Today the smoke is going to be terrible. My daughter lives closer to the Canadian border than we do, and she isn’t next to the water for the breezes to blow some of the smoke away. Yesterday was so bad for them that people who had to work outside were wearing masks that were turning black from the smoke within an hour of putting them on. Playing outside for hours is out of the question, which didn’t sit well for Baby R. He loves playing outside. Tomorrow is supposed to improve as the winds shift, so we will be heading up to see them in the morning to give the cousins a chance to play together. Hubby surprised me by taking the day off tomorrow, so he can go with us! I’m pretty excited about that. We’ll all be going to bed early tonight since we have to be up and out of here early. We have reservations on an early ferry and need to be there half hour before sailing time. I think we’ll have smoothies before we leave, then get some real breakfast after we get off the boat.
Do you have ANY idea how much of a struggle it is to put child wearing a fluffy Princess dress into a car seat? That won’t be happening tomorrow. She can take it with her if she wants to show it off to Auntie K but will be wearing “real” clothes for the trip. There is glitter everywhere in the car from the skirt and seriously, I felt like I was trying to stuff the skirt of a southern ball gown into the chair while trying to bunch it up to find the clips to hook the belt in place. It was nearly an aerobic activity each time we got out of, and back into, the car! Geesh!
Today we will be washing the cute clothes that Papaw bought for her, deciding what to wear to Auntie K’s, and going down the hill to the pool for about half an hour, maybe an hour if the winds have cleared out some of the smoke. The community clubhouse and pool are across the meadow from the canal, so the breezes are pretty good going through there most of the time. There is also a playground, so we may have to check that out too. I’ve been to the pool several times since we bought this house, but never the playground.
Verse of the Day
August 21, 2018
By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me — a prayer to the God of my life.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
I have always loved music. To this day, songs help unlock the part of me that is most yielded to God. It helps me declare my love for him and my praise to him. But as the psalmist says, at night, especially on those nights when sleep is hard to come by, his song is with me.
www.verseofthe day.com
Food for Thought
Spending time with a 4-year-old child is pretty amazing. Everything in their world is filled with wonder and excitement. Can you remember the last time your entire face lit up like it was Christmas at the sight of a few berries in a little dish? Or squealed and danced with delight at the thought of someone you love coming home from work? How about the enthusiasm for a bedtime story? We should all take a good look at how a child looks at the world and life in general, remember the magic that was attached to everything, and embrace that for our own lives. We’d all be happier, and that would likely translate into being healthier.
Poet’s Day – I think everyone has a little bit of a poet in them, somewhere deep down inside, don’t you? At the very least we have all been taught something about it when we were in school and have had at least one assignment during which we had to write a poem. I used to write quite a bit of poetry, but don’t sit down to put thoughts to paper in the same way I used to – though I am sure I could do it again if I wanted to. Today celebrate poets by reading poetry, trying to write some, or at least learn a bit about one of the most famous poets the world has ever known – William Shakespeare. You may not realize you really like poetry until you sit down and give it a chance!
Senior Citizen’s Day – Today we honor our senior citizens. If anyone deserves to be shown how much we love and respect them, they do! Think about it. Our senior citizens have so much to share with us – life experience, wisdom and a point of view from people who have seen so much change over the decades. Their contributions to society are invaluable in every way. In his Presidential Proclamation on August 19, 1988, President Ronald Reagan said “For all they have achieved throughout life and for all they continue to accomplish, we owe older citizens our thanks and a heartfelt salute. We can best demonstrate our gratitude and esteem by making sure that our communities are good places in which to mature and grow older.” There are so many ways to celebrate this day. Spending time with some senior citizens; show them appreciation; do volunteer work in support of the elderly . . . are just a few. When my daughter was little she needed to do a community service project for her one and only pageant (for anyone who HASN’T put their child through one of these . . . don’t. Yikes!). She decided on her own that she wanted to visit a nursing home. She sat for days drawing pictures of flowers, and after picking up a few dozen carnations, we set out with her hand colored cards and the flowers. By the end of the day she had 50 new best friends . . . many of them wouldn’t remember her past the day of course . . . and the sweetest smile on her face as she realized that just a visit from her cheered many of these people who had not had visitors in a long time. She went back a few more times, sitting by their bedsides and reading to them from some of her books, getting water for them, bringing them a snack, fluffing their pillows and generally being a great-granddaughter to many didn’t ever get to see their own. Years later she went into a nursing home again and helped cut up steak at mealtime, badgered some into eating when they didn’t want to, and helped a few write letters and read some books. She went back weekly for quite some time – it was as big a blessing in her life as it was in theirs. If you happen to BE a senior citizen, enjoy your day any way you want! It’s your day! Be sure to take advantage of the senior citizens specials and discounts too!
This Day in History –
1841 – Venetian blinds are patented.po
1959 – Hawaii becomes the 50th state.
Food Celebration of the Day –
National Sweet Tea Day – I have always loved iced tea. When I was little I would watch my dad mix up a glass using the Lipton instant iced tea crystals, and I liked that, but what I REALLY grew to love was brewing my own iced tea from different flavors of tea and sweetening it just a little bit. My first real experience with sweet tea was before my ex-mother-in-law was my mother-in-law. I’d gone over to her house for dinner and she asked me if I wanted iced tea, to which I of course said yes. From what I was told the expression on my face when the obnoxiously sweet beverage hit my taste buds was priceless. I almost couldn’t bring myself to swallow it. It was like drinking simple syrup with a bit of tea flavor. I found out later that she would make a half gallon of tea and put an entire cup of sugar in it. Good heavens, that was sweet. She was raised in Alabama and apparently that’s how they drank it in her house growing up. It just wasn’t for me. Right now, I do have a pot of tea steeping on the stove. It’s a combination of black tea and peach tea. I’ll put about 1/3 cup of erythritol in a gallon pitcher to sweeten it just a little bit – which for us will be just right! They say that iced tea was invented at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, where they added ice to hot tea to cool it down for visitors. To those intelligent people, I say thank you.
Well, with starts and stops to play, be imaginative, dance, sing, fix lunch and throw in a few chores here and there, I am finally ready to post this! Whew! Being four is so exhausting! I wouldn’t have it any other way. God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.
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Celebration list sources:
www.verseoftheday.com www.brownielocks.com www.holidayinsights.com www.thenibble.com www.foodimentary.com