Comments From Nilla

Today definitely began as a Monday. It's been raining for like 3 days straight. And this morning the rain was coming down pretty good. So I was headed to work, and had my X-Files DVD to watch while working, plus my grocery store sales ad, plus all the coupons I'd clipped yesterday. And it was all balanced precariously in my hand as I hurried through the rain to my car. And while I was trying to unlock the door, the balance quit being balanced, and I dropped everything (the disc and all coupons) except the sales ad, which had been supporting everything else. Boo. So my coupons got soaked, and I had to lay them out on paper towels at the funeral home. And then, by the time I got to the funeral home, the rain was coming down even faster and harder, and I got good and soaked. So yep, it definitely began as a Monday. But tonight is Monday Meals. So it can only get better ;).

So I had a mild cold last week. I really can't complain, because that's about as bad as it gets for me every year. Usually around the beginning of the change of seasons, I wake up one morning with a sore throat. Then the next morning I will also have a sore throat and then I start to feel stuffy. Only I don't sound stuffy, but voice will sound a bit rough from the throat scratchiness. By day 3, I'm officially stuffy, but the sore throat is gone. Day 4 will find me going to the restroom every 5 minutes to blow my nose (it's either that or spend the day sniffing or let it drip -- ew). Day 5 will be similar to day 4, just less frequent nose-blowing. Side note: I always go to the bathroom or somewhere else where nobody else is around to blow my nose. One of my pet peeves is people blowing their nose in my presence. It grosses me out. By day 6, everything is pretty much cleared up, except the skin around my nostrils is sure to be chaffed from all the tissue I've been rubbing up there all week.

Anyway, so why do I tell you all this? Well, so you'll feel sorry for me, of course ;). Nah, I'm kidding. Actually it was because along with the stuffy nose around day 4, I get another "symptom" that is a result of the stuffy nose. And that is an inability to taste. Let me just say this: not being able to taste sucks. And so it occurred to me how very very thankful I am for the sense of taste. I mean, when you think about it, we don't need to be able to taste in order to live. If nobody was ever born with taste buds, we'd never know the difference. And probably food would be a lot less expensive, because we could all eat gruel 3 meals a day for all it mattered. And so it made me think that I am thankful to a Heavenly Father who created in us an ability to taste and enjoy food. Because I love food. (As though you didn't already know, right ;)). It made me think of a Primary song that I loved to sing in childhood and loved to play on the piano as an adult (it is one of the few that will actually be recognizable when I play it ;)).

My Heavenly Father Loves Me
Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky;
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by.
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by a lilac tree...
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart;
I thank Him reverently
For all His creations of which I'm a part.
Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.
-Clara W. McMaster

I am thankful for those things that help make life wonderful. The things that don't have to be as far as survival is concerned, but that are so that we may find joy in the journey. There is beauty everywhere, when I look for it. Even in rain-drenched Washington. I mean, it is always green :). Which is beautiful to me. And when it's a clear day, seriously... The views are breathtaking.

And in less "thoughty" news ;).... (I got that word from A B.C. Christmas. "Oh, that was very thoughty of you." I think it may also have been featured in Dilbert :).)

So while house-sitting, I am relishing quietude and watching movies and TV shows. Arrested Development seriously makes me laugh. "Have any of you ever actually seen a chicken?" Hahaha. But I don't spend all my time watching TV. I am also enjoying the quietude and reading a lot. I finished a historical fiction for children from the "Dear America" series. It was the journal of a girl who rode the Titanic. I love stuff about the Titanic, and i just needed something quick to fill my gap between books, since I was waiting on one to come in on hold for me. So that was a good, quick read. And then I got the one I've been waiting for since like September. Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen. I'm loving the book, but then I love all of Gerritsen's books. But here's the thing. Very suspenseful. Very. And so it's a little scary sitting there alone reading this suspense book. Hahaha. You would think I would have learned 11 years ago when I was the only one still awake at home, sitting in my recliner in my room, reading Salem's Lot. When I turned off the light, it was a little creepy. And I had to go into my sister's room to sleep, since my cousin was there visiting, and I think we decided we'd all sleep in the same room. Or maybe I was wimpy and didn't want to sleep alone after reading Salem's Lot. I can't really remember ;).