Not a Typical Sunday

Sunday morning we received a phone call that our church was cancelling services.  I was kind of glad because we were not going to make it anyway.  At least now I wasn’t going to miss anything!  I was not going because I had been sick for the past two days and still not feeling that great.  Wally was not going to make it because he was looking at hours of snow plowing and shoveling.  Yes, finally we were going to get some snow!!.  I had even received a message on my cell phone of a blizzard warning for Sunday.  That’s a first!  

Wally was already in snow removal mode on Saturday.  He called to reserve day laborers to help shovel…we are responsible to hand shovel snow from the driveways and sidewalks of 125 residents.  Wally also checked the Kubota to be sure it was gassed up and that there was plenty of diesel on hand for refueling.  He plows the visitor parking spaces and the parking lot at the clubhouse.  Our main streets are contracted out. Then the continual checking of the forecast began.  I think Wally got up every couple hours in the night to see if the snow had begun yet…honestly, our forecasters have not been very accurate this year at all.  But this round they got it…

This is Wally’s assistant, Nathanael.  He fills in for Wally if he is ever gone but he is also on call to assist in the snow removal.  His main job is to oversee the hand shovelers.  Nate has done this since we took over but this was his last week with us.  He has been going to school and seeking a career in law enforcement and it is time for him to move on.  Wally has said numerous times how much he is going to miss Nate.  I will too.  He always has a nice smile and laugh going on.  He is a hard worker and very dependable!  Tough qualities to replace these days. 

We usually feed our day laborers.  They come form all walks of life and we never know when they may have eaten last.  Twelve men arrived about noon and started in shoveling.  They worked around the circle until about 4:00 and then I had a crock pot of chili and a pan of hotdogs ready for them.  I also made these lazy day cookies, which I found on Pinterest.  (I found them when I was surfing around on my sick bed.)  So easy and so good!

The snow and wind were still falling and blowing.  So the guys went back out and re-shoveled the neighborhood.  They finally quit about 8:00 and we had some Papa Murphy’s pizzas for them.  Five of them came back on Monday to shovel yet a third time!  That’s a lot of shoveling!  Wally said we got about 12”. The news said 9”, but they were inside!  And the moisture will be so good! 

I have to say I’m glad this isn’t a typical Sunday.  I missed going to church.  I missed the great music and I missed our Pastor’s teaching.  We are just getting acquainted with people at this church and I missed the fellowship we have been finding there.  I also missed the rest of the day.  And it makes for a long week! 

A Tea-Riffic Idea

Awhile back I came across an idea for a gift card wallet.  One creative person made it into a tea-wallet.  I thought it would be a cute idea for Birthday gifts to my sisters.  Then I got a little overwhelmed with Christmas card making…did I ever share that I made cards for all the residents here at Polo Club? Wally even helped me do a lot of the cutting.  So I put Robin’s gift on hold and told her it was coming.  In January when it was Jo’s birthday, I was still a little overwhelmed, this time with thank you cards.  I think I made 63 thank-you’s  for the residents who also gave us gifts over Christmas…I’m thinking I did not share that either.  Probably I was overwhelmed! 

Well I finally got my tea wallets made and delivered.  Yes, Robin’s Birthday was in October but she just got hers last week.  Jo’s was not quite that lat.  I’m a big believer in “better late than never!”   They really turned out cute!

You could put just about anything in the little pockets. Since Jo’s wallet was her entire gift, I put a Starbuck’s gift card and some cash in the little pockets. She is having a little get away with her roommate and I thought she might get to do some shopping.

Oh and here’s my Christmas cards.  I did not use my belief in “better late than never” here, they were all made and delivered by mid-December.

Thankful Thursday

Happy Valentine’s Day!  It has been a nice day with my Valentine!  We have never been big Valentine’s Day celebrators…a little candy and  a card maybe.   It is one holiday that does not stress out my husband too much.  In fact Valentine’s  Day and our Anniversary are two events that Wally never seems to mind taking part in or spending money on.  He even gets into it whole-heartedly!  Tonight he is fixing me dinner.  He asked me to get him a table cloth, candles, the china, and my iPod with some nice music!  Pretty nice, huh?  Now it’s not like that every year.  There’s been some years  he was at the store the day after to get a card and a time or two my Valentine was a make-up card!  Still, all in all, I am blessed to have Wally as my husband.   I am thankful for him…and that he wants me for his Valentine! 

Here’s what Wally brought home for dinner…a fresh lobster from the Cherry Crest Restaurant.  We did this once years ago, bought a bucket and went home and boiled dinner!  This year Wally planned “surf and turf!”

He gathered all his favorites from favorite restaurants…from the Outback he brought home our salads.  From the Buckhorn Exchange he brought their homemade Ranch dressing.  I don’t know what they put in it , but it is really good!   And for dessert, Buttermilk Pie from No-No’s .   

Here is what I provided…the tablecloth, the candles, the china and the iPod.  Wally put it all to good use, in front of the fireplace in the clubhouse.

Pretty big lobster…glad Wally knows what to do with it.  I just had to eat the meat he pulled out of the inside!  And it was delish!

Happy Valentine's Day
and
Thank You Wally!!!

Thankful Thursday

Editor’s Note:  I know it is no longer Thursday and that my Dad’s Birthday was yesterday.  But if you won’t stress about that, neither will I!

Today is my Dad’s Birthday.  He is now 87 years old and how thankful I am for my Dad!  Eighty-seven years, that is a l-o-n-g time! I look back at the changes that I have had in my life and I am amazed.  I mean my high school years are now referred to as “retro” and  I guess retro is really in!  I find that interesting since I was never “in” in high school but now I am!  So I try to imagine what it is like to look back on the changes that  87 years bring, and all of the experiences and events that have been part of my Dad’s life.  What a lot of living!  Here at the Polo Club I am living among people who are in the same stage of life as my parents.  They have wonderful stories to tell.  They live in circles of affluence that I did not know existed.  They travel and have multiple homes.  They have lived successful and prosperous lives…as the world counts success and prosperity.  But the Bible describes success and prosperity much differently~

Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from you mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

I am beyond blessed to have a Dad who has a life of success and prosperity from God’s point of view.  I know that is rare even among Christian families.  I know too that my Dad is not perfect or without mistakes in his life.  His life is just rooted in God’s Word.  It changed him when he trusted the words in it to save him from his sin and to give him a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It has changed him each day of his new life, making him to be more and more like Christ.

My Dad has spent many hours of his life reading and studying God’s Word.  Since I was a little girl I have had the example of an open Bible somewhere in our home.  I can remember my Dad reading the “Our Daily Bread” devotional around the breakfast table every morning before he left out the back door for work.  It is still the same today~he reads the Bible, he listens to Bible teaching on the radio, he has his favorite Bible teachers on the t.v., he attends Bible Study Fellowship, he is faithful to God’s House each Sunday taking in the Word. Even after all these years, he always has something new to share that he has discovered!  Once he and my Mom took a Bible class in prophecy.  I don’t know if that got him started or not, but he loves prophecy.  He is always focused on the imminent return of the Lord. 

Just in case you think sitting around reading the Bible is kind of boring, let me remind you my Dad had six kids. He did attend the sporting events and school programs.  There were lots of activities to get to.  He kept a huge garden for a lot of years.  There were picnics and outings to the mountains. He worked hard in road construction and for a number of years he worked a second job.  He taught Sunday School for a lot of years and was active in his church.  The point is, he had a full and busy life, but he chose to make God’s Word a priority in it.  Oh how I need to follow his example!

Success and prosperity have little to do with riches and life accomplishments here on earth.  But it is all about the riches and accomplishments done here on earth for God’s glory.  It is knowing God and seeing things from His point of view, then bringing yourself into alignment with that.  My Dad understood that!  And he has a very successful and prosperous life! 

Here’s Mom and Dad.  They had this photo taken last year for their 60th Wedding Anniversary~

Here is our family from Christmas 2012 when Nathan was home.  Add to this spouses, twelve grandchildren, many of which also have spouses and twelve great-grandchildren, plus at least two more are on the way!  Way to be prosperous Dad!

I love it when I get to observe Grandpa with his grandkids. I snapped this picture as we were breaking up for Christmas Eve this year…a little one on one time with Andrea. My Dad loves his grandkids.  He faithfully prays for them, takes an interest in them and does all he can to support them. I’m pretty sure they all love him just as much!

Here’s a picture of the “Singing Paulino’s” with a little bit of the '”retro” that I mentioned earlier!

So, maybe I should clarify the above picture…Paul is our last name and none of those guys sing…very well.  Marty had long hair because he was growing it out for a fundraiser for his camp, not because he has a little “hippie” left.  Scott does not play the piano…he plays the accordion! And Nate was home from Malaysia and brought all these cool shirts as gifts, so they were trying them on! 

We are all getting together for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate Dad.  But yesterday Mom and Dad came by to pick something up and we went to lunch together.  So here’s a fresh off the press Birthday photo of Dad and I. 

I am so very blessed!

What a Card!

I love this picture of my sister, Jo.  She cracks me up!  She was working hard when she looked up at me over her glasses!

Every year for as long as I can remember I have received a card in the mail from JoEllen on my Birthday.  When I got married, Wally started getting one too.  When we had kids, they all began to get cards also.  Multiply this by the six siblings in my family…and all their spouses…and all their kids!  Whew, that’s a lot of cards.  But guess what?  Jo’s nieces and nephews grew up, got married and started having babies!  So the cards multiplied to another generation!  Do you know who accomplishes this feat each year?  My Mom. And she has done it for years!  She collects the cards and has Jo sign them when she is at home, addresses the envelopes and sends them back to Shepherd’s with Jo.  If Mom doesn't get it done by the time Jo leaves from her Christmas visit, Jo kind of nags her until she sends them in the mail.  It’s true, Jo can be a little naggy!  And I’m pretty sure she hounds her poor housemother at the beginning of each month to get the cards in the mail on time.  She looks at the calendar, and she can recognize the names and she really knows when the Birthdays are coming!

This year I thought I would help my Mom out. So for Christmas I was going to make a card box for JoEllen and put a few cards into it for her.  Then I thought I would have her over one day and we could make up a few more.   But, on one of my trips to Sam’s Club I saw a pretty cute card box for only $8.00…and it had a lot of cards inside.  So I bought that instead.  I am so glad I did too!!  On the day Jo came over to make cards, I was a bit flabbergasted to look at the list…43 Birthday Cards!  Who are all these people?  A good chunk of the Birthdays I did not even have written down anywhere.  Not to mention Anniversaries…I asked Mom if she sends out Anniversary cards too?  “No,” she replied, “we dropped those a few years ago!” I guess I do not think of all my family as much as I thought I did!  And I’m pretty sure there are a lot of family members that probably do not send Jo a card on her Birthday!

So here is Jo working on some of her cards…

She liked using the Sizzix to cut and emboss.

Here’s a few favorite cards.  I tried to be sure Jo’s brothers and sisters had a handmade card.  Many other family members did as well, but I did use my Cricut to mass produce a few! 

In addition to making the cards, Jo signed them.  That was a lot of work for her!  I hope this doesn’t spoil it for you Robin, but I thought it was so precious, I took a picture! 

The card box all loaded and organized!  And one tired but satisfied card maker!

 I know there have been lots of times I have taken Jo’s card for granted when it arrives.  I have often thought, “It’s just a card.”  Now I know the work that is behind getting that card in the mail.  If ever a card is sent with thoughtfulness, it is from Jo…she truly is thinking of me!