Sweet Faith

A Simply Sweet Sunday

to you

My Friends

Gusty and Blustery Sky Watch

January

goes out

like a

Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Photos taken leaving work today!

The wind was blowing so hard,
the sky changed twice while on my 15 minute commute!
Wheeeeew!
Auntie 'Em!

A snowy afternoon earlier this week...

still enjoying my tulips!

Thank God for Tulips!

Ahhh

There's no place like home!

Thank you to our Sky Watch Friday hosts:

Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

An Olympic Bluebird :o)

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have,

and one of the best things you can be.

~Douglas Pagels

Look at this sweet package that came today!

I love the handmade card

the pretty wrappings

the stickers

and the 

ribbon

~that tied it all together~

It's from a dear ♥

Koralee @ Bluebird Notes.

When you visit her at Bluebird Notes, 

you'll always leave with a smile.

Like an Olympic torch

the package traveled far.

From Vancouver to New York!

Inside were all the wonderful gifts Koralee described in her 
 OLYMPIC giveaway.

I made myself a latte and

I perused fabulous Canadian Magazines

How nice of her to include these!

Inside, I found

some great styles, designs, recipes and French!

 Koralee, I LOVE gum!

How did you know?

and it's OLYMPIC GUM!

I hope your wish for snow in Vancouver comes true

and

THANK YOU, KORALEE

for all that you do!

This book will be such a fun reading activity with my sixth graders!

My students will definitely know how far the book traveled!

I'm also starting an elementary French course for grade 7 next week!

(30 students in my class-say a prayer)

What a surprise to see the book is in English AND in French!

I'll take lots of photos of our Olympic celebration!

Thank you so much for everything!

It made my day!

Thank you for being a

F*R*I*E*N*D

Add Some Color

We had a little break from gray skies.

...with two days of sunshine this weekend...

But with cloudy skies returning,

I took some advice

from some of
you

my friends

and bought some  

flowers.

I added my grandmother's dishes

full of color

beautiful splashes of
color

Making the

kaleidoscope

change designs and colors

even though the forecast is gray.

Our forecast for January 25

A FLOOD WATCH remains in effect for all of eastern New York and western New England through Monday evening.  Rain will develop this evening and continue into tomorrow afternoon. Rain will fall heavily at times, especially later tonight and through tomorrow morning.  A rainfall of 1" - 2" is possible in many areas with localized amounts of up to 3" also possible.


* * * *

Thank you for the sweet hints to buy flowers

Koralee and Sue

and for Dianne's reminder of this beautiful

verse of scripture:

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6

~

Blessings for a Joyful Week dear ♥'s

Day and Night Sky Watch! and A Birthday!

What a difference four days makes!

The

kaleidoscope

always changes

and
What a difference 22 years makes!

~Happy Birthday Jason~

Oh how we LOVE you!

Jason does a lot of sky watching!
He's finishing his degree in atmospheric science this May!

lots and lots of physics and differential mathematics

We are so proud of the hard work he has done to achieve this!
Most importantly, he is such a wonderful man.

Thank you to our Sky Watch Friday hosts:

Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Be a Conduit

On Sunday,

our pastor gave us this quote:

"God wants to bless us so we can bless others;

... to be conduits, not containers..."

I started thinking about conduits.

Merriam-Webster says:

:a natural or artificial channel through which something is conveyed:

Conduits around my house become metaphors

~

~

~

So many of you are conduits of
joy
faith
spirit
prayer

hospitality

generosity
beauty
love
life
*

~ You bless me ~

You have reached a non-working number... downsizing 101

Remember these phones?

and these phones?

We traded them all for this phone.

A "house phone" we can take everywhere!

We haven't really downsized yet.

Although my kids are 26, 24 and 22,

and they are in places of their own - much of their "stuff" is still here!

It's difficult for me to pack up beautiful dolls that belong at "tea parties."
Jason's Garfield books are still displayed in a bedroom bookcase.
~so many memories~

~ But ~

it wasn't difficult for me to pack up all those phones

and say good-bye to a phone number we've had for 23 years.

Even though we are on the "governor's no call list,"

we still get nuisance calls.

Sometimes Caller ID said -0- is calling

Sometimes it was for "Claudette" who has creditors looking for her...whoever she is!

You get the picture!

Then,

there's the cable bill!

We had the "all-in-one" package from Time Warner.

...cable, internet and phone...

It was a bargain the first year.

$102 for all three!

For the past two years, the price has gone up every six months.

I've had to renegotiate...over and over.

This month- it was about to go up to $142...they would not renegotiate.

So... off we went last Saturday to turn in the BIG extras.

We are down to basic cable (channels 2-25 with 76, 77, 78 thrown in)

Channel 76 is National Geographic - which is nice...

and high speed internet.

This is what we used to have.

I don't miss ALL the news ALL day.

With the internet,

I don't miss television.

With my cellphone,

I don't miss the house phone.

I love staying connected

to family

to friends

to the world

~ Quietly ~

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend dear ♥'s

A Sunny January Day for Sky Watch Friday

After what seems like

a long time

without sunshine,

Today

The sun came out

and smiled at me all the way home!

photo taken on the way home from work today

~
Before daylight savings time,

I used to see

the most beautiful

sunrises

on the way to work 

and

sunsets

on the way home.

 sunrise photo taken on the way to work end of October
...I used to think the powerlines looked awful,
~ But now ~ 
I see them as crosses beneath the sunrise...
and my point of view has changed.
 ~

This time of year,
the skies are bright both ways.

Wishing you bright sunshiny days throughout January.

*  *  *

Thank you to our Sky Watch Friday hosts: 

Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy

~January 15, 2010 would have been my mom's 85 birthday~
Remembering Mom

Walking a Mile in Comfort

If  I  Am

Walking

a

M I L E

~

I must

walk

in

C O M F O R T

. . . Although  Barbie's  shoes  are  gorgeous . . .

Could I ever spend a work day in them?

~

 My workday begins at 7:30am.

Classroom is on the second floor.

All the floors are hard tile.

Hallways are long.

Bells ring, 

rush-rush

rush.

and then,

to the grocery store.

Finally arriving home at 5:45pm.

Could I ever spend a work day in Barbie's shoes?

No Way!

My aching feet choose comfort over beauty.

Java Mary Jane's are so cozy.  They're almost like slippers.

I found them on sale at LL Bean.

and they were even less with my $10 off coupon!

* 

My black ones are from Sketchers.

I love sneakers that pretend to be Mary Janes :o)

Keep Comfy

*

Stay Cozy
*

Love your Feet!

More is Caught than Taught

Some quotes I heard this weekend that I thought were just great!

 It's difficult sometimes to put aside ego and to  

 Let the Glory be God's.

~

...I hope you all have a gentle start to your week...

~Let us be Salt~

Skywatching in the Adirondacks with My Boys

Adirondack Lodge ~ near Lake Placid

Jason preparing to trek.
A BIG Thank You to Barry for lending them his snowshoes!
Now we know what to get Jason for his birthday in two weeks.

...on the trail...

~ Snowy Adirondacks ~

~ Marcy Dam ~

~ These are New York Style Rocks ~

Gates of Moria? 

Speak friend and enter here.

J.R. Tolkien

Avalanche Pass Cliff

*These are trees on top*

Lunch on Frozen Avalanche Lake

Which way home?

So many trails ~ So little time

The sun will set soon.

~ Adirondack woods ~

The Blue Moon of December 2009

My boys had a great day showshoeing in the Adirondacks!
Next time ... I think I'll join them!
* * *

Thank you to our Sky Watch Friday hosts: 

Klaus Sandy Sylvia Wren Louise Fishing Guy