Down the Garden Path

flowery path 

In the winter of 1998, Gary ordered wildflower seeds over the internet and planted them in the strip of dirt between the sidewalk and the street in front of our house. The first spring they bloomed in an almost embarrassing flurry of showing off; cars would slow down as they passed by and people out for a Sunday stroll would stop and ask if they could take their family pictures in front of them. I think we counted 20 different species of wildflowers that came up that spring.

In the years intervening, we've gotten to observe the process of ecological succession as the dominant flowers (daisies and Mexican Hats) have crowded out others (poppies and toadflax). My husband was so taken with this process that he actually kept a spreadsheet for several years recording which species bloomed each year. (That makes him sound obsessive, doesn't it? Well, he is a scientist at heart :-) ) I have had to remind him (I also wanted to be a scientist when I grew up, but, alas...) that he is not an unbiased observer of this flower garden since he can often be found watering, and pulling out overly aggressive bunches, and even weeding it. Like you could actually weed a wildflower patch...they're all weeds!

On another topic, Rachel's solo student teaching continues to go well, though she is getting exhausted. She had two evaluations today, one by the supervising teacher and one by her professor. She didn't get a perfect evaluation, but her prof said she had improved a lot since the last evaluation. She brought home 6 stacks of papers to grade tonight, and she needs to do planning for next week, etc, etc. I hope she gets some sleep so she doesn't get sick. Keep praying for her.

Discretionary Spending

Sometimes we missionaries feel like we don't have enough money. But then other times, we are pleasantly surprised with more money than we "need," arriving unexpectedly from unexpected places. That happened to us three times recently. For example, today a check came labeled "discretionary." Isn't that a nice word? So I spent some of it discretionarily--including a ticket to go see my baby in Washington DC for a quick weekend trip in early May.

We also give thanks to God for providing for the last of Rachel's two college payments.

Speaking of Rachel, she did pretty well on her first day of solo teaching, but sounded near panic when she went on to describe all the other stuff she has to get done. I assured her I and others would keep praying for her.

Graduation Photos

Bluebonnets 

Rachel came home from college this past weekend. We expect this will be her last visit home until she graduates in just under four weeks. (Wow, I'm so excited that she is going to make it!) Anyway, we decided to try to take some photos to put with the graduation announcements. We tried the traditional photo in the bluebonnets. (This time of year you can see cars illegally parked along the freeway so people can take photos of their kids in the flowers. The police don't seem to mind.) But when we tried it, we didn't have much luck--wind blowing hair in her face, too much sun causing shadows, and squinting. Oh well, nice idea.

So next we went over to the park and found a shaded area in the scrub trees. That seemed to work a little better. Now I've got to somehow get one of the photos into her announcements.

Please pray for Rachel if you think of her these next two weeks when she will be doing solo student teaching.


trees 

Empty

frig 

My hungry and long-suffering husband suggested I go to the grocery store today.

"Fee e fii."

In case you don't speak To'abaita, the title says, "Fees hurt." I remember that sentence from the Solomon Islands language we learned so many years ago, because it was the one and only time I made a joke in a foreign language and somebody actually got it. The To'abaita word fii means 'pain'. (That morpheme is actually part of another word, fiito'ona, which means "faith," a word we anglicized to use as a middle name for our daughter who was born there.) Anyway, back to my story--the people in the Solomon Islands have problems similar to mine--finding enough money to pay the fees for their kids to go to school. So it was a pun to say "Fees are painful" since the word for pain sounded like "fee."

So why on earth am I talking about this today? Well, we are just about to finish eight years of paying college bills. The last kid (Fitona) will soon graduate, and we only have two more payments to make to her college. I've been worrying/praying about how we could make these last two payments, and the Lord has recently answered that prayer by a couple unexpected generous donations to us. We thank him for that.

Then today I got a handwritten letter from someone in the Solomon Islands asking me for money for someone else's kid to continue their college education. This is a family we have known for over 20 years, and in the past have helped to pay the fees so their children could attend secondary school.

So did God give me extra money to pay my kid's college bill, or their kid's college bill? Probably both.

"Mom, I'm So Twitterpated."

The phone rang. It was son number two. Giggling.

"David, are you OK? What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing's wroooooong. (giggle)"
"Where are you?"
"I'm walking home from walking her home."
"Her? Who's her?"
"She just lives around the corner from me. You'd like her, mom, I know you would. We just had a DTR."
"Wait. When did you meet her? You can't be having a DTR already."
"Well, the first time was about 10 days ago."
"10 days?!! And this DTR--what did you say and what did she say?"
"Well, (giggle) there was a lot of ums, well, you knows, and sighing."
"David! You sound like you're in 9th grade again."
"I know. Isn't it great?"
"What's her name?"
"Laurie."
"You can't marry her. Andrew's girlfriend is Laura. We can't have too many of the same name."
"No, not Laurie--Lori."
"Oh, well, in that case..."
"Mom, guess what we did on our first date?"
"What?"
"We talked about how we liked our moms. (giggle)"
"Oh, well, in that case..."

Time for the Times

Today I left work early so I could come home a blitz-clean my house and bathroom and then make homemade pizza. Our lunch guest was a freelance journalist here to interview people, including the Executive Editor, for an article he is writing for the NYTimes about the Ethnologue. We're hoping he writes a complimentary article, which I'm sure he would have done even without the pizza.

Unknown Prayers

A few days ago my boss sent out a little memo where he talked about how hard it is to pray the "right" way. He pointed out, and I completely agree, that it is too easy to be shallow, distracted, and just plain selfish when we pray. But he reminded us that God has a solution to that problem: The Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:26-27 says:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

True enough, we are often incapable or unwilling to pray the right way; but, thanks be to God, we've got Someone to do it for us--the Holy Spirit who really does know the right way to pray. He never has doubts like we do about what really is the will of God, so he always prays correctly, even if we are floundering.

I am taking strength in these verses. There is a situation in my life that I just plain don't know how to pray for. Sometimes I feel one way about the situation and other times I feel quite differently. So relying on my feelings doesn't seem to be a very good guide for prayer. I am encouraged that the Holy Spirit is praying with me, no--He's actually praying for me--both on my behalf and in my place. I don't always know what He is praying, but I know it is in God's will, so I can rest in that.

Frozen shoulder

Here it is getting nice and warm, and the doctor told Gary today he has a frozen shoulder. He finally went to the clinic today for an injury done 6 months ago. He decided it was time to do something about it since he is no longer able to lift his left arm above chest level. He knows he hurt the arm way back in September when he was trimming trees, but kept hoping it would just get better on its on. The doctor prescribed either applying heat and slowly moving it more and more each day, or go to a physical therapist for $75/hour. The visit to the dr. was also a time to tell the dr. about David's plans for med school. David shadowed this dr. last summer for a while to see if he could handle the blood and guts part of medicine.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Fuzzy 

Even the friendly caterpillars are bigger here.

And speaking of Texas, the Rangers stated their season tonight. I should go to bed, but I want to know if they're going to win.

Today at Church

I was happy

• to hear a 10-year old ask for prayer for a Jehovah's Witness friend.
• to see all the fathers holding their children.
• to hear of a newly adopted child excited because she gets to have cake at her 9th birthday later this week.
• to hear an older man give thanks for his wife of 44 years as they celebrated their anniversary today.
• to sing, though some of it wasn't my favorite music.

I was sad to hear more details of the murders of a missionary couple in South America. They were close friends of some folks at church. The FBI is investigating.

We didn't get to stay for the sermon; off to the airport again.

Another Family Update

Gary isn't scheduled to fly back from San Francisco until tonight but he said he might try to get on an earlier flight. I should mow the lawn--but isn't that supposed to be his job?

I got a good email from Andrew this morning. He has been working with a person from USAID in their AIDS/HIV section to make some progress on his project. He said he has been looking for new office space and a house to live in (he's been in a hotel kind of arrangement for all these months). He said last night the Leipizig Youth Sypmhony was in Addis and played for the 100 year anniversary of Ethiopia and German diplomatic relations. There was an Ethiopian piano player who played with them, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Reports from Rachel and her student teaching continue to be good. Of course, it will get harder when she has to actually be in charge for two weeks, so keep praying for her. She is starting to think about a job for next year. It is kind of complicated because she won't have any certification until June, and then she won't have a Texas certification until sometime after that, but the Texas teacher job fairs are in April and May and is really too busy and it is too hard for her to get here for them. Pray she will have clear guidance in thinking about a job.

David called a couple times this week and you won't believe what he is thinking about doing--buying a house! Apparently some of the realtors in Houston work with MD and MD/PhD students to sell them condos or small houses. Of course, he has no downpayment money and we have none to lend him (though the realtor told him often parents help with the down payment). So he is investigating what he might be able to do with no or tiny down payment. It may not be possible, but I told him to go for it if he can, since he would be paying a lot of rent over the next 7 years.

My mom now has tickets to Dallas in May. She is coming for two weeks over the time of Rachel's graduation. And cousin April plans to pass through Dallas then too--she's going to be a camp counselor at a camp near Austin for the summer. It will be nice to see her.

How Much is a Missionary Worth?

Today I filled out the annual paperwork that determines how much money we are "supposed" to get for our income. This a a complicated, 4-page form that includes information on how much we need to live on in the areas of housing, transporation, insurance, taxes (including 15% SS taxes), ministry expenses, and children as well as a few other things. We all know that children are expensive, and now that mine are (almost) all grown up, we no longer include them on this form. Once the math was done the form said that up through May 31 our family needs $72,000 per year to live on, but starting June 1st, we will need $35,000 to live on. Wow, those kids eat a lot!

Truth be told, this annual form serves as a way for us to estimate our expenses, but other than that, it has little bearing on reality.

Today I'm sad to hear this news of our colleagues. I didn't know them personally, but I expect they were worth a lot.

Update on the Kids

No new birds to report on today, so I'll give a chickadee report.

Andrew is doing well in Ethiopia. He was recently struggling with some roadblocks, and though they haven't been resolved entirely, he has found new freedom in finding ways to solve the problems, so that is encouraging him to carry on. He said they are looking at new office space, and he recently interviewed someone who will work for him. He is still selling baseball and U2 tickets on ebay like a crazy man, and I'm mailing them out for him, like an even crazier woman.

Rachel continues to like her 2nd grade class. It is so nice to see her really enjoying her student teaching. She is starting to prepare for the two weeks where she will be in charge of the entire class by herself. She also sent me email today saying she really liked the CD I bought for her for Easter, Casting Crowns . My favorite song on it is "The Voice of Truth."

I had a nice chat with David tonight. He took half a day off work and visited with some of the Taylor band who were in town on spring tour. He got to see a couple of the people he went to Ireland with. He also said he bought an espresso machine off of eBay, so now he doesn't have to pay $3 a cup at Starbucks.

Lord, they are all a joy and a blessing to me. I thank you for them.

Crow

Crow 

Crows are not beautiful and they don't come to my feeder very often, but one was there today.

Does anyone want to live next to me? Our neighbors have decided to move to Kansas and asked if we know anyone who wants to buy a house. It is an older house, but the neighbors are great :-)

Easter

Easter Dinner

Easter was a blessed day, starting with the Easter Song by the 2nd Chapter of Acts, followed by a good church service where the pastor baptized his own teenaged daughter, followed by a nice dinner with friends.

It was nice having Rachel home again. She flew both ways and was delayed both flights, but we chalk it up to her education in how life works.

Good Friday

We don't have to work today. That is nice, but I have a big thing due at noon on Monday, so I'll probably be sorry I didn't work today. Last year on Good Friday, I went to see The Passion of the Christ. When we got home, I learned that my grandmother had passed away. I still miss her.

I had a little conversation with myself about what would be good or appropriate to do on Good Friday. I decided I would read, and pray, and clean. And talk to my friends on my favorite forum. But I think I got one of them mad at me, so maybe I should have just stuck to reading, praying, and cleaning.

As part of cleaning, I washed my van. Mostly to get the bird doodoo off of it. But I didn't wash the roof. I couldn't reach it and the birds will just mess it up again soon anyway. I also washed our comforter so I can pack it away for the summer. It was still covered with cat hair when it came out of the washing machine, but at least it was clean cat hair.

Gary somehow got to thinking about his old baseball cards today, so I dug those out for him. He has a 1963 Mickey Mantle. And a bunch of others. I suppose one day Andrew will get these.

Rachel called me yesterday with a burst of grand talk about how she had just found direction for her life and she knew what job she wanted to immediately apply for. This came after a discussion with her supervising teacher about what being a school teacher is really like and what Rachel's strengths and weaknesses are. It was good to hear her taking initiative. Lord, guide her to the job you have for her.

Then several hours later she called sounding overwhelmed with too much to do and not enough time to do it. Lord, help her to know how to use her time wisely.

David called yesterday while working on his taxes. I think this is the first time he's had to do them himself and he was finding it harder than expected, due to the odd way he gets paid from NIH. Speaking of taxes, we just got our refund. Yay! Now there is enough money for Rachel's antepenultimate college payment.

Ethnologue: the book

Ethnologue

We've been waiting for this day for a while now; the 15th edition of the Ethnologue - Languages of the World was unveiled today. We had a little ceremony where everyone whose name was on the credits' page was given their own copy. Gary's title in this effort is Executive Editor. That means he didn't do the nit-picking work of gathering the data about the languages of the world, but he did have the Herculean task of getting all those people to work together to end up with a professional product. And his job isn't over yet; in a couple weeks I hope to have another blog entry called Ethnologue: the website.


Here are some of the facts in and about the Ethnologue:

• The book weighs nearly 5 pounds, has 1272 pages, and is hard-bound.
  
• It is printed on acid-free, thin yet opaque paper.
• It includes 208 color language maps.
• It is an encyclopedic reference volume cataloguing all of the world's 6,912 known languages.
• It includes population estimates for each of those language groups.
• It gives alternate names and dialect names.
  
• It gives information about multilingualism, availability of literature, geographic and other information about each language.
• It includes statistical summaries by world area, language size, and language family.
• It gives a genetic classification of each language (that is, how it is related to other language).

And here are some things that the Ethnologue isn't:

• perfect - although more than 50,000 updates and corrections have been made since the 14th edition, the editors have no illusion that it is complete nor entirely correct. In the informative introduction there are instructions on how to send in corrections.
• finished - The total number of languages is 103 more than in the 14th edition. This is not because 103 languages have just been found, but rather had been previously considered dialects of another language. Language is constantly changing, so the Ethnologue will continue to catalogue those changes.
  
• a one-man job - As you might imagine, this massive amount of detail has been collected from many, many sources and it has taken the work of many people to organize, verify, and present the data.

One more item of note: The Ethnologue is the first major publication to make use of ISO/DIS 639-3 -- the new, comprehensive draft international standard for three-letter identifiers. The previous standard had about 400; now it has 7000 so every language in the word can be identified uniquely.

This big, fat book costs about $80. Mostly it will be linguists and academic libraries buying the book because SIL International puts the whole thing for free on the web. The website for the 15th edition is coming soon.

Thank the Lord with us for this reference volume that will be used by missionaries of many stripes, as well as academics.



Gary with his copy

Off to a Good Start

Rachel started her second rotation of student teaching this morning, 2nd grade a Bethany Public School. And an early start it was, at 7:30am. At our staff meeting this morning we prayed for Rachel, that she would get off to a good start in her new student teaching assignment. I thank the Lord for answering these prayers, as evidenced by this email which I just received from her a few minutes ago:

Hi Mom,
I am extremely exhausted, and because of that I won't write much. My teacher let me out really late, so I practically had to go straight from school to class, so I haven't had a break since 6:30 this morning.
I think I am going to REALLY like this class and really find that I'll be able to succeed. The kids are WONDERFUL, and my teacher is so helpful. The kids are so well behaved except that one kid who is SED. And actually, he was really good today which was really neat to see his social progress. Anyways, I think that is all I have to say for now. One kid said, "Mrs. Simons, I think you'll make a really good teacher" to me and I hardly did anything today! So that is encouraging.
Love,
Rachel

Love Lost and Found

"I guess for a long time I thought she and I were just friends, but by the end of the relationship I had realized I loved her all along. I think that was the real reason I never dated much when I was younger."

Someone recently sent me the above email. For a while it made me sad. But more than 30 years ago I learned that if the one you love marries someone else, the Lord in his graciousness can bring a new love into your heart.

Bradford Pear

Bradford Pear blossoms 

Our neighborhood has several Bradford Pear trees in it. They are a showy white for just a few days, then the leaves quickly replace the blossoms. When fully leafed out, these trees have the classical "lollipop" shape. I'm not sure why they are called "Pear" trees, because I don't think there is any fruit involved.

The wildflowers are starting to show their faces. I'm going to have to start blogging about them.


Bradford Pear tree 

World Almanac

World Almanac 

The Ethnologue still is in hiding, but this book has recently been published and it contains some Ethnologue data. The World Almanac contacted us get the latest and greatest information on the languages of the world that have 2 million or more speakers.


Inside 

Doctor, Doctor! I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

David phoned today with some really good news. Not only has he been accepted into the M.D./Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine (also known as the Medical Scientist Training Program), he has been granted all tuition paid, health insurance, and $23,000 per year stipend for the entire program. Just think--in a mere 6 or 7 years, he will be Dr. Dr. Simons.

In other news, in the mail today arrived four tickets to a U2 concert in Paris, 58.20 euros each. I wonder how much they will sell for on eBay?

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse 

I know, this really isn't a very good photo. But it is hard to get these skittish birds to hold still long enough for me to make a good shot.

Rumor has it that a few advance copies of theEthnologue have arrived on campus, but are being kept under wraps until a formal unveiling in another week. Soon we get to see the results of all that editing. I'll be sure to blog about that when it happens.

It is nice having Rachel home for spring break. She worked at the Center yesterday and today to complete some required community service hours for one of her classes. She has a couple little papers to write, but no big assignments due like past spring breaks, which is nice. Today she made cheese broccoli soup which tasted pretty good.

Fingerprints

Bethany Police station 

I drove up to Oklahoma City yesterday to pick Rachel up for her last spring break! Wow, she's been doing this for five years, and soon she will graduate, Lord willing. As soon as she finished her last class, we drove to the police station where she got fingerprinted--the next step in a long list of things she has to do to get her teaching license. Using the two sets of fingerprints, a criminal background search will be done by both the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. At her expense, of course.


Mug shot 

Happy 21st Birthday, David

Happy Birthday, David 

We are celebrating David's birthday tonight. Only problem, David isn't here to celebrate with us. But that didn't stop us from going to Baskin and Robbins and buying this ice cream cake. David, we're sorry we can't have you here with us.

But I know he's not exactly missing us tonight. He is spending the weekend in Houston being wined and dined by the Baylor College of Medicine. He was picked up at the airport by a limo (wow, this is just like prom!) then taken to a nice hotel. During the day today he interviewed with seven faculty members about how he might fit into medical research in their MD/PhD program (otherwise known as a Medical Scientist Training Program. He has been officially accepted into both the PhD and the MD programs, and the interviews this weekend will determine how much funding he will get (the difference between "you pay them" and "they pay you").

Speaking of wining, David told me on the phone this afternoon that someone figured out it was his birthday today, and his 21st birthday at that. The group sang to him and then he said 7 or 8 people offered to buy him a drink tonight, now that he's 21. He said he might try something if it had lots of sugar and fruit in it, because he thought wine smelled like cat pee. I told him, "Now just because you're 21 doesn't mean you have to give in to peer pressure." He replied, "Mom, if I were giving in to peer pressure, I would have tried something a long time ago."

Red Bud Tree

Red bud 

Dallas really isn't all that beautiful of a place to live. In fact, some would say it is downright ugly. And I'd agree, if it weren't that we have the best springs here. I love the wildflowers, which are just barely starting now. I'm going to see if my camera will take good wildflower photos, maybe better than my bird photos.

Today's photo isn't a wildflower, it is a budding tree and it is gorgeous. We have two or three along our street, slightly different colors.


Red Bud tree 

Any other news for the day? Not much. Rachel called today with worries about how she was going to make it to the police station--she is wanted for fingerprinting. (That's just the next step toward getting her teaching license. After that comes the FBI background check.)

I also baked homemade cookies tonight so I could send them to my baby who turns 21 this weekend. But I made a double batch so there will be some for Rachel and her friends this weekend when she comes home for spring break.

Speaking of my baby, he has a big interview this weekend to see if he can get into the Ph.D. part of the Ph.D./M.D. program at Baylor. It is the difference between "you pay them" and "they pay you." Pray for him if the Lord brings him to mind.

The Mind of a 5 Year Old

I'm happy to report that Rachel ended her student teaching in Kindergarten on a positive note. I enjoyed hearing her stories the last six weeks of the funny things that happened to her, most of which had nothing to do with teaching. Here are some examples:

Rachel: I got some nice gifts from my students when I finished student teaching.
Me: What did you get?
Rachel: An apron that is decorated with a cloth flower pot and flower petals which are the thumbprint of all the students.
Me: Cool.
Rachel: Yes it is. But I'll never use it. I'll just hang it on the wall for decoration.
Me: What else?
Rachel: A really ugly charm bracelet with school-themed charms. I'll never wear it, I'll just put it on the wall for decoration.
Me: What else?
Rachel: Kids' books. I'll use those.

Rachel: Mom, today one of the little boys unzipped the dress of one of the little girls.
Me, rather shocked: Whoa! What did you do?
Rachel: Well, I zipped it back up, of course.

Rachel: Today one of the kids hit me, and it really hurt.
Me: Did you hit him back?
Rachel: Of course not, do you want me to be arrested for child abuse?

Rachel: Today I got graded on how well I dressed for teaching.
Me: How did you do?
Rachel: Well, the teacher liked my new suit, but she said she couldn't give me full credit.
Me: Why's that?
Rachel: When I squated down to help a student the top of my underwear showed. I should have worn bikinis.

Rachel: But that's not as bad as what happened to this other student teacher.
Me: What's that?
Rachel: She leaned over a student and the kid asked her why her lungs were falling out.

We All Survived

Early this morning I heard a thud on the sliding glass door in the kitchen. One of my feathered friends was trying to get into my house and knocked himself silly. At first I thought he had killed himself, since he lay there on the deck with his head bent funny and not moving. In two or three minutes he stood up, and ten minutes later, flew away when I opened the door. I was glad he survived, so I didn't have to perform an avian mercy killing.

Speaking of birds, the blue parakeet was around quite a bit this afternoon again.

I'm still not completely over the cold or flu that got me this week, but I'll survive. I've not gone walking since I got sick.

David called to say that he donated blood for the first time today. Then he promptly fainted when it was over. But the nice nurses clucked over him and gave him food and OJ, so he survived.

Today was Rachel's last day as a student teacher in Kindergarten. I hope she calls me this weekend to tell me that she survived. She has next week of professional seminar, then spring break. On March 21 she starts her 2nd grade rotation. It will be nice to have her home for spring break. She will be graduating in no time. In fact, today I booked a hotel for us to stay in when we go to OKC for her graduation on May 14.

Sick, but Not that Sick

I've been sick since Monday night, I think with the flu. I slept so much yesterday that when I woke up this morning, I thought it was Friday. Today I'm feeling somewhat better, and I did go to work this morning. In spite of being sick, I drove myself to Baylor hospital yesterday for a follow up mammogram, which turned out to be completely negative. Thank you, Lord. Flu, of course, is nothing compared to breast cancer.

Interloper

Parakeet 

My feeder is for wild birds, but this parakeet showed up from somebody's birdcage. Actually, my bird book says sometimes tropical bird escapees find each other and start little foreigner flocks. I remember a few years ago seeing a small flock of parrots near our church in Dallas. A couple years ago I had a strange experience with a white dove. It was hot and dry summertime, and I was out watering the yard with a hose, and suddenly there was a white dove playing in the shower. For ever such a fleeting moment, I thought it was the Holy Spirit coming to visit me in a special way! I couldn't touch it, but it was somewhat tame. It flew just a few feet away and waited until I turned the water back on. I did a little research on the internet and learned it must have been one of those semi-trained white doves that they sometimes release at weddings. They usually fly back to their owner.

Off to Miami

Lunch with Teen Mania interns

Gary and I attended Sunday School today, but left church early so we could fix a meal for the Teen Mania interns before they left for the next Acquire the Fire in Miami. We got them to Reunion Arena by 2pm.


Thank you

Clothes

Tonight we attended a talent show at church. Most of the acts were cute or funny, and we really do have some talented people there. But the song that I came home with was performed by three sweet pre-teenage girls, whose voices have not really fully developed yet, but their presentation of this particular song was poignant. They were all wearing red shirts that weren't too tight.

"Clothes"
by Barlow Girl

Clothes aren't what they used to be
They don't seem to fit you and me anymore
Modesty is the door
Flaunting what we've got and more is in
Yeah it's in

They're saying
Don't ask why just wear what we say
You'll look like a model if you'll only obey
To get the attention, just do what we say

Pay so much for clothes so small
Was that shirt made for me or my doll?
Is this all I get?
I looked so hot but caught a cold
I was doing just what I was told
To fit in

We're saying let's ask why
Don't wear what they say
Don't want to be a model
They can't eat anyway
That kind of attention will fade with the day

Clothes that fit are fine
Won't show what's mine
Don't change my mind
I'll be fine

Overrun with Pretty Girls

Teen Mania interns 

Last night we had these four lovely ladies come to stay with us for four days. They are interns with Teen Mania, a Christian group that sends young people out on short term mission trips. They are in Dallas this weekend for an event called Acquire the Fire which is a weekend-long event including Christian bands, speakers, and corporate worship. In a loud way.

The MKs in our community attend most every year and several of them go on the summer trips. Our daughter took one of these summer trips to Venezuela while she was in HS.

I wondered if our facilities were adequate for these girls, but after they told me they actually live on a tour bus, I decided our place must seem palatial. We are to provide a place for them to sleep and breakfast in the morning. Turns out they needed a washing machine and internet access too, but we've got plenty of that too.

Today I got a call saying a 5th girl may be joining them tonight.

Note to any of my young gentlemen readers: No, you may not come and "visit Aunt Linda" while they are here.

Communication

If my son would answer his phone, read his email, or even read this blog, he would learn that he has been invited to spend his 21st birthday at a certain M.D./Ph.D. program's candidate review, all expenses paid. Way to go, David!

Hobbies as Job Training

Today I realized that all the time I've wasted making a personal website, blogging, and talking on a forum have actually taught me some new skills that I needed for my job. Or more to the point, since I learned these new skills, now my boss is giving me new responsibilities.

There are three secretaries in my office, and all three of us are helping to organize logistics for a set of meetings attended by about 30 of our members from around the globe. I've done this kind of thing in the past, and it usually includes finding housing, picking people up from the airport, buying food for coffee breaks, gathering together office supplies, printing and collating paper materials for the meetings. These meetings were no different, except now all the materials are also being kept on a special website. My job is to upload files to this site from anyone in the group. And then tomorrow when they come in with a new version of a document, I have to upload the new one and get rid of the old one.

With these new skills and responsibilities, I'm tempted to try to skip out on the really important work: making coffee.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing 

I think this is only the second or third time I've seen Cedar Waxwings in my backyard. Today one got close enough to take a photo (yeah, I know the photo isn't great). I had watered the hibiscus bush, and the birds came to drink up the water on the deck.

Kids Checking In

David phoned me at work this morning. I'd rather he call me when I am not busy and have plenty of time to chat, but I've learned to just take what I can get from him. He has picked up a habit from his older brother--"phone mom while I'm walking from A to B, since I have nothing else to do." Andrew used to often do this while hiking across Harvard. David phoned me as he was on his way to the Metro station. He was off work today, it being a holiday for government employees. He was going to the National Archives to see the
Emancipation Proclamation which was on its last day of being exhibited to the public.

I passed on to him that one of his old girlfriends was wondering why he hadn't answered an email she wrote three weeks ago. "Oh, yeah, I was going to." Then I told him, "Rachel says, 'boys are stupid.'" "No, she's got it wrong--girls are stupid" he replied. Well, which is it?

I talked to Rachel last night which is when she told me that she had been IMming with David's old girlfriend and they had come to the conclusion that boys are stupid. But she wasn't crying when she said it, so it must have been an intellectual assessment, not an emotional one:-)

I'm still praying for her and her student teaching and I know others are too. Her student teaching is going pretty well, but at times it is overwhelming. It is making her rethink if she really wants to be a teacher. Tonight she also has a big exam in her Monday night class. I don't know if she'll have time to talk to me tonight as she will probably be exhausted.

Andrew made it back safely to Ethiopia. While in Kenya he bought some kind of Kenyan chip for his cell phone so he could use it there, then switched back to the Ethiopian one when he got back home. He asked for prayer for some decisions that Samaritan's Purse must make about working in the country.

Michael and Ebeneezer

Michael and Ebeneezer 

My nest is empty, but these two young friends come over almost every day to play. When it is time to go home, they won't leave until I give them cookies, pretzels, and raisins. I'm such a pushover.