Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Couch Yearnings

Remember, nearly 5 years ago, when we first bought our so cheap, quasi-not-really-leather couch out at the farm? 




It was comfy. Ultra-practical for the days we hobbled inside, exhausted, covered in farm dirt. Stylish. But now? It's none of those things:




Oh dear. The frame broke so we placed piles of books beneath it and then a board and more books under two of the cushions. To the cats, this dilapidated sofa functions as a gifted giant scratching post. 

Debra lays on that broken-down couch when she watches tv and then feels like an elderly pregnant lady while trying to lift her aching back off the old thing in a sort of rolling motion.

It's sad.

But now--don't laugh--here is the couch I'm dreaming  about:

Ohhhh, I want it. Bad. I want to paint a light, 'happy green' wall behind it, also.

And yes! Red is crazy. Daring. Who even has a red couch? Well, I don't know, but my favorite decorators like her and her have some red furniture and my heart always sings while I stare at their rooms. I memorize their home photos and drool over all that color! 

Oh, how I need some color.



Bleh. No wonder I stopped decorating in there. The whole thing is so brown, so uninspiring and puts me to sleep.

Tom's not crazy about the idea of a red couch, but like I told him--he got to choose the color of his recliner so why can't I choose the color of our couch? Hmmm?  (He actually paused and gave some serious thought to the logic of that statement.) :)

Stay tuned.



*******


"And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill... and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze..."   ... Exodus 35:31,32




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Oh, I just want what we all want: a comfortable couch, a nice beverage, a weekend of no distractions and a book that will stop time, lift me out of my quotidian existence and alter my thinking forever.
Elizabeth Gilbert 





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Oh! And I'm going to include a new "feature" in my blog, something I should have added years ago. At the end of assorted posts I'll include "What I'm Reading" (or "What I'm Re-reading", as the case may be). I'll try to always encase the titles in a link.


So for today?


What I'm Re-reading:  Stillmeadow Seasons by Gladys Taber. Ah Gladys... perfect reading for a quiet summer morning.


Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Ah, Motherhood!


"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."   ... Luke 2:19

*****

So after eight days here, Naomi left yesterday and I had to keep turning my face away lest the tearful contortions scare her....

Ah, Motherhood!

The year Naomi lived with us out at the farm was such a gift and I'm grateful I treasured it as such. How sad if I'd been blind to that gift! Naomi had spoken of Nashville often so Tom and I knew she'd get there and we looked at Naomi differently those months and did not take one moment of farm life with her for granted.

It all zoomed past, though, as did her entire childhood, actually. But at least appreciated, memorized and treasured.

Motherhood stretches me like nothing else and I find my heart speaking one thing and my head another. My heart would like Naomi closer to home, but my head and Wisdom remind me to let go, that childhood is fleeting and the adult is meant to be led by God, traveling where He leads, not where I would have my little-girl-all-grown-up settle. I have no right to rewrite God's will for anyone, not even my own daughter.

And so I discipline my mind to accept this and my mother's heart to keep its memories and its desires to itself. And when they behave? I am happiest while acceptance reigns. As it should.


*****


Here's huge news: I've begun taking a daily walk again! Took nearly an act of Congress to get me out there, but well, I'm out there. One block at a time, barely making it home yesterday (so pathetic!), but finding it easier this quiet sunny morning.

Oh, and Naomi brought us a small trampoline with a handle bar for us old folks. I'm working out on that thing, too, a couple minutes at a time.




Baby steps.... baby steps.... well, you know....

******

Oh, and yesterday Naomi brought in the mail before she left and wow... perfect timing, indeed, for my box of Country Living magazines arrived from my buddy, Betty. How lovely to have something to help ease Naomi's departure! 

And Betty included some lovely retro embroidered doilies which totally captured my heart! Did you notice the one in the top photo? I placed it beneath the glass so to protect it from our cats, and well, Daily Life. :) Besides, I love the look of anything under glass!

*****


"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."   ... Isaiah 26:3


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I still have vintage fashion on my brain... Here's a Pinterest page with tons of lovely things!

Monday, July 29, 2013

More Lemonade Philosophy


"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear..."   ... 1 Peter 3:15

*******

So on Friday while carrying two bags of junk other peoples' treasures past old houses to the Salvation Army bin, I thought, "Gee. I wish I knew more neighbors from our neighborhood."

By early Saturday morning, I'd met two more neighbors (in separate homes), but it required Naomi's rental car getting dinged-up in order for that to happen. Both of those neighbors proved to be shall we say, eccentric, but hey! As I've blogged before, the older I become the more I appreciate characters and eccentrics. Regular people tend to be so, well, boringly normal.

Oh well! You've probably also realized that things in this life don't always arrive the way we'd planned or wished they had. But what matters? That we live prepared, having learned our daily lessons, ready to release the huge God inside us to touch and heal others.




*****

See this mulch in my tiniest garden bed?




It's more of that sycamore tree bark that I've crushed by hand, the stuff which makes our yard look like a battle happened there. And yet! Crushed-up in our flower beds, the bark looks just right, at least to me.

How are you making lemonade out of your lemons today?



(We have blueberries! First time I've ever grown them in all my decades of gardening.)


*****

See this autumnal-colored rooster?



It's another gift from my neighbor, Robin. How lovely to live next door to folks who give things away!  :)

Oh, and speaking of making lemonade... here's the cute wishing well Robin sat upon that sewer pipe:



******

Naomi will drive back to Tennessee today so any prayers for her safety would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
****
 
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" ... 2 Corinthians 5:17



Saturday, July 27, 2013

Morning Mishap


Darn. Darn. Darn.

There I sat on our front porch this morning relaxing, drinking hot chocolate in early, quiet sunlight and thanking God for a marvelous week with Naomi who's turned into just about the sweetest thing, ever, when suddenly.... screeech!

Our neighbor down the street backed out of her driveway and right into Naomi's oh-so-pretty silver rental car.

&*$*^$#%. I confess-- I felt greatly bothered, so there was no A for Debra on this test.

Gah. The neighbor then pulled back into her driveway, I slipped on my shoes, and then this neighbor came out to the intersection as though she was just going to leave(!) But I caught her, she got out, blah, blah, blah..... Naomi's driver's side fender panel is dinged... the woman went to work.... I came in and told Tom who walked over to the car with a neighbor who'd heard the screech.... we called for a patrolman, had to wake up Naomi to this bad news and well, forms were filled out, etc., etc. And this is Naomi's half-birthday and at 5:00 she and Tom will visit this neighbor and take down more information. Etc.

This is only a test... this is only a test.

Naomi took this all very well, for she spends time disciplining her mind to stay positive and view Life Disturbances as valuable lessons. Later the three of us drove around to yard sales and one estate sale in a cozy, many-roomed house with arched doorways, etc.,, bought some cute things, found more cool stuff on various curbs, then out to lunch at our favorite 1950's place beside the river.




It's been a wonderful week and even today turned wonderful when we kept this morning's mishap in the right, this-is-only-a-test perspective.




*******

Oh! Do you love AJ Michalka's dress or what?
The article-writer didn't appreciate it, but 99% of the message board folks did as well as me! :) Lovely retro color and style! See more here.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Finding Yourself, Finding God, Finding Peace


So. Did I mention that, later this year, Tom will most likely take a business trip to South Africa?

Yeah crazy, I know.

But he's excited and that's fine. Yet lately, people (not Naomi) have hinted that, really, I should travel to South Africa with Tom. "The chance of a lifetime!", they say. "It would be amazing. It would be incredible, fantastic and fun."

Well, uh, no it would not.

Why not? Because good ol' Debra hates flying, has 0 desire to visit foreign countries and she'd  be bored silly sitting in a motel room ten hours a day alone. I could sightsee around Africa, you say? Yeah, right!  I can totally see introverted, homebody-lovin' me doing that.

This is what I choose to see, instead: I see me painting our bathroom, while Tom's away, as I've meant to do for months. And the last two walls of our living room. I can see me playing with our cats and caring for them, rearranging furniture, relaxing with God out on our front porch. And walking to nearby stores and the riverside park. And visiting the library, a few yard sales and coffee shops. Mowing the lawn, paying the bills and just basically holding down this fort which God has given us.


Before Tom accepted this new job I made him understand this: Any traveling would be done by him alone. This would be his thing, not mine. If a trip sounded interesting to me, I'd consider tagging along, but he'd better not hold his breath.

Tom accepted these quite clear conditions before he signed on the dotted line.

Hey. I am 54 years old and I know what I want, what I like and what I hate. And that's how it should be. I believe any of us who have survived this long deserve to make some decisions of our own and to skip doing what we're not created to do--and dare I even say that's called obedience to God? For I've also seen that when He asks us to do something, He sends along the Grace to do it... and Grace brings along lots of sweet willingness.

So today's lesson? It's probably not wisdom to go around trying to talk people into stuff they just don't want to do. They know themselves better than we do and forcing others into doing what we like, but they hate,  only causes a bunch of uncomfortable feelings.

What sounds wiser? This:

"And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you..."   ... 2 Thessalonions 4:11

And if I sound a tad cranky today, please forgive me. Sleeping in a recliner is rough, especially when goofy things happen outside, like, three girls playing volleyball and talking loudly at 1:30 in the morning... But there's only two more recliner nights to go. :)


********

Oh! We're having glorious mornings with breezy sunshine and just a nip of autumnal coolness. I sit on our porch gazing at the old houses around me and think of days gone by and ones to come. Happy sigh.

*******


Oh! Did you know that all of the Boy Meets World episodes are available on YouTube? (I was super-thrilled to discover this bit of info.)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Dreaming. Again.


"Where there is no vision, the people perish..."   ... Proverbs 29:18

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I have a dream!

See that smaller window on the right? Well, I'm dreaming of making that into a doorway (with a door) which would open out into a tiny room with only a bed and a closet. But ah! Not just a regular ol' closet, but a divided one. One side would have a window (!) with a view of the sleepy blue river at the end of our street and below that, I'd place a little desk with drawers and room enough for my laptop. Oh, and instead of a nightstand taking up space beside the bed, I'd place a shelf on the bed wall to hold nightstand-types-of-things like I did back on the farm, remember?



Now, why am I dreaming this dream? Because each night this week I've found myself sleeping in Tom's recliner in the living room. Why? Because our official guest room is upstairs in Debra's World and that's where Naomi is because Life With Guests is less complicated that way. And that little room I created for her in the basement last year? Although it was sweet, it proved to be too damp and she came up each morning sniffing like crazy and blowing her nose all day. And after all the humidity we've had lately it's even worse down there.

So unless we build an honest-to-goodness room in the basement, no one will be staying down there ever again.

But if we built a tiny room out on the front porch! I could (whenever we have guests who can climb stairs) stay there happily with great anticipation, even, for I'd have my own private retreat and no longer would I have to be awakened by The Midnight Cats' Circus, complete with flying, tumbling, meowing cats. I'd actually have a real-live door of my own, something I don't have even upstairs in pretty Debra's World.

Or--should people like my mother visit, we could place her in the tiny new room, even though it would be a tad awkward that she'd have to go through Tom's room in order to leave hers. But hey, as I told Tom recently--with things as they are now--if we wanted to have my mom come visit, we'd first have to buy another house.

No, really. So putting up with a bit of awkwardness and building just a tiny room would be much, much simpler all around. Don't you agree? :)

It's fun to dream, even if the dream doesn't come true or even if we must tweak those dreams in big ways. But in order for dreams to happen, we must first know what we want and then picture what we want. I remember that's what I did one day while sitting beside our torn-up lawn at our other suburb house. I sat with a piece of paper and a pen and sketched a new dream for that yard and eventually? That dream became reality.



Today are you dreaming? Do you know yourself well enough to know what you like? What you want? Do you know your favorite colors and styles, including styles of music, art, clothing and decorating? Do you know what makes you feel at home? What makes you smile? What energizes you? What you were created by God to do in this world?

Here's a sad thing: I've met lots of women who do not know these things, even at age 45 or 55 or older. Their children grew up, left home and then these mothers collapsed into sad, paralyzed heaps because they never began the Who Am I? Adventure. They did not know themselves. Or God... only about Him.

Today I hope you know. Or I hope you'll begin finding out. And I hope you will dream.


****

"In my own little corner, in my own little chair I can be whatever I want to be."

..... From Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella


****

And yes... I would lose some front porch space, but you know? The remaining area would be larger than the one at our other suburb house and we do still have the garage patio. Oh, and the new room would have two windows--the closet one and one at the front of the house, parallel to the street (and now I'm dreaming about light green shutters!). :)

The cool thing for future buyers? This room could be multi-purpose. It could become an office, a storage room, a private sitting room or a baby's room or ?

*****

We are due for only 70 lovely degrees today---!!!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Which Kind of Life Are You Having?



"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows)."   ... John 10:10

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Remember all those pieces of bark which fluttered down upon our lawn this past week? Most of them were easily eaten by our lawn mower. (Yay!) As for the 4 piles of bark I'd raked up? Slowly I'm crushing those pieces by hand, turning them to mulch for my Farm Garden Bed (as I call it, the one which gets incredible sunlight).




I'm loving that look! 

And remember our neighbor's sewer pipe sticking up in the middle of her lawn and the way she sat an adorable ceramic frog on it? Well, now she placed a beyond-sweet tiny wishing well with flowers over it. Another wonderful idea.

As I see it? There are two ways to live this life on Earth.

1. We can see ourselves as victims, powerless to overcome the rotten things we're handed and so we just accept that we've got an (unchangeable) bad life 

--or--

2. We can live this abundant life Jesus died to give us using all His incredible, creative possibilities to make it amazing, allowing it to appear different than other peoples'... and finding the unique joy in that.

I believe Eternal Life begins the day we ask Jesus into our hearts--not just when we zoom through Heaven's Gates.

What kind of eternal life are you experiencing right now? A decade-after-decade defeated, sad, miffed-at-God, jealous, hopeless one?

Or an overcoming-bad-times, joy-on-your-face, faith-splashing one?

Always the choice is ours. Always. Only Jesus and you are inside your head (and heart), so well, what are you both believing in there today? 

How's your 'joy unspeakable and full of glory' going?




******

And of course.... I'm not just talking falling bark and sewer pipes here!  :)

******

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."   ... Ezekiel 36:26

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Immediately Get Rid Of Your Victim Mentality

And here's a wonderful article about how certain athletes overcame obstacles.

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As I see it? A victim mentality is like having a syringe full of poison injected into your brain daily.

Oh dear.


“As long as you think that the cause of your problem is “out there”—as long as you think that anyone or anything is responsible for your suffering—the situation is hopeless. It means that you are forever in the role of victim, that you’re suffering in paradise.”
Byron Katie, Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life




Sunday, July 21, 2013

Balanced and Cool and Fine Again

 
" Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]"   ... John 14:27
 
 
Rarely do I allow myself to feel defeated. I very much believe in disciplining my attitude to stay 'up', not down, and if I feel bad health-wise I go online and find non-druggie ways to fix it (for as long as I can get away with this).

But that long week of darn humidity! By Saturday morning I'd melted into our (broken-down, stacks-of-books-supported) couch and while thinking that soon Naomi would arrive, yet our yard looked like a war-zone with sycamore bark absolutely blown everywhere (never buy a house beside two sycamore trees) and other assorted annoying, undone things--I, all hang-dog-like told Tom, "I feel defeated. This weather has defeated me."

Oh, and our new vacuum cleaner is messed-up.

Sigh.

But you know? I took some Vitamin B and the weather had cooled(!) after an enormous lightning storm the night before (which kept me awake and blew down more bark after I'd raked so much of it) and Tom and I actually pulled ourselves out of the house (on a Saturday, even!) and--for the first time in months--went to yard sales together.

Oh my goodness. I realized I'd spent far too many weeks at home, traveling only to the supermarket and 2 movies over three months. I'd not gotten out enough. I'd gone all wonky-out-of balance! Those yard sales and their kind people perked me right up, especially when I discovered a box of 1960's kids' lit., the kind of box I see only once or twice a year. And there was retro and vintage doo dads here and there, making my world feel right again.

Balance. How I have missed you.

Here are the books I bought, each around .75 cents:

Robin Kane, The Mystery of the Phantom  1966
Mystery of the Old Field  1963
The Mystic Ball, A  Judy Bolton Mystery 1934
Ginnie And The New Girl,  1954

Happy sigh.


******

Naomi's home! And we're enjoying her and all that organic chocolate she brought with her.  :)


******

Oh and some of you will love this. Did you know that you can buy a cord which you plug into your computer and also your tv so that your tv becomes a computer monitor and you can then watch anything upon your tv in your living room rather than sitting all hunched over a tiny computer screen? We had one of those cords at the farm, but it disappeared (probably into the abyss otherwise known as our basement) so Tom bought another and now Life is better. :)

The cord is called an HDMI cord (High Definition Media Interface?), costs only around $10, and will plug into any high def. television. You can also plug it into your blu ray player.

Have Netflix? Although the shows there won't officially 'stream' through this cord (you do need a blu ray player or other options for that)--you can still watch Netflix movies on your tv by way of this HDMI cord. Same for Hulu, and well, anything! You just must be willing to operate things through your computer (pause, start, stop, etc.), which for Tom and me means running back and forth to our home office. But still, it beats squinting around a small computer screen.

Check it out!

*****

"But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."   ... 1 Corinthians 9:27



Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Fun And Inspiration


So hey! Tom picked up the glass tabletop yesterday and I'm thrilled with it. All those dancing leaves! The old table looked rather somber, but this one feels better, more summery, and I don't even care about needing to wipe down the finger and cat prints each day. Who minds cleaning something which brings them joy?


(Oh, and in Real Life, the chairs are a bit more yellow and absolutely everything looks nicer.)  :)

*****


Today is supposed to be our final beyond-hot-and-humid day--hooray! We're having heat indexes over 100 degrees, but whew... we're due for a break and the timing is perfect, for Naomi will arrive from Nashville for a visit late tomorrow night!

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And this will inspire your socks off: 


Wow. Over 200 kids from our area and beyond actually paid money to scrape paint and build porches in this scorching heat to help the less fortunate fix up their homes. They did it to spread hope--and they certainly have!

*******

And here's a decorating blog which you may appreciate. Oh, those round windows! (Be still my heart...)

Thanks again, Dolores, for that link!

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Oh! And back in 2010 right after Tom was laid-off, our vacuum cleaner broke down. Fortunately, Naomi found us one through Craig's List for only $5(!) and it lasted until a couple weeks ago. 

The vacuum repair guy told Tom everything needed replacing on it, so Tom bought this one, below, on Ebay for only $100 (the seller had paid $700 years ago--he sent us the receipt in case the warranty can be transferred). An incredible vacuum! He even included the mini one for free. Wow... God is truly good when we rely on Him for all our needs rather than scheming or lying awake nights, worrying.







Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Bummer-ness of Mixture



"... let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."   ... Matthew 5:16

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So did you watch that Time Warp Wives documentary yet? If so, did you notice how Joanne Massey's kitchen screamed 1950's?

I loved that.

Now, do any of my own rooms scream 1950's? Nah, not even close, although I wish they did.

But I do have vintage corners. Retro vignettes.



Over here, maybe over there, pieces from the Past.


But mostly? Come visit me and you'll see just a retro corner here, a vintage doo-dad there. 

Why doesn't my own house scream 1950's (or 40's or 30's, my favorite decorating decades)? I have too much mixture. A 1980's entertainment center here, a 1940's painting there, a 1990's set of curtains over here, a 2000's fake leather, falling-apart sofa there. And when you've got too much mixture? You've got a blur and nothing stands out, no clear statements are made.

It's the same with mixture in our lives: Treating our friends like gold dust, but our family like dirt. Speaking sweetly at church, swearing at Facebook. Teaching our children to forgive, but holding onto our personal grudges another 10 years. Speaking of faith, but worrying about money or our kids. Yeah, mixture like that.

Now, balance is good:

A harmonious or satisfying arrangement or proportion of parts or elements, as in a design. 
An influence or force tending to produce equilibrium; counterpoise.

(Oh, counterpoise! What a pretty word.)

 But mixture? Not so much. Mixture--a little Jesus and a little sin or laziness--leads to places where the lines went all hazy or even got erased. A place where folks race around in circles, arriving nowhere special, standing for no clear thing, making no great changes to this old, sorry world.

And who wants to go there?





*****




"A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest
 
and poverty will come on you like a thief

    and scarcity like an armed man."   ... Proverbs 24:33,34
 
***
 
Life, Love and Vintage Housekeeping is a pure delight so far, just the kind of book I wanted to write while I was a young mom, but couldn't because I'm not that talented and I wasn't able to write about my life in such an enchanting way. But at least now, all these decades later, I have Allison's book.
 




Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Giving To The One Who Asks


Isaiah 58:6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen ... to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

*****

Oh. My. Goodness.

This video turned me into an emotional wreck. Truly. Oh, the gamut of emotions this yanked me through! (Like, even though the bartender was an actor, oh! His words made me livid.)

People at their best and people at their worst. Gah.

Such a wake-up call for us all. The best way to spend 8 of your minutes on this day.




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Matthew 5:42 “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Farewell to a Table


"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."   ... 1 Corinthians 9:24

*****

I'm back! 

If you didn't even know I was away, I won't blame you. Such a short vacation from blogging, but well, here I am. I just needed to back away, recall a few things.... and I did.

This past month! We had the refrigerator repair guy over here and then the plumber and then the cable provider repairman. Oh, and our vacuum cleaner died. What's up with all that?

Then since Tom and I just can't seem to get out of the house on Saturdays anymore--and I'd desperately begun hating our beat-up old, dark dining room table--yesterday I lugged-in our apple green metal patio table inside to the dining area. Then Daniel the Cat snuck outside because Tom didn't close either of the two doors behind me but I--fortunately for both Daniel and Tom--discovered Daniel still in the yard. Then I brought up our extra two yellow chairs from the basement and, annoyingly, stepped through one of them while taking down a dried flower valence (fortunately not breaking my leg like I could have) and well, the yellow chairs around the green table beneath the big sunny windows look happy with a 1970's flair and they'll look even happier after Tom brings home a round piece of glass for the tabletop. And that's when I'll show you pictures.

Whew. 

Anyway, I Freecycled that dark old beat-up farm table and the (60-ish?)woman who came to get it only had a small car and you should have seen her and myself trying to twist that untwistable table into the backseat. Well, Tom did see us through the windows (probably thought he was watching a rerun of Lucy and Ethel) so he came out with a tape measure right about the time I almost told the lady, "I know you really, really want this table, but it ain't gonna fit in your car." 

But Tom zipped around with his tape measure  and we all figured out what would not work and then what would and so Janis and I miraculously twisted that table through the passenger side door so that it sat on that seat and the back seat,too, with its feet poking out both windows.

Janis was one determined lady. She was not leaving without that table and you know? In this life that's how we all must be when we know what we--and God--want for ourselves. Too often we just flop over in a whining "it's-just-too-hard" heap beside the track and get nothing, except maybe grass stains on our running shorts.

And who wants those?

*******

So 'bye 'bye table--you served your purpose well. I'm glad Tom and I were able to release you, without looking back, even. We cannot carry you or any of our furniture (or homes or stuff) away with us when we die, so why cling to you now as though we can?

*******

So Tom and I are watching the 3rd season of Body of Proof and good gracious! Did they toss away their original writers like they did 4 of their main characters? One 'poltergeist episode' was unwatchable (we turned it after a few minutes) and the rest have been a mixture of exciting and annoying with just plain stupid mistakes. Gah. Oh well, because of the amazing Dana Delany and some clever plot twists, we're hanging in there.

Speaking of which... I do thank you for hanging in there with me here at my blog! I appreciate your faithful reading more than you know.