Order of The Day

The order of the day? First I walk uphill (this hill is Mt. Everest in my mind...it's not far into my walking route). It's not that big of a grade. For a woman like me who is physically phphphphphittttttt (read that "fit"), this is a mountain. I am so glad to say that even though this is only the 3rd day in a row that I've gotten up early and walked, it was a little easier than the past two days, which were agonizing torture. That was one my excuses in the past..."I can't exercise...it's too hard." Hopefully it will get easier as I shed some pounds and get used to the routine. Then at the end, I join my lovely walking partner of the AM (in this case, Rachel), and gently stroll down to our house, only to repeat the circle one more time.

If you look closely, you will see "for sale" signs in 3 of the yards, one on the left and two on the right. Signs of our times for sure. I thank God daily for food and raiment (that's KJV). A house is just a bonus, but I surely am grateful for that, too.

I did my best not to exceed the speed limit!
And last, but certainly not LEAST, is my Bible-reading time. I read while I'm cooling down from the walk before I shower and wash my hair. I'm reading in Deuteronomy. Those children of Israel just didn't get it, but God made it very clear...follow His way and be blessed, or go your own way and be cursed. It was as plain as the nose on your face. But I am the same way. I do something that is not "just right" and think it won't matter. Then I cry and lament when I have troubles. Could some of those troubles be brought on by my own wrongdoings? Preachin' to the choir here. Hmmm...definitely food for thought.
I can hardly believe that I've gotten up early (that might be the most shocking of all), walked (also shocking) and read my Bible first thing in the AM for 3 days in the road. This is not of my own strength. Any glory for this should go to God. I am not a naturally disciplined person.

We've been trying to involve our children in more family activities. Left to themselves, they'd be watching movies (albeit, approved-by-us movies) and playing computer games on Friday nights. When I saw the 100-degree-reading thermometer yesterday, I had a brainstorm (you probably thought that was heat lightning!). Susanna made our homemade pizza for Friday night as usual. I suggested we eat in the basement. Our former kitchen table (bless its sad little existence) is now in my sewing room. I called while I was still out doing errands and had a couple of the boys clear off the table and put the 3 leaves in, once again making it a table that can seat ten. We gathered up chairs and ate down there. It felt 15 degrees cooler than upstairs. Then the fun really began...

We all played Bible Pictionary. Ever drawn an ambush? or a leek? or Gideon? It was fun (at least *I* thought so).

I had to stay up until 10 to pick up my son when he finished work. That was a challenge since we've been getting up at 5:30. So I sewed a few units of my Scrappy Stars quilt together to occupy my time. Only a few units as I was drawn into a Dutch Blitz card game in the meantime.

Today I hope to clean up my sewing area. Too many odd units floating around down there. I want to find a jumper pattern that my oldests daughter wants to use this coming week. It just might be buried under a pile of scraps.

~Joan

Triple Digits!!

Yes--that's right. One HUNDRED degrees this AM. That's for those of you who were jealous earlier this year because my spring bulbs were blooming (while you were staying indoors because you didn't want to get out in the snow!). It has been unseasonably hot here the past few days. I was still surprised to see the thermometer readout go from 98 to 99 than 100 degrees in just a few minutes. It was 75 degrees when I was outside walking this AM at 5:45!

Stay cool--
~Joan

New Day...New Way!

I know it's more interesting to read a post with a great picture. The above is a quilt top I made for my oldest son. I hope to quilt it soon. I saw one similar to it on the Internet somewhere and kept the photo as a guideline. The center is made of Jacob's Ladders blocks. I like the small inner border followed by the Tri-Recs ruler triangles going around. It's queen-bed sized.

But that's not the big news for today (that's the news from months ago...maybe a year). I was just looking for a good picture. I searched online for a cartoon or pic to depict my AM, but I couldn't find one.

For the past week or so, my WH has exercised with my 4 boys. They walk, run, walk (or is it run, walk, run?) then do calisthenic-type exercises. My oldest daughter walks with a friend who lives a few streets over. My 2nd oldest daughter does a DVD workout video. They get up at 5:30 to do this. I, on the other hand, would be annoyed that my sleep had been disturbed. Even after going back to sleep (which would sometimes take 30 minutes or so), I would wake up grumpy because I could only sleep a little while, amidst door bangings, etc. Just keepin' it real.

Last night I realized how out-of-shape I am (again). I can't do much at all before I'm huffin' and puffin'. But this time, I decided to do something about it. I decided that this AM, instead of stumbling, bleary-eyed to the bathroom and then the computer chair, I would get dressed and walk a mile, then have my Bible-reading time, and then check the blogs I read, etc. That gave me time to cool off before I showered and washed my hair. I figured I'd be motivated to do the first things first if I had the reward of blog reading at the end. I really look forward to that...several times a day (in other words, too much--I'm cutting it back to once a day, in the AMs). The truly shocking thing is that that is exactly what I did. And I'm so happy about it that I wanted YOU to know.

Have a great day!

~Joan

A Little More Sewing...Very Little

Above is a runner I finished yesterday. Susanna wanted to make some runners (just tops--add your own quilting). She had made the blocks. I added the sashing and outer border just because I could.

It turned out cute, don't you think? It's on eBay now.

My oldest son got his wisdom teeth out this past week. All the little things in life take up some time, don't they? He is doing well. Very smooth recovery.

Hope you take time today to enjoy some of the little things.

~Joan