Some Zeal, Some More Fun

"Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord."  Romans 12:11



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Don't you love that verse? (And doesn't it just convict you to pieces?Majorly convicts me, anyway.) 

At Facebook I'm noticing that the updates I appreciate most from my friends are the ones where you can tell they're spilling over with happiness at being alive--even in 2012. Even though our government leaders make mistakes. Even though the economy is affecting us all. Even though Life looks differently than they'd imagined it would long ago.

And, I don't mean the big-time spiritual-sounding, Bible-verse-stuffed, or I-went-on-a-missions-trip updates, either. No, I'm talking about the posts where there's some zeal and glowing and burning with the Spirit. You know, ones where--if the sun isn't shining for them--they're still glowing through the clouds, anyway. They are still being and seeing the Light even in dark times.

Those are my favorite Facebook updates.


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Oh! What a momentous day we had here yesterday at Hobbit Cottage. Sammy The Cat was permanently released from his room and he and Daniel The Cat are handling being together throughout the house 24/7. Finally, after 6 (eternal) weeks! Tom got his bedroom back and set-up his stereo in there and listened to a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young record. All this was a long, long time coming and definitely feels like a miracle.


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I so appreciated your ideas for fun! I'm going to slowly read all your ideas and list things Tom and I can do together. We do enjoy having people over to lunch (we've already had more people over to Hobbit Cottage, I believe, than we ever had out to the farm(!)). We still enjoy country fairs and no one mentioned the thing we love most--vintage car shows/cruises. Oh, we do enjoy those and finally yesterday I discovered lists online of local ones. And we do enjoy coffee shops and picnics, too-- we are surrounded by tons of water that we can sit beside, so gotta love that.

We're limited from some fun ideas by Tom's not being able to walk very long and some ideas are ones we've, sadly, outgrown. And I do love the idea of volunteering, but every day of my life I help people--and though I totally enjoy doing that (I do!)--I feel the need to sometimes have the kind of fun where I can let go and not worry about saying or doing something that will mess people up forever. You know, fun activities where I can 'let my hair down,' relax and come away feeling as though I've been on a sunny, peaceful vacation. And truthfully? That's how I always feel when we come away from a picnic at our favorite park on the shores of Lake Ontario. Oh wow. That park is old and there used to be a Victorian hotel and fairgrounds there and to me, that Victorian spirit still wafts around in the misty-moisty air, like catnip to me, making me feel like rolling around in glee upon our picnic blanket. (So dignified, that's me...heh.)

Oh well, I've told you about that place lots of times already in this blog and it looks like I'll be hinting to Tom soon that we really need to get back out there now that the weather is warming.

Again, thank-you. Again, keep adding fun ideas as they come to you. Again, thanks for helping as we all face changes together!


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Here's a picture of the Victorian hotel which used to be on the edge of the silent park we love to visit:

Of course, I always still picture it being there, anyway...




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Seek. You Might Just Find.

So. I'll bet you didn't realize I'd been conducting an experiment upon my brain. No? Well, since I didn't even realize that till yesterday, I'm not surprised you didn't know.

See, for lots of years I've had either two cups of homemade hot chocolate each day or one cup and then one cup of decaf coffee. Well, two weeks ago I ran out of both baking cocoa and decaf simultaneously(!) so, while waiting for baking cocoa to go on sale, I'd been using some (kinda nasty-tasting) carob powder which Naomi gave us.

Then uh-oh.  My most faithful readers will remember that these past two weeks (or four, actually) have been rather awful circumstance-wise for Tom and me. And hey--I've probably just told you half of what's gone on. But I've not written how often I've felt like 'fainting in my head,' you know, like in a biblical sense--

"And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." ... Galations 6:9

You know, thinking, "So what bad thing is gonna happen next around here? Why me? I am sick and tired of things going wrong. When is something good gonna happen--or will it? Blah, blah, blah. 

I've asked myself, "Why aren't I handling all this well the way I used to? Why all this floundering around inside my head? Where did I go wrong?"

Well, this will sound stupid, but the answer to that last question? I stopped drinking my daily cups of hot chocolate. 

That's where I went wrong. Just the absence of that tad of caffeine was messing my brain up royally. (I can't drink too much coffee lest it give me headaches, but the tad in chocolate helps me. Much.)

And I know, I know! Sounds dumb, but yesterday both Tom and I went to the supermarket (since we couldn't find anything else fun to do--see my last post) and I finally bought some baking cocoa (and cat food, too, but hey, that has nothing to do with this story.). Then at home, a few hours apart, I made two cups of hot chocolate and oh. My. Goodness. The Happy Levels in my head all came up to even, straight-across normal--or above. Just picture your sound control panel on your computer with all the levels raised across the top. 

It's like that inside my head now.

And Life is good again. My yard stopped looking huge. My To Do List doesn't feel impossible. No, I feel like I can leap over walls, do whatever God asks and face the hard stuff ahead, too.

Sometimes you've just gotta find what works for you and stick with it, even if it appears to work only for you. Even if other people think it's silly. 

As long as it has God's blessing, just do it.



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Rita asked for my hot chocolate recipe, so here you go (all measurements are approximate. Just fiddle around till you find what tastes best for you).


Debra's Hot Chocolate

Into one old-fashioned (smallish by Today's standards) coffee mug add:

1 mounded teaspoon baking cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sugar
2 drops stevia (optional)
1 - 2 tablespoons flavored creamer
2 - 3 tablespoons milk
Then add enough boiling water to fill the rest of the cup. 

Stir, then enjoy (twice a day to keep you happy...heh...).


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Update from 2019:


This is my new recipe for one cup of hot chocolate:

1 mounded tsp. of baking cocoa powder
1/4th tsp. sugar
A few drops of vanilla flavoring
1 tbs. of powdered creamer
1 envelope of Stevia powder
2 tbl.'s (or so) of milk, then add enough boiling water to fill the cup



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 I loved your suggestions for fun after my last post! Keep them coming, ok?


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Is this wagon wheel garden cool or what? (Saw it at Facebook this morning.)

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Calling All You Fun People...

So after another rough day yesterday, one where I whined to Tom, "Can't we even go three days without bad news? Or how about just two? Two days of no bad news would be splendid," it occurred to me this morning that lately I've just not been having enough plain ol'-fashioned fun.

And yet here in my blog I've told you to always leave time for fun, so yikes! I'd better practice what I preach, lest I become an out-of-balance, pathetic hypocrite. 

And so this morning Tom and I went to two yard sales, my first ones in, wow, probably 9 months, for I thought, "Yard sales used to be fun. Maybe they are what I need." But ah, heck. No, just as I'd feared, I am totally cured of my former yard sale addiction. They are not fun anymore. 

Yard sales--you are so dead to me now. 

So while driving home, Tom called us "Tweeners." Why? Because we are at that in-between age where we're no longer young, but we're not elderly yet, either. And now we need to find activities people our in-between age enjoy.

So hey! Here's where you other Tweeners come in:

What do you do for fun?

Please give us ideas. Lots and lots of ideas, ok? And please don't worry about what Tom and I may or may not enjoy-- just tell us what you enjoy.

So let's hear it, all my fellow Tweeners (or anyone else)! Please leave all your ideas of fun in my comment box. 

Thank-you, thank-you, we both thank you.  :)



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Do you love that top photo, or what? :)  That's Tom when he was 17 or 18. Personally, I think he was one handsome dude--still is, all these years later!



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