2016

Home Alone?

                                                                                                              





I’m dreaming of a…

Like some of you, I’ll be home alone for Christmas. (My son and his family go to Iowa to the in-laws almost every Christmas.)

I’m trying to be proactive so I won’t get depressed and discouraged. Here’s some of the ideas I came up with. Maybe they’ll be helpful for you also. 

• I love reading mysteries so I’ve ordered a small stack of Christmas mysteries through Amazon & Abe books. Most are used; therefore, cheaper. I’ll curl up in my recliner & escape through the “who-dun-its.”

• I’m gathering up old videos of standard Christmas movies. My favorite is "A Wilderness Christmas."

• Because I live in a senior complex, there are others who are home alone. So 3 of us are having a traditional turkey dinner together.

• I’ll play the many CD’s and tapes of Christmas music I have boxed away. Even The Messiah, which I used to sing every year with a community chorale. I may even play some Christmas music on the piano for everyone.

• I’ll make something for my grandchildren when they return in January.

• I have hired a woman to clean my apartment in mid-December. It’s like my hair done. You feel so much better afterwards. Unlike my love for cooking, housekeeping is low on my what to do list.

• We have one restaurant that stays open Christmas Eve. I hope to go there even if I have to take a taxi. If I end up going alone, I’ll take one of those mystery books with me. And I’ll leave a big tip for the wait person, who gives up being with her family to serve me.

• My apartment is too small to do much decorating. So I’ve gotten my boxes out & will be giving away most of the decorations in the next week or so. Giving is what its all about, right? 

• I place my figurine of Santa kneeling at the manger in a prominent place hoping someone will ask about Santa and Baby Jesus.

• I will pray for family & friends, the homeless, the First Responders who must work over Christmas, those in the hospital, and children around the world. May the Lord bless them all with a special & happy day.

• I will take my medication as directed to avoid feeling yuk-y & low on energy.

• I will take time for an Advent Moment each day.

• I will use a cane when the sidewalks & parking lots are slippery. No broken hips for Christmas!

• Instead of sending lots of cards before Christmas, I’ll wait & take the time to thank folks with a handwritten note. I will pray for that person or family as I place a stamp on it. After Christmas, I prayer for everyone who sends me a card or letter. One card per day.

• What I won’t do: have a Pitiful Pearl party, stay confined to my apartment or keep my drapes closed. I will enjoy the sunshine- we have a lot of sunny days here in Central Oregon. I will enjoy seeing the majestic beauty of the snow on top of the Cascade Mountains. 

I hope that gives you a few ideas so you can create 

a time of rejoicing for God, who sent us His Son, the Messiah.

        ♫ Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices, 

oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born…♫

 Selah...

Think on these things,

Connie

Cinderella Syndrome

 During this holiday season, the Cinderella Syndrome causes disappointment and heartaches. Many believe this year they'll have a Currier & Ives/Hallmark Christmas. 

The family will gather and all get along. There will be enough money to buy all the gifts we desire. The cookies will get baked, and gifts wrapped before Christmas Eve. The house will sparkle ~ clean and Christmas-y. No one will get sick or hurt.

My favorite cartoon character, Maxine says: 

We set our expectations based on what others do, TV movies & commercials, etc. Thus we set ourselves up for failure. Uncle Joe will still drink too much. The kids will get tired and start fighting. The stuffing will end up on the floor while the dog takes off with a turkey leg. You'll forget the batteries or that simple to put together project will take all night. Or whatever ruins your Christmas each year.

This year change one thing, next year another, create new traditions that work. Your niece never likes anything you buy her? Stop searching for that "right present" and give her a gift card or cross her off your list. Instead of doing all the cooking, make it a potluck or forgo the big feast and have deli trays with a variety of dips and breads.

Draw names so your gift list is do-able. Simplify!  

Life changes. Finances vary. The children grow up and leave home. A loved one dies and is missed. You grow older and cannot do all that you used to.

Focus on the meaning of Christmas versus society's expectations.

When the clock strikes 12 midnight, Cinderella returns to her raggedy clothes and life. Unlike her, our Prince Charming rarely shows up to fix our lives.

I encourage you to do less and enjoy it more this holiday season. It has worked for me. The Christmas season is relaxing and fun because I determined to make changes and did. It's healthier, too- physically and mentally. 

Selah ~ think on this

Connie  

Also see consheartstrings.blogspot.com 

My Secret Is Revealed

Do you want to know what it is? 

Go to 

consheartstrings/blogspot.com

Thanks-Living

   Lord, You bless me in many ways.

 

​When we give thanks, we bless ourselves & others, 

but when we're thanks-living, we bless God.

I am going through my blessing bowl to remind myself of people & events that have blessed my heart this year.

At the same time, I am expressing my heartfelt gratitude to God as I read each one. And I am asking Him to open our eyes to see unknown blessings He provides, as well.

Let us focus on our Lord, the lover of our souls, as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

Connie

NuStep & Giving My Best

Go to www.consheartstrings.blogspot.com.

Hearfelt Thanks

I am singing praises for the improvement in my health since having a heart cath that opened 2 arteries with stents plus pneumonia, which is resolving. I’ll be starting cardiac rehab soon.

To have finally found the answer is such an emotional relief! I remain chronically ill, but my energy level and stamina will improve. My dwindling hope has taken a 360° turn and filling my emotional cup to overflowing.  

Slowly I’ll be returning to my knitting and writing.

Feelin' good,

Connie 

P.S. No music playing during procedure.

Pick Your Own Music!

Heart Music

Next week I will be having a heart cath'.

Cardiac catheterization  is a medical procedure used to diagnose and treat some heart conditions.

For more information go to:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cath

I told my cardiologist 8 years ago the music they played irritated me instead of calming and relaxing me. So I want to pick my own music.

Although I haven't decided what CD to take with me, I know what it won't be:

"An 80 year old friend has been having hip/leg pain so the Dr sent him to have an MRI.

He knew nothing about the procedure, but the man at the hospital told him that some people get claustrophobic in the tunnel and that the machine is noisy, so they play music whilst one is being processed. He was very nervous, wondering what they may find. So he closed his eyes and tried to relax...

then the music started with Frank Sinatra singing " and now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain."

My friend said, "It is funny today, but it scared me at the time." (Received per e-mail from a knitting friend.)

Glass Half Full

I've known a few people who always see the best in everyone and everything. 

For me, lately, it's been hard to see the glass half full knowing I can no longer fill it to the top.

Therefore, I  went searching for some things to make me fill up my glass with smiles. Hope they give you a chuckle also!

Erma Bombeck once said, "My theory on housework is, if the item doesn't multiply, smell. catch fire or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one else cares. Why should you?"

"What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul."

                                                                - Yiddish Proverb

One of my favorites:

       

      I wish I were a teddy bear...

• Everyone expects them to wake up growling.
• No one cares how fat they are.
• Hairy legs are natural.
• The older they get, the more they're worth. 
• And everyone loves them.                                     

Catalog finds:

    

My new tee.

Then there is my old, thin Maxine t-shirt:

on the front she says, "Having a bad day?"

on the back, "Better you than me."

I've never worn it without someone laughing.

         Stop & remember the things kids say.

                     

Hanging in my kitchen is a picture of Maxine standing in front of a sink loaded with dirty dishes. She's saying, "Who cares about Prince Charming. I just want those forest animals that come and clean the kitchen."

From me to you: 

Lastly, think of each box on your calendar as a gift to open!

Selah...

Returning!

It's been 6 months without a computer, but I have one once again and it's calling to me to write.

Also I have spent nearly 3 months "sitting on the shelf" due to illness. Because my energy level was soooo-oo low, I had difficulty focusing. However, boredom prompted me to do something.

Thus in my downtime, I alphabetized my writing, cleaned out my 4 drawer filing cabinet, combined my many journals of quotes into just 3, my diary entries into another journal, and wrote memories in my grandchildren's Gramma books.

I used RAFT: Read  Act   File  Toss. 

Now I am ready to return to writing A Forgetful People: a Study of Remembrance [See consforgetfulpeple.blogspot.com]

Over the weeks ahead, I will be sharing from my journals... quotations to encourage your heart and soul.

~ ~ ~

For today:

"A child is like a white piece of paper on which every passerby writes a little."

~ Chinese Proverb

"I am part of every place I have been...
I am part of all the people I have known...
I am still every age that I have been..."

I don't set out to be disobedient; usually I just don't listen.

Scars remind me of where I've been...not where I'm going.

Trouble never leaves me where it found me; it always causes change. I can be bitter or I can be better.

Opportunity doesn't just come along-it is there all the time... I just have to see it.

Dwelling on the closed doors may mean missing the open ones.

"We spend most of our time on our facade-the part of us that's visible-not on our character."

~ George MacDonald

"Continuity gives us roots

Change gives us branches

Letting us stretch and grow

And reach new heights."

~ Pauline R. Kezer

Do you try to turn over a new leaf only to find the old ones blowing back faster than you can rake them away?

Selah... think on these...

Connie

Computer

I'm still without a computer. So frustrating as I have lots to share.

Official Now

My computer has died. Will return as able to post brief messages. Connie