Day 25

Today was a long day for me. Funny how people just assume that since I don't "work" that I do nothing all day long. And part of the problem is when they ask what do I do all day? - I can't really come up with a concrete answer. So I've decided that now I tell people I (air quotes) WORK (air quotes) but not for money. That I am active most every day and there are times when I'm even busy at night so I don't feel guilty when I enjoy an afternoon nap or sleep in late. I take after my father in the fact that I can sit in any chair and take a quick little cat nap any time/any where. This picture was taken in Savannah by Tiffany - I had been on the computer, but she caught me sleeping. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ha-ha.


This morning I was up, showered, and out of the house to go to a Bible Study at church by 9:00. That lasted until 11:00. Takes me half an hour to get there and half an hour to get back home. I had a quick lunch and then went off to get the car serviced. Half an hour to drive there. I had lots of work done on the car. I spent a little over 2 hours next door at the Tim Hortons drinking coffee, doing homework, goofing off on the computer, and killing time. I was finally leaving there at 3:30 and $400 dollars lighter. Then I drove ......... yup! half an hour to Wal-Mart where I bought supplies for my man in Iraq. He asked for toilet paper, hangers, a toilet brush, insulated coffee cups, plus a couple other things. I also bought groceries that will keep me until Monday. The weather reports say that we may be getting a nor-easter Saturday night - really? I was home by 5:30 and then I fixed my dogs and myself dinner - separate dinners though. 

Again I got some nice emails from Wade. He is very happy at his new job. He's got a work email address now and is starting to work with other people. They are finding out what a great, talented person he truly is - which I already knew! After all the training and camps that he attended, he is so very glad to actually be doing real work now. I am looking forward to reading his first message tomorrow morning. He said he's been working on it and putting together pictures to go along with it.   

I'm assuming this is an Easter picture. It's probably around 1960.
From L to R: Rick, Gail, Raymond, Wade & Willie 

Day 24

Are you serious?? Snow?? I was totally blindsided by it this morning. I went to work at Hannah House in a turtleneck shirt with a 3/4 length sleeve sweater over the top and slacks. No coat and the sweater didn't even have buttons! I did know that I had a light jacket in the trunk of the car, but I didn't think I would need it. When I sit at my desk, I can look right out the window onto the street. Unfortunately, there is a crack house right across the street - seriously! Hannah House is located in the inner city and when I sit there I can watch all the drug traffic going on. I keep the blinds almost closed so that no one outside can see me. But, this morning?, I look out and it's snowing!!  Above is a picture of my kitchen view onto the yard and Sheba walking around. I guess I should pay attention to the news and weather a little bit more. Oh well, I am glad it snowed. Once it's really over for the year, I miss it.


After work I went home and got on the computer. I was able to contact Wade on Skype and we had a wonderful conversation that lasted about 45 minutes. He showed me around his "hootch" and it was great to see him. He has just about everything he needs where he is. The DFAC (the place where he eats) is very close and is open 24 hours a day. So when he wakes up early, early, early, he can go over there and get himself a cup of coffee. They have just about any kind of food that he might want. The only thing he could think of that he may need are hangers and toilet paper!  He is getting ready to write his first email message this Friday. When he was in Afghanistan, it would be waiting for me in my inbox when I woke up. 

After that I spent the afternoon preparing for my Wednesday night class. Ms. Michelle is gone so I was the "main teacher" tonight. So I was in the skit as well as teaching the lesson. My character in the skit is still caving into peer pressure and wearing what people are trying to convince her is high fashion. The kids are going wild when I walk into the room. So much fun! Then later I taught a lesson on Samson slaying 1,000 Philistines. It was a lesson that the kids got to participate in as well. Those are always the best. Our props included a cowboy hat and a roll of toilet paper. It went very well and I had a blast teaching it. We had about 32 kids tonight. We have way more boys than girls, but if we keep it lively and active they maintain pretty good. Class goes from 6:30 to 8:30 and that wears me out. 


Tomorrow morning I have my Beth Moore Bible Study, but I still have 3 days of homework to complete tonight before I go to class tomorrow. So once I post this, I'm off to finish my homework. I think I better go and take care of that. 

Day 23

RELAX & ENJOY THE RIDE

Life can take us on some wild, wild rides. Our job is to get on, get in, hold on, sit back, and trust that someone else is in charge of the travel. We can get whipped around, bounced back and forth, twisted around, turned upside down, or even just have to sit and wait for the ride to continue on. We need to exercise trust, faith, perseverance, and endurance and the best way is with hope, grace, and confidence. 

I am happy to say that Wade has finally arrived at his destination today. He has been on a wild ride of his own and I only know a portion of what he's been through. He'll be sharing each Friday in his own postings. He's now got his own room, his own bathroom, and high-speed internet which are all steps in the right direction. But his journey may still hold hidden curves, speed bumps, or obstacles. Neither he nor I know what the future holds. It's all in God's hands and we need to exercise our faith in His perfect plan. 

But Wade has taken some pretty awesome REAL rides lately too. The following picture is of the land between Basra and the Persian Gulf taken by him while he was riding a blackhawk helicopter. I can't wait to see other pictures that he's taken. This is beautiful! 

I spent my day today with other women at my church doing a service project. We cleaned out and reorganized their large kitchen. I learned how to use a large, industrial dishwasher. The seven of us had a great time cleaning, sorting, scrubbing, talking, and polishing. Most of the kitchen is stainless steel and it actually was shining when we left. We also drove to Wendy's for a wonderful lunch too. I was tired out, but it was a good time and I'm glad that I went to help out.  

We did, however, get some very sad, tragic news about another ride that ended very, very badly. Two sons of our youth pastor, Andrew and Abraham, were driving in a car and were involved in a head-on collision. The driver of the other vehicle did not survive the crash. The older boy, only 17 and a driver of one month, was care-flighted to Miami Valley Hospital. He had been pinned behind the dashboard and may lose one of his legs. His younger brother, age 11, suffered head injuries and was taken to Children's Hospital. We stopped right then to lift these boys and their family in prayer. I have not gotten any more updates since this afternoon, so I don't have anything other than that to report. 

We just don't know what type of ride we're on from day to day. My goal is to make the best of it and believe that everything happens for a perfectly good reason even though I may not understand it at the time. 

Day 22

It's late so I'm not gonna write a ton tonight. I had a quiet day for almost all of it. I thought I was going to go into work at the Hannah House but Selena decided she would rather I come in on Wednesday. So yay!! I didn't have to do anything. I prepared for my Wednesday night class and watched some tv. I walked my dogs this afternoon. That took 80 minutes to get them all walked. Angel brought me my walking shoes earlier in the day, but she had to wait until 3:00 for me to start my walking rotation [Kelly, Angel & then Sheba]. 
Tonight I went to Cedarville University to listen to a seminar by Dr. Tim Elmore on dealing with children and youth. I had purchased the book on my Kindle months ago and probably I didn't need to attend because he covered most of what he talked about in the book. At the end of his seminar, he tried to sell more books to the audience ........ but....... that wasn't happenin'!!  I rode the church bus there and had a nice time riding with Chris Wolgast and getting to know her a little bit more. We see a lot of each other, but usually it's at bells and we can't talk that much. I got home about 9:30 and I am having a late dinner. I'll be up watching tv for a while. 

This picture is Halloween in 1998 at our friend, Dave's house in Rome, NY.  Dave was/is this fun, crazy guy that was friends with Wade. He's still in upstate New York and still is in contact with Wade. We had such a fun time and we might even have had a beer or two that night!!   This is also right before Shelby was born (11/7/98) Funny how events are easier to remember when they didn't just happen yesterday. ha-ha. That's part of getting older, I think. 


The shirt of the day is that Wade is happier today. I've gotten some emails. He was having troubles with his sinuses but he got some medicine and that helped to clear it up. Also, he is still not where he should be, but he's got people working to help him and that's making him happier. I can't say when the issues will be resolved, but I'll post on here when I have good news. 

Day 21

Traditions and Food


I love this picture. Even though I can't read Farsi (or whatever language this is..) I still know exactly what it is and I am comforted by such a familiar, inviting sight. This is somewhat of a tradition for me - McDonalds was part of my childhood, I have wonderful memories of years and years and YEARS of eating at McDonalds. I'm sure that other people feel the same way whenever they see the golden arches too. 

 Today at Sunday School we celebrated a different kind of tradition. We let the children experience a Seder meal, a Passover Feast and explained the reasons for each of the elements of the meal. Salt water to represent the tears of 400 years the Hebrews were in enslavement to the Egyptians, 10 dots of grape juice on each plate to represent the 10 plagues God inflicted on the Egyptians,  bitter herbs such as horseradish to symbolize the bitterness of life in Egypt, parsley to represent the hyssop branch used to apply the lamb's blood to the doorposts of the Hebrews to allow the Angel of Death to passover their households and strike down the firstborn of the Egyptians, roasted lamb meat from that unblemished sacrificial lamb, matzo bread/unleavened bread because the Hebrews could not afford to wait for the bread to rise (they needed to be ready to leave in a moment's notice), applesauce to represent the sweetness of God, a hard boiled egg which was a symbol of mourning. What a wonderful experience for all these children. For the past three weeks we have been studying that first Passover meal and how for over 2000 years, the Hebrews and others have continued that tradition which gives them great comfort, peace, and joy. I am sure these participants today will remember this experience far more than just hearing a story being told or reading it themselves from the Bible. 

Sunday meals for me are also a great tradition and source of comfort. My mother always had great Sunday meals and I looked forward to them pretty much each week. She made a big pot roast or meatloaf or ham,  mashed potatoes with gravy, or macaroni and cheese, at least two vegetables, bread, desserts, no matter what she served though, there was always way too much food. I loved when we had company on Sunday nights and Wade was a frequent guest at the Sunday night dinner table. I aspire to have dinners like the ones that I remember. And I also hope that someday my children and grandchildren will remember dinners at our table. Today's meal was chicken cordon blue, broccoli stuffed chicken, macaroni and cheese (my mother's same recipe), corn, peas, french bread, and then we had Reese's peanut butter cup cupcakes. We missed having Wade there with us and I look forward to the time when we share meals again. 
The t-shirt of the day is Wade is still in temporary housing - awaiting transportation to his final destination. He is trying very hard to get settled and feel comfortable in his surroundings. Hopefully by the end of this week he will have gotten where he needs to be and can start "nesting" and creating his year-long living arrangements. I heard our Adult Sunday School teachers read a note from Wade to the class and showed some of Wade's pictures to everyone there. I get lots of hugs and pats and reassurances from people at church that they are praying for Wade daily. 
I am happy to report that Sheba has had two very good days and has been getting around pretty well. I took all the dogs for a walk today. I have to do it in three separate walks: first, Kelly goes with me for about 50 minutes, then Angel will walk for about 20 minutes, and finally, I take Sheba out front and let her wander around the yard and smell things. We don't walk much at all, but at least she feels as if she actually went somewhere with her mama. 
I'm posting a little early tonight, but I've had my final meal and I'm just relaxing in the living room watching a movie. I don't anticipate any earth-shattering news to happen tonight that would change what I've posted.  :o)  

Day 20

This has been a different kind of Saturday. I needed to be at the donut shop at 7:00 to get donuts for my Adult Sunday School class. There's over 100 people in the class and everyone signs up to bring treats every once in a while. Since there are so many people in the class, they are now asking 3 people each week to bring something so it won't be too expensive or hard for one person to provide food. So anyway, I ordered 6 dozen donuts to pick up at 7:00. For some reason, I woke up at 5:00!!! On a Saturday??? What's up with that? I got to the donut shop at 6:30 and she was still boxing up the donuts. I left them in the car because I was going to the church later this morning. 
At 8:45, Jaide, Jared and I got in the car to go to the church. The car smelled wonderful!!! All those donuts created a great ride to the church. Jaide went to her class in the sanctuary to rehearse. They are conducting the whole worship service tomorrow. Jared and I met with our Wednesday night class to work on songs we will be singing in a musical in May. They are dancing to the Toby Mac song "Lose My Soul". Surprisingly, they did very well today and are getting all the movements. What is really surprising about that is that we had 17 children participate today and only 3 of them were girls!! And 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade boys usually aren't very coordinated - but looks like they'll do pretty good. 
At noon, the three of us went upstairs to meet with Pastor Patty to help her set up for the Seder Meal all the children will be participating in tomorrow in the Sunday School class. I'm glad that I will be there so that I can experience it too. One of the teachers will be at the head table and will tell all about what each element of the meal represents. What a neat learning experience for all the kids. When we were finished we got all the donuts out of the car (still smelling good!) and put them in the Adult classroom. One less thing I have to worry about carrying in tomorrow morning. 
We had lunch at Wendy's. Jaide had chicken nuggets, Jared had a double baconator, and I had a salad and chili (4 points for me!). They had frosty's too. 
I got home about 3:00 and took a nice, long nap. I was lazy in my chair until almost 5:30 and then the girls and I had our dinners. 
I made myself a Weight Watcher spaghetti with meat sauce and added a salad. While I was eating it was thinking about all of our Friday nights when we lived in Rome, NY. It was always such a great time. We would go home, get into our "comfys" and eat spaghetti with cheese melted on it. Then we had chocolate pudding with cool whip for dessert and even better when we added some Special K. Sweet, crunchy, and creamy! Those Friday nights were special to me because it was the time we forgot about the week and looked forward to the whole weekend together. So while I was eating my spaghetti tonight - that's what I was remembering. 
At 7:00 I was energetic enough that I made tomorrow's lunch and have it put away. The table is all set and ready too. Now when I get home from church, all I have to do is heat everything up, relax and enjoy the meal. 
I got some wonderful letters from Wade today. He is being more pro-active in working toward getting to his final destination. He's not there yet, but he said that his living quarters for the night were much better. He also bought himself a cheap cell phone so he can be reached. It's mainly for the people he's working with over there, but I have the number just in case I need to reach him. It would be an international call and I don't think I have ever made an international call ever in my life. 

In front of one of Sadam's palaces

Since I slept quite a bit of the afternoon, I'll probably be up later tonight, and pretty soon my days will be all mixed up with my nights. I'll look forward to waking up and reading more from Wade in the morning. 

Day 19

Received some nice emails from Wade this morning when I woke up. He is in Iraq now, although not at his permanent place. He is hoping by next Friday he will be planted, all set up, and ready to send out a weekly email. On my computer home page I have current weather of places like Georgia, Idaho, Arkansas and now I have also put Iraq on there. That way, I can look at a glance and see what the weather is like for my family. The little icon will have a brief description, like "sunny" or "windy" or "rain", etc. Well, the description for Iraq right now is "Widespread Dust". I've never seen that anywhere in the US!! I passed on a brief email from Wade to Bob (our Sunday School teacher) and he wrote back that he will share it with the class on Sunday. I think Wade is still feeling a little out of sorts and unsettled until he can get into a routine and have a semi-permanent place to stay. We are creatures of habit. 

Easter 2010. Just about a year ago. 

I took Sheba to the vet this morning for her annual shots and tests. She has lost 3 pounds since the last time she was there! Yay for her. But this afternoon she has not moved at all. She must be in some pretty intense pain. It's possible that some of that may be the shots too. But after we went to the vets, she rode with me to Rite-Aid and then Kroger to do some shopping. 


It is still very, very cold here and I took a nice nap this afternoon snuggling under a little blanket. Very restful. I loved it. The weather report says that we should be getting snow tomorrow evening and Sunday morning. 


Jaide and Jared came up for dinner and a movie tonight. Jason came and visited for a while too before dinner until Peggy came home with Jaide. I made the kids bean & cheese burritos, carrot sticks, baked chips, hot chocolate (cold weather drink), then coke, and for dessert I had some skittles, m&m's and they each had a couple of mini milky way bars. We watched "The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" and then an episode of "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" and they went back home at about 8:00.  


I'm just relaxing with my bowl of popcorn and watching a recording of "The Young and the Restless" now and I'll most likely be in bed before 10:00 tonight. Not a very exciting day, just one of those ordinary, routine days. 

Day 18

I did receive another email from Wade this morning. He is temporarily in Baghdad and getting prepared to go on to his final destination. He has been meeting with people that he will be working with down the line. And I think I've got it now - he is 7 hours ahead of us. So at this time (7:30 pm) it is 2:30 am on Friday there...... I think. But I do know that now starts the time where I write to him when I wake up and he reads it later when he's heading to bed - and vice versa. He is hoping to start his weekly emails tomorrow, but it may not be until next week. 


Today is Stupid Pill Thursday - because I have osteoporosis I have to take a pill once a week. Well, this pill has the most stupid rules. I need to take it first thing in the morning - I have to sit up or stand up for an hour after I take it - I can only drink water for that hour - I can't eat anything for an hour. So I wake up on Thursdays - take my stupid pill and sit and wait for an hour before I can enjoy my cup of coffee. How come Sally Field gets to take her stupid pill once a month, but I have to take it each week? This morning my stupid pill time was 6:30 to 7:30. And just to be spiteful, I went and poured a big huge cup of coffee and drank it in bed for the next half hour. It was mah-ve-lous!!! 


The temperature has turned cold again. It was only 30 degrees this morning. On my way to church, I saw a few cars that had snow on them, but there was no snow at our house. I walked the dogs this afternoon and I put long johns on under my jeans because it was so cold. In fact, I've still got them on - they feel so warm and cozy under my jammies! 


I did the normal Thursday things: women's Bible study, grocery shopping, and mentoring with Amanda. I managed to buy $150 dollars worth of groceries for $100 today thanks to my coupons.

This afternoon when I took Kelly out we walked down to Jodi's house and back. There was a horse in a field and I decided to let Kelly "look" at the horse. While we were standing at the fence, I made a clicking noise and the horse came right over to say hi to us. I was able to rub his head, but poor Kelly was just about freaking out. Good thing she was wearing her new harness because she would have backed out of her collar. Too funny!! We didn't stay long, but it was a funny sight to see her react to that horse. 



I decided not to go out tonight, but rather just stay at home and relax. I've been going, going, going almost all the time. It seems like I go do something, come home for an hour or so and then go back out and do something else. I am enjoying just doing absolutely nothing tonight. 

Day 17

Well, I was fortunate enough to hear from Wade today. He's a little tired and needs to change his clothes (he said) but he's alright. Not yet to his final destination but getting closer. He will be traveling again in a few days. He got to talk with someone who came from the base he's going to and heard very good reports about it. He's more excited now than before to be going there because of the talk he had. Again I am so grateful that I got to hear from him at all. 

We've had all kinds of bad weather warnings today. We had tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings and supposedly we are to be getting snow by tomorrow morning. I took my dogs out for a walk around 2:00 because I wanted to make sure that I was back home before the bad weather hit. Since then, we've had a brief downpour but nothing really, really bad. Here is Sheba enjoying her time out front. 
We had a wild time at our Seekers and Singers II class tonight. There were about 40 kids. We also held a tornado drill which involves getting all of them down the back stairs, line up in the hallway, bend down into a little ball with their heads tucked in. They have to do it and stay in position for one minute. Ha-ha - get 40 kids to do the same thing and hold it for one minutes. Good luck!!! It was just a hectic, hectic night with all the kids. I was in the skit and I had such a fun time dressing up. After the skit I come back as a normal (?) looking teacher again and they all run up to me and say, "I KNEW it was YOU!!!" ha-ha. It's fun. I also made a hopscotch game on the floor with blue painters tape. It took me almost 30 minutes to create it and we were running out of time so they got to spend about 15 minutes playing on it. I should probably count Weight Watcher points for the work that I did there crawling around on the floor. I usually come home drained on Wednesday nights, but on the other hand it's so much fun and I really do enjoy being with the kids. Things happen, like tonight, a little boy, Stephen came back to the classroom after it was over just to give me a hug. That about makes it worth it, right there!  I've already got in mind what I'm wearing next week, but here's part of my costume for this week>>>

Day 16

L-R: Rick, Willie, Raymond, Gail & Wade with Dixie & Bill
This picture is almost 50 years old.

I thought I would not hear anything from Wade today so I was prepared for that. This morning I went and had my haircut. I love going to get my hair cut. My stylist is a friend from church and is in my Sunday School class too. I love the opportunity to talk with her for 30+ minutes every 5 or 6 weeks. A good time to catch up and I get to hear about her two teenage girls. She also recommends good movies she's seen or good books she's read. This time she recommended "Secretariat" because it has a good message of success through determination and perseverance. I can't wait to go watch the movie now! 

I had a great blessing today too. My car key fob has been slowly dying. The message on my dashboard has been saying: "KEY FOB BATT LOW". I didn't want to change the battery myself because I broke the last one I did. So I went to the chevy dealer's service department. He opened it up, soldered a part that was loose and put a new battery back in. I was expecting to pay, but he just said to go try it and to have a good day. Wow!!  What great service that is! Thank you God for the wonderful treat and surprise. 

We had Sonshine Club after school today and we had almost 60 kids. As usual, they are wild, wild, wild. But I just try to keep them in rein a little and have fun with them too. 

I took all my dogs for walks today. Both Angel and Sheba walked a little bit further than yesterday, but I try not to overdo or push them too much. 

This morning I had the mindset that I wouldn't hear from Wade until probably Friday or later, but I did get a quick little email today. He wrote me from the USO in Ramstein Germany. He said when he got on the computers all the yahoo sites were in German. He was getting ready to get back on a plane to get to Iraq although I don't have any more information other than that. I'm grateful for the bit of information I did receive. Now I'm just at home enjoying a quiet evening in front of the television. 

Day 15

Today was a day filled with activity and I was not always "there" in the middle of it. I had to prepare financial reports for Hannah House Board meeting tonight - so I went into the office and did the bills and checking account and got the papers ready for the meeting. I was there till almost noon. Two things happened that shows I'm not concentrating today - first I endorsed the back of the checks with a stamp and I mistakenly stamped them upside down - oops!!  I apologized to the teller about that. What, will they not cash the check???  ha-ha. Then I was at Speedway pouring a cup of coffee and I just kept pouring until it was WAY too full - like spilling over. I had to hold it over the garbage can and tip the cup so some would pour back out.  It wouldn't have been so bad, but one of the clerks was right there too.  I had a mess to clean up. He probably thought I was some crazy lady!  Oh well. 
I came home and took my dogs for a walk. First Kelly for 45 minutes - I brought along a empty grocery bag and Wade's long armed tongs and picked up aluminum cans along the way. Kelly walks so nice with me. Then I got Angel and we walked for about 15 minutes. She limps so bad afterwards that I don't like to take her out very long. And then it was Sheba's turn. That poor, pitiful dog can hardly walk but she wants to go out so badly. So I take her into the yard with her leash on and we saunter around the yard. She'll sit and we'll just watch things happening around us. She's very happy to be included that way. All three dogs have been on a diet this past week and I think they are actually losing a little tiny bit of weight. So this is a good thing for them. 
I picked up Jared from school this afternoon and brought him home for tutoring. We read, worked on spelling and reading words. Re-did an assignment about maps.  For snack he had applesauce and some cheddar cheese. 
Wade's winter clothes came home today with the mail. It was a huge duffel bag. Fortunately most of them were clean so I don't have tons of laundry. He also sent home MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) for all the grandkids. I took some downstairs and I will bring the rest to Georgia when I go. He also returned the motorcycle keys which he had mistakenly taken with him.  So I'm not the only one that is scatterbrained sometimes - which is a good thing to know. All of that is unpacked now and put away. 
I had bell rehearsal tonight and then right after that I had a Hannah House Board of Director's meeting. Some of the people at the meeting have a tendency to talk and get off track, but I asked that we please finish up tonight so I could go home just in case Wade called or anything. 
Today is the day that he is leaving the country. He got up and got to the airport early this afternoon. He spent the afternoon in the USO with great internet reception and we wrote back and forth for a while. About an hour ago he said that he would be leaving to go into the regular airport and would probably not write anymore because the internet service was not that good. He had a big lunch of ribs that he said was very good. And tonight he had a chicken teriyaki flatbread from Subway. He will be served dinner on that plane around 11:00. I think he will be able to start boarding in about 10 minutes. 

I don't know when the next time I will be able to hear from him. When he's traveling like this it is different than traveling as a tourist. He may not have any internet or means to call home. So I will trust that God is taking excellent care of him and I look forward to hearing good things from him soon. 

Day 14

Day 14 - a whole two weeks. And the t-shirt of the day is "He's in Maryland and he'll be leaving the first part of this week". He's fine and enjoying lots of peace and quiet and rest and clean sheets and warm, long showers and mindless de-stressing. He's become acquainted with Hulu.com to watch some tv shows that he would have been watching if he were at home. Yesterday and today I got to talk with him on Skype. It won't be much longer before I'm feeling more comfortable using it. He did look more relaxed today than he did yesterday. We actually do more conversing on emails and after a while on Skype (just like on the phone) we run out of things to say because we wrote it all in emails. ha-ha. 
It was a normal Sunday morning. I taught 5th & 6th graders today about Moses and Passover. There were around 22 in my class, but I also had 3 other adults in there so it wasn't that intimidating. We watched the video, ate oyster crackers and white grape juice, and they did some journaling at the end. 
I had a nice lunch/dinner with Jason, Peggy & the kids. I made WW Manicotti (5 pts each), sausage, peppers & onions, green salad, and cheesy texas toast. I didn't eat the texas toast, but later checked the points - 8 pts each!!!!!  Yikes. So glad I stayed away from that. I served chocolate angel food cake with ice cream, hot fudge, caramel and redi-whip. I just had a small slice of angel food cake and it was only 2 pts. 
Later this afternoon I took the dogs on a walk. Kelly & I walked all the way to the high school and back. Then Angel, Jason, Missy, Jared and I walked down the road to the house where the guy is always having his mailbox knocked down.  He lives right on the curve of the road and it seems someone is always driving too fast around the curve and clipping his mailbox and/or crashing into his tree. Angel would LOVE to walk farther, but her arthritis flares up later and she suffers. Then after those two girls, I put a collar and leash on Sheba and we just walked out to the driveway, stood around and came back. I know she so wants to be more mobile and do what she used to, but she just can't anymore. I'm hoping that she just heals enough to not be in such bad pain. 
Tiffany called this evening and we had a nice talk. I love talking with her and hearing about all that she's doing. 
Tonight's picture is my silly dog's idea of a joke:

After our walks today, I left my shoes by my chair in the living room. Then later I picked up one to put away and noticed there was only one. Angel thinks it's a big joke to take my shoes away. If she's caught, she snorts really loud and I believe that is her laughing her head off. She cracks herself up!!!  Such a funny, funny dog. She never destroys the shoes, but she even sometimes carries them all the way out to the yard. Or she'll find a shoe in my bedroom and bring it out to me in the living room, snorting like crazy. 

I am looking at a very busy week coming up. I'll be in contact with Wade probably through email tomorrow. He'll be sitting in an airport for most of the day in preparation of his flights. 

Day 13

Today was a pretty good day for a Saturday. I missed fixing my guy his regular Saturday breakfast though. That would have been eggs (over easy or scrambled with cheese), fakon, toast or biscuit, and maybe some potatoes. Instead I had a bowl of hot oat bran cereal and he would have said, "Yuck!!!".  But my cardiologist stands up and cheers when I eat that because it's healthy, blah, blah, blah..yadda, yadda, yadda.. So I guess I better go with healthy stuff.
The picture you see is the "Wade Wall" in my/our bedroom. There I am too in the mirror and I'm standing in the bathroom door. The giant picture of Wade on the left side is a joke picture he used at a Christmas party in 2009. It was returned to him and I thought it would be great in the room. I can sit in bed and look at all the reminders of Wade right there on the wall. Perfect!! 
This morning after breakfast, I went shopping and got food for tomorrow's dinner. What am I fixing, you say?? Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow and I'll tell you. I came home and set up netflix in my bedroom. It is so cool, I am using an Apple TV device with an HDMI cable. I was surprised at how good it looks on that tv. I can't wait to do some serious watching in my bedroom! 
At around 5:00 I got to talk on the phone and then on Skype with Wade. That was wonderful!! He's tired out and is glad for the opportunity to just de-stress in a nice, clean, comfortable hotel room. There is a Denny's restaurant next door so if he needs something to eat, it's easy to get to. He's got a fridge and wave in his room. But for now he's relaxing and watching basketball on tv. We talked for about 30 minutes tonight. We'll talk again before he leaves which will be around the first part of next week. 
Tonight there is supposed to be a SuperMoon??  So I'm gonna try to catch that. I heard that the last time we had this was about 18 years ago, unfortunately, I don't remember that one either.  ha-ha. 
And I will leave you with a picture of how I looked when I talked with Wade on Skype today. :o)  

Day 12

Holy cow!!!!  I can't believe all the fuss about that silly passport. Some military person sent an email to a number of other military people asking where it might be and asking for help - what to do, where to look. I replied to all saying that I had received it and had sent it on to where Wade was staying in Baltimore. However, all afternoon I received copies of this email and that email, etc. asking where it was, what to do?, and on and on. So frustrating, don't these people read their emails????!!!!  I responded to one later in the afternoon because I was hoping that SOMEONE would actually read the ones I sent and stop fussing about it. Oh well, as least it's in a place where it is supposed to be. Wade wrote today that he would not have been able to leave without it.  As of right now, Wade is on a plane leaving O'Hare Airport and will arrive in Baltimore around 10:30. It will probably be close to midnight when he arrives at his hotel and I probably won't have contact with him until tomorrow. 

Jared is having a canned food drive for his boy scout troop and I told him if he helped me clean out my cabinets he could have all the food that I didn't want. I didn't take pictures before, but it was pretty full so here are the results: 

Here is the only cabinet that has actual food in it. Mainly soup and some crackers, opened pasta boxes, chili, tomato sauce. It was so nice to have the help. Jared pulled all the food out and I helped him separate it into "give" and "keep" piles. I had boxes all ready for his food and he carried all the heavy boxes into the garage. Then he restocked my shelves for me. 

Here is another cabinet that originally had food items in it. When I opened it, Angel thought it was her food cabinet and she's asking me to feed her. Looks pretty empty right now and the food that is on the left side is actually crackers and juice that are for my Sunday School class coming up. 

This cabinet had tons of popcorn, cookies, snacks, etc. I've moved all the coffee supplies into this one so the kitchen counter is now cleaner. I just haven't gotten lots of treats to fill my cabinets and I would rather not have them all in the house. I am happy that I got the help today and very happy with the simplicity in my cabinets. 

Tonight Jared's school had a Family Night-type event that coincided with their Book Fair. I went with the kids and they had pizza, chips, brownies, and drinks for dinner. Then the kids stayed and played bingo while the adults listened to a talk on the school's reading program, Title 1, and suggestions for ways to help children learn reading. Following that, all the kids were given a "Make a Book" kit to work on. Jared got the cover done and the principal made the announcement that they were wrapping up and we needed to start getting ready to go. It was 8:00 and we had been there for 2 hours so I was fine with that. I brought both kids home and sent them downstairs. It was a different Friday night, but it was still a fun time. 

I forgot to mention last night in my blog......I was at the church last night and the question of the night was....."so where is Wade right now???" and my t-shirt would have said....."he's in Wyoming and flying to Baltimore on Friday - he'll be there until Monday night when he flies out of the country".  A lot to fit on a t-shirt, but I answered that question so many times last night!  ha-ha. 

Now I'm relaxing and watching some tv. I'll be up for a while longer and then I'll probably watch tv in bed or read for a while. 

Day 11

Spring is finally coming I believe. These little flowers at the base of a tree in the front yard are always the first to pop out. We had such beautiful weather today and  I think we are finally ready to say good-bye to winter. I was able to keep the back door open most of the afternoon and I have found a giant moth flying around the light in the living room tonight. I think I need to get ready for the bugs that will be coming with the warmer weather. Time for the exterminator to spray again soon. 
Today was a "Big 3 Day". First was Women's Bible Study this morning. As always, a good time. I enjoy being around the women and sharing thoughts and ideas. I was fighting some heartburn from last night so I only ate some cantaloupe for breakfast while we studied. (I am feeling MUCH better now).
After that I came home for about 1 1/2 hours and rested up for Number Two: my mentoring with Amanda. She was a little bit bouncier today. I don't think I should share what she said though because I want to respect her privacy. But I did have a good time with her. We read, she ate her donut holes, we made shamrocks from green pipe cleaners, she played a puzzle, and then we played a game of Trouble (the pop-o-matic game). She played two colors and I played two colors. When our time is up, school is over and I drop her off in the gym for her Sonshine Club. Last week, I talked with the Pastor that runs the program at that school and he said they have about 120-130 kids registered for their meetings. Wow!!! We only have about 70 at our school and I thought that was a lot. But it's a wonderful thing and so good to be able to share Jesus with so many children that might not otherwise learn about Him. 
Then I came home, had an early dinner and took a cat nap before getting ready for Number Three: to go to church and be a greeter for the Anderson University Chorale. We had a pretty good turn out. Pastor Howard and Martha were there from Huber Heights. It was good to see them. Peggy brought Jaide and Jared and we sat together - up front in the SECOND row (Grampee!!). The first row had musical instruments on it. The Chorale was very good and they were very diverse in their music. At the end, they asked all AU Chorale Alumni to come up and join in the singing. That was pretty neat. Pastor Joy, Faith Pencil, & Rick Cox were some of the ones up there. 
Wade graduated today and got a neat certificate, he said. He was the only civilian out of the whole group. He wrote that he is pretty much ready and packed. He will be leaving tomorrow morning early and will be traveling for most of the day. So I may not hear anything from him until Saturday. 

I leave tonight with a picture of our yard and no snow. I've heard the rains are coming tomorrow so I better get the sheets put out in the hallway again. Mud drives me CRAZY!!!!!

Day 10

Hooray!!!  Today I FINALLY got the passport. It was Fed-Exed to the house this morning. Then I turned around and express mailed it to the hotel where Wade will be staying in Maryland. It will arrive there tomorrow and he will arrive at the hotel on Friday. So it's all good now. One less thing to worry about. 
Sheba seems better today and she finally ate some food this evening. She is walking a little bit better and looks more alert so I'm happy about that. 
I was the character in the skit tonight at the Seekers & Singers II class. I wore an outrageous outfit that was really, really wild! The kids loved it - I'm supposed to be a fashion designer in Paris competing for an award and my competition is coercing me into wearing strange things and pretending that they are helping me out when they're actually making me look even worse so I will lose. I wore a green tinsel wig, a newspaper hat, a tie made out of aluminum foil, I cut out purple paper so I could make huge winged glasses frames, a striped shirt, I tucked my black pants into my socks which were baby blue, and wore a pair of work boots. It was wild!!! The theme for these 5 weeks is Peer Pressure and I'm caving into peer pressure here. For the next 4 weeks I will improve until I am strong against peer pressure. I love being crazy in front of the kids - off the wall, shout out loud crazy is just what they love!  I felt a little bit scatter-brained tonight, but it all worked out in the end so I guess it's all good. Funny about working with the kids.... sometimes I wonder if it's worth it and then something happens like tonight I got a wonderful hug from a little boy, Stephen. Such a sweet thing and it made my heart melt.  
Wade wrote and he is definitely looking forward to moving ahead. Tomorrow will be his last day and it will mostly be briefings. He turned in one of his weapons already. Tomorrow morning he will take care of his laundry.  He is shipping home his winter clothes since he won't be needing them where he's going! He said that most of the clothes he is sending home will be fairly clean. Let's hope! 
Now I'm going to finish my homework for my Women's Bible Study that is tomorrow at 9:30 a.m   

Day 9

It's late (for me) and I'm enjoying my bowl of popcorn while I try to relax. My dogs are resting in the living room and hallway waiting for the time when I say "Time for bed!" 


This morning when I woke up, Sheba seemed to be in a bit of pain. I imagine they really wiggled her legs and knees around pretty good yesterday while she was sedated and I'm guessing she is even stiffer and more sore that before. I managed to get her pain pills down her, but she didn't eat any breakfast. However, neither did Angel or Sheba, so they must all be on a hunger strike. I couldn't bring myself to go into the Hannah House today because I felt that Sheba needed the company. She laid down all day and she tried to keep me in her sights whenever she could.


I did some patrolling in the backyard and picking up some souvenirs from the dogs this morning. Sheba followed me outside and that's kinda why I did it. So that she would be outside and getting some air and a little exercise. I think I worked for about half an hour and that counts for 2 points of exercise for Weight Watchers.  


I did some of my Bible studies for my Spiritual Leadership class instead of working at the Hannah House. This past session we are studying three disciplines: solitude, submission, and service. All pretty heavy topics but we had a great discussion tonight at our class. It went a little bit over the time limit, but we were enjoying it. The meeting tonight was at one of the member's home, Jamie's up on County Line Road. I was one of the first ones to leave and got home around 9:00. Pastor Mark wanted me to let Wade know that he is praying for him and especially next Monday night when he flies out of the country. I was going to stop at the store afterwards to pick up some hot cereal for tomorrow, but changed my mind and just came home. I think I have some oatmeal packets somewhere in a cabinet. I did get to see 4 deer crossing Rocky Point Road close to the house. I slowed down again just so that I could watch for a minute. I love watching deer and I especially love watching geese fly overhead.  


I had Sonshine Club this afternoon. We had 58 kids and what a handful they were. I always feel glad when it's over and we got through another class and another day, but then I start looking forward to it again on Mondays. The kids are starting to recognize me and wave to me when I see them in the halls on other days of the week. 


I got an email from Wade. He had a good day and walked about 3-4 miles with all his gear on. He said it wasn't that bad and he kept up with all those younger people so he's satisfied. Now he's looking forward to wrapping up his time there and heading on to Baltimore and beyond. He heard that the passport should arrive here at the house tomorrow and I can overnight it to his hotel in Baltimore. Keep your fingers crossed!  

Day 8

Oh my gosh! Today was Visit to the Vet Day as well as Pi Day. All three dogs were going to the vet at the same time because they were offering me a 15% discount. Angel and Kelly got blood tests, rabies shots, and medications. Poor Sheba has been having major problems with her hips and back legs so I decided to let her stay and get x-rayed to find out the cause of her problems. I only had the dogs slip out of their collar three times from the car to the vet's door. Just imagine me in the parking lot yelling at Kelly who cannot hear me! Luckily Sheba wasn't in the mood to wander far when she broke free. Finally got them all in the door and I still had to control them in the waiting room. (Note: I ordered three harnesses for the dogs so I never, never have to deal with escaping dogs. I worry so much about them running in front of a car because they just have no fear or knowledge of cars.) Fortunately, it wasn't too long before they took us into the examination room and I could release them. They took Sheba to another area where she would stay, be sedated and x-rayed. The other two girls were done very quickly and we were back on our way home. 


I spent the major part of the day vacuuming, cleaning, and washing. I used my I-Pod to help make the time go quicker. It's funny, but the music I enjoy most is kids music by the group GO FISH. They are so great and so much fun to listen to. It almost makes housework fun,..........almost, but not quite! 


I picked up Jared from school and brought him home for some tutoring. We read from the Kindle and did some math homework. He forgot his reading and spelling words so we couldn't work on those today. Then I took him with me to go and pick up Sheba at the vets. 


I got to see the x-rays for Sheba. They took quite a few. Her spine and internal organs all look great. The problem is her hips - she has displaysia and he suspects that she has always had that problem, even as a pup. But the major problem right now is that both her back knees have torn cartilage/tendons. That is why she can't move real well. The vet said surgery would be pretty costly - about 2500 per leg which we just cannot do. I told him that would not be an option. He recommended that she immediately lose 10 pounds, keep on her pain meds, take glucosamine and fish oil supplements. I can buy those straight from the store because she is so big she can take human doses. She weighs 75 pounds now. But all three girls can stand to lose weight. Another vet told me this morning that Kelly should lose about 6 pounds (she weighs 61 pounds). Surprisingly Angel was down 2 pounds from last year - 104 to 102 but that doesn't mean that she is skinny either. So I've decided that all four of us girls need to work on it this year. 


So for now Sheba is home and I hope that she improves. I just don't like seeing her in such pain that she just lays down all day and night. 


As for Wade, I haven't heard anything today so far. Possibly I'll hear something later tonight. I had a meeting at church this evening and was asked how he is doing by several people. I also heard comments that they are enjoying the pictures he is posting. He said that he is having a good time, but is ready to wrap up this portion of his adventure and move on to the next. 

Day 7

One whole week has gone by now. I can tell my routines have changed some. I've lost some jobs or they have become less (dishes, laundry), but I also have additional jobs or duties that I didn't have before. My three babies (dogs) keep me busy here and I am looking forward to the time when I can leave the back door open most of the day. Now if I can just get Angel to stop barking all the time!!


I can tell that God is watching out for me in the little things I do. I get "nudges" of things I should do and I know that it is God reminding me. I've also learned that I need to pay attention and do what I hear because it usually works out better. For example, I moved all my clocks forward last night because of daylight savings time. Plus, I set my cell phone to ring at 6:30 this morning knowing that I would probably sleep later than that. Last night as I was laying in bed God "suggested" that I also set the big alarm clock just in case so I did get back up and go set that clock too. I am so glad that I listened because the only alarm clock that went off this morning was the big one. My cell phone had a message on it that asked if it was okay to revert to daylight savings time and was waiting for me to click "okay". I would have slept right through most of Sunday School this morning. Thank you, God!! 


The weather was beautiful again today, although now at 5:30 it is getting a little bit overcast and it looks like we might be getting some rain possibly. I had a great Sunday School class again this. I taught the 3rd and 4th graders the same lesson I taught the 1st & 2nd graders last weekend on Moses and the passover. Church was good too. The lesson was on the Helmet of Salvation. We had communion this morning and they allowed the children to stay and have communion as well. Jaide and Jared had never had communion so I was whispering little lessons and messages to them (one on each side) while that was happening. I'm sure it is very confusing for someone that has never participated before. Our Sunday School lessons are tying in with the meaning of communion so it was as good learning experience for them. 


We came home and Jason & Peggy had prepared a delicious meal of nachos for lunch. Soooo good.  PLUS...........I had a piece of lemon meringue pie for dessert. I know that Wade will be so disappointed that he missed out on that! 1/8 piece was pie was only 8 points and I have lots of points left over so I just enjoyed my dessert! Excellent, excellent meal. Thank you Jason & Peggy!


This afternoon I went to see a Clark State College Choral presentation. The director is my handbell director at church. She teaches music at Clark State. It only lasted 45 minutes but was very good. There were 8 members in the choir. They sang songs from around the world: Italy, Korea, Africa, Spain, Ireland, and the US. Good music and a nice diversion for the afternoon. 


Now I'm relaxing and planning on fixing something for dinner for the 3 girls and myself. Tomorrow morning at 9:00 all the girls are seeing the vet and we will hopefully find out what is wrong with Sheba. No food or water for any of them after midnight tonight. I will be leaving Sheba at the vets so she can be sedated and x-rayed and I'll go pick her up later in the afternoon. 


Lots of people today at church mentioned that they are praying for Wade: Jimmy Mac, Tom (our corn-hole opponent from Sunday School), Greg Johnson, Betty & Dean Stewart are some of the names that come to mind right now. He is missed and cared about. They love reading his facebook posts and seeing the fun he is having "playing soldier". Oh, and no........ I didn't sit in the front row this morning. I took a seat in about the 3rd row on the other side - the little section next to the choir ready room. Pam Johnson sat in our pew also. Jaide's friends weren't there this morning so she sat with me.  

Day Six

My household is in an alternate time zone right now. I decided to go ahead and change all my clocks now while I'm watching some tv so I won't wonder later on....did I?....... or didn't I? Tomorrow morning I'll change the car clocks because I really don't feel like going outside now.


Today was such a beautiful day here. The sun shone all day long and the temperature warmed up pretty good. We did have some strong winds, but overall the weather was very nice. I saw motorcycles and bicycles on the road and even Jason took out the motorcycle for a ride today. He has made some modifications to the bike so it doesn't look like an "old man" motorcycle quite as much. He will be using the bike for commuting when the weather gets warmer. Saving money is always a good thing and especially with how much gasoline is costing now! 


Jared woke me up around 6:15 this morning - Jaide followed out shortly after that. We all snuggled under blankets and watched the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle while they ate Cinnabon Toaster Strudels. Jared had somewhere to go this morning so Jaide and I watched a couple of movies and then went to lunch by the Fairfield Mall. We ate at Steak N Shake. Surprisingly they had a special where the kids meal was free!! Yay! I always like free and I wasn't aware of that deal before we went there. Thanks to Jaide for picking the restaurant today and getting a good choice. And while we were sitting there, the line waiting for seats got longer and longer until it was going out the door. So two great strokes of luck was wonderful! After lunch we went to Deals (like a Dollar Store) and Jaide bought $10 worth of treasure. One of the items she bought was a woopie cushion. She played with it the whole way home. What is it about the sound that makes people giggle? She chuckled and snorted all the way home with that. 


I got a nice email from Wade this morning. He said today he would be doing a lot of walking and was psyching himself up for that. He also said that he is enjoying all his roommates. Seems like they are all bonding pretty well even though they are younger and military. He thought that Friday was going to be harder than it was but things worked out well for him. Hopefully I'll hear from him later and maybe see some pictures too.    

Day 5

So, what weighs 57.5 pounds and costs $68.50??? That would be the two containers of supplies I shipped to Wade in Iraq this afternoon. He was told that he needed to ship some supplies as the stores over there don't have everything he might need. He packed razors, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, sheets, blankets, pillows, extra boots, sunglasses, and some of his clothes. We bought a real nice tub at Wal-mart that has the capability of being padlocked. Not all of it fit in the tub so I packed the rest in a box. I did pay for tracking too and I'm curious to see how far it will actually be tracked. He's not there yet so hopefully all his supplies will be there and waiting for him when he arrives. 


I woke up this morning to the beautiful sight of snow on the ground. I don't know if we'll get more this winter, but I just love looking out on that snow. By afternoon, the temperature had risen to about 45 degrees and the sun was shining. The snow is gone now. 


Today was shopping day. I saved tons of money at Rite-Aid and then I went on to Kroger and saved even more money. I love using my coupons and planning my shopping around the ads. It seems like a game to me and I love the challenge of seeing how much money I can save. My hallway closet is filled with lots of soaps, detergents, deodorants, etc. I won't run out for quite a while. 


Since tonight was Friday night, Jaide & Jared came up for dinner and movies. It was also the Friday of the month when they spend the night. Jason brought them up and stayed for a visit. Then we had pizza, chips, and coke while we watched "Little Monsters". After that we had popcorn and watched "Open Season 2". At 9:30 we went to the bedroom and played some Trouble and Bed Bugs. At 10:00 I told them goodnight and came back to the living room.  For a few minutes I heard giggling and whispering, but it wasn't very long before everything was quiet. Tomorrow morning Jared needs to go do some Boy Scout activity so Jaide and I will be lazy ladies and watch more tv. I am planning to take her somewhere for lunch before she goes home although I haven't decided where yet. 


Wade sent a few emails today and he's doing real good. Even his letters are upbeat and happy. He's planning his laundry run tomorrow morning. He's getting along real well with his roommates. Still have not received his passport yet. Where the heck is it???  


The big item in the news today was the huge earthquake that happened in Japan and the subsequent tsunami warnings. Even to California and the rest of the west coast. I haven't been in front of a tv or seen any news for a few hours so I don't know any more than that.