Share Your World Withh Cee Cee 2013: Week 3

I am going to have some fun with these questions because my straight on answers would be much too short and boring. Hope ya don’t mind.

Is your hair short (total neck and ear showing), medium (covering ears and neck), long (below shoulders) or extra long (at least halfway down your back)?

I keep my hair short because long hair makes me look goofy. It use to be, before I started going bald, that my hair would get big and poofy when it got long. Now that I’m losing my hair, it looks like I’m trying to create a comb over. So when my hair gets too long I have to cover it up like this.

I’m the one in blue.

or this:

I’ve had to borrow this one from my daughter before when my hair got too big.

Yeah…not goofy at all.

What is your favorite color of hair?  You can name your hair color or a color that you just like.

I love auburn hair, But not on me, because I’m balding now. Auburn hair on my head just makes me look like I’ve got a stringy sunburn.

Which bad habits, if any, drive you crazy?

Ummm…all bad habits drive me crazy because they are by definition bad and I am sworn to dislike bad things. It’s in the Pastor contract. You can look it up. 😉

What are some of your favorite type of proteins to eat? (meat, eggs, soy, cheese, nuts).

I just discovered Quinoa! Have you ever had it? It’s so yummy!

That is the wrong way to say it.

This is the right way to say it.

Just in case you were wondering.

Thanks Cee for these really fun questions!

First Forray 2013

A few years back God told me I would be doing some travelling. He told me with every journey I was to seek His purpose in it.

The girls and I left the frosted state of MA

This week my daughters and I traveled to PA to visit my son.

 

Our purpose was to reconnect with each other…and to catch up on some long neglected reading. I think I read about a hundred blogs!

 

We arrived late Sunday night; So after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast the girls and I met up with Joe at his campus and headed out to…

The Shady Maple! My son was soooo happy to see my daughters.

Joe has become quite a young man. I am proud of him! Part of our reconnect on this brief journey was to find out his plans after graduation. It is hard to believe he is just short months away from that date and from the title Pastor Joe.

Here are some of our other pictures from that trip:

By Narnia’s Lamp by JE Lillie

Outside the Church by JE Lillie

By the Light Of a Lamp by JE Lillie

St. Patrick’s Route 23 PA

Three Ladies In A Fountain By JE Lillie

Victory Before the Battle (Statue of Rocky Balboa at Philly Art Museum)

The Trial (these are the steps Rocky ran up in Rocky I)

Me on the other side of the trial

The lesson of Icharus

 

 

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 33

Wow Cee has reached her 50th Share Your World post! Congrats Cee! As you can all see I am 17 blogs behind.  I am so sad I missed 17 weeks of questions but there is no sense crying over spilt words…. So on to answer this week’s questions…which, by the by, turned out to be a lot harder to answer than I initially thought they would be.

1. If you were to move and your home came fully furnished with everything you ever wanted, list at least three things from your old house you wish to retain? My first question here was “Does fully furnished imply that the house comes with a piano?”               My second question was “What about a coffee maker? Does fully furnished mean we’re all good in the coffee department?”       If not then two of my items are taken up by
   

   My Roland

   And by

   

   my Keurig

   Now if those things are taken care of then my three items would be   Books! Though this seems to be three things it’s really only one you see. My number two would be

   

   Great Aunt Maud’s antique dishes

   And

   

   Uncle Tom’s Steamer Trunks stuffed with everything else I couldn’t fit! 🙂

    

2. Are you mostly a clean or messy person? I am officially considered “clessy”.
3. What is the most enjoyable team or club you have belonged to and what was it that made it so? I have been privileged to be part of so many wonderful teams but I have to say my favorite would have to be the acting casts I have been a part of. “Welcome Home Sgt. Patterson” and “Four Tickets To Christmas” stick out in my memory.
4. What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $50? Why? I enjoy taking people out to eat. Though 50$ doesn’t take you to far these days fellowship over a shared meal is worth the price of admission!

Resurfacing!

Have you ever had one of those months?

I think I have just come through one of the busiest falls of my entire life! I finally hit the writer’s- block -wall this last weekend and got thrown right out of the blogging truck. You know it’s bad when you can’t even come up with a decent photo blog on the theme “green”.

Anyway, as I was laying there on the literary pavement trying desperately to come up with something witty to say to y’all, I realized I was going to miss a few days. I can’t tell you how hard it was to just stay silent  so my thoughts could catch up with me. I hate setting goals (like daily blogging) and not meeting them but now I am resurfacing!

I think this song says it all!

Have you ever been here?

Oh BTW how do you like the new look?

A Nice Kind O’ Dumb

     So this has been a big week of discovery for Pastor Wrinkles. There have been so many epiphanies I hardly know where to begin. I was sitting at lunch this week with the church staff eating my Greek yogurt. It was a new kind that just went on sale at the market. It is very tasty. My only objection is that they put the yogurt and the fruit in adjoining containers. Well all week long I have been scooping the fruit into the yogurt with a spoon…making a mess of myself, the table and anyone bold enough to get close to my “lunch mess”.

    The youth pastor’s wife joined us for lunch the other day and upon observing my yogurt issue she offered, “You know the container folds in half so that you don’t make such a mess.”

 

the angels in Heaven sang as I discovered the best invention ever! Folding yogurt containers! What genius thought that up?

But Jesus wasn’t finished with me yet! For years I have been having a daily argument with the office coffee pot.

When the coffee is made it won’t come out! You have to turn the top and if you don’t turn it right the top comes off and you end up with a coffee mess. So I usually just take the top off altogether and pour sans top. Usually I over pour and end up with that nasty coffee ring that travels with you everywhere you put your cup down (of course I never think to wipe the bottom of the cup with a napkin that would be too brilliant).

     One of the secretaries noticed me pouring out the other day and remarked “You know you don’t have to take the top off to pour. It will stay on and pour perfectly if you just line up the arrows.”

 

The angels sang and the people rejoiced!

Of course I have taken a bit of ribbing over these discoveries. To all this I say “My elevator may not go all the way to the top. I may be a few ants short of a picnic. Yes I may be dumb, but I am a nice kind o’ dumb!” 😉

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 21

Cee has asked some really good questions this week! So here I am sharing my world!

1. What is most memorable about your high school years?
   I think the most memorable thing about high school was youth group. I am so thankful to the couple that were my youth pastors. They gave us such a great foundation and blended that with a lot of fun. We were never at a loss for things to do: Youth conventions and fall camps, Bible quiz and Teen Talent, Softball Tournaments and Speed-the-light rallies. I can honestly say I was never bored.
2. What was the last URL that you bookmarked? I don’t book mark things but I do add new blogs just about every week. Some of the newest blogs I am reading are http://steveatwood.wordpress.com/ and http://ayaslife.wordpress.com/
3. Name one thing not many people know about you.
   Man! in this venue there is so much to choose from… how about this? I play three instruments: flute, piano and didgeridoo (badly on that last one but I still play it)
4. What physical attribute do you like about yourself?  Can be anywhere from beauty to heart to physical strength. Ahh! glad this didn’t have to be about physical appearance. I love me for my mind! 🙂

Thanks Cee! Can’t wait to read everyone else’s responses.

 

Versatility

I got a great New Year’s gift from Debby at http://twominutesofgrace.wordpress.com/.  This is my first award and I am giddy with excitement…no really I have been telling everyone!  I’m afraid I have become a little bit of a braggart 😦 But this too shall pass! For the moment I am going to bask in the sunshine of the honor! Thank you Deb!

Now this particular award requires that I nominate 15 of my favorite bloggers for the award; So I nominate:

1. Nicole at Simple Moments : http://lovingsimplemoments.wordpress.com/

2. Sarah at the Flying Onion: http://theflyingonion.wordpress.com/

Thanks Nicole and Sara for giving me the push to blog in the first place!

3.  Notes from Rumbly Cottage: http://notesfromrumblycottage.wordpress.com/

4. From My Front Step: http://frommyfrontstep.wordpress.com/

5. Perfect Puddles: http://perfectpuddles.wordpress.com/

6.  David at : http://desertvoices.wordpress.com/ Give this a read if you want to read some great missionary stories.

7. Tom at : http://tomraines.wordpress.com/

8. Ben at:  http://justifiedfreely.wordpress.com/

9.  Sowing Seeds Of Orthodoxy at: http://sowingseedsoforthodoxy.wordpress.com/

10. Deb at: http://iftodaywehear.wordpress.com/

11. Goforth at: http://hardcore-christian.com/

12. Ann at: http://tonirand.wordpress.com/ I can never thank you enough for how you have inspired so many of us in the blogosphere!

The above are all awesome devotional blogs.

13. Lori at: http://marriagegems.com/ research based marriage tips. An awesome read!

14. Leaving the Fast Lane… at: http://lujos.wordpress.com/ 

15.  And Julian at: http://julian-hoffman.com/ He only blogs once in a while but his words taste like honey to my reading taste buds!

This award also requires that I tell you 7 things about myself. I’m not really sure why 7…maybe because it’s the number of completion. Whatever the reason I willingly acquiesce:

1. I come from a long line of musicians. At family reunions everyone used to bring their instrument and we would throw an impromptu band concert.

2. My first instrument is the flute( yeah my Dad told me it wasn’t very manly but I had a crush on my elementary school music teacher and the flute was her favorite). These days I stick primarily to piano and vocals.

3. I have been leading church worship since I was sixteen (that’s 28 years for all those of you trying to figure my age)

4. I have been pastoring since 1991.

5. I am pretty good with driving directions but you don’t want me leading on a hike through the mountains.; That’s a good way to end up on an episode of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”; Just ask my kids!

6. I once had a youth group steal my car. Good thing they didn’t know how to drive stick!

7.  Hmmm….what else? Oh yeah chewing is my favorite form of exercise!

Thanks again Deb! 🙂

 

Christmas Joy!

Our head elfette (lead pastor’s wife) sent this to our staff for Christmas.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/4OqcSdw725ZWDVve?cmpid=jj_fb_friend_holidays

Starring in order of appearance and from left to right:

Lead Pastor: Rev. Barry Risto

Church Administrator: Charlotte Dorais

Asst. Pastor: Rev. J. Lillie

Youth Pastor: Rev. Brad Hackett

Church Secretary: Wendy Brouillet

Merry Christmas All!

Christmas Joy Monday Pt. 3

  I could subtitle this post “Hat-Head”.

    At our church’s recent Christmas movie event we were overrun by Christmas elves and their hats!It was all the head elf’s idea!

But it was fully endorsed by his wife, the head elfette. She was in charge of the movie and cookie decorating!

Santa and his reindeer showed up to make the pop corn. Looks like Santa has some fattening up to do between now and Christmas Eve!

These elves were part of a line up, to find out who stole the cookies from the cookie jar.

It turned out to be this elf.She was too embarrassed to show her face after getting caught.

It’s a good thing this strapping young elf was there to shed some light on the subject!

For my big finish I leave you with this Christmas blessing!

What exciting plans does your community have going on this season?

How To Make Crab-Apple Jelly Err…Sauce

      Muddy’s property has some wonderful crab apples.

 

So this year I decided it would be fun to make some wonderful crab apple jelly sauce for Christmas presents.

Below are step by step instructions for crab apple jelly sauce!

Step one: Pick the apples and put them in a pot. Contrary to popular opinion these suckers don’t hop off the tree into a basket. If you wait for them to fall they get really nasty!

 

Step two:  Put the pot on a stove and cook them to mush.

 

Don’t forget to stir. Burnt mush could ruin the flavor of your jelly sauce.

Step three: Strain the mush!

 

 

Jelly sauce is great with little chunks of apple in it but leaves and stems sort of ruin the experience.

 

Step five: Totally disregard the instructions on the pectin box and add all the sugar (9 cups to 7 cups of apple mush) before you add the pectin. Bring to a rolling boil.

Step six: Add your pectin and boil for one more minute making the pectin totally ineffective.

Step seven: Ladle  the mush into jars. Close the tops and put in your hot water bath for 10 minutes.

AND TADAHHHH! YOU HAVE PERFECT APPLE JELLY SAUCE! 🙂