Officially Nesting

                                                                    Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                       everyday is a journey.




I do not ask, O Lord, that life may be
A pleasant road;
I do not ask that thou would'st take from me
Aught of its load.
For one thing only, Lord, dear Lord, I plead:
Lead me aright--
Though strength should falter, 
and though heart should bleed--
Through peace to light.
--Adelaide A. Procter.

Well, today is officially my nesting day. Sitting here in my pajamas, comfy as heck. Pj's are really comfortable. It is so gloomy outside with the clouds extremely overcast. No lighting coming through the windows at all. There has been sleet on and off all week. All this white in the sky, could there be snow coming? Who knows? 

All this gloominess is really starting to affect my mood. I'm trying desperately to shake off this woe is me attitude. Isn't it funny, how the lack of sunlight can affect us so much? The temperature and the weather to have such a hold on us. Yesterday, I made a vlog on YouTube on Winter Blues and here I am already falling into that pit. We really have to be careful on what we say, don't we?

Patience has never been my strength nor has trust. Trusting in the Lord is difficult, folks, but waiting is even worse. It is all about growing in the Word of God. Lord, keep me focused on that goal. Keep me growing. 

Right now, I'm trying to focus on catching up on a lot of paperwork that has been accumulating on my desk. I always pray about being productive when it matters to me. I have been on the phone quite a lot making doctor appointments like a mammogram, colonoscopy, oncology visits and ct. scan. It will be a very busy January!

I've also been busy packing away three more donation boxes for charities! That's additional besides the six that were just sent out and delivered. I love it when that happens and I can make so many charitable contributions. I am running out of boxes, but that is a good thing. 

This has been a very productive, relaxing and enjoyable nesting day for both of us. 

Have a blessed day everyone. 

The Harm Of Cancer

                                               Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.



So, take and use thy work: 
amend what flaws may lurk,
What strain o' the stuff, 
what warpings past the aim!
My times be in Thy hand! 
perfect the cup as planned!
Let age approve of youth,
 and death complete the same!

--Robert Browning

Sometimes, I think people don't realize what it entails to have cancer. The way we went in is not the same way we came out. I'm not speaking of the emotional or mental state. I'm speaking of the physical. All the chemotherapy and radiation does a lot of harm. It may shrink or get rid of the cancer, but it also harms other parts of our bodies in the long term. 

One could finish the treatment, but it will take months, if not years, for the true extent of the damage done to our bodies to present itself. Take my veins, for instance, even after all these years, it's still a problem to draw blood or put in an I.V. drop. You can't even see my veins!

Adapting to our new lifestyles can be both challenging and a blessing at the same time. How? Well, some changes are actually a good thing, because they have been needed for years to happen. It may take a trial to bring them into fruition. When we resist the changes, life happens and we are forced into them by all the pitfalls we encounter. Then we wonder to ourselves, why didn't we do this years ago? Well, we are a stubborn bunch, us humans.

Knowing and becoming aware of our bodies is the most important part. We need to listen to what it is trying to say. Are you feeling tired? Take a nap or lay down for a few minutes and close your eyes. Have you been having a symptom that hasn't gone away? Make an appointment and have it checked out.

We survivors cannot play with our health. Preventive care is vital to our success rate. We want to live a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. We can only do that by staying atop our cancers. We may be done with treatment and in remission, but now, the real battle begins. So what are we going to do? We are going to live our life purposely and fulfilling, because the quality of life is very important to us. 

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Incognito

                                                  Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.



To your judgments give ye not the reins
With too much eagerness, like him who ere
The corn be ripe, is fain to count the grains:
For I have seen the briar through the winter snows
Look sharp and stiff--yet on a future day
High on its summit bear the tender rose:
And ship I've seen, that through the storm hath passed,
Securely bounding o'er the watery way,
At entrance of the harbor wrecked at last.

--Dante, translated by Wright.

INCOGNITO

1.

(of a person) having one's true identity concealed.

"in order to observe you have to be incognito"

synonyms:

under an assumed name, under a false name, in disguise, disguised, under cover, in plain clothes, camouflage I wish I could seclude myself atop a mountain somewhere in a small cabin. This cabin has to have wifi or it's a no go, lol. I feel like I am pulled in several directions, being everything to everyone else. I can remember Joyce Meyer's once saying that she gets up early every morning to make herself available to everyone, but her day ends at exactly 5 p.m. The evenings are all her. She comes home and locks herself away in her side of the house doing things just for herself. I can relate no problem. I don't mind being there for others, but I need some time alone. When it was decided we were to be off these past few days, I was excited making plans to nest. Of course, these things never quite work out the way we may want them to. There were deliveries to be made, yarn delivered and crocheted items to pick up. Then the darn cable wasn't working, the lighting wasn't any good for making vlogs. Nothing worked out the way it was planned originally. Nothing. The days slipped by faster than they came. I guess, I shouldn't complain, because one day I will be alone and then what will I do with myself? Would I really enjoy it? Probably not. We are always wanting something that isn't attainable. If I could, it wouldn't be my fave anymore, would it? Yet, there is something very comforting to think we can hide in our favorite place. A place where no one else can enter. It's almost the same when we think of getting into our car and driving away someplace, anywhere. We picture a long and winding road that has no final destination. We have a deep desire to get away from it all, even if it is for a small while. I am sure we all wished to be invisible for a day, walking around where no one else sees us, doing whatever we want to do. Have a blessed day everyone.

No Connection

                                                            Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.

 


MY heart for gladness springs,
    It cannot more be sad,
  For very joy it laughs and sings,
    Sees nought but sunshine glad.
P. GERHARDT.

I struggle with technology. You all know this and there is nothing more I detest than techno problems. Oh my Lord, I could lose my mind over techno problems! So while I was at work during our very first snowstorm, I got this warning message from my cable network that there might be some problems, due to the ice. I literally groaned out loud, because I knew that meant we had a problem.

Of course, we lost connection. We thought nothing of it at first, because majority of the suburbs around us have lost power due to the cold/ice. The traffic lights were out, too. Well, it must have been pretty bad, but not to worry, it will come back on. It didn't.

I spent Sunday after Church, a day that was to be my nesting day, plugging and unplugging this darn cable. First of all, there are wires everywhere. One has to move furniture aside and dust it off. Lord, we need to dust around here. One of us, not sure which one. Emily suddenly left the room so I guess it's me.

Nothing happened. Please, please don't make me call technical support. They speak a language that no one normal can understand. Their jargon isn't mine. Believe me, I was ready to open up the window and toss the darn thing out. Period. I just knew I had to make that call.

I sat and screamed into the phone as the recording claimed it didn't understand my answers. Why, Lord, why? Finally, a human being answered. A woman! From Mississippi, not India! She walked me through it and the cable came on. I whooped and hollered. Praised the Lord and she laughed so hard at my antics. So you see, I survived another technology defect day instead of my nesting day. 

A sigh of relief and a cup of tea. Now , I can rest from all this mayhem. So grateful, so very grateful.

Have a blessed day everyone. 

An Early Start On Project 2019

                                                                    Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                    everyday is a journey. 







Fill with inviolable peace;
Stablish and keep my settled heart;
In Thee may all my wanderings cease,
From Thee no more may I depart:
Thy utmost goodness called to prove,
Loved with an everlasting love!
C. WESLEY.

As the month closed, I awaited anxiously for my truant landlord to come by bringing my new lease. It wasn't the uncertainty of the lease itself, but I needed a new parking sticker. Without that precious sticker, that flashing brightly tow truck would take my HHR (Herschel) for a ride. One that he didn't want. Of course, my landlord comes and goes as he pleases. He doesn't seem to be in desperate need of that rent check, sometimes coming two months later. Yes, it's true.

He text me telling me to take my old lease and have the office call him. Okay, no problem. I am Ms. Organization, you know. Should only take a second, but you see, there was a slight setback. That old lease wasn't where I thought it was and panic mode set in quickly. I tore apart my bedroom. Literally. Of course, it was in the last bin. Everything else sat on my bed and floor, the contents spilled all over. At that moment, it didn't matter.

It DID matter when I got home and looked at the mess in my room. I guess, my simplification project 2019 will have to start a few months earlier. Not exactly what I had planned for the day. Nor was I excited about the size of the work, either. I wanted to do clean up in small increments, not spend the next two days putting the room back to order. 

I did, however, go through and toss out quite a bit of stuff. Might as well begin this project properly so I don't have to do it again later. I realized that I collect and hold onto things "just in case" which is ridiculous. In case of what? How in the world am I expecting to fit into a small dwelling if I am hoarding things just in case I need them someday?

I'm holding onto the kid's schoolwork papers and awards to pass on to them one day. I already did for Joe. I wonder if he even cares and maybe he threw it out. Everything we hold in our hand is a memory of a sweet time in our life. Do we feel as if we've betrayed them by getting rid of these items? I know I do. What kind of mom throws out her child's precious scribbling?

I think there's a whole lot of truth in this hoarding of mine. This will be more difficult than I thought. 

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Rescheduling My Nesting Day

                                                         Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.




Purge from our hearts the stains so deep and foul,
    Of wrath and pride and care;
  Send Thine own holy calm upon the soul,
    And bid it settle there!
ANON.

Who wouldn't love to be sitting in front of a fire on a cold and blistery night? I know I certainly would love that very much, thank you! Since I am off for a few days, I wanted to spend at least one day nesting. Yes, nesting. 

The day before, I ran around trying to accomplish all these past due errands. Some of these, people already thought I had done. It's been quite awhile since we had so many deliveries to make for the Ministry. Every time we make one, I feel a sense of satisfaction. I love making things for charitable organizations. 

I had planned for today to be my nesting day, but things didn't quite work out that way. What is a nesting day? A day spent lounging around in your pajamas doing the things you love like reading, writing or crocheting. I woke up late and then there was a minor issue to be handled online. Then another and another. Then a load of laundry. Then two. Then three. The next thing I knew it was the afternoon and the day was half over. What happened to it? 

There seems to be always something that needs to be done or taken cared of and suddenly we need to make an appointment to have a nesting day. Maybe on Sunday, but wait, that's Church day. How about Monday, but wait, grocery shopping with mom. On and on we can go. Tuesday looks good for now. Tuesday it is.

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Here Comes A New Beginning

                                                Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.



The Holy Supper is kept, 
indeed,
In what so we share with another's need;
Not what we give, 
but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,
Himself, 
his hungering neighbor, 
and me.

--James Russell Lowell.

Well, here we are off from work as we anxiously await the sign in front of our building to be changed from Avon to Fareva. Will the closing go through this time? We can only hope. Last time, we apparently weren't ready.

During this past week, we worked ten hour days to finish off all of our work before this closing and transition. We also did our open enrollment for our health insurance. Let me tell you that I must be getting old, because I truly had a difficult time understanding the new website and enrollment. So many things that have to be considered when it comes to health insurance. Why has it gotten so hard and difficult to follow. In the past, all we had to do is choose the medical, dental, vision and then we were done. Now, there are so many options and they are all in medical jargon. Ugh. I visited HR a few times this week with loads of questions.

When I came back from Arizona, I told myself that I would embrace the new Company wholeheartedly and no longer spend any time wallowing in how much I detested my workplace or the people in it. I would make an effort to change my attitude in regards to my job. I still mean all of that. 

Have a blessed day everyone.