daily life as life goes on . . .

"Well, I woke up this morning, you were on my mind." So goes a song from a few decades ago.   The "you" in this case was extra stuff around the house.  As I plan on the amalgamation of two houses, I'm amazed at how much stuff I have sitting here!  And the town has said they will take it for free today!  What a blessing, but also what a chore.  I have been gathering a few things the last few days.  And this morning I headed to the basement to find a few more.  No shortage of a "few more".  As I write this, more items are twirling through my mind. So, before I forget, off to the trenches - or is that nooks and crannies - or is that . . .

52 days to go. My remarriage to Cynthia Bellamy will happen on July 13th at 2:00 in the afternoon at the Kindersley Alliance Church. That is a factual statement that some days seems surreal. And other days certain things pop up and you realize this will happen.  I sat with my church board last night and discussed the next few weeks.  I awoke this morning to a realization that 52 days are to come and then marriage.  Yes, planning has been in the place!  A number of things are in place including amalgamating households, figuring out schooling, honeymoon plans and even minor things like scheduling daily phone calls. But, as the old saying goes, "sometimes it takes time for the heart to catch up with the head." So, today, a year of days is in front of me.  I am excited - and a bit scared - and praying to God to continue to guide!

My freezer held blueberries, cranberries, and rhubarb. I'm not sure there has been a recipe with all of these combined together in a sauce format. Actually, I started making rhubarb sauce and cranberry sauce in separate pots.   The blueberries were an addition to the cranberries that I thought might look good, and hopefully taste good. As I was preparing both, I looked at the basic ingredients.    Cranberry and Rhubarb are both mouth puckering.  The list looked much the same. In my mind I formed a plan to combine the two.  That simply meant throwing them both together in a large pot.  Let them simmer and see how they work. When the taste test took place, I was quite surprised.  The taste was very pleasing to my palate.  I'll try it on a few others and see what they think.  Of course, there was the minor thing of the cranberry skin being a bit chewy, but otherwise not bad at all. Will I try this again?  Perhaps.  I've frozen some of the sauce.  In a few weeks I'll try the concoction again.  If I am as enthusiastic, I may turn this into a regular dish!

My stationery bike today turned over 2,200 miles this morning.  The last reading which I journaled was when the bike turned 1,200 miles - on August 1st, 2012.  That is 292 days ago.  In other words, I have biked around 3 miles a day for almost 300 days.  Going nowhere! Except that my leg muscles stayed in shape.  My upper body exercise while on the bike made sure my back is still in good shape.  And my respiratory ability is good. The disciplines of life are well worth the moments that they take.  I have found that stability in life can be partially maintained by good exercise.  For around 20 minutes a day, my body wakes up.  My mind as well.  When I am done those 2o minutes there is a new sense of perspective and a spring in my step.  Check back in another nine or ten months.  Let's see if another 1,000 miles has been covered!!