Planning Ahead

Stocking up...hoarding...what's the fine line?  Both my mom and my aunt, who are sisters, have told me that they have heard there will be a pumpkin shortage this fall.  Visions of pumpkinless holidays played through my mind.  So, I've been looking for pumpkin in just about every grocery store, Target, Walmart, etc. that I go into.  I now have 3-28 oz. cans and 2-16 oz. cans of pumpkin.  I don't think that's hoarding.  Brianna thinks I need more and that's where my questioning comes in as to what is stocking up and what is hoarding.  I guess if I end up with a plethora of canned pumpkin I can sell it on ebay or somewhere.  Who knows I may end up causing a bidding war and getting rich.  Wilder things have happened!

A Helpful Cleaning Tip

My Mom turned me on to this great cleaning product.  A familar product with a new use.  This will cut down on your shower door cleaning along with elimnating fumes.  Use a dryer sheet.  Yes, a dryer sheet!  The only instructions are that the doors should be dry.  Wipe 'em down and you're good to go.  I tried it and it works!  Mom claims that she's gone several weeks without redoing hers but I haven't been able to confirm that.  Not to mention, Mom has soft water so her water spots and mineral deposits are not as heavy duty as mine.  Give it try.  Hope you'll be pleased with the results.

The Mighty Ant

Proverbs 6:8-8:

Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,
Which, having no chief, officer or ruler,
Prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest.

Proverbs 30:25

The ants are not a strong folk,
But they prepare their food in the summer

Ants.  They are not my friend.  I appreciate their abilities that God has given them.  I don't like them.  Now, I really do not like them. 

Here's my story:

Charles had football practice last night.  I was setting up my chair to watch.  In this process, I put my sandaled foot right smack dab in the middle of an ant hill.  I discovered it quickly as my left foot was covered in ants.  I got my sandal off in record time and stomped and danced around to get the ants off.  Looking down I thought, "Not bad,  2,3 bites."  Within half an hour I was itchy.  Mentioned it to the lady next to me.  It just got worse from there.  Charles was driving us home an I was in such an itchy state with my eyes starting to swell.  It seemed like it took forever to get home but when we did I went flying in.  Chris greeted me and I said hi running into our room and shedding everything because I was so uncomfortable.  Saw myself in the mirror and proceeded to scream, "CHRIS!!!!!"  Welts were all over my torso.  Spots were continuing to pop up and join together to make bigger welts.  Yuck!

Chris exclaimed, "OH MY GOSH"!!!!  His eyes were ready to pop out. 

I was screaming, "Go get Benadryl"

He went flying out of the house.  I'm walking around in a trance.  Charles is telling me, "Don't scratch , Mom.
It will only make it worse.  Once you scratch scabbing will occur and make it worse.  Stop scratching!"

It was pure craziness!  It seemed like forever but Chris finally got home with his bag of goodies.  He'd been gabbing with the pharmacist who told him that putting white vinegar on the welts would calm the itchiness.  I'm getting Benadryl in and Chris is rubbing or sloshing vinegar on me.  He's also in the process of calling our friend, Gayle.  She's a nurse who retired a few months back.  We didn't want to go to emergency but she told us we should.  She was concerned, as was I, because not only were my eyes swelling but the area around my mouth as well as my tongue starting to get tingling and swelling on the side.  Not to mention that I was getting tightness in my back radiating around the sides, scary. Yes, we headed to the ER.  This was about 2 hours after the intitial bites.

Yay!  ER was empty, no waiting.  Got in and evaluated and they started my drugs.  Wow!  They worked fast.  I was a limp noodle.  I couldn't even lift my hand to scratch my cheek.  After 1/2 an hour or so you could see the welts lessening.  Itchiness was gone too!  Ahhh, drugs, so thankful for them.  I couldn't even text because I couldn't lift my arms.  So I'm hoping there were some out there praying for me as God put me on their hearts. 

As I couldn't do anything, just lay there with my eyes closed, I prayed.  I prayed for the gal in the room next to me.  I prayed for the Dr.'s and nurses.  I prayed for Gayle, my family, friends, people on our churches prayer list.  I thanked God for this experience so that I could see His provision and continued care for our family.  I didn't thank Him for ants.  Just not there yet.

Sometime during this time, I noticed that a phone rang and the Dr. was called to it.  I heard him say, "Oh hi, Gayle!"  I smiled to myself.  This was the hospital Gayle worked at and she knows EVERYONE!  I was blessed knowing that she called the Dr. to check on me.  How sweet was that?

Chris had to leave at one point to get to work and I was happy to just be.  Brianna picked me up on her way home from work.  We had a funny time together.  Charles was trying to stay awake at home, bless his heart, but he was zonked and couldn't hold on.  Brianna got me into bed, fed me some food, and tucked me in.  I'm so thankful for my family.  They took great care of me.

Oh, one of my favorite things at the hospital was the blanket right out of the warmer.  Ahhh, that felt so good when my shaking, from the drugs, started in.  It's the little things in life.

I praise You, my Great God, for the things You allow in my and my families life to sanctify us and to draw us to praise and worship You!

Praise!

Praising God!  I fall short in praising my awesome God on a daily basis. The following quote,by C.H. Spurgeon,spurs me on to praise Him:

Does not all nature around me praise God?  If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe.  Does not the thunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies?  Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their summits wave in adoration?  Does not the lightning write His name in letters of fire?  Has not the whole earth a voice?  And shall I, can I, silent be?

Something to think about and act upon.

Pies...Pies...Pies...and MORE Pies

My new pie cookbook arrived today~YAY!  There are 300 pie recipes in this baby and I'm so ready to get started.  The hard part is going to be which one to make first.  Hmmm.....

Old Faithful

This is/was our 1995 Geo Prizm:

 This has been a very faithful and reliable car.  Though it has lived its life span.  We bought it in 98/99 with approx. 50,000 miles on it.  The transmission recently went out and, you know the rest of the story. 

We thought it was fun to have a picture of the odometer:

 How amazing is that for this little car?  We are so thankful for having had this car and being blessed with it's long life and low maintenance.

Ladybugs?
                                      
Chris retrieved my ladybug floor mats before the Geo was hauled off to the car parts dump place. They were originally my Grandmother's floor mats in her 1968/1970 (?) Dodge Dart.  I came into possession of them when I purchased my Grandparents Dart from them in the mid-80's.   They didn't want to give it to me so they made me pay to transfer ownership.  The cost:  $7! Everytime I see the mats, I have Grandparent flashbacks and love it!

As with most things in life, my family has many fond memories of this car and will hold it in high esteem.

A-Pick-Me-Up

There is nothing like sifting through the junk mail of the day and coming across a handwritten, addressed envelope that is pretty!  You just know that inside is something wonderful, personal, and thoughtful. 

It screams, "Someone is thinking of ME!"

I had the pure joy of receiving 2 such envelopes this week.  Awesome!  Great!  Wow!  Boy, I'm so thankful because I needed that!  Emails just do not give me the same pleasure as a card or letter. How about you?  I'm thinking it's time to grab a couple out of my plethora of cards to send out and perk someone up.

Try it, you'll feel great too!