A Simple Woman's Day Book~March 25, 2014

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~Tuesday, March 25, 2014

 

Outside my window...It is a cozy, rainy-like day.  We have been getting some drizzle but nothing too productive as far as the draught is concerned.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a stormy day.  We have been nesting and cleaning and cooking all day.  It is has been nice actually.  I like to get it all done on one day and there was a lot to do today.  (I didn't quite get it all done but close!) 

I finished up on the Easter decorating and cleaned the front porch and put a little spring into it.  Here is what I see out of my window.  The hydrangea is confused.  One warm day, one rainy day, one cold day.  Right now she is half-blooming with raindrops on her buds. 

Earlier today in the driveway 
we had four turkeys 
on a double date.
Girls were checking out the front porch
just to the right of the brick walkway.

Boys were all puffed up, and
standing back on the driveway
 and struttin' their tail feathers.

As handsome as they looked... 
the girls were shopping the porch..
and not the least bit interested!
Jim says it's a metaphor for life!

I am thankful for....the fact that Jim will be getting his hip replacement this coming Friday.  In just three days he will be a man of steel once again in both spirit and body.  I have been amazed at the amount of pain he has endured over the past several months and the determination he has had to finish his workshop.  Not only that but he and Dave have helped every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet near us that has needed anything during that time as well.  

I have really never seen anything like it.  The lesson this taught me is that no matter how much I asked him to slow down and take it easy he doesn't.  He is a rugged survivor and you cannot change another person's character no matter how good your advice may be they remain as they are.  It's in the DNA. Determination exists beyond any kind of reason or to be found in my wildest imagination.  I'm not a nag or a person who like any kind of discord...So I just smile and say, "Yes Darling!"  And worry in silence.  If this pain did not defeat him, this man is going to die standing up.  No wonder we had the same couch that looked like new for 35 years.

From the learning room....Life is full of surprises.  Some good and some bad.  We need a way to deal with them and a support system we can count on.  Simply stated, I choose God; His comfort, peace and protection.

I am reading...bits and pieces of several things on my iPad Kindle app.  I have a bad habit of reading books like other people read magazines.  I pick one up for awhile then switch to something else.  I manage to keep them all straight...I am not sure how.  Just started Unbroken by Laura HIllenbrand.  It is about  pre-WWII and intriguing so far.

From the kitchen...we're making a bunch of stuff today for the freezer for Jim's convalescence.  Soup, spaghetti sauce, etc. Our beautiful friend brought us some tortellini soup, some yummy cookies, crunchy, crusty Italian bread and some books on CD and a movie for our collection.  Thank you, Carol. She scatters pixie dust everywhere she goes.

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having... Sometimes when scary things are about to happen we want to push them back a little because we do not feel ready or up to the challenge.  That is how I had been feeling about Jim's surgery until yesterday.  I had doubts about myself and taking care of him with my own knee issues for fear I'll hurt him or I won't be able to see clearly what he wants me to do, or needs, etc.  I shared this with my friend and was sent some very helpful links to videos of after care for hip replacement patients.  I said something to him like..."Don't they know I left the medical profession 11 years ago?  Don't they know I am a genealogist now?  Oh well, at least I don't have to wear one of those goofy hats and orthopedic white shoes to be his nurse." So along with the links to the videos he sent this: (The master photoshop expert he is.)

I cannot tell you how this cheered me up and made me laugh out loud. Pretty goofy, but so nice of him.  It was exactly what I needed and helped me visualize myself doing this.  And once I watched the first video I felt so relaxed and that made me realize my apprehension was because I didn't have enough information.  This is how the Lord blesses us through our dear friends.  

I have another friend who also helped me by talking to me about faith and things that she and I discuss regularly as we face challenges and share them at least weekly.  She reminded me of what I had forgotten when being afraid had clouded my vision.   She assured me that with the Lord's help and my faith and my love for my husband I would succeed. These are those very special friends that walk beside you when you falter and strengthen you with their own way of lifting you up. They are both angels and such a great blessing in their own special and unique ways.

I am hearing...You Are The Sunshine of my Life.  How appropriate.

One of my guilty pleasures...escaping into the world of Pinterest to share the beautiful things in this life with others. It cheers me so much to create these boards that I love and others seem to also. 

It is almost like being curator of your own personal art museum.  It covers a lot of bases for me and gives me time to reflect on the good in this incredible life we all have.  I ponder all kinds of things as I work (using the term loosely) on it.  It is an antidote for the blues and pessimism of the daily news.  It is a creative outlet and designing...I just love it.

Pet Peeves...Facebook, I like Instagram better.  It is not polluted with politics and meanness...cannot say the same for Facebook sometimes.  I do like the broad scope of Facebook, however.  A simple request to borrow a walker for a few weeks turned into support from people as far back as kindergarten.  That part I find amazing about it.

I am quoting...Pinterest..Thomas S. Monson

If I could change one thing it would be...that my parents were still alive.  We never really outgrow our need for our parents if the relationship is healthy.  I really miss them often.

An enjoyable movie/ TV show we have watched lately...we will watch The Book Thief either tonight or tomorrow. We just received it as a gift.  I adore this movie and Jim has not yet seen it so, "Yay!"  It is a remarkable story of a young girl who will teach you some great lessons about life.

I am curious about...how I will keep my very active husband still for days and days.  Zip ties?  God will provide a way. Hydrocodone...do your stuff!

Plans for the rest of the week...Tomorrow finish the cleaning here in the house.  I have only a bit of dusting left and then the floors.  I have a pedi appointment, a bit of shopping to do and some paper work.  Thursday all the pre-op stuff and appointment.  Friday surgery, Saturday hospital, Sunday home or hospital??  Monday put on my goofy cap and go to work taking care of my hubby and spoiling him rotten.  That part I look forward to.  Pamper the heck outta him is what I'll do.

  

One of my favorite things...Taking a walk or drive in the spring and seeing the sunshine through the trees and being able to identify all the new growth by that beautiful lighter green foliage.  I want to have my camera in hand all the time.  It is so breathtaking!

One thing that made me so happy this week... spending time with my good friend, Maureen who just had hip surgery herself on the 5th of March.  She is doing great and has talked with Jim a lot in an uplifting way and I love her for that and many other things.  She and I did a little crafty thing yesterday.  She is the queen of all that sort of thing, me...not really.  We created centerpieces for our tables for Easter.  She gave me the box for Christmas with that lovely Christmas decor in it if you happened to see it.  Well, here it is all decked out for Easter and spring.  

The most surprising things this week..That Jim got called for the surgery two months early.  That I actually like this crafty thing I made.  It was because I did it with Maureen...her talents rub off.  

Some photos I am sharing this week...I think I have over done the photos this week but here are a couple more of the yard I took this afternoon and of the"springified" front porch.

I edited these two with the antique filter just for fun.

Looking east from the driveway and porch.
It felt good to get the porch cleaned up!
I can stick my patient out there
when it is time for him to go out and play!

And when we're done there 
we can go out on the brick patio and 
plant some flowers in our pots 
as he can sit in the chair for that.
This is going to be a really good thing.

   Until we all return...happy day to you!

     ❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon