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...

Christmas iPad

There are four iPads in this house, but mine is the newest. This is the coolest Christmas present ever...well I think so... That chainsaw I back in 1996 was a pretty cool gift. And I got so much work done with it. Not that I ever started it up, but I let Tom use it anytime he wanted, or anytime I wanted him to. He was surprised how much work a little chainsaw could do.

I'm actually just checking to see if I can blog from my iPad. My kids are here to give me pointers -- better than any tutorial. So that's the point of this post, learning and practicing. I'd really like to add a picture, but I have to go read up on how to do that. If all else fails, as I understand it, there's an app for that.

For now there are some other gifts waiting to be opened. I think I'm holding up the action.

Moving on...

Christmas Eve Morning

The house is quiet, except for the hum of the furnace and purr of the cat beside me. I don't often see this hour of the morning...but I'm thinking, what's to see anyway? It's very dark. Electric candles glow warm and soft in the windows. Each one has a double reflecting back. Cup of coffee in hand I've walked through the house plugging in lights, enjoying the ambiance, watching for the sky to lighten up.

All is peaceful, calm, dark...in spite of the dusting of snow. The presents are wrapped. House clean enough, ready for company tomorrow. (I know. I can't believe it either.) The mood is just right, a perfect time to blog...I thought. But then again... the glow of the computer screen kind of ruins the magic. So I'll close this out, close the lid. Looking toward the eastern sky, there's the first light of dawn. How marvelous, the start of a new day. Christmas eve day.

Merry Christmas friends. May you find Love, make peace, and bask in joy.

Happy Holidays!

There are a lot things to pick on in the world, but how you wish someone a happy holiday shouldn't be one of them. I applaud whoever wrote this...

Christmas is a very special time for me. I like the glitz and the holiday music. I like the presents, gathering together with family, the holiday foods, chestnuts roasting and stockings hung by the fire, and the cookies, I really like the cookies.  But I'm very aware that the trappings can distort and sully the meaning of the season. Sometimes I wish for a simpler Christmas celebration -- one where we don't exchange presents or prepare pageants. Then I remember that I love exchanging presents and those pageants...well they always help me see the reality of divine intervention. Kids who didn't know their parts, wouldn't speak up, pouted, fussed, carried on, suddenly become angelic presenters of the gospel. That's a miraculous happening in churches all over the world. It recurs every single year in the weeks and days before Christmas, children remembering their lines.

The best part about those pageants is that people who wouldn't otherwise grace the indoors of a church will watch, and laugh, and applaud the efforts of children. And who knows they might hear from God.

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

December 4th

Well technically it's the 5th -- well past midnight of the 4th. We had nice visit with dear friends, coffee (!) and dessert, a lovely fire in the fireplace. After company left, I walked through the livingroom turning out lights, the fire was still glowing and the embers offered a pleasant hint of wood smoke, which mingled with the scent of our freshly cut fir tree. Ah yes, it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

Candles in the windows and lights on the B-I-G tree on the back porch, thank you Nathan. Icicle lights on the overhang of the front porch, thank you Adam and Alicia. Decorating the dining room entrance was my contribution. Oh, and this delightful addition to my M.A. Hadley collection, thank you Barb and Gus.

The cute little Merry Christmas coaster is new, but each of these pieces were gifts from the Atlanta contingent.

Tomorrow I'll hang the stockings by the fireplace and decorate the tree that presently stands unadorned. And then it will really and truly look a lot like Christmas. Shop, bake, write the Christmas letter, address cards, wrap gifts, all that to do during this month of advent. It makes the waiting go faster while we anticipate something marvelous. The birthday of a King, the Messiah, our Savior, Emmanuel, God with us. Advent is the time to prepare for what is to come!