It's A Dog's Life

I seem to be mellowing in my old age.
I never used to let Jada sleep on the bed.
Lately I have relaxed the rules a bit. . .

And she is bound and determined to take full advantage of it!
Nowadays, if I can't find Jada anywhere, I check out our bed and . . .
 Ta da!!!
Once again hanging out in the comfyist spot in the house!
Oh to be a dog. . .

Secret Sisters

I mentioned my secret sister in a previous post and my cousin Chandra wondered what exactly that was. (She wasn't the only one!)

It was organized by one of the ladies in our church. She put a questionnaire in every one's mailbox which we had to fill out and return if we were interested in participating.
The questionnaire asked things like who we were, if we were married and to whom , our age, hobbies, favorite things (like bible verses, holidays or seasons, desserts etc.), things we like to collect, if we had allergies or real dislikes, and whether we had any special prayer requests.

She took them all and then everyone was given someone else's questionnaire and that person was then your secret sister.

The idea is to do something thoughtful for her at least once a month until our reveal party in mid December.

Not only do I have a secret sister to do fun things for, someone also has me as a secret sister. Last month I was given the most unusual gladiola flower. I had never seen those colours on a gladiola before and I just loved it.

This month I received a beautiful stained glass piece and was told (in a card) that her artist friend had made it and it made her think of me! Isn't that nice?

I love handcrafted things and it looks lovely in my side window!

I had always wanted to put some type of stained glass in this window.

It gives me a warm, cozy feeling to know someone is thinking about me.

Getting Used To 'Retirement'

Since I no longer drive the school bus or work outside the home I am now 'retired.'
I have been trying to figure out just what that means in practical terms.
Do I  spend my days reading and eating chocolate?
Wash load after load of laundry everyday? Iron sheets and jeans?
Keep tabs on who's doing what on the soaps?

Retirement  means a drop in income and a change in buying habits.
It means finding things to do that are inexpensive or. . . better yet, free.

It's odd how easy it was to get used to running out to pick something up to eat because I was just to busy to cook dinner, but not at all easy to get used to planning for dinner everyday so I won't run out to pick something up. Yet if I do go the easy route now, I find myself disappointed in the food and annoyed that I spent money I didn't have to!

I have spent 18 years earning money and now that I'm not, I have the uncomfortable feeling that I am not contributing properly anymore.

Mind you, Henry and the boys are thrilled that I am home full time.
Jesse informed me that I seem to be developing a sense of humour.
Morgan appreciates the fact that if he comes home for lunch, I will make it for him.
Henry's enjoying my more relaxed, happy attitude so much that he doesn't even want me starting up a little home business. (more on that another day!)

The thing is, is that the rules have changed. . .  ( I stole that profound thought from someone dear to me. . . thanks hey!)

So I have a question for all of you. . .

If you were given the opportunity to do something you loved, but on the teeynist, tinyest budget, while still taking good care of your home and family. . . (also on the teenyist, tinyest budget!)

What would you do and how would you go about doing it?

Feel free to go into great detail!

I have been thinking a lot lately about Jamie Oliver ,  Adele , and others who are so obviously using their God given talents to the utmost. ( Regardless of whether or not they acknowledge that it came from Him.)

We are all charged to use the talents God has given us, and what I wonder as a wife and mother, (and a somewhat perfectionist, overachiever) is how that fits with family life.

How do we go about figuring out how to best use our talents to God's glory here in the 'real' world with so many things competing for our time and attention?

Let's start a conversation and let me know what you think or how you've made things work in your lives.

In the mean time here are some of the things I've been up to in the last few weeks. . .



Fall in the front garden




Dressing up the front entry for a new season




Canning peaches by myself for the first time



They are delicious!

Of course I always love to play with bread!

Adding cheese makes anything better. . .

At least in Jada's opinion!

One batch of dough made cinnamon buns, butter pan buns, hamburger buns and  . . .

Ham and cheese buns. Yum!!