Whiteley Creek Homestead

"Mary from Madison". Congratulations, Mary! Because those of you that participated in my drawing weren't able to be in attendance when the winner's name was drawn after the 8 p.m. close of the drawing last night, I will describe the setting and what transpired. I printed off the list of comments submitted on the Food Blog Awards and Free Drawing post then assigned each person a number. I wrote all the numbers on separate tiny squares of paper which I folded into even tinier squares. I then placed them into an oatmeal box that I had decorated befitting such a momementous occasion. After thoroughly mixing up the numbers, Dick drew the winning number from the box. Mary's acceptance note via email: "I am so tickled I can hardly stand it!  I woke up late today with a cold coming on and RAN to work and felt behind all day.  What a great surprise to find in my inbox!  You MADE my day!  Thank you so much… I just have to have a lovingly used copy of Smart Cookies, if you are willing to part with it." Thank you to all who participated in the Well Fed Network's Food Blog Awards Voting and/or commented on the post. You're all winners in my world!

A side note about the oatmeal box… When I attended 1st grade in a one-room schoolhouse in the country 10 miles S.E. of Brainerd, then 2nd grade at Harrison Elementary School, and finally 3rd – 6th grade at Lowell Elementary School… both located in the city of Brainerd, a highlight each year in February was decorating a box so my classmates could place their valentines into a slot cut just large enough for the cards to slip through. Often, I would choose to use an oatmeal box because it was readily available in our cupboard. Therefore, in remembrance of those happy times, I chose to wrap a small oatmeal box with pink construction paper then adhered cutouts from an old Dick and Jane workbook featuring a clothesline because hanging laundry outside was a part of that time period, along with learning to read with Dick and Jane. I glued a strip of scrapbook paper onto a snap clothespin to accentuate the clothesline theme. I gleaned the clothespin craft from Martha Stewart. So… I hope all of you had fun with my drawing. I know I did because "The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life." ~William Morris   

Feb. 10, 2009

Today's mileage: 2 mile walk at the close of yet another day

Total monthly mileage: 28.5 miles

Bible reading? Ooooooh yea.