A Blue Sky Day . . .

Today was what I call a blue sky day. The sky was bright blue, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen anywhere on the horizon. The fact that it was cold all day, and the temperature is predicted to drop to minus 24 tonight is inconsequential.

As for my card, one would think that I'd just discovered the color Bamboo. I'm using with everything these days, and as Mathias would say, "It's my favorite!"As you can see, I was in the mood to color with my blending pen again tonight. It had a soothing effect on me.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Bamboo, and Topiary cardstock; Black, Grey Wool, Grey Flannel, Topiary, Brown Bag, and Twilight ink pads; Impression Obsession Garden Fence and Sentiments I stamp sets; Dove blending pen; Stampin' Up Word Window Punch; Topiary My Accents.

About the blue sky day, the story began nearly 11 years ago within minutes of my having learned that my dad had died. My husband called me at the newspaper where I was working at the time. Naturally shaken by the news, I left work and remember driving south and approaching an intersection, trying to pull myself together enough to just get home without causing an accident. As I stopped for a red light, I looked out through my windshield into the expanse of a brilliant blue, cloudless sky, and simultaneously, a sense of peace washed over me as I heard four words slip from my lips, "Thy will be done." Although the days that followed were incredibly sad, that sense of peace stayed with me.

As life goes, there have been more difficult days in the years that have passed. There have also been blue sky days amongst them to remind me that it is not my will but Thy will which will determine the course of my life. I also know that all that I do not understand now will all be made clear to me someday.

Marv returned to the clinic today for a resting electrocardiogram, and while he expected to receive a telephone call later this afternoon with the results, the call didn't come. It will come tomorrow, and we'll go from there. On edge, I can't say Mr. Marv is in the best mood. In fact, with me, he's a bit snappy, which I am doing my best to ignore. The fact that Bjorn and Mathias are with us tonight is a godsend, because they so bring out the best in him. I think he's going to keep them with him tomorrow, too, which will serve to keep his mind off his troubles. As for me, I get to go to work and concentrate on yet another looming deadline.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank those who left comments on my last post. I know that there are others who most likely read it and are thinking of us, too. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that a blog would result in a community of people, who, while they may never meet face to face, have come to care about one another. We share a hobby, and in a few lines of text, we reveal our characters and what's in our hearts. Before I get any gushier, I'll borrow a few of Martha Stewart's words and simply say, "It's a good thing."

Stop back tomorrow for my "Friday Favorites" post. A question posed a couple of days ago has provided me with subject matter. I love it when that happens. It keeps me from having to think too much . . . I think there's a little stamping in the forecast for the weekend, too, along with some warmer weather.