Leisurely Woman's Daybook 4

Outside my window...the moon is full and the dark clouds are rolling in. Predictions for several days of thunderstorms could signal our last evening on the patio for a while...that is, if "they" are actually right this time. But really...what are the chances of THAT?!

From the kitchen...tonight's simple supper consisted of grilled burgers and a fabulous cantaloupe, which has been sitting half-eaten in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. It was perfectly sweet and still crisp too!

Around the house...the boys just finished using up a free month of Xbox Live. Did I really say last week that I was thankful for technology? I should have excluded gaming systems from that all-encompassing statement!

A favorite thing...my Cuisinart 14-cup food processor. Easy to set up and clean and works efficiently for dozens of jobs.

I am thinking...that my blogging skills are diminshing because I don't practice nearly enough!!

I am wearing...a watch. I have forgotten to wear it for about 3 weeks now. For a person who lives and dies by the clock, that is unthinkable!

I am hearing...the agitating motion of the washing machine. I love that sound. It is the sound of duty in action...the sound of accomplishment...the sound of cleanliness. And besides that, it eliminates the sound of my boys exclaiming again tomorrow that all 37 pairs of their boxers are in the dirty laundry. :-)

I am reading...the same bloody books I've been reading for weeks now!! I am not finding much time for casual reading these past 3 weeks. However, to keep from being entirely redundant, I will quote a comical passage from Huck Finn:

Then Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatsoever I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn't any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work. By and by, one day I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. She never told me why, and I couldn't make it out no way.

I set down one time back in the woods and had a long think about it. I says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don't Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on the pork? Why can't the widow get back her silver snuff-box that was stole? Why can't Miss Watson fat up? No, says I to myself, there ain't nothing in it. I went and told the widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was "spiritual gifts." This was too many for me, but she told me what she meant - I must help other people, and do everything I could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and never think about myself. This was including Miss Watson as I took it. I went out in the woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but I couldn't see no advantage about it - except for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn't worry about it any more, but just let it go.

I am creating...absolutely nothing. Maybe I should remove this item from the list! I don't do a great deal of creating anymore. Hmm. I'll give it a few more weeks. Maybe knowing that I have to report to you all will motivate me. Maybe.

I am thankful for...a godly mother who gives wise counsel, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Plans for my week...lunch with 2 girlfriends on Monday...meet with an admissions counselor at a local university on Wednesday...enjoy my last full week with my boys before school begins! Ugh.

A photo/video I'm sharing...from a collection of photos called "Fashions I Love" which I've been gathering for years from magazines and other sources. I believe this one comes from a "Victoria" magazine from the late 80's or early 90's!