Random Musings

This morning at 2am marked the 30 year anniversary of Bobby's accident. Needless to say, he was up WAY past his bedtime. (Keep in mind he was a farm boy who would have gone to bed with the chickens had they had any. In other words, he went to bed at dark thirty). He fell asleep behind the wheel, and woke up as his car exited the road into a ravine-type ditch. The next thing he remembers is waking up on the ground, cold, his neck hurting, and being unable to move. He later remembers a policeman kneeling over him, and looking shocked when Bobby asked if his car was okay. (His car was actually worse off than him, and was probably one of those rare occasions when wearing a seatbelt would have killed him.) Of the hundreds of people praying for his healing in the months to come, he never regained the use of his fingers, arms, or legs. Some people questioned his salvation, believing that God would heal a true believer. Others questioned God, wondering why this happened or why God d...

While at the gym I saw an advertisement on television for personalized puzzles. All you had to do was go to the website, type in an address, and the puzzle would be centered on that address and extend outward approximately a mile in each direction..a colorized satellite view! Coming from a family of puzzle lovers (working a jigsaw puzzle is a Christmas family tradition) and marrying into one meant this was a GREAT idea!!! So I ordered a puzzle for Mrs. Bryan, and one of the church Dad pastored while I was growing up (and where my parents, 2 sisters, an aunt, and 2 cousins all got married) for the holidays. Mom and Dad's puzzle was actually for their anniversary (Dec 27), but I gave it to them on Christmas Eve so we could all work on it Christmas Day. A 400 piece puzzle would certainly be finished by the time everyone left Christmas Day, right? 3 Days and countless reworks later, the puzzle was complete (minus 3 pieces). It was an absolute nightmare to put together. We don't kno...

December 23, 2009 en route to Curry, Alabama, I finished a project. Started in March of this year, the modified Double Wedding Ring Quilt was the most ambitious sewing project I have ever done. I can also honestly say that with each quilt I've learned and improved, though I still have a LONG way to go. and here's a sideways view of the finished project The quilt top was 80% finished by the June wedding, but wasn't finalized until August of this year, when my mother (she and my sister did some embroidery work on each corner for me since I can't embroidery)returned it to me. My target completion goal was Christmas, and I just barely made it. Mom's washing machine isn't as large as mine, and the quilt barely fit inside. The quilt markings, even after two washings, didn't come out. I left it with Andy & Amie, and I'm not sure if they'll wash it or have it dry cleaned. But it is now delivered and in the hands of its owners. There's nothing like...

December 22, 2009 Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC There were so many creative exhibits in the Gingerbread display. These are just a few of my favorites: I was a tad surprised by the many themes on the 12 Days of Christmas. While this portrayal wasn't of that theme wasn't my favorite, the extreme detailing of this house was very impressive. One of the houses chosen to go to New York for the Christmas Eve ceremony on Good Morning America (which we missed watching) was similar to this one. And the morning scene. Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long for the roads to thaw so we could head on home to Alabama. It was a nice way to break the 13 hour drive into two smaller segments. I think I could live in the mountains, though my husband says not in the wintertime. It was interesting watching couples trying to push baby strollers over mounds of snow and ice on the sidewalk to get to the shopping centers. It made me very thankful we had our Christmas shopping done.

We took advantage of all the Christmas sales and got a comforter for our bed that we've been looking at for some time. When I pulled it out of the bag, it came with pillow shams and a bedskirt! The bedskirt we can't put on, but I debated whether or not to get two more pillows for the shams. You know, you look at all the pictures in the magazines and the bed is always covered in pillows. It looks nice and comfy and fluffy and pretty. But why? I mean, why go to all the trouble of fluffing the pillows and propping them up and then taking them back off to go to bed every single morning and night ? Other than the fact it makes the room look neater, I'm not sure I even understand the point of making up the bed. In the third house I lived in as a child, any dolls or stuff animals we owned (I shared a room with my 2 sisters) had to fit either on top of our dresser or on our bed. That meant every morning and night a host of my younger sister's dolls and all my stuffed ani...

Yesterday a small group of the CBC kids went caroling, and overall I thought it went very well. I rode with the Brantleys and Abigail, and after the second house Abigail asked, "How many more houses until we're done?" I think all the kids were ready to go eat about halfway, and more than one driver heard the question "Can we go to McDonalds ?" The funniest thing to me was at one house as we got out of the vehicles it started to flurry. Another adult and I just kind of looked at each other, and most of the boys started jumping up and down shouting "Snow! snow!" After the person came to the door (in their pajamas), some of the boys turned around and looked at me with very wide eyes. Overall I think everyone was very touched by the visit and appreciative of the kids smiling and singing to them. I think Pastor Mike needs to recruit some of the smaller tykes...they were ready to go inside and visit! I didn't take my camera, but Jacqueline and Rh...

:O) My husband says I have no concept of time. Sadly, he's right. And 90% of the time that no longer bothers me. So here's my list of things I won't get done this Christmas: The house cleaned top to bottom before we go. Hand-printed Christmas cards (Dollar Tree is such a blessing!) Clothes made for my youngest niece. an open house (yeah, I know...I've only done that once in 10 years). Nice Christmas meals twice a week in the dining room. All in all, I'm pleased with how low-stress this December has been, and most of the things on the list above are not critical items but simply things that would be nice to do. Unfortunately, there are things that are not nice to do (like laundry) that must be done this morning. And then there are things to do (like caroling) that we'll get to do this afternoon. AND...only four squares of quilting left. My goal is to finish that tonight, then sew the binding Sunday afternoon and wash and pack it on Monday!!!! But, as my husband...

big gray sky with touch of cold almost drab to behold one single fleck floats through the air could be a leaf or blossom fair a shopping trip i'd like to take but know the outcome it would make if the forecast does come true and southern roads turn icy blue and i ponder what to do for kids who carol and eat cake, too when to cancel or plunge ahead and bring some cheer to old gray heads 4 years ago tomorrow night a van of kids took flight and sailed into a side ravine with water, mud -a scary scene between the weather and the speed of a teen's borrowed car and her need to buy a gift and return home before her grandma caught her gone it was a day much like today when that call came from far away and a list of injuries did begin that i feared would never end three hours there; three hours back a heart wrenching, tear-streaked driving track my husband at home with broken bone my heart ripping in two with each mile home a christmas i will never forget a reminder of how much my siste...

The first year we went to Alabama for Christmas, we got about 10 minutes from my sister's house and it started snowing. I was relieved we were almost there. Bobby sighs, looks at me, and says, "If these keeps up, I'm turning around in the next driveway and we're heading home." WHAT?!?!?! We've just driven 12+ hours and we're almost there!!!! Let's just say neither one of us was very happy with the other the remainder of that drive. Fast forward a few years, and we're arriving in Tennessee to spend an evening and morning with his sister before heading to be with my family for Christmas. We play with the kids, eat supper, call around to find a hotel, look out the window and it's snowing. BIG HUGE snowflakes coming down very hard and fast. We upset his sister by heading to the hotel so Bobby could rest a little before we headed on to Alabama. This year we have Christmas caroling planned for Saturday and ...it's supposed to snow. Not o...

I know; I know. Curiosity really doesn't kill you. But it does make life a tad more hyper. Every year Mrs. Bryan graciously wraps Bobby's presents for him. The first 3-5 years of our marriage, I would almost always get a phone call saying, "Monica, there's a package here with Bobby's name on it from ____. Did you order something?" And I would laugh and say "No, check with Bobby." And she'd reply "Oh shoot! I forgot!" And I would inadvertently have a very good clue what my Christmas present would be. But the last few years she hasn't done that. With an exception of a few years, I've almost always been able to guess what my presents are before opening them (which I love to do), and I've figured 2 of my four out already. (She brought them over last night.) One is a book. I can feel the dip in its spine and the edges of the cover. Not sure what book, though. It's not the quilting book I asked for because that is a...

Without intentionally setting out to do it, I have actually acquired a few recipes this year that I really like and will fix more than once that ARE NOT DESSERTS! Yes, I know that's incredulous but it's true!!! One is Cheesy Vegetable Soup (aka Penne Tramp's soup per Mary Booth). It has chicken broth, celery, onions, and a large bag of California Medley (also known as carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli), followed by a a whole pound of Velveeta cheese, cubed, the last twenty minutes. There may be other things (like salt, etc) but I don't have the recipe in front of me. I mashed one of the veggies after they simmered as a certain man in my household dislikes cauliflower. He never once tasted it. I will definitely fix this soup again this winter. And Lydia http://themommypages.blogspot.com posted a lasagna soup recipe that was awesome! I even bought the ingredients tonight so I can make it again! So why am I blogging about soups when my post is titled my favorite Ch...

My little brain has been hopping down its sundry rabbit trails a lot lately, and one of its many trails has been the issue of church and work. It takes work to run a church. People have to work to live. So inevitably the two are merged. I think we often look to the nation of Israel and the tribe of Levi. They were basically paid employees...church staff. And yet there were other times non-Levites ministered or were tabernacle staff. Samuel comes to my mind, as do all the specialists (the weavers, goldmakers, etc during the building of the temple). With an exception of Samuel, they didn't work for the church full-time, but were either on a contract or volunteer basis for a specific job. Bobby and I often debate about how much things should cost (or whether there should be a cost) for church materials. For example, my husband thinks music groups who charge people to come hear a performance at a church are wrong. He feels they've violated the whole purpose of the church. ...

This morning at 3:30am our dogs started barking and yelping like mad. At 4:15am I finally headed into the garage to see what on earth the problem was. Thankfully it wasn't a mouse, though it was something just as bad...a possum. It was cornered behind the feed bins and was hissing for all it was worth. I debated for a brief moment, then came inside for dog biscuits to pull the dogs away in hopes it would come out of hiding and leave. It didn't. It only stopped hissing. I briefly considered taking the broom and poking it out, but since I hate possums even more than I hate mice (their bigger, more heinous, not to mention downright scary), I simply came inside and crawled back in the bed. I think it was almost 5am before my body succumbed to tiredness and ignored the yelps of our crazy dogs. Before Bobby left for work he managed to shove things around enough that the possum actually moved into a corner, where he stayed. I locked the dogs up before I left and turned the ch...

I really, really, really, really, really want to have this quilt finished by Christmas. I spent five hours quilting yesterday, and while there is now a light at the end of the tunnel, there is also several layers of skin peeling away from my thumb. Both Bobby and my Mom would say, "Use a thimble." but I hate thimbles. They slow you down, you can't feel the needle when it comes through the material so you're not sure whether or not you're truly grabbing all three layers in the stitch, it makes me feel clumsy, and did I mention that is slows me down? I'll probably pull it out today (maybe), but only if I absolutely have to. Sometimes I think that's my attitude toward other things in life as well. Exercise, good eating habits, devotions...yeah, those things are helpful, but they slow me down. What is it about our nature that causes us to resist the things that protect us so much? I like to think that as I've changed from childhood to adulthood and ...

With today only being December 8, Christmas still seems so far away. But then I look at my calendar and see that 3 weeks from today I'll be heading to the great state of ALABAMA! Whooohoooo ! That's really not that far away. A repairman who came by the house today told me about a house to go see that had a ton of Christmas lights. Bobby's not that big on traditions at Christmas, but two things we have done more than once (and I would do every year if it were up to me) are visiting the Meadow Lights at Christmas (he's not crazy about the cold) and seeing The Bethlehem Star at the Moorehead Planetarium (he doesn't like the secular perspective). Meanwhile, the idea I had for decorating my table for Friday night kind of fell apart Saturday...literally. I even dreamed about it last night, but of course in my dream it was much worse than reality. So on my list of things to do today: assemble a pre -bought gingerbread house. My "glue" refused to hold the o...

Red, who likes anything shiny: the reflective part of my tennis shoes, my wedding band, and my shoelaces. We have a peck/kick relationship going on. On more than one occasion my husband has quipped, "You're not very observant, are you?" To which I give him the best dirt look I can muster, and go on about my business. Sadly, I proved him right, again, in the worst way possible. In my defense, the day before Thanksgiving I woke up at 3am with chills and a fever that lasted most of the day. Thanksgiving day found me fever free but totally wiped out. For once I didn't care about ANYTHING at the Bryan's family get together. For the first time it didn't bother me that after everyone else bebops off to be with other family it's just the childless couple and the widow, or the just the two of us heading home to be alone like every other day. I was simply too tired to care. Bobby even took care of all the animals for me on that day. The next day I did go out ...

This summer while our little friends were visiting us, Bobby and I were continuously amazed at the exceptional smell sensory one of them had. It never failed. He could be walking down the hall toward the kitchen, would stop and sniff, then say, "You're cooking..." and he was always right. I was unaware that carrots had a smell until that day! Like the color rods in my eyes, I must also be missing something in my nose, for I don't think I have ever smelled carrots. It makes me wonder what other smells I am missing. I remembered that this morning as I started to type the saying "It's so close I can smell it." Please don't tell me you've never heard of that saying before. I'm certain I didn't dream it. If I can fit in eight more hours of quilting, THE quilt, as I've started calling it, will be half-way done. (Note: I'm not counting the binding in this process.) I'm excited, but also a little bit tired. Thanks to a feve...

Today would have been my father-in-law's birthday. I ate some chocolate with nuts in his honor. :O) I put up a Christmas tree, but still have yet to string lights or decorate it. This is my least favorite part of Christmas. My second least favorite part of Christmas is taking the Christmas decorations down. I didn't put a tree up one year and my husband wouldn't let me forget it for several years afterward. After he dies I might not ever put up another Christmas tree. If I do it will be under 2' tall. I'm still not half-way through the quilt that is supposed to be done by Christmas. Our chickens have almost quit laying eggs. Both Americanas (the Easter egg chickens) are now laying. I thought this was supposed to be a calm and slow-paced month. I was wrong.