It Snowed

I don't watch the news. I'm completely burnt out on current events and the news in general, so I don't keep up with what is going on and I find it much more peaceful that way.



I imagine it is still very much like this:

Something awful happened here and oh my goodness what a tragedy there and another unspeakable horror on the West Side and a bunch of people died in a ghastly thing and next up celebrity gossip and sports.

I'm sure most everyone knows that the weather has been awful for the last few days here in the Midwest. I didn't know it was coming until my mother-in-law called to cancel our visit last weekend. I did know that snow was in the forecast. I keep NOAA on my bookmark bar, but they are much less alarmist than Fox News. So, I went food shopping last Saturday like I do every Saturday and apparently most people do watch the news and it was unbelievable.


There were empty shelves and lines to the checkout backed up into the aisles. My daughter and I waited in line for about 45 minutes. I've never seen anything like it.

This is where the whole milk should be.

To be fair to the news people, it did snow, and it was cold, and it was probably the worst I'd ever seen here. Hubby was off for the first three days this week, the restaurant was closed for two, and we all just hunkered down here until the temps started to be reasonable.

If I had watched the news, I may have decided to shop early and avoid all this, but then again, I may have been in a panic. It reminds me of one of my favorite Pauline philosophies, to only focus on what is good. I may not be a Christian anymore, but this particular piece of wisdom has served me well since implementing it a while back. In fact I hesitated to write out my loss of faith story because of it, but I felt like it needed to be done and it did bring me some closure.



Life is short and it may be the only one we have. I'm not going to waste it being worried about all the ugly in the world. I'm ready for summer though:)

There's a Shovel Under There

The View Lately

So, Where do you go to Church?

The question totally took me off guard.


A very slow night at work due to the horrendous weather and roads led to me being able to spend a bit of extra time at each table. I knew it wouldn't be a big money making night, but I was ready to get out of the house for a couple of hours and I still need some practice, so I decided to make the best of it.




After giving a free dessert due to the lady not being absolutely happy with her meal, the question was asked. They did a good job of placing it just right in the chit-chat. I knew where this was going and what it was about. If I said somewhere, no problem. They didn't have to worry about my eternal soul. If I said something else...BAM! gospel presentation opening. There was no way I was going to be able handle that with any kind of grace.



What I ended up saying is that we used to go to______________but now were just taking some time off. They pried a bit more with a couple of follow up questions.  I could see that they wanted something more concrete, so I asked them about their church in an attempt to steer the conversation away from me. They told me where they went and praised the kids' programs there and the pastor. I was familiar with it, pretty much the same type as our old one.  I thanked them and told them I would keep it in mind. I wished them good night and made a friendly but quick exit.

First Post of 2014

I don't have much to say today, but I've been neglecting this blog, the photo blog, and just caught up on all the blogs I read regularly. I'm getting used the change in routine, but have been pretty lazy about the blogging and the housework (one is definitely not a necessity of course).




The kids are doing a fantastic job of stepping up their chores in so that I don't come home to a house that is completely trashed on the nights I'm gone, and my hubby is doing a great job in making sure they do their jobs. I would love to give them a raise in allowance, but I'll have to see how the money flow is going to be. We need to start doing school again next week and I am not particularly looking forward to it, but it will snap me back in productive mode. I'm hoping by the start of the next school year to have a completely different set up for school, so it's just a half year more of this.



It's terribly cold today, but I think we will go out and brave the weather anyway. The kids have Christmas money burning holes in their pockets, and I just want to get it over with. Toys "R" Us look out!

Snow

I had a strange God thought the other day. What if there was a God, but he just didn't know you existed? A benevolent force of everything, yet somehow removed from us mortals in a way that made it impossible to connect.  I know it is a crazy thought, but one that hung with me for a moment. I don't know I think I was way too tired at the time. I don't hear very much about God at work at all, I've been keeping my ears open to hear what the word on the street is. There was one customer while I was training that handed me my (trainer's) tip wrapped in a tract. I didn't read it.

source

For the most part, though, I've been too busy to worry about the meaning of life right now. It really is a welcome break for a moment, but I know how my brain works, I'll be right back at it soon enough.




Have a Great Weekend!