Retirement

Last Sunday I was recognized by one of our co-pastors for my fifteen years of service as our church library director.  Also, it was the public announcement of my retirement - - - at the end of this week!!!   I am so excited - - because I will be babysitting our grandson full-time in January while his mom teaches.

Transitioning the leadership at work while continuing to serve the public has kept us very busy.  That means blogging has taking a back seat to the rest of life.  Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently very, very soon!

Our other pastor honored me with this Scripture at our library workers' appreciation dinner last month.   . . . . Well done, thou good and faithful servant  . . . . Matthew 25:21

God has blessed me in an overwhelming way.  All I have done is try to hear HIS voice, work hard to accomplish HIS direction, and treat others the way I would like to be treated.  It has amazed me to see what HE can accomplish through a willing servant.  My praise and thankfulness to HIM overflows.

Winners

Congratulations to

SEAGOS SAGA

BUTTERCUP

A CORGI IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

I will mail your books no later than Tuesday!

There are no pics tonight because it said my photo space is full - - - - so I have been deleting old blogs and old pics on Picasa - - - because I have the pics on my computer and have saved a lot of my blogs on Word - - - and printed them - - - - so why keep the stuff on the internet?!!!  Plus I don't want to pay for storage.

 It said it can take up to 24 hours for them to delete - - - so maybe next time you will have pictures?!!!

Give-Away

Since it is this time of year ALREADY - - - I thought I would like to give a couple of blog friends a gift - - - not decorations though.

It is this book.  I will choose at least two names either Thanksgiving Day or Friday to receive a copy of this book.  If you want your name in the "dish", please let me know in the comments.

Speaking of comments, you might not hear much of any from me until Christmas vacation.  Your blogs are getting read but no comments have been left by me.

I have five more (partial) weeks to work until I am retired.  Plus, we are privileged to have Benjamin here a couple of days a week to babysit!  He is so very precious and good-natured.

 When I get a few free minutes, it is spent typing information for the library manual that will be left for the new director.  She is very smart and God has given her some GREAT ideas - - so she does NOT have to do anything the way I did it in the past.  However, if she has any questions about what I did, she will have access to "my brain on paper"!  It's an exciting time for both of us!

Don't you see that children are God's best gift?  Psalm 127:3

Leaf Me Alone

Remember when you were a kid and did leaf rubbings?  Or you sealed them between sheets of wax paper with crayon shavings?   And you got to jump in piles of leaves and bury yourself underneath them and smell the scent that is Autumn?  I don't even remember it bothering my sinuses when "buried alive".

But then we grew up and the leaves became work.

The roof needs clearing (and this is only one section).  The decks and stairs stay covered.  They have to be cleared before the rain.  (This was last weekend - a week ago.)

Hooray for Super Husband and his trusty sidekick, Windy!  As you can see, Bill does a great job eradicating the roof of tree gifts. I try not to worry about him up there - - - high off the ground.  He is very careful - - has not fallen yet - - - and we both pray he never will.

He has - - what you could call - - - job security cuz there are still more to descend!

However, the pansies are happy with the leaves.  It gives them a nice blanket for the winter temperatures.  Time will tell how they fare this year.  I gave each of them good potting soil when transplanting them.  Don't you love their brilliant pop of color against the leaves?

. . . . As the leaf falls from the vine. . . .   Isaiah 34:4            
Future blog - - - hopefully within a week, I plan a give-away - - - - 

and at some point - - more pictures of Benjamin with the camera.  I have some with my phone - - but they are only okay.   He is sooooo precious and I have enjoyed the half weeks of babysitting immensely!!!!

Change in the Air

We took a little drive to the WHITEWATER CENTER today to see the fall colors.  Even though this isn't the best picture, you can see the change is patchy.  Some leaves are gone.  Some are brilliant colors and some are still green.

The leaves change every year but life at our house has been the same for a few years.  However, that is about to change!!!  Beginning this week, I started watching our grandson, Benjamin for half a week.  Below he is in the middle of a smile for Pop Pop, who came home for lunch.

From now until Christmas, he will be at our house each Thursday and Friday.  In January, Benjamin will be here from Monday - Friday because I am RETIRING!!!  I have loved, loved, loved being our church's library director but many things have influenced my decision - - - one is getting the opportunity to be with our grandson.  Also, I will be 62 in January.

A lot of time has been spent in prayer about this decision but once God's voice was clear about which direction to take, I have been very excited to begin this new phase of our lives.  We will get to take walks together as well as play with his toys.  Benjamin loves his "crinkle elephant".  The feet are teethers and the slender body has crinkle paper inside the fabric.  Benjamin will grin at Elephant and then hug and chew on him.

So I will try not to make every post about him - - - but he will be present in many!  I will tell you about other things in our lives - - things like my husband being in Knoxville yesterday for the football game.  (This picture was actually taken on Sept 15 of this year.)

Here is a picture of me taken today.  It is a decent one of me - - despite a shadow on the side of my face - - and the glasses reflecting the light.  I have PhotoShop but have not had time to learn it yet.  I love the flowers.  My internet search said they are Fleabane Daisies, also call the Dainty Daisy.  According to Amazon, they are drought tolerant and deer resistant.  The name is derived from the belief that the dried flowers repel fleas.  Anybody know if that is true?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these  Matthew 6:28b-29

Friday, October 12

The good news  - - you don't have to remember how to do math to know what time it is if you know how to read a regular clock.  This is in one of the classrooms where our older daughter and some of her friends tutor.  I visited her at work on Friday.

Their math lab was renovated and expanded this summer to accommodate and better showcase their math redesign that received the

National Bellwether Award in 2009.

This is another view of the same lab - - - 88 computers!

Cleveland State Community College has some pretty landscaping, too.

Picnic tables can be found between parking lots and buildings.

This bridge is between parking lots.  I like Pampas Grass plumes - - - but don't touch the grass.  You can cut your finger - - - I wonder how I know that?!!!

More bridges.  These were found on just a short stretch of our Greenway 

 that I walked on Friday.

 

The entire area is well-lighted.

And if you don't want to walk - - you can play a while.

My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.  Psalm 71:15

October, Week 1

Once again it was time for the monthly cooking demonstration at the church.  The theme was casseroles.  That doesn't lend itself well to decorating so the display table was decorated for football.

The colors at UTK are orange which is a wonderful color for this time of year.   Fabric overlay and two different kinds of flowers make for a festive table.

Do any of you have the display stand that allows you to weave ribbon around the rim?  The stand is wonderful for many things - - pies, cakes, cookies, - - - or a potted plant!

The placemat was felt made to look like a football field.  The plate is a disposable that was painted - - and notice the ribbon on the plastic utensils matches the display stand.  This was the only table decorated.  The 100+ participants sat at plain, narrow conference tables.  That works well to allow more space and easier cleanup.

The highlight of my week was on Friday when I got to babysit Benjamin by myself for three hours!  He is so precious!   He got to play on the blanket - - - - go outside - - and of course some of the usual stuff like drink a bottle.

My biggest concern was if he would go to sleep for me or be upset because I was not his mommy.  However, my daughter has him on a great schedule and on a wonderful routine.  When he is tired, full stomach, and dry bottom, if you swaddle him, he immediately goes to sleep - - - even when you don't swaddle correctly!

The only other activity scheduled for this weekend was another baby shower for a precious friend's daughter.  I did not use this second card but had another one for her.  As usual, we had a very good time together.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!  Psalm 139:17