My Reading Blog

A summer evening Warm, but not too hot Calm, smooth water Setting sun Thunderclouds building And then disappearing Puffy clouds  Imagination of figures in the sky Fishing jumping A cool dip off the back of the boat Yummy food to nourish Great conversations Sharing our cares and concerns The sun disappears The stars come out Peacefulness abounds Time to head to the dock What better way to spend an evening? Good friends, Good food, God's blessings beyond compare!

TODAY I feel the warmth of the sun on my face. TODAY I hear the birds singing their lilting songs. TODAY I see the squirrels running and playing in the front yard. TODAY I walk on dry (no snow) pavement. TODAY I smell the aroma of a fireplace filled with embers. TODAY I sense that SPRING is in the air. TODAY I enjoy all of God's blessings in His perfect creation.

Every Saturday morning, I call my friend who is 94 years old.  Grace has always been very active and has a sharp mind.  Last August, she fell, fractured a bone in her leg and had to have surgery.  She also has macular degeneration, but continues to read as much as possible.  She finally gave up driving and now has to rely on others to take her places or to ride the senior's bus to Walmart. Last Saturday was no different, I called her and she was feeling pretty chipper.  She always asks about my walk with Max and what the weather is like.  After we chatted for a while, she said, "I did something naughty yesterday.  My son would disown me if I told him."  I asked what she did and she said, "I was bored and tired of seeing everything the same.  Since I couldn't get out, I decided to move my living room furniture around so that I had a different view."  I scolded her, but she said that she was happy with the new look.  Can you blame...

It's been a while - a long while - since I've actually sat down to look at my pictures and decide which ones to put in a scrapbook.  I've made plenty of cards and have lots of paper, but haven't had the motivation to actually work on a scrapbook.  I have several of them  "in progress", but.... So while visiting Michelle, I went to Hobby Lobby (we don't have a craft store near us).  I picked up several 3 ring binders - I got tired of fighting with the post binders.  When I got home, I started moving finished (or almost finished) pages to the new binders.  Only then did I discover that the last year I scrapped Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures was 2009.  Yikes.  As I said, it's been a while. Last Friday, I found the pictures for the missing years and vowed that I would work diligently to get a few pages completed each day of the weekend.  I guess what I "think" doesn't always actually get completed.  But, Monday, that was the day!...

 I've been waiting and searching for my OLW for 2014 and as many of you have said, "it just seemed to find me".  I thought I had my word and then this one appeared on another blog and my "Aha" moment hit me. I thought that's what I want to do with my life in 2014 - to embrace it fully. By definition embrace means:  1) clasp in the arms - hug, cherish, encircle, enclose; 2) to take up readily or gladly - to welcome; 3) to take in (an opportunity). And so, this year I plan to be more diligent at looking for those people, opportunities, and challenges that I can embrace and hold close.  I've always been a hugger and I hope with the skill already in place, I can look for more ways to embrace my life's happenings this year. This quote was also on Sheila's BookJourney blog and I thought it very appropriate.