Paul's Bakery is a conspiracy

It occurred to me this afternoon as I left Fort Smith for home that it would be "nice" to take Greg some cookies from our favorite bakery to help make it through FINALS WEEK. I'm not sure now if the cookies were so much for him or for the fact that Steve and I have been on a diet and I haven't had anything sweet in days! I'm pretty sure that the motive was all about me by the time I pulled off the interstate and headed into downtown Van Buren. I had the top down on the car and had enjoyed getting to leave work before dark for a change today. It was this free loving easy-going spirit that led me to the bakery. I had no intention of eating any of them. Not really at first. On the way home, the wind blew the corner of the box open (I swear that's how it happened) and before I knew it there was an iced cookie in my hand with a bite out of it!!!
I fastened the box back up so Steve wouldn't suspect that I'd had conspirators after me and they held me down on the way home, forcing me to eat a cookie.
I had even gotten him one of his favorite pastries for his breakfast tomorrow...an effort to throw him off from the icing on my face.
I did pretty well until after dinner when I brought the cookies in for a moment of "putting them into something other than the box to keep them fresh." That sounded like a plan. While placing them neatly in the giant ziploc bag, I ate another one.
Finding this humorous, I decided to take a photo and post it on my blog. After the photo, I needed to eat one more so they would all fit in the bag. Oh dear.

And these would be the TWO exercise DVD's that I bought a couple of months ago that are still in the cellophane wrapper. Not losing weight using those yet!!!

But now I've pretty much made myself ill over the cookies so they aren't nearly as appealing as they were earlier tonight. I think Greg will get the rest of them and maybe get energized to finish his projects and papers.

Below are some photos I took when Jon and Mary Beth came over for brunch on Easter. Here's their dogs, Goose and Maverick...I can't always tell them apart, but they are totally different personalities.

Here's some of the azaleas in bloom outside of our house. We just planted 32 new ones in the back....photos from those next year!

It's always something, isn't it?

My hut's on fire...so where's the ship???

Since I am sure that both of my readers of my blog will find it disturbing, alas, I plan to close this post with a short story that a friend sent me today.
This has been a long couple of weeks for me. Are you all getting tired of me complaining yet? I cannot recall ever being so tired for so long and feeling that things are never going to change. And yet I know that they will. They simply have to. Yes, I know that I'm not going through the great depression or a fire that has taken everything we own....I think that I'm just still trying to adjust to having everything change so quickly against my will and being powerless to change it.
I'm tired and tomorrow is Good Friday. The schools are out, but I'm working. So are a lot of other people...I know that. Just not feeling like celebrating much tonight. Just sayin'. I'm waiting for my ship....read on.

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?'
Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers.
'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.

The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.
Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to
the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.