21 Seasoning Salute

If anyone out there lives near a Trader Joe's, how about picking me up a jar or two of their 21 Seasoning Salute? Mine's all gone.

The Hive is Growing Quiet

This afternoon Doro left to return to Germany after six and a half weeks at our house. Our house was a hive of activity with her here. I've never met another person as extroverted or active as she is--always having friends here or always going with friends there, or painting a picture, or remodeling the house, or sewing a dress, or talking on the phone, or swimming, or taking photos, or begging to go to Walmart, or, or, or. As a busy bee, and a beautiful one, she had various young men buzzing around too, though she is not ready or interested in having a bf at this stage of her life--she starts university soon (but has to pass the TOEFL test first).

Speaking of bees, they were very annoying at our picnic last night at Cedar Hill State Park. They seem to LOVE Dr. Pepper. Doro avoided that problem by drinking water. But alas, before the night was over, she was the one who got stung.

Then on the way home we all had a big discussion about the name of the stinging insect. Was it a honey bee, a wasp, a hornet? Rachel insisted it was a yellow jacket, and upon further Google research, I think she was right. Not only was it a yellow jacket, it was a German Yellow Jacket.

New Things I've Learned Recently

I had never heard of antlions until our someone informed us that is why our parched yard looks like the lunar surface.



Another thing I've recently learned is a new meaning of the word rifle--"To cut spiral grooves within (a gun barrel, for example)."

Lastly, due to all the red tape I do for Andrew, is the word apostille. To get one in Texas only costs $15 and takes 3 days, kind of like an international version of a notary public authorization.

Passable and Agreeable

"If a girl says, 'I don't care what I look like. If people don't take me for what I am, too bad for them,' is she being wise or is she being unwise?"

"No, women don't have to really be beautiful--all they have to be is passable (that is, not so ugly that you're embarassed to be seen with them) and agreeable (that is, someone you could actually live with)."

"I read a book about a young blind man who thought he could judge women better than his seeing peers. This was because he wasn't blinded by a woman's physical appearance--he could see past the physical and judge a woman for who she really was."

"You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you do your hair, or the jewelery you put on, or the dresses you wear. Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is the of the greatest value in God's sight."