It has been a few days since I last posted. Life seems to have escalated in activity ever since Randy went back to work.  After admitting to him that I truly did miss our mornings together just sitting and having our coffee (well he has that while I have by Diet Dr Pepper) and just talking about everything under the sun, we decided to try to get up a little earlier to still have that time before he heads off to the jungle out there.

Everytime I begin to whine about having to get up early and make breakfast, pack him a lunch and still have to come up with something for dinner, Randy just looks at me and says two words, “dry cleaners”.  Yes, that’s right, dry cleaners. As many of you know, when people retire, there are just some things that you give up, unless you have won the lotto, or hit it big in the stock market. For us, dry cleaners, was one of those things that we gave up. We could have continued to use them, but after all, we were retired and because he wasn’t going to work, he had no use for starched shirts or suits. So we began buying short sleeved shirts for him to wear around the house. The only thing was, Randy is not a T-shirt kind of guy. In 25 years, I have never seen him in a t-shirt with any type of saying or logo. Casual to him is wearing penny loafers without the penny in them.  So for him to be home, he still wore polo style shirts or little Hawaiian shirts that had button down collars. So guess who bought an ironing board and iron 5 yrs ago? That’s right…little miss “I hate to Iron”. But he kept telling me these past few years, “you don’t really want to waste money on dry cleaners when you can use that money to buy a hot fudge sundae at BR, do you? Or my favorite, “just think, the money you save doing “our” (out of the 15 shirts I would iron, maybe 2 were mine) own laundry and ironing, you can go to Stein Mart or DSW and buy more shoes. Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. So iron I have been doing for 5 years.  With every shirt I ironed, I would just say to myself, “this one is for the new pair of shoes I want” or “this week, I’ll get a 3 scoop hot fudge sundae”.

In February when Randy went to work, I have to admit, I whined and complained about getting up early. I fussed when it was now up to me to carry up the groceries up to the second floor  all by myself. I cringed when it dawned on me that I now had to pack a lunch EVERY DAY….but after a week of him listening to me, as soon as I would open my mouth to grip, he just looked at me and says, “dry cleaners”. Plus, we are a two car family again. #Blessed

Last week, I drove my own personal little new car, thank you very much, to church where I sat with about 100 other women  listening to our sweet Women’s minister talk to the young moms (no, I don’t consider myself a young mom, just because I still carry my baby weight around, they actually allow me to be a mentor mom, which truly is a little scary if you think about that for a minute) about how everyone always post #blessed, under pictures of families smiling and boarding beautiful boats, or skiing down a snow laden slope in Vail, or holding a new born baby, Yes, we all do want a blessed life. And when our lives are going through seasons when they aren’t #blessed, we have a hard time admitting to others that we are going through difficult circumstances. As I sat there and thought about that, it dawned on me that she was right. We all want everyone to think we are doing just fine, while holding our pinkies out holding our cup of tea. But many are truly struggling with sickness, loss of jobs, loss of spouse or a medical diagnosis that we certainly didn’t want to hear. This week, we are hearing so many reports about the corona virus that is stirring up panic. Last night Randy and I listened on-line to a preacher talk about the fear that is spreading around the world right now. As we listened to him talk about this fear that is overtaking so many, it reminded me of scriptures that have been given to us in times like these.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Proverbs 3:25-26 “Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.

Psalm 56:11 “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

It is so easy to get caught up in the fear that creeps in on us. We sit and listen to report after report and that is exactly what Satan wants us to do…after all, he is a deceiver, the author of lies and confusion.

In those times when you are tempted to allow fear to overwhelm you, remember to give that fear to the Lord and read this Psalm. It will remind you just whose you are and to Whom you belong. after all, to know this, you are truly #blessed.

Psa 91:4-7
“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night. Nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side. And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.

Have just finished putting away groceries and trying to catch my breath from hauling them upstairs. Of course, there was no toilet paper or hand sanitizer at the store, except a couple of single rolls which had been left on the shelf, so if we aren’t quarantined for over 2 days, I think we should be ok. I did, in fact, buy a lot  of Dr Pepper. Might not have toilet paper, but I have 2 months of Dr Pepper on hand #blessed!

If we do get stuck at home for a few days, I will be posting some recipes because I will be cooking ALOT! Can’t watch tv all day and I’m certainly not going to iron!