75 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-31-19”

  6. yes, the end of the month. Had a good talk with my youngest daughter today and watched her one and three year olds play. It seems we rarely connect. They usually can’t call me because I am only on the internet when I log on. I can always check email, but not messenger or facetime.

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  7. Cheryl – If you are in the Eastern time zone, then you were first on the actual day. RK was first on the thread, but is in the Mountain time zone, so it was only 10:32 for her.

    And this means that I am first on the actual day of those who live West of the Mississippi. DJ was still in Friday night when she posted. Of course, I am always the first to post of anyone who lives between the Des Moines and Missouri Rivers.

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  13. First smirst.

    It is a beautiful day here but I have not been out to visit it. I have had the time to thank the Creator though. I am going to have twleve year old do my chores again to give another day for recovery. But I will go along as I don’t want to miss such a nice day.

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  14. Morning! We had a bit of rain last evening and the air is fresh in this forest! The birds are flitting about and the fawns are meandering through with their mama…they have had a very good year of grazing around here this summer.
    Rk I hope you have a relaxing time of being with your family this weekend…and congrats to your hubby in passing his test!!
    Continued prayer that your back heals soon Mumsee…let those kiddos do all the heavy lifting! 😊 🏋️‍♀️

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  15. Nancyjill, I am letting them do all the any lifting. Even leaving husband to straighten out the sheets and blankets on the bed, as he does not want me to strain my back. I am so pampered.

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  16. I’m pretty sore today after those ship tours.

    I’d told Carol I’d pick up a nightstand lamp for her after her other one had disappeared so I did that last night, went to the local Target. Everything was more expensive than I thought, but I found one for $39 on sale. It’s not everything she wanted — she requested a 3-way light that went up to 100 watts but that’s way too much for a nightstand. I found an 800 lumen (LED, equivalent to 60 watts, no 3-ways) that’ll have to do.

    There were a number of visiting Fleet Week sailors in their white uniforms shopping in Target also and I passed by what was the free Cheap Trick “military appreciation” concert going on in front of the Iowa on the way home. They were expecting something ike 5,000 people for that, another one of our reporters & a photographer were there to cover it.

    The temperatures are heating up this weekend, the sun was shining brightly first thing this morning rather than our gentle, marine layer overcast. Harsh.

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  17. Husband is taking the entourage to Barbecue Days. They do that every year. I have never gone, though we have lived here twenty years. Sort of. I have been to the local Fair a few times and watched various of my children show their animals. Not my cup of tea

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  18. More than 7,000 for the concert, a very good turnout. One of our reporters covered & reviewed it and we had some good photos. For our limited resources these days, we manage to pull together what must, from the outside, look like a much bigger operation.

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  20. ~ There will be so many terse back-and-forth discussions in newsrooms and Slack channels as this new practice is adopted and, invariably, people are going to lose their cool. Dark times ahead, folks. Dark times. ~

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  21. Still denounced on Twitter for no apparent reason. I’m not allowed to ask again for a review, they won’t respond to any emails and so, I remain in the dark for my transgressions.

    I opened a new Twitter account @michelle_ule and then Twitter kindly suggested a group of people for me to follow. They were all politicians, starting with Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris–who reappeared on the list several times as I scrolled down.

    I said nothing about being interested in politics but did click on news–which is why I’m personally on Twitter other than for my books.

    I have a lot more things to do today. I’m not going to worry about it. A sign from God? 🙂

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  23. Michelle, that is so strange. What about the working theory that your account had been hacked? Has Twitter ever suggested why you’ve been booted? Seems like they need to explain the reasons (and I can’t imagine what any could be in your case).

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  24. Yeah, DJ, I assumed this would be a simple matter of a misunderstanding–what could I be posting that was problematic? But this is what the email said:

    Twitter
    Hello,

    We’re writing to let you know that your account has been suspended due to multiple or repeat violations of our rules.

    Please do not reply to this email, or send us new appeals for this account as we won’t monitor them.

    Thanks,

    Twitter

    My interpretations is I’m not supposed to send a new appeal because they won’t answer. Do you read this differently?

    Others have been suspended, they got swept up into something else, appealed and were reinstated. I’m flummoxed.

    I also don’t want to spend my energy on this–I really do have a lot of other more important things to do RIGHT NOW than worry about Twitter.

    But it is super annoying.

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  25. In great news, I just went through my talk and got it down to 40 minutes–which is exactly where it needed to be. So, I’ll say, “Hallelujah!”

    Can I do it again? 🙂 I have 12 days to practice, so I should be good. I’m very thankful. I have to send in the powerpoint on Monday.

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  26. NancyJill, I wish I could relax and enjoy the family this weekend. I worked the last 3 nights and was at the track yesterday and today. I work fast track at the ER the next 2 days, as it is All American Futurity weekend in Ruidoso. The crowd hit at about 0330 this morning. I would guess everything will be packed till Tuesday.

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  27. Son and DIL are coming for a visit today. It will be so nice to seen them and we’ll be able to send them home with tons of produce from the garden for them and for the outlaws. 🙂

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  28. I had a closing yesterday. It was the house I wanted to buy myself. I was excited that a young couple with a little girl and another due in 2 weeks will be making it their home. That is until I met the wife. I have never met a more entitled spoiled brat in my life. NOTHING made her happy.
    Anyway, when I have a closing I like to do Good Karma Closing (I know, karma, but it’s the only thing that rhymes with closing). There is A: She is closer to my age (I have asked you to pray for her daughter). She is the Assistant Administrator. She drinks tea, so I gave her a basket of different teas and a card telling her how much she has meant to me.
    Then there is T: He is 24 or 25 and makes me grit my teeth. He canNOT pivot and that is my specialty. He has to do A, B, C, D, E…. He cannot do A, B, D, return to C and then do E. He is by the rules. He cannot color outside the lines. He also is so in his own world that he can walk within inches of your personal space and never acknowledge you are there. Anyway, he got married last November and he and his wife are doing the Dave Ramsey thing and only allow themselves $25 a month in “blow money”. When we were in New Orleans back in February I noticed he liked to order a craft beer at whichever restaurant we happened to be in. Since Mr. P likes to order local craft beers I took note. I went to the ABC Store, asked the clerk to help me and bought T a 6-pack of different craft beers. I trust I bought good ones. I wrote him a note thanking him for what he does around the office and for keeping track of some things for me.
    Then there is the RECEPTIONIST. I know her budget is tight, and I know there is a certain latte at Starbucks that is a treat for her. I bought her a Starbucks Cup and a gift certificate. In her note, I acknowledged that she was hurt, but told her my feelings for her had not changed.

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  29. Please bear with me over the next month-plus as I once again rehash the events of late summer/early fall 2017.

    Two years ago from yesterday, Hubby and I had the appointment with his oncologist that had me worried earlier in the week. The doctor said that although the cancer was spreading, there was still another kind of treatment that would help. He ended the appointment assuring us that it wasn’t yet time to worry.

    When we got in the car, Hubby texted Nightingale, “Don’t plan my funeral yet.”

    Then we went to Costco for some items, and had something to eat there, followed by ice cream at our favorite soft serve place. Unbeknownst to us, that would be our last date.

    The next day – two years ago today – Hubby started having that bleeding from his bladder while working. He drove himself to the ER of a hospital in the town he was in, still in his work truck.

    After Nightingale got off work, we went to see him (it was close to an hour and a half drive away, IIRC). Someone from the company he worked for came to pick up the truck, so we took his personal items out of it to take home with us.

    There’s a memory I have that I think is from that night on the way home, but I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask Nightingale later.

    The next day, I gave Hubby’s travel coffee mugs, his thermos, and the small cooler he used as his lunch box a good, thorough cleaning. It felt like I was cleaning them for the last time, but I told myself that was silly. Still, that’s what it felt like, and turned out to be true.

    Thank you for putting up with me sharing this stuff (again). It helps me to process it all.

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  30. As the month of August has drawn to a close, I have noticed a wave of grief growing high again. (I still feel like I am in “active grief” in general, but there are degrees of it. I still may cry some every day, but when this kind of wave comes, it bring more tears, and more pangs in my heart, more often throughout a day.) It is because the routine of Boy’s football practice, and the beginning of school, coincided with Hubby’s hospitalization, so they are linked in my mind.

    It is the littlest, seemingly inconsequential things that can bring a pang in my heart and the tears to my eyes, like seeing a reference to a movie that he especially enjoyed.

    I suppose this will be a yearly thing, but will be less painful as time goes by.

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  31. Kizzie, we don’t put up with you or your talking about your precious husband and your great loss. We love you, and are glad you feel welcome to talk about it.

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  32. Kizzie. Grief is like a wave on the ocean. Sometimes it is a gentle little wave and sometimes it’s a hurricane. You will deal with it the way you will deal with it and having people to talk to about it helps to process it. About three years ago I was listening to 50’s on 5 and a song Little Jimmy Brown came on. My day was Jimmy Black. I started sobbing. Who knows what triggers the grief. Embrace it. If you didn’t love it wouldn’t hurt.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtyx8wG8BsI

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  35. Kizzie. I concur with the others. Feel free to share. Grief is not brief I have found.

    On another note—did the boy have his weigh in already? I don’t know if I missed that or not.

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  40. I wanted to write more, but then remembered I have not done my eye drops from when the alarm went off at 6 p.m. so I must go do that. Now I will have to do them again in four hours. Another late night. Why do I forget like that even with the alarm? I am tired of the eyedrops 4 x 4 times a day (2 different drops with 5 minutes between 4 times a day). Sorry to complain about such a minor thing.

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  41. Kathaleena – No, he hasn’t had his weigh-in yet. I think it is next week. He is barely under the limit.

    He still has to be under that weight at next year’s weigh-in, too, because he will still be on “C Team” (for 3rd and 4th graders). That means we have to keep his weight below that limit even while he will be gaining some height and muscle growth.

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  43. So, I’m back from a wedding. (I have three weddings in a week. I’ll miss one next Saturday because we’ll be in LA at the big shindig).

    The bride and groom married long ago, had two sons and then divorced. They’ve been divorced about 20 years. A couple of years ago he decided he’d had enough of drinking and returned to her. They were remarried today in a lovely ceremony. The two sons, now in their twenties, walked their mother down the aisle to meet their father.

    I’m starting to tear up AGAIN!

    I cried through the whole wedding! Who knows why?

    Well, it may be the last time we sing as a choir with my dear friend who’s husband accepted a call to Boise.

    A member of the choir made a beautiful cake and it was a splendid day.

    The most fun? The 17 year-old who caught the bouquet. Her father is a police officer; she’s the oldest of four girls. He was quite taken aback! I wish I’d had my camera out to get his shock on film!

    I did take a cute photo of the bride explaining to the young woman the implications of catching the bouquet . . . 🙂

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  44. In other news, I realized a week or so ago that I, as the bride’s aunt, should have planned a family bridal shower. I’m mortified I didn’t think of it.

    But, while I may be a poor party planner, I’m a good genealogist/interviewer/writer.

    So, I sent all my female relatives five questions and asked them to return them for a book.

    All the married ones came through and I finished putting together a 36-page book with their answers, their wedding photos and even some recipes in the back!

    It’s totally fun and may be even better than a bridal shower.

    The UPS store just printed them up and put them together with a comb binding. Only the bride gets a color version–but black and white and an emailed color one should be fine for everyone else.

    It’s fun. I didn’t realize I knew so many stories of how members of my family got married!

    I pulled this off in addition to writing and submitting a book proposal, finally getting my talk in the box and tussling with Twitter. All in the last three days.

    I may just watch a movie tonight . . .

    Except, I have things to print up for my talk. It all has to be organized and ready to go–if not packed–by Wednesday.

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  45. For you folks familiar with YouTube – I had listened to a couple songs the other day, and all of a sudden, YouTube had a playlist for me, with that performer and others that I have listened to, as well as songs they think go along. My question is this: Does this playlist have an end, or does it keep on adding songs as you listen? For a couple nights, I’ve paused it before going to bed, and played it for a couple hours each evening, and it is still going.

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  46. Sounds like a very moving wedding, Michelle.

    Kizzie, yes, I think you’re going through waves of grief that are completely normal, but it is hard as they come so suddenly and strongly. I remember your remarking about the ice cream when you’d actually gone there at the time. You got vanilla, I think? Or maybe I just remember the incident from a later recounting of the story, but I think I actually do remember your commenting about it when it happened and what a sweet time out it was.

    Janice, you’ve been a trooper, I can’t tell you how much I would have whined over what you have been through with the eyes and not being able to drive! It would not have been pretty. You, on the other hand, seem to have carried on with grace and patience.

    I’m home from the Carol (and Charles) visit. Her beau, an African-American 60+ year-old man from LA who is confined to a wheelchair and has some cousins who look in on him, doesn’t say more than 2 words, and he’s very hard to draw out. He’ll answer questions in only a couple words and doesn’t participate at all unless he’s asked something. I don’t know if it’s shyness or something else, but Carol has mentioned it too, saying he’s not a “conversationalist” and his silence can be hard for her as well. But he’s her shadow, following her everywhere, and he seems sweet.

    Carol liked the lamp but her nightstand is made of cardboard so that the lamp dips and leans a bit to one side on the top of it.

    It was hot up there, in the mid-90s. I bought us all cokes from the vending machine. I still don’t like this place very much compared to her smaller & homier former residence that was in such a cute, shady neighborhood. This one’s big & looks and feels very institution-like, located on a major street with no trees, only car dealerships and non-stop traffic.

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  47. Michelle my grandparents were married for 21 years. Divorced for 21 years. Married for 21 years.
    You can imagine the confusion in Christian school when I told everyone I went to my grandparent’s wedding.

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  48. Kizzie (8:29), I’ve wondered also about Pandora which I listen to in the car and sometimes at home. I’ve actually specified groups or channels or types of music I like, though, so that’s a little more of a deliberate process. It now is stuck on a random-play of all of it so I hear everything from theme to “Jurassic Park” or “Star Wars” or other film scores to Rod Stewart and Jackson Brown to Christian music — all mixed in together. Which is Ok.

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  49. But I’m guessing the streaming application also pulls in new music within those categories I’ve already selected so it keeps it fresh.

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  50. DJ – Yes, indeed, it was vanilla – my favorite. 🙂

    That ice cream place, Smyth’s, in a town about half an hour away, was our family’s favorite place for soft serve for years, and it was a treat when we had time to stop when we were in that town for shopping or appointments or whatnot. Haven’t been back to Smyth’s since Hubby’s death, and I think it would feel too emotional to do so.

    But the good news is that the Ice Cream Depot here in Stafford now has similar soft serve. Under the former owners, it was okay, but not nearly as good flavor as Smyth’s. Now it is just as good, and closer.

    *************
    The reason Boy’s football practices and Hubby’s hospitalization and death are so intertwined is because it was also the first year that Boy played football. I don’t know if the association would be as deep if he had already been playing in previous years.

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  51. I’m tired, but it’s a good feeling. D1 and family came over. SIL laid the floor and I helped him. The grandchildren enjoyed playing outside since it was a nice day.

    Then watched the Auburn-Oregon game. Exciting finish.

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  53. Working on some paperwork here. Everyting has to be approved as in my furlough plans, etc. Which means that I am looking at the calendar for the next year to figure it all out. Actually I already know my return date as friends who will be in the church mission house after me wanted to know when I would be leaving. Good question. I looked at when school begins and how much time I would need to get ready.

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  55. Michelle, I found myself crying throughout my sister’s graduation from college. I was completely caught off guard and didn’t really know why I was crying, although I could certainly think of several areas of grief. I couldn’t seem to stop the tears. Fortunately, I did stop before going to congratulate her. Grief is certainly something that can catch you unaware.

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  56. It is common for women to cry at weddings. During a bad patch in our marriage, I pessimistically said that that is because the already-married women know what the poor girl is in for.

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  57. In this case, I kept wondering what those young adult sons were thinking. Isn’t it every child’s dream, with parents they love–for their parents to get back together? Their father was in their lives, he attended the Eagle Court of Honor for one of the boys, but the mom would no longer put up with his shenanigans. But now the boys were launched, dad came back–nicer than in the past.

    I’m always a sucker for kids and their dads–probably because my boys didn’t have their father around a lot when they were little guys. He came home from sea for good when they were 7 and 5; the younger two always had him around.

    I spent the end of the week putting together a proposal for the book I wrote ages ago, Getting to Theo’s Wedding. It’s about a Navy wife in CT trying to get the funds together to attend the family’s best friend’s wedding–but it’s also about coping with a dad going to sea, a mom shanghaied by memories of loss when her father was a POW in Vietnam, and how God gives us friends to help us through life’s trials. Oh, and also how God provides the funds we need at just the right time.

    Sent it in on Friday after working really hard and was emotionally ripe for a good cry!

    Maybe I’ll have another one? 🙂

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  62. Michelle – I am sorry. I realize that my statement that it is common for women to cry at weddings sounds dismissive of your earlier comment. That’s not how I intended it.

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  63. Boy may have some tough choices to make regarding his mom and dad when he is older. Since the protective order against X is for life (yes, really), Boy may not be able to have both parents at his graduation or his wedding.

    It is possible that X can appeal to have it thrown out, I guess. We’ll see what happens as the years go by. I am still praying that X will get “radically saved, delivered, and healed” and that God’s transformation of his life will be so great that people who know him in the future will be amazed to hear how he “used to be”.

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  65. Chas – The protective order if for Nightingale. X cannot be within a certain number of feet or yards from her. So far, when they’ve gone to court, they have been in separate areas. That’s why when X picks up Boy for a visit, he needs to park at the top of our lane and I go out with Boy. (These days I just stay at the end of our yard and watch until he is safely in the car, unless I want to walk up to get the mail.)

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  67. I told my story today at church. Lot of mouths hanging open . . . since I’m busy in the prayer category, I focused on how I learned to pray honestly before God. It left people scratching their heads. 🙂

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  68. My children made fun of me when I cried at the graduation of the youngest. But I new that her graduation would radically change my life as my husband had already left. It was my last graduation and she was on her way.

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  70. Finally home…church then lunch at our daughter’s home. One grandson turned 14 yesterday and granddaughter turns 16 tomorrow…time certainly moves quickly sometimes!
    Tomorrow dinner with neighbors, Tues we begin our new small group from church. Friday we attend a Phil Keaggy concert in Palmer Lake…busy but fun week I think! Wed and Thurs I plan to pack away more books and move boxes of “stuff” to the basement in preparation for the floor renovations to start in a couple of weeks…I am already looking forward to September to be over with! 🙃

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  71. Chas, I think Kizzie’s point is that, since the restraining order prevents the Boy’s father from being near the Boy’s mother, they can’t both be at his graduation or wedding. That puts the Boy in the hard position of choosing between them.

    Unless X is so transformed — and Nightingale can see it — that she agrees to have the restraining order dropped. That’s not a bad thing to pray for.

    Kizzie, do you know how far away he has to stay?

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  73. Kevin – I can’t find anything that specifies that on the order (I have a copy), but I’m sure Nightingale once mentioned it. In any case, he is supposed to stay away from her, her home, and her place of work. He’s not even allowed to park in the driveway to pick up or drop off Boy when Nightingale is not home. He is also not supposed to have any kind of contact with me that could cause her stress.

    He is allowed to contact me concerning picking up or dropping off Boy, but that’s it. He did stray from that a few times, resulting in me no longer being in contact with him for a while, but their lawyers agreed to go back to having me as the contact as long as he behaves himself. So far, he has.

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  74. Long day at church, we’re now opening our Q&A SS sessions with 15 minutes discussing the Westminster Confession of Faith which started today and was good (as was the sermon on Job, we are so blessed with good teaching). After SS, I was snagged by one of the guys at church who likes to talk — a lot — and I’m a pretty good listener — but after about 20 minutes of his talking and me nodding and listening (and the lights being turned out in the building) I really was getting kind of tired and ready to get on my way as I still had to stop at the pet store on the way home.

    But on the way home from church, I thought about work returning tomorrow — and then remembered, ah, no, it’s a 3-day weekend, I have one more day. Sweet.

    Made it home by around 2:30 p.m. and enjoyed a few hours of reading and napping. Could hear the live music coming up the hill from the harbor (Fleet Week), along with military flyovers & some cannon shots which the dogs didn’t much appreciate.

    Much cooler here today, I woke up to the soft, cool marine layer outside my bedroom window rather than a glaring morning sun.

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