Then Sings My Soul...

Mother loves to go to church. She was brought up that way. Her parents went to church every Sunday. Mom & Dad instilled that in us kids as well. Altho Dad didn't always go, he made sure we did. And music? We love music. Daddy used to make up songs when we were in the car. Silly little songs, but oh how he loved to sing. And mom loves the music (altho she can't carry a tune!). I grew up singing in church and music has always moved me. I know that God is in the House when the music lifts my soul. I think we passed this along to our own children - Stephanie is a testimony to that - she sings and my soul soars. Jason loves music as well and has a God-given talent to mix music. You can always tell when Jason has been involved!

You want to know what thrills my soul? To sit by mom in church and hear her singing during the worship. She doesn't always remember what day it is or if she has seen you in the last day or so, but she remembers that she wants to go to church and she loves singing with the congregation.

I am so blessed to be close enough to Mother to be able to take her to church with us. And I am so blessed that she is able to get around and enjoys being out and doing things with our family. I count my blessing every day that Mother is as healthy as she is and always has a smile on her face.

Last week she was talking about living to be 100! Like Aunt Essie. She told me she has lots to do and plans on being around for a long while! She's just amazing. I'm the lucky one - being close enough to mom to see her anytime I want. She makes me smile and I love that!

I have the Best Mom...

If you are wondering why you can't ever catch mom in her apartment at Sterling House, it's because she is always out and about helping others who can't do things for themselves. This is where I found Mother today when I went to pick her up for church. She was helping Welma get to the dining room for the evening meal. This little woman is cantankerous at times, but mom seems to have a compassionate heart for her and is always helping her find the way to where she needs to go. More than once I have found mom in her room, speaking softly to her until the nurses can come to help her out. Mother seems to have a heart of gold when it comes to helping others.

This is how I want to be. Full of compassion and love for others. Thank you mom, for setting this example. You are blessed among all women - you are the Proverbs 31 woman.

I love you!

How to Give Your Parents a Heart Attack...

There we were enjoying a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants... then BAM! I get a text from my daughter...

"I need Dr. Finnie's address - STAT!!"

What? What's happened? Why does she need her doctor's address? It's 6:48PM and there would be no one at his office.. she should just go to ER! Which one will she go to? What's happened? Are the grandkids okay - no that's not their doctor. Why does she need the address???

We search the internet (while sitting at the restuarant and letting our food get cold). Okay - we have it.. I text back.

No response.

Oh, yeah... they are at the Policy Academy orientation... I guess she just needed the info for the forms...

What a way to enjoy a nice leisure dinner....

Thanks, Stephanie -

If only you knew the things that make our hearts pound...

Who's the Cook in this House?

Okay - I'm really impressed - my Stephanie is cooking! Regularly! What's up with that? I thought I taught her better - eating out is your friend! Let your husband cook on the grill and do his "manly thing!" Ugh. You are really making me look bad...

But man - those recipes she has been shelling out are great!!! It's amazing - not that she can cook - but that she tries all these good recipes and her family loves it! I'm so proud of you, Steph! Keep it up and your dad may start getting some good food since I think I should try some of your recipes.

Yummy - pumpkin bread with chocolate chips. I'll have to try that one for sure this weekend... and if you are reading this - just click on Steph's blog (side bar - Live, Laugh, Love) and you'll see what she is talking about!

The Rain Gauge

Last spring, I bought the cutest little rain gauge and holder. I put it in the flower bed, close to the edge (really close to the edge) and David promptly ran over it with the lawn mower and busted it. We weren't getting any rain then so it really didn't matter. But once we started getting indications that it MIGHT possibly rain again (40 days and 40 nights later) we set out to hunt down a new rain gauge.You are now looking at possibly the LAST rain gauge left in San Antonio! We hunted high and low and FINALLY ran across this one. And it magnifies! Really! You can actually stand by our backdoor and look out across the yard to the fence and READ how much rain we have. It's amazing - a little strange, but amazing!

See what a little over an inch of rain has done for our yard? Pretty impressive if I say so myself!


Did I say I love the rain? Well, I do and I'm sure hoping we get lots more of it!

I Love The Rain

Isn't it just wonderful? It has been sooo long since we had a good rain, I forgot how wonderful it smells and how clean it makes everything. I watched it pour downtown this afternoon - so hard that we had pizza delivered! Couldn't get me out of the office - even for lunch! We got 2 inches at our house! I'm going to enjoy it while I can, because tomorrow or the next day - it will stop. Oh, for a good, slow, steady rain for a week or so... that's what I'm wishing for!

Labor of Love...

BEFORE...

One shelf that I crammed everything on... hard to reach and even harder to organize...
Stacks of shelves everywhere and wire cubes holding all my Creative Memories supplies.
AFTER...
Tons of shelving, with lots of organized space for all my "stuff". Easy to reach and easy to find - totally organized. If I need it, I can put my hands on it immediately!
David and I spent several hours on Friday pulling everything OUT of the closet and removing the old shelf. And then we spent about 45 minutes putting up the new shelves! I spent several hours getting everything organized, but it was well worth the time! I'm so pleased with my organized closet!

It was truly a working Labor Day weekend - Thanks honey for taking the time to put up the shelving so I could get it all organized! You're the best!