Weekend Blessings

I am blessed with such good neighbors!

Stephanie has lived next door for over 30 years and Olga has lived on the other side of us since Louis Dean and I got married. We have watched their children grow up.

Then there's Tamara who lives around the curve. She's an amazing lady and I'm so glad we finally connected a few years ago. I don't remember what brought us together. It may have been the time she saw me walking down the street with a huge canvas I had rescued before the trash picked it up.

She and her equally amazing husband have lived in the neighborhood a long time.

They are Dallas Cowboy fans and I always admired their blue Christmas lights.

Tamara is an excellent gardener and has often shared her produce with us. One time when the quads were coming over on a regular basis, she treated them to refreshments and a gardening lesson.

I absolutely love visiting her and touring her beautiful back yard.

Our homes are the very same floor plan and yet totally different.

Her husband is a musician - I can't ever remember the title of his job but he travels around the world with the Trans Siberian Orchestra and is in charge of the sound system. That sounds more simple than what he does but it's too late to text Tamara and ask - again - for his job title.

He is also an excellent craftsman and has build some beautiful cabinets and built ins for their home.

Anyway, she is in a deep cleaning and purging mode and I was the lucky recipient of her treasures!

I think it's amazing how God gives us the desires of our heart.

For months now I have been looking for white king sized pillow cases or shams when I go to the Goodwills. I found none! 

Look what Tamara gave me!! Two of these plus several others.

A whole stack of standard pillow cases, a good dozen towels - which came in real handy when the quads were here and taking showers the other night - plus some dish towels and much more.

Her purging inspired me to get busy and do some of my own.

And that's what I have been doing!

I started in the guest room and went through my own linen closet and filled several bags for Goodwill. Then I went through all the drawers and closets in the guest room. I dusted and cleaned the mirrows and finally........

lit the candle to celebrate my first clean room!

I went out Saturday afternoon to pick up some medicine and mouthwash and then drove to Goodwill where I unloaded a completely full trunk!

This morning we watched Fellowship Church online as Ed Young, Jr. preached a timely message on 'Fear.' I watched on my iPad as I sat up in bed sipping a cup of coffee.

Then we went out to the den and watched Winning Walk with Ed Young, Sr. preaching from Second Baptist Church in Katy, Texas. Finally, we did our own Bible reading and devotions.

I think it's pretty amazing how everyone seems to be pulling together as we weather this Coronavirus.

The churches going online with their services....some restaurants offering free meals for children who would be getting free lunches at school now that most schools are closing for a week at least. Some church day cares offering free child care for those working in the medical field, and on and on.

We tune in on the TV to hear the updates a couple of times a day.

I do believe I see a unity in our country as we come together to do the right thing.

I had started cleaning our bedroom yesterday and finished it today.

Purged a couple of bags from my closet as I changed out the fall/winter things for the spring/summer ones. Louis Dean came in and did some repair work on my closet doors. They are sliding mirrored ones and one could still slide but the other one would not stay on the track. Actually the track was loose and Louis Dean had to repair it. Guess what he used! Gorilla Glue! And some wooden shims to keep it level. I was nervous about him using that in there but he insisted it was the only way he could make it work. So I couldn't watch! I went to the den and watched a program instead.

After he finished, I went in and - sure enough - there was glue seeping out under the track. I was fast, though. It hadn't dried yet so I used fingernail polish remover on a cotton swab and got it off the floor. Then I used a razorblade scraper to get the excess off that had seeped out from beneath the track. Louis Dean does good work - he just doesn't clean it up well. 

So I was able to light my second candle and call our bedroom clean!

In the process of cleaning, I found a brand new bottle of hand sanitizer in a bag in the closet.

It's amusing how there's only empty shelves in the stores.

Not one bottle of any kind did I see at the Dollar store.

And toilet paper! WHY? Why is the toilet paper gone?

Reminds me of this......

That reminds me - Louis Dean also asked me to pick him up a box of wine when I was out Saturday.

Thankfully, that isle was fully stocked at Walgreen's!

We have been eating up what we have. Tomorrow I may go to Aldi's and buy some fresh fruit and salad makings. No tomatoes so I used raspberries in tonight's salad.

I have stacks of books all over the house and am in the process of reading what I have and then moving them on to Goodwill.

I had never read this one before.

It's so old that I'm going to toss it in the trash once I'm done. 

The pages are literally falling out!

I'll close tonight's journal entry with a poem by Lynn Ungar that was posted on Facebook.

Wise words.......

Such wise words!

I do believe God is using our current situation for our ultimate good.

"All things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28