When I started "blogging for Lent" almost a month and a half ago, it came during a lesser moment for me. I had taken a serious blow. Depression was about to swallow me up again. I couldn't see any possibility of life taking a turn for the better. God? I could see Him working in the little things... but I confess to harboring doubt that He had heard my most desperate prayers to Him.And now? Now...I'm less than a...
Monday, April 11, 2022
Sunday, April 10, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 40
It's Tammy's Tenth Birthday Party!! Here are some of the pics from the event, which was attended by two dogs and their collective three humans. Including photos of the cake I baked for the occasion. And a good time was had by all! Click to embiggen:The birthday girl and me :-)Tammy's friend SashaTammy did NOT like the idea of wearing a party hat!The...
Saturday, April 09, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 39
This was such an action packed week that I wound up sleeping until just after four this afternoon! Lots of stuff at work, some things not work-related and then a VERY awesome day yesterday. I am presently baking a birthday cake for my dog Tammy, for a party some friends and I are throwing for her tomorrow (Tammy's good buddy Sasha will also be there). The ingredients of the cake include peanut butter, applesauce, and honey. ...
Friday, April 08, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 38
HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY to this little goober:Yes friends and neighbors, it was ten years ago today on Easter Sunday 2012 that my miniature dachshund Tammy was born! She was one of a litter of five - two boys and three girls - and she was also the runt. I think it's safe to say that she has ended up with a more interesting life than most dogs get to have. ...
Thursday, April 07, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 37
Today's blog post sort of suggested itself, in the wake of events during the past three days. Maybe what I'm about to say will help others who are finding themselves in the grip of depression, or some other mental health situation.You see, this week my path has crossed those of two people who I care about: one in my personal life and another who I know from my work as...
Wednesday, April 06, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 36
At the moment I am posting this from a hospital. Work has obligated me to focus on other matters this evening. So there won't be a regular blog post, not like I would have wanted it to be anyway. Just the nature of things. Maybe there'll be something more to write tomorrow. Until then, take care and God ble...
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 35
Not too much to report this evening. It was a fairly busy day on the job. Peer support certainly does not lack for drama!I didn't know what to post tonight until I read some sad news. Bill Fries passed away a few days ago at the age of 94. He was an ad executive who started acting in his own commercials as the
character he created, C.W. McCall. Then he decided to have his fictional
character become a singer and he sang about...
Monday, April 04, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 34
I know what I want to write. And it is wonderful. The problem is that I'm not quite "all there" tonight. Blame seasonal allergies and Yours Truly trying some exotic antihistamines yesterday that kept me up all night. I worked through the day (and drove almost seventy miles in the course of duties) with barely a break. And I'm still hoping to catch tonight's championship game...(For this occasion alone, I will root for...
Sunday, April 03, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 33
So, Duke fell to North Carolina last night. I now have no one to cheer for in this tournament. Kansas always seemed too overhyped to me, and they beat Villanova yesterday. Or maybe I'll root for UNC tomorrow night just because they're still from my neck of the woods.Mike Krzyzewski made a mistake in announcing his retirement well before the season. He should have waited until after the tournament. Instead he made this...
Saturday, April 02, 2022
Lenten Bloging 2022: Day 32
For the past six days we've been watching it like a hurricane, churning ever closer and gaining strength along the way. It has become the perfect storm: nothing like this has happened before and nothing like it will ever happen again. We are bracing for a collision of gargantuan proportions and no matter who wins it will be a battle for the ages.Tonight, Duke plays North Carolina in the NCAA Basketball Tournament semifinal.The two teams...
Friday, April 01, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 31
So much that could be said. Today was one of extremes. In the midst of my joys there was a time of sadness, and I was reminded of just how very different things could have been, had the circumstances of my life been a little altered.When my dog Tammy and I were traveling west across America, we spent a few months in San Diego. I figured that we had gone as far west as we could, might as well try to stay. So we were there from...
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 30
It's my birthday today. I had no idea what to write for this exercise in light of that. I suppose that I'm feeling pretty good, about a lot of things. God has blessed me more than I possibly deserve to be. He has brought me a very long way along life's journey and, I'm going to spend the rest of this evening being thankful for that. Some good friends took me out to dinner earlier tonight, and much laughter and joy was...
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 29
Watching The Chosen (see here and here) has reignited my desire to study the gospels with a historian's eye. I started with the Book of Matthew, not just because it's the first book of the New Testament but also because... well... I like the character in the series. He makes a really good point in the first episode of season two: he's documenting things, as even a former tax collector would.So, I've been reading Matthew for the first...
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 28
Russia's invasion of Ukraine may go down as the textbook example of all the wrong ways to try to take over a neighboring country. I'm reading the reports (whichever ones may be accurate) and it just blows my mind how unprepared Putin was in sending his forces into Ukraine.First of all: WHY did Russia commit its forces during the winter? The vehicles have gotten bogged down in mud and mire, just as any armchair strategist knew would happen. ...
Monday, March 28, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 27
Day 27 of writing a blog post each day during Lent! It's now well past the halfway mark. It's also significant because 27 is my lucky number. I appropriated it from "Weird Al" Yankovic but strangely enough 27 has shown up a LOT in my life.Today, I did nothing. Couldn't get to work 'cuz the dog and I were both under the weather (I had no idea fried chicken could carry cholera, or that's what it felt like). So I don't...
Sunday, March 27, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 26
Have been thinking of this song a lot lately. Maybe because my birthday is coming this week, and everything that comes with being older. I'm reminded of all that has come before, and all of the people who have gone on. The lyrics are so filled with meaning. I don't know the religious beliefs of DeVotchKa but the words really resonate with me:Hold your grandmother's Bible to your breastGonna put it to the testYou wanted to...
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Lenten Blogging 2022: Day 25
They are the team I now want to see take it all:Go Peacocks!!(And dude with Seventies mustache for the win!)Amazing game Saint Peters played last night against Perdue. Now hoping they'll send North Carolina home tomorrow. Either Saint Peters wins the tourney, or I want to see it come down to Duke and UNC... with Coach K leaving triumpha...
