Farewell 2016

Can you believe we are about to embark on a new year? 

Here we are in the twilight hours of another year and the calendar reminds me that it’s time to reflect, time to look back, time to look forward. It’s time to be grateful for days gone by and gaze ahead at the possibilities that are ahead.

2017 is right around the corner. 

When a new year approaches, it seems to roll in with much hope. There are 365 days in a year. No more and no less. {well, except leap year} And even though most of the days on my calendar are blank, God has a plan and a purpose for every single one of those days. 

It's at this time of year that most people often reflect on the year that is ending and make some plans for the year that will begin. Call them whatever you will ... plans, goals, or resolutions.

As I sit here this morning, I’m doing the same thing. 

But for all my retrospective pondering and my future goal setting, I can’t help but realize that I do not hold the future in my hand. All I have is this moment, right here, right now!

There is no promise of tomorrow or next week, or even next month.

In years past I was so busy organizing my days that I would miss the God offered opportunities that come.  I was putting my activities and to-do lists ahead of enjoying the day He made.  

It’s been a number of years now, {thanks to some wise friends} since I’ve given myself permission to let things go. And choose to live in the moments of today, and free myself to do what’s important…

Take Care

After Christmas blues

The stockings are still hung by the chimney with care. 
The Christmas tree continues to glow brightly in the corner of our family room.  But the two presents remaining underneath look a bit lonely. Our kids have gone to back to their own places.  Life has gone back to its normal routine. 

After a wonderful time of celebrating Christmas with our family combining food and games and chatter and photo taking, today it’s quiet… almost too quiet.

For many of us, we plan and prepare for Christmas for weeks. We do all we can to make it a special holiday, but when it passes by all too quickly, and the magic of the season is over, disappointment can set in, and so can the post-Christmas blues.

It’s been a couple of days since the kids were all home and while we had an amazing time together, I now feel a little lost… sure, there’s that post~Christmas cleanup, but, it isn’t the highest priority ~ all I really want to do is find a really good book, grab some more tea and settle in for a day of hibernation!

Even though the day started off a bit “off”, there is a promise tucked away and I can take a deep breath and be reminded of the joy that will come…

Take Care

Our Day

We celebrated Christmas today with our family.

Having so much fun... eating, playing games, eating, opening presents, eating, more games, eating yet again, and of course the traditional family photo.

Now that was a great day!

Take Care

Merry Christmas

Take Care

Home for the Holidays

There's no place like home for the holidays.....

Looking forward to having everyone home!

Take Care

Christmas Snacks

Just a few of our favourite Christmas snacks for you to enjoy!

Nuts & Bolts

4 cups Shreddies

4 cups Rice Chex 

4 cups Cheerios

4 cups Pretzels 
4 cups Peanuts
1 lb butter
2 tsp celery salt 
4 tsp garlic powder
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 250F. 
Mix cereals, pretzels and peanuts is large roaster. 
Melt butter and mix with seasonings and pour over dry ingredients.  
Bake for about 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Microwave Caramel Popcorn 

3 to 5 qt. popped popcorn

½ cup butter

¼ cup corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar

½ tsp baking soda

In microwave, heat butter, brown sugar and corn syrup to boiling. Remove from heat and add baking soda. While still foaming pour over popcorn in a large microwavable bowl and stir well. Microwave on high 1 - 1 ½ minutes.  Stir well.
Repeat two more times…
Store in airtight container.  
Continue to mix, until completely cooled.
Enjoy!

Christmas Crack

1 cup milk chocolate chipits
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup butter
350 g box of Crispix
2 + cups icing sugar

Melt chocolate chipits, peanut butter and butter. Pour over cereal in a large bowl. Mix lightly until cereal is completely covered.  Put icing sugar in an unused clean garbage bag, and pour cereal into bag.  Hold tightly and shake until cereal is coated.  You might need to add more icing sugar to be sure all pieces are covered.  
Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!

Take Care

The Joneses

One of the things I find myself doing when I’m in the midst of an active cycle of my illness is trying to keep up with “the Joneses”. 

I tend to struggle with placing my value and worth on the number of “things” that I’m doing. Then I get overwhelmed trying to juggle it all, and I work harder trying to maintain the status quo. 

I used to be able to multi-task really well. I could read, listen to someone talk, have a conversation, take notes, drink tea, walk and chew gum, all at the same time ~ the list was endless. I could have 5 different tasks going at the same time and never drop the ball. 

And then Fibromyalgia. I’m tired. Very, very tired. Long ago I reached the point of exhaustion that makes you break down and cry. Now it’s just my normal.

I can’t read a book and have a conversation anymore  ~ I either read the same paragraph 3 times or totally ignore the person talking to me. I can’t start a load of laundry and sit down to work because the laundry won’t make it to the dryer for days.

We all want to say “yes” to all of the opportunities that come our way. We all want to do what everyone else is doing, and do it perfectly.  Or maybe, I'm the only one?

I would rather do fewer tasks that serve God well than have too much on my plate and tend them poorly.

I need to make room for the great things that line up with the journey God has planned for me, and to be willing to say no, to what others expect.  But saying “no” without feeling guilty…  that’s a hard one, isn’t it? We can’t do it all, can we? But hey, guess what?  I don't think we’re supposed to.

It’s not always easy to figure out what to do next, especially with Christmas right around the corner.  

So where do we go from here? 

Do we dive into the chaos of the holidays or do we something differently this year? Is there something that God is asking you to step away from that might be good, but not great?  Maybe your “no” will be just the open door someone else has been asking God for. 

Take Care

Colouring 101

As a little girl, one of my favourite pastimes was colouring… and you can bet I worked hard at colouring inside the lines. I would spend hours carefully choosing which crayon to use and would do my utmost best to create that perfect picture.

The Crayola box of 64 colours was my favourite. Suddenly, our choices weren’t limited to 8 or 16 or even 24. A new box meant fresh crayons with no torn paper and sharp new points. They were in neat rows, all the same height in four sections of rainbows. There was even a sharpener on the back of the box. Sadly though, some of my crayons never lost their point because I didn’t use them. I favoured the pinks and purple, a couple of the greens, browns and, quite sparingly, the yellow. But raw umber? Not likely.  Ochre? No thanks.  Definitely not Salmon. Ewww!

The possibilities {or so we thoughtt}  were endless!

These days, I don’t use actual crayons or colouring books… I have a colouring app on my iPad.  

My app has a variety of patterns and with a tap of my finger I colour in the sections on the design I’ve chosen and there’s oh so many more than 64 colours to choose from. If the colour isn’t what I want, with a quick click, another colour appears. It’s fun to try new combinations and learn which shades complement each other and which ones are flat out ugly. 

Art is subjective, of course.

Colouring is one way I practice self-care. It’s a grace I’ve given myself. It’s one simple way for me to decompress. I find that when it feels like the world is moving too fast, colouring is a great way to slow life down and enjoy the freedom there is in creating something beautiful. 

How about you? Did you use all the crayons in the box?

Take Care

Misfits

After more than 50 years, the 1964 holiday special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer is perhaps one of the best Christmas stories.

Narrated by Burl Ives, Sam the Snowman tells the tale of a young red-nosed reindeer who, after being teased and shunned by the other reindeer because of his beaming nose, teams up with Hermey, an elf who wants to be a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, the prospector. They run into the Abominable Snowman and find a whole island of misfit toys. Rudolph becomes a hero when he guides Santa through the storm and enables him to deliver Christmas presents to children all over the world. 

During one of the scenes Hermey & Rudolph sing their song about being misfits. 

Sadly, I can identify with these two. There are days when I too feel like I am a misfit. Not quite fitting in, not one of the ‘in’ crowd, desperately trying to find my place. It's something I really struggle with, especially at this time of year.  Everyone {or so it seems} has plans to gather together and I admit to feeling left out.

Perhaps you too have felt this way a time or two? 

So let me remind you that even though it may feel like you’re a misfit and that you don’t belong ~ it’s simply not true… God has a plan, purpose and a path for each of us just like it says in: Jeremiah 29:11 {New International Version} {NIV}} “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Even us misfits!

Take Care

Movie Mayhem

As the Christmas season approaches, I look forward to watching all my favourites.

Somehow it really doesn't feel like Christmas until, I've watched most/all of them…

Which ones can't you miss?

Take Care 

Let the Countdown begin

Take Care