|
See, he does have a sense of humor!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
We went to Manistee tonight to hear "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" sung by a local group called the 16th Century Singers. It was an outstanding Christmas experience, very nearly perfect with only one major flaw.
The Lutheran church where it was presented was traditional, narrow and high. The banners and drapes on the lecterns and railings were shades of blue with gold trim- stunning against the white walls and dark wood. There was a tall, tapering Christmas tree to one side decorated thickly with white lights and white and gold ornaments in the shapes of many symbols of Christianity. The lamb and the chalice, crosses, stars, chi rho, and snowflakes.
The scripture readers were all very good and could actually make you listen to passages that we've all heard since we were two years old. The organ prelude selections were Bach, Brahms, and a piece by Alexis Chauvet that I did not know before, but I'd love to get the music for. The singers were on key and I love the complexity of the rhymes in the old English songs, and the odd musical rhythms that mark some of the old carols. The congregation got to sing along on six of the songs.
The sixteenth century costumes were fascinating, with many different styles worn by the 12 different singers.
A totally worshipful Christmas experience!
The one flaw... after the singers processed so we could see them, they all went to the balcony and sang from there so we couldn't watch them. I suppose that, too, is traditional, but c'mon.... can't we engage more than one of our senses at a time? I really wanted to be able to watch them. I know it was live music, but I feel as if I might as well have stayed home and listened to a CD.
And here's a real joke... just the perfect irony of the church. This program was first presented at Kings College, Cambridge in 1918. It was planned by Eric Milner-White, who felt that the church needed more imaginative worship. With no apparent grasp of the joke, the next sentence of the historical description in the bulletin says that from that date on the service has always begun with the same song.!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Wonderful Times Turning Acquaintances into Friends
About three years ago we met a family from Scottville when we were trying out having a booth at the Farmers' Market. We enjoyed visiting with them, and have sort of kept in touch, but nothing much beyond that.
However, this fall we've gotten to know them much better, and the past two days have been a lot of fun. They came to our place on Thursday for lunch. This was no minor accomplishment! They have 9 kids and one grandma who lives with them too. But we had a great time- everyone got enough to eat, and almost everyone got to sit on a chair that isn't broken. Afterwards the youngest three (ages 6-9) played with the train around the tree. It was really nice to see kids having fun with the trains! They explored the ornaments on the tree too. Everyone else split up into smaller groups. Omer and Pat (the dad) of course went off to talk about serious topics. Our Josh visited with the oldest son (Shawn, age 21). Some of us stayed in the living room and visited.
The 16-year-old, Jason, plays violin and he invited us to an orchestra concert at West Shore Community College that was last night. The price was right- free- so we went. Turns out that it was the premiere performance of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra. Now, this is not Grand Rapids, of course, but it was pretty cool to be at the first concert of a local live orchestra! They played an ambitious program that included several of my favorite pieces, so that was fun.
Afterwards, we went to their house for a while. Shawn plays bagpipes and penny whistles. So he and Jason played some more music for everyone (although the bagpipes inside are WOW, it's neat to see them played in real life). We all just had such a good time that I'm sure we'll be getting together again.
About three years ago we met a family from Scottville when we were trying out having a booth at the Farmers' Market. We enjoyed visiting with them, and have sort of kept in touch, but nothing much beyond that.
However, this fall we've gotten to know them much better, and the past two days have been a lot of fun. They came to our place on Thursday for lunch. This was no minor accomplishment! They have 9 kids and one grandma who lives with them too. But we had a great time- everyone got enough to eat, and almost everyone got to sit on a chair that isn't broken. Afterwards the youngest three (ages 6-9) played with the train around the tree. It was really nice to see kids having fun with the trains! They explored the ornaments on the tree too. Everyone else split up into smaller groups. Omer and Pat (the dad) of course went off to talk about serious topics. Our Josh visited with the oldest son (Shawn, age 21). Some of us stayed in the living room and visited.
The 16-year-old, Jason, plays violin and he invited us to an orchestra concert at West Shore Community College that was last night. The price was right- free- so we went. Turns out that it was the premiere performance of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra. Now, this is not Grand Rapids, of course, but it was pretty cool to be at the first concert of a local live orchestra! They played an ambitious program that included several of my favorite pieces, so that was fun.
Afterwards, we went to their house for a while. Shawn plays bagpipes and penny whistles. So he and Jason played some more music for everyone (although the bagpipes inside are WOW, it's neat to see them played in real life). We all just had such a good time that I'm sure we'll be getting together again.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I posted this on xanga, Jun 14, 2005. Want to put it here too, because if you see the initials QD on a post, this is what it means.
I've decided to let the blog world in on a secret. A number of years ago things were very dark for us and I needed some little tangible thing beyond "the everlasting arms" of God to keep my head above the waters of despair. I learned that it didn't take much, but just a little something, and I needed to pay attention and make note of the fact that even one good thing had happened. I came up with a list of 6 Elements of a Quality Day, QD for short.
If any one of those things happened, I could make it through one more day. Even in those dark times there was seldom a day that one of those things did not happen I wrote my QD entries at the beginning of each journal day. I've kept the system, although it's a long time since it's been a struggle to make it from day to day, just because it always reminds me that there is something to be cheerful about. (I don't tend to be an eternal optimist... one of my mother's nicknames for me was "the little thundercloud."). I haven't faithfully noted every day's entry, but sometimes I have. It's fun to go back and see what I put down.
So here's my list, and entries will just be coded QD.
Elements of a Quality Day
1. Experience something new
2. Do something outside
3. Learn something new
4. Accomplish something
5. Do a service for the Lord
6. If I just feel good anyway for no particular reason (in other words, it's not a bad day if none of the above happen, but I'm not feeling down about it. To prevent the logical progression, "if none of 1-5 happen then I must be depressed.")
QD- Dec 11, 2007
Wet snow fell all afternoon, making the world into a winter wonderland. Skiing was marginal, but ok. The beauty just uplifts my spirit!
I've decided to let the blog world in on a secret. A number of years ago things were very dark for us and I needed some little tangible thing beyond "the everlasting arms" of God to keep my head above the waters of despair. I learned that it didn't take much, but just a little something, and I needed to pay attention and make note of the fact that even one good thing had happened. I came up with a list of 6 Elements of a Quality Day, QD for short.
If any one of those things happened, I could make it through one more day. Even in those dark times there was seldom a day that one of those things did not happen I wrote my QD entries at the beginning of each journal day. I've kept the system, although it's a long time since it's been a struggle to make it from day to day, just because it always reminds me that there is something to be cheerful about. (I don't tend to be an eternal optimist... one of my mother's nicknames for me was "the little thundercloud."). I haven't faithfully noted every day's entry, but sometimes I have. It's fun to go back and see what I put down.
So here's my list, and entries will just be coded QD.
Elements of a Quality Day
1. Experience something new
2. Do something outside
3. Learn something new
4. Accomplish something
5. Do a service for the Lord
6. If I just feel good anyway for no particular reason (in other words, it's not a bad day if none of the above happen, but I'm not feeling down about it. To prevent the logical progression, "if none of 1-5 happen then I must be depressed.")
QD- Dec 11, 2007
Wet snow fell all afternoon, making the world into a winter wonderland. Skiing was marginal, but ok. The beauty just uplifts my spirit!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Yelping from the Sky
Today, while Maggie jogged and I skied, I heard a strange yelping from the north, and realized that it was not only moving, but that it was high overhead. I looked up to see a long arrow of Tundra Swans gliding to the south. The sky was blue with patches of high white clouds. But the birds were low, pure white except for black beaks and backward extended legs and feet. These swans fly with their necks straight out, making precise crosses in the air. They were only visible and audible for a few seconds, but they made my whole day memorable.
Today, while Maggie jogged and I skied, I heard a strange yelping from the north, and realized that it was not only moving, but that it was high overhead. I looked up to see a long arrow of Tundra Swans gliding to the south. The sky was blue with patches of high white clouds. But the birds were low, pure white except for black beaks and backward extended legs and feet. These swans fly with their necks straight out, making precise crosses in the air. They were only visible and audible for a few seconds, but they made my whole day memorable.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
I haven’t posted anything very serious here yet, but I guess it’s time.
Omer continues to make great progress doing rehab. He said he was tired when he came home today, and that he had not chosen to increase his speed on the treadmill today. But remember, this is one half of the competitive duo speaking here. What that translates to is that he walked for 15 minutes at 4.0 miles per hour, and chose not to increase that to 4.2. That’s a pretty good clip for anyone, let alone a person who had a heart attack 10 weeks ago. He’s been out skiing with me a few times too. He gets frustrated because I’m better at it (believe me, I’m not that good), but I doubt that I could out ride him on a bike if we had a contest today, so it all evens out. If I could just get him to believe that, sigh...
We went to the Christmas Concert at our former church. It was a perfectly wonderful musical experience. I’m still amazed at the talent of the people there. We were warmly greeted by many people. We really miss them.
My recent good news about getting a job as adjunct faculty at West Shore Community College has been tempered by some not so good news. After eight years of doing the North Country Trail Association web site on contract, they have decided to take it into the office and do it there. That was my single biggest source of income. That will begin January 1. Although their decision was purely financial, I’m having a hard time living with it. I really loved doing that site because I knew so much about the trail and the people involved.
And of course, this throws our finances for a loop again. Now, instead of having some extra money to put on the medical bills, I’ll have enough to cover the regular expenses for Jan-May, and then I’ll be in trouble again. I’m hoping I might pick up a college class or two for the fall again, but I really am hoping that I won’t have to give up my big hike of the summer.
We think we have finally received all of the medical bills. The Ludington Hospital is considering us a charity case and so the rehab is free. We are still waiting to hear if they are going to also cover the emergency room bill there. The Muskegon Hospital was mostly covered by Medicare (thank goodness! That was $45,000.) The Cardiology Clinic admits that their formula for assistance does not work well for self-employed people, so we have to list our income as what we bring in, not what we get to keep after the expenses are paid. Pretty stupid, eh? So we only got a 15% reduction on that bill. I’m sending every place a little bit each month, but this will be a long haul to work our way out of this hole. And I thought we were already living at the bottom of the barrel.
Meanwhile, I’ve been trying hard to earn some money on line. Taking the average amount I am offered for articles on Associated Content, I can bring in $200 a month if I write 12 articles a week. But so far I haven’t been able to quite keep up that pace after I have everything else done. Here’s a fun one about that experience My Wrong-Headed Journey Into AC Land
The Shared Reviews site that some of you know about is still in Beta testing, and I’ve earned my maximum in that phase ($150) unless people who signed up under me also write reviews. After it goes live (supposedly this month) then I get paid some percentage based on how my reviews rank. I really can’t predict how much or how little that might bring in. But that $150 this month sure helped! And it’s a really nice on-line community to write with. Much nicer than AC. Some of you who are reading this did sign up under me. They have put another $10K in their beta pot, so get busy writing reviews! It was a fairly easy $150. If you want to sign up, use this link to Shared Reviews, so I get credit for you! Until it goes live, you can’t really see the reviews unless you do sign up, but I’ll be sure to give you an update when that happens. It’s actually pretty cool. Who would have thought that I could get excited about writing product reviews?
I still think my best bet for income is to expand and work on the Get Off The Couch web site. I need to get my act in gear and return to working more on that. I was going great guns before I left for the North Dakota hike, but haven’t picked up the pieces since I got home and Om had the heart attack.
So that’s what all is happening at our house. Oh yeah, Omer’s down to 134 pounds, and is wearing pants he hasn’t been able to get into for 15 years. I’m down to 117 (horray!), and will be really happy if I can lose a couple more.
Stop back here as often as you like for whatever bits of nonsense I’ve decided to share. You can leave comments here with only a Google ID. Meanwhile, I’ll email "the list" when there is something major to report.
God is good, no matter what life seems to be like. This year has been one of great change for us. I would say second only to 1990. It’s very hard to see what direction we are supposed to go. We really appreciate the kind words from many of you. Thanks!
P.S. It’s snowing again! *smile*
Omer continues to make great progress doing rehab. He said he was tired when he came home today, and that he had not chosen to increase his speed on the treadmill today. But remember, this is one half of the competitive duo speaking here. What that translates to is that he walked for 15 minutes at 4.0 miles per hour, and chose not to increase that to 4.2. That’s a pretty good clip for anyone, let alone a person who had a heart attack 10 weeks ago. He’s been out skiing with me a few times too. He gets frustrated because I’m better at it (believe me, I’m not that good), but I doubt that I could out ride him on a bike if we had a contest today, so it all evens out. If I could just get him to believe that, sigh...
We went to the Christmas Concert at our former church. It was a perfectly wonderful musical experience. I’m still amazed at the talent of the people there. We were warmly greeted by many people. We really miss them.
My recent good news about getting a job as adjunct faculty at West Shore Community College has been tempered by some not so good news. After eight years of doing the North Country Trail Association web site on contract, they have decided to take it into the office and do it there. That was my single biggest source of income. That will begin January 1. Although their decision was purely financial, I’m having a hard time living with it. I really loved doing that site because I knew so much about the trail and the people involved.
And of course, this throws our finances for a loop again. Now, instead of having some extra money to put on the medical bills, I’ll have enough to cover the regular expenses for Jan-May, and then I’ll be in trouble again. I’m hoping I might pick up a college class or two for the fall again, but I really am hoping that I won’t have to give up my big hike of the summer.
We think we have finally received all of the medical bills. The Ludington Hospital is considering us a charity case and so the rehab is free. We are still waiting to hear if they are going to also cover the emergency room bill there. The Muskegon Hospital was mostly covered by Medicare (thank goodness! That was $45,000.) The Cardiology Clinic admits that their formula for assistance does not work well for self-employed people, so we have to list our income as what we bring in, not what we get to keep after the expenses are paid. Pretty stupid, eh? So we only got a 15% reduction on that bill. I’m sending every place a little bit each month, but this will be a long haul to work our way out of this hole. And I thought we were already living at the bottom of the barrel.
Meanwhile, I’ve been trying hard to earn some money on line. Taking the average amount I am offered for articles on Associated Content, I can bring in $200 a month if I write 12 articles a week. But so far I haven’t been able to quite keep up that pace after I have everything else done. Here’s a fun one about that experience My Wrong-Headed Journey Into AC Land
The Shared Reviews site that some of you know about is still in Beta testing, and I’ve earned my maximum in that phase ($150) unless people who signed up under me also write reviews. After it goes live (supposedly this month) then I get paid some percentage based on how my reviews rank. I really can’t predict how much or how little that might bring in. But that $150 this month sure helped! And it’s a really nice on-line community to write with. Much nicer than AC. Some of you who are reading this did sign up under me. They have put another $10K in their beta pot, so get busy writing reviews! It was a fairly easy $150. If you want to sign up, use this link to Shared Reviews, so I get credit for you! Until it goes live, you can’t really see the reviews unless you do sign up, but I’ll be sure to give you an update when that happens. It’s actually pretty cool. Who would have thought that I could get excited about writing product reviews?
I still think my best bet for income is to expand and work on the Get Off The Couch web site. I need to get my act in gear and return to working more on that. I was going great guns before I left for the North Dakota hike, but haven’t picked up the pieces since I got home and Om had the heart attack.
So that’s what all is happening at our house. Oh yeah, Omer’s down to 134 pounds, and is wearing pants he hasn’t been able to get into for 15 years. I’m down to 117 (horray!), and will be really happy if I can lose a couple more.
Stop back here as often as you like for whatever bits of nonsense I’ve decided to share. You can leave comments here with only a Google ID. Meanwhile, I’ll email "the list" when there is something major to report.
God is good, no matter what life seems to be like. This year has been one of great change for us. I would say second only to 1990. It’s very hard to see what direction we are supposed to go. We really appreciate the kind words from many of you. Thanks!
P.S. It’s snowing again! *smile*
Monday, December 03, 2007
Really news from Dec 1, even though I just got it posted today.
There has been just enough snow here to have a good time outside. The temperatures have felt brutal given our warm fall, in the 20s, but it makes for great skiing snow! I’ve been out several times, and Omer has gone out twice. Of course I haven’t gotten the last mowing of the trails done yet (still hoping for some snow free December days), so I don’t dare go down any of my biggest (not very big) hills, because of the danger of catching a ski on frozen-in grass or berry canes.
The first morning of real snow Maggie asked to go outside. You can see in the photo how far my wimpy dog went! She does not like to be wet or cold. But here’s the real poser. She had already been outside that morning to come upstairs from the bedroom. So did she think that it might be different if she went out the kitchen door?
 Maggie declines to go out in the cold snow |
The first morning of real snow Maggie asked to go outside. You can see in the photo how far my wimpy dog went! She does not like to be wet or cold. But here’s the real poser. She had already been outside that morning to come upstairs from the bedroom. So did she think that it might be different if she went out the kitchen door?
Thursday, November 29, 2007
There’s A Large Mammal in the....
...pantry. OK, how come in a house that is only 15 years old there are as many mice as there were in the old house? It’s turned cold and the dirty little runners are messing up my pantry shelves. We took several cups of dog food out of a kitchen drawer this week!
...compost Pile. What on earth does Maggie think is so great about rooting around in old apple peels and broccoli stems? I don’t put any meat products in there, but she still thinks it’s great fun to stick her nose in and sample the decomposition.
...kitchen. Behind the stove to be exact. Our dear little kitty, V-8, is seventeen years old. Where does a seventeen-year-old cat sleep? Anywhere she wants. She’s losing her mind we think; acting very odd. Instead of being a seldom seen cat who had two favorite spots in the entire house, she is now trying out various locations to see which she likes best. For a while she insisted on sleeping in the kitchen sink. That was interesting, since she was a sink-sleeper as a kitten (second childhood?).
Then she took to climbing on top of a high "chimney cupboard" (a large old-fashioned dresser) and sleeping there. The only problem was that I had a large pile of mailing supplies there, and she had to climb up and down over the spare computer. She made quite a mess, but we just kept padding things and waiting for her to change her mind again. She did.
Three days ago I was in the kitchen and thought I heard a mouse behind the stove. Later I heard it again, but decided it was way too big to be a mouse. So I crawled under the microwave table and tried to paste the side of my head to the wall so I could aim an eyeball behind the stove. Guess who? I found myself starting at a little gray butt with a long tail. It’s V-8's new hidey-hole. A little disconcerting to hear something that large behind the kitchen appliances, but I’m sure she’ll change spots again soon.
...living Room. Omer is happily stringing lights on the Christmas tree.
...pantry. OK, how come in a house that is only 15 years old there are as many mice as there were in the old house? It’s turned cold and the dirty little runners are messing up my pantry shelves. We took several cups of dog food out of a kitchen drawer this week!
...compost Pile. What on earth does Maggie think is so great about rooting around in old apple peels and broccoli stems? I don’t put any meat products in there, but she still thinks it’s great fun to stick her nose in and sample the decomposition.
...kitchen. Behind the stove to be exact. Our dear little kitty, V-8, is seventeen years old. Where does a seventeen-year-old cat sleep? Anywhere she wants. She’s losing her mind we think; acting very odd. Instead of being a seldom seen cat who had two favorite spots in the entire house, she is now trying out various locations to see which she likes best. For a while she insisted on sleeping in the kitchen sink. That was interesting, since she was a sink-sleeper as a kitten (second childhood?).
 face to face with V-8 |
Three days ago I was in the kitchen and thought I heard a mouse behind the stove. Later I heard it again, but decided it was way too big to be a mouse. So I crawled under the microwave table and tried to paste the side of my head to the wall so I could aim an eyeball behind the stove. Guess who? I found myself starting at a little gray butt with a long tail. It’s V-8's new hidey-hole. A little disconcerting to hear something that large behind the kitchen appliances, but I’m sure she’ll change spots again soon.
...living Room. Omer is happily stringing lights on the Christmas tree.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
 Om's new tree and Christmas PJs |
Friday, November 23, 2007
Fluffy snow falling on the wheels by the driveway
We had Thanksgiving dinner with Joan and Dan Woodhead. I make the pie and Joan cooks all the rest. Who can beat that? Josh went with us and their youngest son, Matt, was home from college too. Dan plays the piano very well, and I talked him into a private concert of some Scott Joplin tunes, and a Chopin waltz. Real pianists don't like to play unless they can be perfect, but he was gracious and humored me!
When we got home I checked the T-day sale flyers and some storage boxes that I wanted, but thought were too expensive, were on sale at 40% off. That's more like it!
A quiet day... and we ARE thankful!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
noon
Just took Maggie for her morning walk. She was excited about the new snow too! "Play" was the key word. I want to try posting a picture to this blog structure, so you get to see Maggie too. She can be a clown! We didn't see a rabbit, but she almost looks like one herself. And I'm happy to finally have a picture that caught her ears flying in happy dog ecstasy.
10 am
The kitchen is filled with the sweet and spicy aroma of the baking apple pie. Today was also the first snowfall of the season. A quiet blanket covers the browning grass, making everything still- silvery and shining. The sun is beginning to burn through now, so I suppose the snow will be gone in a couple of hours, but it has been a beautiful entrance for this day of Thanks.
I'm really just checking this out as an option to do the news on Get Off the Couch as a blog. I want people to be able to comment on the news, and I wouldn't mind getting some Ad revenue from it too.
Meanwhile, it's Thanksgiving today, and I have an apple pie to bake, and some other web site work to do before I can play around with this.
This blog is really a continuation of my Xanga site. So if you want the prequel go to
Sharkbytes on Xanga
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