Call

Being a child of the 80s, of course the first thing that comes to mind is,

"Who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!"

But since this blog is currently about Lent, I should focus on God's call. Or when I call out to our Almighty Creator.

Yes, I have heard God call me. I ignored the call.

Wouldn't it be nice if it were as obvious as a phone call? A ringing bell, or some kind of sound that we couldn't miss. Instead, God's voice can be small and quiet.

The call I received was repetitive. Some people hear their call through another's voice. I heard God calling me, and then listened to several people tell me to answer the call. Finally I listened.

Did you know that I can be stubborn?

Of course, so were several (all?) of the Disciples. And Moses, he tried to back out a couple of times.

Warning: I'm about to flash-back to the 80s again.

It's sort of like Arnold saying, "What'chu talking' 'bout Willis?"

What are you sayin' God?

Okay, insert a ridiculous amount of movie quotes, you get the gist.

Me? Are you talkin' to me?

That's it, I'll quit while I'm ahead.

Sometimes we have to stop, focus, and listen to hear God's call. Other times, it's a loud gong. Either way, are you listening?

Live

This Lenten journey has been side-tracked by the death of my grandmother. She lived a good, long life. Ninety-four years old says so.

Forgive me for being distracted when the words for this journey are like today's word, live. During the funeral today, the pastor said that Grandma will continue to live both through each of her family members and in eternal life.

Isn't that what we all hope for? To be remembered for how we lived and what we passed on to those who knew us.

Grandma will continue to live in me through her faith, her love of gardening, and her propensity of writing in a journal every day. I have a strong faith, a love of gardening, and a propensity to write in my journal every day for the last several years.

Bill was a little unnerved as he listened to the pastor describe me in my grandmother.

What can I say? It's in my genes.

And I say, live life to it's fullest. For me, that's spending time in my garden, writing, and sharing my faith.

Celebrate

Today, I will celebrate that this is the last time I will write about the word celebrate.

I will celebrate that there is one week left of Lent. We will celebrate Easter next week.

We had our Palm Sunday Brunch and Youth Auction this morning. People were excited to celebrate winning baked goodies and lots of other fun items.

We are watching Formula 1 racing again, which for us is reason to celebrate. 

MSU is in the Final Four, if you're a fan, that's a good reason to celebrate.

The weather is still cold, so we're having a fire in the fireplace to celebrate.

Wait, that's not right. We're not celebrating the cold weather. We are ready for it to warm back up to average temperatures. Then we can celebrate.

See

See what I've been making in the kitchen?

First, I nuked some Peeps in the microwave. Then I used them to make krispy treats which I'm calling...

...Krispy Peep Treats. I layered them in a pan. You can see the layers in the photo above. Once they had cooled, I cut them into bars and put them in baskets with dyed coconut and not nuked Peeps.

I also baked Emily's Best-Ever Oatmeal cookies. I'm known for them. By five people.

I also made my Famous Brownies, aka Amazing Brownies. The same five people call them by their proper names.

I also made seven layer bars. Which, if I count, are really only six layers. I guess they're technically seven layers because you melt the butter and pour the graham crackers over that. See how that works?

These are all things for the Youth Auction being held at our church tomorrow. I also made a coupon book, but I forgot to take a picture.

Tomorrow is also the Palm Sunday Brunch. There will be pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Yum! I hope to see you there.

Meditate

Yes, I was too busy meditating yesterday to write about meditate.

That's sort of true.

When I got home from work, I worked out (I ran a mile without stopping). By the time I finished my workout, Bill was home.

We went to dinner and the theater.

It was a high school production of "Curtains". It was very funny. We enjoyed the show, even though we got home way past our bedtime.

So it was as I was lying there, almost asleep that I realized I didn't blog.

I'm a week away from the end of Lent. Only missing one day ain't half bad. That's a 2% error (or however you want to look at it).

Excuse me, now I have to go write today's post before I forget or get too busy.

Seek

Grandma turned 94 years old yesterday. Since last Friday she had not been eating anything. She had a TIA prior to that. Since last summer she had been living with my aunt. This was because she had gone outside to enjoy fresh air and decided to start weeding. She ended up on the ground and couldn't get back up. She crawled back to the house and was able to call for help. That was not the first time that had happened, so the decision was made for her to stay with my aunt.

Grandma passed away in the early morning hours today.

I do not need to seek anything at this moment. I am at peace for many reasons. Mostly because she lived a good, long life. I cannot recall a time that she ever complained about anything or anyone. She was generous and, like any good grandma, always had something ready to eat. She was independent and wise.

Unfortunately, I did not get any patience from her. She was very patient. I remember her raising her voice once to one of my cousins (and he deserved it). I remember how calm and collected she was when my grandpa died.

I do think I learned a lot about faith from her. Not in a Bible preaching sort of way, but through letters while I was in college and how much she volunteered in the church.

She was the matriarch of a large family. She was a great-great grandmother to several kids. She will be missed, but I know that there is much rejoicing among her family who has been waiting for her.

Truth

The truth will set you free.

Unless someone is asking you if that [insert piece of clothing] makes them look fat.

Which means the truth will set you free from their friendship if the truth is yes.

Yikes.

If I were you I would say no. Telling the truth is for everything else except questions like that. Can we all agree?

Thanks.

Mercy

One of my favorite verses is from Micah 6:8

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God."
                       -New International Version (NIV)

I had to search different versions to find the one that uses the word mercy instead of kindness. Obviously either word will do but for today mercy is what I'm writing about.

I first remember hearing this verse when we lived in New Jersey. Pastor Greg preached on the verse. Then, I heard it again here in Grand Rapids when Pastor Jennie preached on it.

Pair this with what Jesus said is the greatest commandment and I bet things would be different. People would be different.

This goes right along with the book study I've been participating in, "Whose Gospel?" by Dr. James Forbes. I wrote about his visit and his visionary, or progressive, teachings.

This last Sunday we were challenged by Pastor Bob to reach outside our comfort zone. When we are comfortable we are not changing. When we're not changing things aren't getting worse, but neither are they getting better.

It's uncomfortable to ask someone what's their name. It's uncomfortable to offer someone your umbrella when it's pouring down rain. It's uncomfortable to invite someone to church. It's uncomfortable to sit next to someone you don't know.

And we've gotten use to being comfortable.

We show kindness, or mercy, to those around us when we treat them as we would want to be treated. Do you want to be ignored? No, I hope not. Don't you want to know that person's story? Even if they talk your ear off, maybe they just needed someone to listen. Or maybe they talk everyone's ear off; show them mercy and listen.

We are too ego-centric. We are too self-centered. We care about ourselves and our comfort too much.

This verse reminds me right at the beginning my flaw. "O mortal", it says. Oh, right, I'm reminded of my limited time on earth. I start to ask; what matters here, the sweater I'm wearing? How many pairs of pants I have hanging in my closet?

Or does the "pay-it-forward" mentality mean more? Sharing with someone in need, not want. Cooking a meal out of love? The immortal and intangible things we share matter more then the materialistic and consumeristic things that just take up space.

We are call to show mercy to others and show mercy to our planet.

Forgive

Last week on, "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" they were talking about cats. They said cats don't forgive. Paula Poundstone begged to differ and offered an example of her own cat.

I completely agree with Paula Poundstone. Our cats forgive us. I've stepped on Atticus' tail, he forgives me by sticking his wet nose in my face.

Yesterday, I sat on Juliette! She has forgiven me, because she's sitting next to me right now (not to mention that she came right back and sat on my lap after I tried sitting on hers).

We have started shutting the cats out of the bedroom at night to prevent any more mice incidents as well as giving ourselves a good nights sleep. If you have a pet (and you've let them into the bedroom at night), you know what I'm talking about. The tiniest pet will suddenly be able to take up the entire bed. Leaving the humans a sliver of space, a strip of covers, and either fart in your face or breathe directly into your face.

We should all try to forgive as freely and lovingly as our pets.

Celebrate

I really didn't do this on purpose, but without further ado here are pictures of the guest room project. It's time to celebrate! Who wants to be our first guest?

Here is the room when we had our house guest living here.

 Then, Greg moved out and before we moved furniture back in, we started the great remodel.

 We had new glass installed in the bottom sashes of the double hung windows. It's double thick glass, so it will be more efficient.

This is Bill fixing the weights in the windows.

We've scraped the paint off the walls. The crown molding still needs to be scraped.

I guess I never took a picture of the entire room scraped. Or I can't find it in my thousands of photos.

Nor do I have a picture of the entire room in primer. That's okay, it was all white. You can picture that. The above photo is a painted ceiling and walls. Next, the floors were refinished. Then, we got the window treatments installed. 

We played around with the layout. We thought this might work, but that bookcase was too tall to go under the double double hung windows so we put it at the end of the bed.

We didn't love it there, so we moved the room around (picture taken from the door).

In the meantime, Bill was a saint. He painted all of the bookcases and he refinished this table that was from his friend's grandfather. 

And now we have the finished room. Here it is before the furniture was moved in, I wanted you to see the gorgeous floor Bill painstakingly restored all by himself!

Look at that smooth ceiling. It's beautiful.

The large bookcase fits right here.

The table and chair will soon have a lamp (photo from the door).

We still have pictures to hang, but you can see Juliette has settled right in.

It's time to celebrate! Who's going to visit?

Still

I'm going to have to write about the opposite of still. Because I wasn't still all day.

From the time I woke up this morning, to this moment now, I have not been still.

I went up and down the stairs doing laundry. It's clean sheet day so I undressed and redressed the bed. I baked a cake for Sunday school. I washed dishes. I made a birthday card for my Grandma (she'll be 94) and a thank you card for a friend. I cleaned up my scrapbooking/card making stuff. Bill and I placed the furniture in the guest room (pictures are coming). We also put all the books on the bookshelves. I cleaned the bathroom and ran the vacuum (upstairs, Bill ran it downstairs). We made and ate dinner (burgers and fries). We went to the Adoption Ministry Hoe-Down at church. I danced.

And even now I'm not still as I type.

Did you see the moon tonight? It's not still because it's orbiting around Earth, but it sure looked still when I saw it. It was a giant sliver. That's a good oxymoron.

I would like to be still. I have practiced that off and on in my adult life. I appreciate being still. Maybe that's what I'll do next year for Lent.

Place

I do not look at the words (and remember them) ahead of time. So when I sit down to blog and I see the word I'm going to write about, many things go through my head.

But I have to sort through them and decide what I can make sense out of and what needs to be discarded.

I have gotten back out and have been running/walking this week. The temperatures are warmer and the snow has melted (mostly) off the sidewalks. As Bill starts his new job, and I can convince him to go with me, we'll start walking regularly. I'm not sure what regularly will look like. I would still like to run three times a week. If I can get him to walk three times a week, I would make that work.

I digress, while I've been running I have time to think. I've thought of many things to write about, but so far none of them have had to do with place.

I could talk about where the cats' place in our bed is; right in between us or on top of us.

But alas, I just took a long time checking my email and now it's too late to write any more.

Light

Tomorrow marks the first day of spring. It will occur at 6:45pm (EST). I don't know how the Almanac figures that out, but that's what the website says.

There will be equal parts day to night. Or dark to light.

Days will be longer. The sun will continue to warm us with her light.

We will need to adjust the lights in our home that are on timers.

I hope that through my blog I am sharing a little bit of light. Which I hope is then shared by you, which is then shared by others.

I saw darkness tonight and I object!

Where is the light? Where is the hope? Where is the love?

I know we're all human and some days are just not good days, but we have to try. We have to reach for the light.

When I catch myself driving with a scowl on my face, I start looking at other drivers (which is easy driving in the city, not so easy driving in the suburbs, or the country, or the highway) and I look at their expressions. It often makes me smile, if not laugh a little. I can't help it, I like to smile.

Share the light!

Believe

I believe I can make it through Lent, blogging everyday.

I believe that I will be able to run 2.5 miles again without stopping.

I believe in Hope.

I believe that believe is one of those words that stops looking like the word after you type it a few times.

I believe that Atticus will eventually kill all the mice living in our house. (Seriously, how many can be left?)

I believe in Faith.

I believe that God answers prayers.

I believe that Bill and I will finish the guest room this weekend.

I believe that Love wins.

Endure

Last night, I made stuffed cabbage rolls for our St. Patrick's dinner tonight.

It was quite an involved process. And before you are disgusted by the thought of cabbage rolls, they were stuffed with bratwurst and covered in a spicy bacon, tomato sauce.

Bacon makes everything taste better.

I cooked the bratwurst in the morning with the rice. Then, after work, I steamed the cabbage. While it steamed I cooked the bacon, onion, red pepper, and simmered those all in tomato puree.

After the sauce was ready, and the cabbage had drained, I took the bratwurst and rice mixture out of the fridge and started stuffing the cabbage leaves.

As if all of that wasn't involved enough, the next part got more so.

The recipe instructed me to cut the main vein out of the leaf, scoop one-third of a cup of the bratwurst/rice mixture into the leaf, and then roll it like a burrito. Except that I just cut out part of the leaf and rolling it as suggested was next to impossible. No matter which way I rolled, stuffing kept falling out through slits. Or I was rolling it in such a way that the stuffing to rolled cabbage ratio was uneven.

But I knew I could endure. I continued stuffing and rolling. I eventually filled my 9 x 13 baking dish with ten rolls. I covered them with the sauce and tucked them away in the refrigerator until this afternoon when Bill took them out for me.

We were also able to endure the forty-five minute wait while they baked.

Bill and I agreed that the cabbage rolls were worth the process.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wilderness

I'm having a difficult time trying to think of something to write about in regards to wilderness.

I could talk about the summers I spent at camp where I hiked through the wilderness. I saw God there, but truly it was more in nature than wilderness.

We live in an small urban jungle. Sometimes going to work is like being in the wilderness. In the wild you fight rushing waters, and wild animals only to be beat down. At work you fight deadlines and multi-tasking only to be worn out.

Temptations find us in the wilderness. We found out what we're really made of.

Clearly, I have not overcome using prepositions at the end of my sentences. My wilderness is climbing through words and language only to fail.

But I will push on, just keep swimming, and not give up.

Ha, I had to end with that one.

Celebrate

There are things happening around us (Bill and me) that may not give us reason to celebrate.

My grandmother had a TIA last Friday and is still in the hospital.

Atticus brought a half-dead mouse into our bedroom last night.

I did not get a good night's sleep after that.

Bill's car is still in the shop and will hopefully be ready by the end of this week (if the part they need to fix it arrives).

However, there are things to celebrate.

My grandmother will be turning 94 this month.

Atticus is a good hunter and Bill is amazing because he removed the half-dead mouse from our bedroom.

Juliette has been with us for thirteen years on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, we will celebrate my parents' 48th anniversary.

Bill will start his new job a week from tomorrow.

We finished the guest room and we are moving in the furniture.

Search

Today my search will involve how to work Pi into my post.

Hm, I guess I just did, so that search is over.

But my search during Lent is still going.

What am I searching for?

I keep asking myself that question. The answer is constantly changing. I'm searching for love. I'm searching for answers. I'm searching for guidance. I'm searching for truth. I'm searching for acceptance.

I will search for these things in my friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.

The search will continue past my Lenten journey.

Practice

I was just saying the other day that the practice of writing this blog has made me a better writer. There are times when I have written more consistently and maintained a practice schedule as it were, but nonetheless I've kept at it for eight years now.

As it stands I have written 1220 posts. This one makes 1221. That's a lot of practice.

Are you asking yourself, "is she practicing to write a book?"

The answer is a plain and simple no. (Unless someone offered me money, at which point I would think about it.)

We practice as a way to improve a skill or ability. Therefore, each time I write, I'm practicing.

I didn't set out to practice writing. I set out to share the random things I bake, cook, craft, photograph, or think about. Yet it turns out, all along, I was practicing my writing too.

Stop

I think it would be wise to talk about the things that need to stop.

Racism needs to stop.

Gender inequality needs to stop.

Homophobia needs to stop.

World hunger needs to stop.

Human trafficking needs to stop.

But when I write all of these things in one post, I can't help but wonder how do I make a difference?

How can I make this suffering stop?

In some cases, I don't know how. But I know that being kind and doing right is going to make a difference.

Being honest and doing justice will make a difference.

By standing up and doing these things together we can make a better world. And maybe, just maybe, we can stop these things one at a time.

Wise

Wisdom follows knowledge.

Many people in my life have said that as they grow older, they have gotten wiser. I believed them when I was younger, and I believe them now.

I don't claim to know everything (read my post from yesterday, I'm still learning) but I do know that I am wise. I am wiser now than I was ten years ago, and wiser still than I was twenty years ago.

To be wise doesn't necessarily mean to be smart. Being wise means making good choices. It means doing the right thing. It means helping others.

I think the ultimate goal of being wise is to achieve the greatest commandment, to love; love God and love thy neighbor. The wisdom comes with knowing who my neighbor is and remembering that my neighbor is everyone I come in contact with.

That is a tall order. That is what it means to be wise.

Knowledge

The news on tv is depressing. I try not to watch it. However, Bill pointed out to me that watching the news, and reading about what is going on around the world, is informative. It makes us smarter and opens our eyes to what is going on around us.

Knowledge is important. The saying goes, knowledge is power. Suggesting that it gives us power. I think it should be, knowledge is power…

It gives us power to overcome weaknesses.

Knowledge gives us power to overcome fear.

It gives us the power to gain confidence.

Because when knowledge is misunderstood it can cause damage. It's important to learn both sides of the story. It's important to continue to learn.

It's said that you should learn something new each day. I am a firm believer that there is truth to that. Learn a new game, learn a new app, learn about social media, learn how to stop the flashing VCR time (learn how to use a dvd/blu-ray player), learn a new task at your job, read a new book…

I could keep going, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Knowledge is key.

Sabbath

People who work in a church are terrible at taking a Sabbath. I have spoken to Sami (my boss and the young adult leader with whom I have gone on many a mission trip) about this fact. I have also asked her to define sabbath for someone who works in a church.

When I talked to her about personal sabbath days, I was struggling to understand what I should or shouldn't do. The way she explained it to me is that her sabbath means taking a day to do something intentional for herself. That may mean spending it with her kids and going to Zumba.

I was struggling with housework, laundry, paying bills, working in the garden (I don't remember when the conversation took place, but clearly it was not in the winter time), etc., and this was before my job at Baker!

I still haven't been religious about taking a sabbath, but Saturdays have always been a day when I try to do something for myself. Which I came to accept that might mean doing laundry, paying bills, shoveling/gardening, etc. I intentionally try not to check my email. Sometimes I fail at ignoring my email, mostly because I neglect my email the rest of the week.

What I really need is a sabbatical from my email. But what I've actually done is unsubscribed from many emails lists. That has helped.

Taking a sabbath day has not become a discipline for me. I am still working at it. I think my fault lies in that I was a volunteer first, and I still consider it fun. For instance, last night we combined Apples to Apples Bible Edition with Apples to Apples Jewish Edition. The hilarity that ensued was side-splitting. Laughter is good for the soul on a sabbath day or any day.

Celebrate

We will soon have a finished guest room and we will celebrate.

Here's a sneak peek.

We are almost finished. We have touched up the windows and walls with paint. Bill installed the quarter-round yesterday. He also filled the nail holes. That means our punch list has dwindled to:

• sanding and touching up the quarter-round
• hanging the curtains
• moving furniture back in

The closet door is not finished, but neither are any of the other closet doors. Bill re-did the doors to the rooms. The closet doors will be stripped and refinished when the weather gets warmer (but not too warm) because the closet in this room leads to the attic. Atticus would be very happy to go up there and kill mice. 

But I don't want to think about that.

I would rather focus on the guest room and celebrate that it's almost finished!

Who will be our first guest to stay in the room? 

We won't accept reservations until the above punch-list has been checked off. At which point I'll post pictures and officially open the room for reservations.

Don't celebrate until then.

Speak

I do not have a problem with this word.

I speak my mind, I speak without being spoken to, and I often speak without thinking.

That last one gets me in trouble. Then again, when doesn't it get someone in trouble?

We should always think before we speak. But in today's world, in our society, we are short on time and we need to say what we're thinking before someone interrupts us. Or before the conversation moves on, or before what we have to say is passé.

We should do a better job at listening.

Being a Jr. high leader, I have to admit that we should do a better job of speaking too. Or at least turning down our music so that we can hear the more soft-spoken students.

Beloved

Ha, this reminds me of the SNL 40th Anniversary special and the Jeopardy sketch. Did you see it? Do you know what I'm going to reference? If not, this is the setup: Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery asking Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek for the category "The Rapists" and Alex irritatingly saying, "that's therapists."

Sorry, it's sort of tasteless for this post and the purpose, but beloved made me think of that.

Be loved.

Or beloved.

See?

Don't worry if you don't get it. My brain is on its own track.

Back to beloved. I think it's quite obvious who my beloved is.

Juliette of course.

What? That's not what you were expecting me to say?

Oh, you thought I'd say Bill.

Yes, he's my beloved. I'm still on the same track as earlier. Okay, maybe I should just stop here.

Follow

Like the rainbow after the flood, spring will follow winter. It just may take longer than we would like.

There is always something that will follow the current circumstance. But that is not how we look at it, is it?

We look forward to our vacation. Not what is to follow our work.

We think about what will be our next step at work. Not what will follow our hard work.

We want to know what happens next. Not what will follow that chase scene.

Our children/pets follow us.

We follow the leader.

We follow our favorite Hollywood stars on Twitter.

Yes, I know the differences in the use of the word.

But it's my blog and this is what I thought to write about. And you are the one following me.

What will follow this?

Poor

This is what came to mind when I saw today's word, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Emphasis mine.)

But now as I sit here talking to Bill about our cat, I wonder if maybe I shouldn't talk about Atticus and his poor decisions.

He (the cat) had a bad day.

He started it out by coming into the bathroom while I was getting ready. He stuck his head in the trash can. I scolded him and he ran out of the room. Then I heard him in the hallway, choking. I went out to see what he had in his mouth and he ran downstairs. I followed, catching up to him in the living room. I grabbed his mouth and stuck my finger in (thank you first aid classes). I pulled out a band-aid wrapper. That cat can smell a band-aid wrapper and has a weird addiction to them.

When I got home from work this afternoon, I had time to eat dinner but then I had to leave for a Historic Preservation Commission meeting. Atticus desperately wanted outside while I was eating my dinner. I let him out, but I reminded him (as if he can speak English) that I had to leave soon and, unless he wanted to stay out until Bill got home, he had better come back when I called.

Guess who didn't come home when I called?

Bill got home only a short while later. He could hear Atticus mewing, but wasn't sure where it was coming from. Bill unloaded his car and called to Atticus. Again, Bill could hear Atticus mewing and eventually walked into the garage where the mewing was louder. Bill said he looked all around but couldn't find Atticus. That was when Bill happened to look up only to see Atticus peering down at him from the "attic" space in the rafters.

Bill spent the next forty-five minutes trying to coax the poor cat out of the rafters.

Hence the poor decisions Atticus made today.

Near

I have been near my computer all day. Tuesdays are longer days for me in that I work at BPG until lunch and then I head over to the church and work there until 5pm or so. I take my laptop into the building because it has been too cold to leave out in the car. I keep it near me.

I also keep it near me because of the 2013 DC stolen laptop experience. I have panic attacks when I can't find something important. (Things listed under this category are my phone, my wallet, and my glasses. All are thing I have misplaced and then had said panic attack before finding them minutes later.)

At the church I work at my desk and use my laptop. You could say, it's near me there too.

After my day at work, I came home and had to shovel the driveway. It was covered in a nice coat of heavy, wet snow topped by a thin layer of ice.

I have heard more people wish they were on a cruise or in a sunny location today than all the days this winter combined.

Even though we had a lovely, sunny day yesterday.

Back to shoveling snow, or what I do best.

I did not have my laptop near me while I was shoveling.

I will end with this thought; we are one day closer to Spring. It is near. I could feel it in the air outside while I was shoveling.

Bless

I am on FaceTime with my sister and nephew. I am blessed to enjoy time with them.

But the word is bless. How do I use that in context? All I can think of is blessed or blessing.

That's the difficulty I am having with this challenge.

Like the other day when the word was "powers".

I can bless someone. But that doesn't seem to fit the purpose. If I tell you how I think I bless someone, I think it sounds like I am bragging.

What I can tell you is that my friends and family are a blessing to me.

Yesterday I received a gift from a friend that was thoughtful. I consider her random act of kindness as a blessing.

My cat is blessing me with his unconditional love. By his extraordinary way of showing it which is slamming his head into my laptop, my arm, and whatever else he can find. His breath is a far cry from a blessing. I'm just saying. I would appreciate it if he stopped breathing on me. That would be a great way for him to bless me.

See? I did find a way to use it.

Celebrate

I will celebrate being home and being able to sleep in my own bed.

I will celebrate that it is March 1st.

I will celebrate the fun I had this weekend.

I will celebrate the new friends I made.

I will celebrate seeing Bill for the first time in six days.

I wanted to celebrate that Jersey Junction officially opened today, but that celebration will have to take place on another day.