Redwood

There's nothing like a redwood forest to put life into perspective.
(Click the photo to get a better idea of what I mean.)

Driving

I hate driving. I hate getting lost. I hate not knowing where I am. I hate not knowing how to get from A to B in the most direct and efficient way. I guess that makes me a control freak.

In spite of that, we did enjoy a few cool sights yesterday.

If you are interested in more photos and details, check my other blog.

I'm Off

I am about to go to bed because I have to get up very early tomorrow to fly to San Francisco. I'll be joining my husband who has already been there for a week. We'll get a rental car and attempt to make our way around to visit friends, family, and supporters. Gary will preach at church next Sunday.

Then we get on the plane, fly to Oregon, and do the same thing over again for the following week.

I hope to be able to read email and do some blogging, but it is hard to tell how much that will be.

If anyone thinks of us, pray we will be safe and not yell at each other too much while getting lost during all the driving we have to do. :-(

Gary has gotten an invitation to come have lunch at the Google headquarters on Tuesday, but he'll take the BART in, and I'll sit around at Aunt Helen's house.

Intricate

I really don't like spiders, and I for sure don't like them in my house, but I have to admit to a begrudging admiration for them and their web craft. How can such a tiny and insignificant thing as a spider build something so clever, intricate, strong, and flexible, to say nothing of beautiful? And if I tear this one down (because it is blocking my back door), he just gets right back up and builds another one.

Proverbs 6:6 says to go to the ant and observe her ways to become wise. We could probably learn something from the spider too.

Here is a link to a site that shows step by step how a spider builds a web. (Of course, they don't admit to a Creator giving spiders such ability, but the illustrations are informative.)

A Stack of Bibles

My "paralyzed" friend, Melchizedek, made a post recently about his inventory of Bibles. That got me to thinking about my life a long time ago. I think it was the spring of 1972. I was in Bible college, on tour with a womens' singing group, visiting a church in Minnesota. Or was it Wisconsin? This poster was on the wall of their church. I was so moved by this poster, which went on to have a profound effect on my life, that I asked someone at the church if I could have it and they obliged.

I know you can't read it (this is a scan of a photo taken in 1974 of the poster as it was a couple years later on my bulletin board). On one side is a stack of Bibles in English. On the other side is a blank sheet of paper. One one side it says, "Dozens of translations of the Bible in English." On the other side it says, "Hundreds of languages without one single verse of the Bible." If I remember correctly, the poster was actually advertising for New Tribes Mission, which I didn't join.

I stayed in that womens' singing group for the three years I was at that college, and each spring we toured. Year three we returned to the same church where I had found this poster two years prior. This time, there was a poster advertising Wycliffe Bible Translators.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Our Integrated Lives

The conversations this morning went something like this:


He: Can you print off a couple things for me? Here are 7 urls, 1 pdf and 1 word file. And then I need 50 more color copies of the flyer--duplex, please. No don't bother folding them, I'll do that later.
Me: Grrr.
He: You know, if you had a real job, you couldn't complain like that.

Me: Your lack of planning does not constitute my crisis.
He: What lack of planning? I've been planning this for weeks. And what do you mean, "last minute"?? The plane doesn't take off for another four hours.

He: Did you pick up my business cards from the printshop?
He: Yep, and you're not going to like the mistake they made on them.

He: Where's my favorite shirt?
Me: I just finished your laundry.

He: Where's my new pants?
Me: I just finished hemming them.

He: You know, I don't think I have room in my suitcase for my tennis shoes, jeans, dress shoes or dress pants. Could you put them in your suitcase when you come?
Me: Sure. When I join you next week all I'm bringing is my toothbrush and a change of underwear.

He: Photos. Don't you think I should take some photos of the family with me?
Me: Have you ever heard of the internet? Let me write down the URL.

He: Could you make a back up copy of my Powerpoints on a CD? The one for the keynote lecture at Stanford and the one for the sermon I'll be giving 5 times. Don't mix them up.
Me: Mix them up? Hmm, that could be instructive--in both cases.

Me: Would you like some salad? It might be your last chance for vegetables.
He: I know California is full of fruits and nuts, but do you think there are no vegetables?

Yum

Looks like I'm not the only one who likes these roses.

Pizza

Grilled burgers is the typical food for July 4th, but with all the rain, it seemed more like a time to make homemade pizza. With Rachel's help it went pretty fast.


When I used to make pizza there were hardly any leftovers. But now, we'll be eating this the rest of the week.

Lurkers

I don't get very many comments on this blog, but I have a counter, so I know some people must be stopping by. I've thought a little bit about lurking, and wrote about it here. We'd be happy for you to join the conversation there, or just leave an anonymous comment, or, just lurk!

Happy Birthday to Me

I think I want one of these for my birthday!

Life Goes On

I take lots of photos, but I don't get in the photos too often. Yesterday we were happy to celebrate 60 years of marriage with friends from our old church. I want to be like Laurel when I grow up--always kind and cheerful!


Gary's day brightened up when he discovered marshmallows could be dipped in melted chocolate!

Lunch with Ardith

I got to meet another internet friend today. I had met her large family two years ago, and today I got to meet the eldest child, Ardith. She got here around 11am and I took her on a tour of my workplace and then we got together with a small group to go out for lunch. It was lots of fun! She is a sweet and smart young lady, and she's welcome to come back and visit again anytime she's in Texas.

lunch with Ardith

We Understand the Universe

• By science we understand the universe.
• By deduction we understand the universe was created.
• By faith we understand the universe was created by the word of God.

Hebrews 11:3

Titanic

Last evening we attended the Family Music Theater's presentation of the musical "Titanic". AS always, they did a great job, and as always, it was a lot of fun to watch.


The captain was one of our colleagues, and we knew several other cast members as well.


Large scale photos from the real Titanic were projected on the screen behind many scenes, making this a history lesson as well as an evening of entertainment.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

You remember a few weeks ago I told you about Sooner and Boomer, don't you? Tonight during dinner I saw them running around, unattended, in our back yard. "Who let the dogs out??" I demanded, and somehow Rachel and I broke into song:


Of course, we only knew six words of the song, and now that I've looked up the lyrics, it is probably best to leave it that way. Enjoy the dog bloopers video--it made me laugh.

Screen Door

Today has been a day of making things.

First, Rachel and I baked cookies that the 3-5 year olds will turn into Father's Day gifts tomorrow at Children's Church. Here is a sample:


Next, it was helping Rachel edit a photo for and think about a new business card. Here's the photo we used:

Lastly, I made a screen door for the sliding door. I found an idea in the airline magazine, so I made my own version of it. It is simply a 36" wide piece of nylon screening with a casing on top and bottom. The top is held in place with a tension rod, and the bottom has a plastic-encased chain in it to provide a flexible weigh to make it automatically fall back into place after one walks outside. (No photo, I mean who wants to see a photo of a screen door?

I should have done a bit more house cleaning today--I only managed to get one bathroom cleaned and one load of laundry.

Forgetful

I am losing my mind, no doubt. But I think I've got company.

An Invitation

I'd like to invite my readers, both of you, to check out Zeal For Truth.

Zeal for Truth is the name of a small community of friends and thinkers that I've gotten to know over the last few years via their forum. Recently this forum has added a blog that you may find interesting. Here's some words of welcome from the blog's first post:

Welcome to ZealForTruth.org

This website has served our community for over four years as a framework for grappling with mankind’s inherent exploration of truth. Indeed, Zeal For Truth was founded under only one basic pretense, that absolute objective truth exists. As Aristotle accurately acknowledged in his opening of Metaphysics: “All men by nature desire to know.”

Contributing daily to this blog are multiple authors from the Zeal For Truth community. Topics will be wide-ranging from discussions about the abstract fundamentals of existence and our world to pragmatic interpretations of books, media and personal events. The subjects will be as diverse as we are. But all of these things relate back and contribute to the important, individual process of exploring truth.

It is with great anticipation and excitement that this new articulation arrives. As one of our members noted in the discussion leading up to this blog, “we certainly have enough of a brain trust here to do it.” In other words, we’ve had a lot of fun having these conversations among ourselves over the last four years – but we’re ready to expand outwards and engage the internet in a new way. Please, be encouraged to enter into the material: comment on the blogs, join the forum, perhaps even get to know us a little. Either way, thank you for visiting our website. We all hope you find it valuable.

Please consider joining us in the discussion. It would mean becoming a member, but there's not much effort in doing that, and your privacy will be respected and no junk email will be sent! A lot of the discussions will be about politics, but a lot of them won't be too, so don't let that scare you off.

I personally plan to post a contribution each Thursday. I'd be happy if you stopped by and commented.

Reunion

For almost two days we are having our whole family here together.

Besides the fun things, I like to put them to work: David replaced a broken light switch.

And Andrew is our defacto financial advisor.

It also means two trips to Ton's in three days!! Yay!

Cool

I haven't had anything interesting to write about lately. My recent accomplishments include washing the carpet in three rooms and the hallway. Not exactly exciting blog material.

We are looking forward to Andrew and Laura coming tomorrow to stay for a few days. Tomorrow also happens to be Rachel's birthday and we've got a day of partying planned: trip to the airport, Shrek III, lunch at Ton's, visit by the Time Warner cable guy, and a Rangers' baseball game.

The only other thing of importance to note is that I think tonight is the night we will turn the A/C on. We've gotten all the way to June 6 without turning it on this season. It has been unseasonably cool and rainy this spring. Yay!

"Our Prayers Weren't Answered"

Or maybe they were. We didn't make it to our destination, but we were protected and got home safely.

Thanks to Hess Towing in Gainesville, we are no longer stranded on the side of the I-35.

More Babies and More Weddings

Today Rachel and I went around visiting people. First, welcome to a new baby in a family she often babysits for. Now there will be 7 kids for her to take care of!


Next, off to the used book store to buy her friend Steven a couple books she thought he could use. Because his bride works overseas, he is "getting" to plan a lot of the wedding himself. Rachel thought he could use some tips.

Bad Kitty!

In spite of this cat being recently emasculated, he apparently is still is a killer. At this sight, Panther's owner rather unceremoniously exclaimed, "See, [testicles] don't make a difference!"

Perhaps not.

Wedding Crasher or Proxy?

Banek wedding

Today I attended a wedding of people I had never met before. Strange, huh? I'm not really that desperate to attend weddings, but this was a nice one. I attended this wedding as the proxy of Ma Hoyt who asked me to stand in for her and Loren at their nephew's wedding since I live in Dallas, where the wedding was held, and they live in Iowa. Many of the folks at this lovely wedding were relatives from her husband's side. The family resemblance was striking between Loren and his younger brother Mark. I marched right up to Mark and said, "You must be a Hoyt."

I couldn't really put captions on these photos since I forgot all their names as soon as I met them. But I will say that I very much enjoyed meeting these folks and they were very welcoming. Aunt Elizabeth was a sweetie, I could tell. And Ardith, your cousin Bethany said, "Oh, yeah, do I know Ardith." I was especially struck by the words of the maid of honor, "Don't feel like you're crashing a wedding. It is always good to have someone from the body of Christ witness a holy marriage."

Scarlet Flax

At Ma's encouragement, here is yet another wildflower photo. These were planted all around the propane tank, where we had sunflowers last year. Actually, I think there are two sunflowers coming up on their own in the midst of the scarlet flax.

In other news, the neighbors have gotten two new dogs, named Boomer and Sooner (guess which state they're from?). I've heard the dogs bark a few times at night and also when I visit the compost pile, but they haven't kept me from sleeping.

Mutant Mexican Hats

We have the usual Mexican Hat flowers (left)in our wildflower garden this year, and an all yellow variety (right) that is not that rare, too. But what's up with the multi-layered one? There is one plant in the garden that has many blooms of this strange variety.

Tightwad Gazette

Apparently someone actually reads this blog because I got what I just be wanting in the mail today. :-)

Alzheimer's

Do you know how hard it is to make conversation with someone who has no memory?

These are things you cannot say:

• How was your day?
• I heard your granddaughter is graduating on Saturday.
• Will Joel be coming home for the summer?
  
• Did you have a nice lunch?
• Do they treat you well here?
• Did Emily come see you yesterday?

Things you can say:

• The weather is nice today.
• Look how beautiful that tree is.
• Those children are getting picked up from school.
• You'd better sit in the other chair so you don't get sunburned.
• It is so good to see you again.

My visit to a friend's mother yesterday has put me in a pensive mood. It would seem that our memories more or less make us who we are.

Buying Gifts

This is the time of year when lots of people are graduating, getting married, and having babies--many of them friends and age-mates of my underemployed daughter. It is my opinion that she cannot afford to buy nice gifts for all of them; but, I shouldn't criticize her for being generous, should I?

(She is trying really hard to get a full-time teaching job for next fall; pray with us about that, if you will.)

Tag

I was so lovingly tagged by Colleen.

Here's the "rules" of this meme: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Seven random facts about me:

1. My nickname as a child was "carrot-top." But maybe it should have been "carrot-bottom."
   
2. I was 15 when I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up.
3. I once ran for student body president, and lost.
4. I gave birth in a third-world hospital, payment for which was 3 sweet potatoes.
5. I once built a picnic table.
6. My kids still like me. (I think they do, anyway.)
   
7. My husband and I wiped up on a round of the Not-so-Newlywed game by both answering the question "What is your favorite flower?" with "whole wheat."

Well, I got this far. I don't know if I have 7 friends who would be willing to do this... Have to think about that!

Thank You for Paying Your Taxes

Gary found out yesterday that he and a couple of his friends are being given a quarter million from the US government.

Of course, only teeny, tiny bit of that will actually go to him personally, but still, it sounds impressive, doesn't it?

In Sunshine and Rain

Don't you love it when it rains while the sun is shining?

Advice from a Billionaire: How to Spend your Millions

Richard DeVos was the speaker at the graduation I recently attended. I found it amusing to hear him tell how he sat Shaq down and told him how to spend his money. I guess Mr. DeVos thought he could do that since he was the one giving him that money.

Ancestors

These four graves are direct ancestors of mine. A fifth generation (MMMMF)* was also buried in the same cemetery, but we couldn't locate the stone at the time I had the camera in my hand. After leaving the cemetery, Gary said, "Do you think there's room for us here?"


*=my Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother's Father

I Need to Decompress

We have safely arrived home from a few days in Michigan to see my nephew graduate from college. I get "home" very seldom, so when I do go to the place of my birth my mind struggles to take it all in and sort it all out. Sometimes the memories are almost overwhelming and I feel like I'm the only person who ever left that small town.

Memories

Today I saw:

the hospital I was born in
the creek I used to play in
the house I used to live in
the lake I used to swim in
the neighbors I used to play with
the grave of the woman who drove my school bus
the high school I graduated from

my aunt, my uncle, my cousins
my brother, my sister, my mother

the grave of my father
the graves of my grandparents
the graves of my great grandparents
the graves of my great-great grandparents
and the grave stone waiting for my mother

the church I was married in

I feel like I'm in a time warp.

Human Behavior

I'm forever analyzing how people act.

In a predetermined group activity, presumably, everyone would be active, right? Yet, I see the following behaviors:

• some jump in without a word and participate
• some wait for others to participate, then copy them
• some wait and do nothing until they are asked or told to do something
• some wait and then ask what to do
  
• some just wait

What causes some people to not participate? Fear? Laziness? Insecurity? Incompetence? A desire to see others fail and then make fun of them?

The Weekend is Over

We had a nice change of pace with a camping trip this past weekend. But now, it is time to think about getting back into gear for the upcoming week.

ARADD

That is, Age-Related Attention Deficit Disorder

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide
my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch
table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage
can under the table, and notice the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage
first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out
the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check
left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to
my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

I realize the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the
refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses
that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to
water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water
and suddenly I spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table and I realize that tonight when we
go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that
it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where
it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the
floor.

So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up
the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The driveway is flooded

The car isn't washed,

The bills aren't paid,

There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,

There is still only one check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for
it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

(Stolen from the internet, of all places.)

No New Posts

In looking at my index, I've noticed three draft, unfinished or censored posts in the last week. Hmmm...

A Frog and Toad Story

"Come help me! One of my ex-boyfriends is on my doorstep trying to get in," she exclaimed.

"No, no," I replied, "that's a harmless toad, not a frog."

"Oh, good," she replied, "I was worried there for a minute."

As you can see, the toad went away very disappointed, nearly in tears, that she wouldn't let him in.


"I'm holding out for the frog, aka Prince Charming, you know," she told him, and with a swish of the broom, sent him off to hide under the car.

The End.

The Cat's In the Bag and Other Accomplishments

Today was the day that the nice vet, Dr. MacDonald, comes to the Center and offers free shots to all our pets. Free, but we all give a donation. Rachel and I don't have cat carriers, but we do have some extra pillowcases which work pretty well. Odd thing, the vet bent the needle while giving the shot with both cats! They didn't seem to notice, however.

In other news, Rachel completed 7 interviews in the last three days, for 7 out of the 9 elementary schools in our district. The one on Thursday was at the school itself; the other six were at the job fair this morning. She seemed to feel OK about how they went, but we just don't know how likely it will be that a job offer will be forthcoming. We continue to pray that just the right full-time position will open up for her.

Rose

I don't have anything much to say today, but I did want to show off this beautiful rose.

A Walk

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous, so I went for a walk on the nearby trails. These trails are more or less maintained, but I did find a lot of poison ivy close to the trails anyway.

These trails have cute names like The Trail Down Under and MK Trace, but the one I went on was called Coon Crossing. I saw no coons, but I nearly step on this cool beetle:

This is the best time of year to look for wildflowers, and I found a few new ones to add to my collection. Here is a collage of the four new ones I found, but I was only able to identify 3 of the 4. If you want to see the names, check out my web album of flowers, wild.

Overall Apron

My project of a few weeks ago to make an apron out of one leg of a pair of old jeans was a moderate success. But really, only if the wearer was extra skinny. Then when Rachel handed me a couple old pairs of overalls to take to the boutique, I realized overalls would make an excellent apron, complete with built-in bib. So here ya go, shown on my headless model:

Maybe I'll start a new fad?

Update

I guess it has been a few days since I've posted. My week stunk, as you will already know if you read my other blog. The weather hasn't been all that warm and spring-like either, but I did manage to buy a couple new cheap lawn chairs so we have something to sit on out on the deck. Nor is the wildflower garden much to brag about this year-maybe it will improve when the weather gets a bit warmer. But Rachel's three miniature rose bushes are all blooming quite nicely.

Other accomplishments for the week: balancing my checkbook, helping Rachel get her taxes in the mail, and taking my vacuum cleaner in for a checkup which meant vacuuming the whole house before I took it in. My boss has been out of town this week, so things have been slow at the office too. Oh, and I published my very first book review on Amazon.com, using a nom de plume.

In Sweet Memory Of

Yesterday the front of our church was full of Easter lilies. (In fact, the fragrance was a bit overwhelming for me, so I sat in the very back row.) Each of these lilies was given either in honor of, or in memory of, a family member or friend.

I thought it was sweet to read in the bulletin these two particular listings (not real names, but you'll see what I'm getting at):

In memory of:
Sally Smith, my beloved first wife, by Joe Smith

and

In memory of:
John Doe, my beloved first husband, by Sue Smith

15,000 and Counting

I just happened to notice this nice round number on my counter. I know that really isn't very many hits for a blog, but on the other hand, based on the comments I get, I assume I only have a total of 5-6 different readers anyway!

I have just recently had to completely re-do my Empty Nest Website (not my blog) since our ISP Comcast changed to Roadrunner and ate up my website in the process. I've reworked it, made it simpler, and changed all my photo albums to be Google Web Albums, organzed via Picasa. Much, much simpler than the way I did it before. The new site uses Google Pages, also much simpler, but I've augmented the standard templates with a few hacks of my own HTML programming--very few because I know very little. Anyway, here is the new Empty Nest Website
http://linda.simons.googlepages.com/home if you need something to look at. My intention is to augment it from time to time with new photo albums.

In other news, we had a nice Easter day, if a chilly one. It was nice to see David and his gf, if only for a couple hours. And I will say, I've eaten WAY too much chocolate today. Got to love those Cadbury mini eggs.

Living and Dying

It seems like today's topic should be about life and death. Primarily, Christ's death, which is on our minds this Holy Saturday. My emails this week brought the news of several deaths--a woman from my high school class, a father and a brother of friends. I sympathize with the sorrow and sadness that my friends feel at their personal loss, even as I'm also reminded of my own grandmother who passed away on Good Friday three years ago, while I was at the theater seeing The Passion of the Christ.

I suppose most blogs don't talk about death because most blogs are written by people too young to be very acquainted with death. Their time will come, if they live that long.

Death makes a good backdrop to talk about life. Today's email also brought news of a birth and the joy this new life was bringing. I have purposely cut off the head of this smiling man as he proudly holds his new child in one arm and his new grandchild in the other. His child is the older one, obviously. ;-)

Lastly today, if you need some good music to start tomorrow, try my favorite Easter Song It sounds best when your speakers are maxed out. :-) (Actually, I have the recording--I don't really know how that Rhapsody download thing works, but you could try it if you don't have the song yourself.)

Geek Meets Tightwad (Only Two Wads Allowed)

Only at my place of employment would you get an announcement like the following:

Last year the maintenance department was called 522 times to respond to plugged toilets. That's an average of over two per day. Each response took an average of 30 minutes of time, which comes to 261 hours for the year. We have found that because our toilets are water savers, using only 1.8 gal/flush, they plug much easier than the older toilets. Most of the time water saver toilets will flush OK with two wads of paper, but a third wad can cause problems. Please feel free to flush more to help reduce the number of plugs. The labor to unplug the toilets last year cost more than $5,000 while 522 more flushes would have only cost $5.63. Thanks for helping!

I just want you to know that around here, we analyze everything. Look for this information to be added to the Enterprise Data Model (EDM) after which the head Enterprise Architect (EA) will be assigning work orders to deal with the issue, pending buy-in from each of the major centers, approval of his budget for next fiscal year, and the solution to all security and sensitivity concerns.