Good morning! I took this photo yesterday of the tops of the Birthday Tree and my neighbor’s pear tree. The trees are beautiful together. Such good neighbors♡ Their roots probably are entwined. They don’t concern themselves with the underground cable that runs between them!
Praise the Lord! On yesterday’s prayer thread at the end, Six Arrows reported her Covid test was negative, and she has gotten over the virus she must have had. Such good news!!
Morning. It is cloudy morning here and be careful on those steps…ice! Still waiting for the snow to move in tonight…the predicted amounts are all over the place…but it seems much less than what was preciously predicted…we may get about a foot now before it’s all over with.
Husband has placed all three of the birdhouses up and they are all occupied by the flickers. It’s fun to watch them feathering their nests…they will be protected from the snow as well! 😊
Good morning. Cold out this morning for the morning chores. Beautiful day. We will probably enjoy the deck again this afternoon, will keep a look out for Chas.
Good morning. One foot sounds much better than two, NancyJill. Our snow is slowly melting.
Those trees are a sight for sore eyes.
Roscuro, one of my daughters went through allergy desensitization. It was very helpful; particularly the cat allergy. She moved to a different state during it and had to have a new formula made up, so not sure how that affected it all. She went from daily meds for allergies to seasonal ones, which was nice.
Wesley is fortunate to only take an allergy med occasionally. Each person responds so differently, but I am thankful we did not go the route of all those shots back then. He had very expensive orthodontics in two phases so that is where all his healthcare allotment went.
I’ll tell what happened since the credit goes to Elvera, not one of us.
Elvera left a sizable amount in a fund that neither I nor Chuck wants. So
We added over 26,000 to an education fund that our great-grands can use someday.
A couple or a few days ago, I mentioned on the prayer thread about waiting to hear back from someone, and said I would explain when I heard back. Well, I haven’t heard back yet, but I will tell y’all what is going on anyway. 🙂
You may remember that I signed up for Social Security last month. Although I am very pleased that I will be getting more than I expected, it still would not be enough to live on. But it is enough to help out Nightingale a bit, pay the home loan each month, and have some spending money, as well as putting a little in savings, too. And that is all really good!
Hubby had been a Teamster for about a decade when he was working for Hostess Brands. He knew he had a pension, but said that I would not be eligible for it if he died, so I didn’t expect anything. Well, apparently, when you sign up for Social Security, they check on what else you could be eligible for and guess what popped up? They sent me a letter that I might be eligible for Hubby’s pension after all, if it is the right kind. (They have pensions for employee only and for employee-and-surviving spouse.)
So I sent an email to the pension plan administrator, and we exchanged a couple emails, with a few days in between each, with her asking for, and me giving, the pertinent information for her to look into it. Last I heard from her, she is sending me some forms in the mail. I asked her if that means that I actually am eligible for the pension, or if filling out and returning the forms will determine that. Haven’t heard back from her, and haven’t received the forms yet.
This back-and-forth started on March 1, so it has been nearly two weeks of wondering if I am indeed eligible for this pension or not. If I am, it would more than double what I would receive each month, meaning that I can pay off the home loan quicker, and help out Nightingale more, and be able to pay for (or help pay for) the many repairs we need done on this house. I would not be “rich” or “well-to-do”, but I would kinda feel that way.
My frustration in not getting a yes or no answer yet is that it is really hard not to hope for it and think about how much it would help us, and would help “redeem” my late husband’s financial mistakes (some of which I am paying for). I start to think about the possibilities, and get excited, but then remember that it may not be mine anyway. It is hard to see a possible answer to one of your problems, and not hope against hope for it.
I have told Father God that if the answer is no, I know realistically that I will be disappointed, maybe even greatly disappointed, but that I will get over that and choose to be grateful for what I will receive from Social Security. It is all in His hands.
Btw, I have not mentioned any of this to Nightingale, because I don’t want to get her hopes up and then have to dash them. Sometimes, though, I daydream about how I would pop the news to her if it comes to be.
It is good to expect the worst and be surprised by the best. And to be content In any circumstance is a lovely blessing. I am still learning and practicing!
Good to see you, Chas. We had internet trouble here too, yesterday, after overnight storms. Internet was down from 6:00am until close to noon. Not fun when one needs internet at home to teach. I was glad it was back up and running by the time piano lesson time rolled around.
Virtual lessons report with the twin boys: I was pondering and chuckling inwardly earlier today, wondering whether anything would top the mishaps of last week with the younger twin. Today did not disappoint. 😉
You’ll recall the younger twin last week disappeared from view for a few seconds when he fell off the bench — or more likely, probably tipped the bench over and went with it.
Today we weren’t five minutes into his lesson and he was a-rockin’ and a-swayin’, I thought he must have been sitting on a rocking chair. I told him to be careful and asked him what he was sitting on. So he stands up and lifts the bench way into the air for me to see!
Later he got distracted by the tippy keyboard that has, like the bench, very flimsy-looking legs. Mid-lesson, he gets off the bench, says, “Wait!” and proceeds to try to straighten out the keyboard and get the instrument closer to the wall. So he picks up the keyboard and stand all as one unit, high enough for me to see the legs of that thing, too, and not only knocks his book onto the keys again like last week, but produces a symphony of colorful cacophony from the keys as he tries to catch the book or the instrument or something on its way to somewhere askew of its former position. 😀
The funniest part of the lesson for me — because it was unexpected — was his response to my telling him to improvise some music for me. He said, “How about teeth?”
I said sure.
As I’m wondering what teeth might sound like as a musical improvisation, he gets off the bench, goes off-camera a bit, then reappears, standing over the device from behind, and all I see are his upper lip, top row of teeth, and a little part of his gaping mouth, looking like he’s ready to take a chomp out of the electronic device, lol.
Older twin, ever so serious, had his lesson interrupted by curious children (younger twin and their little sister) who wanted to come in the room and smile and wave at me and check out the settings on the device and etc. I had to tell them they needed to let older twin have his lesson with privacy, as older twin looked on with a helpless and resigned expression, with eyes that looked almost as sad as DJ’s Tess’ eyes. 🙂
Janice – Do you find, as I do, that it seems that contentment is sometimes an elusive thing? We find a place of contentment in our hearts for a while, and then something changes to shake things up, and we have to find a new level of contentment. At least that is the way it works in my life.
But I am grateful that the Holy Spirit gets a hold of me, and helps me to adjust.
As I am writing this, it brings to mind the concept of being flexible, emotionally and mentally. My natural self is not very flexible. If I had it my way, I would have a certain routine that I could stick to every day, and it would only change if I decided to change it. But God has had other ideas for my life. He has continually put me into situations where I had to adapt to others’ needs and schedules.
My current life is fairly routine, but even here, I never know what is going to happen on one of Nightingale’s days off. She may have plans or need to study or run errands, or she and I may end up spending the whole morning chatting. Or she may want to take me out somewhere.
My evenings are pretty steady, but even there, we may have a late dinner with a big clean-up or Nightingale and Boy may be down here for the evening for some reason.
So I have learned over the years to adjust my sails to the wind. Sometimes I grumble a bit inside while I do so, but then I get over it and go along.
Kizzie, most of the time I feel content. Sometimes I surprise myself with contentedness when I think others would not be content under the same circumstances. What always helps is not getting caught up in the comparison trap. Some people, for whatever raason always want to compare on some level. God had words for such times, “What’s that to you?” If we keep focus on all the blessings God gives us instead of watching the blessings of others we are much more likely to stay on track with supernatural contentment.
Kizzie, if you haven’t signed away your part of the pension, you should have it. I think that is the law. At least it was for us. Husbands used to be able to just sign for the full pension, meaning that if he died, his wife would receive nothing. He would receive more during his retirement. The wife usually did not even know there was an option and would be blindsided, which was why a law was enacted to have the spouse sign also. Hopefully, that means you should get something. I understand part of the new Covid package was funding the retirement pension of Teamsters. I don’t know if that will be an issue for you or not.
Wandering Views 
Morning all. Up and at em, Mr. Chas.
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Good morning!
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I see the birthday tree in bloom. Is this from yesterday or last year?
Either way, these comics are new.
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Good morning! I took this photo yesterday of the tops of the Birthday Tree and my neighbor’s pear tree. The trees are beautiful together. Such good neighbors♡ Their roots probably are entwined. They don’t concern themselves with the underground cable that runs between them!
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Praise the Lord! On yesterday’s prayer thread at the end, Six Arrows reported her Covid test was negative, and she has gotten over the virus she must have had. Such good news!!
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Morning. It is cloudy morning here and be careful on those steps…ice! Still waiting for the snow to move in tonight…the predicted amounts are all over the place…but it seems much less than what was preciously predicted…we may get about a foot now before it’s all over with.
Husband has placed all three of the birdhouses up and they are all occupied by the flickers. It’s fun to watch them feathering their nests…they will be protected from the snow as well! 😊
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Pre-weekend raves:
The birthday tree!!
A negative covid test for 6
Maybe more rain for us next week (that forecast, though, is hanging by a thread)
Sunny and chilly here this morning
It’s Friday!!!
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Good morning. Cold out this morning for the morning chores. Beautiful day. We will probably enjoy the deck again this afternoon, will keep a look out for Chas.
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I envision him in an Australian-style cargo hat and carrying a hand-carved, wooden walking stick.
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Good morning. One foot sounds much better than two, NancyJill. Our snow is slowly melting.
Those trees are a sight for sore eyes.
Roscuro, one of my daughters went through allergy desensitization. It was very helpful; particularly the cat allergy. She moved to a different state during it and had to have a new formula made up, so not sure how that affected it all. She went from daily meds for allergies to seasonal ones, which was nice.
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Wesley is fortunate to only take an allergy med occasionally. Each person responds so differently, but I am thankful we did not go the route of all those shots back then. He had very expensive orthodontics in two phases so that is where all his healthcare allotment went.
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Can someone find out where our Chas is this morning?
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Chas has been busy this afternoon. I don’t remember what it was this morning, but something kept me off line until now.
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I think it was an ATT problem. The TV was acting up along with computer.
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I’ll tell what happened since the credit goes to Elvera, not one of us.
Elvera left a sizable amount in a fund that neither I nor Chuck wants. So
We added over 26,000 to an education fund that our great-grands can use someday.
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Well when you are missing in action we do get worried… ♥️
And what a blessing for your great grandchildren Chas… ♥️
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oh my goodness Chas it is 75 where you are. Enjoy the sunshine. Day is just starting here.
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Good afternoon, Chas. Nice to see you and nice to hear you and Chuck found something to do.
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A couple or a few days ago, I mentioned on the prayer thread about waiting to hear back from someone, and said I would explain when I heard back. Well, I haven’t heard back yet, but I will tell y’all what is going on anyway. 🙂
You may remember that I signed up for Social Security last month. Although I am very pleased that I will be getting more than I expected, it still would not be enough to live on. But it is enough to help out Nightingale a bit, pay the home loan each month, and have some spending money, as well as putting a little in savings, too. And that is all really good!
Hubby had been a Teamster for about a decade when he was working for Hostess Brands. He knew he had a pension, but said that I would not be eligible for it if he died, so I didn’t expect anything. Well, apparently, when you sign up for Social Security, they check on what else you could be eligible for and guess what popped up? They sent me a letter that I might be eligible for Hubby’s pension after all, if it is the right kind. (They have pensions for employee only and for employee-and-surviving spouse.)
So I sent an email to the pension plan administrator, and we exchanged a couple emails, with a few days in between each, with her asking for, and me giving, the pertinent information for her to look into it. Last I heard from her, she is sending me some forms in the mail. I asked her if that means that I actually am eligible for the pension, or if filling out and returning the forms will determine that. Haven’t heard back from her, and haven’t received the forms yet.
This back-and-forth started on March 1, so it has been nearly two weeks of wondering if I am indeed eligible for this pension or not. If I am, it would more than double what I would receive each month, meaning that I can pay off the home loan quicker, and help out Nightingale more, and be able to pay for (or help pay for) the many repairs we need done on this house. I would not be “rich” or “well-to-do”, but I would kinda feel that way.
My frustration in not getting a yes or no answer yet is that it is really hard not to hope for it and think about how much it would help us, and would help “redeem” my late husband’s financial mistakes (some of which I am paying for). I start to think about the possibilities, and get excited, but then remember that it may not be mine anyway. It is hard to see a possible answer to one of your problems, and not hope against hope for it.
I have told Father God that if the answer is no, I know realistically that I will be disappointed, maybe even greatly disappointed, but that I will get over that and choose to be grateful for what I will receive from Social Security. It is all in His hands.
Btw, I have not mentioned any of this to Nightingale, because I don’t want to get her hopes up and then have to dash them. Sometimes, though, I daydream about how I would pop the news to her if it comes to be.
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Then my wish and prayer is that it
Comes to be.
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Amen. But always, may you have His peace.
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I find myself praying for God to give me my portion, as only He knows what I need.
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It is good to expect the worst and be surprised by the best. And to be content In any circumstance is a lovely blessing. I am still learning and practicing!
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More prayers for you, Kizzie. God bless.
Good to see you, Chas. We had internet trouble here too, yesterday, after overnight storms. Internet was down from 6:00am until close to noon. Not fun when one needs internet at home to teach. I was glad it was back up and running by the time piano lesson time rolled around.
Virtual lessons report with the twin boys: I was pondering and chuckling inwardly earlier today, wondering whether anything would top the mishaps of last week with the younger twin. Today did not disappoint. 😉
You’ll recall the younger twin last week disappeared from view for a few seconds when he fell off the bench — or more likely, probably tipped the bench over and went with it.
Today we weren’t five minutes into his lesson and he was a-rockin’ and a-swayin’, I thought he must have been sitting on a rocking chair. I told him to be careful and asked him what he was sitting on. So he stands up and lifts the bench way into the air for me to see!
Later he got distracted by the tippy keyboard that has, like the bench, very flimsy-looking legs. Mid-lesson, he gets off the bench, says, “Wait!” and proceeds to try to straighten out the keyboard and get the instrument closer to the wall. So he picks up the keyboard and stand all as one unit, high enough for me to see the legs of that thing, too, and not only knocks his book onto the keys again like last week, but produces a symphony of colorful cacophony from the keys as he tries to catch the book or the instrument or something on its way to somewhere askew of its former position. 😀
The funniest part of the lesson for me — because it was unexpected — was his response to my telling him to improvise some music for me. He said, “How about teeth?”
I said sure.
As I’m wondering what teeth might sound like as a musical improvisation, he gets off the bench, goes off-camera a bit, then reappears, standing over the device from behind, and all I see are his upper lip, top row of teeth, and a little part of his gaping mouth, looking like he’s ready to take a chomp out of the electronic device, lol.
Older twin, ever so serious, had his lesson interrupted by curious children (younger twin and their little sister) who wanted to come in the room and smile and wave at me and check out the settings on the device and etc. I had to tell them they needed to let older twin have his lesson with privacy, as older twin looked on with a helpless and resigned expression, with eyes that looked almost as sad as DJ’s Tess’ eyes. 🙂
Those kids are such darlings!
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Janice – Do you find, as I do, that it seems that contentment is sometimes an elusive thing? We find a place of contentment in our hearts for a while, and then something changes to shake things up, and we have to find a new level of contentment. At least that is the way it works in my life.
But I am grateful that the Holy Spirit gets a hold of me, and helps me to adjust.
As I am writing this, it brings to mind the concept of being flexible, emotionally and mentally. My natural self is not very flexible. If I had it my way, I would have a certain routine that I could stick to every day, and it would only change if I decided to change it. But God has had other ideas for my life. He has continually put me into situations where I had to adapt to others’ needs and schedules.
My current life is fairly routine, but even here, I never know what is going to happen on one of Nightingale’s days off. She may have plans or need to study or run errands, or she and I may end up spending the whole morning chatting. Or she may want to take me out somewhere.
My evenings are pretty steady, but even there, we may have a late dinner with a big clean-up or Nightingale and Boy may be down here for the evening for some reason.
So I have learned over the years to adjust my sails to the wind. Sometimes I grumble a bit inside while I do so, but then I get over it and go along.
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This seems to be a pretty well-balanced take on the subject.
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Kizzie, most of the time I feel content. Sometimes I surprise myself with contentedness when I think others would not be content under the same circumstances. What always helps is not getting caught up in the comparison trap. Some people, for whatever raason always want to compare on some level. God had words for such times, “What’s that to you?” If we keep focus on all the blessings God gives us instead of watching the blessings of others we are much more likely to stay on track with supernatural contentment.
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Kizzie, if you haven’t signed away your part of the pension, you should have it. I think that is the law. At least it was for us. Husbands used to be able to just sign for the full pension, meaning that if he died, his wife would receive nothing. He would receive more during his retirement. The wife usually did not even know there was an option and would be blindsided, which was why a law was enacted to have the spouse sign also. Hopefully, that means you should get something. I understand part of the new Covid package was funding the retirement pension of Teamsters. I don’t know if that will be an issue for you or not.
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DJ- Thought you might get a chuckle out of this:
https://babylonbee.com/news/land-on-your-feet-7-great-career-choices-for-laid-off-journalists
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Oh, ouch!
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