A Balloon Mystery

I took a day off from work last Friday. I jammed-packed it full of morning activities, the only time-sensitive commitment was breakfast at 8:30.

I pulled away from our driveway at 7:58 and went to CVS and Giant before breakfast at Perkins with Charlotte and Kaye. A Belguim waffle and an hour and a half later, I went to Poor Richards (interesting shop where I found an outdoor Easter flag), picked up a loaf of sourdough bread at a bakery, a few groceries at Genuardis and then home to get the ice cream in the freezer.

Imagine my surprise when I pulled into our driveway and tied to our mailbox are two balloons.

One looks like a basketball, the other is a blue star.

Am I a basketball star and no one told me?

I don't think so!

I ran inside with my purchases and zoomed off again to Geerlings (a local nursery to purchase a gift card for a co-worker who's birthday was coming up) and then the last stop was None Such Farm.

Once again pulling into the driveway, I wonder about the balloons.

I check the mailbox to see if there is a card from the balloon bandit fairy.

Nope.

I check the front door.

No card or note.

I checked our home phone and my cell phone for messages.

Nothing.

I decided to take a picture (for evidence) since Wonderful Husband was gone for a weekend golf trip and....

cue spooky music

....the balloons were gone!

Well, sort of.

They were actually tangled in our neighbors' tree!

Exhibit A

They can thank me later, but probably won't since the balloons are pretty high up in their tree, and even with my "mad" basketball skills, I can't reach them. Ha!

My conclusion?

If you tie balloons on a mailbox, tie them on securely.

I am a share-er. (Passing on my balloon gift to our neighbors :)

Thank you balloon bandit, you made me smile.

And lastly,

the balloon mystery continues...

Have you ever received a surprise gift that makes absolutely no sense?

One Thousand Gifts (663-684)

Continuing on my journey toward one thousand gifts....

My word for 2012 is Fellowship.

1. the condition or relations of being a fellow: the fellowship of humankind
2. friendly relationship; companionship: the fellowship of father and son
3. community of interest, feeling, etc.
4. communion, as between members of the same church
5. friendliness
Dictionary.com


I was blessed to have a lot of fellowship opportunities over my extended weekend and God was there overseeing them all.


#663 - 684 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

663. experiencing God's presence in my life

664. taking Friday off from work

665. Wonderful Husband's kiss goodbye (at 4:30 a.m.) before he left on his North Carolina golf trip

666. meeting Charlotte and Kaye for breakfast

667. giving them spring bouquets. Yea Spring!

668. passing along Guideposts magazines to Charlotte. (My way of recycling.)

669. being treated to breakfast. Thank you Kaye!

670. running errands on a Friday morning. I was very efficient.

671. a surprise when I arrive home: balloons tied on the mailbox. I'm thinking it was a mistake (a basketball and a star?)! Funny though.

672. re-packing St. Patrick's Day decorations in a tub in the basement

673. decorating for Easter

674. a warm day before cool weather returned

675. turning on the air conditioning in my van and at home and both work

676. crazy forsythia in full bloom

677. iced coffee with Maria, talking about books, Bible Study, Growth Groups, church, life

678. inviting my sis-in-law over for Saturday lunch. Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. Recipe here.

679. nightly phone calls from Wonderful Husband and his good golf/weather reports

680. my belief that change promotes growth; and a growing family recognizing the need for change in family holiday traditions

681. worship at church. It really is a great way to start my week.

682. walking to the parking lot with Diane after church. She's leaving for a 10 day trip to Prague and when she comes back she's giving her 30 year old nephew a copy of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, on the occasion of his first confirmation into a church.

683. a surprise granddaughter-sitting opportunity and Barb and Diane coming over to admire/play/feed her

684. Wonderful Husband's safe return home and seeing his happiness that the trip provided

This post is linked to A Holy Experience: Multitudes on Mondays, One Thousand Gifts.

Do you have a golfer in your life?

An Empty Nest

Our daughter is moving has moved into her first home with her husband and daughter. They are starting with bare essentials and although we've been storing a hand-me-down sofa from one of my co-workers in our basement,  she decided that she wanted the two dressers from her old bedroom too.

Who knew that an empty nest means that it's not only "kids" moving out....but furniture too?

The words "Empty Nest" take on a whole new meaning!

(This Public Service Announcement is for future Empty Nesters.
You'll thank me one day :)

Is an empty nest in your future or are you living it now?

One Thousand Gifts (644-662)

Continuing on my journey of counting toward one thousand gifts....

I've been thinking a lot about spring lately. It seems to be a hope-filled season when crocuses and daffodils emerge from the soil and bloom, leaves reappear on trees (soon), and robins arrive to flitter around the yard. The different shades of green and daily evidence of new life bring excitement to my winter-weary eyes.

#644 - 662 of my  list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

644. after dinner walks with Wonderful Husband with beautiful sunsets

645. the first flower blooming on our forsythia

646. a first apartment for our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter

647. our daughter's 22nd birthday. Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Birthday Young Sweetie!

648. a day with our granddaughter

649. a sleeping granddaughter :)

The caption on her tushy reads, "My 1st St. Patrick's Day."

650. meeting Sue for coffee. How do two hours fly by so quickly?

651. emailing our son a Sausage Egg Casserole recipe (per his request)

652. shredding our daughter's old checking account checks. I love shredding!

653. laying out in the sun

654. mild PA weather in March. Awesome!

655. Wonderful Husband's grilled burgers. The first of the season....delish!

656. pink nail polish. Hello Spring!

657. the ladybug invasion in our master bathroom. An annual tradition I wrote about here.

658. a father and daughter enhancing our worship experience while playing their musical instruments. They accompanied the choir with his playing the clarinet and her playing the cello.

659. scripture (Luke 17:13) that reminds me of The Jesus Prayer: Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

660. being reminded of the importance of thanking God/Jesus for healing/blessings

661. pansies outside the grocery store. They bring back wonderful memories of my maternal grandmother and her garden.

662. the first day of Spring is March 20

This post is linked to A Holy Experience: Multitudes on Mondays, One Thousand Gifts.

What signs of spring have you seen in your area?

Hello Old Friend(s)

Spring must be just around the corner because our latest new crop of ladybugs invaded our master bathroom this past week.

This is an annual occurrence in our life. And one I look forward to with great anticipation.

We've lived in our home for 16 years and every spring "the ladies" come to visit.

She was walking around Wonderful Husband's sink this morning when I snapped her picture. (I think she was smiling :)

When Wonderful Husband was walking out the door I asked him if he saw the lady? He said that she was on his faucet handle and he was very careful while brushing his teeth.

Thank goodness for double sinks!

Hello Spring....welcome back old friends!

Do you have annual visits from "friends?"

One Thousand Gifts (626-643)

Continuing my journey of counting toward one thousand gifts....

#626 - 643 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:


626. my mother-in-law (MIL) celebrating her 81st birthday


627. a visit from my in laws to pick up their tax returns completed by Wonderful Husband. (If my MIL had a blog, she'd probably call him "Wonderful Son" :)


628. my MIL who creates beautiful cross-stitched gifts (a wedding gift for our daughter and son-in-law)

629. Diane watching over Youngest Sweetie (my granddaughter) during the time that she was dropped off and before I arrive home from work. Poor Diane had the fussy time...I had the happy!

630. receiving a kind note from Paula after our breakfast out. (Hee hee! There's one in the mail to her too!)


631. a bank that sent me an email saying my password was entered incorrectly three times and my password has been disabled. (I must be very clever with my password...and had to come up with another clever one.)


632. my Growth Group and four weeks of meeting together. We're beginning to know each other and dig deeper into our faith.


633. warmer days with strong, cool winds


634. "springing ahead" one hour. Hard eucharisteo for me when I grouse about the loss of one hour's rest, yet am grateful for the light lingering farther into the evening


635. spring cleaning in the yard: raking and picking up sticks


636. neighbors' crocuses blooming


637. a new design for my blog


638. this being the last week of wearing winter red nail polish


639. an email from our son, a phone call from our daughter


640. fellowship (my word for 2012). Continuing to explore and live it.


641. our neighbor Denise, who requests donations to hire a lawn care company to take care of non-owned grassy areas in our neighborhood. She is responsible for the continuing beautification of our neighborhood (year after year). She saw a need and came up with the solution. My kind of woman!


642. an awesome sermon preached by Bryant, one of our associate pastors, about Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).


643. the car wash. My van is clean on the outside and "windexed clean" on the inside. I felt the same after church yesterday. As someone said on our way out, "A great way to start the week!" Amen.


This post is linked to A Holy Experience: Multitudes on Mondays, One Thousand Gifts.

One Thousand Gifts (618-625)

Continuing my journey of counting toward one thousand gifts...

This week we purchased birthday gifts for our daughter and son.
Her birthday is St. Patrick's Day.
His birthday is in June.

Now the trick is that I have to remember:
a) that I have them,
and
b) where I put them.

Wish me luck!

#618 - 625 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thanking God for:

618. Paula, and Belgium waffles at Saturday morning breakfast

619. receiving a book that my Bible Study buddies are reading/studying

620. six weeks of gray hair gone! Love my hairdresser!

621. still reading the book The Colors of Hope: Becoming People of Mercy, Justice and Love by Richard Dahlstrom

622. seeing middle school brothers walk to catch the bus in the morning

623. daylight stretching farther, giving me more light on my drive home from work

624. choosing a day off from work this month to spend time with Charlotte and Kaye

625. our granddaughter, Youngest Sweetie. Love this age of playing happily with a placemat! Don't ever change Youngest Sweetie :)

This post is linked to A Holy Experience: Multitudes on Mondays, One Thousand Gifts.

Do you ever purchase gifts early and find them after the celebration has passed?