Month: June 2012

Under the Hill

James HoganLeave a comment

Huzzah for lovely Saturdays!! Been having a most delightful day today, I must confess! After a good morning relaxing in the depths of Starbucks, emerged to find the sun gloriously shining a midst a sea of blue. Had a good walk home talking to Laura and Dad and Mom – and then went to the store to grab some dinner fixings. I came home and decided it was just too perfect of a day not to be outside, so sat out in the garden, soaking in the sun while enjoying some quality reading time.

And now I sit in my living room, Fellowship of the Ring on the TV and a spinach salad before me…and chicken parmigiana baking in the oven. Good day? Yes. God is good.

And now why ever should my heart ever be downcast or my soul depressed? So silly am I at times!! How blessed am I! My heart will sing – of the loving-kindnesses of the Lord.

Peace be with you all. Now back to enjoying my salad…

A bit of seasoning..

James HoganLeave a comment

And so this grey and dreary day, I enjoy the comforts of being cozily ensconced in my warm flat. Ten Commandments plays in the background while a lovely roast chicken cooks to perfection in the oven. Ah the simple pleasures of life. Now to finish cleaning my room and then I think I’ll make a cup of coffee to complement this afternoon. Ah how can I not be profusely thankful for the blessings that have been so richly lavished upon me!!

All Things Bright and Beautiful

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One more Saturday, one more blissful morning of rest after a long week.

Won’t write too long, but thought a brief update wouldn’t be a bad thing! This week has been rather crazy, but I’ve been exceedingly blessed with a quiet weekend of rest thus far! This past Monday, me and John and Joel went to see Men in Black 3 – hilarious and awesome, of course. Then on Tuesday night, was at the Smarts’ house for their Jubilee party! The Queen’s been on the throne for 60 years. Wow. It was definitely a unique experience, celebrating the Queen’s rule, since we can’t quite do that in the States…

As much fun as I was having Monday and Tuesday, work was piling up pretty steadily, since I’ve been covering for both Ryan and Ian as they’re away on vacation! I say, I think half of my work this week has been for Transocean. Ryan owes me!! Anyway, this week has been exhausting and Friday night last night was ever so welcome…had a beautifully relaxing evening. Leftover lasagna, spinach salad, garlic bread while watching classic Star Trek? I say yes! And got to read some too, of course…

Now time to go home and do some cleaning, laundry and other chores. Also will try to catch the women’s French Open finals…Sharapova v. Errani. Go Maria!! And tomorrow Nadal will try to take his seventh French Open title. Epic. He has to go through Djokovic first though…going to be intense.

Now I’m trying to think of what else I can write, but think I’ll just stop here and go out and enjoy this day! Rock on, y’all.

Three Steps to Summer

James HoganLeave a comment

I’m in Starbucks and getting ready to move out and do some shopping, but before then – wanted to write at least a small update! Had a pretty good week at work, quite possibly my least stressful week in quite some time! And the whole city(and country) is going a bit crazy over the upcoming Queen’s Jubilee(sixty years IS a long time, I suppose), so I’m looking forward to going over to the Smart’s for a Jubilee party on Tuesday night.

This morning I’ve been relaxing with my reading(classic Proverbs with some Ezekiel for good measure, plus a letter from dearest Laura!) and doing some tune-up on my laptop. For some reason, Windows has gobbled up some 28 GB of hard disc space, drastically eating away at my free space. Not cool, Windows. Not cool at all. So got to do some cmd prompt wizardry and free up some 15 GB of that. Excellent. Felt like I was back in high school – been a while since I’ve actually been able to use any of my computer knowledge!!

Also just downloaded some Andrew Belle music(graciously introduced to him by Steph – many thanks. *bows*) Great summertime music – oh I love “In Your Sleep”! I’m attempting to compile a summertime CD for my work driving pleasure, but I’ve only been able to find 12 suitable songs – tragic! Any suggestions?

Now, I really think I’ve been in Starbucks quite some time, so about time to go. Before I do though, you all should read through some of the prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel…quite intense. The Book of Isaiah is grand, majestic and awe-inspiring. The Book of Jeremiah is tragic, mournful and almost depressing. And the Book of Ezekiel is enigmatic and tears-inducing. Of course, those are just my surface impressions, but reading them through is as encouraging an exercise as any I’ve done in some time, as much as they can bring me to feel such great sorrow. We are not that different now, than the stone-faced and hard-hearted people of Israel. Good to balance the prophets with some classic Thessalonians(always so encouraging!) Just read Ezekiel 22 today – seriously, go and read it. The sins of the people are grave. And the Lord will not forestall his wrath forever, although His compassion and lovingkindness are indeed greater than the skies and stretch further than the east is from the west. That I would be a man who would stand in the gap before the Lord. This is my prayer.

And now that that unexpected profusion has come to an end…it is time for me to flee Starbucks to the light of a Scottish afternoon!