Sunday evening thoughts....

Well it's Sunday night after a great weekend! Went to a women's retreat Friday night and Saturday--called "the Sweet Life". It was a wonderful time to reflect on what I want from my relationship with Jesus. I guess the main thing I learned was that Jesus is there ready to have a sweet intimate relationship with me. And that if I listen, He will speak to me very personally. There was much to ponder and experience. It was really something I had looked forward to and desired to learn from. And I did. But much of it is still 'percolating' in my heart and mind, so I won't try to put it into words tonight. God is good! He loves us immeasurably! He is very personal and available for intimacy. I look forward to getting to know Him better and better. I know this will require time spent with Him in His Word, the Bible and in thought and prayer. God loves me! What an amazing truth! And this is not just for me! That's what is even more amazing! He loves the world--each wonderful being that he created in His image--and desires to be intimate with them as well. THAT is a GREAT God!

So here I am at home BLOGGING of all things...! Haven't done this since forever! I am waiting for 5 pans of buns to rise so I can bake them. My dear hubby is off with his new motorcycle 'gang'. I've spent the evening mixing my dough by hand (as opposed to using my handy-dandy dough machine), kneading it and just waiting, then forming all those little round dough balls that will hopefully rise into nice big buns. Okay, I confess, that between the first rising and forming the buns, I played Pathwords on Facebook! But the rest of the time, I've been listening to a mix of wonderful music as I mixed dough, punched it down, watched it rise again, divided it up and cleaned up the mess.



Tonight it's been Russell Watson, Michael Buble, Mozart and a chap named Whintley Phipps.



Russell's voice is so powerful and inspiring, singing mostly in Italian! I don't understand a word of it, and yet it speaks to me. The emotion of it pulls me to where he is, wherever that is... It's wonderful! I love it! I want to sing along in his soulful passionate way. He's one of my favorite singers for when I need to get something done! I should be making baguettes getting out the olive oil and balsamic!



Then there's Michael Buble. Such a soothing mellow voice. He gets me all melancholy. What a romantic fellow! He adds a nice dimension to my bun-making ambiance. LOL Something different. Something fun. I don't really know why I'm drawn to his voice and style, but I definintely am! Hey we all need a little romance in our lives--even while making buns!!



Mozart!! I absolutely love "Alla Turca"! It really gets me moving! Makes me think of my daughter learning that piece when we still had a piano! I LOVED hearing her pound that out! What an amazing piece of music. What an incredible composer Mr. Mozart was!



Finally, Mr. Phipps. Whintley Phipps is an African-American gentleman who has a buttery smooth, gorgeously rich baritone-bass voice. Perhaps his songs have touched me most deeply tonight. He sings a collection of Billy Graham's favorite songs. Turns out many of those songs were songs my parents loved too.



Having recently lost my mother, listening to this particular collection brings about many thoughts and emotions. I remember hearing some of them when we as a family would watch Billy Graham on T.V. I'm sure I even heard some of them when my Dad took me to a Billy Graham Crusade. I also remember my Dad singing "I'd Rather Have Jesus", a song made famous by his own favorite singer, George Beverly Shea. Dad loved to sing and after his death, I found sheet music that he'd apparently used for singing solos in church. I don't have any memories of him singing solos. Too bad. But I do have memories of him whistling so many gospel songs as we traveled hither and yon in the car. Sometimes just for a Sunday drive. Sometimes heading to a new job. Or just on a road trip. One of my most vivid memories is of him seeing a beautiful sunset and whistling "Beyond the Sunset". He had an amazing whistling talent. It was beautiful. It often made me cry. I'm not sure why, but it did.



Since I'm off on this crazy memory tangent, I must write about my Mom too. She passed away on April 16th, 2010. In her planning for her death, she chose which songs she'd like to have sung at her funeral. One of the songs she had written down was "Over the Sunset Mountains". All of us had similar memories of my Dad loving to sing "Beyond the Sunset", so we thought it might have been a mistake. However, after seeing the words to her choice, I think Mom knew exactly which song she wanted. Mom lived to be 90 years old. She had a tough childhood and worked hard all her adult life. With 9 kids how could she do otherwise? She was disappointed to have been left by her sweetheart, my Dad.

Well, today is September 6th. I must've gotten all emotional writing the above.... I think I'll just publish it as far as I got....

Starting again....

Well, here I am again. Long time. I couldn't even find my blog for a while....I forgot what it was called!! LOL Oh well.

Summer is in full swing...since Monday to be exact. Ha. Full swing? Yeah, I guess so.

This past year has been amazing for sure.

I changed 'occupations' once again. I have since September 2008 been working as an Educational Assistant with special needs children on a casual basis. It's been a wonderful experience for sure. (Like the aforementioned 'amazing for sure'....=)...) I would wait each morning for 'the phone call'. This would come anywhere between 6:15a.m. and 8:00a.m. I would be given the name of the person I'd be replacing, the school and all the particulars needed to fill in for that day. It was pretty neat! A new school every day almost. I could even wear the same outfit every day if I wanted! And, I was getting acquainted with the city! (Okay, I've been here for 3 years, but I don't get out much okay??)

However, it turned out not too be so casual after all. I was asked if I'd be interested in an "until further notice" position. Thinking it was for about 3 weeks more or less, I agreed. I soon realized I would likely be there for the rest of the year. Pro: I didn't have to wait for the 6:30a.m. wake-up call--I could sleep in a little longer. Con: I didn't have the option to be 'unavailable'--so I could go for coffee with the girls (whoever that might be).

This year has been a real blessing for me!! The school was kind of an inner-city school--lots of needy kids there whose 'love buckets' were running pretty low. Also lots of bright and loving kids who made my own 'love bucket' overflow! I could be an unofficial Gramma (this was in MY mind) to about 50 kids, if you combined the two classes I worked in. I really loved it! Even the bad days were good! At least I know that now. The staff at that school were welcoming and encouraging and appreciative of my feeble efforts.

If I felt somewhat unprepared for the tasks as I started there, I was totally unprepared for the sadness I felt when the last day of school came!! My goodness! Of course, they'll get along without me just fine! But, will I get along without them next year?? ......I think I will. And I will be better prepared to do what I can to make a difference where ever I am sent.

It's been a GREAT year. I wish all "my" kids a wonderful summer, where ever they are.....

A New Name

Well it seems I need a new name for my blog. Someone else has a very similarly named blog and every time I try to log in I end up a "A Mother's Musings" as opposed to just "Mother's Musings"....I'll need help with this since I don't know all the hows and hownots concerned with blogging....

Back later.

New Beginnings.....

Well of course! What else for the New Year? There are many things I'd like to start anew...My previously unsuccessful attempt to finsih reading the Bible through in one calendar year, my previously unsuccessful attempt to attain a slim and svelte self, my previously unsuccessful attempt to get my house in an organized state, my previously unsuccessful attempt to organize all those multitudes of photos lurking in the closet.... And so it goes!

Well of course I would love to fi-i-i-i-nally not only attempt, but actually ATTAIN even just ONE of these grand and glorious goals!!

Perhaps this is my problem.... At this point in my life I really don't expect that that will happen. And, perhaps, therein lies the problem. Or have I just gotten not only older, but wiser in realizing my own likelihood. Hmmm. Do I just give up? I'm not sure.

Well, of course not!! God hasn't and will not give up on me!

Lamentations 3:23 says:
"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Thy faithfulness!
'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,
'Therefore I have hope in Him.'
And then in Isaiah 43:18-19 God said way back then:
"Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
Behold, I will do something new..." !!

Sounds good to me!!

Here we go! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I'm Tired...

I'm tired....
So what. Everbody gets tired. I just thot I'd like to say that I'm tired. I just read my daughter's blog. It was really good. She decided not to let her blogging go the way of many 'internet fads' and die. I'm glad. She blogs well and I get to peek into her soul a little. And if you're a mom you know how we like to peek into our kids souls!
So. I thought I should not give up on blogging either. But tonight I am tired. And I have a busy two days ahead and then start midnites for the weekend. Really! Who wants to know this??
I guess I'm just letting myself know that I have some more blogging to do, but it won't really be tonight.
But I do know that I want to blog about how I like to make my yard look nice. (Even though I don't really do that great a job of it.) That'll come later....
Today was my favorite grandson's 2nd birthday! "YIPES!" you say. "How can you have a Favorite???" Easy. I only have one.... =0) So, we all had supper together. I made him a chocolate birthday cake and he tried to touch the candle flames. Finally he got the idea of how to blow them out. He seemed to really like the cake...especially the part where he used it like gel in his hair. He's absolutely adorable!!
This is really dumb....I can't blog right now....
I'm tired.
(It's the way of a grandma--too tired to do anything, but she can still find the strength to gush over her grandbabies!!)

Blogging is hard work for some of us.... So why blog? I just don't know. Hmmm. I don't really have much to say, but I admit it is fun to see what people say about the little that I do manage to 'say'. Sometimes, it really amounts to letting my mind wander on paper. I do fear that if I let my mind wander too much, one day it may not come back!! Ha ha. Sometimes though, I have these epiphanies or life lessons while I'm working, or whatever, and blogging is my way of recording those thoughts. I've often thought it would be fun to write a book of little lessons I thought about while cleaning house--"Cleaning Ladies Get ALL the Dirt!" How's that for a title? Sounds more like a gossip column. Funny, at the moment I can't think of any of those things I often think I should write about. Brain freeze.... or is it fade.....? A testimony to the value of journaling. But that takes consistency. That is something that an ADD gramma just doesn't have. Consistency. The only thing that I've ever been consistent at is being--ta-dum-- INCONSISTENT!!! Phew! At least I have that! Ha. I think I'll start journaling tomorrow!

Here's a little humorous look at who I am....My kids saw a book of mine on the bookshelf entitled "You Mean I'm NOT Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?" "What's this?" one asked. "Oh" I replied, "It's a book about adults with ADD. But I've never really finished it...." This was followed by howls of laughter from all, me included.
Maybe I'll get into that next week--try to finish it....

So how's this for letting my mind wander??
Webster: wander...to ramble with no definite destination; to go astray; to lose concentration.

What was I saying?......