the loveliest...

October is truly the loveliest month, dontcha think?

This weekend was so productive. Garages were switched. (Long story.) (More) Flowers were planted and mulched. There was church. Crock-Pottin'. Lots of time spent outside. (We even watched part of an Air Show from our front yard. So. Cool.)

Saturday night was just your typical wild and crazy night:

Just kidding. We played with Instagram filters.

Then, tonight, we had "Trunk or Treat" at our church. We didn't last long (it was insanely crowded and I had hungry girls), but they looked cute! Even if they didn't dress up. (Another long story. I'll spare y'all.)

I hope y'all had a peaceful, restful, joyful weekend, too!

Stay tuned: next Monday I'm sharing my new FAVOURITE makeup, introduced to me by my sweet, sweet friend, Taylor. It's gluten-free and AWESOME.

TTFN.

saving the world...

Just in case you’ve been fretting about this: TLC and I still love a few of the same television shows. Grey’s Anatomy. This Is Us. American Housewife. Fixer Upper. Of course Fixer Upper.

But as has happened with My Sweet Hubby (MSH), the shows TLC and I don’t share a mutual love for or interest in are on a mucho bigger list. Sigh. Frankly, I’m too pooped to even try to remember all the cRaZy, useless, RIDICULOUS stuff she watches. She’d just be offended. (And, possibly, a bit embarrassed for Y’all to read what those useless shows are. Winky. Wink.)

I did ask her last week if she was watching a show called Kevin (Probably) Saves the World. “No,” she says. (Kind of snotty-ish.) “I didn’t think that looked like a show I’d be interested in.”

Well, Friends, I’ve watched two episodes (I did miss the first one and I haven’t had a chance to check to see if I can catch it On Demand.) and I REALLY LIKE IT.

Here’s how ABC describes it:

Kevin Finn is struggling. Directionless and cluelessly self-serving, he seems to be drifting ever closer to total despair. With his life spiraling further and further out of control, he heads home to seek refuge with his widowed twin sister, Amy, and her young daughter. On his first night there, life takes an unexpected turn when he receives an unlikely celestial being named Yvette, who has a mission for him: to save the world. It’s going to take a lot of trial and error, but maybe a bigger purpose is exactly what he’d needed all along.

So Jason Ritter is Kevin. RITTER. John Ritter’s son! He looks so much like his Dad! I think he’s as good an actor/comedian as John was, too.

His sister is JoAnna Garcia. TLC and I ADORE HER. We have treasured her since we watched, faithfully, Reba, and she played Cheyenne. Reba’s oldest daughter. She is CUTE. And, IMHO, quite the talented actor.

I’m not familiar with the other actors but they are all GREAT. The show is clever. Funny. Interesting. Charming. I’m happy to have something like this to look forward to each week. I don’t expect to cry. At least, not during every show. (You understand what I mean. This Is Us and Grey’s tears/sobs/breakdowns. Sheesh.) I believe I’ll continue to enjoy it for the delightfully different entertainment I feel it is.

Remember: Me liking a television show? One that’s a bit out of the ordinary? Yep. That usually means it won’t last past one season. I hope this one does! I’m simply getting too old for heavy, scary dramas. The Blacklist is still a show MSH and I watch together. It’s about as violent as I can do/go. However, I’m recording a new show for us to try. Seal Team. A military drama. Duh. We’ve watched one. It's going to be super iffy for moi. Challenging. (I had to look away a couple of times and ask MSH when it was safe to look back.)  I’m sure it’s quite realistic. It's SUPER INTENSE. I’m not convinced I can stick with it. Time will tell…

Hey, I’ve got to scoot! My davenport is calling my name. I think this is a night of comedies and I HEART MY COMEDIES. (More about them in another post, perhaps…)

Have a Terrific Thursday, Fantastic Friday and Wonderful Weekend, Sillies Everywhere!

ta-ta for now,

ELC

a mighty river...

WHEN MY INNER EYES NEED FOCUS
From Praying Through the Tough Times by Lloyd John Ogilvie:

   Silently now I wait for Thee

Ready, my God, Thy will to see

 Open my eyes, illumine me,

   Spirit divine.

CLARA H. SCOTT

Almighty God, it is with Your permission that I am alive, by Your grace that I have been prepared for my work, by Your appointment that I am here, and by Your blessing that I am secure in the gifts and talents that You have given me. Renew my body with health and strength. Open my inner eyes so I can see things and people with Your perspective. Teach me new truth today. May I never be content with what I have learned or think I know. Set me free to soar with wings of joy and delight. I trade in the spirit of self-importance for the spirit of self-sacrifice, the need to appear great for the desire to make others great, the worry over my place of importance for the certainty of Your place in my heart. Restore the continuous flow of Your Sprit through me as a mighty river.

Dear God, You promise to be with me whenever and wherever I need You throughout this day. You have assured me that You will never leave or forsake me. You remind me that Your love is there when I am insecure, Your strength when I am stretched beyond my resources, Your guidance when I must make decisions, Your hope when I am tempted to be discouraged, Your patience when difficult people distress me, Your joy when I get grim.

I open my mind to receive Your divine intelligence, my responsibilities to glorify You, my relationships to express Your amazing affirmation, my face to radiate Your care and concern. As You care for me today, I pledge myself to live for Your glory. I am ready to receive what I will need each hour—each challenge, each opportunity. This day is a gift, and I accept it gratefully. You are my Lord and Savior. Amen.

Confession:

Some mornings I get more out of my devotional readings and prayers than others. Today was one. I don’t really know why. I simply treasured every lovely word of this one. (I remember the hymn we sang all the time when I was growing up in the Episcopal Church by Clara H. Scott. Once I read those first words of hers, I went back and sang them to myself. Sigh.)

(Are Y’all beginning to think I might need to consider starting a new blog entitled “Sundays with ELC?” Hmmm…)

So yesterday we had our first “lookers/prospective buyers” at and of our country home. It is a LONG story that I won’t go into. I will say it didn’t happen the “traditional” way—that is…being set up by our realtor and/or another realtor. It ended up taking almost four hours of our afternoon/evening. Which My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I, fortunately, had to give. Although they loved our home and place, I don’t think it made any sense for them to buy it. Another llooonnnnggggg story. (We expect to hear that from them today or tomorrow and we’ll be ready. And fine.) It did get us past that FIRST experience in this journey we so reluctantly want to make. As the nice woman and I rocked on our porch (MSH and her husband were still walking around our Barn area), I had this urge to scream:

I’M SORRY. NEVER MIND. Our home IS NOT FOR SALE. BYE NOW.

Of course, I didn’t do that. I wanted to, though. MSH said he felt the same way at several times during the “tour.”

As I’ve shared, we positively believe God knows what His Plan is for us, our cherished country home and our future. We are waiting. As patiently as possible. With as much faith as we can muster. Thy Will Be Done. Amen.

I send you my love, hugs, and peace this Sweet Sunday, Dearest Friends…Wherever in this World you are…

smooch!

ELC

 

ugh.

Except it's Wednesday.

Ugh.

I overslept this morning, and that just threw off my whole day.

C'est la vie.

Meanwhile, I want to introduce y'all to the newest member of our family:

This is: Nancy Elsa Leighton. (Named after Fancy Nancy, Frozen's "Elsa" and, well, you can imagine where Leighton came from. Winky. Wink.) She's a pretty blue-ish/purple-ish Betta. Sweet Little Leighton has wanted a fish for quite awhile now. When my husband came back from his long trip to Connecticut, we took her to Petsmart to pick one out. Despite the fact that it was a complete debacle (long, long story), we happily selected Miss Nancy, and I believe she is settling in quite nicely! We have since added some pretty blue glass rocks to her aquarium, which really fancied her up.

I hope everyone's Wednesday is more Wednesday-ish than mine. LOL.

TTFN!

many good things...

From Jesus Today, by Sarah Young…

 

BY DAY I DIRECT MY LOVE; AT NIGHT MY SONG is with you—for I am the God of your life. Take heart, My child, knowing that I am in charge of everything in your life. During the day, I command My Love to bless you in countless ways! So be on the lookout for the many good things I place along your path. Ask My Spirit to open your eyes so that you can perceive and receive all these blessings. Do not be discouraged by the hard things you encounter, for this is part of living in a deeply fallen world.

Rejoice that My song is with you throughout the night as I lovingly watch over you. If you are wakeful, use this time to see My Face and enjoy My Peaceful Presence. A tender intimacy with Me can develop when you remember me on your bed—meditating on Me in the night watches. Whether you are waking or sleeping, I am always present with you. For I am indeed the God of your life!

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

--1 Peter 5:8-9

When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

--Psalm 63:6-8 NKJV

Wow. My last post was a DOWNER. Sheesh. My deepest apologies, Friends…

My week got busier and busier and I did my best to “Let It Go.” (Thank you Elsa and Frozen!)

It was interesting that this was one of my readings/prayers/devotions this morning. My Sweet Hubby (MSH) woke up at 2:00—unable to sleep. He did his best to be quiet, but at 4:00 I realized he was up. He felt badly that he’d made me stir. I rarely get upset with him for waking me. For many, many of our over-40 years together? I’ve been the one that had sleeping problems. I couldn’t even guess how many times I’ve woken him from a deep sleep. ALOT.

Sleep is beyond important. It’s essential. Yes. I'm not going to earn The Nobel Peace Prize for this revelation. How do we make good decisions when we’re exhausted? How do we focus? Function? It’s tough. Some days it's tougher than others. I do often try to pray myself back to sleep! Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. I love the sentence: “If you are wakeful, use this time to see My Face…” I’m definitely going to go a step further during these nighttime frustrations and actually picture Jesus’ beautiful face. I’ll be suggesting that to MSH, too.

Have a SWEET Sunday, Dearest Friends…wherever in this World you are!

ELC

snap!

And so I was going to begin my clever, interesting, fun post about the cold front that hit North Central Texas early, early this morning! Snap! As in “cold” snap. BUT when I turned my computer on at 8:00 p.m. Central Standard Time this evening, it started some “updates.” Microsoft Word Windows 10 gave me NO CHOICE to do these “updates” later. And the message to me—as the dadgum “updates” began was:

This could take a while.

Do not turn off your PC.

What the heck was “a while?” I’ve had a long day. It started at 5:30 a.m. At 8:00, I had to pay some bills on-line. I attempted to shut down my computer, but got a message NOT TO TURN IT OFF because there were “updates” to do. I left it on. At 8:30, I had to follow My Sweet Hubby (MSH) to Granbury to attend his semi-annual checkup with his cardiologist. (We were happy to tell his doctor he’s doing WELL! Yippee!) Then we had to pick up his truck from the nearby Toyota dealership. We’d had to drop it off (it's about 40 miles, one way, from our country casa, Folks...) yesterday morning for a recall. Once we got home (noon-ish), I had laundry/cleaning/dusting to do.

I ABHOR dusting. I mean I’d rather clean 50 commodes than dust. I’m not kidding. I have no idea why I have such an aversion to this chore. But I do. And I have despised it for a long, long time. I finally sat down on our davenport at 5:00 p.m.

When I came into my “boffice,” (This is what TLC and I call our third bedroom—which used to be my actual office but is now a second guest/Baby Elle’s bedroom when she comes for a visit. Her crib is in here. So “boffice” is our guest bedroom/myteeny office.) at 8:00 p.m., I was ready to publish my clever “snap!” post, then watch This Is Us—about thirty minutes behind but that’s good because I can fast-forward past the commercials, and, at the end of This Is Us, GO TO BED.

But NNNOOOOOO…I couldn’t do my blogpost because my computer had “updates.”

Almost two hours of “updates.” TWO DADGUM HOURS. TWO. HOURS. Is Microsoft kidding me?

Change of Plans: I watched This Is Us. While this computer “updated.” For the second week in a row, I didn’t cry during This Is Us. What is up with that? I ALWAYS cry. (I’ll check with TLC first thing in the morning and ask her if she cried. If she did? Something is wrong with me.) Then, after coming back into my boffice and seeing that only 50% of the “updates” had been downloaded, I watched Chrisley Knows Best. TLC has decided she currently doesn’t have time for this show. Apparently, when you think you MUST watch every Real Housewives Of Fill-in-the-Blank City, you don’t have time for other reality shows. She’s making a HUGE mistake. CKB is SO FUNNY this go-round. I laugh out loud. Every week.

Once CKB was over, I checked on the evil “updates.” 92% complete. Went to wash my face. Dropped my expensive Rodan & Fields eye cream in my sink. Sigh. I’ve given up, at this point, on catching any kind of a break.

Returned to my boffice to discover my computer had shut down. Good, I thought. GOOD. I can do the post and GO TO BED. Nope. Turned it on and got these messages:

Hi!

This might take several minutes…

These updates help protect you in an online world.

Do not turn off your PC.

UPDATES? WTH? More? For the love of all things fair—PLEASE STOP. Do these dadgum updates while I’m asleep.

This time I sat here. Staring at my computer. Fortunately, for Microsoft, they were right. It only took approximately 6 minutes.

Yes. My computer is several years old. It’s a desktop. I like desktops. I DO NOT LIKE TLC’s and MSH’s laptop computers. DO. NOT. LIKE. THEM. If and when I get another computer, I’ll want another desktop. I’m praying I can buy one. Because, at this rate, I feel like they’re going to become obsolete. Like me. And that will make me cRaZiEr than I already have become.

I’m very cranky. I realize it and I apologize. I’ll end this post by telling you this:

We LOVE COLD SNAPS in Texas! It feels like it’s really, truly Fall! Autumn! Yes, it’s going to get hotter and hotter as the week passes by. On Saturday? In the 90s. But, for now, we shall enjoy every single second of our crisp, cool, LOVELY cold (for Texas!) air.

Y’all have a Wonderful Wednesday! (Be nicer than me. I’m currently quite awful/grouchy/terrible. Trust me. It’s not fun.)

ta-ta for now…

my sad heart...

Yesterday afternoon, our place went on-line.  I was with My Precious Friend, Sunny, at our most favourite lunch spot—having pizza—when I got the text that it was officially For Sale. Bless her sweet heart—she got tears in her eyes. We cannot imagine not being close to each other. We’ve been friends for thirty years. I love her like a sister. I’ve promised her we’re not going that far away! Still…we know it won’t be the same. Change never is. DAMMIT.

 

If anyone had tried to warn me years ago that we’d someday move from our country casa? I’d have laughed and said they were crazy/nUtS/delusional. This is not something we thought about until four-ish years ago. Not something for which we’d ever made serious plans. Or even expected to happen. We don’t know where we’ll go! East. Northeast. Southeast. The Ft. Worth area. Closer to TLC and her family.

 

We could be here for months—or years! We may not get the offer we want/need. This much My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I feel confident about in our bones and souls: God knows what His Plan is for us. He knows there hasn’t been one day, in almost eighteen years, I haven’t sincerely thanked him for His gift of this beautiful home. Not one. If we’re meant to be here longer? Then we’re meant to be here longer. His Plan. His Timing. Our faith and patience.

 

In the meantime, I will treasure every second I have left here with My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and our pets—Buddy Boo Bear the Dog and Hunter the Cat. And our three Mama cows and two baby calves (one more to arrive any time!). And our beautiful birds and critters. We’ll both treasure whatever visits might be left with our kids and grandkids. Friends. We’ll treasure every last second. Trust me. We must. It's just that exquisite out here.

 

Here come my tears…and there will be many, many more, I’m afraid. Gotta scoot. There’s work to do.

 

Have a Spectacular Saturday, Sillies…wherever in this World you are!


p.s.--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nellie! We love you!

octobers...

ELC actually just ordered this quote on a t-shirt for me and I. Am. Excited. (Thanky, Mama!) I think it might possibly be my most favourite quote ever (despite having never read Anne of Green Gables). The final three months of the year are my jam. I'm in my element. October, November, December? They make my spirit bright!

I hope my girls love this time of year as much as I do. Little Leighton seems to and Baby Elle will soon learn! I snapped this picture of them (and Buddy!) when we were visiting ELC and My Sweet Dad two weeks ago. The light lends so much warmth to the photo. It just says, "FALL," to moi. (The cute "cat ears" LL is wearing probably helps, too. Winky. Wink.)

May your upcoming weekend be filled with pumpkins, pumpkin pancakes, candy corn and coziness.

TTFN.