The Joy of Change

Like it or not, constant change is part of modern life. What in the world doesn't change?

1. God'l love
2. Friendship with His Son
3. The power of the Holy Spirit

When you think you've had just about all the change you can stand, reach out and take one step further into God's wide arms. Though his love, friendship and power never change, He made you with a big elastic spiritual cord that stretches with every tug and pull. He knows exactly how much give it's got. If He's calling you to stretch, He knows you've got what it takes. Reach!

God knows change can make your life richer. Live for today but hold your hands open to tomorrow. Anticipate the future and its changes with joy. There is a seed of God's love in every event, every circumstance, every unpleasant situation in which you may find yourself. Don't get stuck in a rut or hung up on an outdated blessing. You serve a God of change!

Barbara Johnson

Thrift Store Scores!

Look at all the beautiful old tattered quilts and chenille throws I found tucked away on a shelf at the Neighborhood Thrift Store today! They smelled of cedar. I can only imagine the stories they must hold in their fibers. You could tell they had been loved and used because of their tattered state. I wish I could let whomever they belonged to originally know that each piece has found a home where it will be loved and appreciated.

Blessings

Retail Therapy

There is nothing like a little retail therapy and a time of fellowship with one of your best friends (we've hung around together for so long that people think we're sisters) to bring sunshine to an otherwise cloudy week. My friend Peggy's oldest daughter is getting married in less than a month. We had gone shopping for Peggy's dress a few weeks ago, but I wanted to wait a while to get anything for myself because of my weight. I've been on a downward slide since I was diagnosed 8 months ago as being a diabetic. Well, with MWHITW out of town this week, we decided to plan a girls' night out. Of course I went with a specific style and a specific color in mind. First store . . . . NOTHING! Well, nothing as far as dresses go, but we both found Aigner sandals for 80% off! Hey, these are the gals who love hand-me-downs, rarely shop in "real stores" for clothes and absolutely refuse to pay full price for ANYTHING! So, when a pair of designer label shoes costs $8.49 . . .that's cause for excitement. Second store . . . . NOTHING! By this time it was almost 8:30. Everything closes at 9, so there's no use in stopping anywhere else, right? Well, maybe just one more. A quick run into Sears just to look wouldn't hurt. A parking place right in front of the door was waiting for us. Hmmm!? We walked into row after row after row of CLEARANCE dresses! We looked (here's one but it's way too small), and looked (ooooh look at this one, but it's way too big), and looked (this would be a great church dress but I'm not looking for a church dress) and looked (hey! this isn't even close to the color I wanted and the style isn't something I would normally chose, but what do you think?). A rich, dark green kind of a moire tone on tone with tiny black jet beads on the lapel and a little flounce detail on the skirt. Peggy loved it! I loved it. Right size? Well, maybe but my butt has been shrinking at a much slower pace than my top half so the skirt is iffy. "Attention Sears shoppers, the store will be closing in 5 minutes". Drat! No time to try it on. That's OK. I'll go ahead and get it and if it doesn't fit, I can always bring it back, right? Off to the cash register. There was one lady in front of us so I used the time to check the suit over to make sure there are no hidden flaws. NO PRICE TAG! 50 gazillion dresses to chose from and I found the one with no price tag! A quick run through the racks to check for another one like it. Nope! OK . Deep breath. I'm the last customer of the night. The clerk can't hate me for bringing a price-less item to her. When we stepped up to the register, I explained my dilema to her. Not a problem. "Manager to women's apparel". Nobody came. Then this sweet little cashier said, "hang on". She checked the label, ran off to the racks, grabbed a dress with the same label (not a bit like the one I had, but it had the same label) scanned it and said . . . are you ready for this . . .wait, can you repeat that? . . . . "will $14.90 be OK?". Peggy and I looked at each other and said "uh huh, that sounds fine". I paid the sweet little cashier and we calmly walked out of the store. Once we hit the parking lot. . . . well, all I can say is that there were two usually very calm, cool and collected middle aged women doing the happy bargain dance and high fives all the way to the car.

Dinner out $7.50. Shoes $8.49. Dress $14.90. Time spent having fun with your "sister" . . . PRICELESS!

P.S. Tried it on when I got home. The skirt fits like a dream! I'll need to make a couple quick alterations to the top, but basically IT FITS!!!

Blessings!

Farewell

Many, many thanks to all of you who expressed your love and concern for our buddy Buck. It is with a heavy, yet thankful heart that I must tell you that Buck passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. He evidently never regained conciousness and he didn't suffer - for that I am thankful. As I'm certain everyone who has a pet (no matter how big or small) knows, these furry four legged family members leave their paw prints permanently imprinted in our hearts.

Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers!

Moanday, Monday

It's Moanday! Usually Monday is no big deal to me. Just another day in another week. Today, however . . . . well let it suffice today that if this is any indication of what the rest of my week is going to be like, I may have to seriously consider getting in my car and running far, far away from home! MWHITW and our friend Arthur (pronounced ahtha - he's a teensy weensy bit - OK he's a LOT British) left at 6AM bound for Kentucky with a load of stuff to put in storage and to finish up the plumbing on our friends' new house. I was a little worried because their trip up I75 was going to take them directly into the path of severe storms. All is well, though. They ran into a little bit of rain. Nothing severe, though, and shortly after they crossed the Georgia line the storms stopped. (Insert heavy sigh of relief and a big Praise the Lord). Alrighty then! They sent part of my work through early. Great! I can get a jump start on things. So, with both furry animals outside enjoying the beautiful weather, I sat down to type. 5 patients worth of dictation later I heard the most pathetic, heart wrenching howl/screech/yelp. I looked out the window and saw the big dog on the ground. Long story short . . . I'm home alone with a 65 pound dog who has possibly had a stroke and is having seizures, a 10 pound doxie who wanted nothing more than for her big buddy to get up and play and not a neighbor in site. I was finally able to get to the phone and call my handsome, talented son who hopped in his trusty steed (a.k.a. the Kia Sportage) and was here in less than 10 minutes. Now the fact that he was here in less than 1o minutes would usually give me grounds for a lecture because he lives 10 miles away with at least 5 stoplights and a long stretch of town where the speed limit is only 40 between us. However, under the circumstances, I was just so glad to see him I'll save that lecture for another day. We were able to roll Buck on to his blanket and lift him into the back of my car just before the downpour came. I rode in the back with him and wonderful son drove us to the vet's office. Fortunately the rain stopped just as we pulled into the parking lot and we were able to get the big, furry one inside. His temperature was over 104, which in doggy degrees is about 4 degrees high. He was totally unresponsive. They took him immediately to the bath tub and bathed him in cool water in an effort to lower his temperature as quickly and safely as possible. The vet said they were going to give him IV fluids, run a battery of tests and observe him at least over night. When we left him (which was really a hard thing to do) he was still unresponsive. A phone call from the vet a while ago wasn't all that encouraging either. His blood sugar was 40, his liver enzymes are extremely high and he's still having mini seizures. They've got him on IV glucose and fluids and Valium (can you pass some of that Valium to me, please?). She didn't sound very hopeful. He has been a part of our family for 12 years - the same length of time we have lived in this house. I have a feeling this is going to be a really, really, really long night.

But the Greatest of These . . .

Love bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never ends.

So Faith, Hope,

Love abide;

But the greatest

of these is Love!

Purging and packing and painting and primping . . . . OH MY!

Wow! What a busy week so far. We've been getting the house ready to show, which means more packing and painting and primping and purging. My "office/original master bedroom/guest room/place to put things you can't find anywhere else to put" finally looks like a bedroom again.

I'd like to give a special award to the person who invented the inflatible bed! One minute it looks like a sleeping bag . . . five minutes later it's a queen sized bed! Throw on a creamy colored chenille bedspread and matching shams that were a $10 Goodwill find, hang some springy looking curtains (another thrift store score) and the room looks better than it has in years! I've been delaying packing up some of my girly bling from my dresser, but I knew it had to be done. I had just gotten a package in the mail from Laurie at Charming Design. I had purchased one of her beautiful little pincushions from her E-Bay store. It matches my moss rose collection so beautifully! I hated to pack it all away . . . . but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Can you see the beautiful little bird perched in its tulle nest on top of the vase? Isn't she adorable? As much as I hate to pack all the pretties away, I guess it will be like Christmas when I get to unpack everything again and have fun finding homes for everything at Goldens Creek! We actually showed our house for the first time this morning. The woman who came to see the house is actually a friend of the secretary who works in the office of the man who did our appraisal. When she described to him what she was looking for he immediately though of us! I was a little apprehensive (oh c'mon let's be honest here girl!) OK! I was a LOT apprehensive! Hubby had his share of apprehension too! The lady seemed to be quite pleased with what she saw. She is specifically looking for a home with two "master suites", which we have. She wants something in a quiet neighborhood, away from town. Fortunately the birds and the breeze cooperated. As if on cue, when the lady walked out on to the back porch the birds started to sing and the breeze began to blow through the pine trees in the woods behind the house. A symphony of peace and tranquility accompanied by the wind chimes hanging from the corner of the porch - all under the direction of the Master! She stood there and listened for a while and then took a stroll through the house for the second time. Now we wait . . . and pack and primp and paint and purge some more!

"The Witnesses"

With so much work to do and so much going on this past week I completely forgot that we had tickets to see a production called "The Witnesses" last night with a group from our church. A very big part of me wanted to give the tickets away, but that little part of me that had seen "The Rock and the Rabbi" several weeks ago (for the second time) REALLY wanted to see the sequel. Fortunately, that little part of me won out! Handsome, talented son was supposed to go with us, but had forgotten about a paper he has due on Monday. So, I called my friend Peggy at the last minute. She jumped at the chance! So, MWHITW got to accompany two of his favorite ladies to the production. It was AMAZING! AWESOME! Spellbinding! Touching! If you EVER have the opportunity to see either production (preferably both), GO! It's an amazing mix of storytelling, music and the Gospel. Needless to say, we were blessed beyond measure. We came away with our "tanks" filled up! Ready to start another week with our "blessing meter" on full!

Check out my Slide Show!

let there be light!

I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, and I don't THINK it's a freight train racing towards me this time. By the looks of my office, you wouldn't think I had accomplished anything at all for the past couple of days. However I have the spare bedroom (formerly the rats nest) finished except for painting the new closet doors and hanging the curtains. somewhere along the way I misplaced the curtain rod that goes in there. Oh well, the blinds are back up, the floor is clean, the bed is back together and made.

This is what the room looked like on Tuesday.

This is what it looked like on Wednesday.

And THIS is what it looks like today!

I have an old type setters tray I think I'll hang above the bed in lieu of climbing into the attic and bringing down the headboard and footboard.

I also got the guest bathroom done today. Scrubbed from top to bottom, new shower curtain hung (I actually forgot to buy shower curtain rings when I bought the curtain so my future DIL and I got creative with some satin ribbon I had laying around the house.I'm totally amazed I actually had some thing that matched the shower curtain! And of course I had to add a little bit of vintage bling while I was at it. Hey! It matched!

I rearranged the master bedroom yesterday too. Still have a little tweeking to do there, but for the most part it's done. Just a good cleaning and some sprucing up in the master bath then it will be off to the office/big guest bedroom/new rats nest (hey I had to put the stuff somewhere!). Fortunately for me and my tired old bones, The lady who was supposed to come this afternoon to look at the house cancelled until Monday! So, I think I'll take a nice long, hot shower and relax for a few minutes before I start on round 2 for the day.

Kind words are never wasted. Like scattered seeds, they spring up in unexpected places

a tICkLE fRom tHe Father

Have you ever been in a situation where you're running ragged and everything that can go wrong seems to be going wrong . . . . when all of a sudden something strikes you as incredibly funny? It's like the Good Lord has reached down and tickled you. That's me today! I have so much to do and so little time to do it. We have someone coming to look at the house on Friday. The "rats nest" and bathroom still need a coat of paint. There are no closet doors on the closet. I had an appointment in town this morning along with 3 or 4 stops I HAD to make. A carpenter friend of ours said he'd come out and put the doors up for us and help us with a few little things so I needed to be home. I've got people clamoring for STAT reports that I sent them yesterday. MWHITW locked his keys in his truck (back in town) . . .well you get the picture. I was sitting at my desk trying to decide whether to work work or to house work when I spun around and looked at one of the many piles of things I have sitting here waiting to be either packed to move or packed to take to the booth or packed to take to the thrift store. That's when the Good Lord reached down and tickled me. Sitting on the floor were some things I had taken out of our bathroom, my son's (aka "the rat") bathroom and a chamber pot that we had picked up on one of our treasure hunts. So what's so funny about that? It was the sign that had fallen out of one of the boxes that clinched it for me. What do you get when you put a bowl, a pitcher, an old gas heater and a chamber pot together? As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Now I have the energy to get some of this stuff done!