A Simple Woman's Daybook~November 21, 2011

Taking a Moment to Contemplate the Journey!

Just For Today...Monday, November 21, 2011

Our lives pass swiftly by!
I want to do something to remember
the everyday moments and my thoughts.
That is what this daybook is all about.
Focusing on the little things that become my life.
One week at a time.

Outside my window...No rain but the sky is gray with just a tinge of blue here and there. There is only the slightest breeze visible on our flag at the moment. Our windmill is still also. Still there are lots of leaves scattered all over the ground. It is pretty, I like it.

From the learning room...things happen for a reason. Often we just do not know what it is until after the fact. Hindsight is 20/20. Some times we never know why? This is why we have to have faith that God knows the end from the beginning. His plan always has our eternal best interest at heart. Our mortal perspective often blurs the reality of that for us. Nothing bad comes from God but He does allow for our testing and refinement. Intellectually and philosophically it is easy to be grateful for the trials but when the rubber hits the road, sometimes it isn't. Again faith in His love for us as our parent is imperative. We need to develop gratitude for the things that stretch us..it is hard and requires effort and again...that eternal perspective. Gratitude for the things that cause us distress requires a spiritually mature outlook. I am working on that.

I am reading...Scriptures, blogs, periodicals on genealogy and my teacher's lessons.

From the kitchen...I am bringing dinner tonight to a friend who recently had a baby. No clue what I am bringing, need to go to the store, consider dietary restricts and the like. Love to serve but the jury is still out on the cooking part of it. Revising that slightly, trying to come up with a perfect idea is my nemesis. Not cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year as we are going to Jim's cousin's house. Sad we are not having left-overs on the one hand and rejoicing over that on the other hand, when I see the WW points for a Thanksgiving Dinner. One day you can plan and get away with a little splurge but day after day...not so much. So Yay!

I am missing...All our family and besties that we will not be seeing over the Thanksgiving weekend. Sure hope it is great for all of you! We are thankful for the ones we will be with however!

I am hearing...Whitney Houston sing, "You Light Up My life!" Beautiful.

I am wearing...Sea blue/green shirt and sandy colored velour pants and hoodie. Imagine jammies with a jacket. It is freezing in this house despite huge energy bills. I even have on shoes which is rare at home.

I am quoting...Speaking of when it is hard to give thanks for certain things..."This season, don’t wait for your feelings to flourish. Say thanks anyway, and see what happens. In what parts of your life do you have to consciously choose to say thanks? " Tsh Oxenreider

Somethings that made me especially happy this past week...Hearing that Ross' hand is all better, that Robert is serving and even enjoying some parts of his rigorous, pre-Middle East departure training and their family is doing well. Getting invited to participate in our nephew's wedding in January. Having a great day out with Jim working on our family history and our friend's together. Pinterest and sweet letters from friends and family and getting to write a lot.

I am going...finish my Christmas shopping early this week even though I have barely gotten it underway. The savings I don't get on Black Friday will be nullified by not having to fight the craziness of the crowds.

One of my guilty pleasures...peaceful, quiet mornings when I can just ponder and work and do my own thing. Just doing the recluse thing..I love that.

Pet Peeve...when the liberal-minded people are myopic and bigoted about people in the exact way they criticize others for being supposedly. I don't get that and it does peeve me if I let it. I try not to though so that is one reason why I enjoy the things of the previous question so much.

One of my favorite things.. writing it is my lifeline to sanity.

An enjoyable movie I have watched lately...Dicken's, "The Old Curiosity Shop" So Dickens, such crazy, colorful characters and so thought-provoking.

I am curious about...why I get a huge reaction to a flu shot every time and keep going back for one every year anyway? I guess it is mostly to protect others. As for me personally, I curse it every year. I must be allergic to having albumin infested with dead influenza viruses injected subcutaneously into my arm. This year is the worst one ever...I have a spot that is now the size of a baseball but much flatter of course on my arm that is swollen, hard, hot and red and itching and sore. Yep, that is definitely what I am curious about today.

If I could change one thing it would be...All the troops could come home for the holidays and then it would be discovered how nice it is to have no war and it would just flat out end. And especially that Robert wouldn't have to go over there now. I guess it is OK to dream and over simplify a complex situation when it is your nickel, right?

A few plans for the rest of the week...nothing huge just work on my blogs, write and do my homework and get the Christmas shopping done before Black Friday and think of something fun for Jim's birthday on the 26th. Do some shopping for groceries today and then get Debbi and Dan all set for dinner tonight and that is about it for the week. Oh, and Thanksgiving devotional at church and then the feast with family in the afternoon. Dinner at Jim's mom's for his birthday and then go to see the Temple lights on Sunday evening. OK, I guess I do have a lot going on, more than I realized. But the Family History Center is closed this week so that is good...no work tomorrow.

Some photos and thoughts I'm sharing this week...one of the genealogy things we are doing is visiting the burial spots of our ancestors that are close by and taking pictures for our records and to submit to www.findagrave.com. This week we went to find the graves of Jim's grandparents for this purpose. This is the very lovely place where they are now. We had been here for funerals before but never into the mausoleums.

It is simply beautiful and peaceful and historic. The architecture is amazing. I had never seen a cemetery like it before nor had Jim. Not that we have frequented that many until recently.

This is the Chapel of the Chimes. Isn't it amazing?
You can reach out and touch the serenity here.
They have many fountains and all you hear is the
sound of the water falling, trickling and bubbling in them.

It looks very much like a library.
It reminded me of the quote and the
importance of keeping a personal history.
"Every death is like burning a library." Alex Haley

It is a labyrinth of hallways and
keyhole niches spanning three stories.

This is the only area we saw that spanned all three stories. An easy place to lose you way around in if you are not alert. There are only a hand full of ground burial places inside the numerous enclosed gardens, most of crypts and niches are for cremated remains.

One of the beautiful archways over a
large door on the ground level.

This is Jim kneeling in front of his grandparents Niche.
The book urns are just stunning and really special.

On Cemeteries...Such a beautiful thought...I love it.

"They are such visible reminders of the common yearning of those who bury their loved ones in them, a yearning that life exists beyond the grave and Christ's resurrection means something real to each of us after we die -- that we will live again because He did." Anon

In case you have been wondering forever why Jim always wears black shirts...He actually only likes black casual and white dress shirts and his work clothes. I promise you he does have more than one! Jim inspired Steve Jobs in his wardrobe choices, no doubt. Suddenly, however, now everyone thinks it is the other way around. Can you imagine that?