Sunday, March 15, 2009

All of the pages for our 13 Week Journal have been traded. I'm not sure yet how the others are putting their pages together, but this week I spent hours and hours working on mine, getting pages to fall into the right places (didn't always happen) and filling in blank pages with my own work. I'm quite pleased with the outcome, and with no further adieu, here it is:


























Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Like Apples of Gold

I've been involved with a web group called 29days since Sept. 08. the premise of this group is to give something away every day for 29 days. Well, I did that and went on to blog for the next 4 rounds of 29 days. I haven't been so good at blogging there lately, but I still have been making a conscious effort to give something every day.

Tonight at work I was called to the register when a customer was trying to use a pre-paid credit card which still had about $4.80 left on it. We tried everything we could think of to get the card to work, but we remained unsuccessful. Behind her in line was one of our regular customers who was waiting patiently for her turn and watching as this mini drama unfolded. Then she whips out five dollars and says in a sweet voice, "oh, here, honey, I have $5....you just take it."

Customer A says, "Oh, I can't."
Customer B says, "Honey, I've spent more than $5 on stupid stuff today that I didn't need. Let me help you out. Please, let me help you."
Customer A accepts graciously and says, "Don't worry, I'll pay it forward."

It is hardly even a story worth repeating, except when you think about how each of us has an opportunity to affect change in our world, even if it is just a small kindness like this, or just a kind word spoken at the right time.

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances. Proverbs 25:11

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Last year before Christmas I started working on my 100 things that make me happy project. With one assistant manager out with surgery, and working too many days in a row, I had to put my list on hold for a while (like about three months or more).

I had decided from the beginning the format for my list would be 100 pictures. As I began to make the list of the things that make me happy, I realized I would need to go back to some "beginnings" and "firsts", Like the first snow of the season, the first rosebuds, etc. While looking through already taken pictures, I came across one of me holding up our "first" daughter, Jennifer. I was 27, she was 6 months old. That was 31 years ago.

My relationship with Jesus is the first thing that brings me Joy/happiness, then the relationships with my family and others. Because of those relationships I am able to see delight in small things, like cooking with a five year old, listening for the hoot of the owl, the female cardinal weaving her nest and the first buds opening on the roses, the success of a small child in writing his name, or finishing a project that is difficult. There have been a lot of years and changes since that photo was taken. Picking out just 100 has been harder than I thought!

Today I'm going to add Peachy Cheap to my list of happy things. Check out the link on my blog, but beware, it's addicting.

Monday, March 2, 2009

The widening of the main road in front of our house started last week with the felling of two big trees on both sides of our driveway. It was sad to see them go, and even stranger still, turning into a driveway at night without the trees that had stood as markers of time to an entrance of the property that's been in the family for 189 years.

Ron is talking about planting Blue Spruce every twenty feet along the side of our property line. I don't know how many trees that would be, but I think it's a beautiful idea.

I'm glad his dad had the foresight to plant beautiful trees 40 feet back from the main road. Across the front yard are three big maple trees that take your breath away when the autumn sun shines through all the red, gold and purple leaves. There's an Elm and Pine on one side and maples on the other. In the side yard he planted rows of pecan and walnut trees, but I haven't the slightest idea of how or when to harvest the nuts on those. Aldi's makes it so easy to buy a bag for $3 without all the work.

Today the momma Cardinal is back checking out the nest she built last year in our pre-lit evergreen tree on the front porch. She laid four eggs there last year and it was so delightful to watch her, the eggs and the father with their different duties. When the momma was out, the father would guard the nest from about 10 feet away. When the babies hatched the father never left the mother or the brood. We could learn a lot from watching the birds. I think I'll take some bits of ribbons and such and drop around the yard to see if she uses them in her nest.

Yesterday I saw the first blue jay, and today there were robins everywhere. The starlings are back and the Canada Geese are coming and going on the pond. They are so fun to watch as their beaks go down hunting for food and their feathered bottoms stick up in the air. There were probably fifty of them out there yesterday.

We haven't heard our two owl friends all week. I guess I'll have to check out their habits and see if they flew off because of the weather changes or something. I've really grown quite accustomed to their chatting with one another in the dusk and late night hours.