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“I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you. “ Exodus 31:6


“O Thou who art the all pervading glory of the world, we bless Thee for the power of beauty to gladden our hearts.
We praise Thee that even the least of us may feel a thrill of the creative joy when we give form and substance to our thoughts and, beholding our handiwork, find it good and fair. “.
Walter Rauschenbusch


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"Come, and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD woud not have listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God, Who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!" Psalm 66:16-20
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Monday, November 27, 2017

Well, it's official......

.............I'm 60 !.............

Yesterday morning found me staying in bed, savoring a day of rest after 6 straight work days, including Thanksgiving day.  I was exhausted and worshiped God at home by being truly grateful for a comfortable bed and no commitments.  

I posted on Facebook, around noon, that all I wanted was a Buttermilk Crispy Chicken sandwich.  My dear neighbor/friend, Rose, called to ask where it could be found.   When I told her McDonald's, she sent her son, Don, to get me one.  I made myself decent really fast, and climbed out of bed long enough to take care of nature's call and answer the door for my lunch.  

I ate the sandwich, (again so thankful), turned on ICE AGE, the movie, on my IPhone, and lay back in bed again, watching and snoozing until 2:30 p.m., when my daughter called with birthday wishes.  I then decided to climb out of bed, and boy, was I refreshed !
I walked up the street to visit with Rose, and they asked me back up after supper to share some cookies and creme pie.  They are such precious friends !

Now, tonight I come home from work to find 2 birthday cards in my mailbox.  The one from my daughter just totally brought me to tears, both with the card's sentiment, and with the personal note that she wrote in it.  And, missing the one that always comes from my half-sister in California (she recently passed away), I found that her husband had gone out of his way to make sure that I still received one, this time from him.   He and I have talked by phone several times since she got sick, feeling that we could totally understand each other's sad situation.  

So, anyway, I have to say that it was a good birthday.  My biggest decision right now is whether or not to keep working.   It's really wearisome and yet it's a good time filler.  Trouble is, it's a little too time-intensive.  When my widow's pension starts in December, it will be almost the same as what I'm making by working.  And if I make more next year, (which I will if I work a full year, Social Security will withhold some of my income from them.  I need a middle ground, so I'm going to go to the LORD about it.   

But, the real fun yesterday evening was that I dug out a baby quilt that has been lying around my sewing room FOR MONTHS waiting for me to get back to hand-quilting it.  I figured maybe it would work like the old New Year's eve adage "whoever you kiss at midnight, you'll be kissing throughout the year",  I'm saying, " If you spend some time quilting on your BIRTHDAY, you'll be doing IT throughout the year!"  

It was SO ENJOYABLE working on it, and I forgot the magic that happens when you add hand-quilting to a project !   LOVE LOVE LOVE !

Friday, November 24, 2017

I SURVIVED working Walmart's Black Thursday

I want to go on record here in my blog that I worked my first Black Thursday sale at Walmart and came out totally unscathed.....glory to GOD !

I was told on Wednesday to dress warm for Thursday, because I would be working the parking lot, directing cars around to the side door where they could pick up their big items.

When I came in Thursday afternoon,  I was met by another employee, telling me that I was assigned to the associates working movies/games  INSIDE.
    Well, I ALMOST went and changed out of my fleece tights and undershirt that I was wearing, but I am so glad that I decided to wait.   The games and movies were set up in front of the long meat coolers, and it was COLD over there.   Thankfully, only my little tushy felt the cold when I would prop myself on the edge of a cooler.  The standing on my feet for hour after hour was the only rough part of the evening........mostly I felt wasted.  I had to be the bad guy that told people they were at the exit of the movie area, and that they had to go around to the other end if they wanted to shop games and movies.

I was happy when the time came for me to start stocking shelves again.

On the Thanksgiving side of things, I wound up having two different meals provided by friends and family.  I got to talk to my daughter and my brother and brother-in-law.  It was a blessed day, all in all.

I apologize to those who follow this blog for quilty goodness......I'm afraid there's not much of that going on right now.   Hopefully, more in the future !

I hope you're stuffed, blessed, and happy this weekend.  Enjoy your family time and God's goodness, and be sure to take time to be thankful.


Friday, November 17, 2017

Checking back in......

........as seldom as I post lately, this may be the last post that I make while I'm still in my FIFTIES !

For the first time since I started working, I have three days off in a row !   Next week, I have to work 6 days straight, mostly until 11 p.m.!  Then, the next day, on Sunday, the 26th, I (LORD willing) will 

turn SIXTY !!!

60 !

So, to celebrate this 3-day wonder, I drove all by myself to Columbia, treated myself to lunch at Long John Silver's, and then spent the afternoon doing some me-shopping

 and some Christmas shopping--only to find out that Kelley and the kids probably won't be heading this way for Christmas after all.

But I thoroughly enjoyed my day, and was more worn out at the conclusion of shopping than I am after a full day of work sometimes.

So, just incase I don't post again before Thursday, I'm hoping that you all enjoy YOUR time with family this coming week of THANKSGIVING.  If things get stressful, just remember that the flip side of that is very quiet and lonely.  Love the ones you're blessed to be with, and I'll try to do the same.  After all, I've found quite a sweet and fun bunch of people to spend my working days with too !
HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

(especially you, Jan !)

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Feeling puny

I've got my first cold of the year, and it's the first time in 40 years that I've had work to go to when I felt bad.  Makes me admire how MANY, many times my husband went to work feeling horribly bad.   He was such a good provider.

In the night last night, I coughed so hard my lungs burned and I thought that I was going to be heading out to the doctor's office.  But I managed to grab a nap midmorning, and I feel okay to go on into work right now.   My biggest problem seems to be that I don't have much appetite, so it's hard to keep up my energy; but God got me through yesterday, and I know I can continue to count on Him.

Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the change in seasons.