Armadillo

I wasn't clever enough to get my own photo, but we did see an armadillo come out of the woods behind our house tonight. Oddly enough, the cat was near the edge of the woods and the cat and the armadillo stood and looked at each other for a while, then the armadillo headed for our compost pile to scrounge for grubs. We had 20 people at our house for a potluck, so the kids thought it was fun to catch a glimpse of a live armadillo, since usually they are dead on the side of the road. This particular animal has been digging nightly in the compost pile which is fine; however, sometimes he proceeds to the front yard, now dimpled with divots.

Oaf Children

Oaf children

Rachel being strangled by a couple of protocol droids in Washington DC.

Wedding Invitations

Invites

My kind friend Martha came over this morning to help me start addressing wedding invitations. Sounds simple enough, huh? No way! It is very complicated. Plus there is the problem of finding mailing addresses for a generation who keep in touch by phone or email. Have you seen the websites that have all the wedding info on them? Cool idea. Here is Andrew and Laura's site.

(Formerly) Forest View

I think land developers must hire script writers to come up with the names they give their housing subdivisions. For instance, Mountain Creek--are there any mountains anywhere in North Texas? Creek? Well, I suppose there is a creek somewhere, except for in the summer when they all dry up. Similarly, Mountain Terrace. Then, there is Hunters Glen. First of all, the punctuation is wrong. Secondly, the only hunting going on around here is for which house, among all these identical looking houses, is mine? And the newest dusty construction project going on near my house has the audacity to call itself Forest View. What's up with that? There would have been at least a teeny forest to view if they hadn't just bulldozed it down. And the saddest of all--they are threatening to do the same to the forest in my back yard.

The Fifth Wheel

Her words, not mine.

Rachel is off to Washington DC for the long weekend, a graduation gift from her brothers. She was all excited about going until this afternoon she realized that not only was she going to be hanging out with her brothers, but also with their girlfriends. They are all gathering in DC for the wedding of one of Andrew's friends who happens to also live in the same house as David. I reminded Rachel that weddings were a good place to meet cute guys. That cheered her up a little.

Besides the wedding, they plan to also go to the new Star Wars movie and maybe a museum or two.

Andrew phoned us from DC this afternoon, having just arrived from Africa. How he manages to travel here from Africa and back twice in less than a month is beyond me. But he said it was worth it it terms of his job. He was happy to report that yesterday he spent $90,000.00--on two trucks and 12 months of office rent, paid in advance.

Can I Borrow Your Baby?

Baby

Rachel loves children. I guess it is good she has chosen elementary education as a career. She asked me the other day what I would think if, in the case that she never married, she adopted a child.

Speaking of adopted children, pray with me for a family in our church who is in the process of adopting an older child who has many emotional and behavioral issues. Ask God to work in the child's life and to give every member of the adoptive family wisdom, grace, and patience.

Grandma and her Granddaughters

Grandma and her granddaughters

My mom has been here visiting us since Rachel's graduation. We were happy to have my sister's daughter, April, also come visit us while grandma is here. April is on her way to be a counselor at
Camp Buckner, which is located somewhere near Austin. After tomorrow I should know better where it is located since all us girls are going to drive April down there tomorrow morning. It has been fun to have April visit. I'm sorry her twin brother, Alan, couldn't come along also--but he did visit us here a couple summers ago.

Home Cookin' and Episode III

Tonight, after eating the chili left over from Ma Hoyt's visit, I heard these words: "So nice not to be eating cafeteria food any more."

And speaking of college students, I just saw the neighbor boy, Jesse, who has just graduated from Texas A&M, carrying a load of games, blankets and chairs to his car.

"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Star Wars," he replied. "I'm going to go get in line with Caleb and Tim."
"Do you have tickets?"
"Oh, yes, we have tickets. We just are getting in line to get good seats."

Poor David, missing out on all this fun. How many years ago was it that Jesse's mom and I took these same boys--then too young to drive--and stood in line for Episode I?

Personal Space

My daughter has moved home. Do I need to rename this blog?

Rachel's Graduation

Rachel's graduation

Yay! She did it! We are so proud of Rachel for graduating from Southern Nazarene University yesterday.

We drove up to her school on Friday, arriving before 3pm, after sitting in traffic for a couple spells. Amazing but true, she had every last little thing pack up and cleaned up, so loading the cars went very smoothly and quickly. I say cars, plural, because her friend, Kenny, kindly drove up with us in his car to help bring her stuff home. Also attending: Grandma Dennis from south Texas and Auntie Carol from Pennsylvania. Rachel was happy for these visitors especially since her own brothers were unable to attend.

After packing the car we went to the hotel, changed our clothes, and then headed back to SNU for a dinner given in honor of the graduates. The dinner speaker gave a humorous talk, but it was a good talk since I actually remembered his three points:

1. Get a job.
2. Be happy--appreciate the humor in life.
3. Remember Jesus loves you.

After that it was back to the hotel to watch the Dallas Mavericks on cable TV--they lost. According to reports, the boys got a lot more sleep in their room than the girls did in theirs.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, then drove off to do some sightseeing at the Myriad Gardens, a lovely park and elaborate greenhouse with 2000 tropical plant species. Then back to the hotel, change our clothes again, and off to graduation.

The graduation was kind of long, but the did a quick job of actually reading off the names. When Rachel's name was read they pronounced the "Fitona" part right, but they messed up on the "Simons." For a short moment, we though she was going to run back and tell them to correct the pronunciation, but she decided instead to keep on walking across the stage. After the indoor ceremony we went over to the fountain for a ivy cutting ceremony, then some photos with professors and friends, then we were headed back home, arriving at nearly 10pm.

Grandma will be here several more days and my niece, April, is coming tomorrow for a few days, so that will be a nice time for Rachel to transition back to life here.

Back from DC

Me and David on the Mall

I'm back safely from Washington. I had a nice visit with David. Here are some more observations:

• Both Dallas and DC have too many SUVs.
• DC has many luxury cars as Dallas has pickups.
  
• Dallas has better roads.
• DC has better bagels.
• DC people are better dressed, but seem more stressed.
• There are more fat people in Dallas.
• Texas needs more trees.
• America likes baseball; there are baseball diamonds all across the country.
• There is a smart church near the airport with their URL on the roof.
• It was fun to say to David, "I've been using computers since before you were born" when he tried to tell me how to do something. I had to say that after he made fun of me for knowing (and even using) most of the early PCs on display at the American History Museum.
  

Rhododendrons in DC

Rhododendrons in DC

I'm posting from our nation's capital, from David's new tiny laptop computer which is stealing unsecured internet from some neighbor. I'll pass my time with this post while I'm waiting for him to return from having breakfast with the father of a certain Miss Someone.

Here are some observations from my trip so far:

• There are 9 small pretzels in a 1/2 oz bag.
• My favorite tee shirt sighting: "My next husband will be normal."
• Clouds look different when viewed from the top.
• When you fly into DCA, be sure you make a bathroom visit early in the flight, or else don't drink anything. They have a rule on this particular flight that you may not, for any reason, get out of your seat for the last 30 minutes of the flight.
• In spite of fashion, jeans and athletic shoes are still the preferred dress for tourists.
• Miss Someone is a nice girl.
• Electron microscopes are cool.
• So is liquid nitrogen.
• Likewise the Air and Space Museum.
  
• I must be the last person in the universe without a cell phone.

She Said Yes!

Andrew and Laura

This evening we got a phone call from Andrew. He was calling from the Dominican Republic and it sounded like there was a fiesta going on in the background. He had gone to Santo Domingo a day earlier than his girlfriend expected to make his de facto engagement official.

As far as I understand the story it went like this: Andrew schemed with Laura's best friend, Nicole, to come to DR a day early. Nicole had helped Andrew to reserve a restaurant on the beach (sand floor 10 feet from the ocean) where he littered the floor with rose petals and parked himself on one knee to await Laura's arrival. Nicole then cooked up some plan and managed to get Laura to the restaurant. Nicole said she needed to go to the ladies' room and told Laura to go on in and find a table. At which time she found Andrew down on his knee with a diamond in his hand.

So now he has met Laura's mom, who only speaks Spanish. Lucky for him, he speaks passable Spanish. He has also met her sister and aunts and some of her old friends. He says they all like him, but as Laura says, "He's very likeable." :-)

Andrew apologized ahead of time for not being able to phone me on Mother's Day, but he said, "I'm getting you a new daughter for Mother's Day instead."

The wedding is August 5 in Santo Domingo. I've already bought our tickets. This engagement was dramatic, but it wasn't unexpected. Pray with us that God will be leading Andrew and Laura into a strong marriage that honors the Lord.

Where's Ardith?

Hoyt family

Last night we had a visit from a family I met on line. Apparenly no ax-murderers in this bunch, just a lot of nice kids! They got to try fajitas for the first time, and seemed to enjoy them--except I did notice someone eating them with a fork!

Arguing

I've been thinking about arguing for a couple days, trying to analyze what is involved in arguing, trying to figure out why and how people argue. (The anecdotes presented here are about actual people I know, but the actual people I'm thinking of may be of a different gender than the pronoun I'm using indicates. I don't want to be too obvious.)

1. I know someone who likes to argue. I mean, he argues because it is fun for him. He is very intelligent, and finds arguing to be mentally stimulating. He has admitted to strongly arguing one side of an issue, like he really believed it, then immediately turn around and just as strongly argue the opposite side. His interpersonal skills are not the best in the world, and sometimes his arguing for fun does hurt other people's feelings. But he doesn't really feel so bad about that, since his motives were not to hurt them, just to explore all sides of an issue.

2. I know someone else who doesn't really like to argue, but does it as a way to force interaction with an introverted spouse. This couple actually doesn't have any big issues to debate, but she tends to become engrossed in work and/or other projects and unintentionally ignores him, in spite of the undying love between them. So he picks a fight--and since she doesn't like conflict, she will immediately pay attention and start talking. Arguing does make them talk, but it would be nice if there were a better way.

3. I know someone who argues out of self defense. This person is an emotional person, and if his feelings are in the least way ruffled, he becomes argumentative. His arguments may or may not have a basis in logical fact, because indeed, they proceed from feelings, not facts. It seems like if he is happy and secure, he doesn't argue. If he becomes afraid or insecure for some reason, he starts to argue as a way to protect himself.

A Free Poem

Drought

He metes out his time,
thinking if he gave it freely,
it would soon run out.
So she accepts the measured droplets,
while longing for a flood.

May Day

In recognition of May Day I have updated the wildflowers photo page on my stale website to include photos of 6 more species of wildflowers that I have recently identified. I'm always amazed at the variety God came up with when he created our world.

Foxglove Penstemon

Foxglove Penstemon

I've walked the trails several times lately, and this is the one and only one of these I've seen.

In other news, I was chatting with my friend the other day about how our kids went off to Christian colleges but didn't get engaged while there. We want our money back! We had a laugh as we came to the conclusion that she shouldn't have sent her son to LeTourneau, but I should have sent my daughter there! (Just kidding, in case any of the characters in this story are reading this ;-)

We had a nice chat with Andrew today. He arrived safely in Charlotte last night and was able to get a full night of sleep. It was nice to be able to talk leisurely for a change, since phone calls to Ethiopia are pretty expensive.

Andrew in Amsterdam

Andrew just sent an email from Amsterdam. Wow, they just don't make overseas travel like they used to. From Amsterdam he sent me a spreadsheet I needed that got clobbered when my computer died. Amazing. He had a long layover there, but he said it was too cold and rainy to go out and look around. He will have other chances.

Remember all that work Rachel went through to get her fingerprints made? Turns out the police in Bethany didn't do a very good job with her little fingers and smudged all the prints. So now she has to go to the main police station in Oklahoma City and do it again. Not something she has time for in her last hectic weeks of school, but she did find someone willing to take her there next week.

Computer Update

I spent a lot of today getting my new computer organized: installing MS Office, configuring my web browsers, installing a fancy mouse, installing the photo software, finding all my old bookmarks, installing my backup of My Documents. It all went pretty well except for one problem: I had about 15 current Juno messages (from this past week) that got clobbered when I installed the old mailbox. And I may have lost a handful of recent additions to my Juno mailbox. But, it could have been worse.

I like the screen on this laptop, so I'm not even going to use the outboard monitor, but I am using an outboard keyboard and mouse. The printer is working, as is my digital camera downloads; I haven't tried the scanner yet.

In other news: David tells me he will soon be interviewed by the father of a certain Miss Someone; Rachel has not had an easy week with solo student teaching, but she is coping pretty well; Andrew is in an airplane on his way from Addis Ababa to Charlotte, NC.

Pray for them with me, if God brings them to mind.