Eeny Meeny Miny Mo

Much of our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day.  Some decisions aren't worth taking lots of time to decide, while others require careful thought, research, and prayer.  The big important decisions we tend to make carefully, giving them lots of consideration.  Yet sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change our life forever (like going with my room mate to the party at the Elk's Club where I met Joe).  It's often difficult to discern between what's important and what isn't.

Have you ever realized that Choice B is the correct one, but you want Choice A?  So you go through the whole decision making process again (eeny meeny miny mo) and again (and again, and again) and still come up with Choice B.  At this point, you finally override Choice B and pick Choice A anyway.  Don't we often treat the will of God this same way?  We know He has a plan and a choice for us, but so often we just go through the motions of choosing so we feel better about choosing what we want His will to be.

It was a lazy Saturday morning for me and since I was subbing from 11 am - 5 pm, I didn't have the gumption to do much before going in to work.  As I go about my business, Stevie likes to chase me, zoom past, hide, and then attack me.

After work, Joe and I went to dinner with Brian, Andy and Rita.  Selecting a restaurant, and then what to have from the menu, can be so arduous.






We all enjoyed a huge Mexican feast.  La Costa wouldn't have been my choice of restaurant, but I ended up loving it and making a big pig of myself on chicken & steak fajitas.  Joe said his sea food combo dish was the best he has ever had.

Sunday was Church, work from noon to 5:15 and then the Super Bowl.  It was an easy choice to not watch the game with Joe, but instead concentrate on my Bible study homework.  I also took Maggie for a nice long walk and spent some time on the computer.





The predicted snow did not come overnight, and pretty sunshine Monday morning was actually a surprise.  Sometimes I wonder if the weatherman uses "eeny meeny miny mo" with his forecasted choice of rain, sleet, snow, clouds, sunshine, etc.  I debated going to the barn and/or gym (and even had an itching to go work in the yard) but had set aside the day for packing, thinking I would be snowed in.  

With my back still really hurting (I think I pulled my lower right Serratus Posterior muscle) I decided horse back riding, weights, or yard work would not be helpful.  So I set to the daunting task of packing.  I needed to select a suit case, tote bag, purse, clothes, shoes, etc; for our cruise.  Of course Stevie was right in the way, intrigued with what I was doing.  Seen left, she kept attacking the clothes in my laundry pile.  Below, she was not helping me keep my piles of clean clothes, clean.

Slowly during the day the winds and clouds increased as the temperature decreased and I plodded along trying to decide what to take on the cruise (eeny meeny miny mo). 

By 12:30, I had made enough progress to justify a break.  After a quick bite to eat, I loaded the dog in the car and drove to new roads for exploration on foot.
 
In the left photo, the white dots are snow flakes that were coming down onto the big, black, slanted, slab of rock.  Below, (fresh) innards I discovered in a remote cul-de-sac.  I don't know if these were deer or wild boar.







It snowed/sleeted off and on while we made our way down uninhabited roads.  After over two hours of walking, I returned home with the dog, started a fire, and showered.  


Watching me start the fire, Stevie jumped into the bucket I bring logs into the house with.  She is just such a neat kitty... so much fun, always looking for trouble.

Joe cooked a frozen pizza for dinner.  The real snow finally started coming down and covering everything in its blanket of white.  I was too tired to give packing another go, so read and computerized until bed time. 
  






I woke sometime after 1 am and couldn't get back to sleep, even though I took a sleeping pill at bedtime.  The pre-travel jitters and excitement had my brain going.  So I got up for a few hours and entertained myself on Facebook.  

It didn't snow much overnight, but started coming down again around 6 am Tuesday morning.  In the left photo, you can see the path I swept on the deck to put out feeders, which was already getting covered up. 







Seen right (in the distance) is a view of our back deck and yard that Brian took from his house.  It was pretty out, and I was glad to have a snow day (all FGCC facilities were closed for the day) to keep me here and help me focus on packing.

Several things I dug up from deep storage needed cleaning and airing out.  I hung Britney's toilet kit up for this purpose, and guess who was right there checking it out.



I started my first of three loads of laundry to get all I was to pack nice and clean.  There was the weekly clothes and linens as well.



I selected some bags for carry on, beach, and hotel, but needed to get everything together to see what size suitcase was necessary.

Again, my helper was right there giving me assistance.

  
I took care of dog and cat sitting details, made more decisions (eeny meeny miny mo) as to what book to bring, which eye glasses, what computer, how much money, etc.  I also made lists of last minute stuff to pack, what travel clothes to wear, and what last minute things to do here at the house.  I didn't start putting clothes into a suitcase because I did not want them to get wrinkled, so I felt like I hadn't completed much of the packing process.

Pretty much my whole day was spent on trip preparation.  I did get out with the dog for a few more walks and took this photo from across the pond.  I also got a fire going mid afternoon, and cooked dinner.  

Part of my trip preparedness has been trying to stay up later each night.  However, I was in bed at 8:10, just too tired to stay up any longer, and my back was still really bothering me.

What snow had melted the day before, was replaced with new snowfall over night, and all was again white on Ash Wednesday morning.  The sun was shining, but the temperature was down to 18 degrees and the wind up to 16 mph.  My first early morning walk was cold, so I kept it short.  Over the years, I have usually given up something (typically sweats) for Lent.  Knowing I would be on a cruise next week, with all-you-can-eat, part of my paid for vacation package, I didn't know what to give up (eeny meeny miny mo).  And then I saw this message from Pope Francis on Facebook.  I decided to take his advice, to give up my selfish tendencies and be more intentional about being kind, loving and giving to ALL my neighbors.  This will be a lot better for my spiritual life and everybody else's.  

An Eastern Blue Bird, Downy Woodpecker (on suet) and a Cardinal at my feeders.  I also had a Goldfinch on the thistle feeder, but it flew away.  
I was hoping FGCC would have a delayed opening and I might get a shorter shift, but that didn't work out.  I went to the Conference Center early to swim and sit in the hot tub, hoping it would help my back.  It did some, but I was also having abdominal pain that I blamed on gas.

My 1-7 shift tried my patience, and my new Lent commitment.  School was not in session again and there were a bunch of unruly kids and uncaring parents in the pool.  I did get several thank-yous from our regular members as I tried to keep kids under control.  

In an effort to stay up late and eat late (which we will be doing on our cruise) I had beer and popcorn just before 9 pm.  I was still in bed before 10:00 but my belly and back were both still troubling me.
    

Thursday I made my final selection of purse and suitcase, and started filling them up.  Stevie snatched something off the bed and I had to chase her down to see what she took.  It was the night light I always pack.


Once the packing was done, I went to Terry's to drop off dog stuff.  Maggie would get dropped off the next morning.  I hit the gym on the way home, and felt a little better after a good workout and stretching exercises.  

Friday (this morning) it was snowing like nobody's business.  I hate driving in the snow and am feeling a little anxious.  I have done most of the last minute things and am ready to go.  Joe will be driving us to Jacksonville tonight and then Ft. Lauder-dale tomorrow, where our cruise adventure begins.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, mo"... can be the best selection method when the choice doesn't really make much difference and you have no idea which to choose.
  



When picking out a new kitten, I would like to be able to take them all (Eeny, meeny, miny, more).  As far as choosing a presidential candidate is concerned, I like Grumpy Cat's choice!