The Mini-Pilgrimage

The mini-pilgrimage was today!

This was a two-hour event at our church sponsored by women's ministries. Abbie (my amazing co-leader this morning) and I had 10 young girls in attendance. The youngest girl there was almost five years old and the oldest was a freshman in high school. We had each of the older girls "buddy" with a younger girl, which helped out a lot.

We talked about three spiritual practices that help us grow closer to God (lectio divina, praying with imagination, and taking prayer walks), had a snack, and then decorated shoes to use as props for the women's pilgrimage next weekend.

I believe that the girls all had a good time and might even remember some of the things we talked about.  :)

As for me: If I have a muscle, then that muscle is sore. If I have a moving joint, then that joint is creaking. If I have two eyes, then those eyes are slamming shut.

I love my little friends, but they have tons more energy than I do. TONS!

And although I am weary, I LOVED my time with Abbie and the girls this morning. We may even do it again.  :)

Blessed.

Teleportation and Elasticity (Not Gonna Happen)

Writing Prompt: Hero.

 

This is a hard topic. The term "hero" is thrown about so easily these days that it loses it's deeper meaning. So rather than talking about real-life heroes, I think I will stick to pretend ones....

 

Yes, I mean superheroes!

 

I don't know if I have a favorite superhero, but I do like Spiderman. I really enjoyed the movie trilogy with Tobey Maguire in the lead role. (I do think that the first movie was the best.)

 

What if I could be a superhero? Who would I like to be? Well that all depends on the superpower! I think the superpower that I currently would like most would be teleportation. All transportation problems solved! I wouldn't need a car or an airplane. Wouldn't that be cool?!!!

 

I do like Elastigirl from The Incredibles. It would be neat to be able to stay seated and grab whatever I need or to reach out and pull someone away from harm. I'm not sure how my current wardrobe would fare, though, with all that stretching! (I know that Elastigirl has that special red costume, but I don't think I would look good in it.)

 

Of course, in reality, the biggest superpower that I can hope for is using the oven and having dinner magically appear! Ha ha ha!

In Memory of Two Sweet Cats

I shared this photo of Bagheera and Pepper on the blog about four months ago, but it is right to do so again with our recent loss of Pepper..

Bagheera and Pepper....

Two sweet cats.

Dad 238: Sweet Pepper, the Blizzard, and a Mailbox

(We all miss dear little Pepper. Jerry has been going over to my parents' side of the house to keep them company; he's such a good kitty! Dad wrote about a lot in his post today. Read on.... ~ Tracy)

Derf Here! Here in the Northeast we're enjoying the calm after the storm. The sun is actually trying to show itself. The blizzard lasted from about midnight on Monday until the early morning hours of Wednesday. We now have a new two feet of snow and drifts of three times that much. The experts are predicting between six inches and a foot this Friday followed by another storm on Monday. Where will we put the snow? I'm ready for April!

This has not been my week. Our almost 18-year-old cat seemed to be failing quite a bit on Monday. Since September she has been dealing with kidney failure. We had a good fall with Pepper, but Monday she did things she had never done before. We found her in places she had never even been in before. I stopped in at the vets and made an appointment for early afternoon. Pepper and I shared a can of tuna as we have done for many months. Then it was off to the vets. I knew it was the end and they agreed with me. After signing in a few places I left Pepper with the vet. I must admit I made a fool of myself and cried like a baby. As I write this the tears are starting to begin again. I made it home and was fine until I entered my home and saw Spouse. It is really strange to look on Spouse's end of the couch and not see Pepper. She is missed! If you care to see a nice photo of Pepper, check Tracy's post from Monday (two days ago).

Then the blizzard came. While plowing for the first time Tuesday morning with Lew, I was telling him how to be careful when plowing and never rush. "Take your time." Well, I wiped out my mailbox. The mailbox itself was not destroyed as the post broke near the ground. Pure stupidity on my part. This morning I plowed for the third time after the blizzard and then decided to get some sort of a non-permanent mailbox to hopefully get us through the winter. Using the mailbox with its broken post, I designed a strange looking device. Bought some tubesand to fill buckets to help with the stabling of my invention. Going to give it a try. Did I say I'm ready for April? I'll be able to put a new post in the ground. Until then I hope my invention works.

The entire contraption is for the mailbox. (Photo and caption by Tracy)

Well, we are getting ready for the Super Bowl. We will root for the Patriots. The Seahawks are a good football team and they will be tough to beat. On December 3, 2014 I predicted on this blog that the Patriots would be in the Super Bowl. I thought then they would play and beat the Packers. The Packers didn't make it, and I'm not as confident the Seahawks will be as easy to defeat. We do hope, though! GO, PATS!

My rambling will end now. This makes my proofreader and editor happy. Too long! Sooo....

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Blizzard!

Today's "to-do" list, courtesy of storm Juno:

• Stay home.
• Keep warm.
• Prepare for mini-pilgrimage.
• Read.
• Watch a couple shows.
• Drink hot chocolate!

The Back 40. Photo doesn't capture how white it is with the snow coming down.

The covered part of our porch at 10AM. (Snow not stopping until early tomorrow.)

Not a great shot of our street, but the town plows have been hard at work!

A Final "Meow"

Today we said goodbye to Pepper.

She was a sweet cat.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

What a week . . . especially for football news.

My opinion on the deflated balls issue is that we should not pass judgment on the Patriots organization until all of the facts have been made clear. Many false narratives have already surfaced and there are numerous questions needing answers.

Now let's all have fun watching the Super Bowl in a week, shall we?!

Smile!

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I was going to end my post there, but the week did contain other things of note. For example, Lew replaced the covers on two more dining room chairs and I prepared tax return number one (of four). I made a rice salad for our housechurch group on Thursday night. Yesterday Dad and I went to Best Buy to pick out a tablet for him; he bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (10.1 inch) -- it's pretty cool. Last Sunday afternoon Lew and I were blessed with a visit from our pastor's two young daughters. We love our little friends!