My Pepsi is still here and doing fairly well! It is a bit of a shock, and I am fully aware that this is temporary since she is so old and her mobility troubles aren’t better, but I take hope that she isn’t as miserable as she was over the last few days. She is eating a little, she got herself into her litter box and she is moving around the living room with ease – at least when compared to two days ago. After a long conversation with my daughter yesterday, during which there were many tears, I am praying that Pepsi maintains where she is, if not better, until my daughter can come to say good-bye. And we never know! She may rally and live for another year! I doubt that will happen, but it could. In the meantime, today I am hurrying through this, getting ready and getting my hair trimmed. Now that I’ve grown it out, I only go in a couple times a year to clean it up. I am hoping that the style I found will be something that she can do with my face since right now I feel pretty messy all the time. It’s time to get a change – not cut it off short, but take some off and put some shape to it.
Verse of the Day
January 31, 2018
You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call on you.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
Forgiveness is such a sweet blessing. But God does more than forgive! He cleanses and forgets. His love is not metered out or carefully rationed. He pours love upon us if we genuinely seek him as our God and Father. So let’s cry out and ask for God’s forgiveness and praise the mighty and holy name of The Almighty, confidently knowing that our Father longs to bless us with goodness, mercy, and love.
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Food for Thought
Last night was the SOTU address by the President – his first since being elected. I forgot all about it and I am hoping to catch maybe a You Tube replay. I am proud that he is our President, and I am very pleased with all that he has accomplished in one single, short year. The polls I am reading are that 75% of the population is happy with the address, the other 25% are whining and crying like the babies they are, which is truly not fair to babies. The lies the media tells, the tantrum throwing by Congress members with a D after their names, the caterwauling by supposed Hollywood elite and the ignorance by the liberal left just floor me. My daughter, who is 33 and in the age demographic of the idiots who have been out protesting with ugly pink hats, called me, so excited to talk about Trump’s speech, and tell me how happy she was to have him for our President. That made my heart feel SO good, to see that she has such a good head on her shoulders and isn’t an ignorant lemming.
Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day – All of our lives we work very hard to make ends meet and make something of our own portion of the world. And throughout our working lives we contribute to a fund that pays us from the time of our retirement, until the time we pass away. At least that’s how it was intended. These days though, people are no longer able to retire between the ages of 62-65 and are working well into their 70s in many cases. The Social Security has never been enough to support someone through their retirement, but now it’s barely supplemental if we are fortunate, and it does look like at some point it will dwindle away to nothing, at least if the world keeps on going the way it is economically. If you are drawing Social Security, appreciate it, for those of us who have a lot of years to go may not have it when we reach that age! Beyond appreciating that there’s at least something for you right now, don’t ever let anyone make you feel like Social Security is a hand out it isn’t. This is something you worked hard to earn. I ready that some idiot politician was calling it an entitlement. Um, no it is not. It was earned fair and square so keep your filthy mitts off of it.
Backward Day – Backwards Day is a day when you do everything (or as much as you can without your boss or the law getting upset with you) in the opposite order than you usually do! This is a popular day with kids, and some schools actually have a spirit day that is designated to being backwards – they wear their clothes backwards, they walk backwards (be careful of the stairs if you do this one though!) I’m not one to wear my clothes backwards – at least not on purpose, though I have been known on occasion (RARE ONES!) to find my shirt tag in the front if I got dressed in a hurry. I do think though that it would be a good day to eat dinner backwards – starting with dessert, followed by the main course and the salad. Now I just have to figure out what’s a worthy dessert! start.
Inspire Your Heart with Art Day – Have you ever seen a beautiful piece of art – it could a painting, a sculpture, an intricate quilt, or maybe a delicate carving – that just makes you feel wonderful when you look at it? We’ve all had that experience at one point or another, I’m sure – I know I have anyway. Today I encourage everyone to look around you and see the beauty and artistry all around you, no matter where you are or what you are doing. I know that we have at least two incredible artists who read this page – my wonderful mother-in-law – SR – and my dear friend – KV. When I look at work that the two of you have created I have to smile – there isn’t a choice because your work makes me feel good. The painting you see here is of my Tibbi Girl and KV painted it for me from a photograph I sent to her. This is one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received and it holds a place of honor in our home, and will be a lasting reminder of what a wonderful and amazing member of the family this beautiful creature was to us. Her ashes and favorite toys sit just below the portrait in a place of honor. I’ve always envied people who are artistic and wondered why God blesses some people to be artistic and others not so much (I can make a great stick figure, but there doesn’t seem to be a call for that very often). The best art of all though, is the beauty in the world around us that the Creator of all artists put in place. God himself made the best art we could ever imagine and which mankind has since the beginning of time been trying to emulate on canvas, stone or wood. No matter how you appreciate art today, in whatever form it takes to inspire your heart, do it with enthusiasm and a sense of awe.
Food Celebration of the Day –
Brandy Alexander Day – From the various recipes I’ve browsed through, this drink appears to be basically cream, cream de cacao and brandy. Since cream de cacao is very sugary, and I don’t have time to make my own, I think I’ll take some cream, mix it with my homemade chocolate syrup and add brandy. Hmm . . . not too bad!
Hot Chocolate Day – Have you ever wondered what is the difference between Hot Cocoa and Hot Chocolate? Apparently hot cocoa uses only powdered cocoa, while hot chocolate uses milk or milk chocolate. I didn’t know that! I also did not know that the first hot chocolate was Mayan, served with chili peppers. I’ve had Mayan Hot Chocolate, and though it has a hint of a bite to it, it is delicious! Honestly, except for the sugar that we use to make Hot Chocolate, it is actually quite healthy. It has antioxidants and health nutrients in it. Perhaps making it with natural sugars instead of processed sugar would reduce that negative and make it healthy all the way around!? I have some wonderful memories around Hot Chocolate. When I was growing up we would go visit my Grandma K. I remember sneaking into the kitchen when she got up in the mornings, and while the rest of the household slept a bit longer, Grandma would wrap me in a warm quilt, get me settled onto a chair at the kitchen table, and make fresh, from scratch hot chocolate. We would sit and whisper to each other, swapping stories and giggling, while nibbling on crisp buttered toast and sipping mugs of hot chocolate. Gosh I miss those times – I’m getting all misty eyed as I write about them.
OK! It’s time for me to get ready and get out of here. As much as I don’t like leaving the house on Wednesdays since I have a lot to do here, and I don’t want to leave Pepsi on her own, I am looking forward to getting my hair done – especially getting it washed. It feels SO good to have a stylist wash my hair. It’s the simple things in life, right? Gotta run! God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow.
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