Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where the roller coaster ride with the weather continues.  It was near 50 here Thursday and Friday and now today we will be peaking at 25 degrees!  Ugh....Spring just can't get a hold this year, as you all know.  The brown grass is much more evident than the snow, but the white is still hanging around. 

Speaking of white, Joel and I were able to walk outside twice this week and when we went down by the river there were still huge ice chunks on the banks where they had been pushed up along with dead trees.  It was quite an ice jam this year.....I took a few pictures to share.

Along the river

Ice on banks

Joel standing next to an ice chunk on bank

Speaking of ice, we received a phone call this week from a neighbor who had fallen outside when his cane hit an icy patch.  This man has MD and a peg leg and had hit his face on the cement,  so needed a bit of help getting up .  I say a bit, because he does he more than most fully abled men in their seventies.  He gardens more easily now with the help of a stool Joel adjusted for him and he has a riding lawn mower.  Where there is a will there is a way, right?

Well, last week I shared how our water pipes froze.  Our 4 neighbors still have frozen pipes but Joel and I went out and prayed over the ground ( I know, strange, huh?) and the pipes opened and we have had water ever since.  Our water angel is back....We also got our first water bill from having it run 24/7 in one or two sinks?  It was nearly 4 TIMES the usual cost.  Ugh.......But we are grateful for water and the warmer weather that just has to come to stay soon.....After all, Spring is now officially here ~~on the calendar at least!

Even with the bitter cold temperatures hanging around, the robins are back in full force because they know it's Spring!  We have a house with 5 levels ( even with 2 levels only being a bedroom on each it is too big and thas oo many stairs) but only 9 windows in the whole place because they are big big windows.  Anyway, birds have a tendency to run into these big windows and we already had one knock himself silly.  I took a picture of the robin mostly because his feathers were ruffled to stay warm.  He sat quite awhile in the same spot until I opened the door, talked to him and startled him into action. 

Speaking of Spring, I celebrated another birthday this week.  I had big plans to get out somewhere since I spent so many years at home, but Joel got sick.  yep.  A nasty bug attacked.  Joel was so sweet in hunting down a pair of pink leather shoes that I really liked but that the store did not have in my size.  He went back later and ordered them for me after searching others places in town, and they arrived the day before my birthday. I was so surprised!  Problem was, they were too big.  They are a half size smaller than I usually wear and they are still way to big!  Felt so bad since he worked so hard to find them for me!  What a wonderful man I am married to.  I did walk that day on my own outside which was nice and enjoyed plenty of phone calls from family.  I am 66 years plus 2 days young now and grateful for every single sunrise!

Speaking of birthdays it was also time to renew my driver's license or it would expire, so we both went it to renew together.  I believe Iowa has the absolute worst license pictures in the country.  They make you take off your glasses and will not let you show your teeth when you smile.  My picture looks like a mug shot and Joel attempted to smile with his mouth closed so looks like a loopy clown!  The clerk kept calling Joel Mr. Giggles for some reason.  Maybe the photo.  We laughed so hard we had tears.  Seriously, it will be a lesson in humility to show these licenses as id's. 

The terrible mystery continues with the lost Malaysian plane. Closure will be difficult for loved ones. So sad.  So another reason not to fly over oceans anymore......we did that going and coming from the Philippines.  when we came home after two years it was an 18 hour trip, with stops in Guam and Hawaii, hours and hours over the ocean.....with a 6 and 5 year old and 2 babies and 9 pieces of luggage.  Seriously.  The kids were great, it was carting the luggage around that was challenging because those that would be of help were on strike at the airport.  We were so excited to be back in America I don't think we cared.  One funny story....we had to go through customs and immigration with the babies being Filipino, but when we put ALL the luggage up on the moving counters to be checked, and each of us walked up with a baby and a child in tow, they looked at us and said, "Just go on through..." (giggle)

This past Sunday afternoon we watched the movie, Captain Phillips.  It was so intense I had to get up and leave the room a few times.  When it was over we went for a long walk outside just to get rid of the pent up tension.  The movie was very well written and powerful.  Joel and I both loved it and Tom Hanks did a great job along with the Somali actor Barkhad Abdi.  We would recommend it to everyone,  if you are not faint of heart.  We also watched Dancing with the Stars...wooohoooo and the second episode of Resurrection.  We made a decision to no longer watch that show, though.  There is an evil undertone that we are not willing to partner with.  Castle was hysterically funny this week!  Joel and I laughed until tears were running down our faces. 

I made homemade chicken vegetable soup yesterday since Joel has been fighting some kind of cruddy bug and the cold returned,  but I am declaring it is the last of the cold weather soups we will need until next fall!  Spring is here............somewhere.

We also watched a conference held at Charis Bible College and a couple of sermons online.  My reading this week consisted mostly of my second time through Heidi Baker's book, "Birthing the Miraculous" and articles in the Guideposts, Mysterious Ways, and Angels Unaware magazines that are next to my bed.  What have you been reading?  Doing?

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