Thankful/Positive 2/19 to 2/25

The week started with church as usual, but this time was different in that Sarah and Lia were with us and Sarah was able to take Communion again, since we have the new pastor. Lia was NOT interested in the blessing, however, and Pastor Doug had to lean around Sarah to look at Lia (who was cowering behind her) to at least be able to smile at her and say “God bless you!”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

That afternoon was Lia’s birthday party, and we had friends over to celebrate. Very low-key. The gummy butterflies all over the cake was lovely to look at and delicious to eat!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sarah’s HS pal Jamie came over on Monday with her 14 month old Joey and the two kids had a nice time interacting.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Ash Wednesday service was wonderful. Flat-out wonderful.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Thursday was shopping in Chico with Paula. She is a GREAT shopping companion! Heck, she’s a great companion, period. Got some Christmas shopping done at Family Christian Store at their bargain table, which still had a LOT of Christmas stuff left. Then we went down a couple of doors to Hula’s Mongolian Barbeque for lunch. OMG!! Talk about stuffed! I can’t believe how much food you can cram into that bowl they give you! There was so much left over I got 3 more meals out of it. Great food.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Friday was a stamp party at Paula’s. Good food, good times, good fellowship. Oh, and there was stamping, too…’nuf said.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The week ended with dinner and game night at our house this month. Burgers on the grill, cheese chili, ice cream and lots of fun and laughter. God is very good!

Running Out of Steam

At this time last week I was really dragging. This visit with Lia & Co. was a bit different than the previous ones. I seemed to have a marked lack of energy. I don’t think Lia was more “bouncy” than usual, and our activities weren’t much more than we’ve always done. In fact, because of weather, we only went on 1 walk this time. I just didn’t seem to have any stamina whatsoever. Am I getting old?!?!?

I know I’m seriously out of shape, but that has never been a real factor on these visits. Maybe I need to really start watching my health. I’m going back down to Fresno at the end of March for another week and I’d like to be in a better frame of body and mind. After all, this is my ONLY grandchild…I want to enjoy her as much as possible!

I often think of the passage in Isaiah 40 that says:

“But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Now, having wings would be awesome. Totally. And my running days are long gone, but I wouldn’t mind the “not be weary” part. I don’t want Lia’s memories of me to be of a tired grandma that couldn’t play with her.

So I have a month to get in a bit better shape (if my knees allow it) and hope the next visit will not leave me so exhausted. Wish me luck; prayers are real good, too! ♥

Thankful/Positive 2/12 to 2/18

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
I am SO TIRED!! But VERY thankful for last week! Sunday was church at The Well. As usual, the sermon was awesome. Afterward, we went shopping for an outfit I can wear to Paul and Anne's wedding. Sarah is a wonderful shopping companion and really has an eye for what looks good. I got some nice mix and match pieces for several different looks.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The rest of the week was Lia, Lia, Lia. It's been a very long time since I've been so tired for so many days in a row. But Lia continues to be such a joy in my life. I regret that my physical stamina is limited, but am thankful that I can still make it through a week of full-on, 24/7 grandma duty! It says in Proverbs that grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and my crown is VERY precious to me! ♥

A Totally Lame Post

`
Hey, I'm calling it as it is....I am completely unprepared this Friday. I try to have SOME kind of back-up blog for when I'm in Fresno and don't have access to any of my files. This time, though, I was scrambling just to get my stuff together for the trip down. And I am SO TIRED right now I can scarcely remember the names of all of Lia's MANY MANY Barbies, let alone write something intelligent. But I CAN say that I have now learned how to work the television/DVD system without fail, AND I know how to run the dishwasher! Big accomplishments...

So that's it for now Gladys...sorry it's meager pickin's this week. Next week I promise more. Lots more. Like ALL ABOUT MY WONDERFUL GRANDDAUGHTER...♥

Thankful/Positive 2/5 to 2/11

`
I am so darn thankful right now, but it's about something I'll be writing about next week. And it's why I'm late with this posting now...
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
I already mentioned the shopping trip I made with Paula on Thursday. That was a real treat. We went to craft stores, we went to Cost Plus World Market, we had lunch at Subway...just a real good time with a sister in Christ. AND...we got to park in the handicap spots at almost every single stop! A REAL blessing, that! I took my cane and was very glad to have it, but being able to park close was very helpful.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
On Saturday Marv drove me down to Fresno for a week with Lia. And her parents, of course. And that's what I'll be writing about for my next Thankful posting...
One thing that was cute was the fact that Sarah didn't tell Lia that I was coming down. She just told Lia there would be a special delivery for her that day. So when Marv and I showed up and came to the door, Lia thought it was the mailman or UPS guy. The look on her face was precious...
Although later, even though we were having great fun together, Lia asked when her delivery would arrive! ♥

A New and Dangerous Place!!

Paula and I went shopping in Chico yesterday. I don’t remember where we were originally headed when we got off the freeway, but as we passed one of the newer business places, we saw on the backs of the building the names of the places. One of them was a name we weren’t familiar with: Paradise Scrapbook Boutique. We immediately changed course and turned in there.

And our lives were forever changed.

They had no embossing powder, which was what Paula was mainly looking for, but they had EVERYTHING else you could ever want or need. And we found many things that we didn’t know we needed at the time, but realized that YES! WE NEEDED THIS! OR THAT! OR SOME OF THOSE!!! WHY NOT ONE OF EACH????

Not only did they have fabulous wonders in the scrapbook/card making/paper craft realm, but the décor of the shop was amazing! Antiques all over the place used in clever ways to display the products. Who would’ve thought of using an old fridge to display stuff in the door and decorative papers on the shelves in the fridge?

Now, I am not a scrapbook person. Cards and mini-books are my thing. I’m also heavily into making altered books. This place had it all for that. And while I’m not interested in crop sessions, the fact that you can come and for a small fee use all their ‘toys’ to cut out dies is amazing! And when we found out that there was a mini-book class coming up in 3 weeks and that there were 3 places left, Paula and I signed up immediately. We promised to share our knowledge for good, not evil.

Stamp Tramps…you have no idea what is awaiting you!! More to come…..

PS: ‘Stamp Tramps’ is the name of out little stamp group…just FYI…no one has any kind of tattoo….not that I know of, anyway…

Thankful/Positive 1/29 to 2/4

The biggest highlight last week was the service on Sunday. We had a REAL contemporary service! With praise songs we haven’t been allowed to sing for YEARS!! And a Worship Team to lead us!! AND (gasp) CLAPPING OF HANDS!!! (We’re not at the point of raising hands…yet. But I feel it’s only a matter of time.)

That just set the tone for the entire week…

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

something with cats

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Almost forgot to post something because I was so busy making Valentines...not like the one at left, but I figured I'd treat you all to a kitty Valentine. Why not? Next weekend I'll be going down to Fresno and I KNOW I'm going to be insane stressed and will probably have a canned post to put up. At least that's my goal. I have to make sure the house is ready for when Sarah drives me back up the following weekend, because we'll be having Lia's BD party with some friends over. So I need to have the ingredients for the cake and everything in place. AND...3 days after that is Ash Wednesday and I will be playing a special piece at church with  Thea with very little practice time in between. So of course, instead of practicing right now, I'm making Valentines and blogging.....

One of my earliest memories of Valentine's Day is from when I was in kindergarten. I don't remember making any for school, but I did receive them. I had the chicken pox at the time, and my dad went up to the school to get mine and sat on the edge of the bed and read them to me. Nice little memory, that. ♥