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My friend Kris, wrote a post some day recently about Honor .  And then she asked her readers to share a time when they witnessed honorable action, the display of integrity.  Well, i've had this thought for a post in my idea book for severalish weeks now, so i thought i would share it.  And it will double as a response to Kris' request for stories about Honor. The names and details in the following story may be changed to protect anonymity.   I work in the District Clerk's office of some random Texan county.  The District Clerk has many duties, and among these duties is the responsibility to collect money (fines, fees, court costs) from convicted felons.  Generally, as i understand it, these felons, who are either released from prison or on probation, or some such situation of trying to hopefully get their lives in order, are placed often on a payment plan which requires them to come to our office on a regular basis to make their payments. When these fo...

Dear Readers, On Saturday, i attempted to post to this blog from the washateria on my phone.  But alas, my post is lost in the interwebs.  It appeared nowhere, so apparently, i did something wrong.  Please accept my apologies. I hope you won't be disappointed if we review our most recent holiday a little more.  I really wanted to share with you a post that my friend, Angela, wrote on Good Friday.  It really touched me, and it's just beautiful, and i think everyone should read it. Good, Good, Friday        <----click over there On Resurrection Day, i got to celebrate the Passover Seder with family (which, for anyone who wonders, has every thing to do with Jesus), and it was a blessing. I've never heard  what the name for the Saturday between Good Friday and Resurrection morning is, so i called it Pensive Saturday (that's the day i was trying to post from the laundromat).  So happy belated Pensive Saturday, everybody! ...

Here's a little dad appreciation a little earlier in the year than normal. Growing up, my house was different than a lot of families i've heard about.  My mom and i . . . i can't remember a single argument between us.  We've always gotten along pretty good.  But Dad and i . . . well, we can argue the same point to each other and both leave crying.  Thus my high school years, especially, included more than enough yelling, probably invited by my own teenage hot-headedness. Since i left home, i noticed that visits are best if not TOO long.  After we get over being happy to see each other, we can start to argue and hurt each others' feelings over nothing at all.  It's silly really, but true.  And almost every time, i can hear my mother's words, "You guys are just too much alike!"  or "You're both saying the same thing!"  These are words that a daughter who's presently upset with her dad might not want to hear. But adulthood and ...

I've been reading the book of Proverbs lately. In the past, i've kind of plowed through that book of the Bible, enjoying its simple two line bits of wisdom, and moving on quickly.  This time, however, i have been taking more time to mull over the concepts and themes presented and so on. And it occurred to me . . . The Bible says that when Solomon (the writer of the Proverbs) asked for wisdom, God granted his request and said that there had been no one like him before, and would be no one like him after ( I Kings 3:12 ).  I think when we read this, we assume that God meant that no one had ever been or would ever be as wise as Solomon.  At least that's the assumption i was working from that led to this post. The irony is that Solomon, presumably the wisest man on earth, did some truly troubling and unwise things in his life.  But why?  Why Solomon?  How could you be the wisest man, the favored king, and still make such nutty decisions? I have often ...

Here is a topic that has been tumbling about in my head for a goodly number of days, every since my friend, Jess, wrote this blog entry about marriage, " Kiss Dating Hello ."  I thought about excerpting it here, but you really just need to read it.  Read the comments too.  Go ahead.  I'll wait. Finished? O.k., good, now we can go on.  Before i get started, please let me say that Jess is my friend, and this discussion is simply that.  There is no ill will.  I just think this is a topic worth discussing. Is there only ONE person on this earth for you, in God's perfect will?  Should you agonize over your mate, or just pick a good candidate and get it over with? My friend, Kris, commented on Jess' post about how Christian circles tend not to bring up the possibility that God might have a life of singleness, fully devoted to HIM, in mind for you life, a subject that the apostle, Paul, did bring up.  I think this is an excellent po...

Back home in Texas. Aaaaah, Texas. Every time i come back to Texas, i can feel it in the air.  It's true.  If you're from here, you know. Anyway, i had a great time with my family in Michigan -- sorry about the non-blogging, but there was important time to be spent with live humans.  Also, my apologies to all Michiganders, Michigonians, and Michiganites, if i messed up your weather.  When i arrived in my parents' small town, the lake by which they live thawed overnight.  The church people said i brought spring to them.  Sadly, the day i arrived back in Texas, it snowed again in that little town.  So sorry, y'all; i meant to leave some spring behind for you. Here at home, the trees have leaves, the pollen is rampant, and the air conditioner is on.  It's definitely spring in Texas.  And i'm happy to be home with my darling, gun-slingin', hoe-slingin', beautiful husband, hero fella.  We had Mexican food yesterday, to celebrate being...

If you have been reading this blog for very long, you have probably read (or possibly, by way of poor judgment, chose not to read) about my Mormor.  That's Swedish for Meemaw, Nana, Granny, and Grandma, for all you Americans out there. As an update, Mormor is almost 93 years old, and she has Dementia, a disease similar to Alzheimer's, and in Mormor's case, she remembers being a young woman in Sweden, but she doesn't remember much about what's happening right now.  She also, from time to time, tries to go back "home" to Sweden and all her little babies, by means of walking, so for her safety, she had to go live in a long term care, type home, where she could be kept safe.  Thankfully, it's about the best home ever, and she seems happy there. The point of all this is that we got to go visit Mormor yesterday, and that is definitely one of the major highlights of my trip.  Here i am with Mormor and Morfar. I wanted to bring Mormor a gift, and thou...

Today, i had the honor of being the subject of a surprise gift to my parents . . . my presence to surprise them on a special day.  I may say more about that later . . . and maybe not.  But this is the important part: I haven't seen my parents in almost 3 years, though i think our relationships with each other have grown stronger - and thus our missing each other heavier. Everyone involved in my surprise appearance in my parents' church on Sunday morning expected there would be tears and happy exclamation and whatnot.  Even i didn't anticipate quite the emotional welcome i received. I had spent the previous days worrying with how to pack and what to wear to church on Sunday and whether the people here would like me o.k. and whether i was wearing too much make-up, or whether i'm just way too fat to be liked or if. . . BLAH BLAH BLAH. Have you ever read the story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15?  Let me cut it short for you: Old man has two sons; young stupid ...

The Gun-Slingin' Super Chef made something wonderful tonight. I would show you a picture, but . . . we ate it.  Plus, it just looked like a lump of potatoes. Here's what he told me he did.  This is a recipe through the grapevine. He took several smallish butter gold potatoes, peeled them and set them to boil in a pot of water. He put a little Italian seasoning in the water, and when the potatoes were tender to the stabbing of a fork, he poured the water off. Then he put the pot back on the stove (lowish heat, i'm assuming) and added a stick of butter (that's real butter, people, the kind that comes from a cow).  As the butter melted, the potatoes absorbed the butter and began to break down.  (P.S., this isn't diet food.) Eventually, he add a large slosh of milk, garlic, and onion to taste (and probably some salt he didn't mention), and gave them a stir. The looked and had the texture of slightly lumpy mashed potatoes, and OH THE FLAVOR.  No gravy w...

In my idea book, which i've mentioned once or twice now, i have a lot of things written down. Some of them are just funny, momentary thoughts.  I wrote them down because it seems to me that someone else should benefit from the funniness.  It really is a shame that you all can't listen inside my head and hear the funny thoughts.  I'm not an orator, but inside my head, it is very entertaining. Thus begins (maybe) a sporadic series of random funny thoughts that shouldn't otherwise be blog posts on their own.  And may or may not make any sense outside of my brain. Funny thought #1: While i was getting trained at my new/old job, i found myself in want of enough work to do.  Bored and tired of looking for work at the end of the day (a situation that has since been mightily rectified - don't ask for more work at a government job unless you mean it), i said to myself, "tomorrow i'm bringing my nose picker so i can get some work done!" I have no idea ...

I write down things in my little idea book.   We talked about that.  And then i mull over them.  I think it's a good thing that i mull over them. Lemme splain. Last week or some other day, i found a great deal on licorice at Walgreens, and i bought a bunch of it, because i really really like licorice. I'm not talking about twizzlers, by the way, yummy, black licorice.  That's the stuff! Anyway. While glorying in my cheap and yummy licorice, i wrote in my idea book, "my love of licorice."  Problem is, everything i had to say about my love of licorice has already been said in like three lines.  Three fairly boring lines. So i mulled.  Well, honestly, i just didn't write about it and didn't cross it out of my idea book. Then, i think it was yesterday, i bought a coke before driving home because i was sleepy. I keep my licorice in my car so i can have a treat on the way home. Something wonderful: I was driving along, concentrating on s...

Today, i did laundry, among other things, of course. The washateria is a wonderful place.  You never know who you'll meet there.  Or whether they"ll want to talk to you. The laundromat was pretty quiet, and while i waited for my clothes to go through their intended cycles, i messed around on my barely-used cell phone.  Deleting this, setting alarms for egg turning, experimenting with different noises.  You know . . . passing time. While i was passing the time, a little old lady   oldest-lady-ever  walked into the laundromat with her little basket of clothes in hand. "HEL-lo," i said, sort of sing-songy. The white-haired woman turned to me, stopped herself from saying something i didn't her and  then responded, emphatically, "It's after noon.  Good AfterNOON!" "Good Afternoon," i smiled back.  What a sweet lady.  And possibly i should enunciate better with future conversation. I went back to my cell phone, and she started he...

I don't know about you. I don't see a lot of shredded tires close up.  Or at all.  It's just not one of those things . . . But today was different. Let me, um, give some back ground. The other day, the super hero and i visited family in separate cars.  We're cool like that now.  Anyway, that was a completely irrelevant point.  The relevant point is that when hubby was driving home, he thought something horrible had happened to his truck.  Like maybe the tie rod had broken or some other desperately wrong thing that caused the truck to just lose its mind. Then today, for some reason, he decided to drive his truck.  And while he was driving, a big piece of his tire peeled off and beat up the fender.  And then the truck stopped acting funny. Look at this! The tread just peeled right off, but the tire didn't go flat.  Too funny.  Yes, we're going to replace the tire.  We're not that redneck. But we are very very grate...

I thought about not writing today. But then i thought, "It's Monday.  Don't leave 'em hangin' on a Monday!" But since it's Monday for me too, i couldn't think of anything intelligent to say on my own. So i found this funny. Hope your Monday goes great and is blessed!!! Funny: The early bird might get the worm, but the  second mouse gets the cheese.  Hope that made you laugh.  =)

I saw it coming. It's just too exciting. I heard the clucking. I saw the fluffing. It's the time of year for making babies. Furry little winged chicken babies. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Tonight i set 7 fertilized eggs underneath a beautiful, fluffy, delightfully angry, broody hen in our outdoor brooder. I also set 18 more eggs in our electronic hen in the utility room. In three weeks, i'll be boring you again with lots of pictures of fuzzy little creatures, who will then immediately go to live at their new home, if all goes well.

I'm going to tell you a metaphor (sort of) about Rose-colored glasses. But first i have to tell you a boring story so it all makes more sense. When i started my new old job, i immediately found that i had a problem seeing in my office.  I can see fine at home, fine while driving, fine everywhere except in that office.  And i started getting headaches.  So i went to the eye doctor and said, "what's the deal?"  And the eye doctor said, "hmm, i don't know . . ."  so that was helpful. That's not all she said.  She was very nice and helpful, and we discussed the possibility of fluorescent light sensitivity and the possibility that tinted lenses might be useful. So i went home and did some googling and bought some cheap sun glasses and did some experimenting at work (you should see the looks you get when you wear shades at your desk), and i decided on pink tinted lenses.  My insurance will cover colors "pink 1" and "pink 2," but...