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Monday, May 28, 2012

One Thousand Gifts (769-780)

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


Wonderful Husband and I had an appointment on Saturday to help our daughter with some home improvements at her apartment. We loaded the mirror from her old bedroom into my van and stopped at a bagel shop on the way. (My family makes fun of my van but let me tell you that when big items need to be hauled/transported....she comes in mighty handy!)

Now I'm going to get sidetracked on my new favorite bagel flavor: multigrain! We bought a dozen and while standing in line who should appear behind us but a couple members from our church. Katie just graduated from university and will be moving to Maryland to begin her career next month.

On the road again, Wonderful Husband and I commented on how healthy Katie looked. She's suffered with anorexia for years and no longer looks gaunt and fragile. I pray that she is completely healed.

We arrived at our daughter's apartment and Wonderful Husband and our son-in-law lugged the mirror up to the third floor. I was my usual helpful self and carried my purse, my Diet Coke, and a patriotic pinwheel (gift for our granddaughter). Oh, I held the door open for them too.

Wonderful Husband helped hang the mirror, drilled a hole in the back of the TV stand so the wires could be "fed through it," and then held the wires out of my way while I vacuumed up all the sawdust from the drilling.

I played with the pinwheel to our granddaughter's delight/confusion, changed her diaper and generally cuddled and kissed her like crazy. It was a good beginning to our holiday weekend.



769 - 780 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

769. my van is useful in hauling items and for 8 years old, she runs like a champ!

770. helping our daughter and her family with home improvements

771. Wonderful Husband being the true handyman in these situations

772. Katie's good health and beginning her career

773. a sweet thank you note from our 9 year old nephew who wrote, "Thank you for the check my mom gave it to the bank and got the money and gave it to me."

774. punctuation. I realize how much I adore/depend on it! Ha!

775. Maria telling me about Heaven & Home Hour and the series: "Experiencing the Grace of God," by Jonathan Williams

776. Pentecost. God's gift of the Holy Spirit.

777. Memorial Day and remembering all who died while serving our country

778. those currently serving and protecting our country

779. the United States of America

780. God and His continuous blessings






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

Can you recommend any programs to watch or listen to online?

Monday, May 21, 2012

One Thousand Gifts (764-768)

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


More celebrations this past week...

Wonderful Husband's birthday and after 29 years of marriage we shopped for his gift together. We traveled to a nearby sporting goods store and although I took of picture of this:



He actually received a couple pair of golf shorts and a waterproof golf jacket. So rain or shine he is ready to hit the links!


I went to a bridal shower for Melanie, our niece-in-law-to-be. A nice get together with all my in laws (sisters, mother, nieces) and  my daughter was there too.

Conversations catching up with one another and we'll be together with our spouses to celebrate the wedding in August!



764 - 768 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

764. Wonderful Husband's birthday

765. my sister getting married in TX

766. Melanie's bridal shower

767. being with multi-generational women

768. hard eucharisteo...if the church means the people...why are we always talking/hearing about the building? Thankful for the people I am in fellowship/community with but am struggling with the constant talk of the building.

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

Do you struggle with your church during building campaign seasons?

Friday, May 18, 2012

Truly Moving

On Wednesday I was talking with my co-workers about how Youngest Sweetie is now moving.

The days of placing our granddaughter in the middle of a blanket, leaving the room, and coming back to her in the middle of the blanket are now over.

Everyone looked a bit surprised and asked, "How old is she now?"

"Six months," I replied.

Later I called our daughter, Young Sweetie, and left a voicemail saying that I thought they looked a bit incredulous like I was exaggerating.....or should I say lying?!?

She sent me this video to save my truthful reputation.

I have a very good daughter!




Youngest Sweetie is six months and five days old in this video.

I love her commando-style crawl.

Watch out world....she's moving now! Truly!


**********
Unrelated side note/thoughts:
My favorite word for the week "Ubiquitous." (Thanks Anne Lamott!)
Wonderful Husband's favorite word last night while watching Person of Interest: "Peripheral."

Do you have a favorite word this week?

Monday, May 14, 2012

One Thousand Gifts (757-763)

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


Saturday was a lovely day in PA! The sun shone brightly and the temperature was in the 70s. About three years ago Wonderful Husband and his three siblings began a Mother's Day tradition for their mom. They purchase flowers and all join together to plant them in her flowerbeds and containers.

Their mom is in her 80s and has been having a rough time this year with constant pain. She'll begin physical therapy this week and I know that she appreciates her kids adding beauty and color to her life and to her yard. I think Wonderful Husband's dad appreciates it too since he's "a frugal sort" and doesn't have to let go of his money for this gift. Ha!

Kudos to "the kids" (in their 50s and 60s) planting flowers for their mom!

757 - 763 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

757. Wonderful Husband and his siblings tradition of planting flowers for their mom for Mother's Day



758. our children: the Teacher (our son) and Young Sweetie (our daughter)

759. my son-in-law dropping off my Mother's Day gift of geraniums late Saturday night. I loved peeking out the window on Sunday and spotting them on the porch....just waiting for me to plant! Hooray!



760. reading a blog where someone in the Comments section had recommended the free purchase of the book Coffee Shop Conversations: Making the Most of Spiritual Small Talk by Dale & Jonalyn Fincher. (I guess I have a bit of a "frugal side" like my father-in-law. :)

761. an eloquent post from Amy at The Messy Middle. She's a teacher in China and taught me to look at Mother's Day from a big picture perspective.

762. my friend Terri. She is an awesome gifter and this year chose a beach theme for my birthday. And can I just say that my favorite color is 'periwinkle?' It's a beautiful blue on my tote bag and just the word 'periwinkle' brings a smile to my face!

763. God giving me such a wonderful family and wonderful friends!

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

Are you (or someone you know) an awesome gift giver?

Friday, May 11, 2012

What 51 Looks Like

....to me.

I still have braces.
11 months into my 10-14 month estimated treatment .


Two gifts from Maria

Hummingbird wind chime


Gardening gloves.
(Wonder if she got the idea from
Wonderful Husband?)
Time to get my gardening on!
I'm still taller than Youngest Sweetie.
(Of course my granddaughter is 6 months old.)

I take every day that I'm not the shortest person in the family as a win for me!

51 is looking/feeling pretty good so far!


Monday, May 7, 2012

One Thousand Gifts (748-756)

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


This past week had an abundance of birthday celebrations and it continues into this week too. The funniest part for me was going to a store on Saturday and the sign inside said, "If you have a birthday this month, you get 20% off your purchase."

WOW! It was my lucky day....or should I say birthday month?

Thanks Mom and Dad!

748 - 756 on my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm thankful for:

748. celebrating Diane's birthday with breakfast for dinner at Perkins

749. lunch out with my co-workers celebrating Laura's past birthday and my upcoming birthday

750. hard eucharisteo...focusing this past week on Proverbs 16:24, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Epic fail on my part, especially while driving to and from work. I'm beginning to think only duct tape over my mouth will work while driving. Prayers requested.

751. God's sense of humor and timing. On the way to church, the car in front of me had a bumper sticker that said, "just be nice."

752. Psalm 19:14 "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Not a coincidence that Psalm 19 is this week's "Trusting God for a Better Tomorrow: A Study of the Psalms," at Wendy Pope's blog. Yes Lord, you have my attention! And Wendy challenged us to focus on this verse for the next month.

753. sending a late birthday email to our niece-in-law and receiving her sweet reply. Oh and by the way, she ran in the 2012 Blue Cross Broad Street Run this past Sunday in Philadelphia.

754. a road trip for Wonderful Husband, our daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law to see the Phillies play the Nationals in Washington, DC. They met up with our son and enjoyed the game together.

Poor hot child. The day did become overcast later.
Her uncle is the hero diving for a foul ball in the stands for her!
That's why I call him Funcle (Fun Uncle)!

755. being treated to a pre-birthday breakfast by Paula and Maria. Wonderful women and we talked about life and faith during the calorie intake.

756. turning 51 on Thursday. Life keeps getting better with age wisdom. (Insert my kids rolling their eyes here.)

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

Have you noticed God repeating Himself to you lately?