Monday, December 26, 2016

Outside my window...

We have gone from cold to hot this week. No truer words have been spoken than what
is in this meme.

I am thinking...

I survived another one of Dancing Angel's birthdays. I stayed off of social media except for my usual post with some of her pictures. I wrote a blog for The Lady of the House three years ago about what December 25th means to me and it still holds true today. Priority #3 - My Children: One Selfish Day. Watching an old friend who is newly bereaved go through this makes this year a little more challenging than others in some ways.

I am thankful...

I am thankful for my friend who calls me every year on Dancing Angel's birthday remembering to call me again.

I am also thankful for the possibilities of new friendship. Friend Hubby and I went to see the movie Fences (*language*). It was set in Pittsburgh in the early 1950s in a black neighborhood. It brought back memories of where Friend Hubby grew up on the east coast and you know me. I was swooning over the Jadeite dishes and 1930s art deco furniture.

Jadeite, also known as Fire King Jade-ite, is a type of glass tableware made of Jade-green opaque milk glass, popular in the United States in the mid-20th century.

Anyhoo... The movie was great, thought-provoking, well-written, and Oscar-winning performances. When it was over, Friend Hubby being his normal self, took up a conversation about the movie with strangers (This is why stranger-danger education was a challenge to teach my children. Their father talks to EVERYONE). We walked out of the theater with the couple and I continued to talk to them while Friend Hubby went to the restroom. Another black woman waiting on her husband at the restroom door joined our conversation. When all the husbands were present and accounted for, we continued to talk until we were ushered away from the theater doors because none of the husbands know how to use indoor voices. We exchanged phone numbers. Come to find out, one of the couples LITERALLY lives right around the corner. The other couple moved here from Detroit a year ago and are looking for friendship. Maybe we'll get together again when Hidden Figures comes out next week. The chance meeting is funny because the couple who lives around the corner from us usually goes to the movie together every Friday and originally, I had planned for us to go to the movie on Sunday to a different theater. Our change of plans made this meeting happen. We will see where Yah leads from here.

I am wearing...

Lane Bryant jeans and a Cato top.

I am creating...

Drum roll please...

I have FINISHED my great-aunt's shawl. I was convicted by Facebook Memories posting my Daybooks from previous years and I was still working on the same unfinished projects. I just need to wash it and block it. I am also going to go over to Hobby Lobby and find one of their pretty shawl pins too. I ave also gone back to piecing together the mitered squares for the throw I started years ago for The Grand Duchess.

I am watching...

It was after watching this video that I decided to buckle down and finish my great-aunt's shawl without announcing in my Daybook that I was going to do it. This was very eye-opening. The Scripture says to "write the vision." We spend too much time TELLING the vision. This is why people roll their eyes at people who are constantly talking about dreams of doing this and dreams of doing that. There is never any follow-through. We need to write it down and get 'er done. This goes for me first and finishing the shawl was a step in the right direction.

I am looking forward to...

Going down to the new ModCloth store if The Grand Duchess ever brings her happy hips on down the road. *hint, hint*

From the learning rooms...

I am working on gearing up for French next semester with DuoLingo. This was a good article about homeschooling and personality types. This is definitely my INFP style as a homeschool mom. What’s your homeschool personality?

From the kitchen...

I made some Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup recently. I really liked it, but
next time, I'm going to give it more time to simmer. I was also pretty pleased with
a made-up recipe with oven roasted chicken thighs, zucchini and yellow squash, onion, and mushroom combination. I also made some turkey salad from a small turkey Friend Hubby made last Sunday.

Around the house...

While I am not in school, I am shredding lots of old mail while formulating in my head a new workable home filing system. I am going to take a closer look at this article: 3 Steps to Organized Files.