Becky, Brenda, and Baby Landon

This one is for you.

Becky: Thanks for suggesting I post more than once a day. In this computer age, the post script has nearly become extinct. If we want to add, subtract, or perfect a thought these days, we hit the edit button. Believe me, I know right where it is. (In fact, I just moved an entire sentence!) I am not sure I can write with a pencil anymore. Anyway, does a second post the same day communicate either forgetfulness or urgency? Not this post.

I have not been doing as much cross stitch since I started posting. I need to finish up the largest piece I have ever done - Walt and Mickey walking toward Cinderella's castle. I am almost to the backstitching but I have a few spots to fill in. I have learned so much about doing a piece that large and I will do the next large piece differently. I think my next (also large) piece will be Villa Mirabillia by Mirabilia Designs. I have to finish the Lavender and Lace "Angel of the Sea" first.

Brenda: (and Scott, Lucas, Lia and Landon) I really enjoyed coming to your house on Thursday night. When did Lucas and Lia grow so big? You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers - I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do next.

Landon: Go to sleep, sweet baby boy!

Smorgasborg

It is appropriate that, when seeking to describe the offering of a veritable buffet of thought provoking tidbits, I would come up with a food related title. I haven't ever given the word smorgasborg much thought and I have to admit it kind of makes me smile. Yesterday, the word executable had nearly the same effect. Wow, I must be really comedy deprived. (I watched the movie "Licenced to Wed" last night and that certainly didn't do it for me...YAWN!)


Familyfriendsconnect readership has recently doubled (that is, two people told me that they read regularly.)


At work I am focused on Budgets and Brazil and then a bunch of smaller projects. The budgets are due Monday. I enjoy creating speadsheets from the financial reports. As with so many things it would be easier to keep the reports current than do the mad dash at the end but, isn't it an Olympic summer? The Brazil trip is October 6 -20. This is a large team (12) and visa applications need to go to the consulate this week. I have referred to myself in the past as an "Interruptions Manager" but I don't like what that term implies. I never want those I serve to feel like they are interrupting. Perhaps "Work Flow Engineer" would be a better title. For me, one undeniable key to success is to keep all notes in one place. That place is my desk calendar.



OK, Goal report:

done:a1. purse a5. frig a7. finances a8. call a friend a10. camera

still undone: 2. car 3. laundry 4. dining room table 6. no tv (I watched it while I cleaned out my purse and did the finances) 9. post Scripture and praise chorus.

I'll do more tonight.

A Few Simple Goals

I have the next two nights off. So, I am setting a few achievable goals.

1. Clean out my purse. Tonight, on the way home it set off the seat belt sign on the passenger side of my car. Does that mean it weighs as much as a small child?

2. Clean out my car. This means a stop at the church thrift store and the garbage can.

3. Catch up on all my laundry. I did a towel load the other day. I just need to do a dark load. Very do-able. Almost not even list worthy.

4. Clean off the dining room table. Again, very do-able. There are only a few items. It's just that the dining room table is such a tempting "I'm not quite finished with this" place for stuff to land. So, do I put the items away without finishing or do I allow myself to get sucked sideways into a task that has the power to actually vaporize an entire evening? Note to self: approach the dining table cautiously.

5. Clean out the frig. Are you noticing a trend here? How many times must we use the word "clean?" Did you know that November 14 is Clean out your Refrigerator Day? I am way ahead of schedule. I'd like to see the Hallmark greeting card for this one.

The egg salad is old and the milk smells really funny

If you don't freeze that meat you will waste a lot of money

What is that green thing way back in the back?

Oh, it used to be cheese, either cheddar or jack...

All the bottles on the door each have a dab of something

Check your expiration dates, now that would be a fun thing

Use some soapy water and throw that food away.

Get ready to party on"Clean out Your 'Frig Day!"

6. Watch only 1 hour of television. Oooh. This one might be hard. Something powerful happens when my behind meets that big blue tv chair and besides, THE OLYMPICS are on. Can you really get your fill of croquet at the Olympic level? (Consider changing the goal to NO TV so behind will not get sucked into the cushions of afore mentioned big blue tv chair. Abstinence has always been easier for me than self control.)

7. Balance the finances. Use this one as a reward. Sit down at the empty dining room table (instead of the big blue tv chair) to do this.

8. Call Holli Hyatt and/or Leslie Glessman and find out how/what they are doing.

9. Print out two Scripture verses and one praise chorus and tape them to the bathroom mirror.

10. Fiddle with used camera that I was given and have not learned to use.

Bonus Goal

11. Make a plan to spend time with friends. Well, actually, I have already done this one. I am going to the Comptons on Thursday night. It is my personal habit to slide one already accomplished task on any official to-do list and then immediately check it off. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. And, as everyone knows, accomplishment breeds accomplishment.

Ok, Let's add one more goal: Go to bed at a reasonable hour. I just realized it is 12:23AM oops.

"So You think You Can Dance"

If I could only watch one tv show all summer long, this would be it, especially after the auditions are over and the competition begins. The fact that this show is on three hours a week is both a blessing and a curse. Three hours of one show is a commitment! I must admit that having the DVR enables me to watch it at my convenience and w/o commercials. This is my second season of "Dance" and the better of the two. For me, it doesn't compare with American Idol or the even the other dance competition show. The choreographers and performers amaze me. I wish I knew more about how to evaluate the technical aspects but more often than not, it is the emotion of the dance that transports me.

I'll never forget the discussion I had in a group of friends and acquaintances about "the job we wanted to have in heaven." At first, I wanted to conquer a life long nemesis like paperwork. (Please tell me we won't have paperwork in heaven.) Either that night, or since then, I have decided I would like to be a graceful, athletic dancer, praising the Lord with effortless movement.

Opening Ceremonies August 8, 2008

I almost didn't watch the opening ceremonies. I'm glad I did. I was looking for some of the amazing statistics involved and found these remarkable pictures. A couple of things stood out for me. The sheer number of people involved: 15, 000 individual performers and the precision of the performers. I loved the run around the globe and oh, the 29 firework "steps" across the city of Beijing. Did you know that colorful rainbow was "painted" by the athletes stepping on brightly colored ink pads before walking across the canvas? I loved the sight of Yao Ming (7' 6") and 9 year old Lin Hao. Many who saw the Chinese team enter the Olympics asked ‘who is that little boy?’ He was the nine-year-old survivor of the earthquake in Sichuan. 20 of the 30 classmates in his school perished in the disaster, but after freeing himself he went back into the rubble to find his classmates. Lin Hao, the ‘hall monitor’ in his school encouraged his fellow students to sing songs to help keep up their spirits while rescuers worked to free them.

A lot of the technology was lost on me because it could not be captured, translated, to my 27" tv screen but the masses of people acting as one, the children, the colorful costumes, the single suspended torch lighter was too big to miss even on the small screen, I suspect that will be true of many of the stories and personalities in the seventeen days that follow the opening ceremonies.

The Wedding at the Beach

Saturday night was my first beach wedding. It was small and very casual but also very sweet, and honoring to the Lord. In the earlier afternoon, I worried about the weather. When I got to the Sun Splash Park there were no vacant tables. I spoke to a family and confirmed they were leaving soon so I stood nearby to claim the table.

The best man, Bob, laid palm fronds on the beach in the shape of a heart.

Sue, who stood with Suzan, made the bride's dress and a dress for herself.

The guests brought food and it was perfect -a variety and plenty of it. Suzan made the chocolate groom's cake with raspberry filling. The bride's cake we bought from Publix. I contributed the punch made of white grape juice and Seven Up.

Pastor Tim prayed the opening prayer. Pastor Cliff Smith (my boss) performed the ceremony. This picture is Cliff and his bride, Kathy. I was also the sound man. Country singing sensations Tracy Byrd, Alan Jackson and the group Alabama added their vocals at just the right time thanks to my handy cd player.

Suzan was delighted to include her daugher and two of her grandsons in the wedding party. And yes, the groom kicked off his shoes for the ceremony!

And then at the end of a beautiful evening the Lord God kissed the sky with an amazing sunset.

What did I do with this past week?

Monday night: As is my habit when I don't have plans for the evening, I tied up a few extra loose ends before leaving the office around 6PM. Once the Corolla is homeward bound, it's all "eyes on the prize" of pulling into the driveway. My list of "debbie-do's" was sabotaged by the arrival of my next Netflix rental and the fact that I skipped lunch and was hungry. Fast forward to 11 PM when I crawled from my big blue tv chair into my bed. It was not easy to fall asleep because of a phone call from earlier in the day. Brenda left me a message saying that their birth mother had gone into labor and she and Scott were on the way to the hospital. (Fast forward to Wednesday when Landon James comes home!)

Tuesday: I love to go to work early on Tuesdays. Entering the building is safe because the men have a prayer breakfast and the building is busy but my office is not. Jackie called during the day and set up an evening out. I will get to spend tonight with Jacque Cousteau, underwater explorer.

Wednesday: The phone rang just as I started out the door to go to work. It was Mrs. Coleman saying that Mr. Coleman had agreed to sell the house. Ahhh, the ball is now rolling again. Smiling to myself, I wonder where mom will spend Christmas 2008. (For those of you who do not know, Mom is considering moving into the duplex attached to mine.)

Sad start to the work day. Our Minister of Music is leaving. Many things worked together to move him to a church close to where his mother lives. She has been widowed just over a year now and she has had many serious health challenges in that time. The staff wept and prayed together as he shared. It was a sweet time of fellowship. God used the news to encourage me in regards to Mom moving to Daytona.

I was in the church nursery after work. We only had one baby and that makes the time go slower. Our Minister of Music has two teenagers embedded in the student group and the students were told tonight. So was the choir. After the nursery, I head home to escape into a favorite tv show. (It's "So You Think You Can Dance." Of course, in the Fall I will pick up a few of my old favorites.) It has already started when I get home but don't you love that DVR.

Thursday Night is for Ben 10: Alien Force. But first, I dropped off a spaghetti dinner for Landon James and his family. I got to take his picture and hold him. He's perfect!

"Ben" and Ihad a good night. He ate all his meatloaf and mashed potato so he got to have a push up popsicle for dessert.

On the way home, I filled up for $3.82 a gallon. I heard on Good Morning America that ever dollar the price of oil goes up or down, the price of gas fluctuates two and a half cents. That means with the recent $16 drop in oil prices, we should see a .40 drop in the price of a gallon. Hate to say it but somebody's figuring is a little off.

Friday at 2PM, I had an appointment to get my hair done. I was ready for some pampering! My stylist (who is also my friend) treated me to a hand massage. Very Nice!

At 4:30 I was due back in the nursery for the Sunday School Conference. I was the only adult but we had only 9 preschoolers scheduled and two teenage certified babysitters. As it turned out, friends joined friends and there were 4 teenage girls on Friday night and 6 all day Saturday. The girls did a very good job of entertaining the children.

After Ashley lead a lively discussion around the book "Burt and Ernie's Adventures with the Letter A" the girls decide the next "Book of the Month" will have to deal with how Big Bird treated the number 9.

Meanwhile, Andrew ponders career choices: FARMER.......

or BUILDER!

His sisters have the medical field covered. It takes two to treat this critically ill patient. Doctor, Doctor, this case calls for the flapulater! STAT!

Tyler is trying out a few different configurations on his latest archtectural project.

Saturday was long but a wonderful day. I was scheduled to be at the church at 8AM but before I clocked in I went to the Penney's Door Buster Sale at 7AM. I took my new shower curtain to match towels. Towels regularly costing 7.99 were on sale for $3.33. I picked 7 different colors, something I have always wanted to do! I still have to check a few more places to match an orange in the curtain but I love what I bought and what I paid for them.