Wonderful Wednesday

I thought that naming Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday would be an encouragement...

to see the good in the day, our blessings... 

***

One blessing for me today was just that the Lord helped me 

in practical ways when I could tell inside I was struggling

and did not want that struggle to spill out into well, anything 

that could be labeled 'cranky'! :) LOL...

I listened to part of this talk by Mat Constantina on Monday

(it's lovely so far, thanks Mat. Constantina for sharing it!) 

about about her example of the nun Sister Sarah narrating

how she failed in her day and what she could have done differently;

while I was not recollecting myself, the thought came to me,

when I suddenly realized I was struggling,

that I needed to ask God for help in very concrete practical ways

(basically help! help me to love! help me to be kind, patient! 

help me be everything I am not without YOU!) 

and sometimes I just forget to ASK for such assistance, 

when I know God is waiting for this request...

***

Anyway, that was a blessing... 

Then later I went swimming! The sun was hot (thought it was not 

super humid like yesterday) but the pool water was still cool and 

it was just so refreshing! I was really grateful! 

(and I love seeing the mural that is being painted that we see

on our way to the pool!)

***

I picked the funny/cute card above to our niece M for her birthday...

it will be mailed DV tomorrow... 

***

Another great "simple" thing is transforming my leftover veggie burger

from the diner in NYC that got totally soggy in the fridge

back to a toasty hot treat for lunch... via my toaster oven at 425F for over 10 minutes!

The fries, the burger, they both recovered from being a soggy mess...

I used parchment paper under them (saves cleaning and some wear-n-tear on my 

already chipped toaster oven tray) and really, you would not have known those 

fries had just been so soggy they were practically dripping! 

So that was another thing to be thankful about!

***

We enjoyed a vegan cookie for lunch and planned on having mango sorbet after

dinner...and we totally forgot! LOL! But we had rice and leftovers 

and salad and that was a blessing...

***

Mr Husband read this BEAUTIFUL Tolkien poem while we were eating!

Such beauty and HOPE we have in Christ, in Christmas! 

*** 

I got out my new cookbooks + one classic YA novel out of the freezer...

we freeze books (well bagged and not if they are old/hard to replace/costly) 

to be sure that any sort of possible bug infestation (eggs etc) is stopped cold, literally :) 

(I got these used at the Princeton library this past Saturday)...

***

So, I have a LOT of cookbooks.  I LOVE them.

I read them for fun, like a novel or art book that one would page through

to savour, enjoy and get ideas from... 

***

Oh, a funny thing I want to remember when I look back, DV, on these words...

So I mentioned Mat. Constantina above... Mr Husband

listens to the Search the Scriptures podcast by Pres. Constantinou

[Mat. is short for Matushka and Pres. is short for Presbytera

both of which are words that mean "priest's wife"]

and Mr Husband thought that I mixed up their names 

...I don't remember what we were talking about but he meant 

Constantinou and said Constantina 

and I asked, do you mean Mat. Constantina Palmer? and he did not 

realize his mix up and thought, as per usual, that I was mixing it up but I had

just seen Pres. Constantinou's name as Ancient Faith Radio sent me a 

"text" like message on my phone about her program just a few hours before 

our conversation.  So I said I would bet him on it.

The usual "5 dollars?" was his next question and I said TWENTY dollars

and if I was wrong I had to give 20$ to charity of his choice

but if I got it right, when he has to give me 20$.

And ... I was right! HA!

So the rare moleskin (pink) journal I splurged on I did not have to pay for.

Of course I found this to be hilarious and still do...! 

(my being right in this way with my Husband

 so rarely happens that it is like big news,

as *I* am the one that constantly mixes things up when I talk,

seriously ... I should tell you the story about the motorcycle biker... 

well, why not now? here it goes...:

I first realized I did this (mixing things up) 

when I was 16 and worked at a camp in Ohio for the summer.

This is going back to the early 1990s... and there was this big guy there, 

in his 20s I think, who had a motorcycle.  I was 16 and did not yet weight 100lbs.

I was like a tiny 5 foot 6 inch thin 16 year old mouse as it were,

esp. in comparison... well.... 

he, myself and others who worked there

were hanging out... 

I remember someone had brought orange cheddar

 Doritos and I was enjoying

some of these when I, in conversation, 

referred to the motorcyclist man as a "she" instead of "he"

 OH BOY I thought I was dead-meat.  He was like 

"what did you say?" and I squeaked out "he, I meant he!" 

and as you can see, I have never forgotten that moment!

I even remember eating the Doritos

 though I don't actually remember the man's first name now.

He was a kind dude though, even took me for a small ride on his motorcycle.

It was a Christian camp and the staff was really kind, even to a small 16 year old girl

who worked in the kitchen and cleaned cabins! 

Well, to this day I say things wrong all the time; that and I struggle to pronounce

certain words. I have accepted myself in these ways,

I figure it is God's way of keeping me a bit more humble 

than I would be other wise! :) 

Better to appear a bit "stupid" than to go around thinking that of someone else, right? 

So you can see why me winning the bet between Constantina and Constantinou

felt like a big WIN because I mix things up all the time... :) 

*** 

Mr Husband and I's family motto is

we tease those we love 

so the above stories are really a demonstration of this :) 

***

Well. I managed to get the dishwasher full and running right now.

I hope to do a few more dishes so that tomorrow there will be less clutter to deal with.

It sure is hard to keep up with messes,

esp when we were gone this past weekend and I was in NYC yesterday...

tomorrow, God willing, I will be home

and will have more time to get our home put back to rights and 

work towards the next project...

***

May God's love carry you this day...

no matter what is going on...

may you be carried in Christ's mercy and compassion...