A Simple Woman's Daybook~February 22, 2013

 

 

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Friday, February 22, 2013

 

Outside my window...It is completely dark and cold out.  We had one of those lovely days that is almost warm for a few hours in the afternoon but the minute the sun starts to go down it gets cold.  I think next to October, February is my favorite month here.  We have one large mountain (a little under 4,000 feet) here and lots of beautiful rolling hills surround our little valley.  They are all that brilliant, new-grass green right now.  It is so pretty.  I was mentioning to Jim this morning we really need to get out with our tripod soon to capture the beauty of this month right here in our neighborhoods.

I am thankful for...the work of family history rolling forth over here in the west.  So many opportunities for me to teach now and so many interested people almost as if overnight.  I am teaching something almost every week now and in some cases almost every day.  I love it.  It is such a fun way to help and serve others. 
 

From the learning room...most things happen for a reason and they happen in a sequence that often doesn't make sense until sometimes years after the fact.  

I am reading...When Broken Glass Floats.  This is a re-read of one of my favorite books ever.  They have it on Kindle e-books and I am thrilled about it.  It is the story of a young girl growing up in the Killing Fields of Cambodia in the mid-1970.  It is shocking, poignant and a story of tremendous and unparallelled courage for anyone, let alone a 13 year old girl.  The story and the feelings it evoked within me have never left me and now...years later I am working with some Cambodian people about writing their life histories.  This will help me so much to understand who they are.  Thus the answer to the question directly above. 

From the kitchen...Not too much right now.  After last week's Afternoon Tea here I have met my quota for fancy stuff in the kitchen for awhile.  Today we went out to lunch so Popcorn for dinner.  I know that sounds so non-nutritious but we do it every Friday for our date night while watching a fun movie.  We are still alive.  The rest of the week we eat healthy stuff.  Don't fret too much. 

 
I am missing...my free time.  I have been running around like a crazy woman for weeks.  It has been so busy and fun and now I am ready for a little routine time for awhile.  I have been studying  and writing so much too.  Love all the stuff I have been doing...just need a few quiet days.

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...just how much I love the Lord and how much I rely on Him to keep me calm and productive and happy all the time.  If I start to feel like I am slipping into a funk, I focus on how much gratitude I feel for all of our blessings and then it just melts away like snow.  I feel his arm around my shoulder and I just keep going knowing I am never alone.  Faith in Him is the very best way to rise above our fears.

I am hearing...our washing machine in the laundry room spinning out Jim's work clothes from today.  He and Dave, his best friend that just retired...they are two happy campers), have been working on cementing in a bunch of fence posts that will secure a retaining wall up behind the new workshop they are building. We are very close to the foundation pour at this point and then things will move pretty fast.  Should be all done by summer's end if not before.

One of my guilty pleasures...afternoon naps.  They are so delightful and I like to spend some time on Pinterest before I fall asleep.  If I do this I am good to go for another several hours in the evening.  If not...not so much.

Pet Peeves...when I plan on doing something simple like calling an insurance company and it sits on my desk for days.  I really do not enjoy chatting on the phone too much.  Especially to a phone tree.  Ugh!

I am going....to get in my jammies soon and cuddle up with a blanket and my popcorn and my Sweetie in front of the fire and watch a movie.  I do love Friday date nights.


I am quoting...A Sign I saw:

I love that don't you?  That is passion and commitment!

If I could change one thing it would be...lack of heartaches for us all.  That no one would say and do things that hurt other people so much.  Of course it won't ever happen but it is a nice place to think about.  I think they call it heaven!  I think simple kindness and respect would change the way this world turns on its axis.  I liked this one so much from the last Daybook I did that I am repeating it.

An enjoyable movie we have watched lately...Downton Abbey.  Why do you make me love you and then hate you, Julian Fellows? (The writer of the series.)  The happenings of season 3 will live on in infamy.  Hating the notion of having to wait 9 months for season 4.  I should just stop watching it until it is cancelled and then watch them all at once.  But of course I won't.  Wild horses cannot keep me away.  Susan, Netflix has season 1 and 2.  Watch it!  You simply must.

I am curious about...so many things that I lie awake at night with them running through my mind.  I cannot fathom people who don't have something to be curious about.    I am curious about them.  It is the basis of learning.

Plans for the rest of the week...It is now Saturday and I am about to go for a manicure, then home to do some work and then off to a retirement party (the good kind that is held in a home not a restaurant banquet room with lots of long speeches.)  Tomorrow I am giving two presentations on the new program called Family Tree.  Monday, home work and work work to do, Oakland Tuesday for more work, Wednesday I have to start working on a new project and I need to go and buy a bunch of wedding and baby shower gifts for March.  Wow, I hope Friday will be something relaxing but I am not counting on it.  Love to be busy so all is well.  Some time in the week needs to be set apart for some outdoor photography with the tripod.  And I want to start thinking about decorating for Easter since it is early this year and I need to get my Valentine's Day stuff down.  And I want to do this because Jen and Lowell and their four daughters are coming to CA the week of Easter!  Big surprise and we are so happy about it.

One of my favorite things...February's promise of Spring being just around the corner.  And the pink blossoms coming out on all the plum trees and tulip trees!  Woohoo!

A photo I am sharing this week...

We are planning a trip to Charleston, SC and then driving up the East Coast to Rhode Island in the late spring.  I am so excited to see homes like this.  I will be booking our flights this week and setting up a car rental.  Such fun and it is really sneaking up on us fast.  I must get prepared in a hurry.  Any suggestions would be welcomed.  I think this home above from Pinterest is absolutely stunning...my dream house.  Well, one of them anyway.  :-)

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon