Bees in My Bonnet

This is what I wrote just a week ago, on Dad's 77th birthday. Tuesday, 3rd January, 2017 Today Dad would've been 77 years old - and he would tell me that he had attained perfection eleven times over (7 being the number of perfection)!  The grief and missing him comes in waves - tears cannot be restrained and emerge when I'm alone, driving to pick up kids or wishing I could watch him blow out candles on the traditional Crutchfield birthday cake. Last year I decided to form my year around 3 words - to orient me, to clarify where I was at or what was/were going to be my theme(s).  I found myself with an uncanny (and unusual, for me) drive to clean - toothpick clean - and found cleaning to be both therapeutic and frustrating at the same time.  The word "CLEANING" emerged for me as a picture of much needed backlog of internal soul-work that had been left untouched. I had prayed for God to lead me to the three words I needed for the year.  And on the threshold of...

Continued from Part 2: 9.  Harness Structuring Tools I struggle to even use tools like planners, lists, recipe schedules and the like.  But I still try and go back to them and start all over.  Especially when I lose the list I once had.  I often forget that I even have a list.  This is what it is like to have A.D.D.  Lists and planners sound like great tools, but they don't work if you don't use them - or if you forget to.  I have only had a cell phone for just over a year now and am beginning to see what a great tool it is!  Now I can put in reminders and calendar events and it will ding me when I need to know!  I'm sure this is news to no-one.  But it is exciting to me!  Maybe in time I will learn other tools that can help - but I put this in my list because someday I'll come back to this and I'll need the reminder. ('Cuz I'll forget there were tools - just call me Dorie). Some other tools are: Make a School Lunch plan - st...

I have always loved reading poetry.  But not all poetry.  It has to be readable, comprehendable and with words that are more or less in the common usage.  I can enjoy difficult-to-understand poetry when I am up for riddles and challenges.  But it is so pleasant to be able to read it and understand it the first time! I have always been a bit of a slacker (don't believe me? - ask my Mom!).  I think it is the achilles heel of my character.  I once wondered what the seven deadly sins were - and when I found they included slothfulness I was horrified.  Just glad not to be Catholic on that one.  But being Protestant is worse I suppose - because we consider all sin to be deadly. I realized my weakness of character even when I was younger - and not knowing exactly how best to improve myself (and in my ignorance that perhaps I could - forgetting it is really a work of God in me, with my willing effort aided by His enabling grace) - I was drawn to anyt...