Still Thankful.....

Well, the day is officially over, but of course, I am still thankful. Here is a picture of our table all ready for our guests. We had 12 all together, plus a 2 and 1/2 month old baby with us (hubby's great nephew). And, all 12 of us fit around our table that is made to sit 8! And, I do thank the Lord for a wonderful day with family.
Other thanks from the week:

• Putting in many extra hours of work this week. I usually only work one day a week. This week, I am working 5 days, close to 48 hours! Yesterday was the longest day, at 12 hours! I will be grateful when today is done and I am finished with my long week, and thankful that I am only working 8 hours today.
  
• Having time to visit with hubby's niece, her husband, and precious little son.
• Having hubby spend time vacuuming and cleaning the carpet. Three cheers for hubby.
• Having rain one day this past week, with more rain in the forecast. God is good.
• Listening to Christmas music, and rejoicing in the birth of my Saviour.
• Enjoying a bonfire at my son's home the other night.
• Coming up with over 100 things on my Thankful list for this past year. God is good.
• Only working 2 days this next week.
  

Anticipating Pleasures to come...

The mouthwatering aromas of blueberry pie and pumpkin pie wafted through our abode today.

We are joyfully anticipating the devouring of these
two pies, plus several more (ie 6 more) which will make
their way to our home in 2 days. Lots of Pies!

Drop in for a piece!

Thanksgiving

Heading into the week of Thanksgiving finds me thankful for many things. As I reflect back to the first of the year, remembering the needs that I was then crying out to God to provide answers for, I am amazed at the ways He has answered. Some of the answers I have not enjoyed, some are not the answers I was looking for. Some of the answers go way beyond what I even had in mind when I was making the request. But the one constant thread weaving through the year, is the indisputable fact that my Heavenly Father is Good, He is in Control, and that He does everything just right.
My "list" for this Thanksgiving is now up to 50 things, and I am trusting to make it to 100 before Thursday. It really does help to right down specifics!
Thankfuls from this past week:

• Being able to grill chicken outside in November...in bare feet...yes, I love Georgia in the fall!
• Once again being grateful for my job, and that it is usually only one day a week, and that the occasional extra days help with extra things...like Christmas gifts! And things for grandsons... And pictures on the walls....
  
• Looking forward to working 5 days this next week.
• Anticipating a wonderful family Thanksgiving at our home.
• Grocery shopping with hubby.
  
• Enjoying shopping for Christmas gifts. Yes, it is early, but if I don't start early I won't get it done!
  
• Finally having pictures on our walls! What an incredible blessing that is! And, what fun to look at pictures of places where we have been and enjoying the memories...Boothbay Harbor in Maine, Mount Rushmore, San Fransisco, Tybee Island...
  

Of fall colors and pictures and meadowlarks and things....

Yes, we do have fall colors here in Georgia. We have gotten much blessing from enjoying the trees here in our neighborhood this year. I love the color of this leaf....


And, I love the color of our front yard tree.

And, as usual at the end of another week, my heart is filled with thankfuls for so many blessings that He has brought into this week. PTL for:

• Meadowlarks in our yard again. It has been several weeks since we have seem them, and what a delight it was on Thursday to look out and see several in the back yard, enjoying the bugs or whatever it was that they were finding to eat. They are such beautiful birds.
• Having new pictures on our walls. Around 25 years ago hubby took quite a few slides, some of which he has always had a dream of printing and framing. Well, this week that dream has become a reality. We have 14 of his pictures printed/enlarged, and are in the process of getting them into frames and onto our walls. Yeah! For those of you who have seen our long bare living room/dining room wall, you will rejoice with us that we are actually getting some pictures up.
• A much less stressful day at work this past Thursday. We actually left at 10 that night! What a good answer to prayer, as the last several weeks we have been extra busy, so it was a blessing to have a quieter evening.
• Eclairs. Creme filled, chocolate frosted ones. Yummy.
• Enjoying the baby shower for my daughter in law last Sunday night. My daughter did a lovely job organizing it and great fun was had by all.
  
• Enjoying the time change party we had at hubby's cousins home last weekend. Great fun, yummy food and good fellowship.
  

Of Trains and work and things

Another week has gone by and I am very thankful for all the blessings of the week.
PTL for:

• A new purse with a nice long shoulder strap. I got tired of my old purse constantly slipping off my shoulder while I was wending my way around all the aisles of stores.
• Two days of work this week. Long ones....Wednesday 7-5:15, and Thursday noon until 11:15 PM. (plus Thursday doing some extra training for awhile before I even went to work. And, yes, I was tired that night!) And, I do meet some very "interesting" people. Hippa laws forbid me going into all the details. Sigh.
• The lovely sound of trains going by. We can't see them go by from our home, but it is so delightful to listen to them. I do like hearing them! Makes me want to take another train ride.
• Going out to breakfast with hubby yesterday morning.
  
• Enjoying the Psalms.
  

Of new tables and rain and things.

We are enjoying this new table in our living room. PTL for new furniture.... and all the adventures involved in procuring it! And, yes, I know, we need a picture on the wall, but that will come eventually. Other thankfuls for the week include:

• Ladies fellowship time at our Wednesday evening Bible Study.
  
• Enjoying Baklava. So yummy.
• Answers to some specific prayers.
• Scented candles.
• A successful, less busy day at work this week.
• Some wonderful rain...several days of wonderful rain. What a blessing!
• A nice sunny Sabbath day today.
• Having fun shopping with hubby.
• Enjoying hubby's breakfast burritos that he made for dinner one evening this week.
• Having waffles with wonderful toppings at our fellowship lunch at church last Sunday.
  
• Knowing that my loving Heavenly Father is in control.
  

Of roses and rain and things

Here is one more rose picture. And, again, it was taken the morning of the day we headed North. I am so thankful the Lord gave us roses to enjoy!

Other thankfuls of the week:

• Rain! I do enjoy sunshine, but going without much rain for months and months, one does tend to enjoy the sight and sound of rain.
• Going out to breakfast with hubby yesterday.
• Having hubby cook meatloaf for dinner last evening. (which means yours truly did not have to do any meals yesterday. Yes!)
  
• Surviving a VERY busy 11 hour work day on Thursday.
  
• Marveling in the incredible grace and love of my Savior, Redeemer and Friend.
• The house next to us is no longer in the empty state it has been for the last year. New neighbors moved in yesterday.
• Getting ideas for Christmas gifts, and actually starting to buy some. Yes, it is early, I know, but I do not like to wait until the last minute!

Rejoicing in this day that He has made for me.

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it."- this is one of my favorite verses from Psalms, and I certainly choose to be rejoicing in this day that the Lord has given to me. I have so much to be thankful for, and reasons to rejoice. These roses are a couple of the things I am so thankful for! What a joy and delight it is to pick fresh roses, to enjoy having them in vases around the house. These pictures were taken early one morning while the dew was still on them.
Other reasons for joy:

• Sunshine.
• Sitting outside yesterday while I ate my lunch.
• Time at the library yesterday.
  
• Shopping with my daughter this week. We explored two new stores that opened in town and that was great fun.
• Listening to music on my iPod while I clean, or play computer games, etc. What an blessing good music is.
• Having some nice fall scented candles to burn.
  
• Knowing that my heavenly Father is holding my hand, and I have no need to fear. What peace comes from trusting in Him.
• Chocolate flavored coffee beans, and chocolate creamer. Mmmmm.....
• Having hubby fix his yummy burritos last evening for dinner.
  

Home from our latest adventures...

Well, here we are back home again. I have a huge list of thankfuls. God is so good. My thankfuls include the following:

• Safety in traveling over 3000 miles.
• Enjoying the scenery in New England once again.
• Watching Max as he shows his appreciation for having us home. He stays very close!
• Making it through my day of work yesterday, the day after we got home. They seemed thankful to have me back!
• Continued healing for my elbow. It came into contact with the pavement of the parking lot at the Wal-Mart in Keene last Monday. The color it is showing is still very interesting, but, I can at least still keep functioning in spite of some limitations due to discomfort.
• Some much needed rain this week. Due to the drought here we can no longer do any outside watering, so I am thankful that the Lord is watering our roses for us.
• Enjoying being in our comfy home again, and glad to be settling into our routine again. Nice to be home!
  

Of fall foliage, trips and things

We are heading back south after a marvelous few days in New Hampshire, with a day to Maine thrown in. This picture shows a little of the color we saw. Doesn't seem as vibrant as other years, but we did enjoy what we saw.

I am late with my thankfuls this week...no good wireless access!

So, my thankfuls include but are not limited to the following:

• A generous gift from Brenda on Sunday. ;-)
• Spending time with my mother, and at lunch one day watching her enjoy every bite of her lobster roll.
• Finding out that the reason my car wouldn't start last Thursday was just a loose wire, not something serious.
• The quick response from AAA.
• Spending time with the children of my niece Jill, on Saturday evening.
• Protection traveling.
• Time with our precious Aunt Glady, and celebrating the life of Uncle Al.
• Visiting with friends, and lots of hugs.
• Appreciating all the work that went into preparing meals for us while attending the convention.
• Seeing all the improvements at Fairwood!
  

More Thankfuls.....

I am thankful that....

• I have started packing in anticipation of our trip North.
• I do not have to go to work again until October 5th.
• I have an abundance of fresh roses in vases around my house. Thank you Father, for this beauty.
• I will be able to spend some time with my mother soon.
• the Lord created hummingbirds. They are a constant source of pleasure.
• we are enjoying some cooler weather.
• we had chocolate flavored coffee this morning.
• my Heavenly Father loves me.

Of bugs and things.....

I noticed this spider on the rose bushes...he seems to be enjoying his lunch.

Of rain drops and roses....

This week we had a couple of days of lovely rain. Yesterday morning I spent some time enjoying the rain drops on the roses. The Lord is so good to give us beautiful things. And, in the middle of my busy work days it was a delight to take some time taking pictures. Thought I might share some of them.

You Know.....

You know that it is time to replace the plug in usable telephone/ answering machine(unusable) that resides on the night stand right by your bed, (hence right by your ear), when at midnight it very loudly, clearly and for no apparent earthly reason, announces the time, day and date.

This is not a good way to wake up. Trust me.

Two Milestones

This week our family experienced two events.
On Monday hubby's beloved Uncle Al went to be with Jesus. He has been in ill health for several years, so we are grateful that he has been set free from his earthly tent, and that he is now in heaven with his Lord. But, we will miss him.
I have been doing a great deal of reminiscing this week. Looking at pictures and remembering all the good times. Uncle Al made delicious waffles! And, he loved to work in the yard. We so enjoyed his oranges, his grapes, his roses, his hot peppers..at least I enjoyed the hot peppers!
I am thankful for all the holidays, vacations, visits, and wonderful family times that we were able to spend with him and Aunt Glady. Trips to Ice House, Loon Lake, going out on his boat, picnics...and the list could go on. So many good memories.
And, when hubby and his father went to visit Uncle Al in July, they called me, and with a little prompting I was able to hear Uncle Al say to me one more time "Hi Ellie".
We will miss you Uncle, but so thankful that you have successfully completed your mission on earth.
Then on Tuesday hubby's only niece and her husband welcomed the arrival of their firstborn son, Matthew. What a joy to welcome a new life to our family. And it is a joy to know he will be taught to know and love Jesus. Welcome Matthew!
Two events...beginnings and endings...the seasons of life continue.

Sure signs of approaching fall

Yes, fall is approaching. Sure signs of that upcoming reality:

• Outside temps are finally falling. Yes, it has cooled down to the 80's now.
  
• Fall decorations are now seen in the stores.
• Christmas things are in the stores. What??? Yes, indeed. Sigh. That is too early, even for me, the person that would start decorating mid-November except for hubby's rule...no Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving.

And, thanks be to the Lord for His blessings of the past week:

• Rain! Lots of wonderful rain. I love the sound of rain falling on the roof our home.
• Going on a "date" with hubby.
• Having hubby feeling back to normal after his tooth removal of a week ago.
• Taking myself out one day and enjoying an orange mocha frappachino. I enjoyed every drop of that delicious beverage.
• Roses. Yes, I know, I say that a lot. But, the fact is, I really am so glad my heavenly Father created roses.
  
• The care and support and prayers of my co-workers as they inquired about my mother and how she is doing.
  
• The willingness of friends to spend some time with my mother and let us know how she is doing every day.
• Music ....and my handy dandy little portable "thing" that lets me listen as I wander around the house or out to the mailbox or out working on the roses etc.
  

Hummingbirds

Okay, I tried again DJ, and here are the results from this mornings attempts, with screen in place. There were three of them doing acrobatic maneuvers all over the yard and occasionally one would stop for refreshment.

Of Rain, Dentists and Stuff

Well, another week has gone by, I am enjoying the blessings of a Sabbath, and His many blessings of this past week. I am thankful for:

• The lovely rain we had last night. I love the sound of rain.
• Hubby finally got to a dentist this week. He and his troublesome tooth parted ways yesterday, so today he is basically horizontal as he recovers from the process. He is taking nourishment in the form of yogurt, and scrambled eggs and the like.
• The course I needed to take for work on Thursday that I thought was going to take 2 hours only took 1/2 an hour - what a nice surprise. And, an added bonus, we were able to visit with my favorite son and his wife before it was time for hubby to drop me off at work.
• The joy of ladies fellowship. We had our monthly women's Bible Study this week, and enjoyed the benefits of digging into His word, and spending time together.
• The convenience of being able to renew books on line that we have checked out from the library.
• Enjoying our roses.
• Having an unexpected gift of a box of chocolates. Yum.
• Knowing that the Lord has my mother in His Hands. And very thankful that Bob and Joy were able to spend some good time with her this week.
• The joy of watching hummingbirds. I never get tired of watching those wonderful little birds fly around, drink from the feeder, try to get nectar from the roses, etc.
  

Baby clothes, Power outages and Other stuff.

Things that have made me happy and thankful this week:

• Shopping for baby clothes for little boys. It was such a delight to find out this week that my little grandbaby is a boy...I had to run out to the local outlet mall, and do the typical Grandma thing. Great fun. And the fact that some of the clearance clothes were marked down even more made it all that more fun.
• We had a "short" power outage this week of over an hour and a half. Made me so thankful for electricity, and the benefits of A/C. And, it also made me realize that my heavenly Father can still take care of me, even if for some reason there is a much longer power outage.
• Having a date night with hubby last evening...and having the leftovers for breakfast this morning. Yum.
• Only having to work one day this week. What a blessing. Course with an upcoming trip north next month I can use some extra hours, but they no doubt will crop up between now and then.
• Meditating on parts of Psalm 16.
• Becoming a night owl. Being the morning person that I am it sure seems strange to be wide awake and alert at midnight.
  
• Having assurance from the Lord that He does not leave us alone, but is with us. And, that He is indeed with my mother at this stage of her life and will carry her safely through all her days.
  

Thankfuls for This Week

I am thankful for:

• Hubby arriving home safely from his 7000 mile journey.
• Watching 3 hummingbirds enjoying the feeder this morning. Well, actually one was feeding, the other 2 wanted to, but the first one didn't want to share.
• Not working yesterday but still getting paid for 2 1/4 hours of work. Thanks to a staff meeting, an interview, and doing an online course at home. Nice.
• Discovering Facebook.
• Air Conditioning.
• Drinking coffee from a mug from Penny's Diner, in Alpine, Texas.
• Having hubby home to talk with. Talking with Max for 4 weeks made for very one-sided conversations.
• Fresh roses to enjoy.
• Having Stampin' Up supplies to enjoy.
• Fresh insights from God's Word. I am so thankful for the treasures to be found. Especially enjoying the Psalms right now.