Coffee

I don't drink it myself, though I do like the smell of it.

This week R. learned to make coffee, though she doesn't drink it either. That is now part of her job description at the office. She made coffee at our house last night, too. It smelled strong to me, but everyone drank it.

And I learned something about coffee this week from D. and A.: Folgers is old people coffee, while coffee in small foil bags with flavoring added is young people coffee.

One way ticket to Africa

Today A. got word that he will fly to Nairobi one month from today. That seems soon. But we were that age when we left for the middle of nowhere, and we took the only grandbaby with us--who is now doing the same thing. But it was a little different for us: we had each other. I just wish he weren't going alone. Lord, take care of him.

R. had lunch with her friend Jessica. Jessica is about to go to China for a year. She is going alone too. Her mom is probably sad too.

Reading and swimming and working

R's plans for a regular reading night each week have fizzled, but she has found a book she likes (and it isn't a dating advice book this time!), so she is reading anyway. Good for her! She's acting determined to do some exercise too, so we've started swimming laps during the lunch hour. Her job has started, kind of, but we haven't yet had a typical day. If we can get it going it will be good, but it is a job that depends on me putting in some time to keep her busy and to supervise her. The pay is about three times what she's ever been paid at any previous job, so if we can get a system going smoothly, there is hope she could actually make some money towards her school bill.

And speaking of working, it looks like A. will leave for his job July 22 or 23. Now he's getting visa photos, making an appointment for a yellow fever shot, trying to get into the dentist, making plans to fly around the country to visit all his friends, and of course, going to some more baseball games. His dad got mad at him today because he bought a plane ticket to NYC to go to a Yankees-Mets game this weekend with a friend who invited him. I thought it was a silly thing to do, but I know he is a very social creature and saying goodbye to his friends is important to him.

Making plans to leave already

A. has only been home a few days, but today he got his marching orders from SP. SP's East Africa director phoned from Kenya and talked for an hour. He told A. how he was leery of him and his abilities, until he learned he was from Taylor U. and also got a personal recommendation from a mutual friend (his Harvard credentials weren't necessarily in his favor :-)

So it looks like he will leave at the end of July. He's going into overdrive now to do the things he loves to do before leaving: see his friends and go to baseball games. He's on the phone at the moment buying tickets to the Rangers' game for tomorrow night--a date with his little sister. And he just bought plane tickets to go to NYC for the weekend since a friend bribed him with Yankees-Mets tickets. And then a trip to Kansas city to see old college dorm friends and to St. Louis to see the girlfriend who never was. He just can't sit still.

He has to get yellow fever immunization, and cholera too if he hasn't already had that. And malaria pills. He's already been told there is bad phone and internet service (and you get thrown into jail if they catch you with a satellite phone)and common supplies aren't that easy to get either.

I think I'm starting to feel sad.

Doro's last night is a nightmare

When we got home from DFW last night there was a small copperhead snake blocking the door to the house. The car headlights lit it up clearly, so we were in no danger. The push broom was right handy so I shoved it off into the grass amid cries that I should kill it. Then Doro had a nightmare about it.

She had lots of friends come say goodbye to her early this morning. She is like a people magnet. Now that she has gone, our phone will probably never ring again. She got checked in at DFW with no problems at all, but she did miss her flight out of Atlanta due to bad weather, so that meant also missing her flight to Hamburg.

I spent the rest of the day rearranging our rooms and our lives to make space for A. and D. and all their stuff. Now I'm pooped and I still feel unsettled.

Cemeteries on Sunday

We got to church early this morning, so I went for a walk in the cemetery next door. It was an unpretentious cemetery, with lots of room for new folks. The only thing I didn't like were the artificial flowers on some of the graves--too bright and too perfect. I mean, people have nice bodies for a while and then they die, and their nice bodies decay; flowers should do the same. A particularly loud bunch of colors caught my eye but when my nose caught a whiff of fragrance, I realized these were real flowers. The nameless grave was only a day old. The flowers were starting to die, but many of them were still beautiful. As I meandered through the rest of the cemetery I found a few wild flowers; they were the best of all.

Come to think of it, last Sunday I was in a different cemetery after church. That cemetery was very pretentious with signs and warnings and no flowers--fake, cultivated, or wild. It was full to the brim with Paul Revere, Mother Goose, and Ben Franklin's folks, among others.

Homemade pizza

I've been feeling kind of down today. I really don't know why and I don't think I have any good reason to be down. I'm annoyed with my computer at the moment, but I'm going to try to talk D. into reinstalling the OS on Monday after Doro leaves. It seems to be full of junk. Another thing that made me sad was R. and I decided to have some reading time together--that part made me happy. But when she tried reading a CS Lewis book, The Problem of Pain, she had to give up because she couldn't understand the big words. She has never been a good reader, and I do admire that in recent years she is trying harder to read more, but it isn't easy for her. That makes me sad. Sometimes life seems unfair.

She's so good with Chimbai, however. He comes by often, as do Michael and Ebenezeer. Late this afternoon R. decided that she and Chimbai would make homemade pizza. I gave some help, but really the two of them did most of the work. She is so patient with him, and he responds well to her. She is generous with her time and her love and the pizza too! She's giving him a bunch of it to take home.

Lord, bless her for the good she does. Help her to trust you, to love you, to want to know you more.

End of the week

R. sort of got started at a job this week. I say sort of because the person who is paying hasn't gotten back to us with any more details than, "Sure, go for it." So we got her started, and just hope we are going the right direction. The job is scanning language materials to be added to the Rosetta Project, a somewhat eccentric project to preserve language data for the long haul.

A.'s 13 boxes arrived today, so there is absolutely no space left in my formerly empty nest. Doro returns tomorrow night, then A. returns on Sunday night. But Doro leaves on Monday to return to Germany, so then A. will have a room.

D. says his two classes are too easy. This week he dissected a cat and made banana oil ester. He's picked out 6 med schools to apply to, but is only choosing ones that have Ph.D/M.D. combined programs. We'll see if he gets in to any of them.

Our plans for hosting a college-age Bible study this summer are coming along. We've decided to make a rather open invitation, so it will be interesting to see how many kids come. Lord, bring just the right people who can benefit from this time of study and fellowship.

I got one RSVP to come to our Bible study (it starts next Friday) from a boy who is interning in the SIL software development department. (Our family has an interesting history with the gentlemen who have interned in that dept.) The parents of this young man we have known for more than 15 years.

Commencement week at Harvard

Monday--We're home, always good to come home. Tonight I sleep in my own bed :-) R and D did not kill each other off, nor did they starve to death--though I am worried about scurvy since all the vegetables I left for them were still here when I got back.

So my summer break is over. Now back to work and trying to get into a comfortable routine with a nest full of chickadees and all their stuff.

Lord, thank you for your gracious care for all of us. Take care of the needs in our hearts and help us to love you more.

Commencement week at Harvard

Sunday--We got up fairly early to attend services at Park Street Church. The young couple who were the greeters were Taylor grads. The church isn't that big, but it was cool. The choir was well above average, good pipe organ too. Outside the door was the cemetery where Paul Revere, Mother Goose, and victims of the Boston Massacre are buried.

After church we walked some of the Freedom Trail, toured Old Ironsides, and ate lunch at a little place nearby. Then got a different train back to Harvard, arriving just before 3pm.

I don't know if A. is generous or just lazy--he basically decided to give away his stuff instead of trying to sell it. While G. And A. moved stuff, I scrubbed the disgustingly dirty bathroom, swept his room, and washed a few walls. Somehow they have managed to live here without basic cleaning supplies for two years :-(

We declined a dinner invitation because we're too pooped. Besides, the conversation will all be in Spanish.

Commencement week at Harvard

Saturday--A. came in at 6am from his party, slept a little, then we met his Taylor friends, who have spent the last two years studying at Gordon seminary, for a goodbye breakfast. Then we got serious about packing, and by 3:30pm had 13 boxes to go to the UPS store for shipping home (so much the first taxi refused to take the stuff!). We found a drawer full of A's change and picked out the dimes and nickels to buy several drinks from the vending machine--too bad it won't take pennies and foreign coins.

Commencement week at Harvard

Friday--Today was quite pleasant with other things to do now that graduation is over. We had breakfast with friends who happen to be in Boston this week, then Gary had a working lunch with the director of the Forum of Bible Agencies. Then it was serious packing followed by an evening at Fenway where the Red Sox won. Then we went to bed and A went out for an evening of saying goodbye to friends and salsa dancing.

Commencement week at Harvard

Thursday--Today Andrew graduated! Yay for him. Now he is a Master of Public Administration in International Development. Now he owes a gazillion dollars to somebody for his education. (But at least he has plans for staying in the Loan Repayment Assistance Program.)

The graduation ceremonies here were elaborate, to say the least. They take pomp and circumstance very seriously here. But the weather was terrible, so that made it less fun. Andrew started the day with class pictures at 7am, the first phase of graduation started at 10, the second phase started at 12:30, then fancy box lunches. We were so tired by the time that was over we didn't even go to the third phase, so Kofi Annan had to speak without us.

The evening was spent trying to help Andrew figure how to deal with all his stuff: pack it to be mailed, or put in a suitcase for the plane, or decide how to get rid of it. The program here has a room for donations to next year's incoming international students, so he will put all his furniture there.

Commencement week at Harvard

Wednesday-We had a busy day today. We got up early and went downtown for breakfast at Au Bon Pain then a tour in a WWII amphibious bus, on land and into the Charles River basin. Then we went back home and Andrew updated and uploaded his resume his potential employer was waiting for. Then a speech by a Nobel prize winner, class skits, fancy reception, then dinner at a Christian millionarie's house. Now I need to iron Andrew's graduation gown.

Commencement week at Harvard

Tuesday-we arrived on time, Andrew met us, we took a taxi to his apartment, then off to the awards ceremony. Andrew's award was for "outstanding committment to International Development." He seems to have lots of interesting friends here; the Latina girls all flirt with him because he speaks their language, the girl from Afghanistan is beautiful, and an interesting bunch of kids from Turkey. His program is "overrepresented by minorities," as someone lampooned during the satire skit at the awards ceremony. Then about half of the MPAID (Masters of Public Administration in International Development) jumped off the foot bridge into the Charles River. I hope my photos turn out.

Her voice

Sometimes she sings, but doesn't know I'm listening. Sometimes she sings to the Lord. Sometimes it makes me stop and thank God for the beauty: of her voice, of the meaning, of her.

Marshmallow memories

We had friends over the other day for grilled hamburgers, followed by smores and tales of roasting marshmallows over candles when one couldn't find a campfire. Last night we had a storm and the power went out so I had a chance to use all those candles that people keep giving me for gifts. While sitting around the candlefire and telling stories there was suddenly a desire for roasted marshmallows. Have you ever roasted marshmallows over a candle?

Things I saw on our trip to Indiana

1. A billboard along the highway that had the 10 commandments on it, but the writing was so small it would have cause a wreck if anyone slowed down to read it.

2. Trees. Lots of trees. We don't have enough of these in Texas.

3. Rest area with automatic hand washers. Insert hands, down comes 3 drops of soap, followed by water, followed by warm air.

4. Thanks to Caleb, we noticed the odometer with this reading:

5. Another billboard advertising DNA testing: Who is my daddy?

6. A "cemetery" full of small crosses to protest the innocents lost to abortion.

7. A gigantic cross, 198 feet tall, at the intersection of IH 57 and IH 70.

Interminable graduation

That's what it felt like last night. 640 names is a lot of names to listen to. We amused ourselves by sampling how many could be done in a minute then extrapolating how long the whole affair would take. At one point, somewhere around the G's, I looked over at G and he said, "Hey, ya wanna make out?" I replied, "Well, that would be less boring than this."

Then after the graduation it took almost as long again to find our graduate and get her to stop taking photos long enough to get her in the car. The dessert with friends after that was nice, then the graduates left for an all night party.

This morning when we got up to go to work we found a strange body asleep on one of the couches, too tired to drive home after staying up all night. Turns out she was a former gf. Now they're "just friends." Hmmm...

Crossed wires

Literally. Something weird, very weird is going on with our phone this afternoon. The phone rang and it was a wrong number. It rang again and the same guy calling. I asked him what number he was trying to reach and it was no where close to our phone number. It rang a third time, same guy. He said, "Sorry, but my wife watched me dial and I dialed 555-5555." I asked him who he was trying to reach. When he told me Mr. X, a name I recognized as someone in our neighborhood! So I called my husband at work and told him to call me back. When he called me, Mrs. X answered from down the street! Yes, the X family and we have somehow switched phone numbers!! Mrs. X called SBC and they said they would send somebody out before 7pm tonight. So if you want to call me today, dial Mrs. X and I'll answer.