Mulch for the Compost

The month of January is almost over and until today I still had a Christmas tree in my living room. There was absolutey nothing on it, but it had not yet been discarded.

My City disposal system offers to mulch your tree and I figured since we are going to be working on our compost this year, this would be a nice way to start it off. So off I went to the place. I get there, and after seeing my tree, the guy points to a huge bin with lots of other Christmas trees. Certainly he didn't think I drove it all the way there just to leave it??

I get out of the car and speak with the lady who is from the looks of it blowing leaves or dust or whatever from the ramp that leads to the trailer.

Now before I go any further, please understand that when I read the flyer that explained this service, I pictured in my mind that I would drive up, some man would take the tree out of my trunk and put it into some heavy duty shredder, my big contractor bag would be sitting under the chute and Voila, mulch. Not so, not even close.

After another guy takes my Christmas tree and throws it on the pile with the other trees, I follow the lady around to the back to a pile of what you see in the picture above. She looks at me and asks "Do you have a shovel"? OK, this is getting stranger by the minute.

At any rate, she went to get a shovel for me and then shoveled while I held the bag. I guess the end result is the same-mulch for the compost!

Sweetheart Washcloth

I am making this pattern from Susan B Anderson for Valentine's Day gifts. Here is the first one I finished. Do you give gifts for Valentine's?

Test

I'm testing mobile blogging from my phone!

Field Trip to the Farm Supply Store

Today the kids and I went on a field trip to the farm supply store. We really only went to buy bird food for the Great Backyard Bird Count, but when you homeschool, all random outings become field trips. :)

My children have fallen in love with the baby chicks and spent most of their time playing with them.

This visit they begged me to bring a bunny home. I rather prefer the idea of visiting them at the store. :)The nicest surprise of all was the ferrets. One of the employees opened the cage and let them hold of few of them.

Christopher had a great time riding the John Deere and running into customers. :)

MLK/Inauguration Day

Yesterday I attended the MLK festivities at the Austin Capitol. My good friend George Powell sang "A Change is Gonna Come " by Sam Cooke. He sang like I've never heard him sing before, sharing through his song that he too is ready to experience the change that is coming soon.

We all felt it. The keynote speaker echoed the words of Barack Obama and encouraged us to be that change that we all long for. Her words were powerful and piercing as she spoke of things such as spending habits and "sexual choices" and education-changes that no president or any other person could ever make for us.

I remember the day Barack Obama was elected to the Senate. I watched as the confetti dropped. He stood on the stage with his beautiful wife and two daughters. I knew then that there was something about him. He stood out that night, the same way he stands out today.

As I reflect on this monumental day in history, I can't help but ask myself what spiritual parallels it has for me and for this country.

"And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:" (Daniel 2:21)

A change has come to America. Barack Obama stands upon the backs of many who fought tirelessly for the rights of equality. What is happening to day is not by chance. This journey of Obama is paved by the many mornings his mother got up early to spend time with him and to make sure his homework was done. It is paved by the years he spent at Junior College. It is paved by the tireless night he spent working on his degree, then off to law school-paved by the many hours he has spent giving back to his community. He worked hard and then his preparation met opportunity. And have you noticed that there have been no allegations of sexual impurity or marital infidelity toward he or his wife. What a witness!!!!

How does this relate spiritually? Think of Esther in the King's Court. Her preparation did not begin when she got to the palace. She was an obedient child, raised by her godly uncle. Think of Daniel who "purposed in his heart" that he would not defile himself with the king's portion.

And our Perfect Example, Jesus Christ, who was entrusted to godly parents, had great work ethic and got up early in the morning before dawn for prayer and meditation.

The moral of the story is that to be ready to meet opportunity, we must be prepared. In the story of the then virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. What separated them? The five wise were prepared.

Somewhere in Barack's life, he purposed that he would be different. As Christians, as American citizens, somewhere in our lives we must purpose in our heart to be different. -I encourage each one of us to accept the challenge to be the change that we so earnestly desire.

Looking to the hills, (Psalm 121:1)

Sorting Things Out in My Head

As I work on organizing my life, I am first trying to sort things out in my head. One of my goals for this year is to become more consistent in getting up in the morning for my personal devotion. One of the things I decided is that whenever I woke up, I would get up and meditate in prayer. Well that worked fine until I started waking up at 3am. It doesn't work so well when I work until 11pm most nights.

On the other hand when I don't get up when I wake up, I tend to over-sleep and feel very tired when I finally do get up. I'm not sure what to do about this quandary yet.

We started school again today. We were supposed to start yesterday, but yesterday was one of those mornings that I woke up at 3am and went back to sleep only to wake up after 8! All I can say is that it seems like the day only went downhill after that and we didn't get a whole lot accomplished other than eating and washing the dishes. At least the kitchen was clean? Sigh...

So now we are planning what to put in our garden. So far we have come up with tomatoes, bell peppers, asparagus, carrots, onion, lettuce, beans, and some herbs. I'm sure we will add to the list as time goes on.

Enough rambling for now. :)

Are you planting a garden for the spring? Are the kids back in school? Any cool projects coming up?