Cathy

Do y'all remember the comic strip, Cathy?  I used to love it.  I think because the cartoonist, Cathy Guisewite wasn't much older than me in real life and as a single girl, I could relate to the character.  I used to have a few Cathy books.

Eventually, the cartoonist said that she grew up and thought that Cathy should too and eventually the cartoonist and Cathy both got married and that was the end of the comic strip, which ended October 3, 2010 after a 34 year run.

I miss it though.  I wish they would still run it in the papers like they do Peanuts (which stopped in 2000 after Charles Schulz passed away).  But for whatever reason, they don't carry the "reruns" of Cathy in the paper like they do Peanuts.

I'm glad for the internet so I can revisit her once and a while though. 

I remember they had a Valentine special that ran on TV (along with a couple of more). You can watch it on You Tube.  I remember in the first TV special, her mom had 2 peas and did mom magic and made a full meal out of it - so funny!  The other special was called Cathy's Last Resort.

Triva: Do you remember Cathy's boyfriend's name?

Trivia 2: Do you remember Cathy's dog's name? 

 

 

W.I.P. Wednesday

 

I can’t believe today is Wednesday! This week feels like it is going so fast to me. 

I’ve gotten a lot done on my afghan. I have about 4 more colored rows to go (so about 24 more rows, I think) then to add the border. 

We are supposed to have ice this weekend and as long as my power hold out, maybe I’ll finish my afghan, that is…if I can keep kitty cats off my lap and afghan.

Dad’s Birthday

 

My brother would have been 66 on January 1st & my dad would have been 93 today.  I wonder what they would be like and look like had they still been living?  Instead, they are frozen in time at the ages they passed in 2012 & 2014.

Forever in my heart. ❤️

Peace and Love

 

Sometimes, in this world, it is hard to have Peace and spread Love.  It seems we are so divided and sadly, hate is everywhere.  I know that sometimes hate is in my heart and I don't like it.  God doesn't call us to hate, he calls us to love.  I really struggle with that sometimes and I guess we all do.  

In John 15:12, Jesus says "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you".  Wouldn't it be great if everyone did that? The sad truth is...there are not enough people that follow Jesus' teaching or his examples and when they don't that reflects on the world and reflects on us and on me.  When I encounter people that don't follow Christian teachings, then I can forget that I am so supposed to love them because frankly, they aren't that lovable in my eyes...but regardless, we are called to Love.

In Galatians 5:22-23, we find a list of Fruit of the Spirit, which two of those are Peace & Love.

Other Fruits of the Spirit are:

Peace: Inner tranquility, even amidst trials.

Love: Unconditional affection and care.

Joy: Deep, lasting gladness.

Patience/Forbearance: Endurance, not retaliating when wronged.

Kindness: Benevolence and generosity.

Goodness: Moral and ethical excellence.

Faithfulness: Loyalty, reliability, and trustworthiness.

Gentleness: Mildness, humility, and consideration.

Self-Control: Discipline over one's desires and actions 

I think I really need to work on the Self-Control part and if I do, I will probably have more Peace and Love.  I've been working on that...trying to control my reactions to social media especially is tough.  I want to say things to set people straight (in my eyes) or agree with people (when they may be saying ugly things).  So I need to have more self control to (a) not look at that stuff and (b) avoid saying every thought that comes mind if I do look at it.

I think the Lord would be pretty sad at what the World has become, so much hate, so much violence, so much division all around the World.  All we can do is control ourselves and I pray and will try to do the right, I will try to do what brings Peace, Love, Kindness and Goodness.

I'm reminded of Romans 7:19
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 

This is my prayer..that I do the good and not the evil. 

  

W.I.P. Wednesday

It's been a while since I've posted a Work In Progress Wednesday update.

So, I've been working on my Flower Power Crochet Blanket and it is coming along.  It is hard to work on it when kitty cats want attention but I'm almost 67% done.

 

Daddy Memories

 Today, 14 years ago, my daddy passed away.  I miss him every day. EVERY DAY.

The other day, I was in the store and there were lots of Valentine heart shaped boxes.  I was happy remembering when that my dad always got us kids a small box, which had about 5 or 6 chocolates in it.  He got my mom a HUGE box, I don't know how many pieces but it seemed like 100 to me, but it was probably more like 40 or 50. Do you remember when they made Valentine Hearts like that? They don't make them like that anymore..not at all.

None of us kids liked coconut so we always gave that piece to mama (with a tiny bite out of it because that's how we discovered it was coconut) and my mom didn't seem to mind, as far as I knew, that after our chocolate was gone, she'd find some of her's with little pokes in the bottom (so we could test if it had coconut) and a few pieces missing out of her box that were stolen by one of her 3 kiddos. 

This happy memory brought a smile to my face.

But then the next minute, tears welled up in my eyes....because I knew that daddy couldn't bring us Valentines anymore.  He hasn't been able to do that since 2012, when he passed away. Sometimes I can't believe that he is been gone 14 years.  

As you see, he passed away just 3 days before his 78th birthday.  I was praying that he would make it to his birthday but his body just couldn't do it.  

It's hard when a memory makes you happy and then makes you sad...all at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

Easy 3-Ingredient Tomato Dumplings

 

 

I saw this recipe on Pinterest about a year ago but haven't gotten around to making it but it is so easy and it is chilly so I thought today would be a good day.

Tomato Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 can tomato soup
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can (5 count) biscuits

Directions:

Put soup and diced tomatoes in pot and bring to a boil. Cut each biscuit into quarters and add to the tomato mixture.  Cook about 15-20 minutes until biscuits are done.  You can top with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Easy to fix, quick to eat and good!

Note: I've seen variations of this that said to separate the biscuits (after cutting), add a piece of your favorite cheese and close the biscuit around it for cheesy dumplings, but I didn't want to take all that time to try that variety and to me, they were good without that step.