Well, 2016 is almost over. Soon it shall be 2017 and I will have a hard time dating all my letters. (When you try to turn a 6 into a 7 it looks an awful lot like an 8.)
A lot of people are claiming 2016 was some sort of dreadful catastrophe. I'll be the first to admit that there were a lot of pretty bad things that happened. The election, for one (if you're an American). But honestly, we lived through all the other elections, and we've voted in some pretty wretched presidents before now and we've lived through them, so we'll batten down the hatches and do it again.
There were terrorist attacks. There were shootings. There were earthquakes. There were riots. There were epidemics.
I'm not really a person who keeps up with celebrities, but several famous people have died this year. A lot of people looked up to them and are grieving now.
There were personal tragedies as well. In our own church we have had several deaths. People have lost jobs. Someone broke their foot. There were a few surgeries. Earlier this year our dog died of nicotine poisoning (smoking kills, people). My family moved twice. My uncle's family lost just about everything when their house burned down.
I know the phrase "God is in control" can get a little worn, but it's true. He is in control, planning things our tiny, finite, little human minds can't comprehend. It's a bigger picture than we can see. And it may involve suffering. It may involve our suffering, but there is still a bigger picture that is far grander and more beautiful than we could ever imagine.
Good things happened this year too. We moved closer to family. A new cousin was born to my family. My Dead Grandma (there's a story to her nickname that I'll have to write sometime) had a successful surgery and recovered in record time. Some of our cousins came to visit not long after we moved and helped us decorate for Christmas. One of my Aunts gave me all her clay and a big tub of things to go with it and now that I have a toaster oven I can start learning to make clay jewelry.
I also discovered some new books this year to add to my shelf. Which is good because I can add new authors to my list of favorite authors. (Which is a real list, by the way. There are forty-seven names on the list, if I remember correctly. I made it to prove to my Excellent Mother that I read more than just Austen and Tolkien.)
I reached my goal of reading over a hundred books this year with a total of 118, and there might be one or two more before the month is out. We shall wait and see.
I also found a blog that so inspired me that I started my own. Wonderland Creek is such fun. Naomi Sarah is so sweet and her blog is adorable and uplifting. I can absolutely recommend it. (Also it's gorgeous. I feel bad at how slapped-together mine is when I see hers.)
Overall, 2016 wasn't super bad. A little sad and a little disappointing maybe, but not altogether bad.
Here's to 2017, and may it be as good (or, God willing) better than 2016. Happy New Years!
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Grown Up
Dear Folks,
Growing up is dismal. When I was little I used to dream of being a "grown-up." I wondered what the magical secret to adulthood was and when I would make this exciting discovery. I have made it.
I mean, I've known for a while that people think I'm grown up. Little kids call me "lady" and my parents have started saying saying things like "you should be more responsible, you're an adult!" but I never really felt like a grown-up until the day before Christmas Eve, when my family was finishing all the Christmas shopping in one fell swoop. It was then that the fatal stroke occurred.
I had to choose between a roll of pretty ribbon and toothbrushes. People, I chose toothbrushes.
At least it's not as bad as it could have been, I almost choose pot-holders over nail polish. Who knows where I would be today if I'd chosen responsibly in that matter. I'm sure you are all very relieved that I survived the transition into adulthood with my vanity intact.
Other depressingly grown-up items that I received for Christmas were a toaster oven and a pair of winter gloves (both of which I asked for) and a pair of winter boots, which I did not ask for, but filled me with great joy all the same. The depressing part about these gifts is how excited I was about receiving them. Little person me would have been so disgusted. Big Girls are supposed to like exciting things like cars and perfume, not cooking implements and puffy gloves.
But the most distinctive proof is this: My parents gave me makeup for Christmas. That absolutely settled the question once and for all. I am officially a Big Girl. I have to figure out how to do this "grown-up" thing for reals now. Wish me luck, y'all!
(In all honesty though, if I were a really grown-up Big Girl, I would be doing something productive and character building--like washing windows or folding laundry--instead of sitting here writing this and eating starbursts.)
Growing up is dismal. When I was little I used to dream of being a "grown-up." I wondered what the magical secret to adulthood was and when I would make this exciting discovery. I have made it.
I mean, I've known for a while that people think I'm grown up. Little kids call me "lady" and my parents have started saying saying things like "you should be more responsible, you're an adult!" but I never really felt like a grown-up until the day before Christmas Eve, when my family was finishing all the Christmas shopping in one fell swoop. It was then that the fatal stroke occurred.
I had to choose between a roll of pretty ribbon and toothbrushes. People, I chose toothbrushes.
At least it's not as bad as it could have been, I almost choose pot-holders over nail polish. Who knows where I would be today if I'd chosen responsibly in that matter. I'm sure you are all very relieved that I survived the transition into adulthood with my vanity intact.
Other depressingly grown-up items that I received for Christmas were a toaster oven and a pair of winter gloves (both of which I asked for) and a pair of winter boots, which I did not ask for, but filled me with great joy all the same. The depressing part about these gifts is how excited I was about receiving them. Little person me would have been so disgusted. Big Girls are supposed to like exciting things like cars and perfume, not cooking implements and puffy gloves.
But the most distinctive proof is this: My parents gave me makeup for Christmas. That absolutely settled the question once and for all. I am officially a Big Girl. I have to figure out how to do this "grown-up" thing for reals now. Wish me luck, y'all!
(In all honesty though, if I were a really grown-up Big Girl, I would be doing something productive and character building--like washing windows or folding laundry--instead of sitting here writing this and eating starbursts.)
Saturday, December 24, 2016
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!
Guess what peeps...It's almost Christmas!!! I know, I know, this is a bit early, but hey, it's Christmas Eve, so humor me. I simply cannot wait for it to be tomorrow. I caught the Christmas Spirit quite late this year, and add a result my case is very bad. If I could sing right now I'd be singing Christmas carols.
Alas, I cannot sing. I was sick all last week and most of this one. Being sick during the holiday season is very terrible indeed. Being an optimist...who am I kidding? I am not an optimist. Bring depressed in spirit I thought, "Well at least I'll get a lot of writing done, yes?"
No. It turns out that being sick is extremely uninspiring, despite the extra time you have on your hands. So instead of doing some of the loads and loads of writing that needed done (blog posts, letters, stories, etc.) I wallowed in self-pity and read several books instead. Two very good books, one rather bad, and I started two mediocre books that bored me so intensely that I was forced to abandon them.
However, I am recovering (I only have a cough and a slight sore throat) and for the last three days I just couldn't bear the wait for Christmas. Now it's Christmas Eve and I've got jitters. Today I went over my presents, shaking the ones that weren't "breaky" and counting them carefully. There are thirteen. I also wrapped some newly bought presents for my family. I ate peppermints and listened to Christmas music. Christmas time is lovely. Tomorrow will be here soon.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
(P.S. I have a recommendation. You should go check out "Christmas 1915" sung by Celtic Thunder. That song will give you chills. It's so beautiful and heartbreaking.)
Friday, December 9, 2016
Bloody Bible Stories
I've been reading through Judges of late and it strikes me that some of these stories would make fabulous movies. Plenty of guts n gore, intrigue and backstabbing (sometimes literally). The bible is not G rated, peeps.
I mean we all know about Gideon, yada yada yada, but man, I want to see something about Shamgar. I mean, that fella killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. Let's see Chuck Norris beat that!
You know what, I'd love to see the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael. People say there are no good stories about women in the bible, but they clearly never read this one. Deborah was a judge of Israel, and Jael? Jael was no shrinking violet. She killed a man with a tent stake. I seriously doubt my ability to do something like that, I just don't have the guts.
Let's take a look at the story of Abimelech. That is Hollywood material if anything ever was. This man killed sixty nine of his seventy brothers. (Nobody talks much about Gideon's seventy sons and the fact that he had "many wives." It always gets left out of the sermons for some reason.) Only his youngest brother, Jotham escapes. Once he's done with his killing spree he has himself crowned king.
When Jotham (who wants to name their kid Jotham? Anyone? It might make a nice break from the traditional "Joshua." There are definitely too many Joshuas.) hears this he climbs a mountain and chews out his brother and the men of Shechem, comparing them to trees and brambles before running off and spending the rest off his days in exile.
Abimilech was king for three years, but God wasn't too happy about all his dastardly deeds and he "sent a spirit of ill will between Abimilech and the men of Shechem." The men of Shechem "dealt treacherously " with Abimilech.
A fellow named Gaal (What was his mother thinking?) starts saying things like "Who is Abimilech, and who is Shechem that we should serve him?" and "If only his people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimilech." Charming guy, this Gaal.
Now Zebul, the ruler of the city Gaal and his buddies were residing in was angry when he heard of what Gaal was saying (Gaal had also said a thing or two about Zebul and he took offense) so he sent word to Abimilech about the rabble-rouser, saying "Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. And it shall be, as soon as the sun is up in the morning that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and as soon as he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as you find opportunity." Nice.
Abimilech thought that was a pretty good plan.
When Gaal went to the gate of the city, ostensibly to prepare his attack against Abimilech, Abimilech and his people rose up from whet they were lying in wait. When Gaal saw them he said to Zebul, "Hey, there are people coming from the mountains!"
Zebul shrugs it off, "Nah, those are just the shadows of the mountains."
But Gaal is persistent. "Those are people!"
To which Zebul responds, "Where's your big mouth now, hotshot?"
So Gaal went to fight Abimilech and was soundly beaten and driven out of the city. But apparently that wasn't enough for Abimilech. He fought against the city; took it; killed the people in it; tore it down; and sowed the ground with salt. Abimilech didn't do things by halves.
When Gaal's cohorts heard this they holed up in the stronghold of temple of the god Berith.
Abimilech heard this, rallied his men and marched to mount Zalmon (that there is an interesting name. Why don't we rename Mt. Elbert and call it Zalmon?) took an ax, chopped down a bough from a tree and laid it on his shoulder, telling his followers, "make haste and do as I have done."
They all took their boughs, followed Abimilech, put their boughs against the stronghold, and set the whole thing on fire. All the people in the stronghold died, about a thousand men and women.
But Abimilech still wasn't done with the bloodshed. He then went to Thebez, encamped against it and took it. However, there was a strong tower in the city and all the men and women fled there, locked themselves in and went up to the top of the tower.
Having already had success with burning the previous stronghold, Abimilech thought he'd do that here too. Unfortunately for him, as he drew near the door of the tower "a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimilech's head and crushed his skull." Buddy, you should have quit while you were ahead.
Anyway, Abimilech called his armorbearer and told him, "Quick, draw your sword and run me through or they'll call me a wussy 'cause I got killed by a girl!"
The armorbearer obeyed and so he died. "Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimilech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers."
Yup. That sounds like something Hollywood would be all over. But no, it's a bible story, and therefore it will never grace the screen with its epicness.
(The story of Abimilech can be read in Judges, chapter nine.)
I mean we all know about Gideon, yada yada yada, but man, I want to see something about Shamgar. I mean, that fella killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. Let's see Chuck Norris beat that!
You know what, I'd love to see the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael. People say there are no good stories about women in the bible, but they clearly never read this one. Deborah was a judge of Israel, and Jael? Jael was no shrinking violet. She killed a man with a tent stake. I seriously doubt my ability to do something like that, I just don't have the guts.
Let's take a look at the story of Abimelech. That is Hollywood material if anything ever was. This man killed sixty nine of his seventy brothers. (Nobody talks much about Gideon's seventy sons and the fact that he had "many wives." It always gets left out of the sermons for some reason.) Only his youngest brother, Jotham escapes. Once he's done with his killing spree he has himself crowned king.
When Jotham (who wants to name their kid Jotham? Anyone? It might make a nice break from the traditional "Joshua." There are definitely too many Joshuas.) hears this he climbs a mountain and chews out his brother and the men of Shechem, comparing them to trees and brambles before running off and spending the rest off his days in exile.
Abimilech was king for three years, but God wasn't too happy about all his dastardly deeds and he "sent a spirit of ill will between Abimilech and the men of Shechem." The men of Shechem "dealt treacherously " with Abimilech.
A fellow named Gaal (What was his mother thinking?) starts saying things like "Who is Abimilech, and who is Shechem that we should serve him?" and "If only his people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimilech." Charming guy, this Gaal.
Now Zebul, the ruler of the city Gaal and his buddies were residing in was angry when he heard of what Gaal was saying (Gaal had also said a thing or two about Zebul and he took offense) so he sent word to Abimilech about the rabble-rouser, saying "Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. And it shall be, as soon as the sun is up in the morning that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and as soon as he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as you find opportunity." Nice.
Abimilech thought that was a pretty good plan.
When Gaal went to the gate of the city, ostensibly to prepare his attack against Abimilech, Abimilech and his people rose up from whet they were lying in wait. When Gaal saw them he said to Zebul, "Hey, there are people coming from the mountains!"
Zebul shrugs it off, "Nah, those are just the shadows of the mountains."
But Gaal is persistent. "Those are people!"
To which Zebul responds, "Where's your big mouth now, hotshot?"
So Gaal went to fight Abimilech and was soundly beaten and driven out of the city. But apparently that wasn't enough for Abimilech. He fought against the city; took it; killed the people in it; tore it down; and sowed the ground with salt. Abimilech didn't do things by halves.
When Gaal's cohorts heard this they holed up in the stronghold of temple of the god Berith.
Abimilech heard this, rallied his men and marched to mount Zalmon (that there is an interesting name. Why don't we rename Mt. Elbert and call it Zalmon?) took an ax, chopped down a bough from a tree and laid it on his shoulder, telling his followers, "make haste and do as I have done."
They all took their boughs, followed Abimilech, put their boughs against the stronghold, and set the whole thing on fire. All the people in the stronghold died, about a thousand men and women.
But Abimilech still wasn't done with the bloodshed. He then went to Thebez, encamped against it and took it. However, there was a strong tower in the city and all the men and women fled there, locked themselves in and went up to the top of the tower.
Having already had success with burning the previous stronghold, Abimilech thought he'd do that here too. Unfortunately for him, as he drew near the door of the tower "a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimilech's head and crushed his skull." Buddy, you should have quit while you were ahead.
Anyway, Abimilech called his armorbearer and told him, "Quick, draw your sword and run me through or they'll call me a wussy 'cause I got killed by a girl!"
The armorbearer obeyed and so he died. "Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimilech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers."
Yup. That sounds like something Hollywood would be all over. But no, it's a bible story, and therefore it will never grace the screen with its epicness.
(The story of Abimilech can be read in Judges, chapter nine.)
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
A Day in the Life of Lissy
Dear Folks,
I'm not sure if you can tell or not, but I am absent minded. (And clumsy. But about half of that clumsiness comes from being absent minded.) As a result of this absent mindedness I am constantly hurried and flurried because I have a million and one things to accomplish and none of it ever gets done, mainly because I'm constantly getting sidetracked.
I'm trying out a new schedule in hopes of remedying this situation, but in the mean time I can at least appreciate how funny it is sometimes. Want an example?
This afternoon I went Christmas shopping and when I got home I was tired out and my throat was sore, so I thought, "Know what, I'll get me some tea."
I put the kettle on to boil, and while I was waiting I decided to do some reading. I got my book (Uncle Lawrence, by Oliver Warner. It's a nice book. Short and a little sentimental.) and was soon reading comfortably.
Too comfortably.
I was so engrossed by my book that I forgot about my tea. The kettle must have whistled for ten minutes before I realized it was hot and finally wandered out to fix my drink. The water had boiled down to nearly nothing.
Once my tea was made I wanted to sit down and read while I drank it. Alas! I had lost my book when I went to fix my tea. So I set my tea on my desk...and realized that I didn't have a coaster to protect the wood from water rings. I was a bit irritated for a few seconds, then I remembered the coaster I'd started crocheting in mid-November. It only needed a few more rows to complete it. I put my tea on the kitchen counter and sat down to finish that coaster.
The coaster is the first thing I've ever crocheted and I felt tremendously accomplished (One small step for mankind and whatnot). All that was left to do was to weave in the ends. But I didn't have a tapestry needle. I hunted for a needle for about five minutes before finding one and wove in the ends and trimmed 'em--and snipped a hole in my poor little coaster. So I had to repair that. And it was done, yay! Only took me three weeks.
While I was looking for the tapestry needle I realized how long it had been since I'd written a blog post, so with my needlework out of the way I sat down to write this. Then I remembered "Ooh, it's December, I can listen to Christmas music!" I put some on, took to my keyboard...and my eyes fell upon the coaster I just finished and I remembered my tea.
By now it had cooled down considerably, but I didn't feel like reheating it (what could happen during a minute and a half? Who's to say?) so I am drinking it now lukewarm. It's pomegranate-raspberry green tea and it smells fabulous, but it tastes rather blah. I prefer herbal.
So at last here I sit writing this out. My tea is cold, my coaster has a hole in it and I'm still not sure where my book is, but at least I managed to finish this post.
Happy holidays, y'all!
~Lissy
I'm not sure if you can tell or not, but I am absent minded. (And clumsy. But about half of that clumsiness comes from being absent minded.) As a result of this absent mindedness I am constantly hurried and flurried because I have a million and one things to accomplish and none of it ever gets done, mainly because I'm constantly getting sidetracked.
I'm trying out a new schedule in hopes of remedying this situation, but in the mean time I can at least appreciate how funny it is sometimes. Want an example?
This afternoon I went Christmas shopping and when I got home I was tired out and my throat was sore, so I thought, "Know what, I'll get me some tea."
I put the kettle on to boil, and while I was waiting I decided to do some reading. I got my book (Uncle Lawrence, by Oliver Warner. It's a nice book. Short and a little sentimental.) and was soon reading comfortably.
Too comfortably.
I was so engrossed by my book that I forgot about my tea. The kettle must have whistled for ten minutes before I realized it was hot and finally wandered out to fix my drink. The water had boiled down to nearly nothing.
Once my tea was made I wanted to sit down and read while I drank it. Alas! I had lost my book when I went to fix my tea. So I set my tea on my desk...and realized that I didn't have a coaster to protect the wood from water rings. I was a bit irritated for a few seconds, then I remembered the coaster I'd started crocheting in mid-November. It only needed a few more rows to complete it. I put my tea on the kitchen counter and sat down to finish that coaster.
The coaster is the first thing I've ever crocheted and I felt tremendously accomplished (One small step for mankind and whatnot). All that was left to do was to weave in the ends. But I didn't have a tapestry needle. I hunted for a needle for about five minutes before finding one and wove in the ends and trimmed 'em--and snipped a hole in my poor little coaster. So I had to repair that. And it was done, yay! Only took me three weeks.
(Here's the finished product.)
While I was looking for the tapestry needle I realized how long it had been since I'd written a blog post, so with my needlework out of the way I sat down to write this. Then I remembered "Ooh, it's December, I can listen to Christmas music!" I put some on, took to my keyboard...and my eyes fell upon the coaster I just finished and I remembered my tea.
By now it had cooled down considerably, but I didn't feel like reheating it (what could happen during a minute and a half? Who's to say?) so I am drinking it now lukewarm. It's pomegranate-raspberry green tea and it smells fabulous, but it tastes rather blah. I prefer herbal.
So at last here I sit writing this out. My tea is cold, my coaster has a hole in it and I'm still not sure where my book is, but at least I managed to finish this post.
Happy holidays, y'all!
~Lissy
Friday, December 2, 2016
Under Construction
Hey Folks,
I know my blog currently looks pretty terrible, but I'm trying to fix that. See, I lost my header and I thought "Well, since I'm looking for a new header why don't I try to do a Christmasy theme." Oops.
Anyway. If you happen to see my currently crummy design don't worry, I'm trying to find a more suitable header and fix everything. This is only temporary.
~Lissy
I know my blog currently looks pretty terrible, but I'm trying to fix that. See, I lost my header and I thought "Well, since I'm looking for a new header why don't I try to do a Christmasy theme." Oops.
Anyway. If you happen to see my currently crummy design don't worry, I'm trying to find a more suitable header and fix everything. This is only temporary.
~Lissy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)