Lisa P and Nancy Marie

http://web.mac.com/lisapierre1/iWeb/Site/BLOGGER/BLOGGER.html

OK, you can go to Lisa's blog from this link I think. I need to learn how to do this so I could just put her name. I need to learn how to add my blogging friends to my blog.

Anyway, you can go over and read Lisa's blog...great posts and pictures. I am not just saying that cause she is my BFF. I love how she writes, I love the way she processes her thoughts and I love the fact that she and I have never met a run on sentence we didn't love. Sometimes it is just too hard to stop for punctuation.

Lisa and I love our little friendship. She encourages me, prays for me, sings to me as opposed to sing with me, and makes me double over in laughter. We can talk on the phone for hours, have several brief calls throughout the day or there are those occasional times that we don't talk on a given day, so we text. I am telling you she has walked with me through some of the darkest times of my life. We both discovered God's new mercies. We love us some Lupe Tortilla and can find ourselves as in the words of Beth Moore in the throes of salsa. Normally we can be found at the Bistro at the Nord, but also at Ashland House (I have never posted about our funny day, note to self), Buffalo Grille and we need to make a trip to Crescent City. She has been but I have not. Massa's is a great choice too. Dena, Peggy and I discovered Massa's when we went to WOF last year in Houston. We really didn't care who was speaking, we went cause our friend Lisa was singing. I also introduced she and Malcolm to Josephine's.

To change the words of an old hymn, "there's not a friend like the lovely Lisa. No not one, no not one. OK, she had to sing that song all last year for Women of Faith conferences and it wasn't exactly one of her all time favorites.

Even before we became the best of buds, I told her when we would talk about her making a CD, I have a table, a chair and a money bag, but no PRODUCT.

I love sitting with her on Tuesday nights at LProof. If there is a prayer or a commissioning to say with a friend, she is right there. I don't know how many of those we have said together, but we meant those words. We are bruised from elbowing each other when we get a Word from the Lord.

One of my favorite times with Lisa was in San Antonio. We went to the National Conference for WOF. I don't know what it was about the freeways there, but I kind of went NASCAR. You would not believe how fast I was taking curves and multi tasking while I did it. I looked over at Lisa, in mid curve mind you, and she looked a little scared. She asked me did I know how fast I was driving? Did I know I was taking a curve? Did I drive like this in Houston and she just didn't notice? The answer to all those questions came in the parking lot of our hotel. We just sat in the car and laughed till we cried, until we could hardly breathe and untranslated threats of wetting our pants. People who walked by probably thought just like some biblical people thought in Act 2, they must be drunk. But no, we weren't as they supposed, we were filled with the spirit. I don't know whether I should capitalize that or not. God was present though. I think He was laughing right along with us. This past weekend Roy and I visited Grace Methodist Church in Katy. Awesome church...awesome people... anyway, their pastor said we should pray before we play and as we pray our pray should become play. Yep, he is so right.

I could go on and on, but I thought I would just share a few little things about Lisa. I love her, she's the best. Once my working days are through, we are going to hang out at the gym, eat lunch, play some cards, go to LProof Bible study, go to the Spa and look for jobs in our spare time.

A Little Trip to the Nord Changes It All

If you are a faithful reader of the monablog you are more than aware of my love of all things Nord. One of my favorite things to do is go to the Spa. On Monday I met Peggy for pedicures. Oh, the relief from the agony of the feet. I know that was so bad and so vintage. Don't get me wrong I like pedies from other places, but at The Nord when you sit up on one of those chairs behind the veil, you feel like royalty or whatever else is close to that. But the all time fav treatment is the massage as done by one fabulous Stacy. To be such a small petite woman, she can get deep into the muscle and all the tightness is gone. I asked her once if she ever watched King of the Hill and was she familiar with Peggy Hill's trademark, "Oh Yea!" There have been many times I have wanted to so Peggy Hill it as she works out all the tightness in my shoulders.

I met Stacy on my last day of being 49. I took Lisa, Peggy and Dena to the Spa for the day to celebrate my 50th birthday. I figure I want to leave my 40's on a best day ever. We met at the Spa and had facials, exfoliation, algae or aromatherapy wrap, massage and scalp treatment, manicure, pedicure and lunch in the relaxation room. Ain't no way I am going to post my exfoliation experience but those of you who know me, know the story. I have been going to Stacy ever since. When she was out on maternity leave, I was faithful to her and did not go see another massage therapist, but I was glad when she came back. She knows the reason for all my tension and I have helped her walk through some difficult times of life. Tonight when she came to greet me and take me back to the changing room, she asked are you ready? I said, oh yes. It has been a tough few weeks and the stress had gone straight to my lower back. When she finished tonight, she sat down and said, "Nancy, you have been coming to me for a long time and I think it is time for us to talk." Man, I thought, she is going to break up with me...she is going to say I cannot do another thing for those muscles that could be mistaken for rocks in your shoulders and you need to see someone else. I mean, I just about tensed up again, but she said, "it is time for you to let me work on your glutes, because that will stop all the pain you are having in your lower back." So the next time I go... it is glute time. Guess there is really something to being a pain in the butt.

More Pics

Girlfriends, Food and oh yeah, an Astro's Game

Dena invited Lisa, Emily and me to an Astro's game last night. She scored some tickets from the law firm that does work for Mustang. Thank you law firm whose name I don't know. We had great seats on the first base side...18th row! We had some doubts we would make it to the Juice Box because the heavens were declaring the glory of God via rain, hail, lightning and thunder. No hordes of locust were sighted in the greater Houston area. Dena bravely drove through hail and high water...well, hail that had melted and high water. She and Emily have a usual parking spot, but because of the weather we opted for a lot closer in. Lisa coming from the Clear Lake area hit downtown nearly to the dot so we directed her to the parking spot. We walked the few blocks and got in, found our section and then Dena was quick to spot a short line for the dollar dogs. She has a gift for this and another talent is spotting Cracker Barrels on the Interstate. We got the dogs complete with fixins and headed to the 18th row where we were greeted by some hard looking, beer swizzling hippie women. You know the type, they give Birkenstock a bad name. The tough one said to Lisa, "do you have tickets for those seats?" Oh yeah, proof here in the hand hippie woman. She was not happy cause some of her ridden hard and put up wet hippie friends were going to seat hop and our presence squelched that plan, sorta. They climbed over us several times. Gee, if you are going to drink that much beer, seat hop some aisle seats. OK, I got off task there. So, back to the story. We hadn't even sat down and the 'stros were already down by a deuce. Emily came late because she had hand bell practice and they have a recital coming up this weekend. We were craving the dogs so we were rude and hadn't waited for Emily. So she and Lisa went back to the foodies and found some more dogs, popcorn, and peanuts. We did not eat Cracker Jack, but that is about the only food we did not touch there at the Box. We had heard about these wonderful cupcakes and so when I went back up for foodies, I dropped by the cup cake stand just to get the lay of the land. Y'all there were just a few cupcakes left and the baker had already left for the night. I ordered 4, ran over got a drink tray to carry them back. They really come on these little black plastic plates and food service either by cooking or carrying has never been my forte. Compound that with bad knees and sliding glasses. So I was careful to bring back that mother load of goodness and sweetness. These cupcakes are HUGE and even HUGER is the icing on top. Here is a picture of the Red Velvet Cupcake. You eat them with a fork they are so big. When my fell over to it's side, I yelled cupcake down. I highly encourage you to get one of these babies. You will not be disappointed. Lisa and I were talking today and realized we had not paid one bit of attention from about the 3rd inning till the 7th inning stretch. Oh my friends, we were in a food coma.

Can I tell you we laughed so hard both Lisa and Dena lost most of their makeup by the 4th inning. Sometimes it is hard to hear what someone is saying at ballgames because of all the crowd noise then compound that with someone trying to tell you why they are laughing so hard...most gets lost in the translation, but the laughing is so contagious. Our stomachs hurt and surely it was not from all the food. When we left after the sad loss of the Astros, we looked at the trash we had left behind. I could only think that the clean up crew that night thought four burly men must have been camped out in those seats.

Nothing like being home on a Tuesday Morning

I have taken a day of vacation to extend the long Memorial Day weekend just a tiny bit longer. Thanks for your input on Roy's picture. That includes the lurkers who commented by email or phone. :)

This weekend was the right balance of home time and out and about time. Yesterday, Peggy and I made it to The Nord for pedicures and dinner. We had a blast catching up. It has been a while since our schedules have allowed for doing anything together. Did have a scary moment though. As we were sitting there getting our pedi's, I noticed a different step in the usual routine. So I asked Julia, oh what is this? She said it is a honey and papaya mixture. I tried not to freak out too much and said, I can't have that on me, I am highly allergic to papaya. She was immediate in getting it off my leg and foot and I didn't stop breathing, so it is all good.

On Friday I did rearrange books, but so far we haven't gotten rid of any. We have the boxes to do so, it is just getting the heart to let go of some books. Maybe I will be like Harper Lee. When I read the biography, "Mockingbird" the description of her home in Alabama is wall to wall bookcases, even in the entry hall, dining room and bathroom. I am jealous just thinking about it right now, forgive me Lord.

Had my first summer peach this weekend. I ran to the play grocery store on Sunday and they had them...Texas peaches. I hope this peach is just the first of many over the summer.

Roy and I went to Sunday brunch at Pappasita's on Sunday. It was wonderful!

Well, I am off to enjoy the rest of my day. I have some graduation and birthday gifts to mail.

Cool Place to Be

It is a cool place to be. On Friday we went to Bohemian Photography for Roy to have some business photos made. The afternoon was rainy and overcast. So we Goggled the directions and we were off to the East side of downtown. We found ourselves at the studio that had once been a warehouse and now a loft in an area surrounded by other warehouses that had been converted into lofts. It felt like one of the coolest and hip places in Houston. Of course Roy was dressed in a suit and I wore my usual uniform of something comfortable. I chose linen and a jean jacket. Jack and his assistant Tiffany were awesome. They have an office dog Titus who looks mean but is a softy and an office cat, who like most cats did not feel our presence important enough to come check us out. While Jack did his work in the back we sat with Tiffany and Titus. Tiffany had gone for two years of college at Hillsong. Her story was so interesting of being in Australia for two years and then returning home. Jack took us on a behind the scenes tour and then we were on our way. Roy and I commented as we drove into downtown Houston past Minute Maid Park that only in Christ could such four diverse people spend a delightful hour in conversation. I wish I had a picture of Tiffany for you to see, but she is in her 20's and very artsy. Of course Jack in his dreads is totally cool. I told him I thought my assistant Krista who now lives in Philly was the coolest person I had ever known. She is a musician, but I think Jack has top billing now. And finishing out the unlikely foursome was conservative Roy in a suit and me in my comfy threads.

Which One?

You are going to feel like you are getting your eyes examined when I ask this question A or B? B or A?

These are the two pictures that we chose out of all the pictures Roy had taken yesterday. In fact I even was able to act as an assistant to Jack Potts by holding a fan to make Roy's gelled hair lift a little in the breeze. Now if you know Roy you know he is very, very conservative. He has a great dry wit, but for the most part Roy is serious in whatever he does. I love that he is a serious Bible student and teacher. I love that in some of the hardest days of our life he was a rock and still is. I love that he's concerned for people and does a lot behind the scenes that no one will ever know about. He is dang smart. He has more letters after his name than I have in my whole name. He is certified in almost every aspect of accounting and audit and just to make sure all is done legally, he got his JD just in case. Roy walks and lives out God's love. Roy gives the best gifts and the fact that he loves Buddy (not being a cat person) and plays with her brings me such great joy.

When Roy graduated from law school, we had a little party to celebrate his accomplishment. Law school was his mid life crisis I think. I was asked to tell a story about Roy and I told this story that sums him up very well. Roy went to Calgary every other year for his job and I would go along and we would take vacation while we were there. We stayed at a hotel that was on the edge of the city. He would take the train in and let me have the rental car. I would pick him up each afternoon. The train was in the middle of a highway and crossovers had been built to cross over upon exiting the train. Everyone got out and ran across the highway to the parking lot except Roy. He used the crossover and he would beam such a smile when he found me waiting for him. I cried everyday that I picked him up. He is so consistent and he does the right thing. I knew I would not be in for any "surprises" along the way (we were young marrieds at this point) and I knew I loved him, but it was watching him day after day be the only one to use the crossover that I knew I LOVED him. Most at the party thought it was an odd story to tell, but I thought it conveyed Roy the best, he does what is right, he is joyful in doing it and he loved me by letting me have wheels during the day while he worked.

He went to school at night and worked during the day. During that time he was laid off twice. He never had any vacation days to use to study for finals. He sold the course you take to prepare for the bar exam so that he would be able to take the course for free. Roy was going to law school during the time of LA Law and other legal programs that showed the cut throat nature of law school and the business of practicing law. Not so for those who Roy went to class with. They bought the course from him and shared notes with him on the review classes we could not afford. I was so proud of him when we found out he has passed the bar exam and we drove to Austin for the ceremony. In the sea of young faces and groomed to TV standards of what lawyers should look like we probably looked like proud parents. Roy had done it, gone to school, started his own consulting business during the time so that he could work from 6:00 am till class time. Clerked in the summers for an attorney on the weekends to learn that he didn't want to practice law, but use it in what he already did. Roy was creative in making sure I was not forgotten during those years...he was barely home. We would go to Fredricksburg for long weekends and stay at Bed and Breakfast's where you have the home to yourself. He would study and I would sight see and window shop. He would use American Express points and rent a fun car for the weekend. We couldn't afford to go anywhere nice, but we had great fun going to the Sonic or just running our errands.

Wow, I didn't mean to go in so much detail when I started this post, but I'm glad I did. So, let me know which picture you like the one on the left or the one on the right.

He Wasn't Elsie the Borden Cow

Last Sunday we helped celebrate Bubba's 70th with his family and friends. And what a fun party it was, complete with a Blue Bell Ice Cream theme. Thus the cow which I thought at the time might be a bull. I did not want to stand on the other side of the poster, I am not comfortable around cows, now horses that is a whole 'nother thing. The cow was really docile, but I wasn't taking any chances. I have seen Elsie twice this year. Once at the rodeo and she was at the ballgame last week.

Today Roy and I went to Bohemian Photography to have a business picture made for Roy. I took pictures for the blog and will post those sometime this weekend.

I love this shoe. I saw this shoe yesterday in an email from The Nord and I promptly put it in my shopping cart, but I will never buy it. No, it is not too expensive and as far as shoes go it was really quite reasonable. My problem with this shoe and others like it, my days of wearing a 3 inch heel are over. During the winter I did buy some shoes with 3 inch heels and I wore them several times only to experience deep knee pain for the days afterwards. I wore one pair to work for Halloween or should I say Fall Festival Day (I work at a Baptist Church) and said the shoes were my costume. See the little red strap? It can become an ankle strap. Oh, I love this pair of shoes. I shopped around a little more and found something similar in a lower heel, but my size is already sold out. Other size 11's were so much faster than me. It hasn't been until recently that buying pants isn't such an ordeal. There is always the tall shop which over the years has finally gotten better on being current on fashion. There is Eddie Bauer's tall sizes and now I can buy jeans that are long enough at Macy's. The Nord has not let me down either, there are several brands that make their pants longer. What I love about this time of year is, I can buy regular styled pants for the average height and just make them capris for me. Not a bad deal, I hope capris never go out of style. There isn't much to this post, but I love this pair of shoes. I would have given them a good home and they would have had a good life with me.

A Picnic Table at the Dump, Part 2

For those of you who are a newbie like me, if you click the title on my other post for picnic table in the dump, it will take you to the close in view from the Google map. Now that is pretty exciting to me. I am so easily amused.

This is the huge crane that takes the junk and loads the stuff into huge containers. The other picture is the view from across the water. It is a park.

A Picnic Table at the Dump

Last year I found out about a most wonderful place, it is the picnic table at the Baytown recycling center. Right there in the middle of a dump complete with a large ramp and huge crane to unload the trucks is a picnic table by the water. When Dena first told me about it I just laughed because only Baytownians would have a picnic table at the dump. Later during the week I had a situation that really upset me and I needed God's peace a plenty! I heard His still small voice in my spirit say, "find your picnic table at the dump." In the midst of all the junk and trash of my life I needed to find that picnic spot and be full of gratitude from the respite of daily life and the onslaught of situations that only God can control. So of course since that had been such a word to me, I had to go see it. So Dena took me to Baytown, she is a native Baytownian, and we got her dad's truck that has the permit to get into the place and off we went. Her mom and dad led the way and I have to tell you I had so much joy right there sitting by the water and viewing really wonderful sites or I could turn and view the dump and all the activity of people bringing their junk to be taken care of. Learned some history that day but more so I had such a visual of gratitude and being thankful. It so impacted me that I did a four week lesson on this in my Sunday School class when I taught. I started out with a Google map of Baytown and each week brought a closer view. I added the link above and since it is my first time to try this, I have no idea if it works or not. But even a year later, I could go to Google map and located the little island that has the dump on it. I had studied the map so much last year that even though I had never spent much time in Baytown I knew street names and what we were passing by just cause of the satellite map I had pondered over for weeks before the trip.

I sit here in my home today at my little picnic table of peace. Grateful I have sick days and grateful for medicine that is helping my back feel much better. I am thankful that I had plenty to choose from in reading material and that I was able to read most of the magazines that have been stacking up over by my chair I read in. I learned a lot about The Great Wall of China today. I didn't even go on Amazon to look over books, but I did get a call from UPS that the four books I ordered last week are in the office. They will just have to sit there till tomorrow. While being home today I had another Fern sighting, but she's not in the water yet, still sitting by the pool. I will report she must have been reading a really good book, cause her foot twitching could have generated enough electricity for a small town. :) I am grateful to have a loving husband who called about every hour checking on me until I encouraged him not to call so much. I needed my rest and sleep. I am thankful that my sleepy friend Lisa would have come across town if I needed anything. I am grateful to God for His unsurpassed love and kindness.

Lunch Last Thursday

Fun Facts About Lunch with Lisa P and Nancy Marie

A lot of fun

A lot of laughter

Good food a must

The best conversations

All the above savored

This will have to do for now. I had written out the whole wonderful adventure we had last Thursday at the Ashland House and I don't know how I did it, but I lost the whole post. I don't have it in me to re-do it tonight. The background behind us is wallpaper and it was so appropriate that they put us in the fake library section. I wish that Lisa and I could blog this together at the same time cause there is where you'd enjoy the time we shared the most. But, this will have to do for now.

I cannot believe it, I went three days without buying or ordering a book. That came to an end Saturday night around 10:00 pm. Dayspring Sunday School class is doing a Jennifer Kennedy Dean study and whoa, that girl is blowing my socks off. We are studying Jesus's I AM statements in John. So of course, I got on Amazon and ordered several more of her books. Guess it was too much, cause Roy and I had gone to Border's earlier to return his iPod case and get one that had a clip. Didn't buy one book. Tempted but did not give in there at Border's.

This was a very social weekend. A brunch on Saturday morning to wish Nicole a heartfelt goodbye as she and her family moves to Dallas. She has been Carolyn's right arm in Women's Ministry. That afternoon Wholehearted and Dayspring classes had an event. Shannon did two makeovers and gave us all kinds of great tips on makeup, clothes and trends. Then she brought the Word...she brought it good. Shannon, you are a powerhouse in the Word and thanks for sharing, teaching and proclaiming the Good News to us. Uh, on a personal note I need HELP with my brows.

Sunday was church and Pastor Gregg finished up Nehemiah. That afternoon we went to a fun birthday party for Oscar. Then I dropped Roy off to teach his evening class at church. I had planned on going out to Grace Methodist for their concert of praise and worship, but I had received a call from Dena asking if I could go eat dinner at Molina's. Since we have both been busy and not talked in two weeks, which is unusual for us, I opted for friendship time. We had a blast, ate great food and laughed heartily.

Oh, I found the perfect container at Starbucks for drinking my single serving Koolaid at the office. I still had two gift cards I had not used from Christmas. So I had a little Christmas in May.

Breakfast Readings

My next planned post was going to be about lunch with Lisa P, but what I read this morning while drinking my breakfast cocktail of MSM/Glucosamine/Chondroitin is just about making me want to be political. I read the editorial page about Jerry Falwell's death. To tell you the truth I don't know that much about the man except he had a TV show and a college. I cannot help it that while he was doing all things political for Christians was about the same time I could only concentrate on how much I worried about my hair. I missed all the Watergate coverage for the same reason...come on, I was graduating from high school and getting ready to go to Southwest Texas, which is now Texas State. I digress... anyway, I haven't given too much thought about Jerry's death other than thinking about the loss his family is feeling right now. That was until this morning when I read the editorial by Kathleen Parker, "With the passing of Falwell comes that famous peace." She begins by saying Jerry may have been a man of God to his 6.5 million followers but to others he was a charlatan, a huckster and a dangerous fool. Not nice I think, but continue on reading through most of the piece when I come across this quote. "In another time, Falwell and other televangelists would have remained on society's fringes, preaching from the street corners..Not long ago polite people in America didn't wear their religion as raiment. Educated Christians may have dressed up on Sundays and kept a Bible in the house, but otherwise they whispered prayers at bedside and wouldn't consider holding hands to bless food in a restaurant. It wasn't done." That just about made me spit my joint juice...and if you know how bad my knees hurt, you know this had to make me a wee bit steamed. Nah, I will be honest it made me mad! Like I said, I am not political, I don't follow elections, laws etc...but that is what "they" want us to be. Sunday attending, cafeteria following just to go home and take a nap until the next Sunday rolls around. "They" don't want anyone to have a real relationship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords...oh but if we do, just keep it to yourself and whisper that prayer in the evening. No offense to "them" but playing that game all through my childhood had a big part in why I lived so much of my early life screwed up! I wanted to love Jesus and hang with Him like the disciples did. I loved those stories of healing, miracles and the fact that a grownup actually wanted to hang out with kids and got miffed with those who were keeping us from Him. In my little heart I wanted to pray and talk to Him all the time and not just when as suggested by my parents after being punished, that I should ask Him to forgive me for being so bad. "They" want us to be like Ward and June Cleaver in our religion, but yet want us to up to date with iPods, plasma TV's DVR's and such. "They" want us to vote, keep our homes up for property values, and run along like a good little Christian. "They" want our money but not our religion, which Ms. Kathleen Parker is relationship...not religion. It seems to me that being so anti Christian is more a religion than being Baptist, Full Gospel, Presbyterian, or what other denomination or non denomination you would like to mention. I mean, the man died, his family is grieving, his church is grieving, and Liberty University is too...although it may be finals time. He spoke up and shook things up when everyone else was and it made some people angry cause it rocked the status quo. Maybe while he was marching with the Moral Majority, I should have too and I know everyone might have noticed how soft and manageable my hair was. I have no ending for this. I have no solution for this, but tonight and believe Ms Parker, I will be praying much more before bedtime, I will pray for you. That you experience God's New Mercies, by the way they are new every morning. My prayer will be for you to come to know Him and His saving grace. OK, I am not mad anymore...I vented...I feel tenderhearted and kindly toward Kathleen. Kathleen, you'll always be disappointed if you look to man and I really want to call you a sister in Christ, hey maybe we can even get together and have dinner. We'll pray, but we don't have to hold hands, well maybe not till our third dinner. You will probably want to comment on my hair, I've got that under control now.

Teen Girl Squad!!!!!

CourtneyS has introduced me to a lot of great things which includes TBD and homestarrunner.com. Don't get me wrong we have wonderfully deep conversations and my feelings would best be expressed in a song from back in the day VBS, Deep and Shallow. That is how our conversations go. I called her today after reading her newest post and it was better and easier to talk than type. CourtneyS said she had gone to homestar and watched an episode of Teen Girl Squad and of course we talked on and on about all things TGS. I have been singing the "fellowship the pants off this song" on issue 11. Tonight Roy even joined in, his part...the response of Lord No to the questions. It is silly humor at its best. It is brilliant in one of the early episodes about Brett Bretterson, the invisible boyfriend of So n So, is this a reference to Nancy Drew's boyfriend Ned Nickerson? I think so. When you need a dose of silliness TGS can fulfill that for you. I just wish I could remember all the lines to each and every memorable story.... like I love the mall, I wish it was my ringtone.

Thank you CourtneyS for introducing me to some of the finer things of life.

Enough silliness. After reading CourtneyS blog today I need to go start cleaning up a room. Chaos and things out of place don't always bother me, but it is now. Thanks so much Courtney! I met a possum....good for you.

Friday Happenins

This has been a tough week for a whole lot of reasons and how I wish I could blog through the issues and the trouble it has been, but I can't. Of this I am confident, the Lord is still on His throne and still in control of the universe and that includes the drama playing out in my little world. I am so happy that it is Friday and I'm off today. Praise Him!

Wednesday night was the COC meeting. I take the minutes of the meetings although sometimes it gets so interesting I am sitting there listening and not writing one thing down. When I first started taking the minutes I think I wrote down every cough and burp. Dewayne had two extra tickets to the Astros game for Thursday night and gave them to Roy and me. So, we went to the game last night. Dewayne has great seats in the View Terrace right behind home plate, but we got to be even closer to the action. About the 4th inning all went down to where CJ, Lisa and Joe sit on the first row right behind the Astros dugout. It was great to see the players that close. Hey, any time I can see Brad Ausmus that close is really a treat. We had a great time in spite of the fact the good guys lost in the 12th inning. Roy and I had to leave in the 11th inning because Roy had a morning of meetings on Friday. Last year we got to sit in the Diamond seats right behind home plate, but I did not pull out my cell phone and call anyone to say hey look, we are on TV.

I am waiting for Lisa P to send me the pics we took at lunch yesterday so I can post about that. It was CRAAAAAZY!!! We laughed so hard and so often there wasn't much time to catch a breath. We had planned on this lunch for over a week and it came at the right time. Let's just say Thursday in the office was one of those days...

Today after Mrs. Baker's I went to the real grocery store. Yes, I went to the Kroger's, but I didn't really come home with real groceries. Had Poweraid and Cranberry Light on sale. Got some snacks, fruit and yogurt. The timing was right, it was after lunch and before school lets out, so it wasn't terribly crowded. Buddy's taste in treats has changed so I picked up a couple of bags for her. All in all it was a good trip, but on Sunday I will be right back at the play grocery store. Lisa, I saw a box of Cafe Dumonde mix at my Kroger's too. Once we settle into June we can fry those babies up. Oops, I didn't get any powdered sugar today. We'll take pictures for sure and post them on our blogs.

It's Officially Summer

I saw my first Fern sighting today, so summer has begun. Fern is an older lady who lives here and hibernates all winter and comes out every summer and practically lives by the pool. Since we live close to the church I came home for lunch today and there she was sitting by the pool. I felt like I was on safari or something taking the picture. Unfortunately it was an overcast day and cooler than usual. So all you can see of Fern is her feet. She had a little lunch bag with her so she must have camped out there for the duration. Back in the day when I tanned is when I met Fern and the other ladies and some retired gentlemen who congregate at the pool each day. Fern and the other ladies buy romance novels and the like at Half Price books. If their toes twitched I knew they were reading the "hot" parts of the story. Some days every toe on every lady would be twitching ninety to nothing. Here I was out by the pool reading a Christian book and I would twitch my toes and they would ask, "girl what are you reading?" And I'd reply, "Oh, I am reading about God and His faithfulness and I can't sit still." After awhile they stopped asking. Anyway just in case you didn't know it is now officially summer!

I have found out that many of you all have book addictions too and it sounds like I am in good company. I am happy to report I made it through the day without buying a book...tempted but God provided a way out, Praise Him! We were so busy today that I didn't have the time to puruse or stroll through the bookstore. Your tithe dollars were really at work today.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for the comments.

Books, Books, and More Books

If I was Catholic right now I would be in the confession booth saying, "bless me father for I have sinned." It has been two days since I bought a book and gosh darn it, I bought three books today from the Garden Bookstore. I have no will power in this arena and I am becoming more and more convinced that it might be OK. So, I told you that I picked up a delivery from Amazon yesterday afternoon and left it on the table. I knew it was a book I had ordered for work and a Southern fiction read for me. After a while Roy says to me, "I am sorry I opened your box I thought those were the books I ordered." That is when I began my mantra, Roy we have to stop buying so many books! We can't go on buying books and then trying to find a place to keep them. Bookcases are full, nooks and crannies are full...the den/closet is looking more and more like a land locked book mobile. Come on...let's say it together NO MORE BOOKS!!!! for a while
Roy called me this morning on my way to church. Uh, Nancy, Amazon just sent an email that the book your ordered will be here on the 16th. Now, that was totally unfair because this was a book of essays on Harper Lee that I had ordered in March. In the middle of the morning Roy emails me to let me know he has ordered another book, but when I saw the title of Swaps, Hedges and Swaptions I knew it was work related. I didn't know that swaption was a word. What he didn't know is and this is going to sound like a familiar passage in Proverbs... I went to buy a Lime Diet Coke and passed by the bookstore and there calling to me in the hallway was a new book by Bill Hybels and another pretty red book was calling for me to come over and see. I went the way of the luggard (play on words of sluggard, but luggard is for lugging so many books around) and found another book inside on the shelf. I just got back from making a purchase of three new books. Should I be honest with Roy and tell him or if he asks later in the week are those new books, I can answer uh, they've been in my closet. Nah, I will tell him.

Yep, if I was Catholic and been to confessional the priest would tell me to do 3 Hail Marys, one Our Father and drop by the Cokesberry Bookstore to pick up the latest copy of his new book.

Last night as he was working on his Sunday School lesson for Sunday and I had retired to our bedroom with Buddy, Roy said, read something for fun tonight. I took his advice and read through a couple of New Yorkers that have been stacking up over the past few weeks. Buddy by my side, a single serving of sugar free Hawaiian Punch, some good magazines, and a loving and caring husband in his den/closet. Y'all God is so good!

Slap Ya Mama

When something is so delicious and you just fall into utter joy as the food you are eating melts in your mouth, say like white chocolate bread pudding, you slap the table several times and have to exclaim, "that was so good, it'll make you slap your mama!" To my great surprise there is a Cajun spice combination that is called by the same name. I found it while in Louisiana and I was compelled to buy several. Since I don't cook I haven't used any but how much fun after Mother's Day to have some slap ya mama spice in a post.

OK, I posted about my book addiction and the possibility of a fast. I need to work on that a little more. When Roy and I went to Border's on Saturday I didn't buy a book, what great will power but we stopped at Anthropologie on the way home and dang it, I bought a book. So I almost made it through the weekend. Today when I arrived home there was an Amazon package waiting for me. I am happy to report I haven't ordered a book today and I stayed away from the Garden Bookstore.

Got the best Mother's Day gift from Becky. 5 boxes of single serving Koolaid in assorted flavors. She wrapped each box, it was great fun and a wonderful way to begin the day. She surprised and delighted me.

Well, I have dinner to heat up. We are having chipolte meatloaf, grilled veggies and mashed potatoes, all fixed by the fine people at the play grocery store. Bless the hands that prepared the meal.

Happy Mother's Day

To all my friends who are moms, I wish for you a very special Mother's Day. This morning I visited The Bridge Class at 9:10. I totally loved my visit. The class was friendly and I guess it doesn't hurt that my boss is one of the teachers...but I think it would have been a warm and friendly class even if Jason wasn't one of the teachers. Paige read a verse in 3 John 4- I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. She said her father had written that verse to she and her 3 sisters and now it had even more meaning as she and Jason raise 3 boys. Side note- Preston, their youngest was baptised today. So I write this verse to encourage you all as you raise your children in the path of the Lord. Happy Mother's Day!

After church I ran by the play grocery store to buy dinner for tomorrow night and pick up yogurt for Roy. The lady behind the counter asked if I was a mom and I said well...not really but I did have some kiddos in the Lord. Kind of stunned she asked well do you have a cat or dog and I said yes we have Buddy our cat. So then the kind lady at the play grocery store wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I went right over to the pet aisle and got Buddy a new catnip toy and some treats.

On Friday I got the sweetest card from our adopted daughter Becky. God knew the timing was perfect. The words refreshed my spirit and then little happy tears came down my cheeks.

This year instead of giving books to every woman present at church, books were given just for the moms. There were some hurt feelings in the hallways and I did my best to assuage their hurt. I was even offered a book, but I gave my standard line. This is fun to do to watch peoples faces. In fact almost every Tuesday night at LProof Bible study I would go to the product tables and ask, is there anything here that does NOT include prayer? Women standing on either side of me are shocked, but they never say anything to me. The kind staff and volunteers at LProof just give me a look and then laugh with me. The book given away today is 'A Woman of Prayer.' So I just told them if prayer was involved, I just wasn't interested. Of course I really don't feel that way but sometimes I like to give what little energy I have left to amusing myself. Saying stuff like this totally amuses me. I am going to take a nap, got to go back to church tonight.

A More Excellent Way

Thanks for putting up with my slogging blogging of excellence. Last night I read these verses in Philippians 1:9-11. I read in several versions and the word best or excellence came up over and over. 9 And this is my prayer: I pray that your love will grow more and more. I pray that you will have better understanding and be wise in all things. 10 I pray that you will know what is the very best. I pray that you will be true and without blame until the day Christ comes again.
11 And I pray that you will be filled with the fruits of right living. These come from Jesus Christ, with honor and thanks to God. Excellence is always going to begin with God's love and walking in God's love. We need to pray for knowledge and understanding and like we studied in Proverbs this spring, GO GET WISDOM!!! With those godly qualities we will know excellence and what is best. We will be filled with the fruits of right living. It all comes from Jesus...and we give thanks to God. We are grateful and full of gratitude to Him whose Name is above every Name named. Gratitude is central to our pilgrimage of the faith. I love this quote by Erwin McManus, "A life of gratitude makes us Whole, overwhelms us with Love and moves us to Live generous lives." That is excellence. I have a co-worker who has excellence, effectiveness and efficiency defined all the same. She see the obvious, but doesn't see the big picture. She is like the disciples with the woman who had an issue of blood. Jesus knew someone had touched Him by faith not by crowd conditions. Peter answered the obvious and what I like to call the Sunday School answer...there are a lot of people Lord, many have touched you. In that scene of the woman and Jairus's daughter they were missing the excellence and desired to be efficient in getting the Lord to the house where the little girl was dying.
The poet Maya Angelou teaches a class at Wake Forest University. She devotes the first three weeks to everyone learning each other's names before studying African American Literature and tests the students on their ability to remember their classmates names before they move on. Eventually she will ask, "why do you think I took 20% of class time to know each other's names?" "Because your name is a sign of your dignity and when you recognize others by name it's not just as a human but as a person. One of the greatest ways to bestow dignity to a person is to call them by their name." Moses asked the name of the voice in the burning bush. God answered I AM. He is the God in the happenings, God is on the move, His presence known and alive and transforming. God, I AM, transformed Moses and the same powerful presence of God is transforming me. He, I AM, I AM doing, I AM here, I AM. God is not just a spectator in our lives, but He is moving. So, I have written all of this to say excellence... I'm still slogging through what it means for my life. When I walk in the excellencies of love then the overflow will come into my work life and my at home life. It will come in my marriage and it will come in my friendships. Excellence will be there when I love my enemies, when I rejoice with those rejoicing and weeping with those who weep. So, this is where I find myself tonight in the excellencies of God's never failing love. He is pruning me with His love.

Gots Me a New Red Purse

Last night Roy and I went out to dinner and then went to the new DSW by our home. We went with a 10.00 off coupon. Roy found a pair of walking shoes, size 13 narrow not always an easy find and I found this red purse. Actually as I look at this picture it kind of looks sad with an a frown, but I love it cause it has all the little pockets and places I need in a purse to be able to find my cell phone when it rings, church keys and house keys. Lisa reminded me last night that I am not a purse person. I usually get a purse and carry it till it dies. I hope this one has a long life with me.

Thursday night I was talking with someone about my lack of cooking. It isn't that I don't know how, it is I just don't care to anymore. I have taken tons of gourmet cooking classes, but I heard that most accidents that happen in the home happen in the kitchen. I am just assuring my safety by staying out of there as much as possible. Really when it is just the two of us it is about the same if I cooked. First of all we would have to lay out all kinds of money just to get staples that everyone keeps. A lot of nights we are both content to eat what most would call strange dinner. Just this week we enjoyed a delicious dinner of popcorn and watermelon. It was great and very little cleanup involved.

I think I need to join an addiction group for buying books. I love them and love having them all around. Roy is just as bad about ordering books from Amazon as I am so some weeks we have 3 deliveries from them. My mom asks if the lady downstairs knows how many books are above her head. Nope. We mainly have 3 varieties here, Christian, Southern fiction and technical books for Roy. It is too much. And Borders keeps sending me coupons and I feel the need to go and redeem them. Working at a church with a bookstore just downstairs is dangerous for me. Roy has made it so easy to order from Amazon with Amazon Prime, no shipping charges and we usually get the books in one to two days. We are going to have to stop with the books and read what we have. A couple of weeks ago we were going through books to give away and dang it if we didn't both stop and just start reading. Our den/closet looks like books have been thrown up all over the floor. Maybe we need to do a book fast. I will let you know if we decide to pursue that.

Yesterday I went to Walgreen's and they had single serving pouches of sugar free Hawaiian Punch and Wylers Orange Smash for a dollar a box. I went in for mayonnaise for my home grown tomato sandwiches I love. That is what I had for lunch. Why was I grocery shopping at Walgreen's, because it is close to the Tanglewood Pharmacy. Love to go in there and look at the gifts, but actually I went to get the new 41 cent stamps in the little post office in the store.

I have rambled on too long. Lisa is at the Encourager Church ministering and when she is done we are meeting at Memorial City for a bit.

I will post later on more thoughts on excellence. When in doubt go to the Word and the Lord did not disappoint me. It is like the song 'He's Never Failed Me, Yet.' Sounds like we are waiting for that one time that He will let us down. I think we should just cut off the yet and say nu-unh. Other musical pet peeve is the song How Great is Our God...then the next line is 'sing with me' OK I was singing with you. Now if he said, jump with me...I would (maybe) or shout with me...yep I would. So when we sing that song I don't sing that part or I don't start singing when the song starts and then when I hear 'sing with me' I do.

Oh the ADD is in high gear today. I love my new purse!

A Few Random Thoughts

Roy has entered into the wonderful world of iPod. This is so strange for us because he always knows way more than me about anything that has to do with computers. He got his iPod yesterday so last night after a delicious dinner at Sweet Tomatoes I began to tutor him. I hope I was kinder to him than he is to me when he is trying to help me in Excel. He not too patient. We have begun loading all his CD's which none of them are music, all teaching. He is coming along quite well but needed my help when I got home late this evening from a meeting at church. It is nice to be needed.

Koolaid comes in single servings now just like Crystal Light. I am thrilled and enjoyed a Tropical Fruit Koolaid Friday night. I love Koolaid in the summer.

Every year I know it is summer when Fern hits the pool at our condo. Fern is an older woman, retired who spends everyday at the pool when the sun is out. She had this little float she uses to prop her book on to read in the water. I think Fern hibernates all winter, you never see her, but come summer she is on the look out for passers by and a little conversation.

Buddy has been good this past week. She has not jumped on my head one time. My favorite thing to play with her now is with a laser pen. She will follow that red dot everywhere. It tires her out too. She is again getting into my closet in the mornings and carrying various articles of mine out to her food dish. That means she thinks those items belong to her. It is quite comical at times the things we find in the kitchen by her bowl.

Sweet Tomatoes is doing strawberry month and it is all good. They have even included strawberry topping for the ice cream. Next month is pineapple month...not a fan so we won't be there too often in June.

Jason, the minister I work with, spoke at Highpoint today. When I first began working for him, he was the speaker every week. I love to hear Jason teach, he is real and quite vulnerable. He taught on distractions and what keeps us from doing and being in the yes of God. OEG which stands for Official Episcopal Guy and that is the name I have given to Lee who works in the bookstore at church came with us. Roy works downtown so he was there. Great to have
lunch with my husband and with friends...and it was free for me. It's all good.

Well I better save some thoughts for another time. Roy is waiting for me to show him how to subscribe to podcasts.

More to follow!

Best Admins Ever!!!

You are looking at some of the hardest working and best Ministries Admins ever. Only one that is missing is Becky. She was in Las Vegas on vacation...so you know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. She was actually there attending a conference. I will take a picture and add her in the blog. From left to right this is Dana, Nikki, Sylvia, Jenel, Jessica and Shaun. We went to The Houstonian to celebrate Administrative Professional Day. When you come to Houston's First Baptist Church know that this these young women are a huge part of making ministries, ministers, directors and associates look good. They calendar rooms, do room set ups, research, create spread sheets, food service requests, and just about anything else that is done behind the scenes. It is my joy and privilege to work with them. They make me laugh, bring me joy, and keep me sharp. Jesus shines in each and every one. So I just thought I would introduce you to these young women. Got to tell you, I love them more than grits and I love grits!

Strange Conversations

Right before I left work today, Rae came in with a Maxine calendar tear off. It said,
Sometimes I have to wonder what it is about my face that apparently says, "we're stangers on an elevator...talk to me!"
When I think about it I have the kind of face that invites conversation at the grocery store. I must look like I know how to cook becasue I am asked my opinion all the time about the ripeness of bananas or cooking time of a roast.
Where are you when you have these kind of conversations?

A Night at The Nord

May 6, 2007 7:30 The place? The Nord. It was Nordstrom's customer appreciation night and we had a blast. Great band played throughout the evening. The only clinker is they sang the theme to the Love Boat. Food was fabulous and spending time with friends, priceless. We got our nails done, for free and picked up quite a few give aways throughout the store. What really makes the whole experience is friends. CourtneyS found a dress for a wedding she and Mike are attending. Lisa P was going from dept to dept finding frocks for her perusal and try on. Some found shoes, others clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, perfume and hair product. But in the midst of finding stuff, we always came back and found one another. We didn't have to weep with anyone weeping last night, but for sure there was a lot of rejoicing with those who rejoice cause they found what they had been looking for. I think those who don't know me very well think I like this night for the snob appeal it may have. No, I love this night cause it is girlfriend time and also for every dollar you spend on your Nord card you get ten points. It makes it much easier to get the $20.00 reward certificates. In past times Jennifer S, Pamela H, Lisa P and me have boogied down right there in the shoe dept and it didn't matter if anyone cared or not. Seems to me those that looked on might be a tad jealous to see us having so much fun. We have invited perfect strangers to get up dance with us. Some take us up others walk away quickly. At one event we all had our brows done by Christi Harris of Christi Harris in Dallas. I think she was doing some mercy plucking and shaping cause she thought each and everyone of us were in a bad way brow wise. Sometimes Peggy comes to these nights and the fun takes it up a notch. She is usually buying Reefs for someone who doesn't know the comfort of that flip flop or in the toddler dept buying clothes for the grand kids. The majority celebrating the evening are girlfriends. There is a smattering of husbands or boyfriends with some. I am glad Roy doesn't have a care to come to this night. He would quench my spirit. After all these years he doesn't understand window shopping. Why would I try on clothes and shoes I can't afford or want to buy? It is the fun of it all. The best fun is what Lisa calls the fun of the hunt. Finding something on sale and it looks good on ya. Many think you have bad self esteem when someone gives a compliment and the reply is, "I got this for $10.00 and the original price was $90.00. Girl, I am bragging and want all to know the hunt was successful. The next Nord night will be in December. I can't wait!

Aned is Dena spelled backwards

This is my friend Dena. She and I went to lunch at Collina's. She is enjoying a delicious lemon square. They are awesome! It was break time for both of us from working on our Sunday School lessons. While we were in the Heights for lunch we also participated in First Saturday in the Heights. Artists etc have an area where they sell jewelry, art, and all kinds of junk. Dena found some earrings and I found some bracelets. It was a good day. We kept our eye on the clock because Dena wanted to watch all the coverage of the Kentucky Derby. This is my friend who gave me the cool pen which I LOVE!!! Sounds like everyone at the Offshore Technology Conference loved those pens as well. There is nary a one left. Dena is my friend who I love to go eat dinner with. She and I do some creative sharing of meals. See my blog on Foodies. She is also my friend who wrote my mission statement for me. I struggled with doing that. You see, Roy is a plan man. So of course after we have been married a few months he asks me, "what are your goals?" Don't get me wrong, I had them but I was not used to telling anyone, so I thought of the most shallow goals I could think of...to have fun, to be popular and to have lots of money. I have found through the years that these goals could be turned into my mission statement in a pinch. I would just say the above and then get the serious look and say Jeremiah 29:11. So thanks to Dena I now have a mission statement that doesn't have anything to do with the above. I am so thankful she did that for me. We can laugh at anything and there are mascara stained napkins across this town where we, but especially Dena has wiped her eyes as we have laughed so hard, only because it is good medicine. Goode Company Seafood changed to black napkins because of us. There are so many other things I could share with you about my friend, but that will have to wait. I can tell you this, we are opposites and she is a good time mapper. Oh and she loves the Nord too. She's just a little more subdued about it.

Such a nice day

This has been such a relaxing day. I had a 10:00 am appointment at the Laura Mercier counter at the Nord. I thought I was going just to have my brows done, but I got the summer look. Over the past year I have almost exclusively gone with Laura Mercier product, but of course since my last make-over everything I am using is totally wrong for me. Hmmm... isn't that interesting. But it was not time wasted got the make-over and I told the makeup artist I am waiting till Sunday night to buy all this because Sunday night is the customer appreciation event where you get 10 points for every dollar you spend on your Nord card. Believe me, I am not going to buy everything she highlighted on my evaluation. Then I went to the Bistro for lunch. I had the crab cake entree complete with asparagus tempura, grilled tomato and a little salad. Great lunch. Then I went to Macy's and Urban Outfitters where I found a few things. At 1:30 I returned to the Nord for my massage appointment with Stacy. Can I tell you I am feeling really, really good. She hit all those tight spots in my neck and shoulders. Just spending this time by myself eating lunch and walking through the mall was relaxing and I was able to go through my notes from our staff retreat. I am hung up on excellence. It is such a broad topic and excellence means different things to everyone. The definition of excellence for us is going beyond the normal. Operating in how we are designed not in a default mode. To surpass expectations and basic functions. I understand that in our work and jobs, but I keep thinking through how does excellence play out in our daily life...not our work life? How can I be excellent? I saw as a child how excellence stopped at 5:00 pm or quitting time. Now as an adult I know so many whose excellent lives stop once they leave their jobs. Excellence in their relationships or lives outside of work is relegated to the last of doing life well . We miss out on so much. Once I asked God why we won't live in our moments or do things out of the ordinary, why the rote and task oriented life. He answered, "well, it is y'alls loss." I do not want to be like that. How do I prepare for those moments of everyday living to be excellent, effective and godly? I am just thinking this through. The end of I Corinthians 12 says, I will show you a more excellent way. Of course that is love. We didn't discuss the excellencies of love at the retreat. This thought moves right into what Courtney schislablog.blogspot.com has been writing about, the truth. Not using words like fine when asked how we are. I am thinking of not using the word nice or good as a descriptive of others or myself. Those are both four letter words that don't say anything. Be nice, play nice, stay nice...be good and stay good, I want there to be more depth than just these abstract words that don't say anything to my life and the lives of those who I know and love. Hmm... the massage must have stirred up some deep thoughts. Roy is home and in a little bit think we will go out to dinner and then....Target. I love that store too, but not as much as the Nord.

Home from the newly named Artisan Lakes

We are back from staff retreat at Chain O Lakes, but beginning today the new name is Artisan Lakes. I am not too sure but alligators and artisan don't seem to mix. Alligators were all the rage for watching. Last night one camped under my room in our cabin built over a lake and rumbled and moaned looking for a female alligator for mating all night long. Those mating calls came in groups of 4 to 6 sounds. Once I heard only one rumble and of course I began to worry that something might be wrong with Alfred Alligator. You might be asking how do I know this info? I used to go bike riding on the trails at Brazos Bend State Park and the park rangers are a source of info when it came to all things alligators. When I finally decided to retire for the night, I had my iPod and I turned off the light. Wow, it was totally dark except for the alarm clock. Hmmm....too much darkness for all the sounds I was hearing or at least thought I was hearing. So, the bedside lamp stayed on all night. I awoke every hour just to see if I was asleep.

The material presented has given me much to pray about and think through. The Lord used it on many different levels. I need more time to process and download before I blog about it. I can tell you about game night. Played a mini round of Trivial Pursuit and then several hands of Uno. It has been a long time since I have played either game. When Jerrell played Uno with us it was fast and furious. His ADD and mine were on point. Steven decided he had been infected with ADD after we played. It was fun and we played several more rounds after Jerrell left.

I think these times spent with co-workers bond us together on a deeper level. I come home with a deeper appreciation and love for those I serve with. That is why I missed Courtney and Michelle and all the good laughs and times we had.

Roy said he was going to take Buddy to the Post Oak Grill last night. I told him he better dress her up cause he said he was going to have Buddy wear a tie. I reminded him that Buddy is a girl, so he said he would put a girdle on her. They didn't have that date, Roy got home too late. Buddy gave me a warm welcome home. She and I are inseparable right now. She is sitting by my foot.

When this alligator was sunning I asked several to go over and have their picture taken and no one was interested. Some see an alligator, I see shoes and a purse for me and a belt and wallet for Roy.

Chain O Lakes

Greetings from beautiful Chain O' Lakes right outside of Cleavland Texas. The day and evening activities are over and it is time for sleep. Probably not too much sleeping will be happening in our cabin tonight. We are over the water and can hear the mating call of the male alligator. It is a deep humming and rumbling sound. The roaches are as big as a Yorkie, but we are undaunted. I just went through our place and read Psalm 91. I don't care that most say pestilence is disease, I think that word includes bugs and any other creature that might come our way. Glad I brought my old iPod cause I will probably listen to all the sessions of Daniel tonight. Hey, I got the time...and the Word to keep my company. My housemates are new Courtney, Carolyn and Jenea. We have had a good day. The speakers are good and the topics interesting and game night was alright. We have played hard and laughed even harder. I will be glad to get back to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I had contemplated staying a little bit and taking in creation, but I think the city is where Lord dwells unless you have a lake house in Tahoe or a home in the country. Let's face it in deep east Texas a lot of people lie through their tooth...not through their teeth. I hear the mating call again of that lonesome male alligator. Probably his honey has just told him not tonight dear, I have a headache.