Our Daily Thread 12-20-14

Good Morning!

5 Days!!!! 🙂

Today’s header photo is from Kare.

*It’s now Sunday the 21st, so I believe someone has a birthday today.

Happy Birthday Linda. 🙂

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On this day in 1790 the first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, RI.

In 1860 South Carolina became the first state to secede from the American Union. 

In 1879 Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, NJ. 

And in 1968 author John Steinbeck died at the age of 66.

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Quote of the Day

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.”

Dale Evans

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 This one is a request.

And this one is because I like it. From King’s College Choir

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Anyone have a QoD?

7,368 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-20-14

  1. I guess I can’t just put a 🙂 since whenever I try to post only that emoticon, the computer says, “Duplicate comment. It looks like you already said that!” 🙂

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  2. well, six, good of you to stop by for just a moment….thanks for telling us those encouraging things about your husband and inlaws.

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  3. You’re welcome, Mumsee. My pleasure.

    And I just realized I also got 700. 800 wasn’t the only 00 number I’d gotten on this thread.

    I have a good memory. It’s just short, is all. As they say.

    It will be good to clear the cobwebs from my brain tomorrow. 🙂

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  4. Perhaps some tickets will come tomorrow. Then I have to decide when I will travel to see the rest of my grandchildren. These tickets are standby and are good for 90 days. Doesn’t look like it is a good time to go to Colorado, but perhaps Portland.

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  5. And Idaho is not far from there. Like I mentioned, shirt sleeve weather. And the snow is frozen enough to be able to wear tennis shoes and not break through.

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  6. Forrest stayed up late last night, but slept until about 11:15 this morning. He’s a little young to be acting like a teenager, dontcha think?

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  7. so many needs in Ukarumpa that I am wondering if I should go back early. Need to see the rest of my grandchildren first. Things should settle down next week or at least get into a routine.

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  8. 816. That used to be my area code until it got changed to 660. Now I live in the 573 (which used to be part of 314) and can see 217 from my front window.

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  9. Jo- I’ve lived in 5 different area codes in 3 states, but one of those was when 816 got changed in our part of the state to 660. I grew up in 602 (Arizona- it is now 520), moved to 816 (Missouri) which got changed to 660, then moved to 319 (Iowa), back to 660 and now 573 (also Missouri). And I work in 217 (Illinois).

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  10. I’m at home with just my four youngest, also, at the moment. I too am thankful for my life and the way it is. Messy and glorious at the same time.

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  11. We survived our media fast yesterday. Much good came of the day. We will continue with screen-free Thursdays.

    The day went a lot slower for me than days that I’m online. One might think slow means boring, but I kind of liked the pace. I didn’t fill the extra time with lots of other stuff, but did have ample time for reflection, which is good, too.

    I am thinking that I, personally, would like to have more internet-free days for myself. Going offline on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays was what came to mind.

    Maybe. It’ll be harder to keep up with all of you here, though, and I am thankful for this place and the people on this blog.

    Whatever I decide, and however much I’m here, you are all a blessing.

    (I should probably put that on today’s daily thread, as I don’t know how many people are coming to this page and reading it regularly.)

    But first I need to do my piano business, which is finding a video for my Video of the Week feature I send out via email every Friday to my piano students.

    See you later.

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  12. Jo- When we got cell service here we chose the Missouri area code since there was no $30 start up cost for it, but there was for the Illinois area code.

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  13. Very thankful that another day is coming to a close as my bed is calling me. The two youngest are in bed, the others are all off with husband to watch or participate in basketball.

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  14. Good Saturday morning to you all! (Or should that be “to you few”, on this thread?)

    R took Forrest overnight last night, but will be bringing him back pretty soon. So Chrissy & I will only have about five hours of babysitting today. Missing my little sweetheart.

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  15. I am thankful for a busy family. The boys went with husband for the men’s prayer breakfast, the girls stayed here to do Saturday cleanup (the boys will do their part upon their return) and now the girls are off on some secret mission to surprise me on dad’s behalf. I suspect it will be a new buck rabbit but what do I know.

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  16. Found a couple of picture at the thrift store yesterday that I really like. This house has lots of pictures on the walls, but mostly they are the castoffs of lots of folks. So I am excited to have something new to put up that I like.

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  17. I was wrong. Turned out to be three new goats. Apparently, somebody at the store when they were buying goat concentrate did not want to feed her goats anymore. The girls took her number, got approval from dad, and made the hour and a half drive to where the woman lives as opposed to the hour drive where the woman was shopping, to bring me three goats. They know nothing about them. There is a large La Mancha doe who looks to be about five or six years old, and two pygmies of some sort. One is supposedly a wether and the other may be a doe but I did not go check. I am grateful for a family that not only supplies my needs but my fun as well! And God Who laughs along with us, I would guess.

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  18. I need to get over to the gym today. Just waiting to see if I feel okay after my lunch. You see I forgot and left the meat out all night, but the house is cold, especially the kitchen, so I could not bear to throw it away. Had some in a sandwich for lunch and decided to wait a while to make sure that I wasn’t going to get sick.
    How’s that for a good reason to procrastinate??

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  19. Found a frame for one of my new pictures. The other was already framed. Of course, I spent more on the frame than the picture. It’s going to look so good where I am putting them up in the house that I will call that Jo’s corner! One is a snowy picture of an old building on the shores of Lake Tahoe and the other is a fall picture of a path in the woods.

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  20. My TV won’t turn on either. Probably a good thing. It is not plugged in though. I am thankful that God has given me enough to keep me busy because I would quickly drift into tv all the time.

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  21. Very thankful that son has connected with the brother of his mentor. The brother is a youth pastor over in Seattle and son was going to his church this morning. The man has a job lined up for son as well, starting Monday. Chopping firewood.

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  22. asked a new friend for a ride today, or rather a ride home. I returned car number two, and we had a good visit with the gal who broke her ankle.
    Then we stopped at a store where I bought the jacket I had tried on on Friday. I don’t usually shop on Sunday, but it was so nice to have a friend to give me an opinion.

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  23. went over to visit Awana tonight to see some friends. Easy to do when it only means walking across the parking lot. I asked some folks about their kids. Wow I really have been gone for ten years. Their 4 year old is now 14 and 2 daughters are in their 20’s.
    I’d better get to know the new generation.

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  24. had a missionary potluck after church today. So nice to see a young couple with two children going to Africa longterm. This generation of missionaries in our church are getting old. We need the young to catch the vision.

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  25. I really didn’t mean to talk to myself on here.
    Sad that I hurt a friend just now, she emailed that she had bought non refundable tickets to a play this Saturday and I thought I already told her I wouldn’t be going. I will be in Portland. and I missed her grandsons birthday last Saturday.

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  26. had the two local grandchildren over this afternoon. They showed me how to make origami cranes. They are quite good at it and the seven year old actually gave me a mobile with ten cranes for Christmas.

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  27. Having a fairly nice day, after a couple semi-disasters this morning. Reaching into my closet, then suddenly changing my mind & turning around towards my dresser, my hand bumped into my earring holder-thingie, dropping earrings on the dresser, & one on the floor. It took a while before I knew that most of them had landed on the dresser, & not gone off the side near the wall. Some had landed on a thing I have on the dresser, which I didn’t notice right away, causing me a bit of anxiety.

    A bit later, emptying the dishwasher, I dropped a glass on the carafe to the coffeemaker, shattering it all over the place. 😦

    Fortunately, I knew I’d saved an old coffeemaker carafe in the basement. After washing it off, I tried it with a couple cups of water, & it worked! Felt relieved about that.

    Since then, I have managed to not get myself in any other trouble. 🙂

    I think I’ll copy this to today’s daily thread a bit later, when I catch up on comments.

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  28. Keep an eye on that, Jo. We often put marker around something like that so we can know if it is growing and therefore in need of further attention. Thankful for markers and doctors and medicines. God thought of everything.

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  29. I am thankful for a pleasant half hour in the hot tub with seven year old. She only stayed about twenty minutes, of course and it is not very hot. But we watched the guinea fowl flying up into the spruce trees for the night. Now we can let Barney loose.

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  30. quietly sitting here watching the church parking lot through the trees. rejoicing as I see so many ladies coming for Bible study. Knowing my friend is there. I will go to this study on Thursday evening.

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  31. They gave me a copy of the study guide for Job, it is great. I am reading Job in my daily reading and this study really clarifies things. Short, and to the point with lots of graphs to make things clear. I think I will go sit at the table and spend some time on this study.

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  32. Thank you to 6th Arrow. I have a little bit of a tea pot collection, so I chose that picture from somewhere (I forget where). (It’s not one of mine.)

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  33. We made it back from the dentist. I am grateful to have a dentist that is gentle and capable and still able to do her work with an eight month old baby on board. They may have to relook their situation when the baby arrives, since her husband is her assistant. She does not want to train somebody else. They work well together.

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  34. the bite on my thigh is till quite red and it is larger. I really hate to go to the doctor, especially since it is just a bug bit.
    Must ponder. It doesn’t hurt, just a large red circle, slightly swollen

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  35. Just a bug bite can easily become infected. Those of us living with staph are well aware of that. Apply moist heat to draw any poisons to the surface. Apply antibiotic whatever to kill the germs. And if it continues to expand or grow quickly, probably time to bite the bullet. Thankful that we have God caring about even the little things in our lives.

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  36. I filled out the form, but then they asked for a street address, that so befuddled me that I decided to wait while I figure that out. This home is owned by the church and does not have a mailing address.

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  37. Good to hear, Mumsee.

    Looks like my last comment on this thread was last night when it was time to say goodnight. It’s that time again, so goodnight! 🙂

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  38. so sweet to secretly talk to you all
    Must be time to pack my suitcase if I’m leaving in the morning. I’m going to take the only suitcase I have even though it is large. It will be raining in Portland and snowing in Boulder and I have Christmas gifts. This way I can even take my cozy polar fleece robe.

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  39. It’s kinda warm here today, as the temp is up to 33*, the warmest it’s been in a while. But it’s supposed to go down to around 2* later or tonight, so that’s good. We wouldn’t want to get sick from those warm temps messing up our systems.

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  40. Eight year old son headed out with his bag of games to go to grandma’s house. Thankful that he can do that without CPS getting involved. Thankful that he got there before the big hail storm hit.

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  41. Our temperatures were similar to that, and with no wind. It was beautiful outside. The youngest ones went out to do cat chores, wearing short-sleeved T-shirts, and I let them. It’s a job that only takes a few minutes. Nice not to have to put on ten layers of clothes some days. 😉

    Today’s and tomorrow’s (predicted) high are similar to yesterday’s, but with the wind chill factor, it feels around ten degrees lower, so they’re back to coat-wearing.

    Still much nicer than the double-digit-below-zero temperatures before windchill we had earlier this month.

    There’s much to be thankful for.

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  42. 🙂

    It appeared that the computer that I normally use bit the dust this morning, so I was on 1st Arrow’s computer while he was gone to school today.

    Did I mention he’s going to school for IT stuff?

    He got home, figured out the problem with the broken-down one, and here I am again, at my usual IP address. 😉

    I think I’ll recommend him for an A. 🙂

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  43. So 6 was Anonymous. And here I thought Michelle had wandered over. “Musician” should have clued me in. Oh, well. It’s been a long week and I’m tired. At least I get three days off.

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  44. Yep, that was me. Except Michelle is also a musician, so I muddied the waters a bit more on the other thread, calling myself the anonymous musician.

    Sneaky, as Mumsee says.

    Enjoy your three days off, Peter. You’ve earned them.

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  45. Mumsee, I would love to have a few pygmy goats – I’m guessing they would need a sturdy shelter for my winters. What do you do with your goats besides enjoy their personalities?

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  46. Nice to see you back here, Kare!

    I am thankful that 2nd Arrow (D1 is how Peter would refer to her 😉 ) is home for the weekend. Tomorrow all eight of us will be able to go to church together, and when daughter goes back to her place, she’s taking 3rd and 4th Arrows with her, and they’ll spend a couple days together before hubby goes to pick up the younger ones on Tuesday and bring them back home.

    Lovely to see blossoming relationships among my teen daughters and their adult sister. 🙂

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  47. We had a pygmy ram until last year when we gave him away. He was a lot of fun and we have a couple of his children from goats so that is interesting. The goats have a three sided loafing shed with straw and two almost closed huts with straw and one with a wooden floor and straw. They prefer the loafing shed unless it is below zero and any night it is not precipitating, they tend to “sleep” outside. Like Jake. She only uses her house if it is raining or snowing hard. Otherwise she sleeps out in front of it. Anyway, the goats are used for milk and for meat but mostly for therapy. I often look at buying harness gear but then, realizing I don’t have time for it, let it go. Mostly we have Oberhasli’s now which seem to do rather well with the cold. I am thankful to have arrived at durable goats.

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  48. Thanks, Mumsee – I don’t think I would milk or like to eat my goats! I just think they’re hilarious! I probably shouldn’t get any as I tend to get bored of things and then husband has to take care of it.

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  49. it is encouraging simply to continue on with this thread.
    Interesting to be so close to these three grands who are 10 months, 3, and 5. Ages that I don’t see too much. I forgot all the drama, but God led me to bring little things and a few books, so I bring them out when some quiet is needed and then do some reading. Works well.

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  50. Enjoy your precious little grandchildren, Jo!

    Forrest is four, & he is a little firecracker. Not much quiet with him around! Oh, but it is such a blessing to have him here. I especially realize that when I think of you or others who live far from their own grandchildren.

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  51. Very grateful for this whole site but this thread has been fun. Grandchildren are fun but can be overwhelming. It is good to have something quiet to catch their attention. Mine like to be read to, I can do that.

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  52. I don’t have any grandchildren yet, but there are several little ones at camp that I get to see and hold all the time – love them to bits!

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  53. so, the only flight with room to Denver tomorrow is at 6am. Good thing we are close to the airport.
    So I leave the three here and head to Boulder, close to Nancyjill, where there are four girls, 18 months, 6, 8, and 9. Dad is gone this week so I will be helping out until Saturday.
    I brought my warmest clothes as they are expecting snow.

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  54. Will you get to visit with NancyJill? I am so thankful for the connections made on here. They are my strongest support group. And have been for years. Kind of a sad statement but on the other hand, a tremendous working of the Plan.

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  55. Good morning friends in far corners and forgotten threads. I am thankful for another beautiful day. I was going to walk the dogs this morning, but with the heavy cloud cover keeping the light from making things apparent, I will leave that to a couple of children this morning as they don’t get up until seven. Then the coyotes can be seen.

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  56. Good afternoon. Time for me to quit neglecting this thread today.

    I am thankful to have seen a beautiful sunrise this morning, then to have witnessed snow falling gently from the sky later this morning.

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  57. After a period of calm, experiencing another turbulent day with thirteen year old daughter. Must be that time again.

    Thankfully, thirteen year old son has decided to begin doing school again.

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  58. Babysat this morning, but don’t have to tonight because Emily doesn’t have classes tonight due to today being Martin Luther King Day. But will have to babysit a different evening (either Tuesday or Thursday) because Emily & A are planning another date.

    They had planned a date for this evening, but his car wouldn’t start this morning.

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  59. Good to hear about your 13-year-old son, and the recent period of calm with your 13-year-old daughter, Mumsee. Hoping (and praying) the present turbulence with her will subside soon.

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  60. It has been a month since the last one so you can see where we are going with that. Thankful that these things can be figured out and dealt with.

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  61. That’s what I gathered, Mumsee.

    I am thankful that my three daughters who are 13 and above have not had nearly as much difficulty with emotional outbursts at that time as I did at times during my teen years. I can’t really even tell when it’s that time of the month for them.

    I had one episode as a teen where I got so angry I kicked the light switch off our bedroom wall (the room I shared with all of my sisters). Nobody saw me do it, but one of them wondered out loud when we were getting ready to go to bed what had happened to that switch.

    I was over my anger by then, and sufficiently embarrassed by what I’d done, and did not tell them what I knew.

    Emotional volatility in children is not easy for parents. You and Mike have my deepest respect, Mumsee, for all you do to love and minister to these troubled children you take in. Thank you.

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  62. I am in Boulder now. It is so different as the ages of the children are different. The 18 month old is so precious and already warming up to me. The kinder girl is reading chapter books. Lots happening and it is fun to be a part of it all.

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  63. Eighteen year old daughter slammed the door coming in last night as she was mad at her sister. She said she could have kicked the wall but restrained herself. She did kick the wall several months ago and had to put up a sheetrock patch. I think she does not want to do that again. Amusingly, the sermon yesterday was on controlling one’s anger.

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  64. For a while before Emily actually began menstruating, she would have horribly bad, very angry moods for a short period of time each month. It was very alarming, because she would get emotionally out of control, & she did get a bit violent once or twice.

    My dear friend, Marilyn (my then-pastor’s wife, & still a dear friend), was the one who had me realize that it was a monthly thing, & she said she knew of some girls who went a little crazy on a monthly basis, before even begin their periods. One girl even heard voices or some such thing, but it stopped after menstruation began.

    Finally, Emily’s began, & those alarming episodes stopped.

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  65. Now that I have sufficiently scared everyone, I believe I will make my exit for a time. (But will clarify that I was over stuff like that by the time I reached my 20s, so nobody worries.)

    I’ll be on the road for six or more hours tomorrow — a little change of scenery– and won’t be around here. Have a good Tuesday, all.

    Good night.

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  66. And that is why I have a tough time with the grandchildren. The noise level goes up so high. We have a sign posted on the refrigerator, something along the lines of: don’t disturb the peace of the family and it is strongly enforced. I am thankful for the grandchildren and their parents who love them.

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  67. I agree. Some of the noise level is hard. The littlest has a cute way about her, but talks loudly. Okay, mom just went to school to help out as they texted her that they had no help today. Please pray that little Ginger will sleep while she is gone. I used up all my tricks earlier when mom rode her bike to school with the other three. It is so sad to have an 18 month old crying for mommy, but I did get her stopped and interested in some things before mom came home.

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  68. Good afternoon to you all. I am so thankful for the adopted children God has blessed us with. It is so exciting to see them growing up and heading off into the big world. Contributing in a positive way. I was just thinking of asking Jo if there is a place for the untrained, who can work hard and follow directions, where she ministers when this opportunity came up for daughter. She would love going on a missions trip.

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  69. I went up and watched God Is Not Dead. Very uplifting and encouraging. I don’t know why we have it and I suspect I am the last to watch it. I am thankful it was there to watch when I actually had time to watch something. Good night all.

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  70. Good night. I watched Ginger three times today. That answers my prayer of being a help to my daughter. By evening, she was very comfortable with me. I am bonding with my grands which is also an answer to prayer as they see me so seldoml

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  71. So nice reading this thread since I was last here the other night. Great blessings! Loved your 1:10 post this morning, Jo. That is sweet.

    And good morning, BTW! 🙂 On to 1000 today? We shall see. 😉

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  72. I am thankful for pretty full cabinets, refrigerator and freezer. Third Arrow and I just came back with nearly $260 worth of groceries.

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  73. First I need to do my piano business, though. I send out a weekly email to my piano families with a link to a video featuring a classical composer whose birthday comes up in the next week. Sometimes it takes a while to decide which composer I will choose, and which of his pieces of music will be featured. I enjoy the hunt, though.

    See you later.

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  74. Alright, did that.

    So, what’s going on with all of you?

    I guess I will go check yesterday’s threads now, and today’s, and see for myself. 😉

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  75. Had a pretty good day today. Wondering how much snow we’re going to get tomorrow, & if Emily’s school will be closed because of it. I’ll check the weather report when it is on TV in a while.

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  76. it’s the little things: I went to pickup some pictures for my daughter and saw it was just down the street from a Hobby Lobby. So I was able to get the mini size brads for kinder art projects that I have been looking for for years. So nice

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  77. Ain’t that the truth. Used to be $260 worth, and we’d need two grocery carts to hold all of it.

    Not any more. One cart was sufficient.

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  78. But I am thankful we got everything we need for a week’s worth of menus (except some of the fresh items that will be needed next week), and replenished supplies of non-food items that will run low or out in the next two weeks.

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  79. I might just have to talk to myself.

    (But then, here I am doing five posts in a row again, for the second time today. So I guess I am talking to myself.)

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  80. I don’t know how old this boy is, but this is some pretty incredible playing in this video I found when searching for my video of the week to send to my students.

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  81. So yesterday one of the things I did while I was offline was to figure out what my piano income was last year, and what my expenses were.

    Earnings minus expenses =

    +$0.38. 🙂

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  82. Starting up my business again had some costs associated with it, and with income in only November and December, I just barely broke even.

    This year should be better.

    I’m thankful for the two students I do have at this time.

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  83. Hi everyone!
    Daughter completed her scenarios this week and found out she does not have to re-take the exam! Now on to her practicum – hope it goes better for her this time.

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  84. I don’t know that I’m going to be able to get on here this weekend.

    And I kind of don’t want to miss seeing right when this thread gets to 1000…

    Or not “right when”, but, you know, around that time, not a day or two or three later…

    So I’m going to sort of nudge it along here so we can get to the magic number tonight.

    Any helpers? 🙂

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  85. Hawaii sound so lovely. I just asked my friend if I could stay overnight at their place next weekend as I will be attending a Christian Youth Worker’s conference. She replied that they would love to have me but they will be in Hawaii.

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