Long Day

Today was a long day. It was a long day at the end of a strange week at work. Our server had a melt down at my office. I was without a computer for about a day and a half. After the server was up and running, I spent most of the rest of the day on yesterday reconfiguring my computer. It set everything back to like the computer was brand new. All of my settings and preferences were gone and the computer kept asking me questions and messages kept popping up. It was irritating. On top of this, something happened with our email and my inbox was flooded with duplicate emails from three months ago up to the present. When it was all done, I had almost 150 emails to sort through. I got off pretty good though. One of my co-workers had over 3,000 old emails fill her inbox.
The best part of my day was meeting with one of our Habitat Partner Families to talk about his materials selection for his new house. While very limited, our families get to choose things like the color of siding, carpet, counter tops, and vinyl flooring. It's usually a fun meeting because for most of our families this the first time they have ever been able to choose any of this stuff. They are always excited and usually a bit overwhelmed.
Tomorrow, my friend Karen and I are scheduled to walk 8 miles for our half-marathon training. Winter weather has returned to the area and so we have decided to walk tomorrow morning at a local mall. The mall opens at 7:30 AM so we should be able to get our walking done before most of the stores open. I will probably follow my pattern and plop on the couch for the rest of the weekend recovering from my walking. This has not been a good week for my walking. I did fine on Tuesday but only walked about two miles on Thursday. In addition, I did not feel very well all day. I am hoping this will pass and I will be fine walking tomorrow.
Well, I'd better get to bed. I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Answered Prayers

Thank you for your prayers for me as I requested yesterday. I could feel your prayers lifting me up and helping me to move forward in my journey.
Today was a very long but also a very good day. I really needed to get back on track with my walking and I did just that this morning. It was about 8 degrees when I woke up this morning. I set my alarm for 6:00 AM and was up and out the door by 6:15 AM. I was at Wal-Mart a few minutes later and walked for about an hour. It was a good walk. There were hardly any people at Wal-Mart at that hour. It was just me and the Wal-Mart employees and a few shoppers who had braved the cold morning temperatures.
The neatest thing about walking was after I had been walking about a half hour, my friend Karen showed up for her morning walk. We hadn't planned it but it's always good to have a walking partner. We walked and talked for about a half hour. I left and Karen kept on going.
I made some progress at work today in moving some applications forward in the process. It is a very slow process but I think it is a pretty good process that designed to benefit families even if they don't make it all the way through the process. Hopefully they can learn something along the way. Hopefully we are able to help them take the next step in their journeys of life. We hope that will be as a Habitat home owner, but it might also mean that we refer them to another program that may be able to help them in a different way. I feel a constant sense of gratitude for this work and ministry.
My day ended with another great session of my creative writing class. We did some very long writing exercises. We basically wrote for one and one-half hours for the first part of the class. Our instructor gave us prompts to get us started. They were essentially sentences that were to get us thinking. My prompt was "Any day the water wasn't frozen, Rhoda washed her hair." When I drew this one randomly from the pile of prompts, I thought "What in the world am I going to write about this?" However, it turned out to be a fun exercise. My mind went in some really strange directions. I think I actually came up with the beginning of another short story. We'll see how that goes.
It's late and I want to try to get up early and walk again tomorrow at Wal-Mart. I need to get to bed. Like I wrote above, it's been a long day but a very good day. It was truly a gift from God and I am grateful to have had the honor of experiencing this gift. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Prayer Request

I'm asking for your prayers for my half-marathon preparation. I'm having a hard time staying on track this week with my walking. I have not been feeling good all week and I am really tired. This makes me really crabby. It's also been really cold here and I find myself just wanting to come home and cocoon. Saturday is a six mile day and I need to be prepared for that. So, I'm asking for your prayers. I seem to have hit a motivation road block this week.
The good news is that it's supposed to warm up into the 40's this weekend here in the Cincinnati area. It will be good to get back outside and walk. I may even be able to walk the six miles outside on Saturday. That would be great.
Thanks for your prayers and for being a part of my journey!

Five Mile Day

Today I walked five miles as a part of my training for walking the half-marathon in May. I missed a day of walking due to the weather and being sick this past week so I was a little worried about making it. It helped being able to walk with my friend Karen. We walked at Wal-Mart again. We had freezing rain and sleet this morning so I was glad to be indoors. It took us longer to walk the five miles than I thought it would I don't know if we slowed down. I know I was feeling tired at only three miles. I'm not sure if it was the walking or I didn't get enough sleep but I came home and took a two and one-half hour nap. I'm hoping I am able to sleep tonight.
I am grateful that I have chosen to walk the half-marathon. It is bringing a discipline to my life that I really need. While I would prefer to sleep in on Saturdays and then lay on the couch all day, I'm glad that I have this goal to work towards. It's keeping me focused. I feel a real sense of accomplishment every time I walk further than I have walked before. I'm also glad Karen has decided to walk with me. It really helps the time to go much faster when I have someone to talk to.
I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Super Bowl Sunday: Are You Ready for Some Football Fun?

Super Bowl Sunday: Are You Ready for Some Football Fun?
Thank God it’s Friday.

And the Super Bowl is this weekend. Are you ready? Are you hosting a Super Bowl get-together? Where will you watch the big game?
Here are several helpful Super Bowl party items.
CTRL-click on each title to read that article online in a new internet window.
Super Bowl XLV Word Scramble for Football Fan Parties Super

Wild Winter Weather

Well, the Cincinnati area got off pretty easy considering what other parts of the country experienced as a result of the big winter storm. We had a freak warm-up last night. It actually got up into the mid-40's before the temperature plummeted again. The result was that the roads and sidewalks were nearly dry as a bone. There were some places where last night's rain didn't drain off and there were patches of ice, but for the most part, it was pretty smooth sailing on my way to work this morning. The wind picked up and the temperatures dropped dramatically and now it's only in the 20's.
Of course, this is nothing to what Northern Indiana got. I talked with my friend Mari who had to have some of her neighbors clear away the snow drifts from her doors so she could get out of her house in South Bend. Yikes! It reminded me of the blizzard of '78 when we had snow drifts up again our back door and house. I am also glad that we missed the major ice that central Indiana and other areas in Ohio got. It all seemed to go to the north of us. However, Oxford, Ohio where Miami University is located, got hit with the ice pretty bad and the University was closed today. One of my co-workers lost her power as well as several thousand people in the region.
It continues to be an interesting winter season. The weather man is now saying that we could get hit with another storm this weekend.
I hope you are warm and safe. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Ice, Ice, Baby

We've got hit with the ice storm here in the Cincinnati area last night. When I woke up this morning to attempt my morning walk, I stepped out of my apartment building and nearly fell on my backside. It was a sheet of ice. Everything was covered in ice: the sidewalk, the parking lot, and my car. I decided to go back inside before I fell down and wait for a while until things warmed up. I made it into the office around 10 AM after spending about twenty minutes chiseling the ice off my car.
The roads were fine but many of the sidewalks and parking lots were skating rinks. I stopped at Wal-Mart after work and I nearly did a double axel getting out of my car. I came home and have been keeping an eye on the weather ever since. The temperature is supposed to go up over night but we may actually have thunderstorms later on tonight.
Thankfully the ice will melt in a relatively short time. It sounds like it will take a while for all the snow that the South Bend, Indiana and Chicago areas are getting tonight. With a blizzard moving through the area, they are expected to get up to two more feet of snow. While Cincinnati has had a rough winter, it's been nothing like Northern Indiana. I am grateful I am not there and having to dig my way out of that.
I'm feeling much better after being sick for the last few days. I finally got a good night's sleep last night and hope to do so again tonight. I was not able to walk today. I'm not sure if tomorrow will be any better. It looks like I may have to condense my three days of walking on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The weather is supposed to clear up a bit by then.
I hope you are staying warm and being safe during this huge storm that is whipping across the country. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

On the Road to Recovery

It looks like I'm going to live. I stayed home from work today. I had a terrible night and got very little sleep. I did get some good rest today and have not accomplished much beyond blowing my nose. My Mom read my blog entry from yesterday and called me to see how I was doing. She said she "heard me ring my bell". That was nice.
I'm going to go to bed early tonight. They are predicting a big ice storm for tomorrow. It's hard to tell if we will get a lot of ice or not. The local weather guy has us right on the edge of the storm. Who knows? I may have another day at home tomorrow.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Four Miles Accomplished

Yea!!!! I made it! My friend Karen and I walked 4.3 miles this morning. We decided to go back to Wal-Mart and walk there. We started out a bit earlier and it was pretty deserted. I was worried about feeling tired or having to take a break but we kept up a pretty good pace and finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes. I didn't think that was too bad for too people who are not regular walkers.
It really helped to have someone to talk with while I walked. It really made the time go much faster. The same is true when I listen to music. I kind of get lost in the music and forget about the time.
I was breathing a bit heavy when we were done but it wasn't too bad. In fact, four miles didn't feel much different than three miles. We'll see if this holds true next Saturday. The training schedule says that I have to walk five miles next Saturday.
We are expecting another winter storm this week here in the Cincinnati area. I'm not sure how that is going to impact my walking schedule. It's nice to know that I can go to Wal-Mart to walk if I need to. I had thought about joining a gym on a month-to-month basis during the training season but I really don't want to spend the extra money. I guess Wal-Mart is my health club for now.

ANSWERED PRAYER: I asked this past week for your prayers for my recruiting efforts to find new Habitat Partner Families in the city of Hamilton, Ohio. Well, the next day I got a call out of the blue from one of the leaders of the Head Start program in the city of Hamilton. She invited me to come and speak to the Head Start parents' meeting for the morning class. She called me a few days later and asked me to do a second presentation to the parents of the children in the afternoon Head Start program. I'm grateful to be able to do this and to hopefully families.
In addition to the Head Start opportunities, I found out that one of our Family Services volunteers works at a technical school in Hamilton. I have been meaning to figure out how to get the word out to students at this school but didn't have a clue where to start. This volunteer said she would make some phone calls and see if we could distribute fliers to the students. This is just another way that God answered our prayers.
I would appreciate your continued prayers for family recruitment in Hamilton. While these are some really good leads, families still have to take the step to fill out an application and return it to the Habitat office.

Thanks for your prayers and for being a part of my journey!

Dead Battery

It got really cold here in the Cincinnati area over night. Most of the schools in the area were cancelled for a second day in a row. I didn't pay that much attention to the weather last night before going to bed. They said the temperature was going to drop and I was just glad it wasn't one of my days to walk. Well, when I woke up it was 8 degrees and with the windchill it felt even colder.
I went through my morning routine and bundled up to head out to my car. I got in my car to start it up and it wouldn't start. It kind of groaned and then nothing else happened. I called my Dad to ask him advice on what I should do. When it comes to cars, I am clueless.
I called my friend Karen who graciously came to my apartment and picked me up and took me to work. She was a real blessing to me. She also ran me to the bank at lunch time. (Today was pay day for us.) Then she dropped me off back at home at the end of the day.
After work, my brother-in-law Rob and nephew Cameron came over to my apartment and Rob jumped my car. We got it started and then I drove it to the car repair shop. Thankfully they were able to get my car in to take a look at it right away. Rob waited while they did the repairs and Cameron was very patient while they waited although I think he was bored.
They determined that I needed a new battery. They had one in stock and were able to install it right then. I was on my way in about an hour.
I have been feeling very grateful this evening for all of the ways in which God took care of me today. I really panic when something goes wrong with my car. Without transportation, I feel helpless. However, God made a way and helped me to move beyond my panic.
I was forced to reach out to others and ask for help which I don't like to do. I like to think of myself as self-sufficient. I want to be independent and live life on my own terms. But that is not how God meant for us to live. As much as I like to lead a hermit-like life, I recognized again today that I need community. I need the support of others to make it in life.
I needed the guidance that my Dad gave to me about what I should do about my car. I needed my friend Karen to get me back and forth to work and the bank. I needed my brother-in-law Rob to come and jump my car. I needed the expertise of the mechanics at the repair shop to figure out what the problem was. I needed all of these people just to make it through this one day. I thank God that each one of them were willing to help me and remind me that I don't have to do life alone.
So, on this cold winter's night, I'm thankful for my new battery and a car that runs. I'm thankful for friends and family who love me enough to help me. I'm grateful that there are people who love to work on cars and fix things. I'm grateful for the job that I have that allows me to earn money to pay the bill for the repairs. I'm grateful for the lessons that God taught me through the dead battery.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Good Day

Today was a good day.

• I started off with my morning walk. It has warmed up a few degrees here in the Cincinnati area. However, when I walked this morning, the wind was blowing pretty hard. I found myself in some places feeling a bit frozen. I only walked two miles. Next week I start my full training schedule for the half-marathon. The shortest distance I walk during this time will be three miles so I am really going to have to step it up if I'm going to be prepared for the half-marathon.
• I then ran some errands and then came home and did laundry and cleaning. I knew that if I didn't at least do some cleaning and laundry it would not get done. One of my New Year's resolutions was to try to keep myself on a cleaning routine and Saturday seems to work best for me. So, before I got on with the rest of my day, I decided to get as much done as I could.
• After lunch and watching an episode of the series Alien Nation through my Netflix subscription, I headed off to my nephew Cameron's basketball game. Cameron did well. I can tell that he is getting better. I met my sisters Stacey and Shelly and my nephew Michael at the game. Shelly and Michael are up for the weekend.
• After the game, Shelly met her friends John and Lisa and their son Hank at Ikea and I went back to Stacey's house and played a few rounds of Wii bowling with my nephews. I must brag about my nephew Cameron. He is a very good bowler. Both nephews beat me pretty badly at bowling.
• Shelly and her friends returned to Stacey's house from Ikea and we had a shrimp boil dinner. It was quite delicious. Then we did our Christmas gift exchange.
• After dinner we played some games. John and Lisa are big board game players. They always have new and innovative games to play. I was lost through the first game but got into the second game a bit more.

Tomorrow after church we are getting together for lunch before Shelly, Michael, John, Lisa, and Hank leave town.
I took Monday off from work so I have a long weekend. I need to get a few things done and I'm hoping to maybe take in a movie.
Today was a good day for me. Time with family and friends. Good food. Games. Life is good.
I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Frigid Morning Walk

Today was my day to walk this morning. I had a hard time prying myself out of bed. When I did finally make it outside, it was cold. Part of my walking route includes an area that is all open fields. When I got to that spot this morning, it felt like the icy winds were going to blow right through me. I only walked two miles and got back inside as quickly as possible. It's been hard to walk this week with the snow on the ground because they really haven't cleaned the streets very well. There's still a lot of snow in some places where it has blown out onto the pavement. The sidewalks are not cleared at all.
I am really grateful that I was able to buy an iPod Shuffle with a gift certificate I received for my birthday. I've loaded it up with music and it really helps my walk seem to go faster. I've got an eclectic collection of songs and I kind of like not know what song is going to play next. A Christian praise chorus is followed by Elvis singing Hound Dog followed by John Mellencamp's Peaceful World. Digital music players are truly marvelous inventions.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. My sister Shelly and nephew Michael are coming up to Cincinnati from Tennessee tomorrow and will be staying at my sister Stacey's home through the weekend. We are going to have our Christmas gift exchange that got postponed a few weeks ago. I also think playing games will be in my future. I am really excited about that.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Snow Day

We had a snow day in the Cincinnati area for most schools today. I'm not sure how much snow we ended up getting, but it didn't seem like much to me. Of course everyone was hoarding food again at the grocery stores last night. The weather people seemed all in a panic because the snow moved through the area later than they had predicted it would. They kept showing the radar for Indianapolis and saying "It's coming! It's on it's way! It's almost here!"
This morning, I started the day with my morning walk. It was a bit cold in the wind and the snow was just starting. the roads were not very good when I was headed to the office but on the way home they were fine. They simply don't have the equipment to really get out and get ahead of the snow.
The same thing is true at my apartment complex. I think the maintenance staff got a new snow blower. However, they didn't get around to removing the snow in front of my building until just as I was getting home from work today.
Work was pretty quiet today. Karen and I were the only ones to make it in. Of course, the Northern Indiana people who are used to a lot of snow were not fazed by the snow storm that scared everyone in Cincinnati. It was kind of nice. The phone didn't ring too much at the office and I got a lot done.
I'm not sure what tomorrow will be like. There is a possibility of more snow. I don't think it will be anywhere near what they are getting on the East Coast.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

The Snow Keeps Falling in Northern Indiana

I received a call from my friend Mari who lives in South Bend, Indiana around NOON today. She said that as of that time they had received about 30 inches of snow where she lives.
I checked the South Bend Tribune website and found this article
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20110108/News01/110109687/1130 reporting that South Bend had already set a single-day snow fall record at 1:00 PM today of 23.6 inches. This breaks the old record of 20 inches set in 1909. The article goes on to say that South Bend may break the state record of 33 inches of snow over a 24 hour period.
I had always thought that the Blizzard of 1978 was the greatest amount of snowfall received in South Bend but the total snowfall total was 27.1 inches over the course of four days. What made the '78 Blizzard so bad was the extremely high winds that caused a lot of drifting.
When I read this reference about the Blizzard of '78, my mind flooded with all kinds of wonderful memories. That was the day of our school crossing guard roller skating party and it got canceled due to the storm. I remember that we got some days off school and played games with our neighbors. I'll never forget tunneling a path to shovel the sidewalks and the huge snow drifts against our house in Mishawaka.
The article also stated that the hardest hit area was around the intersection of the Indiana Toll Road and the US 31 Bypass. That's not far from where I used to live west of South Bend in Lydick. I remember many years of shoveling the driveway of the parsonage there. While I empathize with the folks of the South Bend area, I'm glad that I'm not there to have to dig out.
We didn't really get any more snow here in Cincinnati today. I saw a few flakes but nothing really significant. I think Northern Kentucky got a bit more than we did north of Cincinnati. Maybe I'm getting old but I think I prefer our Cincinnati winter so far to Northern Indiana's.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Winter Weekend

It sounds like this is going to be a cold, snowy weekend. Of course, the amount of snow we are supposed to get will be very small but snow in general seems to put all of Cincinnati in a state of anxiety. It snowed today and I drove by the grocery store on my way home from work and the parking lot was full. I guess people are hoarding food again in case they are trapped in their homes by the additional dusting to inch of snow that we are supposed to get.
I am going to use this winter weekend to stay in as much as possible and simply enjoy the weekend. I do need to run some errands and plan to go to church on Sunday, but beyond that I want to try a new crock pot recipe, read, watch some Netflix, and do some writing. I also need to do some walking as a part of my pre-marathon training.
I come to this weekend after being back to work with a real sense of gratitude It is a time to do stuff I need to get done. It is also a time to do stuff that I want to do. It's down time. It's quiet time. It's worship time. It's cleaning time. It's laundry time. It's writing time. It's movie time. It's time to pause and give thanks to God for the gift of work and the gift of rest.
I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Practically at Home Salutes 2011

Practically at Home Salutes 2011

 Happy New Year and welcome, 2011.

Winter Storm

The entire Cincinnati area seemed to be shut down today due to the winter storm that went through the area last night and this morning. Most schools were cancelled and I think a lot of people stayed home from work. The only people in my office today were Karen and myself. Both the Northern Indiana natives were there while everyone else stayed home. I did leave a little early and was able to log into my office computer from home.
The worst part about the storm is that they simply do not have the equipment to handle snow. I didn't see a single plow until much later in the day when I went to Hamilton, Ohio for a closing for one of our Partner Families. This was definitely the highlight of the day for me - the closing not seeing the snow plow. I was able to get some work done since it was much quieter at the office. That was good.
I am looking forward to the weekend already. After being on the road last weekend, I feel like I just need some down time to do nothing. I want to work on my new writing project some more and I guess I need to think about doing some Christmas shopping - Yuck! I also think I'm going to make chili in my crock pot - Yum!
I hope you are having a great and snow - free week. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Looming Storm - Oooh, Scary

Starting late tonight, a winter storm is supposed to be moving through the Cincinnati area. They are saying that the region could get anywhere from 2-7 inches depending on which local news station you watch.
I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from the office tonight. This was a big mistake. I had to park clear out on the edge of the parking lot and there were almost no shopping carts available. People were stocking up on milk, bread and probably toilet paper. I'm not sure about the toilet paper because I didn't go down that aisle. I can say that it was nothing less than chaotic at the store. I also noticed that there were hardly any potato chips left. I guess if you're going to be trapped in your house by 4 inches of snow then you need potato chips.
I find all of the panic and hubbub rather embarrassing. I come from Northern Indiana which is lake effect snow country. School in my hometown of Mishawaka was almost never cancelled. Snow days were rare. On Monday, my nephew Cameron had a snow day from school in West Chester, Ohio and we hardly got any snow here. Of course, it's not quite as bad as Tennessee where all they have to do is predict snow and the entire state shuts down.
The most dangerous thing about winter here in Cincinnati is that people don't know how to drive in snow. They have no clue and so it's probably better if they do stay home and off the roads. They can drink their gallons of milk and eat their loaves of bread and potato chips that they have hoarded.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Brr! How cold is your city?

How cold is your city?
Baby, it’s cold outside!


Photo courtesy of Discovery Clip-Art
Looking out my office window on a wintry Wisconsin afternoon, I can see the streets no longer glisten, despite yesterday’s fresh snowfall. Instead, the pavement bears a bleak gray quality that seems only to appear when the temperature drops to a frighteningly frigid level.
Today, the actual temperature is two

A Cold Winter's Day

I haven't left my apartment all day. The snow has been falling all day. There has not been a lot of accumulation and it looks like it didn't stick too much on the streets and sidewalks. However, I am guessing that the roads will be slick in the morning. I will need to allow myself extra time to travel to church.
I purposely planned to stay in today and work on the revisions of my short story for my creative writing course. I've made a lot of progress but it's still not where I want it to be. I will continue working on it tonight and tomorrow and hopefully be ready to present it to my class on Monday evening.
I did make a wonderfully delicious crock pot full of chicken tortilla soup today. It's fabulous and was the perfect thing to eat on a cold winter's day. It has a little kick to it and I made it more so with some chili powder before I ate my first bowl for supper tonight.
I am finishing up my last load of laundry. I got the bathroom and kitchen cleaned. I still want to work on some other stuff I need to organize but I think I will leave that to another day. For now, I'm back to my short story and an evening inside where it's warm. I have been listening to some of my favorite Christmas music and all seems right with the world. I am grateful for days like this in my life. They are truly gifts from God.
I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!