A MARCH TO REMEMBER....or try to forget!!!

The inner workings of my electric range, after the cracked ceramic cook top had been removed.

Sorry to start with this, like this, but read on and you'll understand and get the picture.

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One thing for sure.......life is VERY interesting &...........around my house never dull!!!!

Actually, Mickey & I both strive to live calm, orderly, neat, organized lives. We are of the school, "Everything has a place, and a time, and everything in its place and time." But, "The well laid plans of mice and men often go astray" and nothing could be more true than this saying for us in this month of March, 2010!!!

Even today as I loaded the pictures for this post and endeavored to move the pictures to the proper spacing, as I do ALL the time on my computer. Guess what? They wouldn't move. So, next best step I was going to delete the first picture, which was out of order, and just use the one snow picture. Guess what? I can't delete it!!! Hence, two pictures of the back yard with snow.

After all that, NOW to the original plan of this post and an update on this most interest month.

On March 3rd, Mickey was busy planting 9 rose cuttings that our dear friends, Don & Barbara, had brought over to Mickey the night before. This is a picture of the front and side, along the trellis around part of our patio showing the finished produce of all planted and covered with quart canning jars. OH.....and the DUPLICATE out of place snow pictures!!!!


Side view with the jars laid out for spacing before planting the cuttings.

Front view of the jars for spacing.

Mickey mixing the soil and various additives. You can tell by the fact Mickey is in his t-shirt that this was a warm, sunny day.

It was a good thing Mickey covered up the rose cuttings because THIS is what we had in our back yard the very next day.

Then my computer crashed but my sweet son, Marc, and new family came out Sunday the 7th to fix and reload information on said computer.

1- In the process I lost my entire e-mail address book. So if you haven't heard from me lately via the Valornet e-mail please drop me a note so I can add you to my NEW address book.

2- I can not yet load my pictures from my camera onto my computer, but we can on Mickey's so I have a mess with some pictures on this computer and some on the other.

3- I have a professional accounting system, from my years of accounting work, but when Marc got it loaded back it came up with mid 2008 as the last information!!!! Fortunately, I am one of these that does not trust the "paperless" approach of life that is being expounded and encouraged and therefore had hard copy figures as of 12-31-09!!!! Wheeeeee

4- #3 necessitated my having to rebuild the accounting information by starting from scratch with the 12-31-2009 figures and reposting January & February.

THIS is what a mess my desk was for several days during this process!!!!

As I've already posted I cracked my ceramic cook top in the wee hours of the morning March 16th. The new replacement, shown here on the kitchen table did not arrive until Wednesday, March 24th. Fortunately it came as a single, complete unit and was very easy for Mickey to install.

Return to top to see in electric components!!!! Out of order, of course.

See, another shot of the desk mess, out of order!

To say we hope April brings us back to our calm, orderly, neat, organized life is an understatement.

We are working hard, in the midst of this, on the production of the CHOICE'S drama that our church is putting on over Easter weekend. MOST of us connected with this upcoming drama have been experiencing a lot of upheaval and turmoil in our lives. Not surprising since we know satan does not want to see this drama presented and be successful. BUT we know "He who is within us" with see that it goes off just as HE intends it to.

I've also been asked to speak at a Woman's Day conference the woman's ministry is putting on April 24th on the subject of Quench Your Thrist. I think the Lord is supplying me with some much needed input and information......!!! Do you agree?

WHAT'S YOUR TYPE?

A blog friend of mine posted a book review the other day about "Get Motivated!" by Tamara Lowe. Part of the review included a place to take a test to type your personality.

This particular test identifies patterns of human behavior and personality qualities that have been broken down into six categories. Each person fits three of the six categories. I just love doing these type tests so I took it and came out a PVI - A Visionary.

Here are my type results:
Susan’s Motivational DNA Type is PVI
(Production-Variety-Internal) The Visionary
Visionaries are persistent, energetic and confident. They are able to organize people and projects. Visionaries exhibit strong leadership potential and react quickly to crisis. Creative thinkers, Visionaries have the ability to craft a vision and get others excited about it. They enjoy working on multiple projects at the same time and like to be involved in exploring alternative concepts. Farsighted and imaginative, Visionaries are good at finding original solutions to difficult problems. Visionaries enjoy change and thrive under pressure. They have the ability to shift gears and turn on a dime. They are confident in their ability to master new skills. Visionaries enjoy challenge and desire personal growth. Visionaries want to know that their work matters and desire to “go where no man has gone before.”

PVI Motivators: Inspiring work environment, opportunity to originate and initiate ideas, peer respect, credit for work accomplished and a strong sense of mission.

PVI De-Motivators: Rigid structure, routine, delays, time-consuming details and bureaucracy.


Here is the link if you enjoy taking these type tests. If you take it I'd love to hear your type & results.

It's so amazing that God has made each of us different and with our own special strengths and weaknesses. It's all part of His Plan to have every part of His Body operating as it should. What a wonderful God!!!!

A happy, smiling face.... & this and that

That's what I have after my trip to the dentist last Wednesday morning to not only get my teeth cleaned but to get a good report. When you've spent as much money on your mouth over the years, as I've spent on mine.....believe me I get a happy, smiling face!!!

Then it was to town to get Aric, out for hamburgers and then some shopping and back home. I'm still recovering from my sunburn and peeling like crazy. Looks terrible!!! Oh well.......at 70+ that's no big issue. Aric spent Wednesday, Thursday & Friday with us and Grandpa took him home Friday night. He is such a joy for us to have and I think he likes being with Grandma & Grandpa, too! :o)

Saturday we went to a store near us that was closing out their bedding plants at 1/2 price. We needed a few more items. We ended up getting 16 geraniums and 16 lavendar mums. All the geraniumns and 4 of the mums went in the front beds but 12 of the mums ended up in the back yard along the fence line.

Here is one of the latest "crop" from Mickey's garden. Delicious Swiss Chard. I have fixed delicious salads with swiss chard, spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes and green onions all home grown by my hubby and delicious.

Our Pastor and his wife are home from their 2 week vacation and it sure is good to have them back. We are blessed with such good teaching and preaching on a consistent basis.

Remember Mickey's blue birds that he was feeding millworms to in a bowl? Now he has moved the bowl up to the bird feeder he built for them and teaching them to look for their meal there.

The nesting pair layed and fledged 4 baby blue birds. Mickey has cleaned out the blue bird house and hopes they may build another nest this season. Aren't they a beautiful bird?

MONDAY MORNING & CATCHING UP

I missed my weight report last week because my internet was down for 4 days!!!!! So I'm catching up with it here. Last week, 1/12-1/18, I did BAD and gained a lb. This week, 1/19-1/25, I did INDIFFERENT and stayed the same. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time getting with the program this time but, as I've said before, I am not quitting and I am not giving up.

We had Aric with us from Friday afternoon until this morning when Mickey took him to school.

Aric all ready to attend church with Grandma & Grandpa


Mickey & I. Doesn't Mickey look great 3 1/2 months since his double bi-pass heart surgery? Praise God!!!! The tie Mickey has on is one of my Christmas gifts to him. The new slacks and sweater I am wearing is my Christmas BD gift from my daughter, Jacque. I had to have the slacks hemmed up because I'm getting shorter!! I still can't get over that fact.

One of the woman, Judy, in my church began a home Bible study on Monday, January 12th. I am so excited about this!!!! The first week there were only three of us: Judy, a friend she used to work with, Linda, and me. Last week there were 5 of us: Judy, Shirley, Wantha, Peggy (a friend of Wantha's) and me. Linda could not make it because she was ill. We meet at 11 o'clock. I have ALWAYS wanted to be part of an in-home Bible Study and am very excited about what God is going to accomplish in and through this group. We are praying that God add those woman who He wants to be part of this group. It is not a "church" function as such, but just a desire the Lord placed on Judy.

I am hoping we will still meet together today, but that is kind of up in the air at the moment. They are predicting sleet and rain beginning around noon today and it could turn into an ice storm.

I'm praying it doesn't turn in to one like above that we had in December, 2007 when the above picture was taken.

If you remember, one of our goals this year is to entertain more. Well on Friday night, the 16th, we took Ronnie & Carol out to one of our favorite Italian Restaurants for dinner. It is a lovely place that even has a violinist playing as you eat, and he is very good. He was doing a lot of Classical Spanish songs, which is a favorite of mine. Ronnie and Carol attend church with us, they are LONG time members, and Ronnie is Mickey's bee mentor and was such a blessing and help during our Anniversary trip and during the months that Mickey was unable to take care of his bees. Can you believe I didn't get a picture???!!!! Anyway we had a grand, good time.

This past week, since we had Aric all week-end we did not do any entertaining.

The prayer group is aware of this because they have been praying with us, but I hadn't posted on Penless about it. One of our friends, Lee, has quadruple heart bi-pass surgery on Thursday. On Friday he began bleeding and they were afraid they were going to lose him. They finally got the bleeding stopped but then he was unresponsive. Mickey and another friend, Jack, drove over to Oklahoma City and the VA Hospital to be with him and his family on Saturday. Yesterday we got the report that he is responding. His blood pressure is way to high and they are keeping him sedated at they figure out the proper medication to get the pressure under control. NEVER under estimate the power of prayer!!! I don't. Praise God for touching our friend, Lee, with His Mighty Hand.

I just got a call that our Bible Study has been called off for today because of the impending storm. Judy lives way out in the country so a long drive was deemed not the best choice for today.

Since I'm not going to Bible Study I'm going to go make some home made bread. See ya.......and enjoy your day.

SOAKING IT IN

Yesterday we cleaned our son's home, as we do every other week. Both Mickey & I were tired, achy and exhausted.

Last night I decided to take a L-O-N-G, very HOT, bubble bath and just SOAK!!!!

I filled the tub up to the drain overflow spout, leaned back and just relaxed.

You know, sometimes I think we take so many of the blessings we have for granted.

As I enjoyed my soaking I thought of the many blessings I was enjoying in this simple pleasure: 1) plenty of hot water at my very finger tips - 2) not only hot but pure, clean water - 3) my ever ready bottle of bubble bath that turns a plain bath into a special, aromatic pleasure - 4) a nice, private bathroom to enjoy this pleasure in - 5) in the safety of my own nice, warm, comfy home - 6) the luxury of no time limits on how long I choose to linger - 7) the plush bathmats to step out on and keep my feet off the cold ceramic tile floor - 8) my large, fluffy, white clean towel to dry off with - 9) my bottle of Ba*th & Bod*y Sun-Ripened Raspberry lotion to apply all over - 10) nice, warm, soft, fluffy, flannel pj's to put on.

As if this bath pleasure wasn't enough I then had: 11) a comfortable chair to lounge in - 12) in my own living room - 13) with my loving husband - 14) as he fixed us both a delicious cup of steaming hot chocolate - 15) then being able to turn the lights off - 16) check that the doors were locked - 17) feel safe in climbing into - 18) a pre-warmed by the electric blanket - 19) queens-size beautiful bed - 20) with my feather top quilted mattress pad - and 21) my large, plump, soft feather pillow - 22) the right to thank my Lord for all these blessings - 23) and drift off to sleep in all this safety and comfort - 24) with the wonderful husband I have spent 50 years enjoying this simple life with.

I am indeed a Blessed Woman and I never want to take all these pleasures for granted or cease to be thankful for them.

NORMAL

Normal....... adj. - conforming with an accepted standard or norm; natural; usual ....what a wonderful word!!!!!! I am so happy that our life and home are getting back to normal.

We were able to attend our wonderful Church services Sunday morning. We had been the previous two Wednesday nights but hadn't tackled the longer Sunday morning services before. It was so wonderful to be there.....Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching."

Our Church had a 3 meeting revival Sunday a.m., p.m. & Monday p.m. It was totally awesome!!! I wish it could have gone on and lasted more than the 3 services. The Evangelist really spoke to all of our hearts....at least I know he did to ours.

We don't get a lot of the beautiful fall colors in Oklahoma that so many of the N.E. areas of the country do but this beautiful maple tree is one we planted in our backyard and it blesses us each fall with its beauty.

Some more of normal this week: I made another batch of my home made laundry soap. I kept track of the number of washes I got from the first batch and it was 40.

I am back on my weight loss project!!!! Yeah.....Thanksgiving and Christmas...oh well I'll do the best I can.

I baked 3 loaves of wonderful Whole Wheat Bread. Not only good for us but YUMMY.

I mixed a batch of prepared ahead Oatmeal Pancake Mix. I got the recipe from Lynn. It is made with white & whole wheat flour plus the oatmeal. Not only very healthy but very good and made without any preservatives....win-win.

Mickey & I made a batch of Fondant for his bees. Yes, he feeds his bees a candy mixture for the winter!!!! This was our first effort and it didn't turn out 100% but it is usable.

We have walked at Wal-M*art the past 2 days because it has turned colder here. Fall has finally made its very late appearance. We walked 25 minutes Monday and 28 yesterday. We will make it to our 30 minute goal today. He gains a little in strength each and every day and even though his appetite isn't great it is getting better.

So.....normal is very good and we are glad to be getting back to it!!!!

A LINK - NOAH'S ARK - AWARD

First I'd like to invite all of you to visit this blog and participate in Maxine's project. I truly thing this is of The Lord and it truly got me to slow down and really THINK about what I do want and yearn for my country, and especially for my children & grandchildren in this country.

We all need to give serious thought to this election that will be in just 41 days and I think Maxine is helping us to do that. I would also appreciate hearing your comments about how you feel about this after you visit her blog. Thanks!!

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I received this and thought it was so facinating. It certainly is bigger than I think most of us have pictures in our minds from the little Noahs Arc toys we've seen.

Working Replica of Noah's Ark
Opens In SCHAGEN, Netherlands

The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday
for the first crowd of curious Pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch
Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.


The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.

Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras,
bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.

A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -
Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.
Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools
and with occasional help from his son Roy... Construction began in May 2005.
On the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening
- will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats,
and one camel.

Visitors on the first day were stunned.
'It's past comprehension, ' said Mary Louise Starosciak, who
happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation
when they saw The ark looming over the local landscape.
'I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big.'
There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can
watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark.
�

Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in
the Netherlands , where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.
''If You Need Help, Ask God. If You Don't, Thank God''...
'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.' Psalm 23:6
When there is nothing left but God, that is when you
find out that God is all you need. Live today to the
fullest because tomorrow is not promised.

Now that I am old and gray...give me the time to tell this new generation(and their children too) about all your mighty miracles. Psalm 71:18

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A special thanks to Sandra, Watercoulour Dreams, for this Kreativ Blogger Award.

Since it was very similar to the one I received and posted about on September 9th I am not doing this one but wanted to acknowledge Sandra and thank her publicly.

THIS & THAT & ABOUT THE CRAFT STORE

It's been a typical busy week at our house so I thought I would recap it here.

A week ago last Friday night our Church hosted what we hope will be an on-going thing. A gospel singing group. They were from Nashville and were very good and we had a large crowd for the first time. Our Tulsa friends, Don & Barbara, came out and joined us and we ate pizza at Mazzio's before attending the concert.

On Saturday Mickey and I both worked at Angel Food Ministry. Our church is involved in this ministry for this area. People sign up the first of the month and pay $30 and then on the last Saturday of the month come and pick up a complete box of groceries. It is a real help and aid to people and they come from all the little towns around here.

On Sunday we had David, and Marc, Oksana & Aric over for a pot roast dinner after church.

On Tuesday I worked at the church from 11 to 2, along with another woman, for people to sign up for their Angel Food Box at the end of the month. This was also the day we awoke to the beautiful 6 1/2" snow fall.

Wednesday of course was Church. Our pastor has been teaching a series on the miracles of the Bible on Wednesday nights. His teaching tonight was "Not the Miracle You Expected" and it was sooooo good.

Wednesday was also the day we had to pull our Mike Huckabee sign out of our front yard since the Republican side of the campaign is now settled. We do not yet have a McCain sign but we will obtain one and we do and will support McCain.

Thursday was Grandparents Day at Aric's school. The 3rd graders were from 10:30 to 11. Mickey went into work late so he could attend. I can't believe I forgot the camera, but I did so no pictures!!!! Early that morning the phone rang and it was Aric telling me (Grandma) to be sure and bring some money for the book fair they were having because he only had $11!!!!!! When we got to the classroom Aric had to stand up and introduce us to his class. Then he had a series of questions to ask us. What were the prices of the following when we were in the 3rd grade: 1)bread (I wasn't sure of this one but thought it was 25 cents) - 2) soda pop - 5 cents - 3) postage stamp - 3 cents, and 4) a gallon of gas - 25 cents. WOW!!!!!! Then we went to the gym for snacks. At this point Grandpa left to go to work and Aric and I went to the Library for the book fair. I told him he could buy one book with his money and I would buy him another book. He selected one for $8 which he bought. Then he selected the one for me to buy. As we were waiting in line to pay for the 2 books he found another he wanted so I bought him 2 books. Yes, grandma was sure to bring some money with her for the book fair!!!!

After leaving Grandparents Day I then went over to Marc's work and he and I went out for lunch. I always enjoy my lunch dates with my son, Marc.

Yesterday was a BIG DAY in Coweta. Our new Walmart Super Center opened it's doors at 7:30a.m.!! We had a small Walmart but it carried very little so the entire community is excited to have this store and super market. I checked my mileage when I drove over and it is 3.3 miles. I'm so glad I won't have to drive 25 miles round trip to go to the grocery store any more. With the price of gasoline climbing weekly this is a real blessing. When I got there the parking lot was packed full and I had to hunt for a parking place.

Last night we had Suzette and Dave over for dinner and I fixed Enchiladas, pinto beans and flan for dessert. All very good I must say!! We had a delightful evening just visiting with our daughter and son-in-love. When they left there was a light covering of snow again.

Today at 3 we will be attending a wedding of a young couple in our church. As you can see, we live a very full, happy and busy life.

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Several people commented on my Show & Tell yesterday about our having a craft store. It is something I always thought would be fun to do and a desire of my heart. Mickey & I have always been willing to step out and do things and to take chances. We have had the attitude that life is for living and that a rut is just a grave with the 2 ends knocked out and we never desired to fall into a rut.

We opened this little Craft store and called it Crafter's Showcase. We not only had some of our own craft items but we had booth spaces for other crafters. We signed a 2 year lease with great hope and expectations. In addition to the store we would do other local Craft Shows. Well we had a darling little shop and we had a good time but we did not make any money!!!!! In hind sight (isn't it always good) we had picked a location that was not on a main street and was a poor choice. Because we had signed the 2 year lease, and because we are people of our word and our commitments we continued to stay open the full 2 years. We basically were supporting the shop from Mickey's salary. I do not regret for one minute that we did this. You will not always be successful at everything you try but you must try.

Another desire of mine has always been to work in a bookstore. I still hope I will get a chance to do that at some point. This past September I had picked up an application for our local Christian bookstore to apply for a part time job over the Christmas holiday. Before I had filled out the application we got word that our son was moving back from California and I knew I had a more important job to fulfill.