Late January Daybook...

(*Note:  People sometimes ask, "How do you have time to blog?"  And sometimes I reply, "One sentence at a time."  That's pretty much how this post has gone...a line or two throughout the day as I would sit down at the computer in between other activities.  I started it early Monday morning, hadn't quite finished it when I began falling asleep at my keyboard at 8:30 last night, and not quite 24 hours after I first started, I think I'm actually about to finish it. :))

FOR TODAY...January 30, 2011 

Outside my window...Sunny and cold now, with temperatures predicted to be near 70 this afternoon.  So loving this mild winter!  

I am thinking...about Francis Schaeffer, one of my great heroes, born 100 years ago today.   We actually saw him in person when we attended First Baptist, Dallas, on vacation when I was about 6...one of the highlights of my life!  God has used his books...and even more those of his wife, Edith, to impact my life greatly.  

I am thankful...that we are well this week, other than the lingering annoying cough still plaguing some of us.  This time last week we were beginning to drop like flies with a nasty bug that knocked us out for almost an entire week.  Thankful that we can actually get up and do chores and school again! 

In the kitchen...On the menu this week: HIOOTP Chicken, Saloon Beef Sandwiches, home-cooked burgers and fries, chili, and creamy tacos.  Can you tell it is comfort food week here? :-)

I am wearing...Warm, comfy Razorback fleece. :)

I am creating...Organized bookshelves!  

I am going...to take my mom out to lunch for her birthday as soon as she gets well.  We've now postponed twice.  Looking forward to her being well and being able to celebrate!

I am wondering...how the end of January got here so fast!  I feel like I blinked and lost a month somewhere. :)

I am reading...good stuff right now!  Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis (on loan from a friend), Beautiful Battle ~ A Woman's Guide to Spiritual Warfare, by Mary DeMuth (this just came out and I have been SO excited to read it!), Broken-Down House, by Paul David Tripp (on my Kindle...excellent book so far!), and the book of Nehemiah during my quiet time.  My current bedtime fiction is For Time and Eternity, by Allison Pittman.  

I am hoping...that the current mild winter weather holds out.  So thankful for a warmer winter after last winter's extreme, record-breaking cold!

I am looking forward to...a more normal, productive week this week, after a week of sickness in our house last week. 

Around the house...Catching up and decluttering this week.  

I am pondering...my 36 in 366 list and how best to get caught up after falling a bit behind for January.  Determined to "keep on plugging" and remember that what is important is *finishing well*, even if I get behind in the meantime. 


A favorite quote for today...""Niceness"—wholesome, integrated personality—is an excellent thing. …But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world—and might even be more difficult to save."

One of my favorite things...Belated birthday presents! :)  I love matryoshkas (Russian nesting dolls), and a friend found the *cutest* matryoshka measuring cups/spoons for my birthday. <3  I can't wait to find the perfect spot in the china cabinet for them today. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Taking my mom to lunch for her birthday, catching up on school and chores, normal church routine, finalizing plans for Ammah Grace's birthday (she will be EIGHT next week...how did THAT happen???) 

A peek into my day...

Not from today, but a recent random trip to the National Historic Site five minutes from our house.  I love mockingbirds, but somehow the ones in our yard always seem to evade the camera when I'm out.  This one was obviously quite used to people, as he sat and let me snap pictures without flinching. :)

For more Daybook entries, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.