Running Out of February

And really, that's not a bad thing, watching February come to a close. One month closer to the end of winter and the beginning of spring. We've enjoyed an exceptionally mild winter. Lovely really. But what happened to all the winter projects I had planned? For the most part they are waiting. My own book is waiting, simmering so to speak, never completely out of my thoughts, it vacillates between a full boil and a stew. So why isn't it ready to serve up on a bed of white paper?

Because I find myself...

Reading, not writing. Working at church, not writing. Babysitting and visiting grandkids, not writing. House cleaning, cooking, entertaining, rearranging furniture, shopping for new furniture, visiting with friends, talking on the phone, browsing the internet (no end to interesting stuff to read out there!), goofing off on facebook, relearning to crochet again (yes I'm aware of the redundancy), figuring out life and relationships, spending time with my husband, taking walks...not writing.

Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them.

One of my precious charges.

The two of 'em.

The Beaver Dam, frozen over, but too snow-covered to skate on.

Tracking a beaver. Did you ever see beaver footprints in the snow?

                                                              Me neither.

By the Light of the Moon

A little moonlight, 

                 a little snow,

                         a walk in the woods.

     

                                                           

                                            A couple of red birds in a snow covered tree.

And the kitty lies down with the dog

                                          inside the cozy warm house, in a nice sunny spot.

Reposting a Quote

From my other blog, Write the Vision... The nicest place to be is in someone's thoughts. The safest place to be is in someone's prayers. And the best place to be is in God's hands. C. Marilyn Austin I know friends are thinking of me and praying for me -- and I'm returning the favor. What a safe, secure, content feeling. Wish I could stay here forever. You too?

Too Young, Too Soon, to Say Goodbye...

Susan Niebur, aka Whymommy, passed from this world into heaven. Her husband entered a final post on her widely read blog, Toddler Planet -- http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/goodbye/ 

An amazing life, inspiring, vivacious, brilliant, kind, generous, loving, short. Too short. Her mother and father shared that her passing was gentle and peaceful, a small consolation, but hugely comforting.

In Susan's last post she revealed her reluctance to call on hospice care. A post before that told of her trip to the hospital with breathing problems and pneumonia. I remembered when my brother was very sick with cancer. The last I spoke with him was 2 weeks before he passed, April 21st, his 36th birthday. I hung up the phone and cried because I knew he was dying. That memory washed over me when I read this post on Toddler Planet -- http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/how-did-we-get-here/
And I cried, because I knew Susan was dying.

I awoke last night, not having heard anything for days, startled, sad, called to pray in the middle of the night. God gently preparing me, and kindly using me... to pray.

She was ready. How kind of her parents to share that with us... and this: Susan passed away this morning, gently and peacefully, with Curt at her side.

Two Days of Sunshine

Let me clarify. Two days in a row of sunshine. What did we do to deserve this? I don't know, but I'm thanking God for smiling (shining?) down on our corner of the world. (Sadly, this is the lack of sunshine capital of Pennsylvania.)

I was talking to my Parisian sister on the phone this past Sunday and she said I suppose you're knee deep in snow. To which I replied, "No...I'm looking out the front windows at green grass. We had snow a couple of days ago, but it warmed up and rained and the snow is all gone!"

Little did I know. That was 4 o'clock (my time, 10 o'clock hers) and by 5 o'clock we had blizzard conditions! No kidding.  Six inches of snow fell in less than an hour. For a while there we couldn't see our cars parked 15 feet outside the kitchen window/french doors. Crazy. But that was Sunday. Today, Tuesday, it's sunny and warm and except for a few piles in well shaded areas I can't see a trace of that snow from Sunday. Did I say, crazy?

I was out on the porch, sitting in the sun, catching a bit of vitamin D, reading. How wonderful. How amazing. How blessed and happy I'm feeling. A glorious change from a couple of days ago. Thanks God, I needed that!

(Lack of sunshine capital? Maybe that's a blessing in disguise, because oh how we appreciate the sunshine when we see it.)

My Own Joe Paterno Story

I worked in the Atheltic Department Ticket Office at PSU from 1970-1973. The ticket office was in Rec Hall, down the corridor and across the hall from the Football Coaches Office. I became fast friends with Joe Paterno's secretary. These were the days before secretaries were given the more elevated and well deserved title "administrative assistant". Tom and I left State College in 1974, but return to visit family and friends. Occassionally I dropped in at Rec Hall to say hello to my friend who was still there, still administratively assisting Joe Paterno. One time I had David along. He was just a little guy, maybe 2. As she and I chatted Davy wondered around quietly looking at pictures of famous Penn State football players. When I realized that David was out of sight I called to him. From Joe's office came a pleasant reply, "If he's blond and wearing overalls he's in here."

Mortified that I had carelessly let my toddler intrude on Mr. Paterno's work space I dashed into his office to collect my kid... apologizing profusely. The great Joe Paterno waived off my apology. He pointed little David to a basket of mini-footballs and invited him to take one. My friend, his secretary, introduced me and told him I had worked in the ticket office (like 15 years ago!).

And Joe Paterno, The Joe Paterno, very convincingly... feigned remembrance.

What a guy, huh?

Read on...

My good friend's Joe Paterno story: taken from the facebook page of Ellen Herman Campbell -- Ellen blogs at Nana Knits and Jams

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In 1993 shortly after we moved back home to State College, Matthew was hit by a car in the high school parking lot. He (and we) spent almost two weeks at Hershey Medical Center as he began his recovery from a near fatal brain injury. When he returned home, this photo was delivered to him at our home. It says, "To Matt, We are thinking about you. Your Friend, Joe Paterno."

Matthew has considered this good man and great legend his friend ever since....
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Ellen's husband, Jim, worked at Penn State. Joe Paterno was truly a family man. Penn State was family.

May God bless the family of Joe Paterno and comfort them in their season of grief. Amen.

Mid-Month, Mid Life

How long do I get to keep claiming mid-life? I mean really, who wants to admit they are on the down hill slide, past the halfway point to the end? I thought it so clever when I turned 50 to described it as entering the second half of my first century. But this year I'll leave the 5th decade behind and begin my 6th...not until October, mind you.

Sixty is the new forty, right?  The Bible suggests we are allotted 120 years, but I don't know anyone who would want to live that long. And come to think of it Psalm 90 says, "Our days may come to 70 years, or 80, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away."

On that happy note, here's to looking forward. I'm past the halfway point to heaven, which is what I've got my sights set on. Until I get there, I'd like to live life to the fullest, use what I have until it's all used up, and help others to do the same. 

My previous post was from Florida. I arrived home from the sunny south on Tuesday to a brisk 40 degrees. For those of us who are used to the north, that's actually quite mild. As the week progressed temps dropped and clouds gathered. By Friday we had blizzard conditions, which made for great skiing -- downhill for the youngsters, cross-country for me. Now it's warming up again. Mid January...the end of winter is only a few months away. Enjoy it while it lasts!

It's a wonderful world and a great life. Thanks for every bit of it God.

Florida!

This is quite a change from the last post. Then the weather was 10 degrees and 2 feet of snow. Now 75 degrees and sunshine. I am enjoying a conference in Orlando Florida. Meeting wonderful people, worshiping God beside them, eating together, talking, laughing, learning. And sneaking away to bask in the sun and dip in the pool. Yeah, that too! One more day of this then off to see Mom and Dad a bit further south.

Winter Storm/Wonderland

It's absolutely beautiful if you don't have to go anywhere. And I don't.

Ringing in the New Year

There will be no bells -- dinner and a movie with friends will do it. I've enjoyed blogs and Christmas letters from friends whose homes were full of children and grandchildren over the holiday. We had our share of family too, but we broke with tradition this year. No Christmas Eve party. Instead Tom and I had a very enjoyably quiet Christmas eve day, a simple dinner followed by a car ride to look at Christmas lights, meandering into town to get a movie out of the Red Box at the local gas station. After the movie we warmed our toes by the fire.

Did I say we were alone? Silly me. We had our furry friends for company that night.

Cleo

Phoebe

It was a lovely evening. More about the New Year to come...