Did you hear the one about Bubba?

(If you've heard this one, be patient) Bubba walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had. Bubba said: "Shingles." So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat.

Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aide came out, took him into an exam room, and asked Bubba what he had.

Bubba said, "Shingles." So she wrote down his height, weight, a complete medical history and told Bubba to wait in the examining room.

A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba said, "Shingles." So the nurse gave Bubba a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, and told Bubba to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor.

An hour later the doctor came in and found Bubba sitting a bit impatiently in the nude and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba said, "Shingles." The doctor asked, "Where?"

Bubba said, "Outside in the truck. Where do you want me to unload 'em??"

Funny eh?

So, now for a riddle: What does a roof and I have in common????

Yep....shingles.

There are probably oodles of "shingles" jokes. If you have any, just post 'em on here in the comments. I'll try and laugh so I don't cry.

Pretty darn sore, this time. :-( We'll see what these drugs can do!

---

The "good ole' days"!

Well, that was a day, wasn't it now?

I had almost forgotten what minus 43C felt like. When I wrapped myself in my dear mother's fur coat this morning and walked out the door, it all came back. Those same feelings of when I was a kid walking to school....when your nostrils would freeze together at the first shocking intake of ice crystals and the freezing air grabs hold of your eyeballs and tries its darndest to freeze even those out of your head.

I remembered how Mom would make sure we were all bundled up - two pair of mitts, wool hat, scarf around the forehead and cheeks and mouth, ski pants and jacket, extra pair of socks inside lined boots, but not before we dressed in brown wool stockings, heavy slacks, shirt and a couple of sweaters.

Those were the January's where I don't remember it getting much higher than minus 25 or 30C all month long. And we walked to school.....8 very long blocks. -20C....-30C.....-40C....it was all the same. No one to drive us. We simply headed out.........and walked back home for lunch at noon, then back again for the afternoon and home again at 4 p.m.........walking.

By the time we reached home, our hands and feet were so cold that there were days mom would just get a basin for our feet so they could thaw properly and get the blood flowing again. Our scarves were thick with frost too, and mom would put them over the register to dry before morning. No electric dryers those days.

No wretched wonder I have aches and pains today. I don't think this old body has ever recovered!

Ya, those were the "good ole' days" alright...................

I thought too today, about the two dear little girls who froze to death on a reserve nearby. They didn't have a mother around to make sure they were dressed for the elements...........it seems as if there are just no answers to those unimaginable things, God............. and forgive those who have caused such innocents to perish.

I spoke to the doctor.

And this is what he said.

If we have a few weeks of very cold weather, in the minus 30's, things should be very much improved this summer. The bugs don't like being out in those types of severe weather. They'll just freeze to death.

Oh, did I mention the doctor was an entomologist?

A doctor of bugs, as it were.

The Mountain Pine beetle is heading this way, and could cause great damage to our forests in Saskatchewan and beyond...as it has already in British Columbia and Alberta.

The extreme cold, for an extended period of time, will kill those little critters.

So, bring on the minus 40's. It's us....................or them.

The doctor says he thinks the bugs are beautiful.....I say they're ugly....but of course, I'm not a bug person!!

He's teaching me to appreciate them. Guess I really should be more appreciative.

It was God who created them, after all.

It's all white.

Don't fret. This too shall pass.

However, it is NOT, I repeat NOT, a good day to wear white, unless you want to be mistaken for a snow bank and get driven over!

Nice white, crisp shapes today. There are snow drifts in our back yard that look like they had been formed with a lathe. Long lines pressed and molded high up into a razored peak. Square chunks sitting atop bird feeders and fences. A mountainous escarpment edging precariously over the roof top.

I'll be watching for avalanches.

It has certainly been one of my most favorite of days. Blizzards. They give me goose bumps and not because it's heading down to -54C with the wind chill.

It's all just a total delight to my senses. The wind rages, people huddle, faces are all but invisible and cars plow through drifts and embankments.

All that and it's heading off to Winnipeg tonight. I do trust those starting off to Prov in the morning for classes, use discernment and good judgment. ;-)

God, keep safe those who are out in the elements tonight, for whatever reason.

Oh, and thanks for the storm. I am blessed to have shelter and warmth in its midst.

Sometimes we're Jack...other times we're asses.

It's true.

For the sake of written composition amusement, I shall separate the two, because "Jackasses" really do have two sides to them. They can be ornery, stubborn, muleheaded, beasts but they can also be true-blue pals who carry our burdens and help us along the way.

Sometimes our passions and emotions are expressed well and helpfully and evenly. We can be "Jacks".

Other times those same passions and emotions come out in bursts of anger, frustration and hostility. Then we're asses.

I find it kind of amusing to watch folks being both Jacks and asses. Me included.

We usually do both quite well, I should say.

Some of us forge ahead, pulling everyone else along with us. Others stay behind, watching, contemplating, waiting and deliberating.

It's getting the Jack and the ass both going in the same direction for the same purpose, when it becomes a bit tricky.

God, would you yoke yourself to us, your Jackasses, so our burdens may be lighter and we won't get whipped so often.

Amen.

Poison

You know, that stuff that can be fatal to the body.

The dictionary says this: "Poisons are substances that can cause damage, illness, or death to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism."

It is something that can destroy us if not dealt with immediately.

It pollutes our body.

It contaminates everything good in the body to the point of death.

Like a snake bite. Once the poison enters our body, drastic measures need to be taken to rid the body of it. Sometimes the cure can be worse than the bite but we go ahead with it so the body doesn't die.

Poison is like that. It infiltrates. It debilitates. It destroys. It kills.

Oh God, we need to be aware of that venom striking at your body, the body of Christ. May we be wise in our treatment, so we may be fully restored to health.

"That time" of the month.....

Ya. It's "that time" alright. No, I don't mean to be talking about "woman stuff".

It's "that time" of January, where people everywhere are either coming away from, entering in to or totally down with - THE FLU.

Bummer.......literally.

I've herded the wagons into a circle and my ammunition's ready to blast away at any of those nasty germs heading in my direction.

I'm washing my hands almost every hour. I'm trying hard to keep my hands totally away from any orifice on my head. Getting extra sleep. Drinking more than normal - and not water either...........a sip or two of wine is good for the system. Kleenex boxes are standing by.

I was going to say "bring 'em on"....but I don't want to tempt fate ;-)

With various co-workers coughing and hacking and blowing and shall I say "running"; with my poor Auntie sick with this virus too; not to mention husband in the throws of sick-dom, I'm all but ready to throw in the towel.....but I shall hold on and fight to the end.

Bring on the brandy. Bring on the Tylenol. Bring on the cheap whiskey, if it has to come to that! Don't worry. It could be a little bit o' celebratin' Robbie Burns Day ya' know..........

It wouldn't be quite so bad if I wasn't actually sleeping with the germs....but I'd much rather have my "germ-man" sleeping beside me coughing, than to have him in another room.

If worse comes to worse.........we shall simply suffer together.

You get the whiskey and I'll get the Benylin.......and I'll be in Scotland before 'ye......;-)

Purge.

It means: to rid, eliminate, remove, eradicate, do away with.

We use this word sometimes in government.

People vote and governments are ousted. Purging begins. Painful, but it happens.

Sometimes we use this word to define the refining of our Christian lives.

Old ways, negativity, impure thoughts, things that would hinder us from God........The Spirit of Christ comes. Purging begins. Ridding. Eliminating. Removing. Doing away with. It happens.

Through this process, it is truth and goodness that reveals itself.....but not before a lot of pain and even suffering. We chaff at this process. We're afraid of it. It purifies us at extremely high temperatures..........but we know it is for our good that it does happen. Ouch!!!

When purging happens God, wherever we happen to find ourselves, let us hold fast to you...the One who desires our very best.

25 things I like

First smell of a spring rain.
Cats.
Hearing my children laugh.
Lemon pie.
Sitting outside early on a hot summer's morning...with a cup of tea.
Tea...anytime.
Having people really know me....and liking me anyway.
Fishing with husband.
Booming thunderstorms.
Howling blizzards.
Clean eye glasses.
Laughing.
The ocean.
Birds.
Being hugged by my granddaughter.
Holding husband's hand while we're walking.
Watching aircraft overhead.
The sound of silence.
Hotdogs with everything.
Music played by son.
The prairie.
Butterflies.
A full moon sprinkled with stars.
Popsicles.
How God loves me......in all of the above.

Perhaps a new list will evolve at another time..........yes, I do believe it will.

25 things I don't like.

Liver.
Flying.
Merry-go-rounds.
When people are nice to my face but talk about me when I'm not around. (I know who you are!)
Trying to sleep on a bed that isn't my own.
Unclean toilets.
Telling jokes.
Socks that scrunch down into big lumps in my winter boots.
Eating...... without somehow acknowledging God.
Riding a snowmobile.
Heartburn.
Heartache.
Dysfunctional office machines.
When I can't give what people expect of me.
Cars that don't start.
Summer without sun.
Winter with sun.
People that talk without listening to themselves. (That includes me!!!)
Selfishness.
Arguing.
Excess body fat......on me ;)
My children being hurt.
A blizzard when I'm not by a window.
A thunderstorm when I'm not by a window.
Being away from husband.

That's all for now.

Think on heavenly things.

That was the thrust of Pastor Randall's sermon yesterday.

No, we can't go around thinking so much about heaven that we don't get anything done while we're here on earth.

The Bible, however, admonishes us to think on things of heaven.....good things....positive things....things that give us hope and a future after we've completed our days here.

Pastor spoke of an interview he heard given by a newsman with a woman who was on the aircraft that plunged from the skies a week or so ago......for several seconds without crashing. She talked about the raw, fierce, primeval screams that were coming out of people....people who were experiencing their impending death. They were sounds that she most likely would never hear again.

He went on to talk about how we need to have a certainty about us....a certainty of our future in heaven. We need to discuss it and talk about it on a regular basis. We want the talk of heaven to become familiar ground so that when it's our time to receive our last moment here on earth, we can do so with some kind of peace that comes from knowing where we're headed.

He spoke about the gift of knowing approximately when our death will arrive when we are terminally ill and how we have been afforded time to make things right with God and others. Not all people have that opportunity.

He talked too, about his own dad, how, when he was getting closer to his own death, all unimportant things like negativity, quarreling, anger, jealousy, hatred.....all those things were gone from him. He concentrated on heavenly things........on God and His goodness, truth, family, moments cherished with his children and grandchildren and his wife, words of wisdom, kindnesses shown, and even laughter.

Those are the heavenly things that will last here on earth when we're gone, and those are the things that God will be pleased with. Good things. Things of love and gentleness and kindness to others.

Heavenly things.

Help us God to stop always thinking about things of this world, things that will soon be dust and to fill our thoughts with heavenly things, things that will last.

The Raven.

I was watching a raven yesterday sitting on the peak of our roof just above the back door. Not sure what he was doing. His beak was going back and forth, back and forth through the mound of snow where he sat.

Then he managed to gracefully lift that big black hulk of a body up and into what seemed like an effortless glide to the spruce tree next door. Plop. Landed right on a little branch and down it went....and back up it came.....down it went.....and back up it came. It was a bit like he was enjoying a ride on a pogo stick.

The bobbing up and down stopped. He sat there, opened his black ravenous beak and started scooping up beaks full of snow. Now, I've seen ravens sitting in various places.... atop light standards, on the edges of huge garbage cans, up on snow banks, in the middle of the road, in the backs of half ton trucks....sitting there looking for the best chunks of garbage around, but I have never, ever in my entire life seen them have a drink of water.

It reminded me of when I was a kid. We used to go out to play in the wintertime and not wanting to go into the house for a drink of water, we would just scoop up a mouth full of snow and that was that. Quenched thirst.

Now maybe that raven wasn't really drinking. It could have been some kind of ritual, but be ding danged if it didn't look like a kid out there playing in the tree and having a "quick drink" from the snow.

They are fascinating birds. I love to watch them. Their colors too, are magnificent. All the iridescent shades and hues of their plumage show just how beautiful they really are.

No. They are not just big ugly black birds flying around eating garbage.

They are splendidly gracious and beautiful animals created for us to appreciate and enjoy.

Once again, God gets a big, huge check mark for that one......The Raven!!!!

What's in a smile?

Husband and I were scurrying through Sears today. I glanced over and saw an elderly gentleman looking my way. He had a smile on his face. I slowed down a bit to see him a little more clearly.

I recognized him. From that smile, I recognized him. He had wavy, silvery hair, wrinkles that come with living a long life and a smile that you could never forget. I think the last time I saw this man was something like over 40 years ago.

I worked for a year after high school at Eaton's, the up-scale Canadian department store of the day. He worked in the shoe department.

I don't remember his name. I do remember his smile. I was a shy 17 year old who lacked the confidence needed to work with the public. He was an "older" gentleman in his 40's who was gracious, helpful and sincere. He smiled all the time....and sold a lot of shoes!

When I saw him today, for what was all of 10 seconds, I remembered as I passed him, how that smile had been a gracious gift he offered to everyone around him. Most likely he didn't realize what it did for folks, but he just seemed to use what God had given him to make others feel special and worthy.

I spoke to husband about him. We talked about smiles and what they can be to people.

A smile can change someone else's countenance. It can allow someone else to feel a little bit better. When you see one, it helps folks to think a little more positively, instead of negatively. When you give one, it can also be a sign of receptivity.....of allowing someone else into your life because it sure won't turn folks away from you.

......unless it's a "heh heh heh" kind of smile. Stay away from those ones!

So, smile! Show those teeth, whether they're crooked, fake or chipped.

Oh, and don't forget to thank your dentist. He/she will be ever-so-grateful that you did!

As an afterthought....I think Jesus must have smiled quite a bit. Very few folks were unhappy when they were around him........unless he spoke about something that made them feel uncomfortable........like selling all they had and giving that money to the poor..........but he wouldn't have been smiling then, would he?

Snow drifts.

Those lovely, white, sometimes high walls of snow, you know those things that form during a snow storm with wind. Ya.

Coming out of church the other morning, I leaped over one. When my right foot came settling down on the even surface of the parking lot, it was like slow motion in the blink of an eye, if that's possible.

My foot landed on shear ice, flinging me upward, sideways and around in enough time that I couldn't change my flight path if my life depended on it.

But how do you land on your shin???? and nowhere else????? My shin!!!! That's how fast it happened. If I'd had a choice, I would have landed on my ample hips, thighs or other prominent bodily surfaces. No, I would not have chosen a shin.

My shin, just below my right knee looks like that horror movie....you know, where there's this black thing wiggling just under the surface of the girl's skin, wanting to get out, except in my case, it's not moving. Just looks like some dead, dark, menacing creature lying there, unable to move. Well, it's a lump anyway.....and it's sore. I really wanted to cry when I fell, but I was in too much of a hurry to pick up husband and get to work. So, instead I said Ohhhhhoooooooo, ouuuuuuuuuuuu, oweeeeeeeeee all the way home........

I don't like doing pirouettes just before sunrise in a church parking lot.

At least I was alone and it was pretty dark.

If you saw it happen, please don't reveal the story in my presence.

Ignorance is bliss...........to my way 'a thinkin'...........

Brrrrrrrrrrrr.....

I'm cold.

Tonight we're hitting the old -30C plus a wind chill making it -42C.

So, after I post this, I think I'll make me a spot o' tea, read a chapter from my Christmas gift book and think on things.

The tea is to keep my body from freezing up.

The book is to keep my brain from freezing up.

All in all, it speaks of a good evening.

Be prepared for the old cold feet tonight, Dear. Or maybe I'll bring the hot water bottle to warm the bed covers first.

Keep warm all you Reginians and Winnipegonians.....it will be as cold down where you are.

The journey.

It is good to see one's life going forward and not backward.

It is even better to see one's children's lives progressing as well.

As a mother it is good to sit and talk on the phone with each one.

One is not feeling well, but otherwise doing well. Lots of responsibilities. Tons of work with school and family. She is a wonder to me......and I love her greatly.....deeply.......immeasurably. She loves to chat and tell me things about herself, school, her daughter's interests and school life and her husband and his job. They are a beautiful family and I am so fortunate to watch them on their journey in life. They are seeing things from a different perspective from mine and I appreciate that a great deal. I love what they have and are becoming.....together, as a family on this life journey.

Son is changing too. Thinking and being challenged by so many and varied perspectives that are playing vital roles in his life. Wondering how life will be a year from now. Hearing him on the phone as he talks about upcoming missions opportunities, his part-time jobs, his classes in college and all the new and interestingly informative classes on Jewish history and theology, life at his church and how he has become a part of it, the disciplines that somehow hold his life in place and the possibilities of finding new ones.....relationships and how they are teaching him new ways of thinking, holding on to certain things and letting go of others. His journey too, is full to overflowing with opportunity.

The "journey" is like that, isn't it. It offers us changes and challenges.

After conversations with my children, I rethink things in my own life.

Am I willing to allow the journey to take me places where I thought I never would go?

I want to think about that...........I need to pray about that.

Sir Eddy

That is what the Prime Minister of New Zealand called Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest....way back in the '50's.

Sir Eddy is dead at 88.

Sounds like he led a very good life, helped a lot of poor folks, and was just a good man.

I'll bet he was an awesome fellow to have known.

The world needs a lot more people like him, even if they aren't called "Sir".

I read a bit about their experience (he and a Sherpa guide, Mr. Norgay) in reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, that day in 1953:

"The whole world around us lay spread out like a giant relief map,” he told one interviewer. “I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.”

There was a modest celebration. “We shook hands and then, casting Anglo-Saxon formalities aside, we thumped each other on the back until forced to stop from lack of breath,” Sir Edmund remembered. They took photographs of one another holding flags, and of the surrounding ridges and the wide views.

They left a crucifix for Colonel Hunt, the expedition leader, and Mr. Norgay, a devout Buddhist, buried some biscuits and chocolate as an offering to the gods of Everest. Then they ate a mint cake, strapped on their oxygen tanks and began the climb down."

We all have dreams, I suppose. Dreams of doing this or that or of becoming this or that.

I don't have any great dreams for my life.........perhaps I should eat some dream cake and see what happens tonight........

World Day of Prayer?

A friend asked me to help plan this annual event, which will be hosted this year by our church - Gateway Covenant. If it were anyone else, I most likely would have declined.

I have been involved with this event in previous years. I have been it's leader.

The last one I attended was at Messiah Lutheran Church.......I think.

Since then, I have often wondered what on earth we are doing with this World Day of Prayer.

What are our motives? What exactly is it that we want God to do? Why do we attend (or not attend) this event? Will gathering various churches together to read through a liturgical prayer booklet change the outcome of the people of Guyana? Do we really desire in our hearts for God to hear us in our prayer for this country and act? Do those who attend really care or are they there only to attend a social function....a "ladies day out" as it were?

I guess those questions really aren't up to me to answer. But they are questions I raise within myself. Honest questions. Questions that most likely will not be presented to the "general Christian public". I do think that if our country were in such a position that we no longer had the freedom to worship or gather together as a Christian group, we may appreciate that kind of valuable time together with other Christians. We would make it valuable. We would hunger more for His Spirit.

As the saying goes....."you don't miss the water, 'til the well runs dry".

So far, I have had a wonderful opportunity to work with a dear friend to plan this event. To me, I think probably that will be the highlight of World Day of Prayer 2008....of course, perhaps God has other plans..............

Moving.

Aren't emotions strange and wonderful things.

Funny how they're all tied up with our physical bodies...our eyes, nose, heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, stomach, skin, ears, muscles, etc.

If I were a doctor, I think I would find that totally fascinating to study.

But our "spirit" is right in there too, getting involved with what's going on.

Not only that, God's spirit seems to be the guiding force of our emotions a lot of the time. It tells us things and shows us things.....things that somehow connect with our emotions.

When God is trying to tell me something, he usually uses the part of me that will get my attention, and for me, that is usually my heart and my emotions that are all too often associated with it.

Today, it was all of that. When Pastor Randall told the story of Hannah asking God for a son and promising God that if she was given a son, she would give him while he was still very young, to be presented and offered into the priesthood.....and so it all was......well, that story had tears streaming down my cheeks. What kind of faith would that be? How could she have given him up...even after promising God she would do it?

I think it was not only faith that allowed her to do that, it was love...a love for her God. He saw to it that what she had asked for, was given to her in a son.....Samuel. How faithful God was to her. How faithful she was to fulfill her promise to God in return, as well.

To me, the story was so very moving.

So, today my spirit had a workout. I put myself in Hannah's place....and wondered. I wondered if when push came to shove, would I have enough faith to believe that what God had in store for me was the best possible outcome. Would I follow his path?

Some days, I think I would.

It's on those other days God, when I become faithless, that I need your voice speaking to my spirit saying, "come, follow me".................

I am loved.

Yes, I am loved. It is wonderful to be loved...by those we love. But what if we are not loved by those we love. That is difficult. As humans, I think that is our deepest need....to be loved totally and unconditionally.

I have been thinking about the realities of love, the expectations, the consequences, the ideals of love. What makes us love in the first place? Do we love only to be loved in return? Is there another kind of love worth looking into; the kind that gives and asks nothing in return? I've been thinking about that kind of love mostly. I know that when God was not at the main part of my inner being, my love, to be honest, was selfish, and egocentric and strangling. It had selfish motives to be loved in return. It desired to be noticed for all I was putting into it. It allowed me to see nothing but......ME.

Time has a way of allowing us to change. Loving others without expecting anything in return, has become just a part of who I am and certainly not because I have done anything to get this happening. No. That does not happen with our own feeble attempts at love.

As my life has progressed, as I have allowed more and more of it to be scrutinized and refined and chiseled away at, the more I realize it is God who is doing the cleansing, the refining and the changing. And all because he loves me. That type of refining is beginning to allow me to love without boundaries, without expectations....just to love others because that is what God desires us to do and because people are worthy of being loved. I don't have much fear in loving others. I do not totally fear their rejection. I'm learning. I'm learning to listen and not to have to speak. I am learning. I will continue to learn. I fail too, that I know. I disappoint people. I mess up. I'm hypocritical at times....but I'm learning.

I've been reading a book entitled, "The Inner Voice of Love" by the late Henri Nouwen. It is his "secret journal", as he describes it, in which he daily writes of his anguish and despair during the most difficult days of his life. It was not intended for anyone, ever, to read these words but after several years he was encouraged to offer his thoughts to his writing public.

In one section he writes about "Know Yourself as Truly Loved".

"Some people have lived such oppressed lives that their true selves have become completely unreachable to them. They need help to break through their oppression. Their power to free themselves has to be at least as strong as the power that keeps them down. Sometimes they need permission to explode: to let out their deepest emotions and to shake off the alien forces. ..........You, however, do not seem to need such explosion. For you, the problem is not to get something OUT of your system but to take something IN that deepens and strengthens your sense of your goodness and allows your anguish to be embraced by love.

"You will discover that the more love you can take in and hold on to, the less fearful you will become. You will speak more simply, more directly, and more freely about what is important to you, without fear of other people's reactions. You will also use fewer words, trusting that you communicate your true self even when you do not speak much.

The disciples of Jesus had a real sense of his loving presence as they went out to preach. They had seen him, eaten with him, and spoken with him after his resurrection. They had come to live a deep connectedness with him and drew from that connectedness the strength to speak out with simplicity and directness, unafraid of being misunderstood or rejected."

Oh God, I pray that this would happen for my friends who struggle with knowing whether or not they are loved.

I pray that for me too, that I would live with that "deep connectedness" to Christ....moment by moment.

The Gift.

What does a son get his parents for Christmas?

There are as many answers to that as their are sons in the world, right?

Our son knows his parents. He knows we don't often "go out" much just the two of us. Most often there are other folks with us for one reason or another. It's wonderful to have other folks with us too, but sometimes it's just nice for the two of us to connect, like on a date, you know,
THAT kind of connecting ;-)

In the card he gave us were two gift certificates.

One to Venice House Restaurant.

One to the Cinema.

Tonight was the night.

He had Greek ribs and I had chicken cordon.......whatever.....chicken stuffed with ham and mozza and a baked spud.

We toasted to our son, Matt, in the midst of it all. "Here's to a great son, who has thought nicely of his parents to give them such a delightful gift!"......."clink"......too bad we didn't order wine but we were off to the Cinema afterwards and didn't want to ruin the fun evening by being pulled over and ticketed for a DWI.....so we toasted with a glass of water. I know. I know. It doesn't quite cut it toasting with water. Nevertheless, it was water WITH ICE.

We chatted and laughed a bit....not too much. We made small talk with the waitress who has three children, youngest is 9, and who, when she take her kids to the movies, she has to fill up her 9 year old before they leave because it would cost way too much to feed her goodies at OUR Cinema. Quite the rip-off at that place....but I digress from this beautiful evening affair.

Off to the movies. Not sure if husband has ever been to our Cinema.....he didn't know where the washrooms were, which kind of said he hadn't been in a very long time, if ever. I usually go with daughter and granddaughter so I'm at least familiar with the place.

We get our tickets. I go and get a seat. He stands in line for popcorn and a drink (small!). From where I was sitting in the theatre, I think I heard someone in the foyer saying to someone, "Five bucks for a small popcorn??????...no, it probably wasn't husband...........

Movie was terrific, even by husband's standards. Morgan Freeman....Jack Nicholson. The Bucket List. Lots of laughs, lots of food for thought, and just plain exceptional acting, as usual, by two exceptional actors......to my way a' thinkin'.

So it was a great evening....................so far..................

Did I mention in son's card, he said he hoped we would enjoy our evening out together but that "I don't really care to know what happens after that;-)" (Son can stop reading this blog now.)

Well, this afternoon we also went for coffee at that place on 15th street. That was fun.

I went shopping too.

Bought a new silky nightgown.................hey, if the pastor's wife can talk about her "tiny little" garment she received from her husband, I can talk about a lovely silky white nightgown.......

Amazing what a gift certificate can do.

'night y'all........................;-)

Time....or lack thereof.

I don't know where this week went. It's all so fuzzy looking back on it.

My job at work was painfully busy. I really don't like being so busy that I neglect to visit the little girls room. My mind and busyness went way ahead of my kidneys and left them sitting there wondering what happened.

Supplies for the office didn't even get ordered.

The worst part was not getting to a project that someone asked me to do on Monday.....until today. I tackled that with a vengeance beginning at 8:30 am and finished at 4:50.

Taaa....daaa....

But you know what is REALLY great?

It's when your supervisor comes over and asks if she can give you a hand with it all......and she does.

That's teamwork. I was so appreciative.....and I really hope the person I was doing the project for is glad it is completed.....almost. Another girl will complete the other bit tomorrow.

It's great to be of help to others because we are blessed when we offer ourselves to help.

So, God bless Carole B. and Twila for coming to my rescue......and poor Carole S. for being so patient.

Time. It just kinda' runs out on a person.......

Wisdom.

The Bible says I must seek Her out.

To ask for Her by name.

God thought Solomon was pretty cool when he asked for wisdom............. above riches. He really gave the right answer on that one.

He was given wisdom too............because he asked for it.

And so Lord, give me a big bucket brimming with wisdom too, not because I want to be cool, like Solomon was, but because to live life in these days, I need all the Help I can get.

Oh, and thanks...........thanks ever-so-much.

Stains.

Some of them are just nasty to get out. Even after being washed and washed and sprayed with the goopy stain remover and even a once over with a bit of bleach.....it sits there, dark and annoying.

My pretty, off-white towels are like that. I've done everything possible to those babies to clean them and the stains stay like they belong. Well, I guess they do belong....NOW.

I know they were put their by someone I love.

But, because that someone is loved so very much by me, I just overlooked those icky stains. They're there alright, but somehow they just don't matter. What matters is that I didn't judge that person I love for staining my towels. Guess I could have. I chose not to.

My life is like my towels, I've come to the conclusion.

People see those stains in my life that will be there for good. They fade with time but there is just enough there for people to remember my dirty spots from quite a long while back.

The people I love though, look at those spots and remember how God has faded those stains with his grace and washed them with His life-giving water......and blood.

It is with my stains that I have felt the gentle hands of God, the Super-Cleaner-Upper, sudsing me up and getting out my grime. He left a bit of residue but that's OK. It reminds me of the stain that WAS there before and how clean I've become since the first scrubbing.

I think he used Dove with scented oil, 'cause He knows how much I really like that stuff.

The pile.

Don't you just hate getting back to work to a pile of things to be done and 102 emails awaiting your attention.

I mean, it's nice to know you'll be busy and all.

It's great to have a job to come to.

However, it makes ones head swim to tackle it all at once, so, it's prioritizing. Who gets what first and why.

Seems like I'm coming back to work and everyone else is taking off for foreign lands....well, cities at least. Making travel arrangements today was the norm.

I did have a really good laugh in the midst of it all. I emailed the travel agency requesting options for flight for so and so, on a particular date..........and neglected to tell the agent where the client was going. The agent figured by my request, she had somehow acquired ESP without being told!

You have to have a sense of humor. That's all.

So, at days' end, the pile has been considerably lowered.

Now, I must eat fast and get off to a meeting for 7 PM.

Enjoy your evening by the fire, sipping wine and watching the telly :-(

Quiet again.

Husband and I now roam the halls of our abode.................... alone, ie without family here.

We listen for one another.

One opens the fridge.......the other replies, "whatcha' havin'....anything good?"

One starts up the washer.......the other replies, "there are some things up here too that need washing"......

One types on the computer.......the other replies, "any messages from son or daughter today??"

One watches sports on TV in living room........I reply, "think I'll watch TCM in the bedroom....................North by Northwest with Cary Grant is showing at 7." ;-)

Today, over lunch, we talked about the good Christmas we had and about how we may be planning an Easter trip to Winnipeg.....if son wants to host us, that is. Guess I better ask him! There are other things happening that weekend too, so, we'll see how it all works out.

After lunch we went and picked up Aunt Connie who has been discharged from outpatients. She's home now....................it's better there than a windowless hospital emergency room.

Yes, life is quiet again......and "the job" begins once more tomorrow.

Bare.

Daughter made the first move. Before I could say "jolly jingles Jupiter", the empty packing boxes were there next to the still lovely green tree....and being filled.

Our beautiful evergreen was being stripped bare. She held up well, even though she was a Quebec immigrant. We didn't hold that against her though. For a whole month, every night, she twinkled and sparkled and lit the corner of the room with bursts of colour. The decorations were constant reminders of our children at young ages, of parents now gone, of Christmases past.

She was hauled under a blanket to her final resting place in the back of the truck to be taken away.

I am thankful for how she gave her life to us and made our Christmas alight with the colors of the rainbow, not to mention the savory smell of pine as we walked past her branches.

She's bare as is the rest of the house. The outer garments of Christmas have all been packed away.

Only the wonderful memories of this Christmas linger on..................and I am truly grateful.

Hospitals.

There are one heck of a lot of sick folk these days, if not having any rooms available at the hospital is any indication. Full to overflowing. Full to the brim. Full as a tick (as my mother used to say after a very good meal).

Aunt Connie has been moved to a "private room" in the outpatients department. She at least has the comfort of a real bed and not a stretcher, plus she is alone and doesn't have to listen to all the other patients tell the doctors about all of their ailments. It's no fun being sick and to have to hear about everyone else's problems. That doesn't lend itself to recovery very quickly.

When I went to see her this evening, there were people throwing up, people falling down, announcements of "CODE BLUE" - three times, nurses running here, doctors running there, aids doing paper work here and cleaning staff mopping up there.

After visiting hours, as I walked past the nurses station in emergency, the smell of alcohol permeated the hallways, people "tried" to stand, waiting for whoever was brought in by ambulance and who was now behind the curtain with several paramedics and various other staff attempting to do whatever was necessary for that person to continue living.

It seems hospitals have a life all their own.

We are very fortunate to have a hospital to come to, even if it is full.

Nurses are efficient. They go the extra mile. They help as much as they are able.

Aunt Connie is being taken care of and I am thankful.

Our anual trip.

Off I went today to take Aunt C. to the hospital where, hopefully, they will care for her and get her lungs in better shape than they are at the moment.

The last few years it has been a bit of an annual excursion going on.....yearly hospital stay for a week or so.

I know she doesn't like going. We had quite a discussion taking place before we left her house. I think she saw I was trying to be more helpful in taking her to the hospital outpatients than to just a walk-in clinic. When she gets sick she needs the full meal deal.

It's a terribly long wait when we get there but it's just so busy with so many sick folk that we simply wait our turn.

I came home for a few minutes now and will wait to see if they will admit her or whether they will send her home. For her sake, I hope the former.

According to the doctors, a bit of heart failure, some viral invasions, a fit of emphysema and the white platelets with her leukemia going on makes for one difficult case to treat.

May God watch over her this night and heal her body.

Listening.

Hey, all you extroverts out there. Those of you you love to chat and talk and chat and talk.

I do believe it is a gift to be able to put ones thoughts out there, verbally. To be able to talk up a storm, literally. Some folks are very good at it. You can see their minds are at work barely before the words come out of their mouths. They think thoughts and those thoughts are expelled in huge bursts of information, sometimes even more than the listener can comprehend. I admire people who can do that well.

I have friends who are gifted that way. Very admirable.

Me, on the other hand, being the introvert, sit back and take in what is being said. I would far rather do that too. I don't express myself verbally very well. I can, if I have a specific topic I am passionate about. Then, the thoughts all come tumbling out. Normally though, I listen.

People have stories to tell. Deep, troubling stories that shake me. Stories that make my heart cry. Stories that make me wonder how they ever managed to survive. Stories that, while I hear them, I have little chats to God in my head about what is being said. Even though He knows about it, I let Him know of my concerns. I ask Him for help in my response to the story. I ask for wisdom to say the right things so as not to give wrong advice, if asked for.

It all happens so quickly, and I know it's not a real conversation happening but they seem to be the thoughts of my heart that fly to the heart of God. Inner things that happen between God and I. I can't explain it better than that.

There is a world of the Spirit that I know so little about, but know enough to know it's real.

When all is said and done, perhaps it's just that chatty extroverts have to express themselves, and when they do that, they don't get much of a chance to get a conversation going on in their head to God. They probably do that later, should they be so inclined.

Maybe I'm just making an excuse for my shyness.

Maybe I'm just making an excuse for not having a quick mind.

But still, there can't be all talkers in the world.

There has to be someone who will listen.

I begin 2008 by:

sleeping in 'til 11 AM

eating leftover chip crumbs for breakfast from the night before party

speaking to children in Regina

moving Christmas tree over in order to get into china cabinet to put dishes away from the night before party

speaking to a friend who didn't have such a great Christmas and the New Year seems not to have promise of any kind

taking granddaughter and Dear Aunt C. out for a New Year's Day supper at Smitty's Restaurant since we didn't really want leftovers from the night before party

taking granddaughter to a friends place to hang out and visit before she leaves for Regina in a couple of days

reading a few pages of my new book from son entitled, "The Heart of Christianity" by Marcus J. Borg

beginning to get sleepy.............and it's only 7:11 PM

A good way to begin a new year, to my way o' thinkin'!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This post is for my children.

I'm 60.

I'm still up at 4:20 a.m. (after not having gone to bed yet today)

We managed to party until the wee hours of January 1, 2008.

A gooooooooood time was had by all........

Nite all...............