Monday

Dear Diary,
I soooo need inspiration to write regularly.  Maybe I found it?  A Blogalong sounds like fun and inspiration to me.  I'm doing it!  I'm joining in! 

 

I already have my doubts if I can blog e-v-e-r-y   d-a-y  for a whole month.  But hey, it's already got me blogging and it's not even August 1 yet!  So a little's better than nothing, right?  Maybe some of my blogging buddies will even join in with me for more inspiration.  If you want to, here's Effy's link.  (Psst, let me know if you join!)

I had a great weekend!  I attended an outdoor wedding with my hunny on Saturday.  It was a beautiful evening wedding.  A not-hot July day is a very rare and welcomed Alabama event.  The wedding reception was held in a barn.  Yep, a barn, but what a barn!

Then yesterday brought a wonderful time at my family reunion at a great Georgia park.  I didn't take pictures of the park, only family pictures.  Silly me.

And today it's back to normal.  The guys are off to work and I plan to bring order back to our home.  Laundry is already hanging on the line and I have my to-do list made out.  Have I mentioned lately how much I  l-o-v-e my job?  I love being a full-time homemaker.  I really do!  It gives me such pleasure to keep our home clean and running smoothly (most of the time).  I enjoy cooking meals that put a smile on my family's faces.  What a great reward for doing a job that I love so well.  I'm so blessed.

I'm following along with Flylady this week. 

Well, kinda-sorta.  I'm in the same Zone as her but I'm doing my own thing there.  I don't have door knobs in my living room to clean.  Door knobs, really Flylady?  But I do need to pay special attention to my everyday jobs there like pulling out furniture to vacuum and dusting my ceiling fan.  Who knows, I might even clean the windows if the notion strikes!

After the cleaning and laundry have been tackled I plan to make out my menu and grocery list for the week.  On my mental menu for tonight I've planned Hearty Black-Eyed Peas, fresh broccoli/carrots, and cornbread.

And then?  Playtime!  I have a few crafty ideas up my sleeve.  The first one is to sew up some cloth grocery bags to carry with me on my weekly Aldi visit.  My plastic bags are looking pretty grungy and I want some sturdy cloth ones that I can throw in the wash and keep fresh.  I found a free pattern on the internet and I found a piece of cheery canvas fabric in my stash so a-sewing-I-will-go.

My trip to Hobby Lobby last week didn't bring any new hobby ideas for me but it did get me thinking of adding a couple of new skirts to my fall wardrobe.  I may go back tomorrow and pick out a couple of cotton prints for new fall skirts.  I love sewing skirts!  I think they're my favorite things to sew (and wear).  But do I really need more?   I mean, how many skirts does a lady need in her closet anyway?    I've even thought of opening up a shop on Etsy so that I can sew more and more skirts. Maybe...

Oh, and one more, not so fun plan for my week...   CUT BACK ON MY FOOD INTAKE!   I've been bad.  I've gained three pounds and I've got to get rid of it before it turns into five or more!  My problem is, I'm an emotional eater.  I eat more when I'm HAPPY!  But I don't want to swap in that happiness to lose a few pounds.  I guess I've just got to muster up that will-power I found when I lost those 22 pounds nine years ago.  I think I can...I think I can...I think I can....
 

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Wednesday

Dear Diary,
It's been a great two weeks since I last wrote!  I had a wonderful birthday on the 17th and I got my dream birthday gift from my loving husband! No, it's not the daisy chair I first thought I wanted.  Being the fickle girl I am, I changed my mind to the peacock chair after seeing it in person.

I've spent a little time in it already but plan to spend a lot more.  I was right, it does suspend me above any problems.  I feel like a little girl again when curled up in it with a book.  I am so blessed.

I got to swing my precious little granddaughter in it over the weekend.  Wish I'd gotten pictures of us in it but I do have the memory.  Little Hannah is so full of fun, giggles, and love. 

We just laid back and enjoyed our time together while Hannah and her mama and daddy were here.  The house is mighty quiet this morning without those sweet little giggles and squeals and I'm already missing her happy dances.  I wish Indiana wasn't so far away from our Alabama home.

I've got to get to the grocery store today so I can restock the fridge and kitchen cupboards.  I thought about going yesterday afternoon but the thunder kept booming and the rain kept falling so I just scoured the freezer and cupboards and put together a meal with what I found.  The tater tots I found in the freezer made me think of a casserole I had tried in the past from my favorite cookbook, Taste of Home's 2000 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes.          

Pizza Tot Casserole?

I didn't have green peppers but I did have jalapeno peppers hanging on the plants in my square-foot garden.  I served the casserole up with chopped, fresh broccoli and carrot sticks.  Yum-yum!

So, today it's to the grocery store I go...with a little side-track stop to Hobby Lobby.  For my birthday, my sweet sons gave me a Hobby Lobby gift card.  I'm thinking of taking up a new hobby and thought I'd just stop by and dream awhile before spending the card.  I always feel a little restless and want to try something new in the middle of summer.  I have never figured out why, but here I am and that's what I'm feeling.

I'm excited about the upcoming weekend with some special outdoor plans.  First, an outdoor wedding on Saturday and then a family reunion at a Georgia park on Sunday.  It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

Now I'm going out to take my morning walk before the heat ~ and probably rain ~ makes an appearance.  Then, make out my menu and grocery list and head out to Hobby Lobby and ALDI.  Sounds like a plan to me!

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Monday

I wonder... Does everyone handle hurt the same way I do? 
Not just your every-day sort of hurt.  A very-deep hurt.  A hurt received from someone by whom you would never expect to be purposely hurt...over-and-over again.



Hurt by a person that should be one you could go to to receive comfort when you are hurt elsewhere.
A person that was put in charge of your place of refuge and refreshment.
A hurt so bad that you have to leave the place where you have found spiritual help and solace since you were a child. A place that you have to leave before you find it impossible to forgive...again...again...


I know it's not the place that really helps me, it's the Helper that meets me there.
And so, I, and the precious husband God gave me, seek for a new house of worship, a place without the hindrance of hurt feelings to bask again in that refreshment.  Solace.  Peace.

And back again I go to my question: Does everyone handle hurt the same way I do?

Do they vacillate between hurt/ shock/ anger/ talk/ pull-inside-themselves-and-seek-comfort stages?  Then do they get to the With God's help I will beat this and I will be better for it stage?  The I am Amazed stage... only to wake up the next morning in the hurt/shock stage again?

Well, Dear Diary, guess which stage I'm in today?  The pull-inside-myself-and-seek-comfort stage.
It's a good place in this journey because this is the stage where I'm learning so much.  I'm learning I am not alone in this.  I'm learning that I am actually growing through this.  I will be a stronger person because of this and hopefully I can help someone else through this same kind of hurt some day with real empathy and gratitude for the Help I have received.  I am finding great peace when I rest in God and take time out to enjoy His beautiful creation while in this stage.

And just one more thing Dear Diary,  I could suspend myself above all my troubles in one of these beautiful, cuddly, hanging chairs.  This is my birthday month and the daisy chair is my favorite ... just in case anyone asks...hint, hint, hint.  : )

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