Wednesday, November 19, 2008

MORNING SONG

When we were little girls, during the school year Mom would come to each of our bedrooms, open the door and turn on the overhead light to wake us. Many mornings, she'd be humming or singing a song. When I reached the grumpy teenage years, I would grumble and think, "MOM! It's too early to be that cheerful!". I never actually said the words out loud because I wanted to achieve adulthood.

Now, though, I find myself singing just as she did, even when I'm alone. And every day I wake up with a song in my head. For awhile now, it's been Mama Mia or Dancing Queen or Chiquitita -- I just LUVD the Mama Mia movie and I've had a blast singing along with the CD. Sometimes it's something from the Flylady CD, Up Kind of Day because they're so upbeat and fun. And sometimes it's old showtunes -- just love old showtunes.

However, this morning the lyrics-of-the-day are "I love you Lord and I lift my voice to worship you, Oh my soul rejoice". This is a good version of the song and it includes lyrics so you can share in the fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNeeHbM7Og&feature=related

Have a truly BLESSED ... and musical ... Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

MY MORNING COFFEE

I'm a cup kinda gal! I LUV coffee cups and tea cups. When I go shopping/looking at Tuesday Morning or Ross or Macy's, I check out the cups. I saw one at Macy's last Saturday that was really beautiful, but I couldn't find a price on it -- I suspect it's part of a set of china.

Sometimes I buy two cups that are just alike and give one to a friend ... or a sister ... same thing. Then when I use my matching cup, I think loving thoughts about her and I feel close to her. Sometimes I drink my morning coffee from a sassy cup I got from Hallmark that says "Live Boldly. Take Risks. Make somebody say, What the H&ll was THAT all about?". Frequently my morning coffee is in a large, spring green cup from Starbucks that feels really good in my hand. It feels perky and I like that.

Then sometimes I use the cup below. Why do I have this cup in my collection? And why do I continue to use it? Many years ago when the boys were very young I saw a set of pretty cups at Eckerds that I really wanted. But at the time we were bone poor and I couldn't afford the $5.00 to buy them. Whenever I would stop at the pharmacy for necessities -- with young boys there are always necessities at the pharmacy -- I would linger on the aisle containing the cups and ponder buying them, but I knew I couldn't -- there were necessities that I could hardly afford, so pretty cups were very low on the list of things I could buy. However, when I got my tax return that year, I ran right down to buy those cups for myself. It was my big splurge. And I've been using them ever since. That's twenty plus years! Over time, this cup got chipped, but it's still a favorite. Something about the colors still please me. And the chip reminds me that at one time in my life I couldn't afford to splurge on a pretty cup. I'm thankful for the blessings God showers on me and I remind myself of how far He's brought me. Praise be to God!


Monday, November 17, 2008

Thanksgiving's Coming!

I've been so busy with etsy and ebay that my days are filled to the brim and overflowing. I got my etsy shop set up http:littlesassy.etsy.com and it's been an interesting journey so far. I've also set up an additional blog at http://littlesassysews.blogspot.com/ that will just be about the products I'm making. This Daisy J blog is more about the other - non-commercial - side of me.

We kicked off the Christmas buying season on Saturday at Tuesday Morning in Denton. Good place to start, huh? We progressed to the mall and wound up the afternoon in Starbucks, having a Froufrou coffee and biscotti. It's pitiful to get pooped out so easily by the Christmas shopping! I know they are saying the Christmas shopping numbers are down but you couldn't prove it by me. It was a madhouse in JC Penney!

On Sunday afternoon Bob and I went sailing at Lake Ray Roberts. We love to go up to the Johnson Branch of the state park and launch from there. There aren't as many people there as Isle du Bois, so it's more pleasant for us. When a motorboat launches, it's pretty much put it in the water and go. When a sailboat launches, you get the boat in the water, if you can (winds and traffic being what they are) you turn the boat around so it faces toward the lake, you drop the centerboard, you raise the sails, you push the boat from the dock and step inside before it gets away from you. THEN you sail away. It's the same sort of process when you're docking only in reverse. As a result, a ramp with fewer boats is lots better than a busy ramp that has boats in queue waiting for an open ramp.

While shopping yesterday at Macy's we found this compact speaker arrangement that works with MP3/ipod for only $10.00. It has a carabiner so we can clip it to the boat and not worry about it getting knocked around or falling overboard. So we sailed around for a couple of hours listening to Yo Yo Ma's wonderful cello. How relaxing. It was great. Bob said he was going to call Mark to tell him he'd been sailing with yo ma and yo yo ma! My DH is so funny!

Speaking of Mark, he has a girlfriend! Her name is Lindsey and I really like her. She's smart, pretty, articulate and poised. He is in LUV! He's also getting laid off come December 1st, so if you hear of a job in North Texas, let me know. I think he has a (temporary) prospect of a tree trimming job, but he's looking for something with future, benefits and permanence. It's a scary time to be out of a job.

I'm going to try to perfect buttermilk pie this week -- I keep getting it wrong! I thought I'd see what Martha has to say about it and maybe check some other experts. I love buttermilk pie and even when it looks like cr&p it still tastes good, but I'd like it to be pretty also. I think the problem has something to do with the temperature of the ingredients, but I'm not sure. If you've got any suggestions, please leave a comment.

I'd better go now - got some research to do. Gee, being a housewife is fun! Wish I'd done this years ago!