Old age is a blessed time. It gives us leisure to put off our earthly garments one by one and dress ourselves for heaven. —Ray Palmer
I came across this quote not too long ago. It made me feel good. I haven’t yet felt that getting old is a bad thing — although sometimes my body wants to do things it did when it was 30 and the next day my bones say “What did you do that for?” Â (laughing)
I’m looking forward to the day when there will be no more tears, no more sweating, no more thorns on roses, no more conflict. I’m looking forward to the day when people won’t feel anger in their hearts or jealousy or lust or bitterness.
I’m looking forward to heaven.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.†Revelation 21:3-5
I did not take a lot of pictures of these cookies because I wasn’t sure how they would turn out. That was a big mistake.
Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
The cookies came out chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside. Very very good. I only made half the recipe (cookies go quickly in our family and if I make a full batch we’ll eat a whole batch). The recipe below is for a full batch and makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, soda and the salt. Mix well with a wire whisk then set this aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, blend the sugars at medium speed. Add the butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add the eggs and the vanilla extract then mix at medium speed until its light and fluffy.
Add the flour mixture and the chocolate chips then blend at low speed until just mixed. (Don’t overmix.)
Drop by rounded tablespoons on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
Bake 22-24 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. Transfer the cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.
Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yum! Yum! and Yum!
(This recipe is from the Mrs. Fields Cookie Book. There are a lot of good cookie recipes in this book. I’ll post more during the Christmas holidays.)
I have what is called atypical asthma meaning that I don’t normally have symptoms unless I get a really bad cold in my chest. Because of this, I don’t use an asthma inhaler every day. I’ve been known to go years without having to use one.
Earlier this year I had asthmatic bronchitis which led me to the emergency room and to my doctor for ongoing appointments.
I have been doing fairly well until we started using our wood fireplace. There are two important things that I’ve learned.
Make sure that the wood in the fireplace is no longer burning when you turn off the knob to let air out through the chimney flue
Make sure you burn wood that has been seasoned, ie it is totally dry, as it burns more efficiently and doesn’t let out as much smoke. This can take 6 months to a year.
Keep the doors to your fireplace closed. It may be warmer if you keep them open (and more dangerous) but more particles are let out into the air if you don’t close them.
We made the mistake last night of going to bed and turning the knob off to the flue even though the fire had not burned out completely. This morning, the whole house smells of smoke.
Since we only have one car, my intentions were to stay home and do “house” things today. But I grew concerned when my husband came over and told me that the house smelled and asked if I wanted to keep the car so I could get away. I told him no. Once out of bed though I could smell the smoke in the house. Our house is tightly insulated and we have 30-35% humidity. Smoke and low humidity are not good things for an asthma sufferer.
Before my husband left for work I asked him to turn on our air cleaner/ionizer which is in the family room. These work great but our house is too large for the one we have (a small Sears model that I would use in small spaces before moving here).
I brought the humidifier from our bedroom to the family room but it also is too small for the space we have.
Today, I’m wearing a cleaning/dust mask. It’s a mask you wear so that you don’t inhale pollutants while you’re cleaning. After I put that on, I started the humidifier. Then I opened windows. It’s 20 degrees outside and I am airing out our house. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
Then I started vacuuming. Why vacuum? I learned that the ionizer removes the particles from the air but a lot of times they drop to the ground or get on the walls. So when you walk across the room, you could be carrying those same particles throughout the house. (I’m getting to be quite wise in Minnesota …)
I don’t know how long it will take to air out the house. Hopefully it won’t take all day as I look rather ridiculous with my  mask on. But safety comes first as my chest does feel a little tight.
After a record breaking 3rd quarter with hardly any rain, the snow is finally making its appearance in Minnesota. The prediction was for 1 inch of snow or less.
Heading out to our first Christmas performance of the year, there was more than 1 inch already on the ground. We were fortunate that the performance was in Oakdale — a neighbor of Lake Elmo.
The performance we went to see was called “It’s A Wonderful Christmas.” It included the Vallee de Croix women’s group, the Croix Chordsmen Choruses, the Now and Then Singers from Lakeville North High School, a group called Summertime and the Grand Design.
Singing was all acapella. The Croix Chordsmen group sang really really well. They, along with the Now and Then Singers from the high school were my favorite groups.
The Vallee de Croix women’s group was good but the women swayed most of the time and not in unison which made it a little distracting.
Overall, it was a very good performance. Every year on the first Saturday of December, they have this Christmas performance.
I was a little worried when we left the church as when we arrived at 7:30 p.m. it was snowing and when we left at 9:45 p.m. it was still snowing. Slowly but surely my husband made his way to our house.
About a mile from our house, flashing lights could be seen in the distance. As we approached slowly, we saw a car in the ditch. Two other cars had pulled over to help. We continued on our way. Once we turned into our neighborhood it was clear to me that we had at least 3 inches of snow.
Ahhh — time to bring out the snow shovel. My last experience with shoveling snow in the dark brought much delight to me. This time was no different. But I have to remember that we have hired someone to plow our driveway if it snows 3 inches or more.
After shoveling a pathway to the garage, I put the shovel down to leave something for our plower to do. It may be we don’t need a plower since I seem to enjoy doing the work. And we haven’t even used our electric snow blower yet.
Minnesota December Snow
It was calm and peaceful. No road noises. No neighborhood parties. It was definitely a “silent night.” The only thing left to make it perfect would have been a clear sky so that I could have admired God’s starry handiwork again.
Now it’s time for hot chocolate. Sleep will come easy tonight.
December is here. It’s time to mail my Christmas cards. I’ve been told that I’m a little odd as I like to have them mailed by the first of December.
I mail cards to about 150 people and I handwrite each one. So — I like to start early.
Two heroes that stand out this month — Santa Claus and Jesus.
When I was younger, I wanted to be Santa Claus. A strange hero. I didn’t pay much attention to his weight, nor his white beard or the fact that he didn’t really use too many words. (Ho-ho-ho does not a vocabulary make …)
What I liked about the “idea” of Santa Claus is that no one was forgotten. Everyone received a gift. Even if you were naughty, you still received a piece of coal in the fireplace, and coals can glow.
Perhaps my mind was too Pollyanna-ish. (Pollyanna played a game that consisted of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna’s father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because “we didn’t need to use them!”)
Growing up, wanting to be Santa Claus didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
Now, I look around and see many people who have been left behind. Children whose parents don’t really care whether they exist or not. Seniors whose families have forgotten them.
It makes me sad.
So I try to do my part such as sending a card to let people know they’re remembered.
Christmas is not only about children. Christmas is about people. And we seem to have a lot of lonely ones in this world.
The next time you’re sitting next to someone who looks grumpy, sad, angry, or distant, say hello. And tell them something you notice about them that’s nice.
“You have a kind face.” In a few years, it could be us.
My belief in Santa Claus as a man who drops in Christmas Day to drop off gifts is gone. It is replaced with a reality. A Man who doesn’t only want to drop in on us once a year. A Man who wants a relationship with us. A Man whose gifts are not only material but emotional and spiritual.
Looking out the window at 1 a.m., I see many stars — bright, blinking stars.
The neighborhood we live in has no street lights. Some neighbors have decorated for Christmas but their decorations pale to the decorations God has put in the sky.
If it were warmer, I might be stepping outside to enjoy even more of them. But at 18 degrees, I’ve decided to leave it for another day when I am more bundled than just my pajamas.
“… He designed the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri. We’ll never comprehend all the great things He does; His miracle-surprises can’t be counted … Job 9:1
I continue to be amazed by the people in Minnesota.
My husband brought home a flyer for a Christmas performance this Saturday. I checked online to buy tickets but there was no option for purchasing online. I called the number on the flyer and spoke with a nice gentleman.
The man explained that there is an online form I can download and mail in with a check.
Me: Oh, will I get the tickets back before Saturday if I mail it today?
Him: Let me put them in the mail to you today. You can send me a check.
Me: What???
Him: I’ll mail them to you today. Here’s the address where you can send the check.
Amazing! Such trust. I put the check in the mail right away.
I don’t believe I have ever encountered so  many people who trust that strangers are going to do what they say they will do.
It’s called “Minnesota nice.” Although, Wikipedia has a different angle on it.
I like it. Sure — people can be taken advantage of but sometimes one has to step out and trust that other people will do the “right” thing.
I am not normally a tea drinker. However, I did run across this ginger tea made by Traditional Medicinals that I decided to try. It sat in my cupboard for awhile as, although I wanted to try it, I feared it would be like all other teas, ie tasting bitter.
The day finally came when my curiosity got the better of me.
Organic Ginger Aid
The box states that the tea “promotes the flow of digestive juices and increases tone in the muscular wall of the stomach.”
Well, I don’t know if it does all that. What I do know is that I really like it. It is quite different than drinking chamomile. With other teas that I’ve tried, I usually have to add honey as they normally taste bitter to me. Not so with this tea.
The tea has a spicy ginger taste. So much so that I usually use a large mug to tone down the flavor. It also has “a twist of lemon – lemon myrtle, that is.”
So — I’ve been drinking more of this tea. I find that when I feel bloated it calms my stomach down.
Finally! A tea that needs no sweetening to be enjoyed.
Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Â Philippians 4:6
This past year, I made many requests to God. And I was not disappointed in His responses. Was I anxious about some things? Yes. I seem to be plagued with anxiety some times. I haven’t quite learned the lesson — you know the one …
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has trouble of its own. Â Matthew 6:34
Yet I have been and am thankful in spite of some anxious times.
It’s the day before Thanksgiving. Things are pretty quiet.
This year we are making new Minnesota traditions.
Most years we would have friends over who didn’t have family in the area. This year, we don’t have friends to invite over. We haven’t been anti-social, just busy.
With all of the blessings we’ve received this past year, we have leftovers — more than enough to share.
Family will visit this year. It’s been quite a few years since we’ve had family come to our house for Thanksgiving so we’re looking forward to it.
This time of year has always been a time of introspection for me. Blessings always make me pause. “For me?” I say to God as He hands me one. “Yes, my child, for you,” He says as a big grin covers His face.
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