March | 2013 | No Whining Allowed

Potent Quotable

March 31, 2013 at 6:54 AM (Potent Quotable)

And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here. ~St Augustine

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time. ~Martin Luther

Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation. ~ John MacArthur, Preacher

Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection. ~ Watchman Nee, Christian Author & Church Leader

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then his death was a failure, God did not vindicate his sin-bearing achievement, and we are still in our sins. ~ John Piper, Preacher & Author

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (NIV)

Conversation with a Groundhog

March 26, 2013 at 6:25 AM (Confessions, Help Me Please)

It’s March 26th, don’t you think a little spring is in order?

I am sure they pay you the big bucks to make this prediction.

Well, maybe not the big bucks, but surely room and board and health care.

Don’t you stand by your work?

We had better get some spring around here or someone might lose their job.

You are throwing off our groove!

Up here in Michigan, we need something to look forward to.

Keelyody and I would like to start the 2013 walking season, preferably NOT in snow flurries.

Or ice on the ground.

Why you do us like that?

Get it together man!

2 Comments

Celebrations!

March 25, 2013 at 9:39 AM (Family Life, Our Boy)

Good Monday!

First of all, I have something I need to say.

phil the liar

Thank you for your time.

We have had ourselves a busy week and weekend! The Boy and The Dane arrived on Saturday the 16th and got themselves all engaged and such! We also celebrated my Dad’s 75th birthday over the weekend, so clearly, it has been a life changing several days!

Some things were not new. Such as The Bothering. It should be an Olympic game.

With gold, silver and bronze medals.

And rests between matches.

Introducing The Dane as his fiancé was new!

Announcing it to Stacey, Goomba, Beeve and The Grandpa was new! Combining celebrations was not new around here.

Goomba was a little surprised and a little not. He is very happy to welcome The Dane into the family, but he was hoping she would wait to marry him.

The Grandpa is pretty spry for 75! He has been spending a good deal of time helping his church with some construction work. Tiling and drywall are things he does well. There are not many things he hasn’t done! They are lucky to have him and all of his expertise!

He was also glad to be reunited with his ball cap, that has been kicking around unclaimed and lonely in our coat closet for forever. Kentucky Jim from Caregroup had graciously offered to take it off our hands. Sorry Kentucky Jim!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

I just like this picture of The Dane. There is no story here.

The Boy has made it his duty to show Goomba the ropes of the Olympic sport of Bothering. Isn’t that a Bible verse? Train up a child in the sport of Bothering and when he is old he won’t depart from it? Or something like that.

There was chasing. And hoisting. A sweaty twosome.

A threatened swirlie.

A clean shot!

The Boy and The Dane head back to Chicago tomorrow night. They have outed themselves on Facebook, so there is no one in the whole wide world that doesn’t know! When they arrive, there will be much congratulating and back slapping and many plans to be made!

5 Comments

Potent Quotable-Engaged!

March 24, 2013 at 6:49 AM (Family Life, From the Heart, Potent Quotable)

Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is a winding path walked arm in arm. ~Robert Brault

Love, and a cough, cannot be hid. ~George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, 1651

Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there is plenty of room at both ends. ~Author Unknown

[W]hen you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. ~Nora Ephron

10 Comments

The F-List

March 22, 2013 at 7:24 AM (Confessions, Family Life, Friends, From the Heart, Honey, Lists, Television, The Ab-Cat)

Hi Guys!

I don’t know about Y’All, but I am SO ready for a list. It just soothes my brain to be somewhat random. Just take that somewhat right out of there.

I don’t know if you have heard, but there is bogus propaganda out there claiming it is spring. Whatever we have going on up here in The Mitten, it ain’t spring.

Have you been watching American Idol? OH.MY.WORD!!!!!! Some of those girls are RIDICULOUSLY good! I could not predict a winner here if my life depended on it. Some seriously talented girl singers.

You know what would be a sad thing? Being a guy on this season of American Idol.

I think it is safe to say that Mariah Carey is the new Paula. Every time she talks, Honey says “what is she saying?”. He now fast forwards through her, just saves time.

Unfortunately for Randy, his close proximity to Mariah causes his comments to also be lost.

One of the things that I find particularly sweet about Keith Urban, which I also found sweet about Steven Tyler, is he really appreciates music and good singers, even if the music is not his genre. He ENJOYS listening and it shows in his expressions and movements.

Randy is still…… Randy, and I am ok with that.

Nikki Minaj. That girl deserves her OWN post. I will say one thing. Waffles. That’s all you need to know.

I tried to watch the first episode of Downton Abbey on the DVR in a moment of downtime. It was pixilating ALL OVER THE PLACE! No spell check, I don’t want to use the word pixilation, THAT makes no sense.

I was discouraged, and have not taken the necessary steps to watch it on Hulu, or whatever.

Therefore, there is still the entire third season of Downton Abbey, taking up valuable percentage space in our DVR.

Ab-Cat mentions this to me. Regularly.

She is the DVR percentage police at our house. She runs a tight ship.

The entire final season of Fringe is also there. It chafes her.

I had lunch with Jip the Farm Dog and CMB on Wednesday. It was particularly nice to dine together because it had been such a very long time since we were all available to do so.

We discussed life, the lives of our children, problems, and and thorny, complicated issues. At the end of our time together, CMB commented that we had tackled much heavier content than usual. She was right.

Life can be difficult and confusing.

We all agree that life without Jesus would be unappealing in dealing with these matters.

I had another long awaited lunch with Capri Deb yesterday. Similar topics were discussed. Much was pondered.

Our lesson in BSF this week was about Jacob and Esau, reconciliation and forgiveness.

We serve a personal and on time God.

I am reminded,

Genesis 18:14

Is anything too hard for the LORD?

Have a good weekend. Remember what you know.

2 Comments

March 21, 2013 at 5:28 AM (Pinterest)

1 Comment

Wednesday Hodgepodge

March 20, 2013 at 5:27 AM (Mr. Linky Things)

Hi Guys! Thanks for Hodgepodging, if you would like to join us, spring on over to Joyce’s and join the fun!

1. March 20th is the first day of spring…is she a lion or a lamb in your part of the world?

Total lion. Yesterday, I thought the wind would snatch me bald! But it can be 24 degrees one day and then 55 the next, that is our state slogan, Pure Michigan.
2. What’s the most dreaded task on your spring clean to-do list? Do you have a ‘plan of attack’?

I dread cleaning windows. I think my plan of attack might be to hire out.
3. Peas…love ’em or hate ’em? What’s a favorite dish you make using peas?

I like them in things, I don’t know that I would enjoy a big bowl of peas only.
4. Do you feel under appreciated?

Who doesn’t at some time or another? I don’t regularly feel under appreciated by anyone.
5. Have you been using Google Reader? If so, what are you switching to now that GR has announced retirement? If not, how do you read your favorite blogs?
It will not affect me one iota. I kick it old school and have a folder in my favorites where I keep my blobs.

6. Anne Bradstreet is credited with the following quote~
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
Agree or Disagree? Why?

I totally agree. Up here in The Mitten we have such extreme changes in weather. Just as one season gets tiresome,we are always very ready to receive the next one. I think it is also appropriate in life. You never appreciate a calm season of life more than after a harrowing bout of adversity. I speak from experience.
7. When did you last ‘spring for something’? What was it?

I am not sure I get this one. Does this mean the last time I paid for something for someone, or the last time I splurged? I bought lunch on Sunday. Splurged? Hmmmm. I bought these today at Sam’s.

Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranate

I had bought a little bag at Meijer’s earlier in the week and we snarfed them down! I paid almost $4 for that tiny bag! The one I bought today was $10 for 2 lbs. A much better deal, but a splurge because do we really need 2 lbs of treats?!

8. Insert your own random thought here?
Evidently, we DO need 2 pounds of treats!!!

Have a good week!

6 Comments

Thank You Lord

March 19, 2013 at 8:06 AM (Around Our House, Honey)

We prayed that there would be no big snow in The Mitten, and that nothing would break at our house while we were on vacation. We have occasionally experienced breakage whenever Honey leaves town to hunt and gather fish. Garage door coil breakage, pool pump spewing, and other things that are not coming to mind. It was important that there be no major issues because The Ab-Cat was home alone, and that could have been disastrous. Not to mention we would have had to call in the Calvary to help her and then our problems would have become their problems.

She sailed on through with no problems, thank you Lord!!!

However, right before we went away, Honey discovered a crack in our basement wall that was leaking much water, because we were having much melt-age.

The leak was in his workroom, which is the very best place for us to have a leak because it is the only unfinished part. There were many phone calls with words like life time guarantee and size of crack involved. A very nice gentleman with a southern accent came yesterday to fix it. Hopefully, it will do the trick. Again, thank you Lord!!!

When I woke up yesterday and left the warm-ish cocoon of our bedroom, the first thing I noticed upon entering our family room was DANG, it was chilly out there! It is usually the exact opposite experience. I called Honey, who was still at work, and casually mentioned that it was 59 degrees in our house. No doubt it wasn’t any colder because we have zone heating and the back heater of our house had been running constantly, trying to make up the difference. He checked it out when he came home and said the fan was running but the gas thingy was not working. That answer will probably be good enough for everyone reading this here blob with the exception of BFG and Warren. Sorry Guys. I have no picture of the furnace because I wouldn’t know what I was looking for, and furnaces look even more boring than cracks in walls.

When Honey called to have a guy come out, they didn’t have anyone available until this morning. I am glad he came at 8:05 sharp because it is 20 degrees out there with flurries. And AGAIN I say, thank you LORD!!!!!!!

So, what’s new with you?

2 Comments

Jiggedy Jig-The Tail End

March 18, 2013 at 8:42 AM (Family Life, Honey, Muggins Q. Mouse, Trips)

Let’s head back to our Florida vacation and wrap it up, if you don’t mind.

I still haven’t talked to my Uncle Bob to hear if he ever spoke on the phone with his long lost friend, Fred Hill. Which is kind of surprising, as we talked on the phone about 14 times a day when we were in Florida with him. Probably more than I have ever phoned with him in my life. You know full well that I am exaggerating, but not by much. Talking was a constant on that trip.

Exaggerating is a hard word for me to remember how to spell. I have experienced this trouble before, and spell check is of NO earthly use in helping me spell exaggerate. I had to goggle it. In my defense, it looks like a weird word. It sounds like a weird word. But it is a descriptive word, therefore a useful word.

Back to Florida. I believe I mentioned that our main activities with Bob and Phyllis were eating and talking. And introducing. So lets start with the eating, shall we? They have been telling us about their favorite place for ribs for several years now. It is called Bricktops. We have always intended to go, but have never gotten around to actually doing so, so they took us. And they were right, the ribs were very good, and I do not consider myself a rib girl. At ALL. Honey and Mousey seriously enjoyed their mac and cheese. So much, that Honey has been goggling recipes to try and duplicate it here at home. Last I looked, there is some Gruyere in the fridge in anticipation of this experiment.

We also had pizza, Applebee’s, and ate at some ale tavern by the mall that was just ok, but had some good chocolate cake. But not as good as the yummy chocolate cake we had at The Cheesecake Factory!!

Another thing I need to share about my Uncle Bob is he is an A #1 ice cream hound. As is Honey. Honey saw an article, in one of the many papers he collects on vacation, about a new ice cream place called Handel’s. He mentioned trying to find it to Bob, and right away Bob said he knew where it was, and told us that they had happy hour from 2-4. Of course he knew that. I think we visited 4 times. Not a bad ratio for the 7 days I was there.

Which brings us to the introductions part of the week. Due to the abundance of eating and desserting, Mousey and I shared with Phyllis a little saying we are fond of and frequently use around our house. We heard it in an interview we saw with Oprah and Jamie Foxx. Not sure about the reason he said it, but he made the comment that someone asked him “why your belly so big?”. We say this regularly about our own selves, especially after consuming a large amount of something YUMMY!

Mousey also set Phyl up with a Pinterest account, because we knew Phyl would be ALL over the Pinterest. I can hear the sucking sound of her time being wasted all the way up here in The Mitten!

And lastly, we introduced Phyllis to the thrill of the hunt that is thrifting! Bob was not participating in the safari. AT ALL. But Phyllis had a cart full to try on. She bought more than I thought she would, and she messaged me after we came back to Michigan and told me she wore the tiger stripe blouse to church on Sunday!! When she was at the check out, they asked her if she wanted a punch card that rewards every $10 purchase with a punch, and when you have 10 you get a free $10. She said she did! She declared that she just might go back sometime!! Another Goodwill thrift convert!

The majority of our days consisted of reading by the pool, sunning like lizards, and discussing where we were going to eat next. It was so nice and relaxing. So nice in fact, Honey and I had several conversations trying to remember why we were going home so soon. Mousey had to get back to work and school, but we didn’t! We could have checked out of our condo, dropped Mouse off at the airport, and headed on over to stay with Bob and Phyl for another few days. To prepare her for future trips, we had Mousey navigate us through the airport, get us to baggage, figure out which carousel the suitcases would come out of, and tell her ride where she was standing to be picked up more efficiently. She did totally fine. Good to know for future reference!

When I got home and downloaded the camera, I realized that we had neglected to use it. So I guess I will say that these are some of my favorite pictures, Honey and Mousey leaning over the sink eating pickles.