the linen closet and then the biggie...the office! I spent the day today with Nan and we challenged each other to get our offices cleaned out and in functioning order by the end of January. We gave ourselves to the end of February to sort through, discard, etc. anything we remove that isn't brought back in immediately to make the room (and ourselves) functional. I also called my parents and asked my dad to come build some shelving for me around the room. That should be a nice place to put my collectibles and such so they aren't taking up valuable space on the desk, bookshelves and so on. I don't think my landlord will mind - it'll be a nice addition to the room and when my dad did it for my mom, it turned out very nice.

On another note, I was supposed to go with my friend to visit our old pastor's church tomorrow. But my friend and his family are down with the stomach flu. So now I am trying to decide if I should take this opportunity to go visit another church (which I've never done on a Sunday) or just go to mine as usual. I don't know. I'm torn. I was just looking at some of the local churches online but only found one that was appealing to me. On the other hand, our pastor is going to talk about a new study we are going to be doing at the beginning of the year and I'm somewhat interested in hearing what he says about that to the congregation.

Tomorrow night, I'm hanging out with some old friends. I don't want to stay out and ring in the new year...I'd rather be home, safe and sound, watching the ball drop at midnight than driving home with crazy people who have been drinking. So we agreed to dinner, maybe a movie, just having fun but calling it an early night.

Monday I am sleeping in! And, if I can store up enough energy (and boxes), clearing out the office!!! I'll do more before and after shots. I wish I had done a before of the pantry and hall closet but they do look fantastic now, if I do say so myself. I don't know what it is about me and the overwhelming desire to reorganize everything to start the new year but I do this every year.

I have to say thank you to Katrina at Callapidder Days for organizing this challenge! It was great fun and really encouraged me to catch up on some books I've been wanting to read for some time. It also gave me a great opportunity to look at everyone else's list and pick some new books to read! I so dearly love books and always have. The most relaxing thing I can do in this world is lie on the bed and read. The perfect day off, in my mind, consists of just that and I have let myself get away from that simple pleasure. This challenge helped me to reclaim my love of reading and that leisure time.

I have to admit up front that there are three books I didn't finish. All non-fiction and I think it's probably just not the right time. I believe that sometimes books, like people, come into your life for a reason - there may be something you need to read or learn at that time. So I started but haven't finished the Bill Hybels' book and also "Shepherding A Child's Heart". The Dave Ramsey book on finances is a MUST read in the new year for me, but I decided I'd rather look into another book that was recommended by many bloggers - Blue Like Jazz. I just bought that on Monday and hope to sink into it this weekend.

So, now that my disclaimer is out of the way, on to Katrina's questions!

The Best Book You Read This Fall
I would have to say, without a doubt, that it was "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. This book was so wonderful I couldn't put it down. I'm so thankful for Barb and the other bloggers who recommended this one. I have enjoyed other books by Francine Rivers but hadn't heard about this one and picked it up. When I read the first chapter, I actually put it down, thinking I could not possibly - emotionally - get through this book and its subject matter. But I decided to give it my best effort and I'm so thankful I did. It was simply wonderful and really gave me new perspective on what it means to be redeemed.

The Book You Could Have Lived Without
As much as I like Marilyn Meberg, I'd have to say it was "God At Your Wits End". I think this is one of those books I mentioned earlier - probably one that would minister to me at another point in life but not this one. I did recommend it to a friend, though!

I also could probably have lived without "Unlikey Angel". I was interested in the story but there was little I hadn't already read in the news. I was disappointed that it didn't really provide much information about Brian Nichols after he surrendered - whether she visited him or had had any contact with him. I imagine the answer may be no but I would have liked to know. They spent such an intense time together and it seemed that the Lord was really working in her to minister to him and I just felt like there should have been more.

Whether or Not You Read More than You Would Have Without the Challenge

I definitely read more. I'm often so busy or so tired that I haven't been making time to read and that's a real shame. It's so relaxing to me and I was thankful I found ways to make the time throughout - and I hope I can continue that (even if there isn't a winter challenge!)

The Best Thing About Joining in the Challenge

I think the best thing was discovering new books based on what others were reading and recommending. Also, finding some kindred readers online was very nice!

If You Discovered (and Enjoyed) a New Book or Author After Reading Someone Else's List

Yes, yes! I mentioned finding "Redeeming Love" on some lists. And now I've purchased "Blue Like Jazz" and another book by Donald Miller. I also picked up "The Scarlet Thread" by Francine Rivers (another one Barb has mentioned) and Karen Kingsbury's Red Glove Series. I love finding new books and new authors! Thank you to all who participated and gave me some great new ones!! : )

Any Other Insights, Enjoyments, Thoughts, or Impressions!
I'm really thankful to Katrina for organizing this challenge and letting me be a part of it! I already have a stack of books to work on this winter, whether or not there is a challenge - though the challenge did make me more deliberate and dedicated. I hope there will be others in the future!

Labels: Fall into Reading Challenge '06

This is the longest week on record. I feel like a little kid who can't wait for Christmas - only now it's because I am off from work for a week. I am so terribly tired and really need to get some things taking care of around this house...and I'm hoping for some relaxing downtime too.

Our puppet team from church performed tonight at another church, so I went right from work over there and now I am online finishing up a project that absolutely has to be finished this evening. I'm so thankful for this job with its variety and busyness - it's definitely keeping me on my toes!

**UPDATE** It's 12:24 AM and the project is officially finished and signed off on. Whew! Now it's off to bed.

The bulletins for Christmas eve service are finished - printed and waiting to be delivered to the woman who puts them together. She will be so thrilled to have them ahead of time - and I am also thrilled to not be doing them on Christmas Eve!

The Christmas cards went out over the weekend and I'm not baking this year, so the only thing left to be done is the most dreaded of all tasks - the wrapping. Last year, I was blessed by a freak snowstorm that closed my office and I was able to stay home all day and wrap. Since it's nearly 60 degrees this week, not much chance of that. I thought of paying one of the youth to do it but that seems wrong. As much as I hate wrapping, I feel like wrapping is all part of the gift giving experience. Now the challenge is finding the time to do it. I just had a terrible image of me wrapping gifts on Christmas morning before driving to my parents house. AAAAHHHH. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I have many things in mind to blog about but at the moment my energy is fading. Perhaps tomorrow...unless I wrap!

Once again, life is put into perspective.

Yesterday started off as a much better day. I went into a weekly meeting at work and when I came out, I received an email from my friend Kris that the medical director at my previous employer had been killed in a plane crash. He left behind a wife and a son that he loved so dearly, as well as many patients and colleagues whom he touched.

I noticed another email from my friend Michael asking me to call him. As he works at the same company, I assumed the news was the same. I called him and immediately said that I had heard and started asking him for details on the plane crash. He stopped me and said he had other sad news to impart - our friend Debbie lost her husband that morning to a heart attack. He had been sick and in the hospital but was scheduled to be discharged that morning. My heart breaks for Debbie - I cannot imagine how hard this is. I tried to call her today but I understand from others that she is out making the arrangements. I'm praying for her and just hope she is holding up ok - as well as can be expected.

How petty and stupid my whinings on Monday seem.

Well, today was definitely one of THOSE days.

I was late for work because I am having trouble with my new contacts. The right one is basically a piece of cling wrap and impossible to put in my eye. It folds itself up nicely into a little ball and is virtually impossible to unfold. And when it is finally unfolded and put in, it's usually inside-out, causing great pain so I have to take it out again and start the whole maddening process over.

A major project I have been working on for the last few weeks got canceled with no notice. It's really frustrating to walk away from the day feeling like the bulk of work you did for the last few weeks was for absolutely nothing.

I ordered a puppet we need for several puppet show outreaches our puppet team is doing for church on Saturday. I ordered it to be sent by Wednesday to the leader of that team. This morning, the company called to say they could not have it by Wednesday and they could not ship to this address. I have no idea why (on either account) so now it is coming to me by Friday for a Saturday performance.

I stopped at the store on the way home because I wanted to make one of those fleece blankets that have the edges all tied together for someone for Wednesday. Fleece is expensive!!!! I thought this would be an inexpensive project. But it's not...so it won't get done, unless I find the fabric elsewhere cheaper.

I came home, ate and came on the computer to view the prints from a portrait I had taken of Normie yesterday (what an adventure that was!) only to find that they won't be posted until tomorrow. So, I checked my email...to find that the 600 outreach fliers we were getting done for Saturday have the wrong website address on them! I had to order 600 more...and pay for them again...and I put in the person's address to ship to who is printing them for me. When I looked at the receipt, I realized I put MY zip code on it, not theirs. So I tried to call but the place closed at 8. I sent an email and I'll call again in the morning. Hopefully, I'll get to them before it ships!

And now here I am catching up on my bloglines reading and I can't seem to comment on anyone's posts...why, I do not know. : (

Sigh.

I need a vacation!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Interesting, since I'm not from the Inland North...and have only visited there a few times...although in the graph, Northeast is not far behind. I love that Philadephia is in a class all to itself!!

Labels: Meme World

I know to most people, this is not an astounding photo. But I haven't had a Christmas tree up in four years. Part of that was due to my fuzzy fellow, who, on his first Christmas took one look at the tree and decide to take a flying leap right into the middle of it. And part was just due to my own general bah humbuggyness around the holidays. But this year, I decided I wanted a tree and went out Thanksgiving night to get one. I'm really happy with it - the size is just perfect and it's pre-lit which is just fantastic. But I am also so happy to look at it and see all the ornaments I have on it that mean something to me. I have several cardinals, in honor of my Grammy. I have one that looks like our old dog, Thunder. I have a bunch of fabric pinecones that my friend Joann from my very first job out of college taught me how to make. I have a black & white Norm cat that Kym painted for me. I have a Dumbo taking a bath - because it's just too darn cute. I have stars and bells and bows and a Christmas Wish ball that opens up and closes with a latch to lock in your special wish.

And it makes me happy.

Well, almost a surprise.

We planned Michelle's birthday party (I won't reveal which one but it's a nice round number)for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We told her it was scrapbooking night and thought we had her fooled. But she had an inkling!

The biggest surprise of the night wasn't the lovely family rendition of "Happy Birthday" (and let me just say this - we had to warn those who aren't familiar with this rendition and also ask them to cover up any small children's ears! No, not because it is bawdy but because it is LOUD AND OFF KEY. It's really quite a thing to behold!)
The real surprise of the evening was that her big brother Tim, his wife Fran and their son, Jesse, came up for it. That was really the icing on the cake and made Michelle's birthday complete.

We love ya, baby! Happy birthday!

...also a tad late!

Aren't we just lovely? It had rained all day the day before and it was drizzling as we walked around. But the rain held off until the race ended...
But just barely! We got caught in a TORRENTIAL downpour on our way out. It was kinda scary when they are coming on over the loudspeaker to tell you to move "quickly and safely out of the grandstand...the storm is fast approaching" over and over again. Metal stands + thunderstorms = not a good place to be!

I know I am behind on the photos these days - I promised back in October to post some pictures from Joshua's first birthday. We are so thankful for Joshua - you might remember, if you have been reading the blog for a while, that he came six weeks early last October after a long and stressful labor and was in the NICU for a week.

I'm happy to say he is doing so very well and REALLY enjoyed his birthday! His exceptionally creative and talented Mom made this cake - and he got a whole block all to himself!

Labels: Meme World