The weather today in my neck of the woods:

Cool. Cool. Cool. I LOVE it!!! Perfect gardening weather.

A simple pleasure:

Browsing through used bookstores.  My favorite local one is Poe House Books. Even when what I am searching for isn’t there at the moment, I always come home with a treasure. My latest find was a copy of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. Can’t wait to start this great summer read.

I am thankful:

For a husband and daughter that keep me emotionally moored through some very turbulent times.

From the kitchen:

Actually made Shepard’s Pie yesterday for Miss Sam and a Chef-Boy-R-Dee pizza for Mr. John. For myself…I made an italian pasta salad with island bbq tilapia from Sam’s club.  Mine was the best!

From the learning rooms:

DONE WITH ALGEBRA!!! DID YOU HEAR ME????? I SAID DONE.DONE.DONE.!!!! Maybe now we can lighten up on the anxiety meds (those would be mine by the way).

Just finished reading:

Caught by Harlan Coben. This one was a page turner!!!!! I could not put it down until I had finished it. Lots of twists and turns with a can NOT predict ending.

Currently Reading:

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. Again, I have picked up another book that I can’t put down. Good thing it is summer semester and the work load is light. The number one kind of books I love to read are Russian novels (I actually have War and Peace scheduled for reading this summer).  The last one I read was Russian Winter which was fabulous…and just so you know…it is now out in paperback. I can’t wait for her next novel.

On My Mind:

I have been reading Fibro Warrior: Life Beyond Fibromyalgia. I first experienced Fibromyalgia several years ago when I totaled my car. The symptoms lasted for well over a year. “Normal” is what I was told after a car accident. Well, as many of you know, I took a nasty fall several months back. Physical therapy is helping me bit by slow bit get the range of motion back in my left arm. However, once again, Fibromyalgia has set in. There are good days and bad days. Last night was a bad night. I recently read Shannon’s post regarding cereal and the effects that she experienced. After a difficult night, I could not help but wonder if my extreme pain had anything to do with eating my new snack choice:  Nature Valley Chewy Yogurt bars. I am going to go several days without eating one, then eat one, and see what happens. I will keep you posted.

Creative Projects:

Well I can’t seem to keep the dirt out from under my fingernails. Many of the garden projects I had planned for this spring are near completion….and always a gardener with a plan….I have FINALLY figured out something for this particular spot:

This part of the yard gets an incredible amount of sun and nothing…I mean nothing….has yet to survive being ‘planted’ here. So I began to browse through websites for ideas and landed on this one: Debra Lee Baldwin: Garden Photojournalist. Now I have never been a fan of succulents but once I browsed through her website…well…I was hooked. I had the PERFECT spot to begin a succulent container garden!!!!! I went to the library – which is within fifteen minutes walking distance from us – and thankfully they had her book: Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye-Catching Displays with 350 Easy-Care Plants. So as I continue to play in my flower and veggie gardens I have begun to dream about my new adventure…..a succulent container garden.

Hearth and Home:

Found the energy to feather the nest with a bit of dusting/organizing/and a that ever dreaded….kitchen floor washing.

I smile:

Inspirational Thought I’m Sharing:

Wise words from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Proverbs 3:1-9

What means we must use that we may obtain wisdom:

We must closely attend to the word of God

We must be much in prayer

We must be willing to labor in our search

Picture Thought I am sharing:

Here are some chapter titles from the series “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”….who needs to read all the books….just put the titles on post-it-notes and paste to your bathroom mirror and you will be good to go…you can throw that can of Arrid Extra Dry into the trash (it’s depleting the ozone layer anyway):

• Make Peace with Imperfection
• Learn to Live in the Present Moment
• Choose Your Battles Wisely
• Look Beyond Behavior
• Develop Your Own Helping Rituals
• Look for the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
• Wish Wonder Woman Goodbye
• Go with the Twists and Turns
• Protect Your Inner Flame
• Learn About Moods and Money
• Create from the Inside Out
• Go Ahead and Do It
• Persevere
• Don’t Take It All So Seriously
• Remember that Everything Has God’s Fingerprints on It

Off to buy a pack of post-it-notes. See you at Office Max!

First tomato of the season.

Looking forward to that fresh tomato sandwich for lunch!!!

Can you believe that I found this bromeliad for $1.50 on the reduced rack at Lowes????? It actually looked this healthy!!!

And what garden isn’t complete without the resident Doxie mouching off the butterflies water bowl.

Ever since my father’s death I spend every morning playing in my backyard gardens. I find much comfort, peace, and balance there. Today while I was taking a picture of the Cassia tree I was planting for him the morning he died (I got the call as soon as I finished planting it) I smelled my father’s infamous cigar. My father came to visit me in my garden this morning and I took him on a tour. Please join me.

“God looked around His garden

and He found an empty place

He then looked down upon the earth

and saw your precious face”

“He put His arms around you

And lifted you to rest;

God’s Garden must be beautiful

He always takes the best.”

“He knew that you were suffering

He knew you were in pain

He knew you’d never ever

Get well on earth again.”

“So He closed your weary eyelids

And whispered “Peace be thine”

Then He took you up to Heaven

with Hands so gentle and kind.”

“It broke our hearts to lose you

but you did not go alone,

for part of us went with you

the day God welcomed you home”

Author Unknown

I will treasure this morning spent with my father.

I’m going to spend the day fishing with the Captain of my heart.

What are your plans for Mother’s Day??????

It has been quite awhile since I have participated in this particular meme. Today seemed like a good day to get back into the game.

1. Modern Family is my favorite TV show because it takes a humorous look at life’s most serious moments and everyone is still left standing strong and together.

2. Go to page 45 of the book you’re reading (The Swiss Family Robinson); go to the 6th paragraph and make a sentence out of 7 words from it: I wonder what it would be like to gather together all the pieces of the puzzle and present them to God and see what he has to say about them as a whole. The original sentence read: “I will gather all the pieces and take them to Ernest, and tell him all these particulars; I wonder what he will say about it, and how he will like the withered nut.

3. I am extremely content as I walk along my garden paths.

4. I enjoyed the long walks Miss Sam and I used to take to get to the neighborhood playground when we lived in Texas. Miss Sam was in her stroller of course.

5. Today I am going to take some time to work on my family history .

6. My kitchen floor needs a bit a lot of scrubbing. Not getting done today either!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to dinner at the Olive Garden, tomorrow my plans include taking Miss Sam to a one day Anime convention and Sunday, I want to stay in bed all day and read!

(Find more Friday Fill-Ins here.)

There has been a series of events over the past few weeks where my perception plunged me into a pit of emotional distress. Disrupting my balance, allowing doubt to take up residence, and igniting an emotional fierceness that soon became misdirected. All red flags that I was getting ready to quit. To walk away from all that I had worked so hard to build. This not only discouraged me but frightened me. And so I began to pack my bags. Not to leave, as in times past, but to prepare for yet another journey of self-discovery.

It was on this journey that I soon discovered how much truth there was to my academic lectures on perception. How we can never trust our perceptions. That nothing is ever as it seems. Our hearts have blurred our vision with memories and experiences that have been re-constructed and mortared together with emotional bias. I have struggled immensely with the disillusionment and discouragement that this truth reveals about life. It sent me on a quest for another truth that would dispel my feelings of distrust and hopelessness ~ not just with myself but also with humankind.

As the struggle began to reach monumental proportions, I had a sudden insight into the reality of my distress. Many would call it, as would I, a whisper from the Holy Spirit. My heart was sent on a mission to understand that the only way we can respond appropriately to life (circumstances and people) is to look at it all from God’s perspective.

I began to weigh carefully in my mind how to accomplish this on a daily basis. With directions from my heart I found the answer. Just as I wake up and wash my face and brush my teeth as my early morning routine, I needed to  add:  put my “Jesus glasses” on.

Adding the “putting on” of my “Jesus glasses”…to my morning routine has restored my balance, replaced doubt with trust, and helped me succeed in turning misdirected emotional eruptions into well directed acts of mercy and grace.

These past few weeks have been full of storms and the lightning nearly blinded me from an awesome truth….through God’s eyes we can change our perception of the world and with it bring a sense of peace to our lives.

Have you put on your “Jesus glasses” today?

The weather today in my neck of the woods:

It’s 7:00 in the evening and still 92 degrees….HELLO SUMMER. Need to finish up all my garden projects before heat stroke becomes a real threat.

A simple pleasure:

Taking the dogs out into the backyard in the early morning hours. It allows me to walk my garden paths and lose myself in their beauty. A beauty that I have constructed utilizing God’s creations.

I am thankful:

That Sam’s lowered it’s price for bulk Starbuck’s Vanilla Frappuccino!!! (by $5.00!!!!….think it was a mistake).

From the kitchen:

Became motivated yesterday to make a deliciously filling comfort meal….meatloaf….real mashed potatoes….and a summer favorite….corn on the cob. Yum. Not much else going on. Living mostly on Special K bars and sweet tea…oh yea…and those Frappuccinos.

From the learning rooms:

ALMOST DONE with Algebra!!! Yippee!!!!

Currently Reading:

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss. What a great book!!!! It really brings you down to the basics, not only in the areas of survival but also with an incredible focus on how God is indeed the most basic of basics. I love this book!!!

On My Mind:

Being able to successfully navigate changed family dynamics.

The most horrible piece of journalism I have ever read! Filled with spelling errors/words missing…and it just happens to be one of the most important new story of the decade. You need to get a copy of today’s USA Today to see what I am disgusted about.  Shame on you Jim Michaels.

Creative Projects:

Still the same…..making  tiny baby steps progress on all….really liked this post about how I’m looking at it all right now. Thanks Holly.

Hearth and Home:

Still chipping away at all the areas that quickly slipped into chaos over the past few weeks.

I laugh:

because I just finished watching the movie ~ How Do You Know? ~ needed that laugh after watching ~ Black Swan.

Inspirational Thoughts I’m Sharing:

These gems are just a few that are inspiring from The Swiss Family Robinson:

“A mother seldom refuses the sacrifice of a little personal convenience, if it can afford delight to a virtuous child.”

“I am convinced that every parent who adopts a hardy scheme of education acts the wisest part.”

“God is indeed every where, and the best worship consists in thinking of him, and of his holy will, and resolving to fulfill it.”

Picture Thought I am sharing: