Sweet gentle rain is falling in Apex tonight:)
What a peaceful sound.
What a blessing after not hearing it for far too long.
It’s chilly & damp, and Christmas lights glisten through the droplets.
I’ll sleep contentedly hearing rain tapping & sliding down the window pane while I travel from one dream to another….:)
My bed is calling!
Goodnight moon (sleeping behind the clouds):)
I’ve been in warp speed since Thanksgiving, so sorry about the blog updates & “ponderings” not being consistent.
Did some Christmas baking today, and attempted to decorate the tree—discovering half dead light strands put an end to getting that project done:(
Our grand puppy Poppy arrived yesterday & haven’t even had time to see her–that’s bad:( Seth & Kelley probably think I’m not excited. At least Skye & “buds” have been over & taken photos of the cute Westie baby girl.
Need a longer weekend. I love to wrap gifts but can’t seem to fit it in, between cleaning & all the house stuff.
Would LOVE to have blown/raked leaves today; a perfect day to be outside here! High of 68 degrees:) Didn’t have time:(
Keith’s trying to get our Christmas letter designed & typed, and I’m even thinking it may not be a priority to get one out this year.
Have found Holiday music online this year, so am listening to some nice Christmas streaming music without commercials! And from a person who LOVES Christmas music, the radio stations are playing the same songs over & over–not good.
Have missed traveling to Pinehurst & seeing my mama:(
Have been reading “The Screwtape Letters”, finally! Makes me think!
Also beginning to read “same kind of different as me”, by Hall & Moore.
Celebrated with longtime friends an old friend’s college graduation tonight. He’s in his 60’s so this is something he’s worked on (& off) for years. What an achievement!! Hurray for Ralph!
Skye will wind up her next to last semester at Wake Tech this coming week. She has exams & papers to write. And hopes to get “an invitation” from Appalachian State in the coming weeks.
Christmas will be here in 2 weeks & 3 days–whoa!!
Ponderings:
Wow, does it feel like November was a blur?
Seems Thanksgiving came and went in the blink of an eye!
But do remember how hot October was, and must say November has been more gracious weather-wise with seasonal temps.
Keith’s sister, mom, nephew, and ‘our Seth’ became older in November.
I’ve been in “Christmas World” since Halloween, so I’m feeling like it’s crunch time as I look around the corner at December 1st!
Tomorrow is the Apex Christmas Parade at 5pm–my favorite parade. And afterwards we are celebrating Seth’s birthday:) How nice, especially since Three is coming to watch the parade with us:)!!
Sunday is our church women’s Christmas Tea, and the Historical Homes Tour in Apex—which will I do?
Monday is Seth & Kelley’s 2nd anniversary. What fun to remember their gorgeous wedding day!!
And the Season to be merry is in full swing:)
A month from today will be Christmas.
Now if I wanted to scare myself I’d list everything I need to do in 4 weeks’ time.
So I won’t do that:)
I love the Christmas Season.
I love that Jesus’ name is everywhere.
People have purpose, and pondering what other people want/need gets our minds off ourselves—for a few seconds anyway:)
This year we have more time between Thanksgiving & Christmas since Thanksgiving comes early, but, whoa, that time will fly by!
Having parties, attending parties, baking cookies & breads & cakes & candies, etc., decorating the whole house inside & out, burning scented candles, buying & wrapping gifts, giving gifts, eating holiday goodies, drinking Russian tea & eggnog & cocoa, etc., going to Christmas pageants & concerts, enjoying Christmas Teas, singing Christmas songs, all are things I love & savor & relish:)
I guess most of us can only handle all those wonderful things for 30 days–a birthday party for 30 days:)
O yeah:)
Joy To The World!
O Come Let Us Adore Him!
Just got in from walking at Lake Pine,
walking through glorious color,
through God’s artwork.
GLORY is shining!
If you haven’t noticed the colors of the trees this fall,
stop,
look!
Admire the Creator’s palette!
The golds, the burgundys,
the bright yellows,
the bright greens,
the corals,
the peach,
the burnt siennas,
the rust,
the bright reds,
dark reds,
the oranges,
almost every tree is brushed with brilliant hues.
God is before us painting His Splendor for all to see!
I must say HATS OFF to Skye for losing 40 lbs. on Weight Watcher’s as of Monday night!
Hurray for persevering, girl!!!
She hasn’t reached her “lifetime” goal yet, but is working hard to make it happen. I think a big boost for her is that she exercises at the Y a number of times each week.
I am slower. I’ve been on a plateau close to losing 30 lbs. for months. I walk/run every morning, but fight evening snacking:(
Thanksgiving and Christmas are big hurdles ahead….whoa.
Do make us accountable & continue to be our encouragers:)
Marcia, hello:)
I re-read my post about your mom Sarah Black back in May, little knowing when I wrote it I’d be back at the same cemetery burying my own Mama by October:(
Hoping your brothers and dad are coping, and have some comfort.
brenda@jamawkinaw.com
I was listening to the 102.9 Beatles’ hour this morning, and afterwards, “behold”, Christmas music began playing! I’m a die-hard Christmas music fan, so this made my day!!
(For those of you who think it’s too early, please close your ears:))
At work, at the ‘Card’ shop, we are not allowed to play music anymore, other than snippets of the Cd’s we sell, because of copyright laws:( (Our company would have to pay a yearly royalty fee for each store they own) To me this is an example of laws being taken to the extreme. All the sales associates miss it, and customers miss out on one of joyful and uplifting parts of the Christmas season.
So I will tune in to 102.9 and listen to my iPod to get my holiday inspiration, and hope we get to hear beautiful Christmas music in public somewhere this time of year. Keep your ears open!
Another day at the office–whew!
Checked in at the store at noon, things were hustling & bustling; grabbed my purple apron.
Headed out to Lowe’s to buy Christmas garland and Christmas lights.
Got out the hammer and nails and wire, loaded them into my apron, and toted the tall ladder out from the “catacombs” into the store to hang the garland from a shelf on each side of the shop. The garland was pretty, pretty:)
Next, put the tree together and fluffed it up and out:)
Placed it in the front of the store and began putting on the mini white lights.
Needed more lights so left again to buy two more boxes.
Lights on, snowflake tree topper on and blinking; now for the ornaments:)
Hang various and sundry cute Hallmark ornaments:)
A pretty, brightly lit little tree, decorated for the Holiday Open House at Hallmark–a happy tree:)
Whoa, what a job!!!
Luv it:)
Years ago, eons ago, the Sandhills farming community of Roseland, where I grew up, had a devastating fire. It was in April of 1963, I believe, and my baby brother was tiny enough to be in diapers. The reason I remember that is because we left our house so quickly we didn’t even grab extra diapers:( Of course I was twelve then and wouldn’t have been thinking too clearly!
And my mama was away, had been to Raleigh with my Grandma Blue, for a recognition dinner in honor of women nominated as N. C. Mother of the Year, of which my Grandma was one–now that was pretty neat:) And my daddy was working second shift at the textile mill in Aberdeen.
We had an older couple sitting with us, the Throwers, who panicked when they heard about the fire, so they packed us into their car and figured they’d “skedaddle” to their house to save what they could.
Amazingly my daddy appeared before the Throwers pulled out of the driveway and he began throwing our bikes and whatever else he could think of, or reach, into the newly plowed field beside the house. (The mill had let folks go home to save what they could) He decided to stay with our house and hose it down until the danger had passed.
So off we went, stopping at the Throwers, heading from one neighbor’s house to another, till we found a neighbor’s home where folks were congregating and figuring out what to do–my friend Kay’s house, about 8 miles away, in Narrow Ridge.
As the evening wore on, my mama was experiencing great distress trying to make her way home. There were roadblocks set up to keep everyone out of harm’s way. She had a dickens of a time getting through, especially since the smoke was pretty bad, but “nobody can stop a mama when she’s looking for her family”! Daddy must have told her we set off with the Throwers, but where did we go?! She had no idea. I guess she drove and asked around, eventually figuring it out:) Whew!
By nightfall we heard on TV that a chainsaw spark had ignited the fire and it had spread over acres and acres of dry land. I was intrigued that we were watching our community on TV getting updates about us and our area!
No one lost their life, and few buildings were burned due to folks protecting their barns, outbuildings and homes, by keeping them doused with water, but it was a scary time. I remember going back to our house late that night seeing tiny sparks, like candles, all through the woods. Our dear minister was standing in the driveway with my daddy. What a sight:)
Soot stayed in our window sills for years….
The saddest part to me was that Roseland never looked the same till a few years ago….40+ years later:(
And for my other fire story, another time……