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."

Old Family Photos

my parents' wedding, Lyle and Vivian Dennis, July 29,1952, Crystal, MI

I was so happy to get an envelope from my childhood neighbor with a handful of black and white photos of my family. Her parents had been at my parents' wedding, and Carol found a few old photos they found when cleaning out. I was happy to get them.

Haven't heard much from Andrew and Laura this week except that they got their contract signed in the town of Awassa and the TV reporters were there to film it.

Talked to David who has just finished his first block of classes (they have blocks instead of semesters). He gets some time off this weekend, but said it was too expensive to buy gas to drive home for a visit. He did buy a pass to the UT-Houston gym, so he can start working out a little bit. His girlfriend phoned from a borrowed cell phone the other morning--that made him happy.

Rachel continues to do scanning about 3-4 hours per day. We are nearing the end of the materials to scan, but it is good money while it lasts. She has joined the church choir and is attending two different singles' groups during the week. Her latest set of fingerprints were accepted by the Texas board of Education, but still no word on her Review of Credentials.

Gary is doing OK, except always always too busy. He goes to Michigan for a few days at the end of next week for a paid consulting job. It has been many months since he has had one of these opportunities.

True Love at Church

His 250 lb. wife is now pushing 300 with their third child--he looks at her and smiles.

His wrinkled wife moves over to let him in the pew with a giggle--he leans his grayed head over and kisses her.

His grouchy wife smiles in spite of herself when he takes her hand--he whispers, "I'm ga-ga over red hair."

A skinny, beautiful, young blonde woman sits all alone--Lord, won't you bring true love to her too?

Playing in the Rain

Who says you're ever too old to play in the rain??

We haven't had much rain this summer, in fact I think we're over 6 inches behind the normal rainfall totals. And it is still hot here, so playing in the rain was kind of like a warm shower.

Anatomy of an Apology

1. Acknowledge the facts. I cut you off in traffic. Don't include any but,... statements.
2. Admit you were wrong. I was wrong to do that.
3. Apologize. I'm sorry.
4. Ask for forgiveness. Will you forgive me?

No, I didn't write that because I'm mad at someone, or someone is mad at me. I wrote it to remind myself of the conclusion I came to several years ago when I thought hard about apologies. That situation came to mind due to some recent silly (and some not-so-silly) bickering on a forum I frequent.

Those many years ago, someone did something bad to one of my kids. (That's all the more specific I'm going to get and I will use all male pronouns when talking about the situation, regardless if the antecedent is male or female.) He tried to apologize, but he skipped directly to number 3, and could never come to terms with points 1 and 2. So in my mind, he never really apologized.

Of course, I am guilty of doing this too. It is hard to admit wrong, and it is easy to rationalize and make excuses. It is also, sadly, easier to observe these faults in others than in one's self.

Dirty Cat

Sigh. The bulldozer went through the woods yesterday, preparing the way for the drilling rig. I walked back there this morning and these words from the Prophet Isaiah came to mind:

"Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord! Clear the way in the desert for our God! Fill every valley; level every mountain. The hills will become a plain, and the rough country will be made smooth."

On my way back from my tour, I found my formerly-white cat following me.

Not In My Backyard!

This sight in one's backyard cannot be a good thing. But, at least we were warned. Presently they are doing preliminary drilling to determine the exact location of the escarpment. If we're fortunate, the escarpment will prevent building.

I Win!

The mousetrap even says so. The advice from MaHoyt and MoM did the trick!

My next question: Is there ever just one of them??

Outsmarted by a Rodent

When we went to Andrew's wedding we had someone looking after our house, but we decided the cat could live outside during the week we were away. While the cat was away, the mice came in to play. I'm assuming these creatures must be small, judging by the size of their calling cards (isn't that a cute euphemism?). And while cleaning a couple days ago, I found nine pecans in my sewing drawer. Did I put pecans in my sewing drawer?? I asked myself. Why did I put them there?? After considerable cogitation on this matter I finally realized that no, it must be a critter about twice the size of the pecan who put them there. What industrious creatures.

So last night I set a mouse trap. I used peanut butter and put one of those pecans beside it just to make it look even more appealing. Today the peanut butter and the pecan are gone, the trap unsprung. I'm a failure.

They Arrived Safely, But...

...not without problems. Andrew and Laura got delayed in Minneapolis due to the NWA mechanics' strike, thus causing them to miss their connection in Amsterdam. So they waited there eight hours, flew to Nairobi, waited there five more hours, then on to Addis Ababa. They eventually got to the baggage claim to find that their four bags had actually made it, but not before Laura's passport was confiscated. Andrew had thought she could buy a tourist visa in the airport in Addis, but they discovered you can only do that if you are from one of 23 countries, and the DR is not one of them. Pray for them as they return to Immigration on Monday to try to get things sorted out.

When Andrew phoned us this morning with this information I could hear Laura in the background asking how to turn the hot water on in the shower. I'm sure a hot shower felt good after all those hours of travel.