Here’s a three-part story about government taxation.
Part 1:
I got a letter in the mail last Saturday from the state of Virginia. It said they assessed my 2024 income tax return and either full payment was not received or the return was adjusted, resulting in additional money due. The amount owing was $1.00. And since it is now November, I owe $9.66 interest. How ridiculous is that?! When I read the letter, I laughed, but then it almost made me mad. Seriously, a dollar?! Then I got to thinking, if the state would assess every return (they claim to have received 4.2 million of them in 2024) an extra dollar, plus $10 dollars of interest, they’d make almost $50 million. Maybe it is a new revenue scheme.

Part 2:
I went online Monday morning and paid the $10.66 they said was outstanding.

Part 3:
I got a check in the mail Monday afternoon from the state of Virginia–an tax relief payout. They kindly reduced my check by $10.66, the amount owing on my account. I supposed now they’ll have to issue me a refund check, since the $10.66 has now been paid twice.

Melisma Giveaway
I’ve been hearing B using the word “melisma.” That’s a word I’d never heard, and it was fun to learn it from my youngest.

This is kind of like Balderdash (or Dictionary, or whatever you call it). Give me your best guess/definition. “A melisma is ______________.” If you’re a smarty pants and know the answer, kudos to you–just say, “I know what a melisma is,” so you don’t reveal the answer to others. I’ll pick a random winner from the comments on Monday evening, Dec. 1 and send a prize related to the word.

Some fun things from the past month.

Celebrating National Pretzel Day on October 22. The meal featured pretzels, of course.

After dinner we divided into pairs for a challenge–You’re stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean. Build a craft out of pretzels and marshmallows to carry you off the island to safety.

It doesn’t look like much, does it. 🙂

A and a friend taking off on a 17 mile bike ride from Singers Glen to Keezletown. It felt like a growing up and letting go thing, to send him off on an adventure like that.

Making apple butter with our church family.

J’s Sunday school class was studying about Noah and the flood. That inspired an afternoon hike to the top of a mountain ridge in our area where almost all the rocks have marine fossils in them, an “in our backyard” illustration of a worldwide flood.

So cool.

I was privileged to spend a couple days with these dear friends at our biannual getaway, a tradition that started the year we turned 40.

Making fall treats with Aunt C.

I looked back over the Thankful Thursday posts I’ve written and realized that Thanksgiving Day is usually a work day for our family. I’m not sure what that says about us, but we’re maintaining the tradition this year too.

After a sleep-in morning and pancake breakfast, J and the boys went to pull wire at a job our business is working on. M and I stayed busy here at home, baking pies and rolls for supper, scrubbing the showers (me) and unearthing a bedroom floor (her).

The guys got home mid-afternoon and we partook of our Thanksgiving feast for supper.

After cleaning up the kitchen, we watched several Michael Macintyre “Unexpected Star” YouTube videos. When the video selection changed to off-road rescue episodes, M and I chose to play games instead. After losing three games of Mancala, one of two games of Sequence, one game of Uncle Wiggly, and one game of Rummikub, I quit. 🙂

I am blessed and I am grateful.

I’ve been enjoying our BSF study of Ezra the last couple weeks. One thing that has stood out to me is the hand of the Lord at work in the lives of both his people and pagan kings.

“The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia…(Ez. 1:1)”
“Then rose up…everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord…(1:5)”
“Now the prophets…prophesied to the Jews…in the name of the God of Israel who was over them…(5:1)”
“But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews…(5:5)”
“The king granted [Ezra] all he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him…(7:6, 9, 28)”
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king…(7:27)”
“And by the good hand of our God on us…(8:18)”

I could’ve also added to the list answers to prayers and specific acts God performed on behalf of his people. That’s as far as we’ve gotten in the book of Ezra; I’ll be watching for more as our study continues.

Seeing God’s sovereign hand working in Ezra’s time gives confidence that God is working now. Two questions from our lesson were particularly thought provoking for me and I’ll leave them with you.

What challenging situation is God calling you to address, in His strength? (obedience)
and
How is God calling you to trust Him with what only He can do? (trust)

God, I invite your hand to work in and through us as we trust and obey.

I’ve racked my brain trying to think of a tip to share today and haven’t been inspired.

The only think I can think of you’ve probably heard a hundred times, but it bears repeating in this time of increased grocery prices. Shop sales. Yesterday I went to Food Lion to buy a few things we needed. Sweet potatoes were on sale, so I bought a 40 lb. case for $10. My bill total was $36, qualifying me to buy a turkey for $.29/pound, so I added on a turkey that cost me $4.48. After swiping my loyalty card and getting discounts on some items, my total purchase was $35.66. In the process, I also earned a $5 “Shop & Earn” cash reward. Seven pounds of carrots, a gallon of milk, 40 pounds of sweet potatoes, a turkey, and a few other random things for $30? Yes, please!

For something a little more interesting, here’s an abbreviated Daybook entry.

Outside my window…dark wetness. I’m thankful for rain that came today.

I am learning…a bit about website design, as we start into that new frontier for our business. I’m thankful we’ve hired someone else to do the work.

I am thinking…about voting, since M is in a debate about whether Christians should vote and be involved in political process. She’s on the “no” side. I’m thankful for a school that helps kids think about things like that and for the discussions it opens up at home too.

I am listening…to my kids playing happily together in the basement. I’m thankful for that after a scrappy evening.

I am wearing…a striped blouse and a denim skirt.

I am praying…for some good help for our business. I’m thankful for one that accepted an offer today.

I am reading…picked up The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre at the library today. Not sure when/why that got added to my TBR list, but I’ll give it a try.

I am planning…to finish painting the main living area of our house. I did the living room in the spring and then never got around to the kitchen/dining room. I’ve got paint now, so maybe that’ll be a Thanksgiving weekend project. I’m thankful for our well-lived-in home and for relatively simple ways to freshen things up.

I am going…to SC with J for his cousin’s 50th birthday party this weekend, then on to TN to buy a work truck. I’m thankful for the time we’ll have to talk while we drive.

I am looking forward to…having my Christmas shopping done. I’m thankful my kids are old enough to be responsible for shopping for the names they drew in school/family exchanges.

Around the house…bedtime. Zzzzz….

It’s Thanksgiving week! That means I’ll be posting every day. Maybe I should say, I intend to post every day.

This song has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I asked my siblings to sing it in our wedding, and whenever I hear it, which has been frequently lately because A has had the CD on repeat, I can’t help but sing along. To You be the glory forever! The lyrics come from Romans 8 and 11:

Who could hold the wealth of God
Such treasure found in Him
Who could comprehend His heart and mind
His wisdom has no end
For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things
To you be the glory forever
To you be the glory, Lord, amen
To you be the glory forever
To you be the glory, Lord, amen
Who has known the mind of God
Who has counseled Him
Who has given gifts to God
That He might be repaid
In dark and light
In death and life
When hard times enter in
In all things, we will worship You
With You there is no end
There is no end

Enjoy Matt Maher and Kari Jobe singing “To You Be the Glory.”

Outside my window…yellow leaves whipping in the wind under a cloudy sky. Little birds snitching cat food.

In the kitchen…vegetable soup and grilled cheese for supper.

I am learning…to wear glasses again. After 30 years of contact lenses, I could no longer find lenses that enabled me to see clearly. Multi-focals were a no go for my brain. So I’m back to glasses (progressive lenses) and it is blessing to be able to see again, although the fogging up, slipping down the nose, always smudgy, and back to crying over onions dynamics make my gratitude a bit grudging, I’m afraid.

I am thankful…for God’s provision in so many ways in the past month. We’ve been carried emotionally, physically, and spiritually through some hard things.

I am thinking…about and writing a proposal for a trades track that could be integrated into our high school. Before A gets there next year, lol. Not an “easy pass” kind of thing, but a legitimate program that would graduate excellent workforce members with certification in a chosen trade. It is an idea J and I have vision for, but it would take others to carry it out. I have lots of good ideas like that. 🙂

I am listening…to the washer and dryer humming along, dealing with six loads of work clothes, school clothes, grimy camping clothes, wet towels. I’m so grateful I’m not bending over a kettle and a scrub board, or crouching on a river bank, beating my clothes on the rocks. But not all our modern inventions are so wonderful. I’m using detergent that was left in my Airbnb. I only use free and clear detergent there, and normally here too, and the “mountain breeze” scent of this stuff (vastly different from any mountain breeze I ever sniffed) is making my head and throat ache. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stand wearing my clean clothes.

I am wondering…about the pros and cons of school uniforms. Maybe I’ve been spending too much time today doing laundry.

I am wearing…a light blue polo shirt and a denim skirt.

I am praying…for my children. And so many other things.

I am trying…ummm, well, I tried a Lindt dark chocolate lime bar and decided there was a good reason they’re at the local discount grocery. Sorry Lindt, lime is a fail.

I am reading…Never Caught by Erica Dunbar. The Washingtons’ [George and Martha] relentless pursuit of their runaway slave, Ona Judge.

I am hoping…that my kids will start liking salad. They ate it when they were young; now none of them do. Recently we were guests and were served an amazing corn chip salad–mostly bacon, cheese, and chips–and they didn’t even eat that. ?!

I am going…to BSF tomorrow. I’ve been enjoying our study of Daniel and was challenged this week by Daniel’s “trustworthy, not corrupt or negligent in any way” service to the pagan kings he served (Dan. 6:4, NIV. The ESV says “faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.”). What a testimony it would be to the world if this could be said of every Christian employee!

I am looking forward to…making apple butter with our church family. I’ve never been a part of the peeling apples-kettle over a fire-stirring all day process and think it sounds like fun.

I am enjoying…a slower day after a tiring weekend.

Around the house…a girl on the couch reading, piles of laundry to fold, no boys (my guys are out working with J this afternoon/evening).

One Two of my favorite things…a sweatshirt and moccasins on a chilly day.

A few plans for this week…visiting an elderly friend in a care facility about an hour away, finishing some cleaning in my parents’ house (they moved away for two years and are renting out their house while they’re gone), possibly tearing out the last things in the garden and putting it to rest for the year.

A peek into the past week…camping with J’s Sunday school class.

This template comes from The Simple Woman with a few of my own modifications.

July and August passed in a whirl of summer activities. Here are a few memories.

These two and I enjoy community ballgames. I go to visit with whoever else is there. They go for the food. And of course, we enjoy a good ballgame on the side. 🙂

Many hours were spent harvesting and preserving. This was the largest potato from our crop. It’s lying in the top of a five gallon bucket, as a size reference, and it weighed exactly 2:0.0 lbs.

We said goodbye to our dog.

We celebrated two birthdays. Twelve and forty-nine, respectively.

We missed celebrating an unusual holiday in July. In August, three of us and a friend celebrated Global Sleep Under the Stars Night on the 8th. The bugs were so horrible that we cheated by sleeping in the tent, but we left the fly off so we could see the stars through the mesh top. It was over the peak time of the Perseid meteor showers, but it was full moon and we didn’t see any.

J made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take us to a concert at the county fair (the Isaacs, Jimmy Fortune, and Brothers of the Heart). We were in the youngest ten percent of the crowd. The kids had never been to a concert and fell in love with the experience. J is a concert lover and I am not, so now he knows who to take along next time. 😉

We spent a day at Lake Anna with friends. The guys patched together the free Jet Ski well enough to get it working and the kids had a great time riding it.

All three were looking forward to going back to school–hallelujah!! 8th, 7th, 5th.

Now September and fall are well upon us. After a very wet summer, the heavens dried up entirely. We’ve had beautiful weather, but the dust clouds billow, leaves are dropping early, and crops stand dry in the fields.

Labor Day picnic with friends.

A spontaneous “let’s go hike the Tunnel!” outing after church one Sunday.

Happy Fall, all!