Have you ever had days or weeks where you just didn’t get much accomplished? I have had one such week. There are just weeks when I feel as if I have not only not made forward progress but actually feel that I have slipped a bit. It is saddening, depressing, definitely NOT motivating. Sometimes it is just hard to pick oneself up and get back on target but pick myself up, I will!

How do you get yourself back in the groove or in the groove at all, if it is something new you are attempting? I pray about my routines. Yes! I pray about it. Sometimes it is prayer that I’m trying to get back in the groove of and that can be really difficult. Those are the times it is imperative to just buckle down and make myself do the one thing, take time and go pray. Prayer helps so much.

Other times it is the other things I need to get done that is the focus of my dilemma. On those times, it is a little easier because during my prayer times I can pray about the dilemma and obtain strength and grace to make it easier to just get started. I find that if I create some routines, I get more accomplished. Routines help me get certain tasks done on a consistent basis. By doing these routines, I do manage to get more done in my day. It is when I start letting them slip that things get unproductive.

Sometimes there are good reasons for letting a particular routine slip; company and illness come to mind. Sometimes it is just laziness. Sometimes it is busyness. In actuality though, it is always best to stick to routines. This is why I like to make routines. I’m about to begin to review my current routines and see what is working and what isn’t and then make some adjustments and new routines.

It is easiest to attach routines to something I do on a consistent basis. One of the routines I need to work out is when I create these blog posts. The current method, although effective, is not optimal because it is throwing kinks into other routines I have. When I started this blog I was determined not to let Mike feel neglected at all and I think I am failing in some small way; thus my writing routine needs to be rethought.

On a different subject entirely, I ran across a site with some pretty incredible photos. One was a realistic looking picture, done with colored pencils, of a wave at either sunrise or sunset. It is absolutely gorgeous! Take a look.

Another really interesting photo was one of a wolf made of pipe cleaners.

There are 50 different photos of all kinds of different things from cross-sections of different items to really gorgeous artwork to the view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis from the International Space Station and so much more. Go have a look. 50 Incredible Photos

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

We have a small cat house on the porch because our cat appears to be pregnant and we like to have her give birth nearby. Well, Tiffany went on the porch this evening and found that the cat was not in her house but standing outside it and staring. Our house dog, Shiloh, was on the porch as well. She always likes to see new kittens and was peering into the house. All this made Tiffany curious. So she went around and looked inside, wondering if there were kittens inside. To her astonishment and horror, there was an opossum inside.

Wonder what she did? She made a dash for the door and proceeded o beg her dad to get rid of it.

Being the dutiful dad and protector, he went out and proceeded to try to get it to leave on its own. But that crazy thing wasn’t budging. He tried numerous things and finally had to resort to carrying the house over to the woods and setting it down. At which point the critter exited and ran off. Then Mike brought the house back on the porch. The picture is of Mike lugging the house back to the porch.

He said the tail of the opossum was very soft. He did not expect that. You know, it’s a dirty, nasty critter which you expect to have a rough tail but it was nice and soft.

My oldest son was out of town this past week and so we had the pleasure of having our daughter-in-love Lauren over for most of the week. It was a pleasant time even though we got snowed in.

I really didn’t expect the predicted wintry precipitation to really come because the weathermen are wrong so often but our last snow had departed and Tuesday night I began hearing sleet hit the windows. I was shocked when I looked out the windows, hours later to find snow. By morning we had a couple of inches of the beautiful white stuff. Unfortunately, we are all stuffy – well, all but Lauren – so we did not go out in it. It was so bad Mike stayed home from work, schools were closed, and churches cancelled Wednesday night services. Then yesterday, the sun shone brightly and began melting it all away, even while the temperature was below freezing. By evening, the temps had made it into the low 40’s and most all of the snow had melted.

Sean, my middle son, house and dog sat for my sister and her family while they were out of town this last week as well. I really miss that young man when he’s not home. I know my time is limited as to how much longer he will be home with us. He turns 22 in a few weeks . . . I just know that he’s going to find someone special and then they’ll be off making a life for themselves, so I treasure all the time I have with him now. Times like this past week, when he isn’t home is just a little bit of weaning so that it isn’t so hard when that eventual day comes.

I’m excited that we will be having a newly married couple out for dinner on Saturday. It will be fun getting to know them a bit better. They seem like a really neat couple, so it should be a fun night.

I better run. Lots to do in preparation for tomorrow!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº