Category Archives: Stray thoughts

Spirit-lifters

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A cool breeze on a hot day

A kind word

A good play in Scrabble

Chocolate

A thing of beauty — a flower, a painting, a lovely piece of music

Colors

A good book

The perfect word or phrase to describe something

Naps

Crossing things off a to-do list

Someone unexpectedly doing something for you, unasked

Finding just what you need in good time while shopping

Understanding

Counting my blessings

Being a help to someone

Being ministered to from the Word of God…even when it points out my flaws.

Just a few quick thoughts for the day — I’m off to get some things accomplished and will visit with you later on. Have a GREAT day!

Odds and ends

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  • It was nice that the Fourth of July was on a Sunday this year: it made for a whole weekend of celebration. We went to the Cowpens big fireworks display on Saturday night, our church had a big cookout for everyone Sunday after church, we enjoyed Sunday afternoon naps as usual, went to Jason and Mittu’s house for personal fireworks Sunday evening, and then Jim had Monday off as well. I was pretty wiped out, though, Monday! We had one little mishap at Jason’s house when one of the fireworks tipped on its side and ignited some underbrush under a bush in a vacant lot, but that’s why Jim keeps a bucket of water on hand when we do fireworks.
  • I mentioned a few days ago some baby birds in a hanging plant on the patio. Whenever one of the parents comes to feed them, we hear the babies chirping away. This plant is right by the door to the sunroom, so I can’t open the door and watch the babies feeding without scaring away the parents. Monday night Jim was out on the patio watering the plants, and then from the kitchen window I could see him and Jesse bent over the patio like they were looking for something, but I couldn’t tell what. When they came in, Jim said that when he went to water that plant, though he was trying to be careful, he accidentally frightened the baby birds, who fluttered down to the patio. By the time he turned the water off, they were no longer right where they fell. So he and Jesse looked around trying to find them and put them back in the nest. Jesse said he had heard that parent birds would reject a baby that had been handled by a human: Jim said he had heard the opposite, but either way, they’d fare better back in the nest rather than wandering about where other animals could get to them when they couldn’t fly away yet. They found two of them: one had gotten all the way over to a neighbor’s bush. I don’t know how they found them — they’re pretty much the same color as the ground out there. I had only seen two birds when I looked, but Jim was sure he saw three fall, so he kept looking, and finally found the third one just inside our door. Then when we were eating dinner, he saw one of them back on the patio, so he went out and restored it to the nest again. The feeding and chirping has resumed, and all seems to be well again at #1 Hanging Plant Lane, at least for now. The babies aren’t far from being able to fly out on their own.
  • We finally told Grandma about moving. We had mentioned the possibility some time back, and her only concern was that we take her with us, which we assured her we would do. But she would forget in-between conversations and we’d have to go over it all again, so we decided to just wait until we got closer to moving and could tell her something definite. Jim wrote out for her what led to the decision to move and what was likely going to happen when so that she could have it with her to refer back to — plus she seems to comprehend written things better than spoken ones, anyway. He included some pictures of the place he found for her. She’s so secure in her own little spot and so rarely leaves it that we thought she might be apprehensive about moving, but we figured it couldn’t be nearly as much of a shake-up for her as it was to move here from Idaho. But she seems fine with the whole idea. Now her mind is running with things that need to be done, and every visit involves some conversation about all of that which I am sure we’ll discuss several times over before we actually move.
  • We have a contract on a house in TN, and now they’re doing home inspections, title searches, etc. There was one potential problem with an outbuilding that looked to us like it extended over into the neighbor’s property. but the sellers paid for a survey, and it is actually within our property lines though still a little too close to it. But Jim talked with the powers that be to make sure that would not be a problem in the future, and everything seems to be satisfactory. The outbuilding isn’t a plastic or metal shed — it’s built like a little house — so it wouldn’t be easy to move. We could tear it down if it was ever a problem — but we hope we won’t need to.

Here is a little glimpse inside the house — but I’ll wait to show more til everything is finalized.

One thing I love about this house is that it is all one level — no stairs anywhere!

  • I finally got Jesse registered for his new school and got back loads of information this morning about uniforms, supplies, finances, etc. My head is spinning. I glanced through all of it and passed the financial stuff off to Jim. I’ll have to deal with the other things later — but not too much later.
  • Jesse wants to have a last party with all his friends and classmates. I am not sure when we will work it in, but I told him to bring it up again this weekend when we’re all in one spot and can confer on the best time.

And I think that’s about it, for now, in the land of Stray Thoughts. There are other things developing which I can’t share quite yet, but that’s probably more than enough for one post, anyway.

Happy Wednesday!

Laudable Linkage and Grandma’s Birthday

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We enjoyed celebrating Grandma’s 82nd birthday last night  with Pizza, cake, presents and “Team Scrabble.”

I don’t know how many people are around this holiday weekend, but here are a few things I’ve enjoyed reading the past couple of weeks.

Sometimes It’s Just Plain Hard, a very honest perspective that not everyone has beautiful, inspiring last days and death, but the hardness is all the more reminder that death is an enemy and Christ has overcome it and offers new life.

Another on the subject of death: I was brought to tears by the text of The Long Goodnight, HT to Challies. My own preferences for musical style is more conservative than the accompaniment here, but the text is from an old German hymn.

Laura introduced me to the M. O. B. Society (Mothers of Boys) with the post A Woman of God in a Household of Boys.

The High Calling of a Wife and Mother in Biblical Perspective.

“If Anyone Destroys God’s Temple…” Very convicting, not the usual take you see on this passage.

Beware the anger of man that attempts to produce the righteousness of God.

How can I make sure I am regularly shepherding everyone in the church?

In the “something to think about” department: Girlie Christianity.

Hope all my American friends have a happy Independence Day! I’ve loved this explanation of the Declaration of Independence by Red Skelton since I first heard it:

Findings

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The big project Saturday was to make a serious dent in cleaning out our shed before getting ready to move. Some stuff (which somehow was mostly mine….) was in boxes that had not been touched since we moved here years ago. 😳 I knew I wouldn’t keep most of it, but I didn’t want to just throw the boxes away without looking through them first, because I knew there were some treasures in there.

So while Jim, Jeremy, and Jesse took care of some of the bigger items, I sorted through boxes of old magazine articles and recipes (that I had planned someday to file :roll:), letters, notes, etc. I just flipped through and threw away most of anything that appeared to be torn out of a magazine or newspaper — I figured if I had done without those clippings this long, I probably didn’t need them. But this struck me funny in light of all of our house-hunting:

I did find some old bulletins with some poems and quotes I want to keep. Some of them that I tossed included stories and poems that still circulate the Internet today! I found some “Pastorgraphs,” various thoughts on the backs of church bulletins from a beloved former pastor for whom our son Jesse is named, some of which I might post in the future.

I found an old notebook from college days with dividers for sections for devotions, sermon notes, prayer requests, Christmas shopping lists, etc. The very first page had this list:

And yes, I think I got him. 🙂 ♥

I found several pages of notes from devotions that I will have to read through later:

I don’t take notes like that any more, I think because I kept piling up all these notes without ever really consulting them again. But I probably should. What little bit I read was an interesting picture of what I was learning and thinking at the time. I probably would think through the passages better if I were still taking notes like that.

I also found a few letters and personal notes. One from Jim from dating days brought a smile. It said:

THIS IS A LEGAL DOCUMENT

Do not destroy until the agreement specified has been fulfilled.

To the bearer, Barbara F—, I,  James H—, promise to honor this note concerning an agreement made in the month of February 1979. Because of her gracious acceptance of a date on a Sunday of the previously mentioned month, I promise and rightfully owe Miss F— one day of her choosing in which I shall do whatever she wishes (within reason). This IOU is binding and shall not be dissolved.

Sincerely (i.e., “with love”),

Signed: James H—

Recipient signature: Barbara F—

I showed it to him and asked him if I had ever cashed in on that. He said, “Many times.” 😀

He found a stray slide on the floor, and saw that it was a picture of me from a couple of months after we started dating. He cleaned it up and printed it out:

We still haven’t figured out why it was in slide form.

I also found a pillow from a quilting class I took. I didn’t like the backing I had used, so I cut it off and want to see about remaking it with other fabric.

The front is pilling a little bit — I probably used cheap fabric. But we’ll see if it can be salvaged. I also found another pillow that I had spent hours embroidering and lost track of. Somehow it was stored in an open box and got all gunky.

Any suggestions for cleaning it? I am going to take the old stuffing out and soak the fabric in…something. Woolite, maybe?

As I sorted through and threw away so much stuff (I did keep all of the above, by the way!) I felt so embarrassed that I had had it all sitting out there so long only to be tossed out. But I comforted myself with the fact that I have learned better now! I keep much less of that kind of thing and try to be discriminating about what I might really look at again and treasure and use in the years to come. So at least  I haven’t accumulated another several boxes to add to those from our years here. Well, maybe I have accumulated as much stuff or more — but it’s not boxes of clippings, anyway! 🙂

After a very hot several hours out there (thankfully it has electricity and we had an old fan going), two trips to the dump and one to Salvation Army (and no, that wasn’t all only my stuff!!), we’re maybe — oh — more than a third but less than half done? I’m hoping to do some more this week, but as there are other obligations this week, we’ll see.

And after we get the shed done — next is the attic!

Stray Thoughts

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An accumulation of various stray thoughts over the last several days…

  • I’ve often wished I could take photos during the drive to TN, but it’s pretty fast-moving traffic on winding roads for most of it. There is a shoulder, but I wouldn’t stop there unless it was an emergency. Once when it had been raining off and on, there were little wisps of clouds right at eye level.
  • Every time we’ve gone to the hotel in TN, I have planned to take a photo of the carpet in the hallway, but I keep forgetting. The design in it looks like fish bones. I wonder if the designer had fish before coming up with that design.
  • This last Thursday morning at the hotel, Jim went on to work and I stayed at the room a little longer, planning to leave at my leisure. He had told the front desk I would probably check out at 9 or 10, and I put out the “Do Not Disturb” sign so they wouldn’t come in to change towels til after I left. I was at the desk using the computer when two ladies from housekeeping barged in at 9:07. They apologized all over themselves — they had thought I was gone already. I was glad I wasn’t dressing or using the restroom — I don’t always close the restroom door all the way when I am in there by myself, but I did for the rest of the time I was there!
  • The hardest thing about looking at houses is that no one house has every feature we like. There was one gorgeous house, but it was squished up against the houses behind it — very little yard space, and very little distance between the kitchen table and one neighbor’s house. It would be disturbing to have neighbors right outside your window while you’re eating (at least for me). We loved the living area in one, the kitchen in another, the screened in porch, back yard, and bedrooms of another. We even gave a fleeting thought to building, but there’s not time at this stage, and I’ve heard that can be a major headache. We did find one that is nice, has the space we want, and is arranged well, with some extra features we like. The bedrooms are smaller than some we had seen, but I think they’re ok: the bathrooms aren’t as up-to-date as other houses, but they have the basic requirements. We’ll see what happens!
  • One house we looked at had a pink toilet! Really! I thought it was cute. Jesse said he would never use it. Jim said he probably would if he needed to badly enough, but Jesse maintained he wouldn’t. I told him a pink toilet was better than a yellow one. We saw one of those in another house.
  • A lot of houses up there have gas log fireplaces — just flip a switch, and voila! I’m assuming there is probably a little more snow up there than here, so that will be nice. We have a fireplace now, but it is wood-burning and we pretty much only use it when the power is out in winter. It’s smelly, requires tending, and you have to deal with cleaning out the ashes. So I am all for just flipping a switch.
  • We’ve known about the possibility of moving for almost a year, though we only decided to for sure a few months ago. We’ve needed to keep it quiet for various reasons, but we let Jesse tell his classmates so he could tell them good-bye, and word started to filter from there. Then we made it public a couple of weeks ago. So I understand that what we’ve had time to get adjusted to is new for many people we know. But some people have said things like, “I’m mad at you!” or “Why do you want to go off and leave us?” I know they’re teasing and basically mean, “We’re sorry to see you go,” but it comes across a little negative that way. With some people we’ve almost had to defend why we’re leaving. Only a very few people have said anything positive. One lady today told me she was going to miss us, but she was excited for what the Lord was doing for our family. That was such a balm.
  • Our church is going through a time of change: we’ve been without a youth pastor for a year, our business manager is retiring, our custodian is moving away, and our family is moving. I don’t mean to elevate myself to any level of importance, but the ladies’ ministry, especially, will undergo the most change by my leaving. And change can be disconcerting. I have one last ladies’ booklet to do, and one thing that has come to mind to share there is the last line of a stanza of a verse in “Be Still My Soul” — “In every change, He faithful will remain.” “For I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). God is with us throughout each change in life. He promises to work everything together for good. I’m sure He will raise up someone to take the ladies’ group to the next level, to take it places that I could not.
  • I’m sure I will need to remind myself of that many times as well. We’re excited about many of the changes coming up for our family, but actually facing getting to know new places and people, and especially the change of our family being scattered will be hard. I’m thankful we can count on God’s grace in every circumstance.

Ramblings

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It’s a good thing we didn’t have any big plans for Memorial Day. We had thunderstorms all through Sunday night and rain most of Monday. Jesse was at a friend’s house, Jason was working, I was sick — so it was a pretty low-key day.

I had gotten some ham steaks to marinate and grill at some point over the long weekend, and thankfully we decided to do that Sunday after church rather then Monday. So good!

Between coughing, not being able to breathe through my nose, and multiple trips to the bathroom (drinking something through the day had helped my sore throat, but all that liquid intake caught up with me by evening) I didn’t get to sleep until some time between 2 and 3 this morning. I woke up some time after 8 and have given myself full permission to go back to sleep when I feel the urge.

But thus I am not terribly coherent this morning. 🙂 I have a book I want to tell you about — maybe later today, but maybe I’ll have to wait til I can do it justice.

Saturday was one of the busiest days we’ve had in a while. We were invited to three events, but could only attend two. Well, as far as the schedule goes, we could have fit in the third one between the other two, but in the stamina department we needed a little break before dashing off again. A company my husband worked for for thirteen years had a reunion at a lake Saturday afternoon. It was good for him to see old friends and catch up with folks. I didn’t know many of the people except by name, but I guess they knew me through Jim and made me feel welcome. Had some great barbecue and got a little sunburned. Then that evening, a niece who lives about 50 minutes away was having an open house — she and her husband of seven months just bought and built their own home. I also saw one of my sisters and another niece there. It’s kind of sad that part of my family lives less than an hour away and we don’t see them much, but everyone’s schedules are so different. It was good to touch base with them.

Friday (I seem to be working back through time in my retelling…) was Jesse’s last day of tenth grade with an awards program and giving out the yearbook with time to mingle and sign each others’. I wish they’d hand out the yearbook a few days earlier so there was more time for that, but, at any rate, it was a nice time for him. Now I am luxuriating in not having to set alarm clocks for 5 a.m.!

And I think that’s mostly it for our doings over the last few days. I have our ladies’ ministry booklet to work on this week and then want to sketch out a game plan for what I need to accomplish this summer.

Several weeks ago I had asked you to pray for some possible big changes for our family. Thanks to those who have, and I’d appreciate your continued prayers. We’re about 95% sure of which direction we’re going to take and should know in the next few weeks. There will be ripple effects throughout the family, some exciting, some scary — some both — as any change will bring. I’ll update you when I can!

Processing LOST

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Even if you don’t watch TV, it would have been hard to miss the fact that the much-anticipated finale to LOST, one of the decade’s biggest hits, was occurring this week. Since it aired Sunday night, fans and reviewers have been discussing it profusely online, and I assume at the office water cooler. It seems to have had a polarizing affect on fans: some loved it, many were profoundly disappointed.

I’m somewhere in the middle. There were some wonderful scenes and some beautifully portrayed emotional dramatic moments. The “awakening” of Sun and Jin, Sawyer and Juliet. The scene on the cliffs where Jack and Fake Locke face off and then come at each other. Some of my all-time favorite scenes were when Jack handed over his brief protectorship to a reluctant Hurley, and then Hurley appealed to Ben (of all people!) for advice and help. Almost every scene with Jack and Locke in the “sideways” time-line. The last scene when Jack’s eye closed was a fitting full circle from the series’ first scene of Jack’s eye opening.

I have to admit the whole light in the cave thing was a bit of a disappointment when it was revealed a couple of weeks ago that that was what needed protecting. And the strange explanation that it was somehow “the light within everyone” that some people wanted more of just didn’t make sense and seemed a little lame, but I went with it. If I could suspend belief for a smoke monster, I supposed I could accept this as well.

There were some “Lord of the Rings” moments, such as when Jack and Locke and Desmond first descended into the cave that looked very much like the fires of Mordor, though it was actually a waterfall with light behind it. The scene seemed like it was supposed to feel like the same kind of mythic quest, but the series up until the last few episodes didn’t have the same feel as LOTR, so it was a little hard to see it that way.

The biggest disappointment (to those who felt disappointed) was the fact that the series didn’t wrap up neatly and left so many questions unanswered. In fact, someone made a humorous video of a smattering of loose ends that were not tied up (just the first part — there is some weird unrelated song afterward that I didn’t watch.) Some people felt the writers “played” the viewers, strung us along, putting all these little clues and puzzles throughout the series and probably laughing at us as we tried to figure them out (there were several sites dedicated to all the puzzles and questions in LOST.) For instance, there were several books shown throughout the whole series, and some fans thought there had to be some meaning to them and sought to read them to try and figure it out. In the retrospective before the finale, the writers said they just tossed in books or philosophers that they and others in the cast and crew liked: there wasn’t necessarily a connection to the plot. Some felt the writers even lied to us and fell short of good story-telling by insisting it’s the characters who matter rather than the plot. And it is disturbing that some die-hard loyalist fans who loved everything about the finale condescendingly tell those who were miffed that they just don’t “get it.”

I have to admit I was disappointed in some aspects — not as much as some out there, but I think too much was left unexplained, and wondered if the writers just ran out of time, got lazy, or were really just playing us all along. On the other hand, I did expect that they wanted to leave some air of mystery, something for people to keep talking about. But the unresolved issues only affected the enjoyment of the plot a little for me.Well, maybe more than a little. But not enough to turn me against the show.

While there were Christian elements in LOST, I don’t think it was a Christian allegory as some do. In fact, I would be upset if it was meant to be a Christian allegory, because there were many things it did not get right if it was. The multicultural stained glass window at the church was a clue that there were elements of several religious philosophies thrown in. I never watch Jimmy Kimmel, but I did watch his “Aloha to LOST” airing the same night as the finale. On that show, Matthew Fox explained that in some religions, there are a few moments after one has died where he looks back on the events leading to his death and the people he met along the way — more of a retrospective than a purgatory. I had never heard that and I don’t believe there is such a moment, but the show makes more sense from this vantage point.

I wasn’t terribly interested in the show at first (“Another crash/castaway movie. Yawn.”) But I watched it because Dominic Monaghan had just finished LOTR and I wanted to see how he handled a different role. It didn’t take long to realize this was not just another airplane crash show! We were drawn in immediately. I didn’t like every point in every episode, and there were a few scenes we changed channels for.

Some will say, “It’s just a TV show.” True. But the best TV shows give you something to ponder, and pondering LOST has been an enjoyable activity for our family since the first episode.

(Several people have linked their discussions of LOST to Shannon’s discussion post, if you’d like to read more. This has not been a “review” per se — just a few of my many stray thoughts on the finale and the show in general.)

Laudable Linkage

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We’re off to a wedding in a few hours, plus the usual Saturday chores. I only have a handful of links to share with you of interesting things seen round the web this week.

All You Single Ladies…Or At Least Those Over Thirty. Though I would say it is not just for single ladies. Here is an excerpt:

I am burdened that we tend to alienate ourselves (and sometimes our churches facilitate that alienation with extensively segregated ministry) based on the particular burdens we face. Divorced. Single. Mothers. Newlyweds. I’m not discounting the value of counsel specific to our stage of life, but I’m also burdened that we not discount the commonality of our burdens. Whatever emotional battles you face now, tempting you to doubt God and despair over your circumstances, are NOT unique to you or your stage of life. They are “common to man”. You likely experience intense emotional battles (discontentment, loneliness, alienation, despair). You probably experience sin battles (sexual sin, gossip, bitterness). You have many sisters in Christ who have experienced similar variations of the struggles you face. You need your Christian family. Don’t allow Satan to use feelings of alienation to marginalize you in the church.

Let go by Jeanne Damoff. Beautiful post on not clasping, clenching God’s blessings, but letting them go into His hands.

The Glory of Plodding by Kevin DeYoung.

Learn How to Hand Quilt.

The Selling Sisters: your guide to selling onlineMy friend Lizzie of A Dusty Frame has begun a blog with her sister called The Selling Sisters having to do with tips on buying and selling online (Ebay, Etsy, online shop, etc.) from their experiences. I have been thinking about getting into some of that, and I’ve found just glancing through their site informative. I’ll know where to go when I have questions! I hope you’ll check them out.

Have a good Saturday!

Randomness

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I was going to do the usual Wednesday Random Dozen today….but I could only come up with answers for about half the questions. Then my mother-in-law’s hearing aid suddenly stopped working, and I had to take her over to get it checked, and didn’t get back til lunch time. Then I was just tired and not feeling well for a good bit of the afternoon.

Thankfully her hearing aid revived with a thorough cleaning and changing the tube. I was afraid they were going to have to send it off for repairs, and she really can’t hear much of anything without it. We still have her old one somewhere, but it is not a lot of help. It’s hard to communicate and disconcerting to her when she can’t hear, so it was a blessing that that’s all that was needed.

She was thrown off a bit when I came in because she had forgotten I was taking her in (somehow the lack of hearing wasn’t a reminder…), and she went back and forth from apologizing for forgetting (though it was not a big deal at all — just a matter of waiting for her to use the restroom) to frustratedly saying, “I wish you had reminded me!” 🙂 We had talked about it and I had left her a note…but such is life at 81.

I love the hearing aid doctor’s medical building, though. They have people waiting at the door to assist people, and they’ll open the car door, bring out a wheelchair, and wheel her in while I go park the car and then come back to take her to the appropriate office. She usually uses a walker rather than a wheelchair, but that would be a bit too much of a walk for her.  Then when we’re done I can leave her in the lobby by the door in the wheelchair while I bring the car around, and they’ll wheel her out and help her into the car.

Whenever I take her anywhere other than home or church, she almost always comments about hoping I know the way or being glad I know the way, because she sure doesn’t. 🙂 I assure her in an upbeat way that yes, I’ve lived here for twelve years and and pretty familiar with the area. But she even did that when she flew with Jim to visit and then later to move here. Even though he is a seasoned traveler, she was all worried about finding the right gate instead of trusting him to find it. But instead of getting frustrated, he told her what gate he was looking for and asked her to help him find it, and that kept her mind occupied and off the worry cycle a little. I guess all of that conveys an understandable underlying insecurity of being ferried around unfamiliar places under someone else’s direction and control. I mentioned a while back logical thinking is one of the first things to go in dementia, in this case the logical thinking that we know the way, and if we didn’t, we could find it, and even if we got lost, we’d find our way home eventually. But, for all that, most of the time she thinks pretty clearly, except for repeating conversations we’ve already had. New unfamiliar situations do trigger more muddled or illogical thinking.

After I took her back to her assisted living place just in time for her lunch there, I looked forward to getting one of my favorite fast food lunches, a McDouble and small fries for $2.18. I love their fries. But when I got home, I had two burgers and no fries. 🙂 I ate one and put one in the frig.

Speaking of fries, when I buy the frozen ones to bake, I usually like the smaller cuts. But the last time I wanted them, they didn’t have them, so I got the regular crinkle cut kind. I just didn’t like them as well. So one day this week when I was using up the rest of them, I tried spraying them with Pam and sprinkling garlic powder, salt, and paprika on them. They weren’t too bad — they need something else, though…

Last night I made peanut butter Rice Krispie treats with melted chocolate and peanut butter chips on top. Mmmmmm…

Only a week and a half til school is out! Yay!

I am loving the last few episodes of Lost. It’s kind of like a good book that I can hardly put down for wanting to see how it turns out, but then I miss it when I am finished. I think the definite end date has helped the writing to be a lot tighter, but I am SO going to miss this show when it is gone.

I was dismayed when Daris was in the bottom two on the Biggest Loser. I have been rooting for him all season, I think because he reminds me of my oldest, in that he is quiet and somewhat reserved. They’ve all come so far, though — I wish them all the best.

Well, I think that’s about enough randonmness — and it is time to go fix dinner. See ya later!