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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

What I Learned in May

Happy June! The month of May is over. It was packed full of family events (a wedding and graduation) and ended with a very special church retreat.  I'm linking up with Emily P. Freeman of Chatting at the Sky. Here are 7 things I learned in May:

1. Invite your college-age daughter to a women's retreat. I didn't. She had to ask me if she could go! We had a fabulous time and it will have to become a tradition. She was totally a joy to have in our "house" and my girlfriends had great talks with her.

2. Slurry is a combination of a thickening agent like cornstarch, combined with liquid. I was watching The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network and she was making yummy blackberry cheesecake squares for a church potluck.

3. Fake Bake it is: Even if I sunbathe for a bit (with sunscreen of course~I had a Melanoma in my early 20’s) my legs stay white-as-snow. My friend recommended I try Fake Bake tanner and it seems to be a good, un-smelly way for me to show off my middle-aged legs in shorts or skirts now that boots and tights season is behind us.

4. Somewhere in my "wicked past," I must have done something good... (Taking liberty with the song from Sound of Music.)  In Proverbs 31:28 it says: "Her children arise and call her blessed." I have a LONG time before I can compare myself to the Proverbs 31 woman, and my children usually sleep in when they're home, but in the last several months I’ve had the joy of having at least two of my four children write me loving notes about how I've influenced them. I’m not bragging, I’m just delighted that God has orchestrated our relationship so that I can be a positive factor in my children’s lives. I’m such a grateful Mama for the way my kiddos are turning out. They are so cool~I’d want to hang out with them even if I wasn’t their Mom!! (They even forgive me for not inviting them to retreats. See #1.)

5. College graduation ceremonies are wonderful, and long... Our #3 child graduated from Whitworth on the 18th and it was so fabulous to watch him cross the stage as a Theology major. Having sat through three other ceremonies (two undergrad and one graduate), we knew the "drill. Tip: bring a book or I-Pad to kill some time as ALL the names are read. Do not try to watch netflix though~my hubby accidentally was charged by the minute for the "hot spot" he subscribed to so he could watch a movie. Busted...

6. Don't assume. I had two things go a bit sideways over the weekend while I was on a retreat at Fort Worden in Port Townsend. I assumed everyone at work had looked at the schedule I'd written covering my Friday morning shift. NOT. I received a phone call and discovered no one was at the store until 1:00. Boo. I hope we didn't lose too many customers. 

On Saturday night one of our housemates wasn't home when the rest of us went to bed so we left on several lights and assumed we had left the door unlocked for her. NOT. My poor friend came home and discovered she was locked out. She spent a chilly night sleeping trying to sleep on the porch because none of us heard her quiet knock. I am not a camper; I would have been pounding and crying... Double check is the lesson. This lesson of not assuming also applies to #1.

7. Girlfriends trump the beach. I can't believe I was at the beach and never made it down for a walk along the water. I was having so much fun at the house, going to town, and talking on the front lawn with friends that I never ended up going to the beach and yet I still left refreshed and happy!

What did you learn in May?

In His Grip, Jane


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