60 Cheers for 60 Years--Happy Birthday!

My husband turned 60 today and we sort of celebrated all weekend.  I had a big surprised planned and he was trying to guess what it could be, but I stumped him.

We got this big cookie on Saturday--he preferred it to cake.

Spunky wasted no time jumping into the box and batted Manny away.

He proudly models his new Rudy Notre Dame jacket

I gave him the "Grumpy Old Bear" t-shirt on Saturday, the warm pajamas ("gift wrapped" by L.L. Bean) on Sunday and the Notre Dame "Rudy" jacket and Notre Dame tossle cap this morning. 

When he went outside to walk Abby, he said what's this?  Here is what he saw on our front yard from http://www.overnightgreetings.com/:  He got a big kick out of it and Abby didn't even bark when they came during the night to set it up!

He loved his yard surprise!

Gerard had a great birthday.  He took the day off work and did whatever he wanted all day long.  It was 60 degrees so Abby got a few extra walks in.  Sorry the picture is kind of dark but I had to go to work so took this before I left.  It's dark when I leave and dark when I get home now. I was pleased--they even spelled his name right!

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Down in the Dumps Friday (UPDATED 12-3-12)

What is usually "happy Friday" turned into a bad Friday for me.  Someone hurt my feelings and I was in a stew about it all day which slowly turned into anger.  I couldn't get it off my mind all night and so Saturday morning, I decided to do something about it.  I wrote an email to the person who hurt my feelings but here is the key:  I did not send it.  By just writing down my thoughts, I was able to release the tension I was feeling so that was a good thing.  I certainly don't want to make things worse.  

Here's the best part though.  After drafting the email, I had my quiet time with the Lord and here is what I read from the The Power of a Positive Woman by Karol Ladd:

It's so easy to sweat the small stuff and groan over our immediate cares and concerns; but as we turn our sights heavenward, we gain a whole new perspective.  In this life we are going to have happy times and sad times.  But at all times, we can be positive, joyful women because we have our heavenly Father's assurance:  "It's better higher up."

Wow!  How timely! This helped me tremendously--it was exactly what I needed to hear.  I love that God is in control and helps me deal with anything that comes up.  Reading this just reminded me that in the big scheme of things, this is a small and probably a "moe hill" that I really don't want to turn into a "mountain."  When I reflect on the situation, what has really been hurt is primarily my pride.  I know men compartmentalize things all the time and wish I could do that.  But women, you know that we don't do that.  If something gets under our skin, it's there no matter where we are or what we are doing, right?  I determined not to let this incident ruin my whole weekend and quickly grabbed back my joy, turning the situation over to God.

I may or may not send the email on Monday.  I'll have to calmly assess the pros and cons and make sure I am not sending it just to make the other person feel bad but rather because I think it will help in some way.  I will also review it and make sure I didn't come across as whiny or disrespectful which would definitely just make things worse.  I already am inclined not to send it but rather just talk to the person face-to-face after praying for direction.      

Must Read for Any Woman!

The Power of a Positive Woman is such an encouragement packed full of interesting stories and great quotes.  I really can't say enough good things about it and will continue to write more blog posts sharing more from it in the upcoming weeks.  It is definitely one of my favorite all-time Christian non-fiction books.  I am actually keeping a notebook of the things I am underlining as I read--it's that good!

Are you ever down in the dumps?  How do you get out?

UPDATED 12/3/12: My meeting Monday morning went very well. In fact, it could not have gone any better and I am glad I did not send the email!

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Thanks For Commenting!

We enjoy reading all the comments we receive on our blogs and had 230 during November so we will donate $115 to the Cleveland City Mission, which was our charity for November.  With Christmas shopping and all the extra expenses related to the holidays, we will not be donating to charity based on our blog comments.  I am also considering cutting back on blogging for the month of December so probably will not post as often on this blog.

We are going to try to cut back on our charitable giving next year to practice what our budget would look like if we had only one salary coming in; therefore, we will not continue to make charitable contributions based on blog comments next year.  I doubt if this will have any impact at all on the amount of comments we receive.  Never fear though because this month Beth Ann at It's Just Life is donating money based on the number of comments she gets to Josh's Yolka Project which helps orphanages in Russia.  I hope you will visit her blog.  This really sounds like a wonderful project and 100% of donations go to the orphanages!

I feel very good about our giving but really need to narrow the field.  It's hard to choose just a few organization to support because the need is so great and there are so many wonderful non-profit organizations out there. 

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9 Friday Fragments from a Wife and Husband

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

My Leg Pain Update

My pain is almost gone, whew! I find if I don't sit too long it's better. Some days I didn't even have any! I am happy to report I can now put my socks on standing up again, do my morning exercises pain free and was even able to run for the bus coming home from work Wednesday with no pain! Yay! Praise the Lord. Sometimes I do still need an Advil to sleep good at night. It seems I feel it most when I'm in bed now.

Funniest Post of the Week

I love to laugh and I thought Mama Sick's post, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, is hilarious. I laughed so hard that my hubby came to see what was so funny. It's a conversation with her 6-yr-old son about drawing her portrait.

Birthday Surprise

Monday my wonderful husband turns 60 and boy is he going to be surprised! I can hardly wait.


Here's Things Gerard Learned This Week:

Restaurants

It pays to apply to restaurant web sites--I got four free offers from Denny's, Perkins, Arby's and Eat and Park--Yum! Yum!

Larry Hangman

Larry Hangman passed away (Karen didn't even know who he was, do you?) I loved watching him as J.R. on "Dallas." He was a great actor!

Black Friday Shopping

I still love to shop on Black Friday early in the morning even if my shopping bag did bust open! Bath and Body Works was the most crowded store in the mall!

Happy Sunday

I like being a greeter at our church; didn't think I would like it as much as I do. I enjoy greeting people as the come and wishing them a Happy Sunday (I'm still waiting for my official greeter name tag.

Awesome Saturdays

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame went 12-0 which made me very happy--my Saturdays were awesome! Sad to see the season end.

Audio Book of the Week

Cold Ice by Tess Gerritsen was the audio book I looked forward to listening to all week. It's a thriller that I highly recommend. Click the link to see my review and find out more about it.

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A Sparkle Post (Writer's Workshop)

Although I get lots of free calendars from charities that we donate to, I actually bought one for 2013.  It's not just any old ordinary cat calendar because this one features our blogging friend, Sparkle the Designer Cat!  It has pictures of Sparkle and Binga but what makes this really special is that it has a different Rule that humans need to know about cats.  I read one of Sparkle's advice books and enjoyed it very much.  What better way to get tips on what makes cats happy than advice from a real cat?

It was the first time I ordered anything from the Zazzle store and was so excited when the package came, I opened it right away.  Then saw this:

What a disappointment!  This is not what I ordered!  (UPDATED 11/30--This is truly a personal calendar with family members featured on the months of their birthdays.  I just flipped through it today after reading the comment of a curious commenter.)  Now I have my white elephant gift for this year's Christmas party!  ARRGH!  After contacting customer service, taking a couple pictures to attach to an email, I quickly got the response I desired.  They told me I could keep this lovely calendar and immediately sent the one I requested:

Yes, I love it! I think this would be a wonderful gift for any cat owner! Better hurry to order one though, you may have to contact customer service.

This post was inspired by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt: 3.) Write a post, poem, or story that somehow incorporates the word: Sparkle

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