2011 November 19

So grey that it looks like a charcoal drawing.

It is a grey day outside.  This is what late fall looks like.  All color is gone everything looks like a charcoal sketch.  Yesterday was sunny but there were gust of nearly 50 mph around our campsite.  We are going to go over to a neighbor’s site and put the tarp back over their golf cart.  If it had not become entangled with the steering wheel, it would probably be a hundred miles north of here this morning.

Ella worked yesterday evening and I went to the clubhouse to do laundry.  Other than working on my blogs, that is the only activity I did all day.  I finished a sermon that I had been working on and posted it at www.thomasewilliams.blogspot.com.  This morning I went back into the blog and moved some of the elements around.  Originally I had posted the scripture readings before the message.  Today I moved them below the message.  I also updated Santa’s Good List at http://www.npolenewsgoodlist.blogspot.com/.  You should check that out to make sure your name is on there before I check it twice!  If it isn’t there, leave me a comment and I’ll have the elves review your file.

I’ve been asked to lead a Bible Study and I’m trying to come up with some ideas.  Since we are heading into Advent next week, I suppose I should do something with that.  I had planed on going to Iowa Religious Media Services today, however I just checked their hours and found out that they are not open on Saturday.  I’ll have to plan on doing that Monday. 

Speaking of Monday, that is Ella’s birthday.  She received a gift certificate via email from Old Country Buffet so I think we’ll go there for lunch on Monday.

2011 November 18

     I went to bed at about ten thirty last night.  I was not in the least bit tired so I lay there and watched a couple of TV shows that were stored on my Droid X.  So, it was around midnight when I put down the Droid and went to sleep.  I slept well and woke refreshed at FOUR P.M.!  It was too early to get up but I was too awake to sleep.  The solution?  I watched a couple more TV shows.
     I really like using Droid TV on my smartphone.  The main reason is that I can watch shows that I CAN'T watch on TV.  We do not have cable of satellite and I enjoy shows such as Psych, Burn Notice, Covert Affairs and others that are on the USA network.  I can also watch shows from TNT, Syfy, Comedy Central and so forth.  Plus I have the ability to watch them anytime and anywhere that I want.  Yep! Droid TV is by far my favorite ap.
     What aps do you use on your smartphone?  How do you use your phone?  Do you text or talk?  Do you surf the web?
     It is now seven a.m. and starting to become brighter outside.  Sunrise is supposed to be in seven minutes.  I know this because of the Weatherbug ap on my phone.  I just heard Ella's alarm on her Droid giving her the time and temperature.
     These are pretty impressive devices that we carry in our pockets now days.  Here are some of the applications (aps) that are on my Droid:
Alarm & Time, Kindle, MP3, Auto Backup, Bible, Blockbuster, many many books, web browser, bubble level, calendars, calculator, camcorder, camera, document scanner, FM radio, comic books, contact list, several aps to watch movies, email for all four email accounts, Emergency alerts, documents (Word, Excel and PDF), Facebook, photo gallery, Google, a harmonica, Emergency medical information, flashlight, notepad, a Spanish language program, magnifier, maps, music, GPS navigation, news and weather, grocery lists, yellow pages, TV guide, 'tape' recorder, Yahtzee and You Tube.
      I can hold in my hand the sum total of all of human history and knowledge. Amazing!
     How do you think that devices such as cellphone, smartphones, digital cameras, computers and the internet impacted your life?

     

       Yesterday I baked a very large loaf of potato bread.  I really should have formed the dough into three loaves.
       This morning started off bright and cold (25 degrees). It is supposed to only warm to the mid 40s.  If it stays sunny, I don't mind the cold so much.
      Being Wednesday, that means that it is Men's Bible Study day.  One of our members, who is a WWII vet, brought in a DVD about the Honor Flights.  It was a very moving DVD to watch and to hear some of the memories of these men. If you are not familiar with them, here is a quote from their web site. Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America's veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C.to visit and reflect attheir memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.
      This Wednesday is also the night that our Worship Committee meets.  We be finalizing some of the plans for Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and the Hanging of the Greens.  We will also be discussing our committee's budget for the coming year.  I will be sharing some of the topics that were brought up in the Administrative Council meeting this past Monday.  A whole lot of good ideas were brought up in that meeting.  I'm hoping that my committee can take the ball and run with it on some of those ideas.
     I do not know if we will be going for pie at Village Inn today.  We have not missed many "Pie Rush Wednesdays" in the past couple of years.  However, we managed to spend four weeks of income in three weeks.  So, we need to watch the pennies as well as the dollars for the next week.  The friends that we usually go to Village Inn with, are not planning to go either and the fellowship is more important than the pie.

*** Later Wednesday evening.  As I was driving back from the Worship Committee meeting, I talked to Ella and found out that Lynn had called.  She and Kip were on their way down to Village Inn for pie.  So, I drove home and then Ella and I went to Village Inn for pie.  I have a Verizon Rebate card that I was saving to use for gasoline.  Oh well, pie is better than gas.  So I'll just buy LESS gas.  I don't have anyplace that I have to be until Sunday, so we'll be fine. *** Later Wednesday evening.  As I was driving back from the Worship Committee meeting, I talked to Ella and found out that Lynn had called.  She and Kip were on their way down to Village Inn for pie.  So, I drove home and then Ella and I went to Village Inn for pie.  I have a Verizon Rebate card that I was saving to use for gasoline.  Oh well, pie is better than gas.  So I'll just buy LESS gas.  I don't have anyplace that I have to be until Sunday, so we'll be fine.

2011 November 15

      Last night was our Administrative Council meeting at church.  It lasted about twice as long as our usual meetings.  And it was the best Ad Council meeting I’ve ever attended.  Great ideas were flying between different committee leaders.  There is no doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit was with us.  I just read some post on Facebook from people that attended and it appears that I was not alone in recognizing His spirit at work.

    Yesterday was such a pretty, sunny day that I just HAD to go take some pictures around the lake.  Several hundred geese are still ‘vacationing’ with us. The sunlight was glinting and sparkling so brightly on the lake and I was having such a difficult time capturing it with the Droid’s camera.  Finally!  I managed to get two decent photos of the light dancing on the water.

        Today, Tuesday, is starting off even sunnier.  It is remarkable to be have way through November and still having such beautiful weather.  Looking at the forecast for the week ahead, it appears that we'll have sunshine until at least Friday.  The temps will be roller coasting with highs from the 40s to the 60s and lows from the 20s to the 40s.

2011 November 14

I’ve been reading so many posts by people saying all the things that they are thankful for.  My son, Adam, has been posting letters on his blog.  They are letters they he has written to people who have been important to him.  They are letters of thanks for what each of these people have meant to him.  All of this thankfulness has of course gotten me to thinking of all for which I have to be thankful.

            If I were to try to make a list of all of my thankfulness, it could go on forever.  Everyday there is some new thing in my life.  So, rather than starting an endless list, I want to say, that I am thankful for all persons, places, things and events that God has placed in my life, because these have all brought me to this place and time and formed me into the person that I am.

            As I was sitting in worship service this last Saturday and listening to Pastor Lee’s question, “What do you fear?”; a thought popped into my mind and I quickly wrote the following. 

I thought I was drowning in debt when I was awash in a sea of blessings.

My soul felt shriveled and starved even as I sat at the Lord’s banquet table.

Because when my eyes were full of fear, I could not see the daily miracles around me.

Then the God of all creation spoke to my heart and said, “Do not be afraid.”

Monday's forecast for Grimes, Iowa:  Mostly Sunny, High 57, Low 34

Forecast for Cedar Park, Tx:  Mostly Cloudy, High 80, Low 67

Forecast for Miami, Fl: Mostly Cloudy, High 82, Low 75

Any questions as to why I want to spend next winter in Texas?

2011 November 13

           Well, we’re back from the little side trip down memory lane with that four-part story about why we live where and how we do.  It was fun for me to write so I hope you enjoyed reading it.  For those that are interested in the RV lifestyle, I have started a new blog called “Home Is Where The Fifth-Wheel Is”.  You can follow this link: http://homeiswherethe5thwheelis.blogspot.com/   Now that is our of the way…

            Yesterday, Saturday, Ella worked in the morning.  While she worked I did the laundry.  I also made a big pot of Navy beans & ham along with corn bread.  The beans had two large and meaty ham hocks cooked in them.  The hocks added enough salt that I did not need to add anymore.  All I seasoned with was cracked pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.  The cornbread was spiced up with four teaspoons of Franks Hot Sauce.

            The food went with us to Saturday night Praise Service.  The second Saturday of the month there is a potluck following the service.  Last month we went to the service but forgot about the potluck.  Since we had not brought any food, we were going to leave.  However we were told that we could eat as long as I brought my ‘bean soup’ the following month.  Well, a deal is a deal, so I brought the beans.  It went over very well indeed.  The cornbread was well received by those who like spicy food and shunned by those who still have taste buds. (grin).

            Today we went to Sunday school but did not stay for church.  I spent most of the day working on the new blog.  Once I had the concept of making it an RV advice / how to do it blog, the ideas just started flowing.  I have drafts of over six blogs ready to post.

Now I need to get caught up on the Sermons and Stories blog, www.thomasewilliams.blogspot.com.   That makes three blogs that I’m working on. Fortunately the other two are only once a week blogs.

            Oh, I did get out of the chair long enough to bake a loaf of bread.  That was my day.  What did you do this weekend?

Steve's RV Travelogue: Carlsbad Caverns

        I have started a separate blog for information pertaining to the Fulltime RV Lifestyle.  It is called Home Is Where The Fifth-Wheel Is. www.homeiswherethe5thwheelis.blogspot.com

Steve's RV Travelogue: Carlsbad Caverns
This is a blog by another RVer.  There are some great pictures here from inside Carlsbad Caverns.  In a later post he has a fairly impressive shot of a storm front moving across the desert in Arizona.  I think I'm going to go back and read some more of his older posts.  Seems like the sort of person we'd like to get to know.