More Paint

The fourth color has now been added to the walls, in the laundry room this time, Peaceful Light. It's a soft pale green with a hint of blue in it and it looks good. Frankly, I was wondering when I painted on just a small patch in a couple of places, but it is 'the' color. It sure takes it 'up a notch' and makes it feel really clean and calming, perfect for ironing:) I did notice in the process of rolling on the color that it reminds me somewhat of the color my Grandfather used to paint on his house every few years. Not sure how accurate my memory is but it was a nice remembrance. Of course, as with anything that cleans something up, it also reveals that the white wood trim needs some refreshing itself. It is never ending, but well on it's way.

We also managed to pull the dryer and do some lint maintenance. In other words, we took the back off of the dryer and cleaned up the dryer lint tube a bit. It probably should be done every six months or so but for now, less risk of causing a house fire, and that's a 'good thing.'

One True Thing

I watched a powerful movie yesterday, quite by accident really, One True Thing. A young woman (Renee Zellweger)discovers her lifelong perception of her parents is inaccurate and shallow when she returns home to care for her terminally ill mother (Meryl Steep)--an experience that leads her to revelations about life's illusions, made in 1998. I somehow missed this one before.

Gas Prices Going Down!

Have you seen the headlines? "GAS PRICES DROPPING" I noticed prices in the $1.94.9 to $1.98.9 range yesterday as I drove from south to north through Anniston and back. Sure would be nice to see this 'GOOD NEWS' hyped in the newspaper and across the air waves.

MORE MONEY IN CONSUMER POCKETBOOKS.
GAS PRICES DROPPING DAILY.
MORE MONEY TO SPEND ON FOOD.
2007 LOOKING UP.
AMERICANS BUYING LESS GAS.

But no, we don't see those headlines do we? Maybe we should INSIST on seeing some good news headlines. We certainly saw enough of the daily negative headlines as gas prices crept up. Let's herald the declines as well.

Totally Random - The Sneeze

Do you have to be awake to sneeze? I can't remember ever sneezing in my sleep for surely it would have awakened me. I have noticed that I can sometimes stop a sneeze if I feel it coming on soon enough. Maybe like mind over matter? However, some sneezes can't be stopped and some come upon me so quickly that they happen before I even realize it. I wonder. Back to my original query here. Do you have to be awake to sneeze? Just wondering.

Commercial

Have you seen the latest Walmart commercial? I shows a young fella, not a teen yet, using a gift card to buy a $50 + item, by himself, in the checkout lane.

The catch line is "Be a little spender." HELLO!!! Does this make anyone else uncomfortable?

Noise

The world is a noisy place. Even my house can be a noisy place; sometimes, unnecessarily so. I was noticing this morning that it is so nice to not have the television on.

I'd spent some time quietly reading in Acts and while moving on to some chores, flipped on the tv. It doesn't take long to catch the gist of things on the news and it just seemed noisy and disruptive to me so I turned off that set. Moving on to another project, this one in my kitchen, I turned on the small set in the corner and flipped it to The View. I don't know what the whole controversy is over some comments made by Rosie and the Donald, I'm pretty sure I don't want to know though; but the line that caught my attention said something about resurrecting the Women's Movement and "girls, let's stick together." It brought to mind what I'd been reading in Acts about people getting folks purposefully 'all riled up' and while I could say a lot more about it, it just seemed like more 'noise' to me. I flipped to another channel and that didn't seem to help, so I just turned it off.

Aw, silence again, well, just the sound of the washing machine in the background anyway.

The sky is blue and the air is crisp and well; can God paint a pretty picture or what! Here's to a 'blessed' day.

Sabbatical

I'm taking some time off. A Sabbatical. In our hurried lives, it seems difficult to take time off, even when needed. So, the planning for time off started back in April and though I feel that I've tipped my toe into the water of it, I'm still not all wet. Will I be able to turn on the machine and redirect the calls to my replacement? Will I be able to retire from the email jungle I find myself wading through early every day? I think I must. I think it is the time. More later.

Merry Christmas!