45 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-8-17”

  3. Morning, Nancy. I agree that that photo seems to beg for a caption.
    One day left with this kinder class. It went well today. Thanks so much for your prayers. Literally, God is giving me creative ideas hour by hour. The class was engrossed and enjoying school. We even did water color paintings with animal cracker rewards for working hard. The pressure from admin was tough. During our Bible time we sang praise to Him. I told them that I needed to sing praises and we did it together. Realized this morning that if I am stressed, I need to sing praise. He is not stressed.

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  5. Good morning, to those looking east to see the sun. Good night to those who don’t see the sun. Nancyjill was up early so hopefully she went back to sleep for a bit.

    Those biddie birds are so cute. Great photo, Cheryl.

    Our WMU meeting yesterday went well. I created a special design to put on a sheet cake for our pastor. When I ordered it from Publix I had no idea it would cost $47.00. It tasted rich!

    When our worship leader stopped by I asked him to lead us in singing, “For He’s a Jolly Good Pastor.” I think Pastor Fred felt well loved by our group. We had a funny Dr. Seus card, and a more serious card from the members present. I also had a third card on which I said it was on behalf of the homebound, relocated, and deceased members whose names I put on it. We also had a nice size monetary gift for him. I have never had to do something like this, so although it was planned at the last minute it felt right.

    One member seemed rather put out by having to sign two cards (she said it was confusing). More seemed to like it. In my family we often give more than one card if we find some we like. Does anyone here have feelings about that one way or the other?

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  6. Kevin made a comment yesterday about there being two different waves of Millennials. I and two of my siblings are among that older section, as we were born in the 80s and remember a time without the Internet, etc. Our eldest sibling is technically from Generation X, having been born in the last year of the 1970s, and it is almost as if that cut off point has made all the difference. Eldest sibling was married in her very early twenties, her spouse has a good job, they have a house and, although they had a short period of financial uncertainty early on in their family life, they quickly established themselves and have paid off the student debt he had. By contrast, out of the next three siblings, Youngest sibling was the first to get married, over eleven years after eldest sibling’s marriage; her spouse has a huge student debt for which he still needs debt relief; he was unable to get a job in the field for which he went to university; and he still works part time though his employer entrusts a lot of responsibility to him and continually makes promises of full time work which never come to fruition. Second sibling is just two years behind Eldest sibling, yet she did not get married until three years ago, in her early thirties; and her spouse, who is younger than her (I am actually a few months older than him), only has seasonal work and also is highly trusted by his employer; and, once again, he has a large student debt, though he is slowly paying it off as he can. Myself, I graduated from college the year after the great recession, and, like a third of the graduates that year throughout the West, found no work. I am now the same age as Second sibling was when she married and still single with absolutely no prospect of getting married at this point. The generational divide is striking in the way it cuts across the decade between Gen X and Millennials; I know younger millennials, however, and I wouldn’t say that they were any less hardworking and yet they still cannot make any headway. Even fewer of them seem to be able to find spouses, which is not surprising, as it seems like those Millennials closer to my age are only now starting to get married (Youngest sibling was unusual in our generation for getting married in her mid-twenties) and I know several women around my age who are still single.

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  7. My parents relate to how we feel about our generation always being criticized, since they are among the eldest of the Baby Boomers. My mother got married in her late twenties, which was very late for a woman of her generation, and did not have her first child until she was thirty, which is why there is something of a generation gap in our family, as she was nearly forty when she had her youngest. She remembers keenly how it felt to be a single woman long after one’s peers were married, so she has sympathized with each of us. She never was involved in all that the Baby Boomers were associated with, having grown up in a Christian family and never veering from that path. My father did dabble in that life, but quickly left it behind when he found the Lord. So, when they hear criticisms of the Baby Boomers and the moral corruption that generation engendered, they wince.

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  8. Janice, my husband is the sentimental card fellow around our house. I now buy cards for him because I recognize it is one of his “love languages”. For anyone else, if you receive a card from me rather than a written note on stationary–It means you are no ordinary person and you are special. It means that you were important enough for me to part with my money. I think they charge too much for a piece of paper that is likely to get thrown in the trash. Just take a $5 bill, walk over to the trash can and shred it into little pieces. Maybe that comes from the years between 2007 and 2012 when I struggled. My husband constantly tells me I have a “poverty mentality”.

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  9. For those of you who weren’t up on the saga of BG, she finally made it out of Fort Lauderdale last night, was routed through Charlotte, and made it to Mobile about 11pm last night. For those who have experienced her, you can just imagine what things not going according to her set plan did to her. Her new Birkenstocks were stolen in Jamaica. After this she may never leave Baldwin County again. 😉

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  10. I agree with Kim about paying for greeting cards and always feel guilty about throwing them away. My birthday is right before Christmas and we have a tradition of shopping for an annual ornament, which is the only time during the year that Hubby steps foot in a store other than Home Depot or Tractor Supply. Anyhow, we go to the card section and find Christmas and birthday ones we like, show them to each other, put them back and leave.

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  12. I nearly always make cards now . . . which, by the way, costs a whole lot more than buying them. My husband now makes them through a Walgreens app on his computer. He’ll upload a photo, play with it for special effects, personalize it with a note if he wishes (he leaves it blank), find a 30% of 40% off coupon online, and go to the store to pick it up and pay for it. He just has to make sure they include an envelope, since they usually forget.

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  13. People who get upset when things don’t go according to plan have a hard life.
    My millennial grandkids are doing well. Husband of the oldest will be a high school principal next year.
    Who is this Comey guy and why should I care? Most of the country is saying that today.

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  14. Chas, I explain that to her often. She kept wanting the direct flight from Miami to Pensacola. Finally I told her to just get on any plane headed out of South Florida. She listened and got home. Maybe there is a lesson in it for her. Movement is better than sitting still.

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  18. I was sitting here cogitating about my 9:00 . About things going according to plan.
    It occurred to me that nothing in my life has gone according to my original plans.
    Absolutely nothing!

    For which I am thankful every day.

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  19. I have always joked that when I was elected Supreme Queen things WOULD be different. So far I haven’t gotten a single vote. I am so used to things not going as planned these days that I just take it as it comes. I try to convince myself it is an adventure.
    I have ended up in situations where I have thought, “Oh Dear Lord, what have I done?” They have turned into some of the best adventures.

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  20. Yep, Mumsee got the baby correct. That is a baby cowbird, with a mama (or papa) song sparrow. The good news is that it has been a very fertile, lush spring, and they raised at least one song sparrow chick as well. But this critter was still begging for food (and being fed repeatedly) ten days after I took this photo, and I suspect the legitimate offspring was already a responsible young bird by then.

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  22. Good Morning…again! I did fall back to sleep, thankfully, and am now on my third cup of coffee! I recognized the sparrow but was uncertain of the squawker! That truly is a precious photo Cheryl.

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  23. Our tailless sparrow is still flying around, visiting everybody. Continues to eat from the cat bowls. No sign of the start of a new tail. The baby rabbits are out!

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  24. This week is going by fast — Thursday already. Four stories to write in the next 2 days. then a busy weekend with the house + a retirement dinner to attend Saturday night way over and through the hills, on the other end of LA.

    It’s still June Gloom around here, overcast, heavy moist air (you can see the top of the peninsula we’re on vanish as the fog bank rolls in near sunset), temps in the 60s. I like it.

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  25. Husband is off to Boise for the swearing in of daughter into the Navy. We had told daughter it was a bad idea to do certain things when she first left home. Staying in constant contact with folk back here would slow her from making friends down there so should wait on the computer and cell phone (she had a flip phone when she went) and wait to buy a pet. In the two and a half years she has been down there, she has purchased and sold two horses (no time to ride them) and now has a dog. Seems they won’t let her take the dog to boot camp or the ensuing schools. So, brother, who is moving out in August to go to college, has agreed to take the dog. Where will he keep it? Here. I reminded him the dog is leaving with him but I suspect it will end up back here.

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  27. It is, I will, she is not speaking to me at this time as I did not condone her having sexual relations with her future spouse while using us as a pretext. And I did not let her bring her dog in the house. She may get over it.

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  28. I don’t know how old daughter is, but WRT my “not according to plan”, Bobby Murray talked me into joining the Air Force with him.
    One of my smart moves. Though it wasn’t smarts that made me do it.

    The Navy may be a good choice.

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  29. She has been working as a CNA for the past three years and is going in to be a Corpman. I suspect it will be good. Though she and son who is currently in the Navy, plan to get married. He will be getting out while she has some time to go. And they will be in different places. Interesting and challenging. They don’t need a dog right now. She is nineteen.

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  30. We believe Idaho is the only state that allows totally not blood related, adopted siblings to marry. It will have many challenges, I am sure.

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  31. The red-headed woodpecker was on our feeder tree–it came several times over a few days this spring. This is the only time I’ve ever looked DOWN on the species (from our kitchen window) and the closest I’ve ever been to one.

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  34. I see no reason why non-blood related siblings couldn’t marry.
    Before WW II most of America was that way. i.e. Guys married the girl next door.
    People didn’t get around much.
    It was said that in Lexington County, SC, the Shulls married Senns, who married the Prices who married the Shulls.. That’s all who lived there. And everyone was a Baptist, Methodist or Lutheran.

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  35. Mumsee how old were they when they first lived together in your home? I imagine that if they grew up together from little ones it might be a pretty strange situation, but if they were together only for a short time in their teens maybe not so much. Just curious.

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  43. With all the business about Russia hacking the election, they missed the real story:

    We live in an absurd and dystopian future.

    Case in point: Russian government hackers are using comments on Britney Spears’ Instagram account to control malware.
    >/I>

    Something has to be done about this.

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  44. New baby bird is the song sparrows’ legitimate baby. A nest with a cowbird egg may fledge only one chick, the cowbird, because it tends to be larger and more demanding than its “siblings.” The cowbird generally lays her egg in a nest with smaller birds, and it hatches quicker. Some parent birds feed all the babies alike, going from baby to baby and having them all take turns, but a good many will feed the one(s) that call the loudest, since that is likely to be the hungriest chick. If it returns to the nest with food repeatedly and the cowbird is always the most vocal chick, the others may weaken and die.

    Since this is a lush spring, I assume there is plenty of food for everyone, and thus the song sparrows fledged at least one of their own chicks (shown here), and possibly more than one, in addition to the young cowbird.

    Unfortunately, this evening I photographed another cowbird chick, not realizing until later that it was a different chick–the foster parent of that bird was a chipping sparrow, which is quite a bit smaller than a song sparrow, and which will have to really struggle to keep up with the demands of its huge offspring. I wouldn’t be surprised if that nest didn’t succeed in hatching any other young. Chipping sparrows are plentiful here, but I still hate to lose good birds to cowbirds.

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