2014 Resolutions

As I’ve written before, I don’t make resolutions. It’s pointless, for me, anyway. However, there are a few things I’d really like to accomplish this year. Feel free to ask me about them once in awhile.

Less time on Facebook. Now that I don’t play any games on FB except for the occasional word game, there is less for me to waste time on. Yes, I do enjoy doing Bitstrips, and have been known to spend a lot of time plowing through all the scenes to find just the right one. If they had a better way of presenting the scenes so it would be quicker to look through, I’d be happier.

More time reading. That’s a no-brainer. If I’m not on FB, I SHOULD be reading!  OR:

More time crafting. I didn’t make ANY Christmas cards this last year! I haven’t done much at all in the way of stamping or crafting. I miss it! I need it! And that leads into:

Art Journaling/guided journaling. I saw a couple of great tutorials on making art journals that my soul is craving to do. I also downloaded a guided journal for this year that I want to have filled out by the end of the year.

Photo journaling. There were some neat things going around on FB this last year about posting pics every day for a month. Or more. I found a great site that gives really good prompts for each month. I printed up the list for January, and we’ll just see how much I want to get involved with this. This would also be excellent fodder for my blog.

Get rid of more stuff in the attic. I’m afraid that one day the whole thing will collapse in on us. I’ve been trying to have something to donate every time our church has a rummage sale, which is usually twice a year. And I’ve done OK with that, except this last sale in October I came home with a whole armload of stamping/crafting magazines and books and an entire BOX of craft supplies! (bad Dottie!)

So there ya go. Not too hard. Early days, though….

End of 2013 Book Report and Tally

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich

More fun and excitement with Stephanie Plum and her sidekick Lula. This time there’s a giraffe involved!

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Ghost Ship by P.J. Alderman

The second book in the series by this author. This time, Jordan’s investigation of a past murder coincides with the present-day murder of a descendent. Great series so far.

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Christmas Memories at Grace Chapel Inn by various authors

It’s been awhile since the last Grace Chapel Inn book came out. This one is comprised of the Howard sisters sharing their own favorite Christmas memories. As always, these books are a delight.

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Reviving Ophelia ~ Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

This was one of Sarah’s psych books that looked interesting because it included case histories. Everyone knows what hell adolescent kids go through. This book focuses primarily on the female gender. I did get some insight for some of the stuff I went through, and the mistakes I made while Sarah was going through this time of life. This book should be required reading for parents of girls. I don’t know if there is a book like this on what boys go through, but there should be. One of the statements a girl made in this book really hit home. She said, “Everything good in me died in junior high.” Truer words were never spoken.

Now the tally:

I read 40 books this year.

Non-fiction: 8

General fiction: 12

Historical fiction: 2

Mystery/Sci-fi/Paranormal: 15

Cookbooks: 2

Special book-in-progress by Sara: only 1 (but it was GREAT!)

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!!

Remarkably Random Ramblings and Ruminations

This week has been INSANE and all I can do is just start pulling stuff outta my brain and putting it on paper so I can get a blog done.

Last Saturday was my birthday party. I’m 60. Had a GREAT time of food, fun and fellowship. Had a little too much wonderful Mexican food and MAYBE too much vodka, but that’s what it’s all about, right?

Tuesday was Bible study group. I love my group. It’s a place of complete safety. I can dump all my troubles in the middle of the floor and get it all prayed over. And the same goes with everyone else in the group. We prop each other up.

Wednesday was Advent service and Marv, Thea and I did Coventry Carol for offering. Love that haunting tune and have an awesome arrangement for it.

Thursday was a final (so I thought) shopping foray for Christmas stuff. Got things wrapped that needed wrapping and waited for the final things Marv was bringing home so I could prep the two packages that needed to be mailed. THEN I found out that I made a MASSIVE mistake when I paid the mortgage last month…eek. Got it rectified today.

AND made what I HOPE is the absolute FINAL foray to Walmart for things my MIL wants to give my nieces two girls for Christams. So other than food shopping, I do believe I’m done…so NOW you can stick a fork in me!

Keeping It Simple

With everything else going on (as usual) things are starting to get very hectic and I think I’m heading for burn-out. We got the tree up late this year, and for the last week all we’ve had on it is the lights it came with. And it looks very pretty just the way it is. I considered leaving it that way, but know I will enjoy having ornaments on it.

I decided on a different approach this year. I had Marv put the garland on last night, before any ornaments are on the tree. Usually, the garland is the last thing. This way, the ornaments will go where they will definitely be seen, rather than hidden by garland. I also had Marv take down ONE box of ornaments, and that will be the ones we put on the tree. Period. I have 3 other huge bins of ornaments and just couldn’t face going through them all.

I also considered not putting up the Manger this year. We did a different placement of the tree and there really is no good spot for the manger in the front room. Then I hit on the idea of putting it in the hallway on the bookcase where my kitty car cookie jar is. The hall nightlight is right above that shelf and I think it will look kinda like the Star of Bethlehem shining above the manger. I might even look for a special light to plug in there.

I already feel more like getting into it all. It just won’t be as much as in previous years.

I also decided NOT to make Christmas cards this year. It would be more of a job than a joy. So everyone is getting store-bought cards this year. I love sending and receiving cards and would never cut that activity out, I’m just giving myself a bit of a break this year.

There. I will put up some ornaments later and set up the Manger. And then sit and think about what this whole season is about. We were given a magnificent gift from God, and we need to really ponder that.

Dec 2013 Book Report

Haunting Jordan by P.J. Alderman

First book in a fun little series. Jordan escapes from the spotlight of her husband’s murder in L.A. and buys an old Victorian house in the state of Washington to restore. It comes complete with ghosts. Who want their own murders solved. I look forward to more from this writer.

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Deadly Heat by “Richard Castle”

The latest in the Castle series. In this one, Nikki closes her mother’s murder case and prevents a bioterror event. These are such well-written books, and a delight to read.

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Addams Family Values by Todd Strasser

This book was written from the screenplay of the movie. I loved the movie, and this book was lots of fun.

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UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn

This was a free ebook, and I didn’t realize it was the first one of a series. It was a good story though, and came to a good conclusion, so even if I don’t get more books from the series, it’s OK. Mina Grimes is very unlucky. It gets even worse when she finds she is the descendant of one of the Grimm brothers and must solve “fairy tale” stories or die. This is a YA paranormal book. Good read.

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Finding My Father by Rod McKuen

I always loved his poems and songs back in the day. I stumbled across this autobiography at a sale. The book was written when Rod was in his 40s and searching for info on his birth father. Lots of poems included in the work, some from his past writings and some that were written especially for this book. Lots of pictures, too.

Sitcom Dads

Did you ever wonder what some of the TV sitcom dads did for a living? I’m talking about ones from my childhood and teens. Most of the action of the shows took place amongst a family setting, with little mention of Dad’s occupation. There were a few obvious exceptions. Everyone knew that Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) was a sheriff, and Darren Stevens (Dick York/Dick Sargent) was an ad man. And some did have reference to the job. I decided to do some sleuthing and this is what I found:

Henry Mitchell (Herbert Anderson) from “Dennis the Menace” was an engineer for the Trask Corp.

Jim Anderson (Robert Young) from “Father Knows Best” was an insurance agent.

Steven Douglas (Fred MacMurray) from “My Three Sons” was an aeronautical engineer. I do recall some episodes where he came home with some large rolled-up papers under his arm.

Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont) from “Leave It To Beaver” had some kind of office job.

Mike Brady (Robert Reed) from “Brady Bunch” was an architect. And I remember some references to this job.

Martin Lane (William Schallert) from “The Patty Duke Show” was managing editor of a newspaper.

Bentley Gregg (John Forsythe) from “Bachelor Father” was an attorney.

Bill Davis (Brian Keith) from “Family Affair” was a civil engineer.

Don’t you feel smarter now? You’re welcome.

The Facebook "Poke"

When I first got on Facebook, I thought the “poke” deal was superfluous and didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. Then a friend mentioned about praying for someone each time they “poked” that person.

I liked that. I liked that a lot!

I stopped just returning pokes whenever they happened. I started praying for the person I sent a poke to. So if I get poked and don’t return it right away, it’s because I’m busy and want to wait until I have the time to truly THINK about that person and pray for them.

Sometimes it will be several days and I’ll have several pokes to answer. I will stop or finish whatever I’m doing on FB and sit there and really pray before returning the poke.

Another friend called me a good “poker pray-er”. I like that, too…