Easter Sunday

"As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 'Don't be alarmed,' he said. 'You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" - Mark 16:5-7

Easter Sunday 2013! I hope you have had a wonderful blessed day. We had a great time with all our kids yesterday at our Easter dinner. Seeing all our grandkids in the same place at the same time is always a treat. It amazes me to see how the passing years can make subtle changes in the family. The littlest ones are playing differently, the older ones are now sitting at the "adult table" joining in our conversation and then there's the new babies, one just learned she could walk and one crying for a bottle. The 2 youngest are Lisa's grandchildren. I guess that could make me a great-grandmother, but the babies' father is her step-son, so I don't actually claim him. :)

There's a small town in Texas called GROOM. They have the beginning of a wonderful Christian display that draws people from all around. There is always someone stopped to visit, pray, or meditate. Trucks, buses, and single vehicles. Groom is a tiny town on I-40, about 70 miles from Amarillo, but it gets lots of visitors because of this.

This could be one of the last surviving Christian symbols in our  country!  These are the pictures of the crucifixion of Christ, sculptured from metal by a man near Amarillo , TX . The crosses are made of metal also. The man did this out of the kindness of his heart.  Someone donated the land on which to erect them.

On the History Channel today, they played all the episodes of The Bible. I watched them from beginning to end. The last was Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. The crucifixion always makes me cry. 

There were different spots in the shows that weren't quite true to the scriptures, but all in all they did a fairly decent job. They said this show has attracted a large viewing audience. I pray it spoke to many non-Christians. 

Our weather today started out gloomy and rainy but the sun came out after lunch. The temperature got up around 62°. It was a pretty day.  Have you heard the old saying that if it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain the next 7 consecutive Sundays?  

This picture was taken from our back patio. The sky was so pretty this afternoon. The blue spruce is in our neighbor's back yard and estimated to be around 70 yrs. old. 

Until later..... ♥

Good Friday

Good Friday... a day set aside each year for us Christians to reflect on what our Lord Jesus has done for us. A solemn day. His love and sacrifice for us is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. This is the main difference that separates us from "religions". Our Lord and Savior did not stay buried in the ground. He rose from the grave!! He's alive!! I'm forgiven! Heaven's door is open!! Thank you Lord Jesus.

10:00 PM... Oh my. No wonder I'm tired. I just finished with my carrot cake for our Easter dinner tomorrow. In the morning I'll do my deviled eggs and sweet potato casserole.

Our weather was beautiful today. It was 51° with blue sky and lots of sunshine. Bob and I were out on the back patio enjoying the warm sun when our of nowhere --- SPLAT! Bird poop on the top of my head! I don't know where it was. But I've also wondered how they can squirt my kitchen window when the fly by. Anyways, I had to come in and wash my hair again, second time in one day. It was disgusting.

I hope you had a great day. 

Getting ready for Easter

The last couple days have been busy ones but very enjoyable for the most part.

Tuesday I met up with my sister for coffee when she got off work. Two hours later, we were leaving the restaurant and headed for home. When we get together the time just flies by.

Last evening we went to the elementary school to watch Grandson #4 in his spring program. The kids all did a great job.  I couldn't get any good pictures. We were sitting too far away in a very dark audience.  Half way through the program I developed one of those horribly painful heartburns. My supper didn't want to agree with me. I ate 5 Tums before I could feel the slightest bit of relief.

We sat with our daughter and son-in-law, so while we waited for the show to begin, it gave Lisa and I a chance to talk about the menu for our Easter dinner. I told them I was baking a carrot cake and Rob's eyes lit up. He loves my carrot cake.

We are having our dinner on Saturday, due to some scheduling problems with the 3 daughters and their families.

• Grandson #2 will be here over the weekend, but our daughter has to drive him back to OSU Sunday afternoon.

• Daughter #2 and her family are coming down from Michigan to spend the weekend, but they'll also have to head home Sunday afternoon.

• Daughter #1 is hosting the dinner this year. Her weekend is free and she's able to have everyone over. She also has a bigger house than I do. Since she doesn't see her sisters very often, they are all having a 'slumber party' Saturday night. I know they'll have a good time.

• Grandson #3 has spring break all next week, so he's going to stay here then we have to get him back to Michigan the following weekend. Our daughter Teresa is taking him back, meeting Lori half way, in Toledo. We just can't make the drive, so I'm glad our youngest daughter loves the open road and trips like that.

In the news:

• The reports came out for our county's unemployment figures. We went from 7% to 8.5%. Where is the economic recovery for us?

• A local man called the police yesterday to report his cousin has been making phone calls to him wanting a relationship. He told him that he was not interested, he was married.

What's with that? Some people anymore act like they've lost something in the brain department.

•  "From 2009 to 2013, the U.S. government has spent $1,188,382 on puppetry-related expenses. Some of the expenses include puppet shows for kids on educational topics. Others include puppet-based research. In 2010, the taxpayer-funded National Science Foundation awarded the University of Central Florida a $199,754 research grant for “Efficient Control and Transmission of Digital Puppetry.”

We are heading out to the grocery now to get the things we need for Easter dinner.

I hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'm going to leave you with this poem that I like.

It Is Finished

The disciples surely thought it was finished,

that the world had gone insane.

How could the Father allow this to happen?

Was Jesus teaching all in vain?

Both Mary's surely thought it was finished,

as they witnessed their worst fears,

seeing the Man they both loved near death.

They could hardly see Him through their tears.

The high priests surely thought it was finished,

their voices rising in a victory shout,

as they watched their plan grow to fruition,

thinking their competition had been wiped out.

Pontius Pilate just wanted it finished.

To what crimes can this Man confess?

Since I can find no fault with Him,

I will simply wash my hands of this mess.

Judas conscience surely knew he was finished,

as he regretted his actions too late.

He had betrayed the only Son of God,

and his name would earn history's hate.

The thief surely thought he was finished,

receiving just punishment for his life of sin,

until a single plea, Lord, remember me,

his new home in paradise to win.

The centurion surely thought, we're finished.

What is this wicked deed we have done?

As the earth beneath his feet trembled,

Surely this Man was God's Son.

Jesus cried out, it is finished.

Yet it had only just begun.

The Father and Son were reunited.

The two deities again became one.

Christ cried out, it is finished.

But it was only just beginning.

The apostles would continue His mission.

Hearts and souls they would soon be winning.

Satan's power over us, it is finished,

since Christ played the Sacrificial Lamb's part.

Jesus gave His life for you and me.

He's become the focus of the Christian's heart.

~ Lanette Kissel

Mon. Mar. 25

  We got hit with winter storm Virgil late yesterday (Sunday).  As of right now, they are reporting 7.25" of snowfall in our area, which isn't a whole lot but it's brought some things to a halt and others slow moving. Schools and other places have cancelled and roads are slippery.

We got quite a surprise yesterday. My baby brother from Texas pulled into town and sent me a mysterious text message. It took me awhile to figure out what he was saying.  The translation was "pick me up at WalMart". He loves to surprise me. He's a hazmat hauler (flammable chemicals) but his territory usually covers Texas and Louisiana only. Occasionally an order has to come up north (New York) and he'll volunteer. On his way back south he'll come through here.

Yesterday, however, put him in a dilemma. We got hit by the snow storm. He stayed over-night then assessed the situation when the sun came up this morning. At 5:00 this morning, I was cooking him a big breakfast that would hold him over for a few hours before he'd  have to stop again. We watched the weather channel, the local news and even checked with the Indiana highway patrol to see what the roads were like for him and his big rig. At 8am he decided to pull out, so we took him back out to WalMart to get his truck. Our streets through town were a mess but from what he heard, if he could get past Indianapolis the rest of the way south would be clear. I'm sure he made it ok.

Update from our local weatherman:  "Storm winding down with light snow still into the evening. Total snowfall in the City was 8.25 inches. The evening included Thundersnow last night with lightning and thunder 3 times during heavy snowfall rates of 2 inches per hour." That is a phenomenon that seems to be happening more and more.... thunder and lightning during a snowfall. 

Just heard from my brother. He's ok, almost to Little Rock, with just 320 miles to home.

With my schedule being so messed up the last couple days, I feel so disconnected and very tired. I even took a nap, and I don't usually nap. They make me feel worse. I think I'm still going to bed early. I'm sure I can get a couple pages of my book read before I fall asleep.  Maybe. It's awful getting old. When I was younger I was so spontaneous and would do things on a whim. No set schedules for me. I'd bend with the wind. Now that I'm older, I'm one of those old folks my parents talked about…. "she's set in her ways". 

That's all I have for today. I hope you had a great day.

Sat. Mar. 23

 "The National Weather Service has issued a WINTER STORM WATCH for our area from Sunday morning thru Monday afternoon. Snow should begin on Sunday .  Overall we could see 6 to 8 inches.  Winds will be gusting to 25 mph during this entire event." 

We went to a surprise birthday party for my cousin Ann last evening. Her daughter planned the whole thing and it actually worked out very well. Everyone got there before she arrived, including her 92 year old mother.  Several people were laughing later, saying that's the first time they've ever seen Ann speechless.  We had a good time.

Bob and I ran an errand this afternoon, and since we might not be able to get out of the drive in a couple days, we stopped to pick up a few items at the grocery store. We're all set to hibernate for a while. Oh how I hate this. My iris are starting to come up and the trees are budding new leaves. I hope this winter storm doesn't hurt them.

I live in a small manufacturing town with factories in all 4 directions. On our way out to the store this afternoon we saw black smoke in a huge cloud south of town in the location of Industrial Park. On our way home, we went out that direction to see where the fire was exactly. It was out there, in the building that houses a small trucking plant. I don't know how much was destroyed, or how many employees they have, but from what we could see, it was a huge loss. 

That's about all I have to report on for today. I hope you have a good day tomorrow. 

Remember to smile ..... and make everyone wonder what you're up to. 

Thurs. Mar. 21

Another cold day…. The high was only 32° with snow flurries. Tonight down to 20°. At noon, the wind chill was only 17°. Our local weathermen don't see us having any spring temperatures in the next 2 weeks. I didn't want to hear that.

Last year the lawn and garden shops around here were selling tomato plants in March.  Not this year. They actually are glad for the late spring weather.

In the news:

After last month's meteor strike in Russia and the close asteroid flyby on the same day, members of Congress asked NASA, White House and Air Force officials what they're doing to combat the threat of near-Earth asteroids.

Their answer: "pray". 

What do those members of Congress expect them to do? How stupid.  This isn't a movie where they can send a shuttle up with men to deflect a comet before it hits earth (Deep Impact).

Question of the day:

What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?

My answer:  'The Notebook'  I read the book then watched the movie much later. As usual, the book was better, but they both made me cry.

When I read the question of the day, there were several movies that came to mind (Gone with the Wind, The Green Mile, Of Mice and Men just to name a few) but I've not read the books.

I haven't been able to see my Thursday shows tonight…. We have basketball. Whoopee! Well, I always have USA with the reruns of NCIS. :)

My hubby has joined 'Friends of the NRA'. He's at a meeting tonight. I went to the last meeting but didn't care to go with him tonight.

I hope you had a good day.

Vernal Equinox

"Equinox"  is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” Days and nights are approximately equal everywhere and the Sun rises and sets due east and west. Today the sun rose at 7:42am and set at 7:50pm.

  That also means  the first day of spring ...  warm temperatures, flowers coming up through the cold ground, birds singing and building nests. Now someone needs to tell the weatherman. 

Our weather today was pretty, a high of 31°, with some sunshine and blue sky until mid-afternoon, then the clouds moved in. Tonight is going down 17°. 

It was still windy today, but not nearly as bad as it was yesterday. Our local weatherman said at noon today that on the first day of spring last year, we set a record high of 83°, and today we would set another record as the coldest. 

My gripe for the day:  

 I've had this on my mind lately, then this morning, on someone else's page, they were talking about it ….. one of the things we don't like about Blogger. There's no way to have conversations. 

For instance, I post my blog for the day in the evenings. You read it and leave a comment or a question. I get an email the next morning that you've commented. I go back to my blog to read what you've written. Now if I answer your comment, there's a big chance you won't see it because you won't know about it. You aren't going to want to keep coming back to MY blog the next day. We're all done with that one and working on today's new blog. We have no way to create that conversation back and forth like we had on Multiply. And I have no way of just coming to your site to ask you how you're feeling today.

Bob and I ran some errands this afternoon. I ride along just for the opportunity to get out of the house. Isn't that awful? A ride to the post office was the highlight of my day. I need a social life.

Tonight's supper was breaded pork cutlets, green bean casserole and candied carrots.

Enough for now. I'm going to get ready for bed.

Have a good Thursday.

Tues. Mar. 19

Ukko (?) is the latest winter storm, currently dumping lots more snow on the north and east coast, that the weather channel has named.  I wondered where they got the name, since I've never heard of it before. So I looked it up…..

Ukko is the god of the sky,  weather, harvest and thunder in Finnish mythology.

Today has been a very cold day. We aren't getting any snow, just flurries now and then. The wind chill early today was only 7°. The weatherman says our normal should be 50°. It didn't make it, only getting up to 35°.   

The wind is what makes it worse, gusting up to 30+ mph. We were talking about this the other day. Bob and I can't ever remember having such strong winds like we have now. The only conclusion we can come to is that the farmers around here have cut down most of the trees so they can get one more row of crops. This whole area used to be lots of trees, now it's all open ground, able to see for miles around.

March Madness…

I'm not a basketball fan so when they take off my shows to play ball, I'm not happy.

I got on my hands and knees this afternoon to take care of some spots on the living room carpet. With 7 grandchildren and 3 son-in-laws, the spots are inevitable. I still have to save some money to pay the guy across the street to professionally clean it. 

Tonight's supper was ground beef/pasta/tomato sauce … what my mother always called 'goop'. I make  my own sauce though because we don't like the jars of spaghetti sauce. And we like our pasta el dente so I boil it before mixing with the sauce. Then top it off with Mozilla or cheddar cheese. Sometimes I'll mix in some vegetables like green peppers or kidney beans. So good. 

Well, that's all I have to ramble about tonight. Hope tomorrow is a good day.

Monday Mar. 18

Happy Monday, the start of another new week. I hope this one brings you many blessings.

We woke up this morning to some ugly weather. We had a sheet of ice on everything outside. Bob went out to get the newspaper and I made him take the Ice Melt with him. Then I watched to see that he didn't fall. The temperature did get up to 42° so it melted off slowly. We could possible see more of the same tonight.

Question of the Day: 

Where is one place you wish you could visit, that you have only read about?

My answer:  simple.  Jerusalem. Oh, there are many beautiful places with fantastic scenery, or white beaches and warm breezes that I'd like to go see, but Jerusalem has my heart. I want to walk the same area Jesus walked.  

I attempted something this afternoon that I hadn't done in a very long time. I mended one of Hubby's shirts. And I succeeded.

We have new neighbors. The house next door has been empty the last 2 years since my friend died. I kept hoping for nice neighbors my own age, but instead we got a young lady that my girls went to school with and her husband/boyfriend (?) and 3 small kids that love to scream. Yippeeee.

Tonight's supper was fish and french fries. Simple. Healthy… right? Well, part of it was. 

Well, it's bedtime. I'm going to shut down and get my book. 

Take care.

St. Patrick's Day

Today is the 76th day of the year. It's been quiet around here the last couple days and I'm not complaining one bit.

Today is also St. Patrick's Day. To my Irish friends, and all those who wish they were, I hope it's been a good one.  Did you know….   The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762.

I'm not Irish so today I put a roast in the oven early this afternoon and made some scalloped potatoes along with a green vegetable for our dinner. Good food for a cold day.

Our weather has turned back to the cold, cloudy stuff and will be that way all week. We have the chance of freezing rain and snow again tonight. Oh, well, I must be patient.

On this day in history, 1845, the rubber band was developed. Can you imagine life without them?

In today's news:

"Police are asking for help finding a car believed to be stolen from the house where a woman was found dead in Gas City.

The white 1993 Cadillac Eldorado is registered through Indiana with an “In God We Trust” plate of UDL191."

There's another sign of the times, and the condition of our country, when a stolen vehicle is being described as having a license plate saying "In God We Trust".  It's so sad. We used to see them around everywhere. Not anymore. If we have one of these, we are now labeled as "being different"!

We ran out to WalMart this afternoon to get a few things we needed and I think everyone in town did too. The place was crazy. At least they had several check-out lanes open.  But it never fails, I always see something that angers me. This time is was people's lack of respect for anyone and they're teaching their children the same thing. I was standing to the side in one of the aisles when a young mother went flying by with her small boy in the cart. I'd say he was around 5 yrs. old. When I looked at him, he yelled "hey old lady!"  His mother didn't say a thing. And neither did I.

Well, enough of my ramblings for tonight.

Until next time…. 

It's Friday!

Friday? It doesn't feel right.  It feels more like Saturday. I lost another day this week. This is happening more and more lately. Maybe my head is off in the clouds. It's no wonder what with everything that's been going on around here.

1. Grandson #5 being sick. He's doing better breathing, but he cries whenever he coughs it hurts so bad.
2. Daughter #3 filing for divorce.
3. My computer in the shop for a couple days so I couldn't do any work for my boss.
4. Still having technical problems and having the cable repairman here early this morning to check the router box.
5. My Chinese dinner last night made me sick.
6. Having to tell Grandson #1 'no'… he called late last night wanting a ride early this morning  to Wapakoneta, 70 miles away. 
7. Getting all of our tax records together before the meeting with our tax man and hoping we haven't forgotten anything.

Today's weather….  the high was 45. Tonight, it's raining and it will change over to light snow and freezing drizzle overnight as temperatures drop to 31.  Great. More freezing drizzle. I'm sure the robins don't like it any more than I do. They'll wish they hadn't come back up north.

Newspaper:  "Police are searching for two suspects who they say stole lottery tickets from 12 different gas stations. The suspects then cashed in the stolen tickets at a different gas station."

A new product review:  

 I got another little high tech item the other day. It's called a "super magic stick" from Power Rocks. It's a high power lithium battery for any of my electronic devices that takes a USB charging cable, such as my cell phone, my Kindle, my iPod, etc. 

The small black cord that came with it is to charge the unit itself, but once it's fully charged, I can carry it in my purse, in the little bag that also came with it, and never have to deal with a dead cell phone when I'm out and about. 

Also when our power goes out, we can charge our Kindles to keep us occupied. 

I thought it was a great idea. I may get 3 more for Christmas presents.

We had our appointment with the tax man this evening. Phil and Bob always get to talking politics and when I nudge Bob, trying to get him to leave, Phil always laughs at me.  But we left our papers and we'll get the results in a few days.  Uncle Sam shouldn't bite us too hard, it's the state and the tax for the new schools we're paying for.

 I'm going to leave you now with this bit of wisdom.... 

"Never give the devil a ride. He will always want to drive."  

"Harbinger"  …. To forewarn, predict, foreshadow; a prophecy, a messenger, a forerunner 

I have loved reading and studying Bible prophecies for the last few years. Bob and I even studied the book of Revelation and it's a very humbling experience to see how God sets everything in motion, each minute detail, and how so many prophecies have been fulfilled.

I honestly believe we are in the last days. Even though the United States is not mentioned in the Bible, we are still a part of the last prophecies. 

I heard about a book from my brother-in-law one evening while having dinner with him and his wife. When we got home, I immediately went to Amazon-dot-com and downloaded the book onto my Kindle. This book is absolutely amazing. It has had quite an impact on me. The things the author found in his research relating to a prophecy in Isaiah and the incident that happened in this country that brought him to write the book.  The author is Jonathan Cahn, a Jewish rabbi in New Jersey.  The title of the book is "The Harbinger".   

The author said he "found nine harbingers that tie the problems America has experienced beginning Sept. 11, 2001, with parallels that led to the destruction of ancient Israel."  He called it "an ancient mystery".

If you have the tiniest bit of interest, if you are seriously studying the scriptures, I strongly recommend reading this book. Don't worry, it's not a book of doom and gloom. For me, I have found it to be 'news' from my Lord and a new picture of just how much He loves us. 

Since I got my computer back, I've been trying to get caught up on so many things. I read yesterday that Google was going to retire their Google Reader. That's how I get to everyone's blogs. Now I have to try another route. I can see some people's blogs on Google+ but not everyone has their blog connected to that, so I'm going to miss those posts unless someone can tell me another way to find them.

I heard late last night that the Catholic church has a new pope.

According to Fox News:  "Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected by his peers Wednesday evening as the new pope, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas."  He chose the name Francis. He's also the first pope to come from outside Europe in more than 100 years.  I wish him well. He has a huge job ahead of him.

"Another Carnival cruise liner is experiencing problems with its propulsion system amid reports of power outages and overflowing toilets while docked in the Caribbean, one month after a fire crippled the Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico."  Thank goodness this ship is moored, so they're flying everyone home. With all the recent problems they've had, this has got to have a big impact on their business. They're going to have a hard time coming out of this black mark against them. I know I'd be scared to get onboard.

I've come to that point where I have to ignore some of the news stories coming out because it's all so depressing or makes me afraid of the future. Some of the news headlines I've seen just this morning…

"Congressional Black Caucus Urges Obama to Discriminate Against Whites".  (I thought he always was)

"Wisconsin Department of Education says Whites Are Born Racist and Privileged"  (Oh Really?)

"Obama has Declared War on Our Military"  (he's been trying to do away with it since day 1)

"Federal Gov't Spends $1.5 million on Studying Obese Lesbians"  (no comment)

"New Pope Clashes with President Over Liberal Policies" (good… it's the liberal's that are destroying us)

We took our grandson out for dinner tonight at China Buffet. We had a good time. About half way through our meal, his mother sent me a text. "Where are you?" She was in town at the funeral home for a friend she went to school with. She came out and had dinner with us. When she and her son get together, they always make us laugh. They're fun to watch. They think so much alike. 

Then I got to laughing, watching our grandson eat Jello squares  with chop sticks. From the first time we took him to a Chinese restaurant, he's loved the culture and the food. He's gotten very good, even eating the rice, with chop sticks.   

My fortune cookie?  --- "next time order the shrimp" 

Hope you've had a good day.

3-13-13

Today is 3-13-13! Hope you have had a good Wednesday.

My past few days have been the proverbial merry-go-round. It's been crazy around here and I don't feel anything positive has come from it. 

It started this past weekend. I got a virus in my computer and I'm 99.9% sure it came through Facebook. I called CNT computer repair yesterday and took it out to them.  While they had it, I had him put some extra RAM memory in it. We picked it up this afternoon.

When we got it home, hooked it all up, and everything seemed great, but I still couldn't get online. I had been without the internet for 4 days. Bob wanted me to call them back, but I told him before I do, call Time Warner to see if the problem is on their end.

The lady on the phone ran a remote check and found out we have a bad cable router. We've only had this one 3 months after the last one went bad. She did a reset on our box and we're back on, but a technician is still coming Friday morning to check it out and maybe bring us a new one.

Our #3 grandson, Curtis, came in Monday afternoon. He's home from college on spring break this week. He stayed for several hours, telling us all about college life. I had told him a couple weeks ago that when he got home that we'd do something together, just him, Grandpa and me. He's coming over tomorrow and we're taking him out for Chinese, his favorite.

I heard from our daughter Teresa this morning that she had our grandson Jr, age 8, in the ER. He's got croup again and couldn't breath. He gets this every year. She still has the meds and a breathing machine she got for him a few years ago, but it didn't work this time. He's doing better now but it sure is scary. Poor little guy. I remember past winters when she'd bundle him and sit on the deck holding him so he could breath the cold moist air. That helped a lot. Many years ago her twin sisters would get that and the home treatment at that time was a humidifier. I used to rig up a croup tent and put them both in there.  I'd sit up many nights like that with them.

I was hungry for some warm chocolate chip cookies earlier, so I mixed up a batch. I just got them finished and they are so good. I haven't baked cookies for a long time. Oh, I've done the package mixes, but not my own recipe from scratch. Bob's enjoying them right now in the other room. :)

We had a beautiful weekend, weather-wise. It got up into the 50's, then it got cold again. Our wind chill this morning was only 12° and a light snow. I've been told spring isn't far away. I did watch some robins in our backyard yesterday. That's a good sign.

I hope you had a good day. 

A bad day...

This has been a horrible day.

We got hit with the predicted snow storm during the night and found 7 inches on the ground this morning when I got up. It's the worst we've seen in the last couple years.

There was a 3ft. drift in front of our garage. Bob had an awful time trying to get the snow blower through it. The snow is wet and very heavy.

Out front we have a sidewalk under all that with another good size drift on the deck. The neighbors across the street may have to wait for the spring thaw to get their cars out.

According to our local weatherman, we will see a warm up by the weekend, up to 50°. Then another winter blast next week, which could bring more snow.

Update: "Looking at the new information, it appears a storm system slowly moving thru the area Sunday through Tuesday will be warm enough to be a heavy rain producer and create some flooding issues. The 7 inches of snow overnight plus possibly up to 2 inches of rain from this next system will overload our streams and Rivers. For tonight a low of 23. Thursday a high of 36 and low of 17."

I took the snow pictures this morning from inside, through the screen window, because I didn't want to go outside. I've been in bed off and on the last 36 hours. I don't have a cold. That I could deal with. Not sure what this is. Chills, stomach cramps, achy and weak. Last night I went to bed at 8:30, under the electric blanket and I was still shivering. I'm feeling slightly better right now, but I still can't eat. I'm going to try some hot soup later to keep my blood sugar up. I feel like I was run over by a truck but with no tire tracks.



I hope you had a good day.
Until later......

Monday March 4

Not much happened here today. The first thing this morning I thought of all the chores I was going to do, like laundry and such. Then I thought about it again. So I didn't do any of it. It will always be there tomorrow.  Darn….

My boss sent me some work last night, so I worked on it this afternoon. He has an auction scheduled for the 23rd so I took care of typing up the advertising that will go to the newspapers plus a flyer for a hand out. I set up a schedule for the newspapers and sent it all back to him. I'm now waiting for him to decide on the newspapers.

Our daughter stopped in on  her lunch break today. She's slowly building up her clientele of massage clients. She had 1 this morning and 2 this afternoon. The shop owner has a business page on Facebook and has her therapists listed on there. Teresa doesn't like Facebook but now she has to keep checking on it because clients are booking appointments on it. Modern technology at work.

We are under another winter storm warning, hence the exclamation mark in red. From our local weatherman:  "After a quiet first few days of March, it looks like it's going to live up to the saying "in like a lion". We'll have mostly sunny skies today with a high of 36. Tonight, partly cloudy with increasing clouds and a low of 26. Snow will move in Tuesday morning, 4-8 inches possible. Most snow will accumulate Tuesday night and into Wednesday. Snow will taper to snow showers Wednesday morning."   Whoopee…..

Question of the Day:  What do you do that you love so much you lose track of time?

For me, it's reading a good book. I can get so engrossed in a story that I forget there's even a clock in the room. What's yours?

Study shows that "morning people are the happiest people". I am not a morning person, so what does that say about all of us who aren't?

I've never eaten at a Popeye's because we don't have any in this area, but this recipe sounds so good I plan on trying them.

Popeye’s Copycat Biscuits 

Ingredients:

2 C. Bisquick (recipe follows)

1/2 C. 7-Up (I used Sprite)

1/2 C. sour cream

1/4 C. butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine the Bisquick and sour cream in a mixer. Add the 7-Up and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add a little more Bisquick if necessary (I added a little more so the dough wasn’t quite so sticky).

In a 9×9 square pan, melt the butter. Separate your biscuit dough into nine equal parts and form each one into a ball. As you can see from mine pictured above, they don’t have to be perfect! Place the dough balls in the pan on top of the melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Until later..... 

Sat. March 2

My Saturday was a very good day. We had our monthly family dinner today over at daughter #1's house. Almost everyone was there. Curtis, grandson #2, was the only missing link but he'll be coming home from college next week. Daughter #2 and her husband and son even made the trip from Michigan to be with us today. It was so nice to have all 3 of my girls around the table with us. I've missed them so much.

Of course we had lots of food and my chocolate cake was a big hit, but I still brought some home. I'm going to try to discipline myself and not eat too much of it.

In the picture above, Bob is helping the girls put the dishes in the dishwasher. He enjoyed the day too.



Our weather was cold today and another gloomy one. The wind chill has been only around 17° all day. Now the weatherman says another winter storm is heading our way. We could get 4+ inches of snow Tuesday. Then spring-like temperatures by the end of the week. OK!!

Well, I'm going to call it a night. There's nothing good on TV, so I'm going to curl up with my book.
Hope you have a good weekend.

Friday the first

It's Friday, which makes all those working folks happy. For me, a retired old lady, it's just another day. But I still enjoy the thought that for the next 2 days I don't HAVE to do anything. 

Today is the first of March and it looks like it's come in like a lion and hopefully it will go out like a lamb.  We'll see. There's another saying, when it comes to March weather, "as it rains in March so it rains in June".  I'd just like to see a nice long peaceful spring, where the windows can be opened and snow doesn't kill  the tulips. 

19 days until the first day of Spring!! But who's counting?

Speaking of weather, our day was another cold, dark, gloomy day with freezing drizzle off and on. The high was only 30° with an expected low tonight of 21°. Tomorrow is suppose to about the same, but we MIGHT get to see the sun. It's been days since we've seen it. 

Tonight's supper was baked pork chops, stuffing and baked beans.

I got my chocolate cake baked for our family dinner.  Now the only thing I have to do tomorrow is a large pot of mashed potatoes which I'll transport over to my daughter's in a crock pot. She's fixing beef and noodles and a salad. I don't know what the other 2 girls are bringing, but I'm sure we'll have enough for an army. We always do.

I tried to change my background but somewhere I did something wrong and couldn't fix it. I'll try again later.

 I will now leave you with a little "melt your heart" story I received in a email:

WHY DO DOGS LIVE LESS THAN HUMANS?  ANSWER FROM A 6 YEAR OLD

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker ‘s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.

He said, ”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”

The Six-year-old continued, ”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

-- Author Unknown