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Over the weekend I visited the Westminster campus and snapped a picture of a very famous church. St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury, designed by Christopher Wren in 1667. This church was taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt on that campus in Fulton, Missouri to commemorate Sir Winston Churchill who made his famous "Iron Curtain" speech there in 1946.
For years I have wanted a house with a river view. These houses rarely come on the market in this town but this past week a realtor called to tell me about a perfect little brick rancher on a very desirable westend street with an amazing backyard river view. The house is small and needs updating and that's fine. Most of these "river view" houses were built many years ago and anytime you buy a house you always want to make it your own. But, do I really want to give up my big house for a small one. I love my walk-out attic and my downstairs exercise room. I love my over-sized bedrooms and my new stone patio which overlooks the woods. And the creek where I hunt for arrowheads, I couldn't do that anymore. Plus, we would really miss our four garages. No, we are not hoarders but we do have three vehicles and a boat. I'll probably never get another chance at a little brick rancher with a genuine river view but I think I'll have to pass on this one.
I call it the little mall because that's what it is but we are very fortunate to have it as lots of little malls just like it have closed due to the downswing in the economy. There are three department/anchor stores, Dillards, Penneys and Sears. Then there are dress shops, candy stores, sporting goods and even a Golds Gym in one corner. I walked over four miles there yesterday and now have huge blisters on both of my feet. Maybe that is due to changing to a different pairs of walking shoes which was a big mistake. I took a mental survey while making the rounds: The stinkiest store would be Victoria's Secret, smells like cheap perfume. The prettiest storefront is Bath and Body Works, lots of shine and glitter; and the busiest store has to be Hallmark, pretty obvious at this time of year. I love Hallmark ornaments and have collected quite a few from students over the years. Here's a picture of the oldest Hallmark ornament that I have. I received it from a little boy named Marc during my student teaching days. Wow, that goes way back. It's a golden dove and I always place it at the top of my tree.
Yesterday I walked on the treadmill for 53 minutes, a total of three miles at an incline of 6 to 7. Supposedly I burned 511 calories. I also did some upper body weight training. Today the roads are cleared of the ice and snow so I feel like making my way to the little mall on the other side of town to do my walking. Even at Christmas time it's not very busy and easy to get around. I'm going to try to do four or five miles. I only wish I could be outside but the temperature is 13 degrees and that's too cold for me. We have a red-tailed hawk that has started to visit us. I saw him yesterday in our backyard, I hope to get a picture of him soon. He's quite large and a very handsome bird.
Last night Hubby and I ate leftover chili and baked leb cookies. Last year's batch was very good but lacked in candied fruit as he only dumped in one cup. This year he make sure to put in plenty fruit and walnuts and pecans. So how did they turn out? Not the greatest I'm sorry to say, and I've never seen an uglier cookie. We choose not to ice them as we've found they freeze better naked. Next year instead of our grandmother's recipe we might just choose one from the Internets. Here's a five generation picture that I display in my dining room. That young girl is my mother, the little boy is my oldest brother, my grandmother and her mother are standing and great, great grandfather is seated next to my mother. My grandparents were German Lutherans. I love this picture as it really shows my mother's 'Mona Lisa' smile.
Yesterday while Hubby mixed up a huge batch (12 cups of flour) of leb kuchen. I did some decorating. Since both of our grandmothers came from Germany, this is a cookie that we both grew up with. No picture of the finished product yet as they are still resting. Yes, the cookie dough has to set overnight. He uses a combination of both recipes and they both say to do that. So this weekend we had a fun trip to Kansas City to see family, got some decorations up and of of course, the leb cookies are waiting to be baked.
I know this doesn't show much effort but I have accumulated lot of Christmas decorations through the years and this wreath made of jingle bells is one of my favorites. This year I put it on my pie safe which sets in the corner of my kitchen.
My rose bushes has been trimmed back, some over-grown crepe myrtles have been dug up and Christmas garland decorates our doorway. Okay, most of this has been done by my amazing hubby but it has helped to raise my spirits and besides that, he's going to fry fish for dinner tonight. Yes, I know I have a keeper, I love him so much! Even though I feel depressed inside I'm going to try not to let it show on the outside. I think that's called "compartmentalizing." Is that a word? I should not feel bad about my wonderful life. God has given me so much. Please help me be more mindful of this.
