Category Archives: Stray thoughts

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!

I survived…

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The 2010 Ladies’ Luncheon is now history. Everything went really well. Thanks for praying! I’ll tell more about it and show you some pictures early next week. Now I am getting caught up on laundry and have to run out to the store. Mittu volunteered to make dinner for us all (have I mentioned how nice it is to have a daughter-in-law? 🙂 )

I’ll catch up with you when I can….

Busy days…..

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Our annual ladies’ luncheon is this Saturday, so much of my focus this week has been preparing for that. I had thought I’d do the usual Friday memes and then wait to catch up with everyone later on over the weekend…but I am running a little behind due to being a little under the weather today. So I think I need to keep focused on the tasks at hand and wait to get to those memes if possible, and if not…then I’ll get back when I can. I was waiting to share a couple of special Mother’s Day related things on the Friday’s Fave Five! But it will have to wait.

For those of you who pray, I’d appreciate your prayers that I’d feel better and be able to get things done, that the logistics will all go well, for our speaker and her family as they travel and as she prepares and speaks, and that the event will be a blessing to those who attend.

I may pop in with you as I am able here and there when taking a break, but otherwise, I’ll catch up with you…sometime after the luncheon…and laundry and grocery shopping and everything else. 😀

(Photo courtesy of the morgueFile.)

We Rest On Thee

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Last night we watched End of the Spear, about Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other three men who were speared to death by the Indians (then known as Aucas, now as Waodani, their name for themselves) they wanted to try to reach for the Lord over 50 years ago. I had seen it before and thought the others had, but they didn’t remember it. There was so much more of the story I wished they could know: I’d recommend the companion documentary, Beyond the Gates of Splendor.

The story made the national news at the time, and then in the following years Elisabeth Elliot told it in more detail in the book Through Gates of Splendor. The title comes from this hymn which the men used to sing together — I am thinking they sang it the night before they went out, but I don’t remember for sure.

We Rest On Thee

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

Yes, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

~ Edith G. Cherry

The tune is to Finlandia by Sibelius, by which we also sing “Be Still My Soul.” Oddly, I have never heard it sung in church. I’ve only heard it on the radio. But many times when I think of these men, this hymn come to mind. The first few lines of the third verse especially resonate with me.

By the way, the foe they were going against was not the Aucas/Waodani. The foe was Satan, “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:3-4)

Ephesians 6:10-13: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Updated to add: My friend Bobbi found this version on You Tube, which sounds like the recording I hear on the radio:

What would you do?

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Some months ago I bought two items at Michael’s, a Cricut cartridge that was on sale and a package of little storage jars. I had a 50% off coupon to apply to the jars, because Michael’s coupons always stipulate they can’t be used on Cricut products. If I remember correctly, I think when the clerk first rang up the purchase, it didn’t show the cartridge as being on sale, so I had to show him where it was and that it was on sale. Then when he rang it up again, somehow it didn’t register as a Cricut product, and the computer in the register applied the coupon to it (it always applies to the highest-priced item). I tried to tell the clerk at that point that the coupon should not have applied to the cartridge, but he was very new and did not understand. I didn’t want to hold up the other people waiting, so I left, but my conscience still bothered me. If I did the math right, this netted me $15 in savings more than I should have had, and if it had been a $15 error in their favor, I would certainly have talked to the manager and gotten it straightened out. I felt I was obligated to do the same even if the error was in my favor.

I determined to go back in the next few days, ask to speak to the manager, and explain the situation. Even though in many cases like that the manager will say, “Don’t worry about it” rather than untangle it all, I still feel like at that point I have done everything I could.

But I felt awkward about it all, and with my tendency to procrastinate especially in regard to awkward things, I put it off until I forgot all about it and left the bag in my sewing room.

I rediscovered the bag yesterday just as I had left it. It feels even more awkward now.

What I’d like to do is just send them a check for $15 with a note telling them I was undercharged by that amount. But I don’t know if that would cause them more difficulty, if they’d have a way to ring something up to come out to $15. I could still bring the whole thing in and try to explain it, but it would be even more awkward and they’d be more likely to say to just forget about it. I am thinking, maybe wrongly, that they might be even a little irritated about having to deal with it.

Another solution that came to mind would be not to use the coupons Michael’s publishes nearly every week, paying full price rather than the 40-50% off, until I’ve “paid back” the $15 that way.

What do you think? (Well, besides thinking I am crazy….)

Am I the only one who…

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  • Wonders if having an adult dressed in a mascot costume waving at people in front of a business actually brings any more customers into a business?
  • Does NOT like roosters in decorating? I don’t understand that phenomenon. Ugly creatures.
  • Does not like flavors of one food in the texture of another? Like Taco soup. I love tacos and soup — but a soup that tastes like a taco doesn’t appeal to me.
  • Does not like bagels. The outside is too hard. I had one on a plane and dug out the softer innards and wondered what the appeal was.
  • Thinks pictures of babies with food all over them are only cute if it’s your baby?
  • Is tired of milk mustache ads?

I frittered away my morning with several fragments of thoughts for blog posts, but couldn’t seem to develop anything, so I decided to go with randomness. 🙂 Reading back over the list, a lot of it sounds gripy, and it isn’t meant to sound that way. It’s meant to be fun.

My primary focus this week was supposed to have been getting plans for decorations and favors for our annual ladies’ luncheon firmly in place so that we could work on them at the ladies’ meeting Monday, but I have been a little fragmented there as well. I’ve had some ideas and I’ve looked around online to see if anyone else had already done anything along the lines and found some neat stuff. I just need everything to coalesce in my brain and then make some samples and get materials ready.

I don’t know why I am feeling so fragmented and having such a hard time getting in gear this week, Maybe I am still recuperating from last week’s trip. Maybe it’s allergy brain — the pollen is the worst it has been here in a long time. This is a dark green car but looks yellow under all the pollen:

I’m not one who usually wishes for rainy days, but I am today. It would be so nice to have everything rinsed off, if only for a little while.

Then again, maybe I am just making excuses and need to take myself by the scruff of the neck and get myself going.

Maybe. But I think I’ll go see what we have for lunch first.

🙂

Catching up…

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That’s the name of the game these days!

I mentioned that Jesse was out for spring break last week. What I didn’t mention (because, you know, of all those cyber-stalkers lurking about to find an empty home to burgle. 🙄 🙂 ) was that we went out of town for a few days.

We were in the Knoxville, TN area. It is beautiful country up there. Rolling hills, little streams and rivers, acres of pasture, etc. We passed so many valleys nestling little cottages or farms that Jeremy speculated that the Tennessee Department of Tourism put them there to look idyllic. 🙂 I imagine it is even more lovely in the fall when all those hills are covered with autumn color.

At one point I was admiring the bluish mountain range in the distance and wondered what they were called, and Jeremy said, “Probably the Blue Ridge Mountains.” Yep, I guess that would be them!

(Photo courtesy of Ken Thomas)

We met up with an aunt and uncle of mine that we haven’t seen in years, but we were able to plunge right in as if it had been only a few days. They took us to the Flatwater Grill for dinner one night, a lovely restaurant right on a lake. The whole outer wall is windows, so you have a view of the water, trees, etc. The food was wonderful, too!

We were trying to decide what fun thing to do on Saturday — Dollywood, Gatlinburg, and other attractions were within an hour’s drive — but the guys all decided what they’d really love to do is go to the Apple store. 🙂 We don’t have one in our area, and the iPad was due out that day. So that’s where we went. There was a definite air of excitement, even though I’m not so much into the latest techno-gadgets! They enjoyed experimenting with one. I would have looked around the mall more, but it was uncomfortably noisy all over. Later in the afternoon Jim and I explored a street full of antique shops. I spied one little book by Henry Drummond called The Greatest Thing in the World. I had heard of both author and book, and the inscription in the front was signed by a Barbara! So I got that.

We did enjoy a beautiful Easter service at a church we visited in the area. The pastor there knows our pastor and has spoken at our church, so it was a little like visiting an acquaintance rather than walking into a totally new situation.

We were sad that Jason and Mittu weren’t able to go with us, but they checked in with Grandma, took care of the dog, got the mail, etc. for us, and I noticed that they did some vacuuming and folded a load of laundry left in the dryer, so that was wonderful. We had lamented that we wouldn’t get back until Easter evening and so would miss our usual Easter festivities, but when we got home, Mittu had set the table with fresh spring flowers and little Easter treats, and then she and Jason brought over a ham dinner with all the accouterments. It’s so nice to have such a sweet and thoughtful daughter-in-law! (And son, too. 😀 )

I may make the resurrection rolls next week since some missed them — after all, we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday, right?

Yesterday was spent not getting everything done that I had planned to, but making a dent in all those after-vacation tasks, like laundry, a trip to the grocery store, going through mail, etc. After this morning I think I’ll be pretty well back to “normal” — whatever that is. 🙂 I think I do foresee a nap in the near future, though!

Spring break and April Fool’s Day

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Hi all,

Spring break is this week, and I didn’t think that would affect blogging much…but it is! I have my Friday Faves post all set, but otherwise I don’t know if I will be here much for the next few days. I’ve been keeping up with Google Reader as much as I can, but my word, you all are prolific when I am only checking once or twice a day as opposed to off and on through the day! 🙂

We’re doing ok. Jesse has a humongous Spanish project due the first day back at school that he has been working on for weeks, and thankfully he got it done Monday.

If you want to see the cutest Easter cake, click here at i am baker. Be sure to scroll down for a glimpse of the inside — that’s the most clever part! She’s having a pretty nifty giveaway, too!

We have never done much for April Fool’s Day, but I have always wanted to try some of these fake-out food dishes at Family Fun. Maybe some day….:-) (Watch out fellas!)

I hope you are having a great Easter week.

Laudable Linkage

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Here are some great things I’ve seen around the “Net and thought some of you might enjoy as well.

Tim Challies shared a link to an incident that brought tears to my eyes: The Contagious Comfort and Mercy of God at Wrestling With an Angel. It begins this way:

One busy Saturday afternoon I was patrolling the local mall parking lot in my police cruiser. It was warm, so I had my windows down enjoying the fall air. As I drove though the lot I heard a loud piercing cry echoing like a sound bite from a horror movie.

After reading that post I clicked around and read a few other posts there. Very good, rich reading.

A Biblical view of self image and way of dealing with self-doubt by Laura at Outnumbered Mom, a new blog friend discovered through the Friday Fave Fives. Though it deals with self-doubt as a mother, the truths there are applicable to anyone.

Political angst by Wendy at Practical Theology For Women deals with a few pet peeves, such as angst in Christianity “over something the individual perceives as righteous or unrighteous but that Scripture itself only addresses in either very general terms or doesn’t address at all.”

The Marriage Bed. Be sure to read til the end! I’m sorry I forgot to note where I saw this one.

Respect within marriage.

How to Pray For Missionaries.

The Paradox of Parenting Boys. This made me smile.

A live web cam of a nesting owl, HT to Lizzie. It will be really fun once the babies hatch.

A refurbished vintage sewing cabinet. Lovely!

A video library of hand embroidery stitches. Great resource!

Paper silhouette art. These are very creative — I’ve never seen silhouettes like this.

If you need any ideas for cute Easter decorations or goodies:

Eggy Baskets.
Little nests.
Free printable cupcake toppers.

Have a great weekend! We start spring break this week!