Broken Washing Machine

I'm awaiting word from David to hear how his big test went today. This is the end of block 2, so his first semester of medical school is two-thirds finished.

In the break before block 3 begins, he needs to try to repair his broken washing machine. He called me for advice the other day, but the best I could do was scan eight pages from the indispensable homeowner's bible and email them to him. Oh, I and told him that no, it wouldn't be a good idea to leave his wet clothes in the washer from Friday until he had time to do something about the washer on Tuesday. Ah, the joys of homeownership. I may need to buy a copy of this book for David for Christmas.

The leaves are starting to fall from our trees, making a mess on the deck I just worked so hard to refinish. I remembered that my mom had bought Gary a leaf blower last year for Christmas, so I got that puppy out and tried it. Wow! I had that deck spottless in no time. After that rousing success, I just couldn't resist the temptation to try it on my kitchen floor. Luckily, no one was home to observe how that went.

Finished

It took a full two weeks, but today we finished the deck refinishing project. I spent most of the afternoon working on it, and Gary joined me to do the second picnic table while I cleaned up the mess. It took two gallons of stuff--not paint, but Behr Premium Weatherproofing, Natural Clear color. The weather has remained pleasant, so maybe we can barbecue on the new deck before it gets cold.

We watched the first game of the World Series tonight with a couple of Rachel's friends. She made Puppy Chow for us to munch on. But you can't eat much of that at once, or at least you shouldn't.

I called David just as the game was getting started. He was too busy studying for a big test on Monday to watch.

How Many Coincidences Does It Take

...to make a miracle?

Miss Rachel, the Texas Teacher

Rachel's one-year Texas teacher certificate arrived today, squashed into the mailbox along the "Do Not Bend" stamp. It was signed by a familiar name: Anette Griffen was the principal at Duncanville HS when Rachel was in 9th grade. Rachel has collected the information she needs to start preparing for the two tests she needs to take and pass over the next year to get her permanent certificate. Your prayers along that line would be appreciated.

I also went to the Boutique mircowave "sale" this morning, only to learn it was yesterday morning. They still had one that fit my specifications: small, working, and free. So now I have a "new" microwave to replace my other used one, one that fits onto my countertop a bit better.

Gary's Back

Gary got home tonight in time to watch the last inning of the baseball game, Houston beating St. Louis. So David now gets to be in a World Series town.

I painted a few more boards on the deck today, while fixing a nice dinner for a couple of Rachel's hungry friends. I've run out of stuff, so I'll visit Home Depot tomorrow. Someday I'm going to finish this project.

Today I got bit by a mosquito on my arm, about one centimeter from where I got my flu shot yesterday. I bet that mosquito is either dead or well-immunized.

Snoopy Bandaid

Today I had my fall flu shot. $15, including a Snoopy bandaid. I made Rachel come and get one too. By the time we walked there she was white and saying she was seeing "black and white spots." She got the shot, then said she wanted to throw up, and the nurse sweetly asked her to lie down on the floor. After a few minutes her color came back and she was OK. On our way back to the office she said she now understood what it meant when people say, "It's all in your head" and how fear can make you sick.

Other activities for the day: grocery shopping, more work on the deck, and going to a birthday party. I should clean my kitchen, but I'm tired. No doubt if I leave it, it will still be a mess in the morning.

Deck Refinishing

The weather has finally cooled down to the high 80s, so I decided to start my fall project--refinishing the deck. We have a very nice deck that Gary's parents built for us several years ago, but we've been too lazy to refinish it every year. It is a lot of work to scrub 2-3 years' worth of dirt and algae off the deck, so our friends lent us their pressure washer to try. It doesn't do a perfect job, but probably good enough, so we're cleaning it that way.


After a couple years of wear, the nails start working themselves out too, so they all have to be pounded back in. I convinced Gary to help with this chore.

The deck is too big to do all at once, so we're cleaning then painting a section at a time. And the job is too big for me alone, so I've talked Rachel into helping. When I went to Home Depot to buy the sealer, this time I bought the most expensive kind that is supposed to last for four years. We'll see.

Speaking of Rachel, this week she finally heard from the Texas Board of Education about her status as a Texas teacher. The good news: they have granted her a one-year temporary certificate. The bad news: she has to take two more standardized tests to qualify for permanent certification. Ugh. So I guess she'll order the study guides and start studying again. In the mean time, she still has a temporary job that is bringing in some money, and she is hoping to save enough to buy a used car.

Another Reception

I was very happy to receive a few photos from Andrew and Laura in Ethiopia yesterday. I remember them saying their coworkers had had a reception for them, but I missed other details about it. Apparently, as you can see in this photo, they had some kind of special white wedding garb. Another photo had a couple of cute flower girls with them. I'm hoping to hear more details.

The weather has blessed us with a few drops of rain, but not nearly enough. So today I'm planning on refinishing another layer of the deck. It is too big to do all at once, so I'll work at it little by little. I did just borrow a friend's pressure washer, so I'll see if that will take the place of scrubbing, but I doubt it.

Not much else for news. Gary is working way too hard. He is staying up so late and getting up so early that when he lies down to watch the baseball playoff games, he is asleep before the third pitch. He's home this week, but off to Richmond next week and Boston the week after that.

Too Good

Sometimes I think my life is too good. Why do others suffer and my life is easy? It isn't fair.

How Do You Like Your Eggs?

I decided to be ambitious today and prepare my breakfast for the next week. I like to make a bunch of breakfast burritos at one time, then freeze them so I have a quick breakfast ready for the coming days. So I got 10 tortillas ready, cracked 10 eggs into a bowl, sauted some onions and green peppers. Then I somehow managed to tip the bowl of eggs--not yet scrambled--over onto the stove, one of those smooth glass cooktops.

I started cleaning up the mess. Do you know how hard it is to pick up spilled eggs? While doing this, some of the eggs spread over the hot burner. Voila! Cooked eggs with no pan to clean up! Nice smell, too.

I broke out into hysterical laugher--all by myself with no one around to listen.

It's Pay Day!

Sometime during the wee hours of the morning, the magic electrons brought our funds for the month. Having just checked the totals, I decided to go shopping at my favorite store. I found my daughter three shirts, two of which she liked. The other one goes back for the next lucky girl. I found a shirt for myself too. I found a pair of scrubs that should fit my doctor-wannabe son, and I also found a tupperware bowl that he could use (even if the lid is cracked). Of course, he'll probably want me to fill it with homemade cookies before I send it to him.

Alas, I can't buy everything at my favorite store, so off I go to Walgreens and the grocery store. I'll make Rachel go with me for company. It is just us girls here for a few days as Gary left this afternoon for a linguistics conference in Lubbock, TX. He gives his paper (part of an invited panel) on Saturday morning. He takes an early Sunday morning flight back to Love Field so he won't even miss church.

Eyesight Is Not the Same as Vision

Last Sunday we had an interesting woman speak to the congregation. She was a cheerful lady, who spoke clearly and confidently. She and her three eldest daughters (they have five kids total) sing semiprofessionally with a wonderful close girl-harmony not unlike Point of Grace. Anyway, she told her story: First she and her husband were told they would be unable to have children, I don't remember why. Then she did get pregnant and gave birth to daughter number one who had numerous health issues as a child, but eventually thrived. When she was pregnant with daughter number two, her doctor came in and told her, "Today you must decide--your eyesight or your baby. If you continue your pregnancy, you will go blind." She replied, "There's no decision to be made here, I won't abort this baby." The doctor called her a fool.

She gave the congregation a little lesson about communicating with blind people.

1. Don't talk louder.
2. Don't point.
3. Eyesight is not the same as vision.
   

Her blindness does not seemed to have slowed her down or hurt her spirit, and her husband and five sweet kids rise up and call her blessed.

Her words reminded me of something. In 1996, we had a banquet to celebrate the completion of Lingualinks, a package of software for language work that Gary had supervised for several years. At the banquet Gary was given a gift of a portable tape player--the kind for playing 4-track tapes used by Recordings for the Blind. The speaker said something similar of Gary: "He may have poor eyesight, but he does not lack vision."

Lord, Bless the Churches on Kiest Avenue

Our pastor did a cool thing today. He prayed for our church only after he prayed for the other churches on our street: The Potter's House and Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship and the little Hispanic church across the street and the Church of Christ. He asked the Lord to receive the praise that was being lifted up from each of these congregations and to work in the lives of people who live on Kiest Avenue.

This brought tears to my eyes. I like a pastor who knows the world doesn't revolve around his parking lot.

(I also noticed our immediate neighbors, Oak Cliff Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, were not in his list.)

Butterflies

This has been a pretty slow week for blogging. I just haven't felt very inspired to post much. I did take this photo this week of three butterflies chasing each other above a lantana bush.

One day this past week it was 104 degrees, and then a storm came and gave us just a little rain, and cooled things 10 degrees. But we need lots more rain, our whole yard is dead.

One small accomplishment for the week: I repaired 2 (two) VCRs. Now they both work again. It was just a matter of opening them up and finding the right place to clean and the right spot to replace a loose piece that fell out.

I haven't heard much from the boys this week. Andrew seems to not write as much as he used to now that he's married. Now there's a surprise, huh? I phoned David once this week, but he didn't answer. At least Rachel keeps talking to me. And she's been so happy lately, she hasn't even had anything to complain to me about.

Today we had a watermelon party in the neighborhood. It was a get-acquainted party for the residents' association. We are blessed to live in about the world's best neighborhood.

Speaking of good neighbors, my neighbor gave me a pair of Nike shoes today, worn about twice. She didn't find them comfortable, and they fit me perfectly. I had needed a new pair since I wear the outside heels off so quickly. The Lord provides.

Gary is at the Rangers' game tonight. I think it is their next to last game. A friend had an extra ticket. And Rachel is away at a party for the singles' group. I'm just home trying to think of something to blog about. And finish the laundry, and clean the kitchen, and you know.

Center Retreat

Today our entire Center was on a one-day retreat. The location was a large Baptist camp not many miles south of Dallas. It was a time of fellowship, teaching, and prayer, some of it outside in the still-100 degree temperatures. One of the best parts was listening to us sing--several hundred voices singing in gentle acapella harmony.

We were called together by a blast on the shofar. Our ethnomusicology team takes their job seriously.

Blind Dates

Yes, I can say that's what I have--since my husband is legally blind. His disability is annoying at times, like when he doesn't notice that I lost 5 lbs. But, you know, he also doesn't notice if I gain 5 lbs. either. Yay! It is great to be loved unconditionally :)

Speaking of blind dates, I set up a couple of my young friends on one. I hope they don't end up hating me for it.

I'm Having a Ball

I'm cleaning out a closet. For some unfathomable reason, Rachel told me today she wanted to jump rope. I thought we had an official jump rope, so off I went, delving into the unknown depths of the front closet. I know there are coats in that closet, waiting for a less-than-100 degree day, should that blessed event ever occur. But I was quite unaware of all the other things in that closet. Here is what I found while looking for the jump rope:

• 22 tennis balls
• 21 golf balls
• 12 wiffle balls
• 3 hard rubber bouncy balls
• 2 soft rubber world globe balls
• 2 black tension-reliever squeeze balls
• 1 cricket ball
• 1 Panther Pride mini football
• 1 Panther Pride mini basketball
• 1 uninflated Mavericks basketball
• 1 nerf football
• 1 street hockey ball
• 1 hard foam ball
• 1 hard rubber egg
• 1 pompom from a UofM ski cap
• 1 marble
• 1 beanbag
• 6 shuttlecocks
• 1 very large bat bag full of baseball stuff--baseballs, softballs, bats, gloves, helmets

There were also numerous tools for hitting these balls, but I won't go into that.

I wish the story would stop here, but alas, I hang my head in shame to tell what else I found. I found about 30 pieces of bubble gum that had been there since my married son was in 10th grade (you do the math). And if that is all I found, it wouldn't be so bad. The trouble was that there were numerous pieces of this gum with the, well, gum missing. The waxed wrappers where still mostly there, somewhat shredded by something--I hate to think what.

And after all that, Rachel said the jump rope was too short. So I gave her an extension cord, and that worked just fine.

Are You Coming Home Or Not?

The latest answer is not.

I've been talking to David, who lives in Houston, to see if he was going to leave the city and come to Dallas before Hurricane Rita hits. At 8am he said he and his housemate would come "later today." At 1pm, he said, "We'll leave within the hour." At 3pm he said, "Nope. Too much traffic, and no gas is for sale in all of Harris county. We're going to stick it out."

He said he went grocery shopping yesterday, so has non-perishable foods. He hadn't thought of candles and a flashlight, so he may not be staying up to read when the power goes off.

Two Silly Things I Heard Today

• "You've never heard of a phone date? That is when you and your date both watch the same TV show on your respective TVs and then you discuss it with each other on your respective phones."

• "Do we have any barbed wire? I am going to put barbed wire on the dresser so the cat won't sleep on top of all my stuff or push it on the floor."

Janis

I've just returned from a memorial service for a friend who died Friday. She was younger than me. I was sad, but holding it together until I saw her husband raise his hands in praise to God while singing "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow."