Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:6-7



Friday, June 17, 2016

Good/Bad Friday





It's been a long time since I've done a Good/Bad post. Frankly in the last few months I would have had a hard time coming up with much good, which is really a ridiculous state of mind and soul because there is always something to be thankful for, always something good. But when your body hurts and your heart hurts and your mind is all full of what-ifs and what-abouts sometimes you just don't bother dragging yourself out of the mire to think about what you should be grateful for. My first "Good," however, really made me think about the little things that I should be paying attention to every day.

Good
A little old man at Aldi's this morning, met me midway to the cart storage and handed me my return quarter saying, "Take good care of this -- it's my lucky quarter." I could have cried and hugged him as I replied, "You have no idea how much I need this lucky quarter." Whether it's lucky or not, I think it was a good sign.

Bad
I had two errands to run this morning and I swear, everyone's mother, sister, father-in-law and second cousin once-removed was on the road. Forget about gun control; I vote for car control. Where are all these people going on a Friday morning?

Good
I discovered a new series this week and binge watched it in three days. You've probably already seen it because I'm always late to this game -- Pioneer Quest. I really enjoyed it and it would be great for kids to watch, except (yes, there is always that except) they talked about s*x more than a few times. Ok, I get it, people are curious about how you manage that part of married life while you're living in a tent with another couple, but it really wasn't that important and they talked about it even after they moved out of the tent. So watch it, and make a note of the time when they talk about s*x and then watch it with your kids, because most of it was really interesting. You can skip the last episode, it was just back to real life and a waste of time.

Bad
My second errand today, after the grocery store, was to the second-hand children's clothing store to pick up the clothes they didn't want, which was about 95% of them. Gosh, I can't believe how picky a second-hand store is. Faith had some pretty cute clothes from Hanna Andersson and Lands End and they only bought a few of them. I also had a lot of clothes a good friend gave me that were from Limited Too, which they wouldn't take any of because Limited Too is now closed. Does that not seem a little crazy? I'm not bothering with second hand stores any more. I'll just take the tax deduction and give them away -- all that washing and ironing for next to nothing.

Good
Last night I got in the garden and did some weeding for the first time this year -- let's just say it hasn't been a priority. It felt good to smell the soil and spend some time outdoors -- it was coolish and breezy and nice. After I cleared one out of six beds (doing this in moderation), I washed up and grabbed a baby quilt I am quilting and spent the rest of the evening in my Adirondack enjoying the sunset over the trees.

Bad
Weeds

Good
My wildflowers are growing pretty well -- amidst the weeds. My policy on wildflowers (aka weeds in some people's books) is, if you behave, you stay. If you become invasive, you go. If you don't flower (or at least look really pretty and don't become invasive) you go. This "wildflower" in the photo above is flowering (check) and not being invasive (check), so it stays, but I'm not sure what it is. It's about four feet tall and has white flowers with yellow centers. If you know off the top of your head what it is, would you let me know?


This is what the little flowers look like.
(Edited -- I did what I tell my kids to do all the time. I looked it up. These are called Daisy Fleabane.)



That's all for now. I hope you have a wonderful Father's Day weekend.






6 comments:

  1. Oh, Barbara! Everyone needs their own good/bad post (or day's end reflection) to chew over. This was great. The lucky quarter. (That was a God moment I believe.) I usually have my blood pressure raise up a bit when I get most of the clothes returned. Seriously. Last time it happened, I decided to keep depositing it at the good will store. Those second-hand stores have a racket going. Prayers continued your way!!

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  2. Thank you for your prayers, Patty. They are most appreciated. And I agree -- I'll take the tax deduction for second-hand clothes from now on.

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  3. Your garden looks lovely--and I am with you on the secondhand clothes. I always figured I was given so much I owed a serious "karma" debt anyway--but sometimes things aren't even good enough to give away after three boys have had at them! I'm loving the PlanetAid and USAgain bins all over my town.

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  4. Where do you watch Pioneer Quest? Is that an Amazon Prime thing? Couldn't find on Netflix. I'm always looking for a good distraction. That is so crazy about how picky the 2nd hand stores are these days. Lame!! If you find a really good charity then that would be better. St. Vincent de Paul is great and I'm sure there are many others. Blessings to you, my dear friend!

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  5. It's lovely to see you back, Barbara! I couldn't get in here for quite a while and missed you. Hope things have improved for you. You're in my prayers.

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I appreciate your comments -- sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!