German Bread and Picnicking

Rachel has really been getting her dose of Germany this month. (BTW, she has posted her photos on her blog and Facebook, if anyone is interested in seeing them.) Just a few days after returning from Germany, a German friend came to visit. Laila and Rachel decided to make German Bread, and it turned out really well.

Laila is the younger sister of Rachel's friend Daniela whom she knew during high school days.

We've taken Laila shopping and she is filling up her suitcase with vanilla root beer, beef jerky, and fruit rollups.

Laila joined us tonight we took our soup group to Cedar Hill State Park and didn't have soup! Instead it was burgers and brats and smores, of course.

We didn't manage to get our group-lounging-on-the-blanket photo before the sun fell into the lake. And by the looks, the cement pad where the picnic table used to be is also falling into the lake. Erosion happens.

Kiss

I'm internet friends with a young woman who is serving the Lord as a teacher in Iraq. She wrote a thoughtful blog for today as our thoughts are about our dead and risen savior.

Her blog about kissing reminded me of a line in a Michael Card (my favorite contemporary Christian singer) song: "that's not what a kiss is for."

Faith and Flowers

One spring a few years ago our back yard was suddenly full of wild violets, and they've returned each spring since. Nice for someone like me who is into wildflowers.

I keep thinking about faith and how to define it--how to know what it is and what it isn't. Since a friend of mine has recently abandoned the faith, I'm paying much closer attention to what the scriptures actually say about faith.

One thing I've recently noted is from the book of James--that somehow, poor people are more likely to have faith than rich people.

James 2:5 Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith

The context of this verse, is James scolding his readers who are giving preferential treatment to the wealthy folks in the congregation. He is urging them to treat everyone the same, and furthermore, he says, the poor are more likely to have faith in Christ than the rich.

Wow, that doesn't make much sense, does it? But when I was pondering this, I started to analyze who the rich and the poor are. My conclusion: the poor are typically less educated than the rich. Is that a coincidence? Maybe not. Maybe the more we learn, the harder it is to believe?

That thought took me on to another: What about Christian apologists? You know, people who collect all the evidence that God is, that Christ lived and died and rose again, and, and, and. WE LOVE TO READ THOSE BOOKS! We love to have our faith confirmed by hard facts.*

But wait--if we have hard facts, then what about faith? This is one thing I'm puzzled about. If a Christian apologist can make such a great case for Christianity, then what is the role of faith? After all, it doesn't take faith to accept something that's been proven--it just takes common sense.

The best I can sort this out at the moment is that God provides a few "facts," (things about Christianity that are historically provable), but not enough of them such that every human being would have to accept them. That is where faith comes in and that is why faith is part of the picture. A very big part of the picture, in fact.

I'm going to keep thinking about faith.

------------
*Please note, I'm not intending to say anything negative against Josh McDowell. Nor am I saying it is bad to be educated. But it does seem to be that faith for an educated person is somewhat of a different animal than for a non-educated one.

Bad Weather

I'm feeling a bit of anxiety (though why I mention that here, I don't know, since blogs don't seem to be that great of a place to express negative emotions) at the moment due to the heavy rain and the fact that I'm supposed to drive to the airport to pick up my husband and daughter coming in this afternoon. Their flight took off two hours late from Frankfurt, I suppose in order to not hit the worst of it here.

Many outbound flights are being canceled; I don't know what they are doing with inbound flights.

And not only the worry about flights, I now have to drive to the airport during rush hour. :-(

Sarah's Bridal Shower

Sarah Cover's bridal shower (with details about the cake)

Click on the above photo to go to the web album that shows some of the steps for making the cake I posted yesterday.

Also included are photos from the shower this morning. It was a lovely shower, and Sarah got lots of great gifts.

Labor of Love

It took me two full days to make this. Now I hope I can transport it to the bridal shower tomorrow without wrecking it!

Jury Duty

Today I drove downtown to answer my jury summons, which had been postponed from earlier when Laura was here last month. I was in the first panel, sent upstairs to the 6th floor of the George Allen court building. These are two photos I took from the 6th floor while waiting for the attorneys to get their acts together. (There was a list of forbidden items, but cameras were not on the list!)

If you know your Dallas history, you may recognize a bit of Dealey Plaza and the famous triple underpass on the far right of the photo. But it is mostly covered up with trees. The famous "grassy knoll" lies along Elm street and cannot be seen in this photo; the grassy knoll you see here is opposite that on the Commerce street side of the triple underpass.


Directly in line with our court holding tank was the Kennedy Memorial.



The 36 of us on the jury panel went through the voir dire process, and it seemed like it got a bit out of hand. It was a civil case involving a car accident and the woman pressing the law suit was represented by a personal injury lawyer who actually asked us, "Do you dislike me? Because if you do, I'll excuse you from serving and I won't hold it against you." I couldn't quite say I disliked him, but he did look a lot like Mr. Bean.

Mr. Bean got us all a bit on edge when he went into minute detail about that famous McDonald's hot coffee case from several years ago, like we were all supposed to know the specific details about that. Then a bunch of potential jurors asked to be excused when they learned that in a personal injury auto accident case it is against Texas law to say anything about car insurance. While I said I could try the case without regard to insurance, that rule seems a bit stupid. Because of course, whether a person is insured or not can be part of the reason a law suit is brought against them.

Anyway, as our stomachs were growling for lunch, we were sent out into the hall to wait some more. A few minutes later we were brought in and told the parties had settled. They weren't allowed to say who "won," but we could figure out a few things by the looks on the faces.

Wishing You A Great Trip

Who on earth did they hire as an art consultant when they built the new Terminal D at DFW??

I've been left alone for a week. 8 days, actually. And my desire for some peace and quiet is already being thwarted by jury duty tomorrow.

Life Goes On

The baby shower was oozing in hormones--three pregnant women were there. Janet and Sarah made some great sandwiches and Italian cream cake was for dessert. Gwennie got lots of nice baby boy things. There was a game to guess the mother-to-be's girth. Another old lady and I tied with a guess of 40 inches. So she and I had a playoff by guessing the measurement across the belly, top to bottom. I won with 14 inches, and got a Starbucks card for my reward. Too bad I don't like coffee.

The wedding was nice too. Lovely hammered dulcimer and guitar music by Paul and Cathy McAndrews. There was a minor hitch during the ceremony when the unity candle refused to stay lit. They kept trying and trying. The accompanying song finished and they still kept trying. Finally a groomsman produced a jackknife from his pocket and the groom did some excavation on the candle, and then it stayed lit. Pastor Ken used it as a humorous teachable moment: "You know, becoming one isn't all that easy." True enough.

Cards

I wonder how many greeting cards I will have to make before I break even on the money I've spent to buy the stamps, ink, paper, etc?

I don't just sit around and make cards for fun. It is more like "cards on demand" whenever a baby shower or wedding come up.


Speaking of which, tomorrow we've got a baby shower at 11 and a wedding at 2 and the cards have been stamped and signed, ready for delivery.

Today I Voted

...for Ron Paul.

I hate politics. I have no clue about global economy. I just deal with life on a personal level. Ron Paul at least takes my personal stance on the abortion issue. (Now how that translates into legislation for him, I don't really know.)

If I were voting for someone to be my personal friend, I would have voted for Huckabee. He seems like an all-around nice guy.

However, neither Ron Paul nor Mike Huckabee have a chance, so, perhaps it was futile to even vote.

Another observation: at my precinct, the Democrat-Republican line was drawn very obviously along racial lines.

Rejoicing With Friends

This isn't the best quality video in the world, but the content is great. It shows the dedication of the Mofu New Testament which took place a couple weeks ago in Cameroon. Carrying a translation project all the way through to completion is really hard, there are so many things that can go wrong. So we praise God for the persistence our coworkers have had in order to be able to finish well.

And now we hear news of unrest in Cameroon. Our other colleagues who went there to escape unrest in Chad are really wondering what's up.

When the Body of Christ Lets You Down

That's kind of how I've been feeling recently. However, since I try not to whine too much on this blog, I won't go into the specific details.

I remind myself that disappointment in life comes from expectations that don't get fulfilled. So if my siblings in Christ fail to show interest in my well being when I have clearly expressed a need, I'm disappointed. Perhaps my mistake was expecting it in the first place.

Scripture (Galatians 6) tells us to bear one another's burdens, but in the same passage it also says to bear your own burden. Does that mean that I should help others when they hurt, but not necessarily expect they will help me when I hurt? Maybe it does.

2 Help carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are something when you really are nothing, you are only deceiving yourself. 4 You should each judge your own conduct. If it is good, then you can be proud of what you yourself have done, without having to compare it with what someone else has done. 5 For each of you have to carry your own load.

That Didn't Work

After complaining in my last post about having no men around to fix my birdfeeder, I decided to try to fix it myself today. The weather is nice, and it would be a nice small project for the afternoon, I thought.

So I got out all the stuff and cut rotten bottom off the bird feeder's post with the idea to attach new feet. But a couple cuts later, I decided it might not be worth the effort.

Bird Post

It has been a long time since I've made a bird post. I've hardly done any bird watching this winter. I blame that on the fact that my wooden birdfeeder broke, and I couldn't find any male in my family to fix it. I should just go fix it myself, huh?

Today Gary and I went for a stroll at Cedar Hill State park. The weather was lovely--warm, clear, and sunny--but I have no photos because I forgot both my camera and my binoculars.

I did observe some red-winged blackbirds in a marshy corner of the lake. They are one of those kids of birds where the male and female are so different from each other you think you're seeing two different species.

Have you noticed the Birdstack in the right hand column of my blog. This is a cool way to track the birds you've seen, created by a nice young man who works just down the hall from me. He's an LU grad too--some of you folks may know him.

View From My Desk Meme

I was tagged by Lingamish to provide a photo of the view from my desk. Lingamish is a coworker whom I've never met IRL, who lives in Africa, and who seems to have VERY good internet access by the volumes of things he posts in his variety of blogs! (We hear complaints of poor web access from other places in Africa, but Lingamish gets none of our sympathy on that front.)

We've turned one of the kids' bedrooms into a large home office with our computers just a few feet apart. You can see (even if he can't) that my beloved has a BIG screen and a BIG closed circuit TV as aids to help him cope with Stargart's disease. He does a great job with that, and manages almost always with a cheerful attitude. Also, if you look very carefully you can see his mug has a Lingualinks logo on it.

One reason our computers are so close to each other is because I read his work email to him out loud each morning before going to the office. It is tedious, and we get annoyed with each other during the process, but it does help him to cope because reading is so slow for him.

And speaking of computers near each other, when asked (like at a wedding shower) what bit of advice I have for the new couple, I aways tell them: if you and your spouse both have computers, put them in the same room.

Even More about Faith

A few posts ago I mentioned a young friend who has lost her faith. On a personal level, I've been puzzling about how to relate to her now that she claims to no longer be a Christian, a child of God, or a believer--whichever term you want to use. More about that in another post, maybe

I've already mentioned that the unreasonableness of Christianity is what she cites as the reason she has fallen away. Her words: "You can't prove Christianity by reason. It always comes down to faith."

The irony about that is that if Christianity were provable by reason, we wouldn't need faith--but, indeed, faith is what God asks for.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Also, Jesus' words come to mind,

"...you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."

This is part of what doesn't make sense in Christianity, part of why God asks for faith and not for understanding. If it were understanding that he wanted, we could earn heaven by just learning enough and deducing enough. No, somehow faith is what he wants. But if you actually don't believe--because of problems with reasonableness or problems of suffering or disappointment with God or, or, or--then how can one get faith?

(Personally, I believe, but I can sure relate to that guy in Mark who said, "I believe, but help my unbelief.")

When she explained to me about her loss of faith, she told me, "There is a saying: 'For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice.'" The funny thing about that is when I researched this saying, I learned it is attributed to a magician, or mentalist, called Joseph Dunninger. No Christian there.

Unrequited Love

...is one human malady that God actually knows something about.

Happy Birthday, Ron!

Last night we attend a fun birthday party for Ron, a friend from church and home Bible study.

There was a fun and yummy cake with two photos of Ron.

And liturgical dancers from a church in Kansas City. There was also lots of other music from family and friends.

It was a blessing to hear testimony of how Ron has blessed many people over the years, especially hearing from his family. I posted more photos on a web album, but likely only folks from our church would be interested in seeing them.

Conversation Hearts

I gave my true love a bag of candy this morning and he told me I was his valentine. That is enough.


Speaking of hearts in conversation, I saw a quiz on another blog and decided to take it. It was only 7 questions and it was easy to tell the man answers from the woman answers, and I think I scored 4/7 on the woman's side.

Do You Communicate Like a Man or a Woman?

You Communicate Like a Woman

You empathize, talk things out, and express your emotions freely. You're a good listener, and you're non-judgmental with your advice. Communication is how you connect with people. You're always up for a long talk, no matter how difficult the subject matter is.

And for fun, I decided to go back at look at posts I had made on previous Valentine's Days:

• 2007: I want chocolate!
• 2006 was in two parts: single men and single women. I guess I was on a soapbox that year.
• 2005: true love and heart earrings

Too Early for Blogging

I don't normally blog at 7:45am. But today I'm up nice and early, in spite of the fact that I was going to take a day off of work and maybe sleep in. Sometime in the wee hours we were awakened by a strange click, click, click and noticed that it was pretty chilly. So I had to get up and fiddle with the furnace thermostat. Turns out that one of the AA batteries in the thermostat had leaked and corroded onto one of the terminals. So I cleaned it and replaced the batteries, and then tried to go back to sleep. No luck. Of course, this thermostat is so complicated it nearly requires one to have an HVAC license to reset it, so I'll have to spend my day off figuring out how to reprogram it.


In other news, when I checked my Facebook account this morning, it told me, complete with a cute little heart, that my friend Martha is now married! Yay for Martha. Nevermind that she's been married as long as I have.

Speaking of Facebook getting the relationships all wrong, yesterday Facebook told me that my daughter and her ex-bf were attending a Valentine's Party on Thursday. I don't think so.

Some More About Faith

Faith continues to be on my mind. I've recently read I and II Thessalonians. The topic of faith is fairly prominent:

• I Thess. 3:2-3 Paul sends Timothy to check up on the people in Thessalonica and to "help your faith, so that none of you should turn back." Apparently, they believed, but their faith was kind of shaky.
• Again, a few verses down, "I sent him to find out about your faith. Surely it could not be that the Devil had tempted you and all our work had been for nothing." The possibility of them dumping their faith and turning away from God was acknowledged.
• And, a few more verses down, "we as God ... to supply what is needed in your faith." Apparently, their faith was lacking somehow.
• Over to II Thessalonians 1:11 "May He fulfill by his power all your desire for goodness and complete your work of faith."

I also noticed two other things:

• The trio of faith, hope, and love recurs in I Thess. 1:3 and 5:8 (as well as other places in scripture). Somehow, these three things go together.
• II Thessalonians chapter 2 is kind of scary reading. I'm not sure I understand all that chapter is saying, but it is a warning to those who more or less intentionally turn from the truth.

Today I heard yet another story of a twenty-something who is seriously reconsidering her faith. She is filled with intellectual doubts about the Bible and feels like her parents have more or less crammed it down her throat. Of course, the parents don't see it that way. She asked them to not talk to her for a couple months.

The Nature of Faith

Recently I've been thinking a lot about faith. Like, what is faith, really? My thinking has been spurred by a couple recent events. One, a young Christian couple I know is struggling with everything in life since giving birth to a severely handicapped child. Another is a young Christian woman with whom I've had a mentoring relationship, who has pretty much decided to reject Christianity because it has too many reasonableness problems. These three people are now talking about "losing their faith."

I'd like to have the theology that embraces eternal security. That's what I grew up with, and there certainly is some evidence of that in Scripture. But when I observe cases like this (as well as certain other places in Scripture) I begin to wonder. I mean, if by grace we are saved through faith, and we no longer have faith, then maybe we are no longer saved. Ah, the old Calvinism v. Arminianism debate.

As I woke up this morning pondering the nature of faith, I remembered this verse:

I Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly;

We crave reasonableness, we crave things to be "right," we crave to get what we deserve. But, really, we don't see the whole picture. There might be reasons for a handicapped child, I don't know. There might be reasons for things we don't understand in scripture, I don't know. Is faith nothing more than assenting to God to do something I don't understand?

Scripture also tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. He doesn't demand good works, a good attitude, or good understanding. No, he asks for something much harder--faith.

That chapter in I Corinthians goes on to say, "There are three things: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." I wonder if my three friends are losing faith and hope because they have not experienced enough love.

Before There Were Empty Ink Cartridges

There were dried out, worn out, and empty typewriter ribbons. And like ink cartridges, they also can be refilled and renewed by the needy missionary.


This was 1980 in Fo'ondo village, Malaita, Solomon Islands. (Click on the image to get a better view of the Sanford roll-on ink bottle.)

Gary Had a Little Lamb

It followed him to work one day.

Or was it a goat?

Yesterday after lunch when Gary started crossing the street to go back to the office, he noticed a goat was following him. So he turned around and walked back to the front door of the goat's house and rang the doorbell, closely followed by the goat. The child who answered the door grabbed the goat by the horn and walked it through the house back outside to the fenced backyard to join the other goat and sheep and two dogs. Apparently it had dug under the fence. Or jumped over it. Yes, we live in Dallas.

And in other news, I'm trying to make a back up of all my photo files. So far, I'm onto the third DVD full of them. This past week I was reminded how important back ups are when I couldn't find any of my bird photos. Somehow I had moved the whole folder into another folder called "test" and then deleted it. But I discovered I had made a backup onto Gary's computer (via our household network), so I was able to recover my 216 bird photos. (Not that they were priceless works of art or anything, but I still didn't want to lose them.) And if it weren't for Google Desktop, I never would have found them in the fist place.

A Child's Personality

I've been doing some thinking about how our personalities are formed. And about how a parent affects a child long into adulthood.

And I've been scanning slides while I've been thinking.

This photo somehow just explains the personality of our firstborn.



BTW, all the photos we have of him at this age are without clothes. He didn't wear clothes really, until he was over two. But I've figured out how to add clothes!!

A Solitary Walk

Yesterday I enjoyed a long, slow walk by myself at Cedar Hill State Park, just 5 miles away.

Not Much New

Nothing really to say, but I will say that I think the winter blues have pretty much lifted--never mind that freezing rain is predicted for tonight. Again, I want to thank those of you who prayed for me. I do appreciate it.

Gary is busy making lots of plans to travel this year. He's already been to Chicago and Germany in January, and he's looking at trips to Michigan, Germany again, Thailand, Calgary and Kenya before going to Seattle for David's wedding in June. Then Germany and Philippines possibly in the latter half of the year. Maybe if we have enough frequent flyer miles, we'll go to Santo Domingo for next Christmas--got to see that new grandbaby, you know.

Coming To See You Present

It doesn't take much to keep me happy--in any language. Notice, the Germans are doing 3% better than the Americans.

Gary is back from Germany and said it was colder here in Dallas that it was there.

Burnt

Don't you hate it when you try to microwave something for 20 seconds and then come back 5 minutes later and realize you put it in for 20 minutes?

This post is a warning to my kids: I'm losing my mind. Get ready.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

I'm still scanning photos. I'm starting with the baby pictures. Which really means the birth pictures. Here is a comparative shot of me just before giving birth each time. These photos are not in chronological order, but rather order of tonnage.

I was big with Rachel, in spite of having nothing to eat except sweet potatoes for 9 months. (That was an exaggeration, but not much.) I gained 17 lbs during the pregnancy. Rachel weighed 2690 grams and was 46 cm. long. That is, 5 lbs, 15 oz. and 18.5 inches long.


I was bigger with Andrew. I gained 30 lbs during the pregnancy. He weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz. amd was 22 inches long.


I was biggest with David. I gained 50 lbs during the pregancy. He weighed 9 lbs and 8 oz. and was 21.5 inches long.

Back to Scanning

This is one of my favorite photos of those we took when baby David was born. I remember the precious look and Rachel's and Andrew's faces when they first got to see him.

I've finally recovered from the holidays and got my house and office back to normal. So I'm back to scanning. I have LOTS more boxes of slides to go, so I hope to do at least a few each day and just keep chipping away at it. Lucky you, I'll post a few good ones here from time to time.

Thank You

I have received emails from a few friends saying they were praying for me to get out of the dumps. I appreciate them taking the time and initiative to contact me.

I am feeling somewhat better, but I'm still not my usual cheerful self. Wait. Have I ever been my cheerful self??

I don't feel very inspired to blog much these days either, but I will blog when I feel like it. I am writing this now to just say thank you to those who have prayed for me.

Coming Out of a Dark Fog?

I've been struggling with a bit of the winter blues recently. I'm only now feeling enough better to be able to blog about it. I guess I feel like I shouldn't use my blog as a place to host a pity party, so sometimes I don't say what I would actually like to say. I don't like it when others play the "poor me" card, so I shouldn't do it either.

Anyway, I've felt kind of down for 6-8 weeks. Yesterday I went back through my private journals and discovered a list of about 6-7 "things" that have contributed to my dark feelings. None of them was that big of a deal by itself, but I think their effects were cumulative. I've also known myself to be sensitive to sunlight--I probably have a case of SAD. Clinical depression is probably too strong of a phrase to describe how I've been feeling, but maybe "mild depression" isn't.

If you are a person who believes in prayer, and if you think about me, pray for my attitude to improve. I do believe the problem is my attitude, not the "things" in and of themselves. In other words, I don't want to excuse/blame my sadness on circumstances because God does not promise us a pain-free life, yet He asks us to rejoice always.

I Know I'm Poor...

...but the mail I've been getting recently is starting to give me a complex. First, somebody in Texas thinks I need a new car:



And if that weren't enough, apparently somebody else in Texas thinks my toilets don't meet regulation either (and I'm just wondering how they found that out?).



Interestingly enough, one of us has been mumbling that we should think about a new car, and the other of us as been pushing for a complete remodel of our bathrooms. But, alas, I shan't hold my breath waiting for either thing to happen.

Which reminds me, I don't think I mentioned that we did get a new replacement window put in over Christmas. One down, 10 to go.

Back to Work

Our office was still not back to full strength today, but at least we weren't the only two there. Then this afternoon I got the oil changed in the van and tried to get the inspection done since it expired at the end of December. I tried two different places, without success. I'll have to try again tomorrow and hope I don't get a ticket on the way to DFW tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. Gary is headed to LSA meetings where he's going to freeze his behind.

Christmas Photos

2007 Christmas

I've finally gotten my photos organized from our Christmas week. One of them is a short movie, but I think you can access it just like any of the photos. Once the album has downloaded onto your computer and opened, using the Slide show option works pretty well for viewing the photo and caption.

'Tis the Season

... to get engaged. We've had no fewer than three nice girls from the neighborhood get engaged this Christmas season. They had been dating for approximately 2.5 years, 2.5 months, and 2.5 days respectively.

Lucky for me, a new shipment of pottery from Desert Sun Pottery (aka Grammie) arrived today. Well, really it is lucky for the brides-to-be, because I like giving Grammie's pottery for wedding gifts.

As you can see, Grammie must be experimenting with a new multicolored glaze. Quite lovely.

Linda's Best Present

Actually, this was my anniversary present from my 32-years married husband.

Also, I got many nice things for Christmas, including a new set of silverware (12 place settings). I was glad David took the old set off my hands so I wouldn't feel too wasteful.

In another day or two I hope to post an album of all the Christmas activities.

Gary's Best Present

A universal remote as big as his head. Keys big enough for him to see, and no losing this puppy!

Stars

"I enjoyed the Stars' game, but really, I like Mavericks' games better. The ball is bigger."

Clever Coffee Catcher

This photo is for all the church janitors out there in my reading audience. (Ma--are you there??)

Happy Birthday, Marianna!

What did you do for the first 90 years of your life? Not much? Me, either.

Marianna, on the other hand, (along with Florence) translated the Bible into three languages before taking a job here in Dallas and then retiring. Today is Marianna's 90th birthday. They had a party for her in spite of her not wanting anyone to make a fuss.

The Yellow Rose of Texas E'er Blooming

Rachel's yellow rose bush is blooming profusely right now, and the blossoms are much larger than they are in the summer. It is a peaceful song for Christmas.

It is More Blessed to Give Than to Receive

Especially when the thing you give is this festive duo, a ceramic Santa cookie jar and tea pot with gold embellishements. These gems were procured at a very exclusive boutique in south Dallas that specializes in white elephant gifts for the discerning missionary.

Christmas Cleaning

My coworker was not at the office today, so while the cat is away, the mouse will clean. I spent 3 hours cleaning the office, sorting supplies, and putting up a few Christmas decorations. I brought home two large bags of stuff for recycling which (I hope) she will never miss.

Sometimes I find cleaning to be therapeutic. Which isn't to say I really like to do it, but it does give one a good feeling when it is finished.

Another Photo for Laura

Lord willing, a year from now, Andrew and Laura will have a child just about the age of Andrew in this photo from 1979.

I have now completed scanning one entire box of slides. Here is what I have learned so far:

• many these photos are not worth keeping
• most of the slides are speckled with dust or fungus
• I'm so glad we don't dress like the 80s anymore
• I had really cute kids back then!

We'd Be Two-thirds There!

I walk to work most days, crossing a two-lane road that has become busier as the years have gone by. The housing boom in our area might be good for the economy, but it isn't so good for the traffic. And somehow it seems that the more cars there are, the faster they go.

Anyway, they did put a crosswalk in to help us be safe as we walk to work, but many days I say to myself, "I'm going to get killed here one day!"

This morning was no exception. As I reached the other side, I met Joyce who was coming my way.

Me: Joyce, one day one of us is going to get killed here.
Joyce: Yes, and then we'd be one-third the way to getting it fixed.
Me: What do you mean?
Joyce: They said after three pedestrian deaths, they would put in a stop light!
Me: Well, then, if we both get killed, we'd be two-thirds there!

Silence

I'm feeling just a little grumpy at the moment, so I probably shouldn't be writing at all. Sometimes I do this, then save my post as a draft and forget all about it.

This morning I sent out 30 letters. Last week it was 100+ emails. That's not really a big deal. I do it 3-4 times a year as part of my job. Most people do it it once a year at Christmas. But that process got me thinking about how often it happens to me that I attempt to communicate, and get no response.

It annoys me, but I should have learned by now to get over it. I suppose my mistake is thinking that people really should respond; and when they don't, I take it personally. I've concluded that while no one really dislikes me, they don't really have the motivation to respond, either. I'm important to them, just not that important!

Somehow it bothers me regardless of the form my communication takes--email, blog, forum, phone message, mail, in person.

I especially am annoyed when I send a gift to someone and receive no acknowledgment or thanks. I suppose the recipient either thinks (1) "she will understand that I don't have time or energy to respond," (2) "I'll get around to it soon," or (3) nothing.

I saw a bumper sticker once that I should take to heart: You'd worry less about what people think of you if you realized how seldom they do.

Everyone has their own life; I need to expect less. Then I won't get hurt.

(And of course, if you do communicate with me, THANK YOU! I APPRECIATE IT!!)

My Latest Gadget

I decided Gary could buy me a slide scanner for Christmas, so I went and bought one. I'll mention the fact that it was my Christmas present when all the kids ask him, "Did you buy mom a present??"

Like so many good missionaries, we have boxes and boxes of old slides. Many of them are worthless, but some are good photos and many others are great memories. My goal is to run them all through the "quick scan" on my new toy. There is a way to do a "slow scan" which pretty much assumes you have a degree in photograhy and graphic design. I think for my purposes, the quick and easy method will do.

So, I'll just have to post a few of my best memories for the Empty Nest as time goes by and I work through the boxes. I have it set up in such a way that I can do a few slides each day while I'm doing other things at the computer. The scans nicely land in my Picasa photo program where I can sort, label, and fix up, if I want to.

I plan to sell/rent/lend this machine to some other missionaries when I'm done with it.

These four photos are from our fist months in Dallas, in 1984. David was a baby, Rachel wasn't walking yet, and Andrew was a big Kindergartener.

What Blogs Are Good For

Rachel got a jury summons yesterday. She was already grumbling about having to go and not only that, by going she would miss a day of work thus denying her the chance to get a pay raise based on consecutive days. But then she got to reading the tiny print on the back of the summons and it said:

exemption if you have been empaneled on a jury of 6 or 12 people in Dallas County at either George Allen or Frank Crowley Court buildings since July 1, 2005.

Then we remembered this blog post, proving that she is eligible for this exemption.