Valentine's Weekend Continues

Michael the Archangel

Today we drove to Plano to have potluck lunch with the Encore group from our old church, Kimball Free Methodist. The meal was at the new home of John and Shirley Collier. John is getting more famous by the day since he received the commission to make a memorial sculpture for a Catholic church that was on the edge of the 9/11 disaster. After a wonderful lunch, we drove to the Biblical Arts Center where John's four large sculptures are on display this month before they get shipped to NYC. John gave us a personal tour, providing commentary about each of the four statues. After a general explanation of how he was chosen to do this work, he gave us a simplified explanation of the complicated process that an artist goes through to change his clay sculpture into plaster and then into bronze. Then he revealed some of the hidden little secrets:

• the foundry workers who cast the bronze were allowed to write their names on the back of the board that the Joseph statue is holding;
• the serpent that is being hacked apart by the archangel Michael has a head with ten horns, but the head originally was to go on one of the other statues and became disformed when John accidently put it on its peg too roughly;
• Mary Magdalene is standing like John's mother used to stand;
• Joseph has a mole on his face in the same place John's dad has a mole.

Valentine's Weekend Has Begun

Gary consulting with Russell Cook

Several days ago Gary decided to take this afternoon off work. He blocked it off in his electronic calendar, and no one asked for a meeting. We came home at noon and ate lunch, then drove to First Methodist church in Irving to attend the Winter Festival of Acoustic Music. This festival included hammered dulcimer workshops, which Gary didn't attend, but we poked our heads inside to see what one would be like. You have to bring your own dulcimer--which he has--and your own stand--which he doesn't have. He also doesn't yet have a carrying case.

We paid our $10 each and that allowed us to attend the afternoon concert and the crafts show. The crafts show was really just mom and pop booths for selling acoustic instruments and accessories. There were some cool things there, and Gary looked very carefully at all the books. After talking to him for 10-15 minutes, Gary ended up buying one book from Russell Cook who also autographed it.

We left after 5:30pm so that meant dealing with Friday afternoon traffic, but our journey wasn't long, so it wasn't too bad.

In other news of the week, all reports from Rachel seem pretty good. She had an evaluation on Wednesday and wasn't completely happy with it, but not too unhappy either. She is definitely learning a lot from student teaching, and really thinking hard if this is what she wants to do as a career. We are proud of how she has stepped up to the plate to get up early every morning, be prepared, and stay late many afternoons to finish up. She is learning that life as a Kindergarten teacher is anything but routine--something goes wrong every day that must be dealt with. One day it was snow. Another day it was spilled ranch dressing. Another day it was an absent teacher. Today it was an irate parent and a stranger trying to find a child who didn't exist.

Bottom of the Pecking Order

I've been watching my bird feeder quite a bit on these cold winter days. (I know,I shouldn't complain, I live in Dallas.) Sometimes there is just one bird on the feeder at a time. Then another bird comes along and the first one flies off. But other times I've seen four or more different species on the feeder at the same time. But they don't stay for long with each one eating from his own corner. No, they fight each other off. The male cardinal beats the female cardinal who beats the juncos who beat the sparrows. The sparrows do seem to be at the bottom of the pecking order. Jesus must have known that when he said, "yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father's consent."

This has gotten me thinking about life.

Sculptures

What are you reading? 
We enjoyed having Rachel home this past weekend. We met up with her SNU friends at Border's Bookstore in Hulen Street Mall in Ft. Worth on Sunday afternoon so she could get a ride back to school. These sculptures were outside the bookstore, and they make pretty good advertising. (For the record, Rachel did NOT want to pose for this photo, but I did warn her it might show up in the blog.)

We attended a Superbowl Birthday Party for our friend Bob who teaches history at UTA. His wife, always full of contradictions, served "trailer trash food" (her term, not mine--hot dogs and nachos) along with champagne. The men mostly watched the game and the women mostly talked about upcoming weddings. Our friends John and Shirley were there too, and we heard first hand about John's sculptures on display at the Museum of Biblical Arts until they are taken to NYC for placement at a Catholic church on the edge of the 9/11 site.

The Kiss

The Kiss 
If you look at this photo hard enough you can find it.

We went to a wedding at our church yesterday afternoon. It was fun. Lots of church folks and lots of people from work were there too. Rachel and I served the punch, and out of all those people only one wisecracker came up and said, "Give me a punch."

At the last minute Rachel found a ride home for the weekend so she could attend this wedding. It was fun to hear her tales of her first two weeks of student teaching. She said the second week went better than the first. She starts "real" teaching tomorrow, so I hope the weekend at home hasn't worn her out. If you know Rachel and are reading this, please pray with me that God will give her strength, wisdom, and all that she needs to do a good job.

White Kitty

White Kitty 
I think I figured out why all the birds have disappeared.

Starlings

Starlings 
This is not a very inspiring photo, and startlings are not very inspiring birds. They are considered a nuisance by many. Yesterday I identified a new bird, a Harris sparrow, but I don't have a photo. They are similar to all the other sparrows, but a bit larger and they have a black chin. The bird book says they have a small range, just our part of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas in the winter and central Canada in the summer.

Today I started the income tax process. There are always a bunch of preparations that have to be done before filling in the forms. I'm hoping for a refund to help make another college payment.

Have I mentioned that I'm ready for the sun to shine again?

What is This Creature?

I don't know 
Should I admit I found it in my kitchen?

I'm just about ready for the sun to shine again. It seems like we've had a solid week of rain or at least of heavy clouds. I'm one of those people who is sensitive to sunshine.

Not much news to report today. My next project is to do the taxes. I will probably start on that this afternoon since it is too rainy to take my afternoon walk.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Happy Birthday, Andrew! 

No, today is not Andrew's birthday, but today I got some photos of it. Andrew's girlfriend went to Ethiopia right after Christmas and was there for his birthday. I was quite impressed how she managed to organize a surprise party for him, complete with balloons and roses at the airport and a meal with friends at a restaurant. Today I got a CD of photos from her trip, and thought this one would look nice in my blog. I aso received a wrap/scarf/skirt from Kenya which is cool.

I talked briefly with Rachel this afternoon. She said student teaching went pretty smoothly today--the two troublemakers were absent! She told me the other day she was interviewed and photographed for a blurb in the school annual on student teachers.

Carolina Wren?

Carolina Wren 

Actually, I don't know for sure if this is a Carolina Wren or a Brown Creeper. They both are brown with a white eye streak and they are next to each other in the bird book, so I guess they are similar. I think the coloring is more like the wren, but it was acting like a creeper as it climbed the tree that holds up my clothesline.

It has been a slow day here, I think I'm ready for Gary to come home. I did get some reading done and a project caught up, so I haven't been lazy the entire day. And I talked to two out of three kids, and they seemed like they were doing well. Maybe the third one will call tomorrow.

Cancer

I'm home alone tonight. G. is out of town on a business trip. If you look at the top of this blog, you will see that its point is so I can talk to myself. So that I am doing.

I just got an email from a relative, a little younger than I, saying the tumor they cut out of her leg was indeed cancer. Treatment options are still being explored, but range from radiation to amputation. I just phoned the parents of this relative to tell them to check their email.

And besides that, I just got the results of this. It said there was a "questionable area" and would I please phone for an appointment.

I feel a little sad. Good thing I've got this blog to talk to.

Too Rainy for Birds Today

Uncle Martin and Aunt Helen visit Texas 

After work today I drove to DFW to meet good friends who were having a 4 hour layover on their way to Guatemala. They were our very first supporters and have stuck with us for many years. They had never been to Whataburger, so that is where we went for lunch. The weather was terrible today, lots of heavy rain, so my drive home along IH360 was slow and crowded, but it was worth it to be able to see our friends (and their friends too). During lunch I explained to them what blogs are, so if they don't lose the URL before they get to a computer, they might see themselves here.

Mourning Dove

Mourning Dove 

Today's bird is a mourning dove. I should have saved that one for a day when I'm sad. I'm not sad; in fact, I'm happy. The weather has been lovely, I enjoyed a visit from a friend today, and Rachel's email today said each day is getting a little easier than the day before. I'm thankful to God for helping her get off to a good start with student teaching.

Cardinal

Male Cardinal 

The weather was so beautiful here today, warm and sunny. Soaking up the sunlight on my afternoon walk feels good.

I've just about completed my house rearranging that started before Christmas. Today I added a CD player to "my room" and reengineered the futon to make a lovely reading spot (except the cat seems to have taken it over).

The Robins and My Chickadee

Mr. and Mrs. Robin, with cousin Charlie--no relation to Big Bird 

Today was Rachel's (she's one of my chickadees) first day of being Miss Rachel, the Kindergarten teacher. Well, she's not a real kindergarten teacher, but she's getting close! She started student teaching a private Christian school called School for Children (doesn't that seem like an odd name?) This assignment will go for 6 weeks I think, then she will switch to 2nd grade at a public school for 6 more weeks. She has to be there at 8am and gets off at 4:30 pm, except for Tuesdays when she has to stay until 5:30pm. She called me briefly this afternoon to say she had gotten through the first day OK, and she sounded happy but tired. She said her day might go smoother if she figured out the night before what she was going to wear. She also figured out why teachers wear sensible shoes :-)

We are so proud of her to reach this step, and we continue to pray that God will strengthen and care for her, and guide her regarding decisions for her future.

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Chickadee 

I'm pretty sure I couldn't tell the difference between a black-capped chickadee and a Carolina chickadee, but my bird books tell me that only the Carolina ones live in Texas.

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We have a new pastor at our church. Today was this third Sunday and he talked about greed, which got me thinking about the opposite: generosity. Generosity is not so easy as just being physically generous. It is harder to be generous with your love, mercy, time, compliments, and interest in others. The point the pastor made was about being generous with one's privacy or private space. In other words, the willingness to let others take up the time one has to themselves.

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed junco/slate-colored junco 

I'm still experimenting with my new camera, and a tiny camera like mine isn't intended to take closeups of wildlife, but anyway--you can at least tell this is a bird, I hope. I haven't seen many birds today--the homeschoolers' football game that has been going on all afternoon in my backyard might have something to do with it. :-) The weather has been beautiful today--mid 70s.

"You did a good job..."

Just as I was about to leave for work this morning, David phoned. He was at the Presidential Inauguration, calling to brag a little and to tell me he had purchased a new coat yesterday so he could stand to be out in the cold. He had found some Taylor friends with whom to attend, and by the giggles in the background, they must have all been girls. He said someone wanted to tell me something, and then a stranger's voice came on, "Hi, my name is Lisa. I just want to tell you you have a wonderful son. You've done a good job raising him,..." I thought this might be a joke, so I asked her how old she was, as in "Are you old enough to make this judgment?" She assured me she had children older than my children, so yes, she was qualified to say. When David got back on the phone, I asked him if he had paid her to say that and he said, "No, I just saved her place in line."

A week and a half ago another person said something similar. We were attending an open house in the neighborhood, and one of the older gentlemen there looked over at Rachel and said, "Wow, she's come a long ways. I remember when you came to Dallas and she was just a toddler who had some problems. You've done a good job with her, you've been good parents." It was kind of him to say so, in spite of times when I don't feel like I have done a good job.

I do give thanks to God for his work in the lives of our children, and I pray for them every day, that they will "see Him more clearly, follow Him more nearly, love Him more dearly, day by day."

Bird Watching

It is bird watching season again, where are the birds? 

I have rebooted my computer about 15 times today.

I'm playing around with my camera too, trying to figure out if I can take bird photos with it. Stay tuned.

Holiday and Dinner Out

We had a day off work today so we spent it wisely: slept in until 9:30 (of course I was up several times putting the cat out, letting the cat in, feeding the cat, turning the faucet on for the cat, shutting the faucet off--but I digress!) then Gary and I each started separate cleaning projects. He worked on cleaning up his office, as he promised me he would do. Now it is 12 hours later and it hardly looks like anything was done, but he assures me it is all about infrastructure, or something like that.

I moved two bookshelves, two cupboards, and stuff in two closets, continuing the domino effect that started before Christmas when we gave Rachel's bed away. The result is now we have a music room with piano, dulcimer, guitars, African drum, flute, French horn, and lots of music and music books. (There is also a corner cupboard with toys for the two little African boys to play with when them come to visit me.)

And now Rachel's old bedroom has been converted to MY room--my computer (plus two other computers seldom used) a futon for guests, a dresser now being used for sorting stuff that comes for David or Andrew and the closet with off-season clothes. Eventually, I may move my rubber stamping stuff in here too, or even my desk for doing the family finances, but I'll have to think on that for a while. My computer is now situated in such a way that I can see the TV in our bedroom, so I can do two things at once :-)

We worked hard on all this today, then went out for a late dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Why did we go there? Because we had a $20 coupon, of course. Gary had steak and I had shrimp. Nice change from Taco Bueno :-)

Rachel made it safely back to school last night but couldn't get her computer to work. Late this afternoon she phoned the computer services guys, and they came to her dorm to check out the problem. And indeed there was a problem, something about a blade in a server for rooms 1-6 in the dorm. They fixed it, and now she's happy. She had her first day of teacher seminar which lasts this week, and tonight stared her once a week class on The Exceptional Child. (That's what I had--a pile of exceptional children.)

I've still got a couple hours of stuff to do to complete my house rearranging, but tomorrow it is back to work, now that Christmas vacation is finally over.