Auld Lang Syne: New Year's Eve: Musical Monday #24

Biblical Truths: Thursday's Things #23

'Come now let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel you shall be eaten by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken' Isaiah 1:18-20

Built Bills: Wednesday's Woe #23

This tale isn't so much woeful as it is humorous. On the afternoon of Christmas Day my niece and I went on a tramp through the woods behind my house. We had fun forging paths in the bush and marshes and exploring unknown territory (even though we ended up covered in mud and burrs). At one point I was squishing my way between two trees - wiggling back and forth as it was a rather tight squeeze. Upon bursting through I heard a loud rustling noise behind me. Glancing back I discovered to my utter dismay (and delight) that while squeezing through, my behind had knocked a good sized tree clean over! We went hysterical over this and I'm glad we captured this picture on my phone. 

Stay Secure: Tuesday's Tips #23

Keep your car keys on your bedside table overnight. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house during the night, just  press the panic button for your car. The alarm will go off and the horn will continue to sound until you turn it off. If your car alarm goes off, chances are the burglar won't stick around and it will draw attention to your house from your neighbours. Test it! 

On Christmas Night All Christians Sing: Musical Monday #23

Christmas's Past: Friday's Fun #22

I love Christmas time because it means our house will be full of family for a few days. Family fun, laughter, reminiscing... games, skating, gift exchanges... singing carols around the piano, kids underfoot, and delicious treats... it's all so gezellig. Going to church on Christmas morning and then enjoying the children's Sunday School program in the afternoon is special too! I can be so thankful I was born into my large, Christian family. Here are a few pictures from Christmas's past...

GAME TIME!:

SINGING:

 

 FOOD: 

FUN: 

 

Thursday's Things #22

Three things I've discovered about myself:

- I hate shopping when parking lots are jammed and stores crowded with people. I get crusty, hot and bothered
- Things are almost always better in the morning (or after a good cry)
- When I write something late at night (email, blog post etc) I'll usually re-read it in the morning and regret being so emotional and frank with my opinion (like my blog post last night! I was considering deleting it, but decided to leave it)

Now for a random bit of news: I have two more night shifts and then I'm off for a 6 day stretch over Christmas. Yippee!! I'm very much looking forward to spending time with my family who are traveling here from afar. We'll miss you and be thinking of you Nic, Mike & Jules and Jo & Wouter!

Surrounded, Yet Alone: Wednesday's Woe #22

I wrote a post a while back about what people thought about single women adopting children. I had a couple responses, one of them from a cousin who was in favour of the idea. I hope she won't mind, but I'm going to quote her words here: 

"Based on the verses you gave in that excellent blog post of last week, I think single people can adopt. Of course it's easier if a child has both a mother and father but what if they have neither father nor mother. Isn't having only a mother better than having no parent at all? However, that said, the path won't be easy. We are tremendously privileged to have strong reformed families but I have noticed several negative sides to this as well.
 
For instance, it is not easy in our circles to be single. We are very much geared to nuclear families. While that is positive it can make singles feel very lonely in a bad way. In the New Testament, I don't notice as much emphasis on just nuclear families. There seems to be more emphasis on the church as a family. Aquila and Priscilla work with Paul, a single and they took in Apollos to instruct him more fully. They didn't say "Oh, you can't live with us, we need our family time". The New Testament also places a lot of emphasis on showing hospitality to strangers, again not saying "Show hospitality to your grown-up kids, their offspring, and your siblings." I am not negating the importance of spending family time but I sometimes wonder if we do not put too much emphasis on that to the exclusion of others, hence singles feeling more lonely than they should in our churches, parents of onlys (or none) often feeling marginalized, and adoptive parents often feeling misunderstood and not always able to get the support and help needed for their kids. Like I said, in our circles we have many strengths but it can be very lonely to be different." 

Today my post has nothing to do with adopting but it does have a lot to do with being a single man or woman in our Dutch Reformed culture. My cousin is right, we are very much geared to nuclear families. So much so that I believe singles do get left out. I'm not saying that I feel that way all the time but let me give an example here: My younger brother got married a year ago and they are now parents to a wee babe. They have joined the ranks of nuclear "family-hood" in our church. This Christmas they received a number of cards from various other young couples/families in our church who are part of our Young Adults Bible study. I also attend this same Bible study... but I didn't receive any cards. Because I'm still single, because I don't have my own home address, because I still live at home with my parents - are they reasons to be overlooked? I'm honestly not looking for a pity party. The lack of Christmas cards from people I'm not close friends with doesn't bother me immensely. But when Dan said "we got a Christmas card from so-and-so" it did strike me. I thought to myself, 'you don't even know them that well! why did you get a card?' Were they recognized because they are a young married couple, a couple with a child, joining the ranks of all the other nuclear families? Or maybe it's because they've had the chance to bond with other parents as they drop off and pick up their baby from the church nursery, discussing all things baby. I don't have that privilege, but does that make it a reason to overlook me? It doesn't bother me immensely, but it does bother me a little. And it does bother me enough that often I'd just rather go to church and zip back home afterwards without stopping to speak to anyone. Church is supposed to be a gathering of believers, fellowship with other saints, close communion with other pilgrims on our sometimes difficult, oftentimes joyful journey to our eternal home, but honestly... why don't I feel it? Maybe if I had a diaper bag over one shoulder and a hubby in tow on the other arm I'd feel more connected. 

At this present point in my life I'm content with where I am, with what I'm doing. I'm happy to be single, poking along at home with my memories and dreams, caught up at work with the challenges and rewards of NeuroSurg nursing. But sometimes I feel restless, sometimes I long for something more, the vast unknown beckons me, whispers my name, calling me... but to what I don't yet exactly know. But by God's grace and guidance I'll find out in His time and with His leading.

*I hope you don't get the wrong impression, I'm really not all down in the dumps feeling bummed out. But today I just felt like voicing my thoughts loudly, clearly and honestly for this week's Wednesday's Woe'

 

Cough Cure: Tuesday's Tip #22

A cough that is keeping you and the rest of your household awake at night can be calmed very easily with a few household ingredients. Mix 1 tablespoon tumeric powder (which is a wonderful antiseptic) in a glass of lukewarm milk and add some sugar to taste if desired. Give it a try!

Hallelujah Chorus: Musical Monday #22

I just heard a beautiful rendition of Handel's Messiah by the Bach Elgar Choir with some friends on Friday night. 

Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth! The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. King of kings and Lord of lords!

Thankfulness at Christmas Time

In the 1800's a Belgian priest arrived in a Hawaiian village that had been quarantined as a leper colony. He lived with the lepers, learned their language, organized schools, bandaged their wounds, and ate with them.

The village was transformed. Yet for years the priest was different from his people in one important way. They had leprosy, and he didn’t. Then one day he stood and began a sermon with two words: “We lepers . . .”

He had contracted leprosy, and from that moment on, people in the village saw him in a new light. He had become one of them. He would not only share their life but also die as they would die.

On Christmas we celebrate the day God came to our village in the person of Christ. He became one of us.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for humbling Yourself, for taking on our sin-diseased condition, and for dying our death!

(Taken from "With Seeking Him" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss)

New Jersey News: Friday's Fun #21

Here's a little snapshot of one of the activities I spent doing in NJ... baking! 

Making gingerbread cookies with Trina:

  

Then, the following day while Lora snoozed with Reesey... ;)

....we decorated them with Nicolette's and Jules' help: 

 

I love the grim determination in Jules' face here! It was hard work squeezing that bottle to make the icing come out!

The following day I did some more baking with Nic and Jules - this time chocolate chip and butter cookies - delicious!

 

Christmas Quotes: Thursday's Things #21

“How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!” ~ Benjamin Franklin

“Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas.”  ~ Ronald Reagan

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans--and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.” ~ Sigrid Undset

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Choking Is Not Fun: Wednesday's Woe #21

Nearly choking is a really scary thing - I hate to imagine what actually choking feels like! Last week I had a near death experience invovling me choking (ok, so it wasn't quite near death but I did get awfully scared). I got up late afternoon after sleeping all day, bright eyed and bushy tailed and hungrier than a bear after hibernating all winter. I got an English muffin prepared and chugged back two large pills with a gulp of tea. No biggie -  I do it every morning. I proceeded to take a bit of English muffin drenched in butter and brown sugar when it hit me. A burning sensation in the middle of my esophagus. I took several gulps of tea. Nothing changed. The burning pressure sensation just got worse. Those two pills were lodged tight, stucker than a pig in a mud hole, and now my partially digested English muffin was swimming in a sea of tea above them. I started sweating and my hands started shaking. Was I choking? Was I going to die? I breathed in and out - hmmm, breathing didn't seem to be too much of a problem but that high-pressure lump in my mid-thoracic region was causing reason to be alarmed. I ran across the house and found my mom - "Mom, help! I'm choking!" Visions of me throwing myself over a chair to dislodge the obstruction flitted through my brain. Does mom even know how to do the Heimlich Maneuver? I started breathing faster and shallower as I imagined my airway becoming completely blocked off. In my mind, if I had passed out from lack of oxygen, I would never have made it. "Pear sauce!" Mom shrieked. And she was off in a flash. I half thought she had lost it, but I obediently followed Mom to the kitchen. Mom has a lot of experience with "food getting stuck in her throat" and pear sauce has been a miracle remedy. Due to its smooth, viscous consistency, it works better than a thin liquid to dislodge stuck objects. Anyways, I took a few spoonfuls but still, no change. I started getting panicky. The pressure was awful and making me feel nauseous. I flung myself to the sink and started puking, and puking, and puking. Not much came up but the pear sauce but thankfully all that retching got my peristalsis back up and doing its job properly and landed my pills safely into my stomach. Phew! And that's the end of my tale of woe... Lesson to be learned: drink ample fluid when swallowing pills!

Carol of the Bells: Musical Monday #21

I decided to post this song since I'm learning how to play it on the piano! Since my oldest niece is taking voice lessons, my mom proposed that she learns the lyrics and we perform it at our family Christmas gathering. We'll see what happens! :)

Candle Keeping: Tuesday's Tip #20

I got this tip from my uncle who stayed the weekend here. He says that if you put your candles in the freezer a few hours before burning, not only will they last longer (not melt as fast) but they won't drip wax either!

This should be helpful tip especially now that it's prime candle burning time with Christmas just around the corner! The only problem is, I never plan when I'm going to burn my candles... I just light them whenever I'm in the mood. But this tip would be handy before a party or event where your planning to have candles lit - especially tall tapers! It might work well also with birthday cake candles - no more wax on the cake!

Musical Monday #20

Here is a song called Walking In The Air from a children's movie called The Snowman. I remember watching this video when I was babysitting many years ago and I love how relaxing this song is. I just heard it on Classical 96.3 the other day and that's what prompted me to post it today :)

Christmas Crafts: Fun Friday #19

I got bit by the crafting bug again! Cold weather and the proximity of Christmas seems to spark my creative fuse. Here's a tally of what I've been up to so far. Maybe you'll get some ideas for your own home! Most were simple and inexpensive.

Canning Jar Candles:  Cost: $1 for the pack of floating candles from Dollarama; I picked the greenery and berries from outside and already had the twine to tie around the jars.
Got the idea from here:

Dress Up Your Chairs: Cost: $1.50 for the ribbon
Got the idea from here and here:

And put it all together for a festive dinner party!

I got together with Amanda and Esther on Saturday evening to craft! Amanda worked on forming "NOEL" out of wooden letters, Esther worked on making a tree from a cone and yarn, and I started making a wreath from tree ornaments.

 

Tree Ornament Wreath: Cost: $20 for ornaments; $1 for ribbon from Dollarama

Got the idea from here and here:

Centerpiece: Cost: $4 for the ornaments from Dollarama

Got the idea from here:

Car Troubles: Wednesday's Woe #19

It all started a few days ago. I noticed that my gas gauge seemed to be dropping abnormally fast and I started getting really bummed… what? Why is my car burning through gas so fast? I thought my dear Kia Soul was fuel efficient! Then on Monday night I noticed that my engine light was one. OOPS! How long was that on for? The reason I didn’t notice it earlier is because I have a little origami lotus flower sitting in front of my dials  – effectively covering up the glaring orange light.  A sixth sense prodded me to move it aside and lo and behold, there was my engine light glaring at me. Well, now I know where the engine light is located on my dashboard. Time to move the lotus! Fast forward to Tuesday morning: I was a little grumpy cause I had gotten up really early to rush around and get ready for a Neuro Conference I was attending in Toronto. Then, just before running out the door, in search of purse sized packs of Kleenexes, a drawer decided to come crashing down on my head. GRR! Now I was hopping mad. I took a few deep, slow breaths and glancing at the clock, headed towards Costco to tank up on the cheapest gas in town. As I took off the gas cap from my tank I heard an audible “whoosh” of air escaping. Huh?? I shrugged and proceeded to tank up. About $2 in an unexpected gush of gas back-flowed over the side of my car onto the ground. It was  as if my car was vomiting gas (like when your bottle feeding your baby and suddenly, BLAH, it all comes gushing back up)… or if you want a prettier mental image :P, it was like a waterfall cascading out of my gas tank. What in tarnation?? I started feeling a little shaky. When it comes to car troubles, my first response is always to get a little emotional. Peering over the gas pump I asked the fellow next door what he knew about cars. He advised me to try again but this time pump the gas in really slowly. So I waited a couple of minutes and then tried again. Click, click, click… it was like I was spoon feeding small bites of baby food into a toddler. I neared the $2 mark… and it happened AGAIN!! Great snakes, what do I do now? I was due in Burlington to carpool in 20 minutes and mom and dad were 5 hours north. After mopping up the side of my car and having the gas attendant spray as special solution on the gas spill, I bravely started the car up (I was half expecting a huge explosion) and headed off. After a tearful call to my work buddy, I was graciously picked up 20 minutes later (stinking like gas fumes). He even bought me a delicious Sausage & Egg McMuffin to cheer my spirits :). 

All in all, the day ended great. The conference was quite interesting and had a lot of good information and the setting was absolutely gorgeous.  It was held at the Old Mill Inn in Toronto – its old fashioned nature, twisty turny confusing hallways and staircases bedecked with Christmas décor, and the classical Christmas carols playing overhead all made me fall in love. I can’t wait to take my mom for afternoon tea there sometime! I initially thought an overnight stay would be fun, but the $200/person price tag deterred me! 

Christmas Cheer: Musical Monday #19

Christmas cheer and winter splendor is making me feel all cozy and gezellig inside. Enjoy the music video as you are transported back in time :). Sigh, I get to feeling so nostalgic for old-fashioned things. I recently watched an episode of "Larkrise to Candleford" (a BBC show set in the 19th century) that was shot at Christmas time and everything looked so wonderful! Homes (poor as they were) filled with greenery and candles, carolers in the streets, lanterns lining the way... Anyone else feel sentimental at times and wish they lived in the golden olden days? Haha... I know it's just all sentimental feeling though, because it would be awfully rough living without our modern day conveniences!

Slather Up: Tuesday's Tip #18

Todays word of advice is to remember to slather on the Vaseline (petroleum jelly) before heading off to the dentist. There is nothing worse than having your mouth pried open for an hour - add to that dry lips that just keep getting drier... and drier... and then start to split and crack and bleed. So, slather up! It makes the whole process so much more enjoyable :-)

Stained Suede: Tuesday's Tip #17

Boots are getting pulled out of the closet as the weather turns colder. Isn't it such a bother when your suede boots (or shoes) get discolored? They're so hard to clean - you can't use shoe polish, and salt can leave awful markings. As a remedy, I've found that using the spray can variety of shoe dye works really well. Just brush your boots off first to clean them and then spray away (probably best to do outside!). I've made my black boots look like new many times.

Ho Hum Honda: Musical Monday #18

Have you ever heard what it sounds like to drive a Honda? Maybe you have, but have you ever heard the sounds replicated by a talented choir?? Take a listen!

Journeyman: Thursday's Things #17

If you ever have a spare moment, check out Journeyman Pictures on YouTube. You'll find an assortment of fascinating documentary type videos on a variety of topic and issues in countries across the world. Here's the link!

http://www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures?feature=results_main

Tired of Bronco Bamma: Wednesday's Woe #17

Well, now that the election is over the news will no longer be abuzz with "Bronco Bamma" and Mitt Romney! My woe of the day is that Barack O'bama got re-elected. Sigh... God Bless America!

Handy Hooks: Tuesday's Tip #17

I read this tip in Mary Hunt's e-magazine "Debt-Proof Living" on the Tiptionary page. A reader wrote in to say that she bought two over-the-door wreath hangers around Christmas time to use for hanging clothing, towels, handbags and such. "I like the convenience of moving them as needed to any door in the house." I thought this was a pretty handy tip to use especially on doors where you can't fasten a permanent hook. The Dollarama carries them around Christmas so it's a very inexpensive idea!

Irish Celtic: Musical Monday #17

    

Let's head on over to Ireland for some authentic Celtic music. See if you don't bust out into a jig yourself!

My American Sister: Fun Friday #16

I visited Ange and Josh last week, spur of the moment. It was a swell weekend as always ;).

The sun was shining on Saturday, and although it was cool out, we enjoyed a bike ride around East Grand Rapids, checking out the beautiful, old houses in that area.

As you see, my Americanized sister and her hubby are very staunch in their support of Romney! On the day I left, I found a Romney/Ryan sticker on the back window of my car. HMMMM... now how did that get there??

Keep on Keeping On: Thursday's Things #16

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

"Lord Don't Move That Mountain"

Lord here I am again, down on my knees in prayer
Lord You promised me You'd always meet me there
Now there's a mountain up ahead, that I can't seem to climb
So I'm begging for the strength to try it one more time.

Now if there were no mountains, Lord I might forget to pray
And if there were no trials, I might even stray
But I know the higher the mountain, the sweeter the victory
Oh Lord ever remind me that You will walk beside of me.

Oh Lord don't move that mountain, just give me the strength to climb
For if you should move each mountain, I might grow weaker everytime
And just as Your Son Jesus took the cross up Calvary's hill
Oh Lord don't move that  mountain, so I might better do Your will.

Downtime Dos: Wednesday's Woe #16

Sometmes I have a lot of downtime. I generally try to keep busy, but sometimes on my stretch of days off I find myself with a couple days with nothing planned. So I came up with a quick list of (productive) ways to fill my time. I'm not going to be unrealistic, so I'm going to include internet activity, but will try to make my time spent in more worthwhile endeavors:

1. Check out interesting, worthwhile blogs
2. Read/watch the news!! We don't get a newspaper and I never know what's going on in the world!
3. Check email and Facebook but don't waste an inordinate amount of mind numbing time
4. Read a book! I enjoy well written novels, historical fiction, biographies of missionaries and interesting, easy-to-read Christian living books
4. Puzzle. I've gotten into doing puzzles lately and it's kind of a fun thing to do on cold, dark winter evenings
5. Craft - this is another activity that I seem to be more inspired to do when the weather forces you to be indoors. I bought a really cool book last spring that has a bunch of felt and fabric themed crafts that I want to try out
6. Play piano. My dear sister in law has been gracious enough to teach me and bear with me and slowly but surely I'm improving a little!
7. Practice Taekwondo and exercise. My friend who got me into taekwondo lent me his kicking bag a while back and I really need to be putting it to more use! I've been too lazy... plus some additional crunches wouldn't be a bad idea to deal with my little pet pot belly... lol.
8. Scrapbook - I have my South Africa pictures all printed out but haven't put them in a photo album yet... sigh. 

How do you choose to spend your spare time? Or don't you have any... haha.

Purse Polish: Tuesday's Tips #16

When I visited Ange last weekend somehow we got to talking about cleaning leather. My yellow leather purse that I got last spring was in dire need of a clean and polish - I had used special leather wipes but they didn't have too much effect. Ange told me that she has used shoe polish on her purses to spruce them up so off we went to Meijers and found some yellow shoe polish (a perfect match surprisingly enough!).
As you can see, my purse was quite dirty  - shortly after I got it I wore a new pair of jeans and the ink on the jeans rubbed off onto my purse. Shucks!

 We looked online and hairspray did the trick in rubbing most of the ink off! The only thing I couldn't get off was the actual pen marks. (Do you have a trick on how to remove pen marks from leather?)

So after a good clean with leather gel cleaner and hairspray, I polished it up with the yellow shoe polish. It didn't turn out perfect but I'm happy with the results.

So give it a try! Hairspray and shoe polish... :)

American the Beautiful: Musical Monday #16

American Culture personified by trusty Rhett and Link. As they made a road trip across the country a while back they asked people at every stop to sing "America the Beautiful" with them. It should provide a few laughs...

Road trip! Friday's Fun #15

Going on an impromptu road trip to visit my sister and her husband for the weekend! I'll be heading south west later today. Hopefully I won't get stuck at the border for 1.5 hours like I did on my last two trips... :S

Adoption and the Single Mom

Last week I had a blog post about adoption. I hope I didn't come across as judgemental or with the attitude that everyone should feel obligated to adopt - I know everyone's situation is different. This week I have a question - if people respond, I'm sure I'll get a wide variety of answers! My question is this: what do you think of single women adopting children and raising them as a single mom? I won't give my own pros and cons right now but would love to hear from you!

No More Sanding! Tuesday's Tip #15

I thought all you furniture refurbishers would be interested in this tip I just read about (although chances are you already know about the product). Anyhow, I stumbled across this website where a woman discovered a product that you can use on finished furniture before repainting it, to avoid sanding altogether! Read further here.

Canadian Culture: Musical Monday #15 (late)

A little bit of Canadian culture for your kids to enjoy! "Canada in My Pocket"

For the Birds: Friday's Fun #14

This morning I went with my niece and nephew to a trail that I believe is part of the Botanical Gardens in Burlington. It has a boardwalk built through a marshy area that is inhabited by many birds - these birds are very used to humans (and humans feeding them) so we had lots of chickadees flying around us and landing on us. I'm glad I thought to bring a little bag of birdseed with! :)