Shameless Self Promotion

I've recently been restocking my Etsy Shop. It occurred to me that I haven't really talked about my shop much on here.


My shop is called Lucy's Beads and Prayers (mlpyaya487 -- because I was even less tech savvy than I am now when I set it up! LOL!).


I carry protestant prayer strands and rosary, and am adding prayer shawls in the next few days.


I've put a link on my sidebar. Just click on mlpyaya487 to go directly to my store.


If you place an order in February and mention that you came from this blog, I'll wave the shipping charge.


So check it out and let me know what you think!

Saturday Poetry: Snow Day

No other poet has made me love poetry more than Billy Collins. We've had more than enough snow days already this year, so it's nice to be reminded of the fun aspects of snow days!

Snow Day by Billy Collins

Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows

the government buildings smothered,
schools and libraries buried, the post office lost
under the noiseless drift,
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.

In a while I will put on some boots
and step out like someone walking in water,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,
and I will shake a laden branch,
sending a cold shower down on us both.

But for now I am a willing prisoner in this house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news

that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
the Ding-Dong School, closed,
the All Aboard Children's School, closed,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
along with -- some will be delighted to hear --

the Toadstool School, the Little School,
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots Day School,
the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
and -- clap your hands -- the Peanuts Play School.

So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and draw,
where they put on their bright miniature jackets,
all darting and climbing and sliding,
all but the few girls whispering by the fence.

And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought down.

(A good little book to read on a snowy day!)

Feel Good Friday: IKEAland

Two or three snows ago, when we were buried in yet another dose of snow, my dh asked if I'd like to go away for a weekend somewhere. I said that would be wonderful! I'm never going to turn down a weekend away, and it is one of the perks of having quasi-adult children.


Dh asked where I wanted to go, and I said IKEA! Now we don't have an IKEA in Nashville, but there is one in Atlanta just a 4 hour drive away. So last Friday, dh took a half day at work and we drove to Atlanta. 


A nice hotel, dinner at a fun little cafe. Breakfast the next morning followed by a swim at the local Y, and then off to IKEA! It was like Disneyland for shoppers! It was a Saturday after all, so half of Atlanta was there -- with their kids -- in strollers. And did I mention all the PREGNANT women? I've never seen that many pregnant women outside of the OB/GYN office!


Now I thought we were there to buy linens for the remodeled bathroom. I had a mental list and a rough idea of what we'd have to spend. Well, it was like dh had never been in IKEA before! (Actually we'd both only been once -- 2006 in Austria.) He started looking around and found some chairs he really liked. Chairs! 


We wandered through most of the store following the arrows on the floor, and finally queued up to pay. Turnstiles and everything. We checked ourselves out and loaded the car to head home. Two new chairs; two new rugs; new towels and bathmats; and a new stuffed bunny!


The only difference from Disneyland is you have to pay to get out!


Read other Feel Good Fridays this week at 29 and Holding.

Thankful Thursday -- January 27, 2011

Recently I have begun to realize on a personal level, how incredibly pervasive and destructive verbal abuse really is. Don't get me wrong -- it's not that I ever doubted it was destructive. It's just that I tend to "rank" my abuse on some kind of sliding scale, and by comparison to a lot of the stuff I endured, I figured the verbal abuse was pretty "low" on the scale.

Over the past couple of weeks, my therapist and I have been working on an episode that is loaded with verbal abuse, and while there is some physical abuse as well, the over-riding damage was caused by things that were said, not those that were done to me.

It's caused me to stop and think about the messages I repeat to myself regularly. You know, that tape that runs in my head even when I don't think anything is going on in there. It's the tape that says, "You think your better than everyone else. You're selfish. You're a troublemaker. You can't be trusted. You're fat. You're worthless." It's probably trite, but it is true -- It's easier to believe the bad stuff. 

Maybe that's part of the reason God tells us so often how much He loves. How we are made in His image. That we are His children. Maybe that's why after creating man, He said, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

So for today, I'm going to shut off that tape and replace it with God's words. God saw what he had made (ME), and said that it (I) was very good. Wow, if God thinks that, what does it matter what anyone else thinks or says.

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening . . .

-- I Chronicles 23:30

Look for more Thankful Thursday post @ Spiritually Unequal Marriage

Wordless Wednesday

Yep, it happened again! Our 5th "snow event" this season!

February is usually our snowy month with 1 or 2 snows.

See more pictures at Wordless Wednesday

The Simple Woman's Daybook -- January 25, 2011

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it is gray, cloudy and rainy,just like last week.

I am thinking... about spending the day with KFH and LBB today doing crafty things.

I am thankful for... a weekend getaway with dh.

From the learning rooms... German II, a research paper on illegal drugs, and a test in Anatomy and Physiology.

From the kitchen... last night was Six-Layer Casserole. Tonight is ham and bean soup.

I am wearing... my red flannel robe and blue Crocs.

I am creating... a prayer shawl in a lovely cranberry/gray/blue blend.

I am going... to do Restorative Yoga and then off for a fun day!

I am reading... My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares.

I am hoping... to get back into a no snow routine -- oh yeah they're predicting another 2-4" tonight!

I am hearing... the news. There's a reason I don't listen to it very often.

Around the house... the goal is to reclaim the dining room table for eating. Clever idea don't you think!

One of my favorite things... is having things in order and functioning with, at least, some sort of plan. I'm getting that back some this week.

A few plans for the rest of the week... delivering a crocheted gift, finishing the prayer shawl, and cleaning up around the house some more.

Here is a  picture for thought I am sharing... 

Is this what my front yard will look like (again) in the morning?

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook

The Good, the Bad, and the Better

So it's Feel Good Friday and I'm working on my list of 5 things that made me feel good this week.

1. Sunday -- a really good worship, followed by lunch, football and the obligatory nap. Lovely!

2. Monday -- MLK Day and everyone was home. 

3. Tuesday -- Restorative Yoga followed by 4 hours of visiting with 2 of my besties.

4. Wednesday -- Ok this one's a little harder: had therapy (tough), my dad had eye surgery (he's doing well), and I had to take my father in law back to the oral surgeon (4 HRS -- but he's doing much better). The good part was dh did the grocery shopping AND bought me flowers!

5. Thursday -- back to my Precepts Bible Class. This session we are studying the book of Colossians which I have done before. It was great to see everyone again! A few of us went to lunch afterward at Fulin's Asian Cuisine. YUM!

On a totally unrelated topic, I found this graphic over at 

The Graphics Fairy. 

I just liked it and thought I'd share.

Get more Feel Good Friday @ The Girl Next Door Grows Up.

Thankful Thursday -- January 20, 2011

Yesterday in therapy, I worked on another episode of abuse. That can make it hard to write about thankfulness. On the other hand, it can make it easier. 

Today I find myself very thankful that I am not alone in this process. One of the key signatures of abuse is the sheer loneliness that victims feel. Even as the abuse was occurring, I felt alone and abandoned. 

But I know I wasn't ever truly alone. Had God not been at my side through each and every episode of abuse, I know I would not have survived physically or emotionally. 

Every time I work on an episode of abuse now my therapist reminds me that I am no longer alone on this journey. I have her, my husband, my children, and friends who are walking along with me. It helps so much having those flesh and blood beings available to hug, touch, and talk with face to face.

And yet, I am reminded that then and now, God is always with me -- will always be with me -- and that is more than enough for my Thankful Thursday.

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening . . .

-- I Chronicles 23:30

Look for more Thankful Thursday post @ Spiritually Unequal Marriage

Spilled Milk

The aunt is putting Sunday dinner on the table. We are waiting for her to sit down so we can all eat. She sets the platter of fried chicken in the middle of the table. The uncle is sitting across from me. The cousin is on my left and the sister is on my right. The aunt is standing to the left of the cousin. She is complaining about all the work she does, and how no one helps her. How having the sister and me there just creates more work for her.


I am so hungry! Fried chicken is my favorite. There is a chicken leg hanging off the side of the platter -- the side nearest to me. I snake my hand across my plate and beside my milk glass to try and reach the chicken leg. Something startles me and I knock my milk glass over. Everything erupts. The aunt begins to yell at me so I dive under the table. She is screaming. "You've ruined everything!" "You'll pay for this!" The sister looks under the table. She is either angry or scared. She tells me to get up now! 


The aunt comes around to my side of the table. She jerks the chair back and reaches under the table. She grabs my left arm and hauls me up. She throws me into the chair and pushes it up. "Are you hungry? You pig! Oink! Oink! Oink!" She begins to throw food on my plate: the chicken leg, mashed potatoes, beans and a roll. "You are nothing but trouble! If you're so hungry, eat every bite!" Once more I am stuck. I cannot win. If I eat, I'm afraid I'll throw up which will make more work for her and get me in more trouble. If I don't eat, God only knows what will happen. I try to stop crying. I try to make myself as small as possible.


Suddenly it is as if nothing has happened. Everyone is seated. The uncle says the prayer. They are all eating and talking about the singing at church later. I say I can't wait to go. Stupid, stupid me! Why did I open my mouth? The aunt says maybe I can just stay home by myself and think about what I've done. I get small and quiet again. I try to eat in very small bites, but it is taking too long. Everyone else is finished. The aunt says I can't get up until I've eaten every last bite. She cleans the kitchen while I eat in miniscule bites. Finally she takes the plate away and tells me to go take my nap. 

Wordless Wednesday

See more pictures at Wordless Wednesday

The Simple Woman's Daybook -- January 18, 2011

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it is gray, cloudy and rainy.

I am thinking... about the writing I've doing. I want to believe that it is helping someone other than just me.

I am thankful for... feeling better about the big picture.

From the learning rooms... German II, a research paper on illegal drugs, and another project for American history.

From the kitchen... things are looking better. We're still working on the pork loin I cooked on Sunday. 

I am wearing... my red flannel robe and blue Crocs.

I am creating... a scarf for a friend, and I am determined to finish that poncho!

I am going... to spend the day with two good friends. I'm not sure what we will do. Some straightening up, but mostly creative plans and talking.

I am reading... In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer Fleming.

I am hoping... to continue on a mood upswing. More writing, more creating, and more laughing are on the agenda.

I am hearing... ds and his gf talking about school and friends while they munch cinnamon toast.

Around the house... order is returning. The living room is beginning to look like a living room again instead of work room.

One of my favorite things... is the annual Christmas party my friends and I do each year. We postponed it until this past weekend to accommodate one friend's travel plans.

A few plans for the rest of the week... catching up in The Bible in 90 Days; do the first lesson in Precepts Colossians book; sewing; reading; crocheting.

Here is a  picture for thought I am sharing... 

Did you know that the priests' robes were decorated with

embroidered pomegranates around the hem?

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook