Good afternoon!

How are you doing, dear friend??? I know it's been a while; real life is sooooooo busy for us in the fall - between photo sessions, craft fairs, and classes, I end up wiped out. :) But that's the season for me. I take December off, so I can enjoy friends and family without being SICK the entire month, and to enjoy the quiet winter mornings, the twinkling lights, and a hot cup of tea any time I wish. :)

What season are you in right now? Is it a busy season for you? Do you feel like you're chasing your tail? :) Or are you in a fallow season, wondering what God has for you next?

He's told us there's a season for everything! No worries. Keep chasing after Him, and He will lead you into each and every season, every activity you're to do! Be sure to consult Him, THEN your calendar, before you add something new! :D

My stamping business is keeping me SUPER-busy right now; I've got two craft fairs next month, and I also show my customers lots of new things during this time of year. I'm further ahead than NORMAL, but that's not saying much. :D PLEASE don't let me totally off the hook; leave me a message if I'm gone too long!!!!!

YOU ARE LOVED, dear friend. God loves you. He cherishes you, cares for you, and seeks an intimate time with you! Count your blessings - don't forget! We're going to start posting ONE thing a day in November!!! :)

Celebrating didn't stop THERE...

Good morning, dear one! I'm SO glad you dropped in to visit! If you haven't been here in a while, I'm describing my birthday celebrations this year. The last post was what I did ON my birthday. :D I actually spread it out over three days, so I didn't have to rush from one thing to another. Friday the 13th wasn't a wonderful day for me, but dinner was nice!

I'm getting ahead of myself.... :D

Friday morning, Mom and I headed out to garage sales. We went to an estate sale first, and I felt a little claustrophobic, so I told Mom I was going to pay and go out to the car. Well, it's a good thing I did! As I got to the car, I realized I was REALLY nauseous. Yup, got sick. My dumb medications do that sometimes - and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. :(

We went on to another sale, and Mom met one of her old work friends there, so I paid and went to the car to wait. Yup, got sick AGAIN. Called the doctor's office and made an appointment. Mom came back, and we decided to go home. I got sick yet AGAIN on the way home - I've NEVER been sick THREE times in one morning! Phooey.

So, I came home and laid down for a bit. I slept about 20 minutes - then my phone rang, and it was one of the guys Kenn works for. I gave him the phone, and then went downstairs. Kenn had to work Friday afternoon, so he took off soon afterward.

I needed to go do my grocery shopping for my Saturday celebration, so I took off around 1 in Dad's car. Almost immediately after I left, the heavens opened and it POURED. I made it to the Walmart parking lot, and was trying to avoid cars while peering thru my rain-drenched car. CRUNCH. What a sickening sound! It was Dad's driver's side MIRROR - I think I hit it on a shopping cart corral railing. AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I called him right away, and 'fessed up. He was just happy I was OK. Thanks, Dad. I really, REALLY felt badly. :(

I waited until the dowpour let up a bit, then went into Walmart. My sister, Kelli, had sent me a Walmart GC, so I bought a couple of movies - she can take the credit for one of them! :D - and some dishes to put appetizers for Saturday on, and I'm going to use them in our stock photography, too.

Went a couple of other places for groceries, and didn't get everything I needed. So, I went home frustrated.

It's a tradition in our family that Dad takes us out for a birthday dinner. I had a hard time choosing where to go this year, but Kenn saved me. :) He found this place, and the girls had wanted to go there last year for my birthday - but they're closed on Sundays. So, that's where I chose. We met Kenn there, because we needed to hit one of the grocery stores in Lebanon. So, off we went.

Dinner was really nice; we had a waitress who picked on Kenn the whole time. :D The food was yummy; I had a sandwich, because I didn't want a heavy meal after my morning fiasco. :) They also brought me out a chocolate cake - the frosting was slumping, because it was still hot, but it was yummy! :D Mom & Dad gave me my birthday check, and Kenn gave me a bottle of my perfume. :)

We had a nice, relaxing time, and then Mom and Dad headed home - stopping by McD's for an ice cream cone. :) We headed to Publix, to pick up the last two things on my grocery list.

Remember that Friday the 13th thing? Yeah, I took it ALL for my family - unless you count the mirror as Dad's part.

As I was getting out of our car - trying to hurry, because Kenn doesn't like me to take a long time when there might be traffic behind him - my palazzo pants hem got caught on the seat adjusting handle. Yup, I bit the pavement. Hard. If there hadn't been a pillar there for me to catch with my left elbow, my FACE would have caught it. As it was, my knees got chewed up. They're STILL sore!! Everyone coming out of the store came over to make sure I was OK. I picked up all the stuff that had fallen out of my purse, said I was fine, and hobbled into the store. I got the last two things I needed, and hobbled out to the car. Kenn has a hard time admitting he married a clutz, so he asked me if it was my eyes. NO, dear, just my clutziness. AND I was tired, which always means I hurt myself more. :)

So, we came home, and Mom and I took this photo together. :) Isn't she a beautiful woman??? She takes such good care of me. I am so blessed with wonderful parents!

Afterward, I went upstairs and doctored my knees, watched a little TV, and we went to bed.

And that was Friday the 13th, the second day of my celebrating. :D

It's MONDAY!

And it's FUNNY - I've gotten more comments on my tag than anything else in weeks! :D I'm glad you like knowing about me - I'm not really that interesting.... :D









So. What did you learn at church yesterday? Our Sunday school was about being faithful thru crises. We talked a little bit about common sense for solving crises - but it's my opinion that we can get trapped in our conventional thinking, if we're not careful. God doesn't always solve our problems the direction we head on our own!





The church service was mostly music - our choir did from the entry into Jerusalem to the cross this week, and next week is from the cross to the resurrection! We had communion, and it was a wonderful time of thanking God for the Gift He gave.







Well, spring is DEFINITELY here. It's going to rush right into summer from here - but aren't the forsythia beautiful? :) The trees in our neighborhood actually started blooming BEFORE the forsythia, which is REALLY unusual!

Please, please pray for me this week. Unless someone earns my undying gratitude today, it looks like I'm going to have to stage manage our show. I really don't want to - I SHOULD be able to relax, at this point, but it's not going to happen that way. By the end of the run, it will be a full THREE MONTHS I've given to this show. My business isn't too bad, but I really want to get back to work! The stress isn't good for my glucose levels, either - I'm bouncing again, and very high in the mornings. So that would be another prayer request! :)

OK, I'm going to go - I have to do some photography business paperwork, then get going on show stuff. A woman's work is never done! :D

Have a wonderful, BLESSED day, dear one. Look for the blessings in your life - it will AMAZE you what God has put into your day!

Glucose update. :)

Hi, ladies. My new dear friend, Nancy, is praying diligently for my glucose readings, and keeps asking me how I'm doing. :D I'm glad you care!

This is my "lifeline", my meter.

It's a vampire! The biggest problem is the cost of the strips for this puppy - I'm not testing as often this week as I should, because I'm running low on funds. However, I am trying to watch it!

My readings have been really, really high lately. I've been stressed, and that NEVER does well for me. This morning, my fasting reading was still high, but lower than it has been every other morning for a week. I just tested, right after I took this picture: it's PERFECT right now, even though I feel INCREDIBLY stressed. So PLEASE keep the prayers coming!

As far as my eyesight goes, I have another check with my retinal specialist the end of this month. My left eye continues to have "episodes", and I'm in the middle of one now. I don't say anything around the house about it, because there's no reason to worry anyone. It's just something I'm going to have to live with. :)

Thank you for caring, ladies. I hope you're having a wonderful day!