Prayer for the New Year
By St. Francis of Assisi

Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Holiday Lights

The following photos were taken friday night while looking at Holiday Lights in the Chicagoland area.

©Joyce Meyer 2008

Take a look at this 25 foot sand sculpture of Santa Claus: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Photo-Highlight/ss/441.
©Sudarsan Pattnaik
There are 42 other photographs in this amazing slideshow. Enjoy!

Perhaps this icicle will melt today.

Tonight another couple, my husband and I went out to view Holiday Lights. It was eerie! Why? Fog surrounded us. It was follow the yellow line or the red lights from the car in front of us. Later, we stopped for a donut and a cup of coffee. Then we sat and chatted for a while. We dropped the couple off at their home and then about an hour later arrived safe and sound at home. Surprise, surprise, surprise, we found out that our electricity had been off. The microwave clock was blinking. Oh yes, we also saw the power company truck was outside fixing the problem. It was a reminder to be thankful for the small things in life like heat and light. We are expecting rain and 50 degree weather. Hopefully, that will clear the ice and snow off sidewalks and streets in the Chicagoland area.

On Christmas day we went to see MARLEY AND ME. If you want to watch a film clip before seeing the movie here is the site: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809995057/video/10232836/20081016/150/10232836-100-wmv-s.73391156-,10232836-1000-flash-s.73391172-,10232836-300-flash-s.73391164-,10232836-300-wmv-s.73391157-,10232836-700-flash-s.73391169-,10232836-700-wmv-s.73391160-,10232836-1000-wmv-s.73391161-,10232836-100-flash-s.73391163-,10232835-2700-qtv-s.73391173-,10232835-6800-qtv-s.73391174-,10232835-10300-qtv-s.73391176-
It is a funny story; but be prepared the ending is sad.

This year, our family was fortunate enough to see luminaries. Can you imagine brown paper sacks, a candle stabilized in sand and then they are placed on sidewalks outside? About five blocks of houses were participating in this event. When we drove up the road, it was hard to see all the lights because of the high banks of snow. When the car was turned around and went back down the hill, then we could see all the luminaries all at once. It looked like a runway for Santa Claus to land his sleigh. It was magical! What a way to end Christmas Eve.

I took this photograph yesterday. This angel is displayed on a kitchen shelf. I love how she sparkles. Notice that she is holding a book and a red candle. Last year, I purchased the angel at Kohl's. I removed the tag which read, "Made in China."

Christmas Trivia

Christmas Trivia Website: http://ezinearticles.com/?Christmas-Trivia&id=86008
Copyright: Chicago Style Citation:Pokorney, Marilyn "Christmas Trivia." Christmas Trivia EzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?Christmas-Trivia&id=86008
Traditions:http://www.valuablecontent.com/articles/6403/1/Christmas-Tree-Traditions

Turn your speakers on and watch the World's Largest Snow Woman at this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYjJaJFPDk4

Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce website: http://bethelmainesnowwoman.com/

Stars, Stars and More Stars

This photograph was taken only because I looked up instead of down and around and through. Its presence spoke to me. I didn't ignore or argue with the muse.

Here is an interesting site:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/hubble_space_telescope_advent.html

I wish you simple pleasures this holiday season.

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”
…Anne Frank

"He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has."
…Epictetus

Find out more about Epictetus here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epictetus

He Never Got Those Shoes

Hobo riding on a freight train
from Florida to Tennessee.
He jumped off at Dyersburg
and walked 40 miles.

He chopped some kindling.
Ate some chicken and brown crowder peas.
He saw a girl barefoot.
They married and had a son.

A lumberman came by.
This man chopped some wood.
Ate froglegs and corn on the cob.
Then held the baby boy for a few minutes.

The stranger said,

"You name him Travis Orbie
and I'll buy him a pair of shoes."

So they did.

Illinois is expecting two to four inches of snow today/tonight. First, I had to find my boots and gloves. When I opened the door to go outside, for a second, I was a kid again. It was wonderful seeing the snow sparkle like 10,000 diamonds on the staircase. The sight took my breath away. Then I brushed the snow of the car windows. Another day of errands...doctor appointment, gas, bank, CVS, errands after errands. Finally, I closed the door to the frigid weather (22 degrees) and curled up under a homemade loon blanket that a very good friend gave me one year. I watched channel TMC on Direct TV. Does anyone remember Joseph Cotton or Ingrid Bergman?

RECIPE: WEDDING CAKE COOKIES

1 c. butter
½ c. powered sugar
½ c. pecan nuts
2 c. sifted flour

Mix all together except nuts. Take a piece of
dough, about the size of a walnut, roll into
a nice round ball. Make an indentation
in center and place a half of a pecan meat in the
center and roll dough around it, completely covering
it. Place on greased pan and bake in a 325 degree
oven. Watch that they don’t burn. Remove
from pan and roll in powdered sugar when
they are cool enough to handle.

Tip: Small sized nuggets
Bake for 12 min. But check after 10 minutes

Are you interested in making a snowflake?
Go to this site:
BHG.com/snowflake.

When I hear the whisper of the muse, I listen.

©Joyce Meyer

Haiku Moment #19
Early morning
call of the loon
wake up.

Recently I discovered that John Wagner is the creator of the cartoon Maxine. See this website: http://pressroom.hallmark.com/PeopleBehindOurProducts/John-Wagner.
Maxine really strikes my funny bone. How about yours?

©Joyce Meyer 2008

Today, I visited Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Winter Park, Florida. I was awed by the Tiffany Chapel, which was designed for 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Learned that women artists did flowers for Tiffany lamps while the male artists were assigned geometric designs for Tiffany lamps. Louis Comfort Tiffany would decide that a vase wasn't the right color and he would smash it with his cane even if an artist had worked days on the project. The Morse was founded by Jeannette Genius McKean (1909-1989) and her husband Hugh F. Mckean (1908-1995).

Tonight we ate at Charley's Steak House, Orlando, Florida. It has been rated as #1 in America. Menu offers 20 oz. Filet Mignon, 24 oz. Porterhouse, a 50 oz. Master Cut and a two pound Australian Lobster Tail. It is an amazing place!

Today we flew from O'Hare Airport to Orlando. Instead of facing a snow storm in Chicagoland area, we are enjoying sunny skies. We took a water taxi, shopped till we dropped and then appeared for dinner at Emeril Lagasse' restaurant in City Walk UNIVERSAL area. It was a lovely time!

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That is why we call it the present."
...Babatunde Olatunji

©Joyce Meyer, October 2008
Image was taken in Musky Bay, Lac Court Oreilles, Wisconsin.

TV and radio stations forecasted 6 to 8 inches of snow for the Chicagoland area. Snow and ice and rain did show up. My husband and I went down to Lake Michigan for a photo shoot but the wet rain mixed with snow, the slippery incline, and the wind was not fun. We decided to call it a day and went home.

Then I decided to make fish chowder for dinner. It takes a couple of hours to simmer this dish on top of the stove. For those of you who aren't allowed butter or salt or bacon this is a perfect dish. Enjoy! Now we are finally warmed up.

For Your Information:
Illinois has gas prices under $2.00 a gallon for regular. With the holidays just around the corner this is a relief. Don't you think so?

FISH CHOWDER

1 pound fillets, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup chopped bacon or salt pork (optional)
1 whole onion or use red onion, chopped fine
1/2 green pepper
six potatoes, diced
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
leftover vegetables, cut up
6 sliced fresh mushrooms
15 baby carrots, chopped
2 cans mushroom soup, put 1/2 can of water in each can till you empty most of the ingredients in can
1/4 cup wine, white or pink
No salt
1/4 cup flour for thickening purposes
1 stick margarine or butter

Cut fillets into 1/2 inch pieces. Fry bacon until lightly browned. Add rest of ingredients. Cook until tender. Serve with crackers and/or fresh baked bread to dip in chowder. Delicious!

Serves 6.

MOPS

©Joyce Meyer, 2005.
I saw these mops hanging outside inbetween buildings. Image had pipes, a gas meter, laundry drying outside on a line, plus these mops. Using Picassa3, I cropped and changed the colors into this wild, fun image. Do you see the eyes? Weird huh?

Downsizing in 1929

At 18, I escaped from Cutler Hill
got a job on a barge
travelling down the Mississippi River to Memphis.

A fellow shipmate and I
had never been to a big city before.
We saw vaudeville,
ate pie and coffee for a dime.

We returned to work on the barge
where the officer said,
"Your services are no longer required."

©Joyce Meyer 2005