Gods Plans

I just returned from my doctor's office and they will be putting me on a round of Prednisone for my back problems in the hopes it will help. I will be surprised, but if that is what it takes to get the ball rolling then so be it. The problem is, I have severe degenerative disc disease from L1-L5 and my orthopedic physician in Arizona told me nothing short of surgey is going to put this in check. I can go for months and even a few years before it flairs up, but then when it does, I am almost resigned to being on my feet all of the time as sitting, bending, stooping, laying just makes it worse.

What is worse, is after 10 days on this horrible medication (I hate medication, I hate Steroids more!), I will be subjected to the brutal and painful process known as physical therapy. Don't get me wrong, I have had PT where it works wonders (strained back, broken legs, tennis elbow, etc.) and I have also had it over and over again for my back and it doesn't work! They are not going to strengthen muscles that I no longer have & that is their cure all for me, to strengthen my abs.

So, after 5 separate abdominal surgeries where each surgeon just cut and sewed up where they wanted without regard to my ab muscles, along comes the PT guys in white coats thinking they can fix my problem! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, WRONG ANSWER!!
What it will do is exacerbate the problem because of all the leg lifts, bending, etc. they expect me to do. But all is fair in the name of insurance I guess!

So, I am on my way to the Dr. today and driving down the Olympic Highway or HWY 101 whatever it is called from our end & beginning to get a bit nervous as I cross over the Wynoochie River. The farms close by are under water, the tributary has gone over the banks and the water is nigh on close to the road & I mean close!

Local school bus pick up has been cut back due to flooded roads, we are already hearing of land slides and there is only one way to get to Olympia and that is via HWY 12 which could wind up under a land slide of under water shortly. But the beautiful thing about all of this, is the people that live in the area are hardy and accept what is going on and know they can't change it so why complain?

Which leads me to my title, Gods Plans. What are Gods plans when it comes to my life or your lives? Some of us have lived in the same small or large town all our lives and know everyone and others like myself have lived in places from New York to Washington and have a few wonderful friends in my life that are with me for the long haul. Why is that? Why is it that God gives some of us permanent stability and others gypsy feet? Trust me, I fit the gypsy profile as far as wandering is concerned.

Do some of us 'get it,' early on so we don't have to move around to discover our purpose in life? Are the rest of us a box of rocks that can't figure it out or does God want to make us more diverse? I know that when I travel around the United States, I am shocked by others cultures and can't figure it out. Why is it so many people are afraid of change? Dislike newcomers? Only want to work with friends or family? Believe that certain colors of our skin, our gender, ages, etc. allow us some special status in life?

Me, I am a shaker! Oh yeah, but I am sure by now that doesn't surprise any of you. I want to be that giant spoon that stirs the tiny pot, I want to be the one person in the group that heads north while everyone is going south, I don't want to accept status quo because 'someone said so,' and that gets me into trouble, but truth is, God put me on this earth for that purpose & that is to make people think out of the box. It hasn't gotten me a new job here, but teaching is where God wants me now.

So, how do we find what God wants for us? I believe we must follow closely John 15:5 which tells us that 'I (God) am the vine, you (humanity) are the branches. Whoever lives in Me (God) and I (God) in him (humanity) will bear much fruit, apart from Me (God), we can do nothing.' (Paraphrase from the NAS Bible).

This example was shown clearly to me one day as I was reading and thinking over this passage at my kitchen table and watched a sparrow land on a tree in my back yard. Though the bird never flew away, he moved from branch to branch until all of a sudden he blended in with the tree. That is what God wants from us, to have a relationship so close to Him that we cannot be pulled apart, that we blend in, that others know in an instant what we stand for without even having to ask. That is how close we should be to God.

Trust me, I fall short of this in so many ways:

1. Nine out of ten days (if I am not working), you can find me dressed like a bum...baggy exercise pants, sweats, crop pants and a tee shirt with no make-up and my hair looking like I just crawled out of bed (well, it is natural curly and short, so even fixed up, it looks this way at times). Generally, not fit for company and especially not fit to go to town dressed that way or for my husband when he comes home. **I do always have lipstick on when I go out though!**
2. When I loose my patience, instead of walking away, I yell & yes, I am working on this one!
3. I don't pray as much as I should
4. I don't read the Word as I should
5. I rarely witness to anyone

I don't want to be known as 'ONE OF THOSE,' who go to church on Sundays and the rest of the week does what she wants to. I want to fulfill Gods purpose in my life and the only way I can see to do that is to begin walking more intimately with my Abba Father, because when I do that, when I draw nearer to Him, He will give me the directions for my life & I have His Word on it!

I am here today, the result nothing short of a miracle, the small little girl who didn't have a chance at life 50 years ago who parents kept searching, kept fighting until someone stood up and said, we can do the surgery and gave me a chance at life! Don't tell me, God doesn't have something planned for me even this late in life, I know better!

Cooking Ahead

This morning I have pre-cooked a chicken casserole and placed it in aluminum cook pans, I have completed chopping onions for the month, pre-cooked enough chicken breasts to last the entire month, made meatballs all for the freezer. Later, I hope to make at least 2 batches of biscuits. This once a month cooking could really catch on!

I feel like I am able to get some things done for today anyway.

Portion Control

For the last few days, God has been working on my heart in the area of portion control. While I have been trying to figure out what He wants me to do about this (besides dieting), I began examining the word and scriptures on portion.

I am making two pots of beans today & while that may seem awry from the title of this post, it is actually a good example of portion.

First, lets examine Merriam-Webster's definition of portion to make sure we are clear in what a portion is.

First, it is derived from the Latin word portio, meaning part. So, we know now that portion is a part of something. Like the picture above, both plates of beans is a portion of one of the bags I will be using today. What I was trying to demonstrate is what a full plate looks like with a portion of the beans. Both plates are full of beans and from the same bag, so if you choose to eat the smaller portion, you are still eating a full-plate of beans.

portion according to M-W is " an individual's part or share of something: as a: a share received by gift or inheritance b: dowry c: enough food especially of one kind to serve one person at one meal 2: an individual's lot, fate, or fortune : one's share of good and evil3: an often limited part of a whole" (Taken from the World Wide Web, January 5, 2008 @ 0841. www.http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portion).

So, a portion is equal to our share of something, such as food, clothing, money, stock shares, bank interest, dessert, rain, sun, snow, fate, fortune, it could also be our share of talent, smarts, looks, etc.

I know that God is working with me in this area, because I heard from Him twice. Long story, but I am usually so talkative and busy I don't hear the first message, but the second one opens my ears, heart and mind!

I began to realize recently with eating that I not only ate my portion but several others as well. I can't afford to cook several meals at dinner time, but I can reduce my portion with a smaller plate, preparing with less salt or preparing ahead of time (hence 2 pots of beans).

In order for me to eat healthier and smaller portions, I realized that God wanted me to prepare my mind, heart and stomach by making things ahead of time.

I am affectionately known to family and friends as the 'Snow Witch,' because if I want snow, it will usually begin to fall. Saturday I was going to Olympia shopping and told my hubby I was wearing my let it snow socks. He said something about me being a bit late on that & I looked out the window and you guessed it, it was snowing.

Saturday evening our friend John came in from Keyport (about 2 hours drive), the roads were clean and clear. Yesterday, as he was packing his vehicle up, he came in and asked me if I wouldn't mind NOT thinking about snow for awhile while he traveled home. I laughed, but sure enough, it was snowing out. Not 10 minutes after he left, it began really coming down.

When I talked to him later, he said that he knows I love snow, but can I just have it snow enough for my portion and not anymore than that? Of course we all know I have nothing to do with the snow or not snow I just have the uncanny ability to think about it and it shows up, however just because I love it, doesn't mean I should wish it on everyone else in abundance, but just accept my portion and be happy.

Psalm 119:57 tells us the Lord is our portion. If we have God in our lives, He should be enough. But rarely is He. If God were enough for me, would I have at one time owned over 75 pairs of shoes? Would I have spent my money and His as well? What about the stuff we collect? Do we really need 500 pez dispensers? Do we need 200 cookie jars, 5000 hot wheels, etc.?

What we need to do is believe that we are Gods portion. God loves us unconditionally and He really does want the best for each and everyone of us, but just as we receive our portion, we should make sure we give our portion as well. Just because we think our portion of bad things is happening to only us and no one else we know, perhaps others just keep their portion quietly to themselves.

The next time you go to purchase that new pair of black pumps knowing you have 10 pair in your closet, ask yourself, is this really my portion? Do I really need another pair of black pumps or can I use the ones I have? Do I need another red blouse or whatever item it is you seem to be collecting or would it be best to pass by and leave a portion to someone else?

Life really is about portion control when you think about it and how much we take more than our portion most of the time!

DON'T FORGET MY GIVEAWAYS!

Just wanted to remind you there is 11 more days to add a post to one or both of my giveaway items and get in the drawing for the 15th. Just click on the link that will take you to both and leave a comment.

Keep watching because after the 15th, I will have another giveaway!

Let your friends, family and co-workers know, the items this month are items I no longer want, but they are great items to receive free...I oughta know, I paid for them! HAHAHA!

Friends Forever

Have you ever had one of those friends, that no matter what have stuck with you side by side for more years than you lived at home or longer than one of your own marriages lasted? I have a friend like that & affectionately refer to him as 'my John.' John and I have been friends since before Jerry and I met and got married. Thats over 28 years now.

John couldn't come down at Christmas because of the all the snow, so he came last evening and the kids were so excited to see him & of course he brought them Christmas presents, lots of warm snuggle clothing. They just adore him!

We went out to dinner at Duffy's a local restaurant in town and had Donna Jean as our waitress and she was very sweet and great service. I recommend you try the Prawn Fettucini if you go and the fried clam appetizers. The kids ate almost the entire plate on their own!

Jerry had to work today, so he turned in early but John and I stayed up until after 0100...or should I say, I kept him up late, but we always have things to talk about and catch up with our families. I also know his mom, dad and youngest sister.

We were both up early this morning and bless his soul, he spent most of the morning with me cleaning up the mess in our utility room hubby has made. Wow! We found 2 pipe cutters (1 rusted), tons of nut drivers, fasteners (screws, staples, gutter holders, clamps, etc.), paint brushes, pads, rollers, tape (packing, duct, paint), we placed small cases on top or next to each other, all the paint items are in the same place, extension cords in a bin, paint stacked nicely, etc.

John swept and he taped off on of the open heating ducts that go to the house from downstairs so the cold air won't come in. We placed anything in a cardboard box into plastic bins and somehow after doing all we did and rearranging things, we would up with about 3 more bins than when we started.

THANK YOU JOHN, I LOVE YOU & YOU TOOK 100 POUNDS OF WEIGHT OFF MY SHOULDERS WITH YOUR HELP!! YOU ARE AMAZING AND NEXT TIME, THE CLEANING WILL BE YOUR HOUSE BY ME!

My Kitchen Cabinets

Yesterday, I spent the entire day reorganizing my kitchen cabinets. My house is a 1926 Craftsman and the kitchen is small and ugly! I have one cabinet that has two-sided glass doors and I have been struggling with opening and closing these since day #1. Hubby suggested that I put all my nice China and Crystal in that cabinet and they will look nice and I won't be opening the door all the time.

Oops! Once that project began (with a trip to the store to buy red non-slip shelf liner), I took all the old food jars, meds & vitamins (check expiration dates today, I was shocked how many things I was still taking that expired last year!), washed the shelves, lined them, I could not stop.

Hence why I say I suffer from obsessive compulsive organizing because when I start, I keep going!

Here is what my kitchen looks like now. I am a huge collector of the Desert Rose pattern by Franciscan and have been blessed to stumble across many of my pieces by accident. I have a butter dish without the finial which is a rare find & I got it dirt cheap because the seller thought it was broken! The tea kettle is the original one made in Thailand and I used it up until recently when I got one that whistles.
The basket at the bottom was a piece I located at Ross & while it is made in China and all the other pieces I have are the original pieces made in the USA or Thailand, I found yesterday it makes for a great vitamin basket for my daily vitamins, aspirin, etc.

This second picture is just a bit closer shot and straighter shop. The pitcher and glasses were another find. They are actually peach blossoms by Gay Fad, but match the Desert Rose great!

The crystal are by Libbey glass!

One thing that amazes people who know me is that I have so many pieces and I don't seem to be the 'type,' that would collect these.

Okay, so what type of person collects china and crystal? My great-grandmother had a set of these and promised them to me as a child. When grandma passed away during her funeral my great Uncle Bobby went to her home and stole everything he could including the dishes, I was so sad!

But is isn't just about the dishes, because as most people who know me can testify to you and these pictures will also, I use many of these as my daily dinnerware! This picture is of the built-in china/dish cabinet in my dining area (you have to love these older homes!) As you can see, I have my dishes I use daily and they don't match my bowls, but who cares? The other pieces you see in this picture get used as well!
If you look really close up on the top shelf and to the right, you will see the original doorknob taken off my best friends home when he demolished it to build new. That door knob gives me comfort every time I see it!

So, I moved the china to the food cabinet, the food to the dish cabinet and the daily dishes closer to the kitchen table.

Now for the last piece of organization I wanted to show everyone, my sewing closet. Remember I am not able to have large space for my quilting and crafting projects due to the size of our home, so hubby created my sewing closet.

Here is the shelf above my sewing machine. You can see I labeled not only the shelf, but each container so if someone borrows something from me, they know exactly where to put it back (like that would ever happen)!

Now, onto today's projects, finishing a quilt and painting some walls!

Tagged Again

Melinda over at Melinda's Fabric Fancies has tagged me again. This time I must come up with 8 random things to tell you about myself. Hmmm, what you don't know about me.

1- 'Those who know me love me and those who don't, never will,' a quote my husband coined many years ago when we were working in a field together and my name began showing up on the bathroom walls & not for a good time! I was crushed, seems it was a co-worker who couldn't deal with my in-the-face honesty & it was stopped when a big burly guy named Johnny Buck from NY caught him at it. So, what you don't know about me is that I am honest as the day is long and I will always be bluntly honest. Don't ask me a question if you can't take the truth. If I have something to say to you, I will & if you have a booger on your nose or broccoli in your teeth, if I see it, I promise I won't let you walk around that way! All of my close friends know this about me and love me in spite of it. You always know where you stand with me & some people just can't deal with it.

2- I am terrified of any body of water I can't see my feet in (Lakes, ocean, rivers, etc.). I love the water, I love walking along the beach, I love being in a boat on a lake. As a child I lived in the water where we lived (Aptos & Santa Cruz beaches, Pinto Lake, etc.). However in Arizona we were tubing down the river when some drunk grabbed my feet and started to pull me under. From that moment forth, if I can't see my feet, I am not going in the water!

3-I love to shop. Not clothing and stuff (it used to be shoes...) but grocery shopping. I love everything about it...making my menu, clipping coupons (I will take coupons if you don't clip them as the papers here aren't very generous) & shopping. Yes, I am one of those who will go through the sales ads, find the best bargains and go to each and every store on my list. I love grocery shopping.

4-If I could afford it, I would own a huge house in the country and have all my children and grandchildren live with or near us. My hubby wouldn't like the idea, but I see an advantage to it. I can stay at home and play with the grandchildren and their parents can work! HAHAHA!!

5-It took me 8 years to graduate with my Associates Degree in Organizational Leadership at Estrella Mountain Community College in Arizona with a 3.76 GPA. It took me a year to complete my Masters in Human Resources & graduate with a 4.0 GPA. I just got tired of dragging it out & I have a dear friend (Peep) who has always told me I could probably set a new record and get my Ph.D in 6 months. My degrees and $5 won't get me a job, but I can probably use the money to buy a cupa at Starbucks!

6-I was born in 1956 (stop calculating, I am 52) and in 1957/58 it was discovered I had a heart problem known as Patent Ductis Arteriosis which is basically too much blood pumping to my heart which ultimately would have led to congestive heart failure and death by the age of 7 years old. Remember here people, medical science wasn't what it is today. Thanks to the Heart Association and Deborah Heart Institute in New Jersey, they took on my case and I am here today to say I made it! I am a miracle!

7-I have more parents than most people and they are amazing people. I have my mom and her husband. I have my dad and his wife (though I have not seen them in many years, we keep in touch) and I have my step-dad and his wife while neither are related to me or had anything to do with my birth they are just as much a part of my life as my birth parents and they come to visit!
It was confusing when I graduated from college and people came to my party introducing everyone. What was funnier is when my mom saw my dad for the first time in probably 40+ years at my nephews wedding...my dad and his wife were talking to my step-dad and step-mom and mom and her hubby walk up. My mom introduces herself as the mother of the grooms mom and my dad says, I know, I am the father of the grooms mom. Oh, there are sometimes in life you just wished you had been there!

8-If I could live anywhere in the state of Washington (note, I didn't say the world, because I am happy in Washington) I would move to Spokane so hubby could have hot summers and recharge his seasonal affective disorder batteries and I could have all the snow I wanted.

So, these are my 8 random musings. Now, to tag 8 other people:

1. Aunt Pitty Pat
2. Sherry at If I Could Set My Soul Free
3. Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew
4. Shawnee at Flirty Apron Swap
5. Tammy at Quilt Dash
6. Chris at Winfabric.com
7. Robyn at Daisy Quilts
8. Rebecca over at Thrifty Goodness

Head Over to Patrick Lose Studio & Get 25% Off

Calling all quilters, seamstresses and crafters, Patrick Lose of Patrick Lose Studios is having a wonderful sign up special of 25% off any order between now and January 16th if you just sign up to receive his newsletter & Email alerts.

Trust me on this one, you want to take advantage of what Patrick is offering. His patterns are great and they show the wonderful sense of humor and childlike wonder in his pieces and his fabrics, well, they are simple yet stunning.

So, head on over sign up and tell him I sent you his way, you will find he is an incredibly humble man! Geez, as much as I tell people about him, he is going to soon think I am stalking him. HAHA!!

http://patricklose.blogspot.com/2009/01/benefits-of-membership.html

If You Can't Sleep...Sew/Craft/Quilt

I hate home fireworks. I don't know if it because I am not in control of when they go off or worried about the drunks that are setting them off not caring about anyone else but themselves or perhaps it was because in the summer between my 5th and 6th grade that I almost lost my hand to them, but since then, I feel fireworks should be done by professionals.

Well, maybe hate is a strong word, I dislike very much large loud fireworks in the hands of people not capable of handling them. I am talking about so large and loud they woke up the grandchildren screaming earthquake! These shook our house, the windows & sounded like a cannon going off in the basement.

When these are going off, I can't sleep. I am like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs just waiting for the next one to get me or jar me awake.

I started making a pin cushion last evening and couldn't get the felt to hold the thread, every time I tried, it came right out, so I hand bound it. **Any Crafter who has a trick to get crafting felt sewn together with a machine, I am all ears!**

I have a pin jar, but when I am sewing, this is a pain to use , so needed a pin cushion I can just pull a pin and stick it in the cushion and came up with this little flower guy.

A record, at 0035 PST, I had my first 2009 project completed and I am happy & here it is in all of its glory. I have some friends that sew and I would love to make them each one, but I am not hand sewing all night! I may just make a few for my giveaway gift in the next couple of months or so.
Speaking of my giveaways, you can check them out for a chance to win some awesome glass orbs or some over the hill stuff. Drawing will be January 15th.

Just click on the link and post your comments, post a link to my blog and let me know.

http://quiltingranny.blogspot.com/2008/12/janaury-1-15th-giveaway-1.html

http://quiltingranny.blogspot.com/2008/12/janaury-1-15th-giveaway-2-over-hill.html