Where She Stopped Reading(!) And Other Sad Stories.

An avid reader since 14-years-old, I pretty much stopped reading books during my cancer treatments. 

Seriously, I barely recognized myself those days because I was tired. Weak. I didn't care about keeping a clean house, couldn't climb down the stairs to do laundry, even seldom brushed my hair and as I said, I stopped reading books.

A little frightening all that, especially when satan (you feel) is whispering, "This is the new you. You'll never return to your past energetic, glad self."

So I had to keep praying--and--asking friends at Facebook for prayer. 'My village's' encouragement felt huge! Really, those of you who prayed for me, my gratitude will never cease.

And you know how sometimes our friends do something we don't understand? Back around 2010, a dear friend (of decades) from CA passed away and only 2 weeks before did she email me that she'd been terribly sick for months. 

Oh my. 

I would've prayed for her during all that time and sent her encouraging emails, cards, letters. But when her relative told us at Facebook that she'd passed away, I began to cry. It was extra hurtful because she'd kept her sickness a secret from us.

I turned to Tom with teary eyes and said, "If I ever get sick (Heaven forbid), I'm telling everyone! I'd want everybody praying for me."

Well, I kept that promise during my cancer scare and you know? Those prayers and encouragement meant everything to me. Barely able to walk, they helped me drag myself to the car on dark, snowy mornings to travel to treatments I didn't want to take. They calmed me while riding over that insane, icy Buffalo Thruway. 

And they aided me in defeating, ignoring, those "you'll never feel normal again' lies.

Of course, you are free to handle sickness however you wish. I realize that.

But I wanted to share my story, this latest one and my friend's earlier one, to show you both sides. To help you decide now how (again, Heaven forbid) you'll handle what just may be the hardest time of your life.

Often it's best to make a decision with a clear mind well before that mind goes all foggy-dark later.

Glenn Beck gave a perfect (imo) tribute to Dolly Parton here.

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The (Few!) Books I've Read (or Am Still Reading) this year:

Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing by Lisa R. Howeler

Mystery of the Red Carnations by Mary C. Jane

Natural Barn Killer by Amanda Flower

Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth

Chicken Every Sunday by Rosemary Taylor (probably for the 20th time. Total comfort book.)

More Junior Authors edited by Muriel Fuller (my edition is earlier. These books couldn't be removed from libraries, so I'd sit there for hours reading about my favorite authors. I have 2 editions of my own now.)

Movies We've Watched Lately:

Spiderman Far From Home (2nd watch)

Breadwinner (Hilarious, over-the-top and we loved it)

I Can Only Imagine 2 

Unexpected Family (give it a few minutes. IMO, Jackie Chan's finest performance.)

The Shift (2nd watch)

Greenland 2

Lovely Youtube Videos:

Full Recipe Box Found (what a treat!)

Old Furniture, New Cottage Charm

Cozy Pink Cottage Dollhouse (I fast-forwarded to the darling end product)

10 Crockpot Recipes for Seniors

The Magic of Bookshops is Still Alive

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And what I've been doing lately? I cleared 2 additional shelves from the glass-fronted hutch in our home office and added more jars and bottles of food items. How lovely to have all those in one place rather than here and there on 2 floors of the house!  (Photos coming. Someday. I think.)  ツ

And I've been stocking-up, keeping lists galore, etc. How good to be ready for winter (or whatever comes) again!

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And as I shared at Facebook:

Yay! In fact, today I knew they were close when I found myself placing my cool hands around the nice, warm crockpot!

In case you needed some (ok, early) autumnal decor inspiration .... Oh my!

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God created us to need each other. To not be all me-against-the-world loners.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

A Rare This and That Post

1.) Forgot to mention last time that July 25th marked my 22nd blogiversary. Can you believe that? Even I can't, but there you go.  シ And a special thanks to those of you who've hung in there with me for many of those years. What an encouragement you are!

2.) So after 47 years I'd grown weary of cooking. Hey, go figuring just two meals per day, even, and the number comes out to 34,310(!)

But then being all gluten intolerant now, I realized if I want tasty foods (and not go into debt paying someone else to cook them like with a meal delivery subscription), then I'd better change my attitude.

So I did what I've often told you to: Instead of praying the verse, "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation," I tweaked it to (in this case), "Restore unto me the joy of cooking."

Truly, it works every time. I'm back to enjoying cooking and even watching others create meals at Youtube. Just substitute a few ingredients and voila! Tasty gluten-free meals for cheap.

Whew.

3.) Back in 2019 when God (I felt) nudged me to declutter 10 items per week, I also sensed He wanted me to release 300 of my books. Three-hundred?! Yes.

Well, initially I said, "That's impossible!" (Hey, I love books and my 35 year+ collection of them.) But you know? I wanted to obey God, for He knows best.

So I approached this slowly, lugged just a few books at a time down to the Salvation Army drop-off and Little Free Library, kept track of how many I released and by now? I've given away 564 books. Wow.

(Probably 30 are ones Tom let go of, but still, 534 is something big. For me, anyway.)

Truly, just doing small things each day/week/month always adds up over Time. What matters is starting and continuing and staying inspired to do the right thing.

4.) Can you believe that, at the end of August, Tom and I will have lived at Hobbit Cottage for 15 years? (I hope my longtime readers didn't faint at that.)  シ

Another one of those "I can barely believe it" things. For many reasons our living here has been good for us, one of which is that these 860 square feet keep us reigned-in from collecting too much junk stuff.

I try to remind myself that that's a good thing.

5.) Since 2024 I've meant to tell you that I bought some just-like-I-imagined garden plant labels/signs. These 2 years later I still love using them in my gardens:

I found them at Amazon here.

6.) Speaking of shopping online, I love to listen to vintage mall/supermarket music when I do so. Brings old-fashioned-ness to a modern-day activity.

Here are a couple favorite videos to shop by:

Mall Memories of the 60's and 70's

Retro Supermarket Shopping Music

There are tons to choose from on Youtube.

7.) Oh, and there are many retro crockpot meal videos, also, but this one was special, for he includes the notes his grandmother penned beside each recipe. I hope you'll check this one out for yourself, especially if you need cooking inspiration like I have:

Grandma's Lost Cookbook

8.)  Before moving back upstairs (see my last post) I'd envisioned making my row of bookshelves feel more town-library-ish, especially since I no longer visit our local library due to all the books I either buy online-- physical ones or Kindle--(only occasionally, ok? heh) or read online free at Open Library, who carries the books my city library discarded decades ago.

Anyway! What finally got me to attempt that bookshelf challenge is when I watched Darling Desi create a Blockbuster Video store area in her bedroom. What a cute idea! 

I que'd (sp) it up to that specific part here. (Well, I'm crossing my fingers that it worked.)

That was the inspiration I needed! I tweaked my bookshelves up here a bit and I'm happy with them. To me they've got more of a you've-traveled-to-the-city-library feeling.

(I would show you a photo, but my camera still isn't connected to this newish laptop. Besides, I think you'd need my own imagination to see what I see now. heh.) 

But whatever, it's been fun making a change.

9.)  

He is! Even now. Even any day inside our hearts if we invite Him to do so.

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A couple bonus videos for you:

I'd never seen this side of the Clutterbug gal! A delightful video, indeed.

And this must be the most beautiful small yard garden that I've ever seen online. No, really. (Wait for it.... wait till her friend takes you to the backyard.)  ツ

Oh! And nearly forgot to mention this:

The Chosen Run Wild With Bear Grylls. What a terrific idea!

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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

 *** 

 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

Where She Moved Back Upstairs (And Other Stories)

So I haven't told you I moved downstairs and slept on our couch for 8 months. (Eight whole months?!) 

Yes, it began the day after spending 3 nights at the hospital in November. None of us trusted me on those 12 stairs up to my room(s) at night, so after a couple trips up there for clothes, my laptop, etc., I camped downstairs. Later in February, you may remember, I had to literally crawl up the 3 (kinda 4) stairs from the backdoor to the kitchen, so I felt grateful for 'my new room'.

Well, go couch camping and you make a large adjustment. I missed my privacy and got that living in a store display window feeling. Install a stair climbing chair, instead? We felt too overwhelmed already.

Besides, I'd just think about upstairs and couldn't shake the feeling of 'bad juju'. Up there is where I could have, well, bled to death had I stayed and just tried praying or brushing it off. So honestly, I wasn't antsy to move back.

But anyway!

Last week I realized the time had come to return to Debra's World upstairs (long story). I shook-off the bad juju thing, prayed up there, then moved back.

And here I happily am. Life up here feels lovely again.

And too, I saw on a Youtube video that if a person still easily can, it's best to do stairs for as long as you're able. It's one of those 'use it or lose it' things. Stop climbing stairs and you'll stop being able to climb them. For me, it's too soon for that, and besides, I'm fine on them now. I feel at least 95% back to my good ol' self.

Moving on ...

For 45 or more years I reused those twist ties that come (came?) on packages of bread. Kept them in a little clear jar. But now it seems they use only those square tiny plastic things that break and are beyond annoying. 

So this felt ultra-weird, but I actually bought some (200?) small twist ties! I think they were from Walmart. 

Elmer, the times, they are a changin'.  シ

And one last thing: Do you ever watch the Recollection Road videos on Youtube? Mostly he shows us videos of the way Life was while we of a certain age were young. 

Now, I love those vintage style videos, but oh my, the hopelessness in the comment section afterward! All those whines of how those times are gone forever, we'll never get them back and how these present days are garbage in comparison. Blah, blah, blah.

Come on, People.

Life has always been only as good as we make it. Lots of those things on Recollection Road are still doable today. The picnics. The mall shopping. The family reunions. The sweet Christmas gatherings, potlucks, music from any decade and church-going. Dressing-up to go downtown, sitting on porches, visiting vintage car shows or concerts in the park, backyard barbeques, etc.

Always, Times have been hard in one way or another, but it's been people who have pulled themselves together and made the best of them. Done what they could to have fun and create memorable times for their children to recall in their old age.

And there comes a time where we in our own difficult days, can choose to concentrate upon what's going right, rather than what's changed and gone wrong. Where we can create wonderful moments, ourselves, to remember forever.

It was a choice back in The Good Old Days and remains a choice in these times, as well.

During couch camping days, I'd kept some of my clothes on a hutch shelf in Tom's office, but once they were back upstairs, I placed unopened spices there (in a box I spray painted blue) along with larger bottles of spice and salt. I love the way they look on that glass shelf behind a glass door! Truly it's the small things.

Also, I so enjoy buying garden seeds from sellers on Ebay. Usually they're very inexpensive (like $1.35 to $2.50 ish) with no shipping charge or minimum purchase required. Plus, it's cool knowing I'm planting seeds from regular folks' gardens.

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Movies We've Enjoyed Lately: 

The Sheep Detectives (absolutely loved this)

Meet The Robinsons (adorable. How did we miss this one?)

A Great Awakening (much better than I'd thought. I'm usually not a fan of period pieces, tho,' if they're based on true stories, I tend to like them.)

Harold and the Purple Crayon (truly enjoyed the humor of this.)

The Unbreakable Boy (another Zachary Levi film, one based on a true story. We so enjoyed it, tho' a few moments were tough to watch.)

Tender Mercies (what took us so long for this one, too?)

Hellfighters (with John Wayne. A second watch for us.)

Tom Wopat's 3 County Line movies. (more second watches. The 3rd one was a bit dark.)

Fountain of Youth (a new film with a vintage feel to it.)

Hail Mary (took me around an hour to get into this(!), but Tom liked it from the beginning.)

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I recommend watching movies and videos which make us feel grateful for the Life God gave us.

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15