Here We Go Again

Tomorrow night we're supposed to start getting snow again. The main roads are pretty clear right now although the side roads are still in bad shape. On Christmas Day we were able to go visit Bill's family only because his brother and nephews came and dug our car out. It was surrounded by 2 foot drifts. We went to my mom's on Saturday and had a good visit with her and my brother. The big difference with tomorrow's weather is the wind, as in very little wind. Maybe 5 to 10 mph. That's good, no blizzard, just some snow. We'll see, sometimes the weather guy gets it right and sometimes he misses it.

We had 9 kids in Sunday School yesterday. I was really expecting attendance to be down because of the condition of the roads. We had 3 visitors here visiting grandparents. We all had a good time learning about the magi bringing gifts to Jesus. I wonder if they will cancel Wednesday night's service if we get snow.

I have two new oil pastels to show off here. Also, some photos of our snow. I know that it's not much to people in the Northern states but it was and still is a big deal for us. So, we have 4 photos of the day.

First the 2 oil pastels.

Next, 2 photos of the snow.





Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4

Bizzard Warning

I've never experienced a blizzard before. As long as we're in the house it's no big deal but I would hate to have to drive in this mess. The wind is what is causing all the problems. The falling snow would be really pretty if the wind didn't whip it into little icy missles that sting your face and get in your eyes. I know because I took Sassy out for a potty break. I had to force her to go out, she didn't like the conditions. I think this is probably the first snow she has ever seen, the wind didn't help any either. She didn't do a thing while we were out except run around. I guess the snow is covering up all the good pee spots. We'll try again later. I had the same problem with Scruffy. I always had to force her to go out in the snow. The drifts behind the house are really deep, I tried to walk through one of them and had to turn back. I know for the states up North this is nothing but it's a pretty big deal for us. People here don't know how to drive in this kind of weather, that's the main reason that I prefer to stay home. Might have some cocoa later. Good cocoa weather.

I've been reading, knitting and just generally laying around all day. Should clean house but I just can't get up enough willpower to do it. Maybe later.

Depending on the weather conditions we'll go visit Bill's parents tomorrow. They just live across town, not very far away. We were going to visit my mom tonight but that's been postponed until Saturday even though she only lives about a mile away. Normally we just get a little dusting of snow and it's gone in no time but I think this might hang around a few days. But by Saturday we should be able to get around really well.

My big concern was losing the electricity. It did blink once but so far it's holding out really well. Now if this was our usual freezing rain storm we'd all be in the dark by now. It would be nice to have a back up generator.

Photo of the day, not a winter one because I'm not willing to go outside to take one and taking one through the windows wouldn't show the conditions very well. So here is a photo taken during warmer times, last summer.



But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Time Off

We get Wednesday through Saturday off, whoo hoo! I don't know if we will be able to take any road trips through because the weather is supposed to get kinda nasty tomorrow evening. But, the weather people have been wrong before. We're going to my mom's for Christmas Eve and to Bill's parents for Christmas Day. Haven't done any shopping at all, lack of money has a lot to do with that. We just happen to have a little extra money this week so we're going out tomorrow and get a few things. For Bill's parents all the kids are going together and get them a gift certificate at Cracker Barrel, they really like to eat there. I think for my mom I'll get her some jewelery and maybe a sweater. For my brother, I don't know, we got a decorative pocket knife, it has an eagle painted on it. I think maybe I'll get him a gift certificate at Wayne's Drive Inn, he does go there once in a while. I could get him a sweatshirt too, the kind that zips up, I guess you'd call it a jacket. I think he wears those, seems like I've seen him wearing them. He's very difficult to buy for. He doesn't dress up, doesn't wear cologne or anything like that. He can afford to buy anything and everything that he wants. One year I got him a box of 22 shells, he used to like to shoot guns. He doesn't do that much anymore, too expensive. I bought him a sweater one year that he never wore. Oh well, he'll get something.

I love the new soft oil pastels that I got for Christmas (early obviously). They are so much better to use that the cheap ones that I got several years ago. I got cheap ones at that time because I wasn't sure if it was something I wanted to do. I definitely love oil pastels, it's something that I'm going to keep up.

Photo of the day an oil pastel that I did last night. It's based on a photo that I saw in the Smithsonian magazine. The photo was taken by Ansel Adams. He's famous for black and white photography but he did take some color photos as well.



For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16

It's Nuts Out There

at Walmart that is. We went there just to get donuts for Sunday School and some tea. We almost got run down several times inside the store. We've had an influx (I think that's the right term) of new soldiers and their families and things are congested right now. The traffic is rough and the stores are crowded. That's OK, I think it'll level out eventually.

Today is my MIL's birthday and we sent flowers to her. She is very hard to buy for so we usually send flowers. She doesn't want anything Christmasy and that is hard because most of the arrangements were with a Christmas theme. She enjoyed the flowers we did send her.

My allergies have been really bad the last few days, sneezing, headaches, stomach upset, all that.
We found out today that SIL's soon to be ex husband does have a girlfriend. My in-law's neighbors know her and have seen them together. I thought he had a girlfriend. We also found out that they have been having problems for a long time now (hid it pretty well) and SIL is actually happy and relieved that it's soon to be over. It's sad to me because they've been married 27 years and it seems like that would be worth fighting for but they don't care for each other any more.

I did a couple more paintings. The first one is the star on top of our tree, it's done in semi hard pastel. The second is a landscape, a view from the top of Mt. Scott, it's done in soft pastel.





They look better in person than they do in the photo. They were fun to do. I found a photo in the Smithsonian magazine that I think I want to do next. I think I'll do it in the oil pastels.

Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.
Acts 10:43

Art

Art is not a passion for me, it's my way of life. I see art everywhere. Patterns and colors and designs. It's not just painting and drawing. I consider knitting, crocheting, quilting and beading art also. I love yarns, the color and the feel of them. All the different patterns that you can make with knitting. Crochet is like abstract art because you can do so much with it, even make free form designs. You use geometry in quilting, squares, triangles, and so on. I love planning a quilt, choosing the fabric and colors, all art to me. Then there's beading, so many different kinds of beads and you can make your own if you want to. So many different ways of putting them together, combining color and textures. But then, I see art in nature, the way the sun shines through the leaves, snow on mountains, the colors of flowers. I've been noticing perspective a lot lately. The way the lines converge to a point, roads, fences, roofs of buildings. Of course it doesn't stop with the things I mentioned. I used to do calligraphy and that's very beautiful too. I stopped because when you make a mistake you have to start over from scratch and I had to start over a lot. Photography is another great thing. You can do a lot with it, different lighting, different lenses. The things that I mentioned are things that people usually consider crafts and somehow that's supposed to be less than art. But I think that something that is well crafted, well made is a thing of beauty and an art. I used to make all my own clothes and that was an art to me too. Every now and then I think about making clothes again but buying from thrift shops is so much cheaper.

Moving right along. Bill and I bought new shoes today. My feet are already a lot happier. I don't know how long I had the old shoes, at least 6 months. 6 months is about the limit for shoes. Of course the feet will always hurt but at least not as much, until these shoes wear out that is.

I have a photo picked out and I think I'll attempt it with my soft pastels. It's been years since I used soft pastels and they were cheap ones. The ones I bought recently are better quality, I think.

I need to brush Sassy, I didn't do it last night, she can't wait to many nights. She needs to be fluffed up every so often.

Photo of the day, abstract in wood.

. . .and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.

Acts 10:28

Vacation

For my husband that is. We can't take a vacation together right now because we are shorthanded at work. Our co-worker will be out for several more weeks.

Usually about this time I'm getting pretty tired of holidays and this year is no different. I do enjoy getting a few extra days off. Next week we only have to work a couple of days but I'm ready for things to get back to normal. I think I would enjoy it better if we could afford to buy lots of gifts. I really enjoy giving gifts but that's not possible. To top it off the lights on our tree shorted out. Bah, humbug. I'm really not having a bad time. Holidays are just not a big deal for me.

It's been very cold the last couple of days. No moisture, it's bone dry.

Haven't done much with my new art supplies yet. I got soft oil pastels, semi-hard pastels and soft pastels. So far I've done one picture with the semi-hard pastels. Been too busy for some reason.

Sunday night we had our children's Christmas program. They did a great job and 3 kids from our 5th grade Sunday School class were in it. The backdrops that I painted looked great! And here they are: the play takes place in an airport terminal. The backdrops were placed on either side of the baptistry. This is a doorway and a window.



This backdrop is a view of the plane looking through a window with snow falling.



I enjoyed painting it. I took pictures of the children but I'm not sure if their parents would want their pictures posted on the Internet so I won't do it. We are planning to have a little Christmas party Sunday and hand out some gifts to the kids.

Photo of the day (in addition to the ones already posted): this is a view of Mt. Scott and Medicine Creek.



We must obey God rather than men.
Acts 5:29

Careless

I guess that's a good title. I've been really trying to be gluten free but I didn't take cross contamination seriously enough. I've suffering the last few days because of it. We have been eating out quite a bit and I thought I picked out things that were gluten free but I think they had some in them. Oh well, I'll get over it eventually. Need to be more strict. Eating out is pretty expensive anyway. Bill doesn't care that much for it. I'm the one that drags us down all the time. We could buy a lot of food for the price of just one meal in a resturant. Besides, I'm tired of being sick. Sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Since we bought Bill a camera a couple weeks ago he said that I could have both of our Christmas bonuses. I really enjoyed spending that money. Got lots of stuff. Enough yarn for 2 sweaters, 4 movies, a bunch of art supplies and one dinner out. That dinner didn't bother me, it was sushie which doesn't seem to bother me. I don't think it has any gluten in it. I didn't react to it anyway.

We're watching the movie Up right now. It's so cute!

Photo of the day, a nice view from the mountain.

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

Cold

It's dadburn cold out yonder. The wind cuts right through you. Feet hurt, back hurts and so on. I think I got a hold of some gluten yesterday. Had some stomach troubles earlier today but they seem to be clearing up now.

I ran out of things to eat so I spent some time this evening cooking. Baked some chicken and roasted a sweet potato with some white potatoes. Then I made some chili and cornbread. Bill will probably eat that even if the cornbread is gluten free.

We're watching Lion King right now. My favorite character is the little baboon priest, medicine man (whatever he is.) I like Timon and Pumba a lot too.

We went to Walmart to get the stuff for the chili and saw a friend that we haven't seen in a long time. It's amazing how you can live in the same town and not see each other. We don't go to the same church anymore and that makes a difference.

Photos of the day, two more oil pastels. They're not very good but I had fun doing them and that's the main thing. The first one is a flower, obviously.



The next one looks almost like an abstract but actually it's a picture of a log, or rather the knot in a log.



And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:21

Baby

it's cold outside. I got to wear the turtleneck sweater that I finished last spring. It's nice and warm. That North wind cuts right through you.

We went to Bill's parents' house and raked the leaves in the front yard. I think we filled about 15 bags with leaves. It wasn't too bad in the front because the house was blocking the wind. The back yard needs to be done but it will have to wait, they may have to pay someone to do it. We both worked until we got backaches. Not as flexible as we used to be.

Speaking of inlaws we found out that Bill's sister is getting a divorce. Her husband decided that he just didn't love her anymore. It sounds like quite a mess. I think he has a girlfriend and just wants his wife out of the way so the girlfriend can move in. He says his wife doesn't "understand" him. We always thought he was a strange character. It's tough happening at this time of the year though.

We had breakfast at IHOP today. We love to go there for breakfast. I can't eat the pancakes but I can eat most of the other stuff. We took the pancakes home and Bill will eat them for breakfast tomorrow.

We're watching the Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring right now and eating gluten free brownies.

Photo of the day, a view from the mountaintop.



But these things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:31