love to paint

Tonight I walked into my kids' bathroom and I was thankful...  to not have a stinky toilet anymore.   We have lived in our house for almost 4 years and the toilet has always smelled.  I've cleaned it.  I've cleaned all around it--the walls, the floor, the tank!  Still, it stank, stunk, stinked... I know that doesn't make sense, but it really smelled!  None of the guests in our home ever mentioned it to me.  My kids admitted to me today that they were immune to it.  They hadn't noticed.   I did. Yesterday, we got a new toilet!  Now, I have a white toilet (rather than a turquoise blue one that was installed in 1958).  Now, I can sit on the toilet seat cover when it's down because it's strong and isn't thin plastic that will cave in if you sit on it.  It's such a little thing, yet I'm very thankful for it.  It's hard to pull a splinter out of a child's hand and have them sit on the floor or the edge of the bathtub. ...

We just got back from vacation.  I enjoy the long drive because it's usually a chance to catch up on some reading (and book reviewing).  I only read one book on the way home this time, because I was working on the class I'm teaching this year. The book I read was Your Sacred Yes by Susie Larson.  I wanted to read this book because of the author, not the subject.  Susie Larson wrote one of the parenting books I regularly recommend, Growing Grateful Kids .   Your Sacred Yes focuses in on the subject of overcommitment and priorities.  Ms. Larson wants to challenge women to think about their commitments and priorities in light of walking with God.  Our focus should be on Him, not on what we want to do. This book didn't resonate with me--which I think has to do with its timing my life rather than the book itself.  I do think it's a good book.  There's a lot of great food for thought.  For example, on page 56, she says "we need to develop...