Since She Asked...

I've been "under the weather" physically and emotionally for the last week or so. The nasty flu virus is leaving my system slowly and grief ebbs and flows on a minute-by-minute basis. Last Friday evening, my mother passed away. Since she lived on the west coast with one of my sisters, I did not get to see her as often as I wanted to, but we did talk on the phone frequently. I made the comment to my husband this morning that it was just sinking in that she wasn't a phone call away any more (which of course inspires me to leak profusely from my eyeballs). His response was "No, now she's just a prayer away."

Anyway, I was checking my email today and found a comment from Jodie on one of my posts inviting me to comment on "Ten Struggles Christian Women Face" (she is collecting information for a book she is writing) - hmmm, this got me to thinking...so here's my list: (in no specific order)

1. Obedience or submission to authority
2. Keeping God First (see what I mean ?!?)
3. Finances
4. Walking out my faith - setting example for children & grandchildren
5. Keeping my house tidy
6. Exercise & a generally healthy lifestyle
7. Keeping my priorities in line
8. Saying "yes" to too many people & stressing myself out when I'm unable to meet all the obligations I've accepted
9. Being WAY too hard on myself
10. Keeping myself grounded in the Word

....I really could keep going, but I'm going to show some restraint and stop myself.

You should check out her website at http://diggingforpearls.blogspot.com/ or email your list to her at digging4pearls@comcast.net

Lost in Blogthings (again)

You Are a Crossword Puzzle

You are well read, and you have a good head for remembering facts. You are a wordsmith. You have a way with words, and you're very literate. You are a mysterious person who enjoys dropping little clues every now and then.

What Kind of Puzzle Are You?

Manly Birthday Card

This design was a collaboration between my "baby boy" and I (he really hates it when I call him that!)

Chipboard Box

I just realized I never posted any pictures of this box I made for our oldest who is currently studying her brains out down in B-E-A-U-tiful San Antonio.

We sent her some cute little trinkets inside, so I had to put a lid on it to keep everything contained.

Well, I'm not too sure about this one....

Your Celebrity Sisters Are Mary-Kate and Ashley

Funky, eccentric, and offbeat You're not a good girl or a bad girl, just a weird girl

Who Are Your Celebrity Sisters?

But the "weird girl" part seems pretty accurate...

The Reveal - Samantha's Christmas Gift

(yeah, yeah, yeah - I KNOW it's March - but at least this got done and shipped before her birthday...in August)


I worked on this for months - trying to get it just the way I wanted. These pictures are prior to my talented hubby building out the frame into a shadowbox to protect the trinkets from dust.



There is a heart and a little wire icon for each of them....

(No - the icons are not a comment in any way on their unique personalities)



if they were, I would have had to pick something WAY more hyper for my nephew!

Here are some pictures after my talented husband finished constructing the shadowbox portion of the project...

the back is even protected by a piece of plexi-glass. The little round flower medallions are there to hide some ugly holes in the cardboard backing and the heart proclaims that this gift was "Handcrafted by us"

There are no accidents!

I was taking the personality tests that Alison posted on her blog and I saw a link entitled "Love of God" in the upper left corner. Ever curious about the ways of my creator, I clicked on it.

This passage jumped off the screen:

Nothing is haphazard, nothing without a reason and a purpose.

I am ever working My ways in and through you.

You are vital to My call in this universe.

Let Me take it up for you.

Let us run together and flee the ways of the past.

Await, victory comes in the morning of My light.

Live on!

Okay, so it's official!!

I AM TIRED OF WINTER!!!

view out our back door

this is our neighbor's truck and Bar-B-Que decorated with the omnipresent "white stuff"

One big reason I'm not enjoying the "winter wonderland" of the northeast is that we had to rent a car while one of our trucks is in the shop. I was hoping for something that would handle the icy roads and as we were driving into the lot, my dear sweet husband said "Hey, look honey, they rent vans too!" I immediately "pooh-poohed" that idea but, as it turns out, THAT is exactly what I got. (Evidently, there is a lawyers convention in town and all the cars are rented out).

Anyway, I nicknamed this "The Pig" - - because it handles like one!!

The good thing about it, that the guys at the rental place felt so bad to stick me with this beast that they cut the daily rental almost in half.

Oh, and I've had this unnatural desire to move something... so if you have something that needs to be moved before noon tomorrow....just let me know.

How do they do it? (edited)

Alison agrees that this is the perfect description of me as a super hero:

Your Superpower Should Be Invisibility

You are stealth, complex, and creative. You never face problems head on. Instead, you rely on your craftiness to get your way. A mystery to others, you thrive on being a little misunderstood. You happily work behind the scenes... because there's nothing better than a sneak attack! Why you would be a good superhero: You're so sly, no one would notice... not even your best friends Your biggest problem as a superhero: Missing out on all of the glory that visible superheroes get

What Should Your Superpower Be?

Added March 5th:

So I felt compelled to test my sweet husband and my soon-to-be 16 son, and here are their results - - my darling husband should have the power of...

Manipulating Fire

You are intense, internally driven, and passionate. Your emotions are unpredictable - and they often get the better of you. Both radiant and terrifying, people are drawn to you. At your most powerful, you feel like the world belongs to you. Why you would be a good superhero: You are obsessive enough to give it your all Your biggest problem as a superhero: Your moodiness would make it difficult to control your powers

What Should Your Superpower Be?

My son was disappointed that he wasn't invisible (like his beloved mother). Instead his superpower should be...

Mind Reading

You are brilliant, insightful, and intuitive. You understand people better than they would like to be understood. Highly sensitive, you are good at putting together seemingly irrelevant details. You figure out what's going on before anyone knows that anything is going on! Why you would be a good superhero: You don't care what people think, and you'd do whatever needed to be done Your biggest problem as a superhero: Feeling even more isolated than you do now

What Should Your Superpower Be?

Oh, and he wasn't real wild about the picture being a girl either. Hey, do you think if I designed us matching spandex superhero costumes that they would wear them???? Yeah, I know, stupid question - what was I thinking?!?