• Family - Heart-Attack-recovery

    What a difference an hour makes

    I glanced at the last blog entry. I smiled as I read: more tomorrow. And there was “more tomorrow.” There was more “tomorrow” in yesterday than I’ve had in a very long time. And so… I mull over my closing statement: “more tomorrow.” I mull it over and consider: what a difference an hour makes. I had finished up on the computer… my husband and sons came in from a long day… it was late, they were tired and they were ready to hit the sack, so to speak. My husband came in and talked to me for a bit,…

  • Potpourri

    blogging’s like a bicycle

    Well, sometimes blogging’s like a bicycle. You ride and ride and ride some weeks and then other weeks you just can’t seem to get to the peddling. Still other times, blogging’s sort of like a bicycle with a loose chain… you get going and things seem to be running along pretty smoothly and then the chain slips off the gear. That’s a bit descriptive of my blogging style, I suppose. Yesterday… o, yesterday… what a day! I’ll write more about it tomorrow — it was a bittersweet day. It was the day of our friend’s memorial service… but yesterday was…

  • family/friends events

    Remembering Bob Bruzas

    Robert Alan “Bob” Bruzas “Bob Bruzas was born on September 22, 1943 in Seattle, WA to Joseph and Ruth Bruzas. He was raised in Bothell and graduated from Bothell High in 1961. A love of children led him to pursue volunteer work with Easter Seals, and a career in teaching. He graduated from Washington State University in 1966. He was the director of Camp Patterson, for disabled children, for 13 years. This is where he met his wife, Hildi, who worked there as a counsellor. They married in 1972, and began raising their family in Everett, where Bob worked with…

  • Family - More Slices of Life

    A families’ Rubicon

    Throughout the week I’ve been thinking on some of the talks men gave during our fellowship on Sunday. We gather each week with believers in a home church and each week our meeting is in the form of an open meeting – meaning, that in addition to singing and prayer, the men share what the Lord’s given them to share in the way of a message or a testimony or whatever. I generally take notes so that I can review the talks later or so that I can look up whatever Scriptures have been cited. Occasionally one of the men…

  • Grandparenting - Parenting

    Parenting and Grandparenting Little Ones

    The interesting thing about grandparenting little ones while still bringing up little ones at home is the necessary time each requires. Necessary time for instilling priorities and grounding in the relationship, necessary time for attention and care and necessary time for establishing order and authority. It’s a tough balancing act at times. There’s the grandparents inherent desire to be accepted, appreciated, loved, etc., by the grandchildren — something that really is natural in children, but somehow, generally, grandparents don’t have that solid assurance from their grandchildren that they have from their own children. I think it has to do with…

  • Potpourri

    09-11-01

    Do you recall where you were and what you were doing on September 11, 2001? On 9-11, what’s inherently understood as September, 11, 2001, our country was hit with the worst terrorist attack in history. I think most of us can remember things or events of that day as if they occurred this day. I was sleeping and my mother called on the phone to alert us that a plane had crashed into one of the buildings of the World Trade Center and that if we could, we should get to our television. She knew that we have no reception…

  • Homemaking

    housekeeping

    It might appear by the looks of some people’s desks or cabinets (or garages) that they are disorganized or messy… and yet, sometimes these are the most productive, organized people around. They seem to be able to set their hands on any needed item at a moment’s notice. They, even though it might appear otherwise, know right where everything is. Orderliness. I have attempted this my whole life. I am not orderly… not really. It may seem so, but, as a general rule, I’m just too abstract random. I hate this flaw… no, wait, who has a flaw they like?…

  • Grandparenting

    Happy Grandparenting

    I love the testimony of a plaque that hangs on the kitchen wall at our friends’ house. She’s Nana to six grandchildren. As is shown below, the first four letters of the word, spoiled, have been crossed out. It’s a great conversation piece and thought provoking, too. Too often grandparents and other people joke about little children and poke fun at rules and limits. Almost mocking indulgences are made when people give children “treats” or other things the parents wouldn’t want them to have or would want in moderation not excess. We’re of the same mind that the worst thing…

  • Potpourri

    The Way I See It

    Or, actually, the way I figure it is that I’ve bought enough Starbuck$ mochas to be invited to submit quotes for their cups. I know, I know… it is rather presumptuous of me to think I’ve got a running shot at the competition. But, I mean, really… have you read some of the quotes? Now, actually, there have been some rare occasions I’ve gotten a cup with a quote worth framing. Seriously. However, most of the time, I don’t find the quote worth the cup it’s printed on… and surely not a filled cup.   Okay, okay… enough of that rant. …

  • family/friends events - marriage

    loyal — to the end

    [September 6, 2007] Several weeks ago I wrote but never completed the following blog entry. Now that story has an ending. My heart is heavy today as I think of our friends and the first day they spend without their husband/father. Wes took Hannah back over to Idaho on Sunday morning so that she could continue helping our friends and she called a bit after midnight to share that the final chapter was complete. Today our friend, Bob, woke up in the presence of the Lord Jesus… in the presence of all the saints who’ve gone before and of the…