Saturday's Scribbles

It is Saturday once again, and January has "left the building"!  Yay!  February has come to stay and I am more than happy about that, even with the cold, wind, and snow hanging around.  Last Sunday a blizzard closed roads and kept us inside while winds howled at 40-50 mph, snow fell, and temperatures took a nose dive.  I have to say, dealing with  -40 wind chills is getting old!  Thursday morning we woke up to icy roads, but up here in the upper Midwest we are used to it and the snow plows had things under control quickly.  Not like poor Atlanta and other areas of the south.  Now we have snow once again, and Joel is out snowblowing the driveway.

Speaking of Sunday, Joel started his new support pastor part time position nearly two weeks ago and preached for the first time last week ~ a powerful sermon! (not that I am biased or anything).   He will preach every other week, and helps with visitation, meetings, and where he is needed. 

Speaking of February, today is our grandson's birthday (happy birthday buddy) and my sister Jan's birthday, too.  Seventy-one years separate them, but my sister Jan looks and acts much younger than her age.  You go girl!!  We had hoped to be visiting them this month in warm Arizona, but alas we are grounded here for now.

 

Happy Birthday Janey!!

Love you!!

We called and talked to our grandson this morning and to my sister Jan too.  FUN.  Janey often calls me "sister Renee" and she did it so often at one time that some of her friends actually thought I was a nun.  (giggle).  It is just her special name for her "baby" sister who is bigger and looks older than she does!  How did that happen?!

Even in the bad weather we have made it to the church or mall to walk every day but Sunday.  I decided I needed to lengthen my walks, so this week we have walked for 45 minutes instead of 30-35 minutes.  It has gone well.   I keep telling myself I will also put in the Tai Chi DVD that my son-in-law's sister gave me when we were in CT., but so far I have not.  Sigh....We have been eating salads for lunch which is giving us the leafy greens we need.  Baby steps.  Joel was looking for a honey mustard dressing when we were shopping and the list of ingredients was soooo long and complicated that I decided to try to find one I could make with all healthy ingredients.  I found several but picked a simple one that turned out to taste "great" according to Joel.  It has 1/4 c. plain yogurt, 1/4 cup mustard of your choice, and 1/4 cup raw organic honey.  It made a very nice creamy dressing and we were able to save money and avoid corn syrup or other sweeteners and oils.  Yes!  I usually make one from apricot fruit only jelly and olive oil.  I added yogurt to mine and it gave it a nice thickness it did not have before.  Maybe I can find a few more to try. 

I have been reading a Cleo Coyle coffeehouse mystery this week along with Heidi Baker's new book, "Birthing The Miraculous".  I also am finishing Ann Voskamp's advent book, "The Greatest Gift" and we are still reading "The Jesus Book" by Michael Koulianos.  I think I better focus on one or two at a time :-) so I can keep them straight.  Ha..  This is Super Bowl weekend, but since we are not football fans we plan to rent a movie if we can find one worth watching.  Otherwise we will tune in to Downton Abby.  What are you doing this weekend?

Until next time...........