Daily Journal

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE. 

LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.

Well, I would like to write more just about every day feelings and activities, etc. I enjoy journaling immensely, and have a hard time sitting down to do so. I thought that maybe I would do it more often if I use my personal blog. So, here goes.  

I always feel better when I can say that I 'got something done' today.  I sleep better. So, today was no different.  Today was a BONUS day, in a way.  We teachers worked two evenings, so today was our compensation day.  I really enjoyed my bonus day!  I still have two more days of the weekend.  

So first, I wake up and enjoy 2 or 3 cups of bold, delicious, hot coffee.  I prefer French Roast because it bites.  My brother-in-law John calls my coffee 'crude oil'!  But now, his is just as strong. I guess he took lessons from me! Ha!

Usually Scott makes it up after I have had a few cups. Then, we sit and have another cup together.  It is a pleasant time.  We may talk about our day to come. We may talk about our evening, and if there's anything on the agenda, etc.  Then, it's visiting with Little Dog, Lucy. I take her out. Then she snuggles with Scott on his home made hand-knitted afghan that his mommy Patricia Stone Nelson made him.

Next, it's 'up and at 'em' and getting ready for the day.  Today, being a bonus day, meant that I could stay in my jammies longer!  So, I did! I did some homework.  Yeah, that's right, homework.  I am working toward a Master's in Counseling through Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.  It's mostly online, plus a pre-practicum face-to-face, and then, of course, later on, many, many counseling hours under a supervising counselor. So, right now, I'm reading about "Theories and Techniques of Counseling" by Gerald Corey.  It's dense reading. No, I'm not dense! The text is packed with information. I have to really focus, and digest it completely to get the most out of it.  This is my first semester.  So, I am taking 6 hours. I was told that is full time for graduate students! I didn't know that! I am working full time, going to school with 6 graduate hours, and I have a family and home to run. But, actually, it's going along pretty smoothly.  I am doing a pretty good job of balancing all of it, so far. I'm going to do as my own personal counselor advised, "Just take each class one by one, and think of it as a fruit, and just enjoy every bit of the juicy fruit as you go." And, that's just what I am doing. I am trying to live as counselors before have taught me, "Enjoy each moment and live in the present, in the here and now."

So, I did get much done after all. I studied. I organized some plastic tubs. I decorated my house a little bit more for autumn.  I organized the paint cans. I am going to eventually paint my kitchen and hall, along with my bathroom. So, I kind of sorted the cans, kept some, discarded some, etc.   All the while, Lucy was outside basking in the sun, or sniffing every leaf in her path, or running off and making me go get her! The nerve!  I visited with Gracie a little. We planned out our weekend. She has a party tonight and I took her over there.  They are going to go to a Haunted House and then hang out at her friend's home.  Oh, what else did I do?  I ironed all of the napkins that needed it. I had a pile there for weeks and weeks. Got them all finished and crispy smooth! All while I was waiting to take Grace to her party.  I just keep checking off items from the list! I love this!  

You might think that I'm stalling...I need to continue to study and read more about Gestalt Therapy. I need to be ready to take an online test tomorrow before midnight. I need to turn in a two-page report before midnight also.  Well, let me tell you, you can only read so much about theories and techniques before your mind explodes and it's time for ice cream or cookies or both!

So, I'm about ready to tackle the last 20 pages of Perls' Gestalt wisdom.  By the way, Gestalt therapy is my friend.  I believe in "I statements", and living in the now.  That's all I have. The past can torture sometimes. It can make me feel warm and fuzzy and proud to belong to my ancestors.  It can bring back buried memories. But, all I have is this moment.  And, I am going to rejoice and be glad in it!

My Dear Mother

Today I sat at my desk.  It was a mess. We just got a new computer, so I was dusting with one of those fancy-dancy microfiber cloths, just to see if they really worked. Well, lo and behold! It really worked. My house looks atrocious, but my desk looks great! Well, relatively speaking it does. I have a little porcelain statue of a lady at a desk. My mom gave it to me. It reminds me that she was an Avon lady. I think she won it for super sales one year.  

Anyway, my mom was an amazing, beautiful, courageous, patriotic, opinionated, kind, humorous, intelligent, happy woman. Anyone who met her, I daresay, liked her. She had a bumper sticker on "Old Whitey" (our '65 Chevy Pick-up that my dad bought with poker winnings). The bumper sticker said, "Help Wildlife ~ Throw a Party!" And, that just about sums up my mother. She was always ready to have a good time; have a good time helping her neighbor, have a good time teaching 3rd graders, have a good time traveling the world each summer by carefully saving dollars she set aside from her teacher's salary. She was intelligent; but more than that, she was wise. When daddy died at such a young age (54), she let us know, "You can't wait until you retire to do the things you want to do." It was really a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because she only lived two years after she retired. That is mind-boggling. I still can't fathom that my lively mother has passed away. She was much too full of life to leave us. But, the fact of the matter is, she has passed away. But, her memory, her lessons, her legacy lives on. 

My parents did not profess to be Christians. However, they were the type to pick up strangers on the road and take them to get their tire fixed. My mom was the type to cook a meal for a family of 10, when the parents were emotionally broken down and one was in the hospital.    

Today in church, a few verses out of the scripture that was read really resounded with me. (Matthew 25: 35, 36, 40) "I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me."  I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me!"  That was the type of parents I had. They didn't go to church (unless Roberta and I were singing in our "Band of Love Choir".  They honestly thought that churches were full of hypocrites.  I believe they didn't know about the free grace of God.  However, another curious fact is that one of my mom's favorite songs of all time was "The Old Rugged Cross."  I think my mom had Jesus in her heart, not in a building. 

When Mom was in the hospital the day before she died, our dear family friend said to me, "Suzie, your mom was such a wonderful person. She was always doing for others."  This is true.  I am blessed to be the daughter of Johnnie Louis Payne Myers.  Love you Mom.

 

So, I am offering a wonderful recipe from my dear mother, my favorite of all sweets ~  homemade ice cream.  I hope you enjoy it! 

 Mom's Ice Cream

Beat 2 cups sugar and 4 eggs until creamy.

Add 1 Tablespoon vanilla, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 2 large cans evaporated milk, 1 instant vanilla pudding mix.

Mix all together.  Put in ice cream freezer; fill to 1 inch from the top with milk or cream.  Makes 1 gallon.