X-Evolutionist

I’m a happy girl. My hubby is buying me a screen room for the back porch! It will be aluminum framing and all the walls are just enough aluminum framing to hold up window screens. I am going to be practically living out there!

Right now, as I said in my last post, I spend some time with my pets on the FRONT porch. But, the BACK porch has a better view – My wonderful pond that my hubby built and maintains for me. It’s just not comfortable to lounge around on, YET!

WELL! Now, I will be able to go out the sliding glass patio door and walk right out into a little room just big enough for a futon and two patio chairs and two little bitty tables next to the chairs for coffee and soda pop.

I am so exited! I’m going to be folding down the futon, and laying around with the dogs and watching the wild birds at the pond and watching my bunnies scamper around. Plus, my pet birds will be out there on nice days, too. I have never felt comfortable leaving my birds outside on nice days, but this little room will be a part of our house, and it will be secure.

My pesky doctors keep telling me to get rid of the birds since they contribute to lung problems, and I keep telling them it was the mold and NOT the birds. I’m not going to get rid of my family members for pete’s sake!

But, now, the birds will be in a different air space on nice days. On the off chance that my birds helped to make me sick, this will help.

My banner on my space says: “Life in the Backyard”. My backyard is my favorite place on earth. I am serious. My hubby and I do not travel, at ALL. Why should I?  My hubby makes my backyard so wonderful and peaceful for me, there is no need to go on vacation. This screen room is one more thing that will make my backyard my own Heaven on earth.

Springtime is my favorite time of year. I’ll be in the backyard enjoying God’s Creation for a while…

There’s no place like home…..

X

Edited to add:

Here’s a picture of my new screen room. It’s just itty bitty, big enough for the birds, the dogs, me, the futon and a couple of chairs. But, it’s paradise to me. It’s rained for three days, but it’s neat that I can sit out in the “rain” and not get wet. Fun:

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I read George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, again this week. I don’t know how many times I have read it, but it is a book I like to read over and over again, from time to time. I guess I read it every five years or so, but I’ve never really kept track. It’s just when the mood strikes me.

It is such a complex book, that it seems it seems like a different book each time. In reality, the book has stayed the same, but the world, and I, have changed.

I read this book between naps over the last few days. I haven’t felt very good this week, and spent most of the week either in my “real” bed, or on the front porch on my folded down futon. I love to hang out on the front porch. It is an “enclosed” porch, in that it has walls and a door. But, my favorite part is the windows. I love to open the windows and let in the fresh air and sound of the wild birds.

I am a lucky girl. I live on a street in a subdivision, full of houses, really close to a major intersection, but my street is really quiet most of the time. A car might go down my street maybe once an hour. Besides that, the only noise is mostly the dogs on the street letting each other know that the mail carrier or trash collector is on our street.

So, anyway, the front porch is my backyard away from the back yard. The backyard has no comfortable place to lay when I don’t feel good. I have hooks in the ceiling above the windows where I hang the parakeet and cockatiel cage. Rufus, my parrot, hangs out on the window sill. He likes to climb up the center window frame and then slide down like a fireman.

Belty, my Main Man, joins me on the bed, unless there is some patrol work outside in the backyard. He needs to keep Mom safe. Nicki is also very active in keeping Mom safe. Every day, they guard Mom from the poor mail carrier. No matter what I do, they won’t stop barking when there is an immanent threat. Belty is also excellent at napping. He likes to snuggle up to Mom when he is asleep. That way, he can nap and be on hand to protect me at the same time. Oh, he snores, but it’s a cute snore, so I don’t mind.

Nicki apparently just can’t get up on the futon anymore. They are both around 12 (we don’t really know since they were both adopted) and they are both slowing down. I took the legs out from under my “real” bed so Nicki can jump up on it, but I need the frame under the futon in order to look out the window. Nicki surveys the land for trespassers while laying in front of the glass storm door.

Nicki is a Daddy’s Girl. Since Lily recently died, Nicki is trying very hard to be the new “Baby” Lily was a teeny dog, and my hubby thought of her as a baby. Nicki is too big to be a cuddly lap dog, but she’s trying her best, anyway. She likes me alright, but she ADORES her Daddy. So, she doesn’t mind that Belty is my bedmate.

So anyway, I spent most of this week laying down, surrounded by a roomful of pets, since I didn’t feel good enough to do anything else. I read my copy of “1984” between naps. This morning, I feel a little better, and I want to try to tidy up the house a little bit.

As I’ve said before, but a head’s up to those who are visiting for the first time, since I lost my great job because of the pesky lung disease I haven’t worked for a year and a half. My poor hubby has been the only one making any money, plus he is the only one who has been able to do the cooking, shopping, laundry, cleaning etc.

I have recovered some, and am able to do chores some of the time. Today is Friday. i want my hubby to come home to a clean kitchen and living room with all the laundry done. He usually spends his weekend doing house chores, in addition to doing “man’s chores” like yard work. Plus, he planted me a garden this year, and he works in that a lot.

I want my hubby to be able to home home from work tonight and enjoy a restful weekend, as much as I can give him anyway. So, old X is going to start puttering around the house and see how much housework I can get done today. I’ll put on the Golden Oldies station to get me moving faster. The moving around is good exercise for my lungs, too. The harder I breathe, the stronger they get. Being at the computer a lot is NOT good for me. I have to move around a lot to get better.

Like I’ve said before, as much as I love it here in Live Land, I just can’t spend the time here that I used to. There are other aspects of my life that have to take priority. I miss visiting regularly with you all. If I’m not here in Live Land, don’t worry about me. I’m just living my life.

Time to get busy. I’ll pop in again soon.

X

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Today is Easter, the special day of the year that Christians set aside to celebrate that Jesus Christ rose from the dead as it says in the Bible:

Matthew 28:1-10 The Resurrection:

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."… (NIV)

But, who is Jesus? Was Jesus just a great moral teacher, or is Jesus something else? Here is what the great writer, C.S. Lewis, said:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

(from: CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 3, The Shocking Alternative)

Who does the Bible say that Jesus is?

Here is an excerpt from chapter one of the book of John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was john. he came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-14 (NIV)

In summary: In the beginning was the Word ... the Word was God ... the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The Word was God. And, The Word became flesh. Therefore, God became flesh, thus the Bible says that Jesus is God.

X

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I was just outside with the doggies and bunnies. First thing in the morning, my boy dog, Belty, makes a check for security breeches. He walks along the backyard fence, sniffing the ground as he goes, making sure there were no trespassers during the night. He LOVES trespassers. He is the self appointed security guard, and his duty is to keep squirrels, mice, bunnies, etc out of our yard. He has never caught anybody. In fact, he stops running if they stop running. It’s just the fun of the chase. You’ve never seen a dog with a bigger smile as when he is chasing a squirrel.

So, anyway, now that I am more ambulatory, I have been helping Belty patrol in the mornings, and different times during the day, when he feels it is necessary. So, a little while ago, I noticed that the bunny pen area had no more grass. The bunnies had eaten the grass down to the roots. Oh, they get bunny food and fruit and veggie scraps, but they still like grass and weeds to eat. I pull henbit and dandelions and toss them in the pen, and the bunnies love it.

So, there I was, looking at no grass in the bunny pen, and a lot of grass everywhere else. So, I put a portable folding bunny pen around the area with the highest grass, under the park bench by the pond. I put the bunnies in there, and they started happily eating grass, then I took me and the dogs back inside.

Then, I was tidying up the kitchen, and looked out the window, and my biggest bunny was sitting on the park bench! I had no idea that she’d be able to jump that high. So, I ran outside (I don’t leave the bunnies unattended with the dogs) to make sure she would not jump over the fence.

As I was moving the fence from around the back of the park bench, I was talking to the bunnies. I’m here by myself all day, every day, until my hubby comes home. I find myself talking to the animals a lot. But, the more I talk to them, the more they understand, so it works out well. Rufus sometimes answers me back, or makes rude comments, or laughs. (oh, he’s my parrot)

So there I was, I was talking to my bunny, and I heard myself say this: “You think you’re a big bunny? I’m the Big Bunny around here”. What in the heck? I just told a rabbit that I’m a big bunny? It made me laugh out loud when I heard that come out of myself.

Old X, she is a strange one.

I might be on the computer some more today, or I might not. As much as I love visiting with my friends, like I’ve said before, I have to keep moving around to keep getting better. Moving around more has made a big difference in my lungs. They seem to be working better all the time. I’m using the oxygen less and less.

Even my arms and legs got weak from sitting around. The more I move around and do stuff, the better, and stronger I have been feeling.

So, if I don’t get back to you right away, understand that being on the computer too much is bad for my health.

I’m going to put my wash in the dryer, tidy up my room, go play with the dogs some more, maybe move the bunny pen to another grassy area.

But, remember, above all else, “I’m the Big Bunny around here!”.

X

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I just mentioned in a comment in a group that I am a “word-o-phile”. A “word-o-phile” is a made up word that word lovers use to call themselves. Why isn’t there a real word for a lover of words. Isn’t that ironic? Well, it is to me!

I am a word junkie. I have to know what a word means. If I hear a word in a movie that I do not know, I have to pause it while I look it up. This makes my hubby, who is not a word-o-phile, crazy. But, since he loves me, he knows he has to wait and not complain. That is just is how it has to work around here.

I have one channel in my brain, I’m a serial port. I can only think of one thing at a time. If I am wondering about the definition of a word, I can’t concentrate on the rest of the movie. My hubby, a parallel port, can think of many things at a time. It took a while, but now he understands that this is just how I am wired up.

Thankfully, my hubby loves me enough to stick with me in spite of this. (I love you, too, sweetie!)

Anyway, as a word-o-phile, I am also a crossword puzzle junkie. Crawling in bed with a brand new, crisp Sunday crossword puzzle is a special thing for me.

Yes I know I’m weird. Deal with it.

X

Edited to add:

Jeffrey called my attention to “Logophile”. I think I will just delete this blog and run away and hope nobody notices. Thanks Jeffrey…. Man, do I look stupid now…. Gulp.

I’d like to close with the famous words of Emily Litella: “Never mind”….

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