Making Deliveries

11 afghans for Durban, S. Africa

22 afghans for Ghana

Another busy week ‘attempting’ to get lots of things done. Today found me delivering 22 afghans to Crittenton Hospital for eventual delivery to Ghana; tomorrow is delivery of 11 afghans for Durban, S. Africa – then I can take a (small) break before starting all over again. Total afghans completed since this ministry started: 218.

Last night was youngest son’s Christmas concert at his school. He joined the concert choir and the program was a compilation of all choirs and orchestral groups. It was jam-packed with almost 2 hours of music and nicely done.

I’m sitting here enjoying a lovely warm mug of cocoa to ‘warm my innards’ after the long afghan drive. The weather’s been pretty steady for the last few days: in the low 30’s but clear (no s-n-0-w), however I hear that’s about to change. Just got a weather report for this evening that we’re due for: “ snow and sleet, which is in effect from 7 pm this evening to 4 am est Wednesday.”  Oh Joy…(not). Well, it’s bound to happen, this being Michigan and December…just not looking forward to the whole winter routine…sigh. Dug out my heavy winter jacket yesterday and found my heavy winter gloves and hat tucked in the pockets. I promptly put them aside, saying: “I don’t need THESE yet!” (little did I know, eh?). I don’t think I’d mind much if it weren’t for the fact that I’ll be doing my usual Tuesday  (knit night) and Wednesday  (special needs group) driving. Oh well…gotta take it with a (slightly frozen) grain of salt, so the expression goes.

Hope you are all staying healthy, warm and getting those needed jobs/gifts/etc. taken care of. Managed to pick up oldest son’s present yesterday and have ordered 2 very small gifts on line, but other than that…I’m completely stumped this year for gift ideas! Ran into our mail lady today and promised her some cookies ’soon’ (just not sure WHEN I’ll get them baked); thank heavens she’s very patient. She warned me of those days when she’ll be off for the next 2 weeks, also informing me that if I put a package in our mailbox for her and she’s off, her ’sub’ driver WILL eat them! (glad she warned me!).

Enjoy your day, stay warm & cosy and remember “Jesus is the REASON for the season!” Merry Christmas!

Hugs;

Pammie

Unexpected Fun!

Almost 3 1/2 years old!

Today worked out to be one of those ‘not planned, but totally fun’ days. I got most of the housework/chores out of the way yesterday which left me ‘free’. Around 10 a.m. I got a frantic call from our oldest who wanted to know what I was doing right then; “Not much” I replied. “Can you watch the little guy?” “Yes, of course!” Due to some sort of  mix-up in scheduling, his Mother had to work, the great-grandmother wasn’t home which left my son frantically trying to find someone to watch my grandson (apparently he’d already driven to the Mom’s house AND the great grandmas…no one home either place!). We had a good time putting puzzles together, playing cars & trucks, rocking (and a nap), then time to go to great grandma’s house.  The whole mix-up got straightened out, and I got to spend some ‘fun’ time with my sweet grandson who’s growing so quickly. Due to lots of unplanned events (car troubles/sick cat/his Mom’s changed work schedule) I haven’t babysat him in almost 2 months, other than seeing him for a few hours when his Dad stops by, so this was truly a treat for me. What a nice way to spend a Fall day!

Working on afghan #210; managed to ‘put together for sewing’ six more afghans (I usually only get 4 done before getting too tired), so now I’m getting my ’second wind’ in the afghan department.

Last night was my Knit/Crochet group night and we had another new lady join us: total of 17 people gathered to knit/crochet/chat/eat & drink great stuff from Panera Bread/chat lots more/share ideas & patterns…all-in-all, a totally fun evening!  (Usually we average around 11-12 on an evening, so it felt like we were bursting at the seams! So glad that the management there like having us…of course we spend money, but they’re very tollerant of us re-arranging all their tables, too…we put them back when we’re done!).

It seems we’re still getting a bit of Indian Summer: nice breezes, beautiful colors, sun shining and the temperatures are really nice for this time of year (50-60’s!). I know it will very quickly change, but for now I’m just enjoying the blessings!

Have to get off here and go make dinner; my husband’s all-time favorite: “Souper Meat & Potato Pie” (I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere in my postings…it was an old Campbell’s Soup label recipe from the 70’s). It’s basically a big meatloaf which is baked half-way, then frosted with mashed potatoes and topped with shredded cheddar cheese…Yum!

Hope you’re enjoying your day!

Hugs;

Pammie

Just Checkin’ In for a Few

Hello, all!

Not much exciting going on around here (guess that’s a good thing!). After the ‘car troubles/cat sick’ week, it’s nice to just do some catching up on all the things that got shoved to the back burner. Yesterday and today have been lots of running; little trips here and there to make me feel like I have ’some’ control in my life. Went to the Post Office today to check the Ghana Project box and found a lovely crocheted afghan from a lady who had written me asking if she could send it; this past Sunday a friend from church brought me the results of a bag of yarn I gave her. She handed me the bag with the comment: “I think there’s something like 102 squares; you can re-count them if you like.” I’m now doing good as far as squares to use; now it’s my job to get going on sewing more together for the finished products. A little later today I’m going upstairs and re-counting what’s there, as I think I might have either one more or one less than I think the actual count is. Finished another one this morning while listening to the cd of our choir’s Christmas songs (borrowed the cd to ‘get the hang’ of the music).

After I’m finished with this blog entry, it’s time to finish up the special needs group’s bi-monthly newsletter and get it printed, folded and stuffed into around 50 envelopes, then take them to the Post Office to mail. Tonight is my knit group and I’m looking forward to a little ‘girl’ time; I really enjoy the ladies in the group-we’re all so diversified and yet all united via yarn! It’s a fun, fast and fascinating few hours in my week.

Visited the chiropractor yesterday after a break of 5 weeks (rough count). I was amazed that my back is doing as well as it is, with all the stress from my father-in-law’s illness and death (no, I didn’t write about that here; it was about 4 weeks ago…all’s ‘good’), the car troubles (didn’t write about all that, either, but NOW the car is FINALLY fixed!) & the sick cat. Visiting the chiropractor is one of those ‘love/hate’ things for me – I know it does my back ‘good’, but it’s still painful to endure. From all I’ve learned from these visits, looks like I’ll be doing this ad infinitum…into the future…indefinitely. Oh well, one of those “Get used to it, honey…you’re not getting any younger!” moments.

The special needs Great Potato Bake and Silent Auction was postponed due to lack of ticket sales; that was a bit disappointing, but what can you do?  We’re hoping to come up with another fund raiser idea in January.  It was a good idea, but actually…if we HAD done it last Friday, the weather was really awful: rainy, windy, cold, so I guess it was a good thing after all.  (and, it’s less stress on me for now…)

Tomorrow night is our special needs Harvest Party and I just got back from buying the food stuffs for it. We’re going to be having corn chips & hot cheese sauce, cider and cider donuts. Along with that we’ll be playing various games around the room like “Knock over the Bowling Pins”, “Shoot out the Candle with a Squirt Gun”, “Go Duck Hunting” (using a kid’s wading pool with about 20 plastic ducks floating in it; some have a ‘PRIZE!” written on their bottoms). Our students love this; we have each of them bring a bag of individually wrapped candy and we dump it all in a big punch bowl. When they come in, we give them each a paper lunch bag to decorate (if they wish) then when we play the games they each get a small handful of candy for playing the game (whether they win or not). It’s sort of like “Christian Trick or Treat”, I guess you’d say. No costumes, just games/devotions/and great snacks. I’m guess we’ll have around 50 attending tomorrow; it’s one of their favorite nights.

That’s about ‘it’ around here; made a really good chicken pot pie for dinner last night. I’ve never been a fan of any ‘pot pie’ as my Mom used to rely on those little frozen ones quite often when I was growing up, but every once in awhile I make one from scratch and they’re tasty, warm and somewhat a ‘comfort food’.

Hope you’re having a good day; stay warm and maybe treat yourself to a nice hot cup of cocoa!

Hugs;

Pammie

More ‘News’

Hello, all!

Well, here at ’sick cat Central’ things are (I hope) looking ‘up’. It’s been several trips to the vets since Saturday and we now have the exact opposite of ‘blocked urinary tract’… an incontinent cat! Today’s visit found the vet writing us a prescription for a medication that will help reduce the size of the bladder so he will (hopefully) be able to ‘feel’ when he has to ‘go’; for now we’re borrowing our neighbor’s huge dog crate and confining him to that with a small litter pan and old bath towels. Without making you ‘ill’, this is the best solution so that the whole house doesn’t reek. Ah, the joys of pet ownership, eh? The good thing in all this? The vet isn’t charging me for the daily re-checks!

The other ‘good news’? I think we’ve finally figured out my ‘car problem’! (trying to make this short) I believe the problem lies in the fact that my car thinks the ‘alarm system’ is being tampered with, hence the start right up then die/no gauges thing. I remembered that the last time it did that, I had pressed the little automatic lock button on my key chain (I usually just push the button inside the door when locking my car). Very rarely do I use the keychain button and, now that I think of it, I’m wondering if ‘that’s IT‘! We’re going to do an experiment and both my husband & I will not be using the keychain button any longer and see if that does the trick. A person I was chatting with at church said his friend has the same problem; they just wait 10 minutes and it re-sets and they’re good to go! Crazy, but I think we’ve finally ‘got it’!

That’s what’s shakin’ around here; need to get off here and go iron my youngest son’s clothes for his choir concert this evening.

Enjoy your day!

Hugs;

Pammie

Here We Go Again…

Here we are at Saturday again; it’s been another kind of unusual week:  our cat was overnight at the vet’s, he’s doing better (obstructed tract), my car stopped running on me (AGAIN!) and had to have it towed. Like before, let it sit awhile and it runs just fine so that the mechanics can’t find a thing wrong with it! UGH! Rented another PT Cruiser and upon returning it got a tip from the rental guy for a new car repair place nearby that only does electrical work…just what I need! Have to arrange to get my car there soon (before I’m stranded again). The general consensus is that the problem lies somewhere between the starter and the gauges, as when it ‘does it’s thing (starting then immediately dying) I finally noticed that none of the gauges works, except the digital clock works…go figure! This is, what…the third time this has happened in the past 2-3 months now? Sure isn’t cheap when you factor in all the car rentals! (fortunately the car repair place isn’t charging me for keeping my car overnight and trying to figure out the problem. You KNOW you’ve been there waaay too many times when they greet you by name as you come in the door! Enough of all that…

Tonight is the Homecoming dance for my youngest son; he’s going ’stag’ and hanging out with his friends for the evening. We’re to drop him off at “On The Border” restaurant around 4:45 and one of the kid’s Dads is driving all of them to the dance after dinner. Meanwhile, my husband & I will be attending an annual fund-raiser dinner and auction; we’ve attended something like three years now.  The food’s great and we get to visit with people we both worked with years ago (or, in my husband’s case, is still working with…I’m retired). The great part of this night is that I will be able to closely observe all the workings of their auction! Our special needs Potato Dinner & Auction is this Friday, so I’ll be on the look-out for any tips to make our event more dynamic. So far we have 11 baskets donated and 3 ‘other items’ (like a laser level, a Madame Alexander Coca-Cola collector’s doll and one more thing). I’m getting excited and a bit nervous at the same time; we have several volunteer ladies from the church to help set up and serve. We’re hoping for close to 100 people, but of course, we’ll be happy for even 50!  One of our volunteers is coming in early Friday to scrub, dry, poke holes and wrap in aluminum foil all 100 potatoes! That’s some job; I guess she’s bringing her mom to help out (Thanks, Mom!).

That’s what’s happening here this week; the weather is chilly but (so far) no white stuff. The newspaper was saying we were supposed to get snow flurries and some accumulation yesterday; fortunately for me, I didn’t even SEE that prediction until late last night when reading the paper! As you know if you’ve read my blog before, I’m NO fan of the nasty white stuff, but know that it’s necessary for the continuation of our lake’s health around here in the “Great Lakes State”. (Michigan, in case you wondered).

Enjoy your day!

Hugs;

Pammie

ps: UPDATE: Just got back from an emergency trip to the vets; cat had another obstruction and THANK HEAVENS the vet was willing to do a quick anesthesizing, catherization and flushing instead of sending us to the weekend emergency vets which runs tons of $$$. He’s home now, doing ok but a little groggy from the visit; recheck on Monday.

Got a Few Minutes…

It’s been a bit hectic here, me on my trusty computer ‘comping up’ the tickets for the upcoming special needs group’s fund raiser Potato Dinner. I ‘thought’ I had things under control, but you know how that goes…the minute you think you’ve got a handle on things, they go haywire! Got a call last night that the tickets had to be printed and delivered to the church where our group meets BEFORE 1 p.m. today, as the church was going to have an ann0uncement in their bulletin that the tickets would go on sale right after church. That wouldn’t be a bad thing except…I don’t attend that church which made for some real ‘hussling around’ on my part early this morning. Got to Office Max at around 8:40 a.m. and purchased the brown/tan antiqued post cards then home to get the tickets printed. Simple, yes? NO! For some really weird reason the cute little potato clip art (see a few posts before this one for an example) didn’t want to ‘print’ right side up the way I wanted him to…we had backwards, upside down and a few other alternatives but not the way I wanted. (guess I should insert here that I was attempting to print these in “Landscape” mode…that’s ’sideways’, sort of). After about 12 attempts and many sheets of wasted printer paper I finally got to the ‘tears’ and frustration level. A quick prayer for HELP! and one last ditch effort did the trick. To explain: I have NO idea why it works, but it does. If you look at the screen, the images are goofy, but it printed up just fine so I DON’T CARE!  One hundred cute little tickets later, each hand numbered and torn apart (they come 4 to a sheet) and a half hour trip to that church and we’re ‘good to go’! Whew! Now my next ‘great computer/printer project’ is some how comping up a sign-in sheet for each auction item…again in ‘landscape’ form. Since I’m using ‘Microsoft Publisher’ and they don’t offer anything like what I’m looking for, looks like another long day of ‘attempts’…sigh.  At least you know where I’ll be…sitting here going nuts!

Hope you’re having a good day; it’s cold, raining and 55 degrees out (sure feels colder!). Just put my knit shrug on and some slipper socks…I’m chilly! (house temp says it’s 73…my foot!)

Hope you stay warm and toasty! Enjoy your day;

Hugs;

Pammie

ps: Working on afghan #204 now…

A Little ‘This & That’…

It’s Friday and the end to another long weekend filled with many activities: Knit Group on Tuesday evening, “Friends Group” (my special needs group) on Wednesday and several visits to the chiropracter for more adjustments. I asked him today if I’m the only patient who makes noise when getting these treatments and he said they average one ‘noisy’ person every 2-3 months. He jokingly said that they encourage their patients to ‘express themselves’…I guess that’s a polite way of saying: “Feel free to yell if the pain gets too bad!” I know that I do as the treatments are helping greatly and the pain is diminishing HOWEVER it’s still not pain-free treatments. On Tuesday I thought I had finally jumped a huge hurdle and had an evaluation…I’m about 95% better…except for this one small spot. And, wouldn’t you know it…he found that one small spot and proceeded to ‘work it over’ greatly, and me all the while sort of yelping “Ouch! OOoooo Ouch!” then it progressed to me just biting my bottom lip and yipping! I KNOW this is what that knotted up muscle group needs but MAN, IT HURTS! I finally stopped making any sort of sound, then said: “Just because I’m not yelling doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt!” He chuckled and continued working that little bugger more. Believe me, I’ve thought of just not going back but the alternative would be that the back would seize up again sometime soon and I’d be right back where I started, so it’s a no-win solution and I continue. As I told the doctor: “I endure“…sigh.

Have been working more on knitting squares and sewing afghans: am at afghan #198 today (about 1/2 done right now). My knit group ladies are (I’m sure) anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s trip to “Stitches Midwest” which is a HUGE event in Schaumburg, Ill. where thousands of people will join at  convention center to walk through  tons of (I don’t remember the exact count but it’s over 80, I think) vendor booths selling yarns, needles, hooks, patterns and all things “Yarny”. I remember our ladies went last year and came back talking about observing women handing over hundreds of dollars to buy items…hundreds! Now THAT’S a serious hobby! Our group was meeting up at 5:30 a.m. to car pool to Ann Arbor, MI (that’s an hour away from here) then boarding touring buses for the ride there. I guess there will be snacks and gift bags on the bus; that’s a nice touch. Why, you ask, didn’t I go? Number one, the tickets are $70, #2 it’s a LOT of walking on cement floors (my back’s still not totally up to snuff) #3:  I don’t do well in large crowds (a bit of agoraphobia when it’s huge crowds and lots of crowding) #4:  Quite honestly, it would be an ‘experience’ for me…just that; I can’t see me buying any yarn (I have waaaaay more than I’ll ever need for the afghans) or other items.  It would be fun to experience, but I’ll happily sacrifice my ‘opportunity’ and stay home, knowing that next Tuesday evening I’ll be inundated with all the little details of what my ladies bought, experienced, saw, were awed over, etc.  That’s where I’ll be … in my own little space, happy to observe from the ‘outside’ and also happy to share in my friends joy over the whole event.

Today is also 9/11/2009 … hoping that you’ll each spend a few moments to remember, pray for, or just honor those who’s lives were taken in 2001.

Hugs;

Pammie

Of Cabbages and Kings…

Hello, all! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted – not that I haven’t thought about ya, just been too busy/pooped/stressed (fill in the blank here) to compose my thoughts enough to make up a blog post. What’s been happening, you ask? Where to start . . . I guess, for starters my BACK is doing MUCH better (I’m still dreading going for the adjustments but it’s worth it). I actually went from Monday to Friday before having a return visit/adjustment . . . that’s a three-day reprieve! YAY! Next visit is an evaluation and adjustment, but I’m actually much more agile which makes me happy.

Second: Middle son’s “CCC” (Constant Car Curse): without going into tons of details, we got the title for the ‘gift’ car, got all the paperwork transferred, had it towed to Midas to find out why it wouldn’t run; turns out it was the alternator. They replaced it, called us and we went to pick it up (5-10 min. after phone call). Got there and were met by the mechanic who was just shaking his head – it seems that when they were pulling it out of the bay, the ‘Service Engine Soon’ light came on! When they checked it, the alternator was charging TOO MUCH (which would cause the battery to blow if let continue). They assured us that they would order another alternator/no charge to us. That took another 2 days.  Yesterday we FINALLY were able to pick up the car, take it to the local tire place, get a new tire for the front ($60) so he’s not driving on a donut anymore, and now he’s ‘on his way’….for how long, we don’t know.  Amidst all the other car ’stuff’, the first time they thought they had the car fixed for us it stopped running while the mechanic was taking it for a test drive and had to have it towed back to the shop! Oh! Forgot to mention the ‘fun’ adventures of Wednesday! I spent most of that day either sitting and knitting in my car or listening to car dealers talk. Middle son had decided that since his ‘luck’ (or lack of) with cars was so dismal, he would look into buying a NEW CAR! He’d decided to go with (don’t shoot me here, it wasn’t MY idea!) either a KIA or a Honda. (the rest of the family are dyed-in-the-wool Chrysler people). He test drove a Kia something (not sure what model) that would run him something like $14,000, then we went to the Honda dealer and they were all ready to give him a car for something like $17,000 out the door (with his dad’s co-signing). He put $200 down and we were all ready for him to (finally) have a reliable vehicle until… his older brother called yesterday and we chatted about the ‘new car’ idea. He mentioned to me: “Mom, are you aware that he’ll have to have FULL coverage for insurance? That would run him AT LEAST $250!  Add that to the monthly payments of $335-350 and he won’t have any money left per month to even buy gas OR go to college classes!” (Well, folks I’ve never in my life had a new car, so I had NO idea on all this.) Back we went to the Honda dealer to get his $200 down payment back. He was very disappointed, to say the least.  AT LEAST he now has a ‘car’, even though it’s this beater Neon that leaks oil big time. Our neighbor said he would look at it to see if he can figure out why it’s leaking oil so bad. (a quart a week).   That’s my big CAR WOES story for this week (let’s hope this doesn’t continue to other weeks…at least not any time soon!).

The holiday weekend is upon us; my husband’s on vacation for a week which takes some of the stresses off me (YAY!) I’ve still been knitting/crocheting squares and am hopeful that today I’ll be able to lay out another 4-5 afghans to begin putting more together. No particular plans for the weekend – no outside barbecues, no picnics…nothing special other than relaxing (I HOPE!!!).  The laundry is almost caught up, the dishwasher needs running soon, but other than that…Pammie’s taking a break from life  and it’s stresses (I HOPE!).

Hope you have a great holiday weekend and that it’s filled with nice, relaxing things that you enjoy.

Hugs;

Pammie

ps:   Our weather is supposed to be just gorgeous all weekend – in the 70’s and sunny…who could ask for a nicer ‘end of summer’?

pss:  Perhaps you’re wondering why I chose that title for this post – the line came to me, while listing all the ‘car troubles’ stuff and searching for a suitable title.  The quote is from Lewis Carroll:

“”The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings”

this is a quote: (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872); the poem is called: “The Walrus and the Carpenter”.

Not Much to Add…

Life around here the past three days has been pretty predictable: drive to chiropracters, come home…etc. My back is feel much more limber (thank heavens!) and today’s treatment wasn’t nearly as painful as days past (I’m getting more mobility in my lower back and that’s a GOOD thing!). My other ‘not fun’ thing is: my car is in the shop…AGAIN. As I write these words I have the feeling I’ve already gone over this with you, but upon checking my previous posts and drafts, I guess I’m wrong. Yes, I’m once again driving a PT Cruiser (since Monday). My car is being checked this time because the “ABS” (brake system), “Service Engine Soon” light, and the “Alarm Set” lights are all staying on. I’ve encountered various opinions on this from several friends; some say (as I believed) you need to get the vehicle in for a check up immediately and NOT drive it (especially with the Service Engine Soon light on) – others say: “Aw, those are just ‘idiot lights’…you can ignore them.” I tend to error on the side of caution, so once again…we’re playing the ‘car repair’ game. So far, I’m hearing they have NO idea WHY the lights are on…”It’s a communications problem…it isn’t really the engine.” GREAT…then FIX IT!!! I gave them until today and said that if they can’t fix it by Weds. it goes to the dealership (not wanting to do that, either…see last encounter with them…sigh). I just got back from the chiropracter’s office and am not really wanting to face the next step of confronting the repair place, but will do so when I get off here. The bad part of all this? It’s costing me $30 a day for the car rental; the good part?  THIS car rental is $5 cheaper than the last time! I’ve put 83 miles on it since Monday (can you tell I needed a car?) and tonight is my special needs group, so that’s going to add quite a few miles also. Getting really tired of the ‘car game’ here.

Not much else going on, haven’t been knitting or crocheting or sewing squares together much; I did, however, get to go to my knit group last night and that was refreshing to re-connect with friends who enjoy my yarny obsession.

Keeping my chin up, back limber and hopes high that eventually this will all clear up! Hope you’re having a good day;

Hugs;

Pammie

ps: Update: Middle son got out of work early, I had him drive my van home from repair place (they couldn’t find out why the light was on, so ‘no charge’…YAY), then I drove my van to the dealership. Word from them: they won’t be able to get it looked at until tomorrow morning, but at least it’s now (hopefully) where it ’should’ be. Got a ride home from there with their ‘Courtesy shuttle service’, so things are looking up.

Look for the Blessings

Look for the blessings – that’s the phrase that ran through my mind while sitting in my car awaiting a tow truck … again. Today it was pouring down buckets of rain while I was driving to the local post office. Upon beginning to turn into the post office driveway my car stalled; I was able to start it up again immediately but had no power steering. I manuevered it into the first spot I could (which put me partly in a no-parking zone and also partly on the sidewalk).  After getting my wits about me I called my husband who said: “Was it raining?” (yes) and “Open your hood and see if your Serpentine Belt is still connected”. (Wise man…he’s been through this before with HIS van!). Since I made the call to him inside the post office, I had to walk outside to my van to check…before I even arrived at my car I could see the belt hanging on the ground under my car.  (Look for the blessings)  I called AAA for a tow, called the local Midas (who had my car not even a month ago with the gas tank/brakes problem…remember?), then “Looked for the blessings.”  (1) I didn’t get into an accident because of the belt failing (2) my car WAS off of the road where it wouldn’t be hit (3) I was safe (4) this didn’t happen last night going to or from my special needs group while I had 4 special needs adult men in my car with me on the expressway; the only real problems were that my car needed fixing again/I’d be inconvenienced without a car for about a day/I missed my chiropractors appointment…all of which could be ‘handled’.  Praise the Lord this didn’t happen when I was in so much pain with my back! As of yesterday I’m finally able to stand up straight . . . that came in handy today when I had to climb up into the cab of the tow truck (very high, but they had 2 steps) then the same when the repair place owner drove me home in his (very high up) pick up truck.

Just got a phone call that they can probably get my car fixed and back to me this evening . . . in time for me to drive me son to his school registration (before 7:30). That’s a blessing! Problems? It seems they found a lot of oil leaks on my engine and can’t really assess where it’s coming from until I get the engine cleaned! Good thing? He told me there’s a $20 car wash almost across the street that can steam clean my engine so that they can locate the oil leak problem.

Life just keeps ‘coming at ya’…the secret is not letting it get the best of you.  There’s a verse that’s stayed with me ever since I was flat on my back in the hospital many years ago recovering from a hysterectomy; it spoke to me then and has stayed with me all these years:

“I have learned , in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”  Philippians 4:11

It’s not always easy and it doesn’t always come quickly, but if you look past the problems and try to find even one blessing, it’s a start.  Life isn’t going to get any easier… it only makes sense to (in the words of that old song) “Look for the silver lining.”

Hoping your day is going well;

Hugs;

Pammie

PS: The other blessing? Today is my husband and my 33rd wedding anniversary! (the ‘extra blessing’?…he’s bringing home our favorite pizza and a huge Greek salad!!! YAY…I don’t have to cook!)

PPS: One more thing…took youngest to register for the school year; got to the “Fines” table and learned that they had on record my son hadn’t returned TWO of his books last year to the tune of $122.00! The ladies at the table were really great, searching lists of books that had been turned in since the end of school. BOTH books were on the lists…what a blessing! The $105 that I had to pay for the car was ’something’, but at least it wasn’t compounded by another bill for $122! Now that’s what I call a blessing!