Jeri Tuesdays and More:

Oh my gosh, I LOVE not working!  I LOVE investing my time and energy into MY family, friends and life.  I know that I am very lucky to have this opportunity, and I appreciate it so much.  I owe it all to this man, my Best Friend Husband, Cary:

Because I am getting a second chance to have the life that I enjoyed before I went back to work, I am trying to make it even better than before.  That means that I am trying to not complain about trivial things, and am doing my best to be a blessing...and a conscientious encourager.  It is so much fun!  The not complaining is even kinda easy.  I spent the past 18 months of complaining about my job so nothing really seems too irritating these days.

One thing that has been a blessing to me is my friendship with Jeri.  We met at my old job, and then she quit, but we have maintained contact.  Now that we are both not working, we are starting to hang out.  The past two Tuesdays we have done fun things together.  

The first Tuesday, I invited her over to an impromptu lunch in the yard. 

I set it up in the shade, and then the sun came and we had to move things over, but that was okay.  Lawn furniture is light.

Here is my friend Jeri!  We are like twins.  We talk and talk and talk.  I know that she will keep what I say confidential, will never judge me, and I love her giggle.  Jeri blesses, listens and encourages me.

For lunch, I went to the store and grabbed a cooked chicken.  I came home, made some Rice-a-Roni and steamed some broccoli.  Added some olives and cranberry sauce and that is what we ate.  It was so good, and so easy.

We were happy.  The special touch of eating outside was nice.

I have continued to help my niece with her daycare website and Facebook page.  She made our great-niece, Lucia, the profile picture for the FB page, and has become very enthusiastic about adding photos and gaining followers.  I feel really happy about the time that I invested at Cub Corner Learning Center, Inc.  I am trying my best to be an encourager over there too.

Last Friday was my birthday!  It was a very nice one, and pretty quiet.  Many phone calls, cards, and FB birthday wishes. We had pizza and cake over at Cary's Mom's house with his brother and sister-in-law.  That was so nice of them.  Cary and his Mom both gave me some money for my birthday, and I had my eye on these boots.:

 

They weren't very much, but the drive was nearly an hour away.  So, I asked Jeri if she would like to go with me to pick up the boots and then go to the pumpkin patch nearby.  She said sure.  We hit the road around 9:30 and made it to Marcy's house at 10:30.

Marcy is the sweetest gal ever.  She has an online clothing store on FB called the Dixie Hippie.  We had a super nice visit with Marcy and her daughter and found out that we have friends in common.

My new boots!

After leaving Marcy's we went to the Central Oregon Pumpkin Company at Smith Rock Ranch.  What an outstanding place that is.

 

Jeri loves the animals, almost as much as she loves little kids.  

I will do a separate post on the petting zoo later, because I took so many pictures.  Here are some of the farm photos:

I brought home some of these bumpy pumpkins (above), and Jeri bought some gourds.  She makes the neatest miniature displays with them.

What a neat place! 

After we left there, we went to Applebee's for lunch.  Another perfect Jeri Tuesday.

My Mom's birthday was last week too.  She is on FB, but never uses it.  So, I posted this picture of her and asked people to make comments as birthday wishes or email or call her.  Then I copied and pasted all of the comments and emailed them to her.  A personalized virtual birthday card!  She loved it.  

Well, that is enough for now, I suppose.  I have a bunch of pillows to get started on today.  Yesterday I got things organized:

So, there we go.  Hope that you all have an excellent day.  Be an encourager and Celebrate the Positive!

Hugs,
Kathy M.

P.S. - Can you guys please pray for my BIL Ken today?  He really isn't feeling well.  Thank you.

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