Month Seven

     Today marks the last day of the first month in the second half of 2011 Here is a quick recap of my 4 goals for 2011.

     #1 Start a blog called Everyday Thankfulness to encouraging thankfulness.

     #2 Start a blog called Pupperville Ponderings where I can post all my puppet stories with some added thoughts to ponder.

     #3 Finish making the rest of my unfinished puppets.

     #4 Finish studying out the book of Revelation

      Am I still making at least some progress on each of the goals? This is where I stand at the month seven

     #1 I've continued posting daily to the Everyday Thankfulness blog and yes there are still so many things to be thankful for. This post marks the 213th if I've counted correctly

     #2 Pupperville Ponderings has now had 30 posts made to it.

     #3 As for my puppets - All the heads have now been sewn on to their shirts or dresses and are ready to have their faces put on.

     #4 I have continued working on outlining each of my subdivisions and have made it through chapter 16

      How have you been doing on your goals...

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the ability to set goals to work towards
• For making progress towards fulfilling them

Router

      At work we have two big routers and until lately I've been the only person on my crew to run the machine. As a result, I would end up running the machine all day but that is not suppose to be my job. As a department senior I'm suppose to man the rocking chair - well not really. I'm suppose to be learning all aspects of the department so I can fill in where needed and also be available to track down missing items, etc. More of a floating position somewhere between production and management.

      Well, my being stuck on the router is changing. The supervisor for our area picked another person from our crew to have trained in and she has been able to run it on her own now with only a little bit of help now and than which has freed me up to be more of what I'm suppose to be.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For having some one trained to run the router
• That I can move around and do my job

Lamp Light

      It sits there on top of my desk next to the printer - a little round lamp that drives my wife nuts. I'm not sure why it drives her nuts but I enjoy the little lamp and not because it drives her nuts. I like it because it cast light in a rather dark corner.

      The other day when I turned it on, it took my picture or should I say the bulb burned out with a bright flash. Over the next couple hours, I lost count of how many times I reached up to turn it on only to remember the bulb was burnt out and it wasn't going to come on no matter how hard I tried to get it too.

      How often do we take for granted the lights in our house, always expecting them to turn on, never giving them another thought.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the little lamps that brighten dark corners.

Stitches

     There's an old saying about stitches I think it says a stitch in time saves nine. Recently I had some stitches - like about 10 of them to pull together a slice in my wrist area from an accident at work. Today is the day they are to come out. From what I can tell they have done there job and the wound seems to be healing just fine so today I'm thankful for stitches.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Stitches

Computers

      It seems as if I've always like electronic gizmos and that's probably why I got into computers.

     In high school I often took electronics classes. One of the classes I took was advanced computers which at that time was working with a oversized circuit board and a key pad learning to program in machine language or base 16. As a part of that class I got to help set up the schools computer lab which at that time was a room full of Apple iie computers.

     After I graduated I bought my first computer A Commodore Vic 20 with a whopping 20k of memory and it hooked up to a regular television. Next I bought a storage device that was nothing more than a glorified cassette player. In time I upgraded to a Commodore 64 with 64k of memory and than a 5 1/4 floppy drive and a printer. I used to get a computer magazine for the computer and would often spend hours typing in programs. Sometime later I doubled my memory and got a Commodore 128.

     After I got married I bought my first modern day PC as it was running Windows 3.0, had a single speed CD ROM drive - they had just come out - a 20 meg hard drive, and 4 meg of memory. Since than I've upgraded many time building my own computers. We now have three in the house all running on a network and hooked up to the internet. The one I use has three hard drives (a 250g a 40g and a 1 terabyte) and 2 gig of memory with the ability to add more if I need it.

     Besides using it to blog, I use my computer for Bible study, internet activities, music and movies.

     Dear Lord, Thank you

• For computers

Board Games

      The other day I was attacked y some board games. They were stacked a little funny on top of some cupboards just inside our front door and when someone shut the door a little hard it set off a landslide and down came the games.

      While I don't play board games as much as I used too, they are still a lot of fun. Some of the games I like the most growing up were "Payday," "Mouse Trap," "Monopoly," "Bonkers," "Clue," "Life" and "Dungeons" Several of theses games we still have around along with others for the kids to play or play with. Now day's the video games usually win out.

      What kind of board games did you like growing up?

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For board games

Birthday Girl

      Today we celebrate another birthday at our house but this time it's not one of the kids and it's not mine. Exactly how we will be celebrating? I don't know, we'll have to see how the day turns out.

     Now if it was one of the kids' birthday I would reminisce about the day they were born but I can't do that this time as I don't know much of anything about this person's birth, other than maybe a few things her mom has told me.

     One thing is for certain - If she hadn't been born I wouldn't have been able to enjoy her as my wonderful wife so I wish her a Happy Birthday.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Shelly Jane

Cooler Temps

      While much of the nation is roasting, we got a break from the heat and that break has meant temperatures cool enough to shut of the air conditioners, open the windows and even shut off the fans. The cooler temps also make for better sleeping and that's what I've done - sleeping in until 9:00 in the morning and than just laying in bed listening to the rain.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the cooler temps

Christmas Tree

      Alright, I know it's almost the end of July and Summer is making its presence known all to well but since my theme is the living room One thing we have at our house, in the living room but not at the moment is a Christmas Tree.

     Now there's nothing extremely special about our particular tree. It's artificial, likes to get knocked over or have things knocked off it's branches, wears lots of lights and ornaments and a star at the top. Along with being a symbol of life at Christmas, it's colors bring joy during the dreary winter months.

     While we do not need a Christmas Tree to celebrate Christmas and we have gone a year or two with out, I am thankful that we have one to enjoy.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For our Christmas Tree

Lego's

      Shouldn't every living room have bins full of Lego's or should they be scattered all over the floor? At our house you will often find both.

      Lego's make for a fun toy to build with and to build ones imagination. Over the years we have filled several bins with Duplo and regular sized Lego's for the kids to build with. And of course with Lego's you can never have too many so they continue to get added to although not as fast.

      I can remember Lego's as an older child and I loved to play with them and tinker toys and snap pics and ... - It was always fun to let the imagination go and have fun building and now my kids do.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Lego's

Carpet

      David, the youngest in the family at 1 1/2, loves to go around saying vacuum cleaner. We recently bought a new one as he finished off it's predecessor. The reason we need a vacuum cleaner is the carpets it cleans. The carpet in our living room area is in need of replacement - someday and in places it is patched up with duct tape.

      While wood floors or linoleum or the likes may be easier to clean -especially when a dog or kid throws up - they are not as warm in my thoughts - especially in the winter. or as soft so today I'll be thankful for the carpets we have.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For carpet

File Cabinet

      Everyone has a file cabinet in their living room, right? Well, maybe not but we have one in ours. Actually it's the second one we've owned. the first one, with only two drawers became two small and wore out. The file cabinet we have now is 4 drawers tall and is used for storing a lot of papers and documents that would otherwise have no home. It helps to keep things organized and somewhat easy to find if you know the system. Now to keep the top clean and organized.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For file cabinets

Tables

     Most Living rooms I know of have either a coffee table, or end table or both. Ours sort of has an end table - it sits under a table. The end tables I remember growing up with sat at each end of the coach and each table contained a lamp. Our contains a Wii. Of course end tables have more uses than just holding lamps.

      I also remember the coffee table at my grandparent's house. It sat in front of the coach and had a plant on it unless it was Christmas time and than it contained a big dish full of goodies to eat.

      Each time I've seen has been put to good use.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For living room tables

Violin

     Now, I don't know how many homes have a violin in there living room but we have one at our house. If I were to play it I would probably sound like a sick screech owl bu thankfully I have a daughter that can play it. I do enjoy her playing and I enjoy when she plays duets with the piano or brother on the guitar. It's great to have music in the house.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the Violin
• For my daughter's ability to play

Help

      If you read in my other blog (CraziestDad) I've been suffering from a kidney stone this weekend. Today I want to say thank you - not for the stone but for the help from family - my wife who brought me over to ER in the middle of the night and has helped me on and off through the day and for my girls who have brought me stuff and let's not forget the staff at the hospital that took care of me there.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For everyone's help - including Yours

Guitars

      Am instrument I once thought would be neat to learn how to play but never did is the guitar. I guess I did learn some base though. Anyways, in our living room we now have several guitars, mostly belonging to my oldest boy who has been learning to play and has a times accompanied singing in church and his sister on some specials.

      Some of the things I like about guitars is they are portable - you can take them anywhere and as long as they are acoustical you need no electricity and they can be made to sound really nice - by someone who know what they are doing.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For guitars

Stereo

      The one I used to have played records, tapes, CD's and the radio. The one I have now doesn't have the ability to play records, has two tape decks but doesn't work properly, holds up to 3 CD's, has a radio, but won't play MP3's. It's the stereo and at our house it gets used and used and used.

     While I sometimes miss not being able to play records (I actually got rid of the ones I had since I couldn't play them anymore) and not being able to play all my cassette tapes (I still have them) I do get to enjoy the CD player once in a while (even though I've ripped my favorite CD's to the computer to listen too) but it's the radio that is used most - listening sometimes all night to Christian radio.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For our Stereo

Jason Edward

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. - Psalms 127:3 (NAS)

      Today I gain another teenage child bring the total to three. Let me think back this morning

• Jason's due date was the last Monday of June and I was to be at Bible camp over 8 hours away.
• Since our first 2 children were 8 days late - I figured - no problem and went to camp.
• After returning from camp the wait was on.
• Are normal doctor at the time was on vacation so there was no hurry on my wife's part.
• As week 43 approached it was decided to induce and on day 22 past due date we got up early and dropped off the other two kids and a friends house and headed to the hospital.
• Once at the hospital they waited to start the pitocin, but once it was started things took off.
• Eventually Jason came into this world.
• He wasn't in a hurry to be born and he still is in no hurry.
• In August we moved to our current house which we had bought the previous October
• Well, that's what I remember.

     Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Jason Edward and the 13 years we've had him.
• For all 7 of the children you have given us

Fireplace

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring at someone else's house.

Stockings were no longer hung by the chimney with care,

But were emptied and scattered from here to there.

      Since we've lived at our current location - we've been able to hang our stocking by the chimney each year at Christmas as we have a fireplace in our living room. While it is rarely used - maybe once or twice a year - it has been enjoyable and it's nice to know we can use it to keep warm if worse come to worse and we can't use our furnace.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the fireplace

Piano

      A lot of people that I know have a piano either in their living room or close to it. We have one in ours, my in-laws have one in theirs and at one time my folks had one in theirs. Now I don't play the piano but growing up I had sisters that did and now iI have children that play some - one is in lessons - and a wife who plays.

      The piano we have we have had since shortly after we were married and I have had many an opportunity to enjoy it being played - by someone other than me.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For our piano
• For those who can play it

Ceiling Fan

      We never had one growing up but one of the first things we did when we got our house we now live in was put a ceiling fan in the living room area of the house. I've heard that ceiling fans collect more dust when in use than if they are left off - our fan gets dirty. It is used to circulate air all summer long, day and night and sometimes even in the winter. It also makes for entertaining babies.

      At our house it's not only the ceiling fan bot several box type fans that are used to help keep us cool when it gets hot out like in the low 70's or higher.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For all kinds of fans

Rainbows

      Last Sunday we saw the most awesome-st rainbow we've ever seen.

      We had been in town for part of the 4th of July celebrations which included a chili cook off, a lumberjack show and a paper plate drop from an airplane with the plates redeemable for prizes / discounts around town. Afterward it started to rain - hard - while the sun was shining and the rainbow it produced was like none we had ever seen. Not only was it bright, not only could we see it in front of the trees at ground level, we could see it on the road all the way to the front of the van. It was if we were driving on it.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Rainbows

Easy Chair

     In our living room we have what I like to call easy chairs - they are 4 Lazy Boy rocking recliners that were bought in pairs at different times. If I remember correctly, I think the first pair was bought so we could have something nice to use to rock babies in. Those two chairs lasted for years before they started to ware out and we decided to get to more, that and our family had grown in numbers and the kids like the chairs as much as mom and dad. Of the newer pair, one is definitely showing signs of ware as well. All 4 recliners get used daily and often time you have to wait your turn to use one. Even at night they often get used as beds.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For easy chairs

Bible Camps

     This week my 2nd oldest daughter, Emily, is off to Bible camp. Growing up I remember my sisters going to bible camp summer after summer but I couldn't be convinced to go. Finally as an older teen my sister convinced me to go to what is called Last Chance Camp which took place Labor Day weekend. I remember my sister packing for me - she packed summer clothes and it was anything but summer that weekend.

     Since than I started going to camp as faculty, leading groups, teaching classes, leading songs, preaching, being a cabin dad, etc. I remember one year at camp very well. There was this older girl named Shelly that kept getting in my way on the soccer field and sticking her tongue out at me. Needless to say, she caught my attention.

     Bible camp is a great time to get together with friends and learn from God's word.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Bible camps

Wii

      Growing up I was the one in the family that was into video games. My first video game consisted of a box with a couple knobs to turn and four paddle games. Later I bought an Atari 2600 and over time I gained several cartridges(games) for it Eventually I bought the original Nintendo. I still have the Nintendo and Atari but now days it's the Wii that gets played

      Like myself, my oldest boy likes to collect video games and he bought the Wii that we have and while I don't like a lot of the games that are out there because of Violence, I do like to play the Wii - throwing a Frisbee or a bowling ball.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the Wii

Windows

      Have you ever heard the line "I don't do windows!" Well, windows are just one of those things we have to be thankful for. They let light into a room, they allow you to see through a wall, they can keep heat and cold in or out depending on the time of the year, they can be opened to let in fresh air or let out stale air and of course they keep me employed.

      Over the past 19 years I've seen 10's of thousands of windows go through the plant. Most are normal everyday run of the mill windows but some are very big and very unique with glass that comes from around the world,. glass that can take months to make, woods that are expensive, and on and on.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For windows

TV

      For a long time we kept our TV in the bedroom but it has been used so much lately for school work that we moved it into the living room.

      Growing up, I can remember many different television that made their home in the living room. the first ones of course were black and white but since my grandfather worked at an appliance store as a TV repairman, old color units eventually made it to our house. I can even remember one year for what ever reason we had two TV's set up in our living room with 2 different parades on at the same time - of course back than there were only about 12 channels to choose from.

      While TV's can become a problem, they are a tool that if used right can be wonderful.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For TV

Independence Day

      I think there is a riddle that kids like to ask - do other countries - other than the USA - Have a 4th of July? The reason it's asked is because here in the USA the 4th of July is synonymous with Independence Day. Of course other countries have a 4th of July - they just don't celebrate it like we do.

      We celebrate the 4th for it commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the freedoms that came with it.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For our independence as a country
• For the freedoms we still have

Fireworks

      As long as I can remember - I've been going to see fire works on the 4th of July. My earliest memories of fire works down in Brained were at the fair grounds. We would park some where along the highway and look out the windows of the car. Eventually they moved the fireworks to the area behind the high school which encompassed a big hole containing football fields, baseball fields, golf course, etc. Along with filling the stands, people would line the sides of the hole and the fire works would be shot right up over the middle of everybody. Sometimes, afterward, my brothers would collect the empty shells.

      Now we head in to our local town of Warroad and get as close as we can and watch them as they're shot up over the bay / river. And some years we even buy some of our own and have some fun with them at home. Something we all enjoy.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For Fireworks

Safe Trip

      It's not my idea of fun - getting up before 3 in the morning for a three hour drive through the country where you never know when a deer or some other animal may try to cross the road. That was yesterday and by the time we got home I was rather tired but thankful for a safe journey.

      Day after day we take long and short trips that are uneventful and we often take those trips for granted - especially the short ones.

     Dear Lord, Thank you

• For the safety you give on the roads

The Living Room

      This month I have chosen another room of the house to be my focus - the living room. At our house our living room is one with our suppose to be dining room and if you were to look at our living room you would definitely be able to tell it's been lived in. The carpet is patched up with duct tape, the furniture is worn and there are toys all over.

      Living rooms have many uses and with in the room are many things with which to be thankful. As you look around your living room this month take the time to tel God thank you for what you have.

      Dear Lord, Thank you

• For living rooms