Have decided to give the rug a miss for the nonce, instead ordering a sofa table from Penney; unfortunately it's backordered until June, but having lived without it this long I daresay I'll somehow manage to struggle along without it for a while longer:

Sofa tables appear to be a standard height - i.e. 30" - which isn't as tall as I want, but it occurred to be that it shouldn't be too difficult to get some sort of base it can sit on to raise it to being level with the back of the sofa.  There's still some money left on that Penney gift card (after returning the rugs and buying the table) so I took a run by the Women's department and found two dresses that I like.  Tomorrow there's a $15 off coupon so the saleswoman put 'em on hold for me:

This one is long, like I usually wear.  The other is a bit shorter, coming to a few inches below my knees:

Thanks again, Jeanne, for the generous gift of those gift cards! 

Who's got a nice Mom?  I've got a nice Mom!  

Look what she designed and had made for me:

I've always loved that verse.  It doesn't come across well in the photo but that's cut-work lace at the bottom (think that's the correct term).  Once I get my sofa table this will go on it (at the moment it's hung on the wall) with one of my favorite photos of Don that's in an ivy-bordered frame. 

Maybe a nice ivy plant, too? 

Thanks, Mom! 

Speaking of plants, this morning my sis-in-law, Mary, and I were at a Woman's Club Garden department talk about herbs, and I'm all fired up to take my planters that have had barren fake stems in 'em for years and grow herbs in them instead.  You know two I want for sure?  Cinnamon basil (which I learned about on Iron Chef Challenge when it was Battle Basil) and Pineapple Sage.

Does anyone here grow their own herbs?

Sometimes I'm just dumb as dirt. A few minutes ago there was a knock at my door and to my astonished delight it was UPS with my rugs! The ones that were supposed to ship in two weeks. Less than a week later, here they are! ;^)

So I eagerly hauled the big rug inside, got the scissors, and opened it.

Whereupon I found that the background is Yellow with a Capital Y. Not cream. Yellow.

Doesn't go at all. Now I've got to haul the dumb thing back to Penney's.

Why do I condemn myself as dumb as dirt?

Because had I two working brain cells I'd have opened the SMALL rug first to see if the colors work. But not me....noooooo. It's still nicely wrapped in plastic while the big critter is not.

Dumb, dumb, dumb!

My internet and television provider is now AT&T Uverse, and I'm a happy camper.  

Oh, and you know what I think is needed in the corner where the sofa is at a slant?  A sofa table with something pretty on it, which can also be used as a place to set drinks, cake plates, etc. 

Cats can drive a person demented, no doubt about it.  Zeus has taken to wanting to sleep on the bed (a twin) with me at some point in the night, so I leave the bedroom door open a bit so she can slither in.

Cats are skilled at slithering, y'know.

Well, I don't know what happened to those important slithering skills when Zeus decided she needed to leave the bedroom in the early hours of the morning, for instead of quietly slipping out the way she came in, she apparently charged the door like a linebacker, causing it to smash against the wall, abruptly waking me up. 

Dumb cat.

Which provides a nice segue into a few I Can Haz Cheezburgers photos:

The singing of "Press On" went very well, and from what I heard from some people in the congregation, it was a blessing to them.  Which is what we in the choir prayed for.

Wonderful sermon!  Dr. Kitchens is preaching on Isaiah for several weeks.

After the service I went to the monthly Ta Ethnae lunch, hearing from someone who had gone to India last fall and gave a report on Mission India, and from one of the pastors who went to Ethiopia to help give a training course for pastors (and the wives of the men who went did the same for the pastors' wives....there's no concept of women's or children's ministries in Ethiopia).  The situation in India is increasingly dire, with Christians undergoing severe persecution in many areas, including having a $250 "reward" being paid out by a radical Hindu group for murdering a pastor.  Last year 60 pastors were killed, but the goal of Mission India is to add another 900 pastors this year.  In spite of the persecution, the Church is growing by leaps and bounds there. 

Prayers are necessary, however, to help sustain such growth.

Listening to Smetana's "Moldau" while waiting for "Food Network Challenge" to start.  My once-a-week television watching!

Had my second line dancing lesson and allow me to reiterate....that's exercise, that is.  

Today we learned Country Walking (the link takes you to a YouTube video of some people dancing it) and another one the name of which I can't recall, and about which the class wasn't terribly enthusiastic. 

On my way home I spied the first bluebonnets of the season growing along the access road that runs next to the Botanic Gardens.  I love bluebonnets! 

Last Thursday afternoon was one of my grief counseling sessions and it was very helpful.  I've been feeling guilty and distressed because I didn't take seriously enough how ill Don was, not countenancing for a moment the notion he might have cancer, even though he'd shown he'd been worried about it when he was so relieved at the diagnosis of pneumonia. 

Don was the farthest thing possible from a hypochondriac, so for him to be truly concerned should have given me pause, but there it is...it didn't.

I've been hating thinking he was there in the hospital at night...having insisted I come home....laying and fretting about having cancer.  It's been hard, thinking I should have prodded him to Open Up and Tell Me What He's Thinking.  Other widows talk about having last deep discussions with their husbands right before their deaths, but Don and I didn't do that.  Maybe he wanted to talk about it but was afraid I'd freak out.  Maybe he wanted to talk about it but was afraid I'd blow off his concern.

Anyway, Angela (the grief counselor) made me feel better, pointing out that - based upon what I've told her - Don was a very private man who didn't like Big Emotional Scenes, which is true.  She said a lot of men, in particular, need to have time to themselves when a serious illness hits them, and it's quite possible he didn't want to talk about it for it would make it seem more real a possibility.

Some people do well with death-bed or might-wind-up-being-death-bed talks and some don't.  She said I should trust the LORD that the way it worked out was what suited Don best. 

ISTM she's right.  In retrospect while I'd like to have had a Deep Discussion with lots of emotion, but to be honest, I can't quite see Don voluntarily participating in one. 

In any case, no one gets everything, do they?  Granted, I didn't get to tell him goodbye and hear him tell me goodbye, but then I didn't have to watch him suffer for months, either.    And I got to be there at his side when he went to the LORD, unlike those who die suddenly in a car crash or something.

One of my constant prayers has been for the LORD to give me a grateful heart, appreciating all his good gifts to me - which are myriad - rather than concentrating on what I don't have or didn't work out the way I wanted.

Bless their hearts, the people at Terra Telecom sent me the Alcatel-Lucent certificates of certification Don had earned in August and September.  He worked very hard to get them, I know (BTW, the nice woman who sent them said he completed the most of anyone in the sales department):

Not quite sure what to do with them, except put them with the rest of his memorabilia.  I do appreciate their taking the trouble and expense of packing them up and sending them to me.

As does Zeus, as both the certificates (which are laminated) and the packaging provided interest for a curious cat:

Silly Zeus! 

This Sunday I'm really looking forward to the song the choir will sing.  Louis Harris, the music director, thinks it gives a message that many people - who are down and discouraged for various reasons - need to hear.  I know I did!  It's been a tremendous help to me over the past few weeks.  Don't ever underestimate the power of a strong hymn or song to provide spiritual support.

It's called "Press On" and is mostly known as a song recorded by Selah.  Their rendition is wonderful, but for some reason they omitted the second stanza which, for obvious reasons, means the most to me.  For those unfamiliar with this song, here are the lyrics:

When the valley is deep,
when the mountain is steep,
when the body is weary,
when we stumble and fall;
When the choices are hard,
when we're battered and scarred,
when we've spent our resources
when we've given our all...
In Jesus' name we press on.
In Jesus' name we press on.
Dear Lord, with the prize
clear before our eyes,
we find the strength to press on.

We we long for the past,
when our visions don't last,
when the future's uncertain,
when the road seems so long;
When we hear a last breath,
when a shadow means death,
when we're blind to the wonder,
when we're deaf to the song...
In Jesus' name we press on.
In Jesus' name we press on.
Dear Lord, with the prize
clear before our eyes,
we find the strength to press on.

To hear Selah's version, almost any music site will have it, I think.  Amazon, Rhapsody, etc.  Or to hear the whole thing, go here and listen to it by clicking the "listen with flash" button. 

Two, actually:   a large 8'x11' and a small 24"x34".  Used up both the remaining JCPenney gift cards - plus a little - put there was free shipping, which saved almost $50!

Ordering via internet for something like this is always a bit dicey, but I'm hoping this will work well:

It's my fervent hope that background is a bisque similar to my carpet.

Thanks again, Jeanne!