Reminders

I try to start each morning with quiet time at my desk in what we call the sitting room. It’s the same room where I’d been doing daily yoga for 15 minutes, but now the floor is covered in Christmas boxes of decorations waiting to be put away but the attic is freezing and we have another yoga mat downstairs and it’s easier to just not deal with it right this minute. Maybe when the temps are above freezing… sometime in April…

Anyway, I put up year-round decorations so I’d have something to look at other than where the wall meets the ceiling. I spent a lot of time coloring as a kid, so that’s in my DNA and I enjoy it though I don’t do enough of it. I started with the dress and flowers, then remembered I had actual photos printed out of nature (of course I did- you’ve seen my photos on my phone) and since I’d discovered this quote which I love it made sense to put it all together. I got a box, cut off a flap, taped my photos on, and push pinned it to the wall. The quote with the photos is from Hal Borland: No winter lasts forever- no spring skips its turn.

 The green post it is a quote from Beth Moore’s Voices of the Faithful compilation: Contentment has little to do with what we have or lack. It is a state of mind.

 

The pink post it is Ecclesiastes 3:15 and reads, “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”

These reminders help calm my heart when I get overwhelmed by winter cold, negative news feeds, doomsday scrolling, what I want to be doing but can’t because it’s the wrong season/time/geographical location/life right now. 

It’s comforting to know that people have been freaking out about the state of things throughout time. The Bible also says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Anne of Green Gables talks about “the sun will go on rising and setting whether or not I fail geometry” and “tomorrow is a fresh new day with no mistakes in it”. Don’t let the 683 days of January bog you down or freeze you out. Put on your warm clothes, get your hot drink, and find some good to do unto others whilst being good to yourself! They are not mutually exclusive. Take good care of you, find or make something beautiful, and stay warm!

 

Three guesses

 Anyone care to guess whose colored pencils these are strictly based on use alone?

All the leaves are brown…

… And the sky is gray… I know you are singing with me.

“If a tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear it?”

We can attest, “no.” At least, we didn’t. I’d looked out the window first thing Sunday morning and thought, “has the Owl Tree always leaned that far? Gonna have to keep an eye on it.” We went to church, came home, looked out a window later on and, “oh no! Owl Tree down! Owl Tree down!” RIP

Thankfully nothing seemed to be impacted or squashed. “Our” owls haven’t lived here for a few years now, but they certainly won’t be able to move back in. Darn housing shortage.

Less lucky friends of ours also lost a tree this week, unfortunately right on top of two of their vehicles. Nobody was in them at the time, thank goodness, and one of the vehicles was on its last legs but they’d not hoped to send it “into the clearing at the end of the path” as Stephen King says in quite such a dramatic exit. Poor van. Again, there are silver linings like the vehicles were empty and family members had previously gotten to where they needed to be so it was after road trips! 

Go out and hug your trees, people! Don’t take them for granted. Winter is rough on everyone. 😏

Word pictures by the Damonater

 Scoffing about math: I’m never gonna use 1/5 of a triangle’s diameter in real life…

*****

As if we didn’t already have enough snacks in this house (see Happy Trails Mix post) I’ve also recently made another batch of Snickerdoodles and a batch of Hermit Cookies because I was specifically craving those. I’ve noticed that Thing Three has FOUR open jars of Nutella/Nutella imposters scattered throughout the kitchen. Many apologies to his future spouse, house-flat-apartment-room-mates… I’ve tried. The kid knows what a spatula is but the idea of polishing one jar off completely (or one box of crackers) before opening another is apparently still a foreign concept. 

So I condensed what I could and had some left over which I thought would be excellent on pretzels. Even better, we also have peanut butter filled pretzels. Perfect! 

If you’d like a fun snack, come on over. Damon would be happy to open a jar for you.

New Year and already behind

 Happy New Year, yes, four days late- that's how I roll. I hope that all y'all had blessed Christmas vacations (or staycations) and New Years celebrations sans drama or police involvement or anything other than the way you had hoped 2023 would go out. I know quite a few of you were more than happy to see the old year out. 

New, fresh beginnings, huzzah!

My parents made it out for a between Christmas and New Years visit and are safely home again. We'd seen Dad in August, and Mom had come out in June to keep an eye on the kids while we were in Scotland but I hadn't seen her in person since April and that's a really long time to go without my Tiny Mommeeeeee! Thank you to any/all of who you have prayed over her and wished her well through her year of health issues. We all are very appreciative.

School started today for the Damonater, to his intense distress. However, he does have Phys Ed and his STEAM class this semester, so it'll be interesting to hear the report of how the first day went down. 

Five more days and we'll have been married for 25 years. He has put up with me for a quarter of a century, people, and most of that was even spent in the same state together. Amazing. That man deserves a medal. Or cookies. Or something. Prayers, probably.

We5 are well, staying warm in the subfreezing temps, prepping for the snow we're supposed to get this weekend. We hope you kicked off 2024 to a great start!