snuggling

Saturday afternoon I was watching a football game and fell asleep I was sitting in the recliner and had my knees covered up. Gable was all cozy beside me in the chair, under the blanket. of course. Well to make a long story short, I woke up a while later because my arm was going to sleep.

Here’s the reason. (The photo could be better,, but I was trying to reach my cell phone and take a picture without disturbing anybody.) Andy had hopped up and snuggled in with us. He was on top of Gable between me and my arm. I’ve slept with little warm bodies so many years that even asleep I stay still so they don’t get squashed! I had stayed so still that my arm was sleeping too. Our animals are all snuggle buns, but the cats don’t usually get this cozy with the dogs. Gable didn’t care. He was warm and that was good. Andy was just another layer of warm!

and now my grand daughter!

This is my grandaughter Keva. Yes, another beautiful child. I have been blessed! I guess every grandma feels that way about their grandkids though

Keva is a great artist. I don't mean she draws 'nice' little pictures. She is really good. Last week Kerra sent me a note to tell me that Keva has some of her drawings posted online through her school work.

I went to look at them and wanted everybody to see them. Two of them are just designs. The third is a two headed dragon! She has been facinated with dragons since she was a little girl. When she draws them they are so realistic they have scales and claws and jointed fingers!

So of course you get to look at them here... I hope you like them.

Maybe you don't like them as much as I do, but I think the first two designs wwould make neat ceramic tiles to use as trivets for setting hot pots on. I really like them.

bragging on my nephew

I've been meaning to post these pictures for several days but kept getting involved with other things and forgetting them. The very distinguished man in the tuxedo is a self described "plain ole Navajo man from sagebrush country," my nephew, Irving Nelson. The second picture is his 'everyday self."

On October 7th, he received one of the first two Prism Awards ever presented from the Smithsonian National Museum of American Indian! "The NMAI Prism Award is given to a person who labors tirelessly and lagely anonymously in a tribal community to improve the lives of community members in some way. ...the Prism Award reminds us that it is in the communities throughout Indian country where the most important work is done. Prism Awards recipients forge strong, healthy , civic-minded communities. "

The Smithsonian provided transportation and lodging for him and his son, Christopher, to and from Washington DC. He attended a Gala Dinner on the sixth and the Award was presented in special ceremonies on the seventh. The young man on the right is Christopeher, Irving's son. I don't remember the name of the man in the center. Some dignitary I believe.

Irving has been the director of the Navajo Nation Library System for 32 years. He has worked tirelessly during that time to improve the extent of library branches and the quality of the library collection. He has also implemented the increased number of volumes to exceed 73,000 books! Many of these have been donated by organizations and government agencies that Irving has lobbied personally.

In addition to the Prism Award Irving received a lifetime achievement award at the Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums Conference that took place at Portland, Oregon, on October 17th.

I'm so proud of him. But I look at the distinguished man and still see the ornery ten year old that was in my Sunday School class on the mission. This is one of those times when I see the truth of the verse, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." I know Irving has had ups and downs in his life but I trust that some of the lessons we did in Sunday School had an impact on the man he is today. When he wrote to tell me of his award, his first sentence was: "Praise to my almighty God!!! He has blessed me with my job that I have had for 32 years and has blessed our main and branch libraries with thousands and thousands of free books from donors across the United States."

And I do praise Him for that.

connections

Several years ago I had a good friend and co-worker who shared a fascination with me about strange folk sayings. You know, things like “cute as a button’ and ‘cuss a blue streak’ and ‘acting like a suck-egg hound.’ Some of the sayings have obvious roots, but others are pretty obscure and seem to bear no relation to anything real. I mean, just what is ‘cute’ about a button? And cussing I can understand, but why a ‘blue streak’? I can also understand hound dogs that steal eggs, but just how would they act? Linda and I were always coming up with something old but new to one of us and looking for the source of it. We enjoyed trying to find the source before the other one did.

One of our long term favorites was ‘a goose just walked over my grave’ or sometimes, “a ghost walked over my grave.’ It is used when someone has a sudden unexplainable chill or shudder. When Linda died we were still tracking the source of that. Both of us could easily understand a goose walking or even by a stretch of imagination, a ghost, but how can either of them walk over my grave when I’m still alive? And why would a saying like that come into being? Who would ever think that a goose walking would cause a chill whether it walked over a grave or not? Why would anyone say that to start with and why would it have endured for so long? We were still looking for the source when she died.

I was reminded of her this morning when someone used the term ‘kit and caboodle.’ I wondered about the word ‘caboodle’ and what it meant. I assume that it means all the junk that goes along with having a kit of any kind. A first aid kit has a lot of items in it. They can get all jumbled together and you have a ‘caboodle.’ I guess. It’s easy to figure out what a saying means, but sometimes knowing the source of the archaic word is fascinating.

Linda died of a lingering illness after several months. She was saved a few weeks before the Lord took her home. I remember I carried a heavy burden for her and prayed for her not only in formal prayers, but at odd moments in between times. I wasn't picky. I asked the Lord to heal her or save her. I would have liked both but one was sufficient-especially the one He gave me.

I can almost pinpoint the moment when she gave her heart to the Lord. I was driving home from work, praying for her as I usually did. There was a tape playing…”far above the sounds of battle there is victory for me…” In the midst of my prayer my heart went from weeping to rejoicing. The burden lifted and I was filled with blessings.

I could only accept it for what it was—an answer to prayer. I had absolutely nothing to support my ‘feeling’ except the blessing, but I began thanking the Lord for saving her. A while later, I spoke to her sister who had been talking with her about her soul, and she told me Linda had given her heart to the Lord the day before. I didn’t need to ask her what time it had happened.

It is fantastic how little things can bring back a flood of memories.

mmm

Oh yes, I wanted to tell you about my fabulous egg sandwich creation. Because of my starchy carb free diet I can seldom have bread. Usually I'm okay with that but sometimes I get a real hankering for it. Rachael, bless her little heart, found this whole wheat bread, Nickles 100% whole wheat bread. It has 16 grams of carbs per slice, which is about the same as other breads, but this is compensated for by 3 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein. It is a great alternative to white bread which has often has 20 carbs with only 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein. And for some reason, thank goodness, it has a positive effect on my glucose numbers. Of course, I can't eat it every meal of every day, but I can occasionally have a sandwich or toast.

Anyway, enough of that. I like egg sandwiches but because of my standing-time issues, I'm not able to stand comfortably long enough to manufacture them. That process also includes standing and scrubbing the frying pan besides the preaparation.

I found a better way! Microwaved food can sometimes be disappointing, but this works!

Assemble: bread, thinly sliced deli ham (not chip-chopped, real ham) American cheese slices, 2 eggs, butter or margarine. two small containers-one microwavable sprayed with cooking spray. fork, knife.

Here's the part that prompted the whole thing- Sit down! Of course it helps to have a kitchen arranged so you can reach everything,but still...

Toast two pieces of bread-whatever kind you like.

While your bread is toasting. beat two eggs in a bowl, pour them into the microwave dish prepared with cooking spray.

Microwave the eggs for 1 minute.

When the toast pops, spread each slice with butter

Put a slice of cheese on one piece of toast.

When the minute of microwaving is over, flip the eggs. (They will be done on one side, but slimey on the bottom. )

Return eggs to microwave for 10 seconds.

Separate the ham slices -as many as you like.

Put the hot eggs on the slice of cheese,

Immediately spread the ham slices on top.

Place the other piece of toast on that and wrap the sandwich in a paper towel. The heat from the eggs warms the entire sandwich and melts the cheese!

Get your coffee or orange juice.

Breakfast is ready. hot ham and cheese with egg on toast! It's great. Tastes good. Easy prep. A whole breakfast in 3 minutes. Easy clean-up. Rinse the dishes and knife under hot water with a drop of soap....or toss them in the dish washer.

Trust me, try it.

beautiful day!

I wish I could adequately describe this day. The sunlight is almost blinding and the sky is as clear as any I ever saw in New Mexico! It was cold last night, but this morning is just nippy enough to make the dogs hustle. I was up early to make sure Michael's coffee dripped and get his lunch in the bag. Then I took my coffee and came back in and sat down. I think I fell asleep because the next two hours zipped past.

I heard Rachael thumping around upstairs getting ready for work. This is a switch. SHE is usually the one leaving early, but today one of the Kroger stores is having a grand opening and she had orders to be there at 11 AM. I heard her making noise at nine oclock and, although that was a little early for a 10:30 departure, I went ahead and got up. Then I got involved with my blood pressure cuff and didn't get moving quite as fast as I intended. She came down stairs about 15 or 20 after nine. She said her boss had called and said everything was in a tizzy at the store and could she get there right away.

Rachael was chuckling because her boss has a tendency to rile things up more than straighten them out and the employees at the store were probably already suffering from stress exhaustion. She has a talent for looking chaos over and discovering which string to pull that will straighten out the mess. Then she diplomatically straightens the whole thing out. I'm sure Monna was looking forward to her arriving and doing just that.

Oh! I'm so glad those days are over for me. I always did my job, but I never enjoyed telling other people what to do... I much preferred being with the kids, teaching them and having fun. Rachael gets her take-charge attitude and ability from her Navajo heritage. Navajo women are strong and never afraid of speaking their minds.

I'm going to trundle on down the road now. Maybe I'll sit out side in my new jacket and enjoy the sunshine. I hope your day is as beautiful as mine.

I've found a lot of photos on the web, but this has to be one of my favorites. Balloons-exuberant,soaring up, lifting into the sky! Sometimes I picture my heart as one of them-ebullient with praise and joy.

I woke up from my nap this morning after Rachael had gone to work much earlier and leaned back thinking how wonderful that I could wake up and just be joyful--no apparent reason as far as events in my life are concerned, nothing special has happened to bring a particular joy-but I was, and am, joyful. Now I'm not always philosophical at this hour of the morning and when I looked for a reason why I should be so happy at 6:30, immediately the hymn popped into my mind. And you know, this is the only reason to be joyful after you were up since before 4:00AM.

I will sing, hallelujah, for there’s joy in the Lord,
And He fills my heart with rapture as I rest on His Word;
I will trust in His promise; I will shout, I am free;
In my blessed, loving Savior, I have sweet victory.
Refrain:
There is joy in the Lord, there is joy in the Lord;
Hallelujah! glory, glory! there is joy in the Lord!
There is joy in the Lord, there is joy in the Lord;
Hallelujah! glory, glory! there is joy in the Lord!

I will live for the Savior, I am His evermore;
I am resting in His favor, I am safe and secure;
For the light shining brighter on my path every day
Cheers my happy soul with rapture as I walk in the way.
Refrain:

When I reach heaven’s portals, in that land of the blest,
I shall sing with holy angels of this rest, happy rest;
I shall dwell there forever with my Lord and my King,
And with everlasting praises make those high arches ring.

--DS Warner

And I still haven't learned to post the recording here so as always I'm giving you the link if you don't know the song: http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/There_Is_Joy_in_the_Lord/hifi/