The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today, November 29, 2011...

Outside my window...it's dark and the temperature is dropping.  We should be in the upper 50's by tomorrow morning.  That's cold by South Florida standards.

I am thinking...about my life, how even in the midst of storms I am blessed beyond measure.

I am thankful...that tomorrow is the last day of hurricane season, and Florida didn't get affected by any.  Thank You Jesus!

I am going...to watch a Christmas movie on TV or DVD.

I am wearing...my sleeping garb.  I showered, washed and dried my hair, and I'm ready to hit the sack.

I am noticing...the dryness in the air today.  It was rainy and humid yesterday.  It's like I'm in a whole other place.

I am hoping...my daughter gets done with her research paper in time.  It's one of her last assignments of the semester.

I am pondering these words..."When joy and prayer are married their first born child is gratitude." - Charles Spurgeon.

I am praying for...my family, my friends, my health, and a peaceful Christ-centered Christmas.

From the learning rooms...lots of math, fractions and decimals, and geography.

From the kitchen...since I was busy decorating the house, I kept it simple: burgers and fries.  The burgers were done on the indoor grill pan, and the fries were cooked up in the oven.

I am reading...a great devotional handed out at church this Sunday.  It's an advent devotional called Light.  I really am getting into it, as I want to immerse myself in Scripture this Christmas season.  I finished The Frontiersman's Daughter during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  It was a great read!

On my mind...changes that have happened, and the peace of the Lord.

Around the house...I've gotten lots of decorating done already.  The tree is up and it's beautiful.

One of my favorite things...decorating for Christmas.  This year I want to keep it simpler.  Every year I decorate like I'm moving to the North Pole.  This year I want to focus less on the decorating and more on the meaning of Christmas.  Yes, I know the meaning of Christmas, but I often get caught up in the whirlwind of shopping, decorating, baking, cooking, and I lose perspective of what's really important.  It's not about what I can do.  It's about what He's already done.

A few plans for the rest of the week...I want to put up the outdoor lights tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather will hold up (the weather lady said it's supposed to).  Awana tomorrow night, then we're pretty much free the rest of the week to watch more Christmas movies.

Here's a picture thought I'm sharing...Cinderella's castle in Disney World, Florida.

Wanna join in the fun?  Visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook.  God bless.

Meet Me On Monday

Happy Monday!  It's been a busy day today, as I did laundry, cleaned house, and began putting up the Christmas tree.  Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it was wonderful.  Now to prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth, but first, how about a Monday post?  To join in, visit Java at Never Growing Old.

1. I really need to clean my _________?
Bedroom!  It's a dusty mess!

2. What food makes you think of Christmas?
Coconut rice pudding.  It's a staple in the Puertorican home at Christmas.

3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?
Hmm, let's see.  I was pretty hot when I was 22.  Of course I didn't have kids yet.  I'll say 36.  By then I had all three of my precious children.

4. What was your first paying job?
I did data entry at Chemical Bank.

5. Have you read the Twilight series?
Nope.  I'm not into that vampire/werewolf genre.

Have a blessed week!

Observing My Senses

For Today, November 26, 2011...

I am seeing...the sun shining through the blinds on a spectacular day.  God is blessing us with a bright sunny day!

I am feeling...excited!  We'll be leaving to Magic Kingdom in a little while.  My youngest son doesn't know it yet. Wait till he finds out!

I am hearing...my daughter the chatterbox. ;)

I am tasting...Honey Bunches of Oats, with pecan clusters.

I am smelling...sausages, biscuits, coffee, the typical morning fare.

It just takes a moment to observe your surroundings.  Won't you join me?

Thursday Thoughts (On Friday)

This is a post I usually do on Thursdays, but I was busy preparing our Thanksgiving day feast so I decided I'd leave my random thoughts for today.

*Yesterday was one of the best Thanksgivings ever!  Certainly the most relaxed one I can remember.  It was just me and my 3 children.  We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, salad, lots of gravy, and crescent rolls.  It may seem like a lot, but it was probably about half the amount of food I usually make.

*Since my son works in a grocery store, our turkey was really cheap.  All the employees got a $5.00 off coupon, so our 12 lb. turkey only cost $2.61.  Too bad it isn't that cheap all year long!

*I brined our turkey as in other years, but for some reason it was juicier and tastier than ever.

*Thanksgiving is usually a very hectic time for me.  We have about 20 people over, and I do most of the cooking.  I also have to get the house ready, move furniture, set up additional tables and seating, clean every nook and cranny...it takes days to get ready for, and by the time I sit down to eat I'm exhausted.

*This year it was just the four of us.  The only thing I did ahead of time was brine the turkey and bake a cake.  Everything else was prepared at a leisurely pace, and we sat down to eat at about 3:00pm.  The house was clean but not perfectly neat, yet that was okay.  We got up for seconds (or in the case of my son R, thirds) and talked and laughed and watched Lemonade Mouth on TV.  Then we crashed on the sofa.  It was awesome.

*We took our dog Molly for a walk around the pond behind my kid's apartment building.  The grounds here are really beautiful and well kept.  E and I were thrilled to see big fish in the pond, then we saw a family of turtles!  Big ones too, at least a couple of them were about 2 feet long.  They came up to the edge and swam around.  It was so neat!  There were cranes too, and we enjoyed seeing God's creation up close.

*My youngest son E found his older brother's costume bin.  R gets dressed up for Halloween since he works at the store.  He's been Batman, Robin, and Dr. Wylie (from the Megaman video game).  E started dressing up in his brother's costumes and had us rolling on the floor with his antics!  He is such a funny little kid. He had a blast too, watching our reactions.

*Today's plans are simple.  We're gonna go see the new Muppet Movie at a local theater at about noon, since R has to go in to work at 3:00.  After that we're gonna hang out at the apartment.

*Tomorrow's plans are even better.  We have tickets to go to Disney's Magic Kingdom to enjoy the Christmas decorations there!  My two youngest kids and myself will be having an early birthday celebration since our birthdays are all in December.  I am so excited!  I love Disney, and I love Christmas.  The two together is like having cake and pie on the same plate!!

So much to continue being thankful for.  Thank You Jesus, for the life You've given me.  It's not perfect; there are trials and turmoil and disappointments along the way, but there is also joy in the knowledge that You are with me and have blessed me beyond measure.  God is good, all the time!

Five Question Friday

Happy day after Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone's Thanksgiving day was filled with gratitude for our many blessings.  We live in a free country, where there is abundance.  We often don't realize it, but we have countries very close by to us that are in extreme poverty.  Americans can have a day of thanks with a table filled to the brim with enough food to feed several families.  More food than some Haitian families will see in a month.  Think about it.  Be thankful.

Our Five Question Friday this week is about Thanksgiving (how appropriate).  If you want to join in, visit Mama M. at My Little Life and have some fun!

1. Is there a special dish you prepare that you are famous for?
My kids will tell you it's my stuffing.  I take regular Stove Top stuffing (I personally like the Savory Herbs one) and jazz it up.  I'll add some onion, celery, sage, rosemary, thyme, raisins, and either sausage or ground beef.  I kept it simpler this year and left out the raisins and meat, but it was still killer.  My husband's family says their favorite part of the menu is the ham, and the desserts.

2. Are you (did you) go Black Friday shopping ?
No Black Friday shopping for me!  I boycott the stores the day after Thanksgiving.  I especially will not go to a store that begins their sales on Thanksgiving evening.  Don't they get it?  Thanksgiving is a time of being with family and showing gratitude for what we have, not a time to be drooling over things we don't have and can't afford but we'll charge up the credit cards anyway.  If it were up to me, I'd eliminate Black Friday altogether.

 3. What are your strangest holiday traditions?
Strange, hmm.  Some of my decorating seems over the top to some people.  I decorate A LOT.  But I wouldn't call that strange.  I can't think of anything, probably because the stuff we do doesn't seem strange to us.

 4. Pecan or pumpkin pie? (She actually asked "Apple or pumpkin?" I just T-giving'ed it!)
This is a big debate with us.  I love all kinds of pies.  I think pumpkin pie should be a staple at any Thanksgiving meal.  We don't have it at ours, though, because no one else likes it.  My daughter is all about pecan pie, I am an apple pie lover (warm with a scoop of ice cream, yum!), and my son E is all about chocolate.  So we had pecan pie and chocolate cake yesterday, and there's chocolate cream pie and apple pie in the fridge for today.  I guess we can't ever have enough pie!  Thankfully my oldest son will pretty much eat anything.  I don't know where we'd put another dessert.

 5. When will you put up your Christmas tree?
Traditionally our Christmas tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving.  This year, however, we aren't home, so the tree will go up this coming week, Monday or Tuesday.  I love having the tree out as long as possible, and since it's a fake tree we don't have a problem with it drying out.  Looking forward to decorating it!

What I'm Thankful For

A sweet friend of mine from church has been doing a daily post on Facebook on what she's thankful for using every letter of the alphabet.  I thought it was a great idea, but she got started at the beginning of the month and I was away.  I've entered a few thankful thoughts on her Facebook page but I thought I'd do something similar here.  Ya'll can do it as well if you have time, or just meditate on what you're thankful for today.  I feel like thankfulness makes our day much more pleasant.


A = my sweet daughter A.Y.
B = the BEAUTY of creation
C = CHRIST
D = His DEATH on the cross
E = the gift of ETERNAL life, and my son E.N.
F = God's FAITHFULNESS
G = GRACE
H = HEAVEN - worth looking forward to!
I = He is the great I AM
J = JESUS
K = KINDNESS He shows me everyday
L = LOVE - that's what it's all about
M = the MIRACLES He's performed in my life
N = NATIVITY - the true meaning of Christmas
O = my God who is OMNISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT and OMNI-PRESENT
P = the PEACE that surpasses all understanding
Q = the QUIET, still voice of God
R = my oldest son R.A.
S = His STRENGTH is made perfect in my weakness
T = THANKSGIVING, and TURKEYS
U = the UNITED States of America, and UNCONDITIONAL love
V = VACATION time in Central Florida!
W = WHERE would I be without Jesus?!
X = the eXtraordinary women He's put in my life 
Y = the YUMMY food we get to eat all year, not just on Thanksgiving day
Z = ZION, where I will one day be with the Lord


May your Thanksgiving Day be filled with gratitude for all the blessings in your lives.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  May the Lord bless you!