Suzanne Schaffer

Sometimes I think that people think more about the words I say than I do. I've recently been approached by several people who wanted to clarify something that I said during a friendly conversation. This happening once didn't mean anything to me at all, but after a couple of more times I started to wonder why this was happening. I'm not being harsh or crude. I'm just having a casual conversation and the person I'm talking to is later going over my words and reading things into them that aren't there. The following are made up examples of this: Me : "I don't like the color green" (okay, well that part is true but I can guarantee you that my friend Marissa has never taken this personally!) The person I'm talking to :   She must not like my new green dress that I had a picture of on Facebook last week, and I guess that means she doesn't like me. Me : "I could never be a waitress" (okay, well this is true too, but onl...

It's no secret that I love Trader Joe's. It's such a great store, full of all kinds of healthy foods. The veggie wrap with hummus is my new favorite. I try to get one each week. I say try because most times there is only one left by the time I get there. Sometimes I find none at all. So sad. Just look at all of the goodness wrapped up inside there. It's full of cabbage, carrots, and other raw veggies.  I bring this home and have half for lunch one day and half for lunch the next day. Usually with a side of grapes or an apple. This week I was lucky and I scored two. TWO! I am having half for lunch every day this week.  What is your new favorite food find?

My dad traveled internationally for business a few times in the 80s. He always brought things home for us when he went away. Always. My sister and I anticipated his arrival and these surprise gifts. I remember he went to Paris sometime around 1986. He brought me home real Parisian fashion magazines (these things weren't easy to come by back then) and these two pair of earrings. I still have them, tucked into my jewelry box. I no longer wear them, but I get them out every so often and remember his gift. I did get a lot of use out of them.  The cloisonne ones I'd wear with dress-up clothes. Maybe pull my hair up all fancy in a banana-clip  and let these dangle gently from my ears. The hot-pin and black ones I'd wear with my neon clothing. Maybe tease my hair up into a side ponytail, making sure my bangs reached new heights. Yes, the 80s were a wonderful time to be a teen.  

  While washing the dishes yesterday I banged my favorite tea mug into another dish. I didn't notice any damage on either so I set it in the rack to dry and didn't give it another thought. I woke this morning, bleary-eyed and in need of tea. Grabbed the mug out of the drying rack and filled it with boiling water on top of my Tazo Chai teabag. Then I sat down and drank it all. I quickly realized that this was to be one of those one-cup-is-not-enough mornings and I prepared another cup of tea.  This time, when I picked it up, I felt movement in the handle. Not much, but it just felt off. It was then that I remembered what happened last night. I quickly grabbed the twin to my favorite mug and dumped the tea into that one. I pulled on the handle a bit and it fell right off into my hand. I am so thankful for God's protection with my first cup of boiling hot tea. He knew that I wasn't quite awake yet and probably wouldn't have noticed anything amiss. He protects us ...

  For the past few months I've been wanting to start attending auctions. It just sounded like fun. I started by going to one not too far from where some friends live so they joined me for the first few weeks. So nice to spend time with this couple that I share a mutual friend with (my BFFWMTV for those who care). This couple has gone out of their way to explain the whole auction thing to me, to save me a seat, to help carry things to my car, to introduce me to people, and just make me feel comfortable.  Going out of my comfort zone is usually a pretty scary thing for me and they've eased me right into it. An interesting side note is that their daughter was one of my youth leaders when I was in youth group back in the 80s. It's just nice to be with "safe" people. You know the kind, they just love you no matter what. No preconceived ideas, no expectations, just acceptance. So nice.   The auction in these pictures isn't the one I've been regularly atte...

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." -Philippians 4:8 (New Living Translation) What fills your mind?  You might say that you're fine, your thought life is as it should be. You don't read trashy romance novels, you aren't into porn, you don't listen to music with nasty lyrics. You might even say that you do some of those things but that they don't have any impact on your thought life. Okay, but that's not where I was going with this one. What fills your mind when you see other married couples?  Do you wish that your spouse was more like him because he treats his wife better than your husband treats you? Do you watch your neighbor's husband take out the trash and wish that your husband would do that? Does your boss always remember to send his wife flowers ...