What a great weekend! Baby R spent the night on Friday, hung out with us all day Saturday, and his Mom and Dad came to celebrate Christmas with us when they got off work. It was fun! Hubby put a couple racks of ribs in the smoker for the day (YUM!), we had a fun dinner, opened presents and enjoyed coffee and dessert together. There wasn’t any stress due to weather or road conditions and everything worked out wonderfully! Yesterday hubby and I did computer stuff, I did some baking and laundry – the usual stuff that needs to be done. All in all it was wonderful and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Today it’s back to work and hoping that our IT guy gets there and fixes my computer right away, since it died Friday afternoon. At least it happened towards the end of the day. There are lots of other things I can do, since we need to pack away last year’s files into the storage area and get new files ready for 2018.
A couple of years ago we got one of these bouncy caribou toys for Miss B, and this year we got one for Baby R. They were a hit with BOTH of our babies and we couldn’t be happier to have been able to bring these smiles to their faces. 
Verse of the Day
January 8, 2018
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Thoughts on the Verse of the Day
A whole bunch of folks claim that God is on their side. In reality, the important question is whether we are on God’s side! That’s determined more by what we seek and do rather than what we think and say. God longs to be with us, but he will not sacrifice his character to extend us cheap grace, a grace that does not call us to be like him. He’s looking for believers who put their character where their mouths are.
www.verseoftheday.com
Food for Thought
Is there anything more heartwarming than the sound of a child’s laughter, the sight of their smile, the feeling of their arms around your neck or their breath on your cheek as they give you their version of a kiss?
Argyle Day – What is Argyle, and why on earth would we celebrate it? I asked myself that question and I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for the answer (humor me, ok?). Argyle is a pattern made of diamonds (also called lozenges). Sometimes the word refers to an individual diamond in the design, but it more often is referring to the overall pattern. Most argyle contains layers of overlapping diamonds, giving it a sense of 3-dimensional movement and texture. Usually it is make with an overlay of intercrossing diagonal lines over solid diamonds. The argyle pattern comes from the tartan of the Clan Campbell, of Argyll in western Scotland, used for kilts and plaids, and from the patterned socks worn by the Scottish Highlanders since around the 17th century. Argyle knit became the fashion in England, and from there the USA, after the 1st world war. In the 1920s it became popular for argyle jerseys and long socks to be worn for golf clothing. So, if you are hiding away an argyle sweater in that drawer or closet, today is the day to take it out and wear it! Until recently I’d never had anything argyle, but now I have a couple of pairs of argyle socks. I like them!
Bubble Bath Day – Today is the day to celebrate bubble baths in any way you can think of. It’s a day to try out a new fizzy bath bomb, new bath bubble scent, or make bubble bath gifts-in-a jar that you can make yourself to give to friends. There is nothing more relaxing than filling up the tub with hot, bubbly, scented water, lighting a few candles and soaking all the cares of the day away while reading a good book and sipping a glass of wine. Yep, you guessed it, when I am finished with dinner and clean-up, I will be celebrating this particular holiday with enthusiasm and a sigh of contentment – provided I have time. I’m truly going to try to have time.
Earth’s Rotation Day – So, what is this one all about? Well, the Earth rotates around its own axis, from west towards east. If you look at the earth from the North Star, or polestar (Polaris), then it would be turning counter-clockwise. The Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the sun, and once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds with respect to the stars. The Earth’s rotation is slowing a little bit with time, so a day was shorter in the past. There’s no way I completely get the science behind it, but this is due to the tidal effects that the moon has on the earth’s rotation. Atomic clocks show that a modern day is longer by about 1.7 milliseconds than it was a century ago, which slowly increases the rate at which UTC (Universal Time Coordination) is adjusted by leap seconds. So basically we are spinning at an incredible rate of speed . . . and I’m always a bit shocked that we can’t tell that we are! When I was little and learning about this stuff in school I would imagine what it would be like if we COULD tell . . . it would be sort of like riding a merry-go-round and hanging on for dear life.
Midwife’s Day or Women’s Day – This one is celebrated, from what I can tell, in Greece. My search – though admittedly not long – found that in Greece: “On this day women stop their housework and spend their time in cafe’s, while the men do all the housework and chores as well as look after the kids. In some villages, men who are caught outside will be stripped …and they will be drenched in cold water!” I had to chuckle over this one – it brought up some pretty funny mental images. They must have a great sense of humor because I cannot imagine most men I know going along with this “punishment” for such a “crime”.
National Clean Off Your Desk Day – This one pretty much explains itself, doesn’t it? If your desk is anything at all like mine is, it can REALLY use a good cleaning up. I have stacks and piles of things, and generally speaking I know what everything is – and if I think I may forget where I am on something, I just put a post-it note on top, but there’s ALWAYS room for improvement, right? We’re still early enough in the year to give it a good New Year clean-up. Why not today!?
National Joy Germ Day – Remember the song “If You’re Happy And You Know It?” well, today is the day to spread that happiness around and “infect” others with it! Yes, happiness – smiling, laughing and joy – are contagious, and today is the day to spread that cheer around. The ripple effect from happiness just keeps spreading and sharing from one person to the next, so share some JoyGerms with someone today!
National Weigh-In Day – This one always lands on the first Monday after New Years. I personally don’t know of anyone who waited until today to weigh-in. Since New Year’s Day was actually ON a Monday, that’s when I started. It just made the most sense to me. If you didn’t though, here’s a great opportunity to get things started – not late, but right on time!
Show and Tell Day at Work – Do you remember taking show and tell to school when you were a kid? I do. It was so much fun to plan what it was I was going to take when it was my turn. I agonized over it. Would the other kids like it? Or would they think it was silly? Well, today is your day to relive those feelings and take something to work to show off and tell your co-workers about! It shouldn’t be too hard, since you just spent two days apart! I’ll be showing and sharing some of today’s Food Celebration with my office mate/co-worker/boss and friend. She appreciates the work that goes into them and she isn’t afraid to tell me if they aren’t her favorite, but does it in a way that isn’t hurtful. It’s nice to have friends who we can be honest with and know that there won’t be hard feelings, isn’t it?
“Thank God It’s Monday” Day – Are you scratching your head over this one? I’m not! Every week we Thank God It’s Friday, but seriously, if we didn’t have Monday, we wouldn’t get to Friday! Honestly, as sad as it is to see the weekend come to a close, it’s nice to get our regular routine going again, giving us something to look forward to at the end of the week. Smile big and be happy for Monday!
Food Celebration of the Day –
N
ational English Toffee Day – I had a different idea of what this one would be, and I have that idea every year, but I haven’t explored it on my own until this year. Normally I would have tried to find a buttery, crunchy recipe that include sugar and contained MANY carbs, but as I am not eating that way any longer, I had to look for something that would work for this. English toffee doesn’t always have to be crunchy candy like in the stores. It can be a sort of chewy shortbread cookie topped with buttery/nutty candy goodness. And that’s what I bring to you today. It was quick and easy and incredibly delicious. This is the link to the e-book “The Best Low-Carb Holiday Cookies and Bars” containing the recipe for this bite of sweet goodness – the creation of author/low-carb food blogger Carolyn Ketchum. She is a genius with low-carb treats and this cookie is proof of that. I am blessed to be one of the moderators on one of her Facebook groups, am super excited to be testing recipes for one of her upcoming books that will be published in a few months, and an avid fan. I am hoping to someday meet her, but until then I will continue to enjoy the way she can bring a recipe together in just the right way to satisfy the taste buds, while keeping it low-carb and healthy.
*Yawn* I know we are supposed to be Thanking God It’s Monday, but seriously, I’m struggling with this one a bit! Yes, I’m glad I woke up to a new day . . . I just wish it was a little later! Oh well, can’t change it, so I guess I’ll grab my coffee and go. God bless you and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Thank you to the following websites for their lists that make writing about these celebrations easier. Having the resources to get each day started in just a few places really helps.
www.brownielocks.com www.holidayinsights.com www.foodimentary.com www.thenibble.com