herbiehancock

1.  When your son's picture is in the local newspaper, someone at one of the local banks cuts the clipping out of the paper, laminates it, and sends it to you in the mail.  This keepsake arrives just two days after the paper came out--sometimes before you have even had time to read the paper yourself! Oh, and you don't even have an account with that bank!!   Members of your church and the people that you work with also take the time to clip these kinds of photos and articles out and save them for you. 2. You have three potlucks to attend in one week--one a fundraiser at the local school for the high school orchestra, one with a church  fellowship group, and one at your work place as part of a Christmas celebration.   These are the pineapple carrot cake cupcakes* I made for the orchestra event we attended tonight. 3. It takes you over an hour to get back from buying a gallon of milk at a grocery store that is five minutes away from your home because the town...

This glorious sunrise greeted me this morning. This was my view looking out from my front door. * * * * The temperature finally got above freezing for a bit here yesterday. Several times throughout the day I heard, "whooooosh, CRASH, woof." The whooooosh was the sound of ice and snow sliding off the roof. The CRASH was the icicles shattering on the ground below. The woof was my little poodle dog, Max's, commentary on the first two sounds. They were welcome sounds, all. Today, the weatherman has forecast a high of 32 degrees for us. Although yesterday and today's temperatures are predicted to be short-lived with a return to colder temperatures around 15 degrees again tomorrow, I plan on enjoying the "warmer" ones as much as I can while they are here. Walking from my car across the parking lot and into the library where I work yesterday, I also noticed that I was able to walk the entire way across without encountering a single patch of ice or bump...

My older son was home for the past two weeks for his Christmas break from college. It was so good to have him home for a while. While he was home, we were going someplace in the car when the song below came on the radio. He began singing and knew every word. It made me laugh. This song came out as a single in 1977, the year I graduated from high school. I sang along with him, of course. "I didn't know you knew this song," I said to him. "Everybody knows this song, Mom. It's a classic. It's part of our culture." "I didn't know you liked disco," I said next. "Sure, I like disco. It's good stuff. I don't know why it died." (Well, he is MY son, after all! Poor kid--- HA HA HA!) I explained to him that it hadn't died, that it was still around, and that it was "Stayin' Alive" just like the song, but he didn't seem to believe me. So this song is for my son. It's funny, people always talk ab...

Charley, my son's pet lizard, is shedding again. Leopard gecko lizards shed their skins every two to five weeks, depending on their rate of growth. They then eat the discarded skin. ( Ewww! ) The first four photos here were taken yesterday. The rest were taken today. You can see he has gotten some large pieces of the skin off, but still there remains some on his head, tail, and feet . He keeps crawling through his drinking water bowl to moisten himself because that makes the skin come off easier. You can see where he has splashed the water out into the sand. He left a piece of the skin hanging on to the edge of his water bowl, I see. ( Ewww !) At this point, he looks a bit like he is wearing a hood over his head and gloves or mittens or socks on his little feet. While I was taking these pictures, he kept rubbing his head against the side of the glass aquarium and against the upside-down flower pot/cave that he likes to sleep under in an attempt to rub some more of the skin of...

Bing Crosby starts us off today to remind us to count our blessings. This next song is one I can remember singing in church on Sunday morning as a child. This one is sung by The Statesmen. While you are counting your blessings, listen to Johnny Cash sing a Thanksgiving Prayer on an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Like most people, I suppose, I am very grateful for my family and friends. Where would we be, and even, WHOM would we be, if it weren't for our family and friends. We are shaped and molded and helped along by our family and friends from the moment we are born until we die. We laugh together, and we cry together. We face the world together: sharing joys and concerns, solving problems, encouraging one another, lifting one another's spirits, comforting one another, and very simply caring for one another and about each other. The three songs I am posting today are with great gratitude to my family and friends as I continue this week of Thanksgiving. Thank you to those who I have shared so many memories with, thank you to those who have loved me and have allowed me to love them in return, and thank you to all those who have been my friend,whether we have shared only a moment or two or whether we have shared many. This expression of gratitude goes out to those I have met person...

This being the week of Thanksgiving, I wanted to start off today keeping the attitude of gratitude in the forefront. With that in mind, here are "Thankful" by Josh Groban and "Gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman. Thankful (lyrics) Somedays we forget To look around us Somedays we can't see The joy that surrounds us So caught up inside ourselves We take when we should give. So for tonight we pray for What we know can be. And on this day we hope for What we still can't see. It's up to us to be the change And even though we all can still do more There's so much to be thankful for. Look beyond ourselves There's so much sorrow It's way too late to say I'll cry tomorrow Each of us must find our truth It's so long overdue So for tonight we pray for What we know can be And every day we hope for What we still can't see It's up to us to be the change And even though we all can still do more There's so much to be thankful for. Even with ...