911

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!

The Contest Is Over

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

Things I remember from my Aunt Elsie's house

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

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...

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.

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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

I know, I know, I'm crazy.

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

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

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!

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

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!

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...

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

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

President Obama Wins Nobel Prize

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

long time, no blog post...

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

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

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?

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

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.