The Earth Did Not Stand Still

We had an earthquake in Southern Maine yesterday morning! It was pretty minor as far as earthquakes go, for which we are thankful.

Lew and Dad did not feel the earthquake, but I did. I was at work when it happened. My officemate looked over at me and said, "That feels like an earthquake!" We laughed because we really thought it was people moving some heavy things around upstairs in our building. But then text messages started coming in and the local news sites were reporting it. It was even on Facebook, so we knew it had to be for real.

Song cue:

I feel the earth move

under my feet....

Praying for USA

The song "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin provides a good start when offering a prayer for our country:

God bless America, land that I love

Stand beside her and guide her

Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains to the prairies

To the oceans white with foam

God bless America, my home sweet home

As our friends at World Watch say, "Remember, whatever the news, the purpose of the Lord will stand."

Thankful that God is sovereign. Always.

Song Cue

I am trying to come up with an interesting blog post, but for some reason this is what is going through my head:

"I'm Henry the VIII, I am...."  — and the rest of the lyrics to this silly, yet endearing, song. (My favorite line: "Second verse, same as the first!")

At least I am not thinking of, "This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on, my friend...." 

But now I am.

Rats!

😏

Singing With Mom

On more days than not, Mom and I recite the 23rd Psalm, which she memorized as a little girl. Then we sing a few songs, usually Jesus Loves Me, The B-I-B-L-E, and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. One of our verses, with Mom singing my name:

He's got Mary Lou and

Tracy

in His Hands

He's got Mary Lou and

Tracy

in His Hands

He's got Mary Lou and

Tracy

in His Hands

He's got the Whole World in His Hands!

As I'm leaving at the end of my daily visit we sing the following:

Tomorrow,

tomorrow,

I'll see you

tomorrow.

It's only a DAY

... A —

... WAY!

Sometimes Dad even joins us on the Annie song!

Bible Reading

I read the Bible to my mother just about every day.

Today I asked her if there was a favorite story she would like me to read.  

Her response was, "All of it."

So we started at the very beginning.  ("A very good place to start" as the Do-Re-Mi song explains.)

Tomorrow we'll move on to Genesis Chapter 2.

Read The Book!  

📖

Boo! :)

👻

Happy Halloween! No costume for me this year, but I did eat lots of candy these past few days. Really healthy eating, ha ha!

Lew and I managed to stay awake until the end of the baseball game last night. Congratulations to the Washington Nationals on winning the World Series!

I've stopped to visit Mom for a few minutes every night on my way home from work. Today she told me she had to look at a big bee on the wall for a long time. I thought she meant bee, like an insect. But she meant the letter "B" which was on a piece of paper taped to her wall. (I guess it was supposed to help with her dizziness.) She was still waiting on her dinner when I left tonight. She said they were going to "make her" sit in a chair to eat. (She's been eating while sitting in her bed.) I think it's good she'll sit in a chair. That's progress.

Trick or Treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!  😋

The Drip

The theme of my weekend can be summarized by a line from the song "Adelaide's Lament" (from the musical "Guys and Dolls"):

The drip, the drip, the post-nasal drip....

I've been drinking lots of water, which helps a bit. (The downside of this solution is the number of times I get up during the night, if you know what I mean.)

In other news, it was a rough weekend football-wise for our nephews. Both of their teams lost, but we still enjoyed watching the games via streaming. Best wishes for next week, boys!

"Here's a Story...."

One of the biggest television events ever began last night. Thanks to the miracle of the DVR, Lew and I watched the first episode when I got home from work today.

I can only be talking about "A Very Brady Renovation" on HGTV!

"The Brady Bunch" was one of my favorite shows growing up, so I am excited about this HGTV series. (I think there are three or four episodes left.)

Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy — well, the actors that play them — are all grown up now, of course. (They are all older than I am!) It was fun to see them on TV again after all these years.

My DVR is set for next Monday night's show!

Ode to a Hobby

With apologies to the Everly Brothers....

Whenever I'm conscious
All I want to do is
Rea-ea-ea-ea-ead,
Read, Read, Rea-ead,
Rea-ea-ea-ea-ead,
Read, Read, Read!

Kidding Myself

I often find myself adapting song lyrics. 

For a recent example, see my post The Game That Might Not End.

My best work was probably done over 30 years ago; check it out in my post Ode to a New Year's Resolution.

I am thinking of making my lyrics a more regular feature on my blog. All of my stunning creativity must not go to waste!

😉😏😁

The Game That Might Not End

Lew rode his motorcycle to its new owner's home early Saturday evening. The Red Sox had a late afternoon game against the Yankees that day, and the game was almost over when Lew left.

Oh, wait.... I need to change that last part.... it appeared the game was almost over when Lew left.

The Red Sox were ahead 1-0 going into the top of the 9th inning. The Yankee's lead-off batter hit a homerun to tie up the game. The Red Sox ended up losing seven innings later. Lew had been home for quite a while by then.

For the past couple days I have been singing a song in my head about the nature of baseball. The tune is to The Song That Never Ends, with the lyrics adapted by me:

This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end. It could go on and on, my friend. Baseball fans started watching it, aware of what it was. They knew they could be watching it forever just because.... This is the game that might not end.... 

Well, you get the point.

How Much Are Those Kitties in the Window?

These sweet kitties are NOT for sale!

Baby, It's Wet Outside

"Rainy days and Mondays always get me down...."

It didn't help that my tummy had issues today either.

I really wanted to make it into work, but sometimes it's better to just stay home.

Especially if one is in a cranky mood from having tummy issues.

But tomorrow I conquer the world.  (It's good to have goals.)

Lunch

I usually eat lunch at my desk when I'm at work.

This is my view when I start my lunch break:

My salad is in the Tupperware container.

My rice cake (white cheddar) is in the Crayola Snack Packer.

And that is a Braeburn apple.

Today I took the cover off of my salad so I could take a "before" photo.

Before.

To "pack" my salad at home, I squirt some ranch dressing in the bottom, then I put in the heavier items — like cherry tomatoes and green peppers — and then I top it off with the greens.

At the start of my lunch break, I toss my salad. I do this by turning the container over (with the lid still on) and shaking it. It is very important to accompany this part of the process by singing:

Shake... shake...
Shake... shake...
Shake my salad...
Shake my SALAD...

Below is the "after" photo of my salad — before I ate it. Yum!

After.

The Drive Home

I got to work late this morning, so I stayed late to make up for it.

By the time I headed home, it was that odd time of day for driving: when you feel like you should have your headlights on but you also need to wear your sunglasses.

I was driving toward the setting sun....

Sounds like a good song lyric!

A Very Good Friday

Did you hear the Good News?

Jesus paid it all, 

All to Him I owe; 

Sin had left a crimson stain, 

He washed it white as snow.

A New Nation

Those of us in the Northeast are familiar with Red Sox Nation. The Red Sox "travel well" and are very popular across the entire country.

I suppose there are other teams that use the moniker of "Nation" — for example, maybe there is a Dodgers Nation or Marlins Nation.

Today I decided to start a new Nation by the name of Hiber.... I really think it could catch on.

Wake me up after the snow goes.... 

Baby, it's cold outside....

The Final Season

Every year Lew and I contemplate whether we want to watch American Idol. It is a rather large time commitment, even with our method of fast-forwarding through a lot of the banter and the commercials.

We decided to watch this year because the show is in its final season. (Why not, right?)

The season premiered this week, and we are in the midst of watching the pertinent parts of the program. By "pertinent" I mean the singing and the judges' post-audition comments.

I think we will get through four hours of programming in about three hours. And the three hours includes a few breaks to take care of laundry and writing this blog post.

Do re mi fa sol la ti do.... Back to the program I go.

Five O'Clock in the Morning

Kitties wrestling on my bed 

.... doo dah 

.... doo dah 

Kitties wrestling on my bed 

.... at 5 A.M.

Last night I set my white noise machine to stay on all night, rather than the 90 minutes I usually do.

Success! If there was any traffic noise, it didn't keep me awake.

However, I was awakened before my alarm went off.  The "why" is described above.

At least it was almost time to get up anyway....  Meow!

So Forth and Etcetera

It's raining.

It's pouring.

And I feel like

snoring.

My shirt is red.

My book is read.

And....

I can't think of a good way to end this.

And I haven't really finished reading my current book(s). I'm still working on Mark Twain's short stories and I'm 65% through War and Peace.

Ahhh.... War and Peace....

This is the book that never ends.

Yes, it goes on and on, my friend....

I better get reading.

(My apologies to Mother Goose and Lamb Chop for my adaptation of their lyrics.)