Perspective

"Still keeping on, keeping on" as my Dad used to say. Working to keep my spirits up and keep things in perspective.

We are very fortunate to live out in the country as we do and that we're retired, so we don't have jobs to worry about. I've started taking better care of myself doing just a few basic things I've been neglecting-staying better hydrated, getting outside and staying more mobile and trying to eat a more healthy diet. I need to be more conscientious about keeping my spirit properly fed too.  Spending more time in the Word and in prayer as well as keeping in touch with our church family as well as our physical family. I'm so grateful that so many of one are also the other! We are very blessed.  We enjoyed our church's live online service this morning and take a lot of comfort feeling like we are still "together". Facebook, phone calls, internet meetings, texts and emails keep us in contact with those we love.

I'm especially grateful for all of you other bloggers! I really enjoy reading all of your blogs and get a lot of encouragement from them. Please know that you are in my prayers! The above scripture gives me a lot of comfort-I know God is always with us and nothing will change that!

Still Here

Still hanging in there. We had to cancel keeping our 4 hour away grandkids this week, but we'll make it another time. Enjoyed a very uplifting live streamed service from our church this morning and I was able to have a Zoom meeting with our women's small group yesterday, so that keeps our spirits up.

It's also really encouraging to me to keep up with everyone in "blogland". Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments-I feel like I know you personally!

Keep safe and well everyone and God Bless!

First Day of Spring

St. Patrick's Day

One Day at a Time

Day to day life is changing fast-some big changes, some small. "Social Distancing" seems to be one of the biggest. Our church had a service yesterday morning, but also live-streamed it so that those at risk could watch from home. Instead of our usual "hug and howdy time, we waved and air hugged. We had less than half as many people. Our Wednesday nights are cancelled for now and I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to cancel services altogether comes before this Sunday. It makes sense. We still talk on the phone and have the internet if we can't meet for a while. We went to one of our favorite restaurants after church to find that they were only doing take out, which was fine. We took out, ate at home and enjoyed it just as much. Today, we ate sandwiches for lunch at home and I made a home cooked supper which made us think "maybe we don't need to eat out as much as we do."

Our daughter and son-in-law are wondering if they will still be listing their house next month and if the building of the new one will still go forward. Work will still continue on painting and getting ready for when the time comes to move forward with plans. In the meantime, their house is beginning to look great and they will enjoy it more.

School is suspended for two more weeks and band and other competitions and standardized tests have been cancelled. At first, the teen and pre-teen granddaughters actually panicked because "we'll be so far behind and how will they know who can go on to the next grade without testing?" (Yes, they actually said those words. I know-sad, isn't it? They keep these kids so overwrought about these tests, benchmarks, contests, etc. Makes me mad. When I was growing up, we would have been dancing in the streets if we were given two extra weeks off school.) This morning, the grandkids were enjoying playing games together, laughing, singing, reading and coloring. I know they will enjoy playing outdoors when it stops raining.

The trees are budding, spring calves and lambs are being born, flowers and trees are blooming and rain is raining. Spring is still just around the corner as it always is this time of year and we are enjoying the beauty just as much. Maybe more. For me, it helps me stay grounded in the knowledge that God is everlastingly in control, providing for our needs and helping us to put our 'wants' into better perspective.

March so far...

Cold and wet today, but temperatures are forecast to bounce back tomorrow and be sunny and warm most days. My Seasonal Affective Disorder switch flipped this week .(and yes, that's just what it feels like for me-one day I hit my necessary amount of sunlight and I'm good to go until November. Weird.)  I'm feeling much better today. I'm ready for Spring! Or at least I was until I remembered that we go on Daylight Savings Time on Sunday. I wish we'd just pick one time and stick with it!

Helping our daughter and Son in Law get their house ready to put on the market-they are building a new one and I'm really happy for them. Today, we are going to knock out as much painting as we can before they re-carpet the kid's bedrooms. The grands have been a little rough on their rooms while they have been growing up. We've also been helping declutter-our daughter (and SIL) are packrats, but it must be genetic because we and his parents are too. We are keeping the dump and Goodwill stores in business this month! It's getting there, slowly but surely. They are hoping to list early next month.

184 years ago today...

Texas is the only state to be it's own country before it became a U.S. state. (Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT a secessionist and I'm very happy to be part of the United States!)  However, family was part of the fight for Texas Independence and I'm a 7th generation Texan, so I'm unapologetically proud of my state and love living here!