chickensense

Friday was my 50th birthday. It was the worst birthday I’ve ever had, and one of the worst days of my life. I was betrayed by my best friend. She stole my car, emptied my bank account, and broke my heart. The money actually means far less to me than the betrayal. I really believed she was my friend–my best friend—I feel devastated.

Tweet This 

This year I’ve re-discovered how relaxing and enjoyable a really good, fiction book can be. I don’t know why it feels like a new discovery to me because I’ve always been a voracious reader. I guess because I’ve mostly read non-fiction books about my hobbies and interests for the last few years.

In any case, I’ve come across some really good Christian fiction books lately. I get very inspired by books that describe country life, primitive or rustic living, farm life, etc. When I was younger it was the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and romances like They Loved To Laugh, by Kathryn Worth, that got my pioneer-wanna-be heart thumping, but finding adult equivalents has been tricky.

Below are a few wonderful Christian book finds I’ve made. Some are recent discoveries, some are old-time favorites; some are country-life inspiring, and some are absolutely wonderful romances. I hope you will enjoy them too.

ROMANCES

The Widow of Larkspur Inn, by Laura Blackwell (A new favorite of mine, this is a superb, modern, historical romance. I can’t wait to read the second book in the series.)

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (A classic romance. Also, the mini-series on DVD staring Colin Firth is very faithful to the book and absolutely wonderful.)

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (Another classic romance. My favorite book of all time.)

The Solitary Envoy, by T.Davis and Isabella Bunn (An excellent, modern, historical romance. There are more books in the series that I haven’t read yet.)

The Hawk and The Jewel, by Lori Wick (The others in this series of modern, historical romances are just as good as this one.)

The Negotiator, by Dee Henderson (This is not an historical romance, but it is a fantastically good, modern romance. I have read all the others in this series and they are wonderful, WONDERFUL books.)

PIONEER/COUNTRY/OLD-FASHIONED LIFE

Loves Comes Softly, by Janette Oke (There are more books in this series. This is one that definitely inspires my pioneer dreams.)

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (There are more in this classic series and they are all delightful.)

Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers (This book is incredible for its inspiration of pioneer dreams, Christian life, and romance too. It was rated at 5 stars by an incredible 598 people on www.Amazon.com.)

Morning Glory, by Laverle Spencer (This is definitely NOT Christian, however the characters are married at least. It was my favorite from before I was a Christian and I still love it because of the descriptions of old-fashioned, country living, but I get uncomfortable at the intimate scenes–fortunately there are only a couple.)

What Katy Did, by Susan Coolidge (Very inspirational message about Christian living. I love the old-fashioned style of this classic.)

(Looking for inexpensive sources for books? Go to www.paperbackswap.com. It is free to join and you can buy credits for books for around $3.50 each, INCLUDING shipping. Can’t beat that with a stick! You can also trade your books, to get credits. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of books available at this site, hardcover and paperback, for under $3.50 including shipping. I’ve been a member several months (CayceQuilter) and I absolutely love it.)

Tweet This 

I went back to work in July and am just now catching my breath. I’ve noticed that I’m really itching to start making quilts again. I guess I desperately need something to counteract the stress of working, and quilting sure does that for me. I have been so busy the last couple of years learning how to be a home-maker, and making web sites and blogs that I’ve hardly sewn a thing.

The first thing I’ve had to do is clear out my sewing room. It’s become a junk room lately. The next thing I need to do is assess what projects have already been started, and figure out the next steps to finish them.

I’m so disappointed that I’ve had to sell my animals and go back to full-time work. I hope that it’ll just be for a little while until I can get some major bills paid off. Then I hope to get back to my “good life.”

Tweet This 

From: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/lundeen102508.html

EXCERPT:

(by Mark Lundeen)

Before this is all over I suspect that the 2007 bear market will be moving up from its current #9 position on the table below.

As per the table above, for the 2007 bear to rise up from #9 to the #8 spot, the weekly closing price of the Dow Jones Industrials must fall below 7799.61. If Dow takes out 7799.61, it is only 439.68 point away from becoming #4 on the above list. In the current market, the Dow has had hourly swings as large as that. I think making the #4 spot will prove to be an easy thing for the 2007 DJIA Bear to do.

After that things will start to get harder. Since 1885 the Dow has closed 50% below its previous all time highs only 3 times before and has not done so since 1942. But then maybe be we are due for a -50% bear market as we have not had one since 1942. Until the 2007 bear takes out the -50% lows of 1896 and 1942, one must assume that the current bear market will be a bad bear, but nothing catastrophic.

Tweet This 

Jesse absolutely loves his new school, Grace Baptist School! I had no idea of the amount of stress I have been feeling from trying to do everything myself until I began to get relief from it. I am able to work in peace and quiet while he’s at school, and I’m finding that having the peace around me is giving me the desire and energy to get a lot of other things done too!

Jesse is already so much happier, which takes a ton of guilt off me too. In just 3 days I feel like such an immense weight has lifted from my heart and mind! Just knowing that soon I’ll be able to get bills caught up (because I am able to work several hours from home while Jesse is in school) while still keeping my focus on my home and family makes such a difference, and the calm in my heart is so wonderful…

Yesterday I finished and installed the bottom halves of the kitchen curtains I’ve been sewing on for months. They have a darling chicken print panel in the center with black and white stripe panels on each side and for the hem. This change alone has made the kitchen, which has been curtain-less ever since last spring when my husband painted half the kitchen, look so much better that it has inspired me to begin some other cleaning and rearranging in the rest of the house. The cafe-style curtains have also helped keep the kitchen much warmer while still letting in a lot of light, and they make the badly done paint job much less noticeable. Now I have to make the valences for the top halves of the windows…

Today I also re-potted a large plant that was from David’s Mother’s funeral 6 years ago. The thing is tough as nails because it has been in the same tiny pot for all these years yet it keeps on growing. My last few stressful months have taken a toll though: apparently I haven’t been watering it as much because the leaves on the bottom 6 inches of ALL the stems have died. I cut everything back and moved it to a large pot with fresh potting soil and fertilizer. It was so root-bound that I used scissors to slice the root ball almost in thirds. I cut the roots to separate the 3 major stems a bit too. I spent several minutes washing off the thick dust on the older leaves as well. It will either thrive now or die from shock.

Tweet This 

Tweet This 

Grrrrr! Today really is turning out to be a total waste of make-up!

It’s only 8:30 in the morning but I don’t think it could be much worse. First, the DSL was down this morning and what I thought would take 10 minutes took 45 minutes with tech support to get working. So, we’re half an hour late leaving the house to get my son to school. I go running out with an armful of stuff, laptop, mail to put in mailbox, bottled water, etc. to load in the car. Then my son comes running out, locking the house door behind him because he thinks I’m leaving. Great! my purse and keys and cell phone are still in the house.

So 20 minutes later we find we can’t get in without breaking a window — quick calculation: is it more expensive to get hubby to come home and let us in or to have to repair a window? I decide to call hubby, but I don’t have my phone. Then I realize I am wearing my phone’s ear piece. Am I in range? Yes! I can’t dial, but I can use my voice commands to call my office. They call my husband at work to come home asap. Then we realize that I left some equipment I must have for a job today at the office. I have to drive to the office before I can head to the customer. Fine, what’s another another hour anyway? I may as well take half a day off. Sheesh.

Now, what to do while I’m waiting. Too messy to weed the garden, I don’t have any books or magazines, just my laptop. Wait! Since the DSL is now working maybe I’m in range to go online. Yesssss! Thank God for wireless.

Uh oh! It just got worse. Hubby has a flat tire! No spare; he’ll have to get it fixed before he can come let us in the house. Drat!!!! Can’t I just go back to bed and start the day over??? Sigh. I can’t even get to my bed.

Tweet This 

I’m proud to announce the arrival of my first grandchild, Sarra Lilien. My son, Jason, and his wife, Kelly, are the proud parents.

She was born August 22, and was 7lb, 1oz, and 21″ long. She has brown hair and blue eyes right now, but her mom is a red head so we’ll have to see what happens.

Tweet This 

I know I’ve learned before that the amount of sodium and fat we eat regularly has a big impact on our health and longevity. I heard a radio speaker on Focus on the Family recently talking about nutrition. He said that calories are one of the last considerations in choosing what to eat. First is fat grams, should be no more than 50 per day. Second is sodium, which should be in the 2000 to 3000 range.

Dr. Dobson made a comment that I can’t stop thinking about. He said, “You can really love food but still take care of yourself. That’s what God wants us to do.”

Alcohol and drug addiction are known to be illnesses caused by brain chemical imbalances. People struggling to over come addictions are respected and encouraged. But over-eaters, who suffer from the same chemical imbalances, are instead treated like losers with no will power–ridiculed, joked about, and often shunned.

God knows exactly how he made each one of us. He made over-eaters with a chemical imbalance just like alcoholics have. It is as much a handicap as someone born with a birth defect that confines them to a wheelchair. God knows them intimately. He doesn’t expect them to run in races, but He doesn’t want them to give up and lie in bed all day. He wants us all to do the best we can with what we’ve been given. I have these cravings for food, which is how God made me, but I can make wiser choices about what I do eat instead of trying and failing NOT to eat and just giving up. I can exercise more so that what I do eat doesn’t “hang around” as fat. I know I can do far better than I have been doing.

I don’t want to be a super model in size 2 with a collar bone that sticks out farther than my bosom. I just want to be able to tuck in my blouses, and enter a room full of people without being embarrassed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Burger King Croissan’wich w/ Egg & Cheese (112 g)
320 Calories
19 g Fat
185 mg.Cholesterol
730 mg.Sodium
12 gProtein
170 Caloriesfrom Fat
7 gSaturated Fat
24 gCarbohydrates
<1>

Tweet This 

My father died last week. My brothers and sisters, their spouses, and I flew in from various parts of the country as soon as Dad went into the hospital. We were all there with him for his last days.

We all stayed in my parents home for a week afterwards, making arrangements and helping Mom get through the funeral and everything. If it hadn’t been such a sad time it would have been great being together again. At times we could forget the circumstances and enjoy each other’s company. What fun and laughter we had on a couple of evenings when we were most successful at putting away the pain for a while.

I arrived home this afternoon. It has been a very long, painful week, it is so good to be home. But now it is really sinking in that my dad is dead. There was so much to do and worry about at the time. I’m the eldest, I tried to help us all keep going, and to take care of Mom. But now it is just me missing my dad…

Tweet This 

I had a wonderfully cathartic experience today: I was dispatched to a doctor’s office to repair the computer system. The woman behind the glass window asked me to have a seat, and she’d tell them I was there. After about 15 minutes of waiting I had a delightful thought that soon had me chuckling out loud. I couldn’t stop grinning for several minutes, even though folks were looking at me strangely. Finally I just had to explain the reason for my mirth: it had occurred to me that because I was there to fix the doctors’ computers, the time that they kept me sitting in their waiting room was costing them $120 per hour!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cathartic
adj 1: emotionally purging [syn: psychotherapeutic] 2: emotionally purging (of e.g. art) [syn: releasing] 3: strongly laxative [syn: evacuant, purgative]

Tweet This 

So, here are my first words to the “WWW” (Whole Wide World). I’m sure they’re not very original, and who knows why anyone would be interested in them; still, I’m strangely excited about this–even have butterflies in my stomach. I’m thinking I should read other blogs first, to see how this “should” be done, but I think, for once, I’m not going look around to see if I’m doing it “right;” no one knows me… No one can see me… So I can just BE me.

Thank you for reading, and please be gentle with me — it’s my first time.

Tweet This