19 for '19

19 for ‘19

These are my 19 goals for 2019:

1.     Get Benaiah, Mighty Man of God published

2.     Plan a Launch Party

3.     Teach grandkids one day a week

4.     Travel to western Canada

5.     Maintain or improve my level of health

6.     Save money towards grandkids’ school fees

7.     Read through the Bible chronologically again

8.     Read at least 12 other books

9.     Lose 30 pounds, one way or another

10.  Make a profit on my book

11.  Get a housekeeper once a week, from the profits of my novel

12.  Begin a new novel about Joseph (OT)

13.  Keep up with blogging

14.  Teach women’s Bible study

15.  Write summaries of each Bible book studied

16.  Move Leah to Ottawa

17.  Pray more consistently

18.  Keep house clean

19.  Plant a small garden

Author Photo

December Journaling

1.      In London at our Finnish family Christmas celebration. Lots of food.

2.      Heading home from London.

3.      Getting my summary printed at the printers.

4.      Presenting my summary of Zechariah, then we go out for lunch to celebrate. We’re taking a month off.

5.      School prep day. Went to IKEA with my daughter, and bought curtains.

6.      School day, brought to you by the letter Mm, the number 11, and the story of the first Christmas. We also made Christmas crafts. I stayed overnight.

7.      Our daughter applied to enter our grandson in JK at a local Christian school next year. I hope he gets in. Sent in my author photo. I’ll post it. I have an author blog called benaiahmightyman.wordpress.com and a facebook page called P.H. Thompson, Author

8.      Home day, with errands.

9.      My sister-in-law came to church with us, then home for lunch. She is currently living with her mom because she had a house fire in October. As she was leaving in the dark, she backed into our neighbour’s car. She has no income, so it’ll fall on us to cover it. Sigh.

10.   Chiro and massage.

11.   Grandkids overnight. Busy day.

12.   Starting my revisions. I have about three weeks to do forty chapters.

13.   We bought a new fridge and stove today.

14.   Went downtown for lunch with my daughter, for Thai.

15.   Laundry and revisions. I’m so pleased with this editor. Everything she suggests makes the story better.

16.   Church this morning. Extra long nap. Pill prep for two weeks. Editing two chapters.

17.   Dental appointment and last few Christmas gifts.

18.   School prep.

19.   School day, brought to you by the letter Nn, the number 12, the Christmas story focusing on the wise men.

20.   Pain clinic, then waited at the Honda dealership while they repaired a recall issue. Then made dinner and did revisions.

21.   Getting the house ready for guests. If I do it in stages it’s not so overwhelming.

22.   Last minute shopping.

23.   Church, nap, and revisions, as I’ll take two days off.

24.   Christmas Eve, or Finnish Christmas, hosted by my sister this evening. Also baking my turkey for tomorrow.

25.   Christmas Day, hosting 16 for dinner. Menu: red wine sangria, red and white wine, beer, Perrier, sparkling juice, egg nog, pop, water, bacon-wrapped scallops, crispy sweet and spicy shrimp, spring rolls, devilled eggs, mozzarella sticks, smoked salmon on crispbread, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, corn, salad, ham, curried goat, rice and peas, pumpkin pie, hazelnut torte, gingersnaps, and shortbread, coffee and tea.

26.   Recovery day, and revisions.

27.   Bible reading. Almost done reading through the Bible chronologically again. Then laundry, and a long nap, cooked Thai shrimp soup for dinner, and revised while my husband and daughter went to see Aquaman. He was my favorite growing up, but I’m so mad at the casting and how they completely changed his look to a long-haired, tattooed man that I wouldn’t go out of protest.

28.   Pedicure with my daughter, then lunch and Costco, nap, supper and revisions.

29.   There have been 96 murders in Toronto so far this year. Crazy.

30.   Church and then a super long nap. Take out Hakka for dinner, then finishing my revisions a few days early.

31.   Visiting friends to celebrate New Years’ Eve. We played the games, Pictionary and Mad Gab. Hilarious, especially Mad Gab with Jamaican accents. Looking forward to the new year when my book will be published. Also thankful for an improvement in health to a tolerable level.

Field Trip to Reptile Zoo

November Journaling

1.      School day; but we went on a field trip to a local reptile zoo. Not a fan personally, but I dealt with it for my grandson. He got to hold a gecko, a turtle, a snake, a guinea pig, and a ferret.

2.      Bloodwork this morning. Also last night my son-in-law took my author photo. I’ll post it. My mom’s here baking cookies. My husband’s gone on his yearly fishing trip for the weekend.

3.      More cookie baking.

4.      My husband’s fishing trip was a success, 8 men, 40 giant steelhead trout, 5 each.

5.      Getting my winter tires and a tune-up.

6.      Bible study.

7.      Eye appointment.

8.      School day; brought to you by the letter Jj, the number 18, the story of Jesus’ early life, and why we cry.

9.      Laundry, cooking, napping. Also got my first endorsement to go in my novel and it was very encouraging.

10.   Vacuumed upstairs, which I can only manage about once a month. My husband does the floors downstairs every week. A clean house has been a casualty of my illness.

11.   Potluck at church, hearing about the short term missions’ trip.

12.   Chiro and massage. I’ve never had a speeding ticket till today. But when I got home I noticed it was issued to someone else. I went to the police department to rectify it, and because of my honesty, they cancelled my ticket. So I’ve still never had a speeding ticket.

13.   Bible study. Hormone doctor appointment. Not really needed but it’s the only way she’ll refill my prescriptions.

14.   School prep day.

15.   School day; brought to you by the letter Kk, the number 19, insects, and the story of the Good Samaritan. Then staying overnight.

16.   Grandkids came over today. Ordered Thai food.

17.   Spa day to belatedly celebrate our daughter’s call to the bar. I’ve never had a facial before.

18.   We had an incident at church today, a woman with mental health issues interrupted the worship service and was swearing. The police were called. Two women had taken her to a coffee shop. Dinner party at a friend’s home.

19.   Homework day.

20.   Bible study and Christmas shopping.

21.   School prep day.

22.   School day; brought to you by the letter Ll, the number 20, the water cycle, and the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

23.   Pain clinic for nerve block injections to my back. My doctor is going on mat leave for her third baby.

24.   Women’s ministry breakfast. Nice to just be a guest.

25.   Church today, no drama like last week.

26.   Home day.

27.   Final Bible study other than my summary of Zechariah next week, which is almost done. Costco run.

28.   Last day to finish my summary of Zechariah, since I’ll be out of town this weekend.

29.   Field trip and Christmas baking for school today.

30.   Heading to London tomorrow for our annual Finnish Christmas. The grandkids will love it.

Remembrance Day Poems

Remembrance Day. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month marks the signing of the Armistice, on November 11th, 1918, to signal the end of World War One, 100 years ago today.

The first poem is In Flanders' Fields, which led to our practice of wearing poppies, and the second is a response to it. The third is a paragraph from For the Fallen, also often quoted at Remembrance Day services.

Cranberry Bog

October Journaling

1.      Doctor’s appointment to fill out insurance forms. At least it’s only once a year now.

2.      Bible study, then an afternoon of editing. No nap today.

3.      School prep day.

4.      School day, brought to you by the letter Gg, the number 15, the sense of touch, and the Bible story, Fishers of Men.

5.      Prepping food for tomorrow.

6.      Thanksgiving dinner up in Bracebridge. I’ll post some pics.

7.      Church.

8.      A second Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s house.

9.      First deadline from my publisher: writing my About the Author, the Dedication, the Back Cover copy, the Acknowledgments, the Author’s Note, and the Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion, as well as directions on the order of the book and what I’d like to see on the cover. I have the hardest time with the graphic design stuff. I only know what I don’t want. I know some indie published books can have cheesy covers.

10.   Daughter and grandkids came overnight.

11.   I have four people willing to read and possibly endorse my book, if they like it.

12.   Doing final revisions before I send my manuscript to the publisher for edits and to the four for endorsement. I think it was Hemingway who said, Writing is re-writing. So true. I’ve changed this book so many times. On every read through I see ways to improve it so it never feels done. Will it ever feel good enough? My brain fog has improved somewhat so I can write a bit, but I waver between feeling it’s pretty good to feeling it’s no good at all. I guess that’s normal.

13.   My husband is on a men’s retreat. I had a ladies’ breakfast at church. Nice not to have to do the planning, speaking, or cooking. My daughter is going to wade in a cranberry bog. I’ll post a picture. School prep day.

14.   Church this morning, then writing and napping.

15.   Revising my final chapter before I send it off for possible endorsements and final edits. Kind of scary to ask for endorsements. I hope they like it. If they don’t, it’s like being told you have an ugly baby, hard not to take it personally.

16.   I hit send on my manuscript. I finished my revisions, although every time I read through it I make changes.

17.   Chiro and massage.

18.   School day, brought to you by the letter Hh, the number 16, the sense of taste, and the story of Jesus walking on water.

19.   Baking Finnish gingersnaps with my mom. Well, more like watching her do it.

20.   Chores around the house and a nap. Found a new farm house store and orchard nearby.

21.   Church, then a luncheon for newcomers. The pastor and elders and their wives host it and introduce themselves to the new people. A nice idea. Then a long nap, and church again.

22.   Bible reading, school prep, a nap, dinner prep, and voting in the municipal election. It’s nice that there’s an online option.

23.   Bible study and errands, then pain clinic.

24.   Home day.

25.   School day, brought to you by the letter Ii, the number 17, a review of the senses through popcorn, and the story of Saul’s conversion. Also the life cycle of a butterfly and how we are a new creation in Christ.

26.   Attended a gala at the Royal York hotel this evening to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of Jarvis Street Baptist church. They are older than Canada by 51 years.

27.   Baking for church tomorrow.

28.   Busy morning at church, then a long nap, and church again.

29.   Home day; working on my summary of Zechariah.

30.   Women’s Bible study, then off to another pain clinic. That wipes me out for the rest of the day.

31.   Haircut. Useless day. Hiding out during Hallowe’en. Also it’s the 501^st anniversary of the Protestant reformation.

I'm getting published!

September Journaling

1.      Went to a Christian campground with a family from church. The men fished while the women rested. We’re both chronically ill.

2.      Church, then visiting my sister in law, who had a house fire in the basement apartment of her house. We took her out for lunch. They are in the process of cleanup from smoke and water damage.

3.      Labour Day. School prep, it starts on Thursday.

4.      Trying to make a decision about whether to self-publish or go traditional.

5.      Baked a Finnish apple cake. Delicious.

6.      First day of preschool with my grandson, brought to you be the number 11, the letter c, the sight word can, and the story of the lost sheep. Also beginning a unit on the five senses.

7.      Flying to the Soo for my aunt’s memorial.

8.      Good to see family and friends. Glad I came.

9.      Visited my dad’s grave site. It was so overgrown. Flew home.

10.   Crashed because of the weekend’s activities and the heavy rain today.

11.   Back to the Precepts Bible studies. Beginning in Haggai.

12.   School prep, shower, and travelling to Jordan Station for a friend’s 60^th birthday party.

13.   School day, brought to you by the number 12, letter d, and the sense of sight. Also the Bible story of Jesus healing a blind man.

14.   Dinner party at a friend’s place.

15.   Baking for tomorrow. Also took a trip to Ribfest but didn’t stay as it was so hot and there was no shade to be found.

16.   Church. Also coffee time.

17.   Such a nice home day. I did my Bible study homework. No nap today. Made salsa. I hope I don’t pay for this radical behaviour tomorrow.

18.   Bible study and school prep.

19.   Chiro and massage, errands. Also signed the publishing contract. It’ll be ready in about six months. I’ll post a picture.

20.   School day, brought to you by the number 13, the letter e, and the sense of hearing. Also the Bible story of Jesus healing a deaf and mute man.

21.   Recovery day, also planted my bulbs for spring flowers. This evening is a fund raising dinner for the missions trip to Tenerife, Canary Islands by four couples in our church.

22.   Putting away lawn furniture. First day of fall.

23.   Church. Missions week.

24.   Dental appointment and nap.

25.   Presenting the summary of Haggai and then out for lunch with the ladies. Then had a 2-1/2 hour nap. Bad pain with the rain. Also started an author Facebook page. Look up P.H. Thompson, Author. About ninety likes.

26.   Attending an event at church. My husband’s seminary prof is teaching on Islam. It was well attended and he is very engaging.  I also prepped for school.  I started some diet pills today. I’ve gained thirty pounds since I got sick five years ago.

27.   School day, brought to you by the letter Ff, the number 14, a yellow star, patterns, and the sense of smell. I made about 20 little smelling containers for him to identify, which he loved. Also the Bible story of the wise and foolish builders. Chicken and mac and cheese for lunch, and lasagna for dinner.

28.   Pain clinic this morning. Long nap, as usual.

29.   Quiet Saturday, laundry and filling out medical forms for Monday.

30.   Church. Last day of Missions week.

Summer Fun

 August Journaling

1.      My husband is still on vacation so we went to Hamilton to see the grandkids. While there, my husband changed their three locks so they all use the same key. Our granddaughter was sick with a fever. My daughter baked individual peach pies with a crust I loved, which I don’t usually care for.

2.      Osteopath appointment, nap, dinner, and packing for Kingston.

3.      To Kingston with a couple from our old church. Checking out a few restaurants our daughter recommended from when she was there for law school. Gotta schedule in my nap time so I can cope.

4.      On the five-hour thousand islands cruise from Gananoque. We’ve done it before, years ago, but we’re doing it to spend time with friends and for their sake, since they haven’t seen it. They’ve made so many upgrades to Boldt castle, it’s so beautiful. Slept the whole way home. Also, after telling us about the over 200 shipwrecks, they went on to reassure us our boat was safe, all without a life jacket in sight.

5.      Church in Newcastle this morning, because of summer vacation. Nap, and then the grandkids arrive for four nights. Our daughter and son-in-law are travelling to Boston for a delayed fifth anniversary trip.

6.      Holiday Monday. We’re bbq-ing and my mom, sister, and nieces are coming over to play with the grandkids.

7.      I took my grandson to Jungle Cat World, a local zoo, which he loved.

8.      Rainy day, but the kids played in the kiddie pool anyway.

9.      Our daughter’s flight was delayed twelve hours and then flew to Hamilton instead of Toronto, so they’re picking the kids up tomorrow.

10.   Chiropractor and Costco. Nap and dinner.

11.   A beautiful summer Saturday at home.

12.   Church.

13.   Home day.

14.   Facial injections for pain, worn out, three hour nap.

15.   Massage, followed by a three hour nap. While you may think that sounds nice, I wish I had energy to live life like I used to.

16.   Packing for the Carey Conference this weekend. It’s our 25^th time, but Carey itself is 40 years old.

17.   Baking my blueberry pies, packing, prepping pills.

18.   First day of Carey, exhausting because of setting up the trailer, then shopping.

19.   This week in a trailer makes me see I could never live in a tiny house.

20.   Wow! I’d forgotten what a good preacher Don Carson is. He is one of the best theologians of our day, but also a great communicator.

21.   My husband got to go to a small group of pastors, elders, and seminarians to ask Don Carson questions. I slept three hours. So much rain.

22.   Today was our only busy day. We hosted a couple for lunch, napped, hosted a couple for supper, took in two services, then hosted two couples for a campfire.

23.   Daily long naps, and also went into town to have lunch with friends. So different to be here without kids.

24.   Home after stopping by London to visit my aunt and cousin. My aunt has been widowed a year now. She went to Finland for a long visit, which really energized her.

25.   Laundry day. Everything was so musty.

26.   Our youngest daughter is 26 today. That means it’s her champagne birthday. She’s away on a bachelorette weekend for one of the three weddings she is in this year. One down, two to go. We also are going to visit our other daughter and bring my mother in law to see their first home, which she generously helped them get.

27.   Booked my flight for my aunt’s memorial service. My mom and aunt are driving, but it would be too much for me to sit that long. I used aeroplan miles.

28.   Pain clinic, then a bbq at WINGS maternity home, which is closing.

29.   School prep.

30.   We thought our air conditioning was broken, but it was just shorted out, so my husband was able to fix it. It’s so muggy.

31.   Farm day with grandkids. They loved feeding the chickens and goats.

A Year of Gratitiude: July 2018

Today I am thankful for...

1.      My country of Canada, on Canada Day, such as it is with it’s not so latent hostility to Christians and their freedom.

2.      Ability to rest at home when I’m sick, and sermon audio to catch up on what I missed.

3.      My library, both fiction and non-fiction. I have a lot of good resources for research.

4.      World cup soccer; lots of upsets this time around, which makes it interesting. My team of Germany is already out.

5.      Not having to worry about finances, only health.

6.      Facetiming with the grandkids.

7.      A beautiful summer Saturday.

8.      Being back at church.

9.      Spending a day with the grandkids at their new house. They have a little blow-up pool.

10.   I wrote a report card for my grandson.

11.   Air conditioning at home.

12.   Acupuncture seems to be helping.

13.   Flowers and my herb garden in the backyard.

14.   My dishwasher. Not a fan of handwashing dishes.

15.   The new home my mom, sister, and nieces are renting.

16.   My mom being able to spend time with her great grandkids.

17.   My washer.

18.   My dryer.

19.   Garage sales at church, where I have a chance to offload clutter.

20.   My reference books which help with Bible studies.

21.   My mom and sister’s new rental home.

22.   Black-eyed Susies, which I planted in front of our house. Perennials and potted plants are my kind of gardening.

23.   I bought some more black eyed Susies for my daughter’s yard.

24.   My crops.

25.   Coupons to completely pay for our meal tomorrow.

26.   32 happy years of marriage.

27.   Lobster.

28.   Festival at church.

29.   Sunshine.

30.   The beach. I feel more relaxed near the water.

31.   Getting honourable mention for my novel in the first writing contest I’ve entered.