Again

I'm going to have to start adding tags to my blogs. (Tags are words that the software uses to index or label the topic of the post.) The reason I need to do this is because I'm getting so forgetful and tags would help me to know if I've already posted on a given topic or not.

Like tonight. I'm thinking about hope and disappointment. I half think I've already written on this topic. Not that it matters--after all, if I'm just talking to myself, I'll forgive myself for repeating myself, won't I? Again.

Anyway, I'm wondering if it is better to have high expectations and high hopes and suffer from repeated disappointments, or is it better to have no, low or modest hopes in order to protect oneself from disappointment?

The good thing about low expectations is that seldom are you hurt and sometimes you're even pleasantly surprised. The bad thing about low expectations is the nagging shadow that you've sold yourself short.

The good thing about high expectations is that when they are met there is great satisfaction and joy. The bad thing about high expectations is the huge risk that the answer will be no.

Today I told someone, "Don't get your hopes up--what if you're disappointed again?" They replied, "Don't tell me not to have hope!"

Is persistence a good thing? Or is it insane?

A Date at Rangers' Stadium

Andrew gave Gary and me some tickets to go to the Rangers' game on Wednesday night. We were sitting this close, just 10 rows up!

And it was a great game with SIX homeruns. My fireworks photos after each home run weren't very good, but you get the idea.

After back to back homers and back to back fireworks, the stadium was filled with smoke.

And this evening really was a date for some happy couple! (I assume they were happy because I assume she said yes!)

I'm a Mess

In lots of ways.

Shed Your Skin

I wondered why this grasshopper didn't fly away when I approached. Upon closer inspection I saw that his wings were wet and shrunken.

When I turned to go back inside, I found his former home.



A few minutes later, he was off.

Who Owns This Street?

Apparently, Panther does.



But Panther isn't long for this neighborhood. He's about to move to Duncanville and become an indoor cat. I hope he likes that OK. Rachel had to pay an extra $300 deposit and an extra $10/mo so she can take Panther with her to her new home.

Low Tide

My baby girl was born in 1981 in the island nation of Solomon Islands. The poor thing had to start wearing glasses at one year of age due to being born with strabismis. Her glasses were not quite as ugly as mine--but remember, this was the 80s! She went on to have two eye surgeries and years of patching in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve binocular vision.

I'm scanning old slides--a project which will go on for some time--and I really like this photo.

The Skimpy Olympics

The volleyball girls wear bikinis and the swimmers wear full-length suits. Go figure.

At least they don't dress like at the original Olympic games.

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

I wonder if bloggers realize that if they post a blog, then have second thoughts and delete it, the original post still shows up in RSS readers?

My Dumb Bank

Subject : re: suggestion of something to add to your website
Message :
Dear Ms. Simons,

Thank you so much for your suggestion. We have forwarded it the department that manages EC*Web for consideration.

We appreciate your suggestion and please keep them coming. They help to make our web site more user friendly.

Sincerely,
(name removed)
Member Services

P.S. On a personal note, I think this suggestion is the best one we have ever received!

They did respond promptly to my email, but if they would just look at the websites for other banks they would find lots of other ways to copy to make their web interface better.

Go, Rangers!

When we first came to Dallas over 20 years ago we were semi-serious fans of the Texas Rangers. Baseball is the only sport I claim to understand (I don't have a clue about football). I pretty much understand baseball rules and have even been known to keep score on occasion. In recent years we haven't paid so much attention to the Rangers, but with our family's biggest baseball fan back under our roof (Andrew), we are paying a bit closer attention again.

Andrew, Gary and a friend from church went to the game tonight and they got to see a good one--walk off grand slam against the hated Yankees!

Also, it is the 15th anniversary of a famous event in Rangers' history--a game we were at--Robin Ventura charging the pitcher's mound where he found Nolan Ryan putting him in a headlock. I remember thinking at the time: this is not a very good thing for my sweet baby Andrew to be seeing. Well, maybe he wasn't such a baby then, age 14, but I do remember him saying he thought both combatants should have been thrown out of the game, not something easy for him to say about his hero, Nolan Ryan.

We've got tickets for the whole family for Wednesday night's game, and I think Andrew has talked his wife into letting Baby Isabella go to her first baseball game. He did this by excessive begging, mainly, but also by buying tickets that were out of foul ball range and in the no-alcohol section. We don't want any beer spilled on this pretty baby, now do we?

Another Bridal Shower, Another Bridal Shower Cake

Homemade carrot cake seems to be everyone's favorite, covered with cream cheese icing. That is what we have here. I covered the top with crystalized sugar for a sparkle, used butter cream icing to make the decorative edges, used fondant to make the letters and the one rose. (I found a youtube video to learn how to make fondant roses.) The real roses are much prettier, however.

I hope the cake made it safely to the shower venue this afternoon, and didn't melt in the 100+ degree heat out there.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

Today Rachel and I went to a friend/colleague's garage sale. We did this to look for cheap stuff for Rachel as she moves into a new apartment soon (details here). She bought lots of good stuff, and I bought a couple things too. Our friend also just gave me a bunch of stuff for free including some rubber stamping supplies. When we got home we started going through our treasures and found some examples of old cards that the owner was keeping for getting ideas.

Rachel picked one of these samples up and said, "Oh, look, mom. She has the same stamp as you." I took the card, opened it up, and discovered it was a card I had sent her over 10 years ago! We got a laugh out of that.

Widget?? Nope.

I tried to embed a widget in my blog today. The website of Faith Comes By Hearing presented the code, which I copied and pasted, but it didn't work. So sad.

My point was to give you a quick link to listen to a moment or two of a story from the Pijin New Testament. I found the widget embedded in this blog, which you should click on to see what I'm talking about.

Use the drop down menu to select Pijin language, then hit the "Play Sample" button.

My mind is still thinking about the Pijin Bible dedication which took place recently. A wonderful elderly Australian friend was kind enough to mail to us photo copies of the newspaper clippings from the Solomon Star telling all about the event. This is a scan of a photocopy of a newspaper photo of the open Pijin Bible being carried into the sports stadium on a specially carved canoe. The canoe is being carried by two Melanesian Brothers (full-time workers in the local Anglican church)in traditonal dress on their way to present the Bible to the Prime Minister.

Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose, Part 3

This time I made an under-bed storage box instead of buying one.



I had to get rid of this box anyway, so half of it got recycled and half got reused for a new purpose. I cut it down from 8 inches to 5 so it would fit under our bed frame. Now I have a place to put my sweatpants and winter pajamas while it is 100 degrees outside.

Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose, Part 2

(This isn't really part 2, because I've posted more than twice on this topic. Someday I'll have to go back and find all the blogs about them and make links to them.) In the mean time, here's my latest: a new lid for my big plastic all purpose bowl (whose lid got melted on the stove many years ago). I reused some of the plastic that a mattress was wrapped in.

Here's a link to the real version of this item, which is too small for this large bowl. And while researching that I found a site that said you could get 100 disposable shower caps for $2 which work wonderfully for this use. I may have to try to find a box of those at a beauty supply store.

Losing My Mind

When I can't remember where I put something, the only solution is to think, "Now where would I have put it if I had it to do over again?" Often this logical approach works, even if I can't actually remember doing it the first time.

Slow iGoogle

Has anyone else noticed how iGoogle has become slow, slow, slow? I got fed up with it and no longer use it for my home page. I liked it before because you can have lots of nifty things on it, but it has gotten too slow to reload and it was making me mad.

The Pijin Bible is Dedicated

The Pijin Bible was dedicated in Honiara, Solomon Islands on July 7, 2008. That date was the 30th anniversary of independence.

We worked in the Solomons so many years ago it seems like it was in a previous life. We went there first in 1976 at the age of about 23 where we did language survey work that was also part of Gary's research toward his Ph.D. We returned in 1979 to begin translation work on the island of Malaita. Andrew was 9 months old at the time. Rachel was bred and born on Malaita, and I was pregnant with David when we returned to life in the USA at the end of 1983. Only once since then were we able to make a short visit back, in 1987, I believe.

We were advisers for several language projects on the island, including Lau and To'abaita. The Lau project was taken up by another team and the NT was published in 1992. The Solomon Islander who worked most closely with us on the Lau project was Aloysius Jack. Why am I telling you all of this? Because Jack went on to also be involved in Pijin translation, and that fact brings us great joy and satisfaction.

Here is a link to photos of the dedication ceremony. Photo #9 shows Jack with the boxes of Bibles. He and two others received the Solomon Islands Medal to honor their work in bringing the translation to completion. Also, here is a link to a press release about the dedication.

Driving in Seattle

We rented a car to use while we were in Seattle for David's wedding. I think this is the only photo I got showing the minivan, parked here in front of the house we stayed in. A minivan costs twice as much to rent as a little car, but with the number of people we had to get from A to B on numerous occasions, and how few of those people were drivers, we decided to go for the minivan rental. It was pricey, but worth it.

I hate driving. I hate driving anywhere, but I especially hate driving when I don't know where I am or how to get to where I'm going. I hate when people rattle off directions followed by "you can't miss it." I'm having to learn to deal with the fact that under those circumstances, I almost always do miss it. And that is embarrassing when the car is full of people who intimidate me, even if they are non-drivers.

Having gotten that gripe off my chest, here is the rest I have to say about driving in and around Seattle. The bad things: the roads are curvy and hilly, the signs are purposely small and hard to see (some of the suburbs must have signage laws), gas was expensive, traffic can be bad, and the house numbering system was logical but cumbersome. The good things: the HOV lanes on the freeway are organized in a fashion much more sensible than the ones here in Dallas and my friend Janet made more than one trip to SEA airport that I was supposed to make.

...Buy Me Some Peanuts and ....

My silly husband had a great idea for watching the All-Star game last night. At least we owned a tarp.