Interesting today. We sold our car, Thank you, Lord. The couple was so nice and gracious. I commented, I prayed that the car would go to the right people, so I hope you will be really happy with it. The lady laughed and said, We prayed that we would find the right car. Very cool. Now I'm praying the car will run great for them for the ages. They needed a new car because they were rear-ended last week in one of their old cars and it wasn't worth the repairs. See how all this works?
But, beyond this good news, it turns out that this couple is in ministry with a Christian organization called The Way--Biblical Research, Teaching, and Fellowship. I know nothing about it, but boy, I've been wanting to get out of organized church and do home fellowship, which this is. It seems, from what I've read on their website, that seeking truth from Scripture is their main objective, including going to the ancient texts and learning the Hebrew and Greek cultures from the time frame the Scriptures were written. It seems honest and pure, no fluff, no "programs," no buildings, no waste. Instead, people wanting in-depth study, by the Holy Spirit's guidance, that will change their lives through obedience.
I realize I may have offended some who are happy in their church. I apologize for that, it is not my intent to knock faithful ministers and hard working church goers, I am somewhat in that category myself. I'm just saying that I'm open to exploring a concept modeled after the early New Testament churches.
If anyone has heard of this group, let me know what you know. Check it out at http://www.theway.org/
They have home fellowships all over the world and there is on here in Seminole that I will find out about. They've been around since 1942, where have I been?
I was so excited. WOW! It's so neat when God answers a prayer and then gives you even more than you bargained for. Of all the people in this huge area, look who bought the car! And truly, I can't tell you how much I've been questioning the organized church. It seems 90% of them have watered down truth if not bailed on it altogether. The verse printed on the business card is John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Their motto is The Prevailing Word.
It seems they don't have a list of doctrine, but the Word, all of it, is their doctrine. I'm guessing.
This whole episode reminds me of when I attended the bridal shower for my minister's son's fiance. The minister's wife and mother of the groom said that for years she has prayed for her sons' future wives, listing the godly qualities she wanted. And then God gave them this wonderful girl who far exceeds all expectations. She said, God takes our pitiful little prayers and blesses them far abundantly and above what we should deserve. So true. I think I've all ready told you this...oh, well. It happened to me today and it feels so good.
So the couple who bought our car is moving to Ohio where the ministry headquarters is. They called tonight to say they couldn't find the car jack (sp?). Well, where does a car jack go? Where does a frying pan go? I couldn't begin to tell you.
KEM of Increased Faith
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hello again. I find myself going to the drawer my pots and pans call home. I slide it open, eye cocked, anticipating my frying pan has taken up residence once again. The thinking goes like this -- since obviously the pan sprouted feet and paddled off, maybe it will paddle back again. No one knows what happened to it. Hmmm.
Checked out Spongebob Squarepants and found out that he does have stick legs. Also found out his name is two words instead of four. At any rate, I am a pure square lately, from neck to knees.
What do you do when your neighbor, whose house is practically in your backyard, starts and continues playing his radio VERY VERY LOUDLY. For crying out loud, don't people know KEM is still sleeping at high noon? This has happened several times now and also on Sunday afternoons, when it's nap time. It's so loud that my house pulses with it. Sleeping in out of the question. WAAAAH! The police have been there, too, for domestic disturbance, I do believe. Guess we'll have to sell the house.
When CDW and MAW came to Montreat to spend the night, I was a loser and didn't make a real dinner. I just threw out everything in sight, smorgasbord style. The table was full of stuff like cantaloupe, cottage cheese, cold fried chicken, frozen pizza, different kinds of potato chips, carrots, deli ham, and I don't remember what all, it was fresh, frozen, leftover, used, you name it. Oh yeah, bar-b-q sauce. Everything got dipped in it, it covered a multitude of sins. I heard comments like, I didn't know bar-b-q sauce was good on _________.
I said, I'm sorry, this is not a nice meal. CDW said, It's a fun meal, I love it. I'm so embarrassed. CDW was a hoot, 'cause the next morning she told me she woke up in the night in a cold sweat, 'cause I had asked her at dinner to pour potato chips in a dish and she got 2 teensy dishes and then she realized I meant a bigger dish, for everyone, not a personal CDW chip bowl, and a personal MAW bowl. I thought it was hysterical. Who could have sorted anything out in that hodgepodge anyhow? You have to realize, CDW is the ultimate hostess. I can't believe she is still friends with me after this dinner.
Later we went to the Huckleberry for ice cream and CDW and MAW got cups and I got a cone. Later I learned that you always ask for a cup because you get more ice cream that way. We sat on the deck and stared at the water from Lake Susan spilling over the dam. The swans had hunkered down for the night. Lights glittered from the old stone inn on the mountain. It's as good as it gets on earth, the pristine mountain air, ice cream and best friends. And plenty of friendly trees.
I am very meek and mild tonight. It's raining gloriously every day, Thank you, Lord. This afternoon there was a thunder clap as loud as I've ever heard, it scared the wits out of me. It was like IN the house. Jazzi, of course, was crouching between the toilet and the tub. Anyway, it got me to thinking that when God does finally judge the world and it all goes up in flames, we are not going to want to be here. He's promised terror such as the earth has never known. And the earth has known some terror. I just think we should all prepare ourselves before this commences.
My friend tells me The Dollar Store, where I get my ZWIPES, and doggie poop bags, is on the Endangered Species List. What next?
Nice talkin' to ya!
KEM
Checked out Spongebob Squarepants and found out that he does have stick legs. Also found out his name is two words instead of four. At any rate, I am a pure square lately, from neck to knees.
What do you do when your neighbor, whose house is practically in your backyard, starts and continues playing his radio VERY VERY LOUDLY. For crying out loud, don't people know KEM is still sleeping at high noon? This has happened several times now and also on Sunday afternoons, when it's nap time. It's so loud that my house pulses with it. Sleeping in out of the question. WAAAAH! The police have been there, too, for domestic disturbance, I do believe. Guess we'll have to sell the house.
When CDW and MAW came to Montreat to spend the night, I was a loser and didn't make a real dinner. I just threw out everything in sight, smorgasbord style. The table was full of stuff like cantaloupe, cottage cheese, cold fried chicken, frozen pizza, different kinds of potato chips, carrots, deli ham, and I don't remember what all, it was fresh, frozen, leftover, used, you name it. Oh yeah, bar-b-q sauce. Everything got dipped in it, it covered a multitude of sins. I heard comments like, I didn't know bar-b-q sauce was good on _________.
I said, I'm sorry, this is not a nice meal. CDW said, It's a fun meal, I love it. I'm so embarrassed. CDW was a hoot, 'cause the next morning she told me she woke up in the night in a cold sweat, 'cause I had asked her at dinner to pour potato chips in a dish and she got 2 teensy dishes and then she realized I meant a bigger dish, for everyone, not a personal CDW chip bowl, and a personal MAW bowl. I thought it was hysterical. Who could have sorted anything out in that hodgepodge anyhow? You have to realize, CDW is the ultimate hostess. I can't believe she is still friends with me after this dinner.
Later we went to the Huckleberry for ice cream and CDW and MAW got cups and I got a cone. Later I learned that you always ask for a cup because you get more ice cream that way. We sat on the deck and stared at the water from Lake Susan spilling over the dam. The swans had hunkered down for the night. Lights glittered from the old stone inn on the mountain. It's as good as it gets on earth, the pristine mountain air, ice cream and best friends. And plenty of friendly trees.
I am very meek and mild tonight. It's raining gloriously every day, Thank you, Lord. This afternoon there was a thunder clap as loud as I've ever heard, it scared the wits out of me. It was like IN the house. Jazzi, of course, was crouching between the toilet and the tub. Anyway, it got me to thinking that when God does finally judge the world and it all goes up in flames, we are not going to want to be here. He's promised terror such as the earth has never known. And the earth has known some terror. I just think we should all prepare ourselves before this commences.
My friend tells me The Dollar Store, where I get my ZWIPES, and doggie poop bags, is on the Endangered Species List. What next?
Nice talkin' to ya!
KEM
Monday, July 5, 2010
Hello. I stole cakeballs from the reception and Mike and I ate them on the drive following to Montreat. Pop, pop, pop, they go down easy. The cakeballs taste exactly like Hostess Ho Ho's, only better, of course, because they are handmade by none other than The Mighty CDW. I'm thinking CDW needs to send me the recipe so I can post it here, don't ya think? What could possibly be more fun than Pop-In-Your-Mouth Cakeballs, red velvet ones, no less? Unless, of course, that would be my other friend's Health Balls. Health Balls are anything but, they are a delicious concoction of chocolate and I guess coconut and all things yummy and thigh-enhancing. My friend took these to the museum reception for refreshments and this man kept popping them, one, two, three, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one. They were, prior, not called Health Balls, but some other name. This man's wife was giving him the stink eye and said, Don't you think you are over doing it on these cookies? He, of a sharp wit, said, What?, these are Health Balls. And so, now my friend makes Health Balls, and they get top billing at any dainty social gathering.
The wedding was a time of pure joy. I sat with Charlotte, one of my best friends from the time I lived in Burlington, NC. When it was time for the mother of the bride to be escorted down the aisle, Charlotte and Iwere grinning from ear to ear. As she passed us, CDW threw her head back and mouthed, I LOVE YOU! Now, that made us feel kinda extra special, oh yeah. Charlotte is a heavy admirer of CDW, and who isn't? I'm a heavy admirer of both ladies, they are just the best!
The bride was lovely, couldn't be prettier, she looked like an angel. The decorations were stand-out, very colorful bouquets and just loved the swoop of flowers over the trellis where the bride and groom stood. The reception was lavish, starring cakeballs, or course.
And I saw a few people I knew, all bringing back wonderful memories. Later, Mike and I drove around so I could show him all my old haunts. Then we spotted Hursey's Bar-B-Que, which of course we had to stop and eat because the minister had just mentioned that he and the groom both loved Hursey's Bar-B-Que the best.
What it is, is I LOVE Carolina people. They have a gentleness and kindness, charm and sense of fun that is theirs alone (is "theirs" a word?). Get a load of this. I go back and visit every 5 years and last time there was a too cute house for sale on Circle Drive, one of my favo spots in Burlington, oozing postcard perfection. I wanted that house right then and there. AND, it was way cheaper than anything you could get in St. Pete. Well. That house is for sale again, imagine that! Burlington is lookin' good. I used to pine for water when I lived there, but happily, I have discovered that Burlington is a mere 2 hours from Wilmington (where DTD'S aunt and uncle live) and also a mere 2 hours from the mountains, specifically Montreat. Plus, they have added a lake to Burlington. Before (and still) they had the Haw River, which my brother, when he visited, thought was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Also, when we ate at my favo restaurant, The Cutting Board, my brother couldn't believe they didn't serve French fries with the hamburgers. He put on quite a spectacle for the waitress. WHAT! No French fries, that's so totally unAmerican! They served potato salad, it's so SOUTHERN!
And I LOVED my elegant DAR ladies in Burlington, so many frail or passing away by now :( Yes, it was a great time in so many ways, living there. What are your fondest memories of places you lived. What is it about hindsight? It's not exactly real, that's what! I shape the past into my dream memories, that's what.
But what is real is that CDW surprised me with a visit to Montreat, she and her FABULOUS daughter, the one who didn't get married...yet...she's Sweet Sixteen. We had A BALL. The daughter is now known as MAW, my new nickname for her. I couldn't believe MAW appreciated my weirdness. She said, Weird is good, the weirder the better. Which is VERY good because I was so weird that I thought she would pack up her mother in the night and hightail it outta there. But she's a good sport, says normal people are way too boring. They cracked me up because they were so RELIEVED the wedding was over, they did it, the bride loved it, but now they are so happy it's filed in a new memory slot. I think I said this yesterday, but it strikes me as very funny, so I guess I said it again.
In the bookstore/gift shop in Montreat, I saw a long sorta chunky board, very narrow, though (this makes no sense), it's a decoration to hang on the wall, and it quoted Charles Dickens:
Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
Well. If that doesn't sum it up. I really wanted to buy this beautifully lettered plaque, but it had a dinged corner, and far be it from KEM to buy anything with a dinged corner. This reminds me, I LOVED Charles Dickens, had to read David Copperfield in high school. Need to reread these things, modern books, of course, can't compare, just like modern music can't compare. Well, don't throw spoiled eggs, I am generalizing here, but it's true. Back in the day I guess authors and composers had fewer distractions and depended on their brilliance, focused exclusively on it, no doubt.
Well, I need to consult my cell phone because I can't exactly remember the other things I was going to mention, except that while I was taking a walk in Montreat, soaking up the picturesque cottages along the way, it hit me that I need to go on that diet. Because I thought, after all these cakeballs, I look exactly like Sponge Bob Square Pants, except with square thighs, too. No thin thighs anywhere in sight. Does Sponge Bob have thin legs, what am I thinking? Square pants, that hardly sounds like stick legs, I'd better go Google him right now. Tomorrow I will see what I forget for right now. I always love to find out what I forgot, it's so interesting to me.
July, isn't that a pretty name for a month? The prettiest, I'd say.
KEM
The wedding was a time of pure joy. I sat with Charlotte, one of my best friends from the time I lived in Burlington, NC. When it was time for the mother of the bride to be escorted down the aisle, Charlotte and Iwere grinning from ear to ear. As she passed us, CDW threw her head back and mouthed, I LOVE YOU! Now, that made us feel kinda extra special, oh yeah. Charlotte is a heavy admirer of CDW, and who isn't? I'm a heavy admirer of both ladies, they are just the best!
The bride was lovely, couldn't be prettier, she looked like an angel. The decorations were stand-out, very colorful bouquets and just loved the swoop of flowers over the trellis where the bride and groom stood. The reception was lavish, starring cakeballs, or course.
And I saw a few people I knew, all bringing back wonderful memories. Later, Mike and I drove around so I could show him all my old haunts. Then we spotted Hursey's Bar-B-Que, which of course we had to stop and eat because the minister had just mentioned that he and the groom both loved Hursey's Bar-B-Que the best.
What it is, is I LOVE Carolina people. They have a gentleness and kindness, charm and sense of fun that is theirs alone (is "theirs" a word?). Get a load of this. I go back and visit every 5 years and last time there was a too cute house for sale on Circle Drive, one of my favo spots in Burlington, oozing postcard perfection. I wanted that house right then and there. AND, it was way cheaper than anything you could get in St. Pete. Well. That house is for sale again, imagine that! Burlington is lookin' good. I used to pine for water when I lived there, but happily, I have discovered that Burlington is a mere 2 hours from Wilmington (where DTD'S aunt and uncle live) and also a mere 2 hours from the mountains, specifically Montreat. Plus, they have added a lake to Burlington. Before (and still) they had the Haw River, which my brother, when he visited, thought was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Also, when we ate at my favo restaurant, The Cutting Board, my brother couldn't believe they didn't serve French fries with the hamburgers. He put on quite a spectacle for the waitress. WHAT! No French fries, that's so totally unAmerican! They served potato salad, it's so SOUTHERN!
And I LOVED my elegant DAR ladies in Burlington, so many frail or passing away by now :( Yes, it was a great time in so many ways, living there. What are your fondest memories of places you lived. What is it about hindsight? It's not exactly real, that's what! I shape the past into my dream memories, that's what.
But what is real is that CDW surprised me with a visit to Montreat, she and her FABULOUS daughter, the one who didn't get married...yet...she's Sweet Sixteen. We had A BALL. The daughter is now known as MAW, my new nickname for her. I couldn't believe MAW appreciated my weirdness. She said, Weird is good, the weirder the better. Which is VERY good because I was so weird that I thought she would pack up her mother in the night and hightail it outta there. But she's a good sport, says normal people are way too boring. They cracked me up because they were so RELIEVED the wedding was over, they did it, the bride loved it, but now they are so happy it's filed in a new memory slot. I think I said this yesterday, but it strikes me as very funny, so I guess I said it again.
In the bookstore/gift shop in Montreat, I saw a long sorta chunky board, very narrow, though (this makes no sense), it's a decoration to hang on the wall, and it quoted Charles Dickens:
Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
Well. If that doesn't sum it up. I really wanted to buy this beautifully lettered plaque, but it had a dinged corner, and far be it from KEM to buy anything with a dinged corner. This reminds me, I LOVED Charles Dickens, had to read David Copperfield in high school. Need to reread these things, modern books, of course, can't compare, just like modern music can't compare. Well, don't throw spoiled eggs, I am generalizing here, but it's true. Back in the day I guess authors and composers had fewer distractions and depended on their brilliance, focused exclusively on it, no doubt.
Well, I need to consult my cell phone because I can't exactly remember the other things I was going to mention, except that while I was taking a walk in Montreat, soaking up the picturesque cottages along the way, it hit me that I need to go on that diet. Because I thought, after all these cakeballs, I look exactly like Sponge Bob Square Pants, except with square thighs, too. No thin thighs anywhere in sight. Does Sponge Bob have thin legs, what am I thinking? Square pants, that hardly sounds like stick legs, I'd better go Google him right now. Tomorrow I will see what I forget for right now. I always love to find out what I forgot, it's so interesting to me.
July, isn't that a pretty name for a month? The prettiest, I'd say.
KEM
Sunday, July 4, 2010
I totally screwed up and didn't blog once on vacation.
Now I am home and there is a mystery hanging thickly in the air. My large frying pan, part of a GOOD set I've had for 27 years, is GONE MISSING. Who would come into the house and steal a frying pan and only a frying pan? Well, stay tuned because this is one little item that I am going to get to the bottom of. You can't live without your frying pan, for Corn's sake!
There is much to tell about North Carolina, and South, too. I hope I can remember it. I vaguely texted myself some notes, I guess tomorrow I'd better start in and hope my memory serves me well. Which is hoping for a lot since I can't even remember anymore that when you are on a diet you don't get to eat chocolate toffee bars from Ghana, or white chocolate strawberry ones either.
In the meantime, you need to know that CDW'S daughter's wedding was completely dear, through and through. CDW is nothing short of a genius, and I'm not kidding. Oh, so much to tell, so much sweet beauty I beheld. Ahhh, can it be over so soon? I mean, we planned this wedding for a year. That's right, I was email moral support, there every step of the way. (Talk about over-exaggerated self-importance :) CDW even made red velvet cake balls, dipped in a chocolate coating. More on that coming your way very soon.
Hope you had a happy 4th!
Kakeball KEM
Now I am home and there is a mystery hanging thickly in the air. My large frying pan, part of a GOOD set I've had for 27 years, is GONE MISSING. Who would come into the house and steal a frying pan and only a frying pan? Well, stay tuned because this is one little item that I am going to get to the bottom of. You can't live without your frying pan, for Corn's sake!
There is much to tell about North Carolina, and South, too. I hope I can remember it. I vaguely texted myself some notes, I guess tomorrow I'd better start in and hope my memory serves me well. Which is hoping for a lot since I can't even remember anymore that when you are on a diet you don't get to eat chocolate toffee bars from Ghana, or white chocolate strawberry ones either.
In the meantime, you need to know that CDW'S daughter's wedding was completely dear, through and through. CDW is nothing short of a genius, and I'm not kidding. Oh, so much to tell, so much sweet beauty I beheld. Ahhh, can it be over so soon? I mean, we planned this wedding for a year. That's right, I was email moral support, there every step of the way. (Talk about over-exaggerated self-importance :) CDW even made red velvet cake balls, dipped in a chocolate coating. More on that coming your way very soon.
Hope you had a happy 4th!
Kakeball KEM
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Did laundry all day. 'Cause you can't pack dirty clothes. And you know what? I liked it. Monday Laundry. I like focusing on one thing and actually having something to show for it at the end of the day. Maybe that's what our Foremothers had in mind. After my vacation I'm going to try this again. Because spreading things out all week long, like cleaning one room a day, I don't have the discipline for that. Tuesday Cleaning.
Now, I need to lose 10 pounds by Saturday for CDW'S daughter's wedding. Probably 12 after the Alfredo Shrimp I woofed down at Casual Clam tonight. Quick! Someone please suction out all those chocolate malts I've been draining as of late! Every once in a while I go on a food prep strike and we eat out a lot, all in a row. Eating out is making America fat, I am living proof. Plus, my friend suggests my migraines are from MSG. This could be, I don't know what restaurant ingredients are, but I can guess. At any rate, I had to unbutton and unzip my jeans before the Alfredo even got to the table.
Drenching rain tonight, thank you, Lord! At Casual Clam, which Mike and I drive by 10 times a day, it's right near our house, well, neither of us could think of the name of it just now, how sad is that, when we just ate there. Where was I? Yes, we ate on the patio and there was a full rainbow right in front of my face, brilliant colors at both ends. Nothing like the exquisite arch of a rainbow, it arched right over Sweetbay grocery store, like a blessing, right across the street from Casual Clam. Casual Clam is no small taters, it was written up in Southern Living as one of the iconic places to eat in St. Petersburg. Ted Peters was another. My sister and her kids love Ted Peters, famous for smoked fish and fish spread. They order hamburgers. There was a third place in the Southern Living article, which I can't think of. Now that will drive me crazy.
When you come and visit me in St. Petersburg, I will take you to Casual Clam and Ted Peters and the third place, too.
The shorter the sweeter.
KEM
Now, I need to lose 10 pounds by Saturday for CDW'S daughter's wedding. Probably 12 after the Alfredo Shrimp I woofed down at Casual Clam tonight. Quick! Someone please suction out all those chocolate malts I've been draining as of late! Every once in a while I go on a food prep strike and we eat out a lot, all in a row. Eating out is making America fat, I am living proof. Plus, my friend suggests my migraines are from MSG. This could be, I don't know what restaurant ingredients are, but I can guess. At any rate, I had to unbutton and unzip my jeans before the Alfredo even got to the table.
Drenching rain tonight, thank you, Lord! At Casual Clam, which Mike and I drive by 10 times a day, it's right near our house, well, neither of us could think of the name of it just now, how sad is that, when we just ate there. Where was I? Yes, we ate on the patio and there was a full rainbow right in front of my face, brilliant colors at both ends. Nothing like the exquisite arch of a rainbow, it arched right over Sweetbay grocery store, like a blessing, right across the street from Casual Clam. Casual Clam is no small taters, it was written up in Southern Living as one of the iconic places to eat in St. Petersburg. Ted Peters was another. My sister and her kids love Ted Peters, famous for smoked fish and fish spread. They order hamburgers. There was a third place in the Southern Living article, which I can't think of. Now that will drive me crazy.
When you come and visit me in St. Petersburg, I will take you to Casual Clam and Ted Peters and the third place, too.
The shorter the sweeter.
KEM
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wicked whiskers! The Rays blew it and are no longer #1. After 57 glorious days. I think that from here on out they should continue to win games successively, until my blog is over. Which would be about 68 more days. That should do it.
Okay, rotten headache. Is it, you know, a female thing? Or a barometric pressure thing? Or the incredible combo of foods I managed yesterday?
Happy Father's Day. Mike is a really good father. And he had a really good father. See how that works? I appreciate my dad, too. At church today he said, I opened my present and I was really surprised. I mean, he could tell it was going to be a book and he fully expected a book on golf. Ha, ha. He hasn't read it yet, but he will. Precious little DEWEY.
This is all I'm good for, thanks for hanging with me.
A bowl of oatmeal is sounding like a sensible thing, but bed would be even more sensible.
Summery KEM
Okay, rotten headache. Is it, you know, a female thing? Or a barometric pressure thing? Or the incredible combo of foods I managed yesterday?
Happy Father's Day. Mike is a really good father. And he had a really good father. See how that works? I appreciate my dad, too. At church today he said, I opened my present and I was really surprised. I mean, he could tell it was going to be a book and he fully expected a book on golf. Ha, ha. He hasn't read it yet, but he will. Precious little DEWEY.
This is all I'm good for, thanks for hanging with me.
A bowl of oatmeal is sounding like a sensible thing, but bed would be even more sensible.
Summery KEM
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