Forty degrees and rain on this Saturday morning. That makes it a fairly cold morning. I went out and put the mail in the box and did a brisk step to get on back in the house since I didn't have my jacket on. But it isn't freezing rain or snow so I guess I should be giving praise to the rainmaker instead of whining about it. It isn't like I have any outside plans at the moment anyway. The most ambitious thing I have done this morning is to go to the mail box and to begin defrosting my little Katchen Aid refrigerator that I have out here in the sunporch.

At some point today, Ms. Kate and I do need to get out and do some shopping at the grocery. I still need to get the birdfood stuff and while I am at that store we might as well go on over to Sam's; although I hate going to Sam's on a weekend. It is always so crowded because that is the day they have the vendors in and are cooking up their "samples". I swear some people just go their to "eat free" off of those samples. I generally don't take any of them and my reasoning is really dumb. I'm the same way about my fellow veteran's that line up for an hour outside of a resturant that is giving "free" meals on Veteran's Day etc. I was raised to think it made you look like a beggar, or someone who always had their hand out. What's dumb about that is that the thought had to have come from my father because my mother was the queen of "I sure wish I had" to people and they would bring it to her. The traits we learn in our young environment are interesting. But my father engrained in me that you don't ask anybody for anything including help. You do your own work and don't bother people. It probably explains a lot about me and my impatience today rather than waiting on someone else to help me do something.

There's a battle going on in the back yard this morning. A squirrel is trying to get to the bark butter feeders and the starlings are having no truck with that. Every time it gets close, the starlings fly over to peck at it. It is quite amusing to watch. The squirrel is really getting frustrated. But it is so focused on getting that feeder that is is ignoring the feeders that are full and easily reachable. People do that too don't they? We get so focused on wanting the blessings that someone else has --- we totally ignore the blessings that God has laid out just for us. The end result is that we miss out completely. We don't get what they had and we don't get what we could have had.

I took down the Christmas tree yesterday and got 99% of the ornaments put away. There are maybe a dozen "special ornaments" that Ms. Kate will have to decide what they go in. Once that is done, I'll put those away too.

Say a prayer for safe travels for Julie today as she travels from Louisville, KY to Johnson City, TN for the weekend. She goes over there to donate plasma once in awhile. There is something about her blood that researchers want to study and are willing to pay for. But, it is supposed to rain over in that area today and having just traveled that route, I know there is a lot of construction on the way over and back.

Time for me to get busy. I hope your weekend is full of love and joy and the peace of the presence of Christ. Don't miss an opportunity to do something for someone and share your blessings with others. The weather might be a bit gloomy but God's love will always bring you sunshine within your soul if you just open yourself to it. Shalomn.