so many interests, so little time...

Sunday afternoon. Ahhhhh. (that is a happy sigh, not a frightful scream... hmm-mm... how to differentiate...) Sitting in the bedroom, on the love seat, which we have now turned perpendicular to the wall so that I can recline and stare outdoors. I'm guessing it's not the best feng shui, but I really like it. Currently the sun is streaming in as it passes by on its westward journey.

This morning the world was sugar coated. If it weren't for these lousy lungs I would have run into the yard and woods with my camera. Instead I took the screen off one of the windows, opened the window and took a few shots from the bedroom. Then on the way to church I had Frank pull over a few times - not nearly enough, but a few. Somehow the frost coated the trees and bushes but not the car we had parked in the driveway. How does that work?

I am knee deep, almost literally, in happy pursuits. Here's a random list of what I'm up to these days.

• Bread making. Majorly into bread making. Yesterday I made three loaves: two cinnamon raisin and one white. I use a bread machine. Don't get all snobby on me... it's all my ingredients - no mixes - but a bit quicker. And ooooooh... the family is loving it. The cinnamon raisin is amazing. Substantial toast with your tea. C'mon over!

• Theology. LOVING my current class which is entitled "Christ, Sin, Man, Salvation." I might have found my niche. This is the thick chewy kind of thinking - religious philosophy. We're chewing on issues that I did not previously know were issues. Love it.

• Fire. We put our living room couch and love seat by the fire place (across from one another and perpendicular to the fire) and moved the dining room table out by the windows. Curling up by the fire with a book in the evening is a delight that I cannot believe I've been missing for 2.5 years. This arrangement puts the dining room table farther from the kitchen, but whew...it's worth it.

• Art Journaling. Have you seen this new(ish) publication? Whew. Somewhere deep in me is a latent artist. Journaling is a passion of mine, and this publication adds scrappy eclectic art to the pages. Okay, I'm a bit too OCD for some of it, but reading about it and paging through the gorgeous samples is a lovely way to spend an hour. My 2010 journal is showing a bit of creativity - starting small with watercolor pencils, mod podge, stickers, colored markers... If only I were independently wealthy. I'd set up a desk in front of the bedroom window and create and write and read all day. I'm just not a corporate girl at heart.

• Breaking Free. Words fail me in describing how I'm eating up this revised Bible study by Beth Moore. The workbook is phenomenal, and the one hour video presentations even better. When Bible study is the *main* thing you want to do in an evening (or morning), you know that something is right in your world.

• Artful Blogging. Another publication. The name says it all. Oh my.

• Napping. My lungs are slowly recuperating, but God must really want me on the couch for a bit. This is a slow process. The official diagnosis is "post viral asthma" at this point. The inhalers make it so I can't sing, so I'm avoiding them. I return to the pulmonologist on Wednesday to discuss my options. (He previously said the pills make you irritable and unable to sleep. That's not sounding good either...) Last Wednesday I had a pulmonary function test and a methacoline challenge test.

• Puttering. Few things entertain me more than puttering about the house. And I have enough messes to organize to keep me puttering for the foreseeable future. The scrapbooking closet in the basement is calling me, and Joey's room is becoming the sewing room which will entail a LOT of moving things about. (Joey told me to go ahead, as long as the futon is available whenever he visits...)

I'll post photos later...

And a Bible study update.

For now...I'm going to read the *old* issue of Artful Blogger I just found at the Art Supply store - hiding behind the current edition. Very fun find.

Tonight "24" starts. Frank just told me there is a one hour repeat of last season's last episode plus a TWO hour first show tonight and tomorrow night. Yipes. Love that show. But really...five hours in two days? I don't watch that much TV in a month!

Enjoy your Sabbath rest.