Black Friday deals

Today was a very good day!

I did participate in Black Friday. Here is the extent of my purchases:

--99 cents ebook for Kindle, the Autobiography of Hudson Taylor, missionary to the Chinese.
--Robitussin and cough drops at the Dollar Store. Yes, the old sinus hit me on Wednesday and the store was closed Thursday for the holiday. I scooted over to the Dollar Store as soon as I could this morning.

Today I spent time outside doing the patio/yard things that had been bugging me. I got rid of a metal yard decorative element that had rusted. I pruned and re-potted all my plants and dug the dead leaves out of them. I swept the patio, and cleaned the front window. I planted some heirloom morning glories a friend had sent me. Of course the breeze blew the leaves right back into the patio and the pots, but I still felt good that I'd done my part.

The day was actually very warm unusually so. Long sleeves were too cumbersome and I ducked back inside to change into short sleeves. Yay, a nice, warm day under the sun doing light yard work was just the ticket.

I got rid of my car, which I wrote about earlier.

I finished my two classes and organized the certificates and the notes and syllabi from them plus another class I'd taken, into a binder. Now that I've taken three classes with two more on deck, I need to organize my credits. I'd taken Recovering Beauty of the Arts and Justification By Faith through Ligonier Connect. They are interesting Bible classes and Ligonier is partnered with ACSI so I get continuing education credits. Next up is Understanding the Tabernacle, and Principles of Biblical Interpretation. Yay! The one I took last year was Interpreting the Old Testament from Crown College.

I did the pre-paperwork online for getting my license renewed. Doing a bunch ahead of time is supposed to streamline the process. Harumph. We'll see when I go next week to renew my license whether spending an hour wrestling with the DMV's website helped any.

I had a lot of cans of green beans accumulating so when I was at the Dollar Store I bought some fried onions and cream of mushroom soup to make a green bean casserole tomorrow. I'll also bake some tofu, roast some potatoes and roast some poblano chiles a friend gave me from his garden. I also plan to make a lentil and tomato salad and cut up a pineapple. My cooking will be done for the week.

Voice of the Martyrs had offered a free book, Hearts of Fire, so I'd ordered it and it came today. So did my issue of The Banner of Truth's magazine. Between them, my ongoing reading of Hillbilly Elegy, and the 99 cent Autobiography of Hudson Taylor, I've got some great reading material for the rest of the weekend!

I found out that Great British Bake Off has a spinoff, called Junior Bake Off, so happy day! When my eyes get too tired, I'll watch this season's entrants, the cute little monkeys that they are!

Speaking of cutie pies, my ever present curious companion, Murray, is always on hand to lend a hand. He's always up for a cuddle!

Note large bag of cough drops and large box of tissues on table. #Sinus-season

Saying goodbye to my old vehicle

In May 2007 I wrote about my new-to-me vehicle. I purchased it in Georgia a few months after I'd moved from Maine. I'd wanted to get the lay of the land for a few months, see what my driving would be like, and go from there. I had written,

I've gone SUV. Between all the deer crashes around here and the fact that many other people have either vans or SUVs or is a farmer with a truck, I feel safer going with the flow and getting a larger vehicle. And it was a good deal. Very good.
Ford Explorer Limited, 1993, burgundy with roof rack to fog lights and even a CD player inside. Best of all, A/C that works!! Stylin'! 

The Ford Explorer was by the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. The car had 188,000 miles on it, if I remember, but Fords go a long way and I knew I would not be driving much. My traveling days were over. So I bought it. I did hit a deer, a frequent occurrence around here, but thankfully only the headlight was cracked in a minor way. Glad I was in a SUV.

Well 9 1/2 years later, my 23 year old Ford finally died. The engine block was cracked and when you hear that diagnosis on a 23 year old car, you hear taps playing in your head. Time to say goodbye.

Today I did. A friend's husband came and got it and will bring it to the junk yard scrap metal place, and I'll receive a few hundred dollars for it by weight, and that will be that!

Bye bye!

I've had a sub-compact, a compact, 3 station wagons, a hatchback, a plumber's van (I hated that one) a SUV and now a mini-van. My new to me vehicle is a 1998 Mercury Villager, but though the body of it is old the engine has many new parts. And on it goes!

Thanksgiving Break

Well it's the week before Thanksgiving and we are on break from school all week. I'm so grateful that the teachers and staff of our district vote every year for this week off. Prior to the school year's start, we're given an opportunity to vote on the school calendar. Options are generated by the staff & administrator Calendar Committee and they present the options to us. We vote. One of the choices is always to remain in school for the three days and take those three days and use them somewhere else, or have the whole week off. The vote is usually to take the week off. Yay.

I made a stop at the Second Hand store down the road after school Friday. I needed soap, and I like the hand made Amish soap the store sells. I also ambled over to the office and craft aisle, my irresistible draw and downfall, lol. In the past, I've found a Fabriano neon green journal, Martha Stewart scrapbooking papers and accessories I use in my own bookbinding and paper crafts, and small, magnetic notepads to make grocery lists, etc and more. I cannot resist an office or craft aisle. I've made peace with this in myself ;)

Yesterday I found a 5.5 X 8 spiral bound hard cover journal from Strathmore (Mixed media). Its cover was titled "Visual Journal" and the papers inside were 90 lb weight papers, 68 pages in all. The paper is smooth, I like the spiral binding because it lays flat when I'm working in it. The price was $2. Given the wonderful track record at this store of offering good items for a low price, I bought it knowing that Strathmore items always cost more than a mere $2!

Sure enough as I returned home I checked Amazon. It looks like I saved over $5 on this item!

Youtube is a wonderful repository for all manner of enjoyable videos. There were several art tutorials extolling the virtues of various art journals, and the Strathmore spiral journal was one. I learned a lot about what makes it a good journal. I'm looking forward to trying various media this evening as I dig out my supplies and try to create something.



Meanwhile, I have writing to do, a lot of it. After this essay, I'll write the daily blog at The End Time, thoughts today from John 11. Also I need to finish proofing the next eBook in my series, 'In Grace". It will be called Prophecy In Grace. In addition to the proofing the eBook, I need to finish making the digital cover. I want to be ready for Black Friday.

I also took some photos on these past sunny days, and I want to play with them as well. I'm halfway through the book Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. It's an excellent memoir of a boy from Appalachia Kentucky who "made it" and his thoughts on poverty and socio-economic odds. Reading is definitely on my vacation schedule of activities. A friend is having a baby by C-section and I'll visit her in the hospital Monday.

The weather has been warm, yesterday was a gorgeous sunny 75 degrees, as it has been for the past week- perfect in my opinion. However this morning a cold front is supposed to sweep through and the wind is supposed to kick up and stay there all day. The temps will plummet and stay there. Brrr. That's OK, it is mid-to-late November after all. I have the gas stove ticking, the cat slumbering my by side, my comfy leggings and a sweatshirt on, and chicken soup bubbling. I have the week off and a relaxing time to look forward to.

It's all good, very good. I can't believe the year 2016 has dwindled down this fast, to only mere weeks remaining until 2017 comes! Do the years really pass faster and faster?! I think so. Enjoy the good while you can and love your life.