New Sandals

I’ve mentioned in previous posts my love for shoes. Summer is coming on, and I really “needed” a pair of comfortable walking sandals. I had a pair that I loved and were truly comfortable – wore them almost every day for several summers – almost totally wore them out. I have bought several pairs of sandals in recent years only to find that after I wear them a little while they are totally uncomfortable. I think they would be comfortable on someone else, but my feet are kind of narrow and they didn’t fit me as well as they should.

So, last week, after looking at one of the big stores that have rows and rows and rows and rows of shoes that you try on yourself, I went to Dillards. That’s where I bought the last pair of sandals that I liked so well. Well, I ended up buying these sandals. I can’t believe I paid as much for them as I did. I paid more for these shoes than any I have ever bought. But, they are totally adjustable and fit my narrow feet. I won’t tell you how much I paid. I told my daughter the day after I bought them. She dropped by the house for a few minutes and I showed her my new shoes. When I told her how much they cost, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. I wouldn’t want that to happen to you, so I won’t tell you. I think they will be worth it in the long run. I expect them to last for many years. Now, I’m going to get rid of all those sandals that are uncomfortable.

Another Ken Gire Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me in suffering my cross
to look to you and gain strength from how you
suffered yours,
to bear the pain of my unanswered
questions the way you bore yours.
Help me to see that even in the darkness and the
aloneness of your forsakenness,
still you loved,
still you forgave,
still you trusted yourself to the care of
your Father’s hands.
Sometimes, Jesus, the road to the Father’s house
seems so long and so steep
and sometimes I get so tired.
Here and there I need an angel, Lord,
someone along the way to lift my head,
to point the way,
and to tell me the truth about the road ahead.

Grant me traveling mercies for the journey, Lord.
Help me to be as hopeful in my joy
as I am honest in my sorrow.

Sorrowful but always rejoicing,
knowing that though I shall be more and more tired,
I shall also be nearer and nearer to Thee.

I'm surprised that I have just recently discovered Ken Gire's wonderful books. They have been in our home for years. Some of the prayers he writes are so meaningful to me that I like to share them with my blogging friends. I hope they bless your life as they have mine.

Blogger Award

I was so excited yesterday when I visited one of my favorite blogs to see that I had been given this award by my lovely friend Kat at JUSTABEACHKAT. My husband has even become addicted to reading her blog. He generally doesn't read the "girl" blogs unless he knows them personally. He has his "guy" blogs (mostly preacher guys) that he reads every day.

I would like to pass this award on to these dear friends I have met in blogland. Two of them I knew before blogging. The rest I met online.

Ginger Enchanting Cottage
Connie Down on the Farm
Hootin' Anni Hootin’ Anni’s
Joyce The Secret Gardener
Brenda It’s All Good
ceekay Thinkin’ of Home
Rita Saved by Grace
Gina Simply Heart & Home
Jennifer Dust Bunny Hostage
Kelli There’s No Place Like Home
LW At The Pink Gate
Constance Slim Pickin’s From My Brain
Brandy at Mommy’s Quiet Spot

There are many others I could have listed here. I love and appreciate everyone who visits my blog and especially those who leave lovely comments.

Two Faced Doll

This is certainly not one of my favorite dolls, but I think it is interesting. That’s why I made it in the first place. It can be turned to one side for a happy face and the other side for a sad face. I like the happy face side the best.

Here the two faced doll (with the happy side up) is pictured with the doll that IS my favorite. She is the largest doll I made. I will feature her sometime in the future and tell you more about her.

The buggy was a Christmas present from my daughter many years ago. She thought I needed a buggy for my doll room. She was right.

San Joaquin County Fair

The only time I ever entered anything in competition in a county fair I won two first place and two second place awards. These are the winning dolls. I took first place in the 15 inch doll category and the 10 inch category. Also won 2nd place in each of these categories.

These dolls and many more are in a photo album at the end of my blog for anyone interested who has not seen it. People ask me all the time if I still make dolls. No I don't. These were all made back in the 80's. I was totally into doll making at that time. Guess what I'm into now? BLOGGING!

Baton

“Lordy mercy, (oh no, does that sound like my grandmother?) will she ever run out of old dancing pictures?” I’m getting close to the end. I think I have just one more after this unless I run across some more old negatives and that isn’t likely to happen.

Besides taking tap, I took ballet and baton for a very short time not long enough to get very good at either of them. I did have this picture made with my baton. I remember especially the sundress that I had on. It was really short, but I loved that dress. I talked my mother into letting me wear it to school one day. It’s a wonder they didn’t send me home. I really liked ballet. I especially liked the soft leather shoes. The soles were soft leather like the tops. They were not the ballet shoes that you usually see. I didn’t get that far along. But I loved those little shoes. Wish I had a picture of them. I don’t – but I still remember them well.

Vincent Van Gogh

Everyone knows that Van Gogh was a painter. Painting at left is a self-portrait. What I didn’t know, was that he was also a preacher. I just learned this a couple of days ago as I was reading another one of Ken Gire’s books.

Following is a quote from Life As We Would Want It . . . Life As We Are Given It.

His first pastorate was in a tumbledown town of coal miners, where he lived among them, sharing their poverty, going with them into the mines and into their homes, tending the sick and conducting Sunday services. The sermon I’m thinking about is one he preached in 1876. He told the weary miners that they were strangers on this earth, that all of us were strangers on this earth, fellow travelers on our way home.

Van Gogh talked about the joys and sorrows of that journey, using a painting of an autumn landscape to illustrate his point. In the distance a row of mountains stood hazed in dusk. The peaks splayed the setting sun, . . . . . . Crowning the mountain was a city, flowing in the sunset.

. . . . On the road was a weary traveler, Van Gogh told them, staff in hand, who encountered an angel that had been placed there to encourage those on their way to the eternal city. Then Van Gogh gave the words that he imagined might have passed between them.

“The traveler asked: ‘Does the road go uphill all the way?’

The angel answered: ‘Yes, to the very end.’

And he asked again: ‘And will the journey take all day long?’

The angel said: ‘From morn till night, my friend.’

The traveler journeyed on, sorrowful yet rejoicing. Sorrowful because the road was so steep and long. Rejoicing because the city was so beautiful. As he continued the climb, a quiet prayer rose from his lips:

‘Then I shall be more and more tired . . . but also nearer and nearer to Thee.’

A note about yesterday's post: I'm glad Connie decided to play the meme game. I hope others did as well. We're all finished with the taxes. Did them with TurboTax online and e-filed them. That's the only way to go.

I've been tagged by Brenda to state some personal things about myself.
Here are the rules:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
It was ten years ago that we went back to California to move my parents into a care facility. My Dad died shortly after that. Mother died exactly a year after my Dad did. They both had dementia but had been physically healthy all their lives. That was a sad year (1998). Two of my cousins also died that year – Jerry who I had grown up with (my dancing partner in previous posts) and Linda, the little girl pictured with me on the horse in one of my earlier posts. She was only 49 years old when she died. I was very close to both of these cousins at different times in my life. Jerry I was close to when I was growing up and Linda in later years.

Five things on my to-do list today:
Work on our tax return
Work on our tax return
Work on our tax return
Work on our tax return
Work on our tax return

Snacks I enjoy:
Dark chocolate
Any kind of nuts
Medjool dates (eat with nuts)
Wheat Thins
Ritz Crackers
Saltine Crackers with peanut butter or cheese

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I don’t even like to think about this. I hope I would do lots of good things and help a lot of people and give a lot of money to missions. I know I would do a lot of shopping. I love to shop. For sure I never have to worry about ever becoming a billionaire.

Three of my bad habits:
Putting off things I don’t like to do.
Watching too much TV
Spending too much time blogging

Five places I have lived:
California, Oklahoma, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona.

Five jobs I've had:
(1) My first job was in a dime store when I was 4 years old. We lived in an apartment over the store in Placentia, California. I spent so much time in the dime store that they put me to work straightening shelves. With the money I earned I bought crepe paper and made dresses out of it.
(2) Did some baby sitting when I was a teenager. (doesn’t every teenager?)
(3) I worked at U.S. Rubber Co. (now Uniroyal) in Los Angeles as a Dictaphone typist and later as secretary to the office manager before I got married.
(4) Temporary secretarial work in a California church.
(5) Secretary for 10 years at the church we were with before we retired.

Five people I want to know more about (a nice way of saying TAG!):
I have recently done a couple of memes and tagged a total of 13 people. This time I’m just going to say I would like to know more about everyone who visits my blog. Since I must get busy working on our taxes, I won’t name anyone here this time. I know. I just broke rule #3. But please humor me and if you would like to play the game consider yourself tagged. If you do play, please let me know so I will be sure to go to your blog to read it.

HAPPY EASTER

Since today is the day we call Resurrection Sunday, I still had not decided what I was going to post this morning when I came to the computer. I had done the "bunny thing" and the "Easter egg thing" and wanted to be more serious today. Reading our e-mail, I discovered Edward Fudge's GracEmail. We get his GracEmail messages regularly. I read them once in a while. My husband always reads them. I read the one this morning and decided I would use a portion of his message for my blog today. This is what it's really all about.

His enemies joke among themselves: "He saved others, but he can't save himself" (Mk. 15:31). They tell the truth, you know. If he is to save others he cannot save himself. In the end it is him or them. Him or us. "Come down from the cross," the mockers cry, "if you are the Son of God!" (Matt. 27:39-40.) He needs only to ask the Father and he will immediately receive 12 legions of heavenly soldiers -- 72,000 fighting angels (Matt. 26:53).

How his thoughts swirl! Does he see the devil smiling? Perhaps. But a different scene has captured his attention. In his mind he sees the future -- a panorama of redeemed men and women and children too numerous to count, rising from the dead and meeting him in the air, his brothers and sisters sharing glory with him throughout eternity. He makes the choice. "For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. 12:2). The mockers have it wrong. Because he is the Son of God he will not come down from the cross. He will save others and not himself. And praise God, he did!

Thank you, Edward Fudge for this insight.

My prayer for each of you is that you have a BLESSED EASTER SUNDAY!

Bunnies Again

Bought them yesterday. It was "this morning" when I put these pictures together.
I got in a hurry and misspelled marshmallow! (I'm not Italian)

(Too much trouble to change it now.)

Found these two little guys hiding in plain sight in our bathroom. How could I have overlooked them when I was posting all the bunnies last week?

CROSSES

Since today is Good Friday, I had planned to feature these crosses for Show & Tell Friday. There is no formal Show & Tell today but I’ll go ahead and show the crosses anyway.

The three crosses are on our wall in our family room. The cross on the right has special meaning because it was given to us one Christmas by the Youth Minister and his wife at our last church a few years ago. The cross on the coffee table is one our daughter gave my husband for Christmas. She bought it at the bookstore at our church.

Crosses are seen everywhere these days. They are in demand as decorating items. I love these crosses because they remind me of the sacrifice that Jesus made for the whole human race. Today many of the crosses are beautiful. My first thought was that the cross where Jesus died was not beautiful at all; that it was even ugly. But then I thought again. Yes, that was the most beautiful cross that ever existed. It’s how you “look” at it. What a shame that so many people completely miss seeing it.

Special Award

NEWS FLASH! This just in!

Hootin' Anni has given me this special award.

http://hootin--anni.blogspot.com/

I feel very honored. Thank you so much.

Arizona Sun

I would say this little guy has been out in the sun too long. He’s been sitting out in our back yard for about 18 years. I bought him at a yard sale when we first moved here. He was painted bright colors and looked new. This is what the sun has done to him. Actually, part of the time he has been sitting in the shade, but almost anywhere I put him, he gets sunshine sometime during the day. He has also survived many monsoon seasons. What a guy.

He has a good view though (if the sun hasn’t blinded him). The roses are just starting to bloom and these flowers that come up from bulbs every year are right in front of him. I’ll bet he does hate to see another summer coming though. It’s very pleasant out there this time of year.

Yes, I've thought about a new paint job, but decided to stick with the "weathered" look. I can identify with that.

An Irish Dance

Since yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, I’m still in an Irish kind of mood. It reminded me of this tap dance we performed way back in the “dark ages”.

The dance was called Irish Washer Woman. The skirts were really pretty. I’ve never seen any fabric like it since then. It was Irish green – really sparkly. The vests were black. I thought my mother made the best costume. I wish these pictures were in color, but they were taken before color photography. Wow. That WAS a long time ago.

Speaking of Irish tap dancing, I love the River Dance dancers. Haven’t seen them on TV in awhile, but I think they are fantastic.

PALM SUNDAY

I find it amazing that people who were hailing Jesus as their king, were shouting for his crucifixion less than a week later. Of course, this was in God's plan, that Jesus would die the way that he did.

I am so looking forward to the time when he comes back not riding on a lowly donkey, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords. I'm hoping it will be soon.


The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:

Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!
Yes! The King of Israel!

Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it.

No fear, Daughter Zion:
See how your king comes
riding a donkey’s colt.

The disciples didn’t notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.

John 12:12 - - The Message

I was tagged by Brandy for a meme. I will play along. Here are the rules. In the 8 facts about yourself, you share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you. Then at the end you tag at least 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going.So here goes. It shouldn’t be hard because most of you know almost nothing about me. Although – if you’ve been reading my posts, you know a few things.

1. I got lost in Tijuana when I was six years old. A Mexican policeman helped me find our car. My cousin Jerry (who I talked about in past posts) and I were supposed to stay in the car with our two younger cousins. Jerry got out and walked around awhile and came back to the car. Then I got out and walked around and got lost. I still have a terrible sense of direction.


2. I spent the summer of 1948 when I was 11 years old in Oklahoma (I lived in California) visiting various relatives. I had quite a few there at that time. One of my aunts lived in an apartment in downtown Lawton. There were 5 theaters in the city at that time and it only cost 10cents so I spent a lot of time going to movies. I saw “The Egg and I” five times. I loved that movie. Something more important happened that summer. I met my future husband. He was the little brother (2 years older than I) of my aunt's husband. So my aunt eventually became my sister-in-law. This aunt/sister-in-law eventually became the mother-in-law of Ginger of Enchanting Cottage. Small world.


3. I have a few food “quirks”. I always mash beans with my fork before I eat them. Any kind of beans except green beans. I don’t mash them.


4. I love white gravy, but can’t stand any kind of gravy not made with milk.


5. The only time I smoked a cigarette was when I was in the 5th grade. My little friend who lived in the house behind us had teenage brothers, and she swiped some of their cigarettes. I didn’t like it then, and never tried it again.


6. I attended an Elvis Presley concert in Long Beach in 1956. He is still one of my favorite singers as you might have surmised by my choice of music on my blog.


7. I rode a camel to the pyramids in Egypt. I’ve never wanted to ride another one.


8. I could have ridden an elephant in India, but didn’t want to. I’m not terribly adventurous that way. I would have been in my younger days (much younger).

Who will be the eight people that I tag to play the game? Here they are:

Connie down on the farm, ceekay, Thinkin of Home, Rita Saved by Grace, Rhoda Southern Hospitality, Lori Stilger, Musings from a Proverbs 31 Wannabe, Martie Hitting the High Notes, LW The Pink Front Gate, Gina Simply Heart & Home.

Remains of My Cat Collection

Through the years I have had many collections. One of my collections when I was a teenager was ceramic cats (knick knacks). I still have a few of them. The one above was my favorite. I paid $2.50 for it. Everyone thought I was crazy to pay that much for a cat. $2.50 doesn’t sound like much, but it was back in 1955. Most of the cats I had cost less than a dollar each. I think I bought this one at a Hallmark store. The little pedestal it’s sitting on I bought in New Orleans when I visited there in 1989. The background for the picture is a table topper that I now use to cover my sewing machine. When I bought a new sewing machine, I kept the old cabinet. Well, that didn’t work real well. It wouldn’t go down inside like the old one did so I used this table topper to cover it. This makes a pretty good background for several pictures I’ve taken. (Victoria magazine in sidebar is one.)

All of these little cats now live in my doll room.
You should hear the music the little band makes. Well, you can hear it if you have a very good imagination.