70 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-11-15”

  4. Donna, I suggested Massage Envy because they are a chain and you can get in to see someone rather quickly. I was having trouble with my neck and shoulder a while back and really didn’t have the time to wait for an appointment and take several hours to get there, etc. I needed to be able to turn my head.

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  5. We have Massage Envy here in Atlanta. I have never had a professional massage. Someone at church had one while on vacation and it hurt her back. That has made me less than enthusiastic about getting a massage.

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  6. So last night G had BG and the boyfriend come to his house to talk to them. BF reached out to shake G’s hand. G asked if BF understood what a handshake meant. The guy said the thought so. G told him that it was a sign of mutual respect and BF hadn’t earned his respect yet. G laid it all out that a single mess up could land BG in jail. After a while of talking G gave them permission to go get dinner without him. I don’t know if he reached her or not, but the information I got when she got home is that BF was scared.
    The mother in me wants to send her away to someplace safe and wrap her up to keep her from getting in trouble and letting her find some new friends. Not possible now.

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  8. Ann, I initially missed your post from yesterday, that’s such great news! What a relief all the way around.

    We’ve had a cool, rainy, windy night here, fitting for this time of year. I need to haul my trash & recycles out but am waiting for a bit more daylight first. The cat also wants out but I don’t like letting her out in the dark, either. 🙂 So she’s cooling her paws, hovering around the closed doggie door.

    Favorite grocery store — not really, I’m a convenience shopper, I hit whatever store that’s on my route home. Mostly that’s Sprouts, which has some really good things but also doesn’t carry (“unnatural”) staples like aspirin or other OTC medications.

    And another gripe: Their expiration dates on dairy and other fresh products aren’t the best, either, for a single person who is looking for the longest times since items don’t get used up right away. An expiration date of only 4-5 days (some even shorter) out isn’t practical for a single-person household.

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  9. I’ve had a couple full body massages over the years when I’ve been in pain, they’re not my thing — too greasy and it’s hard for me to fully relax (probably because I get them so rarely and feel awkward). But my neck and shoulders are really giving me grief, mainly due to sitting at a computer for many hours every day. Might be nice to get those worked on semi-regularly.

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  10. IT’s FRIDAY!
    You know what that means?
    VIP luncheon at Lions. I pick up a lady to take her to lunch.
    There will be $50.00 Walmart gift cards for VIP’s and the Salvation Army band will play.

    And tomorrow is the Children’s Film Festival.

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  15. We have a smallish neighborhood Publix that is my favorite because I know where everything is and parking is always close up so I never have to worry about finding my car in a huge lot. But the convenience does cost more than shopping at Kroger. I do like seeing the same cashiers, at least some of them, at Publix that I have known for years. I am shopping at Kroger more now since I have been to their pharmacy so many times in the past few months. I have learned where to get good parking there near the pharmacy which is not near the main entrance.

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  16. Musical Advent Calendar – Day 11: Patapan is a French carol, written in the Burgundian dialect by Bernard la Monnoye (1641-1728).

    Willie, take your little drum, Robin take your flute and come!
    When we hear the right we will sing Noel this night,
    When we hear the fife and drum, Christmas should be frolicsome.

    Thus the men of olden days for the King of Kings to praise,
    When they heard the fife and drum, ture-lure-lu, pata-pata-pan,
    When they hear the fife and drum, sure, our children won’t be dumb.

    God and man are now become more at one than fife and drum.
    When you hear the fife and drum, ture-lure-lu, pata-pata-pan,
    When you hear the fife and drum, dance and make the village hum.

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  17. Great posts Michelle. Yesterday was the first time I ever felt dizzy after a massage. She used thyme, spearmint, peppermint, lavender, two other oils I can’t remember, and finished my head and neck with marjoram oil. The smells were as relaxing as the massage. I told her it was the most peaceful massage I had ever had. She thanked ME!!!! For your research they next time you write a book set at a spa she said she feels honored that someone trusts her with their body and she tries to return the honor. She also suggested I not bathe or shower until this morning to allow the oils to continue their work. I followed her instructions and I think the lavender oil helped me sleep.
    After the week I’ve had I need peacefulness. Thank you to my friend Leesee.

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  20. QOD. That is hard to answer. While I love Publix, I do find it expensive for every day. I love their coupon policy and their buy one get one policy. If you only need one it is half price. Winn Dixie doesn’t honor that. They are truly BOGO. I also like that if I look confused or lost in the slightest way at Publix, someone appears and asks if they can help me. In town we have a Greers Marketplace. It is like the old grocery store you remember from your childhood. Not a supermarket at all. Inside they have a chef in the deli, a seating area for lunch or coffee, and an on site butcher. I mean a REAL butcher who will go in the back and cut a special cut of meat for you.
    Then we have a Piggly Wiggly. This one is locally owned and tied to a meat market in another part of the county. They will butcher a whole cow, a deer, whatever for you there. This one is Cost + 10%. If I can’t shop at Publix for meat or if Greers is too expensive…we buy most of our meat at “The Pig”. They have a wine tasting event every Wednesday night. I tend to forget that, but have found a couple of bottles of inexpensive GOOD wine the few times I have wandered through.
    Further up the road—as in too far to go on a regular basis (as in 14 or 15 miles) is Rouses. They are new to our area, coming over from Louisiana, but Oh the stuff they have there. I have requested their dry aged rib eyes for a special meal before.

    Then of course Wal-Mart. I can’t keep my husband out of Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart! But then again there are women who can’t keep their husband’s our of a bar so given my choices I will take one who brings home wreaths and market umbrellas that I mention I want from Lowe’s.

    I didn’t really answer the question did I? I love the Apron Meals from Publix–it gives me inspiration when I am bored with the same old same old food.

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  21. Good Morning…..what a delight to see the photo on the header first thing this morning…..I did feel a pang of homesickness however…..this reminds me so much of a scene in Ohio….the beautiful pine with a cardinal perfectly set on it’s branch….ahhhh
    My “go to” grocery store is King Soopers….the western version of Krogers. I know the clerks, the layout of the store, pricing of the products…it’s familiar. I was disheartened to hear Kroger is one of the largest corporations now funding employees to have “gender reassignment”….up to $100.000….it was reportedly “encouraged” by the LBGT organization…. 😦

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  22. Some of those cartoons, I don’t understand.
    And I’m not impressed that Mark Zukerberrtg is giving 90% to charity until I know WHICH charities he’s giving to. Lots of 501c3’s out there not worth anything.

    I used to like to see the male cardinal in the snow in Annandale.

    I don[‘t have a favorite grocery store.
    I need to get ready for Lions. 🙂

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  23. Lots of trash and recycles to get out of the house today, but it’s finally all out on the curb for pickup.

    Unfortunately, now I feel ready to go back to bed for some more sleep — but not an option. Sigh. At least it’s Friday.

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  24. Here is my question for the day…and this is just an example of the stuff I deal with….
    We had a home inspection done a home. Two items came up. The roof flashing over the front door and some fittings on the hot water heater. The seller’s readily agreed to repair the flashing but it took several days of negotiations to get the hot water heater addressed. (Guy looked at the report and said it was a twenty dollar fix and HE would go swap them out if it would make the deal go through).
    Yesterday, as a follow up, the home inspection company sent a recall report that had been issued that MAY effect the dishwasher. Keep in mind this home was built in 2013.
    The recall was issued in 2007. They have had reports of rinse aid leaking and sparking an electrical fire. No one has been injured. No homes have burned down. Out of the 2.5 MILLION units sold, there have been 191 reported incidences.
    My buyer wants me to have the seller replace the dishwasher. It’s a safety issue for his family.
    1. If I did the math correctly there is less than a .0007% chance of anything happening.
    2. Nothing, no product, life, etc is ever a 100% guarantee
    3. We have removed the home inspection contingency. I can’t ask for this dishwasher to be replaced.

    My guy is acting like he is going to blow the deal up because of this. My latest reply to him this morning is that I will have the listing agent ask her sellers for the model number and let’s make SURE it is on or not on the list before we move forward with anything. Now keep in mind that this man is a car salesman. I am about to do research on auto recalls and make the analogy to him about selling cars and selling houses.

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  25. Buying and selling houses–most stressful activities . . . . I didn’t sleep for fear the first six weeks after we bought our first house.

    I also don’t do well with car repairs, always convinced I’m being swindled.

    I shop at Safeway and Costco. I am not a gourmet cook nor a shopper. I prefer one Safeway over another, but I don’t really care though it drives me crazy I have to bring my own bags (thank you, local California politicians). I always forget my bags, so I walk to the store and return to my car for the bags before entering almost every single time.

    (Though I’m conditioned. While shopping with the adorable great-niece and nephew in Idaho, we walked up to the store, I remembered the bags, returned to the car, remembered they don’t have that law in Idaho and then went shopping. Good exercise, right?)

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  26. 17 years ago during the year my husband was unemployed, I read aloud The Chronicles of Narnia to my then sevenish daughter. It occurred to me early on that I could tape myself reading the books and give the tapes to my nieces as a Christmas gift.

    So I did.

    But I never gave the girls the tapes.

    I unearthed them this summer and thought, “I could turn the tapes into CDs and give them to the Adorables.” I’ve made all sorts of plans but still haven’t pulled it off. I bought a device to do so and set it up yesterday only to discover I need a AA battery and do you have one when you need one?

    This weekend.

    In the meantime, I remembered I had not read the first 17 chapters into the tape player, so I’ve been reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe into my cell phone for the last week or so.

    It turns out 17 chapters is the whole book!

    Twelve chapters in, it still feels strange not to have a child snuggled up against me, though my husband is enjoying it. And I can’t help myself, I read as if I have an audience!

    It should be a good present they can listen to on a CD player as they fall asleep at night. 🙂

    Off to work and a real life today. Blessings to all.

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  27. Good morning. I’m wiped out and could use a massage. 😉

    I’ve only had one massage. My husband used to need massages fairly regularly, due to all the heavy lifting and such with his job, but I am not strong enough or skilled enough in the proper technique to give him the kind of massage he needs without wearing myself out, so he was going to different massage therapists in our area several years ago. They vary from one to the other how much pressure they apply, so he’d find one better for a certain type of pain, and another for something else, etc.

    He recommended one of them to me who he thought would be best for me and whatever problem I was having at the time.

    It was okay, but I don’t remember a lot about it, other than that she exclaimed, “You’re so tiny!” Maybe she was afraid of crushing me or something, and didn’t apply as much pressure as she could have. I don’t know, but the experience doesn’t stand out in my mind as “Ahhhh!”

    My husband is the best massage therapist I’ve had. 🙂

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  28. Absolutely love this photo. The whole page looks so Christmassy.

    I have never had a professional message, but not sure I would like one. OTOH, I have a daughter who loves them. Her ‘love language’ is primarily touch.

    We do not have much to choose from when it comes to grocery stores. Super One is the biggest anywhere locally. There is one I prefer, since I know it the best. They all carry pretty much the same. We have a few smaller stores. We also now have Walmart, but I have never found it to be much cheaper or better. Our newest local one is poorly managed on top of that, so we seldom go.

    When I am in the South, I find Publix nice, but more expensive. Food Lion has some good deals, but is quite small. Kroger has a lot, but is not always the best deal. Ironically, all my discount cards are from the South since our stores do not have that technology yet. I can use a smart phone, however, but I would need to get one.

    Yes, I am always a bit behind. 😦

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  29. I don’t really have favourite grocery store. My parent typically go to the cheaper Food Basics, but I prefer the slightly more expensive but better quality Loblaws. When I lived on my own, I was on a budget of about $20 a week for food. I would go across the street to the No Frills, which is a budget division of the Loblaws/Canadian Superstore chain. I would buy one or two of each kind of vegetable and fruit I wanted, which would only come to a couple of dollars. That left money for bread, a little meat (usually fish), and dairy (usually in the form of yogurt – cheese was a treat and I don’t drink milk), plus water, as the city water tasted of chlorine. My parents supplemented my diet with garden produce, and one very kind church lady once brought bags of groceries to me, while others invited me to dinner. I did earn a little money, teaching violin, and so I would occasionally go into a European food store and buy some special kind of pickle or jam, etc. which I wanted to try.

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  30. Kim – When Emily was a teen, the friends she hung out with were not exactly the cream of the crop. During that time, she was smoking cigarettes & pot, & drinking, I think, & R was one of the group.

    At some point, she realized that they were all “losers”, & they weren’t on a path to be going anywhere in their lives. She chose to turn away from them & seek better friendships. (She was still with R, though, & we all know the rest of that story.)

    As Chas has mentioned, ask BG what she wants to be doing in 10 years, & how she expects to get there. I don’t know if sharing Emily’s story with her would be helpful or not, but just thought I’d share that bit of it with you.

    On one hand, Emily has turned her life around, & is a very responsible, mature young woman, working to make a better life for herself & her son. On the other hand, she is trying to raise a rambunctious & strong-willed son without the aid of a good father, & that is wearying & frustrating to her at times. (But at least by living upstairs, she doesn’t have to work her butt off to afford a place to live for the two of them.)

    Of course, I cannot wish that she never got involved with R, because then we wouldn’t have this sweet, adorable, crazy little grandson, & I wouldn’t want to wish him away.

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  31. Speaking of that sweet, adorable, crazy little grandson. . .Turns out he is a very good little boy in school. He listens & obeys, & is helpful. Every now & then he needs a reminder to focus on his work, or needs a little help with his work. His teacher said the girls love him, & help him when he needs it.

    For a child who started kindergarten on the young side (he was still four), he is doing well, & has made great progress in various skills. There is a slight chance that the teacher may eventually recommend that he repeat kindergarten, but we’ve already thought about that, & realize it would be good for him, if needed.

    He is now going to be getting some help from a speech therapist at school. There are a few letters, or combinations of letters, that he is still making substitutions for (D for S at the beginning of a word, B instead of a hard G at the beginning of a word), & he is not always easy to understand.

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  37. I hope he actually NEEDS the speech therapy. It was recommended during her preschool screening, that my youngest go to a speech therapist. Before I took her, I talked to an acquaintance who was a speech therapist herself. She explained that the problems they pointed out would go away when my daughter’s brain was physically able. I did not take my daughter and the ‘problem’ went away on its own. Too often, there is too much of a push for children to perform more than they are able (or the opposite!). For a boy to be in Kindergarten when he is still four is quite unusual, unless it is a preschool Kindergarten, which some schools have.

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  38. That happened to third son as well. We were told he needed speech therapy but we did not put him in and he was able to figure it out, somehow. On the other hand, three of my children need it very much. Only two of them have benefited from it, though they went when they were quite young. They did not benefit until they got it when they were older and able to work with the teacher. They still have lots of impediments and need to repeat a lot to be understood.

    Three of my children were in speech before arriving here and it was amusing to listen to them speak certain words: ring, king, sing, all with a hard g sound at the end. They speak clearly though one tends to mumble and slur her words.

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  39. I think Forrest will benefit from the speech therapy.

    Did anyone watch the TV movie based on Dolly Parton’s song, “Coat of Many Colors” (based on actual events from her life) that was on NBC last night? I recorded it & watched it today.

    It amazed me that they included references to the gospel sprinkled in the dialogue, phrases like “God who died for you”, “washed in the blood of Jesus”, & references to where a person might spend eternity. There was even a scene of an altar call at the church. Wow!

    I had tears in my eyes, & prayed that hearts were touched & souls were saved as a result of watching this movie.

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  40. Although Forrest was only four when kindergarten started, he turned five in late October.

    Emily has noticed that the other children in his class speak much more clearly, & the teacher said that sometimes even the other children have trouble understanding him.

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  41. Neither rain nor snow…..
    however, we have not received any mail in days. A big storm hit the area a while back and took part of the roof off of the Spokane Post Office. The equipment got wet and they have stopped delivery for a while.

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  42. Neither required speech therapy, but the story in Elvera’s family goes like this:
    When Argeree (Elvera’s sister) was having dinner with relatives, she said “Pass the Bikit”
    Her cousin same age, popped up and said “Ar JER ree you can’t say Bis Tit”

    🙂

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  44. Chas 😉 It takes another Southerner to truly appreciate that story.

    Karen: I watched the movie last night. It wasn’t what I was expecting and I was quite surprised. Rick Schroder and the other male actor are both known for appearing in Christian films. I think Dolly herself may have been the gossipy ol’ busy body that owned the merchantile.

    Karen–I would strongly encourage Emily to hold Forrest back. He is young enough not to remember it and as my next door neighbor told me about BG’s September birthday…do you want to send a 17 almost 18 year old off to college or do you want to send an 18 almost 19 year old off to college????

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  45. My mother-in-law says she, in retrospect, regretted sending her two sons with June birthdays off to school just after turning five. School was a struggle for them the whole way, as it often is with males who are at the young end of their class. It can be a struggle for girls, too, but especially so with boys, who tend to, in a lot of ways, mature later than girls.

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  46. yup, I think I is great to give boys more time. My October girl waited another year and enjoyed climbing trees and playing with siblings. My February son went to school at 6 1/2 and it was just right for him.

    Only one store here, if you see something, you buy it. Never know how long they will have it or when it will appear again.

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  47. One of my brothers has a December birthday and then skipped a grade, was top of his class all the way through school, and went to college at 16-almost-17. (He, like me, took high school by correspondence and finished in a year and a half, so I’m guessing he must have been five going on six when he started kindergarten, but then made up that late-ish start by skipping a grade.)

    But that’s pretty rare for a boy.

    I like the female cardinal. She has a pretty crest.

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  50. In the south my favorite store was Publix, though I didn’t go very often. But they had the best meat and produce, and their double coupons and buy one, get one deals made it comparable to other store’s prices. And I liked it that they offered to take groceries to the car, sometimes just assuming they were going to do so unless you said no. (I usually said no, but sometimes it was nice to have them do it.)

    I’m not sure I really have a favorite store here, though the Kroger in the big town has a huge selection of things (including a great wine selection, a big variety of produce including exotics, clothing, and jewelry). It can be overwhelming to shop because it’s so big and we don’t know where everything is since we only go a few times a year, but it’s a very good store and good to have somewhat close.

    And Kroger does really have some nice deals, like quadruple points several times a year when you buy gift cards and up to $1.00 off a gallon of gas. So if you buy $200 worth of groceries in the month and $200 of gift cards, you can get $1 off for up to 35 gallons (we currently have three cars and my husband has three five-gallon gas cans, so we use the full 35 gallons). Plus they mail coupons periodically, sometimes including a free loaf of bread and a free carton of eggs. We’re sitting on a coupon that is $8 off $80, and the lady ahead of us in line today had a $13 off $130. Often their coupons are for things that are about to go on sale; today they had Hershey’s chocolate chips for $1.88 and I had a coupon for $1.75 off four. So I got four, and the register printed out a new coupon, this for $2.25 off five bags. We were going back to the store because they didn’t yet have something on the shelf (but told us it was in the back room and would be stocked later), so we used that coupon as well, and then got a new one with the same deal. (Yes, I bought 14 bags of chocolate chips today. At our church, individuals sign up to take cookies, and after the service we have cookies and coffee. Since I can’t work the nursery or sign up for clean-up duty for family reasons, I try to do cookies monthly, and always do one batch of chocolate chip for church and one for home, plus one more variety for church. So we do go through a lot of chocolate chips. Plus we use them for other things sometimes.)

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  51. I stopped in at Whole Foods today on a break, I was craving their fresh cranberry albacore tuna they sell in containers from the deli counter. Mmmmmm, that is the best combo ever for some reason.

    Also picked up some steel cut oatmeal (quick cook), they were out of that at Sprouts.

    It’s blustery outside, the ocean was full of whitecaps (Whole Foods shopping center I went to is at the beach). A brisk, beautiful day!

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  52. So today Mr. P and I went out to lunch. A great new Lebanese place in town. We walked around for a little while and I ended up in a resale shop. I found the perfect purse. I had one similar about 5 years ago and I wore it out. This one is mustard yellow and not my first choice of color, but the bag is long and shallow, so I won’t lose my keys and my cell phone in it. I had left my big bag in the truck because we were just going to run in to get something printed and Mr. P was in there. I had to go back to get him and tell him I needed him to go next door and buy a purse for me. He asked why I couldn’t buy it for myself—BECAUSE I don’t have my purse with me.
    I am pleased with myself, I researched it when I got home. Originally $120, resale for $29 and I liked them on FB so I got 10% off—It covered my tax!

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  63. Sometimes little things can make me so happy.

    After many years of not doing Christmas stockings (my parents used to bring them over for the girls), Emily decided we needed to restart the tradition. She already had one for Forrest (with a smiling snowman & a couple snowflakes on it), but we didn’t have any for the rest of us. So Emily & I picked out some for us when we were out shopping a few weeks ago.

    The one we picked out for Chrissy is red with black zebra stripes & the top is black “fur”. It is “her”. The pattern on Emily’s is like a winter sweater with deer on it, & Lee’s has a sweater-like pattern on it, with a red band at the top (as does Emily’s).

    I went for “classic” – fuzzy red stocking with white fuzzy band at the top (think Santa Hat but in a stocking shape). But as I’ve been looking at the stockings arrayed across the entertainment center (three of which we have to remove when we want to watch TV – good thing we don’t watch too much), mine seemed to lack “a little something”, seemed just a little too plain.

    I have taken care of that by super-gluing a little red bow in the middle of the white fuzzy band. It’s simple, but pretty, & now it’s more “me”, & looking at it makes me smile. 🙂 (I like bows & ribbons.)

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  64. Karen. 🙂 Sounds neat!

    I had a great chat on the phone with my dad just now. He is so positive in the midst of trials. He’s been mostly on the couch for the last two weeks, bothered by his irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath when he walks around. Yet he is full of praise to God for all the blessings he’s got in life.

    He turns 86 a week from tomorrow, and spoke often tonight about the many ways he can praise God. No pain with his irregular heartbeat (someone in his church has that issue, too, but experiences discomfort with it). He’s got back pain, which he’s had for many years, but he accepts it, knowing that he’s fortunate to be alive yet, and doing better than a number of people he knows who are younger.

    And he spoke of how God had blessed him with good Christian parents, wife, children, and grandchildren. (He always likes to mention to people that he has 14 “great” grandchildren — none of the grandchildren have children yet, but the grandchildren are “great”.) 🙂

    God is so good to give me an exemplary father like he is.

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  65. And God is also good to give me the husband He did — who, when he learned I’ve been sick today, came home from work at the end of the day, and turned around and headed out the door to buy the groceries I could not.

    And he took all the kids with him! 🙂

    I love this life. So many blessings God delivers.

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  66. Oh Kim I saw that photo of your purse….love it! I am sort of a purse nut…I have way too many…and your’s is especially delightful!!
    If anyone is in the Myrtle Beach area, you really need to shop at the Piggly Wiggly on the old AF Base…it is the coolest grocery store I have ever seen!! I could spend days in there…and it has one of the two Starbucks located in Myrtle Beach! 🙂

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  68. 6 Arrows – My parents always referred to their three granddaughters (my two daughters & my brother’s one) as their “three beautiful granddaughters”. So much so that the phrase was used in at least one of their obituaries.

    They didn’t have any grandsons, but I bet they would have gotten a kick out of their great-grandson Forrest.

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  69. Well Nancy I have 3 in the kitchen right now the new one. The huge handbag I wa using and the black clutch I used tonight to go to the company Christmas party. I don’t think Mr.P will notice.

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