Yawn.... at the end of a long day

My husband has to return to the Chicago area again tomorrow so we were out running a few necessary errands today. It seemed everywhere we went, people were talking about layoffs. We found out our neighbor had been laid off since December! We thought he was working a different shift. CAT announced huge layoffs today which will greatly affect the Midwest.

Two women were talking while we were at the copy shop, both husbands had been laid off. As they said, there are so few manufacturing plants left in the area that there is no place to go when one loses a job. That's why my husband lost a few jobs. He was a Quality Assurance Engineer and his department was always one to be cut first in an economic downturn but he actually had a few places he worked that sold the plants and the manufacturing went to another country.

This entire situation with my husband's sister has been a lesson in patience and walking in love. Just when I think I've got this "walking in love" thing down, God allows difficult people in my life. My husband's sister has asperger's syndrome and has been one of those human "thorns in my flesh" since I first met her during our engagement. Sigh... it is so easy to show compassion to people we love and enjoy being with but it is when we walk in love towards those who have caused us to develop a twitch that God's love can shine through.

The constant travel has made me have to trust God for my husband's safety, too. I find it ironic that I have no fear of terrorism or something "big" happening to this country but bring it closer to home... as in a family member traveling... and the faith and trust muscles get a workout.

There are two separate events that make me know beyond a shadow of a doubt that all turns out well with this old world. One is holding a new born baby and the other is the birth of spring each year... miracles we so often take for granted... both signs that God hasn't given up on the human race.

I'm hoping tomorrow to get away to Panera with my Bible and a book. At the library sale, I found a copy of Linda Dillow's Calm My Anxious Heart. I can certainly use that book right now and I must have read her Creative Counterpoint three or four times years ago (Steph said she is reading it now).

I also plan to make a couple of recipes from Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking In an Oklahoma Kitchen (LOVE IT!). If my energy holds up, there are a couple make ahead recipes in Barbara Smith's Food That Says Welcome; Simple Recipes to Spark the Spirit of Hospitality. I'm also going through The Amish Cook (a gift I also LOVE) and a small booklet of Amish recipes I bought while in Pennsylvania.

I think it's the change of season that has me with my nose in cookbooks. After a lovely season of soups and stews, I'm ready for something new... and inexpensive.

Oh, yes, I have been thinking of Easter. I need to have everything purchased ahead of time to make certain the Holiday arrives and if it is a month where we have no extra money, we still have a wonderful Holiday meal... and in this case a few small items for a teenage boy's Easter basket. :)

This year I'm definitely serving the sugar cream pie for dessert but I'll probably make a strawberry rhubarb pie, too (I mean... that just says SPRING). I have all the veggie items purchased and put away in the freezer and pantry. I'll wait to purchase the ham since they usually go on sale closer to Easter. If possible, I'll purchase one for the Easter meal and one for the freezer. Just thinking out loud...