Windy day.

This morning, we got up to 31 mph sustained winds, 75 mph gusts and a report of 125 mph gust, somewhere in the area. It 's the kind of wind that makes you want to stay inside. When you feel your house shaking, it gets a little scary. Tom tried to take some of our Christmas lights down, but we were afraid for him to be up on a ladder, outside. The up side is, we had 50 degree temps today. It was nice and warm, so we decided to clean the hot tub. It involved draining the tub, wiping everything down, cleaning the filters and buying more chemicals. It was a lot for a "low maintenance" system. It's done and we can't wait to get in tomorrow.

The girls went to piano lessons and the rest of the day was spent cleaning. I have been stressed, so I clean. I have always done this. It just helps to get myself in order when I can't control the world around me . The stress and hurt involves my extended family and I suppose it will lesson over time.

I have read Sarah Ban Breathnach's book "Simple Abundance - A Daybook of Comfort and Joy", over and over. It is such a comfort to me and I love that it is about being simple and organized. It has taught me how to appreciate the little things. I was reading about "Blessing Our Circumstances". She talks about thanking God for everything, even the really rough, tough stuff. She says that sometimes, you have to thank God with gritted teeth. She says that blessing whatever vexes us is the spiritual surrender that can change even troublesme situations for the better. She is right and I know that I need to thank God and ask him to truly bless my family in Florida. I use quotes from this book, almost daily. Here is another.

"Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you... If you blesss a situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it." - Emmet Fox