Day 147

"Call upon me and come and pray to me,

and I will listen to you."  Jeremiah 29:12

Most people can recite Jeremiah 29:11 - it's one of those verses that is a favorite of a lot of people. But the verse above packs a lot of promise in it and it's what the children learned this morning. For three hours we learned, played, drew, and sang reinforcements to this verse so they could remember who answers prayer, and that He is always available to us. We can pray at any time for any purpose and He is listening. And we talked about prayer requests that these children have. Listening to some of the sober, urgent, and heartfelt requests that these children are carrying is heartbreaking, but our God is more than able to take on each and every request.

I observed both Sunday School classes and then during the church service I led the game portion with two wonderful adult helpers. We set up two little mini putt-putt courses in Kid's Town. We had 3 groups of 20 children rotate in and out in 30 minutes each. They would hit a golf ball into the first cup and tell of a prayer request for them, into the 2nd cup and tell what they are thankful for, and into the 3rd cup and tell of a request for someone else. What a great time! We had plenty of time and they could take multiple turns.

Dinner (mid-day meal) was tacos (chicken or beef) with refried beans, spanish rice, guacamole, and chips. Then we had a giant chocolate chip cookie (pizza-pan size) with frosting and ice cream. It was a good time and I really enjoyed the company; Jason, Peggy, Jaide & Jared. Jaide even modeled her new school clothes that she got yesterday. 

Notice the chalk pick up truck parked on the driveway.......

So now tonight I organized my coupons and did some preliminary planning for my shopping this week. Looks like a good week for laundry soap, cereal, and more razors. I'm watching "City Slickers" and enjoying the view of the front yard. 

The sun is setting behind the house and the temperature here on the
front porch still says 90 degrees at 7:30

Oh, I just spent the past 20 minutes hugging and patting my little Kelly Blue - she seemed to be having some sort of seizure. Her little body stiffens and curls into a arc (as if her tail and nose are trying to touch). She tries to walk, but can't get her feet coordinated so she just lays down. And I can only hug her. I'm not sure if she can see anything when this happens - she doesn't seem to be able to focus her eyes. And of course, she's deaf, so when I repeat "It's okay...." over and over, she can't hear it. All I can do is just use my hands to reassure her the best that I can. She's recovered, but now she just wants to lay at my feet and be close to me. It's scary for me too when it happens.......

Day 146

Saturday - and it's warm-ish - not as hot as it has been. I have been able to go outside and appreciate the warm feeling without too much discomfort. 

The highlight of my day was a trip to Kroger to buy some groceries. And now I'll watch some funny movies and do some knitting. The following article (which I actually wrote) was in the Springfield newspaper this week: (also my personal observation - I am wearing 1 1/2 inch heels and still I'm shorter than everyone else, even this 13-year old boy!!) 

People L-R: Kevin Reep, Aaron Reep, Nathan Reep,
Selena Martin (executive director of Hannah House,
me (bookkeeper/Board of Director member/treasurer),
Miranda Mirano (Board of Director's member)

The Reep Boys is a group of five brothers that began a lawn care business in the Springfield area fifteen years ago. All five of the boys, Ryan (25), Nathan (24), Aaron (22), Jason (18), and Kevin (13) attended Emmanuel Christian Academy, played basketball, and grew up mowing lawns. Ryan is now a graduate of Cedarville University and serves as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Nathan is a graduate of Geneva College and teaches at Mansfield Christian. Aaron is attending Northwestern College and is in the Marine Corp Officer program. Jason just graduated from Emmanuel Christian Academy and will be attending Cedarville University. Kevin is in 8th grade at Emmanuel Christian Academy. Over the course of the last 15 years, they have grown the business to the point that they maintain 25-30 yards each week in their neighborhood of Possum Woods.  

This summer, as an expression of thanks for all of their blessings, they decided to donate 100% of one week’s earnings to a charitable organization in the area. They had the desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ in reaching out a helping hand to those who are suffering in our community.

Prior to this, they prepared a letter which they delivered to every single one of their neighbors in Possum Woods explaining how their faith had led them to perform this act of service and what their intentions were. As well as sharing the gospel with each and every household and to prove in a very tangible way for them that it is more blessed to give than to receive, as our Lord said (Acts 20:35).  It was their hearts desire to see Him glorified and to be used by God to show His love to those who are in need of a helping hand in our community. They are extremely grateful to all of their customers and neighbors who also joined them by giving extra money for the donation.

Recently Aaron, Nathan, and Kevin presented a significant check with the total amount raised during the designated week to Selena Martin, Executive Director of Hannah House in Springfield. Hannah House is a home that provides supportive services to young, single, homeless mothers to develop, restore, and maintain self-sufficiency in their lives resulting in a stable and healthy environment for themselves and their children. Hannah House has been in operation for 11 years in the Springfield area. To learn more about Hannah House, visit their website at:
www.hannahhouse4moms.com  

Day 145

Friday - My day to skype with Wade. How nice it was. He called me when he was in his office this morning and it seemed earlier than normal, although I am always ready to talk by about 8:30. A couple days before we skype, we compile agendas so that we will remember to talk about all the things that we wanted to. 

Again it was another hot day. After I skyped with Wade I went to Kroger to get what I needed before the temperature got too hot. This evening, the porch thermometer said 95 and that was in the shade. However, we had a big thunderstorm blow through and cool things down nicely. 
Wade is still recovering from his heat exhaustion. He needs to take care of himself and get better or else they may decide to send him home. He is trying to take care of business from his office and let the younger, more resilient people work out in the heat. 
Tonight I had pizza and a movie with Jaide & Jared. We watched Monsters, Inc. I had the movie "Rango" and I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for them, so I decided to shelf that and watch it myself at another time before I have them watch it. 

This is a picture from a year ago. That was a fun day. We met with Bev & Denny at the reservoir and spent the afternoon on their boat. 
I'm watching a movie right now called, "Old Dogs" and it has Robin Williams and John Travolta in it. 

Day 144

Thursday - And still the heat goes on. Our county fair is here, but I am not going - partly because of the heat. Last year I worked at the gates during some of the hottest days of the summer and I don't want to repeat that again. Walking from building to building in the sun and heat is not my idea of fun today.
And today turned out to be a day when I've just decided to do only a few things, and be a bit of a recluse instead. 

I didn't go to my Women's Bible Study. Instead I downloaded the Beth Moore video session on my computer and watched it this evening in my living room. 
I went to Walmart this morning and picked up some groceries for myself, some school supplies, and then some things for Wade and his office buddy, Myles. I had a package returned to me last week that I had sent to Wade 2 weeks ago. Remember, the bad zip code? I got it back, so I opened it up and re-evaluated what was in there. Then I packed another box of the things that I bought today and took both of them to be mailed. I hope that they get there quickly. 

Tonight I will post Wade's blog on his page. I think it turned out real good. But, then again, they always seem good to me. 
Also, I think tonight I will watch the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 1 movie. That might be a good thing to do. Maybe even a bag of popcorn to go along with that..... 

Day 143

My whole focus today has been to get everything ready for tonight's class and hoping that things would go smoothly. I was concerned because two adults wouldn't be there - leaving 3 of us to handle the rest. 
Our Bible verse tonight was:

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:10.

And we concentrated on the tongue and how destructive it might be. But we all need to remember to tame our tongues and use them for good things. 

We had a puppet skit. We had a Bible story. We had a contest to see what we could do with our tongues. And in our "Gross Zone" we had the ultimate tongue - my cow's tongue that I got yesterday at the Butcher Shop.

How fun to see their faces when we get these gross things to share. They enjoyed poking and prodding this enormous tongue. 

At the end of the evening they all got popsicles, which is a good thing for THEIR tongues. 

Glad the night is over. Hopefully we will  get more adults next week, but I'm grateful for the ones that were there to help out. 

Day 142

Tuesday  - Bizarro Day..........

Funny - but it seemed like I just went through the day - doing what needed to be done with a minimum of human contact. Just strange. I went to Hannah House and did the finances, balancing the checkbook, paying the second quarter withholding taxes, writing checks for payroll and preparing month end reports. And no one was at the House. No one called, I never heard from Selena - so I did what needed to be done and went on to the next task. My biggest challenge was I needed to find a beef tongue today. After three different stops I went home and had lunch. Then later I finally found one at a butcher shop in Medway. So now I have this ginormous tongue in my fridge tonight. I hope that IT doesn't talk to me!!  

Day 141

Monday - 
I left Georgia this morning at 6:15. Tiffany and I left the house at the same time - she drove off to work and I headed for I-75. 

We have driven this route so many times, Wade and I know where we make stops, what sights we will be driving past, and we can estimate just how long the trip will take.

 These pictures are views from Tiffany's back porch. There are tall pine trees within reach as soon as you step outside. 

This morning on my drive home, I started listening to another audiobook. I had "Water For Elephants" which is a pretty big "book". It has 10 cd's to listen to. I started this morning and listened the whole way home and finished 5 cd's so far. I am hooked! This is a great story and the people that were chosen to read this book are wonderful to listen to. I can't wait for an opportunity to finish it. 
My trip home was uneventful, which is always a good thing. At the half-way point I walked around the Wal-Mart just to refresh and wake up a little bit. A change of scenery was just what I needed. 
It was nice to get home and have all my animal babies greet me. I had stopped in Enon to get a sandwich from Subway - so I had a late, late lunch and then I've just been relaxing in my recliner. 
It was a great trip and visit. I am happy to have been able to do it and now I need to get back into my routine tomorrow. 

Day 140

Sunday - my last full day at Tiff's house for this trip. We got up and headed off to Sunday School and church this morning. Another hot day. 

 Pulling out of the garage......

and heading up Beckett Drive.....

Tiff's class was good - lots of women there this morning. And church was good as well. Next Sunday at Tiff's church, Heather Mercer will be speaking. I'm kinda sad that I will miss it. Heather is one of the women arrested by the Taliban for preaching the gospel in the summer of 2001 in Afghanistan. What a neat opportunity that will be for Tiff!! 

During the early afternoon we came home, had some lunch and rested. Tiffany also put this decoration on her bedroom wall:

Very nice.... she also got a different one for her living room wall too and is putting than one up as I write. We found these at Hobby Lobby and they were half-price. 

At 3:00 we drove over to Granny's, picked up Shelby & Sam and did some school clothes shopping at Kohls. Tiffany took Sam and picked out some clothes for him. He's a male and shopping doesn't excite him. He was going crazy waiting for all the women to hurry up and decide. Shelby got some real cute clothes and I think she's happy with what she got. 

 After shopping we stopped for dinner at Mexico Lindo

- a small, obscure little mexican restaurant but the food was good. Then we dropped them off at Granny's house again for their last full week of summer. 

Now Tiff and I are home and enjoying some quiet time. Tomorrow she will head off to work and I will drive on home. 

Thank you, Tiff for a wonderful visit - I enjoy our times together. 

Hopefully it will be a little bit cooler in Ohio - maybe......

Day 139

Saturday in Dallas, GA - Another hot, hot day. I had company with me in bed all night long - This is Buttercup - he's a sweetie and stayed with me last night.

When the dogs came into the bedroom to say good morning - Buttercup stood between me and them as if to protect me. With the back door open, the kitchen looked cool and inviting, but it was deceiving and the heat was starting to build already. 

I enjoyed coffee and a bowl of cereal in the peace and quiet. I could hear the cicadas humming and whirring in the trees outside. I love the sounds of summer.
This morning Tiffany's Sunday School class was participating in a community outreach project (as were other classes and churches in the area). Her class decided to prepare some goodie bags with note cards, journals, pens, lotions, snacks, etc. 

Then we drove to the homes of women that had been absent from Sunday School. We stayed for a brief time - just long enough to show they were missed, loved, and we prayed for them too. A very touching time - and I could see that the women enjoyed these visits very much. They also gave a goodie bag to two stylists in a beauty shop and one to the waitress at the chinese restaurant where we had lunch. Simple acts of reaching out with the hands of Jesus, but you never know what can result from obedient service to our LORD. When we were finished we all had lunch at a chinese restaurant close to the church. Excellent time.
After we broke away from them, Tiffany and I went to Wal-Mart for our favorite past time - SHOPPING!! We got some school supplies and other things. Then on to Kohl's to get some clothes for us. I got a couple t-shirts and Tiffany got some clothes and some jewelry.

 We came home and rested later in the afternoon. Now she's working on her Sunday School lesson. She teaches tomorrow morning. 
Tomorrow we will pick up Sam & Shelby and go look for some school outfits too. I always have such a great time when I visit Tiffany. 

Day 138

Today was a GREAT Friday at Tiffany's house. I got to sleep in until 8:00. Then I got up and had coffee and breakfast and waited to skype with Wade. 
We had a good time talking. He had an episode of possibly heat exhaustion during his afternoon and had to go inside to cool down, but he felt fine when we were talking. He needs to concentrate on getting more protein, his liquid intake seems pretty good. 
Then I kept myself occupied with computer-stuff, reading, and resting. Daytime TV is not that great. 
When Tiffany came home we went out and did some shopping, got our toes done, drank a diet coke (it's hot here too - need to stay hydrated), did more shopping, drove home and had a most excellent dinner. 
It's almost time for bed now and we're tired. We have a busy couple of days coming up and we need more energy for that.
I'm having a good time here. That's all for today. 

Day 137

We are still stuck in the middle of an incredible heat wave - it covers the whole midwest and eastern portion of the United States. Adding in the humidity factors brings the temperatures to around 110 degrees in Springfield, Ohio. So....... what better way to beat the heat than to drive to Georgia?? Sure, it SHOULD be cooler down there, right?? 
I left this morning at around 9:15. I tried as good as I could to dog-proof the house. I put away things I thought that Angel would chew up. She's been in an aggressively chewy mood lately. I got rid of all the garbage, washed all the dishes, closed some doors and put up gates. And I always feel so incredibly sad when I leave - I wish I could bring them all with me, but that's not logical. 

The drive down was pretty good. I took audio books with me this time. I listened to some of Stephen King's short stories to start off. Then in the afternoon I started listening to The Screwtape Letters. That was excellent. The premise behind the letters are that they are 'written' by one of Satan's senior angels (Screwtape) to his novice, arch-angel nephew, Wormwood. Wormwood is trying to lure a human to 'their side' and away from serving God. Each letter written points out some aspect to focus on - and to listen to them is to learn some of the ways that Satan tries to deceive and destroy us. The book was written by C.S. Lewis. Today I listened to two of the cd's (there are three) multiple times just to help things sink in. I think I will be listening to these over and over again. So good. I never read the book although I had it in my library for many, many years. 

I arrived at Tiff's house around 7:30 this evening. It was raining pretty hard in Dallas (again). It rained hard the last time I was down here too. That brought the temperature down for a while, but it's heating up again. Tiffany is at work until midnight, so I just came in and got my stuff put away. Then the dogs, cats, and I settled down to relax and watch some tv. I'll probably doze on the couch until she comes home. 

Day 136

Wow! Another hot day today. 
I had my semi-annual checkup with my cardiologist and my annual check by the pacemaker rep. But first I needed to get my annual chest xray. That went very quickly - the hospital was fairly quiet today, surprisingly. 

Technol-ogy is so amazing! The pace-maker rep puts a monitor around my neck (it's about the size of a deck of cards) then she 'tic-tics' with a stylus on a computer screen and viola - she can see just exactly what my pacemaker has been doing for the past year. She can tell me how much battery life I have left (approx. 6 years). She can speed up and slow down my beats per minute. And yes, I DO feel it when she does this. Well, apparently on January 29th at 1:00 p.m. I went into atrial fibrillation - my cardiologist told me that the report also showed that. It lasted all of 6 seconds, but they knew exactly when. So, can I remember it? Nope. I even went back to my calendar to see if there was something specific going on that day and I don't have a clue. But because I had those 6 seconds on record, I now have to see the pacemaker rep in 6 months - not one year. They want to keep on top of this just in case it repeats itself. 
Our Wednesday night class went pretty well. We had 27 kids and they were pretty tightly wound up tonight. There were three adults and we were busy for the two hours that we had them. I was responsible for snacks tonight and I made bowls with 1/4 piece of apple, 1/4 piece of orange, and 1/3 of a banana. They ate it up. Always surprises me - I think that would have been my least favorite snack when I was a kid. 
Tonight I will do a little packing and preparation for my trip tomorrow. 

Day 135

I actually missed posting my blog last night because we experienced a most impressive thunderstorm. It was not predicted at all and caught us all by surprise at around 8:30. We immediately lost power and had torrential rains. I stood outside on the porch for a while just watching the storm, but soon the lightning and thunder were so close I knew it was right on top of us. I was expecting one of our trees to be hit or come crashing down so I went back in the house. When the storm passed I walked around outside to see if there was any severe damage. It all looked okay. Jason and Peggy took flashlights and walked down the road to see if they could see where the electrical problem might be. 
I went to bed and read for a while. I was just starting to doze off at midnight when all the lights and fans came back on. That woke me up again and I decided to read for a while longer. 
This morning on my way to Hannah House I took some pictures:

 This is just our driveway showing the leaves and branches that fell during the storm.

On my way to Old Mill Road through the debris.

This is the house at the intersection of Old Mill & Rocky Point - the 4-way stop.

This is the field at the same intersection - the north eastern corner

 This is in front of Rocky Point Church - I pulled into their driveway

This is the house across the street from Rocky Point Church.

There were numerous other trees down that I saw going to and returning from Hannah House today. But we were very fortunate that none fell on our property or house. 

It is still extremely hot here and I only worked at Hannah House until almost 2:00. They do not have any air conditioning and I just had a ceiling fan to try and cool me off. I am sorry for those expecting moms trying to cool down while generating all that extra body heat. 

Day 133

Sunday - 
Yep, summer is here and is hang-ing around for this week as far as I know. By the end of the week it will be up in the high 90's here in Ohio, which is hot. I know some people in places like...... oh, say.... Iraq, think I might be wimpy but it's hot for us here. 
This morning during Sunday School we actually got to skype with Wade after two unsuccessful tries during the past two weeks. He shared a little bit and then we sang a song (Oh How He Loves You And Me) and we prayed together. It was very nice and I was glad to see him. I think he enjoyed it very much. He also asked to move the camera so that he could see what kind of goodies there were on the back tables that he was missing this morning. 
For church I did crafts with the kids. I had three groups of kids rotate in and out:
1st were the 2nd-4th grades - 15 boys and 3 girls,
2nd were K-1st grade - 10 children, and then
3rd were the 5th & 6th grade - 19 kids. 
I had a helper, Marcie, who is Pastor Patty's mom. They all painted pictures and they turned out great!! And surprise, surprise, we managed to keep the cups of paint the actual color to the end instead of having 27 cups of gray. 
Jason & Peggy fixed lunch for us today and we had seafood fettucini alfred (with sun-dried tomatoes), broccoli, garlic bread, and strawberries on angel food cake for dessert. It was delicious. Thank you all for that. 
This afternoon I stayed in and watched a couple of movies. I finished the 4th Harry Potter movie and started watching the 5th one. Now I'm enjoying a quiet evening with America's Funniest Home Videos. 

Day 132

Saturday:
What a great picture this is. I wish I could say this is where I was and that those might be my dogs, but unfortunately I can't. This was the front of a post card I received from my dogs' vet. But this afternoon I just sat and took it all in. 
It makes me think of summer and being somewhere in a cabin on a lake. And wouldn't I love to be there. Feeling a cool breeze coming off the water. Having a boat at my disposal to just run around the lake.  Sitting on a screened-in porch as the sun goes down. Listening to bugs and critters in the cool of the evening. 
I just may need to rent some summer movies like: 

National Lampoon's Vacation 

Summer Rental

What About Bob? 

Meatballs

Stand by Me (look for Ray Brower in that one)

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead

Camp Nowhere

Indian Summer

To Kill a Mockingbird

On Golden Pond

Dirty Dancing

And for now, I'll just think about the summers that I've enjoyed. Think about what made them so fun and memorable and I'll look at my postcard again. 

Day 131

Today was just a very quiet, peaceful, uneventful Friday. I had so many plans to do while I stayed home. But, I didn't do much of anything except rest. 
This morning I talked with Wade on Skype for about an hour, as usual. Then I just puttered (old people get to say 'puttered') around most of the day. I have another injured dog so I was glad to be at home and available for her because she likes her mommy near when she's not feeling good.

 This even-ing Jared and I drove to McDon-ald's to pick up dinner and then we sat in front of the tv and watched a movie with our dinner. "How to Train Your Dragon". It was good - I think we've both seen it before, but it was still good again the second time around. 
When it was time for Jared to go downstairs we walked outside and saw two large frogs sitting alongside the pond. He wanted to show me some snakes he had caught, but they are lose in the yard now. Apparently we have LOTS of snakes out there. 
The weather is getting a little warmer.
I feel a little sad that I didn't get more done today, but I have tomorrow too with no plans so perhaps I can do more then. 

Day 130

What's In A Name? 

My whole life, it seems,  I have had to deal with people that mess up my name. Either they can't pronounce it or they can't spell it. Sometimes they just use a name that they thought was me but it's not. I've been Janet, Janelle, Jean, Jennifer and multiple other "J" names. I've even actually been called Susan, too.  
For my high school senior yearbook I purchased the option to have my name engraved on the cover - what I got back was:

"Janette Warson" 

- are you kidding me?? Even my own step-mother could not remember my last name and she called all of us the "Bowers". Sometimes when I see a minor misspelling, I feel like growling a low, irritated snarl.  
In all of my mentoring and teacher training, I've been taught that one of the most important things you can do for a child is..... to remember and use their name. It's one way to let them know that they are someone - they are special - they are important to others. And I've seen their faces light up when I cross children in the hallways (at church and at schools) and greet them by name. 
One of the traditions that we practice during church service is moving around the sanctuary and greeting people.  And last Sunday, a dear, sweet lady came and gave me a hug and called me a different name while she's hugging me. And at first it bothered me, it grated on me, I kept rolling that over and over in my head.
I knew her heart was in the right place and she was reaching out in love, but I couldn't get it out of my head. As the afternoon went on, I was getting more and more upset with myself for holding onto such a petty offense. And then God had a conversation with me. And I started looking in His Word for guidance on this topic. I was reassured by the scriptures that I found:

"....I know you by name and you have found favor with me."

Exodus 33:12

"I have summoned you by name; you are mine."

Isaiah 43:1

".....from my mother's womb he has spoken my name"

Isaiah 49:1

".....but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Luke 10:20

How very comforting that the Almighty God, the great Hashem named me before I was born, knows my name, stores my name in heaven before me. 

Even this past Wednesday evening in our children's program the song that was chosen by the Children's Pastor and sung by all of us had these words:

"I am not forgotten,

I am not forgotten,

I am not forgotten,

God knows my name." 

This was the chorus (and imagine in your head all of us standing, singing and dancing - because children dance) and at first I was just mindlessly singing the words but all of a sudden - I realized, just as if I was hit over the head....... I was singing words that spoke to ME about this very subject. How God-like to minister to me while I work with these children. And in perfect "God-timing". Awesome! 

So what is so important about this earthly name? Did you ever notice that many people written about in the Bible have NEW names?? 

Abram became Abraham

Sarai became Sarah

Hoshea became Joshua

Jacob became Israel

Saul became Paul

Levi became Matthew

Simon became Peter

Did they complain with their new names? I doubt it. In most cases, the LORD renamed them new names to better describe their qualities, their assets, their hearts. 

So now, looking a little further I discovered this:

"I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it."

Rev. 2:17

I am going to receive a white stone with a NEW NAME! Given to me by God and known only to me. But some day I will hear His voice speaking my name, my new name! And I am absolutely positive when he speaks it, I will know he is speaking to me. So I don't care about this earthly name, I'm anticipating my new name. 

Thank you, Lord, for helping me take the focus from myself and placing it where it rightfully belongs:

"The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name."

Zechariah 14:9

Day 129

Another Wednesday is here and almost gone. This morning I went to the post office in Enon to mail a package to Wade. Because it is going to an APO address and it is a package, I have to fill out this big form every time and they have to do some extra stuff to packages at the post office. Well, this morning the clerk types in the zip code - 'humphs' and says, "That's an invalid zip code". I knew I had written the right one on the paperwork. 

So he tries again and again. Same results. 
"Is he out on maneuvers?"
"No, he's on base."
"Can you call him?"
"Uh, no......... "
So he looks at his hard copy (paper) of all the APO zip codes and there it is. 09375. Oh, but wait - - that paper is dated June 30th so really, that's outdated. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? So I'm starting to get a little irritated. Am I supposed to just take the package back home and hope that the next time when I bring it back to the post office the zip code will magically be ok???
Then he says, "Well, I could force another APO zip code on there." 
So I told him that would be fine and he was able to finish processing the silly paperwork. So the computer "thinks" we are now sending the package to 09372. What is the difference, is what I want to know? If I had addressed an envelope to the same address and dropped it into the slot, it would still go there even if the zip code was invalid. So, next time I go to the post office, I will be prepared. 
Just another speed bump in my life. Gotta love those snags that make life interesting. 

My contri-bution for the Wednes-day night kids was creating brains. The body part we were discussing tonight would be brains and how they help us to determine what actions we take voluntarily and involuntarily. Most of our older kids were actually at camp this week, so we mostly had the younger crowd. Four years old to about 2nd grade. And we had to simplify our lessons. Plus we only had 15 kids tonight - a younger and smaller class. 

However, they did think it was pretty cool to be able to eat brains.
The green brain was lime jello and the gray brain was peach jello with condensed milk and food coloring. Pretty gross and jiggly. Another good night of memories. 

This picture is Pastor Patty and Allyson Angles spritzing Reddi Whip on the bowls of brains. 
I stopped and picked up dinner at Wal-mart on my way home. I have one more day of Bible study to finish tonight before my class tomorrow morning at 9:30. 

Day 128

Another warm day. According to Wade's standards 95 degrees is just warm. But the humidity cranks that 95 up to seem like over 100 degrees here in Springfield. Maybe we'll get more thunderstorms tonight.  

Just for fun I posted this picture. These are actually relatives of Wade's.
Their last name is Timmons - I believe they're cousins somehow. 

I've been on the go most of the day. I had an early doctor's appointment. Then to Hannah House and the finances, plus I took one of the residents to her counseling session on the other side of Springfield. 
I had a pedicure this afternoon and went to Weight Watchers tonight. I'm also working on some jello molds for snack for tomorrow night with the kids. I'll have pictures of that tomorrow. It's gonna be cool!! 
I heard from Wade this morning and he is overloaded with work. He's super-dee-dooper busy.
Sorry for the brief-ness, but there's not much to report tonight.  

Day 127

Tonight will be short and sweet. I skyped with Wade this morning. He says it's hot, hot, hot and feels as humid as Georgia. He just feels like he's melting. But his air conditioner works and we had a nice visit. 
I bowled this afternoon with Peggy & Jared. Jared is improving so much and bowled really well today. And Peggy did great, I think she won both games. I always see someone else from church bowling when we go. Right at the end of the last game (10th frame), a thunderstorm came through and knocked the power out at the alley. But fortunately when it came back up, it was restored to right where we left off. 
We stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen on the way home. 
I was supposed to have a board meeting at the church tonight. Apparently I didn't get the message (or something like that). No one from my group showed up and I never got an email or call that it had been canceled, postponed, or rescheduled. That was a little irritating, but I went to Kroger and picked up a couple of groceries while I was in the neighborhood. 
We are expecting more severe thunderstorms this evening and on into tomorrow morning. Glad to be home where I can watch from my windows or doors. 

Day 126

Today was Sunday and Wade was planning on skyping with our Sunday School class. I went to church with Peggy, Jaide, and Jared. Jaide was beside herself because right after church she would be leaving for Camp Marengo for a week. 

On our way into the church building (we used a different door than we nor-mally do) and there on a bulle-tin board was a photo tribute to all current servicemen for the 4th of July. 

But there down on the very bottom was a photo of Wade too. No one told me it was there. That was a nice sur-prise. I think they are planning on keeping the board up for a while. It's on the wall next to the Fireside Room. 
So after church we hung around to say goodbye to Jaide as she drove off to Camp Marengo. 

There are so many kids going this week that they had to use the BIG bus. The BIG bus with NO air con-ditioning.  

Phew!! It's gonna be a long hot drive for all those kids. Around 25 children and 7-8 teenagers working as counse-lors. There was a delay and all the parents and other family members stood out in the sun on the blacktop while the kids baked in the bus. The trip to camp will take 90 minutes and they will be returning on Friday around noon.  
We stopped and picked up Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken for lunch to take home. We had a nice meal together; Jason, Peggy, Jared, and I. 
Unfortunately, we didn't get to skype with Wade this morning due to a mix up with the computers. We're going to try it again next week. But, I did get an email from Wade this morning and he told me he got mail today. So he had at least 3 boxes of goodies and other miscellaneous items to go through. I am looking forward to my skype session with him tomorrow morning.