My reblog for today will have a slightly different appearance because this particular blog comes from a different hosting-site but I wanted to expose her to you because I know you will absolutely LOVE her darling site!
The name of this site is New Beginnings, Loving & Living Life after Retirement & is written by Karen, who is a fun-spirited woman enjoying retired life to its fullest! Her side-kick-retired-too-husband is an adorable added dimension to several of her posts!
I am sure, if you are anything like me, you will enjoy reading & visually partaking in all the many activities and explorations she shares with her reader! And as she invites you into her personal space and expeditions during this new Chapter of Life she is embracing you will naturally expect to be sat down in a chair, with a slice of zucchini bread to share, as you spend the time chewing away together!!
It is another reblog Saturday (and don’t forget…reblog Sunday will be tomorrow, giggle-giggle!)
I’ve chosen a delightful little ditty, on this cool crisp November morning in the Northwestern part of Pennsylvania, from a wonderful blogger named Pam at Sweet Aroma!
(Sidebar: everytime I am introduced to a Pam I have that comical flash-back from the movie Step-Brothers during the Interview Scene. Will there ever be a normal introduction to a PAMD again??)
Any who…PAM at Sweet Aroma’s is simply delightful!! I love how descriptive her blogs can be and I promise if you aren’t sitting down with a cup of coffee right now, you will be brewing one half-way into this particular post!
Thank goodness I do not have to work tomorrow; it it is 3 AM and I am nowhere near sleep. It’s my own fault: I made half a French press pot of coffee to fill my travel mug when I took James to his writers’ group in Westerville tonight, a 50 minute drive. That was at 5 PM or so–a time when I usually start fading, so I thought I’d better fortify.
Then we got to the meeting site–which, it happens, is a Panera. I ordered coffee and a pastry, and I pulled out my battered little IPad and typed, sipping lovely fresh-brewed dark roast at a corner table. The writers, meanwhile, went off to talk writing. When a friendly Panera guy walked by, I asked about their refill policy; he assured me, cheerfully, that as long as I was using my Panera-issued cup I could refill 800 times if…
We are mid-way into November and the normal “Brrrrrrr!” most of our local hometown residents should be exclaiming is no where in sight. (Yet!) But the traditional hustle-bustle of preparing for the Winter Season is everywhere! Snow-stakes are being installed and Christmas lights hung (ready for the annual Thanksgiving Day lighting,) and you can find bags of Snow Salt in every hardware store displayed proudly at the check-out counters.
November for me is an annual cleaning of closets, office-folders & such. It is an opportunity to de-clutter and begin the preparation for starting a New Year with a clean slate! So yesterday found me going through my office folder labeled “TO DO,” which contained scribbled messages of ‘this & that’ stuff I hoped TO DO during the course of this past year. I was happy with the small amount of remaining projects needing completion before the hustle-bustle of the holidays rolled in: one more crocheted wedding blanket to complete for a very special December Wedding, a shepherd & sheep yard project that’s been swirl-twirling through my creative mind, and organizing a….well, sshhhhh– I cannot say because…it’s a secret!
And there was one little note, scratchily-scribbled on a piece of bubble-gum pink paper reminding me to make a visit to our local Catholic Gift Shop for a gift Dan & I hoped to donate to a special organization.
I hope they have what we wanted!
When I stopped in to the Catholic Shop today I had no idea that not only would I be able to toss the TO DO note in the waste-basket once I made the necessary purchase, but with the twinkling of a surprise I also happily discovered I could cross off an item from my Bucket List to boot! Alas, God had heard a spoken desire I’d made many moons ago!
Lo & behold with every person I came upon within the shop they personally greeted me by name! Who’d have thunk that this would be the place that “EVERYBODY KNOWS MY NAME…AND THEY’RE ALWAYS GLAD I CAME!”God is so funny how he wraps up our wishes sometimes, isn’t he? He knew I’d hoped for & needed a place that felt like a homecoming...and He delivered in a way I hadn’t quite expected but deliver it He did in a far better way! (I guess God was keeping a secret too!)
And so began my 3hugs&blessings for the Week:
Crossing off item #14 on my Bucket List, Have a special place where “everybody knows my name. And they’re always glad I came!”
Finding a delightful spot to host a special bridal shower for our daughter.
The peace & strength that has enveloped me by focusing only on what lies ahead! “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philipines 3:13-14
(All that’s left now is to make a fresh new folder…TO DO it all!!)
hugs n’ may you find 3 bubble-gum pink surprise blessings too!
God is so funny how he wraps up our wishes sometimes, isn’t he? He knew I’d hoped for & needed a place that felt like a homecoming...and He delivered in a way I hadn’t quite expected but deliver it He did in a far better way! (I guess God was keeping a secret too!)
hugsnblessings 