Good Morning!
On this day in 1841 a patent for venetian blinds was issued to John Hampton.
In 1878 the American Bar Association was formed.
In 1912 Arthur R. Eldred became the first American boy to become an Eagle Scout.
In 1923 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, an ordinance was passed forbidding dancers from gazing into the eyes of their partner.
In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state.
And in 1984 Victoria Roche, a reserve outfielder, became the first girl to ever compete in a Little League World Series game.
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Quote of the Day
“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
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It’s Count Basie’s birthday today.
And it’s this guy’s too.
And Harold Reid’s too. (And here’s my answer to NancyJill’s QoD from yesterday)
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QoD? Anyone?
Wandering Views 
First? Good morning, all. I awoke without an alarm clock around 5:00 this morning and didn’t go to bed until 1:00. This insomnia is killing me! I feel fine right now, but know I’ll hit a wall around 3:00.
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Mornin’ Annms.
I didn’t sleep well either. I was up before the alarm went off today. I hate that. 😦
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when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made…
what a song of worship and adoration
Thanks Aj
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I hate alarms, so I wait for the Lord to wake me in His time
unless I have an early flight to catch 🙂
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I thought I might have a chance to be first for once.
My body doesn’t know what to do in terms of sleeping in summer, so I was awake at 6 and up at 7, after sleeping past 9:00 the past two days to make up for being awake till the wee hours (in one case) or awake three hours or more in the middle of the night (in another). So last night was actually a “normal” night of sleep except being awake a bit early (for me).
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Jo,
I really like that one. Always have.
Cheryl,
I haven’t had a “normal” nights sleep in years. Even when I’m tired and go to bed at a decent time, it never lasts thru the night. 😦
Maybe that’s why I’m always cranky. 🙂
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I have always loved the last verse of “The Love of God:”
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
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Sorry everyone else seems to have sleep issues, too, but it’s nice to know I’m not alone! I like getting up before everyone else, as I’m a bear before I’ve had some coffee, so my alarm during the school year goes off at 5:00 b/c I have to get Becca up at 6:15. I use the time to drink coffee, read the Bible, pray and check this blog. Then, by 6:00, I’m a much nicer Mommy.
The girls have eye doctor appointments this morning. Eldest wears contacts and youngest has glasses for reading and both think their prescriptions have changed. Hubby had terrible vision until he had Lasik surgery many years ago, and unfortunately they both seem to have inherited his eyes. Then we’re headed to the mall for some back-to-school shopping. Elder daughter is bringing a friend, so I’ll let them go off by themselves while Becca and I do her shopping. Oldest puts things she wants on hold and I meet her later to decide what to buy and what to put back. We did it this way last time and it worked out really well. I detest shopping, especially during busy times, but it must be done. Both girls have had growth spurts this summer and need lots of new things.
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Chas is off to the Jury. He wil mostly sit there hoping they don’t call his name. He wants to leave there completely anonymous, except for Larry, the deputy Clerk of Court.
Chas will make $20.00 today.
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The way Baldwin County works is that they pull the jurors from Driver’s Licenses. They broke us into “panels” of about 30. I am on Panel 1. Every afternoon after 5pm you call to listen to a recording telling which panels need to show up the next day. I haven’t been back but I will have to call this afternoon to see if I have to go tomorrow.
Daddy J had a good day Monday but yesterday was terrible. I am going to try to get to the hospital today to see him. I hate to be this way but there are only 30 minute time periods you can visit ICU and I do understand that, but it is about an hour over and an hour back in heavy traffic.for a 30 minute visit, with the very real possibility that he might not be alert. I know that the visit is more about me and my respect and love for him than him knowing I was there.
I made his youngest daughter cry yesterday afternoon. She called to talk through what a bad day he had had. She appreciates that she can just say what she thinks to me and doesn’t have to filter it. She can’t do that with her mother and sister who are in denial or something. The older sister doesn’t go to the hospital.
When Daddy J and Mama R met each other in 1954 or 1955 it was New Years Eve. Mama R had been dating two different guys. One was in the military and gone all week and only home on the weekends so that is when they dated. The other guy was in a band and was gone on the weekends so she dated him during the week. As luck would have it BOTH guys were available to take her out on New Year’s Eve. She didn’t know what to do, but her sister and young nephew were home visiting so she told both of them that she needed to stay home and keep her sister company.
Some other friends called and wanted her to go on a blind date with a friend of theirs (Daddy J). She explained that her sister was home, blah, blah,, blah and she really couldn’t leave her alone on New Year’s with her husband being gone and a new baby, etc, so Daddy J got on the phone and told her he was “Man enough to take bother her AND her sister out on New Year’s Eve! By May they were MARRIED!
They had three children, but their son died when he was 12. The other night I was thinking about their story and thinking of all the ways through the years Daddy J has been “Man Enough”. I told Youngest Daughter this and listed some of the way,
He was Man Enough to survice the death of his son,
He was Man Enough to raise two wonderful daughters,
He was Man Enough to go to work every day,
He was Man Enough to welcome the troubled teenage daughter of an alcoholic into his home, no questions asked,
He was Man Enough to give almost all of his vacation time to a girl’s service organization,
the list goes on
…but in the end he was simply Man Enough…
We were on the phone, Youngest Daughter was silent for a few seconds, I wondered if I had dropped the call and asked if she was still there, she said she was and thanked me for saying those things. She said that will be remembered.
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Good morning, all! Busy day for me today and the first half of tomorrow, so not sure I’ll be around here for a while. Everybody be good. 🙂
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Loved the hymn verses here this morning.
I have a strong aversion to alarm clocks. Good thing I have a cat and we don’t start work at the crack of dawn.
Walked the dogs later than usual last night (10) and it was so quiet out there. I kept thinking the thought “Maker of heaven and earth” — as I focused more on the natural sounds of the crickets and on the stars above us. It helped that there was no police helicopter circling the town last night … 🙄
I woke up this morning a couple times, but (for good) at around 6:50 — to the strong smell of skunk wafting through the bedroom window. And there were other “wild animals” to wrestle with (I read a book recently that described those unsettling first-thing-in-the-morning thoughts we get as wild animals that need to be shoved back). So shove I did.
Oh, and that girl in 1984 who was in the Little League that AJ mentioned? She was a local. Now she’s all grown up, married and a mom. I interviewed her not too long ago when she was coming back to accept an award on our community’s sports walk.
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Alarm clock? I don’t think so. I just regularly get up between five and five thirty for Bible time, then chores, then dealing with children.
Speaking of chores, the dogs ate one of my new guinea fowl. But the bird flew into their pen so there was some excuse. Not a good one though.
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Oh, wrong Victoria — There were two who broke barriers in the Little League in the 1980s.
“Although Victoria was not the first female athlete to play in a Little League World Series (Victoria Roche of Brussels, Belgium, earned that distinction in 1984), she was the first girl on a U.S. team to take part, and the first from anywhere to get a hit and score a run.”
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-24/news/mn-1346_1_san-pedro
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She also now is a biology teacher at one of our local public high schools.
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Last night I dreamt that I was in line in a hotel waiting to register for my room behind President Obama. I texted to my husband “there’s a clown in an Obama mask in front of me in line” and in my dream I thought that was hilarious. I also remember that when they asked him the make of his car for parking registration he said it was a Toyota. Does that mean anything?
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Were you arrested shortly after that?
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Linda – That’s funny. Did you laugh aloud in your sleep? I do that sometimes, along with talking in my sleep.
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AnnMS – It’s interesting that, on the prayer thread, you mentioned that fluorescent lights bother you. In my reading on girls & women with Asperger’s Syndrome (which affects my Chrissy), it was said that they often are bothered by fluorescent lights, as they detect the flickering & buzzing the lights give off, much more than “neuro-typical” people do.
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“I texted to my husband “there’s a clown in an Obama mask in front of me in line” and in my dream I thought that was hilarious.”
I thought it was too. 🙂
But a Democrat would say we only find it amusing because we’re racists. 😯
🙄
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I told my husband a couple months ago, that I believed the reason I wasn’t sleeping at night was because God needed me to pray. So, rather than whine and complain, I should be thankful God trusts me enough to pray that he wakes me up.
Sometimes it feels like I pray for the entire world before I fall back asleep.
Sometimes I even remember not to be cranky about it . . .
🙂
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Do you see many iPads or Kindles at your church (in place of hard-copy Bibles)?
http://theaquilareport.com/dear-pastor-bring-your-bible-to-church/
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It appears I slept through a possible shooting and car crash at the park just a couple blocks away from me early this morning. I must have been tired after all that digital training at work yesterday!
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We are getting pounded by rain again today. Atlanta seems destined to become a rain forest at this rate. We are no longer Hot’lanta. Replace the Hot with Soggy and you got it right!
Alarm clocks have been a great help to me in my life. I like to have a backup alarm, too, in case one does not work or the power goes out. Of course it is a love/hate relationship with alarm clocks.
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I do not trust getting into the Snooze Button habit. That seems like one of those slippery slopes, IMHO. I did like in the past to wake up listening to Christian radio. I loved the”daily bread ” breakfast I received in bed while I awakened to the day.
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Donna, I’ve only seen that once. We had an ad hoc book club at church this summer in which we read “Knowing God.” I was the only one who read it on the Kindle.
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1- Linda- your dream was funny. As for the Toyota part, I doubt he even knows the make of the limo he rides in (a Cadillac, I think). Also, I like your “The Love of God”, especially that last verse.
2- I use a Kindle at church. It only is a problem when the pastor goes between verse quickly. I sometime compare the Spanish with the English versions I have. BTW- The ESV is a free download on Amazon.
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Donna, I take my Kindle everywhere….and we use Ipads and the Kindle at church….by Bible is NIV…the Pastor uses ESV…the ESV is loaded on my Kindle…so that is what I use in church….I have a love/hate relationship with my Kindle…but, it is so easy to keep in my purse, I have many wonderful books loaded on it…and if my friends show up late to a scheduled lunch or breakfast….I pull out the Kindle and have quiet moments to read before they show up!
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I’m seeing electronic Bibles more often in our church, though I still like my old bound copy with highlights & notes from over the past 23 years. 🙂 And I think I’m faster flipping through that than I would be in an electronic version (though I do have them loaded on my devices).
nancyjill, I do the same thing with my smartphone — I’ve even taken it out while standing in a supermarket line to check fb, messages, news sites, etc.
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And all the books I’m currently reading are loaded on my phone as well — I make use of that during lunch hours here at work.
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Some of the younger people in church read scripture from devices. I think if a device is dedicated to God’s Word then that is especially appropriate, but who knows what is being brought into the churches on some of the devices. I don’t want to be judgemental about this though. I can see how I could benefit from using the visual enhancements on my Kindle in reading the Bible. It is just that some who are not well established in the Christian faith may bring devices and material into the service that would make God want to leave the sanctuary. In a small group or house church such as Peter attends I don’t see this as much of an issue.
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Janice- While you may have a valid point about what is on the devices, I would think that God would be more concerned with what is in the hearts and on the minds of those in attendance. A Godly person is going to have honorable things on his/her device.
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I worked with Bible Drill a few years ago and learned to quickly locate the books. If I don’t keep at it I will lose the skill. So I am faster locating books like that now than I am in Kindle style. I have several versions of the Bible on my Kindle and for access on my phone. I just get frustrated with how long it takes me to locate a passage on the Kindle.
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Peter, a friend sends some links to sermons from the now deceased David Wilkinson. One of the sermons was about electronic media, etc. He was sounding pretty down on it because of what all is available on it and maybe what is in the air unseen to us but known by God. I have not said it exactly as I read it but that was the gist. It is something to consider. I did not really consider it before I read the sermon.
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I see a lot of iPhones, Kindles, etc in our church services. I use my iPhone because I can read it without having to pull out my reading glasses and putting them on & off. A friend who works at the local bookstore says more and more people are coming in looking not for large print Bibles, but EXTRA large print Bibles. I so understand where they’re coming from.
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I’ve never really noticed. But now I’m curious, so I’ll make it a point on Sunday to look around and see if anyone is using electronic devices.
We do have one older gentleman who’s watch alarm goes off every Sunday at 11. I don’t know whether it’s intentional so the Pastor doesn’t go long, or if he just doesn’t know how to turn it off. 😯
Every week I see people frowning at him for it, but he doesn’t notice, or he doesn’t care. 🙂
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We’re enjoying having our niece and her hubby here so much. They must be enjoying it too, as they have decided to stay another day! Love them!
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Am; I the only person here who doesn’t have a sleep problem?
If I’m not asleep in an hour, I get up and take a Melanoma tablet, read for half an hour and go back to bed, usually to sleep.
I am off jury duty. They started with over forty people and kept finding reason to excuse people, and finally, with only about ten left (after selecting the 12), they got a jury.
It is a civil case where the NCDOT took some land in 2008 for an interchange. The state paid $250k for 4.5 acres. The previous owners said that is not enough. They wan $750k for the condemned property. I wouldn’t have been good for this because I already see through this before the evidence is presented. The DOT wanted to lowball this thing and pay as little as possible. The owners are trying to highball this and soak the state. NC is saying the property is only worth $56k/acre, the people want $166k/acre.
The truth has to be somewhere between.
But it’s now none of my business.
And I’m glad. They were running out of people there.
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AJ @15:19, there are blind (VIP) people who have watches that announce the time. They can turn them off, but some don’t.
Have you noticed that it’s always a female voice?
The reason for that is that no one ever listens to what a man says.
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There are watches that talk?
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Chas, I have no problem sleeping, either. Ever.
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Karen O: That is interesting. I don’t think I fit the profile for Aspergers, though a couple of my nephews have been diagnosed with it as well as one niece, so it obviously runs in our family. I would agree that I’m not “neuro-typical” as I am extremely sensitive to the flickering in fluorescent lights — I swear I can see them going off and on–and am very bothered by loud indoor places. I have great difficulty tuning out background noise. For example, I can’t talk on the phone and have the TV on or I will pay attention to the TV and miss what the person is saying on the phone, even when I’m actually more interested in the phone conversation! In college, I had to study in the chemistry library in a little cubicle to keep myself from becoming distracted.
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Janice,
If you ever had any objections to moving to Oregon because of the rain, then they are moot now, yes?
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My wife (whose father died week ago Monday) is tired of the rain, and wishes she had some sunshine to wash the gloom away… And every night her Puddleglum (me) comes home with the little black rain cloud following behind.
If you got extra sunshine, could ya bottle some of it and ship it my way? 😉
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Oh, yeah, MIM, I suppose you are having a similar waterlogged feeling these days. It seems so unusual. God must be up to something. Maybe He just wants to make sure that the surrounding states don’t get into battles over who gets the water in the Chattahoochee. I suppose the other states will be pleading with us to keep all the water.
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There are a couple of people here who use e-books when we gather for Sunday worship. At home, I noticed quite a few people using their devices in the large city church I attended, but only one person in my tiny family church gets and uses all the latest gadgets. Me? I have an e-reader, but my beautiful single column KJV is such a joy to read that an e-version would be a letdown. I have noticed that it seems to take a while to look up a reference on an e-reader. I could beat the users hollow in a sword drill.
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Once in church someone’s cell phone started ringing during the sermon. The priest broke out in some song Jesus Calling and started clapping his hands. He said he had always wanted to do that. He was smiling and seemed to be enjoying himself but I think it got the message across better than if he had scolded the congregation. I haven’t heard one ring in church since.
Me? I am joined at the hip to my cell phone because of my job. I leave mine in the cup holder in the Xterra on Sunday mornings. I figure there are not emergencies in Real Estate and my adoring public can do without me for an hour and a half to two hours. Plus I would be mortified if mine rang during church.
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Rain rain go away…
Wash some other town away…
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Donna, there are watches that announce the time.
Janice, MIM, last year this time, we were praying for rain. Remember?
But I’ve had enough. My grass is 4″ high. And too wet to cut.
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Rains? This is the season for it. The other day I was in a building just 100 feet from my house and a downpour whipped up in five minutes. I had to get home, so I ran for it, but I was soaked to the skin before I got halfway. There are quite a few village houses which have collapsed already, and we aren’t even to the halfway mark of the season yet.
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Re – Watches, cell phones, etc. in church – My father has lost the ability to hear high pitches, and watch alarms are out of his range. Every once in a while, usually after the time change when he has had to reset his watch, the alarm will go off at 12 noon in church. The alarm is the type that gives a few warning beeps before striking out the hour, so it goes on a while. All our family will wince, the rest of the church remains politely unaware and my father is genuinely oblivious that his watch is alarming about a foot from his ear. If my mother shakes his arm and points to his watch, he will try to muffle the sound, which only makes it more obvious. So, the elderly man may not be aware he is causing the disturbance.
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It’s a Coke commercial, 3 minutes long. A bunch of Purdue mechanical engineering students invent a Rube Goldberg machine to dispense Coke.
Real funny.
Lestwise I thought so.
:lol;
https://youtube.com/watch?v=KEBJmZL8G1E
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Our pastor has made some pretty funny quips when phones go off. I think it’s usually the older people who don’t turn them off — and they usually also have really jaunty, loud, musical “rings.” 🙂 Real attention-getters.
I keep my cell with me (part of my job, too) even at church, but never look at it at any point in the service.
Here’s an interesting piece on the trend in Protestantism toward celebrity preachers and mega churches:
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send some of your rain here. Lots of clouds, but we need rain to fill the water tanks. Of course tomorrow is Sports Day at our school, so would like it to be dry for that. I have the free ESV download and take my itouch and a Bible to church. The ESV download lets you touch a verse and the cross references pop up. Then you touch the cross reference and you are there, then tap to return. It is so quick that I routinely look up the references to more fully understand a passage.
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And another good piece on Christians as America’s new prophetic minority:
http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/breakpoint-columns/entry/2/23155
” … There may be no better teacher for us than Jeremiah. I’ve been spending much time with Jeremiah lately, though I must admit I’ve had difficulty getting past the first several chapters. They sound too familiar; too much like the world we live in; and therefore too troubling to hurry through. …
“The parallels with America today are more than disturbing.
“We are wise, and the word of the sociologists and psychologists is with us”—for this is where we look for our wisdom; and the social scientists have found no reason (they say) to doubt the goodness of open sexual relationships and devalued “marriage,” straight or gay.
“We are wise, and the word of the scientists is with us”—for this is where we go to find answers even for non-scientific matters, including, notoriously, the worth of the unborn.
“We are secure,” for economic data released August 15 indicates the U.S. economy “appears to be strengthening.” But this is an absurdly light healing of our wounds. Public debt is approaching $17 trillion, and growing by a trillion a year, according to White House numbers. Can strength be sustained that way? … “
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donna j: Ouch! Those quotes are painful to read.
Kim: What a nice thing you did in communicating so eloquently the attributes of Daddy J. I’m sure she’ll remember your words for a long time.
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On a lighter note. Nothing much funnier than puppies who spot themselves in a mirror for the first time.
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Oh, and here’s more fun with dogs. this one works very hard to steal a pizza.
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Came over just to share a dog story. Some may have seen or heard it before but ….
http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/dog-finds-a-tiny-kitten-risks-everything-to-save-her
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We could use rain here. We got a lot earlier this month, so we’re above average for the month, but haven’t had any for a couple of weeks. So some of you can send an inch or two this way, and I’m sure the farmers would appreciate it. (Things are so much lusher than last year’s drought, though; the corn is really tall, and we have large families of turkeys everywhere.)
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Aww, sweet dog and kitten story hwesseli
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I am released from Jury Duty!!!!!
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Well, then, you must have time to come out and cook for us! Looking forward to that. By the way, the lack of shorts here is due to the not lack of snakes or bees.
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Congratulations, Kim! Hubby found out today the trial may last longer than originally predicted. They are now predicting it will be over next Wednesday. That’s two full weeks off from work. Hubby is going to the office from 5:00-9:00, trying to stay on top of things. It makes for a very long day.
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OH, I am coming back. I just have to figure out how and when. You only had my Summer, Guess and By Golly it with Whatever is On Hand Cooking. If I had time to stew and obsess over what I fed you, it would be different.
Do you have tomatoes yet? I have a recipe for tomato pie to send to the resident baker.
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66! 🙂
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Poor little stubby legged puppy. He wasn’t even close when he tried to jump on the bed at the :13 second mark. 🙂
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HRW,
That’s adorable. 🙂
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the year my son was born. Just had to grab it. 🙂
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articulate thankfulness you for circulating so large posted letters to us. I conclusively enjoying every little bit of it. That’s a large mind-set, I yearn the incoming remarks and proposals are identically affirmative. It feels awesome to read such informative and exclusive parts on your websites.
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