It only seems a short time ago that I was shivering from cold. Today I took my Sony Cyber-shot camera with me on my morning walk. I did not take my Nikon D40 since it is hard to carry a larger camera and to walk with Maximus. I have owned this camera for several years but have not learned about all the settings. I took these pictures using the telephoto setting, the wide angle setting, and then the normal setting. My pictures are not very good but I did want to show everyone of the beauty that I saw on my walk.
I also saw a cardinal and several mockingbirds. I heard a woodpecker but could not see it. I hope everyone has a good day today.Ice Day In Houston
What a funny video. It does sometimes – on very rare occasions get colder than 37 degrees in Houston. Any tiny bit of snow or ice does call for all day news casting and time off from school and work.
I did take the chance of getting on the roads to drive a whopping 5 miles to work. I had to cross three ice covered bridges. Of course, I drove to work at about 10:00 am so I am not sure how much ice was on the road at that time. I did take some pictures of the ice just in case so people do not believe that it can get that cold here.
Posted in Interesting Tidbits, Videos
It Is Cold Today!
It rarely gets this cold during winter here in the Houston/Galveston area. This morning when I awoke the thermometer read 24 degrees. Last night we turned off the water into the house as a precaution to freezing pipes.
This morning I was having a hard time deciding on whether or not to walk Maximus. Finally, after enduring sad dog eyes, I decided just to walk around the block one time. After about 5 minutes my hands were red and turning numb. My face was hurting and numb. I have always wondered what it felt like to be in a really cold area – where the temperature is in the negative numbers. I can not handle temperatures in the mid-20’s. Supposedly, it is suppose to be cold for a couple of more days. All I want is the sun to come out and warm the earth.
Maximus
Posted in Opinions, Reflections
Why is Change so Hard?
It has been awhile since I last posted a new entry on my blog. This time of year it is always hectic for me and to top it off it has been full of changes. I hate change.
- My boss sold his practice late last summer. That means I have a new boss. At first this did not bother me because the plan was for the “old” boss to still work in the office even if his hours were less than before. He would still review my work etc. This change did not hit home until the beginning of this year when my “old” boss passed away. Now I am trying to adjust to all the new procedures and expectations of a new boss. To be perfectly honest after working for someone for 20 years you get pretty comfortable with what is expected.
- My son joined the Army. My son is 23 years old and can make this decision. The change that I am finding hard right now while he is at boot camp is communication. Before if I need to talk to him I could just pick up the phone. Or if I wanted to see him I just needed to get in the car and drive five minutes to his apartment. The idea that he might be sent to Afghanistan or some other hostile environment is just too hard to think about right now. By the way, his job in the army is combat medic.
- My husband is interviewing for a new job. He started working on his days off this past fall in the hopes that a position would become available. It has been hard adjusting to all the time that he is away working. A new position has become available and that is the one he is interviewing for. In the course of events he has also started talking about retirement. I am thinking – What – we can’t retire we do not have enough saved up. We are too young – we are in our early 50’s – to retire. Thinking about retirement and all the changes that entails is scary. By the way my youngest is still in college. Talk about scary finances.
I think the best solution to all this change is to pray to God about these changes. I part I have a hard time understanding is when did change become so hard.
When I graduated from college and got married that change was exciting and new and I could hardly wait for it to happen. When my babies were born, the addition of a new family member causes a lot of change but it was another change that I looked forward to.
Maybe over time and I look at this when my eyesight is 20/20 all these changes will not seem to hard.
Posted in Family
Book Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: 644 pages
This book is a New York Times Best Seller. It is not one that I would usually read but I thought it was about time I tried something different. The bright yellow cover caught my eye. The critiques in the book such as “A fine, complex and rewarding novel” and “exceptional…. meticulously plotted, beautifully paced” help me to decide that this is the one to read instead of a romance, or theological book that I would normally read. Well, it took me just about 6 weeks to read this crime novel. I thought the book was a little slow at the beginning. It was hard to get going on the story plot.
The book is set in Sweden. Michael Blomkvist is a financial journalist that has been convicted of libel. During his time away from his magazine that he owns, he is hired by a wealthy Vanger family to investigate the disappearance of Harriet Vanger that happened over 40 years ago. During his investigation he is added by Lisbeth Salander, a pierced and tattoo punk prodigy. During the investigation, they come across corruption and a serial-killer.
I thought the end of the story left open some lose ends. The hopeless romantic that I am was hoping that Blomkvist and Salander would be together at the end of the story. Not so – but I guess that leaves open her story for the next book – “The Girl Who Played With Fire.”
The book was just okay. I was glad I check it out of the library. I am not sure I want to spend money on the sequel. I will read it if I can borrow it from someone. I also think it might take me a while to get to the end .
Posted in General
The End of 2010
Well, I had big plans for today. However, I have not accomplished the plans. What I have realized is that I must get organized or I am going to go insane. I wanted to post some pictures of all the places and events that took place in 2010. I started thinking of all the places and trips I took but I can not find the pictures. My filing system stinks. (This year my husband purchased a new camera and I received his old one – a Nikon D40) My pictures are not very good and I need to learn how to use the camera. My husband says just start taking pictures and soon you will learn what you are doing wrong.
I have digressed. My office/craft room is a disaster. I want to work on projects and have all my paperwork filed so I can start fresh in 2010. That was my plan for today. Get my office organized. This job must be bigger than I thought because instead of working in the office I had to make sour dough bread. I could not let the starter that someone gave to me go to waste. I then had to bake cookies for the New Year’s Eve that I plan to attend.
Here are pictures of my baking time.
I have sampled the cookies and they are delicious. I hope I will be able to say the same for the bread.
Well, I need to get cleaned up for the get together and maybe I have a few minutes to work on office organization – otherwise known as cleaning.
Posted in Holidays, Reflections
More on Gift Giving
This morning I read in the Houston Chronicle how Amazon is proposing early gift rejection. The idea works like this. Amazon has patented a way for people to return gifts before they are received and the patent even mentions the name of the gift giver. The consumer can keep an online list of lousy gift-givers whose choices may be appraised before the gift is even shipped. The recipient does not have to return the gift saving the time and money of having to repack and send the gift back to Amazon. Amazon saves money because they do not have the expense of restocking and sending out a new gift. Supposedly, a win-win situation. But is it really win-win?
No wonder it is so hard to give gifts. What if I am a terrible gift giver? I know I am a terrible gift giver. I have resorted to just giving money because trying to find just the right gift the will bring joy seems impossible. Maybe this is my “Scrooge” attitude coming through this year.
What do you think? Is it a good idea to be able to return gifts before they are even shipped?
Posted in Holidays
Christmas is over!!!
Warning – the following might be depressing. I thought long and hard about posting this but decided that I would feel better if I did.
The Christmas tree has been dismantled. The decorations are back in their boxes and in the attic. For me I am glad Christmas is over. My expectations just must have been too high this year. I do not know why I think that Christmas should be full of happy family and good food. I think that tonight’s sermon from our youth minister put it somewhat in perspective for me.
He spoke about how he hates the Christmas season because it brings about such enormous feelings of selfishness. Christmas is a time of buying and making lists and deciding what you might like to get from Santa. Who cares about the giving it is the getting that is so much fun. And anyway, my kids are now old enough that the gifts they want are expensive which somehow takes out the pleasure of gift giving for me. Can I say selfish any louder? I can totally relate to this malady of being overtaken by selfishness. I really do not want people to know how selfish I really am – I am suppose to be a Christian.
This year I received a chiminea. A huge one that was on my list. I also received a pandora bracelet – with a few of the charms. I really wanted one of those too. So why the disappointment. Our youth minister pointed out that he would receive nice gifts too. But then he would become obsessed with the one he did not get. I have become obsessed with the one I did not get. My dear husband took me to the phone store twice to look at phones. He tried to talk me into one of those Android phones but I have always wanted an Iphone. I told him that I really wanted an Iphone. I was sure that I was going to get one of those. Anyway, I was disappointed that one was not under the tree. How selfish can I get? The pandora bracelet was not cheap either! SELFISH! SELFISH!
Another reason our youth minister hates Christmas is family. Someone always starts and argument and someone always ends up crying. This year I have also struggled with all the pictures of family enjoying the festive holiday season – full of laughter and fun.
The weekend before Christmas was hectic with my niece graduating from college and then the trip to Corpus to visit my folks.
The trip to Nacadoghes was made in one day. We woke up at 4:3o am to get on the road by 5:00 am. The timing was good to get the graduation in time to get good seats. The problem came when we decided to find a place to eat lunch. We were not seated in the restaurant until 3:00pm. I have come to the conclusion that adults can turn into mean and nasty adults when they have eaten a small biscuit very early in the morning and lunch is not served until after 3:00pm. (As you can probably guess fasting is not a disciple that we participate in very much.)
My son is going into the Army come January 3 and we thought it would be good time for a visit especially since it has been about three years since he has made the trek to visit with his grandparents. I do not think a visit could be so filled with expectation of a loving family fall so short. The kids were more interested in their computers and phones than in visiting. My mother wanted to visit the cemeteries. That was a disaster. The kids acted so bored along with my dear husband. (By the way, my kids are young adults – over the age of 20.)
Christmas Day – what can I say. Both my son and my husband worked on Christmas day. My daughter and I ate at Ihop. I told my daughter that all the people who do not have family to celebrate Christmas with go to Ihop. Then we were off to the movies. The movie we watched was just okay. It did not make a big impression on me because right now I am having a hard time remembering the name. Then I told my daughter that all the lonely people who do not have families also go to the movies for Christmas. Can you tell that I am full of self-pity and selfishness?
Enough of this!!! My husband has the chiminea going and I have been invited to sit outside and enjoy the crisp night air with my husband. I think I will join him and delight in this gift that he gave to me.
Thanks Steve for a great lesson.
Book Review: Love is a Verb by Gary Chapman
Love is a Verb by Gary Chapman
223 pages
This book consists of stories of love. I enjoyed the stories and I also felt like many of the stories were ones that I could have told. I have recapped what each story has to say about love.
- Loving generously causes unforgettable rewards. Caring for someone not only benefits the other person but can cause a ripple effect creating an experience of community.
- Verbal apologies are important and can cause much needed healing when expressed.
- Love has the ability to adapt. When faced with difficulties, love has a deep reservoir that can be drawn from.
- Small gestures can make our lives and the lives of others a better place.
- The saying “Familiarity breeds contempt” tends to be true. When we spend hours of hours of time with someone we begin to see all kinds of faults. The trick to get past this is to close our eyes to the irritating factors of a person and focus on their positive attributes and before long that is all we will see.
- It is human nature to withhold and wait to give until we are sure we will benefit. Sometimes the best thing to do is take the first step yourself and see the changes that can take place.
- Compromise is not bad. Being flexible, understanding, and showing the ability to support the other is necessary for the relationship to grow and develop.
- Love is not always convenient. Willing to accept interruptions and intrusions into our lives in relationship with others can open up all kinds of possibilities.
- There is nothing new under the sun. Checking resources and being teachable – being open to listen to others will enable us to move outside our struggles and begin to seek help to make it through the issue causing tension.
- The capacity to love is not limited as long as we are willing to take a chance. It may cost us at times but the result well exceeds the expense.
- Never give up to soon on the person you care about.
- When we love, sacrifice becomes a way of live. It is not the grand gestures, but in the small daily choices that are made when we set aside our own desires for someone else.
- It is hard to love when a person is in pain or has addictions. The first step in showing love is to nurture them and take care of their basic needs. Patience is a must. And when they lash out do not take it so personally. Love is stubborn. By the grace of God we can find love strong enough in this situation.
- Love looks different to people. Discover how the other person feels loved to learn their love language.
- Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. Consistent good deeds give proof of a changed heart. When a relationship feels more like a battle then do good deeds to instill new hope and life and friendship in the relationship.
- Love can be hidden. We may have to dig up painful memories and renew relationships but if we discover hidden love then unexpected rewards might happen.
- Love often means coming to the rescue when a person we care for needs us.
- Looking at other’s needs and desires and preferences can turn relationships into win-win situations.
- Learn to love despite the outward appearance, and an unexpected jewel may be found.
- Abuse is not acceptable, but love looks beyond the painful past of a person we love and look into a hopeful future.
- The more we learn to love the more we want to show that love.
- Adding romance to the core of your love takes time but well worth the effort.
- To love others means to free them from our unreasonable expectations.
- Every person has positive and negative traits, no matter how seldom we notice the negative ones. Love does not mean for us to wear blinders but to take the good with the bad.
- People change. Learning to love new personalities in familiar skin takes courage. It means not only loving who the person was but also embracing who the person has become.
- Love does not require for us to have all the answers. Instead many times love just asks for us to listen to the problem.
- It’s not about me. The best relationships are those in which we decide that everything should revolve around the other person.
- We can not control anyone else in a relationship situation. But we can pray for the best.
- Sincere complimentary words are valuable.
- Relationships go through seasons. Just hang in there when the going gets tough.
- Sometimes we wear ourselves out “doing” in a relationship. Sometimes it is better to just be with someone instead of always doing.
- Sometimes it is hard for us to rest in the assurance that live is true especially if we feel we are not giving as well in return. When we are willing to trust another’s love, we can take the risk to be authentic.
- When it comes to fighting in a relationship, pick your battles wisely. Only use emotional energy on things that really matter.
- Love is a perspective. Focus on the heart and then it is not hard to overlook another person’s mistakes and failings.
- Stable, mature love is deeper than emotional words and displays of affection. The words and touches are nice but they are not everyone’s way of expressing love. The key is to change our expectations to something that is reasonably within our loved one’s personality.
- A relationship takes 100% not 50%. The more we give of ourselves the more we receive. The less we expect of others, the more we get.
- The key to weathering the storms of life is to nurture your relationships every day.
- Putting hatred and revenge to death and choosing to love can sometimes bring new life to the person we chose to love. Regardless, choosing to love, we choose to shed pain and find more abundant lives ourselves.
- People who are tough to love are often tough to love for a reason. Realizing we are not the problem frees us. It lets us look beyond ourselves and keep trying to build a relationship without thinking we are the one who is doing something wrong.
- Love is an act of faith.
Posted in General
Reflections 