Our Busy Bungalow

Today has been a busy day around here!  To begin with, I let the dogs out into the backyard this morning, & before I knew it, a little brown blur was leaping over the fence.  "Noooo!", I shouted, thinking Josie was making another great escape - only to discover that it was, in fact, a neighbor's dog, Emmy . . . who has apparently taken lessons from Houdini.  She's a sweet little thing, & this is at least the third time that she's visited our bungalow.  Even though I was on a schedule, I couldn't just let her run free & risk her getting hit by a car.  So, of course, I ushered her into our house & got dressed to take her back home.  The problem was that when I got there, they weren't home!  Since I'm assuming she escaped from their backyard, I couldn't very well leave her there.  So, back to our house we went, a prospect she was none too disappointed by!  She got to eat Josie's food & play with the babies in the backyard before I tried taking her home again.  This time, although it broke my heart, I clipped her onto the tie they had in the front yard.  If I didn't have to go shopping, I would have kept her at our house.  She tried to follow me, too, further chafing my sore heart.  I checked on her later, & she was safely in her home with her Mama & siblings.  I promise, if we didn't already have 2 dogs, a cat, a baby on the way, & 4 chickens arriving this Spring, I'd try to keep her!  Well, if I knew she wouldn't constantly break my heart by jumping over the fence, that is!


Once I got her squared away, I got ready.  Before too long, the dogs started going crazy, & lo & behold, it was the UPS fella bearing my fetal doppler!  I have decided that one way to curb my anxiety over our little M&M's well-being is to rent this doppler so I can listen to his or her heartbeat anytime I desire.  We immediately got it out & tried it.  It took a little bit to find M&M's heartbeat, & just when I started to cry from panic, Michael found it!  Of course, I still cried, but out of relief & happiness instead.

Fetal doppler, care of Baby Beat!

Almost as soon as we found M&M's heartbeat, it was off to lunch & shopping for maternity clothes!  Lunch, I love - shopping, not so much.  I'm an online shopping girl.  I hate trying on clothes & looking through racks.  The good thing is, I'm a fairly quick shopper as a result.  Michael couldn't come with me, so my sweet friends Angie & Amber (& little Isaac) came with me.  Over my protests, Angie was even so sweet as to help me buy the clothes - after buying my lunch!  I've still got to get a couple of basics, but this was a very good start!

A crimson shirt for my Alabama Crimson Tide days & some dress pants for church. 

A beautiful purple shirt & some jeans.

Angie & Amber dropped me off at home, & after showing Michael my clothes, checking on Emmy, talking to Mama, & taking a much needed nap, I made supper.  Breakfast for supper!

Except for the biscuits, this whole meal is farm-fresh!  The sausage & milk come from a farmer a couple of hours away from us, & the Apple Butter & Blueberry Jam were made by my lovely sister-in-law, Beth!  My eyes were bigger than my stomach - I could only eat 2!

Now, I'm tired again, so I'll be getting ready for bed & going to sleep soon.  'Night, y'all.  Sweet dreams.

God is Love

Sunday night I felt like crying myself to sleep.  I just felt sad & overwhelmed by life.  Yesterday, on the phone with Mama, I finally did cry.  Ginger's cancer is back again.  My answers to a family member's questions could damage the relationship.  Another person in my life is too much for me to deal with.  We have so much stuff to move out of our little home to declutter it.  I'd love to sell it, but there's another headache.  Our LA home is still being readied for the market, so we're still paying two mortgages.  Sigh.  Overwhelming & sad sums it up.

Then, J.I. Packer steps in & reminds me:

     "Every single thing that happens to us expresses God's love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God's purpose for us. Thus, so far as we are concerned, God is love to us--holy, omnipotent love--at every moment and in every event of every day's life. Even when we cannot see the why and the wherefore of God's dealings, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong. We know that the true story of our life, when known, will prove to be, as the hymn says, "mercy from first to last" -- and we are content."  Knowing God p. 123

Suddenly, all is right with the world.

Thank you, Lord, for being love to me.