November of Thanksgiving 2010

I'm thankful for excellent teaching in Sunday School this morning and a wonderful sermon--both in the book of Jonah.

Crazy Eights Meme

Elle, at A Complete Thought has resurrected the meme!  She has tagged 8 friends and asked that they answer HER 8 questions and then tag 8 more friends with 8 new questions.

Here are her questions and my answers:

1. Will you drink regular coffee after 4 p.m.?

Occasionally, but usually not past noon!

2. Do you take your coffee black or with creamer?

Black, please!

3. When you sleep in of a morning, how late is it when you do get up?

7 am is about as late as I ever sleep in.

4. What is your version of comfy clothes?

Jeans and a t-shirt with slippers on my feet.

5. Slippers, slipper socks, moccasins or sheepskin booties?

Slippers.  When I can't wear slippers my fall back shoes are moccasins.

6. Which, if any, high school or college reunions have you attended?

5 year and 10 year.

7. How many times have you changed your hairstyle in the last 2 decades?

Many, many, many times.

8. If you went back to college tomorrow, what would you major in this time?

History and/or Fine Arts

Now, here are my eight questions:

1.  Did you have a favorite Aunt or Uncle growing up and if so, what made them so special to you?

2.  Carpet or hardwood floors; what is your preference?

3.  Do you remember your dreams upon awaking?

4.  How many different churches have you attended in the past decade?

5.  Do you prefer to do your shopping in stores or online?

6.  Do  you label and date the back of family photos?

7.  What is your least favorite household task?

8.  Do you stroll the aisles in the library for interesting books to bring home or search the online catalog to reserve the specific book you are looking for?

And now, the 8 friends I'm tagging:

Dorothy

Kim

Heidi

Lucky Dog (sorry, I don't know your 'real name!')

John

Pam

Jen

Chad

(As always, play if you want; no pressure)

Sunday Hymn:

BE NOT DISMAYED

Be not dismayed whate'er betide,

God will take care of you;

Beneath his wings of love abide,

God will take care of you;

God will take care of you;

Through ev'ry day, o'er all the way;

He will take care of you,

God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,

God will take care of you;

When dangers fierce your path assail,

God will take care of you.

All you may need he will provide,

God will take care of you;

Trust him and you will be satisfied,

God will take care of you.

No matter what may be the test,

God will take care of you;

Lean, weary one, upon his breast,

God will take care of you.

TRINITY HYMNAL #696

Quote of the Week: Locke

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.   John Locke 

November of Thanksgiving 2010

Ah. . .it's Saturday morning.  Lingering over a second cup of coffee with my husband is what I am thankful for at the moment.  The house is quiet, dogs are snoozing, the day's activities are still held at bay by that wonderful blessing of Saturday morning and coffee with Tom.

Thanksgiving is a good thing.  Sharing your thanksgiving thoughts with others is a good thing.  I hope you'll join in with me and others in this November of Thanksgiving!

November of Thanksgiving 2010

I'm thankful for generous calligraphers who have shared their considerable knowledge and talents with me and helped me to be a better calligrapher.

There's always something new to learn, something new to try, someone doing something that inspires or challenges me.

I'm so thankful for this job I love!

Thanksgiving is a good thing.  Sharing your thanksgiving thoughts with others is a good thing.  I hope you'll join in with me and others in this November of Thanksgiving!

Fall food favorites

Every year my son, Sam, looks forward to oven roasted pumpkin seeds.  I always make them the same way--spread them out on a sheet pan with melted butter and sprinkle with Lawry's seasoned salt.  This year I did it a little different and the seeds are better than ever.  First, I roasted a whole pie pumpkin to make pumpkin puree for my little punkin', Maddie.  Once the pumpkin was soft, I let it cool, then scooped out the seeds (I was amazed that a small pie pumpkin has almost as many seeds as a huge jack o' latern sized pumpkin!) and scraped the pulp from the skin.  I pureed the pumpkin for Maddie and bottled into saved baby food jars and froze it.

The seeds were really easy to clean.  I just put them into a colander and rubbed them under cold water to rinse off the remnant of pumpkin.  Then I roasted them at 350 degrees until they were browned and crispy. They turned out much tastier and the skins were softer and less chewy.

That put me in the mood for another fall favorite--home made cake donuts.  I've got the donuts mixed up and in the refrigerator and I'll fry them up in the morning for breakfast.

And while we're at it, here's a picture of another fall favorite that I made for dinner last night:

What are your favorite fall foods?

November of Thanksgiving 2010

 My friends Dorothy, Carol, and I have been meeting together weekly for Bible study for many years.  We're starting on our fourth year of study in the book of Hebrews, but we've also worked our way through many books such as Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God and The Christian Life.

I am so very grateful for the friendship that we enjoy around the word of God--for the way we have grown as studiers of the Word, how we learn from each other, how it binds our hearts together in love.

I'm thankful for the real excitement we experience as we begin our weekly study and as we plan our next week's discussion.

Meeting with Dorothy and Carol around the Word of God is one of the greatest blessings that God has given me.  I'm so grateful for their commitment and for their insight and all they bring to the study each week.

Thanksgiving is a good thing.  Sharing your thanksgiving thoughts with others is a good thing.  I hope you'll join in with me and others in this November of Thanksgiving!

November of Thanksgiving 2010

Today is a crazy, busy day so I'm going to resort to a list of thankful thoughts:

It's Wednesday and my grandchildren, Elliott and Maddie, are here

So glad Maddie finally gave up and stopped fighting sleep!

I've got a chicken pot pie all ready to pop in the oven

For time at my drawing board this morning before the kids got here

For a full work schedule between now and about a week before Christmas

For prayer meeting tonight at Dorothy's

For Bible Study tomorrow afternoon

For yesterday's historic elections

For a better night's sleep last night

and for naproxen.

Thanksgiving is a good thing.  Sharing your thanksgiving thoughts with others is a good thing.  I hope you'll join in with me and others in this November of Thanksgiving!

November of Thanksgiving 2010

I am so excited for this morning!  I have a new friend coming for coffee this morning.  She's a young mom that I met at a Bridal Fair--a fellow calligrapher!  I've longed to have another friend who is a calligrapher for business reasons; it's good to have someone to refer work to if you can't take it or to hire for help on large projects.  It's also important to have someone as a back up in case you get sick in the middle of a deadline.  (That has never happened but it always makes me nervous when I am working to a short deadline.)  The best thing is that her work is marvelous and she's a warm, sweet and generous person on top of that!  Today we're just going to chat and have coffee and get to  know each other but I'm hoping that we can eventually start 'playing' together--show and tell, making paste paper, learning new techniques, sharing favorite tools and materials.  Who knows?  Could be the start of a guild!

I'm ashamed to say that I have long wished for another calligrapher but I never prayed for one, and yet God has granted me this great blessing!

I am thankful for Cristine.

Can't wait!

November of Thanksgiving 2010

Can you believe it's November 1st already?  It seemed as though October would last forever.  This has been the mildest, most beautiful autumn I can remember for a long time.  I'm so thankful for the warmish, coolish days, windows still cracked to let in fresh air, warm air toasting my feet as I stand in front of the register making my coffee.

I only collected leaves once this fall and they are still hiding in the Strong's Concordance, waiting for me to 'do' something with them.  It's a testimony to the rare quality of this fall that I haven't felt the need to 'gather and save'; rather, I have been simply enjoying the passing of the days.

I'm thankful for this glorious time of year.

Thanksgiving is a good thing.  Sharing your thanksgiving thoughts with others is a good thing.  I hope you'll join in with me and others in this November of Thanksgiving!

Sunday Hymn: When Morning Guilds the Skies

When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair;
May Jesus Christ be praised.

When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

In heav'n's eternal bliss
The loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Let earth's wide circle round
In joyful notes resound,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Let air and sea and sky,
From depth to height, reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Be this th'eternal song,
Through all the ages on,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Trinity Hymnal #131

Quote of the Week: Lloyd-Jones

If we truly mourn, we shall rejoice, we shall be made happy, we shall be comforted. For it is when a man sees himself in this unutterable hopelessness that the Holy Spirit reveals unto him the Lord Jesus Christ as his perfect satisfaction. Through the Spirit he sees that Christ has died for his sins and is standing as his advocate in the presence of God.  He sees in Him the perfect provision that God has made and immediately he is comforted.  That is the astounding thing about the Christian life.  Your great sorrow leads to joy, and without the sorrow there is no joy.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

I Hear America Singing

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand
    singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as
    he stands,
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning,
    or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work,
    or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young
    fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

This poem brings tears to my eyes because in America today so many are groaning and sighing under the pressures of unemployment and a stagnant economy.

November of Thanksgiving

November is just around the corner and it's time to gear up for November of Thanksgiving.  Rebecca has been hosting this annual event for the past five years and I've participated each year.  It's been a great blessing to me and I'm looking forward to participating again this year.

Here's how you can join in:

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments at Rebecca Writes. Rebecca will include your comment in one of her thanksgiving posts.
• Email Becky to tell her what you’re thankful for and she’ll include it in a post.
• Post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog, send Rebecca the link(s), and she'll link to your post(s). If you plan to post something daily during the month, let her know that, too. That way you won’t need to send her your daily links.

Thanksgiving is a good thing.  Sharing your thanksgiving thoughts with others is a good thing.  I hope you'll join in, too!

Thankful Thursday 2010

I am thankful for so many things this week:

I think I finally made some headway on some problems Jake's been having on his health insurance coverage for some important treatments.  What a relief!  I'm so thankful that burden is beginning to be lifted!

I'm thankful for his wonderful doctor who took time out of her busy schedule to talk through the insurance issues with me.  I'm so grateful that she's willing to 'go to bat' for him and write the necessary letters that will, hopefully, allow him to have payment for those appointments he's already had and have coverage to continue with his treatment. 

I'm grateful that Eve made it through surgery on Monday.  She had 4 lesions taken off with laser surgery.  One was involved in the bone and it would have been hard on her to take it off, so since it's not bothering her, we left that one alone.  I'm so thankful for a vet who gives us guidance about which things we need to treat and what is better left alone.  She had an echocardiogram which showed that her congestive heart failure was caught early and is treatable at this point.  All her valves are leaky and her mitral valve is very, very bad but her ventricles are still pretty strong.  A mixed report, to be sure, but better than he thought it might be.  She's now on two heart medications, and antibiotic, and her regular thyroid medicine.  She's blind, deaf, has heart and thyroid problems and a mysterious dark spot behind her eye (one of the things better left alone) but she is a sweet and happy as she ever was.  I'm thankful for every day with her.

I'm thankful that there was little damage in the area from the windy days we had on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It was a wild and windy couple of days!  I'm grateful for the demonstration of God's power in the weather.

I'm thankful for Dr. D. Martn Lloyd-Jones.  His words speak both conviction and comfort to my heart.

I am so excited about a new 'toy' I ordered this week.  I am having a custom pen made for me by a truly masterful calligrapher--and a very fine, generous young man.  Jake Weidmann is a 'once in a generation' calligrapher and I am so delighted that he is making a pen for me.  I will treasure it!  I'll show pictures when it arrives!  In the meantime I hope you'll go see his beautiful, breath-taking work.

I'm thankful tonight that we have a Taco Bell right down at the end of our street.  I really didn't want to cook tonight.

I'm thankful for my church and my church family and especially their prayers for Jake and even for Eve.

I'm thankful for the time I have with Maddie and Elliott each Wednesday.  They wear me out but I love it!  Yesterday, I made some playdough for Elliott and we played with it while Maddie was napping.  He was fascinated with the garlic press and I have to admit, he figured it out faster than I did when I first got it!  He colored for a while but mostly he used the crayons as building blocks, laying them out in intricate patterns.  I think he's going to be an engineer when he grows up!

Maddie is the fastest crawler!  She really motors!  And she's such a sweet and happy baby.  She'll be walking soon!  I'm so very thankful that the kids live near us and we can see them often.

I'm especially thankful that the election is less than a week away!  I'll be so glad for my phone to stop ringing off the wall and for the campaign commercials on the radio and tv to fade away.  I'm so thankful that God is Sovereign over the affairs of men and whatever the outcome, I can rest in the knowledge that His Will will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

I'm thankful for the blessings of work and rest, reading and sleeping, conversations with my boys, kisses from my Grandchildren, and the love of my husband.  God is good.

I'm joining my friend, Kim from the Upward Call,  and others in giving thanks to God on Thursdays in 2010.  Won't you join us?

Grandma's Kisses

Michael Defrancesco

My neighbor, Michael, painted this lovely angel especially for me.  I decided not to keep it all to myself:

You can see more of his paintings at his website, Michael Defrancesco Fine Art.  Only don't visit if you're busy; wait until you have an hour to scroll through his gorgeous landscapes.

Might as Well be YOU

TO A CERTAIN CANTATRICE

Here, take this gift,
I was reserving it for some hero, speaker, or general,
One who should serve the good old cause, the great idea, the
    progress and freedom of the race,
Some brave confronter of despots, some daring rebel;
But I see that what I was reserving belongs to you just as much as to any.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Note to Self: Big Storm on it's way

This one sounds like a doozy:

Crystal Lake, IL Weather Advisories, Watches & Warnings

TORNADO WATCH
in effect until Tuesday, Oct 26, 11:00 AM

IL . ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

BOND CHAMPAIGN CHRISTIAN CLARK CLAY CLINTON COLES COOK CRAWFORD CUMBERLAND DE WITT DOUGLAS DUPAGE EDGAR EFFINGHAM FAYETTE FORD GRUNDY IROQUOIS JASPER KANE KANKAKEE KENDALL LAKE LAWRENCE LIVINGSTON MCHENRY MCLEAN MACON MARION MONTGOMERY MOULTRIE PIATT RICHLAND SHELBY VERMILION WASHINGTON WILL

HIGH WIND WARNING
in effect until Tuesday, Oct 26, 8:00 PM

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING.

* TIMING...THIS MORNING THROUGH 8 PM THIS EVENING.

* WINDS...WILL SHIFT TO SOUTHWEST THIS MORNING AND INCREASE TO 30 TO 40 MPH...WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.

* IMPACTS...NON SECURE OBJECTS MAY BECOME AIRBORNE. FALLING TREE LIMBS AND POWER OUTAGES ARE LIKELY...WITH TRAFFIC SIGNALS ALSO EXPECTED TO BE AFFECTED RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL DELAYS. TRAVEL WILL ALSO BECOME DIFFICULT...WITH HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES BECOMING DIFFICULT TO CONTROL.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.

Well, we battened down the hatches last night.  Brought the patio furniture in and anything else that could blow away.  Could be an interesting day.

For some reason I'm sort of excited.

Uh, oh.  Here it comes.  Impact 6:29 am.