Off to Denver!

I'll be off to Denver soon, to be with my daughter when the baby comes. I'm just about finished with my larger quilt that I made for our little guy. I'm pretty sure that living in Denver, he'll get lots use out of all the quilts and blankets he's received. In the past few days his mommy and daddy have been snowed in!!! I sincerely hope that it's a sunny day or a calm evening when he arrives. We're all getting excited about it all. I've already booked a flight for myself to visit them in January, the airline had 25.00 seats!!! I couldn't resist. I asked first, if it would be alright they said " of course", so how cool is that? Yay for me!

FLOOR RE-DO

I finally decided to re-do the bedroom floors and den. I had thought of re- carpeting, but in the end I thought it best to have the whole house in the beautiful laminate that I had put down last year in the living room and kitchen.



I'm positive it'll help keep our allergies down and it'll be easier to keep the pet hair from my collies swept away from the laminate than it has been to bring out the vacuum to pick up that fine fur!



My kids are coming down from Denver in 2 weeks, it'll be great! Later I'll be going up there to visit them and see how the baby's nursery is coming along. They're working hard at it so I'm sure it will turn out just fabulous!



I've been feeling a little better, not great but not as bad as before. My heel is still giving me problems, I just wish it would get well. I pray constantly for GOD to return my health to me but in HIS own time as with everything HE does.



I have been energized enough to de-clutter our home. It really makes a difference! There's a great sense of "freedom" when you get organized and clear out busy areas of the home. I'm so happy! My husband is de-cluttering our yard of weeds and garbage and unused materials, etc. We're getting lots of compliments. It's wonderful!

Half-way Mark

It's just past the 6 months that I injured my knee. While I'm walking in less pain I now have developed a pain in my left foot. GOSH! I'm just not having a great year as far as my health goes! I am tired of being sick!

The only really GREAT news is that I'm going to be a grandma again this time by my oldest daughter. It's a little boy! I'm so happy! So far she's having a good pregnancy. We pray for them constantly.

My younger daughter is fixing my dad's cottage for herself, I think it's just marvelous!

My sons and their families are doing great, having a great summer.

My husband, he's getting ready to train two new fillies this fall.

So I'm trying to get a sewing room set so I can work on some quilting. My painting has been on hold since my injury. I'd like to alternate between them both, but I shall see!

In JESUS' Holy Name I pray, for my family,friends, those I loved that have passed on to heaven and for our family's health in body, mind, heart and spirit. Amen.

PLANE RIDE

Well, it's been years since I've been on a plane, but here I go off to see my girl in her new house. I really have to go because she's going to be a mommy! I've got to get her in my arms and love her and we will be happy together! My son-in-law is a really great man, he takes very good care of my girl. I'll be there for a week!
I really need the vacation. I'll miss my hubby and my pets but I'll be happy to be with my girl!
I'm glad the plane ride will only take 55 minutes!!!
I'll be praying my rosary on take off and landing FOR sure!!!

EASTER MONDAY A NEW YEAR!

So today I feel like this is the first day of a new year. I got the scissors and trimmed my hair a bit and feel a little, just a little bit lighter. Although I'm writting here now because I started to get dizzy as I was finishing the cut. Woozy!

I 'm not really sure how I'm feeling about my dad yet. I miss him so much. Father Gene made me cry during his homily yesterday, but I got through his beautiful Mass. The day was quiet, thanks to GOD. I wasn't up to having the gang over.

Still I managed to make a roast and the trimmings including gravy. My daughter and her boyfriend joined us for this dinner. My dearest friend and I exchanged Easter gifts and they were the same things to each other, isn't that something!

I have the kids Easter baskets here for when they visit, they'll be surprised.

I'm feeling better now I'll go style my new do! IJNIP.

No Cake...

It hasn't been any pieces of cake these last few weeks. No matter how much I try to get back into a good routine, I just can not do it. There's a daily obstacle. I am so sad at looking at my home that is in such disarray! If nothing stops me, then it's the way I'm feeling. Like today, I began okay then I couldn't find the paperwork I was looking for and when I did, it was too late to go out and do what I needed to do. It was nearly noon I was already exhausted!

Next I began dinner. How hard is it to make spaghetti? I decided to make some tortillas so that took awhile but they came out really good.

One of my sons came by with his kids and they had dinner with us. I also made some jello and old fashioned tapioca pudding. This was nice.

My daughter made dinner for her boyfriend and herself, It was good, I had a bite. Before he left my daughter wasn't in a good mood anymore.

It wasn't the boyfriend, it wasn't us, it was herself feeling sad because she doesn't have her own space here in our house.

She doesn't want to spend any money for rent and none to fix my old house so that keeps here in our home.

I got upset after she was so rude to me when I was giving her some options so I just left her alone.

Surprise to me was she came to my room later and apologized. That was a major step for her, she thinks she always has the better solutions. We talked and came up with some ideas, let's see if we can get them working and done.

No piece of cake yet!

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

It was a great and beautiful day. The weather was perfect. I felt my best since the injury and got a lot of things done. My kitchen finally looks the way I like it and I removed the crib for more space in the small bedroom. For dinner I made some steaks smothered in bell peppers and onions that I sauteed in red wine. Rice and mixed veggies added to the great meal. For dessert it was old fashioned rice pudding. We all enjoyed it all!
My daughter's boyfriend came over and surprised my husband and I with a bag full of souviniers. Candy, coffee, and some beautiful handmade coasters and a chopping block. he knows about my Holy Crosses collection so he brought me a lovely handmade wooden cross. This was truly a most wonderful Saint Patrick's Day!

FIRST TIME OUT

So after 6 weeks, I was finally able to go grocery shopping with my best friend. We get together every two weeks to get food and paper goods then do lunch. I really wasn't sure I'd make it into her car but yes I did it! Getting out of the car isn't bad it's the entering the car that's rough on my injured leg. I'm slowly getting better, with the word "slowly" being the way things are, slow. I walk around for awhile then I feel myself getting tired and then if not rested my leg begins to hurt. I keep thanking GOD for the miracle that I can still get up and walk every day and remember to say HIS Will be done.

My little puppy finally did her puppy thing this week. She is going nuts being inside so much and then in her crate when I've got to go out. She took a bite out my grandson's really nice official football league cap, luckily my grandon is only three and it didn't faze him as I was mending it and my son wasn't upset about it. Then this morning my pup kept going into my daughter's bed room and running out with a slipper, then another, I kept taking things away from her until at one point she went bezerk and began running like crazy all over the house. She jumped on the sofa then our bed and ended up in bed with my daughter! That got her a "time out" in her crate. From the store I brought her a rawhide bone I figured she'd take awhile chewing that.

She's stronger than I thought, it was in pieces in minutes. So she had her first time out loose, so she could let out all that pent up energy. It worked, only, it's just five minutes at a time for another week before she goes to the vet again. I'm counting the days for both of us.

March 1st

It turned out to be a lovely day. I'm getting along a little better. My husband told me he'll be working on setting the grave stone for my dad next weekend. My puppy's doing good about her surgery stitches, she acts as though she went through nothing. It's because she's young. Her big sister wants to ponce on her and play, so it's hard for me to take her to walk. I feel sorry for her because she wants to be outside and doesn't understand why she can't be. I'm determined to make phone calls tomorrow and make appointments that need to be made. My daughter sent me a rosary, a bracelet and a necklace as a surprise a few days ago. What a sweet thing to do.
I also saw a movie on the life of Saint Pio, this weekend, what a moving story. A good beginning to a Lenten season.

MEMORIES of my Dad

I had to take my sweet little puppy to the Vet this morning and on my way back home I drove the route I used to take when my dad and I would be returning to his home from visiting the Blessed Sacrament. I remembered every thing he used to tell me as we drove past the house with the roof he liked and the little church he never remembered being on that street, and the fruit and veggie store he'd buy the chile pods he used to make the BEST chile no one can copy. Of course I began to cry as I drove away from his home, as I invisioned him sitting on the porch and waving good bye to me as I honked the horn as he did when he left my home. I'm crying now as I write this. It happens a little less often, but these days of Lent are going to be really difficult because Lent was his favorite time of the year. He'd pray and sing the chants of the Stations of the Cross. I have his prayer and song books that he left to my oldest son. I'm supposed to translate them, I will someday, crying at every sentence.

Ash Wednesday

So I'm getting together my menu for Ash Wednesday's Lenten Meal. It's always the same but it takes time for me to get the recipes together in one place. Six different recipes on six different looking papers. I think I did write them all out on special recipe cards but I put them away in such a "safe" place that at my age now, I don't remember where the "safe" place is. That "safe" place is holding other important items so I'm wondering when I'll find the "safe" place to find everything that's there. There's that saying, "I've got so much on my plate, I don't know where to begin", well I now officially have to say that I have so much on my table that I'm wondering where to begin. Cut back to the "safe" place that holds all the important items I need to start getting things done. How am I going to find that "safe" place? Saint Anthony hear my prayer once again!!

I wish I would've felt better

I cleaned the kitchen, cleared and swept a bit. I watched a movie, "Say Anything", then I was just going to take a siesta when my sisters-in-law stopped in. I invited them to my older son's house and when we got there it turned out that my other son was there with his family, visiting. So it turned into a family reunion of sorts. I just wish I would've been well to really have fun with the grand kids. I'm getting really anxious, waiting. I wonder how much longer it's going to be before I heal? My nerves are making me eat! So now I feel worse because I know I'm gaining extra weight! Lent is beginning on this Wednesday so that will help me. Hopefully the extra praying will help me get better. I'm not motivated to work on any of my hobbies, it's sad really because now's the time I could really take the time to do some of my projects. I will just wait for the LORD to heal me in HIS time. In JESUS' holy Name I pray.

Awake!

It's 3:19am in my time. I am wide awake wondering why. Why? Why am I wide awake? For hours now I've been thinking and thinking about what has caused me my sleep. I pinned it down to either a late cup of coffee I had with my husband,[he's sleeping soundly] or the piece of pumpkin pie from the pie I made today. I prayed,then tried to clear my mind. I've got two hours before my husband's up, then my daughter, then my little grandson who visiting us. Oh boy! What am I going to do if I need my Siesta earlier than my grandson needs his nap? I guess I'll figure it out when it happens. This hadn't happened to me in months. It sure isn't any fun. I guess I'll try to get to sleep once again,m I've two hours before starting my Wednesday.

This Monday's Blues

Today marks the fourth week since I injured myself. I'm getting around a little better but not well. I've got to be so careful of how I move my leg. It has especially settled in my knee now. My shin hurts too. I've got to do so much in this week and then get ready for Ash Wednesday. The day after that I've got to take my puppy to the vet. I just really have had to exercise my patience, waiting to be healed. It's really really hard for me. I don't remember the last injury taking this long. It did, but I don't remember it, probably because I was much younger and I took it like a woman. Now that I'm older I don't want to take it at all! I remember my dad being so impatient at just having a common cold. I think I understand now that it was because he had a life and he didn't want to spend it with a miserable cold. What I have of course is more than the common cold but still, it bugs because I simply can't work like I normally do. By the Grace of GOD I will wait it out until HIS will be done in HIS time and not mine. In the last year I've been learning that I am not in Control after all. I haven't after all these years been doing it all by my self. I had Divine help.

Dinner but no dancing

My husband and I decided to go out for our Valentine's Day dinner two days early, because of my injury. We stayed close to home, so it wouldn't be too much for me. Our steaks were cooked just right. I had baked a cinnamon swirl loaf earlier today so that was our dessert. My leg is getting better, I'm so thankful to our LORD for this. It's been along three weeks. I am so afraid of stairs though. It'll be a while before I get the courage to try them again. I don't want to tempt fate and re-injure myself. Thankfully I had bought my best friend's Valentine gift through the web so all I've got to do is wrap. I told my daughter who lives out of state that her gift will be late but it'll be out to her as soon as I can get to the UPS store. The reason I titled this posting "dinner but no dancing" is because as I was slowly dragging my leg around today trying to do some very simple chores, I began feeling sorry for myself. I suddenly thought that I'll never be able to dance again with my husband. It's a very humbling experience when you cannot do anymore the simple things and fun things you once did.

A GOOD MONDAY for a change!

So, my daughter came in last night from what we thought was her snowboarding weekend, but the excitement wasn't from the trip. She and her friends got in town early, in time to go and listen to a presentation by Jim Caviezel at a local church. It was great and she was able to speak with him and get his autograph. Jim is a most favored actor in our household. He was truly amazing the "Passion of the CHRIST". We first discovered him in the "Count of Monte Cristo". "Angel Eyes" is another favorite of ours. He is such a humble man. A good man. He and other actors made cds of the Holy Bible in a dramatic setting. It's wonderful. My husband and I began listening to Matthew this evening and Jim's voice is beautiful. This is going to be so helpful now that the Lenten season is starting soon. The other exciting news is that I made my very first pie crust that I actually liked, this afternoon. As I'm still limping around from my injured knee, baking is about the only thing I can do with out too much pain. I just take several rest periods in between adding the ingredients. I made an apple pie. Since dinner my husband has eaten one half of it! This is because I hadn't made any home made goodies since the Holydays. So now I have perfected several recipes and soon I'm hoping to get them all together for my daughters and grand-daughters to have from me. I wish I could have something like this from my mom And my dad, they were both excellent cooks. I can't make my mom's Sunday potroast nor my dad delicious red chile! Oh well, I'll keep on trying to perfect my recipes!

First Friday of Feb.

So I rested myself all day so that my husband and I could attend First Friday Adoration. It was a little uncomfortable but after the exposition and mass I really did feel better! It IS about trusting in JESUS. I was so happy to receive HIM again after being home bound for what seemed like months which in reality are just shy of three weeks. Tomorrow we'll go to Reconciliation then Mass for First Saturday and Sunday. It will be a long time but I believe I can and will do it. My husband asked me about where I'd like to go to dinner on Valentine's Day, then before I could answer he said he'd be taking me to His favorite place. Oh well, I'm just happy he's kind of thinking of me! I'm resigned to continue to patiently wait for my complete recovery, without whining. It's just that I am getting behind on so many things. Oh but they'll be waiting there for me, since they have only my name on them. Later!

The Dating Period

So my husband and I met through my dad. My dad liked him right away. I thought he was really cute. We dated and of course in those months before we decided to get married, my then fiancee always attended church with me. After our marriage he continued to go with me until he started building our home. He then started using that, as an excuse not to go with me. As we started our family he kept building on and it got to the point that I was attending church alone with our kids. I found myself feeling as if people might be talking about me as though I might be a divorcee or an unwed mother always at church alone. So for a few weeks I stayed away from church. Then the LORD asked me why I wasn't going to visit HIM and listening to HIS word. I immediately realized that no one was thinking anything about my going to church alone, it was just something I sadly put into my mind and was feeling embarrassed about it. So that following Sunday morning I dressed the children and marched up to my husband and told him that he could go to heck alone but that I wasn't going with him. I was going back to church with or without him and that if anyone would ask about him I would simply tell them the truth, that working on the house was more important to him.

This is what I meant about my husband's family having a different way of family life. They rarely attended church. I believed he would continue going to church with me since he'd been going with me while we were dating. I was young! Now thirty-five years later I heard some one say that a woman believes the man will change his ways for her after they're married, and a man believes that the woman will never change and will always keep her figure and beauty. Something to ponder on, right? Happily, about four years ago, my husband heard a man speaking on tv about regaining a relationship with the LORD, and after listening to that man, my husband understood the importance of being in touch with GOD. After some time of his realization he came up to me one day and asked me if I thought he was being really weird with his new found interest in the faith. I said I was glad he was finally with me where he should be, on the road to the goal together. I also added something my mom used to say, "You're just learning what I'm forgetting, so tell me where you're at so that we can know it together."

Titus2:2-5

This particular scripture brings to my mind what I saw in my mom. I remember her always busy. She was up before my dad and his breakfast was on the table and his lunch box was ready for him to get on his way to work. It wasn't just a cup of coffee and cereal, in addition to this there tortillas, eggs and bacon and a small glass of milk. His lunch wasn't a soda and a sandwich and chips, it was bowl of hot food and a hearty sandwich, a fruit and a thermos of hot coffee. After he left she'd do the dishes and clean the kitchen and begin the prepping of our supper. She'd get every ingredient in place and do it. No recipe books or notes for her, she just got it all together. After everything was in its dish or bowl they'd go in the refrigerator until time for cooking or baking. Next she would pour herself a cup of coffee and light a cigarette and call someone on the phone. Her next step was to do what she did on that particular day of the week. no schedule to check, she just knew what to do. If I remember correctly it was like a list. Monday laundry, Tuesday ironing, Wednesday gardening or outdoor cleaning of the yard, Thursday a thorough house cleaning, Friday was her day. On Friday she'd bathe and do her own hair styling and do her own nails and this was because she was getting ready for Saturday, her grocery shopping day. She didn't go by herself. She and my dad would go together. On Sunday morning we were off to the early 7am services at our church. The rest of our Sunday was all about family time. We'd visit grandma or other family members or sometimes meet our friends at a park for fun and food. And so this is how it worked for my mom and dad, as my dad followed Titus 2:2. I believed that this way the way married life with a family worked. When I got married I followed this pattern, Unfortunately my new husband's family didn't know about this form of life! More later on how we're still together at thirty-five years!