I am currently experiencing and ice storm here on the edge of the Might Mo. That would be the Missouri River which is just down the old interstate from me and is very, very cold right now. All schools are closed. Many other locations are shut down. People are experiencing epic snowday fun inside their homes. I'm cleaning. And getting a few blog posts posted because I'm a slacker and have not done much of either the past few weeks. The doggos are going to get a bath today. The round headed little kid of cuteness is sliding up and down the stairs checking out the Hulu marathon upstairs and the crazy haired grandma downstairs. Two bloggers featured me last week. Well, not exactly me. My hedgehogs and my blog. But I'll claim it's all about me. My cute little daughter blogger (who shockingly still likes me after living with me for two months) posted about her love of this here blog. Silly girl who made a beautiful baby. You can read her post here. And my hedgehogs as writing inspiration is here. As you will see, they are not exactly muses.
Well. I guess 2017 has happened. Weird. How time just keeps ticking. This is the first year in about 8,-9-10 somewhere in that range, where we either didn't have our friendfamily staying at our place or we were up north visiting them. Our weekend was made up of a lot of "should we do this or that?" and snuggling babies. There was a lot of baby snuggling. I'm thinking baby snuggling might be the best way to bring in the new year. Maybe a grandma came up with the concept of old year = old man, new year = spanking new baby. No resolutions this year. As much as I like the idea of resolutions I have been there, done that and seen very little overall change. I do better when I thoughtfully just chose to change and go a different direction and reassess my priorities rather than have a magic day when things begin. I read an article I thought was fascinating. Compounding choices like compounding interest i.e.1%. Choose to focus on/tweak something you are seeking 1% more today than yesterday. If the goal is health, then add just a bit more onto an already healthy choice you are making or decrease slightly an unhealthy choice. Spiritual growth or disciplines, add 1% more Bible or prayer, or 1% less selfishness etc. a day. Financial, spend a few pennies less or put a few more pennies in savings. I like that idea. Incremental tiny choices toward a picture we have of what we'd like our lives to become. Here is a brilliant C S Lewis quote about choices.
“Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state of the other.”
― C.S. Lewis We are the sum of our choices. I think no matter what has happened to us, our unique experiences both good and bad we are made up of how we process and handle those experiences. (I don't know about you but I am still processing things that happened in my life decades ago. Reframing, prayerfully forgiving, tiny attitude adjustments to line up more with God's Word.) As we age and change and grow and get wiser then we have more responsibility in making those changes in the way we think and process. And we are hurrying the process along to becoming a heavenly or hellish creature. Kind of brutal this truth.
Slacker seems so harsh. Maybe not slacker. I've been busy living life. By living life I'm saying that there are precious little ones that kind of need me right now. I've been coming home to a round faced little blonde boy who lights up when I walk in the door. And more often than not a newborn shows up for a visit. Yes, my daughter has a foster newborn. Join us in prayer that he becomes a permanent fixture. It would be best. (Hence the face covered picture. No babies were harmed in the gentle love patting session!) The computer is getting lots of down time. However, my friend Nora has interviewed me and is running one last Out of the Frying Pan book giveaway for the year. Please visit her, here. And please have a safe and fabulous new year weekend!
Yesterday I posted fun Pinterest fail pictures. Well, today here is this! DIY gifts! It's not too late to craft for your friends and family. I'm especially not going to try number 18. Seriously, I know my skill set well enough to know that I would not end up with anything recognizable to anyone. But hey. Did I tell you I did some arm knitting? I made a scarf. Then it started unraveling because I don't have a clue. But I pulled it apart and redid it. I mean when you can knit a scarf in an hour and take a mere two to unravel and only one more to reknit it...win. Win! I can't take a picture of the one hanging round my neck because my phone is officially lost in transit. Did I mention the repair and return thing failed? The phone was delivered to my porch but I did not get it. I think, honestly, that some idiot followed the Fed Ex truck and grabbed packages after they were delivered. I'm waiting to see if Fed Ex finds it. Sigh. So no picture today. But here's a video on arm knitting! This one seems more helpful than the first one I watched.
I just had to share this. Pinterest Fail Gallery Because I have so many Pinterest fails of my own. Or ideas that I think might be brilliant ideas. Case in point. The time I thought I could just quickly waffle iron marshmallows. True story. Guess how long it took me to clean that mess up?
