69 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-4-21”

  1. I think I said this before.
    Do you reckon God gets tired of the same old thing at the same time each morning?
    But It ain’t morning to Him.
    I’m glad He is with it because I’m still out of it.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Good morning.

    God does not tire either physically or mentally like we do, Chas. But you know that.

    He appreciates the time we dedicate to Him. He knows our capabilities and our longings to do more than we can.

    It’s the heart that matters to Him.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. The floor is done! After almost two years since the major leak in the foundation caused a flood, I took a week off from the cave and now we don’t have to look at bare concrete in the living room. Now to put the finishing touches on it, like the baseboards and other trim.

    Liked by 5 people

  7. Husband is much older today. I will have to make a batch of brownies for him. Made the chocolate chip cookies yesterday. He will have to eat fast so it will be gone before he heads off on the cruise. Did I mention he will be stopping in to see what sort of name Kim made for herself in Barbados? Just checking.

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Morning!
    Aren’t you happy you “retired” Peter? 😊 Paul says he didn’t really retire he just went into another line of work…projects around the house! (We know that’s not quite true….because one of his home projects is napping 😂)

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Merry Christmas, Peter and Mrs. L!

    We’re doing the entire Christmas tree excitement today with who knows how many Adorables and our daughter serving as ringmistress.

    I’m tired already.

    In other news, [BRAGGING] oldest Adorable, 14, 6’5″ freshman, hunted down by basketball coach, started his first game as center last night.

    16 rebounds, 25 points.

    They won.

    His real sport is baseball . . .

    Liked by 4 people

  14. I don’t know if Mrs L would like it if I send pics. She’s very picky about what I share here.

    And, yes, I’m glad I retired as I would not have been able to take a full week off from school for the job, though I did have enough personal days built up since I rarely used them. Not getting sick very often helped me build up over 250 sick days over the years, which get figured into the pension. So it’s like a year-and-a-half extra salary!

    SO, mumsee, how old is “much older”? Tell him “Happy Birthday” for me.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. We have fairly generous sick time provisions with many days which then just accumulate and stay with you. But it can’t ever be “cashed out” if you leave. What’s not used just goes away. It’s rare for any of us to take much sick time. But it’s nice to know you don’t have to worry about getting paid if you do need to take it. One year I was out for a full week due to the seasonal flu.

    One of my friends some years ago worked for a company that offered no sick pay, which is legal (it’s considered a “benefit” companies can offer but don’t have to). But I’d think it would backfire as folks just drag themselves in and spread the flu or colds around to everyone else.

    Government and school districts offer the best benefit packages with pensions, of course. My cousin worked for LAUSD for her entire career and now has free lifetime medical care. I think some of those packages might be cut, however, as our state is struggling under the pension system right now.

    Longshore workers here make out better than most anyone else. I’ve known school teachers and other professionals who quit their jobs to work on the docks as the pay is close to $200,000 a year and the hours not so bad (8 hours pay for some shifts that go only 4 hours). They also have a free medical benefits.

    The one teacher I spoke with said he missed the intellectual challenges of the classroom but considering the cost of living, especially if one is supporting a family, the choice was pretty clear when his name got called to go full-time union.

    And it is hard work that can be dangerous (though much less so than in years past).

    Liked by 1 person

  19. oh, thank you Aj, for that music. What a way to begin my day. lovely
    I may have to listen several times.

    This cold is not better, please pray as I still have one more week of school

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Contract negotiations come up again next year and are expected to be intense. Among the looming issues is the move toward automated terminals which is causing union job loss. There’s a lot of talk bout retraining workers to do more desk jobs related to automation on the docks, but not everyone is very keen on that (or would qualify). And there still would likely be some loss of the more traditional jobs.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. My husband didn’t get sick pay for most of his working life. The last few years he could finally break up a week of vacation. Lots of people did come in sick, of course. Some people say others still work while sick and use their personal days (vacation days) for other things. My SIL was scolded (as a teacher) by the principal for not taking days off. Dangerous, dirty jobs should pay more, IMO. So should those which need a lot of education.

    So nice to have that floor done, Peter. Lots of satisfaction, too, I would imagine, in having done it yourself.

    Happy birthday to Mike.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. My real tree went up today. It’s fully decorated with only antique ornaments! I’m thrilled. Daughter’s gift last year was a few boxes of old ornaments which I could add to the ones from my mom. I just need an antique topper of some sort.

    Liked by 2 people

  37. My tree has a lot of angel ornaments. Many were gifts from my mother; given to me from after Christmas sales (no doubt) since my birthday makes that a good opportunity. Others were bought on vacations or gifts from others. No, I do not think angels really look like this. Like much art, they are not exact representations, which would be difficult to do!

    I generally love to put on the ornaments, since most of them bring back good memories. I do have some which were made by my children or have pictures of children or grandchildren. A simple one was made by one of my daughter’s teachers. It is a small blackboard with a cut-out picture of my daughter glued on and the date painted on the blackboard. Very simple, very cute and wonderful memory to share with children and grandchildren.

    I have a couple of ornaments that were my grandmother’s. Once is a tiny angel hanging from a small bell; the other is a star made of beads by one of my aunts. I need to remember to share these memories with my daughters and grandchildren when possible.

    i recently used a saying from my childhood, “That is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.” It made me wonder if that was common in your lives, as well?

    Also–do you have a favorite ornament and why is it a favorite? The bell with the angel hanging on to the bell rope is one of my favorites.

    Liked by 2 people

  38. Good morning.

    Yes, Kathaleena, I have and have used that phrase. Odd but makes an interesting picture.

    Favorite ornaments: no, no favorites but I enjoy my mishmash of child made one’s. We lost a lot of the older ornaments in a move, including the little tree husband had as a little boy.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. My favourite ornament is a pale soft pink with a silver indent and a point on the bottom (I think those are referred to as finial ornaments?). I remember my mom carefully hanging that one on the tree. I ruined many of those delicate ornaments by putting my fingers through the reflective indents as a child – sigh.

    Sorry, AJ. Happy belated birthday to Mike!

    Liked by 3 people

  43. Congrats, Mumsee.

    You are right!

    Chas should have gone with your choices!

    In Sunday school some of the ladies recounted how their relatives all over the state had developed a highly infectious illness that brought on nausea and vomiting in the state of Georgia. Another lady stated that it’s just a game young men play while getting their education so why make such a big deal over it?

    Like

  45. I have not had my ornaments out in quite a few years.

    A favorite ornament was a green construction paper ‘Holly Boy’ that Wesley and I made when he was young. It was shown in the Childcraft encyclopedia. We painted some beans with red tempera paint for berry buttons. It’s so simple yet holds a special place in my heart.

    Liked by 1 person

  46. Chas, since you told us your eyes would not allow you to continue to do the Pigskin Picks,

    Mumsee suggested you copy her picks but change the tie-breaker score.

    Had you done that and selected a score on the tie-breaker that was closer than hers then you would have won.

    Like

  47. I am having afternoon coffee with almond milk instead of morning coffee.

    I did not have time earlier before running out to pick up Florence.

    She was up late, and I noticed her nodding a bit during Sunday school.

    I had to keep myself from tapping her. Sometimes in such cases, you wait and hope you don’t wait too long so a person falls out of their chair. It never got close to that, thankfully.

    Liked by 1 person

  48. Janice – I’m confused by your comment about the “highly infectious illness” being “just a game young men play while getting their education”. What comes to mind is that you are referring to college students, and the “illness” is actually a hangover. Am I on the right track? Or am I totally missing something? 🙂

    Like

  49. Kizzie, I, too, became confused by what I heard the lady reporting until I finally realized the sickness related to #3 Alabama beating #1 ranked Georgia. The lady had relatives burning up the phone lines/air waves reporting how ill they became while watching the game.

    The other lady does not care much about football so she commented that the win or loss should not have such an effect on people. She thought it silly to feel sick over such a loss.

    Liked by 1 person

  50. Home from church and needed a third cup of coffee. Do some people’s voices just put you to sleep?! The elder who has been taking over for our young Pastor (to give him a short break) has a voice that drones after a while. His content is very good but my brain just cannot adjust to his voice. After about an hour of it I start shaking my ankle and husband knows I’m antsy!

    My favorite ornament is a small porcelain angel bell. All three of us girls had one. I so well recall laying under that tree and tapping that angel with my finger causing it to ding. Of course after leaving home and not having any keepsake ornaments I had asked my baby sister if she knew of any childhood ornaments left. She didn’t know of any she said. Lo and behold one day I received a package in the mail…she sent to me the only remaining angel of three. I cherish that little reminder of childhood and my sister’s love for me knowing it meant so much to me! 😇

    Liked by 4 people

  53. Morning all. Feeling better this morning just in time for school. I am drinking some of the throat coat tea that I made last night but never drank.

    Saturday night God reminded me that I had bought flonase and that helped so much. It is much easier to sleep when your nose isn’t running.

    And being able to breathe easily is helpful!

    Liked by 3 people

  54. Clouds and sunshine looking beautiful. The hills have cloud shadows. We have had quite a few torrential downpours in the last three days. So glad to have the singles van to use. When the roads turn to rivers you know it is rainy season.

    Liked by 1 person

  55. They are advertising helicopter rides here on Dec. 22. I can’t wait. It will be fun to circle our homes in a helicopter. I hear that they use the high school field for a landing zone.

    One of my friends here is celebrating a milestone soon of surviving 50 years with type 1 diabetes. I suggested they take a helicopter ride to celebrate

    Liked by 2 people

  57. Not me! (take a helicopter to see the dentist).

    It was a chilly morning in the outdoor section of today’s service. Sitting and not moving doesn’t help, the chill just set in even though I was wearing a heavy-lined jean jacket. I kept wrapping it tighter around me. Felt like we were approaching LA parka weather as the service was especially long with numerous baptisms (children of one large family), a new member taking his vows and a farewell acknowledgment and gift for a couple who have made it to the Promised Land (Texas) but returned for a visit today.

    My favorite “ornament” growing up was a birds nest found in one of our trees by my mom. It sat in our Christmas trees every year, sometimes with a little bird ornament sitting inside of it.

    Somehow the family ornaments vanished when the house was cleared out by me and a cousin and her daughters who’d come down from up north; I wonder if cousin’s mom (the aunt who was living with my mom at the time of her death) took them with her when they moved her to northern California. But it still seems like they would have appeared somewhere through those early years. Strange, too, because my mom died just a month after Christmas so they must have been boxed and put away very recently.

    Anyway, the bird’s nest undoubtedly was in that box along with all the 1940s – 1950s – 1960s ornaments my parents had kept and used through the years.

    I had some I’d bought on my own and have plenty of favorite ones now, but nothing like the ones from “home,” of course.

    Liked by 2 people

  58. I assume my brother has our old ornaments from childhood. When we divided up things upon my mother’s passing there were things he did not show me in the house. I rather keep the peace than even ask about ‘things.’

    Liked by 2 people

  60. My neighbors to the north are putting up their outdoor decorations and waiting for an artificial tree they ordered from Amazon. So they’re running late, too.

    Liked by 1 person

  62. What is the difference between a statesman and a politician?

    ~ In most respects a statesman is the opposite of a politician. Politicians are thought of as people who will say or do anything to get elected or to gain power. A statesman is someone who does everything for the common good of the people he or she represents. ~

    Liked by 2 people

  63. Sad on Bob Dole, but he lived a long and, I presume, fulfilling life. We shook his hand in 2000 at an Iowa campaign convention (the straw pole done every four years).

    As for Chas or mumsee getting the tiebreaker in the pigskin picks, since no one picked the winner, I don’t count the score.

    Liked by 2 people

  66. Feeling worse today. Please pray that I will make it through. I checked and I don’t have a fever. One boy was going to fly off somewhere so we got all of his things done in one day since he won’t be back until next term

    Liked by 2 people

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