A New Year...a New Medley

Wow...I can hardly wrap my brain around the fact that yet another year has passed so quickly!

It surely must be true that somehow, as we get older, time has a way of moving faster.
~ 

I have just finished getting the tree taken down and packed away.
I took the other decorations down over the weekend but wanted to enjoy the tree a while longer.
Now that it's all out of here, it does feel kinda good to get back to normal, whatever that is.
But my new normal is about to become a bit different from anything I'm used to.
Remember that little song I was singing a year ago... One Room at a Time, Sweet Jesus?
Well, it's time to finally stop my lollygagging!
Did I happen to mention that I work best under pressure?
The. Pressure. Is. On. Folks!

After several months of taking care of some medical issues in 2018, we are trying this again!
I am now one year closer to getting that certain little red, white and blue card in the mail.
It should be in my possession in a few months but of course can't use it until September.
Barring any more unforeseen obstacles, we are hoping to sell in the late spring to early summer.
Jim and I both will continue working until we have a buyer.
And there has been significant progress on the Tennessee property,
which I will be sharing with you very soon!
~
So today I'm joining Terri, for the Wednesday Medley after a couple of weeks of missing it.

Just head on over to her blog, copy the questions, paste them to yours and join the fun!
Here we go...

Today is  NATIONAL SCIENCE FICTION DAY

National Science Fiction Day is celebrated annually on January 2nd by millions of science fiction fans across the United States.  The date of January 2 was chosen for National Science Fiction Day as it corresponds with the birth date of famed science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.   National Science Fiction Day is recognized by the Hallmark Channel and the Scholastic Corporation

HOW TO OBSERVE

Watch some classic science fiction t.v. shows or movies.  Start reading a science fiction novel. Use #ScienceFictionDay to post on social media.

1.  Will you observe National Science Fiction Day as recommended above?  Do you even like science fiction?

Sorry, I will not be doing any of these things...I could not care less about science fiction. I have never been a fan either in book or movie form. The only thing I can remember ever sparking my interest was "The Twilight Zone" way back when I was a kid. I guess in among shows like "I Love Lucy" and "Leave it to Beaver", it was sorta "edgy" and out of the usual.

2.  Have you chosen a "word" for 2019?  Many people do. THIS QUIZ might help you find your word.

I have not chosen a word for the new year, in fact, I have never done the "word of the year" thing...not saying that I shouldn't have. I guess I thought that picking a word was kind of just following the crowd and doing what others were doing. There are many wonderful words out there to live our lives by and so far, I seem to be able to find them in whatever situation I might be going through. I did, however, take the test just for fun. My list of words were under the heading of GRATITUDE. Funny thing is, that would have been my word if I had chosen one. It must be God thing.

3.  Did you stay up to see the new year in?  Are you happy or sad to see 2018 go?

I did not stay up 'til midnight and probably haven't in a few years. Jim was working away but there's no way he could have stayed up even if he hadn't been! I had dozed off on the couch earlier in the evening and when I woke up, it was 10 PM, my regular bedtime. So I let the doggies out, turned off the lights and to bed I went! I'm sure there was plenty of noise in the neighborhood at midnight but I didn't hear a thing! I am neither happy or sad to see 2018 go...it's impossible to re-live the past anyway, no matter how good it could have been! Good things and the not-so-good things happen in any given year and 2018 held many good things. I am not one to lump everything together in the "good year" or the "bad year" pile because I know that God is with me through the good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly.

4.  I really enjoy the Tournament of Roses parade on New Year's Day but rarely get to sit and enjoy the entire parade because I am cooking.  Did you watch the parade?  Did you cook/eat the traditional foods (pork, black-eyed peas, kraut, greens...) to begin the new year?

I would not be one who makes a deliberate decision to tune in...but since Jim came home for lunch on New Year's Day, he was watching it for a bit. I however, was trying to write this post. Since the hubby is never off on a Monday or Tuesday (unless he is taking vacation), he had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well as New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. It has always been our tradition to eat pork and sauerkraut...that's what we folks from Ohio do...but since I'm not cooking today just for me, I will be warming up some frozen cabbage rolls that I made a few weeks ago. I layer them with sauerkraut so I will be getting that part of our traditional meal, although they contain no pork, only beef...oh well. Now here in NC, it's all about the black-eyed peas, greens and hog jowl. You could not get Jim to even try that but I think I could handle it!

5.  I have to ask... Resolutions.  Did you make any or set some new goals for 2019?  Or do you even think about it?

My pastor was talking about this in his message on Sunday and according to these statistics, unfortunately, about 22% of resolutions fail after about a week, 40% after a month, 50% after 3 months and 60% after 6 months. I don't know how they are able to calculate things like this so I'm only quoting what the article stated. I used to be one to make resolutions every year and almost every time they included losing weight and getting in better shape, among other things. Then it got to be all about the resolution, itself...not really what I wanted to change, but the guilt trip associated with not being able to keep it up. Now don't get me wrong, there are an abundance of things that I need to improve on, Lord knows...more than there is room on this page to write about. But here is what I have discovered...it's a daily thing.

But let me also say that if you are a New Year's resolution maker, I hope you are successful in keeping every single one of them! 

May this brand new year be overflowing with God's grace, love and peace!

Blessings,

When I'm Sixty-Four

When I get older, losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine?
Birthday greetings bottle of wine?

If I'd been out 'till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me
Will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?

And most of you remember...it goes on and on.

When the Beatles sang this song back in 1967 I was in the 7th grade.
As I ponder that now, I remember thinking that it was so far in the future and almost unimaginable,

assuming that I would one day be sixty-four years old...I mean that's ancient, right?

Oh...the thoughts we think when we're young and foolish....

Oh...the thoughts we think when we're old and foolish.
Did I just call myself...O-L-D??

Recently, I had too much spare time on my hands (and I wonder why am not getting things done!)

and I found myself playing around with some of those crazy apps on Facebook...

...you know, the ones that show you what you might look like as someone else.

So the "curious-as-a-cat" part of me clicked on a few of them but never shared them on my page...
...I was merely trying to entertain myself!

But just for fun, I saved the photos.

This one is my rock star alter ego coming out. 

And many times during my life, I have dreamed of being a red head.
A few years back I told myself if I lost 50 pounds, I'd go red.
I never did so I never did.

Yes? No?

Or how about me on the cover of a magazine...AARP maybe??
These days, the crazy features on our phones let us be anything we want!

A leopardess...

...an alien from outer space...

...a....rabbit??
These don't really look like bunny ears to me...

Carmen Miranda?

I have no idea who this is....somebody named Flo, maybe.

So tomorrow I turn the big SIX-FOUR.

In a year I get that lovely red, white and blue card to carry in my wallet 'til the day I die. 

Four years ago "Sixty is the new Forty" was my mantra.

So what will it be as I turn sixty four...or seventy-two...or eighty-nine...
...or if I am blessed to live as long as my mom, ninety-seven? 

 Seriously, y'all know this is just my feeble attempt to be funny.

I have never had a desire to be anything or anybody other than who I am.
Well, maybe the red head. 😉

At this stage in my life all that matters is living my life how God would have me live it,
admitting that I fail Him miserably in one way or another on a daily basis.
But He gives me grace to go on and His mercies are new every day!

The song in the video below is my mantra for as long as I have breath in my body.

So I think I'll just stick to what I know really matters.
I'm a child of God...YES I AM...

...a sixty-four (and counting) year old child of God.

 

God's Timing is Always Perfect

I seem to be talking about best laid plans a lot lately.

Remember the trip to Tennessee that didn't happen last month?

That was kind of like the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, there was sickness on both sides and it was God's perfect timing...
 ...because He already knew all about it.

God's timing is always perfect.

Anyone who reads my blog knows of the plans we have for our retirement.

They included selling our home here in NC this spring or summer,

moving to Tennessee and live in our RV for a while
while we build our farmhouse in Adam's meadow in Haywood Hollow.

Now I am not one to share a lot of health information about myself...

mostly because I have always been quite healthy and rarely had many issues. 

You know how at church when they ask for prayer requests?

Well, I really struggle when it comes to asking for prayer for myself.

I am really struggling just writing this post.
But I think of you as my friends and thought I'd share with you what's going on.

So back to best laid plans...

Without getting into all of the gory details (you certainly would not want me to share them),

just let me just say that a health issue from a decade ago has decided to revisit me.
Back between 2007-08, I had a very sick gallbladder that resulted in a biliary stricture.
That meant that bile was backing up in my liver and making me jaundiced and very sick.
Several stents in the bile duct and removing the gallbladder and I was all good...

...for ten whole years!

Fast forward to August 2017, right before my brother passed away.

I started getting sick and was all too familiar with the symptoms.
Another stricture had indeed formed, another stent was placed,
and then removed this past November.
So about a month ago when we all got sick, what I thought was a nasty stomach bug wasn't.
I knew I needed another stent so last Monday it was put in place...
...a different kind this time that can stay in longer.
(This is done by an endoscopic procedure, just so you don't think I was cut on all those times.)

I get to keep this one for at least 6 months, maybe longer...
BUT...and that's a big but...I have to stick around a while, as it would seem.
You just can't up and leave your trusted doctor who has been there from the beginning...
and your insurance when you need it most!
Nope, can't do that!

I will know more after I see my doctor in six months.

Until then, we will continue on with the plan...
just knowing that the timetable is a bit off from what we had hoped for.

Here's the good news...it gives us more time to get it all done. {{smile}}

God's timing is ALWAYS perfect.

Closing the Door on 2017

At the risk of sounding redundant, I just can't help but say it again...

...you probably already guessed it.

Where did this year go?

I just don't ever remember time flying by as quickly as it does now. 

I guess it's God's way of letting us know that we're getting ---o--l--ol---d---OLD...
...there, I said it!

But this will be my mantra until the day I die...

or how about...



And then there's always this truth...

How would YOU answer this question?

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?
~Satchel Paige
I'll have to ponder that one for a bit. 😉
~
As I look back on my posts from this year,
it would seem that most of them were in the format of a hodgepodge.
Like it or not, I really try to make them as newsy as possible...or maybe you haven't noticed :)
But scattered among the usual trials and blessings that any new year brings,
2017 brought about more much needed updates to our home, some sweet surprises,
a milestone or two and the heartache of losing a beloved family member.
~
We began the year by having the whole house turned upside down by getting new floors...

...springtime brought about an opportunity to meet a sweet blog friend, Deborah...



...our oldest grandson, Dacey, graduated from high school in June...

...Jim earned his red, white and blue card by turning 65 in July...

...and late this summer my oldest brother Bob, lost his battle with cancer.



As you know, plans were put in motion for our upcoming retirement and move to TN.
The thought of that seems to have taken my brain captive on most days even though I try not to let it.
I've said before...we can have our plans but ultimately, it must be in alignment with God's.
So far, no doors have slammed shut so we continue to move forward.
~
As I was taking down the Christmas decorations yesterday,
it became more real that it would most likely be the last time I would be doing that here.
I specifically sought out the mini tree that I had among my other decorations,
anticipating that would most likely it would be the only tree I would have room for next year.

So here we were are...New Years Eve, 2017.
Whatever God has in store is yet to be seen but of this I know...
...2018 will most likely be a very HECTIC INTERESTING year!
~
I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your love and support throughout the year
and that 2018 brings you many wonderful blessings!

The Year That Was

"Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things;

the past is gone, the future is not come,

and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it,

and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires."

~Charles Caleb Colton  

2016...the year that was.

How can this be?

When I was young, just the thought of putting a '20' in front of the year seemed like science fiction...

...and now here we are, seventeen years into it!

Every year I ask myself how in the world did this year fly by so quickly...

and every year the answer is the same.
It. Just. Did.
~
"Time is nature's way to keep everything from happening at once."
~Ray Cummings
~
I have started this post about five or six times,
Then I decided I wasn't going to post at all because I was running out of time.
Then I decided I would just forego all the of the photos and and links for the re-hash of 2016.
That's where I left it.

Yes, in 2016 there were vacations, family gatherings, the addition of a new fur baby,
a girl's weekend getaway at the beach, holidays to celebrate and many, many photo ops.
But I don't even have the words to express how grateful I am for the changes that 2016 brought.
Prayers that had been prayed for many, many years have been and are still being answered.
Everything else that happened in our family pales in comparison to that one big thing.
Of course, that one big thing is Aaron's sobriety.

~

I want to thank each and every one of you that have prayed for him, for me and my family.
And thank you for reading my posts and continuing to support me.
You guys are the best!
~
Oh...and this wonderful old watch...

...this one that you have seen throughout my blog since the beginning...

...well, it is finally with it's rightful owner.
Aaron was next in line to have this watch and then to pass down to his first born one day.
We have been safekeeping it for many years, as I'm sure you certainly understand why.

A week ago on Christmas Day, Jim gave the watch to Aaron.

It was time...no pun intended. (well, maybe)

Although this is a wonderful thing, I'm going to miss it!
I really have enjoyed taking photos of it in different surroundings.
~
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.      
~Michael Althsuler
~
So my friends, another year has come and gone and although I say this every year,
I hope to make 2017 the best year yet!
Hey, if I can improve one just one thing, it will be better than the last!
It is my prayer that each of you have your best year as well.

♥♥ May God richly bless you in 2017! ♥♥



Much love and hugs,

Time...precious time

Time. There is so much to say about time. I am reminded of this every January when it's time to put that new calendar up on the wall. If yours is like the one we use at our house, it has big blocks where you can write in happenings on certain days—doctor or dentist appointments, haircuts, birthdays, etc. Of course these days, most people keep these things on their smart phones. This girl still has a dumb phone and uses a paper calendar. Either way, it is how we keep track of our busy lives and how we plan our time. Time. It's the one thing that we all have the same amount of...no matter who we are. We are all given twenty-four hours of it which makes up a day. Some of us use it more wisely than others. Sadly, I must admit that I tend to fall into the "others" group more than I would like. I am trying to do better in that area. 

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 

making the most of every opportunity, 

because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16

******

There are so many familiar phrases we say regarding time. Here are some examples:   

living on borrowed time

time waits for no one

it's about time

time heals all wounds

time is fleeting

time is of the essence

a moment in time

passing time

spending time

waiting for the right time

now is the time

some other time

the right time

killing time

as time goes by

time flies when you're having fun

stand the test of time

just in time

time is an illusion

time is money

it's just a matter of time

one day at a time

...and not to be forgotten, the infamous line from that YouTube sensation...

"ain't nobody got time fa dat".

Then there was this other one...the one I wanted to ignore. But it kept screaming at me.

Wasting time.

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” 

~ William Penn 

I must say that I have some repenting to do and some changes to make. Even as I sit here putting together this post—finding scriptures and quotes, etc., I am finding myself convicted about this area of my life.

There are things that I leave undone and my priorities can certainly be messed up at times. The jury is still out on the verdict of if my blog is a time waster. There have been a few times since I started it that I felt like it was...and then, just like that, someone spoke encouragement to me or told me that something I posted blessed them in some way. It felt like God was telling me it was okay...but to keep it in perspective.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalms 90:12 

I want...no, I need to give God more of my time.

Wasted Hours

~by M.S. Lowndes

So many hours are spent in

Pursuing our earthly desires

Without asking what God's plans are

Or what from us He requires

We struggle so hard to fill

The emptiness and the boredom,
We look unto earthly pleasures
To fill the void within

But so much time is wasted
In things that have no worth,
Things that seem to take the place
Of what we know should be first

Like our relationship with God
And our faith in Jesus Christ,
For He's the only one to fullfill
The emptiness we have inside

Our hope of eternal glory
With Jesus Christ, our Lord,
This should be our only focus,
For nothing in life is worth more.

That poem really spoke to my heart because it is full of truth. If we are doing things to just fill up space in our lives, He wants us to replace those spaces with HIM!

That is what I am striving for in 2014!

What about you?

Blessings,

Sharing here:

http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/2014/01/welcome-back.html
http://myfreshlybrewedlife.com/2014/01/weekend-brew-light-speaks.html
http://www.deidrariggs.com/2014/01/04/sunday-80/
http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/2014/01/amaze-me-monday-40.html
http://www.thebeautyinhisgrip.com/2014/01/following-god-in-2014-and-sharing-his.html
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2014/01/198th-inspire-me-tuesday.html
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2014/01/wow-us-wednesdays-151.html
http://www.flusterbuster.com/2014/01/flusters-creative-muster-linky-party-53.html
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/2014/01/nuts-about-winter.html
http://jannolson.blogspot.com/2014/01/share-your-cup-thursday-86.html
http://www.impartinggrace.com/2014/01/grace-at-home-no-88.html
http://www.create-with-joy.com/2014/01/friendship-friday-from-a-to-z-102.html