Thankful thought of the day - Today I am thankful for the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ......

I'm so thankful that I live in the land of the free. That We the People means each and everyone of us. It means that I have the right to worship the way I want. To attend the church of my choice. To believe in my God. I cannot imagine living in a war torn country that does not provide these freedoms. Freedom of religion is not about a building we go to a few times a week. It is our God given right to believe. To practice our faith and know that we have the liberty to do so. Many wars have been fought to protect our freedom and many lives have been lost. Many veterans live with memories too horrific for us to ever comprehend. Many come home with shattered lives, wounded bodies, broken dreams and mental anguish. The price they pay is extremely high. And they would do it over and over again just to protect our rights, our freedoms, our lives.

Young men gladly sign up and leave family and friends behind. Some come back with celebrations and jubilation. Some come back brokenhearted and some don't come back at all. I thank God for the men and women who give of themselves daily, who lay their lives on the line in ways I can never imagine, just so I can sleep in peace at night.

Today as I practice my God given right to the freedom of religion, I will thank Him for those proud men and women. I thank Him for our veterans who have fought on foreign soil or in our own country to insure we are free. I thank Him for the men and women that still fight today to protect those same freedoms and I thank Him for those that will proudly serve in the future to insure our rights to be one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

The weekend

Thankful thought for the day - Today I am thankful for the weekend.

I love the weekend. Wake up on Saturday morning and have a leisurely breakfast while reading the morning paper. Then call my mom for our weekly chat that is so meaningful to both of us. Since I live over 300 miles away, I don't get to see her as often as I want so no matter how much we talk during the week, Saturday morning is "my time" with Mom. Then I head out the door for a day of shopping. We never lack for anything to talk about, which is how it should be with mothers and their children.

My week is broken down into three segments, Monday through Friday is work, work, work. Saturday is for playing and Sunday is for worship and relaxation. It may sound mundane to some and it may sound monotonous. But I have a ball every moment of my weekend.

I hope you all enjoy yours.

SPECIAL REQUEST POST

Okay friends and friends of friends and even friends of those friends. Please repost this for me on your blog. Twitter it, pass it around on Facebook. Please EVERYONE (no matter where you live!) go to www.refresheverything.com/northviewcougarplayground  and vote for our local primary school to receive $50,000 for a new playground!

We are the only school in East TN in the running so pass this on to everyone you know. You can vote EVERY DAY through the end of November. It only takes a second to click and vote. Thanks so much.


Refresh our Northview Cougar Playground in Kodak, TN! Vote for the most refreshing ideas to win Pepsi Refresh Project grants.

Voting ends November 30th. Yesterday, we were ranked 240th. Today we are ranked 56th. This kids worked so hard to put this together so they appreciated any votes they get. Thanks.

Odds & Ends

Thankful thought of the day - Today I am thankful for faith. Without faith, we have no hope. Without hope, we have no future. Without a future, we have no joy. And without joy, we have no life.

I love this time of year when all the stores start selling Christmas and Winter items. I'm a sucker for glasses and mugs and have to have a new one every winter. (Of course, every few years I have to yard sale a few to make room for new ones.) I was at Kroger's yesterday and found this adorable snow flake mug for my hot chocolate.

Have you ever heard the expression "blind as a bat". Well, the older I get the more my eyes go "batty". I started out in fourth grade with glasses. Then when I got in my 40's they informed me I was going to have to get no line bifocals. When I hit 50, I was doing so much up close work that they changed them to no line trifocals. It took a while to adjust but I did. I can't tell where one line section ends and the other begins. Recently, I've noticed that I see great except when I'm reading or working on something up close. So I called them to ask if I should have a separate pair for reading. They said that in my case for the up close work, I could use the 1.5X off the rack reading glasses. So I bought a pair and the change is unbelievable. I was used to looking through that little 1/3 section at the bottom of my glasses. Now with my "store bought" glasses, my eyes are looking through the whole lenses and the magnification is awesome. So I found out that the $1.00 tree carries these readers. Can we say NEW OBSESSION? I've already purchased three or four pairs and change them depending on my mood. I'm sure I'll be buying more. I get to experiment with different frames and styles. Here are two of my favorites:

My sister came down recently and brought my birthday present to me early so she wouldn't have to ship it. I love tea for one sets and have been wanting one with apples for a long time. I love it. My Mom brought my birthday present down also, but that's not getting posted until I decorate for Christmas. It's adorable and I love it, too.

Found this old looking canvas print at a shop in Wears Valley. Not sure where the green stripe came from. It must be from the camera flash. This is painted on canvas and the fabric is stretched across a wooden frame.

I hope everybody has a wonderful and blessed weekend.

Choices

Thankful thought of the day - I'm thankful for God allowing us the right to make our own choices.

Choices...how many do we make a day? We don't realize how many times a day we make a decision, whether it be conscious or unconscious. We start our day by waking up thinking should we get up or try to lay there a while longer. We decide what to wear; we decide what to eat.

Over the course of a lifetime, we come to many crossroads in our life and have to make choices; be they major or minor. One of the great freedoms we have is the freedom to make our own choice. Some choices are made based on pure instinct; some are made on research and fact. Some are made because we are led by our mind, and some because we let our heart lead us.

Sometimes our choices are the right ones and sometimes...not so much. God provides us with a mind of our own and allows us to make many choices in our lifetime. As I look back over my life and think of some of the choices I've made, I can imagine His reaction. There are times, I'm sure He has watched me struggle and when my choice is made, He probably leans back on His throne, smiling serenely and whispering "Good job." But there are probably just as many times, if not more, that He has collapsed on His throne, sighed a deep sigh and said "Oh, what am I going to do with that child. What in the world is she thinking."

So even though my choices are mine and mine alone, I look to God for guidance and support. Sometimes, when a choice needs made and it just "feels" right, I've learned to trust the Lord that it is the step He wants me to take. I try to never second guess those moments. Call it gut instinct, call it woman's intuition, call it what you will, but if it is the right choice for you, it's probably the hand of God guiding you.


                                

A holiday feast....

Thankful thought of the day - I'm thankful for the service men and women who give of themselves daily, whatever is required, in order for us to enjoy freedom.

I hope everyone is remembering to start their day with a thankful thought this month. I put mine at the beginning of my blog each day so you can see what I'm thankful for before you read my blog for the day.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is 3 weeks from tomorrow. Where does the time go? It's time to start preparing for the holiday season. I have many new baked goods I want to try. As we near Thanksgiving, my mind turns to food. I can't help it. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times to eat. In addition to the holidays, we celebrate 4 birthdays between now and Christmas. It is a wonderful festive time of year.

I will be in list heaven this month and next. My lists will have to have sublists. I love visiting with family and friends so I have much to look forward to. It all kicks off with a Thanksgiving feast and celebration of my daughter-in-laws birthday. Then we launch right into Black Friday with the craziness of Christmas shopping. Following 2 days of crazy madness, I decorate my house for Christmas. Then the fun begins. More Christmas shopping, a get together to celebrate my children's birthday and mine. I'll have church functions and Christmas program practices and the program itself. I'll bake all the goodies I like to give as gifts to friends. I'll need to schedule time to wrap presents. It boggles the mind to think of all that will be going on soon. But it's no more and no less than I have going on every year.

I have learned never to stress over the holidays. I buy gifts I can afford so I can pay cash and not face huge bills in January. I bargain hunt to find the right things at the right prices. I rise early and stay up late to get things done so I'm not stressing at the last minute...wait, I do that all year.

But amidst all the hustle and bustle I NEVER lose fact of the reason for the season. That's why I'm being thankful every day. Without the birth of Jesus, we would not have the wonderful, crazy, fun-filled lives we have.

My new love...

Thankful thought of the day: I am thankful for the love of a wonderful family. Their love is everlasting.

I think I'm in love. As many of you know, I am an avid reader. I cannot get enough of books. I belong to book clubs; I scour yard sales; I visit book exchange stores and I swap with family and friends. When Amazon released the Kindle, I thought "That's pretty cool, but I wouldn't want one." As I am becoming more and more of an electronic junkie, I started thinking, it might not be a bad idea. I love to read when I eat lunch and it is so hard to prop some books up without them continually falling over while you eat. I love to read at the beach, but the wind blows your pages and it gets aggravating. A Kindle would solve many of my problems, so I thought "It would be neat to own one. I might like it."

Well, yesterday I had to do a run to Staples. They are now an authorized dealer for the Amazon Kindle. There, displayed in all its glory at the end of the aisle was Kindle. I picked it up. I held it in my hand. I read a page. I turned the page. I experimented. I fell in love. Oh my gosh! They are awesome. I have now added a Kindle to my wish list for the holiday season.

They are so sleek and lightweight. I did not realize they were so small. Only about 6" diagonally and the height of a normal Ticonderoga pencil. If you have been thinking you might like one, jot over to Staples and hold one in your hands and you will fall in love as well.

Guess it's time to start my birthday and Christmas wish list........