Saturday's ramblings and how Mr. Retired got zinged!

Crook News:
Today Mr. Retired got zinged!
Heh! The checker at the grocery has the best poker face I've seen in ages and when Mr. Retired asked her why she had an ear of raw corn at the counter, she fed him a grand line about how she was going to eat the raw ear of corn—husk and all—for lunch. Mr. Retired believed her and said it might be hard on her teeth. I almost hit the floor laughing.

I’m used to Mr. Retired zinging others, and he always does so in grand style, but in 31 years I’ve never seen anyone catch him before. It was priceless.

Packing
I’m trying to get us packed for our trip, and I’m getting a lot of help. Just click the image below for the full-scale picture of my helper.

Sold!
Yesterday we signed the papers and sold our house. Escrow closes on 10/12—just in time for our 31st wedding anniversary. Nice present for us.

VPN
Aaarrrggghhh! Cannot get the VPN to work in Linux. We can wifi, but we can’t do so securely. Most frustrating. Give me a Macintosh any day. *wink*

A Parmesan by any other name …
Would taste just as yucky! Why do restaurants insist on dumping Parmesan and garlic on all their sandwiches? I hate Parmesan cheese and find it annoying to try to remember to say, “No parmesan and garlic” on my bread—especially when it’s not statef on the menu that the cook is going to ruin the sandwich. Oh well, I picked the meat and tomato out of the bread at lunch and ate them. Healthier in the long run. *grins*

Now it’s time for me to get back to packing, provided Abby will stay out of the suitcases.

Wobbly Wednesday

Hook news:
Baby ghan:
I was on the last row for this ghan when I noticed a mistake. Not a small mistake—a major mistake. I had to frog 8 rows. Aaarrrggghhh! How I missed this mistake before last night I don’t know. Oh wait, could be because I’m so tired from packing. LOL!

If you want to see a pic of this lovely ghan, click the thumbnail. :) If you want the pattern, it's a freebie from Coats and Clark: Sweet Baby Layette.





Crook News:
Wobbly Wednesday
Wobbly is a good description of how I’m feeling right now. I’m physically exhausted from lack of sleep, running errands and from cleaning my craft room; but I’m emotionally charged and excited. I’m so anxious to get to Oregon, yet there is so much to do here. Will I be able to get it all done before the end of October? I sure hope so.

Today I came across a large box of small and medium sized baskets (I used to decorate them). I quit counting at 18. LOL! It was torture to dump them, but into the give away pile they went. Same with a bunch of Christmas trims, craft books, glitter, glue, staple gun, hot glue gun and it’s glue sticks, pencils, pens, iron-on stuff for wearable’s … and on and on it went. I kept telling myself keep “quilt and crochet” only.

I did run across more squares from a quilt square exchange I once belonged to. It was one of the original online exchanges. There weren’t email lists or boards back then, instead you went into the news groups. I was quite active in the quilting newsgroups, and I have squares from all over the US from this exchange. Since they were all nicely sealed in zip-lock bags, I tucked them into my “quilting” box. When I get settled, I’ll have a blast doing some simple patchwork quilts.

I have yet to decide what to do with my baseball card collection. I hate to just give it away, but where do I find someone to buy it?

Encouragement
When encouragement comes from an unexpected source, it tends to brighten my day in a major way. This morning I called our vet to make arrangements for vet care for our cats if need be while we are gone. I was chatting with Sherri about our pending move, and she asked me where we were going. I told her and she got so excited. She has family in the area and she knows it well. :) She gave me some great tips on working with our realtor, and explained some things I didn’t know (like why the lots are so small). She said we’d love it in this new town, and so would our kitties. Her joy lifted me up for the entire day, and reminded me of this verse:

”… but joy cometh in the morning.” – Psalms 30:5

May you find joy in each morning.

Meritorious Monday

Hook news:
Thank you!
My thanks to everyone for the kind words about my Chocolate Dreams afghan pattern. You encourage me to design more things. :-)

Crook News:
Meritorious Monday
Today was definitely a most commendable day. We found a home for our aged Macintosh and all it’s wonderful software. The best part is that it went to a non-profit preschool where the kids will enjoy playing the games, as well as learning how to use a mouse, a keyboard and other good skills. They were thrilled to receive the laser printer, and will use it to print out programs and such. This was definitely a “feel good” trip.

After stopping for some lunch, we hit it hard and completed everything on our list but one minor item. We can take care of that tomorrow.

One of the best stops was at the jewelry store where we picked up my now clean and repaired opal ring. What a treat to have it back on my hand again.

Our last stop was the most encouraging one—the U-Haul center where we purchased boxes so that tomorrow I can pack up all my books. Also got a price on the cost of renting a trailer, and made a tentative reservation for 10/1. We’ll adjust the date when we return from our scouting trip.

I managed to book a room for us in Brooking, Oregon. This will be our last stop before returning home, and we plan on just relaxing for the evening before the long drive back into California and down to the heat of the valley.

Cat news
I’m pleased and excited to tell you that Abby Darlin’ is eating! She is doing so much better than last week. Hopefully our niece won’t have any problems with her or BC while we are gone.

Personal notes—Conquering Stress
I must admit that I’m finding this adventure stressful, and I find myself being short with Mr. Retired at times. A while ago I sat down to relax and let go, and found my inner spirit reminding me of my family verse:

”And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

Scripture goes on to tell us that God knew ahead of time who would answer the call, and verse 31 reminds me:

”What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31

So why am I stressing? I guess it’s because I’m not allowing God to have control of all of this. It’s so easy to start the day and give it to the Lord, and then take it right back from Him. Today He blessed our efforts and reminded me in a visual way that through Him I can conquer the stress.

”Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” – Romans 8:37

I think I’m going to engrave this verse in my brain so that I won’t forget.

What does it accomplish?

Hook news:
Baby ghan:
Yesterday I hit the “square” point on my baby ghan. I think I’ll add another 4 inches before I create an edging. I probably won’t complete this before I head out on vacation.

I also penciled out a design for a baby ghan. I hope it looks as interesting in yarn as it does in my head.

Crook News:
Vengeance is mine?
Today was one of those days where I accomplished a lot, and accomplished a little. At least that’s how I feel.

I had coffee and toast and watched Lance Armstrong win his 7th “Tour de France”, kissed Mr. Retired farewell as he headed out for the day and then I tackled my craft room. Good grief. I found more than 2-dozen bottles of craft paint. Someone please tell me why I had all this craft paint. I mean, I don’t paint, so why do I have all these bottles of craft paint? *shrug* Into the Goodwill box.

Then I found my old sets of rubber stamps—so old the rubber is hard. Into the Goodwill box they went. Oh look—there are my colored pencils. Originally I used them to highlight things in books. Now I have these nice highlighters. Into the Goodwill box the pencils went.

I also cleaned out some fabric I’ll never use—and once again I wondered at myself and what motivated me to buy such *ugly* material. Perhaps I was considering an UgLy quilt? hehehe

I stumbled across more songbooks. These were mine when I sang special music. I purchased my copy, and a copy for my pianist. When we left that church, she gave me back her copies, and here I am with 2 copies. I’ve offered them to several people and no one wants them. Go figure. I guess they’ll go in the Goodwill box too, and that makes me sad.

Then I found “the papers”. Finding these papers made me feel a little like I was robbing a grave—although I don't know why. I had totally forgotten that I’d put this packet together. What was in this packet of papers?

• All my notes from day one as a church secretary—complete with all the details on Pastor R’s poor behavior, nasty comments, crude jokes, and such.
• I had copies of handwritten notes and receipts; and copies of bulletins that were re-done at his insistence over trivial things.
• All the details on the so-called child molestation that wasn’t, and how he jumped the gun without thinking (normal for him).
• Notes on all the times he yelled and lost his temper.
• Notes on things I’ve never told anyone—not even Mr. Retired.

I had offered this packet to the Deacon’s when everything went sour, but they didn’t want it; so I brought it home and set it aside in case I needed it. I honestly thought about using it when Pastor R was attacking and destroying my reputation and credibility, but that wouldn’t have been right. You don’t battle dirt with more dirt. You clean yourself off, hold your head up high and move forward. After all, Romans 12:19-21 sets the standard:

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." – Romans 12:19-21

So I said nothing but nice things about Pastor R when asked, and forgot about my packet. I sat down this afternoon and shredded all those papers, and with it my sad, angry, unhappy memories dissipated—leaving me just the pleasant memories of better times.

So why do I feel like I accomplished so little? I don't really know. Perhaps it’s because there is still so much to do, or because I wanted to accomplish more today. Not matter what the reason, I did accomplish a great deal and my heart is happier for it.

Discerning the Truth

Hook news:
Mary Maxim contest:
Such is life, my afghan didn’t win … but I still think it’s a good enough pattern to “shop around” for publication. Or, I may just upload it to my site. That’s a decision I’ll make down the road.

I do have to say kudos’ to Mary Maxim. They were behind with their judging (had to get that catalog out) and I was curious so I called. Becky explained and said they would be returning the non-winning afghan’s shortly and that they’d go out UPS. That posed a problem for me, as it would arrive while we are on vacation and the package would simply be sitting on my porch. Becky said that wasn’t a problem and had my afghan returned to me FedExpress. So thank you to Becky at Mary Maxim’s.

Baby Sleeper pattern:
My friend, Chatty, has designed a darling baby sleeper pattern. She’s uploaded it to her blog and it’s just the cutest thing. I adore the buttons she chose.

If you are curious, here are the links to the hat pattern and the baby booties that Chatty used.

• Hat pattern
• Baby booties

Crook news:
Oregon here we come.
In just a week we will be in cool, coastal Oregon. Oh, I can hardly wait. Hopefully we will find just the perfect house to buy. If not then the perfect house to rent while we continue to look for the perfect house to buy. :-)

While in Oregon, we plan to look into Internet service, cable TV, library, shops (especially books stores), clubs (I know there is a quilting club, not sure about a crochet club), churches, credit unions and other things that help to make life a bit richer.

I plan on walking on the beach to search for shells for my friend, Linda and for my Aunt Rosie. I’ve already washed and packed my jacket—which seems really odd considering it’s 102° outside right now. Hehehe

In the meantime, I’m still sorting and packing—and dreaming about what will be our future.

Personal:
Discerning the Truth
A friend and I were chatting about Colossians 2:6-19, and how we are to discern the truth. In my Bible, I have underlined the words, “Let no man” throughout these verses, and then in verse 10 I underlined these words:

And ye are complete in him … – Colossians 2-10

In the margin of my Bible I wrote: “Let no man” (draw me away from the truth) for “Ye are complete in Him”. This was great comfort to me as a new Believer, and it’s still a great comfort to me. I am complete in Him, and can rest in that, draw spiritual nourishment from it, and find peace for my soul within it. He is in control of my life, and this move to Oregon.

Learning to live without things

I mentioned to a friend that it was becoming easier every day to toss or give away things, rather than pack them to take when we move. She asked me how I was able to get past the “can’t live without it” stage.

It told her it was easy. Things are simply things—not people.

• Things don’t love me back.
• Things don’t cry with me.
• Things don’t hold my hand or hug me when I need it.
• Things don’t care what house they reside in.
• Things only sit there and wait to be dusted or broken.
• Things don’t count for anything when my life is over.

When I’m dead my relatives may fight over my things, or they may chuck them all in the trash—but hopefully they will hold on to the memories of our times together, hopefully they will remember the hugs we shared, and hopefully they will remember and know in their heart how much I loved them—and not my things.

When I look at things this way it’s very easy to say good-bye.

Here are the rules I’m using as I sort through everything:

• If I can easily and fairly inexpensively replace it, I’m not packing/moving it.
• If it’s old and worn out (like most of our furniture) and not a family heirloom—we aren’t moving it.
• If I come across it and don’t remember why I bought it, when I last used it, or who gave it to me—then I’m not packing/moving it.
• Lastly, and perhaps most importantly—if it doesn’t speak to my heart—I’m not packing/moving it.

I’m also quickly becoming tired of sorting/packing/cleaning…and the more worn out and sick of sorting/packing/cleaning I become, the easier it is to chuck things in the give-away or trash bin.

If it helps you to understand, I defer to the phlegmatic side of my personality for this.

I would guess that better than 50% of the stuff in this house falls in the “I can live without” category. My main personality is Melancholy, which explains why we are buried under all these things. LOL!

The Art of Finding Anything

While going through a file of old papers, I found an interesting bookmark. Designed to resemble the spine of a book, the title was: “The Art of Finding Anything”, and the publisher was shown as: “www.lycos.com”. Now Lycos is a good search engine, but I’ve got news for them—the true art of finding anything takes place when you move. I should know.

Since I’ve been packing, sorting, cleaning in preparation for our move, I’ve found more things then I knew were lost. Trust me, even Lycos wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails of the jumble we have here. What have I found? Here’s a partial list—and do let me know if any of these things belong to you. ;-)

• A $20 bill in an envelope. (Don’t bother trying to claim this—it’s mine, all mine.)
  
• Pictures of Mr. Retired when he was a baby. :)
  
• Software that I used on my old computer, but can’t use on my new one.
  
• My opal ring that I’ve been looking for over a year—it had fallen BEHIND the one drawer. No, I don’t know how it got stuck in the back of the drawer, I was sure a cat had snuck off with it!
  
• Post-it® notes—I have them in every color and shape.
  
• A priceless baby picture of my one cousin—he’s naked! I have plans for this picture! LOL
  
• Envelopes and matching stationary—does anyone actually handwrite notes any more?
  
• Tablets of paper that would forest a forest.
  
• Empty boxes from software I use. The install CD is in a case on the shelf, so why did I keep the empty box?
  
• A Palm Pilot that a friend gave Mr. Retired, but I can’t find the “wand” or the recharger. :-/
  
• In my desk drawer I found copies of our PG&E bills from 1997. Why did I keep those? I guess I thought they were precious.
  
• Under my desk I found dust … lots of dust. After all, how often do you move a computer desk and vacuum way back in the back?
  

I don’t know why I kept all these things, or why so many things were in such odd places—but I do know it’s gonna stop! Now all my current stuff is in the big drawer, in nice neat file folders, and all I need to do when we move is box it – shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to pack up my desk. :)

While I was “finding” all these treasures (HA!), I was reminded of these verses from 1 Peter:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”1 Peter 1:3-7

It was verse 7 that really struck home with me (emphasis mine):

that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”1 Peter 1:3-7

While I’m finding earthly treasures, God found me—definitely not a treasure—and saved me. He keeps me, and allows trials in my life that I might be found worthy when I stand before Him at the end of my life. I am so very thankful that He found me. Has He found you? If He has, have you surrendered?

Problems and a house

Hook news:
If you are having a problem …

downloading, "Chocolate Dreams", just click here and the PDF file should auto-download for you.

Crook news:
Exciting things are taking place!
We may have found a house in Oregon. Yes! Much to check out first, but we are most hopeful. We will know more once we get up here and get a chance to look it over.

Chocolate Dreams

Hook news:
Chocolate Dreams is available!
Yes, my latest design, "Chocolate Dreams" is finished and is now available as a PDF file. You can click the photo to the left to see a larger, more detailed picture of the afghan (although it's not a complete image—but you will see what the finished ghan looks like). If you are a Web-TV user, or have problems downloading the PDF file, please contact me. You'll find my email address listed on the right.

Crook news:
Moving forward
I have great news on the moving front, but no time today to share that news. Instead I'm off to enjoy dinner and watch "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Oh, and we'll head outside at 9pm our time to watch the fireworks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!!!!!!!!!

Everything is moving

Hook news:
"Chocolate Dreams"
… while finished, is still not up. My photographer has been on strike. :-/

Mary Maxim Contest
This is the week. Between the contest and our pending move, I’ll be a nervous wreck by weeks end.

Crook news:
SOLD!
It’s hard to believe that just 2 months ago our hope was to sell our properties and be able to move by the holidays. Shortly we will close the papers on our second property and that will leave us with only our house to fix and sell. Everything has moved so quickly. Some nights I crawl into bed and wonder if I will wake up in the morning and find it’s all been a dream. The Lord has truly blessed us with this move, and I know that He will continue to do so as we pack, fix and leave this area. I can hardly wait to see what He has for us in Oregon.

Book news:
Map of Bones:
My wonderful husband was likely tired of hearing me moan about having to wait and wait and wait for the copy from the local library, and purchased a copy of this book for me. He then brought it home, set it on the book shelf and told me I had to wait for my birthday. The man is rotten. LOL!

Finished but …
I finished Without Remorse this weekend. It was a good book, but left me unsatisfied. Why? To borrow from a friend: I had a lot of trouble accepting the ending. The hero got away with murder—actually several murders—because the government needed his talents. Okay, so the murders were “justified” because the people he murdered were drug dealers and murderers themselves … but that still doesn’t justify murder to me. I guess I still like the notion that justice will prevail, even though I know better. Oh well.

I’m now reading Edge of Danger by Jack Higgins. It’s a hardbound edition that I picked up a few months back for $5 on the clearance table—my favorite place. :D A quick read, even if I have to sit in my chair to enjoy it. hehehe

The book shelves are where?
Sunday we spent some gift certificates from Christmas and enjoyed a dish of ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. Overkill would be a good description of the delights they serve up. Be sure to take your entire days appetite if you visit.

Afterwards we felt the need to walk off some calories, so we wandered down the mall and took a tour of the local Barnes and Nobel. We were stunned to discover they had moved most of the books sections! Took me 20 minutes to find the books I like, and then another 5 to figure out that the books weren’t all alphabetized by author’s last name at the moment! Some sections continued across the aisle, while other shelves only went to the aisle and then did a U-turn.

As hard as it was to find things, I managed to come home with 3 new hardbound books. No I don’t need them. Yes, I’ll probably have to pack them. But ... but ... how could I pass up such great bargains? (Well, actually I passed on two that I wanted because some bimbo was sitting on the stack of books and her shorts were really short and her cheekys were on the cover ... and EEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!) Sorry, got carried away. hehehe I did came home with:

• Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler - $4.98
• The Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy - $5.98
• Bad Company by Jack Higgins - $6.99

Of course, Harry Potter is due out in what, 25 days or so? And then in August I’ll have Map of Bones, so I’m set for the summer. The only other thing I hope to read is a map on how to get to Oregon. :)

Speaking of roaches …

For 3 years now I've been battling these bugs in my garage. In the beginning I used non-toxic traps. Then I added in some powder—even though it's toxic and I have to wear gloves and a mask to apply it. Between the two I've kept the population under control (translation: the indoor traps are empty.) ;)

Now, the debate between Mr. Retired and myself has always been … are they "water beetles" as the city claims, or are they "co**roaches"? I was sure it was the latter and even considered having chemicals dumped all over my house (toxins be damned!), but since the indoor traps have shown NO bugs, I haven't dumped toxins inside.

Finally, I captured one of these buggers and we hauled it to the Ag folks. There we amused the biologists with our critter. (For the record, these biologists are delightfully weird; they get so darn excited over the bugs you bring in. They actually fought over a blue wasp I once brought in for identification, and I wound up having to decide who got to keep it in their private collection.) :rolleyes:

Anyhow … after much discussion amongst themselves and checking in books … it was determined that the dumb things really are water beetles and they aren't harmful. In fact, they eat ants and such. So how come I have so many ants?

It has a name!

Hook news:
Nameless no longer
"Chocolate Dreams" is finished. Once my artistic cameraman has pictures ready, I'll be able to put the pattern up.

I still have no idea what I'll tackle next.

Crook news:
Friends—as close as a calling card
Yesterday I picked up a new calling card at Costco. Last evening I used the card to call a friend. Just hearing the voice of my friend had me smiling. We talked about so many things—family, sports, computers, our shared faith in Christ. We laughed, I shed a few tears, we were serious ... we reminisced and simply enjoyed each other's company.

While a phone call isn't the same as seeing each other in person, it was certainly a wonderful "for the present" substitute. I'll be smiling for days over this call and look forward to chatting with my friend again.

Moving Wrinkles

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
My entry was received and I'm now counting down until the week of July 1st when the winners are notified.

Nameless new design
The pattern is completed, all typo's have—hopefully—been found and corrected. All that is left is a picture and a name. I'm stumped on the name. The picture is up to my artistic cameraman.

I have no idea what I'll tackle next.

Crook news:
Moving wrinkles:
Yesterday we got the lovely news that if move out of state, we have to pay more out of pocket for our health insurance. Charming. The additional monthly cost is more than the monthly pay raise we just received. That spurred us to reconsider exactly where we will move. Washington is looking better than Oregon right now. ;-)

While chatting with the rep, Mr. Retired asked about my health coverage and what happens when I get to MediCare age. Seems I lose everything Mr. Retired worked for, and I wind up with the hideous coverage from the feds. What was the point of Mr. Retired covering me all those years? The idea they sold us on was that I would then have decent lifetime health coverage. Apparently that only applies if I had not managed to get all those quarters in and qualified for SS/Medicare.

Okay, so I accumulated those quarters because I was willfully disobedient and headstrong. Guess this is one of those "every action has a reaction and consequence" things. Not that I like it, but I can't do a darn thing about it.

For some reason this verse keeps coming to my mind:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. – Philippians 4:11

So I'll be trying to be content with what has come my way. Somehow I think this is a lifelong lesson for me—rather like trying to learn to be patient.

Being thankful

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
I'm now in the waiting stage. The afghan is complete and and on it's way. I'm thankful the project is completed.

New design
I cannot believe I've been working on this design for over a year—but I have. I took time off to make a baby ghan, then time off to do the Mary Maxim stuff. Then there were the holidays, and life in general. Well, now I'm back to it. All that needs to be done is finish typing up the directions, and give it a name. I'm thankful to be almost done with this project.

Wonder what my next project will be?

Crook news:
An update on my garden.
The sweet peas seeds that survived the winter rain, and brought forth 3 plants and 2 small blooms became the victims of an early heat spell and are no more. :( Perhaps next year.

I have 3 geranium plants now and they are doing super. The carnations didn't like the heat either and are gone. *sigh*

I trimmed “Joyce” and she's doing well; however “Ethel” does not like the a/c blowing on her and is suffering. Some surgery is in order.

I'm thankful that I haven't managed to kill all of my plants. ;-)

Book news:
My current read:
I'm presently reading an older James Rollins, Excavation. It's very fast paced and has creepy creatures, Inca tribes, buried treasure and evil and nefarious characters as well. I don't read it just before bedtime.

Tom Clancy and "Jack Ryan":
We recently rented The Hunt for Red October from Netflix (I needed to drool over Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery - hehehe). I was curious as to why Baldwin played Ryan only once, so I did some digging. That took me a web site that listed all the "Jack Ryan" books, and there was a listing of the books in published order and chronological character order.

Now I love reading books in chronological character order, so I made notes and scampered over to my favorite used book store, where I managed to garner the first 3 in the chronological list. My summer pleasure will be to find and read them all—in chronological order.

If you are interested, here is the chronological listing I found (which may or may not be accurate):

• Without Remorse
• Patriot Games
• The Red Rabbit
  
• The Hunt for Red October
• The Cardinal of the Kremlin
• Clear and Present Danger
• The Sum of All Fears
• Debt of Honor
• Executive Orders
• Rainbow Six
• The Bear and the Dragon
• The Teeth of the Tiger

Whew. I'm thankful I'm done typing chronologically. hehehe

Map of Bones:
I’m still sitting at #9 and holding for this book. How can a county this size have only one copy of this best seller? I guess I'm thankful we have a local library. ;-)

Personal news:
How patient are you?
My patience is no better than it was a few weeks ago. I noticed today that I have bit the nails on 3 of my fingers. Yes, just 3 nails—the 3 middle fingers on my left hand. I wasn't even aware I was biting them.

Moving and being thankful
The other day we signed papers and sold what was to have been our retirement property. When we bought it there were 3 other homes in the area, and loads of trees. Now there is a subdivision behind the property, several other homes on the street itself, a large church kiddy-corner to the property, and rules and regs that would curl your hair. Oh—and no trees.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. – Psalms 150:6

We are very thankful as God blessed our investment and we received good money for the property. We'll invest this money in our new home. Hopefully that will be in a small town where there are trees, not a lot of growth, and a nice, small, warm comfy church where we can worship the One who gave His life for us.

The Owl's from the Benicia Owl Cam

You can count all 6!




Made me laugh!




Cute face!

Contest & Garden News

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
I’ve now finished all 30 squares, and yesterday my entry tag from Mary Maxim arrived. Yippee! Plus I saw Dr. Nick and got my spine and shoulders adjusted—so I'm more than ready to finish this ghan and get it mailed in. Then it’s a matter of patiently waiting—something that has always eluded me.

Crook news:
How does your garden grow?
Mine is struggling along. Last year I planted 12 sweet pea plants. I let them go to seed in the hopes that this year I would have more sweet peas. This past winter has been a wet one, and one day during a lovely storm I watched as most of my seeds floated down the sidewalk and down to the drain. I held out hope that somehow some of the seeds had survived, and I was right. Apparently 3 did. Of those 3, only 2 plants have survived and so far I’ve had 2 blooms off one plant and none off the other.

In desperation, I dragged Mr. Retired to the nursery yesterday and came home with 2 geranium plants and one pot of carnations. The carnations are the smaller flower on stalks that are less than 12-inches and are the color of smoked salmon and smell like fresh cinnamon. Yumm!

My 2 houseplants are growing great guns and I’m most pleased. The one I call “Joyce” is in need of a trim, and I’ll have to screw up the courage to tackle that job, but otherwise “Joyce” and “Ethel” are doing well and seem to be happy.

From the Bookshelf:
Sandstorm
In the wee hours this morning, I finished reading Sandstorm, a novel by James Rollins. Whoo-HOO! The book did not disappoint, and it was worth losing sleep to finish it (even if we never do find out what they did with the basket—hehehe). The action level kept building until we crashed into the finale, then a slightly calm wrap-up that left me eager for the next SIGMA book. Great read, and I loved that there was a news article yesterday that tied in with this book (I won’t say anything about it because it would give away a major plot issue).

On a scale of 1-10, I’d rate this book a 9.75.

My current read:
I’m now reading a “calm” book while I wait to climb up the list at the library for “Map of Bones” (sitting at #9 and holding—one copy for the entire county system!)

The “calm” book I chose is Mystery Mile from Margery Allingham. My copy came to me as a gift from Mr. Retired. He paid a nickel for it at a garage sale. Published in 1930, it sold for a whopping 25-cents and was part of the “Mercury Mystery” series. The pages are somewhat brittle, so I’m careful as I read—and I have to read with a light on because of the coloration (quite yellow-brown) of the pages.

Still, it’s an interesting read and will give me a Rollins break before I tackle either “Map of Bones” or the first of the “Wit’ch” series.

Personal:
How patient are you?
As I said earlier, I'm not always a patient person. As I begin to fret over things, and wonder “when”, the desire to push the button and have things in my time rather than the Lord’s surfaces and I usually remember this verse:

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him – Psalms 37:1

As a “work in progress” I don’t always listen as my brain tells my heart to wait, but sometimes I do. Perhaps someday I’ll actually learn to relax and wait before my brain has to talk to my heart.

Murphy's Law - or Are You Content?

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
I’ve now finished 28 squares! Considering the pain in my hand, I’m ecstatic!

Crook news:
Murphy's law days.
I'm sure you've had them. A day when if something could go wrong, it did. When no matter what you tried, it failed. No matter where you went, or what route you took, there were a billion other people wanting to share the same spot of the road with you—at the same time. A day when you looked at the mix of clouds in the sky and thought, "If I were a cloud, today I would be one of the black and gloomy clouds." Recognize any of those scenarios? See, I was sure you'd had one of those days too. *grins*

Yesterday was one of those days for me. All day long as things went wrong and I grumbled and complained both out loud and to myself, the latter part of a verse from Hebrews kept running through my brain:

"… and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." - Hebrews 13:5

Was I content? No. I was not satisfied, and no matter what good took place, all I saw were the things that went wrong. Mr. Retired and I completed our errands, and as we were driving towards home, I looked up and saw that God sent a beautiful sunset where He turned the clouds to a beautiful gold color. That was when I finally realized that while I kicked and moaned and groaned and became more miserable with each passing moment, I'd missed the beauty, joy and wonder that God had set aside for me. For He had done as He promised, He had not left me; but once again I had left Him and as a result I had spent a most miserable day.

When the day was over, did any of it matter? No. The things that went wrong were nothing major—I ended the day alive and kicking with all my pieces and parts intact, my loved ones survived to see today, and here I am. I've had a chance to tell the Lord how sorry I was for my attitude, and that I'd need His strength to get past all this. Somehow, I know in my heart that He will give me the strength I need. The question remains … will I be wise enough to be content?

Parking, Hooking and a Light

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
I’ve now finished (finished to me means not only stitched, but all the ends are woven into the project) 25 squares and 5 rows on this project. I added those squares to my afghan, and so I now only need 5 squares/1 row and then I can do the length wise joining and the edging. I should have this done by the end of the month or before. :)

Crook news:
How do you park?
Yesterday we went out to lunch. I noticed a bright orange post-it note stuck to the outside of the driver’s window on the car in the space to my right. I'm curious (or is that nosey? hehehe) enough, I read it. I laughed—out loud.

You should learn how to park between the lines. A jeep isn't that big.

Oh how often I've wanted to leave a similar note, but I lack the courage; besides my mother's voice always echoes in brain, "Be nice." As I caught up with Mr. Retired at the door to the restaurant, he asked what the note said. I told him, and he (who doesn't have my mother's voice echoing in his brain) promptly said he wanted to get that printed on cards and sealed in plastic – maybe a thousand or so – and carry them with him.

So if you can't park your vehicle, and someday you come out and find a note on your window, perhaps Mr. Retired stopped by. *wink*

Personal:
From my reading in Psalms this morning:

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?– Psalms 27:1

When the world around me is filled with woes, frustrations and sorrows, and the way is dark, I need only look to the Lord for strength, comfort, and security—for He will light my way.

Afghan update

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
Last night I finished the 20th square, wove in all the ends on the last 5 and joined 2 more rows to the contest ghan. I'm now 2/3 finished!

Crook news:
Shaking my head
I don't often comment on politics, at least not here, but I'm shaking my head this morning over an action taken by the California Assembly. (Sometimes I think the first 3 letters of their name are so very appropriate!)

This past January the Anaheim Angels changed the name of their baseball team to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Reason? Marketing that translates to more money. (Now that song from Cabaret is running through my brain! … “Money makes the world go around …”)

Personally, I thought the name change was a silly thing to do. The team is in Anaheim. Be proud of it. Besides, is it really that big of a deal? Disneyland is in Anaheim and they aren't out to change their name to LaLa Disneyland in Anaheim. There is also the Anaheim Ducks. Do they now become the LA Ducks of Anaheim? If you do a search on Google for “Anaheim”, the 5th hit is for the Anaheim Angels. They should have left well enough alone. But they didn’t, and apparently their actions are so important they Calif. Assembly has to step in and pass a law. Yes, we have a law pending that will “require a team named for a city in which it doesn't play most of its games to disclose that fact on all tickets, advertisements and promotional materials.” The reason? The consumer is being deceived.

Sure they are, but is this the best the great California Assembly can come up with? This is how they earn their pay? This state is facing a $4 billion budget deficit and potential water and electricity shortages, yet the Assembly is worried about what is on a sports ticket?

I have to agree with Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, who said, "This is an absolutely foolish bill." Here! Here! Assemblyman Haynes, stick by your guns. Get the Senate to join you, and then please get back to the business of dealing with the mess the State of California is in—before it’s too late.

Personal:
From my reading in Psalms this morning:

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. – Psalms 13:6

The world may idle away it’s time, the legislature may idle away it’s duties, but the Lord has been gracious to me, and I will sing His praises my life through.

Being swift

Hook news:
Mary Maxim Contest
I now have 19 squares completed, with some ends to weave in, and then I’ll add 2 more rows to my contest ghan. :)

Crook news:
Abby update:
Abby Darlin’s surgery went well, her incision healed beautifully, and today the vet took the stitches out. She’s one happier cat. The sad news is that she has also gone deaf. :( We've noticed a few signs on and off over the past few months, but apparently this infection finished the job and she can't hear. She howls a lot, and we have to be careful not to startle her when we come up on her, but otherwise she's okay. We'll give her loads of TLC and help her deal with this.

We now have a flea problem though. *growl * So “Advantage” to the rescue. Both cats are now restless and driving Mr. Retired and I crazy. Short trip, I know.

Moving:
This weekend we dug in and emptied out a bunch of junk from the garage. Filled up 2 garbage cans, plus several boxes and bags of stuff for Goodwill.

Because we emptied things out, I splurged and purchased 2 mugs for our new dishes. The new kitchen will be warm and cozy, and there won’t be a speck of blue or red on the dishes (at least not if I can help it!) We’ve chosen Fiesta Ware from Homer Laughlin and have agreed on Sunflower and Tangerine. I’d love the green, but Mr. Retired refuses to eat or drink from green dishes … so we’ll stick with the yellow and orange.

Personal:
Further in my Bible study with my friend, I was reading James from the beginning this morning and this verse struck me right between the eyes.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: – James 1:19

So often I get upset over silly things and let my temper flare. Worse, I’ll blurt out things that I shouldn’t. What good does it do to yell at some goofy driver? They can’t hear me, thankfully, and it only ruins my blood pressure. I guess this is something I need to work on, letting God have control of my temper.