One Part Inspiration...

A New Year is staring us down - a New Decade is on it's way. Does that seem ominous? I didn't even think about it until a couple of weeks ago, when the radio announcer mentioned the "hits of the decade" contest. W hat? I've gone through another decade? Remember 2000? We all worried about our computers. Now we are worried about bluetooth technology. “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ―Hal Borland Ten years ago, I had a 9 year old, a 8 year old, and a 5 year old - Grade 5, Grade 3, and Kindergarten. Now I have a post-high school aged child, a soon-to-be high school graduate, and a high school freshman. Weird huh? "Time (as my dad used to say) waits for no man, and very few women." This past year, I worked with a woman who turned 100. Her comment? "It takes a very long time to get this old." A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one yea...

I managed to make it to the end of this year. Good for me. Better yet, I have managed to make it through another decade. Double good for me. I was wondering what I could write about to mark the end of the year, and the end of the decade. So I went back and looked at different posts I have written over this past year. Surely there would be some inspiration there. Some brilliance. Some wisdom and insight to light my literary fire. N ope . The posts are a little bit of everything, and mostly about nothing. Somehow, I have managed to write a blog for a whole year about very ordinary things. I haven't won any Pulitzer Prizes. I haven't been nominated for "Woman of the Year". I've simply done a lot of the same things every day, and written about them. And stranger still, I have found it entertaining to describe life as it occurs. What's even more amazing is that there are a few faithful people out there who read these little bits of nothing. I imagine it's a lit...

In Max Lucado's book "Travelling Light", he writes about Psalm 23. He writes as if the reader is going on a journey, and the different types of 'luggage' they might want to take with them (or leave behind). In the chapter "Whaddifs and Howells", he refers to worry as the 'burlap bag of burdens. It is "cumbersome, chunky, unattractive, scratchy and hard to get a handle on". It is "irritating to carry, and impossible to give away". (p.47) As I read this chapter, it resonated with me. I like to worry. I'm an expert in it. Most of the time I don't evaluate what I'm worrying about. I'm just busy stuffing it into the burlap bag, making the burden heavier. I have worried about not having enough money to make it through the holidays, every year since we were married. I have worried about where we will live, and how we will afford to survive once we are there. I have worried about things breaking down in the hou...

I lost my set of work keys several weeks ago. I asked everyone if they knew where the keys were - co-workers, office staff, family, friends. It happened on a day when I had many things going on. I was running my groups. I made many trips to my office, down to the lounge, to the printer, and the photocopier and back. I remembered seeing them one place, and after that had no recollection of having them in my hand. I was distraught about it, because I knew that for security issues, losing my keys might have far reaching implications. I prayed about it. "Oh Lord, help me find my keys". The keys did not show up. I cleaned out drawers. I rooted through closets and containers. I went through my purse and briefcase. I turned everything inside out and upside down. To no avail. The keys were missing. Sighhhhh. It was embarrassing asking others to borrow their keys all the time. But I really had no option. Eventually I decided I would have to confess to my boss, and start the process fo...

Wendy:" Welcome to Wendy's, may I take your order? " Me:" I would like to order four meals". Wendy:" You'd like a number four meal? " Me: ( wondering what word would make it more clea r) "No, I want four meals " Wendy: " You want four number one meals? " Me: "Never mind. I will order now. I would like a cheeseburger meal combo, with root beer to drink, no ice." Wendy: " You want to make it a combo ?" Me: ( I thought I said that...oh, well.. .) "Yes. And no ice in the root beer." Wendy: " Will that be all ?" Me: "No I would like to order another meal." Wendy: "You would like to have more?" Me:" Yes. I would like a junior cheeseburger meal combo, with an extra cheeseburger." Wendy: " Would you like to make it a combo ?" Me: ( again, thinking I'd said that already, but not wanting to make an issue of it.. .) "Yes...and the drink is a root...

Every year, it is my pleasure to coordinate some Christmas songs for our staff choir to sing. We have tried all sorts of combinations - well known songs, little known songs, songs we have danced to, songs we have done sign language for... This year, one of my co-workers asked if I knew this song. She brought in the words for me, and then I Googled it to see if I could find the music. There are lots of different versions of it. I like this one, because it told a story of why Clay Aiken chose to sing it. ( In case you don't know, he is the runner up of Season Two of American Idol) "Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem " has turned out to be my favorite staff choir song of this season. Somewhere deep inside of me, a Southern Gospel musician is waiting to get out. Wednesday will be the last time we sing it, and I am a little sorry not to have any more opportunities to share it. I will share it with you in this version. Hope you enjoy it. Especially the story he tells bef...

One of the treats of this time of year is the generosity that spills out into the streets in so many ways. I see this every day in the places where I work as canned goods are collected for the food bank; in the malls, as people drop in their spare change to help others; in the volunteer hours planned to share hot chocolate and sandwiches on the inner city streets. It is inspiring to me. In the spirit of the generosity I see, I am going to share with you three Christmas surprises which have put a glow in my heart. The first one was the delight I got from being able to go through a co-worker's box of unwanted Tupperware and Pampered Chef products. She didn't need them anymore and shared them with anyone who wanted them. I picked up several things which had been on my 'would- love -that- in- my -arsenal' list ; I got a measuring cup and teaspoon set and a couple of extra storage containers. I felt like I'd been to a Splurge Club. :) Another surprise (or two) we...

10. Play Christmas music off the "Holiday Traditional" on the T.V. That way you don't have to search for your own collection. [But just in case... Anyone seen my "Bebo Norman" Christmas C.D.?] 9. Buy ready-made quiches on sale, and save them for Christmas Eve. Pop them into the oven, and pull out in 10 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy the comments of your happy and spoiled family. 8. Go to Value Village and have a good look around. Bring home the cheapest seasonal cookie cutters you can find (two bits each) and make your cookies - throw out the Santa and the angel. They just look like puzzle pieces anyways. Use a plastic glass to substitute for your rolling pin, which you mistakenly thought you wouldn't need when packing up the house. 7. Send friendly emails to your friends with whom you want to touch base over the holidays, but haven't had time to snail-mail message them. 6. Decide your co-workers might enjoy a tin of coffee for the staff room...

Sometimes a mom realizes she is being outvoted. This happens at the age when the kids are taller than she is. Their voices are deeper. They sprawl about the kitchen like overgrown vines. They are still in the nest, but not under her wing. They give eye contact when she talks, but their ears are tuned to a different channel. It happened to my Mom. It was funny. Then. Mom would make motherly suggestion, and we would look at each other, take a silent vote, and the majority (us, not her) ruled. For instance, she would broach the subject of what everyone was going to spend on each other for Christmas. We would hear her voice, but were tuned to "Let's Mock Mother" channel. Mom was outvoted. "T he budget for Christmas this year? For everyone else, it's 20$ , but my present could be anywhere upwards of 500$. " Ha. Ha. Ha. We were sooooo funny. And if there were other siblings present, we would have a contest to see who could carry the joke the farthes...

5:45: Wake up to cell phone signalling it's low on battery. 5:46: Get up to look for cell phone. Know it's in the purse; but purse is not where it should be due to large project son was working on for the school banquet = I couldn't walk there with all that Styrofoam and glue. Find purse, fetch charger, and plug in phone. 5:48: Step into shower. 5:58: Go wake up son, in spite of my best intentions not to. He has an early morning leadership class. 6:00: Sit at computer and update myself on all the non-essentials of Facebook. It's still fun to find out what people are doing, even though they live far away. 6:19: Open up blog and head to dashboard to read other people's blog. 6:30: Blog. 6:35: Load son's project into van. Try to figure out how to get the project into van without bending Styrofoam and breaking it - mumble something about "What were they thinking, buying such a big piece to begin with". 6:50: Return from dropping off son and Sty...

Much as I loved packing away all my stuff away, [with no estimated time of reopening them], I have to say that it got a little tedious. And it was even more 'fun' trying to figure out what to do with all the linens. Blankets, towels, place mats, tablecloths; all were crying out for a place amongst the plates, cutlery, computer gear (why in the world do we need 7 power bars?). I left them until the end. At first I thought I would use them for stuffing. But some of the blankets were much too big for the Rubbermaid boxes, let alone getting them to fit around the crystal. Then I had a brilliant idea. I had seen these vacuum sealed bags advertised, and thought they were worth a try. The idea is to stuff as many things in the bags and then suck the life out of the bag with a vacuum hose. It was truly SO much fun to see this: go to this: Then we figured out that if we put more pressure on the bag by stepping on it, or sitting on it as the air was being sucked out of it, that th...

This picture was taken on one of our last days at the farm. I want you to appreciate the sacrifice I made in getting it, because I walked out onto the pavement in my bare feet, all the way out past the barn, to get it. We truly live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I never imagined that most of my adult life would take place in this province - but I am so glad. Every day, the scenery changes. Some are subtle - such as the way the clouds form around the mountains. Some are knockouts - like the snow line coming down over the hills as if a giant hand has sifted icing sugar over them. Our new place has its own beauty. The clouds perform a new dance every day. The fields showcase swans when the water collects in great pools from the abundant rain. The hills around glow at night with lights from new housing developments. I look forward to capturing the beauty I will enjoy there. I may even venture out in my bare feet to do so.

We were going through a drive through recently, at a completely different fast-food restaurant, when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw this: Every size of cup was represented on the antenna of this vehicle. We had to get a picture. It was too good to pass up. I wonder if I should find this person again, and let them know that on Monday, the prices are going up.

This is a story of the first, last Christmas present. Here it is all carefully wrapped. It is addressed to our family in beautiful cursive script, from a dear friend of our family, who kind of adopted us at a time when we didn't have grampas and grammas around to cheer us young parents on. I will never forget her kindness to me as a young mom. She took my kids under her wing, and considered them to be substitute grandkids. Sometimes, my husband and I got away for an evening and she would babysit for us. They loved going to her house because she always had interesting toys, and she would sit and play games with them, or read to them, or make things with them. We often invited her to family birthday parties, and she made it a priority to show up in their lives for other important milestones too. As time went on, she met a wonderful man and married him and moved far away from us. But we still hold her near in our hearts. Her sister lives in the same town as we do, and this gift was he...

It's Christmas. I'm celebrating by playing Christmas carols, and buying items with Christmas themes. Like Kleenex boxes with ornaments imprinted on them. Paper dishes with Christmas trees. Turning the calendar over for a pretty picture and an inspirational quote about Christmas. Since we still have about half a day's worth of moving everything over to The Pokeaway, I figure I need to keep things as simple as I can. Nothing wrong with serving Christmas dinner without a centerpiece. I'll throwa red tablecloth on the table and turn the lights down low to simulate a Christmas glow. Quite honestly, I'm finding it very freeing to walk through the aisles of the stores which are laden with odds and ends of Christmasy decorations, knowing that this year I am not going to be buying any of it. I will leave that to people who are settled. I'm still trying to find the inside plate to my microwave .