Phillip Phillips Wins American Idol 11

Here is my favourite new singer in his performance of "Home" in the final competition.

You either love the city...or...

Thirty-one floors above the rumble and drone of the city that never sleeps, I too am awake.

My husband can barely contain his excitement. Up without an alarm at his normal 5:00 a.m. MDT, it still feels like an ungodly hour after the late night we had. My body wants to stay in bed until the crack of noon. But time is short, the shower is hot and breakfast won't wait.

Last night it was the Empire State Building.

Today it is Lady Liberty.

I'd better charge my battery. And the one in the camera too.

Back-Ordered Gratitude

I return to the blog after a stressful week to name gifts, wondering, if I had kept naming them daily, if the stress might not have been so great. However, when the well is dry, to try to be grateful in the tsunami of stress seems as inappropriate as conjuring up water with a divining rod. Here are free and unencumbered gifts seen in the past couple of days:

279. A day trip to the mountains. Calm water. Mt. Rundle.

280. A brief view of wildlife, reminding me of the scripture song: "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after (the Lord)... He alone can satisfy". And he alone restores my soul.

281. Just enough melt on Johnson Lake to get a reflecting photo, a quiet moment and a near-spill into the water when I slipped on the bank. Didn't get all wet, just a wee bit muddy.

Ann's list today: fragile things...

282. I give thanks for a fragile ego. God always tells me to bring it to him to fix and it's a little smaller each time he repairs it.

283. The tire stem leaking air, gratitude for the air pump nearby.

284. Democracy is fragile. A little fear mongering, a little intimidation, a little bullying, and all of a sudden this bold woman doesn't want to take a public stand. I'm grateful I still have the right to vote, in private, without fear - knowing it is the Lord who raises up one and takes down another.

Be still

Just be.

Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Coal

I know that's not how the song goes, but it fits. Today I was a coal miner. The pressure wasn't quite intense enough to produce diamonds, but it was a really, really hard day at work and I just felt like I spent 18 hours in the pitch black with only a pick axe and my weakening headlamp to light the work. I kept my mouth shut pretty much and just bore down and pressed through. I nearly coughed up a lung when the stress made my hiatal hernia bring up supper.

I am still going to name gifts, though I'm skipping Ann's list today because I didn't see anything bloom.

275. My son's crippled MacBook Pro was repaired, thanks to the discs I sent via Priority Post arriving today and a kind soul at Apple Care walking him through an obscure restart option that enabled him to repair the errors. Maybe Mom couldn't fix it, but I helped. And I prayed. Best fix ever.

276. I finally had the courage to say no to someone who sideways-delegates work they had been asked to do. Yes, I know grammatically I should specify he or she but I prefer to not make this too easy to identify. Let's just say it wasn't a staff member. I stood my ground because I'm already doing two jobs. Taking on another task was impossible. There are times when saying "No" is the right thing to do, even if it makes someone else's life a little bit more complicated.

277. I cooked quinoa for my supper. Alongside lemon-dill salmon, it was lovely. I love my rice cooker. Finished the quinoa perfectly, with two additional servings left for lunches.

278. I spoke out generally about those who lose their sanctification when cheering for their sports team. Sometimes you need to shine that dimming headlamp so someone else can see they are just making them selves look dirty.

Busy Thanks

I continue naming 1,000 gifts in 2012. Is it possible to be too busy to be grateful? Here I am, catching up again, but it is good to give thanks. Any time. Any day.

3 Gifts Waited For, April 7

262. An appointment with a nutritionist to deal with newly identified food intolerances.

263. Time to write.

264. Repeatedly singing the song: “We Will Wait” by Amanda Falk in preparation for singing it solo on Sunday.

3 Gifts Rising Up, April 8

265. Standing up to praise in harmony with my husband and long time friend.

266. Waking to Easter morning, all life begun anew

267. A chance to help my son with a computer problem. I'm so glad he asked.

A Gift Hiding, Held, Heard, April 9

268. I looked long and hard for a receipt in order to activate my birthday gift from December (iPad2). The receipt still hides, but the gift in looking was that I know where so many other things are hiding now.

269. I held my iPad2, finally deciding to activate the data plan and begin using it regularly. It meant a trip to the Apple store to get a proper SIM card. 

270. “You don’t need your receipt for that.” –Apple Store rep

3 Gifts Opened Up, April 10

271. The front door to a clean house when I came home. Thankful for people who love to clean for a living.

272. The ears of colleagues who are open to receive input and engage in constructive dialogue.

273. The words and hearts of five other women around my dinner table tonight, giving and receiving the gift of affirmation: what we have meant to each other and how each one has grown in their life and faith in the past seven months.

Related:
274. My husband willingly giving me space to entertain my group of women. 

Question: Who needs your affirmation today? What if the only people who will be here tomorrow are the ones you told "Thanks" today?

Garrison Keillor: He does good work

Image linked from Wikipedia bio on Keillor

Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion has done more to encourage my love and knowledge of poetry than any other person. I owe him a debt of gratitude for an expanded life. His "Good Poems" books are generous and delightful collections of poems all of us should know and read often. In his public radio program, The Writers Almanac, Keillor consistently presents solid, accessible poetry. The spot is transcribed and accessible online or via email. It is an email subscription I enjoy daily.

Besides a poem, Keillor includes one or two background pieces on writers or other famous individuals. Today's Almanac struck me as particularly poignant. A poem about so much more than aging, "Old Guys" by Wesley McNair and a piece about the surrender at Appomattox which ended the Civil War.

I recommend it to you. A brief journey into history, even emotion, that will leave you better for having visited. Click here to read or listen.

Garrison Keillor is added as gift 261 as I continue naming 1,000 gifts in 2012.


Question: What public figure has expanded your life?