rambling rosemarie

I was driving home from church today and my mind began to formulate a blog article. I was listening to the news, percolating on the sermon I had heard, thinking about my friend's challenge to me to build some discipline and they all got jumbled up in my pointy little head. So I thought about Christmas instead. I feel strongly both ways about Christmas. I love decorating the house, singing carols and in general all the warm fuzzies the holidays can bring. I hate the pressure to buy. I hate that I am separated from my kids, I hate that I have no one to celebrate the season with. Mostly I hate that Christians ought to celebrate Christmas and Easter every day and we don't. Many of us put more effort into Black Friday sales events than we do with the Advent. We read or listen to or watch the news nearly every day and we have plenty of opinions about what we see, read or hear. We all feign shock when the stores put out the Christmas decor in September but why? We say we are t

Recently a friend of mine gave me a writing assignment. My friend (one that wishes to be anonymous) challenged me to find 3 or 4 of my other well read friends and have them read something I penned in 10 minutes or less. I was told to find folks who would be honest with me, something I am happy to say is not difficult. My friends, God love them and so do I, are nothing if not honest. My task included and asking them to tell me if, after reading three or four paragraphs of something I'd assembled in haste, they would put the book down or turn the page and continue reading. I am all things curious so I took the challenge. Two out of three of my friends said they would continue reading. Reporting back to the friend issuing the challenge I was curious what their response would be and what point they were attempting to make. I wasn't prepared for their answer. "I hate your guts." My friend doesn't really hate me, of this I am confident. Armed with that assurance I

Sometimes the oddest things will generate time spent in deepest thought. Today I was accomplishing some cooking. On my stove cooling as I write this are the following food items: Lentil, ham and split pea soup; barley chicken soup; browned bison and grass fed ground beef with sautéed onions, bell pepper and garlic; some basil tomato sausages and a couple more incidentals. I went shopping at a Whole Foods store yesterday and because it is so far from my home, I buy more fresh food than I can consume in a couple of days. I generally like to come home and cook things up and either freeze them or extend the time that they are considered good by cooking them and then nuking them as I go through the week. I was thinking about the mess I was making and if I would have the energy to clean up after myself or if it would have to wait until morning. That led me down a trail of thoughts which can be dangerous for me. I can start focusing on all the things I can't do and how I need to f