Friday!

So, in the middle of a short week that seemed eternal - cramming 5 days of work into 4 - I decided I needed some time.

Time to knit.

Time to clean (okay that goes to the bottom of the list)

Time to hang out with my Maine Girl.

Time to get a haircut.

Did I mention time to knit?

Shaping up

There is nothing like looking at yourself in the dressing room Mirror and realizing you've kept your girlish figure and added soooo much to it.

It was a stunning thought.  I thought maybe if I smiled things would look better, but, well:

Something had to be done.

So I started walking at lunch time and joined Planet Fitness.  I particularly love the Judgment free zone.

We'll see what happens...

Alleluia!

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Giving Thanks 5

It is a rare person who is prepared to lay down his or her life for others.  Sometimes it is called altruistic suicide.  Sometimes it is called conspicuous valor.   Often it is done without thought, a selfless, instinctive act, like the professor at Virginia Tech who used his body as a barricade so that other men and women could escape.

And sometimes it comes from love.  "For God so loved the world..." (John 3:16) that he was willing to give his life, even to suffer death by crucifixion.  Others have said it more eloquently.  The one who is timeless in the moment of his death saw all of His creations and willingly became the sacrificial lamb. 

I give thanks for all who have given their lives so that others may live, and especially thanks to the one who died for all.

Giving Thanks 4

They are gathered around the table.  Gethsemane is looming, but for now they are enjoying their meal with their teacher.  Did they sense anything?  A touch of unease?  Or did they do all the things close friends do on a meal in the town?  Who can say what they did?

But when the bread was broken and the cup was raised I doubt any of them had any idea of the depths of despair and the ultimate joy the next few days and weeks would bring.

There are no words that can capture the debt I owe or the gratitude I feel.

A Special Giving Thanks

To Diana Wilder; who managed to recover a post deleted by accident and helped me repost, making it better than before.

I am truly grateful.

Giving Thanks 3

Today I'm going just a tad toward the frivolous and giving thanks for Good Service.  It's that time of year when you pull out the next  season's clothes from storage and realize that what you do have needs help.

So I hied myself off to a mall and hit one of my regular stores.  I was largely ignored and the person with me was absolutely ignored.  A sales clerk finally approached and asked if she could help: I said I was looking for solid colored shirts.

"The Tees are over there..."

"I was thinking of something more like a shirt...", I said.

 And she went wafting off.

I did finally buy one pair of jeans and was given a little lip at the register by the same clerk who seemed to want to look me up by my phone number rather than use the member card I was holding out to her.  I left feeling that I had interrupted her fun: we were the only ones in the store.  Perhaps she wanted to get back to the novel she was reading in the back room.

Two doors down was a new store; a British concern that had opened a few months before.  There was a lovely dress just inside the door in a jewel-toned paisley, a lovely patterned blouse and an embroidered evening dress.  I was lured in.  The two women greeted me, my companion, and anyone else who came to the store as a friend.  They didn't have assigned customers; they worked as a team, making sure no one was left waiting for help.

Over the next hour or so I tried on more than 45 items: 15 I selected myself and the rest clothes they thought I might like.  Their choices were better than mine.

I was noy pressured.  I was not made to feel out of place: I noticed women of all ages in the store.  They were helpful.  They provided honest feedback.  I lest with three items that made me feel pretty.   The store?  Monsoon in Holyoke MA.  The experience?  It reminded me of the training I received in an upscale boutique in Philly.  The clothes? Well made.    Why I am thankful?  I don't usually enjoy shopping, I usually leave with my ego in shreds.  This was different, due largely to two young women who loved their job and liked people.