Come On, Synapses, Get Snapping

I'm in a funk. It's nothing that a nice big bowl of Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream wouldn't cure, but, you know, it's sugar. Whatever. I'm thinking of giving up all gray food instead (liver, ummm...raw shrimp, overcooked greens, etc.)

It may be the dreary weather. It may be that we have to run the heat tonight (hear those cash register sounds?) It may be that there's a dog next door who is starved for attention - it brings tears to my eyes. Of course, they've been burning anyway - my husband's been cooking, and he only cooks with one temperature - HIGH.

So the doors are all open to let out the smoke, and the heat's running to make up for it, and we're coughing while we enjoy the most delicious Shepherd's Pie.

We used a pastry brush to spread butter from the puddle in the microwave (a stick softened on HIGH) onto our bread.

But I think I just have a "Joe Versus the Volcano" brain cloud. Why else would I have left the car running in the church parking lot and LEFT IT OVERNIGHT, hopping into my husband's car for us to leave together. I wondered the next morning where my keys were.... The car was low on gas, at least. After running out of gas, the battery died, since the keys were in the "on" position.

I reminded Mike how much he loved me before I confessed that one!

Clearly the synapses aren't snapping properly. Usually that's an indication that I need to regroup, refocus and reprioritize. Sometimes I get too caught up with the busyness of life.

Maybe I should turn off my computer now. Maybe I should go to bed early tonight. Maybe I should give God my burdens, even the little ones, and let Him carry them, like he offers!

Maybe I should. Most definitely I will.

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.

--Psalm 68:19

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

--Matthew 11:29-30

I Pine Fir Yew

I rode my bike while Mike did his run this morning. And along a brick walled section of the naval shipyard, on a nearly deserted street, I found something I HAD to have.

Unfortunately, my basket wasn't on my bike. And I had no hood on my shirt, not even any pockets. So I shall have to return tomorrow.

I found pine cones. Beautiful, fat, classic pine cones scattered along the side of the road. I immediately thought of the twenty or more tables that we'll need to decorate for Victory Home's upcoming fundraising and awareness banquet. The Founders Inn will have a Christmas tree in the banquet room we're using, so we want something for centerpieces that will coordinate with the room but not be too Christmas-y, since the banquet is before Thanksgiving.

Pine cones and maybe some small pine boughs would be a perfect start! I considered filling the front of my
t-shirt with them, but

1) it would have been a little awkward, not to mention uncomfortable during the next several miles of pedaling, and

2) chances are that my substantial belly would be exposed at times, and I'd hate to cause an accident or make innocent bystanders run screaming down the street, trying to cover their children's eyes.

That very stomach is why I'm out there on that bike. And why it gets no more Junior Mints. Or dessert. Or even candy corn. Poor baby.

Had to unbutton my jeans at Cinema Cafe tonight. And I was only drinking (unsweetened) iced tea! That is, until Mike gave me some of his nachos. Then I had to unzip a little, too.

Poor Flutterbug will be thoroughly embarrassed when she reads this. Well, I warned her - blog material is a little slim tonight. And so is intelligent thought. It's probably the lack of sugar, if I had to guess.
Yes, that's it.

What's In That Dustpan...

Passed a test today - I found a Junior Mint under my chair and DIDN'T EAT IT.

Flutterbug will attest to the fact that I have, in the past, found a very old Junior Mint (loose, not in the box) under the seat of my car and eaten IT. This may or may not have occurred on more than one occasion.

It's a God thing. It really is! I can tell He's helping me in this Stop-the-Sugar-Insanity effort.
No doubt about it.

Now I don't want to give you the idea that I generally eat old food off the carpet or the floorboards - JUST Junior Mints. Nothing else is worth it.

Well, except maybe candy corn.

Yikes. Halloween is comin'.

Reading Rainbow

Tonight's dessert:


Yum, yum, sugarfree gum! (A veritable smorgasbord)

I spent some time at the Victory Home warehouse sorting books - my favorite job. Look at all the old books I found:


It's hard to tell from the picture, but the one called "How People Work Together" has a neat coppery sheen. I love old textbooks. Well, I love old books. I try to keep the thrift store well-stocked for others who do, too.

And we offer plenty of not-so-old books, too.

It may be 80 degrees outside, but fall is in the air at the thrift store. Does anyone else get butterflies in their stomach when autumn arrives? It just takes a few orange leaves (even if they're fake), that woody smell in the air, and the sight of a pumpkin for my tumbly to get rumbly with anticipation.

Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth

seeking the successive autumns.

~George Eliot

The Domino Effect

I have an ENEMY.

It takes many forms and disguises itself well at times.

Here it is naked:
And here are several of its more attractive outfits:



I was reading The Inept Aspirant's blog tonight, and she is obeying God's instruction to her to give up SUGAR, which He's also been convicting me about for far too long. So I'm going join her and lay it down. I've tried to just eat it in "moderation" and it ain't workin'. It's time for me to get serious, and to be obedient to the One I claim to love.

John 14:15 is pretty clear: "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Yikes!

This is what I need from you, dear readers:

Pray for me!

And don't offer me Junior Mints - knowing my fleshly nature, I'd be likely to quote Luke 6:35: "Love your enemies!" and grab them from your hand. And then you'd be an accessory to crime. And then God might make you give up Junior Mints, too. And I'd hate to see my friends cranky and irritable - I'll have the corner on that market for a while!