I'd had a busy day, and also a miserable couple of weeks. Between more-than-usual spine and joint pain (osteoarthritis), miserable nausea on and off for no apparent reason, and then a nasty respiratory bug that altered some plans I'd really been looking forward to, I needed to de-stress this evening.

So I was thrilled to find hysterical funnyman Ken Davis on Netflix! His 2011 show Fully Alive is on there in its entirety, and after my hubby left for work at midnight I settled in to watch. It was great, and just what I needed! I laughed and I cried - literally! Being a huge Ken Davis fan, I'd heard some of the material before, but this was definitely almost 2 hours that weren't wasted in any way!

What an amazing talent! And what a blessing :).

OK, slept until almost noon today, about 10-1/2 hours last night. I think it's because I've been having issues/pain for almost 3 weeks now, it's making me feel logy all the time, sleeping at the drop of a hat, nauseated on and off, affecting my appetite, etc. Usually I manage it (damage from severe food poisoning 2006 that damaged my innards) pretty well, not sure what's up now...anyway, got up and used alcohol, cotton balls, and Qtips to clean this computer.

When my Big Nell crashed last summer I bought a new laptop because I had to have one for my job. It was the best deal I could find but it ended up being way too much computer for me - too big, too heavy, too many keys, etc. and my Petey hasn't had a new computer since spring of 2006 (yeah 2006 was a busy year!) so I figured I'd ask him if he wanted the new one. He took it, and I got his old one, which is actually parts from 2 computers...

Let me explain: In 2006 Pete and I bought identical Toshiba laptops. In 2011 I got a netbook (Nellie), so my Toshiba wasn't being used anymore. Meanwhile, some parts wore out on Pete's, so he used mine for parts - at one point he ran over his with the car and damaged the case, so ended up moving everything into my old case, then bought something new - don't recall if it was a keyboard or a screen or what - etc... So this computer is actually a combination of those Toshibas plus something new.

But it works a treat, it may be almost 7 years old but since I run Linux it's faster than a new Windows machine, and totally fine for what I need it for. (I also have an old model desktop, which I use for recording with my Yamana PSR-9000Pro keyboard; yes, that it's outdated too but I love it!)

So while this Toshiba works great, it also needed a cleaning - badly! Since I'm not really up for doing much else today, it got its bath :). And now it looks all shiny and new!

No plans for another laptop this year. I have my Droid but the contract is expensive. Thinking I will just keep it around to use with wifi and let the contract expire...then just get a Straight Talk feature phone and cheaper plan...and sometime this spring get a PengPod. Since they're just out new this month, there should be a lot of feedback on them by then, bug fixes, etc. Not looking for anything fancy anyway, I'm not a fancy kinda person - I'm all about utile. Practical. Cost-effective.

OK, those are my thoughts and plans. As of today. Subject to change without notice. Do not fold spindle or mutilate.

My mom had a good day today.

I was going to bring her over for New Year's Day yesterday but was still feeling a tad punky from the stomach junk (virus? don't know) I'd had for a few days. So today I picked her up for lunch at Burger King. She likes to go there and people-watch, and watch the traffic go by. Plus it is next to a lot that used to have a business where she worked, back in the day. She doesn't remember why it seems familiar to her, but it does.

She got a bacon burger from the dollar menu, a small coffee, and an order of fries. She ate the burger but not the fries - those all went into the trash. ($1.79 into the trash - about killed me! But they're all carbs, so they're better off there than in my body!) I ate 2 bacon burgers without buns and a side salad.

After she ate, my mom was anxious to go. So we stopped at Sav-a-Lot for a few things, I got her a 12-pack of diet Bubba cola that she loves, and then came back here for a coffee. She downed her decaf and promptly fell asleep on the couch with Pharaoh (my minpin). I took her back to the nursing home when she woke up about 90 minutes later.

It was a good day, she was in a good mood, not too confused, and happy. The Lewy Body rollercoaster highs and lows - days with better memory and cognition - days with much confusion and no understanding - I'm just glad today she was doing well enough to enjoy herself.

That's how I think of it. Oh, maybe Christ won't return this year, but as last year seemed to be The Year of the World (as in worldly vs. spiritual, not as in global necessarily) here in the U.S. It was all about politics, doomsday predictions, lies and rumors of lies, the imminent demise of the government in one way or another...

And I was so caught up in it! Maybe I was meant to be, maybe that was my ordained place in the grand scheme of things, taking a Biblical stand amid the moral chaos and destruction of our values.

But not now. These last 2 months the Lord has been working on getting me to another place, spiritually. He's been getting me to look up rather than out. Instead of looking at the Bible in the world, I'm looking at the Bible in the kingdom. Whereas I had put the world, worldly events, worldly concerns and the Bible together as a big puzzle (for lack of a better analogy), now as I read the Word the pieces are fitting together to reveal His Kingdom!

After the elections last November, He started revealing to me via the Word, with confirmations of various kinds, that this world will continue on toward the revealed end, and as things all come into place for this to happen, nothing will get in the way. It is all happening the way God decreed it from the beginning, and nothing anyone does will stop it.

There is a new urgency to proclaim the Kingdom now. We are seeing events as things move into place for the end, and so many need to hear the Good News that what we see here is NOT all there is, that there is a hope and a certainty of eternity where "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4) The Child has been born - the Government now will be on His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6) This doesn't refer to the U.S. Government of course, but of the world government, in reference to His reign over the earth! (further information)

The time is over for trying to change the world. The time has come for doing God's work for the Kingdom. For shining His love on this broken world. For loving our neighbors as ourselves, for showing them His plan and His promises, and reflecting His goodness in everything we do. For fervent prayer for those who don't know Him, and who are bound within the chains of this failing world. And for looking at sinners rather than sin and loving them as Christ has loved us, and introducing them to Him that they may also share our joy.

This is where God is putting me now. And this is His call to me: to not serve a dying world, but to serve the risen King, for the sake of His Kingdom.

I'm not a big fan of New Year's celebrations, it just seems like a non-holiday to me. I have an innate sense that life is new and fresh and full of possibilities with every breath that I take. I don't need to wait until midnight on Dec. 31st for that. But it is an important day for many (especially companies selling weight loss aids it would seem!) and I certainly respect that. 

I will be doing a new post later today about how the Lord has been dealing with me in my priorities about life. As a result, I see 2013 as The Year of the Kingdom. And I will explain that. For those to whom today is important, though, Happy New Year :).