This was started 6 days ago, but then I had a few crazy days and didn't have much chance to work on it.
Anyway, what has been going on and what has been on my mind lately:
1) Decorating
I mentioned in my last post of this kind that I may decorate for Christmas. I did. I was off Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, got a little bored after house cleaning, and dragged out my Christmas stuff and dove in. I put most of my Christmas decorations in the living room, since I spend most of my waking hours there. I took down all of my pictures, except one, and put away all my regular decor.
I did something different this year. This is the first time I have decorated my tree without any of the traditional Christmas ornament balls. I put a lot of red trucks on it, a few superheroes...including my favorite, Captain America, and other stuff. I like how it turned out. I would like to put a couple of lighthouses on it, but am having trouble finding any that aren't expensive.
2) Niece's blog
My oldest niece had started a blog a while back that she didn't keep up with. She just wrote a post that is really good, though I still hate winter and snow myself.... and she got more comments than I ever get. I'll have to find out her secret. Check it out: Why I Stopped Hating Snow.
3) Dan Crenshaw
Dan Crenshaw is a new guy on the political field. He is a former Navy Seal who lost an eye in an IED attack. He is a Texan who ran for the House in this last election, and won. He has class, he is nice looking....even with a patch, and is already impressing people. Saturday Night Live made fun of his eye patch, and he handled that awesomely.
People are already thinking about a 2024 run for president by him. I say 2020. I have long felt we should elect former military to be president. It seems ludicrous to me that we have guys in charge of our military who have never served....or worse, were draft dodgers like 2 in my lifetime.
4) Electrical issues
I lost power in half of my house Saturday....the half that has the furnace and water pump on.... and I was having company for the first time in a year. I already had the food prepared, so I warned my friends to dress warm. I had a nice time visiting with them.
The electric company showed up around 10, and said it was on my end. On Sunday afternoon, landlord's brother tried to fix it, but it needed an electrician. A guy from my church is one, and came Monday.
I came home Monday evening to discover it was not fixed. So I spent Monday evening at my parents' and we shut off the power completely, fearing it could cause damage to the furnace and other things since it kept trying to come on, go dim, then go off.
Tuesday not much happened with the power. I spent another night at my parents'..the 4th in a row.
Wednesday they tracked it down to an underground wire. My dad dug it up and ran a temporary line above ground. I have been back in my own house since Wednesday evening.
One plus: I had to take all of my frozen stuff and most refrigerator stuff out, so both freezers got defrosted, cleaned out, and the refrigerator also got cleaned out.
A second plus: I needed a new thermostat. The one I had was battery operated, and the batteries would occasionally stop making contact, and it would quit working. I woke up one morning and it was 59 degrees in my house. I came home another time to find it had stopped and it was cold in my place.
When my landlord's brother was going to get parts the other day, I mentioned the problem, so he bought and installed a new one. It works great.
5) Thanksgiving turns to greed
It is sad that after the day set aside to be thankful, Americans turn into greedy monsters the next day fighting and trampling to get good deals or the hottest new toy or electronic device.
I do shop on Black Friday, but later in the morning. There is no way I am getting up in the middle of the night for a good deal.
6) Clothing
I have way too many clothes. Granted, I have 2 sizes of everything. I had been wearing only 2X shirts, and had a ton of XL shirts in storage totes. Now I am getting into a lot of the XL, which gives me a lot of shirts that fit me. I have been in 38" waist pants, and had a lot of 36" waist pants in storage totes. I am getting into a few 36" pants, but am mostly still in 38"s.
I had lived with my parents for a while, and thought I had moved everything. I was wrong. My mom told me today that I had about 8 shirts upstairs in the spare bedroom closet. It was more than 8. I didn't count them, but I am guessing closer to 20, plus 2 blazers, and a pair of pants that will fit me. I took the shirts home this afternoon and was going to try them all on, but my plans changed and I was holding a flashlight while my electric was being worked on.
If you get this next thing, give yourself points. I made this reference at work and got blank looks, and also from my family: I am the Imelda Marcos of shirts.
7) Pre-Thanksgiving party
Since my oldest sister and her gang had to go to her in-laws this Thanksgiving, our whole family got together Wednesday evening for a pre-Thanksgiving party. My youngest niece's boyfriend also came. We had veggies and dip, chips and dip, a couple of cheese balls, a cheese and salami tray (courtesy of me), crackers, little sausages wrapped in croissant, a sweet cheese ball my little sister makes that goes well with Teddy Grahams or graham crackers, and 2 kinds of pie. We had a lot of fun, as we always do.
8) Thanksgiving day
My youngest sister and her husband live in Canton, so they came Wednesday planning on spending the night. I went down around 10, and we ate around noon. It was an awesome meal, and I did not watch carbs....unless you count me watching them as I ate.
My mom makes the most awesome stuffing and stuffs the turkey with it, and there was no way I was going to miss that.
The scale was bouncing between 214 and 215 Wednesday morning- it couldn't seem to decide. I weighed myself this morning, and it said 216, so Thanksgiving and supper out at Steak and Shake last night didn't seem to hurt much.
I did NOT check my sugar though after Thanksgiving day.
9) Black Friday shopping
I don' think stores should start the Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving Day, but I was afraid they's sell out of everything. I went in around 9, and didn't get much. I was interested in their DVDs, and did get a few of them, including Spiderman Homecoming for $1.96. It was funny... I could not find the DVDs, so I finally asked an employee. They were in the dairy department in front of the cheese. Now why didn't I think to look there?? :)
My parents and middle niece were going to Beaver, PA to shop yesterday, which is where I work. I went along, and did get a Christmas gift. I also got a Mario Karts ornament.
10) Lights
I started putting lights in my windows last night. It can be a bother plugging them in and unplugging them every night. so I bought several timers last year and hooked them up. I don't have one for every window. The 2 living room windows are plugged into the same timer, the 3 dining room windows into the same, the 2 in my bedroom and library are plugged into the same one in each room. I don't have one in the kitchen, I just plug it in and unplug it.
There is also one for my porch. I put a cheap tree out there last night, and plugged it in with the porch lights into a timer.
I was going to put that tree out today, but it has been raining all day, so that can wait.
11) Gay identity
I am friends with a lot of guys who have same-sex attractions, and in a few groups for people with SSA. It bothers me how many Christians with SSA cling to their gay identity and use the term gay and gay Christian so easily.
Their reasons are varied. One is to show the church how many of us there are in the church dealing with this very tough issue, often on our own and feeling ostracized and left out of everything. (I don't feel ostracized, but many do.) Plus, many had shame about this struggle for so long, it is freeing to openly admit it and discuss it. Yet... and I am not trying to judge... it seems like many are almost proud of it, and don't want to just be part of the church, but to stand out as special people with special needs. That may sound judgmental, and I may be wrong...but that is how some come across.
Even gay Christian.....what comes first in that label? Gay. Shouldn't the Christian identity come first?
Many who are celibate and use the term gay and even queer are very dogmatic and defensive about it, to the point of being very close-minded and intolerant of those who do not see it exactly their way. I try to keep an open mind, but I have concerns. For one, if a guy has SSA and identifies so closely with gay people, is there not a greater danger of them falling for the gay theology than those who distance themselves from the gay identity?
And yes, when one has SSA, it is pretty much on your mind constantly, so it isn't something you just block out of your mind.
12) Long weekend
I am on the 3rd of 4 days off in a row, and it has been awesome. I won't want to back to work on Monday, though I have Tuesday off. I can break myself back into work slowly.
13) Commercialized Christmas
It is true that Christmas has been commercialized too much, and brings out the greed in too many people. I had a Facebook friend post about it, and he said he has Christian friends who don't even celebrate it because of that.
Under all the commercialization, Santa, greed, etc, the reason of Christmas is that God sent His only Son as a baby, a baby that would grow up and die for the sins of the world. A Christian should not stop celebrating Christmas because of other people and the commercialization. No, they should celebrate it in their own way......they way they think it should be celebrated and observed. Why let other people influence how or if you celebrate it? That seems a bit foolish to me, pardon my bluntness.
I enjoy this time of year. I love to buy gifts for my family members, and enjoy watching them open them. I like the lights, the way most people are friendly and charitable this time of year.
I like the music. I have way more many Christmas CDs than I need, but I enjoy it. My favorites are ones that focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I am not a fan of Santa, or letting kids believe in him. I do have a few songs about Santa on my playlist....I love Hey Santa by Carly and Wendy Wilson...but I don't like Santa very well, and do not decorate with Santa. I hate the Santa at the manger thing, and would never tell my kids Santa was real if I had kids. I would not want a fat guy in a red suit to get the credit for what I bought and wrapped.
If you truly believe Jesus is the reason for the season, celebrate that. Don't back off like a scrooge because you don't like what it has become.
There are two blog posts I did a few years back that go along with this. I am linking to them below:
Keeping Christmas
Keeping Christ in Christmas
14) the mouse
All these weeks later, and I have not caught it. My sister discovered they had one and caught it within 2 days. Life is definitely not fair.
15) The pizza solution
I have given up on the idea of low carb or carb free pizza crust. Here is the thing: you cannot cut carbs out completely. In fact, the dietitian I saw told me I should have some to start my day, and explained why....
Anyway, it isn't about cutting them out completely anyway. diabetics can have carbs. We just need to limit them.
My solution: Walmart has 2 2-inch pizza crust in a bag that are really good. I put my own sauce and toppings on it, bake it, and only eat it. Since the pizza is only 8 inches, I don't have some left to tempt me to eat more than I should. I haven't bought pizza out lately, but plan on ordering an 8 inch when I do.
So far, it is working out. Today, I had a pizza for lunch, and did chicken stir fry for supper.
16) My favorite Christmas decoration
My very favorite Christmas decoration would be my nativity set. The figures are from Ames way back in 98, and the stable I bought elsewhere.
After that, my next favorite would be the red truck I bought last year. It is metal and has flashing lights on the Christmas tree. But then I really like the old red truck look.
I am missing one decoration I wish I could find. Back in January, I had to move out for about 6 weeks until a new furnace was purchased and put in. Since the house was going to be without heat, I got a snow globe out of my Christmas stuff and took with me. I have no idea what I did with it when I moved back in. I did not put it back in with the other Christmas decor, so I am at a loss to where it is. It will probably surface after Christmas.
17) The dumb side of Facebook
I don't mean to be rude, but dumb is the most polite word I could come up with for something that bugs me: the posts and memes that try to get you to "like" or share a post. Things like "Can this elderly lady who is 100 get any likes?" "My dad said if this post gets 5000 likes he will quit smoking". "I bet this puppy won't get any likes." "Like and share if you love Jesus", and so forth. Any post like that is guarantees to not be liked or shared by yours truly.
Admittedly, I am pretty cynical, but part of me wonders if these posts originate from people desperate for attention and for people to like and share their posts.
18) Yeah, about Trump....
I still get grief for daring to criticize this president, so some readers of my blog won't like this. I had a few Christian Facebook friends post this who like Trump. I seriously consider it to be a very sad statement . I am not a fan of Rush Limbaugh, and he is not always right, even though the big egotist seems to think so.....so I hope this is not true of everyone who voted for Trump, but it does seem to be true of many:
A Christian should take some issue with who he is and some of the things he says and does.
One of many things that bother me, is there are ways he acts, things he says, etc that your average evangelical Christian would not do, and feel it was wrong.....but many cheer and like the same things in Trump. If it is wrong for us to do, it is wrong for him and should not be admired or cheered.
19) Pleasing God
What would our lives look like if we lived to please only God and not others? Oh, I know Christians supposedly do that, but a lot of what we do is affected by the desire to please others.
Since I already mentioned Trump, I'll use him for an example. I still feel it would have been wrong for me to vote for him, and for some reasons that may not apply to others. I got a lot of grief, nasty remarks, and what I consider to be lies from even people in my church. I could have caved and voted for him and made all of those people happy, but I honestly felt I could not vote for him, and a vote for him would be hypocritical of me and go against my conscience.
It is easy for us to make what God wants us to do just like what we want to do, or what others expect of us. I am not saying we need to ask God what outfit we should wear tomorrow, but do we truly seek His approval and desire on things in our lives, or do we just go with what is expected of us?
I'll give another example: the Amish. Now imagine a young Amish guy truly finds God - not all do - and comes to the belief that he doesn't need to live without a car, electric, etc.... and that he might actually be able to do more for God if he embraces some of the modern things the Amish avoid. Should he just keep living the way he was raised to keep people happy, even though he now believes he does not have to live that way, and possibly should not?
How many people have been held back from doing what God wants them to do because family didn't want them to go to that Bible college, or be a missionary, or a pastor, or attend that church.
Too many of us fear what people will think of us if we do that, say that, go there, etc. Believe me, I have faced that. It was a really big step for me to admit to the struggle I had done my best to keep a secret for so much of my life. I am sure there are people who don't want to hear anything about it. I am sure there are those who look down on me for having these attractions and desires. There may even be people who avoid me because of it....not that I am aware of it.
But the positives outweigh whatever people may think of me. A secret struggle has less of a hold on you when you drag it into the light. I am now free to talk about it, and thus help others in some small way.
If I had continued to keep quiet out of fear and of a desire to have people like me, I would still be struggling in secret, and would never have the chance to encourage others who have this very difficult struggle.
And no, I don't have a handle on pleasing God over people in all areas of my life.
20) The last thing
I really don't have anything else on my mind, but figure I'd make it an even 20. Now I am going to go back to reading my 169th book for the year.
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