Merrillee Whren's Blog, page 12

Presidents’ Day

Today in the United States we are celebrating a holiday that was created in 1971 by the Mondays Holiday Act. It was interesting to learn that there are three different ways to write the name of the holiday. Presidents’ Day (the one that I chose), Presidents Day or President’s Day. Which one would you use?

I’m kind of sad that we don’t recognize both Washington and Lincoln with their own special days as they did when I was a child. Although it is nice to recognize all Presidents, I believe Washington and Lincoln were special in our country’s history. Washington led the way in this country’s infancy, and Lincoln helped to preserve our country and abolish slavery. I love that both Washington and Lincoln are included on Mount Rushmore.

 But no matter who our leaders are the Bible instructs us this way. “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,” 1Timothy 2:1-3

Who is your favorite President and why?

Happy Valentine’s Day

Many of you will celebrate Valentine’s Day today as you give someone you love a card or gift. Valentine’s Day is a special day for me, not because of the commercial holiday but because it is my wedding anniversary. Last year I did a blog about getting married on Valentine’s Day. Here is a link to last year’s Valentine blog post.

These are the Valentines my granddaughter is taking to her preschool class. Her dad helped her get them ready.

 Do you remember giving Valentines to you classmates? I remember making a Valentine box to collect all the Valentines. Since I have a name with a lot of double letters, my biggest joy was finding that someone actually spelled my name correctly. It was amazing how many different spellings of my name came with those Valentines.

Since our anniversary falls on Valentine’s Day, if we are home, we often don’t do anything special to celebrate. This year our son-in-law is going to fix dinner for us. So that is special. Many years we have gone on a trip or cruise in February and celebrated with some good friends. Last year we went to Key West.  Here we are enjoying a boat ride near Miami.

 Below is a photo of one of the gorgeous sunsets at Key West.

What do you do to celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Hearts

In February we see lots of hearts—hearts on candy, hearts on cards, even hearts on clothing. Most of this is due to Valentine’s Day. Because we are thinking about hearts this month, the American Heart Association has chosen this time to get out their message about keeping our hearts healthy. This is particularly important to me because there is a history of heart disease in my family on both sides. We hear about breast cancer and know that pink is used as a symbol in the fight against breast cancer. It is an important fight, but did you know that heart disease is the #1 killer of women? Do you know about the Go Red 4 Women campaign? Watch this video about the tenth year anniversary of Go Red 4 Women. It is an important effort in the fight against heart disease in women.

We also need to take care of our spiritual hearts?

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 NIV

What are you doing to keep your heart healthy?

 

Recapping the Super Bowl

Many women are not football fans, but I like watching football. This was a photo I took at a Wake Forest college football game in 2011 when Wake Forest played against Notre Dame. I like college football and professional football. So I enjoy more than the commercials when it comes to the Super Bowl. I can’t remember the last time there was a Super Bowl in which I didn’t have a rooting interest. This year I cheered for the Ravens because one of my daughters lives in Baltimore. Although she isn’t a football fan, she even got excited about the Ravens’ win. Last year at this time of the year, I did a blog of the Super Bowl I attended in 2005. Here is a link to view that blog.

Are you a football fan, or do you prefer to watch something else?

Ground Hog Day

 

Today is Ground Hog Day in the United States. I began to wonder whether other countries celebrate Ground Hog Day. Tradition says that if the ground hog sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, we will have an early spring. I have never kept track to see whether the ground hog is right. Have you?

Are you eager for spring, or do you enjoy winter?

Cats, Dogs or Both?

Throughout my lifetime, I’ve had both cats and dogs, but I have to say that I’m a cat person. Here are two of my most recent cats, Nomar on the left and Allie on the right. Allie died not too long after this photo was taken. If you’ll look closely, you can see that she only had one functional eye. Nomar was twice as big as her, but they were still good buddies. Nomar missed her after she was gone.

We had Nomar for over ten years. We inherited him from our younger daughter after she graduated from college and took a job in Boston. Nomar was named after Nomar Garciaparra, who played for the Boston Red Sox. Below you see a couple of photos of Nomar making himself at home on my desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Nomar on one of his favorite perches as he looks down at my older granddaughter not long after she learned to walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we decided to split time between Florida and Arizona to be close to our granddaughters, Nomar and I made the cross-country trip by car. Nomar was a pretty good traveler, although he meowed a lot the first day when I sang with the radio. He got used to it by the second day and ignored me completely. He didn’t know what to make of the hotel room the first night. The second night when I stayed at my brother’s house in Texas, the cat hid behind the sofa in the room where I slept. On the third night, he was in his new home—my daughter’s house. Here he is making himself comfortable. Now he is back with his original owner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which are you—cats, dogs or both?

Practical Presents

Although it has been nearly a month since Christmas, I wanted to talk about one of the gifts I received this past Christmas. The pots and pans you see in the photo were actually an early Christmas present. So I got to use them when I made my annual batch of chocolate nut caramels and fudge.

I didn’t get a chance to blog at that time because my website had some problems that needed to be fixed. When my mother-in-law passed away just days before Christmas, all thoughts of blogging and fixing the website got put on the back burner—an appropriate cliche for the topic of this blog.

As you can see from the photo, the pots and pans are all shiny and new here and haven’t been used. Since I took the photo, the pots and pans have gotten a lot of use. I don’t really like to cook, but when it is necessary, having good cookware makes the job easier.

Do you like to cook? What is your favorite recipe?

Decorating for Christmas

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Here is my Christmas tree for this year. This is the perfect spot, right in front of the window. Do you have a special place to display your Christmas tree?

Mission Accomplished

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Today’s post is short. Here’s my new desk. My office is finally put together. Ready, set, write.

Do It Yourself Projects

This is a photo of the parts to a desk I plan to put together. I don’t know whether I can put this together by myself, but I’m going to give it a try. If I am successful, I will post a photo of the finished project. What kind of projects have you tackled recently?