Sunday Thoughts: Gratitude

Thank God for antibiotics!

I am now going to proceed to the couch, wherein I intend to spend the rest of the day.

A Useful Quote as the Election Nears.....

“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” 
― Robert Frost

Did you know?

This year, 2016, marks the 500th anniversary of St. Sir Thomas More's Utopia.  The title has come to mean an ideal society, but it is actually Latin for "no place."

Sunday Thought: Unbound Retreat

I went to an Unbound Retreat on Friday and Saturday.  I found it helpful and thought-provoking, although I didn't get prayed with.

Here are some questions it made me think about:

What are the lies I tell myself?  (After all, any lie divides us from God Who is Truth.)
If I see myself as I truly am, what are my characteristics?  (I'm going to make a very honest list that I'm not going to show anyone.)
What keeps me from God?  (Grudges, obsessions, sins, etc.)

Holding on to bad stuff like sins and unforgiveness is like wrapping our arms around a cactus and hugging it as tightly to our chest as we can--and then wondering why we hurt so much.

Cutting a Rug

Done! 

This was a custom rug for Mom and Dad, for a particular spot in front of a fireplace between two rocking chairs.

I’m not planning on making another one of these because it was so tedious.  If you find it soothing or pleasant to put music on and do something mundane, the project is very simple.  It’s easy.  It’s cheap.  It’s incredibly forgiving.

You need a pile of T-shirts.  (10 or 15????  I didn't count.  Maybe less.)

You need an old towel.

That's it.

1. Cut T-shirts into long strips.

2. Cut the long strips into short ones.

3. Cut an old towel to size and serge/finish the cut edge.  (If the towel is the size you want the rug, you obviously can skip this step.)  Note that the fringe hangs over the edge so sizing is kind of approximate.)

4. Sew the short strips to the towel in long rows.  

If you sew the rows about a quarter inch apart, you get this:

If you sew them a half inch apart, you get this:

Budgeting: Some Lessons

Lesson #1: Check the cost of benefits when applying for a job.

My husband's salary didn't change much.  But because his employer pays much less of his insurance, our income took a nasty hit.  (Previous two employers paid 100%.)  I went from part-time to full time so my income jumped significantly, but because his went down so much, our net gain is $200 a month.  Yup.  Not happy about that.  An expensive lesson.

Lesson #2: Transportation matters

BEFORE:
His commute was 59 miles one way.
Mine was 22 miles one way, but my expenses were lower due to carpooling.
Total transportation expenses for a month:  $197.97

AFTER:
Our commute is about 3 miles.
We both biked to work for a month.
Total transportation expenses for a month: $35.20

We aren't going to be biking during the winter, but we plan to start up again in the spring.