Stuff That Matters in Life

Katy’s Weblog

I bought stuff at Costco and WinCo simultaneously. How is that possible, you ask?

By “cooperative shopping.” I think we should all do cooperative shopping with a neighbor to save money and gas.

My friend LL lives up the street from me. Via cell phone, we tell each other deals we see while shopping. We can thus comparative shop without running around to all the stores and buy the good deals for each other.

So LL was at Costco, I was at WinCo at the same time. “How much are the corn?” It’s cheaper at WinCo, so I buy some for myself and buy some for her. “Hey, LL, can you buy me some bagels at Costco? It’s cheaper there.”

We figure out the bill and pay each other the difference.

Wherever we go, whether it’s Michael’s, Trader Joe’s, 99 Ranch Market, or Von’s, we call each other with good deals, shop for each other, and save gas and money.

We are figuring a way to keep a running tab so we don’t have to exchange cash all the time. That’ll save gas on trips to the bank too.

Make friends with your neighbor and do cooperative shopping.

When circumstances do not go the way I want, I am not happy.

When people do not act the way I want them to, I am not happy.

When I can’t get what I want, I am not happy.

When life is not what I hoped it would be, I am not happy.

Heck, I can be unhappy most of my life!

I’ve been told, but now I finally know the importance of finding happiness from somewhere else other than in the things of this world.

It’s just insane to expect my happiness to come from circumstances and people. That is just not how life works. Why do we insist on water to come out of a rock? Continuing to look for happiness there will only result in disappointment, discouragement and depression.

The source of happiness comes from deep within, where the Spirit of God dwells.

When the Spirit of God speak words of love in my heart, when He speaks words of comfort through His Word, when He reminds me of His great love for me that while I was a sinner, He died for me, when He reminds me of all that He has already blessed me with in the past, I am happy.

Look for happiness in the One who does not change as circumstances and people change. Then my life is happy.

Another Sherlock Holmes book not by Conan Doyle.

This one is The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer.

Holmes’ cocaine addiction is so unpopular. This is the second book I’ve read that talks about Holmes quitting the habit. I agree that we don’t like the idea of our hero as a drug addict.

The Seven Percent Solution definitely sounds like it was written by Dr. Watson. That part I like.

It seems that every author likes to write an aspect of Holmes’ life that Doyle did not detail, and tries to make sense of it by being creative. In this book, there is a twist about Professor Moriarty, Holmes’ nemesis. It’s rather interesting but it wouldn’t fit with Doyle’s other references to Moriarty. And it doesn’t put Holmes in a very good light.

Some of Holmes’ mysterious past is revealed in this book when Holmes allows himself to go under hypnosis by a Jewish doctor in Vienna. Can you guess who this up and coming doctor is that Holmes met up with in the 1890’s? Take a guess.

I enjoyed the book, and I am glad to have found an author I like so I can read more of his material. (Thanks, again, Pete.)

Steven Curtis Chapman’s 5-year old daughter was hit by a car and killed on their driveway.

That’s sad.

But what is sadder is the car that hit her was driven by her teenage brother.

How can the brother deal with his guilt even though it was probably not his fault?

How can he look at his family again even though they probably don’t blame him?

When my 2 older children started driving, I told them the reason to drive safely is not for their own sake. If you want to risk your own life by crazy driving, that’s up to you. But if you endanger other people, and you injure or even kill someone, you better hope you die in the accident too. It would be extremely hard for you to live with yourself.

Pray for this young man that God will use this incident to produce great things in his life. But for now, I hope the anguish does not overwhelm him.

Rapid change

Filed under Generalby Joyful

Yes, the culture and technology is changing rapidly…but I am not going to get deep and post about that.

I am talking about the weather. Not global warming type of change…I am not going to get deep about that either.

This is what I mean: Last Saturday, we used our pool for the first time this year. It was 80F degrees when we went swimming at 9pm.

Today, 5 days later, it’s raining, with thunder and lightning, temperature in the 60’s, there was even hail – I can’t believe it!

Shoot, I just packed away my winter sweaters on Saturday.

The Pevensie children in Narnia had to Do Hard Things.

They fought, they bled, they were chased, they faced huge problems of national proportions, they even had to face near death.

Yet they loved going to Narnia. It was adventure. It was challenging. It was not the usual stuff they do everyday.

They had a purpose. They were fighting for a cause. They had a chance to help people and make an impact.

All the benefits come with Doing Hard Things.

I am reading Do Hard Things. I hate to admit that I am learning so much from a couple of teenagers, but the truth is, it is well-written, insightful, and inspiring. I am not finished reading it yet. But yesterday, after watching Prince Caspian (3 thumbs up!), I thought about the role of the children as portrayed by C.S. Lewis.

The 4 Pevensie‘s were called to Do Hard Things. They had to do things like adults. Yet at their age, they can rise up to the occasion.

I know, it’s only fiction. But if you read Do Hard Things, you will be challenged to take on challenges no matter what your age.

With the recent news of so many lost of lives in China, Burma (Myanmar), and here in the U.S., I am echoing the words of Habakkuk:

How long, O Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.

Are you going to do something about this, Lord?

Read more of “It’s like a game of chess”

It’s not easy to buy a house.

It has never been easy, but the over reaction to the subprime fall out has made it especially hard.

But all it takes are 2 steps to begin: Save money for a down payment, and work on having good credit.

I did say it’s not easy.

Lenders are looking for near perfect credit nowadays. If you do not know what your credit looks like, pull up a credit report online that includes your FICO scores from all 3 credit bureaus.

Credit repair has become necessary for people who has not kept up with timely payments of their obligations. There are many good credit repair services out there that can help. It takes some time to repair your credit, so if you want to buy a house, take care of your credit right away.

Saving for a down payment also takes time. Start that right away too. Work out a budget and cut back where you can. If you can save a couple hundred dollars a month, that’s a good start.

Don’t depend on the lottery.