Monkey Mama's News

911

2011-09-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

I remember exactly where I was that day. I was walking back to the elementary school from the high school after going through file folders for an hour or so. I noticed the hush in the school as soon as I walked in the door. I went up to the middle-school area and met another teacher in the hall. She told me a plane had crashed into one of the towers. Kids were sitting at their desks, eyes glued to the television.

I stepped into one of the classrooms. Just moments after stepping into the classroom, a second plane crashed. I knew right then that this had not been accidental.

This week I read a local newspaper story about a baby who was born on 911. Her mother and family were gathered, waiting for the coming of this baby, in a hospital near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. A nurse came into the room and told the family that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Centers. The mother said immediately, "The US is under attack!" When asked how she knew, she replied, "That is a no-fly zone." She immediately told her husband to gather their other children and go back to Kentucky--Wright-Patterson would be ground zero, and she wanted them away from there. I cannot imagine how she could think so clearly.

The events unfolded as the day went on. I watched the President talking to a class of school children, all the while knowing what was happening in our country, but showing no outward signs of fear. I cannot imagine how he faced them so calmly.

Several days later, David and I were listening to the car radio. A song came on that I have not heard since. It was dedicated to the first-responders at the World Trade Center. I only remember one line: "As we were coming down, they were going up." I cannot imagine how they acted so courageously.

I watched television yesterday and saw a short clip about a family in New York who had lost their wife and mother in the Trade Center. The father was raising two children, a middle-school girl and a twelve-year-old with Down Syndrome. They appeared to be getting along very well. The reporter asked the girl, "If your mother were here today, what would you ask her?" With tears in her eyes, she talked about little things, like what would they do this coming weekend...Her father, brother and she were later pictured at a memorial park that had been built after 911. There was a monument with names on it. The brother stood there and touched one of the names: "Mama." Then he kissed his finger and ran it across the letters. The father stood there and watched.

Thank you, God, for giving us all the courage to go on.

Happy birthday, Lydia!

2011-03-15T08:42:00.001-07:00

The Contest Is Over

2010-08-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

I win, I win! It's been the longest since I posted!!!

Things I remember from my Aunt Elsie's house

2010-03-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

Ann said on her blog that lists were an easy out for blogging. This may become a blog of lists.

1. The drawer in her dining room buffet where the cat had kittens--I don't remember a cat around there after that...

2. The stairway into the kitchen where we could sit and chat

3. Two Christmas trees, one in the living room, one in the family room. This is a big memory! I always thought it was so nice that Aunt Elsie let the kids decorate the tree in the family room anyway they liked!

4. The Christmas mantle with the angel hair--we never had angel hair at home because of the danger we might cut ourselves on it.

5. The bubble lights on the Christmas tree

6. That crazy mechanical horse we rode on the driveway in the backyard--I swear its name was Jocko or something like that, but Linda corrected me. Started with an M, she said, something like MoJo.

7. The garage where we put on a performance of The Wizard of Oz. I will never forget Lolly's starring role as Dorothy.

8. Linda's bed that we broke down bouncing our ages and our weights--

9. Aunt Elsie's coke rules--you could only have (seems like) one a day, but you could have it anytime you wanted it.

10. Riding Uncle Harvey's jeep around their backyard

11. The two fishponds, including the one in the front yard where Lynn nearly drowned. Mom pulled her out and held her upside down until all the water came out of her lungs. It's probably not a recommended first-aid measure, but I saw Lynn recently, too many years after the fact to mention, and she doesn't seem to be suffering any ill consequences.

12. The back porches that kept getting closed in to make family rooms and, later, bedrooms.

13. Probably the first walk-in closet I ever saw in my life

14. The big pots of chili and spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove, and my brother and I eating plain spaghetti noodles with butter, because that was what we liked. We were really picky eaters. I hate to think about what we missed.

I guess that does it for now. I will probably think of more things as the days go by and will add them as they come up. I'm old. I officially turn 63 today. Love to all, and God bless.

Orangutan and Hound Dog

2010-01-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

Wow. I think I have been impressed with primates since I was six years old and went on a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo with my parents and brother. I loved to look at the tour book from the zoo, and was really excited to see that I could read part of it--"orange uh-tan", my phonetic pronunciation of orangutan. I used to wish my parents would buy a chimpanzee for us, but they never did. However, the woman who ran our local laundromat had a pet chimpanzee which she dressed up in baby clothes and diapers and pushed around in a laundry cart--for sure, one of the highlights of trips to the laundromat!

Just this morning, David's and my cousin Gayle sent me this video. Do I need to tell you how much I love it? At first I was a little peeved that it was obviously staged, but as I watched it through, I saw that despite the staging, the story was well worth watching and may be true. Enjoy. Love to all, and God bless.

Who would have thought...

2009-12-04T06:22:00.001-08:00

today'sFUNNY===========================

Who would have thought...

..that when you wished your kids didn't need you so much, you would someday wish that they did?

..that when there wasn't enough time in the day, you might someday wonder how to fill your free time?

..that when you couldn't wait to get your driver's license, you would someday try to decide when to give it up?

..that you would finally have more than enough stuff?

..that grandchildren grow even faster than children?

..that when people told you to enjoy your (time, education, job, kids, friends, health, spouse, etc.), you would someday realize why?

..that some people are grateful no matter what, and some are ungrateful no matter what?

..that when you struggled to make ends meet, they finally would?

..that each day can be a blessing and a chance to be a blessing to others?

..that a smile, a touch and a listening ear are worth more than expensive presents?

..that there's always something new to learn?

..that you would never get tired of watching a sunset, a rainbow, or a baby's first steps?

..that the best things in life ARE free?

..that a funny or inspiring e-mail would be the best way to start the day?

[forwarded by Doreen Hietsch]

today'sTHOT============================

Education is what you get when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

I know, I know, I'm crazy.

2009-11-26T09:40:00.001-08:00

You might think that with the events so far this morning, something like the following would be inappropriate. However, I'm sure Libby would have appreciated it. Thank you, Mikey's Funnies, for this lighter note:

'TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving,
But I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards,
I tried counting sheep
The leftovers beckoned
The dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with anticipation,
The thought of a snack became infatuation!
So I raced to the kitchen,
Flung open the door,
And gazed at the fridge full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
Till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground!!

I crashed through the ceiling, floated into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie,
But I managed to yell
as I soared past the trees ...

HAPPY EATING TO ALL,
PASS THE CRANBERRIES PLEASE!!

today'sTHOT============================

Asked to write a composition entitled, "What I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving," little Johnny wrote, "I'm thankful that I'm not a turkey."

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

===============================

Precious

2009-11-26T09:39:00.001-08:00

Psalm 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Libby died this morning, with all six of her children around her. Thank you, God, for blessing us all with this wonderful, saintly woman.

A day of gratitude and mixed emotions

2009-11-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

I found out this morning that my cousin, Libby, who is like a sister to me, is in ICU in Norton's hospital in Louisville, more than likely dying. All her body systems have shut down, her blood pressure and body temp are falling, and it's only a matter of time. They took her to the hospital on Tuesday evening, and it's been downhill since then. All her children except one, who lives in Northern Kentucky near Falmouth, are there, and the other one is on his way. Libby's daughter Martha said her mom's pressure would occasionally try to go up on its own--I think she is holding on until that son gets there, too, so that she can have a moment or two with him. That's what my mom did right before she died, and I think that's what Libby is doing. What a really rotten way to start Thanksgiving. What a really rotten way to try to be gracious and grateful and have gratitude.

I'm not sure what my plans are at this moment, but I'm reasonably sure that I'll be flying to Louisville once I hear she has died and will stay with a family member there for a few days in order to attend the funeral. Libby has been the rock of our family for at least the last 10 years or so, as well as the rock of her own family. I can truly be grateful that she has been an example for us all of God's love and acceptance, and has showed the gift of hospitality for at least 65 years! (I think she was too young before that, since she's only a little over 70 now.)

I did get to talk to two of my kids today, Ann and Lydia, and got to see the grandchildren "cut shines" over the computer, so I'm also thankful for that. I know that my children are all with folks they love today, even if they're not with me, and that's good. Everett is at Ann's, in Nashville, and Lydia is surrounded by her husband, children, and in-laws, who love her like the daughter they never had. Everett does have a job, he's working fulltime for Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, in their library. It's only a temporary job, supposed to end in August, but something might open up there at that time. God has taken care of him this far, who am I to think He won't take care of him after August?

Have a good Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We are going to be eating with new friends here in San Antonio, and I am grateful for that. There are supposed to be maybe 50 people at the dinner! I'm taking a hash brown casserole, a dump cake, and "the traditionally forgotten green salad", if I remember it! So I'm grateful that I am able to do that. And the weather here in Texas is absolutely gorgeous, for which I'm also thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving! Love to each one of you, and may God continue to bless you!

Buenos dios!

2009-11-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

Hello to all. I'm back from my trip to Mexico. (David disagrees that I really went all the way there, and Andrea will be surprised that I went without my passport, but poo poo to them!)

Yesterday I left our apartment with the intention of going to the library. I had very simple directions from my friend Jenn. David and I had read through them on Saturday, and we had even simplified them a little more. I went out of the house, got in the car, got out the gate, got to the corner, turned right, and then I made mistake number one.

When I got to the Valero station, I turned right again. I was now no longer on Military, but on the 151 access road. Now it was no longer a trip to the library, but an adventure. I sensed something was wrong, but I continued down the pike. (Heck, something is always wrong when I leave the casa.)

After motoring quite a ways, when I realized I probably should have written down mileage on the directions, I saw a sign for Military. Good. I got off the access road. Here's some interesting information for you folks who might want to take a trip to San Antonio: there are a whole lot of roads down here whose first name is Military. Unfortunately, their second name can be different. Just like Jim, Bobby, or Tom, not all of them have the same last name. This one was a case in point.

Soon enough, mistake realized. I was back on an access road. Somehow it had morphed into the 410 access road. Never mind. I still had an idea where I was going at least, even if it wasn't to the library. Aha! An HEB! It took a while to find the actual store, but soon I was inside, pushing my cart. I think I alluded once before to the fact that we bought stuff in small quantities, and toilet paper had moved very quickly back onto the list.

This HEB had a very distinctive Mexican flair--in other words, I heard more Spanish than English. Also, the menfolk seemed to have quite a few tattoos. Still, it was an HEB, and I needed stuff. Like toilet paper. HEBs are great stores. They have everything a person needs, except Diet Mt. Dew in 24 oz bottles. Poor David. The drink salesman who was stocking the shelves helped me look for the nonexistent stuff, all the while chatting about lawyers, for some reason...He was nice, though.

Eventually I checked out behind a woman who had over $100 worth of coupons, as well as a grocery bill that approached $500 dollars! My groceries really looked meager, compared to hers. As I type this, I recognize she might have been a member of a very large family, shopping for her Thanksgiving dinner. Or for a food pantry. Or for the entire gang. She seemed really friendly, though.

I was back in the car. I had three or four perishable items, only a small amount, so I would be able to get them back up to the apartment. Next step, get back up to the apartment.

Somewhere on the drive home, I made a left turn. I know it wasn't at my Military, but I don't know where it was. It took me half an hour to find a place I felt comfortable enough to turn around, somewhere past about 20 auto parts stores, a zillion taco stands, and even a few pinata shops. There were no markings in the parking lot, and I almost drove over the sidewalk to get out, but I finally wised up and followed another car. I headed back for the states. (Read that I410)

After I got on 410, I knew what to do. Get on 151 and drive until I saw the Sea World exits. Get off when I saw the roller coaster. Turn left. Go to the Valero station and turn right. Go to Dugas, turn left again. I did all that flawlessly, and made it home.

I carried the perishable groceries up to the apartment very quickly--good thing I still had a roll of toilet paper up there! I sat down and relaxed for a few minutes, then started putting stuff away. Whoops--no hamburger. It was still down in the car. I really didn't want to do it, but I traipsed back down to the car. When I got there, I realized I had left the car keys up at the apartment. So I went back up, got the keys, and went down again. Before I did, though, I put a post-it note on the door that said, Purse? Keys? Glasses? Mail?

Anyway, I survived my sidetrip to Mexico, and that's the way things are down south.

Love to all, and God bless.

PS David and I found the library last night, five minutes after it closed.

A Day of New Adventures

2009-11-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I actually took that longhorn by the horns and ventured outside the apartment complex! Thanks to Jenn, who is a friend of all of us, by the way, not just the girls, I have directions even a dummy from the North can follow, and I got all the way to Wal-Mart! Talk about a liberating experience! Of course, due to the 39 steps, some of the stuff is still in the car trunk (not the food, folks, not the food!), but I made it! I can now hang up clothes, sort clothes, wash dishes, keep my Splenda in something beside a measuring cup, drain dishes on something beside my two tea towels...Oh, you can't imagine, unless you've moved into a furnished apartment, how many little things at home a person takes for granted.

Then last night, I waited and waited for David to come home. It was almost 6 when he came home--later than Georgetown, for sure. But they did two hours of overtime yesterday! Way to go, Toyota! Looks like things may be picking up. I didn't have supper ready on the table--it would have been cold, if I had, because I expected him closer to 5. He wanted to go out, though, so we went out--again. Three nights in a row. Who thought eating out that often could get so old, so quick! We found a Chinese restaurant that we may go to again--maybe a fast-food chain for all I know. The egg rolls were Tex-Mex Chinese, but the other stuff was pretty decent. When we got out of the car, David said, "It smells like Sunday dinner!" I guess it was the soy sauce, because it didn't taste like it. When you eat every week at America's best Chinese restaurant, the others really don't stand a chance.

What else was I going to tell you? Oh, yes. We got mail yesterday! An insurance bill and a bill for my eye surgery back in September, but we got mail. At least the post office knows we're here now.

Love to all, and God bless.

PS By the way, we went to Wal-Mart again last night and bought more food. David bought three bags of cookies! I guess he's suffering from junk-food withdrawal. Everett, we made it up the stairs in one trip, loaded down like pack mules, but one trip. I'm proud of us! (And there is still stuff in my trunk from my yesterday's expedition.)

Howdy from Texas!

2009-11-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

Texas is nice--temperature today is 69, and they are anticipating a high of 79. Except for some rain on Sunday, it's been sunny every day. The rain slowed down our travel some on Sunday, making it after dark when we finally got to San Antonio. The road signs were difficult to read, and for a few minutes, all I wanted to do was turn around and go back to Kentucky!

The road system is really intimidating, for me at least. There are a number of "spaghetti" junctions, and I often feel like a meatball at the bottom of a bowl of spaghetti! It doesn't seem to faze David too much, though, and so far he's done all the driving. Right now, going to the grocery store is an adventure (one we need to repeat tonight). Getting to the store isn't too scary, but getting back home again is a different matter. Too many of the roads are one-way, 55 miles an hour--the access roads are a whole new experience for me. A person can get directions to the store, but once they get there, they (if they're me, anyway) need directions to get back home! Lydia and Ann's friend Jennifer has been nice enough to send me directions, but they only get me to the place, not back home again.

Our apartment is very nice--living room/dining area combined, with a kitchen separated from that area by a large counter--very open. Nice carpeting, comfortable furniture, a good supply of kitchen utensils, nice appliances. The bathroom and bedroom are also a comfortable size, with good furnishings. David is really impressed with the size of the bathtub--he said he wants to take a bath in there for sure before he goes back to Kentucky. It ought to be about time for his spring bath when we leave, so he might get a chance. Our only complaint so far has been about the slowness of getting hooked up to the outside world through cable, etc. I finally played the invalid card on Tuesday evening, telling the woman who was supposed to be handling the hook-up that I was a diabetic and concerned about being stranded here without a local phone. If I had an emergency and called 911 from my cell phone, the emt's would have no idea where I was. That seemed to get results, since the guy showed up at 10:30 or so on Wednesday morning and got everything installed. Also, the woman called me back twice on Wednesday, once before he came and then again around noon, to make sure we had been taken care of!

A couple of other minor complaints--we're on the third floor of the building, which means there are 39 steps between us and the ground floor (and if a person wants to be picky, there are another 5 down to the parking lot!). The most I've left the apartment so far was four times on Tuesday, once to pick up a key to the apartment, then three more times to check the mail. I still don't know when it comes, since we didn't get any on Tuesday. I was told on Tuesday evening that you had to put your name inside the box in order for the mailman to leave mail. I had no clue about that. I figured having the apartment address was all they needed, really. Anyway, I finally figured out how to do that and am looking forward to at least having some junk mail today.

Back to the stairs. Going to the grocery store is an event, I already told you. Carrying the stuff up to the apartment is NO FUN. I tried just buying small sizes of everything, so that we could carry it in one trip. Only problem with that is, a person tends to run out! David and I have joked about rigging up a pulley system to haul it up over the balcony railing in a milk crate, and I'm telling you, that doesn't sound like a bad idea right now. Of course it involves two folks being there to make it work, one to load the crate on the ground floor and the other one to unload it at the top. David says he has a really long rope, so he might be seriously considering it.

We went to church last night at Jennifer's church here in San Antonio. It was a good experience, except for the breakneck drive to get there. I don't handle the traffic well, and I'm pretty white-knuckled by the time we get anywhere. Once we were at the church, though, the service was comfortable and familiar, and the folks were really friendly. We know that we will go back, at least on Sunday morning. Unless we see something we like when we're out exploring the area around us on Saturday, we will probably continue to go there. Like I said, the folks were really friendly. We may just have to pass on midweek services, as long as David is working overtime. He didn't get home yesterday until 5:30. We were supposed to be there for supper at 5:30, but we thought that maybe since they served until 6:30, we could get there in time to eat before the 6:30 service. By the time he had changed clothes and cleaned up (very minimally), it took us until almost 6:30 on the dot to get there. As a matter of fact, they were already singing the first hymn when we got into the service.

You can see we have a lot of exploring and adapting yet to do, but so far the experience has been good. David has had a really comfortable work experience so far. He's working as a quality inspector, making sure all the equipment that goes into the trucks is installed correctly. He seems to enjoy the folks he's working with, although he hasn't started telling me stories from the break room yet. I guess that's when I'll know he's settled in.

I hope all of you are enjoying being home, even if it is cold, raining, and without the over 100 cable channels we have here. Just remember, when you're envious, that at least you can go to the grocery store when you are almost out of toilet paper!

Love to all, and God bless.

Good thing I went home...

2009-10-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Monday evening David surprised me by telling me he had taken the day off on Tuesday. He had a bunch of things he needed to get done that he couldn't do after work, since he's been working until after 5 every day lately. That was nice to hear. Of course, I already had plans for Tuesday, but they didn't entail the whole day, so it was okay.

Tuesday morning he got to sleep late. I didn't have to get up until 8:30, in order to make the WMU meeting at 10:00, so we slept in. There was some controversy in the different sources I had checked as to the location of the meeting I was attending. Before I left, I had a couple of phone calls that were a little on the off-setting side, but nothing too serious. Things looked manageable.

I left for my meeting and spent way too long trying to find the house. I made the mistake of getting behind some sort of cherry-picker-type gadget that traveled at less than 5 miles an hour. One good thing about it...I got a good look at renovations around Georgetown College. When I finally got to the street where the meeting was supposed to be held, I couldn't find the house. Those of you who have never been in Georgetown may not understand this, but that street wasn't all that long! In addition, there were only houses on one side of the street. Anyway, after traveling the length of the street and back, I decided to call it quits and just skip the meeting. I headed home, avoiding getting behind the same cherry-picker again.

When I got to the house, I discovered we had company. I went in, found the company ensconced in the back room on the computer, and found David stranded in the bathroom after his shower. Turned out, since there was no one there except him, he hadn't bothered to take his clothes into the bathroom with him. I went to the bedroom and fetched him some pants and a shirt so that he could escape.

All I can say is, good thing I went home. He might still be in there.

New game

2009-10-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Go ahead. Waste your time. http://http://www.brandextract.com/catbowling/default.asp

President Obama Wins Nobel Prize

2009-10-09T04:24:00.001-07:00

Wow. Hunh. I knew there was a reason I voted for him.

long time, no blog post...

2009-09-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Couple of things I want to blog about today. First is comfort food. What do you crave when you want something to comfort you? I usually eat popcorn, with butter and garlic salt. That would be my favorite food. I think it all goes back to the special times my mom and I spent watching TV (Batman and Dark Shadows) in the afternoon after school. She would pop some corn, give me a mixing bowl of it, take one for herself, and then end up dumping part of hers into my bowl. I thought she was so nice to share. I wouldn't do it then, and I'm still not a good sharer.

Another favorite food is saltine crackers. I like them three ways: plain, straight out of the package, broken up into milk, and with cheese slices on them, broiled under the broiler. Usually the only way I eat them now is plain, straight out of the box. I remember when they used to come four to a square, and I spent many an afternoon after school trying to eat just one cracker out of the square without destroying the whole thing. I did it, too, on occasion. Today I had crackers with cheese on them for lunch. I stood by the oven, watching the cheese slices bubble up, just like I had done when the kids were little and I would fix them cheese and crackers for lunch, to go with their soup.

Second topic of the day: the flu and football teams. I remember going to the infirmary at Georgetown College when I was a freshman--it was down in the basement of a no-longer-existing building, Rucker Hall. It was standing-room only that day, because of a stomach flu that was going around campus. Rumor had it that an entire case of Pepto-Bismal had been sent to the basement of Anderson Hall for the football team. Poor guys. I guess that was better than the time that they befriended the rabid kitten, though.

I hope everyone is having a great day! Love to all and God bless.

Technological burnout

2009-09-05T15:21:00.001-07:00

I'm suffering from technological burnout. I am completely dissatisfied with the way my computer is performing--huge delays in loading stuff like gmail and facebook, then when loaded, neither works well. I can neither reply to nor forward email from the gmail account, and today I've been completely unable to access my aol account. When I try to compose new mail to send out, I can put in an address, type a subject line, and then I cannot write anything at all in the text box. It's so very, very frustrating!

On to more interesting, less depressing stuff...I have a date for the eye surgery, September 16. Now it's a matter of finding a driver (to Lexington) and finding someone to stay with me for 24 hours after the surgery. I don't think I'll need the person, but info from the surgery center says to arrange for someone to be there. And THAT means I have to clean the house. Shoot--back to depression.

I need to go eat something--my mood says give me food!

New hard drive

2009-08-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Out with the old, in with the new--except, boy, do I miss the old! My old hard drive had all sorts of stuff I loved on it! The old hard drive is still at the shop, although the new one is here and functional. The fellow at Computers 4 Less who installed the new hard drive after the BSoD appeared said he thought he might be able to recover some stuff from the old drive, but it was a sloooooooow process. He is going to give me a call after a few days with an update.

What do I miss off the old hard drive? Well, I miss the mail program I had. I still have access to my gmail account by going through Google, so I am not without email. However, I've lost the mail folders I had in the old program, in particular the one that chronicled Cora's and Cohen's births and growth through emails from their mama. I also had one like that for Jennifer, Ann, Everett, and Sam, in addition to some folders of other folks' kids and grandkids. Another miss, my humor/inspiration folder, where I stored neat emails and funnies I got from friends.

I miss my pictures. God knows how many pictures I had stored on here--all stored by Geron, of course, with some I received on email and added by just clicking on copy to gallery. The only problem with that was, I had no idea how to access the gallery, unless someone emailed me a picture and it just opened up. I'm guessing that gallery was somewhere on my old hard drive--boohoo, boohoo.

I miss the folders I had in Word, the "old lady's pocket book, geezer gear, honeymoon survival kit, and Daddy's diaper duty kits", the bazillion recipes (including the popcorn-stuffed chicken), the scriptures for Easter eggs, all the little stuff I used once in a while but will now have to recreate...what a drag!

And then we get to the bookmarks! I don't know if they can be recovered--maybe they don't need to be. But still--there's a potload of good websites marked there! The only blogs I have right now are the ones that are listed on the left of my blog page and ones I can access by going to those folks' blogs. That can get old after a while, I think, but I may be able to get a few of them back on here. I do hope so!

Last and least, I miss my solitaire and minesweeper. I've been wasting my time in other ways, like doing paperwork, studying my Sunday School lesson, and reading. How uplifting. I did get on Bejeweled Blitz today far too long, but it'd had been a while, folks, and I missed it!

But now I'm back, and aren't you all glad? Please write me and give me your blog address, if you don't mind. I guess I'll start a new blog folder! Love to all, and God bless!

Wacka Wacka Jing Ding?

2009-06-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

When my children were still at home, it was a fad to wear a bracelet with the letters WWJD on it. I have a really pitiful habit of making things up, so bear with me when I tell you what I called those, "Wacka wacka jing ding?" bracelets.

I think more and more of us need to think about those bracelets and maybe start wearing something like them again. I was talking about them to David this morning, chuckling over the nickname, which I hadn't thought of in several years. Probably many of you know that WWJD actually stands for "What would Jesus do?" David, for sure the spiritual head of our house (well, second in command to God, of course), said, "That's not the important question. The important question is, 'What would I do if I realized Jesus were here in my presence?' And the reason is because He is! Amen!"

There are so many times we have a dilemma as to whether or not to do something which is acceptable, either way you look at it. This week I was supposed to go for a consultation with a local doctor concerning a surgery I need but is not life-threatening. Finally, the morning of the consultation, I decided to cancel the appointment. I believe my decision was influenced by the prayers of friends. After I canceled the appointment, I called my GP and asked for his recommendation for a surgeon for the procedure (which I know I should have done in the beginning). He gave me one, and it was not the doctor I had been scheduled to see--nor was it the one I had considered going to for a second opinion! Now I feel relatively comfortable that I made the right decision and have scheduled an appointment with Doctor #3. So much for removing myself from "the horns of the dilemma", which is a nasty place to be.

I don't know if the WWJD bracelet would have influenced my opinion or not. I did seriously think about the impact my cancellation might have on that particular doctor. For one thing, I am reasonably sure he is not a Christian, since he is from a country where Christians are a very small minority--maybe less than 2% of the population. He sees me on a regular basis, and he has already performed some surgery for me, surgery which I feel was successful, and I have referred friends to him. I will continue to go to him after this surgery, so he will know that I had it done. I wonder how I am going to explain to him that I chose to have someone else do the surgery.

These dilemmas are encountered every day. Do I shop here? Do I buy this? Do I allow my child to participate in that activity? Do I punish my child for something she thought was acceptable but I didn't approve? What would Jesus do? More importantly, what would I do if I realized I was in Jesus's presence? For I am! So I guess what I need is a "WWIDIIRIWIJP?" bracelet.

Love to all, and God bless.

Pictures from the build

2009-06-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take the lazy man's way out on this, but mainly because of a camera "disaster". The first day on site, June 3, my water bottle leaked all over everything in my tote bag, including the camera. It isn't working yet, but I have hopes.

For those of you who are interested, here's a link to the official pictures. I hope you enjoy. Rather than going through all 500+ of them at one time, you might just want to look at page 1 and page 9 to see how we we went from a concrete block foundation to a pretty little house in just a little over 8 days. Love to all, and God bless.

We got back Saturday.

2009-06-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

That's enough for now--I'll actually post something later. Love to all, and God bless.

We're leaving tomorrow.

2009-06-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

Update: I worked with Vic and Geneva at Feed the Hungry today. Geneva thinks she is going to be able to go, after all--we're all glad to hear that!

David and I had a great time last summer participating in Extreme Build. There's probably a post about it in July 2008, somewhere. We enjoyed it so much, we wanted to do it again--which explains why we're leaving tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon we are going to McCreary County, Kentucky, to build a house with other folks for a family we don't know. The house is for a single mother with two sons, one of whom still lives at home. She managed to purchase a lot in the country near Whitley City, and her house will be built there. This week, June 3-5, is what they call the prebuild week, when the subfloor is installed and walls are built. Much of the work will begin in earnest on Saturday, June 6, when the walls are raised and the roof is installed.

Beginning on Monday, folks will be doing interior work (if all goes according to plans). There will be plumbers, electricians, plasterers, dry-wall hangers, people installing siding, and painters all over the place. Hopefully by the Saturday after next, June 13, the house will be ready for its new owners to move in.

David was a carpenter for 20 years before he began work at Toyota, and he dearly loves carpentry work. He has taken 10 days of vacation in order to participate. He is a team leader when the majority of the volunteers are there, June 5-13, but just a regular carpenter the rest of the time. He loves the work, the people, the area...and I love him. That's why we're going.

We will be living in a motel from June 2-June 13. Starting on June 5, almost all our meals will be communal. Our days will be long, hot, dirty, but very rewarding. Also again this year, we will have our son Everett there with us, from the 5-13th. That has been a great experience for us.

I'd like for you all to pray for Extreme Build. Here are some specifics:

That the weather will be cooperative. That matters really more for the first part of the build, when the roof isn't on the place, but we would love to have temperatures more near 80 than 100, like we had last year.
That David's health will hold up. Last year he had some serious problems with heat exhaustion (see above), before I started making a conscious effort to keep him hydrated and full of potassium.
That the other workers from our church will have a good experience. We have our good friend Gina Whittle going with us. Gina is a teacher in Scott County, married to Kenny, and the mother of a really neat girl, Taylor. Last year the entire family went. This year, Kenny was unable to get vacation time, so he and Taylor are staying home. Our other local team member, Vic Carr, is pushing 90. He's a great guy, and an example and role model for all the folks on the team. Please try to lift him up in prayer every day, as the work is hard on him, but he will NOT give up and quit going. This is at least his third trip to the Extreme Build. The other two years his wife, Geneva, went with us, but this year she doesn't feel up to the trip.
That we all get along. When we're living out of a motel room (well, three rooms when the other folks show up), tempers can raise their ugly heads. We need to learn to live together as a family, God's family, and this is one good way for us to practice doing this.

Well, I have a bunch of things to do today, since we're leaving tomorrow, and part of the day is occupied with a trip to Lexington for Feed the Hungry--that will take three hours or more. Sometime I'll have to tell you all about that.

Love to all, and God bless!

Memorial Day

2009-05-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not much into schmaltz. However, I thought this link from my cousin Gayle was beautiful. It gave me goose bumps. Of course, I've always been a sucker for bagpipes.

We also went to McDonald's.

2009-05-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I told you about going to Chattanooga to visit Cohen and Cora and their folks. Wednesday of last week was their anniversary. I took care of the kids that night while Lydia and Geron went on a date--according to Geron, the first date they'd had since Cohen was born! I contemplated ordering a pizza for supper, but instead decided to take the kids to McDonald's.

I told you in yesterday's blog about the difficulties of getting Cohen into that car seat--a bowling ball with legs (and chubby ones, at that). Cora wasn't so hard, since she no longer is in a five-point harness. About three or four miles into the trip, Cora started wondering where Mommy/Daddy were. I told her they were on a date, but we were going to McDonald's. McDonald's wasn't exactly where I remembered it, and I guess the ride seemed a little long to her. She got excited when she saw "my McDonald's".

She was really good about not running away from me in the parking lot, which was helpful, since I had to haul the bowling ball and his diaper bag (which seemed to weigh almost as much as he did). Ordering was not a problem, finding a table was not a problem, trying to figure out what to do about the drinks was a little more challenging, but still not a problem. The first problem arose when, true to form, two minutes into the meal, Cora announced, "I need to go potty." As we say at our house, strange terlet syndrome. So I hauled Cohen out of the high chair, grabbed my purse, and took them to the bathroom. She really didn't need to go, which was good, because I sort of had my hands full with her brother.

She had chicken McNuggets. The McDonald's had a play area. I told her she had to eat her McNuggets before she could go to the play area. She cooperated and ate the two she had on the table. Then she crawled on the floor and picked up the other two that she had dropped down there. I stopped her before she ate them. She got her straw off the floor and stuck it back in her cup before I caught her on that. Anyway, the meal was over, so we went to the play area.

She seemed just a little hesitant at first about climbing around with the other kids, but pretty soon I spotted her feet coming out of one of the tunnel slides. She seemed contented, the kids who were there were playing nicely, and I just smiled and basked in being the grandma of two extra cute little kids. A little girl younger than Cora came over to me pretty soon pushing a high chair, which I figured was for Cohen. I thanked her but kept him in my lap.

We planned to go from McDonald's to their church for the Wednesday evening service and children's activities. About twenty minutes before time for the service to start, I decided to call Cora out of the play area. She was nowhere in sight, which puzzled me, but I figured she was in a tube slide and would pop out in a minute. After waiting for a couple of minutes, I spotted her up at the top of the tower, with a little boy not a lot older than her holding onto her legs. He wasn't going to let her go. She didn't seem upset at all. I called up to him to let her go--he stared at me for about half a second and let go of her. Pretty soon she had climbed down and we were ready to leave.

On the way out the door with bowling ball (who can be pretty slippery at times), the diaper bag, and Cora, I realized my pants had come untied. Cohen was wiggling and kicking, and the danger of losing the pants appeared to be imminent. I had no clue what to do, since both hands were pretty much involved holding on to kids. Somehow I got a grip on them with the baby hand, and we made it into the car. Then I got the bowling ball buckled up, tied my pants back up, got Cora into the car, and decided I would NEVER go to McDonald's with them by myself again--at least not until Cohen is the one who says "I need to go potty".

Love to all, and God bless.

We went to Dollar General

2009-05-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I drove to Chattanooga to see the grandbabies. It was a great trip, all around. The driving was good--I only got lost once, and that was on the way home when I wasn't paying attention to road signs and missed a turn on TN 61. I even made it through the two roundabouts in Chattanooga on the first try! Everyone seemed to be reasonably healthy, we weren't too rushed, the babies were beautiful...

Wednesday, I kept both children all day by myself. This was the first time I had ever attempted that, and it was a very good day. Actually, Geron had Cohen part of the day--he took him to the doctor in the morning and was gone less than an hour. While he was gone, Cora and I went to Dollar General. Of all the things we did, I think Cora enjoyed that the most.

Highlights of the babysitting day for me:

Actually having both children asleep at the same time for their afternoon naps! Cohen woke up crying once, so I took him into the living room and held him while I watched Days (my favorite soap).
Fixing lunch for Cora--we took a look at the fridge, and she picked "leaf" for her lunch. For the uninitiated, that was a salad, spinach and baby lettuce. I asked her what kind of "ketchup" she wanted on it. She spotted the container of sour cream, and insisted that was what she wanted. I put some on her salad. We sat there while she tried it. Then she pushed it away and said, "I don't like this, it's not good." Well, duh, I could have told her that!
Going outside in the afternoon to play for a few minutes. It was a little bit of a hassle to get them out the door, since I was taking Cohen's walker. He got all excited when he saw his shoes--I'm not sure why, but he really was jumping around. Once we were out in the back yard, I put him in his walker on the driveway. He showed me how different he was from his sister by taking off like a streak down the extremely gradual incline of the driveway. After chasing him down, I put him and the walker on the grass. He really liked the driveway better, but the grass was okay.
Figuring out how to get Cohen into his carseat. His mom said I didn't have him far enough in the seat, but I think it's just really, really hard to get a five-point harness on a bowling ball with legs!

When Cora and I were reviewing for her mama what we had done, the highlight of the day for her was the trip to Dollar General. I'm glad that she'll have that memory. Love to all, and God bless.

Birdie, part 3, and other stuff

2009-05-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

My bird is healing. I've stopped wearing a bandage, stopped using the antibiotic ointment, and stopped treating it like an invalid. Of course it is ugly, but it works for all purposes, including letting folks know that I'm angry.

Life is good. I had a pretty busy week, lots of volunteer stuff. Monday was Hispanic Initiative and a lecture on bed bugs--seems one of the Hispanics had a problem with them, and one of our board members felt we all needed to know how to treat the problem if it arose again. Tuesday, BW's circle meeting at church and a shopping trip to Kohl's, where I probably tried on 12 garments before finally leaving with a pair of capri pants. Wednesday, the entire day in Louisville with hospital auxiliary volunteers for a conference--the highlights of the trip were the rides to and from Louisville. I met a couple of fascinating people, both volunteers at the local hospital: a woman whose husband had been a couterie (I sure hoped I spelled/got the right word there) for stage productions on Broadway in New York--I hope that word means fashion designer; and a very nice Black woman who could trace her family lineage back to slavery--it was almost like riding with Alex Haley to listen to her talk. Thursday, the final day of Friendship for the year--I'm really going to miss it. I made friends with a sweet lady who was the nahneh (Chinese for grandmother, I think) of a great little kid called Charlie. Last week, she brought me a little red silk pouch which I decided was probably a necklace, and I wore it on Thursday. I bought her a small cross magnet with some sort of quote on it about friends being a blessing. She was very touched, but not as touched as I had been the week before. I am going to miss those folks this summer! Friday, another auxiliary meeting and gym class, then a lot of just plain loafing!

Did anyone watch the Preakness? I thought it was really neat that both Rachel Alexandra and Mine the Bird were in the money at the end of the race. Mine the Bird is so impressive with his last-minute runs--he actually got within a half length of Rachel Alexandra, after she had led the entire race! It was terrific to see him coming from so far back--nothing got in his way. I really love racing, during the Triple Crown, but the rest of the year, I don't care beans about it. I've only been to two live races, both harness races, and I won money at both of them. (Not much--don't church me! $2 bets on the favorite to show doesn't exactly make you rich, but you do get to cash in tickets!)

Next week is going to be busy, too. I'm heading for Chattanooga on Tuesday to see Cora's end-of-the-year school program, then staying over until Thursday so I can give Geron and Lydia a night out on the town. I do love the grandbabies, and apparently Mr. Cohen is mobile now, not stationary, so it will be interesting. He's also talking, saying "da da", at least.

I hope you all are having some great weeks! Love to all, and God bless.

My bird (part 2)

2009-04-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Thios ios a continuation of the previous postk, about my poor bird.

I went to see Dr B today at 9:15 for a procedure to see what is going on with Birdl. He numbed my finger, whi9ch was by far the most painful part of the procedure. Then he left me alone in the procedure room with my book for at least half an hour or longer to allow the numbing medication to work. I got several chapters into High Fiovekl by Janet Evanovich, whoich was probably the best part of the morning. I( also got to talk to my cousin Martha for a few minutes, a pleasant way to pass the ti9me,l amd made plans to attend a shower for her frst grandbaby this-coming Saturday.

When Dr B finally got back into the room, he called for a backup nurse and directed her to wrap a rubber band around my finger. Then he proceded to remove a portion of the nail bed and poke and prod around there until he finally located just what he suspected, a synovi9al cyst in the joint. He removed a portion of that for lab analyss, bandaged me up and removed the rubber band.

Now I'm sitting here with a rather bulky bandage on bird over the top of a more reasonable band aid--he was just going to put the band aid on it, but I compalined, and he wrapped iot up more impressively. By Monday or Tuesday we should hear from the biopsy, which we assume wll be just fine. Then in about a month, if the nail has starightedned out, he figures this episode will be over. If not, he figures he'll be sending me to a hand doctor to let them do anything else that may need doing.

I'm trying to milk as much sympathy as I can out of this finger, which is currently gi9ving me no pa8ingl--oauib--pauib, not hurting. It's just hard to type. Love to all, and God bless.

Let me tell you about my bird

2009-04-23T18:14:00.001-07:00

No, it's not a pet bird. For a few brief moments last week, I thought maybe I might have a pet bird in the making. See, I saw a pretty blue robin's egg on the grass under our pear tree. God had been hiding Easter eggs for me to find! Unfortunately, the egg was cracked, so there went my pet robin.

The bird I'm talking about is the bird finger on my right hand, you know, the one you put up in the air when you're upset with your teacher or when someone cuts you off in traffic, or when you're just really mad in general. My bird is sick.

I had a doctor's appointment about two months ago. When such visits are uneventful, as that one was, I tend to forget when they were. Anyway, before the appointment, I had been noticing a change in the nail on that one finger. For one thing, it had a pronounced vertical ridge in it. For another, there was a white streak the length of the nail. So while I was seeing the doctor anyway, I decided to ask him if the changes were anything I needed to be concerned about.

He took a look at it and said, "Hmmmm, that's interesting." Then he said, "If there's anything you don't want to be to your doctor, it's interesting." He really didn't have any idea what was causing the ridge or the color variation, but neither of us were particularly concerned, especially me, after he said he didn't know of any serious condition for which it might be a symptom. Then a little later, I read an article on line where someone was talking about a vertical ridge in their nail, and they had patched it with super glue, and all seemed to be well. Several folks wrote in to comment that they had the same thing--aaah, a common problem! And someone even went far enough to say that ridges in fingernails were like wrinkles in faces. Not to worry.

Then things changed. For one thing, the joint below that nail got sore. For another, a red place developed, in the area right below the nail. And then last week, the nail started to separate from the nail bed. So finally on Wednesday, I called and made another doctor's appointment, just to talk about my fingernail.

This time I saw a different doctor, and he spent a few minutes poking, prodding, and hmmming over the nail (and finger). Then he said, "There's something under that nail, causing the problem. I suspect a cyst on the joint." Yuk. Then he said, "What I think I need to do is numb your finger, remove a piece of the nail right here (and pointed to the moon area), open this area up (pointing to the red area), and see what's down there." Yuk. Yuk. "Then if there's pus, we'll drain it out. And if there's something that we need to biopsy, I'll take a piece of it and send it off." Yuk. Yuk. Yuk.

So next Wednesday, if you see me walking around with my middle finger in the air (wearing a big bandage, I assume), you'll know why. It doesn't sound like fun.

Everyone go take a look at your birds and make sure they look normal to you. Love to all, and God bless.

Has it been long enough?

2009-04-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

I got an email recently entitled "enough". I'm sure many of you have seen it, since it's made the rounds plenty of times. The gist of the email is that one person wishes another enough. I like that concept, just enough--not too much, because that can cause problems, not less than enough--just enough. Is this enough of a post? Probably not.

Life recently has been good enough. My health and David's has been good enough (at least as far as we know). We've had enough food, enough time, enough friends, enough money, enough heat, enough joy, enough trauma, enough rain, enough sun, enough of everything.

Of course we could still want more, but then would we be satisfied? I doubt it. I think I even have enough satisfaction right now.

And now I think I've written enough. Love to all, and God bless.

Dogku

2009-03-14T04:39:00.001-07:00

This was composed in honor of my son.

Bark bark bark bark bark
Bark bark bark bark bark bark bark
Bark bark bark bark crap.

So what's new?

2009-03-14T03:39:00.001-07:00

For starters, I got hooked on Facebook (thank you so much, children) and spend WAAAAAAAAAAAY more time there than I do on my blog now (poor deserted thing). It's all right, though, I believe this inanimate blog will forgive me! (How's that for an oxymoronic idea?)

On to life in general...It's been good. I had something that resembled a cold while the rest of the county was running around with something that resembled the flu. It looks like we are all recovering, and I didn't have to go see a doctor; I only opened a new box of Kleenex. It's starting to look like my mother's house here now, with boxes of tissues in every room. I also had a visit to the dentist that did not go without trauma--while the hygienist was flossing my teeth after the cleaning, she managed to flip the back off a Lumineer on one of my front teeth. The dentist was able to replace it that day, but, with the exception of the wonderful gas, that was an experience I DON'T want to repeat anytime soon--and then I had to have a filling (I got that yesterday). Yuck.

Family news around here is mixed. My cousins in Louisville are doing well. Cousin-in-law Dexter celebrated his 91st birthday the other day (the birthday was the 3rd, and we celebrated on the 6th). That was a good time for all involved. ReeRee, another Louisville cousin, was with her son when his new daughter came into the world the next day.

Aniel seems to be fine. We got to spend Valentine's Day weekend with them, which involved a road trip somewhere looking for shoes plus an entire day shopping. We also got a chance to visit with their friends Santosh, Dora, and Grace (they have a fourth family member now, beautiful Gloria). Aniel and the royal family are leaving on vacation today to Gulf Shores (more specifically, Orange Beach), and I hope theyall have a fantastic time!

The royal family is okay. We spent the weekend of the first Sunday of Lent at the palace. The Wee One is wonderful and performing all sorts of tricks, such as eating anything you put on a spoon--except mashed potatoes! (Go figure.) The Princess informed me this week, "Granny, I have to have surgery." (Big word for a two year old, isn't it?) When I asked her why, she replied, "My ears are broke." She has frequent ear infections and has had a lot of antibiotics this winter, so the ENT suggested removal of her adenoids, as well as replacement of tubes. Her mom said Co failed her first and only hearing test to date. David and I had suspected her hearing was not good when we were visiting--what family took as terrible two stubbornness, we saw as perhaps a hearing impairment. The doctor thinks the impairment will vanish after the surgery, and that's our prayer, too.

Update on Cora's ears and hearing from Lydia: She has had hearing exams before at the ENT's office and has passed them. The doctor said the reason she probably failed this recent one was because she'd had a recent infection and probably still had fluid on her ears. He has NOT diagnosed her as having a hearing impairment. Following her surgery, she will have routine tests done over the next couple of months to check her hearing. We are expecting them to be fine and for her to pass them. I have a hard time believing a little girl who can sing in key and keep the melody going could have a hearing impairment. Also, for someone who is two and can say Chattnooda, I'd say she does pretty well. I may be in denial, but I really don't think that is the case.

Bubba received rotten news at a meeting yesterday at TIU. The recession has finally hit too close to home, and his job disappeared. Fortunately, he got six-weeks' pay and two-months' coverage of his COBRA benefits, but the job that he loved, the one that was created just for him, is no more. He is in mourning. He has no plans right now, other than to clean out his office. He figures he'll get around to planning later. Jokingly, his father suggested on Thursday (before the Friday meeting), that he might want to think of ministry to the homeless! What was funny on Thursday is too close for comfort on Friday and Saturday.

Future plans for Monkey Mama include a trip to Chattanooga to care for the Princess after her surgery. The surgery will be March 25, and I know prayers will be appreciated. We've been told she will be back at full throttle in two or three days--I would predict two or three hours, if that long. The child has only two gears: overdrive and park. That should be fun.

The week that includes April Fool's Day, David will be home on vacation. We have guests coming in from Minnesota/Chicago that week for three days (Monday-Thursday). We're going to put up some nails around the computer room and hang 1 medium-sized and 2 little boys from the nails--I need to tell their mommy to be sure and dress them in overalls so that we don't put holes in their shirts! I figure we can turn the port-a-crib over on top of the two-year-old girl to contain her. Then we can put the parents in the guest room and poor Bubba on the couch, which is where he usually ends up when he comes down anyway. It looks like a good time is in the works!

Nearly forgot! I had a birthday! Thanks to all the friends from facebook who sent greetings. In addition, I got to work at Friendship that morning and spent considerable time with a little fellow named Charlie. That afternoon, I got to work at the front desk at the hospital with my second-Thursday pal, Frances, and that was enjoyable. David took me out to supper at our favorite Chinese restaurant Thursday night, and when our bill came, the bill was missing! The owners had treated us. Very, very nice! That evening I had phone calls from all my children, my grandchildren, and two of my adopted children, which was great. I got a video of the Princess singing happy birthday and a second video of Sippy's class wishing a happy birthday to "Mrs. Brown's mom." And of course there were cards...An absolutely wonderful day, folks!

I hope this sort of catches you up with what has been going on with me. Love to all, and God bless.

Back to Judas...and temptation

2009-02-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to start looking for references to Judas in the New Testament. My faulty memory tells me that, other than when the disciples are listed by name, we don't know that we encounter him, except at the Lord's supper and the betrayal.

I wonder why it has been so hard to accept the fact that Satan could enter into a follower of Christ. Satan tempted Christ Himself. He tempts us all, each and every day. I thought back to the first mention of temptation, when Satan tempted Eve. Remember how she told him that they had been forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Up until that moment, everything they had done had been good, no question about it--because they didn't have a clue what "good" meant! Everything in that garden was put there for their benefit and enjoyment. God had given them one rule--just one. "Don't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Until that moment, there had been no reason for 10 commandments, Mosaic law, or codes of Hammurabi--that was it. One rule.

And Eve broke it. Why? Because Satan tempted her into using her human brain (also a gift of God, by the way) to try to think through a situation that didn't need thought. She did not need to think about this, folks. God told her, very simply, "Don't do it." But just like a child, she had to try to figure out WHY God had told her this, and WHY shouldn't she do it. She probably already had learned that if you ate too many kumquats, you didn't feel good the next day--natural consequences. If you ate too many persimmons, you couldn't whistle. If you took a nap in the poison ivy--oh, wait, maybe there wasn't any poison ivy in the garden. So Eve probably already knew a few things she shouldn't do.

But this one thing that God had told her she MUST not do--that was a different matter. 'I wonder why I shouldn't do that. I wonder what that fruit makes you do. It looks good--I've recovered from the kumquats and the persimmons--I didn't die. And then Satan told me, surely I won't die--what's death, anyway?' And Eve chose (remember she had the freedom to choose--she probably chose to eat that last kumquat that day) to eat of the tree. Her curiosity got the better of her. And then she told Adam to try it. And he chose to do that.

So why is it difficult to believe that a Christ-follower couldn't be tempted? We don't know the specifics of Judas' temptation, like we do about Christ and Eve. Think, folks. There are ways that we as Christ-followers could be tempted to do what Satan suggests. What if he were told that by the betrayal, he could further Christ's kingdom? Remember, he knew those scriptures...or at least he may have. He probably had at least heard that the Christ must be betrayed, that the Christ must die...and he may not have come to grasp the fact that Christ's kingdom would not be earthly. I believe there might have been a way that I could have been tempted...how about you? Talk amongst yourselves, and share your thoughts on this. Love to all, and God bless.

SS Sidetrack of the day

2009-02-22T11:00:00.001-08:00

Okay, today's lesson was on John 17, the prayer of Jesus after the last supper. We started discussing Judas Iscariot, and what was his final outcome. I guess I might have been under the impression that Judas would be burning in Hell through all eternity for actually betraying the Son of God.

Then I started to think about Judas' part in Jesus's ministry. He is seldom mentioned by name when Jesus is talking about the disciples, yet we know he was one of the twelve. When Jesus commissioned the twelve to go out and witness, Judas went with them. Judas was there when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he was there when Jesus fed the five thousand, he was there when Jesus calmed the angry storm...He witnessed a lot of healings, casting out of demons, saw the money changers driven from the temple...

Do you suppose that Judas made a u-turn after he betrayed Jesus? We know that he took the 30 pieces of silver back to the temple and attempted to return it. When the priests wouldn't accept it, he flung it on the floor and then went out and killed himself. Many of us have heard of death-bed confessions; the thief on the cross was told that he would be in Paradise with Jesus. Some of Jesus's last words were "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." I wonder if Judas might have been one of those folks Jesus was asking God to forgive.

Just a sidetrack, but it left us wondering today. Love to all, and God bless.

My chance to help

2009-02-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

I just got an opportunity to help an African orphan! My daughters' friends, the Prossers, are in the process of adopting a little girl from Africa. They have a pretty novel idea on how to start raising money for airline tickets--I'm going to help them with this. You might want to check out this link and see if you could possibly help, too. Love to all, and God bless.

Tonight's insight

2009-02-18T17:31:00.001-08:00

I've been having a problem lately with internet stories that I hear and can't follow up. These aren't the urban legend stuff, but rather stories about particular children or families who have been affected by tragedy, much like the Australian blogger who had been separated from her husband by the horrific wildfires down there.

Tonight at supper, I talked for a while to our youth pastor's wife. She and her husband just adopted a child from China. I've been following their story on their blog, as well as from updates we receive at church. Recently she posted a link to pictures of other children in China who are awaiting adoption. I wanted to adopt them all! She said she knew how I felt.

I told her about a blog post I had seen with a link to a video about a couple of small children in Africa. These children had polio, which had left them paralyzed from the waist down. They were just lying in the sun, on the dirt, in the middle of a very small village. No one seemed to be interested in them or their needs. Then a third child, who appeared to be a little older than the two, showed up with a bucket of water. She had walked over two miles to fetch back some water so that she could bath the two children, who were her brother and sister. She carefully washed them and then put their clothes back on them.

The folks who made the video found out that this older child was only 8 years old. Why she was the one who was responsible for the care of these children, we don't know. What they did at night, if they had a home where they were taken in, we don't know. The film crew were investigating the details and were going to see to the care of the children. I told my son in law about this video this past weekend. He said there were many children like that in his home country.

Folks, my heart is hurting from seeing stories like these. I told the pastor's wife that sometimes I think the internet is a curse! I get worried about these little folks, and there is NOTHING I can do for them. So very, very sad. She told me she felt internet was useful, as it allowed us to know about things like this--and maybe there was something we could do.

Then, at prayer time, I had what I call a revelation. By feeling so helpless in this situation, I was limiting the power of God. I felt God could only do what I was able to help him do, that if I could not help him physically in this situation, there was nothing He could do. Me, the one who is always talking about how we mustn't limit God to our human abilities! It dawned on me that when I prayed for these children, God used my prayers to help them. He found workers around them, much like the big sister with the bucket of water and the film crew, to meet their needs. Maybe the reason I am seeing all these things now is that God wants me to be more of a prayer warrior and NOT to doubt His ability to meet the needs of His children!

Anyway, that's my take on the matter. I still want to know what happened to the woman in Australia, the children in Africa, and if the children in China will be adopted, but I also know that I can pray for them and all the other little children and hurting folks in the world. That the power of prayer is much greater than my human appreciation of it.

I will keep praying, and never doubt God. Love to all, and God bless.

Afghanistan

2009-02-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

If you're wondering about the purpose of sending troops into Afghanistan, read Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I just finished them last month, and they have changed my thinking in a big way.

A prayer request from Australia

2009-02-09T07:12:00.001-08:00

It's not a small world, is it? So much going on, so many folks suffering...Today I was skimming through my email and opened a letter from a quilting site. There was an interesting link, showing a pyramid doorstop--nothing I was interested in making, but still, there might be something else on the woman's sight. So I clicked on home...

I guess you're like most of us, you've heard bits and pieces of news lately. I just happened to hear, this morning, about a series of wild fires in Australia. We have a little interest in Australia around here, because of David sitting on a jury that tried a case involving Australians several years ago. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the story, though.

Well, this blog with the pyramid doorstop was written by a woman in Australia, from the state where the wild fires were taking place. And she was living this experience that I had just heard about on the news. And her husband might well be one of the 130+ people who were either dead or missing. She had no news as to his whereabouts. Her eight-year-old son was with his grandparents in another city, and she was sitting close to what used to be her home, trying to stay sane, and hoping to get some word about her missing husband. I don't really think her name is important at this point, but if you want more details, here is her blog.

I am continuously amazed at the way God connects me to folks who need prayer--someone I don't know, half a world away. The poignancy of her situation really got to me as I skimmed over a few older posts and saw a picture of new coffee mugs she had just purchased a few days back, one that said Princess, another that said Stud. That day, those mugs were worthy of posting. Now I am following her blog to see if Stud is still alive.

Do you find yourself forming connections with folks around the world, folks you've never met? Love to all, and God bless.

Update: Tuesday morning, when I went to check on these folks, the blog "All it took" had been removed. I'm not sure what happened there, but I do pray that Stud was found, and that soon life will be moving toward normal for their family.

Yes We Can

2009-02-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

I spend too much time fooling around with simple video games and the like. This week, AARP had one that was right up my alley. If you would like to help our new president "put the pieces together," click here. It took me two tries, but I finally accomplished it. I know you can do better than that. Love to all, and God bless.

Almost February

2009-01-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Monday is one of David's favorite holidays, Groundhogs Day. He is one of the few people I know (personally--I know there are folks in PA) who celebrates the 2nd of February. He even hangs a stocking and encourages the other folks at work to do that, too. He has yet to have someone take him up on it.

We have ice here, much, much ice. And snow--more snow than usual. I have not been outside the door of this house since Monday! I started to write since Tuesday, but after careful review, realized I didn't go out on Tuesday either. David even stayed home from work on Wednesday with the sanction of the company. They were not going to run the line, so he didn't have to be there. We talked a bit about the olden days, when we had a mortgage payment, car payments, and kids in college--he would have gone in then, for sure. He could get out--after all, he got home okay on Tuesday, didn't he? I remember one day years ago when he was carpentering, and he got all the way to Lexington before he decided to turn around and come home. Yes, the main roads were clear, but if he got into the subdivision, he might not have been able to get out again.

Lexington is really suffering from the ice storm of 2009. This one isn't as bad as the one of 2003, probably because Lex lost a lot of trees and limbs back in '03 so there weren't as many to fall this time. However, folks are without power.This time, the storm got as far south as Berea (and maybe beyond). Folks in Madison County are without power, unable to get around--much like Lexington in '03. We haven't yet had a problem with power outages, probably because of underground utilities in our subdivision. For sure, the power company probably wouldn't have been here by now if we had. Today was the first day the road has been plowed since Tuesday. Plowed, and a large pile of snow in front of our house. I can't help but think how the kids would have delighted in "snow mountain"--I remember how much they loved the dirt mountains in the neighborhood where houses were being constructed.

All in all, I guess we're doing okay. We have food, milk, an untouched loaf of bread, and heat. We'll have to get out to the grocery today, though--we're out of raisins and bananas. At our house, that's a serious outage--I don't know what David would do without his 3-5 bananas a day! And I refuse to eat my oatmeal without raisins, or at least canned peaches--and they're gone, too. I had hoped to make it until next Wednesday (Senior Citizen's Day at Kroger's), but I guess I'm going to have to break down and go over there. Oh well.

I hope all my readers are well and warm--Love to all, and God bless.

My own private amber alert

2009-01-17T16:55:00.001-08:00

If there's anyone out there in cyberspace reading this blog today, particularly anyone near my home, please tell David to contact me! I have no idea where he is, and, as he himself would say, it's a plum puzzlement! Love to all, and good night.

Update: David showed up a couple of minutes after I posted this--he had been out to supper with a couple from church. I don't think it would have bothered me so much, if I had been home--but since I was in San Antonio, I was really concerned about him. Anyway, all's well that ends, isn't it?

Any suggestions?

2009-01-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

I am leaving for San Antonio next Tuesday. This is the first time I've flown since 9/11--Heck, it's the first time I've flown in the last decade and a half! I'm not much of a traveler. I know one way to fly happily, and that involves alcohol. Help!

Celebrate!

2008-12-18T08:17:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas, folks!

Thanksgiving update

2008-12-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was nice. We had company from the trip to the Wigwam until last Saturday, and we all managed to get along. It used to be, I would dread something like that, but this year...We even had short-notice company a couple of times, and I didn't retreat to either the bedroom or the computer room. I guess I'm growing up!

Three of our kids were home; two were in Chattanooga, and the grandkids were with them. At Christmas, we anticipate all seven being here at once. I'm already working on baby-proofing the house!

I'm trying to think of ways to make the Christmas visit even more relaxing. I figure I'll plan a menu--I have a friend who does that--and try to stick to it, as well as a schedule. Some of my children still have no concept of the amount of time that is involved in something as simple as shopping or going to the gym, so I figure I'd better schedule that stuff ahead.

The bazaar will be over this Friday. Probably until then, I won't do anything in the blog line rather than read other folks' stuff, although I have a post in mind I might get to this week. This is the week of prayer for foreign missions in our denomination, and I heard a marvelous testimony on Friday that I've already shared a couple of times. Just wait, it's coming.

Love to all, and God bless.

Wigwam Village

2008-11-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

The above lines are from the poem Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. My dad used to recite it to me as a child. This weekend, David and I spent the night in the wigwam of Nokomis, at Wigwam Village in Cave City, Kentucky. Well, actually it may not have been the wigwam of Nokomis, but it surely was a wigwam.

We had been by the Wigwam Village motel in Cave City several times in our married life. I even knew a woman who had stayed in the motel, when she went to Bowling Green to visit her son at Western Kentucky University. We had sometimes talked about staying there, but it seemed the occasion had never arisen.

Last weekend, we arranged to meet our children, Ann and Daniel, halfway between our home in Kentucky and theirs in central Tennessee. We decided Bowling Green might be a good meeting place, and David suggested we book a wigwam. What the heck, I thought, why not!

It was after dark when we got to Cave City, and for a while we were afraid we wouldn't find the motel, but we did. It was probably also the coldest day of this winter to date. You of the far north who read this don't know Kentucky cold, and you from the south haven't experienced it recently enough to appreciate how cold it was last Friday night--dropping down to the 20's, at least, and maybe even lower.

The office at the motel was closed when we got there. Folks had to register at the owner's home. He met us at the door wearing a coat and gloves. I went inside to sign paperwork and found his home very well heated, despite his winter get-up and his little daughter sitting curled up under a blanket on their couch. We got the key to our unit and went to explore.

When we entered our wigwam, it was cold. Bone-chilling cold. There was a big steam radiator in the room, but apparently it hadn't functioned recently. Instead, the interior of the wigwam was heated with a 1-foot square space heater. The thermostat was set at 58, and I don't believe it got much over it all night--sometimes I doubt that it ever had been there. We had a double bed, one chair, a small table, some open shelving, a small bathroom, and a television. That was it. Not even two chairs, not even a Gideon Bible. Slightly underfurnished, in my opinion.

Let me tell you something you probably already know. Linoleum floors get COLD in the winter. Did I mention there was no carpet? Let me tell you something else. Commode seats in unheated bathrooms are cold, too! Neither of us even wanted to think about taking all our clothes off to take a shower, so I have no idea if there was hot water.

After taking a look around the room and checking out the television--yes, there was cable! Thank goodness!--we went out to find batteries for the remote and to warm up with ice cream at the Dairy Queen down the street. Then we came back to the room, got every blanket we could find and piled them on the bed, put on our long flannels and hopped in. We didn't get out again until the next morning, when the sun woke us up. No alarm clock, no telephone, but we weren't sleeping soundly enough in that cold room to stay in bed very long.

With the exception of the lack of heat and sparsity of furniture, it wasn't a bad stay. I would go there again, especially with children. There is a certain charm to sleeping in one of those little round rooms. I would want to go when it was a little warmer outside, though--like at least in the 70's!

If you go to Wigwam Village, ask for Unit 13. I know there are batteries in the remote--David duck-taped them in before we left. Don't look for a refrigerator, but your drinks will stay cold without one--they'll chill well enough on the floor. And watch your head when you go to the bathroom--David whopped his at least once!

Love to all, and God bless.

More prayer requests

2008-11-17T07:26:00.001-08:00

Ya know, maybe I ought to start a blog with just our prayer requests on it!

Both of these requests are for my "children". These two folks, though not born to me, are so dear to me that I consider them my own. I hope that you are blessed with folks like that in your lives, too.

The first is Jenn, our third daughter. Jenn has her own blog, and she has posted information about her situation there. Jenn and her family are in need of prayer right now for a number of reasons. Please pray for them.

The second is Chao (Sam), my second son. Chao is a nurse in Lexington. He has been our friend for at least four years, and I have "adopted" him, since his family is in China. Chao and his wife, Ting, have a precious little boy, Alex. Alex is four years old and has been diagnosed with autism. Currently Alex is living in China with his grandparents in order to attend a special training program there. Chao is living in Lexington, and Ting, his wife, is living in Montana, where she is doing medical research. Chao just got back recently from a visit to see Ting. They "visit" regularly with Alex on the computer--thank God for things like Skype!

Chao just learned that Alex has pneumonia. His immune system is extremely weakened, and they don't know why. The medication they are giving him to treat the pneumonia is making him sick to his stomach--just not a good situation in any way. Chao is very worried about his precious son. He told me he would be willing to give his whole immune system to Alex, if it would make him well, and knowing how Chao feels about Alex, I know he would do it.

Please pray that Alex will be healed, that this family can be reunited, and pray for Chao's parents in China, Rue and her husband, who are taking care of precious BaBa so far away from his parents.

I am thanking you in advance, as I know you are folks who know the power of prayer. Love to all, and God bless.

Prayer requests

2008-11-14T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hi, folks. You all know that I believe very strongly in the power of prayer. Today I have two specific requests, and I would appreciate your prayers for these two items.

The first request is for the healing of my cousin, Libby. Libby is the closest member of my family to me right now. She lived with our family for a couple of years when I was little, until her marriage (when I was eight or so), and then lived near us for several years after that. Since then, she has been a very important person in my life. She was (and is) my go-to person, the first one I call when things are rocky in my life. She is a devout Christian, one of the most welcoming people I know. She has opened her home to my family and friends on many occasions. We are always invited to her house for the holidays--any of the holidays, from Christmas to the 4th of July.

Right now, Libby is in Baptist East in Louisville with an undiagnosed digestive ailment. She was in ICU for a day or two, but has been upgraded to a regular room while they do testing to see what is wrong with her. My specific request is that they find the cause of her inability to digest food (and that they are able to treat it!). Please pray for Libby, her precious husband, Dexter, and the rest of their family (six children, numerous in-laws, grandchildren, and a great-grandchild).

My second request is for Daniel and Annie (my son-in-law and daughter) as he attempts to gather the paperwork necessary to apply for his permanent green card. We consider Daniel a very special part of our family, and we want him to be able to stay near us in this country for as long as he wants to do that.

Thank you in advance for your prayers! Love to all, and God bless.

He LIKED it! Yay, Kenny!

2008-11-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know the commercial starring little Mikey, who would eat anything. That's the reference in the title, although it has nothing to do with eating.

I have a friend named Kenny who has an artificial eye. I have known Kenny for years, and I didn't know this about him until this summer. Most of my loyal readers know I work at the hospital as a "pink lady" four or five days a month. The last day I worked, the day before Halloween, the hospital gift shop was selling all their Halloween stuff half-price. I had a look at the junk and found one item I really liked. It had been a hot seller, and there were only two left in stock. The woman running the shop said the kids really liked this particular item. I bought one, intending to give it to one of my sons-in-law (which I did).

I took it back to the front desk and showed it to the lady I was working with. She laughed at it and asked me who I was going to give it to. I told her--she thought that was pretty cute. As I sat there, I thought and thought about the poor leftover item back in the store and decided I had to have it too. When I told her what I was intending to do with it, she said, "You wouldn't."

Well, tonight when we were at church, David asked me, "Don't you have something for Kenny?" I sent him back out to the car to retrieve the item. He came back in and handed it to me. I went over to Kenny and said, "I have something for you--you might be able to use it sometime." He took one look in the bag and laughed and laughed.

Okay, so you're wondering--or maybe you're smart enough to figure out already--what was in the bag. A sticky, gooky artificial eye.

Kenny's wife came up then and shared this story with us. Another man who attends our church also has a glass eye. He had been a basketball coach for a good portion of his adult life. One night, he felt the refereeing of the game had been pretty biased against his team. Towards the end of the game after one particularly bad call, he walked out onto the court, plucked out his false eye, and handed it to the ref. "Here. You need this worse than I do." Then he walked off the court.

Love to all, and God bless.

I finally voted for a winner!

2008-11-08T09:42:00.001-08:00

It's been years since it happened--I used to say that the one way you could be assured your candidate would LOSE the election was to get me to vote for him/her. I was a lot like the character in Doonesbury who would go into the voting booth, and you would hear the sound of a flushing commode. That's me--I kept flushing my vote. Folks, I even voted for Ross PirRow!

But THIS year, we all got it right. Not just me, but America! I loved reading Mrs. All Roro's comments about the election. It's great to know that born-again Christian evangelicals weren't ALL swept up in the McCain/Palin madness, that I wasn't the only one who believed in Obama.

Congratulations to all of you who voted--as our friend in LaGrange used to say, "You done good!" Love to all, and God bless.

Happy birthday!

2008-10-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Jennifer,
Happy birthday to you!

Curious George and I hope you have a good birthday. As you hear so often, "your card is in the mail!"

It's a mystery to me!

2008-10-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got to spend a nice, quiet day at home. That doesn't happen very often, folks, despite the fact that I'm retired. The only thing on my agenda was a trip to the grocery store, since we had run out of bananas and were almost out of pop. (The bananas I could do without, but pop--that's a different matter.)

I finally got around to the place where I was ready to go to the store. When I looked in my purse for my keys, they were not there. I took everything out of the purse--every blessed thing. No keys. Nowhere, no how, no keys. My little suede pouch was missing, too, but I wasn't concerned about it. I only use it to hold nail clippers, and I had seen them on the couch. I went out and looked in the car, to see if by chance I had left them there. Nope. There was the slightest possibility that we might have driven to church with them in the trunk--nope, they weren't there either. Phooey.

I waited for David to get home from work to ask him if he had any idea where they were--like maybe he had pocketed them in the car, or he had seen them in some unusual location. Nope. We tore up Jack in the living room, even to the point of tilting back the hide-a-bed to see if they were there. Nope. I told him perhaps they were with the prescription I had filled on Wednesday, since I wasn't sure where it was, either. We located the prescription, out in the kitchen, but no keys. No keys on any flat surface, anywhere in the house. After walking around like beheaded chickens, I finally said, "Let's go to Orient Express and eat supper. I'm too flustered to try to cook." So we did. And no, we didn't find the keys there, either. (Of course I wasn't looking for them there.)

This morning I went out into the kitchen after David had left for work to fix my breakfast. I saw my purse sitting on the table, where I had left it. For some reason (now, I'm not sure what it was), I looked in the purse and saw the little suede pouch that I keep my nail clippers, mirror, and lip balm in. That was weird, since it had been missing the day before. When I picked it up, there were my keys. I was astounded. I had very carefully looked in that purse the day before, and neither the keys nor the pouch had been there. I figured David had located them before he left for work, and stuck them in my purse as a surprise.

With that in mind, I went to exercise class, to K-mart, to the podiatrist, and to the grocery store. Then I took home the small roast and au gratin potatoes I had gotten for David as a reward for finding the keys. I waited for him to come home.

When he got home, I asked him where he had found my keys. Here's the mystery, folks--he didn't find them. He figured they had been in the purse all along. I know they hadn't. Where they came from, I have no idea. I wish they could talk, so they could tell me where they went on their "explore". I guess I'll never know.

I hope all your mysteries have as pleasant outcomes, even if they leave you, like me, wondering what the heck happened! Love to all, and God bless.

Rahab the Harlot

2008-10-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite characters, probably because I like the feeling of saying something like that in church. Rahab the Harlot. Well, actually, this is not a photograph of Rahab, but of Miss Kitty (the actress Amanda Blake). I don't think it EVER occurred to me as a child that Miss Kitty was, in fact, a harlot! There was a reason she lived over the saloon, there was a reason she dressed the way she did, there was a reason the cowboys kept going upstairs, there was a reason there were a number of fancy bedrooms upstairs...

This is a busy couple of days for me in my retired day-to-day existence. I went to a hospital auxiliary meeting this morning, got there early to chat and trouble-shoot with the bizarre committee and stayed late to help a volunteer who was working the front desk by herself. Now, other than cooking supper and washing choir robes, I'm finished with today's stuff.

Tomorrow, I have to give the Bible study at WMU on poor Rahab. For those of you who aren't familiar with her, she was (according to some Bible manuscripts) an innkeeper in the ill-fated town of Jericho. She hid some Israeli spies from the Jericho militia who intended to put them to death. In reward for her hiding them and subsequently helping them to escape from the walled city by letting them down over the wall with a rope, she and her family escaped the carnage following the fall of Jericho. I'm not sure what my focus is supposed to be on the Bible study, but I've always admired the fact that God was able to use someone like Rahab to do His work. Her job was not honorable--we would consider her a major sinner--yet she was important to God's plans for His creation.

There are more appointments tomorrow afternoon--Retired Teachers' Association meeting, flu shot (and possible chest x-ray), and the Tuesday night English class. I predict tomorrow's supper will be nothing fancy, maybe even something at a restaurant.

Take care, folks, remember that God can use you no matter what your occupation or background is, love to all, and God bless.

Bittersweet

2008-10-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, this is my favorite part of fall. When I was little, my dad sometimes had to travel from one small town to another on banking business. Often on his way home, he would make a point of driving through the country and searching for bittersweet, this lovely orange berry you see in the picture. We had a brown pottery vase that had belonged to his mother, and he would put the bittersweet in that vase. Now that Dad has been gone over twelve years, it is memories like these that kept him here with me. On top of my refrigerator is that brown vase, containing bittersweet that David and I bought several years ago somewhere in Illinois. I have not been able to find it locally, and boy, do I miss it. Almost as much as I miss Daddy!

Love to all, and God bless.

Happy Birthday to You!

2008-10-08T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well, if your name is Everett, an especially happy birthday to you! We tried to call you while ago, but you weren't home. Daddy and I decided that was a good thing. Daddy's off to bed pretty soon, so I guess we'll just wait and call tomorrow. Your card may get there tomorrow, too--at least I mailed it on your birthday!

My firstborn, or as Lois Lauranne says, "My starter child", is 36 years old today! This is hard to believe. I know he's been out on his own almost as long as he lived at home--maybe longer--with a few summers during college back at the house. His room is no longer his room--it's the computer room. Still, the stickers all over the door say "A boy once lived here." Actually, they say things like, "The Guard belongs", Wildcats, Hardee's is Smurf turf!, Support Sheriffs' Succession, 4-H Member...

There used to be even more reminders of this being his room, such as the posters all over the place, the official tack from Governor's Scholars...Now I have to look pretty hard to find anything (other than the stickers on the door) to find any evidence of his time here. Until I go to the basement, and see the trophies, books, toy soldiers, other wonderful evidence scattered around, even the special shirt that says something about having to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince charming! I guess somewhere a princess is wasting her time kissing frogs, because she hasn't found our boy yet!

It probably isn't very adult to call a 36-year-old man a boy, but that's the way we mamas are. We just refuse to accept the fact they've grown up. I guess I'm still waiting for him to ride his bike home from one of his "explores". Bubba, I love you. You're still my little boy.

Good night to all, and God bless. (And if you know Bubba, give him a holler.)

How do I waste my time? Let me count the ways...

2008-10-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

1. I spend entirely too much time every day back in this room on this machine. That is my number one time waster. Half the time I spend checking emails, opening each and every one (well, on one account anyway), skimming it to see if I've already read that story, deleting, going to the next one...Not a lot of meat in very many of my emails. Just a forwarded story or Happy Sister's Day or some such thing--How often does that National Girlfriends' Week come around, anyway?

2. The second big time waster is playing games on this thing. I have found a very simple form of mah jongg on the AARP website, something ridiculous like Mah Jongg toy box, I believe, is the name. The game has the audacity to list the record high score (which isn't mine) of 15948. I have NO IDEA how anyone could score anything like that! My own high scores rank up in the 8000's. But I keep trying, not because it's that much fun, but because I can do it, and it's addictive. Enough said.

3. When I'm not playing that idiot toy box game, I'm playing either mine sweeper or spider solitaire on here. Not particularly brilliant, is it?

4. When I'm not doing that, I'm in the living room on my end of the couch, with the tube turned on (something with a plot, please, nothing educational or hard to follow), and all my paper junk spread around me. That usually consists of today's (and sometimes yesterday's) newspapers, the day's junk mail (which usually includes some sort of interesting catalog), one or two more important papers (such as the bank statement or a bill), half a dozen magazines, a couple of library books, at least two Bibles (the read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year version and the larger-type NIV version I got for Christmas last year), and a couple of puzzle books (sudoku and secret-word wordsearch). Somewhere in that mess is my knitting du jour, which right now is circular dishcloths. I'll knit a while, watch a little TV, do a puzzle, look through a catalog or magazine, start my Bible reading, go back to the knitting...not always in the same order--I'm not OCD, for Pete's sake!

And that's how I spend my days at home. When I'm out of the house, it's a different matter! I guess I ought to go back to work.

Love to all, and God bless.

A hurricane? In Kentucky?

2008-09-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've always felt reasonably safe from the threat of hurricanes way up north here, way west here--well, anyway, away from the coast. It takes us at least 12 hours to get from our home to the nearest beach, and many of the hurricanes that cause such havoc don't affect us, unless it's as rain. As a matter of fact, when we were in Chattanooga visiting with family and heard predictions for Gustav and Ike, I reassured my SIL that he was in no danger from hurricanes where he lived in Nashville. The nature of hurricanes was such that all the damage took place near the coast, and they pretty much "petered out" as they came inland.

Folks, I was wrong. If you don't believe me, check the news for Louisville and northern Kentucky. We had gale-force winds all day on Sunday, and over 100,000 people in Louisville are without power! I haven't tried to contact Louisville family yet, but I will...I am concerned, since a lot of the power outages seem to be in the Bardstown/Fern Creek area. I know that the family there will be watching out for each other, but you might want to pray for them. The latest I heard, it may be two weeks before power is fully restored.

Imagine this scenario: Your children are home from school on an unplanned vacation (this is the second day of no school in Jefferson County), and your electricity is out. Okay, during the daytime you can send them outside, but what in the heck are you going to do with them at night? And how are you going to feed those teenagers? Thank God that the infrastructure in this country is a little sounder than that in Haiti, where you see folks fighting over bottled water and whatever foodstuff that manages to get into the country, but still inconveniences are going to exist for quite some time. And help is not as readily available as it is after some storms, since this storm was so widespread. Utility companies from the tri-state area are really swamped, especially considering that some of their crews had been deployed to the coast.

No, we don't have near the damage that they had in Texas or Louisiana, but we are tasting a little of what those folks are going through. Georgetown and Lexington were spared the brunt of the damage, but even here in town--I was driving up town yesterday to attend a meeting and saw a tree that had fallen on a house on South Broadway. Not just a branch off the Bradford pear, but a whole tree. In Lexington, a huge branch broke off a tree near Henry Clay's home on Richmond Road and fell on a passing car, injuring the driver badly enough that she was taken to the hospital. And in Shelby County, a child was killed when a tree branch hit him outside.

Nobody told us anything other than to be careful when driving high-profile vehicles. Nobody told us to stay indoors until that danged hurricane blew through. Nobody told us to stock up on canned foods and flashlight batteries. The Louisville radio station that I listen to regularly was asking for folks to call in if they had seen a supply of flashlight batteries anywhere. You can understand that from now on, when a hurricane is predicted, we are all going to be watching the weather channel just a little more carefully, to see if it is going to "hit" Kentucky!

Take care--stay warm, dry, and fed. Love to all, and God bless.

Update: The Louisville folks are doing okay. They have power now; theirs was only out for two nights. Thanks for your prayers! We love you, and God does, too.

Friendship Thursday

2008-09-11T18:15:00.001-07:00

We started our Friendship year off today. There were five of us who rode together to Lexington to take charge of the nursery. On our trip over, we speculated about the number of babies who would show up. Since most of our babies last year were about to start walking, we were pretty sure they would be "moving up" to the toddler nursery. As far as we knew, there was only one little baby who would be there--we had a three-week-old at our last session in May, so we figured he might be back.

I had hoped to take pictures of all the little ones as they got settled into their classes and to give those pictures to the parents at a later date. Our first little girl to show up was Yuna, who had been in our baby class last year. Yuna seemed a little shy, but I did manage to get a picture of her.

And then the bus from Shawneetown (UK student housing) showed up. Just like last year, all our Chinese moms came at once. And just like last year, all their babies started crying at the same time. Not just crying, screaming. It was bedlam in the toddler room. There was NO WAY to get pictures taken--we were too busy trying to get tags onto diaper bags, to convince mothers that their children would be okay, and to attempt to convince the babies that they would be okay. I think some of them bought into that, because a little later in the morning, there were actually times when you could hear some of the musical toys, or maybe even a word of conversation among the workers. Not often, mind you, but occasionally.

Across the hall in the baby room, nine babies showed up. As I remarked to one of the workers, I don't know where those babies came from! She was surprised that at my age, I still didn't know where babies come from and offered to explain the facts of life to me. Oh, the facts of life--I have those down pretty much pat, but the facts of life as related to babies at Friendship--I SWEAR, there was no more than one pregnant woman coming last year, and I believe she was the one who gave birth to the three-week-old who was at the last session! I don't remember one other bulging belly! Normal nine-month pregnancies I understand, but how the internationals can conceive and give birth over a three-month summer vacation is beyond me!

The new crop of babies are delightful. One little fellow spent his first hour in the nursery nursing. He finally decided to let mommy go to her class. After she left, a worker remarked that he seemed pretty happy. Another one said, of course he was--he had been eating for an hour! We call him Henry I Ate, sort of a take off on Henry the 8th--get it? Probably pretty weak joke, but I'm tired. It's been a long day.

I think all told, we had 22 babies and toddlers. They tell me at one time, they kept all the little ones in the same room. I know that would be absolutely impossible now, and I wouldn't even want to try. Oh, and lest you think the five of us handled all 22 children with no help, that wasn't the case. I'm not sure how many workers we had, but it was enough that each cryer had his/her own worker--it looked like there were almost as many workers as there were children.

I hope you had a good day, full of God's blessings, and that you're enjoying each and every one of them, even the ones that cry! Love to all, and God bless.

Blessed all over the place!

2008-08-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight was one of those nights when a person's blessings really become apparent. Those of you who know me, know that organization is not one of my strong points. I had recently panicked, due to a couple of fairly major tools being lost.

One was my address book. One year my sister-in-law Ruth gifted me with an address book, in which she had written all the family addresses and phone numbers. This was a terrific gift! Over the years, I had kept that address book updated. Then one day, I lost it. I was in a panic. I bought another address book and quickly wrote down everything I remembered and had in other spots. Then of course, I found the first book.

Within the last three or four weeks, I had mislaid the newer book, which had all the current addresses in it. That, in and of itself, was fairly serious, since I couldn't send birthday cards, get-well cards, and the like. It really became a problem for me, though, when my cell phone died for lack of a charge. I had many of the family phone numbers stored in the cell phone!

I had conducted several fruitless searches, trying to find that darn address book, all to no avail. I tried to go on with my life, but it was hard. I couldn't check up on the kids, for instance, since I didn't know their phone numbers off the top of my head--bummer. Then another disaster struck--I lost the check book! Of course, this was much more serious than misplacing the address book. For one thing, the phone bill was due, and I needed the check book to pay it! It had only been gone a couple of days, but all the same, I was really worried. I might actually have to clear up my mess on the couch, in an attempt to find it!

Tonight I was vainly searching through the paid-bills folder in an attempt to see if the check book was in there with the BOA bill I had last paid. No luck. I decided to attempt to separate and organize all the loose receipts, which I told David would be a lot simpler, if I only had some paper clips. He jumped up, took off for his desk downstairs, and came back with three or four. I needed more, so I suggested he look in the "junk drawer" by the refrigerator. He came back in, smiling. "I didn't find any paper clips, but maybe this will make up for it!", and he pitched me my address book. I was really glad to see it!

Then I commented, "I would imagine that the check book is with the BOA bill, wherever that is." Again, up he jumped, stalked out, and came back, smiling and waving the check book. "Wherever did you find that?" He replied he had seen the bill laying on a footstool inside our bedroom door, so he checked, and there was that pesky check book, hiding underneath!

So, like I said in the title, God is just blessing me all the place tonight! Now I'll go pay that phone bill, put those other papers away, address a couple of birthday cards, and get on with my life. Love to all, and God bless.

English lesson

2008-08-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were discussing tools and their purposes. It was a lot of fun to try to explain some of the things that were there. For instance, there was a toilet plunger. Some of you know the Shel Silverstein poem that makes reference to a plunger. Need I say that the students thought I was really funny when I acted that out?

Another thing that got a lot of laughs was the duct tape. Garnett said it was one of the most important things in a US tool box. Of course we didn't have enough Spanish (or Japanese or Ukrainian) to explain the old US maxim, "If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape." But we could show them a few things, and Garnett was able to explain a little bit of stuff, like how her guide in Ecuador had used duct tape to keep Garnett's too-big shoes from sliding around on her feet. I told them people even made dresses out of duct tape (note to self, try to find a picture for next week), but that it was really good for loud kids and illustrated how you could put a piece of tape over their mouths.

Like I said Tuesday, I love ESL. Good night to all, and God bless.

She's still a teacher

2008-08-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Garnett called me last week about "helping" a friend with her ESL (English Second Language) class for adults. I told her I'd be glad to help, as long as all that entailed was sitting in the classroom while the other woman taught. Okay. That lasted one night.

Tuesday, I taught a class solo. I have the very beginning students, those who know enough English to tell me their name and where they are from--maybe. Other than that, their English is still better than my Spanish (which is the only second language in this particular class). Last week we worked on "Hello, my name is_____." We also worked on the alphabet. Again this week, we worked on "Hello, my name is_____." And the alphabet. Only this week, I kept getting more students.

We started out with 4 or 5, but by the time the class was over, there were 9 in there. Class started at 7 (actually a few minutes after that). A supervisor came in for a few minutes and seemed to wonder why I hadn't started yet. I told her we were on Hispanic time. She understood perfectly, laughed, and left. Like I said, several others came in as the class went on. About 8:10, a second supervisor brought in the 8th student and said, "I promise, no more new people." This fellow had been in another classroom, but the instructor had quickly gathered that he wasn't ready for her class yet. The supervisor said, "He needs to be in your class." I said, "Are you sure?" He replied, "Oh, yes, he needs to be in this class." Do I need to tell you I loved it? It wore me out, but I LOVED it.

By the end of the evening, I had committed to teaching on Tuesdays all the school year, I guess. Tonight at church, my friend Macy caught me and asked me, "Do you want to help me teach ESL tomorrow night?" I didn't hesitate very long before I told her sure, as long as she was doing the teaching and I was just sitting in the class...Maybe I should have thought that over, since that was what I did the first time.

A few of my family members who read this blog are going to recognize the person in this next little bit about ESL. Garnett told me she was going to teach a combined class on Thursday night, since Gary had been pestering her for quite a while to bring his tools to class and teach the students the names of all the tools. She and I both looked at each other and laughed--let's just hope that Garnett is the one who actually teaches the names of the tools. Otherwise, I don't know if anyone will be able to understand a word they say.

That's enough for tonight--Goodnight to all, and God bless!

Medals in perspective

2008-08-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

Like several of you, I've been watching Olympic coverage this week. Today while blog browsing, I found a reference to this chart that puts a different slant on who is ahead in the medal count. I know we are all rooting for our own country to be ahead, but after watching the opening ceremonies and seeing all those countries with only a handful of athletes and a coon-dog's chance of winning anything, it's NICE to see the big powers down toward the bottom of the list!

And yet another picture...

2008-08-13T18:54:00.001-07:00

Grandpa David and Granny Susan are enjoying some bonding with their new grandson. We just wish they lived a little closer, so that we could hold and rock him a little more!

Did anybody want to see pictures?

2008-08-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is Cohen, about three hours after he was born. His granny really does love him. He didn't have a lot to say about her, though. The red hair and eyes in the background belong to Cohen Preston's Papaw, Preston.

Somebody new

2008-08-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Thought you might like to see Cohen Preston Brown, 7 lb 10 oz, 19.75 in long--born this morning at 8:23 am. Mother, Cohen, and all concerned are doing fine. His picture is on the Brown Famile blog. Every good and perfect gift cometh from above. Thank you, Lord! Love to all, and God bless.

Praise God

2008-07-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Praise God for answered prayers! I just spent almost 40 minutes talking to Ann over the internet. She is safely back in Hyderabad. Her adventures in Bangalore can be read on her blog. Thank you all so much for your prayers and love for her. We do appreciate them!

Love to all, and God bless.

Update on me

2008-07-28T08:20:00.001-07:00

Aaarghh! It's Popeye Susan, back for round 2 of piratehood! Only noticeable difference between this time and last time is that someone forgot to put Miracle Grow on my list, to try to grow some decent veins for IVs, and I had to have five sticks. So you might say it's Popeye Susan the Porcupine! Anyway, the sedation was effective, and I'm in a completely laid-back mood, ready to spend the day relaxing. From what I could see before he got the patch on my eye, things are probably going to be really good in this eye, too. Thank you for your prayers!

Love to all, and God bless.

Update on Ann

2008-07-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

As of 5 am on Sunday morning, Ann was all right. We haven't heard anything since then. They were scheduled to stay in Bangalore (or that area) until Tuesday, I believe, so, as far as I'm concerned, there is still some danger for them. Thank you for your prayers so far, and please keep them up! Love to all, and God bless.

Prayer Requests (at this time, 3)

2008-07-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

1. Right now, my baby Annie is in Bangalore, India, with her husband, Daniel, visiting Daniel's great-uncle. If you have been keeping up with the news, you may know that there have been a number of bombings in Bangalore this week. Please keep Ann and Daniel (and their family) in your prayers.
2. Tomorrow morning, at 8:00, I am to check in to the Surgery Center in Lexington for my second cataract surgery. I am not particularly anxious about the surgery, probably because the news from India is occupying my mind, but I would appreciate your prayers for a successful surgery.
3. On August 4, in the morning (I forget the exact time), our daughter, Lydia, and her husband, Geron, will become the parents of their second child, a son. Lydia had some life-threatening complications with the first delivery, but the doctor does NOT expect the same thing to happen this time. (As they say, forewarned is forearmed.) Please pray for them and for little Cora, who will be going through some big changes!

Thanks to all of you, and God bless.

Pictures from Extreme Build

2008-07-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, I learned another lesson...

2008-07-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

What lesson did I learn? I learned it's probably not a good idea to leave your purse on the chair across from you in the restaurant when you stop for supper. Despite David saying (he says) that we mustn't forget to take the purse when we left, we got all the way from Mt. Vernon to the exit right before the Kentucky River (let's say at least 30+ miles) before I realized we had, indeed, forgotten to take the purse when we left.

The staff at Hardee's had left it right where I had left it--we could see it from the parking lot. The manager told me when we came in that it was "right where you left it!", and it was. She said she had kept her eye on it the whole time. David was relieved to see it in place--he said he would stop worrying about someone copying all the credit-card numbers, etc. I tipped the person handsomely (or at least I thought handsomely) and we got on home.

Other than that, our second trip to Whitley City for Extreme Build went very well. David is sound asleep in his chair, with Tru TV on in the background, and I'm thinking about unpacking the suitcase and going to bed. Good night, love to all, and God bless.

Extreme Build

2008-07-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that David, Everett, and I spent the last week (Sunday to Saturday) building a house in eastern Kentucky. We worked with a program very similar in nature to Habitat for Humanity, only this was backed by the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship. It was a great, great experience, one I've NEVER been involved with before, and one I'll be working with again, Lord willing.

Some of the things I learned:
1. Having only one good eye makes it hard as heck to navigate rough terrain, especially when carrying floor boards and other construction materials.
2. Even when it gets to be almost 100 degrees in the sun in the afternoon, mornings are still cold and damp.
3. Covering one's self with whipped cream and jumping in bed with a person makes a tremendous mess. (I didn't do it, one of the youth from Texas did it to their youth pastor. I heard there was whipped cream all over the world.)
4. Despite what they tell you at the front desk, you don't have to wait until 11:30 pm to see the moon bow at Cumberland Falls--a good portion is visible at 10:00.
5. G2 and Propel are not the same thing--Propel has a lot less carbs, if that sort of thing is important to you.
6. If you leave bananas in plastic bags in 95 degree heat, you won't believe how fast they ripen!
7. The hotel maids in small towns won't take the tip money you leave for them unless you specifically tell them that's what it is--too honest, otherwise.
8. When you work from 7 in the morning until nearly 6 at night, it doesn't matter if it is the premiere season episode of Monk, you can't stay awake that late.
9. If you "lose" your keys in the ignition of your car, it's best not to lose them with the ignition on, especially if they are going to be there all day.
10. Always be sure the lid is up in the portolet before you sit down, especially when you've been trying to avoid going in there all day long.

I may learn another couple of more important life-lessons tomorrow, since David took another personal day tomorrow to go back down and help finish things up. I may be doing more tomorrow than going to the hardware store and asking for "two of these, one of these, and one of these that goes all the way around (a broken part)".

Love to all, and God bless. Oh, by the way, if you're looking for pictures, don't even bother. I don't think I had the camera out of the case the entire time I was there--too many other things that needed doing. And if you'd like to read more about Extreme Build, you might check Everett's blog.

The 4th

2008-07-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Our Fourth was pretty pleasant. David and I slept in, then went to Louisville to Libby's for the mitral valve birthday party. That valve is 9 years old this year! When it was time to return thanks before the meal, Jim acknowledged the mitral valve, as well as his "seizure-versary"--it's been a year, and as far as we know, he's been seizure-free for the whole year. Then there was Faye's successful surgery on the 3rd--she wanted to talk to me on the phone, and she sounded really good. We had a pretty good turnout--three of Libby's six children were there with their spouses and in-laws, as well as three grandchildren, two grandchildren-in-law, and a great grandchild, plus the usual assortment of in-laws and out-laws that show up at that little house.

Changes are in store. Next year, Libby and Deck will be living somewhere other than the little house, so the mitral-valve birthday party will have to be held somewhere else. Change is always hard, but as long as folks pretty much stay the same, change of location is really minor. It's fun to hear the family talk about what they want out of the house when the folks move--one grandchild has asked for the living room floor. Can you imagine? She wants to make a table out of it! Funny, but true.

In case you wondered (like anyone would!), the stealth brownies were not a big hit. Since they were chocolate, I left them in Louisville. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all to hear they ended up in the garbage. One thing that could be said for them, no one could guess what was in them; another thing, they were moist. This year, rather than having a cook-out, we had a taco bar and a potato bar. That went over pretty well. But me, I couldn't imagine the gathering without hamburgers, so I brought a tray full from home. They were a lot of fun to make, something I believe folks would enjoy doing with their kids, and they tasted good, to boot!

Almost enough about the Fourth--we did see some fireworks, some of God's doings, and we heard plenty of pop-pops, as Cora has named them, in our neighborhood when we got home.

The rest of the weekend seems to be going pretty smoothly. I'm in here on the computer, and David is watching (through closed eyelids) some sort of organ/church music program. Later this afternoon, we are going back to church to "practice" for a program of patriotic music out at Dover Manor. Mr. Mac, their resident "chaplain", asked our choir director if she could get the program together, and she said sure. That's at 3:30, so I dare not get comfortable, lest I go to sleep and we don't get there.

I hope everyone's firecrackers went off without a hitch! Love to all, and God bless.

Fourth plans thwarted...

2008-07-03T08:51:00.001-07:00

Dang. I was planning to make "firecracker" cookies for lunch tomorrow--a simple sugar cookie-type recipe, as well as I can remember, but with an added secret ingredient. However, I've lost my recipe! And all the ones I found when I googled firecracker cookies were NOT the one I was looking for--they were just cookies that looked like a firecracker because of their shape or decoration. That's not what these cookies were. Does anyone remember them, and does anyone have the recipe? Love to all, and God bless.
Update: I made some stealth brownies, just a minute ago. I thoroughly enjoyed licking the spoon--hope other folks enjoy them!

What's going on?

2008-07-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well, folks, it's been a while since I actually wrote about current affairs around here, hasn't it? For the last couple of months, David and I have both been dealing with health issues. David dropped a car door on his toe almost two months ago, and the swelling is just now going down (after two rounds of antibiotics). It took almost three weeks before I could get him to the doctor--you know men--but when he did, it was a pretty quick diagnosis that the toe was broken and that infection had set in. The doctor also told him he had to stay home from work until I said he could go back. That was a pretty good feeling, to be in control for a change. I only got to keep him home two days, though, since he and I both decided it was looking better after the second day.

That was all the improvement he got from the first round of antibiotics. It was at a stand still until about two weeks ago, when he decided to get the antibiotics renewed and have another go at it. Now the toe is starting to look more concave than convex, so maybe healing is happening.

After the broken toe, our next excitement (which really wasn't all that exciting) was my first cataract surgery. That went with no hitches, other than having to wait what I considered too long for a twenty-minute surgery. Then there were the little inconveniences of having to sleep with a patch over my eye, and no good adhesive that would not tear up my face when I took it off. (And NOW that it's over, I remember that I have sleep blindfolds somewhere in the house! They would have worked just fine, and don't think for a minute that I'm not going to get one out before the next surgery!) The correction from the surgery was terrific. I am working right now with no glasses, something I guarantee I couldn't have done prior to the operation.

One little bit of excitement that happened that first week after the surgery...We were asleep at 2:00 when our phone rang. Our niece was calling from Lexington--the truck had been towed. She had borrowed our truck to drive to work while her car was being repaired. (That wasn't a bad inconvenience, since I wasn't driving anyway.) After she got off that night, she had gone to a friend's apartment to watch a movie. When she came out to drive home, no truck was there. The apartment complex was really quick to tow "unauthorized" vehicles (ones without parking permits), and the parking permit she had used was expired. She went to pick up the truck, but the towing company would only release it to the owner, who was sound asleep at his house 20 minutes' drive away. And since David wasn't sure whether the truck was in his name or mine, I had to go with him. Guess who wasn't happy to get up at crap o'clock and ride to Lexington. When we got to the towing company, niece came around to my side of the car to talk to me, and David said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Interesting night. We were home by 3, but David had to get up for work at 4:30.

That same weekend, we went to Chattanooga to see the grandbaby and her family. That was a great visit. We do love those folks! We spent a lazy Saturday down there, playing with the girl and her folks. On Father's Day, we went to church with them, which was really nice. We enjoy being with them and their church friends. We ate lunch with the other grandparents--the church had a barbecue for all attendees and their guests--and enjoyed watching Grandbaby eating cake and dill pickles.

The week following that, we got word from Chattanooga that the other grandfather had had a heart attack, the Saturday before we ate lunch together on Sunday! He was placed in the hospital on Tuesday after a stress test showed the heart attack, and then ended up having a quadruple bypass that Thursday. Daughter called me to come down and help watch the little one for her.

Not only was Pawpaw in the hospital, but daughter had a health scare of her own. She is pregnant, and a routine ultrasound discovered a possible problem with the baby. She had an amniocentesis right away, and was told she needed to take it easy for the next couple of days. I went down and helped out. By the time I got there, she had already started hauling the current little one around. (Daughter is not a person who likes to be idle.) I was able to help out, though, when we went to the laundromat and caught up about 20 loads of wash! Oh, by the way, I drove myself down there and back, and everything went just fine! (Of course there was no night driving involved.)

Current state of affairs down in Chattanooga: The first round of tests on the baby came back showing a normal boy. Grandfather is still in the hospital, still on a ventilator as far as I know, and things are not back to normal down there, so prayers from you prayer warriors are still coveted.

This past week, we got to go to Nashville to visit our other daughter and son-in-law, which was another great trip. Daughter and I shopped a while on Saturday. Then the four of us joined another couple and their almost-2-year-old for supper at a Persian restaurant. That was a lot of fun--good food, even though it wasn't my normal fare. After the meal, we stood around outside the restaurant chatting until we were all hungry again, and we ended the evening at Baskin-Robbins. Hey, what happened to the 31 flavors? I only remember about 15 at that store, and my favorite, some sort of chocolate raspberry truffle thing, wasn't among them. Anyway. The next day, the other three folks got up and went to church. I stayed home due to a digestive disturbance--probably that Persian food! I got over it after a good nap, though.

Now we're home. I spent yesterday afternoon at the hospital doing volunteer work. Nothing is scheduled for today--I can spend the whole day just being retired! and maybe finishing Sujatha's sweater. Tomorrow is Senior Day at Kroger's, so I'm trying to come up with a list of everything I've been craving. Also, there's a possibility that a bunch of us will be getting together for lunch tomorrow, at a restaurant in Frankfort. We had a similar gathering for supper at Casa in Frankfort on Tuesday of last week, and spent four hours laughing ourselves silly, so I'm looking forward to a good time at this gathering.

I hope all is going well for you. Love to all, and God bless.

A sign I'm FINALLY growing up...

2008-06-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Which is your favorite, summer or winter? That question came to me this morning in an email. I immediately answered "winter". I just don't like the heat of summer. As I tell folks so often, you can always add another layer of clothing or a quilt or afghan or something to warm you up in the winter, but you can't take enough off to cool you down in the summer.

Today at lunch, I remembered what I really like about summer--seasonal fruit. I had the wonderful blessing of growing up in a home where fresh fruit was available in the summer--not just the bananas, apples, and oranges that grace my kitchen table on a good day, but peaches, blackberries, raspberries, nectarines, and strawberries, my all-time favorite! When we first moved into the house my children remember as Granny's house, there was a strawberry patch next door--the whole lot next door, to be more exact! And, as I remember now, those were, without a doubt, the BEST strawberries ever. Not only did we have those strawberries available to us (for a price of course, but much less than what they are now), but about two blocks away lived a woman who made her summer money selling blackberries and raspberries!

I loved the month of June because of those berries. I can remember on several occasions being sent to Mrs. Shockey's house to buy blackberries or raspberries, then bringing them home for Mom to "fix". Fixing was no big deal--wash them, add sugar, put them in the ice box--the same way she "fixed" strawberries, except the strawberries were also sliced. Then after supper, while we were sitting around watching television, Mom would go out in the kitchen and come back with a bowl of berries for everyone, sometimes with ice cream but often, just the berries. Without a doubt, that was my FAVORITE summer food.

Yesterday, I went to Kroger's to buy bagels, bread, and bananas, the three B's--and you thought it was Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, right? Anyway, I also bought a pound of strawberries. Today at lunch, I washed some of them, cut them up, and put some Splenda on them. Then I ate them, right away--no waiting for that syrupy liquid to gather in the bottom of the bowl, just down the hatch.

And what does this have to do with growing up, you may ask? Weeeelll, until today, I waited for Mom to fix them for me! (Or I got them out at a restaurant or at someone's pot luck or something.) Finally, today, I realized that Mom wasn't going to be fixing my berries any more, and if I wanted to eat them, I needed to fix them myself. So, see? I'm getting to, finally, after 61 years, be a big girl!

Love to all, and God bless

My addiction

2008-06-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

I really don't mind admitting that I have an addiction to a certain web site, Rocks in My Dryer. I just love to read this blog, especially on Wednesdays, when the host does something called "Works for Me Wednesday". There are so many interesting little hints on there. I'm not sure exactly what is involved in "posting" your hint on her blog, but last week almost 275 folks figured out how to do it and left their helpful hints.

Some of those folks have posted before, so I sort of "know" about them and their families. It's interesting to see how they are doing, from one week to the next. Many of them are Christian, quite a few are stay-at-home moms who home-school, and many are trying to save money in interesting ways. Once a month, they have a themed day when everyone is supposed to put in an idea that goes along with a certain theme, such as beating summer boredom. And sometimes there are days when folks pose requests for help rather than suggestions. It's kind of fun to read a request, think of a response, look at the comments, and realize someone else has had the very same thought you did!

I'm afraid I spend too much time reading Rocks in my Dryer, but I sure don't mind recommending it as a way to beat summer boredom!

Love to all, and God bless.

Request

2008-06-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

If anyone knows anything about the following folks, please let me know. It's been WAY too long since I heard from them!

1. Bubba
2. Beck
3. Jennifer
4. Annie

Love to all, and God bless.

Here's an update: I had a good long chat with Annie last night, maybe a record chat for both of us (over an hour). It was nice to talk to my baby girl! I also talked to Bubba for a while--he seems to be doing well too. Love you all.

Fun for the family

2008-05-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

David and I have a busy Saturday. Right now, he is fixing the bathtub faucet, which has been dripping since yesterday when I took a shower. I almost called him at work--I had tried as hard as I could, but I couldn't get the thing to stop dripping. He told me (after he got home from work) that he had the same problem after his shower the day before--it just wouldn't stop. He would have to put washers in the faucet.

Today, being Saturday, he has a little free time on his hands (very little, actually), so he is going to work on the faucets. First, he had to find his plumbing supplies. When he went to the basement and looked on the tool bench, they weren't readily visible. So he moved a small quilted travel bag to look under the bag. "Gee, this is heavy." He opened it and found that one of our daughters (probably the one who is here more often) had assembled a small plumbing repair kit for him. Great! Of course, once he had shut off the water and disassembled the faucet, he found that the size washer he needed was missing. That and something or other else that he needed...which meant a trip to the hardware store.

He headed out the front door and casually asked me if I were interested in going with him. Gee, I really love to go to the hardware store! (Never have enjoyed it, as a matter of fact) But at least this one has the advantage of being next door to Salvation Army's thrift store. So I agreed to get dressed (it is 12:00, mind you, and I know I should have already been dressed, but...) and went with him.

When we got to the hardware store, we found the parking lot was taken up in part by a motorcycle rally of some sort! If you know David, you know that next to me and his family, he probably loves looking at motorcycles better than about anything else in the world. Hooray for him! (Next to shopping at hardware stores, looking at motorcycles is on my list of things I hate) BUT along with the motorcycles, they also had a rummage sale! Not only was there one with the motorcycles, there was one over by the storage building display and one in front of the hardware store! All right! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

I headed for the storage buildings and started looking through boxes on flatbed trailers. There were some small Hispanic children there (along with their mothers) who were also looking through things. We spent a few minutes pulling stuff out of boxes and showing it to each other and exclaiming about how wonderful it was (it really wasn't), and then we found some books. If there's anything I'm a sucker for, it's children's books. I didn't see anything that grabbed my attention right away, but one of the little girls found an I Spy book. She was really excited, since it had numbers in it. She didn't know about looking for the other little pictures, and she got even more excited when she discovered that part of the fun. We went from the beginning through the page with the 6 on it before I left her to her fun. I do hope her mom bought the book. I imagine she would, though, since she had been watching us and smiling. Even her little siblings were getting involved, trying to find things. Like I said, fun for the family.

Well, pretty soon we need to quit our morning activities and get dressed up a little. We are going to a golden wedding anniversary celebration this afternoon for Kate and Quint, good friends from church. After that, we are heading to a wedding; April, the little girl who grew up next door to us and is now 32, is getting married, and I promised Lydia I would take some pictures.

Everyone, have a good Saturday--love to all, and God bless.

He is still HOT.

2008-05-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Maybe you don't want to know this, but I think Indiana Jones (also known as Harrison Ford) is still about as hot as they come.

David and I had a date this afternoon, first one in quite a while where I got to pick what we did, and went to see the new Indiana Jones' flick. I LOVED it. It wasn't perfect, but boy, was it fun. I found myself easily staying awake through the whole thing and smiling through almost all of it. It was great fun, campy, good guys winning in the end...Just plain wonderful.

If anything ever happened to David and I had to pick a new man, one that looks like old Harrison Ford or old Sean Connery, either one, would suit me just fine.

If you aren't under the age of 10, treat yourself to a good time and go see that movie. Love to all, and God bless.

It's funny.

2008-05-15T06:37:00.001-07:00

Do you feel the need to laugh? Enjoy these. Love to all, and God bless.

The Sixties

2008-05-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, I was a child of the sixties. Read more about that wonderful decade here.

Good night to all, and God bless.

Was my face red!

2008-05-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I walked into my Sunday School class and found the teacher telling another member how nice of me to have done what I did. I didn't know what she was talking about, of course, so I asked her what she meant. She replied, "To give the flowers in the sanctuary in honor of all the mothers." What did I say then? "Crap."

Here's why. Mother's Day has always been a special day in my life, since I was little. Mother and Daddy were married on May 11, and Mother's birthday was May 13. Often, Mother's Day came in the middle of those two days. Daddy always made a big deal of Mother's Day, getting corsages for us, taking us out for a special meal...

Fast forward to Mother and Daddy's 50th anniversary. Daddy died Tuesday, May 7, four days before that anniversary. Mother had a heart attack the night Daddy died. On Saturday, May 11, she was in the hospital. David had a dozen long-stemmed roses delivered to her at the hospital, "For my million dollar baby", which is what Daddy always called Mama. The following day was Mother's Day. We took the flowers to church in honor of their almost-50 year marriage and her 75th birthday, the following day. A couple of times after that, we provided the flowers. I decided that would be our tradition.

And this year, I plum forgot. Talk about embarrassing, especially after reading in the bulletin that I had provided the flowers. Guess who is going to bring a bouquet next week! And please, please, please don't let me forget next year!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas out there, and God bless.

Soon, soon you will see

2008-05-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

This was a line from a play I was in in 1962, my freshman year in high school, called "The Summons of Sariel". I played a young blind child, maybe about 10 years old. My first line was, "How much longer? How much longer before we get there?", to which my guardian angel responded, "Soon, soon you will see." I should probably go into some detail about the play, since it played a significant part in my high-school experience. It was a one-act play for competition. We competed at both the regional and state levels, and received solid superior ratings at the regional level. (We didn't do as hot at state, probably because the cast was pretty upset at the gym class, who had been sitting on our set and had dented our wonderful columns.)

Because I was a pretty good-sized freshman (5'6" or 5'7"), the main consideration for my angel was that she should be taller than me. Fortunately, she was also a good actress. Sariel, the title character, was God's angel of death. He sat on a throne with those fore-mentioned columns on either side of him. Almost off stage on either side were a good angel, one of my best friends, and an evil angel. There was a lot of banter between them concerning the fate of the other characters: me, the child; a young mother who had attempted suicide, an old woman, and a woman who had been in an accident.

And here follows a bit of the plot: each of the characters had been summoned by Sariel because of a close brush with death. Some of us (me for instance) would go on to afterlife (we assume Heaven), while others would be returned to life on Earth. Sariel was the only male in the play. He was also my best friend's brother, a fantastic actor who later went to try his fortune in Hollywood. His costume was splendid, made of the finest velvet casket lining! (One of the girls on the backstage crew was the daughter of the local funeral-home owner.) Lots and lots of the best times I had in high school involved drama, and Sariel was the start of it all.

Anyway, back to my line--I hope it is going to come true! I went to the ophthalmologist about two weeks ago and learned I needed cataract surgery. I knew my vision was getting worse, but didn't really know the cause. Today, I went to see him again as a preparatory visit for the surgery. I was in the office two hours--that's an hour and a half longer than I think I needed to be there, but at least everything is done now, including some laser surgery that he felt needed to be done as a prophylactic measure. I have the actual cataract surgery on June 9, very early in the morning, and then a follow-up the next day. This will be for my left eye. I asked the doctor today when was the soonest he could do the right eye, which also needs to be done, and he said two weeks after that. So it looks like the month of June I'll spend getting these cataracts fixed, and then I'll be able to see again! Which will mean, I hope, that I will be able to drive at night and in the rain, neither of which I want to attempt now. Hallelujah!

Well, folks, take care--I hope your vision is at least 20/20, and the prospect of cataract surgery isn't looming in YOUR futures! Good night, and God bless.

Of yes you CAN go home again!

2008-04-21T15:28:00.001-07:00

I never lived in Gatlinburg, but I have surely spent a lot of happy time there! My folks always went to Gatlinburg for vacation, from the time I turned 9, I think, until they couldn't make the trip anymore. As a matter of fact, I took both of them on their last trips down there. We often stayed in the same motel, Cox's Moonwink Motor Court. It was a collection of little mismatched cabins, and I think we stayed in all of them. Mom knew the cabins so well that she knew exactly what she needed to take for a stay, a toaster, a coffee maker, her electric skillet; she didn't need an iron or an ironing board, because Mrs. Cox would loan her one. She also knew she could use one of the grills there for hamburgers or steaks, but I imagine she brought charcoal lighter. There were probably other things she didn't need that she left at home, but those were the ones that came immediately to mind.

Our routines down there were pretty consistent. On a nonevent day, we would get up, eat breakfast, head down the street to the swimming pool (this motel had what they called 'pool privileges'). Then we would come back to the cabin, get dressed, and head downtown for lunch (meals were cheaper then than at supper). After lunch, we'd go back to the cabin. Mom and Dad would sleep; we would go back to the pool or head downtown to one of the many miniature golf courses.

On an event day, rather than go downtown for lunch, we might head up into the mountains for a picnic. We really enjoyed this, especially looking for bears--and we saw lots of them back in the 50's and 60's. We must have hit each tourist attraction in the area one year, going to Tuckaleechee Caverns, Christus Gardens, Hillbilly Village and some sort of little Frontier Town in Pigeon Forge--that was before Pigeon Forge became the shopping mecca it is now. We would go over the mountain to Cherokee at least once, and we would stop at a teepee beside the road and have our picture made with the old Indian who posed there. We even went to Franklin, NC, one summer and panned for rubies! That was a terrific experience--lots of mud and the excitement of actually finding some gemstones! Daddy kept our haul in a small box in his sock drawer for years, beside the stale menthol cigarettes left over from directors' meetings. I remember getting five bumper stickers one summer, but other than Tuckaleechee Caverns and Christus Gardens, I have no clue where they came from.

Early vacations often involved going swimming in a mountain creek. We would put on our bathing suits, climb into the car, and drive about 15 miles out the Little River Road so that we could "swim" in the creek. The first year, Daddy drove quite a distance looking for a place that was deep enough for swimming. When he finally stopped, he told us we could wade, but he didn't think the water was very deep (maybe knee deep for him). Was he surprised when he was soon up to his chest in that cold, cold water! Mama and I would sit on a little water fall and let the water swirl around us (we called it a water fall, but it really wasn't--more like a cascade). And of course Mama had to collect her rocks. She was notorious for picking up rocks that interested her. I don't think she really cared what they were, but she enjoyed finding rocks to bring home. Once on a trip out west, her traveling companions threatened to weigh her every time she got back into the car to try to keep her from weighing them down! After we had as much cold water as we could stand, we got back into the car, sitting on beach towels, and drove back to town to change clothes.

We always ate supper "at home", then went downtown to walk around. We loved to watch the people, so often we would end up sitting on a park bench beside the sidewalk and watching the show, all the people who were on vacation just like us. We would watch the candy makers at Ole Smokey Candy Kitchen (they had the best taffy logs) and the stick candy makers at Aunt Mahalia's (their stick candy was best). The candy cooks would come out with free samples of warm taffy or little warm stick candy canes. We would go through all the "junk" stores (no t-shirt shops back then), maybe play a game of miniature golf, buy some post cards, and head home. The last thing we would do would be to buy a caramel apple to eat as we walked back to the cabin.

We never failed to see someone we knew while on vacation, and twice, we ended up inviting friends from home who we ran into on the street back to our cabin to stay with us! I don't know how we did it, but one time we had four adults, three teen-aged boys, me (I was in college), and a two-year-old staying in a three bedroom cabin. Another year, there was a vacant cabin at the Moonwink, and our preacher, his wife, and their two children moved in, right across the drive from us. Those were two great years for the kids and the adults.

Gatlinburg was such a safe place, parents had no qualms about allowing their kids to go downtown by themselves. Mike and I spent a lot of days wandering around, reading tabloids in the drugstores, playing miniature golf...One summer we went downtown and I had to go to the bathroom. Rather than go back to the cabin, which really wasn't that far, we rode the Sky Lift--I knew there was a bathroom at the top.

When we are in Gatlinburg, even now, I feel like I've gone home. Gatlinburg is more familiar to me and less changed than my hometown. Oh, there are changes... Lots of the places have disappeared. There are almost no miniature golf courses on the main road now. Lydia can't take her babies to bunny golf. T-shirt stores have taken the place of souvenir shops. Mama's ritual trip to The Cliffdwellers now involves riding way out of town, since they moved off the main drag. We didn't even get there this year. My children and grandchildren will not get a chance to visit Christus Gardens and see the eyes of Christ follow them all around the room. Nor will they be able to take their spouses to visit Xanadu, the house of the future. Restaurants where my family ate regularly have closed. I miss the good rolls at Hobey's Copper Still.

But even though things change, they still remain the same. Gatlinburg still seems to me to be a safe place. I would allow my children (age 10 and up) free range to go downtown and see the sights all by themselves (well, at least as long as there were two of them going). The Sky Lift still goes up the mountain. The candy makers still perform in the store windows. The Mountain Lodge fixes a great breakfast and lunch. Arrowmont still has beautiful things in the window to see. Looking for folks from home is still fun, even if there isn't enough room in our motel room to put them up. And it's still fun to go over the mountain to Cherokee.

Home is a place in the heart, anyway. Good night to all, and God bless.

Another surprise

2008-04-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

UPS came to my door today bearing a package. Surprise might be an overstatement, since I had known this package was coming. However, I was surprised by the contents. It was a really neat stuffed monkey, Curious George, who is riding what looks like a unicycle with training wheels. When you squeeze his hand, there's a pretty good musical rendition of "Pop Goes the Weasel", while George rides back and forth on his little bike. I was very pleased to see George could handle the carpet with no difficulties. After several rides around the living room, now he's ensconced on the bottom shelf of the teakwood table, waiting to delight someone else.

Thanks, Jennifer and Jamie! You know what I like, all right! Love to everyone, and God bless.

Gift

2008-04-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

I got a nice little surprise in the mail today, a lumpy letter addressed to "Mommy". I love lumpy letters! Anyway, my little girl had made me a valentine at her school and sent it to me, all the way from Nashville. Thank you so much, sweetie. I really appreciate it! I'm going to go find a piece of yarn, and make a necklace so that I can wear it to choir tonight.

I hope you all get lots of nice surprises, too. Love to all, and God bless.

Updates

2008-03-30T15:27:00.001-07:00

I get a little weary of clicking on different websites only to learn they haven't been updated since the last time (maybe last month!) I was there. I don't know how you feel, but I bet it's about the same. So rather than chastise my faithful few, whoever you are, I figure I ought to act rather than speak.

How are things going here, you might ask. How are we spending our time? I have a simple answer for that second question--sitting in the recliners and watching basketball. No, it really doesn't matter that there is neither a Kentucky team nor a SEC team still in the tournament, the television at this house automatically tunes itself to basketball. It doesn't matter that UK lost in the first round (hey, it was a miracle that the team even made the tournament, admit it!), nor that Chris Lofton, who should have been playing for UK in the first place, couldn't win the big title for TN, nor that now UNC has a chance to break KY's record in total tournament wins, nor that UCLA (who had the audacity to call the beloved Hilltopper's mascot a pregnant Elmo) is making the gap of total wins even wider, that despite the fact we trained their coach, UL couldn't pull it off...we're still watching the basketball games. (Or at least one of us is...)

What else is going on up here? Not a lot. This past week, I did a couple of stints of volunteer work at the hospital "emptying bed pans" (or at least that's what I told one of my coworkers at Friendship). The second stint, my coworker didn't show up, so I didn't bother to take the refreshment cart around. I felt guilty for a couple of minutes when the nurse called from ICU, or wherever she was, asking if "the cart with the crushed ice and soft drinks" was going to come around...for a couple of minutes, I did feel some guilt over that. Only a couple of minutes, though. I get a chance to redeem myself tomorrow, since this is one of those months when we have both fourth and fifth Mondays. But I probably won't run the cart, since my coworker is going to be gone...and I do hate that hair net.

Friendship was quieter than usual this past Thursday. We had a pretty significant rain coming down when the bus drove over to Cooperstown, UK student housing, so three of our renowned soloists in the art of operatic crying were absent. Another mom said they had called for a back-up ride but it never materialized. This week, we will be on spring break. I hope someone tells those ladies before they go to wait for a bus that doesn't show up.

This week I have the volunteer stint tomorrow followed by a coming-of-a-new-age party at Casa for one of the DTA members. That should be a pretty good time. I've already had an email asking if I was going to be there--of course. It's one more day I don't have to cook! Tuesday, I have an appointment for my "pedicure" with Dr. Rodes, not a day before it's due. Wednesday, the ad hoc shower committee is meeting to see how we are progressing toward a social event later in the month. Also, my faithful Pancho is going to be here to "clean" the house again. David asked her today if she knew how to run a vacuum cleaner, which brought a laugh.

Speaking of vacuum cleaners, I have a real aversion to ours, all three or four of them. Back when I was a child, I guess I must have been spooked by one or something. Anyway, floors have NEVER been my favorite part of the cleaning process. Look out--the following is a blatant plug for the vacuum I don't own: I remember when one of the ladies in my mom's circle of mothers bought a new silver pig. That vacuum was the talk of the town! Ladies who just barely knew this woman were quick to call her and ask to borrow that silver pig when they were going to be entertaining. Mom even borrowed it on several occasions, until she got her own. It was the thing for several years. I didn't understand why, back then, but now I'm sure that it has to do with the fact you aren't pushing that heavy machine around, rather just pushing the little nozzle part. I don't remember who got Mom's silver pig when we divided the contents of her house, but I do know it wasn't me. I have a big red jackass (one complete one and several others that we cannibalize for parts) that takes a man's strength to push around. I sort of feel like Roseanne. I'll vacuum when Sears invents one you can ride--and in my case, it better be a zeeter, with a zero turn radius.

Okay, now you know what we've been up to and what our plans are for the immediate future. I might suggest that if you haven't posted in the last couple of weeks, you go out and do the same thing! Love to all, and God bless.

Family recipes

2008-03-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

People have been blessing me with memories lately. Just this morning, I read a post from my cousin Linda, who remembered spending the weekend with me beau coup years ago. I know it was before 1964, for sure. We spent an afternoon with my Grandmother Sleadd, in her little upstairs apartment near the school in my hometown. "Apartment" might be a stretch--it was probably a bedroom and bath, with a little bit of a kitchen.

Linda remembered Grandmother teaching us how to make a lemon meringue pie, and that it was the best lemon meringue pie she ever ate. That would be true, for sure, because Nanny did make the best lemon pies in the world! The "teaching" part, though--unfortunately for David and the rest of mankind, unless Linda learned, that was a huge overstatement. I know I didn't learn how to make that pie, and now the recipe is gone.

As far as I know, Grandmother's recipes weren't written down, more's the pity. They were recipes she knew by heart, so she didn't need the references. And, as is so true of many of our family recipe treasures, you decided how much of an ingredient to add based on "until it looks right", or "about this much". Unfortunately, there are no measuring cups with those measurements on them!

I do have a transcript of my mother telling me how to make hot-water cornbread, another of Grandmother's specialties, and how to fry the best (as far as I'm concerned) chicken in the world. I've not had success at either of those endeavors, but David can turn out a pretty good facsimile of the hot-water cornbread. He got his recipe, written down, in a cookbook from Shelby County, KY. That seems to be the origin of the recipe, as far as I can tell, at least that part of the state--Shelby, Franklin, Anderson. I haven't found hot-water cornbread outside that area.

Well, now I'm hungry, not just for that food, but for those two much-loved cooks. Love to all, and God bless.

2008-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Have mercy. My grandbaby thinks she's a rock star! Apparently being the mother of a budding Mariah Carey is hard on a pregnant woman, though. Thanks, Geron, for sharing this on your blog!

Enough

2008-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

As I said yesterday, I have entirely too much time on my hands, which is what led to my discovery of this humbling post. I guess this woman agrees with the apostle Paul--she has learned how to be content. Love to all, and God bless.

Delightful Easter craft

2008-03-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'll admit, I have entirely too much time on my hands. Otherwise, how in the world would I have located this treasure? I will also admit that I do not intend to attempt this, possibly because I don't own a dremel.

If you are wondering why I have too much time on my hands, it's simple: While I was waiting out the inevitable at Kroger's this afternoon, an announcement was made that UK's regular basketball season had come to an end. (Being the stalwart UK fan that I am, I chose not to stick around and watch, especially when Georgia had a double-digit lead within the first five minutes or so.) So now, rather than sit with my spouse and scarf down Fritos while we watch yet another SEC team bite the dust and kiss their season good-bye, I am surfing the net. Once again, 'nuff said.

Love to all, and God bless.

What? Another holiday?

2008-03-14T17:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Pi Day!

It's March 12!

2008-03-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!
I am so glad that my mama had me!

And happy birthday to everybody else who was born today. Love to all, and God bless.

We're recovering, and I'm in withdrawal.

2008-03-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

I miss BawBaw. I didn't know how much I'd miss him, but miss him I do. Today when I looked outside and saw all the snow, I wondered if BawBaw had boots. I told David it would be fun to take him out into the snow. Then I pondered that thought about a second and said, "Well, it would be interesting to take him out and see his reaction; then if he liked it, it would be fun to take him out in the snow."

Things we know BawBaw likes: dirty rice (some of the time), vanilla soy milk (all the time), apple juice (once in a while), corn pops, Kix, a mixture of the two, granola, peanut butter on crackers, chicken McNuggets--yes, I'll admit, we broke down and bought McDonald's one night, French fries, noisy toys...

Things BawBaw does NOT like: baths, having his pants changed, the idea of going to sleep, apples and bananas in any shape or form, backing up in the car, having his clothes changed, stuffed animals...

Things we know we like (no, make that love): BawBaw and his family. Thank you, Lord, for letting us keep this precious little boy in our home.

Love to all, and God bless.

How's it going?

2008-03-06T03:33:00.000-08:00

Let me put it in a nutshell: I'm definitely not planning on having any more children any time soon.

Love to all, and God bless.

One night down, three to go

2008-03-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

A little three-year-old sweetheart was at our house yesterday, from 9 in the morning until 12 last night (actually overnight, but his daddy was here then). We had a good day for the most part. He played pretty happily, but he was aware that his mommy and daddy weren't there, especially when it was time for otherwise routine things like diaper changes and baths, and especially at the times when "Grandma Susan" thought he ought to be taking a nap or going to sleep for the night. Grandpa David and I enjoyed watching him playing with toys, and he was more than willing to snuggle up with one or the other of us at times. It was interesting to watch how he handled being told "no", how he took out his frustrations by pitching toys around, and how much fun he would have doing things like rearranging all the pots and pans in the cupboard or all the cans in the pantry. But guess what? Following a little one around all day can wear you out!

We have another go at it tonight, after he comes home from preschool/day care, and then again on Wednesday and Thursday. It's a really great experience--I recommend it to all who are considering another child!

Love to all, and God bless. A special birthday wish to my dear brother today, if he is reading. Love you, Bob!

Fun Times A-Coming!

2008-02-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

This should be a good weekend coming up. Monday is Dexter's 90th birthday, and the folks are having a party tomorrow. Lib says that after this one, he doesn't get another one until he turns 100! Seeing that he is in pretty darn good health right now, 100 isn't out of the question. On the subject of birthdays, I heard on the news of a lady who turned 24 today--pretty impressive, when you realize that her driver's license, if she has one, says she's 96! We're going to Deck's party tomorrow, taking a 3-milk cake that I ordered last week. I hope we're taking one 3-milk cake. I have to be really careful with my order, since last June I ordered a 3-milk cake and ended up with 3 being baked!

The Nashville kids are going to be coming up this weekend for the party, and then they are staying over for church on Sunday. They plan to leave as soon as early church is over. I'd like to talk them into staying a little later, but understand that they need to hit the road, if they're going to get a good rest before work on Monday. David knew a little old lady in Whitley County who occasionally had family visitors from Detroit. She could never understand why they had to leave early on Sunday morning in order to get back for work on Monday. I don't guess the sweet thing had ever been out of the state of Kentucky and had no concept how far Detroit was from her home, bless her heart. (By the way, I guess you know the meaning of the phrase, "Bless your heart"...)

This weekend (Sunday) also starts our babysitting gig with our "grandson" Baw Baw. We'll be keeping him while his daddy works and his mom attends a job fair in New Orleans. I went to Big Lots today and bought a few supplies--sippy cups, Elmo place mats, jigsaw puzzle, bubbles, a ball, two kinds of cereal...The checker asked me if I had a spoiled grandbaby at home. I told her no, but that I did have a little fellow who was coming for a few days, and I thought I needed to put some new stuff in the toy box. I also sorted out the books in the living room and left a bunch that I thought he might enjoy. He isn't much for stories and I was reasonably sure he wouldn't be interested in the Greek myths or child's anthology of poetry. I think he'll like what's in there, though. Now I have to put away one of the sets of nesting blocks and bring up the building blocks from the basement...

I have a question for anyone who cooks for little people: What should I fix for Baw Baw's school lunch? He goes to a preschool in the morning, then stays in daycare until about 4:30 or 5. His daddy said they had been taking leftovers from supper, and his mom (who worked near the school) had been going over to heat the leftovers in the microwave at lunch time. Well, it's a little far from Georgetown to Lexington to do that, so either Baw Baw is going to have to eat cold leftovers, or Tooz is going to have to think of something else to feed him. Apparently he isn't a big fan of sandwiches--can you believe it?--but he does like fruit and vegetables. If you have any ideas, please comment.

I still have some things to do to get ready for our weekend and next week, so I'm signing off for now. Love to all, and God bless.

Why monkey mama?

2008-02-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

Seeing as how there's nothing on this site about monkeys, a person might wonder from whence the name Monkey Mama's News came. It all goes back to my first computer experiences, in the early 90's, I guess. I was teaching a particularly squirrelly group of fifth-graders at the time and often called them my monkeys. Hence, I became, to myself anyway, Monkey Mama.

A couple more monkey tie-ins: Probably the first big word I ever managed to read on my own was orangutan, which I pronounced orange utan. (Yes, spell check, I know utan isn't a word, but I don't care.) It was in the guide book to the Cincinnati zoo.

And finally, I just love stuffed monkeys and coconut monkeys! And sock monkeys, and Curious George, and gibbons, and I always wanted a chimpanzee. I even knew (for a short period of time) a person who owned a pet chimpanzee. She managed the laundromat in my hometown, and brought her chimp to work with her. I remember watching it ride around in a cart. It was wearing a little dress and diaper, and I thought it was the cutest thing!

So now you know. Love to all, and God bless. (And by the way, it snowed again today in Kentucky.)

Wonderful weekends

2008-02-25T18:33:00.001-08:00

David and I have had a couple of great weekends lately. February 16, we traveled to Mt. Vernon, Illinois to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of our best man and his wife. It was a great trip, although southern Illinois is NOT my idea of beautiful scenery. That is, unless you enjoy looking at oil wells and flooded corn fields. But the folks we visited were terrific folks, and they have been happily married for 13 years longer than David and I, which is very inspiring.

This past weekend (February 22), we traveled to Chattanooga to visit the Princess and her mom and dad. It's been almost two months since we last saw our little granddaughter, and you had better believe we have missed her! I was just talking to my cousin Lib. Lib said it was a shame we didn't live closer to the Princess. I told her I believe I could see that baby every day, and I wouldn't get tired of her! They change so much in just a few months' time.

Our little granddaughter is so helpful. I do not remember any of my three children being as obedient or helpful as this child, especially at the tender age of 18 months! She starts off her day by "putting away" her pacifier (she pitches it into the crib), and then clapping for herself. She puts away her toys (or at least makes an effort), puts away her shoes, puts away pot holders, puts trash in the trash can...Absolutely a wonderful helper.

Sunday morning, her mama left her at the house with Grandpa and Granny (who she calls Bub-baw and Bubbi). She was already dressed this time, so I didn't have to pick her up by the seat of her little white tights and bounce her up and down to get her the rest of the way into them. We puttered around getting ready for church. Just as we were about to head out the door, grandbaby grabbed a little bowl of cheerios from me for her diaper bag. The lid came off the bowl, and cheerios flew all around the living room. Grand hopped down and started picking up cheerios to put in the trash. She ran into the kitchen, popped the lid on the garbage can, dropped in a handful of cheerios, then peered over to look into the can. What did she see? A banana peel! She grabbed it and pulled it out. She had been watching grown-ups peeling and eating bananas, but still hasn't mastered that skill herself. Apparently, she also hasn't learned that the PEEL is NOT the part you eat! I came in and took the peel from her and then gave her some fresh banana. She had several pieces ("Mo, peese"). When she was satisfied, she put her piece of banana into her little Dora chair and started to sit down on it. Fortunately, I stopped her before she got banana all over the seat of her dress.

I tell you, you have to watch that child like a hawk. It's a job I relish.

Good night to all, and God bless.

Be still and know

2008-02-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

Seems like I quote Mikey's Funnies fairly often. I don't know how many of you subscribe to his email newsletter, but I know that it's been a real blessing in my life.

Last night we had an ice storm. Today there is no school in Scott or Fayette County (neighboring county), and even little old Frankfort Independent had a two-hour delay. I assume they're in session by now, but I really don't know for sure. Anyway, we had a pretty bad ice storm several years ago. Trees broke, power was out all over Lexington, the city was pretty much paralyzed. This time, though, there didn't seem to be as much impact.

One thing I always enjoy about the winter storms is the sense of quiet and peace that prevails following the precipitation. I really enjoy waking up to the silent, white world.

Mikey's newsletter today made reference to these silent moments and pauses in our busy lives. I hope you are as blessed by the message as I was.

today's"FUNNY"=========================

STILLNESS AND SORBET
By Michael A. Halleen

"Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

Fine restaurants have the right idea. After each course, they serve a small sorbet, something to clear the palate. It is a timeout, a minute or two to let go slowly of what has been and to allow the tongue--and mind--to prepare for the pleasures to come. Too often we live at a fast food pace, moving from one experience to another without reflection, from one encounter to the next without clearing the head. Our lives need more sorbets.

It is in those in-between times that we can put things in perspective, reflect on what has occurred, let the flavors subside before moving on to the next course. I encourage my business clients to take time to celebrate, if only for a minute, a victory of the past week, congratulate one another and consider what contributed to that success, however small. We benefit from contemplating for a moment the conversation we have had before rushing ahead to the next call. And we gain something by allowing ourselves to acknowledge a mistake or missed opportunity, even to feel the pain of a loss, before plunging into the next minute of the day-or phase of life.

Some monastic orders, I am told, have a practice called statio. It means they stop one thing before beginning another. Rather than rush from one activity to the next, they pause and recognize this time between the times. It is an idea which I try to communicate to churches I serve as an interim minister. The gap between pastor leaders can be a beneficial time of reflection and refreshment for a congregation. The Psalm writer suggests that it is in pauses--stillness--that we recognize the reality of God's presence, both in what has passed and in what is yet to come.

The father of cellist Yo-Yo Ma lived in Paris during World War II, holed up alone in a garret during the years of German occupation. In order to restore sanity to his world, he practiced violin pieces by Bach during the day, and through the long night hours of blackout, he played them again in the dark from memory. His son Yo-Yo took up his father's advice to play a Bach suite from memory every night before going to bed. "It isn't practicing," he says, "it's contemplating. You're alone with your soul."

Sorbet...statio...Bach suite. Stop for a moment. Experience stillness. God is there.

-------------------

You can contact Mike at mhalleen@att.net to be added to his weekly devotional email list, "Monday Moments."

Also check out Mike's book "You Are Rich: Discovering Faith in Everyday Moments":
http://snipurl.com/mHalleen (Amazon info)

Copyright 2008 Dr. Michael A. Halleen. Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.

today'sTHOT============================

The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success.

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PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

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Who wrote the book of love?

2008-02-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

Officially, it's the day past Valentine's, but since I haven't been to bed yet, I am still going to call it Valentine's Day. Happy to all of you! I'm don't know who wrote the book of love, but I do know who collected a bunch of silly jokes about it, Mikey.

today'sFUNNY===========================

CORN(y) ALERT!

What do farmers give their wives on Valentine's Day?
A hog and kisses!

Why did the pig give his girlfriend a box of candy?
It was Valenswine's Day!

What did the Valentines card say to the stamp?
Stick with me and we'll go places!

Do skunks celebrate Valentine's Day?
Sure, they're very scent-imental!

What did the chocolate syrup say to the ice cream?
"I'm sweet on you!"

What did the paper clip say to the magnet?
"I find you very attractive."

What did the French chef give his wife for Valentine's Day?
A hug and a quiche!

What did one pickle say to the other?
"You mean a great dill to me."

What did the elephant say to his girlfriend?
"I love you a ton!"

What did the bat say to his girlfriend?
"You're fun to hang around with."

Did you hear about the nearsighted porcupine?
He fell in love with a pincushion!

What did the pencil say to the paper?
"I dot my i's on you!"

Liz: "I can't be your valentine for medical reasons."
Jon: "Really?"
Liz: "Yeah, you make me sick!"

Why do valentines have hearts on them?
Because spleens would look pretty gross!

What did one light bulb say to the other?
"I love you a whole watt!"

What does a man who loves his car do on February 14?
He gives it a valenshine!

"Do you love me more than you love sleep?"
"I can't answer now. It's time for my nap!"

What did the man with the broken leg say to his nurse?
"I've got a crutch on you!"

Did you hear about the romance in the tropical fish tank?
It was a case of guppy love.

What did Frankenstein say to his girlfriend?
"Be my valenstein!"

today'sTHOT============================

Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

Love to all, and God bless.