Hodgepodging Insomnia

 Getting the Christmas Tree


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1.  What's something blogging has taught you about yourself?

I find blogging to be much more difficult with cats than with dogs.

Tommy, inserting himself into the conversation

2.  Leftovers...are you in the 'reheat and eat' camp or the 'put them in the fridge until they spoil and then toss them' camp? What's your favorite thing to have leftover? What can you not abide as a leftover?

I'm totally in the reheat and eat camp, as long as the leftovers don't get shoved to the back of the refrigerator and resurface later with fur on them.  I try to keep track of leftovers, but sometimes... I mean, when the refrigerator has a ton of produce in it, it's not that easy! ANYway, my favorite thing to have leftover is beef pepper steak. What I can't abide as a leftover is anything eggy. Ewww.

 View from Highway O

3. 'Me time'...your thoughts?

My 'me time' is divided between 'God and me time' and 'cats and me time' - in that order. I read a lot during the day - and again at night when I can't get to sleep or stay asleep. My brother told me that he read that sleep deprivation is the No. 1 factor (even above diet and exercise!) in predicting (or getting?) dementia. I wish I could figure out a way to sleep more and better. I also pray when I can't sleep, so at least that's a good thing. Now you know what I'm doing in the wee hours between 3:30 and 5:30, or for about two hours after I've had five hours of sleep. I then usually get another hour or so of sleep after that, before Tommy wakes me. What would be my favorite thing to do during 'me time'? Find answers.

An old barn near Hayward, WI

4. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?

I think they simply want someone who will listen to them, someone they know they can trust not to take the conversation beyond the two of us. And maybe someone who will help them mull things over and see things from a different perspective.

 Sunrise on November 28, 2017
The heavens declare the glory of God

5. If your childhood had a smell what would it be? Tell us why.

Well oddly enough, the first thing that came to mind was the solution used in the milking parlor to dip cows' teats in before putting the milkers on them. That iodine? smell mixed with whatever other cleaning stuff was going on in the barn. And probably cow bodies mixed in. For someone who spent little time in the barn except for occasionally doing milk dishes, it's remarkable that it was my very first 'smell' memory after reading that question. My second would be furniture polish. I was the designated polisher and had that job every Saturday morning before I could go play. I don't know what my younger sister was doing during that time, but maybe cleverly escaping Saturday morning chores. I might have been watching cartoons while dusting the living room furniture very, very slowly.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

So far I have the Advent wreath ready and waiting, the real Christmas tree on the porch up and lit, a star that a friend gave me last year is hanging on the porch wall, and the little fake tree is up in the living room. I have it decorated with lights only, but will probably take them down until the family is here at Christmas. Why? Because Tommy and Smokey enjoy getting into the tree, dragging the strings of lights down, etc. I really don't mind.

From anglicanpastor.com: 

THE WAR ON ADVENT:

"You have heard of the supposed War on Christmas. But the real war is not about whether retailers use the word Christmas during December or not. In fact it is not even the Christmas season until Christmas day anyway. The real war is happening in many American churches. Its not a war on Christmas, its a war on Advent, and I want to enlist you on the Advent side. We need an Advent army that fights not with boycotts or browbeating, but with an invitation to a quieter, older path." READ entire article.

The chimes went wild yesterday.

***

Smokey, watching me make supper

I hope you're having a great week, everyone!

***

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