A Simple Woman's Daybook~October 6, 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~Monday, October 6, 2014 

Outside my window...it is 3:40 pm and I am just taking a break from my teaching preparations to do a little blogging.  It is warm and sunny out.  An Indian summer like we always get after it cools off and we think summer is over.  We'll be safely into autumn by Halloween, but anything goes between now and then.

I am thankful for....making the decision to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 36 years ago.  It has been the best thing ever.  We have worked hard and grown and served others and been served by them, and come to know Christ in a better way and we have had an abundance of blessings.  

We have learned so much of the Savior's ways and grown in our faith and  dependence upon His grace. And we have made wonderful life long friends that have supported and sustained us through it all.  We have been happy through thick and thin because of our choice and desire to believe.  We have felt joy in our sorrows knowing He is with us to lift us up.

From the learning room...persistence and daily good habits help us accomplish the big things.  That and just never giving up when we feel like it.  We can and must push through it.  When something is right we stick with it even when it is hard.  We can and we do hard things all the time. 
It is how we develop our character and become who we are eventually meant to be.  We should not believe the things we think about ourselves are true just because they pass though our heads through negative self talk.  Instead we should ask ourselves the good questions like what did I do well this week to move towards my goal?  If it worked...repeat it.  It is by small and simple things that good things are brought to pass.

I am reading...Cooked by Michael Pollan.  Pollan offers some very convincing arguments for how cooking our own food at home is the best way to regain our health as a nation.  It is a sequel to Food Rules.  Also very straight forward and compelling for health and well-being.  I am trying hard to relearn how to like cooking again.  As you know if you come by often it is not my favorite thing.  But I am willing to learn to love it again.

From the kitchen...Taco salad tonight.  Looking forward to that.

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...letting our burdens go is a big thing for most of us.  We want to hang on to them and own them and worry about them.  This is non-productive.  We need to enlist the help of God in overcoming this and being faithful.  Worry and fretting is a form of unbelief and fear that we just don't need in our lives.  We do our best and find faith instead of fear.  We carry on and find the win in laying it all down.

Someone I am praying for this week...Friends and family that are struggling or incapacitated right now.  Our good friend Stephen who had shoulder surgery today and Hazie still recovering from her eye surgery. Annabelle a baby born with multiple problems just a few weeks ago, and Ben an 11 year old boy with a serious battle with leukemia right now.  Praying also for all those who have personal and unknown struggles and that need prayers as well.

I am missing...Carol...come home soon!  It is just not the same when you are gone.  Tomorrow will be a struggle without you there to entertain me. Sigh...

I am hearing...Josh Grobin's Hidden Away.  That guy's seriously talented.  On my bucket list to see in concert one day.  I just got an invitation from my new friend on Pinterest, Connie Smith, to join her next time she goes.  I'm in!

One of my pleasures...Mondays when I can get so much done without interruptions.  Getting up at 5:00 am is painful but has its definite advantages. I also take pleasure in the day after General Conference for our church and all the cool things to reflect back upon.  

Pet Peeves...Seeing political signs going up everywhere.  I don't mind that but I detest the politicians that never return to take them down after the election.  Such poor manners.

Past Remembrance...the other day I drifted back to my childhood  memories  and recalled when my mom would put me on the kitchen counter and wash my hair.  She would lather up my long hair and then form it into a unicorn's horn and she'd let me sit up and look at it in the hand mirror.  It was mighty cool and very tall.  Then she would rinse all the soap out and rinse my hair with cold white vinegar.  It smelled so yucky but made my hair squeaky clean and tangle free. What made me think of it...opening a bottle of white vinegar and smelling "that smell" again.  Oddly I hadn't thought of that since I was a little girl.  Funny how the smell of something can trigger thoughts like that.  Two others fragrances that come to mind...Aqua Net hair spray (being a teenager) and Noxzema (summer, swimming and sunburns.)

I am quoting...Pinterest...Thought this was funny but looking for a paradigm shift so I will exercise more and feel better.  Getting the new lifestyle under control, now must get to this.  Diamonds sure would help though.

If I could change one thing it would be...that I would not need a dental implant to the tune of $5,000!  Holy Cow.

An enjoyable movie/ TV show we have watched lately...there are 8 seasons of Foyle's War.  Can hardly wait to watch it when we get the chance.  I am in love with that man.  He is so sweet, with a sadness about him that his eyes cannot conceal.

I am curious about...what life will feel like once I am done working on these conference presentations coming up on October 18th.  I'll be able to just breathe maybe?

Plans for the rest of the week...haven't thought much about it until right now.  Just the usual routine. Work and play and sleep and go for some walks. You know.  I am starting to think about the holidays a little.  I got all my fall decor out and up so that is the gateway to all of it. I do love doing it.  The warm feelings that fall engenders take me a long way.  I'm in the nesting mood.  Just want to stay home and cozy up.  Shuffling clothes between summer and fall until summer is gone.

One of my favorite things...seeing my hubby so happy in his new wood shop.  After over three and a half years of laborious toiling with David, it is finally done.  He is doing the fun stuff now and he is in his glory.  It is really pretty sweet since he has wanted this since he was 17.  It was even sweeter to watch Jim and Dave work together.  There are few friendships as devoted as theirs.  They did an absolutely amazing job.  It looks like it has always been there nestled beneath the tall trees that surround it.  The outside is beautiful, the inside is, well "industrial" but beautiful to them.  So many regular tools and big shop floor tools that I couldn't tell you what they even are...but he is in hog heaven.

One thing that made me so happy this past week...Receiving an original wedding picture of my grandparents from my 2nd cousin in Arizona, Our grandparents were siblings.  Thank you, Jim Godfrey. Cousins are the best!

The most surprising thing this past week...hearing from one of my best friends in grade school through Facebook.  Sixty years has passed since we had contact.

A photo I am sharing this week...

                            

Just a picture of the sky I took while waiting at a stop light last week.  This is not a typical California sky.  Love these billowy white clouds and the bright blue sky.  Hope all is well with you dear readers!

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 BE HAPPY AND CARRY ON!