The church we are attending feels even more like it just could become our home.  However, like I said last week, I'll let you know when it is official.

Happy Groundhog's Day!!  Yes, that's right, today is Groundhog's Day!  What, you forgot?  What is wrong with you?

I made sure I would remember Groundhog's Day every year.  I got married on it.  LOL!  Today is our 24th anniversary.  We've decided to treat ourselves to some new bowling equipment.  My husband has his own ball but the bag he carries it in is a mess.  The handle broke and he uses a coat hanger handle.  He left it out in the garage for years and years and the blue bag turned brown.  I'm telling you... it is UGLY!  I don't let him walk with me when he is carrying it.  (Just kidding.)

I never had my own stuff so I get a ball and a bag.  We are both getting shoes, too, because it costs a couple of dollars to rent them each time we go bowling.  I remember when it didn't cost extra to use the shoes.

The funny thing is we aren't avid bowlers.  We used to bowl with our ex-neighbors many many years ago.  However, we just recently discovered some friends of ours like to bowl.  We've been trying to make a point of getting together with friends more often than once every few years.  So, we go bowling with them every couple of months.  Since I have such a hard time finding a ball with the right weight and size of finger holes I need to have my own.

I earned it a long time ago anyway.  When we bowled with our ex-neighbors I had the worst time trying to break 100.  My husband told me that when I did he would buy me a ball, bag, and shoes.  I broke 100 and the bowling alley closed.  We quit bowling and I never got my own stuff.

I've been being good and riding the exercise bike.  I haven't done it yet this morning but I will.  I am determined to exercise regularly.  Yes I am, yes I am, yes I am.

I know.  You've heard this before.  Well, I think that this time is the time it will happen.  No more Mr. Nice Guy (Mrs. Nice Guy, I mean).  I'm going to whip my body into shape.  Let's see... what would be a good shape?  Donut - bad, square - bad, triangle - bad, hmmm....

As a matter of fact, I'm going to go do it now before the day grows any longer.  I'll be back.

I changed the way I put the email links here at the Clarion and my spam email has decreased by at least 85%!  I've found that email from the Clarion Call domain doesn't go through to AOL and possibly more Internet providers due to the massive amounts of spam that has been disguised to look like it was generated at the Clarion.  You know who is responsible, don't you?  It is that jerk... the prince of pollution.  (Well, he's known as the prince of the air in Eph 2:2 and the air around here contains smog...)

So, what we have here is a bad news/good news thing.  The bad news is I have to send a confirmation email from my aol account to make sure that all the mail from Clarion gets to its destination.  The good news is the enemy wouldn't take the time to mess with the Clarion's email if the Clarion Call wasn't making a difference in the Kingdom of God!!! 

YIPPEE!!!

I'm still riding the exercise bike!  Good good good!  I've found that I probably won't do it if I don't do it early in the day.  My intentions are great, but I get busy doing other things and end up not doing it.

I've also put myself on a somewhat strict diet.  I am determined to get rid of the part of me that doesn't want to fit into my clothes.  It sure would be easier if I could just take my scissors and start cutting off the extra, wouldn't it?

My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and it needs some attention.  Since God is the one that pointed it out to me then I am sure He will help me stay strong and reach the goal He has set for me!  If only eating weren't so enjoyable!

This coming weekend my husband and I are planning on going away in the camper.  It will be a combination anniversary/Valentine's Day getaway.  I'm looking forward to it, of course.  I like going places in the camper.  My husband is sick again and that may interfere.  He's had the flu or a bad cold over and over since the first of December.  Just when he starts feeling good he gets it again.

He won't have fun if he's sick.

Praise God, I've been staying healthy!

I'm still here.  We didn't get to go away for the weekend after all.  My husband wouldn't have had fun as he was still sick.  That's OK.  We will plan another one when it isn't a holiday weekend for some people.  My husband will just have to take a day off of work.

It was probably just as well.  There were a few things that needed to be done here.  We had an open trench running across our front yard because our water main broke.  My husband wanted to put in a new line.  He finished putting it in, but the trench was still there.

Plus our toilet had a mystery leak.  He's working on that now.  The bolts broke and so he is having a bad time getting it finished.  He's in the bathroom wrestling with the toilet.  Shall we give him a name like those phony wrestlers have?  How about the Purger of Porcelain?  King of the Throne Zone?  The Royal Flusher?  Enough already, Kay!

Oh boy, somebody got me for making fun of my husband.  I ended up cleaning up the mess after he finally got the toilet up and, I know, will have the pleasure of cleaning up after he gets it put back together!

Whenever I start on a project I calculate how long I think it should take.  Then I take that time and multiply it by three.  That figure is usually a lot closer to how long it takes than my first estimate.  Then, if I get it done faster I am happy!  It's a win-win situation!  (Don't draw my attention to the fact that I should have been able to get it done in the amount of time I first estimated.  You will burst my bubble!)

My husband always rolls his eyes when I use my triple-the-estimate formula.  However, ask him how long he thought it would take to replace our main water line (2 hours).  Then ask him how long it actually took (5 hours and 50 minutes).

Well, it looks like we have ourselves a new church home.  Things are starting to feel pretty comfortable there.  We have friends that have gone there for a while so we are getting involved a little more quickly than usual in a new church.

Not only are my sons finally back in a church, but our friends' son is probably going to start going as well since he and my youngest son are good friends!  This will be good all the way around!

I was hoping that my husband and I would have time to go bowling today.  Since it is President's Day he didn't have to teach school.  Maybe there is still time.

We decided that bowling was a fun and fairly inexpensive sport.  Well, once we bought our own shoes it got cheaper.  After just a few times of bowling our shoes will be worth the expense.

I finally got my own ball.  Now I know why I had a lot of trouble trying to stay consistent.  When the guy was measuring my hand to know where to drill the holes he kept saying, "You've got a big hand!"  The holes are lots farther apart than the balls they have around for you to use in the bowling alley.  Now I can get a better grip and my thumb doesn't get stuck down in the thumb hole.

As I look at my hands they don't look so big.  I knew my arms were a bit long.  Whenever I buy a long-sleeved blouse or sweater it is usually a bit too short in the sleeves.  When I sew my own long-sleeved blouse or dress I add two inches to the length of the sleeve.  Maybe that's why my sons are all so tall... I have long bones.

(My arms look OK, don't they??)

There are too many things going on around here again.  There is homeowner association stuff, legal stuff, problems with bills being wrong, rain going places it shouldn't, a possible job coming up that I don't know whether I should take, and and and and...

Up until yesterday I thought I was having company this weekend, too.  I am praying for God to help me to know what to do and say every moment.  I have to focus on Him.  He is capable of keeping me calm, cool, and collected in the midst of this tornado of activity.  If I had to figure all this stuff out on my own I'm afraid my brain would do like atomic reactors do when they overheat and go into meltdown.

I was telling you last month about the county parks department notified us that they were putting a horse trail right through our homeowner association's common area (which is basically just a wash for water run-off).  I volunteered to head up a committee to find out how they were going to address our concerns about liability, maintenance, increased noise and traffic, and whatever else comes up. 

We had another meeting on Monday and they are treating us like we are a minor speed bump in their plans.  I got the feeling that they intended to force it on us no matter what our documents say.  They are trying to say that it was a public horse trail all along and we should have known that yet, they only officially designated it as a public trail in 1994.

Well, I've been going through old documents from the inception of our tract of homes to find things we need when we meet with them privately.  Weird, isn't it?  How does the county decide to use private property for their use and not notify the owners?  Since we never were notified and never gave permission how is it that we are having to do anything at all?  They are acting like we have to accept it just because they say so!

One of the comments made was, "Just because you have something doesn't mean you will always have it."   What????  He was referring to OUR ASSOCIATION'S PROPERTY!   Good grief!  I can't wait to see what else they have to say at the upcoming meeting!

I took pictures of the iguana cage that I was working on a while back.  I was having a difficult time getting into my son's room while the morning sun was shining in.  Then, when I could get in there the cage was dirty.

So, now my son has a job where he has to get up early.  I put the iguana in the bathtub (which is a trick in itself) and scrubbed the cage.  It's about like scrubbing a closet, it is so big!

So, soon you will see pictures of it.

I just wanted to share something with you.  I was arguing with God about my attitude.  I wanted to be mad at someone that was not doing what they should have been doing.  God kept telling me to love and support that person.  It didn't make sense that I should have to do that when that person was allowed to continue doing the wrong things.

As I was whining and asking why, why, why God quietly whispered something that ended the entire episode, "Because you love Me."

~~ sigh ~~

Link to the 2/25/04 Bible study.