On this beautiful Monday morning it seems like everything I've read this morning is telling me to eat more chickin. I love Chik-fil-A but not because of the chicken. It has to more with waffle fries and signature shakes and because of the high caloric content of both of those items, I rarely find myself at Chicky. That's another thing, Chick-fil-A is another word on my list of words I pretty much always misspell. Hmm...better spell check misspell. Chicky is for fast stops on road trips or comfort food for hospital waiting rooms. So this whole paragraph is not in relation to politics or free speech, it is more of a I don't really eat chicken too much kind of thing. Only variation would be fried chicken legs. Love those but again high caloric count, so I don't take part too often. Oh sweet memories of Granny's Chicken Palace at Lake Juneska and my grandmother's fried chicken and her hot homemade rolls.
This is unbelievable! For the third Sunday in a row our garage door will not go down. The garage door people came on Friday and found nothing wrong with the door. Then repairman told Roy," the devil doesn't want you to go to church" that's what is wrong with your door. Each week it is something different that finally works for the door to come on down. I'm thinking next Sunday morning I am going to walk around the garage 7 times just like Jericho except I don't want the walls to come a tumbling down, just the door to close...you know just like it does every other day of the week. Maybe we will leave Sequisha out on the driveway on Saturday night instead.
Hate to admit it but I am mostly watching recaps of Olympic moments. I don't want to find myself glued to the TV everyday for two weeks. Even though I usually don't watch too much TV, there are some shows and channels that get my attention. I had to stop watching so much Investigative Discovery TV because I was scaring myself silly and now I find myself watching The Military Chanel only if they are running for the 1000ith time shows concerning WWII. Roy and I love watching Cajun Justice and Cajun Pawn Stars and I still watch Toddlers and Tiaras and Dance Moms, but not so much because all the arguments and backhanded behavior gets old. Oh and talk of spray tans, flippers, acrylic nails and the complete total package and all this is in regards to a three year old. So in the spirit of the Olympics I have deducted a tenth of a point from my total score because I haven't unloaded the dishwasher in a timely manner and I just now got around to feeding the birds. The only qualifying heat going on around here is the temperature.
Yesterday after church we met Dena for lunch. Oh my, we laughed so hard but not so hard that anything like ice tea or Diet Coke came out of our noses. Then Roy and I stopped at Barnes and Noble on our way home. I was checking to see if the batteries can be replaced in Nooks. Mine isn't holding a charge like it once did. I found myself in the travel essay bookshelves after finding out that no, batteries are not replaceable. I love a good travel essay and brought two books home one about traveling with friends and the other about a trip to Paris. There are a million and two books on Paris but this one looked a little different that the others.
Speaking of travel, the down jacket I ordered came on Friday. I bought it because it is cute but more so for traveling because this thing can be folded up and put into a small carrying bag that came with the jacket. Think this will be perfect for the Israel/Rome trip.
I just deducted another tenth of a point from my total Olympic score for taking too much time to write this little post. I will have to make that deduction up in the laundry portion of my program.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
1:00 AM Changes who i am
I did something last night that I haven't done in a really long time, I stayed out late on a school night. OK, it wasn't really a school night but I was on the road back home after midnight. I watched The Help over at Peggy's with her daughters, sister and nieces. I own two copies of the movie and have never watched it. I read the book before it became The Book. So after dinner on the dock with Peg and fam, Roy and I came back home to pick up the movie and I headed back to Peg's. I just might have to watch it again and maybe even reread the book. There is so much to take in. I headed home afterwards and was so wired I couldn't go to sleep. So I stayed up till 1:00 am and really even though that is when I went to bed, falling asleep was not easy.
This morning, well thus the title staying up to 1:00 am really changed who I am today. Of course I'm having a little fun with the title because our pastor's newest book is I AM changes who i am. It is on my summer to be read list but haven't quite made it to it yet. At the rate I am going, it might be on my fall reading list. 1:00 am changes me in that I slept in, well in between the meows of Buddy, who wanted me up. To show her displeasure with my sleeping in, the stuffed sheep were all over the house. Not just in the usual places and she pulled out all the sheep. I had quite a bit of herding before I left the house this morning.
We are going back over to Peg's this evening for a shrimp boil. We'll have another fun evening with friends, all be it, not so late. My body is not reacting too well to my late night adventures and I need to take it easy the rest of the afternoon. Buddy and I have been bird watching. Our regulars have been at the bird feeder and we've had a few new birds come and dine as well. Roy keeps asking me what I would like for my birthday and I think I am going to tell him I would like a bird bath. Yes, it has finally happened, I've gone nuts and old in suburbia. I'll add a little Jesus juke in here....and I have really learned some spiritual lessons from watching these birds.
The moon at midnight was so beautiful. I tried to take a picture but driving seemed to be getting in the way. Even though there are many more houses around us now, the night still sounds like the prairie with the serenades of frogs, bugs and the like.
We still are asked about once a week if we still like living out here in Rancho de Five and we answer with a resounding yes! There a few things, more like a few people I miss living close to but the beauty of our water feature, the nature trails, being close to Peg, and living in our home is one of the best decisions we have made in recent years. I'm still so grateful to the Lord in providing everything to make the move possible.
Well, I have fruit to wash, cookies to pack and a few other things to do. Hopefully tonight will be 11:00 PM Keeps me Consistent with Who i am.
This morning, well thus the title staying up to 1:00 am really changed who I am today. Of course I'm having a little fun with the title because our pastor's newest book is I AM changes who i am. It is on my summer to be read list but haven't quite made it to it yet. At the rate I am going, it might be on my fall reading list. 1:00 am changes me in that I slept in, well in between the meows of Buddy, who wanted me up. To show her displeasure with my sleeping in, the stuffed sheep were all over the house. Not just in the usual places and she pulled out all the sheep. I had quite a bit of herding before I left the house this morning.
We are going back over to Peg's this evening for a shrimp boil. We'll have another fun evening with friends, all be it, not so late. My body is not reacting too well to my late night adventures and I need to take it easy the rest of the afternoon. Buddy and I have been bird watching. Our regulars have been at the bird feeder and we've had a few new birds come and dine as well. Roy keeps asking me what I would like for my birthday and I think I am going to tell him I would like a bird bath. Yes, it has finally happened, I've gone nuts and old in suburbia. I'll add a little Jesus juke in here....and I have really learned some spiritual lessons from watching these birds.
The moon at midnight was so beautiful. I tried to take a picture but driving seemed to be getting in the way. Even though there are many more houses around us now, the night still sounds like the prairie with the serenades of frogs, bugs and the like.
We still are asked about once a week if we still like living out here in Rancho de Five and we answer with a resounding yes! There a few things, more like a few people I miss living close to but the beauty of our water feature, the nature trails, being close to Peg, and living in our home is one of the best decisions we have made in recent years. I'm still so grateful to the Lord in providing everything to make the move possible.
Well, I have fruit to wash, cookies to pack and a few other things to do. Hopefully tonight will be 11:00 PM Keeps me Consistent with Who i am.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Happy Heart Day!
Yesterday began like any other day except for the fact that the day started much earlier than normal well for me anyway. Up at 5:30 AM and we were out the door at 6:45 AM to make the trek toward the Medical Center. Neither one of us knowing how long it would take on the Westpark Toll road. The sheet of instructions asked that we be at the hospital between 8:00 and 8:30. I wasn't too nervous about finding my way there since it is one of the three places I really know how to get to in the Med Center. We arrived a little before 8:00 and went to Admissions to begin the process. The admission clerk and I had a rousing conversation on The Gospel, Tyler Perry, Gospel music and Kirk Franklin. We had such a great time visiting that she totally forgot to tell me to get blood work done before going to the cardio floor. So cardio sent me to pathology and I returned back and handed a clipboard full of paperwork that needed to be signed and dated. I had a book with me but decided against reading it while waiting. It is such a good story, I didn't want to speed through it or reread the same paragraph a thousand times because the waiting room can be so distracting. Last time and this time there were people camped out for the day and they had brought everything to make their stay be a little more comfortable. Besides the TV to watch, family dynamics were on full display and gave us a front row seat to their reality show. Last time I had the first appointment of the day and yesterday I had the second appointment. There is a whole lot of time difference between the two. Yesterday, a nurse sat with us and walked us through the whole procedure. I don't remember anyone doing that last time. She assured me that the process has become easier and better since my last "shocking" experience. I really got nervous about the throat spray portion. She made it sound so horrible and dramatic if I didn't let the spray coat the back of my throat and then how I would feel awkward on not being able to feel myself swallow.
Finally, my name was called and we went back to the procedure room. Roy was cracking jokes and making me laugh. So they suited me up in a beautiful, nearly falling apart gown, hooked me up to a ton of machines and put an oxygen thing in my nose. At first I thought she was handing me iPod earphones... She checked my blood work and told me everything looked normal. She was about to tell us more useful information when another nurse comes in and says, you need to get the payroll approved or none of us are going to get paid. Well, that kind of scared me, you want people working on you that know where their next paycheck is coming from. So Lucy and yes I loved Lucy, was the nurse that went through the procedure with me. Roy was kind of funny letting me know the readouts on my blood pressure and heart rate. He said my heart rate was all over the place the lowest being 84 and the highest 198. The nurse told me it is as if I have been running for over two weeks and that causes the fatigued, lightheadiness and shortness of breath. I HATE running so my brain probably has been telling my heart, hey stop running. So glad my heart didn't side with my brain on that one. The pre-Doctor came in, explained the throat thing again, sprayed me and let it do its work. It wasn't half as bad as it had been described. The pre-Doc and Roy talked a lot because pre-Doc's wife is a safety engineer. It was like having my own private safety moment there in the hospital. The Doctor who was doing the TEE was running a little late and once he came in and introduced himself, the last thing I remember is them putting that thing in my mouth that makes me feel like Hannibal Lector.
I woke up, groggy and from that point onward I don't remember much. They did tell me that my cardiologist had done the shock. Last time some other Dr did it. Dang, my Dr is good because I barely have any "burn" marks on me from the electrodes. He got my heart in sync on the first jolt.
In hindsight I can never remember if I dressed myself or if someone else did. I kind of remember the wheelchair ride down to the car. I don't remember the ride home but I do know we stopped at Cracker Barrel to eat although I don't really remember anything about that. Don't remember getting home or getting to bed. Roy woke me up at 6:00 or so and from that point on I have much better recollection. He knew I would want to be wide awake for Dance Moms.
This morning I just have some lingering pain in the throat but my heart is steady and not beating a million miles a minute. On a side note, the Dr thought I had sleep apnea. I told him I didn't because I don't snore and they confirmed it yesterday, I do not have it. Now Roy on the other hand.... So now I have a few weeks to make the decision on when to have surgery...
Finally, my name was called and we went back to the procedure room. Roy was cracking jokes and making me laugh. So they suited me up in a beautiful, nearly falling apart gown, hooked me up to a ton of machines and put an oxygen thing in my nose. At first I thought she was handing me iPod earphones... She checked my blood work and told me everything looked normal. She was about to tell us more useful information when another nurse comes in and says, you need to get the payroll approved or none of us are going to get paid. Well, that kind of scared me, you want people working on you that know where their next paycheck is coming from. So Lucy and yes I loved Lucy, was the nurse that went through the procedure with me. Roy was kind of funny letting me know the readouts on my blood pressure and heart rate. He said my heart rate was all over the place the lowest being 84 and the highest 198. The nurse told me it is as if I have been running for over two weeks and that causes the fatigued, lightheadiness and shortness of breath. I HATE running so my brain probably has been telling my heart, hey stop running. So glad my heart didn't side with my brain on that one. The pre-Doctor came in, explained the throat thing again, sprayed me and let it do its work. It wasn't half as bad as it had been described. The pre-Doc and Roy talked a lot because pre-Doc's wife is a safety engineer. It was like having my own private safety moment there in the hospital. The Doctor who was doing the TEE was running a little late and once he came in and introduced himself, the last thing I remember is them putting that thing in my mouth that makes me feel like Hannibal Lector.
I woke up, groggy and from that point onward I don't remember much. They did tell me that my cardiologist had done the shock. Last time some other Dr did it. Dang, my Dr is good because I barely have any "burn" marks on me from the electrodes. He got my heart in sync on the first jolt.
In hindsight I can never remember if I dressed myself or if someone else did. I kind of remember the wheelchair ride down to the car. I don't remember the ride home but I do know we stopped at Cracker Barrel to eat although I don't really remember anything about that. Don't remember getting home or getting to bed. Roy woke me up at 6:00 or so and from that point on I have much better recollection. He knew I would want to be wide awake for Dance Moms.
This morning I just have some lingering pain in the throat but my heart is steady and not beating a million miles a minute. On a side note, the Dr thought I had sleep apnea. I told him I didn't because I don't snore and they confirmed it yesterday, I do not have it. Now Roy on the other hand.... So now I have a few weeks to make the decision on when to have surgery...
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Stuff I Did, Stuff to Do
Ah weekends, they go by quickly. Yes, even for someone who is home the other days of the week. Thursday evening was Girl's Night Out in Katy. It was a lot of fun and well attended. Dena and I met for dinner at Alicia's and then headed over the freeway to old town Katy. Our first stop was the Cottage Door. They always have such fun stuff and among the fun stuff were earrings that needed to come home with me. Then we ventured to Bill's store KT Antiques. I found another Monarch Tea tin to add to our Monarch collection. Three things is a collection, right? Our last stop was Excessories and they had a buy one get one free thing going and Dena and I left with a couple of cute tops. Every time you bought something, you filled out a card for the give a ways. Dena actually won one of the goody bags. After I dropped Dena off at her car, I went on over to Peggy's to watch the sunset from the dock. It was lovely as always.
Friday was a total outsource of beauty kind of day. I started off getting a pedicure. So relaxing and needed. Then I headed over for my appointment to get highlights and a haircut. There was a little more than an hour before my appointment so I made a stop at Nord Rack. Found several things for Roy and then I made a quick pop in to Whole Foods. I don't usually book Friday appointments but Stevie needed to move mine and so Roy and I shared about 40 minutes sitting side by side in the salon. His appointment was at 2:00 and he was treated to the lovely vision of me with aluminum foil in my hair and groucho marx eyebrows, since we were coloring them too. It was a race out of the door to get home, freshen up and leave for church. Traffic was bad and the a mini van impeded my progress significantly. Got home, picked up Roy and we headed out the door. We needed to grab a snack before the evening's performance of SWOC. We were fortunate because Jenny saved us some seats and so we had a good view of the children's musical, which by the way was awesome! Afterwards we were all going to go to dinner and after a long wait at Collina's, most of the Bain clan went to Beck's while Roy, Dena and I stayed at Collina's for dinner. With three there was immediate seating. It has been quite some time since we have had their pizza and it is so good.
Saturday, I rested most of the day because Friday had just about taken every ounce of energy I had. Roy went to his Saturday morning Bible study and then ran some errands. We also uncrated a new side table that had been delivered and tried it in several spots and I don't think it is in its final place. I will feel like moving furniture after I get my heart shocked back into rhythm. Saturday evening we joined friends on Lake Bain for dinner and a wonderful water show provided by raft riders.
Sunday morning was church, along with the adventure of garage door closure. We went to lunch and ran into a group of friends. So fun! Then we headed out to the prairie and I took such a nap. With our evenings last week being kind of busy, I kind of let all my gardening flounder. So, I dead headed plants and watered them last night. It didn't really cool off too much so it was hot and humid work.
With the exception of the cardioversion blip this week, it will be a quiet, unstructured, and hopefully restful week. Cause once the old ticker gets back to normal, I've got some stuff to do.
Friday was a total outsource of beauty kind of day. I started off getting a pedicure. So relaxing and needed. Then I headed over for my appointment to get highlights and a haircut. There was a little more than an hour before my appointment so I made a stop at Nord Rack. Found several things for Roy and then I made a quick pop in to Whole Foods. I don't usually book Friday appointments but Stevie needed to move mine and so Roy and I shared about 40 minutes sitting side by side in the salon. His appointment was at 2:00 and he was treated to the lovely vision of me with aluminum foil in my hair and groucho marx eyebrows, since we were coloring them too. It was a race out of the door to get home, freshen up and leave for church. Traffic was bad and the a mini van impeded my progress significantly. Got home, picked up Roy and we headed out the door. We needed to grab a snack before the evening's performance of SWOC. We were fortunate because Jenny saved us some seats and so we had a good view of the children's musical, which by the way was awesome! Afterwards we were all going to go to dinner and after a long wait at Collina's, most of the Bain clan went to Beck's while Roy, Dena and I stayed at Collina's for dinner. With three there was immediate seating. It has been quite some time since we have had their pizza and it is so good.
Saturday, I rested most of the day because Friday had just about taken every ounce of energy I had. Roy went to his Saturday morning Bible study and then ran some errands. We also uncrated a new side table that had been delivered and tried it in several spots and I don't think it is in its final place. I will feel like moving furniture after I get my heart shocked back into rhythm. Saturday evening we joined friends on Lake Bain for dinner and a wonderful water show provided by raft riders.
Sunday morning was church, along with the adventure of garage door closure. We went to lunch and ran into a group of friends. So fun! Then we headed out to the prairie and I took such a nap. With our evenings last week being kind of busy, I kind of let all my gardening flounder. So, I dead headed plants and watered them last night. It didn't really cool off too much so it was hot and humid work.
With the exception of the cardioversion blip this week, it will be a quiet, unstructured, and hopefully restful week. Cause once the old ticker gets back to normal, I've got some stuff to do.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Unfamiliar Ground
You at the house, in the car, on the job be encouraged! Kirk Franklin speaks those words at the beginning of his song Looking for You. We are a people known by our location. Probably every week if we really paid attention to this seemingly mundane occurrence, we would begin to see just how much we communicate who we are or maybe assumed by others who we are just by location. I am reading a novel and one of the main characters has left New York City to return to her childhood city, Atlanta. This character just happens to be an investigative journalist and while she is back in the south, totally a different mindset than the Big Apple, she's writing an ongoing column on suburbia seen through "alien" eyes. As she accompanies her sister in the car on errands, life and business she sees the angle for her first story; bumper stickers, school info, those stick families along with dog and cat displayed mainly on the back of mini vans and the like, really tell more about us than we might imagine. Her sister, unaware of the journalist's assignment, gives further insight into this phenomenon by telling her, the kind of car someone drives and where they live can give additional info and help with the profiling. Where do their kids attend school? Where do they go to church? Where they shop, which grocery store the frequent...The journalist hones her investigative skills in rear of a car reading on her sister's friends. More times than not, she is dead spot on even in the minutia of life not directly spoken from the back of the car.
Sometimes we are known by remaining in a location; staying too long, getting too comfortable in our circumstances and locality. After a bit, just the thought of traveling on is too much. Too much even when our heart and mind line up to do that very thing, our want to is in order but we just can't. We experienced this, AGAIN, this morning. Last Sunday, we couldn't get the garage door to go down. We moved, jiggled and spayed anything and everything that would move on that garage door. In our frustration of finally getting the door to go down, we set off our alarm. We didn't realize it until we returned home and saw the phone call on our machine. All week long that garage door has gone up and down flawlessly, that is until this morning. As we were walking into the garage I said to Roy I hope we don't have a repeat of last Sunday. Boom! Wouldn't you know it, we pulled out and then pushed the remote and the door wouldn't close. Roy gets out of the car and starts spraying and playing with all the movable parts. I for sure turned off the alarm and got out of the car to assist. Again after ten frustrating minutes, the door finally closes. Both weeks it would have been so easy to say, hey God's will. We shouldn't go to church but each of these Sundays we had people we needed to give something to or things we had volunteered to do and staying home was not an option. Besides, Dena is teaching a great study out of Ezra, who knew it would be so interesting, well I guess Dena did, and I don't want to miss Sunday School.
These months I have before the Israel trip, I am trying to learn and have my heart and mind prepared for that journey. These weeks that I have been low on energy from my heart racing all over the place has been a good time to sit and read. I am reading all kinds of things but mainly I have been reading the Old Testament to get that sense and importance of place, of location. One of the books I have been reading is Going Places With God. It is a devo written with the Holy Land in mind and based on the author's numerous trips and travels through the land.
"This book finds its roots in places God chose-literally. The lands of the Bible offer more than a backdrop for the stories of the Bible. These places played an integral role in shaping the lives of those who lived there. God designed it so. And for us, understanding how the land shaped its inhabitants gives us tremendous insight into understanding Scripture. Even more, it provides us with a glimpse as to why God has placed us where we live today.
God takes us places we would never choose that we might become what we've always wanted to be-that is, all that He created us to be. God is much bigger than we can imagine. Thus, He wants for us more than we ever dreamed."
As any reader of southern literature knows, a sense of place is a main characteristic of southern writing and understanding. Good grief, have we learned nothing from Tara and Scarlet? Since the end of March, I have felt impressed by the Lord to investigate this sense of place, the landscape and the road(s) my feet and spiritual feet find themselves upon. I am aware of the road signs and sign posts like never before in my life. Just ask Lisa P how I take curves on the highway! Journey, pilgrimage, walking, and traveling by no means is nothing new in the Christian analogy or metaphor, but it is a new reality to me. It is with great interest as Dena teaches from Ezra that she keeps going back to the preparation for the journey to Jerusalem and what Ezra finds there is written about more than the actual journey. We also looked at Isaiah 41 and verse 3b jumped out at me, "though he is walking over unfamiliar ground." The NET Bible gives this commentary, this would mean the king, Cyrus, is a hyperbolic description of advancing into new territory and expanding a speedy advance as if his feet are not even touching the ground by a way of not previously entering with his feet.
So that is where I find myself, walking over, not on but over unfamiliar ground. I know of a great many who are on their own specific journey with their own individual circumstances of walking over unfamiliar ground. Maybe along the way we can all sing to the tune of Holy Ground, "we are walking over unfamiliar ground and I know God's presence is all around." Would I chose this place where I am walking over unfamiliar ground if I had a choice? Probably not, but God knows. I will say that I did notice the road signs that warned of the chaos ahead and I am so thankful for that provision from God on this journey.
Well Roy is on a very familiar journey right now. A stop at the gas station and then picking up to go from the Chinese restaurant for dinner tonight. We are so international, Mexican food for lunch and Chinese for dinner. Still on the international theme, we said good bye, so long, farewell to our friends from France. Hope they are ready for the coming deluge of friends who will suddenly feel the call to go to France. I know we are feeling the call and they aren't even there yet. :)
Sometimes we are known by remaining in a location; staying too long, getting too comfortable in our circumstances and locality. After a bit, just the thought of traveling on is too much. Too much even when our heart and mind line up to do that very thing, our want to is in order but we just can't. We experienced this, AGAIN, this morning. Last Sunday, we couldn't get the garage door to go down. We moved, jiggled and spayed anything and everything that would move on that garage door. In our frustration of finally getting the door to go down, we set off our alarm. We didn't realize it until we returned home and saw the phone call on our machine. All week long that garage door has gone up and down flawlessly, that is until this morning. As we were walking into the garage I said to Roy I hope we don't have a repeat of last Sunday. Boom! Wouldn't you know it, we pulled out and then pushed the remote and the door wouldn't close. Roy gets out of the car and starts spraying and playing with all the movable parts. I for sure turned off the alarm and got out of the car to assist. Again after ten frustrating minutes, the door finally closes. Both weeks it would have been so easy to say, hey God's will. We shouldn't go to church but each of these Sundays we had people we needed to give something to or things we had volunteered to do and staying home was not an option. Besides, Dena is teaching a great study out of Ezra, who knew it would be so interesting, well I guess Dena did, and I don't want to miss Sunday School.
These months I have before the Israel trip, I am trying to learn and have my heart and mind prepared for that journey. These weeks that I have been low on energy from my heart racing all over the place has been a good time to sit and read. I am reading all kinds of things but mainly I have been reading the Old Testament to get that sense and importance of place, of location. One of the books I have been reading is Going Places With God. It is a devo written with the Holy Land in mind and based on the author's numerous trips and travels through the land.
"This book finds its roots in places God chose-literally. The lands of the Bible offer more than a backdrop for the stories of the Bible. These places played an integral role in shaping the lives of those who lived there. God designed it so. And for us, understanding how the land shaped its inhabitants gives us tremendous insight into understanding Scripture. Even more, it provides us with a glimpse as to why God has placed us where we live today.
God takes us places we would never choose that we might become what we've always wanted to be-that is, all that He created us to be. God is much bigger than we can imagine. Thus, He wants for us more than we ever dreamed."
As any reader of southern literature knows, a sense of place is a main characteristic of southern writing and understanding. Good grief, have we learned nothing from Tara and Scarlet? Since the end of March, I have felt impressed by the Lord to investigate this sense of place, the landscape and the road(s) my feet and spiritual feet find themselves upon. I am aware of the road signs and sign posts like never before in my life. Just ask Lisa P how I take curves on the highway! Journey, pilgrimage, walking, and traveling by no means is nothing new in the Christian analogy or metaphor, but it is a new reality to me. It is with great interest as Dena teaches from Ezra that she keeps going back to the preparation for the journey to Jerusalem and what Ezra finds there is written about more than the actual journey. We also looked at Isaiah 41 and verse 3b jumped out at me, "though he is walking over unfamiliar ground." The NET Bible gives this commentary, this would mean the king, Cyrus, is a hyperbolic description of advancing into new territory and expanding a speedy advance as if his feet are not even touching the ground by a way of not previously entering with his feet.
So that is where I find myself, walking over, not on but over unfamiliar ground. I know of a great many who are on their own specific journey with their own individual circumstances of walking over unfamiliar ground. Maybe along the way we can all sing to the tune of Holy Ground, "we are walking over unfamiliar ground and I know God's presence is all around." Would I chose this place where I am walking over unfamiliar ground if I had a choice? Probably not, but God knows. I will say that I did notice the road signs that warned of the chaos ahead and I am so thankful for that provision from God on this journey.
Well Roy is on a very familiar journey right now. A stop at the gas station and then picking up to go from the Chinese restaurant for dinner tonight. We are so international, Mexican food for lunch and Chinese for dinner. Still on the international theme, we said good bye, so long, farewell to our friends from France. Hope they are ready for the coming deluge of friends who will suddenly feel the call to go to France. I know we are feeling the call and they aren't even there yet. :)
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Give Me a Beat! A Normal Beat!
I knew the day was coming but it came soon than later. Yep, at the cardiologist's office yesterday morning, I was the oldest patient in the waiting room. The shock of it and the fact there were merely three of us waiting for appointments almost did me in. Then, when I was led back to a waiting room five minutes before my appointment time I'm wondering if they are just trying to kill me. To tell you the truth when I pulled up to the valet parking yesterday, there were barely any cars waiting and the usual hoard of people waiting for their cars or to be picked up wouldn't have added up to even a small crowd. The normal look always reminds me of what the pool of Bethesda in John 5-crowds of sick people, blind, lame or paralyzed on the porches- would look like in modern time. The only usual thing about the scene were the looks on people's faces. Tired, weary, exasperated, mad, depressed, and the few who actually enjoy disease and being sick. You can tell how they dictate and control the people helping them. I can pick them out at twenty paces.
I have a heart journal I keep, not a decorative heart but more like a heart journey journal. Before most appointments I write what I think the appointment will be like, what if any new news. I can happily report that I have more good news in that journal than I have bad. Even in the hardest and darkest days of this journey, I've had hope and faith in the Great Physician. The verse I hold onto is Psalm 73:26. I kind of knew that yesterday's appointment wasn't going to be the easy breezy kind. I am not prone to gloom and doom but I almost packed a little bag to leave here at the house for Roy to bring later if need be. I imagined the conversation we would have on what I needed him to bring to me which would mainly be me saying stuff like," no the blue one. The bright blue one. It's in the second drawer...in the dresser. No that's the chest of drawers. Oh and bring me that little Bible I've been reading out of. No, the one that looks like the Bible I carry on Sundays only it's smaller...no, it's not the pink one. It's brown and has a little floral design on it. It should be on the table by the small couch in our bedroom...no that is my devotion book, Jesus Calling. Are you moving things around?" I knew before they did the EKG that I was in serious A-Fib. You don't have to be a genius or even a graduate of med school to know that. Since I have always been a watcher and lover of Looney Tune cartoons, I imagined that my heart looked like it was jumping out of my chest three or four feet big time. Of course I know it didn't look that way. When the heart is beating so hard and so fast, you wear out quickly. You get this heart cough and you want to sleep. Only you can't sleep because your heart beat keeps you awake, well that is until it slows down a bit and you have that fleeting thought, oh did I just die? Then you open your eyes and see you are tucked in your bed with your loving snoring husband beside you. Back to the Dr office, so they do several EKGs on me and each time the nurse says, oh, this doesn't look good. After all the vitals and such the Dr comes in and he had a resident training with him. He knows I like the Baylor Bears and he introduced her to me with, oh she is a Baylor Bear...I did sic em bears! Then we had a little Baylor love fest until the Dr broke it up. He spent a lot of time with me discussing my options and decisions that I am going to have to make. First thing though is getting my heart back into rhythm. So I go in next week to have my second Chaka Khan in two years. Maybe I should name this cardioversion Shaka Zulu. I am back on meds that eat my lunch and steal my bus money. Then I will need to decide when to schedule surgery to fix all this either in the fall or at the beginning of next year. I am leaning toward next year. Suddenly I am all Scarlet O'Hara by saying, well, we will think about that tomorrow., after all tomorrow is another day. I asked him about going to Israel and Rome and he's all for the trip. He's thinking after the trip would be best to have surgery and he gave me a name of a Dr in Israel that he trained and thinks highly of if I had any problems. The Dr kind of scared me while going over everything with the surgery, you know with all the complications and risks but he assured me he has never lost a patient doing the procedure and he is on the advisory board that looks into these things when a patient dies.
At least this time when I called Roy to tell him everything he didn't begin with all the questions of do you have a medical power of attorney? See it here
After the appointment, I headed over to the Galleria area because I had a couple of errands to run and because I was trying to stay away from home because the maid was there cleaning. I did grab a quick Nord lunch. When I got home Buddy and I laid low while Chris finished up. Roy brought home Chinese for dinner and when I went to sleep last night, there was still that lurching and sloshing going on in my chest, but not so dramatically. It was the first night in two weeks it didn't take me two hours to go to sleep. Oh and when I left the Dr office yesterday, it was jam packed with old people, older people than me. Ah yes, the medical world was back to normal.
I have a heart journal I keep, not a decorative heart but more like a heart journey journal. Before most appointments I write what I think the appointment will be like, what if any new news. I can happily report that I have more good news in that journal than I have bad. Even in the hardest and darkest days of this journey, I've had hope and faith in the Great Physician. The verse I hold onto is Psalm 73:26. I kind of knew that yesterday's appointment wasn't going to be the easy breezy kind. I am not prone to gloom and doom but I almost packed a little bag to leave here at the house for Roy to bring later if need be. I imagined the conversation we would have on what I needed him to bring to me which would mainly be me saying stuff like," no the blue one. The bright blue one. It's in the second drawer...in the dresser. No that's the chest of drawers. Oh and bring me that little Bible I've been reading out of. No, the one that looks like the Bible I carry on Sundays only it's smaller...no, it's not the pink one. It's brown and has a little floral design on it. It should be on the table by the small couch in our bedroom...no that is my devotion book, Jesus Calling. Are you moving things around?" I knew before they did the EKG that I was in serious A-Fib. You don't have to be a genius or even a graduate of med school to know that. Since I have always been a watcher and lover of Looney Tune cartoons, I imagined that my heart looked like it was jumping out of my chest three or four feet big time. Of course I know it didn't look that way. When the heart is beating so hard and so fast, you wear out quickly. You get this heart cough and you want to sleep. Only you can't sleep because your heart beat keeps you awake, well that is until it slows down a bit and you have that fleeting thought, oh did I just die? Then you open your eyes and see you are tucked in your bed with your loving snoring husband beside you. Back to the Dr office, so they do several EKGs on me and each time the nurse says, oh, this doesn't look good. After all the vitals and such the Dr comes in and he had a resident training with him. He knows I like the Baylor Bears and he introduced her to me with, oh she is a Baylor Bear...I did sic em bears! Then we had a little Baylor love fest until the Dr broke it up. He spent a lot of time with me discussing my options and decisions that I am going to have to make. First thing though is getting my heart back into rhythm. So I go in next week to have my second Chaka Khan in two years. Maybe I should name this cardioversion Shaka Zulu. I am back on meds that eat my lunch and steal my bus money. Then I will need to decide when to schedule surgery to fix all this either in the fall or at the beginning of next year. I am leaning toward next year. Suddenly I am all Scarlet O'Hara by saying, well, we will think about that tomorrow., after all tomorrow is another day. I asked him about going to Israel and Rome and he's all for the trip. He's thinking after the trip would be best to have surgery and he gave me a name of a Dr in Israel that he trained and thinks highly of if I had any problems. The Dr kind of scared me while going over everything with the surgery, you know with all the complications and risks but he assured me he has never lost a patient doing the procedure and he is on the advisory board that looks into these things when a patient dies.
At least this time when I called Roy to tell him everything he didn't begin with all the questions of do you have a medical power of attorney? See it here
After the appointment, I headed over to the Galleria area because I had a couple of errands to run and because I was trying to stay away from home because the maid was there cleaning. I did grab a quick Nord lunch. When I got home Buddy and I laid low while Chris finished up. Roy brought home Chinese for dinner and when I went to sleep last night, there was still that lurching and sloshing going on in my chest, but not so dramatically. It was the first night in two weeks it didn't take me two hours to go to sleep. Oh and when I left the Dr office yesterday, it was jam packed with old people, older people than me. Ah yes, the medical world was back to normal.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Normal Monday Ramblings in No Specific Order
Once again our area dodged the lightning and thunder of late afternoon storms. Oh yes, it got pretty dark and the wind picked up something fierce and we did get a little rain but everything went to the east of us. Roy drove home through some of the worst of it but has now gone walking because it doesn't feel like a summer night in Texas with all this rain cooled air. I have joined him the past few evenings on part of a walk. He goes way too far and way too fast for me these days. So, I wait and join him as he does the cool down portion of his walk. I am trying to slowly but surely get myself into good walking condition for the Israel trip I am going to go on in December. Yes, defiantly a slow process but hey, I am happy for process.
On Friday I stopped in at Luke's Locker to get a proper pair of walking shoes. Even after all the years of tennis and working out, I can still be swayed by what the shoes look like over the functionality and best fit for my style. I am an over supinator and I already knew that. It was a great shopping experience.I am really happy with the shoes and so on Saturday morning, we made a return trip for Roy to find some walking shoes. He has been overdue on getting some for a while. He is wearing a Mizuno shoe, which I am familiar with because that is what I wore all the many years I played volleyball. He is quite happy with them.
There are several baby birds at the feeder today. It is really interesting to watch the dynamics of bird life. I now understand the term bird brain. Love watching the mockingbirds and the doves but those doves aren't the brightest bulb in the bunch. Buddy has a great view of the birds now and spends a greater portion of the morning taking in the sights and then she has that all too pressing nap on the agenda.
I like social media, but I think people are confusing Twitter for texting. Love the Bible verses and quotes. Love the thoughts and pictures but when people are having extended conversations that really no one else is invited to participate in, it is really a texting situation. Twitter is fun but at times it feels like I am back in junior high, because really there are Twitter cliques. There are people who only re tweet or reply to "popular" and well known names. They are really, really trying to get noticed and get a little attention and every once in a while you see that someone throws them a bone...but not too often. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not wanting to get into the popular group. I don't tweet enough to even really qualify to be a card carrying member of Twitter. This is just something I noticed the past week.
Roy and I had leftovers from last night's grilling extravaganza. We bought the grill last year at the end of summer sale. Since the propane tank was in the garage and the grill out back, there wasn't a whole lot of grilling going on. So, Roy asked me last week if I would like him to do a trial run and make hamburgers. Of course! They were delicious last night and the leftovers were pretty dang good tonight.
I am almost finished reading through the Old Testament, with the exception of the major and minor prophets, although I have read portions of them as supplemental reading to the other books. And because I don't always do things the right way, I have kind of had a different type reading plan. I read Genesis and Exodus last instead of beginning with them. I've been underlining a lot of verses and they have been speaking specifically to life and the season I'm in right now. I've also been using the handy dandy Holy Land book that Roy found at Mardel's when I had given up after only a few seconds of looking on the shelves.
Well, I better put on my shoes and socks I'll be out and about walking with Roy in a few minutes.
On Friday I stopped in at Luke's Locker to get a proper pair of walking shoes. Even after all the years of tennis and working out, I can still be swayed by what the shoes look like over the functionality and best fit for my style. I am an over supinator and I already knew that. It was a great shopping experience.I am really happy with the shoes and so on Saturday morning, we made a return trip for Roy to find some walking shoes. He has been overdue on getting some for a while. He is wearing a Mizuno shoe, which I am familiar with because that is what I wore all the many years I played volleyball. He is quite happy with them.
There are several baby birds at the feeder today. It is really interesting to watch the dynamics of bird life. I now understand the term bird brain. Love watching the mockingbirds and the doves but those doves aren't the brightest bulb in the bunch. Buddy has a great view of the birds now and spends a greater portion of the morning taking in the sights and then she has that all too pressing nap on the agenda.
I like social media, but I think people are confusing Twitter for texting. Love the Bible verses and quotes. Love the thoughts and pictures but when people are having extended conversations that really no one else is invited to participate in, it is really a texting situation. Twitter is fun but at times it feels like I am back in junior high, because really there are Twitter cliques. There are people who only re tweet or reply to "popular" and well known names. They are really, really trying to get noticed and get a little attention and every once in a while you see that someone throws them a bone...but not too often. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not wanting to get into the popular group. I don't tweet enough to even really qualify to be a card carrying member of Twitter. This is just something I noticed the past week.
Roy and I had leftovers from last night's grilling extravaganza. We bought the grill last year at the end of summer sale. Since the propane tank was in the garage and the grill out back, there wasn't a whole lot of grilling going on. So, Roy asked me last week if I would like him to do a trial run and make hamburgers. Of course! They were delicious last night and the leftovers were pretty dang good tonight.
I am almost finished reading through the Old Testament, with the exception of the major and minor prophets, although I have read portions of them as supplemental reading to the other books. And because I don't always do things the right way, I have kind of had a different type reading plan. I read Genesis and Exodus last instead of beginning with them. I've been underlining a lot of verses and they have been speaking specifically to life and the season I'm in right now. I've also been using the handy dandy Holy Land book that Roy found at Mardel's when I had given up after only a few seconds of looking on the shelves.
Well, I better put on my shoes and socks I'll be out and about walking with Roy in a few minutes.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Real Alarm, Real Rain, Real Nap, Real Good Dinner
This morning our Pastor concluded his series on Real Life Real People. Kind of reminds me of A&E's theme this season, Real Life Real Drama. No matter, it is all REAL! Today's topic, rest. It reminded me from that long ago small town drama and life show, The Andy Griffith Show when a visiting preacher comes to town and preaches on slowing down.
The Andy Griffith Show Episode 100: Sermon for Today
Originally Aired on Oct 21, 1963. Average User Rating: 6.1 out of 10 (398 entries).
A visiting minister from New York delivers a sermon encouraging the members of the Mayberry congregation to "slow down." Those who are still awake take the message so seriously they spend the Sabbath working themselves to exhaustion in order to arrange a concert in an effort to relax.
Believe me, this afternoon I came home and rested. You see our day started out early. We woke up early, we were ready early and heading out the door to church, early. Seemed good until we tried to get the garage door to close. It would not. It would move a few inches down and then go right back up. Roy got out of the car, gave it the manly "he man" look over, kind of shook the tracks and banged on the door a tad, then pushed the button. Nothing, absolutely nothing. While he is doing this I think, oh, I need to turn off the alarm because when he goes through the side door of the garage, if and when the door closes, it will need to be off so it won't be set off. I push the remote and think the job is done. Finally, the door goes down, I turn the alarm back on and we are down the road. We hadn't gotten too far when my cell phone rings. Don't recognize the number, so we don't answer it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am thinking, the area code seems to be from the location of where our alarm service is. No, Roy assures me that it isn't but we turn around and go home just to check on the house. We don't hear an alarm, all looks well and we head out again to go to church. Only now, we are going to be late. We got to church, went to the service and Sunday School. After Sunday School we got the heck out of Dodge because the sky was dark, lightning lit the sky and rain, heavy rain was immanent. We just got on the freeway when the heavens opened. I was so glad we decided to use the toll road because you could barely see anything and we only had to deal with two lanes instead of all the other lanes. After such a severe drought last year, we all have forgotten how to drive in rain.
When we came inside the house I looked over at the phone and saw that the same number had called here that had also called on my cell phone. We knew then we had done something with the alarm. Roy called them and sure enough they had sent a deputy to our home. We get a couple of false alarms before they charge us. I am sure all our neighbors who don't go to church loved hearing our alarm. Maybe we should have been there to invite them to church since they were already awake.
So, after lunch, I had to take a nap. Rest is good and a nap is the best! For dinner Roy used the grill for the first time. We had hamburgers with homegrown tomatoes and onions. Ah, a restful Sunday. Love it!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
After the Rain
Our water feature held! It was one of those rainy days in Houston when bayous are being watched, reporters stand in the middle of the street to show how much rain has fallen and the waters are rising, and when programming is ditched in favor of reporting every little detail that can be found about the falling rain. Guess they needed to make up for last summer when we were all praying for a tropical system to deliver us from the drought and the extreme heat and the reporters didn't get to stand outside in the rain. The past two days have been in the 70's and 80's...really in Houston...in the middle of July. That is a blessing. Throughout the day I kept my eye on the water feature and the water was the highest I have ever seen it out here. So if it is a retention pond, the water is receding and if it is a detention pond, the water is deceeding.
If rain hadn't been such an issue today, I had planned on going to Luke's Locker. So you know that involves doing more than the curistory leg shave...you know it required a going over like the day before you get a pedi. Just because I took the extra time last night to do a job right, I should have guessed the end result today of cancelled plans. That's ok, I have had so much fun reading today. I kind of took a break from Solomon and the soon coming divided kingdom and headed back over to Abraham's story and concluded my reading with Jacob's or Israel's death. Talk about some generational sin that got passed on to each generation...wow. I was telling Roy last night at dinner about what I had written about the flawed usage of Song of Solomon being directed at women on how to please and stand by her man so that he would never leave or forsake her. He gets tickled over these kinds of conversations we have from time to time. I also brought up the usage of Ruth's declaration to her mother in law, Naomi, used in weddings. You don't see it used much anymore in weddings but there for a time, maybe even before my time, couples always included that in their wedding services. Nice thought, but it is a declaration to a mother in law, not a husband. I think it would be funny during the vows and where this declaration would be used for both mothers of the bride and groom to go stand with the couple and the groom could say this to his mother in law and the bride could say this to her mother in law. Seems to me that would be biblically correct in how the passage should really be used.
Last night we went back to Alica's for dinner. It has been a couple of weeks since we went and all the kinks have been worked out. I ordered the shrimp cocktail and really was disappointed with it. At first when the waitress brought it to the table I thought she had mistakenly brought over a Bloody Mary. Let's just say lots of red sauce, very little shrimp. Guess I had shrimp capachana in mind like at Goode Company Seafood. I do love the salsa there, Red sauce kind of like Molina's and the green sauce, well it's just so good.
Later this evening I am gong out back to the flowerbed and cut a few flowers to bring into the house. I never ever thought I would have a cut flower garden. We moved the bird feeder to the side yard and it was a good move. Now Buddy is entertained for hours on end watching the birds come and go.
If rain hadn't been such an issue today, I had planned on going to Luke's Locker. So you know that involves doing more than the curistory leg shave...you know it required a going over like the day before you get a pedi. Just because I took the extra time last night to do a job right, I should have guessed the end result today of cancelled plans. That's ok, I have had so much fun reading today. I kind of took a break from Solomon and the soon coming divided kingdom and headed back over to Abraham's story and concluded my reading with Jacob's or Israel's death. Talk about some generational sin that got passed on to each generation...wow. I was telling Roy last night at dinner about what I had written about the flawed usage of Song of Solomon being directed at women on how to please and stand by her man so that he would never leave or forsake her. He gets tickled over these kinds of conversations we have from time to time. I also brought up the usage of Ruth's declaration to her mother in law, Naomi, used in weddings. You don't see it used much anymore in weddings but there for a time, maybe even before my time, couples always included that in their wedding services. Nice thought, but it is a declaration to a mother in law, not a husband. I think it would be funny during the vows and where this declaration would be used for both mothers of the bride and groom to go stand with the couple and the groom could say this to his mother in law and the bride could say this to her mother in law. Seems to me that would be biblically correct in how the passage should really be used.
Last night we went back to Alica's for dinner. It has been a couple of weeks since we went and all the kinks have been worked out. I ordered the shrimp cocktail and really was disappointed with it. At first when the waitress brought it to the table I thought she had mistakenly brought over a Bloody Mary. Let's just say lots of red sauce, very little shrimp. Guess I had shrimp capachana in mind like at Goode Company Seafood. I do love the salsa there, Red sauce kind of like Molina's and the green sauce, well it's just so good.
Later this evening I am gong out back to the flowerbed and cut a few flowers to bring into the house. I never ever thought I would have a cut flower garden. We moved the bird feeder to the side yard and it was a good move. Now Buddy is entertained for hours on end watching the birds come and go.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Water Features. Song of Solomon and Other Junk
I am happy to report we have not had any more "eventful" nights like Saturday. All is calm, all is bright...the brightness is due to the house behind us that has every inside light on, all day, all night. You can tell this is a builder's spec home that is still on the market. The house is on a weird shaped lot and their breakfast nook seems like it could be an extension of our patio. That might bother some, but not us...well I can say that because the house is quiet, empty as of late.
Thanks to those of you that have called and emailed checking on my status. This episode came out of the blue and it makes me wonder if I had a bug or something. On Saturday night I was a little concerned that Roy might need to take me to the ER because it felt like my heart was jumping and vibrating, not sloshing like it can get when it wants to go out of rhythm. I am glad I have an appointment next week with the cardiologist.
So since Sunday I have mainly stayed home. I did venture out yesterday to mail a couple of things. Timing was perfect with the rain, because it was pouring every where else but around our neighborhood. So, it was a somewhat adventurous drive both going and coming back home. It has been a great time to catch up on some reading and to go through magazines to get them ready to be recycled. Yesterday must have been delivery day because several things that we have ordered were delivered. I ordered a really cute clock for one of the guest bedrooms and it was delivered yesterday. I love it but it tick tocks way too loud, so I changed it out with a clock in my reading room. I also had ordered a Coca Cola cooler and it came too.
The water feature by our home is really high. No one can give us the correct verbiage for this thing. It is not a lake, it is not a ditch, it is kind of like a retention pond and why are some called detention ponds? Guess the later has conduct issues. There always is water in the feature and it has been designed for a slow meandering body of water. Most of the water ways in our area, lakes, and features are a conduit for Buffalo Bayou or is it Braes Bayou...it goes into one of those bayous. And this feature is not a bayou because it doesn't extend back into the Pine Mills subdivision that is kind of back behind Rancho de Five. I don't know where the water comes from but all that aside, we like living off a water feature or whatever it is.
Since I have been reading through the Old Testament there are more stories to be added to my list of, never heard anyone preach, teach or tackle this chapter. Well, maybe that's not true, some of these have been taught, but hey judges other than Samson or Samuel or Gideon don't make it out of the book like you know , David and Goliath, David and Saul, David and Bathsheba, David and Jonathan...well guess you get the picture. I've been in the midst of David's story. I'm now getting into the Solomon era and I have had this thought. It seems to me that teaching out of Song of Songs or for those older than 50, Song of Solomon for wives is a bit flawed. Solomon had over 700 wives and who knows how many concubines. There are weekend seminars and the like for wives or women looking to be a wife based on Song of Solomon. But no matter what Shunnimite or whatever her name is did that made Solly baby so happy, it still wasn't good enough for good ol love em and leave them in a mansion and move on to the next girl Solomon to be faithful just to her. That's the flaw I see and the message of the story to some will be, no matter whatever you do to please your man, you'll never be good enough. Now there's a Bible study. Of course I am joking...about the Bible study and I am not a theologian, but it is a funny thought. Maybe SoS should be kept in the allegory genre. OK, I know I have strange and odd thoughts when I read the Bible in the middle of the night. Maybe a trip through Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul might not be so amusing to me. The end World without end, amen. Selah......
My books are calling out to me and I want to resspond. Have several good ones going that I will be sad to see the stories end.
Thanks to those of you that have called and emailed checking on my status. This episode came out of the blue and it makes me wonder if I had a bug or something. On Saturday night I was a little concerned that Roy might need to take me to the ER because it felt like my heart was jumping and vibrating, not sloshing like it can get when it wants to go out of rhythm. I am glad I have an appointment next week with the cardiologist.
So since Sunday I have mainly stayed home. I did venture out yesterday to mail a couple of things. Timing was perfect with the rain, because it was pouring every where else but around our neighborhood. So, it was a somewhat adventurous drive both going and coming back home. It has been a great time to catch up on some reading and to go through magazines to get them ready to be recycled. Yesterday must have been delivery day because several things that we have ordered were delivered. I ordered a really cute clock for one of the guest bedrooms and it was delivered yesterday. I love it but it tick tocks way too loud, so I changed it out with a clock in my reading room. I also had ordered a Coca Cola cooler and it came too.
The water feature by our home is really high. No one can give us the correct verbiage for this thing. It is not a lake, it is not a ditch, it is kind of like a retention pond and why are some called detention ponds? Guess the later has conduct issues. There always is water in the feature and it has been designed for a slow meandering body of water. Most of the water ways in our area, lakes, and features are a conduit for Buffalo Bayou or is it Braes Bayou...it goes into one of those bayous. And this feature is not a bayou because it doesn't extend back into the Pine Mills subdivision that is kind of back behind Rancho de Five. I don't know where the water comes from but all that aside, we like living off a water feature or whatever it is.
Since I have been reading through the Old Testament there are more stories to be added to my list of, never heard anyone preach, teach or tackle this chapter. Well, maybe that's not true, some of these have been taught, but hey judges other than Samson or Samuel or Gideon don't make it out of the book like you know , David and Goliath, David and Saul, David and Bathsheba, David and Jonathan...well guess you get the picture. I've been in the midst of David's story. I'm now getting into the Solomon era and I have had this thought. It seems to me that teaching out of Song of Songs or for those older than 50, Song of Solomon for wives is a bit flawed. Solomon had over 700 wives and who knows how many concubines. There are weekend seminars and the like for wives or women looking to be a wife based on Song of Solomon. But no matter what Shunnimite or whatever her name is did that made Solly baby so happy, it still wasn't good enough for good ol love em and leave them in a mansion and move on to the next girl Solomon to be faithful just to her. That's the flaw I see and the message of the story to some will be, no matter whatever you do to please your man, you'll never be good enough. Now there's a Bible study. Of course I am joking...about the Bible study and I am not a theologian, but it is a funny thought. Maybe SoS should be kept in the allegory genre. OK, I know I have strange and odd thoughts when I read the Bible in the middle of the night. Maybe a trip through Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul might not be so amusing to me. The end World without end, amen. Selah......
My books are calling out to me and I want to resspond. Have several good ones going that I will be sad to see the stories end.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Early in the Morning, Middle of the Night Suburban Happenings
I've written before about middle of the night escapades when Roy is not fully awake or functioning. Well, we had one of those rip roaring times last night. Yesterday afternoon my heart went out of rhythm. It has been awhile since this has happened and it was not getting any better by the time we finally decided to hit the bed. I had forgotten how annoying it is to have your heart beating an elevated beat and how the whole thing just wears you out. I was so tired but I couldn't fall asleep. Partly it was due to the dramatic, good beat, easy to dance to out of sync beat and yet trying to decide if it was bad enough to wake up Roy to call an ambulance or take me to the ER. Since I wasn't experiencing the very memorable side effects from before, I fitfully tried to get comfortable and fall asleep. I would just be dozing off, finally and Buddy hits the bed and wants to sleep on my arm. Some nights she is persistent with the meows and the pawing of my face and other nights she gives up and goes to sleep at the end of our bed. My friends, it was a persistent night. Then I think about the cat in the nursing home who would sleep on the bed of the next person who is going to die and that gets me a tab distressed. She was making me so hot! Not in that good Hot way of the church...i.e. Male staff members who are in the habit of reminding us all they are married to a smoking hot wife. Now that I think about it maybe it is a prayer request because the staff member's wife smokes? But I digress...So Buddy on my arm was making me fitful. Also it seemed like the Spanish hour on KHCB was getting louder and louder...and because Buddy was on my right arm and restricting my movement to turn the radio down, I had to listen to the music and this telephone ring thing they do almost every night. Meanwhile Roy is blissfully sleeping, nary a snore can be heard. Sometimes that freaks me out because he almost always snores and when there are those nights of snore silence which makes the radio seem much louder because I use it to drown out the snore, that I freak out and think maybe something is wrong with Roy so I ask him, are you all right? (Love me a run on sentence! Miss Beatty tried unsuccessfully to break that bad habit. But really, some sentences just need to go on without a break.) Roy responds yes and all is well. Well, except it wasn't last night because I had that Janet Jackson, give me a beat, thing going on. The light sleepless night continues, Buddy leaves, Buddy comes back. Just as I was falling into a deep sleep finally, I hear Roy yell...AHHHHHHH!!!!! I turn to see what's the matter and at the very same moment Buddy has decided to return but returning via Roy's side of the bed. Roy's feet start kicking and in my less than perfect vision without my glasses I believe he has kicked poor Buddy into the foot board. I wanted to know what was wrong and Roy said you turned and took all the covers and I was cold, so I yelled because I was really, really cold! Thinking back, I wonder if that would have fit in with Jesus telling us that when we gave someone a cup of cold water, we had given it to Him, you know to the least of these...and I didn't want that to be written by my name in the Lamb's Book of Life that I stole covers from the Lord. Then I start thinking, why does one kick their legs if they are cold? ...Sorry racing heart seems to lend itself to racing brain bending ADD. So, Roy's good, but what about Buddy? We can't find her anywhere and in the middle of the night, not having slept well, I think we should get up and look for her. It's oh, about 3:15 am. We look everywhere and we cannot find her and my mind already sees her gone off to die from a broken neck. Roy employees flashlight usage and he finally spots her under the bed and yes she is moving and doesn't look any worse for the wear. Roy and I climb back into bed and it is at this moment I say something so profound...you know Roy, you need to be more awake in the middle of the night.
For sure, I could not toss and turn anymore and decided to get up and read to get sleepy again. I have been reading through the Old Testament, so nothing like a half brother raping his sister and then the brother of the sister waiting two years to kill the half brother, which led to an uprising and lots of Old Testament drama that results in King David lamenting, oh Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son....which reminds me of Falkner, who I find very difficult to read. Buddy joins me and stays with me till I read through Solomon's building the temple. Finally, I drifted back to the bedroom, fell asleep, slept in and have been taking it easy today because my heart still is irregular but I am feeling a little better. Now Roy, he had to get up because on Saturday mornings he goes to a men's Bible study at the Episcopal church. It is a hearty breakfast and hearty Bible study. They are in the book of Romans. They start at 7:00 am and it is well attended. They take turns cooking breakfast there at the church and the rule is no wimpy breakfasts...they've got to be good. I am feeling a little pressure because Roy's turn will be coming up and somehow I don't think a banana and instant oatmeal will cut it.
So there you have it, early in the morning in the middle of the night....Who said suburban life is boring?
For sure, I could not toss and turn anymore and decided to get up and read to get sleepy again. I have been reading through the Old Testament, so nothing like a half brother raping his sister and then the brother of the sister waiting two years to kill the half brother, which led to an uprising and lots of Old Testament drama that results in King David lamenting, oh Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son....which reminds me of Falkner, who I find very difficult to read. Buddy joins me and stays with me till I read through Solomon's building the temple. Finally, I drifted back to the bedroom, fell asleep, slept in and have been taking it easy today because my heart still is irregular but I am feeling a little better. Now Roy, he had to get up because on Saturday mornings he goes to a men's Bible study at the Episcopal church. It is a hearty breakfast and hearty Bible study. They are in the book of Romans. They start at 7:00 am and it is well attended. They take turns cooking breakfast there at the church and the rule is no wimpy breakfasts...they've got to be good. I am feeling a little pressure because Roy's turn will be coming up and somehow I don't think a banana and instant oatmeal will cut it.
So there you have it, early in the morning in the middle of the night....Who said suburban life is boring?
Friday, July 6, 2012
My English Teacher in the 7th Grade, Miss Beatty
She was NOT one of my favorite teachers ever and when I had her for 7th grade English I was miserable. So to fight my angst and misery, my mission; to make her miserable as well. Of course you all haven't a clue to whom I am referring to but the "she" was Miss Carolyn Beatty. This morning while preparing breakfast I looked at yesterdays paper and there she was. Her picture and a concise and well-crafted obit. Carolyn Beatty was 70 years old. It is difficult even today to write out her first name alongside Beatty and maybe others had difficulties doing that as well because in her obit she is referred to as Miss Beatty. She must have been in her first few years of teaching when I had her way back in the day but from the sounds of guest book entry's, her tough style is a staple that she developed long before teaching me and that style held true until she retired. Miss Beatty was tough and usually fair. Last year in the process of moving and sifting through boxes I found 'papers' I had written for 7th grade English. Most of the papers were marked in red ink with a C but there were a scant few marked with B and the encouragement written in perfect penmanship, "I know you are capable of producing these types of grades on a more consistent basis. Maybe you should try for an A if you're brave enough." Truthfully, I was happy with C's. There is much more fun in life than footnoted research papers and topical papers complete with correct punctuation and grammar. Oh and my penmanship left much to be desired. Miss Beatty had a rather well developed sarcastic sense of humor that she used quite liberally in the classroom. You hadn't experienced 7th grade English until you became an object of sarcasm and cutting remarks in her classroom. In my 7th grade mind I believed teachers were rich because Miss Beatty traveled overseas during her summer vacation. She could write a much more interesting paper on summer vacations than most of her students who were trying to form the right sentences and paragraphs to creatively write about another boring summer going to Parker Pee Pool and the like. Other than being a so so student, who was outwardly acting bored but internally excited about words and literature, I had my secret weapon that amused my classmates and me but made Miss Beatty miserable. (As an adult looking back I don't think I made her miserable more like annoyed) Miss Beatty was a rather overweight woman and since it was the 60's and this fact has nothing to do with anything, but she had that perfectly once a week to the beauty parlor, high to the sky teased and heavily sprayed hair. A skill I developed in 7th grade was the good old fashioned hand fart. Yea, I was such a little lady. Anyway, this boy in my class and I, who must have been alphabetically close to my name since that is how we were seated, could do dueling hand farts really well and almost ventriloquist like. Any time Miss Beatty moved or bent over, we would time the fake noise to her movements. We never got caught because we both had the ability to cause a ruckus and never look suspicious as the ones creating the noise. There was another boy in class who was punished each and every time. Don't be too concerned about the unjust punishment, I more than made up for that sin in Home Ec. I was the fall person for anything mischievous, that I may or may not have had anything to do with.
This morning I decided to leave a comment on the guestbook of condolences. I struggled writing those very few sentences as if Miss Beatty would actually be reading it. Although Miss Beatty never knew or probably didn't really care that her class had affected me, in a good way. That underneath that apathy was a girl intrigued by words and who couldn't get enough books to read. She influenced, shaped and laid a foundation to build upon in latter years. Punctuation and grammar, not that big of a fan. Correct spelling, let's just say I am VERY thankful for spell check.
I looked through a slide show of her life on the website. She stayed at Johnston Junior High now known as a middle school for 32 years. The pictures showed her in different locals all over the world. A newspaper article on her musical ability and promise as a child is in the collection of pictures. There were pictures with friends, pictures with pets and a few pictures of Miss Beatty with an older, unhappy looking woman. That woman was probably her mother and it looks like maybe her mother had lived with her for a while. Maybe I understand Miss Beatty better after looking through the pictures.
Miss Beatty was tough, hard, and passionate in her teaching. English teachers came and went in the years of junior high and high school. Then in my senior year I had English teacher, creative in her teaching style that was the perfect bookend to Miss Beatty of 7th grade English.
Rest in peace Miss Beatty.
From a student you would never remember, but who has thanked you throughout the years.
This morning I decided to leave a comment on the guestbook of condolences. I struggled writing those very few sentences as if Miss Beatty would actually be reading it. Although Miss Beatty never knew or probably didn't really care that her class had affected me, in a good way. That underneath that apathy was a girl intrigued by words and who couldn't get enough books to read. She influenced, shaped and laid a foundation to build upon in latter years. Punctuation and grammar, not that big of a fan. Correct spelling, let's just say I am VERY thankful for spell check.
I looked through a slide show of her life on the website. She stayed at Johnston Junior High now known as a middle school for 32 years. The pictures showed her in different locals all over the world. A newspaper article on her musical ability and promise as a child is in the collection of pictures. There were pictures with friends, pictures with pets and a few pictures of Miss Beatty with an older, unhappy looking woman. That woman was probably her mother and it looks like maybe her mother had lived with her for a while. Maybe I understand Miss Beatty better after looking through the pictures.
Miss Beatty was tough, hard, and passionate in her teaching. English teachers came and went in the years of junior high and high school. Then in my senior year I had English teacher, creative in her teaching style that was the perfect bookend to Miss Beatty of 7th grade English.
Rest in peace Miss Beatty.
From a student you would never remember, but who has thanked you throughout the years.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Thursday but it Feels Like Monday
It's Thursday, but it sure feels like a Monday all over again. Of course yesterday felt like a Saturday because it was a holiday. Belated Happy 4th! Hope everyone had fun. We did and we took the day at a very easy pace. We had lunch at Spring Creek Barbecue. Roy had never eaten there and I think he liked it. I like having different choices of sides other than the usual slaw, potato salad and beans options. We had a couple of projects on the to do list and we barely got one done. Roy worked on photos and I read. We watched Yankee Doodle Dandy on TCM. I love to watch Jimmy Cagney dance. We had talked about going to one of the firework displays out here but decided against going and I am so glad we did. We had a panorama of firework displays all around us. We went out front over towards the green space and could turn in any direction and see wonderful neighborhood displays. Whoever did the fireworks over by Spring Lake did an almost professional job. So now today schedule back to normal but it sure feels like Monday.
Tuesday Gena, Kathleen, Peggy and I got together for lunch at Lupe's. We got there when they opened and nearly closed down with them after the lunch rush. It was great catching up. I ran a couple of errands afterwards and then came home. Not too much after that Roy got home because the offices closed early for the holiday. Very nice! Roy and I went out for dinner and I chose Cracker Barrel. To tell you the truth CB is a travel option not an option around home but I was craving a plate of veggies and well biscuits aren't a bad add in either. After dinner Roy and I went to Mardel's and he found some great books for me to read and "study up" on the Holy Land. I glanced at the shelf and proclaimed, nothing here but Roy did some digging around and of course struck gold.
Target is doing some very smart marketing. They are getting ready for the next season, not Christmas like Hobby Lobby but the start of school. They have the school supply section up and almost completely stocked. Moms with kids stood wistfully as they gazed upon supplies and dreamed of the day that seems so far off here in the first part of July. Some were threatening kids with going back to school. I went through the area just because I love the thought of notebooks, pens, pencils and erasers.
We have a new retail strip center being built close to us and the first sign went up. We know there will be a Shipley's and pizza place. Roy told me the nail salon sign was up and when I drove by there today, I saw the sign. Not nail salon at least for people, it was Natural Pawz. Somehow, animals must be involved.
Abel and his crew have come and gone. Roy should be getting home soon and we will have dinner, at home but not like prepared and made from scratch dinner. Tomorrow is Friday but will it feel like Tuesday?
Tuesday Gena, Kathleen, Peggy and I got together for lunch at Lupe's. We got there when they opened and nearly closed down with them after the lunch rush. It was great catching up. I ran a couple of errands afterwards and then came home. Not too much after that Roy got home because the offices closed early for the holiday. Very nice! Roy and I went out for dinner and I chose Cracker Barrel. To tell you the truth CB is a travel option not an option around home but I was craving a plate of veggies and well biscuits aren't a bad add in either. After dinner Roy and I went to Mardel's and he found some great books for me to read and "study up" on the Holy Land. I glanced at the shelf and proclaimed, nothing here but Roy did some digging around and of course struck gold.
Target is doing some very smart marketing. They are getting ready for the next season, not Christmas like Hobby Lobby but the start of school. They have the school supply section up and almost completely stocked. Moms with kids stood wistfully as they gazed upon supplies and dreamed of the day that seems so far off here in the first part of July. Some were threatening kids with going back to school. I went through the area just because I love the thought of notebooks, pens, pencils and erasers.
We have a new retail strip center being built close to us and the first sign went up. We know there will be a Shipley's and pizza place. Roy told me the nail salon sign was up and when I drove by there today, I saw the sign. Not nail salon at least for people, it was Natural Pawz. Somehow, animals must be involved.
Abel and his crew have come and gone. Roy should be getting home soon and we will have dinner, at home but not like prepared and made from scratch dinner. Tomorrow is Friday but will it feel like Tuesday?
Monday, July 2, 2012
Rambling Thoughts on a Monday
Again in the midst of a busy news week the news that Carolyn Appleby died fell off the news teleprompter.. Her death was overshadowed by the loss of Nora Ephron, the storms in the the northeast, Katy and Tom's divorce announcement and all the other busy breaking news of the day. You might be asking who is Carolyn Appleby? If you are a devotee of I Love Lucy, you'll remember her as Lucy's wildly competive and manupulative friend and bridge partner. She was first known as Lillian but somewhere along the line her name was changed to Carolyn. One of my all time favorite episdoes is when Ricky, Fred and Ethyl bet Lucy she can't tell the truth for 24 hours. Unfortunaltly in that 24 hour perod is the weekly bridge game and it is at Carolyns. And to add more pressure to tell the truth, Carolyn has just redecorated the apartment in Chinese Modern. Forced by Ethyl telling the girls about the bet Lucy has to answer all the questions asked like what do you think of Carolyn's new furniture, how old are you, how much to you weight and what color would your hair be if you didn't color it? After answering all the questions Lucy says, I feel good telling the truth! It is so refreshing. You should try it and I think we would all get along better as friends if we tried this. Ethyl responds, somehow I doubt it. Carolyn Appleby, well the actresss who played her passed, without too much of a news wimper but she left a lasting impression on me. No one wants a friend like Carolyn Appleby and no one wants to be that kind of friend like Carolyn Appleby. She knew that Lucy had to be nice to her because Carolyn's husband managed a television station and Lucy was always trying to get into show business. Carolyn was nosy and had to have all the latest scoop and gossip and sometimes Lucy had to bribe her to be her friend, like the time she bribed Carolyn to nominate Lucy as President of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts Club. I've read a couple of articles about the actress Doris Singleton since she passed away. By all accounts she wasn't a fink in real life like the character she played on the show.
Last weekend Roy and I cleaned out the pantry on a Saturday night. No, not by eating everything but going through everything and tossing out of date food and rearranging everything back into catagories. This weekend, on Friday night we rearranged and reorganized the garage. Yea, we are so fun like that. On Saturday night we went to a goodbye party for our friends who are returning to France. I don't believe I have ever experienced such a warm and genuine party before. It was like they are rock stars, well they are in my book, but the flashes from the camera were very papparotzi and red carpet like. We all wanted our pictures taken with them, we all wanted to be talking with them and we all don't really want them to leave. They are a family who have left their mark on our lives. I loved hearing Claude's words to the group, one I love the accent, two, I don't think I have ever heard him talk that long and three, his words were full of truth and love and so genuine.
Seriously, Siri on my iphone is a joke. She never understands me, responds with the strangest answers and yes, this morning on my way to meet Marcia L for breakfast, I yelled at Siri. Of course she didn't understand me. How frustrating. Maybe Siri is my Carolyn Appleby?
Saturday, Roy went to Tractor Supply to get another waterhose storage thingy. He brought me home a surprise, a magazine on sheep. I love it! No, I am not getting a flock for the backyard but I did try to read the article on herding to Buddy since she scatters my stuffed sheep all over the house in the middle of the night. Most mornings there are stuffed sheep grazing by her food dish, in the hallway and one at the foot of the bed. Oh, the rest are scattered throughout but you can almost bank of sheep being in the three places I named above. Loved that there is an article on how to train a guard donkey, since that image and knowledge is so fresh from the last Biltmore visit. There was even a side note on what to look for if you collect lamb/sheep figurines and such. Even without the article, I am doing everything right. One point was to ask if you can just buy the sheep from a nativity set. Believe me I tried that many a time at The Garden Bookstore. OEG, was firm...no sheep purchase without Mary, Joeseph and Baby Jesus. Finally, my friend Kelly needed the major players for her nativity set, so we split the cost of it. I got the shepherd and the sheep, and she got everyone else.
Yesterday, after church Roy and I met Dena for lunch at The Nord. I used the opportunity....what an opportunity to scout out places for our group to do the Galleria Project. The Bistro will be great for that early lunch and since there is a grand piano on the first floor, I think that would be a great place for one of our concerts. Our mode of transportation just might be a RV to get there and we can take the train all around the mall as another mode of transportation. Maybe we should make a stop at the water wall for our "boating experience." Everything is in the planning stage but it will be a wonderful and fulfilling experience. Sadly there really won't be any stretching out of our comfort zone, well that is, unless we all try on clothes a size too small. Some stretching might be involved there.
I have been trying something here at home and so far it hasn't worked. My trying is based on the experiecnce almost every Sunday at church. So, this is so amazing, yet not amazing, amazing...every time we pray before the sermon, some how that empty stage has the pulpit or talking table...I don't know the biblicaly, relevant term for it, a bar stool, maybe that should be renamed to a Bible stool, Bible, notes and laptop magically appears and is in place by the time we hear amen. Can prayer really make that stuff appear? So you know, at dinner time, I pray and I am so hoping that dinner will be on the plates and ready to go by the time I say amen. So far, my faith must be weak, no food, no plate, no nothing appears during the prayer. There are bar stools, but those are there in the kitchen all the time. Faith can move mountains, but prayer in the kitchen hasn't really had any earth shaking or table setting reaction. I'll keep you informed.
Yesterday afternoon Peggy called and said, put on your shoes, Jaime and I are coming to get you and go for snow cones. My first Bahama Mama of the summer season. It was delicious!
Last week I sent in my deposit money for the Israel trip in December. I am so excited and have been paying special attention to the land of the Bible in my daily and I will be Lucy honest, my sometimes every other day Bible reading. I want my heart to be so prepared to take it all in. I went to Israel in 1988 and have to be honest, didn't really have a spiritual experience. It was nothing special almost like a trip that is like every other trip. The blame for that is on me. So, this time my approach, my heart, my prayers and study are totally differnet.
Well, I am going to pray right after I get this post up. My prayer, that the dishwasher will be empty and everything put up in the proper place. Somehow I think I know I have some manual labor in the kitchen coming up this afternoon.
Last weekend Roy and I cleaned out the pantry on a Saturday night. No, not by eating everything but going through everything and tossing out of date food and rearranging everything back into catagories. This weekend, on Friday night we rearranged and reorganized the garage. Yea, we are so fun like that. On Saturday night we went to a goodbye party for our friends who are returning to France. I don't believe I have ever experienced such a warm and genuine party before. It was like they are rock stars, well they are in my book, but the flashes from the camera were very papparotzi and red carpet like. We all wanted our pictures taken with them, we all wanted to be talking with them and we all don't really want them to leave. They are a family who have left their mark on our lives. I loved hearing Claude's words to the group, one I love the accent, two, I don't think I have ever heard him talk that long and three, his words were full of truth and love and so genuine.
Seriously, Siri on my iphone is a joke. She never understands me, responds with the strangest answers and yes, this morning on my way to meet Marcia L for breakfast, I yelled at Siri. Of course she didn't understand me. How frustrating. Maybe Siri is my Carolyn Appleby?
Saturday, Roy went to Tractor Supply to get another waterhose storage thingy. He brought me home a surprise, a magazine on sheep. I love it! No, I am not getting a flock for the backyard but I did try to read the article on herding to Buddy since she scatters my stuffed sheep all over the house in the middle of the night. Most mornings there are stuffed sheep grazing by her food dish, in the hallway and one at the foot of the bed. Oh, the rest are scattered throughout but you can almost bank of sheep being in the three places I named above. Loved that there is an article on how to train a guard donkey, since that image and knowledge is so fresh from the last Biltmore visit. There was even a side note on what to look for if you collect lamb/sheep figurines and such. Even without the article, I am doing everything right. One point was to ask if you can just buy the sheep from a nativity set. Believe me I tried that many a time at The Garden Bookstore. OEG, was firm...no sheep purchase without Mary, Joeseph and Baby Jesus. Finally, my friend Kelly needed the major players for her nativity set, so we split the cost of it. I got the shepherd and the sheep, and she got everyone else.
Yesterday, after church Roy and I met Dena for lunch at The Nord. I used the opportunity....what an opportunity to scout out places for our group to do the Galleria Project. The Bistro will be great for that early lunch and since there is a grand piano on the first floor, I think that would be a great place for one of our concerts. Our mode of transportation just might be a RV to get there and we can take the train all around the mall as another mode of transportation. Maybe we should make a stop at the water wall for our "boating experience." Everything is in the planning stage but it will be a wonderful and fulfilling experience. Sadly there really won't be any stretching out of our comfort zone, well that is, unless we all try on clothes a size too small. Some stretching might be involved there.
I have been trying something here at home and so far it hasn't worked. My trying is based on the experiecnce almost every Sunday at church. So, this is so amazing, yet not amazing, amazing...every time we pray before the sermon, some how that empty stage has the pulpit or talking table...I don't know the biblicaly, relevant term for it, a bar stool, maybe that should be renamed to a Bible stool, Bible, notes and laptop magically appears and is in place by the time we hear amen. Can prayer really make that stuff appear? So you know, at dinner time, I pray and I am so hoping that dinner will be on the plates and ready to go by the time I say amen. So far, my faith must be weak, no food, no plate, no nothing appears during the prayer. There are bar stools, but those are there in the kitchen all the time. Faith can move mountains, but prayer in the kitchen hasn't really had any earth shaking or table setting reaction. I'll keep you informed.
Yesterday afternoon Peggy called and said, put on your shoes, Jaime and I are coming to get you and go for snow cones. My first Bahama Mama of the summer season. It was delicious!
Last week I sent in my deposit money for the Israel trip in December. I am so excited and have been paying special attention to the land of the Bible in my daily and I will be Lucy honest, my sometimes every other day Bible reading. I want my heart to be so prepared to take it all in. I went to Israel in 1988 and have to be honest, didn't really have a spiritual experience. It was nothing special almost like a trip that is like every other trip. The blame for that is on me. So, this time my approach, my heart, my prayers and study are totally differnet.
Well, I am going to pray right after I get this post up. My prayer, that the dishwasher will be empty and everything put up in the proper place. Somehow I think I know I have some manual labor in the kitchen coming up this afternoon.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday's Thoughts
It will be another warm day out here on the prairie. The feels like temp yesterday was 110. I didn't venture out until early evening and that was to go to choir. The new choir year begins in August and with the regular break we get, July 4th being on a Wednesday, Houston Project and Summer Week of Choir (for kids), last night was the last rehearsal. It was so exciting having everyone back together, those who went on the mission trip and those who stayed home and prayed. There was such a fun buzz. John had picked several people to talk about each day and that gave those of us who remained here, such insight into the work, the hard tasks and the fun. Over 400 made first time decisions to accept Christ. Awesome! Last night's rehearsal is also bittersweet because our friends from France are going back after being here for four years. Many tears were shed because we hold them and love them so dearly. I love getting a hug from Ria. You know you have been hugged and are loved. No fancy smancy kiss on each cheek, although you sometime get that in addition to the hug. Roy is wondering if he will even enjoy Sunday School without Claude and Ria. We have a few more weeks to enjoy their friendship in person and I think without a doubt all of us are thankful for Facebook. Wonder if Air France will notice increased bookings from Houston?
In the midst of the Supreme Court ruling and all the pundits giving their opinions, in the chaos of retweeted comments and links to articles, the news that Don Grady died has been swept to the newsroom floor. OK, I am not being serious cause I know the ruling is huge and will totally impact us for a long time, but Don Grady played the oldest son on My Three Sons. Actually, when the series first began he was the middle son but the guy playing the oldest son left the show. Are you confused yet...no not on Obamacare because we are all confused about that or at least I am because I am so not interested in politics. Don't comment please on the politics. This post is written in fun. Guess I could have used the Ann Curry news instead. While many remember him as Robbie, his life's passion was music. He wrote many familiar theme songs for shows and singers.
On another totally unrelated subject
I found a theme verse for eating at Cracker Barrel. On this last trip Dena and
I decided we liked the veggie plate about the best. It's fast and although
probably not prepared in the most health conscience way, it is better than
chicken fried steak or any of the other fried offerings.
Proverbs 15:17
A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than
steak with someone you hate.
That wraps it up for a Thursday.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Movies and Such
This weekend I did something I usually don't do, watch two movies. On Saturday, one of my all-time favorites, the afore mentioned The Bad Seed, was on TCM. For some reason I watched the movie looking for things I had not noticed before, especially in the dialogue. In fact Lisa P said she did the same thing. The Bad Seed is good for laughing at the "camp" acting and dialogue where in the actors are projecting to the last row in the balcony. At the end of the movie as Rhoda goes to find the penmanship medal, in the middle of the night, in a thunderstorm, of an abandoned pier, (sounds safe doesn't it and yet she has on a yellow slicker, rain hat and boots), the music is at a crescendo. It's the song that Rhoda practices on the piano and is heard anytime Rhoda is about to do something evil. There in that mishmash of music, you can hear the music scale being played, you know do, re, me.... Interesting that in this chaos of notes, the standard on which all music is written is prominently heard.
On Sunday night I watched Mona Lisa Smile. Love that movie and when I taught Sunday School I liked to use snippets from the movie to illustrate and give a better view of points in the lesson. Again, here is a movie that on the surface is entertaining and has great stories within the main plot. MLS is the kind of movie that can give you movie emotions afterwards. I even woke up in the middle of the night thinking through the meaning of one of the subplots of the movie.
We have had some warranty work being done on the house. Thankfully, nothing major but a few things here and there. The guy that oversees the process has come to the house twice this week and has left, probably shuddering in response to my appearance. The first morning, I answered the door with no makeup and wet hair. Lovely... The other morning when he dropped by to bring us some door stoppers, my hair was in full blown, standing up on my head, glory. Quite a contrast. Hope he doesn't come for any reason today, I am easing into the day. This just in, the Home Team Pest Control guys just came to the door. I'm surprised they didn't spray or throw granules at me trying to kill the big bug looking thing that stepped outside the door. They are here to do the ant treatment and I hoped against hope that they didn't think I was the queen of the ant hill.
Sunday was an absolute blast. Church good, Life Bible Study even better, lunch with Dena at Molina's, a visit to the Amish Craftsman and an interest meeting for a trip to Israel and Rome. I came home much later than I had anticipated. This morning I am going to work on the paperwork for the trip and get my reservation confirmed. I went to Israel and Rome for that matter in 1988. Surely neither place has changed in that amount of time she said sarcastically.
Can't wait to go to choir tonight and hear the stories and adventures from the Phillipines mission trip. On Monday I went over to see Peggy and heard some hilarious stories.
It is going to be another very hot day. At least the wind chimes are making music which means there is a breeze. There wasn't one yesterday. Driving home on the freeway even the air looked hot.
Philippians 4 is still rocking my world. Love how very familiar passages come alive even after reading it so many times. Alive and breathing, so thankful for God's Word.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Finished Chair, Fresh Produce and The Bad Seed All Makes for a Good Day
This week was senior adult encounter week, well it seemed like it. Also, note to self, get off the senior adult phone tree from church. We are not at the place in life where we want to go on bus trips to local places. If we did the next thing you know, I'd be wearing white pants and SAS shoes. This week it seems I have come upon some of the most ornery looking senior adults. No smile, no nothing. That is until this morning. There is a new couple selling tomatoes at the farmer's market. Have a cute printed up sign letting you know they grew these tomatoes in their backyard, no pesticides. They were having a ball selling tomatoes. So there is the key to growing older, make sure you are enjoying life by doing things that bring joy into life. Well, maybe running people over in parking lots in your Grand Marquis brings joy to some older folks. Just saying...
This afternoon one of my all time favorite movies is on TCM, The Bad Seed. I have already messaged Lisa P and Dena. We've texted back and forth some of our very favorite lines. I love this movie because of how it was filmed, just like the stage play. So it is very dramatic and over the top in the acting department. Actually, the book and the movie have different endings. The book places the story in Mobile, AL. I first saw this movie when I was a freshman in college. One of my hall mates boyfriend gave her a huge TV for Christmas, so we piled into her room to watch The Bad Seed. Good times. Peggy doesn't understand how I could pick this movie over The Sound of Music... Of course my all time fave is To Kill a Mockingbird.
Speaking of To Kill a Mockingbird, I think one of the doves met the Lord this week. No body but feathers everywhere in the side yard.
Off to snap some green beans. We've done our produce run this morning. Buddy is pouting on the couch, she got a mani/pedi this morning. She is not a fan.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Looks LIke it's Gonna Be a Hot Summer
The second day of official summer. The temps are rising and patience is ebbing. Not my patience, but I could feel the level of frustration rising in Target this afternoon. The scales tipped toward moms with children in the store. They outnumbered the rest of us 3-1. Although the conversations of moms with their kids almost all sounded alike. "You already have that!" "You don't need that, put it back!" "Why are you so rambuncious?" " I am going to count to three!" "Don't run off! We aren't going to be here that long!" "I have already spent too much money already this month. So no you can't have that!" Those conversations resonated on just about every aisle. I sought sanctuary on the vitamin aisle. Surely these kids have enough energy, but I then I remembered their weary, worn out moms. One mom stood there with her energy driven three year old boy and asked him, why are you so rambuncious and tear into everything? He ran away from her and she turned her cart toward the checkout and gave her last bit of direction to him by saying you better come on. He stood there and watched his mom move away from him and just about the time I am almost even with him he yells, HELP! I am sure I got that panicked look and looked at his mom like, I didn't even look at him. She gave me a reassuring look and said, he yells help and then pronouces at the top of his lungs that his mom is leaving him. On cue, he exclaimed those very words.
The whole reason I went to Target was to pick up some more duct tape. Bright blue to be exact. I am in the midst of a DIY project. Several months ago I painted a brown rocker white and since I don't know how to sew and since we don't have a staple gun, I decided to try my hand at decorating with duct tape. Think I had seen on Pinterest how someone covered some cushions on outside chairs. Since this is a penurious project and it is a chair in the casita bedroom, I thought why not? Well, it is going ok but I think that to be someone who likes to do DIY projects or likes to be crafty and creative this way also likes to measure things and have a little bit of a perfectionist streak in their DNA. I have neither of those things...no real measuring and I am no where near being a perfectionist. So it doesn't look bad....from a distance. I will tackle the back cushion later this evening and post a picture later.
I am just this week putting up things I brought home from the Biltmore. No, not unpacking but actually getting stuff out of bags etc... Sometimes things go to the black hole of our closet and after a while I finally clear things out.
So now it is actually Friday. Roy took a vacation day to be here for all the workmen etc...that would be here to work on warranty things. I got the heck out of Dodge and headed into Houston. I had taken a pair of frames from a couple of years ago that I liked and had new lenses put in them. It was a happening place this morning and there was a bit of a wait, but not too long. One lady who was ahead of me was trying to work the system. Adjust my glasses, now what will you give me for free? Apparently nothing but she did spend $3.00 on glass cleaning spray. The lady came back through and saw me picking out a glasses case and getting spray for free. She was not happy and made it known. The woman who works there and who was helping me told her, she bought new lenses...there are free perks when you spend money. I have a feeling nothing is really ever free at doctor offices unless you want to pilfer a magazine from 2008. After getting my glasses I headed over to Le Peep for cinnamon pecan pancakes. Then made the return trip out west and stopped to pick up something from our Nashville trip that we had framed. I also had with me a print I had picked up at Bill's mall and having it framed and matted. Then I came home. All the workmen had been here and left or were just about to leave. Roy and I made a late lunch run to Black Walnut Cafe and have been inside the a/c ever since. He just left to walk around the lake. I'm opting out of the walk...ok, I have opted out every time he walks the lake. I didn't want y'all to think that tonight was the exception.
The whole reason I went to Target was to pick up some more duct tape. Bright blue to be exact. I am in the midst of a DIY project. Several months ago I painted a brown rocker white and since I don't know how to sew and since we don't have a staple gun, I decided to try my hand at decorating with duct tape. Think I had seen on Pinterest how someone covered some cushions on outside chairs. Since this is a penurious project and it is a chair in the casita bedroom, I thought why not? Well, it is going ok but I think that to be someone who likes to do DIY projects or likes to be crafty and creative this way also likes to measure things and have a little bit of a perfectionist streak in their DNA. I have neither of those things...no real measuring and I am no where near being a perfectionist. So it doesn't look bad....from a distance. I will tackle the back cushion later this evening and post a picture later.
I am just this week putting up things I brought home from the Biltmore. No, not unpacking but actually getting stuff out of bags etc... Sometimes things go to the black hole of our closet and after a while I finally clear things out.
So now it is actually Friday. Roy took a vacation day to be here for all the workmen etc...that would be here to work on warranty things. I got the heck out of Dodge and headed into Houston. I had taken a pair of frames from a couple of years ago that I liked and had new lenses put in them. It was a happening place this morning and there was a bit of a wait, but not too long. One lady who was ahead of me was trying to work the system. Adjust my glasses, now what will you give me for free? Apparently nothing but she did spend $3.00 on glass cleaning spray. The lady came back through and saw me picking out a glasses case and getting spray for free. She was not happy and made it known. The woman who works there and who was helping me told her, she bought new lenses...there are free perks when you spend money. I have a feeling nothing is really ever free at doctor offices unless you want to pilfer a magazine from 2008. After getting my glasses I headed over to Le Peep for cinnamon pecan pancakes. Then made the return trip out west and stopped to pick up something from our Nashville trip that we had framed. I also had with me a print I had picked up at Bill's mall and having it framed and matted. Then I came home. All the workmen had been here and left or were just about to leave. Roy and I made a late lunch run to Black Walnut Cafe and have been inside the a/c ever since. He just left to walk around the lake. I'm opting out of the walk...ok, I have opted out every time he walks the lake. I didn't want y'all to think that tonight was the exception.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Rolo McFlurrys are Back! And to Watch a Mockingbird
Nature is rather intriguing and more specifically Mockingbirds are very interesting. The past few weeks we've watched the young birds learn how to fly under mother bird's protective eye. For a while it looked like one little fella wasn't ever going to leave the tree, but fear of flight or maybe crash and burn has lifted but what is interesting is, these almost teenage looking birds still want the mother to feed them. Before the storm yesterday, they balanced on the fence while momma bird, who is looking rather thin, went over to the bird feeder, got seed and came back and fed them. Did I mention that the kiddos look well fed, almost too well fed. Today, the bird family three have been closer to the feeder and sometimes the kiddos actually feed themselves but when mom returns they start crying and opening their mouths to be fed. Wonder how much longer the momma bird is going to put up with this "failure to launch?"
We had a bunny in the backyard last night. Roy said when he goes on his walks around the lake he has seen 23 or so bunnies at one time. When I was watering the flowers a couple of days ago, there were some people going through the house behind us that is for sale. Oh my, I hope they don't buy because they are loud talkers! Really loud!
I saw this on Twitter this morning: :Forgiveness & Trust aren't the same. Forgiveness is offered freely&;instantly. Broken trust is earned back over time. That is a great tweet by Rick Warren.
Back from an exciting adventure in errand running. Chris, housekeeper, is here so I always try to get out of her way. So, off I went. My second to last errand was stopping at HEB. It must be sample Wednesday and one of the samples they were giving away was prepared, hot oatmeal. Yuck! I'm saying to myself don't make eye contact....don't make eye contact. Didn't matter, she stepped from behind the display with a little plastic cup of oatmeal and invited me to try some. I politely declined. She asked, puzzled, do you not like oatmeal. No, in fact I hate it. Oh come on try some. Once you taste how delicious this is, you'll love oatmeal. Now what she didn't know is, I had just has a Rollo McFlurry. Yes people, they are back, hallelujah! I did not want to take a taste of oatmeal and then leave it and undigested Rollo McFlurry on the floor, which would prompt an announcement of clean up on aisle 4. I almost had to go Sam I Am on her. No, I would not, could not even buy a box. I would rather eat a bowl of rocks. I do not eat it with my spouse. I barely let it in the house. Oatmeal, it's something I don't ate and if I did I would regurgitate. Then when I checked out I got in a line that looked to be moving quickly but it slowed to a crawl. The woman's seven children showed up to "help" her check out. She was parked a couple of spaces over from me...complete with a beat up mini van. I really was in awe that so many children and so many bags of groceries were fitting into the van. Wow, and she was so patient.
I hate that I just let everyone know that the Rollo McFlurry is back right there in the midst of oatmeal talk. Happy, happy, happy!
Last stop, CVS to pick up a prescription. I think everyone and their cousin was at the CVS. Customers and lots of phone calls going on.
Love keeping up with the choir and orchestra while they are in the Philippines. The blog has been great and Facebook updates and pics are the greatest! This has nothing to do with the choir, but isn't ironic that so many who have made a name recently in the Christian world of books and tours acquired a lot of their notoriety on social media, yet they are the ones who preach a message of limited access and abstinence from FB, email, Twitter and blogs to their followers and readers.
Well, the mockingbird family is back. I have some bird watching to do.
We had a bunny in the backyard last night. Roy said when he goes on his walks around the lake he has seen 23 or so bunnies at one time. When I was watering the flowers a couple of days ago, there were some people going through the house behind us that is for sale. Oh my, I hope they don't buy because they are loud talkers! Really loud!
I saw this on Twitter this morning: :Forgiveness & Trust aren't the same. Forgiveness is offered freely&;instantly. Broken trust is earned back over time. That is a great tweet by Rick Warren.
Back from an exciting adventure in errand running. Chris, housekeeper, is here so I always try to get out of her way. So, off I went. My second to last errand was stopping at HEB. It must be sample Wednesday and one of the samples they were giving away was prepared, hot oatmeal. Yuck! I'm saying to myself don't make eye contact....don't make eye contact. Didn't matter, she stepped from behind the display with a little plastic cup of oatmeal and invited me to try some. I politely declined. She asked, puzzled, do you not like oatmeal. No, in fact I hate it. Oh come on try some. Once you taste how delicious this is, you'll love oatmeal. Now what she didn't know is, I had just has a Rollo McFlurry. Yes people, they are back, hallelujah! I did not want to take a taste of oatmeal and then leave it and undigested Rollo McFlurry on the floor, which would prompt an announcement of clean up on aisle 4. I almost had to go Sam I Am on her. No, I would not, could not even buy a box. I would rather eat a bowl of rocks. I do not eat it with my spouse. I barely let it in the house. Oatmeal, it's something I don't ate and if I did I would regurgitate. Then when I checked out I got in a line that looked to be moving quickly but it slowed to a crawl. The woman's seven children showed up to "help" her check out. She was parked a couple of spaces over from me...complete with a beat up mini van. I really was in awe that so many children and so many bags of groceries were fitting into the van. Wow, and she was so patient.
I hate that I just let everyone know that the Rollo McFlurry is back right there in the midst of oatmeal talk. Happy, happy, happy!
Last stop, CVS to pick up a prescription. I think everyone and their cousin was at the CVS. Customers and lots of phone calls going on.
Love keeping up with the choir and orchestra while they are in the Philippines. The blog has been great and Facebook updates and pics are the greatest! This has nothing to do with the choir, but isn't ironic that so many who have made a name recently in the Christian world of books and tours acquired a lot of their notoriety on social media, yet they are the ones who preach a message of limited access and abstinence from FB, email, Twitter and blogs to their followers and readers.
Well, the mockingbird family is back. I have some bird watching to do.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Tuesday, Tuesday...
For the most part we are having a rainy afternoon out here in Rancho de Five. The rain has come in waves with breaks in between. Some thunder and lightning. In response to the thunder Buddy has been bringing the sheep out all throughout the house. Buddy is a shepherd at heart by taking those stuffed sheep all throughout the house. Maybe I'm the shepherd because I herd them all back to the box where they belong.
I spent the better part of yesterday in Houston. I had an appointment and decided to come in a little early to run a few errands. When I got to the appointment, we had different times scheduled, but it worked out I had to wait around for another hour. So it was the perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading. After the appointment I headed over to the eye doctor to have some new lenses put in an older pair of frames. Then I headed back west. I even fixed dinner!
So I guess that is why I forgot about Bible study this morning. Totally forgot and only remembered when I picked up the book we are studying around 11:30. Oops! I will have to miss next week because I have an appointment in Houston. The book has been so good and so informative, for sure I am going to finish reading it.
We totally blew off Implosion at church on Saturday. Roy really wanted to go to Bible study at the Episcopal church and of course I wanted to do the regular Saturday thing of breakfast out and then do the whole produce thing. Got some eggs and peaches at the farmer's market and stopped by the produce stand and picked up tomatoes, green beans, cream peas, onions, and a cantaloupe. A little later we went to old Katy to the market days and got some corn. We also dropped in at Bill's store and let's just say, we didn't leave empty handed. We've been needing a hose holder, well actually two of them and dropped in at the old Tractor Supply store. It has been a while.
Sunday morning, we worshipped at home. The sermon was on parenting and I just didn't feel like hearing anything about that. We thought about visiting a church out this way but decided against that. We made lunch here and spent a lazy day around the house. In fact one of my favorite movies was on TCM. But my very favorite movie of all time, The Bad Seed is going to be on this Saturday afternoon on TCM.
I'm in a blogging funk. Oh there is plenty to blog about but I'm thinking that it is for another day. So right now unless there is more breaking news like House Hunters is fake, writing about my days will have to do.
I spent the better part of yesterday in Houston. I had an appointment and decided to come in a little early to run a few errands. When I got to the appointment, we had different times scheduled, but it worked out I had to wait around for another hour. So it was the perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading. After the appointment I headed over to the eye doctor to have some new lenses put in an older pair of frames. Then I headed back west. I even fixed dinner!
So I guess that is why I forgot about Bible study this morning. Totally forgot and only remembered when I picked up the book we are studying around 11:30. Oops! I will have to miss next week because I have an appointment in Houston. The book has been so good and so informative, for sure I am going to finish reading it.
We totally blew off Implosion at church on Saturday. Roy really wanted to go to Bible study at the Episcopal church and of course I wanted to do the regular Saturday thing of breakfast out and then do the whole produce thing. Got some eggs and peaches at the farmer's market and stopped by the produce stand and picked up tomatoes, green beans, cream peas, onions, and a cantaloupe. A little later we went to old Katy to the market days and got some corn. We also dropped in at Bill's store and let's just say, we didn't leave empty handed. We've been needing a hose holder, well actually two of them and dropped in at the old Tractor Supply store. It has been a while.
Sunday morning, we worshipped at home. The sermon was on parenting and I just didn't feel like hearing anything about that. We thought about visiting a church out this way but decided against that. We made lunch here and spent a lazy day around the house. In fact one of my favorite movies was on TCM. But my very favorite movie of all time, The Bad Seed is going to be on this Saturday afternoon on TCM.
I'm in a blogging funk. Oh there is plenty to blog about but I'm thinking that it is for another day. So right now unless there is more breaking news like House Hunters is fake, writing about my days will have to do.
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