A random January post

It's hard to believe it was a week ago that I last posted.  I thought I was doing pretty well with staying current, but it doesn't take much to derail me.  (From nearly anything.)  I thought I'd just do a random January post to jot down a few happenings and thoughts.  And this will be random indeed.

Things have been busy with just everyday life, with a few extras thrown in like getting my dad to several appointments.  Everything seems to take longer in the icy cold of winter.

Speaking of which, the weather has been interesting, to say the least.  On Saturday, we had rain, freezing rain, and even some thunder and lightning.  In the early morning, I-93 was said to have been like a skating rink.  That night, some of the local roads were affected by black ice several different times.  Mr. T went to the church to take care of a flooding issue in the parking lot and encountered black ice and accidents both coming and going.  With all of the rain and some melting snow, rivers were threatened by ice jams and flooding.  This week, we had a day or two in the forties.  Today, it's been snowing lightly, just enough to add a frosted, powdered-sugar look to everything. 

I did decide not to post my weekly goals (at least for now); only monthly ones.  So far, I've been doing well with the goals I've set, and am very thankful for that. If anything changes and I feel the need to post goals weekly, I'll go back to that.

Monday I'm planning to start an "Intentionally Focused" 8-week Bible study offered by Good Morning Girls.  Mostly I will just be using the verses they suggest for my own study using the SOAP method of meditating on Scripture.  I've found this method to be most effective and really helps me to apply Scripture to my life.  I'm looking forward to this new study and think it will be a great tool to begin the new year in a focused way.  (As always, I am not offering a blanket endorsement of any sites or links I mention.  Please just browse and read with discernment.)

Oh help!  I can't remember where I got this graphic.  I think it was Little Birdie Blessings.

On my friend Susan's blog, By Grace, I found links to several reading challenges for the new year.  I know it's important to be a reader, and I truly admire people who can do this, but I have trouble finding time to read (other than the Bible, and study books I'm using).  I used to be an omnivorous reader, but in the past few years I've read very little fiction and comparatively few nonfiction books.  I probably read 3 or 4 books a year for our ladies' Sunday School class, and maybe -- possibly -- a dozen more books over the course of a year.  I was just thinking, this morning, how very few classics I've actually read -- for example, almost none of Dickens other than A Christmas Carol, and I think I did read (or was supposed to read, anyway) David Copperfield in high school.  Maybe I can make that my personal reading challenge -- to read one or two classics each year.  It won't be much, but it's a start.

Our Christmas trees are both still up (and we are still enjoying their cheerful glow!) and quite a few of our Christmas decorations are still in place.  I need to try and change that out this weekend.  There'll still be lots of white lights, snowflakes, and icicles about, along with some snowmen, because we seem to need sparkly, glittery things around to get us through the rest of the long winter up here.  I do, anyway.  I guess I can't really speak for my fellow New Englanders.

These fellows will be out and about soon on my hutch.

And I'll see if my frosty candles survived to use again this year.

More hutch decor-to-be

This tablecloth and centerpiece will likely make an appearance, too.

On the topic of Christmas, I must admit that I still have several Christmas gifts to finish crafting.  Time got away from me, and I overestimated the amount of time that I had, which so often happens.    Phrases like, "Oh, that will be done in no time!  It's all done with a glue gun!"  or "It's made with felt -- no hemming!  So easy!" spring all too easily to my lips.  Mr. T has decreed that next year all crafted gifts must be finished by December 1.  He's right, I know -- and if I still want to craft in December, I can work on ornaments, decorations and other such fun projects.

Recently I got two free offers from Shutterfly -- one for a calendar and one for a photo book.  I often get such offers but seldom have time to take advantage of them.  This time, the timing was right and I was able to do both.  The calendar has a sort of "thrown-together look" to me, but I did have fun choosing from old and new photos and arranging them for the different months.  It will be a keepsake.  And the book was fun to do as well.  I chose to give it an autumn theme and to make the book all about our favorite getaway spot in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire.  While deciding on a theme, I noticed that Shutterfly even has a couple of cookbook themes.  That would be a fun project sometime!

Well, I am out of time for today, so perhaps I can get back here tomorrow with something less random!