Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass- it is about learning to dance in the rain.

Thursday, January 31, 2008


We ate dinner tonight at our favorite little spot in Downtown Elgin --
Al's Cafe & Creamery
They had wonderful tomato basil soup tonight

Here I am cleaning off the rear window...after Bob already cleared it of snow. This is what fell while he was cleaning the front and side windows!!

Downtown tonight


More downtown Elgin in a snowstorm -- Just an hour ago.


Bob works hard to clean off the windows.
That red car has only been there about 45 minutes.

Yep! More snow. It was 6 degrees yesterday morning, 12 degrees this morning. Tonight on the way home temperature was a balmy 24 degrees, and snowing like crazy. But..schools were sent a fax this afternoon...no school closing for us!! Of course, it's Institute Day (teachers go in for a work/conference day). They decided at 4 this afternoon--we go to work tomorrow, no matter what!! Lovely!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008




WEEKEND WITH GRANDMA

  • Breakfast at Baker Hill Pancake House
  • Feather Art by a
  • Roarin' fire
  • Grandma's bed -- and don't forget "Teddy"
A fun time was had by all!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008


I first heard about the "She Speaks" Conference the other day when Linda over at 2nd Cup of Coffee mentioned it. "What an opportunity," I thought. "I should see about going." And in the hurry and scurry of life, I tabled the thought. Tonight, surfing through blogs, I found this contest posted by Lysa at Proverbs 31 Ministry. I decided to post an entry!

From as early as I can remember, I have always wanted to write a book. I was never sure how to proceed. In the meantime, I have filled spiral binders and journals with thoughts, ideas and even stories, but have never really been serious about it. It was always one of those "someday" ideas.

In December 2005, I donated half of my liver to a friend and decided to blog the experience. That would be the start of my book, I thought. I came through the surgery, but my friend died February 22, 2006 from complications. I was far too sad to write anything that would be uplifting to others. No book for me, I thought.

On one occasion I talked about it with a friend who served many years as an editor with a Christian Publishing Company. "You need to go to a Christian writers' conference," she advised me.

But life happens. Six months after liver surgery, I went to the doctor to have a mole removed and woke up three weeks later with a mastectomy. First came the surgeries followed by an agonizing six months of chemotherapy. During this epoch from liver donation to mastectomy to chemotherapy, a metamorphosis has occurred in me, a paradigm shift, a growth of faith unequaled in my life. Don't get me wrong, I don't walk on water. Occasionally I manage to get wet or dabble a toe here and there.

I'm like my younger granddaughter. As a toddler, she was an adventurer. She energetically explored her world sometimes encountering difficulties. At that point she always screamed, loudly. A piercing sound that brought any adult within earshot running to rescue her. At times we'd be met with a cherubic smile while she pointed to her little black patent Mary Jane hanging from her foot by an ankle strap. Other times, she had to be plucked from a high shelf of the bookcase or extracted from beneath the couch cushions. One day I came running to find her squatting on a lamp table with her head under the shade of the lamp. She seemed to know when she had reached an impasse with her explorations and knew it was time to scream.

And then one day, things changed. Instead of the scream, I heard a very loud, "I 'tuck!" There she was in the living room wedged tightly behind the sofa. As usual, she smiled as soon as her rescuer appeared. I pulled her out and gave her a big hug. From that day, Mikaela's bloodcurdling scream was no longer necessary. With more and more finesse, she learned to express her needs, call for help, and establish understanding.

During those long weeks and months of illness and recovery, something in my being changed. The old independent me didn't like having to be waited on, to be assisted to do so many ordinary things, but I learned to appreciate the hand of God in those small moments, those daily trials. My faith is different in character, in depth. God and I have a different relationship.

Oh, sometimes I still find myself pleading with God to rescue me from some place my stubborn nature has led me, but it doesn't have that desperate screaming quality. Along with my growing granddaughter, I can express my needs, call for help, and establish understanding with my rescuer, my Savior.

As for writing a book, She Speaks Conference 2008 would be a good place for me to be able to obtain direction to build a writing portfolio, understand what publishers are looking for, how to write a proposal, and how to impact readers. For me, this seems like the next step. The scholarship would be a wonderful blessing and enable me to get there!

Thank you, Proverbs 31 Ministries, for this opportunity.




Monday, January 28, 2008

Aunt Lois
Memories larger than life

“I think Target is open until Midnight tonight.” she’d tell me after a long day of shopping. “They have fabric on sale there that I really need.”

So without letting her know how tired I was, how much my feet hurt or what little energy I had left, I’d follow the tiny little lady out the door. I’d help her in the car and drive to the Target.

She was a short lady who liked to tell the world that she was five feet tall, but in reality she was four feet eleven and a half inches tall. Her strength and energy belied her small stature. At seventy-five years old, she could out-shop me, thirty years her junior. She was still an accomplished seamstress. At well past fifty years old, she started making wedding cakes, professional styled ones that always tasted as good as they looked.

Her idiosyncrasies were larger than life. She obsessed about disaster. Every storm was a tornado coming to carry us all off. She regaled us with stories of the tornado in her home town that had leveled several square blocks of the town. She said she was seven at the time and would never forget the rumbling roar of the storm.

Every news story of injury, death or rape would surely happen to us next. Her driving was overly cautious and erratic. As kids we would deliberately startle her by yelling, “Look Out! The wheels are turning!” Invariable she would give a satisfying shriek.

“What? What?” To which we’d giggle while she lectured us about the dangers of such behavior.

She had a system of locks for the sliding glass doors that included a one by four in the slide, a broom stick diagonally across the door, and a bucket of nuts and bolts as an alarm in addition to the usual lock that comes standard on the door. Any item in the newspaper about disaster would add an additional fifteen minutes to her nightly security routine, as she carefully checked each door and window.

Every ache and pain was a symptom of a deadly disease. For as long as I can remember she has taken a complicated combination of pills at varying times of day. Her pills were laid out in plastic boxes labeled by the day and the hour. Sometimes the adults wondered out loud if some of the medication was “sugar pills” given by a long-suffering doctor. For patients like my Aunty the truth in pharmaceutical laws became a detriment to health. She had to be over medicated once the law mandated that the doctors actually give her the medication required for her latest “ailment.”

Yet, she was as devoted to church, community and family as she was primed for disaster. Every church dinner, she baked and cooked with the best of them. Her culinary triumphs included a fruit punch with a frozen pineapple ring, hors d’oeuvres that rivaled the Hyatt and decorated cakes that sported flowing fountains and a myriad of flowers both real and sugared.

She participated in the church music program until well into her sixties. The position of church pianist was wrested from her by a bout of illness resulting in hospitalization. She never quite recovered her dignity from the fall from prominence. It left her feeling, and acting, old.

For years, she cared for a multitude of family and family-connected people. Her three half-brothers, who were of the same generation as her children, all lived with her at one time or another. Both my sister and I resided there for more than a year at different times. Friends of her children came and went at various hours of the day and night. All were fed and cleaned up after. Occasionally conscientiousness would hit us, and we’d pitch in and help, but for the most part she managed the household single-handedly.

For my wedding, she provided the reception. That meant decorating, food, and serving. For months she hoarded cans of fruit, fruit juice, boxes of cake mix and other staples that would be used to feed sandwiches, salads, punch and cake to two hundred people. She recruited family and church members to help serve, provided frilly little aprons and carted china from her house to provide for the guests. At this point she wasn’t yet into baking wedding cakes, so it was purchased from a friend and delivered. All of this activity was juxtapositioned against a background of rumbling about physical complaints and predictions of impending disaster.

For me, Aunt Lois partially filled the void left by my mom who died when I was thirteen. All of those girl things, like buying cologne and jewelry, finding special dresses and getting ready to go to camp, Aunt Lois did for me. She was my mom’s only sister and did her best to be a mother to my sister and I. A few years ago we said our last goodbye. I hope she realized just how important she was in my life.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

This is a test

I've been tagged by Ann for a meme. (my first!) We shall now see if I'm smart enough (Okay, techie savvy enough) to follow the rules and post the hot links, etc. (Hurray, I managed to get the "Ann" as a hotlink!)

THE RULES

The rules for this meme are:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six weird things about me: (That should get me out of a blue funk quickly: I'll just think about how strange I am, and I'll laugh all the way to Starbucks.)

1. I'm afraid of birds. (
Ornithophobia) Especially chickens, but any kind of bird. I'm not afraid of cows, horses or pigs. (I grew up on a farm.) Birds give me cold shivers. I cannot bring myself to touch one. (Yes, there's a story -- later!)

2. I am a "messy," but I know where things are in my disorganized-looking piles. Whenever I clean up (get it to look organized and neat), I inevitable lose something important that I don't find for weeks. Then...of course, I remember, "I put it away there!" (This morning I just "found" the two new bath mats I bought two weeks ago)

3. I have worn acrylic nails for 23 years -- continuously. My nail beds are teensy tiny -- my pinky nail is so small that on the rare occasion the tech has to put a plastic tip on, she doesn't have one small enough, but must file down the smallest she has. (Yes, I kept the acrylics all the way through chemo, even when my hands were so swollen they looked like a lump of meat with five sausages sticking out -- my acrylic nails were firmly intact!!)

4. Since chemo all of my hair has grown back, EXCEPT arm pits. (Too much info?? Whatever, most of my readers are female) Weird? Yes, but wonderful too!! (I don't recommend chemotherapy just for that, though it is a nice side effect!)

5. I'm addicted to puzzles (Sudoku, crossword, etc) and won't go anywhere without one (or more) in my purse or briefcase.

6. I can sleep anywhere, anytime, any place. I once fell asleep in church playing the organ. I held a chord too long and it woke me up. I was terribly embarrassed, but I don't think anybody realized why I had fumbled. It's just TOO weird to contemplate.

I tag:

Sarah
Mrs. Darling
Anni
Heather

:0) mg
Tammy

*Note: I spent approximately two hours trying to write the hot links in html -- at partial success. Then I "discovered" the "Link" button on the tool bar and did all of them in less than 5 minutes!!! I suppose I can say I learned something today!!!! (Is this #7 on the list of weird things about me???)

Saturday, January 26, 2008


TODAY

Tuesday night was a full moon. I've always believed that the phases of the moon have an effect on human emotion. I was in a blue funk most of the week...over nothing in particular, everything in general.

Surfing about various blogs tonight, it seem that an inordinate amount of people were reporting bad moods, dreary days, disappointment at events, and distressing emotions.

Last weekend was glorious. I was happy, elated even, with life, with God, with everything and everyone. By Tuesday, I was in a blue funk and have had a hard time pulling out of it. More so than usual. (I am also talking to the Doctor on Monday about the effect of Femara on my mood swings.)

"Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us." It's a Pema Chodron quote. She's Buddist, of course, but the idea isn't un-Christian although stated differently.

I'm reminded of the song: "In Everything, Give Him Thanks" (I just looked it up and to my amazement, it's written by Lanny Wolfe.) I couldn't find a sound bite to connect so the words will have to suffice:


Chorus 1
In everything give Him thanks
Give Him thanks
In everything give thanks
Give Him thanks
In the good times praise His name
In the bad times do the same
In everything give the King of kings
All the thanks

Verse 1
With all the good things
That had come His way
It's no wonder
You could hear Job say
The Lord giveth and He taketh away
I'll give Him thanks
But when the tables were all turned around
And Job's world came crashing down
His faith in God caused Job to say
I'll still give Him thanks

Verse 2
When trouble comes
And there's no one around
Satan tries to tell me
That God's let me down
Through ev'ry dark hour
The best thing I've found
Is to give God the thanks
For He has never never
Failed me yet
So why should I start now
To worry or fret
In eve'rything I won't ever forget
To give God the thanks

Misc 1 (ENDING)
King of kings all the thanks
In ev'rything give the King
Of kings all the thanks
So, today, I'm thankful that it's all in God's hands: my life, my health, my moods swings and all of the irritating trivia that attempts to derail me!

Blessings!




Friday, January 25, 2008







Some pictures I found from November....Rob's birthday celebration.
The girls are here!! No time to blog. They'll spend the night and tomorrow.


Thursday, January 24, 2008



The Right Brain vs Left Brain test ... do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Monday, January 21, 2008

Real World Hazards of Teaching

I always thought it could never be me, never be my school, never be my district. This one has hit way too close to home. The high school that our middle school feeds into.

She is not someone I know, although I might recognize her if I were to see her. Chances are we have been at the same meeting at some point in time. She's not someone I've taught with, although she very well could have been. Moves between middle school and high school are done regularly, especially in the arts areas. She's a colleague, somebody's friend, somebody's co-worker. Soon I'll discover that I know someone who does know her. A friend of a friend. It's happened here.

The perpetrator (according to those who know, because no one is telling the name of a juvenile) is not from our school, but he went to middle school somewhere. He's not someone I know or have known, but I may have a dozen more almost like him.

Last week I ran into a former student working at a local crafts store. He recognized me and inquired about other teachers and the school. He's out of prison now having served his time for accessory to murder. He was a passenger in a car from which a drive-by was committed. And there are others that we know about. Crimes committed after leaving our hallowed halls. The rapist who ran to Mexico. The murderer who served time in a mental hospital. Not to mention the armed robber of convenience stores and gas stations. Those are the ones we hear about, recognize the names in the paper.

Then there are the National Merit Scholars. The graduates from college who choose teaching as a profession. Other graduates who contribute to society in various ways. These students too pass through our hallowed halls on their way to other things, getting on with life.

Dear God, help us as public school teachers to nurture the good in students, to teach character and ethics along with reading, writing and mathematics. Help us to care enough to attempt to alleviate the pain that some experience, to recognize the call for help before it is too late. And God, give us hope. We need an extra measure of Faith, Hope and Charity. By Your Grace!!


http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/750245,elgin012008.article


Sunday, January 20, 2008


Good News - Bad News

Good News: I had a wonderful time with my granddaughters this afternoon. We went to eat at a fast food place before I took them home.

Bad News: I couldn't find my car keys when we were ready to leave.

Good News: I dumped my purse and found my phone.

Bad News: The car keys were still not found.

Good News: My car was parked in front of a window, so the girls could stay inside while I checked the car.

Bad News: They were not in the car.

Good News: Mikaela said she was positive that I had the keys in the restaurant. They were on the tray of food, she said. (This is the 6 year old. Neither the 8 year old nor I could remember anything)

Bad News: The only place left to look was in the garbage.

Good News: A wonderful young man who was just getting off work went to get a glove and searched the garbage.

Better news: He found them

Thank God, I've never thrown one of the babies (children or grandchildren) in the garbage. But the 8 year old reminded me that this is the SECOND time I've done this--thrown the keys in the garbage at a fast food place--both times she was with me!!!


Friday, January 18, 2008

Purging Continues

AFTER
BEFORE

AFTER
BEFORE


AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER


AFTER



I mentioned my bathroom which was so bad it embarrassed me to show pictures. I was so pleased with the results of my redecorating/repaint, that I decided to show before and after shots. The bright green was done in 1999. Instead of the white corner unit there was a chrome rack on the wall. I didn't think of taking pictures until I had already removed the rack. We had also already changed out the old cabinet (circa 1965) for a slightly smaller one and exposed the nasty wall. That was when we put in the new tile last summer. When I first decorated, I was going for a 21st century look. All chrome and bright colors. It worked for the first few years. But 8 years is a long time for an electric green wall, but I could have tolerated that if the repairs this summer hadn't explosed the flaws -- wall damage where the trim and the larger sink had been. The yucky walls were driving me nuts!! A careful look will see that the trim along the floor has still not been installed, but Bismarck did such a good job repairing and painting the wall, I can tolerate the missing trim. (For a SHORT time!!)
P.S. My internet has been wacky at home. At work I can only lurk, no comments! And only very occasionally when I have lunch or break. My apologies.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008


HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

It was a sort of joke around our church for several years. We'd have a missions conference in January, and that week the weather would be icy cold, stormy, tons of snow, the worst weather of the month.

This weekend, we have a friend arriving from Houston to speak at services this weekend. We are having service Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday morning. (See the red highlights for predicted temperatures here!!) When the word bitter is used in a weather forecast, you know it isn't good.

Now the Houston forecast is fairly cold...for Houston, the place that invented hot and sultry. I hope Pastor Steve has not seen the weather forecast for Chicago!!!


CHICAGOLAND FORECAST

FRIDAY - Considerable cloudiness. A 30 percent chance of light snow in the afternoon. Turning sharply colder. Highs in the lower 20s.

FRIDAY NIGHT - Partly cloudy. Scattered flurries. Very cold. Lows zero to 4 above.

SATURDAY - Partly sunny. Very cold. Highs 3 to 7 above.

SATURDAY NIGHT - Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly clear. Bitterly cold. Lows 1 to 5 below.

SUNDAY - Mostly sunny in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs 9 to 13 above.

SUNDAY NIGHT - Partly cloudy. Lows 3 to 7 above.


HOUSTON FORECAST

Friday: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 57.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 57.

Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48.



Monday, January 14, 2008





More Snow in Chicagoland

More of my infamous snapshots through the windshield of my car!! I took the long way home through the residential neighborhood. I do love the clean crisp beauty of the snow.


Sunday, January 13, 2008

What do Teachers Make?

As a public school teacher, this resonates with me. If you can't hear his message past the strong language, (and one gesture) my apologies. (Will this balance the more theological nature of the last entry????) I do feel passionate about teaching. Which is what makes me so angry about the current state of schools. Children so need to learn to the ethics of working hard, respecting self and others and getting along and having fun. That can happen while they are readin', writin', and 'rithmeticin'. But most of all, if I haven't taught them to think, I haven't taught a thing. And it is all totally unrelated to the salary scale of teachers versus lawyers or other professions.



TULIPS
Let me tell you about TULIPS, or is it Daisies? No Tulips. I'm sure it said Tulips. I have tulip bulbs in my closet. I keep forgetting to plant them. I think they are probably dried up and dead by now. They are in one of those places I haven't yet purged and tossed the out of date items. It's been several years. How long before Tulip bulbs become outdated?

I just found the word TULIPS, no wait, it was singular, just TULIP (I really had to go back and look!!! I know some of you thought I was smarter than that. Sorry!) I took this fascinating little theology quiz (that I found on someone else's web site -- and she had written this clever little thing about it) and here's the skinny on my theology.

According to this infallible (I'm sure!) online quiz, I'm a staunch follower of John Calvin, which is an interesting assessment for this little Pentecostal girl. (oops, did I say the "P" word?) I think it was because I said I believe in the Sovereignty of God. One thing I don't get. Apparently I am 100% compatible with John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards AND Anselm. Now John Calvin I know a little about (And looked up the TULIP thing); Jonathan Edwards always reminds me of his fiery sermon: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"; BUT Anselm? He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. My Azusa Street roots are turning over in their graves...An Archbishop!! Puleese! And 1093. That was long before I was born. Surely I don't really share 100% theology with someone from . . . what? . . . uh. . .914 years ago?

But the quiz did make me think....and look up some name and ideas I haven't thought about in . . . oh. . . awhile! But since 1093, I assure you!







Which theologian are you?
created with QuizFarm.com
You scored as John Calvin

Much of what is now called Calvinism had more to do with his followers than Calvin himself, and so you may or may not be committed to TULIP, though God's sovereignty is all important.


Jonathan Edwards



100%

Anselm



100%

John Calvin



100%

Martin Luther



93%

Charles Finney



67%

Friedrich Schleiermacher



67%

Paul Tillich



67%

Karl Barth



60%

Augustine



33%

Jürgen Moltmann



33%


Saturday, January 12, 2008

TWO THUMBS UP

I loved the movie. It was a bit difficult to see Jack Nicholson's reaction to chemotherapy. (He did the part really well!!). And the fact that they were both dying of cancer struck a tad close to home. (I'm still cancer-free!) It doesn't hurt me to remember what all of that felt like! I don't want to give it away, but especially if you're a baby-boomer, you'll relate. Our first movie in . . . . . . I can't remember when!!! Lovely. Dinner and a movie. I highly recommend it.

Friday, January 11, 2008




What's in my bucket?

Hmmm. A trip to Italy with my husband -- about a month with limitless money! (yeah!) A supporting role in a movie. (Who'd a guessed?) Dance lesson. Tango just looks like so much fun!!! I want to know the difference between a salsa, a merengue and a tango!

The movie is supposed to be good. We're on our way in about two minutes. Let you know later if it is as funny as somebody told me.


Wednesday, January 09, 2008

What I needed???

"If I Perish, I Perish"

Back to God's sense of humor: After school today I was blog surfing and found an article about Queen Esther and her quote in Esther 4:6.

Everything Moms.

Thinking about it did indeed soothe me. But I'm already soothed. Why didn't I find it yesterday??? Probably because I would have screamed back at God, "But that's the point!! I don't want to perish."

Now, when my crisis of anxiety is over, I see. I understand. It's my false sense of control. Did it really matter when I got the news??? Not really. If I perish, I perish.
Aaaah! The irony! I'm willing to give the control back to God when the danger is over.

Forgive me God!! I know I do not control the universe; you do!

PJ




The rest of the story

After my freak out spell yesterday (an internal freak out because one must maintain composure with 30 13-year olds 3 inches from one's face!), I came home to prepare for the evening children's class and discovered through a series of misfortunes, the DVD I needed wasn't here. I had no time to think about doctors; instead, I was devising a new class that would make sense, not destroy the continuity, and still be interesting to the primary class at church. God was good; the kids had a great time; I had no time to think.

At 3 am I woke up with a migraine. My brain was still freaking while I was sleeping. Hey! That sounds like the title of a book -- or movie! A zomig, an Anaprox, and 3 hours of sleep later, I dragged myself to school. The logical side of me says I was not worrying about the pending 1 pm phone call, but I managed to lose my cell phone, spend 40 minutes looking for it, and then find it had been lounging in my coat pocket the entire time, spend 20 minutes on hold with the doctors office and get back to afternoon class still with no news.

At this point I'm barely hiding my "I'm freaking out!" state from the kids. Interpreted that means, I was not sobbing, screaming or pulling my hair out. My voice was tight and controlled, and my eyes were very watery. My patience was wearing thin with student misbehavior. They were amazingly good. (The not-so-little critters just know when they would be risking a broken neck!!)

So I manage to make a quick cell phone call.

I have to go back in 6 months for a new test. (instead of a year). Still not enough cells to get a good read. The good news was: no pre-cancer cells, no infection, etc. Just not enough cells. Which is reasonable, they say, considering I have just passed through what would be about 2-3 years of normal menopause in a few months, and a year of chemotherapy. However, I did tell the Dr. that when calling a cancer survivor, some consideration should be shown about timing. I'm not exactly an optimist about test results. She did apologize (You know, that soothing, we're-so-sorry-but-you-are-over-reacting voice!) Ah!! Doctors!

So, if no news is good news, then it's good news!!!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008



I know that God has a sense of humor. After my last euphoric post, I have a come back to earth moment. Waiting is not my strong suite. And after my last couple of medical experiences, I'm a tad anxious about waiting for medical test results.

To begin with, I mentioned that I had to go re-do that awful yearly test at the Gynie's office. That was Friday. He said, "Call in a week for the results. If there's any problem, we'll call you."

So while I'm teaching this morning the office left a message on our home phone saying that the results are in, please call.

And I have an absolute freak out moment. (A sister is such a lovely thing to have. She calmed me down considerably in a few minutes of rapid email exchanges.) I call the office, but by now it is afternoon. Everyone is in the office in (another town); she doesn't have my chart, doesn't know about the call, and a Dr. isn't there at the moment. Please call us tomorrow afternoon at the office in (my town), when both a chart and a doctor is available.

For a brief moment I wanted to argue. Don't you know I just survived breast cancer last year? I don't want to wait another 24 hours for test results! I want it now!!

I stopped my mouth just in time. Sure. I'll call the (my town) office tomorrow afternoon. But I couldn't resist adding, "If I don't die of a nervous breakdown before then!"

Besides my sisters sage assurance, "There are several reasons for an abnormal PAP. Most of them are not serious." I did recheck the message which said, "The results of your test are in. Nothing major. Please call the office."

Nothing major!!!

But I still don't want to wait!!!
Sigh! Sigh! Sigh!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Corinthians 13:12) KJV

"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

I'm in pondering mode. God is doing awesome things!!!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

What Your Latte Says About You

You are very decadent in all aspects of your life. You never scale back, and you always live large.

You can be quite silly at times, but you know when to buckle down and be serious.

Intense and energetic, you aren't completely happy unless you are bouncing off the walls.

You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it.

You are a child at heart, and you don't ever miss the opportunity to do something playful.

You are deep and thoughtful, but you are never withdrawn.
What Does Your Latte Say About You?


And it's great with a beignet

Thursday, January 03, 2008




The Purge Continues

What is there about the dawning of a new year that impels us to analyze, organize, agonize over the meaning-of-life/mistakes-I-have-made/ways-I-am-sadly-lacking, etc.? There is nothing cosmically different about January 1 than July 1: one is past the winter solstice, the other is past the summer equinox. Yada Yada Yada.

Yet...there's that where-have-I-gone-wrong-and-what-can-I-do-about-it-? thought that just keeps nagging.

I think I'll just toss out that nag with the oldest item I found in my pantry...any guesses as to "best used by" date?????

If I were a really clever blogger, I'd run a contest and give that lovely antique "Hungry Jack" can as a prize. But no, I'm not so clever. The Hungry Jack can went into my "Salvation Army donation". It's crime? Hiding the box of Beignet mix for, ahem!! twelve and a half years! Nasty Hungry Jack anyway. Last time I was in New Orleans was in 1995 -- that's when I bought the stuff . . . at the REAL Cafe Du Monde...they have great French Roast coffee...and the beignets are great there too.

If you're into antique Hungry Jack cans (Don't know how old it is!! But older than 12 years, for sure!) try the Salvation Army Store!!! :)

Blessings!

P.S. I did throw the Beignet Mix into the dumpster. I thought only very briefly about trying it out to see if it would still work!!!


Wednesday, January 02, 2008


Holy Moly or Hole' Mole'

New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.
-James Agate


LOL
Driving around, taking snapshots!


Is that the ghost of Christmas Past floating by???



Jingle Bells ala Currier & Ives!

Only the outdoors still looks like Christmas. Inside, the last of the decorations are returning to the attic. Sigh! There's something sad in that. Next year!! On the positive side, I have begun the purge!! Some things are forever gone from the guest bathroom. I really should take pictures of that ugly wall -- but it's so ugly, it embarrasses me!!

I also framed photos...some had been waiting their turn for the frames for a long time . . . uh...two years?? And you thought return lines at the store were bad. If you were a photo in my house...


Still January 1, 2008



Tuesday, January 01, 2008

January 1, 2008
The girls and I walk back from Baker Hill Pancake House from breakfast this morning. It was a great morning for fluffy pancakes, crisp bacon, and lots of maple syrup. Okay. I ate oatmeal!!! That was good too!!


Not resolutions exactly, just things I'd like to do this year:

1. Paint and spruce up the guest bathroom
2. Purge the house (closets, cupboards, pantry, bodega, attic, bookshelves, etc.)
If I haven't used it, it finds a new home
3. Make progress on scrapbooks
4. Make substantial progress on my book
5. The inevitable: lose at least 20 lbs!!
6. Keep up the church website
7. Keep current on my classroom website



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