My "No Labor" Day

I did pretty much nothing today. And I did it pretty well.

I could barely talk when I woke up because of my cold. Lew made me pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes for breakfast... a great way to start the day.

The remainder of the day I spent drinking hot tea, eating hot salsa, and resting. (I did manage to fit in a couple doses of DayQuil, too.)

This afternoon Lew and I watched the movie, "Christopher Robin." We both enjoyed it. Lew was even sniffling a little at the end.... I'm not sure if was from the dregs of his cold or if he was overcome with emotion. Anyway, it was a very sweet movie, and it made me feel quite satisfied about doing nothing today. If you haven't seen the movie yet, we recommend you watch it. It is available on Netflix.

"Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something." ~ Winnie the Pooh (in "Christopher Robin")

Still Marching On

Things have been a bit crazy for me lately — sort of like the perfect storm! My blog has suffered a bit as a result, but I am going to try to start posting more regularly. As I mentioned on Saturday, my father and Lew have been keeping the blog going much better than I have. (For the record, I did predict that the month of March would be like this for me. I wrote about my own version of March Madness in my post titled Month Monikers.)

A week ago today I sent the following text message to my supervisor at 9:01 AM:

Just leaving my house. Pretty sure I put facial moisturizer in my hair and I had to pick up some cat poo that was on the floor. Swell morning so far!

And that was one of my better mornings!

😁

I Pass the Buck

I forgot all about a blog post on Saturday until it was too late. Lew is willing to accept the blame for it because Saturday is his day to write. But last I knew, the name of this blog is Mainely Tracy.

I say, "The buck stops here."

And what is the origin of that statement — "the buck stops here" — anyway? I know it was a past president, but I can't remember which one....

.... The extensive research I did just now (Google) informs me this phrase is associated with Harry S. Truman. He had a sign with this saying on his desk. He didn't actually coin the phrase himself, but he is responsible for making it well-known.

To really get to the origin, though, I'd have to look into "passing the buck" as well. I don't really feel like doing that. But if you really want to know, I'll get Lew to research it for you.

Sanctity of Human Life

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday could be recognized on either January 15th or January 22nd this year (it's usually the third Sunday in January). Our church chose to recognize it on the 22nd, the 44th anniversary of the fateful Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade.

Because of my involvement with our local crisis pregnancy center, I was asked to give a short talk toward the beginning of the service. By "short" my pastor meant 10 minutes! Fortunately I was asked ahead of time, so I was able to prepare.

I was quite nervous on Sunday morning, but when I started to speak I felt a great peace.... God's peace!

My talk was well-received by my church family. They particularly liked that I ended with a one-page excerpt from Dr. Seuss' classic, Horton Hears a Who. Horton is carrying the speck of dust on a clover, and his jungle-mates are becoming aware of what he's up to:

Through the high jungle tree tops, the news quickly spread:
"He talks to a dust speck! He's out of his head!
Just look at him walk with that speck on that flower!"
And Horton walked, worrying, almost an hour.
"Should I put this speck down?..." Horton thought with alarm.
"If I do, these small persons may come to great harm.
I can't put it down. And I won't! After all
A person's a person. No matter how small."

If there is a life-affirming crisis pregnancy center in your area, I encourage you to support it with your prayers and financial gifts. Thank you!

Best Line of the Week

On our way home from breakfast this past Saturday, we were behind a car sporting the following bumper sticker:

Eat More Kale

Lew read the bumper sticker out loud.

Then he offered his own editorial comment: "I'm not going to eat ANY kale."

I am still laughing!

The Usefulness of a Cup

We got Chinese food for dinner on New Year's Day. This was in my fortune cookie:

First of all, this does not tell me my "fortune" — not that I believe in that stuff.

Plus, I think this statement can be true or false, depending on the application and/or the point in time:

• If I am looking for a cup to hold some hot tea that I wish to drink, then an empty cup is certainly more useful to me. An empty cup can be filled.
• If I am thirsty and need a cup that already contains a liquid refreshment, then an empty cup is not useful. An empty cup is merely empty.
• If I am using "cup" as a metaphor, then this takes the statement to a whole new level....

My head hurts.

Please Ask How I'm Doing :)

"How are you doing?"

My favorite response is, "Living the dream."

Not that I've said this myself yet.

But I've heard it about three times in the past week.

I enjoyed hearing it every time.

So I think I'm going to respond this way in the future.

It makes me happy.  :)

I FINISHED READING IT!!!!!

At approximately 5:14 pm (EDT) yesterday, August 23, 2015, I finally finished reading War and Peace.

I have mentioned this book several times on my blog, the first time being my June 8th post titled "A Long Read."

The word "long" does not begin to describe it.

The page length depends on which hardback/paperback/ebook version you read, but it's safe to say this book is over 1000 pages long.

And how did I like the book?

I enjoyed the "novel" parts, and I plodded through the parts that were theoretical and philosophical in nature.

I am glad, however, that I plodded. Tolstoy was clearly a man of faith in the Almighty God. Good stuff.

This is definitely not a book that I will read again. It is just way too long to revisit. I am happy I read it, though, and I feel more cultured. (LOL!)

One of the best things about this experience is that I don't have to write a paper about it.

I will end this post with a quote from a Seinfeld episode. Jerry says the following to Elaine (she later repeats this later in the show):

Did you know the original title for "War and Peace" was
"War--What Is It Good For?"!

"We do it for YOU, Lars...."

A couple years ago our pastor introduced us to the movie Lars and the Real Girl starring Ryan Gosling. This is a sweet story that shows the value of a loving, supportive community.

 

I watched it with my friend Donna while she was visiting last week. We ended up watching it two nights in a row because she wanted her husband and son to see it. (They both enjoyed it, too.)

 

If you haven't seen Lars and the Real Girl yet, I highly recommend that you watch it soon. It's my new favorite movie!

There Is a Master Knitter

Tonight Lew and I will be attending the annual community awareness and fundraiser banquet for our local crisis pregnancy center.  I was on the board of directors at ABBA, A Women's Resource Center for eight years and this is a ministry that Lew and I continue to support.

ABBA is part of the Care Net network of crisis pregnancy centers. Today I encourage you to find a Care Net center near you and get involved!

"For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well." 

Psalm 139:13-14 NRSV

Enough Already!

Lew's comment tonight regarding DeflateGate (especially the news coverage):

 

"It's over-inflated."

 

Well said, Lew, well said....

An Audit in My Future?

Writing prompt: Real life.

Have you ever told someone a story that they didn't believe, so you insisted, "This happened in real life!"

"Real life" is not "made up", although sometimes things occur that seem too bizarre. Hence sayings like "Truth is stranger than fiction" and "You can't make this stuff up."

A recent example: the "missing" IRS e-mails.

The organization that requires us to keep meticulous records wants us to believe they "lost" a bunch of e-mail correspondence.

Seriously? They really expect us to believe them?

And, more to my point, I can't believe that in "real life" these IRS officials would even try something like this. A new low, even for them.

You can't make this stuff up!

(PostScript: With editing, this post took me more than five minutes. But the ideas were formulated in five minutes. I typed rather than dictated this week.)

Good Friday

"The Old Rugged Cross" by George Bennard, verse 3:

 

In the old rugged cross,

stained with blood so divine,

A wondrous beauty I see;

For 'twas on that old cross

Jesus suffered and died

To pardon and sanctify me.

 

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." ~ Jesus

[John 15:13 NASB]

Say What?

A couple comments by Lew:

"Sometimes I think I want to say more, but then I realize it's not necessary."

"You say what you say; but then you don't have to elaborate, because you just said it."

I think I understand what he's saying.... And that scares me a little! (LOL!)

Quotes

I love a good quote.  When I see one, I make note of it.  I either clip it from the magazine, write it down myself, print it off from an e-mail, etc. -- whatever I have to do to save it.

You can imagine what happened over time.  Little pieces of paper mixed with big pieces of paper.  Scattered from here to there.  Quotes all over the place!

In my effort to become more organized, I tried to gather all of these quotes in one place a few months ago.  I typed them all into a Word document and now I just have to look there.  When I find another one that I like, I just add it to the same file.  (Sometimes there is still a little piece of paper as a temporary "keeper of the quote" until I have time to type it in.)

I just added a couple quotes to my file yesterday.  Here's one:

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
~  Hans Hoffman

I appreciate this quote because I want to be able to simplify.  It's making me think.

(Postscript:  Here's hoping for a Broncos win tomorrow!)

The Reason

(Note: There will be no blog post tomorrow as we celebrate Christmas, but check back on Thursday for Derf's weekly post -- a day late and a dollar short!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Luke 2:8-14 (KJV):

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." ~ Linus

 

 

From Worst to First

Congratulations to my Red Sox for winning the American League East!

Last year, they finished in last place.

As they say, "What a difference a year makes!"

To that I would add, "... and a new manager."  :)

Noah's Ark

With a great deal of assistance from my buddy Luanne, I led children's church today.

The lesson was Noah's ark.

The children helped put the pairs of animals in the ark when it came to that point in the story.  (Luanne was in charge of the Noah figure.)

The children "made the rain" by wiggling their fingers.  We even counted to forty to get a sense for how many days and nights it rained.

I hope that the kids remember at least two important points from the lesson:

1. Noah was close to God.  He obeyed God.  He built an ark when God told him to.
2. God promised Noah that He would not destroy the earth by flood again.  The rainbow is His reminder of that promise.

We ended our time with a couple crafts, during which Luanne came to my rescue.  I had the crafts ready to go, but my ability to implement "craft time" with small children is a "needs improvement" area.  But we had fun!

When discussing the animals that God created, Luanne and I did lament about mosquitoes and the like.  Thus, I end today's post with my favorite "fun quote" about Noah's ark:

"If Noah had been truly wise, he would have swatted those two flies."  -- Helen Castle

Glass Half Full

Lew and I are usually opposite on the "glass half full/empty" approach to situations. When he's on the full side, I'm on the empty... and vice versa.

Going into the bottom of the 9th in last night's Red Sox game, I suggested that we turn the TV off. (The Sox were down 7-2.) Half empty.

Lew said, "Let's just keep it on and see what happens." Half full.

Out boys ended up making a miraculous comeback to win the game, 8-7! Glad we hung in there.

In the words of baseball great Yogi Berra, "It ain't over 'til it's over." Good to remember!

Poor Judgment?

I was just looking through the top 100 free Kindle books.

The list has a thumbnail of each book's cover alongside its title and author.

While I was looking, I realized something about myself.  I'm guilty of violating that age-old advice:  "Don't judge a book by its cover."

But -- when it comes to actual books -- ignoring this advice has gone okay for me so far!