Updates & Observations

* The count is at one. One mouse got stuck in a gooey trap but after a ferocious battle with the sticky stuff and lots of nibbling at the cardboard underneath, it escaped. No sightings to record.

* I may start drinking milk. My brother-in-law states “Milk keeps me skinny.” He is skinny and probably drinks more milk in a week than I have in my entire life combined. I don’t like milk. My brother was allergic to it and so growing up we had the endure the terrible tragedy of eating dry cereal. After that, my desire for milk diminished all together. But, if it help maintain a healthy weight or good health, I might consider trying to develop a taste for it. For now, I’m sticking with my lowfat vanilla yogurt and lowfat cottage cheese.

* As of yesterday at approximately 6:23 PM, Daniel and I have been married for 6 1/2 years. Yeah! I am amazed at all that God has done in us and through us together as a couple. Since we dated through high school, our half anniversary was a BIG deal, and we’ve kept the tradition a little bit. Halves are my responsibility, Fulls are Daniel’s. We had our first candlelight dinner in our new house last night and had a great time. Don’t watch the movie Waitress on an anniversary though. It is all about an affair and not very marriage affirming. We were hoping Andy Griffith would save the movie with his advice, but his role was very minimal.

* I included a picture of the house to show you a little bit how it is changing. I need to get another page together to show the progress through pictures.

* I’m having to really watch what I’m thinking about during my “get things done” time during the days. A lot of what I am doing has to do with finances, insurance, home improvement & pitfalls, and healthy eating and living and I’ve found myself being highly interested, attentive and concerned about all of these things. I’ve found that since I do not have a “real” job, I have more time to focus on more personal items which is a blessing but I can also see it becoming a curse with just the right twist of Satan and causing me to worry or stress about things (something I haven’t struggled with in awhile). Please pray for me in that. Here’s an example: I read an article about radon gas in homes and how bad it is. I suddenly felt the need to test for this and instantly felt tense about the air I was breathing. This is normally not like me.

* I’m reading a book that is really making me think and has a lot of observations that I have never thought of before about things that I think about a lot. I like that aspect. It is The Saving Life of Christ by Major W. Ian Thomas. The verdict is still out on what I think about the book overall but I’m enjoying the read.

* My foosball playing, Bohemian Rhapsody singing, junior high buddy, Sarah Rachel (sorry, I just outed you!) put a post on her blog about seasonal depression so I thought I would share my comment here and recommend another book:

“I have struggled every winter with the same thing…the after holiday shock but then it doesn’t leave…and then turns into more. Actually today is supposedly the most depressive day of the year (Christmas bills, cold, tax season coming up, etc). Last winter was the first winter I can remember where I did not get depressed. Praise God! It was awesome and so far it is the same this winter. I read a book that helped me a lot. (Victory over Depression by Bob George). Not that you go read a book and it’s fixed (actually I read it a few years earlier and it made me mad). But God used it to really work in my little heart last year.”

The LBD Dual Significance:

Lamentations 3:21-27: But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.