Day 178

Quiet Wednesday. My new iPhone woke me up this morning - so the free alarm clock app I uploaded works!! I knit, cut coupons, read, and hung around the house today. Oh, and payday is Friday so I planned how I would be spending the money and my decision was bills, bills, and bills. Not any FUN stuff, just bills. 
Wade wrote this afternoon and he told me he was glad that he had finished up the month of August in Umm Qasr - and not coming home early. In just about a week he'll be getting a break. I wrote a list of things I need to get in preparation for my trip to Georgia, but that's as far as I got. The list is done -  that's all...............
Tonight was the last night of Summer Kids at church. We had about 28 kids and we watched videos - there's a new series called, "What's In The Bible" and it's made by the guy that made Veggie Tales. And there are puppets, the guy (Phil Vischer), and really hilarious off-the wall jokes and characters. Good stuff and we ended the evening making ice cream sundaes for the kids. A good summer. Next week some of the kids will be in different classes and I will look forward to seeing them at other times. 
I kinda felt in the mood for a good cheeseburger for dinner afterwards, but at 8:30 Wendy's was closing up. I drove to the McDonalds (although that's not really a "good" cheeseburger) but the drive-thru line was ridiculous and in fact, the inside looked too crowded also. So I just came home and fixed me a soft taco. Maybe I'll get one tomorrow or Friday. But I'm craving a really GOOD burger. 

Day 177

I would love to say that I am technologically-savvy. But unfortunately I'm not. Oh, in some ways I can learn new things, but when it comes to new phones, I struggle, I grumble, I procrastinate, I wish they came already programed and ready to use. I got a new delivery today - I broke down and got myself an iPhone. I actually got a reconditioned one, but it was very inexpensive so I figure I can break it in and hopefully it will last for the year that it is guaranteed. 
So the box arrived this afternoon. I charged it, like the directions say, I hooked it up to my Apple and it updated whatever it was supposed to, but still there are things I don't know, things I need to look up, or figure out. So I would put it away, go do something else and then come back to it. My contract for the other phone expires in February - so I'm thinking that's a good, long time for me to get everything learned and working to my satisfaction. (just joking). 

But I've been using my Apple appli-cations to load my contacts list and I'm working on my calendar now. So there you go........ that is what has been keeping me busy all afternoon. I'm thinking I'll be busy for the next few days. 
Wade wrote that he got some nice compliments today and felt really good. I'm glad to hear that. I need to get busy and have things ready for my trip which will be happening pretty quickly. 

Day 176

I am so turning into such a cat lady. I can see how this would be possible if I didn't already have three dogs that would be really, really upset with me. But if I just had one cat I would be out adopting another easily. What a character he is. This is the bathroom that is rarely used anymore and sometimes he just moves in and makes himself comfortable.
This morning I had a nice talk with Wade on Skype. He was a little tired, but his stress level seems to be lower - however he is just wanting to get on with his trip home. It will be soon. I need to get busy and start preparing for my trip to Georgia in case I am called early. I took the car in for an oil change this afternoon and had the tires rotated. This time my "totally free" oil change only cost me an additional 17 dollars for some sort of cleansing agent in the oil. And next time, I need to think about replacing the radiator hoses and flush the radiator. The car is 5 years old and neither has been done yet. I like to have those things taken care of before they become a problem. But for now the car is ready for a trip south. 
Tiffany called this afternoon and we had a nice talk too. She was on her way from work to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. Good to hear from her. 

Day 175

The last Sunday of August - which by the way, August flew by in record time. I hope that September will slow down a little so I can enjoy some long autumn days with my best friend. 

Pastor Joy on the stage and also on the video screen.

This picture is of Pastor Joy. Last Sunday she was the 3rd pastor to be injured. She fainted, fell down, cut her lip, and had to go to the emergency room. So this morning she appeared to the congregation wrapped in bubble wrap and helmet. Too funny!! And as she exited she rolled out so that she could pop some of those bubbles. We had another video message from Pastor Mark also. After spending all last week back in the hospital because of a blood infection, he is now on his way to a rehab facility to start to business of improving. They have still asked for no visitors so that he can conserve his energy for rehab. 

The sad part of the morning was the farewell to Pastor Joe and Karen. Lots of tears, hugs, and well wishes to them and their 6 children: Allyson, Adam, Andrew, Abraham, Alexander, and Addelyn. Sorry to see them go, but excited for their new adventures. Pastor Joe has taken a position at Wright State University as a counselor.

This afternoon was the first official football game for Jared and Jaide's first cheer-leading. I was able to make the last portion of Jared's game and stayed long enough to watch Jaide cheer during half-time (two separate games). I had a lot of fun. 

And the weather was absolutely PERFECT! Light breezes and temper-atures were some-where in the 70's. 
Tonight I had a teachers' meeting at church and I stopped to pick up a chicken dinner from Lee's Famous Chicken. So much better than KFC. 
Now for some quiet-time, TV, and relaxing. 

Day 174

This day needs to go on record as the laziest Saturday ever. I slept in until 9:00! But I didn't fall asleep until 2 am this morning. 
I watched some TV this morning and then headed out to do shopping. I love to save money. I love to tell Wade how much money I save him. I went to Kohls with a 20% off everything coupon. I am happy to say, "Wade, I saved you a bunch of money!" I bought 5 lightweight long sleeve shirts (all different colors) at around $11.00 each. Then I hit the sales racks and got 5 or 6 shirts that were marked way down because they were summer shirts. Sleeveless, colorful, comfortable. And now I can put the long-sleeve shirts underneath and wear the summer shirts on top for cold weather. And for these 10-11 shirts, it cost me, $98.00 total. And the receipt says I saved $160.00 off regular price. My 20% coupon saved me a little over $20.00 alone. I think I did pretty good today and now I've got a few more shirts to wear. I looked at shoes, but didn't see a good pair of winter-ish shoes yet. I'll just have to look somewhere else. 
I got things I needed for my Sunday School class in the morning and I think I'm all ready now. 
Tonight I watched the movie "Something Borrowed". Honestly, it wasn't that great. I was hoping for a different ending, but it turned out predictably and I would give it a D+ rating. I really wouldn't recommend it and my suggestion is don't waste your time or money. Oh well, I can't watch A+ movies all the time. Speaking of which, TV is awful tonight too and I'm watching an episode of Cops. I think if I watched sports on TV I would have had more to choose from. Instead, I'll do some knitting and then later I'll go to bed and read.  

Day 173

Friday - 
Now that school is back in session, I decided that since everyone else is up and gone early in the morning - I would get into a routine myself. I set my phone to wake me up each morning at 7 a.m. It may not seem that early, but to me it's about an hour earlier than I was waking up all summer long. I really don't have anywhere to go, but I think it's good to get up and I can use that time to read and have some quiet time. I have my coffee, get my books, Bible, computer, and journal and just take advantage of the quiet. 

Following that, I talked with Wade on Skype. He is just so focused now on his upcoming travels and we talked about what he wants to do, where he would like to go, what he would like to see, and what foods he wants to eat. That time will fly by so quickly and we just need to slow down and enjoy our time together. 

I went grocery shopping and found these at the store. I am thinking that they are similar to what Wade has been eating over there. They may be named something different but are somewhat similar. Kind of expensive though. There are two in this bag and I believe it was over 2 dollars. But it will be worth a try. I put a dollar alongside it to show exactly how big they are. Then to be culturally diplomatic, I also put 1000 Dinar there for those in Iraq that might be wondering how big this bread is. ;-)
Because of conflicting schedules this coming Sunday, we decided to have our "Sunday" dinner tonight along with our movie night. I made:

Chicken Veggie Lasagna

Meat Lasagna

Garlic bread with marinara dipping sauce

Asparagus / Peach slices

Chocolate covered mini cream puffs / Twinkies

Dinner turned out good. Nice company. 

After we were done we watched a movie and made some butter. I had promised Jaide and Jared we would do that sometime soon so I figured we could all make some. I split the cream between 5 jars and we all sat in the living room and shook like crazy. It took a while and most of them gave up too soon, but Peggy and I finished it up and it turned out good. We all tested the butter on rolls. Peggy wants to let the kids in her latchkey program try this out too. 

The movie tonight was "Hookwinked Too - Hood VS Evil". That was a cute movie. Then we just sat and visited for a while. 

Tomorrow we all have separate things to do. 

I will be watching for news of Hurricane Irene. We won't be affected here, but predictors and weathermen today have been saying that is will be pretty bad.  

Day 172

Thursday - 
We had some storms come through early this morning - it woke me up at about 4 a.m. It was mostly lightning - hardly any thunder. I laid there for a while waiting to hear the rumbling thunder, to hear the pouring rain, to hear the winds shaking the trees....... nope we just had a bunch of flashing lights and a little bit of rain. Oh, well. Maybe next time. 
I was home most of the day and I finished up my Beth Moore study of the life of Daniel. I also watched the final video. It's funny, but I get sad when I finish up the studies. 
I've already downloaded the introductory video for my next study by Beth Moore: "Jesus, The One and Only." Can't wait!
While I was doing my studies, my dogs were sleeping. And Missy was upstairs visiting (sleeping) too. But Opie does not want to sleep. He just wants to torment the dogs and get them to play with him. Here he is trying to wake up Missy who is sleeping under the table.

He is trying to reach down and poke Missy.
You can also see Kelly is sleeping next to the couch.

He finally gave up when he couldn't wake her up.

 I had my Spiritual Leadership Development Group tonight. Our senior pastor is still in the hospital following his horseback riding accident. And tonight I just learned that another of our pastors had an accident last Sunday. (I was with the children and didn't learn about this). She fainted, fell and cut open her lip. She had to go to the emergency room to have the cut closed up (no stitches, but glue). The joke among the staff is that the remaining pastors are now required to wear bubble-wrap wherever they go. So the current statistics are: 3 injured pastors, one pastor is leaving our church - his last Sunday is next week. But, we will be getting a worship pastor who will be starting on September 4th. 
I mentioned last night that Wade had pizza brought to him by a friend. Well, just like a true American, he had cold pizza for breakfast this morning. He is starting to see the R&R light at the end of the tunnel today and that makes him happy. 

Day 171

Wednesday - 

2 hours - 

35 kids - 

4 adults - 

8 Beatitudes - 

This was our night. All summer we've been going over one beatitude each week. Summer is wrapping up here too. We have this week and next week and "Summer Kids" will be over. Tonight we taught the kids how to remember the beatitudes using the numbers 1 through 8 on our fingers. It works good. At least all the adults got it!! 

Videos, crafts, and snacks were also squeezed in there. Pretty hectic night - but I'm glad to have made it through another Wednesday. But also, I love spending that time upstairs with them.  

Today was the first day of school for all Springfield area kids. The house was very quiet. Peggy went off to work today too. 

I got homework done, I cleaned up the dogs' yard, treated myself to a pedicure, and rested in the afternoon before going to the church. 

Thunderstorms are expected to arrive soon. We REALLY need some rain here and all day it's been extremely hot and humid. 

Wade wrote that someone had gone out and brought him a pizza and some french fries today. He was so happy to get that. He said the pizza was delicious! That's nice to hear. He's also been dreaming about breakfasts that I will fix for him once he comes home. 

Day 170

It's almost as magical as Christmas Eve - it's the night before school starts. I just happened to be at Wal-Mart this afternoon. I saw lots of moms with chips, cookies, notebooks, shoes, and anything kid/school-related in their shopping carts. Lots of those women had the same glazed look in their eyes that men get on the early morning hours of Mother's Day. They know they need to be shopping, but their minds are frozen with indecision. It gets hard to make choices and to make those final decisions. Since I am a grandma - I've graduated from those days of frenzied shopping and preparation.

I, on the other hand, am a Grand-ma. And that gives me the oppor-tunity to relax and enjoy this time without stress. So this morning I took Jaide and Jared out for our last breakfast of the summer. We went to Frisch's. They got the breakfast bar and eat enough of whatever they want. I had a half-order of biscuits and gravy, but I didn't realize I couldn't eat the full order so I barely ate half. A lot of food. We stopped at Dollar General after that for a quick 'walk about'.
After I returned them back home to their mom, I went in to Hannah House and did some work. Since we had the dinner theaters last weekend, there was lots of record-keeping, balancing and preparing the deposit, payroll, and financial reports. Early results show a pretty good profit 
So, tomorrow is a busy day, but I'll be obligation-free until the evening when I go to the church. But I do have lots of reading and studying to catch up on so I'll be busy too.   

Day 169

"On a good day, enjoy yourself; 

   On a bad day, examine your conscience. 

   God arranges for both kinds of days 

   So that we won't take anything for granted."

Ecclesiates 7:14 

The Message

Monday - and the last Monday of summer too. Summer is wrapping up and winding down. And the weather was cool and comfortable (mid 70's) this morning, which even makes it seem more like fall, or pre-fall. 

Another Skype-morning. We can easily talk for 80 minutes and probably could go on longer, but he's got to go have dinner and I need to do other things too. And time is moving on over there too for him. Soon it will be time to hunt him down at the Hartsfield Airport. He and many other people at that navy base are struggling with basic communication and work-related problems. Many are frustrated, close to just giving up, and wanting to go home. Wade just asks every morning to make it through the day. Then at the end of the day, he says, "Phew!! Made it another day. Thank you, God." But the nature of living situations, the cultural struggles, and other things are wearing on everyone. Tempers are shorter than normal, people are saying crazy things, sending bizarre emails. A time away will be a wonderful break for Wade. 
This afternoon we had our last summer-bowling games. This has been a great summer of bowling and I can tell that Jaide and Jared have improved greatly. Well, me too. I've increased my average this year as well. 

The flavor of my days and routines will be changing soon. I'll have visits and work to do at a couple of the elementary schools, starting rehearsals to ring with the handbell choir again, pulling a sweater or two out of hiding from my closet. 

Day 168

Sunday - I had a pretty busy day. I put most of our lunch meal into the oven this morning and warmed up slowly until we came home. 
I taught Sunday School. We had about 33 kids and 4 adults. Then after that, I taught 3 different craft sessions. Three different age groups and each group had about 30 kids. Busy, busy morning. 
Lunch was an early Thanksgiving meal. I had turkey breast with gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, corn on the cob, and then pecan pie or 'nanner puddin' for dessert. It was a good meal, good company. I enjoyed it. 
Homework this afternoon. I have to make up three weeks of work before Thursday and this afternoon I completed two weeks. I'll have no problem finishing up the rest in time. 
Tonight I talked with Tiffany and she is doing fine too. 
Great Sunday.

Day 167

A busy Saturday. I had a list of things to do - most involved writing cards and letters that needed to be sent out. I am very happy to say I got them ALL done this morning and in the mailbox. What a great feeling that is! 
I had another performance to work at for Hannah House today. Peggy and Jaide came for lunch and to watch too. Unfortunately, not many people were there today. Maybe 30 or 40 but not much more than that. I stayed afterward and helped to convert the dining hall back into a sanctuary. 
Tonight was dinner and a movie with Jaide and Jared. We drove to our combination restaurant - Wendy's & Tim Horton's. We got exactly what we wanted for tonight and brought it home. The movie of the night was "Rio" and that was a cute, fun movie to watch. Very good. After Jaide & Jared went back downstairs, I made 'nanner puddin' for tomorrow's dessert. It's been a while since I made that so I'm looking forward to introducing my taste buds to that again. 
I still have more to do, but for tonight I'm done and watching "The Switch" in the living room. 

Wade is having a hard time maneuvering through each day. He wakes up in the morning and says, "I just need to make it through today without flipping out, without becoming berserk, without jumping down someone's throat, without [insert your suggestion here]." And eventually all those little 'baby steps' will get him to his BIG day of leaving on R&R. It's not that far away. 

Day 166

It's fabulous Friday. I went and had my annual eye exam this morning. My prescription has not changed very much at all, but because my current glasses are two years old, the lenses  have deteriorated and degraded. The doctor showed me on his fancy, schmancy glasses contraption what they should be doing for my vision, but they're not. So I ordered new glasses and got transition lenses too because I need to protect my eyes from the UV rays. Then they dilated my eyes and checked out what is inside. Everything is good and healthy in there and I'm good for another year. 
I drove home in full-squint mode (even with my sunglasses on) and got on the computer waiting for a skype from Wade. We made contact about 11:00 and talked for a good, long 80 minutes. After we were finished I prepared packages to mail. I had three total and I took them over to the post office in Enon. Gas at the Speedway was ONLY  $3.39/ gallon. I never imagined I would be saying "Only $3.39 a gallon." How silly. But whatever, that was a good price so I filled up. 
Tonight I went to the Hannah House Dinner Theater. It was a nice church - the sanctuary doubled as the dining area. The church is Greater Grace which is the mega church across the street from Competition Accessories on Leffel Lane. We had close to 100 guests tonight and made a good profit. Dinner was good - there was fried chicken, baked ham, roasted potato chunks, vegetable medley (carrots, broccoli, squash), salad, rolls, and for dessert a choice of different cakes or peach cobbler. I sat with a woman named Maye - who is an elderly woman who is a die-hard democrat/liberal from Cincinnata - that's how she said it ...... Cincinatta. (Reminds me of those that live in May-retta!!) I just smiled and listened to her talk..... and talk....... and talk. Selena and her husband sat with me too. The play turned out very good - the actresses did a great job too. I was home by 8:30. I should be doing something constructive tonight, but I'm just tired out now. I have another performance and lunch to attend tomorrow. 
We lost power for a while around 5:00 tonight and I saw on FaceBook that it was someone that was drunk, drove into a pole, and knocked the power out. It was actually a couple of miles away, but I'm glad that I didn't need to blow dry my hair or anything right before I had to leave. I was more or less ready so that worked out good. Although I DID have to go without coffee because I couldn't brew any. Oh well. I'll survive. 

Day 165

Cats Are Not Dogs

I am almost embarrassed to admit that my cat is being tortured and tormented. If he had thumbs he would probably be calling 1-800-4-A-CAT right now. 

When I woke up this morning, everything was going really well. My normal routine is wake up, stumble out of bed, and let two of my dogs out. Sheba prefers to sleep on the bed longer because she knows my routine. Then I go to the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee. The coffee pot is on a timer so I wake every morning to a hot cup just waiting for me. 

Coffee in hand, I head back to the bedroom, stopping to let the two dogs back in. Then I tell them to "lay down" because I sit on the bed (if it was winter I would be under the covers - but it's summer so I sit on the top of the covers) and sip my coffee, watch The Early Show, and check emails and FaceBook. 

Opie does his own thing in the mor-ning - his litter box is in the bedroom at the far end of the hall. I have a baby gate across the doorway so he has to crawl underneath to enter the room. This prevents the dogs from entering and doing unspeakable things to cat food and cat litter. 

Everything was just fine - I'm relaxing, sipping coffee, and all of a sudden I hear something like a tornado or hurricane come rushing down the hall straight into my bedroom. My first thought was, "Wha............??????????" Remember, I had just woken up 5 or 10 minutes earlier. The tornado was Opie. He ran into the bedroom, vaulted onto the bed, ran across, bounced off the wall and ran out. He does this sometimes - as his way of teasing the dogs and inciting them to chase him. 

Off he ran, back down the hall, into the living room and down to his 'room' again. Next I heard the baby gate crash to the floor and again he ran into my bedroom. Another lap around the room, but this time his claws got the side of my leg. The dogs are all excited now thinking this is just a wonderful game of tag and they're it. Dogs were in the hall and cat was in my bedroom, so I quickly closed the door to try to see what was going on. 

And there I saw my tortured, panicked little kitty sitting on the window ledge panting and wild-eyed. He had obviously gotten hold of a Walmart white shopping bag. I can't explain how, but he had the top of the bag tightly twisted around his 'waist' - if a cat had a waist. And the bag is now all shredded and full of holes around his hind legs. He is FREAKING OUT - so I carefully tried to remove the bag but it was so tightly twisted I had to tear portions and remove it that way. Once I got him free, he just stayed up there and panted while I cooed at him and told him it was okay. 

Again, my fault. Days ago I had left the bag in his room, thinking how cute when he would sit in the bag and roll around in it. Once I was sure he wasn't going to have a heart attack, I took a trip down to his room and replaced the baby gate - he must have run right into it and it came out of the door. A ten pound cat downed a baby gate!!! His collar was also laying on the floor. Break-away collars are such a good idea for cats. 

But overall, he was fine and ready to eat breakfast in 10 minutes or so. Then I realized that my leg was feeling wet whenever my pajamas touched my leg so I checked, and yep, I got pay-back from Opie for his panic-attack. I have some pretty good scratches across my leg. 

So hopefully, I think I made it up to Opie. I never had a visit from Animal Control today so he didn't call while I was out of the house. Phew!!! Looks like I will get to be a cat owner for a while longer. I hope tomorrow I will get to enjoy my whole cup of coffee.  

Day 164

Wednesday - it was my 'do-a-good-deed' day. After waking up slowly at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee I went to the church. Pastor Patty was having an organizing party. Along with the two of us, there was also Stacie and her two boys and Michelle with her three boys. Everything was taken out of the storage area. New shelves were built and installed. Then everything was sorted and stored in plastic bins. There is now space for teachers' materials, resource material, curriculum, games, craft supplies, puppets, and an assortment of other miscellaneous items. We broke at 11:30 for a lunch break at Wendy's/Tim Hortons and then went back to work in the afternoon. By three o'clock we were all kinda dragging around and just decided to quickly wrap it up. There may be more to do, but we were done for the day. 
Tonight was Summer Kids. We had 33 kids - it all went fairly smoothly. But by 8:30 I was ready to call it a day. 
Wade sent me his weekly update and I've slowly been editing it to send back to him. I do that every week. Then he's got a cleaned-up copy to email to friends and I take it and post it to his blog on Thursday nights. I haven't read much of it yet, but when I'm done here I will work on that next. 
I'm relaxing right now and watching "The Young and The Restless" - my one and only soap opera indulgence. Years ago I watched soaps all afternoon, but one is enough for me now and I'm not totally addicted and can go days and days without seeing what's happening. 

Day 163

Tuesday - 
I was slow and took my time this morning getting ready for the day. I had the minutes from last night's Hannah House Board Meeting to prepare and send out. So I stayed home and worked on them at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Then I got ready and headed out for the day. I had an errand to run this morning and then headed to the post office before I got to the Hannah House. There was lots of financial work and record keeping to do as we are receiving sponsorship money and money from ticket sales of the Dinner Theater which is this Friday and Saturday. I need to record all donors' information so that we have it available for other communications and newsletters. After that, I went to the bank to make the deposit.
Once I returned home, it's been pretty quiet. I got one email from Wade and it was very short. He was busy all day and wrote a quick little note at the end of his day to say he's tired, but wanted to send something so that I wouldn't worry. I'm glad for the note. 
It was another beautiful day in terms of weather. It got up to around 80 degrees, maybe a little higher and big white fluffy clouds dotted the sky. Very pretty and peaceful. 

Day 162

Monday - 
I had a wonderful 80 minute long skype session with Wade this morning. We now start emailing agendas back and forth with topics for discussion a couple days before each skype. And we cut back a little on our emails because then we have more things to talk about. But we still email 4 or more times each day. We are not having any difficulties with our communication. And it was a great time this morning. 
I went bowling with Peggy, Jaide, and Jared this afternoon. Next Monday will be our last bowling day as school will be starting on the 24th. It was a fun time. 

Now I want to share some earth-shattering news. Are you familiar with the 'Proverbs 31' woman? You know, that woman that is up at dawn, and busy and working all day. She handles all the household business, shopping, etc. etc. She is a super woman and every woman I know is discouraged because they know they could never match up to this incredible, unbelievable woman. Well, I just want to let you know what Beth Moore told me this past weekend. It is some good news. 
It is perfectly acceptable and totally scriptural to have take-out for dinner. According to Proverbs 31:14 it says: "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." Wow!!! 

So in honor of that revelation, tonight I had take-out from Taco Bell. Thank you, Beth, for enlighten-ing me and I hope that I have offered some encouragement to other women out there in their choices for dinner too! 

Day 161

Sunday - It's been a good, but also a bittersweet day. 
I had Jaide & Jared spend the night last night. I woke them up at 7:00 and we had chocolate chip waffles for breakfast. We were out of the house by 8:20. I had to teach Sunday School this morning to the K's - 3rd graders. There were at least 30 but not more than 35. And they behaved wonderfully. I had a story that required their cooperation. Whenever I held up certain items in the air they had to provide the sound effects. I had their attention for the full 25 minutes that I told the story. 
I had a nice lunch with Jason, Peggy and the kids. They prepared chili cheese dogs and chili cheese fries that were absolutely delicious. I ate so much that I was stuffed all afternoon and had to take a nap! Well, I probably would have still taken a nap even if I wasn't stuffed.... but thank you for the wonderful meal. 

Pastor Joy spoke on this verse in our morning worship this morning. She spoke of the importance of taking the time to be still, remain quiet, become weak, and wait for God to lead us. Don't jump ahead of what God is preparing for you. His strength is perfected in our weaknesses. It's not bad to be weak, because that's when God is strong. 
We are going through a season in our church of great trials. Our senior pastor is still in the hospital. He will be in a wheelchair for the next 6 to 8 weeks and then will hopefully begin physical therapy to learn how to walk again. Our youth pastor, is healing from her horse injury, she will be in a scooter and unable to walk for months, and today she and her family were called to the hospital. Her brother is dying from liver failure - one day before he was scheduled to leave for Pennsylvania and await a liver transplant. Another  woman is at the Cleveland Clinic and will be there for a few more weeks in treatment. What can we do? We can pray, we can wait, we can be still and rely on God to reveal His glory. And in all these instances, He will be responsible for the healing. They will all be healed - perhaps not in the way we think of earthly healing, but thanks to God, our Jehovah Rapha they WILL... ALL...BE....HEALED. Stand back, wait, and watch how His glory is revealed. 

Day 160

Saturday - Day Two of Beth Moore - 
Eight women - up before the sun and we met at the church parking lot at 6:30. One thing I like about going with women that I don't know that well, is that we become closer because of the time we spend together and our shared experiences. In our large, large church - that is nice to make these connections. We arrived at the venue at 7:15 and worship started around 8:30. This was such a great day with wonderful worship music and two sessions with Beth Moore. I really can't share what she talked about yet because I am still rolling it around in my head. I need to look again at my notes and do more studying in the Word. But, the LORD definitely spoke to me through this wonderful servant and I need to sort it in my head and solidify it in my soul. But the theme for this weekend was "PREPARE", and what that means to us - in the various ways He has prepared for us and prepared us. So good. 

That is Beth on the screen and at the end of the aisle below the last 'RE' in the word PREPARE.
(Not the woman in all white but at the other end of the aisle)

Even though we were all sleep-deprived, it was so worth it. We arrived back at the church at around 1:30 and I did a quick run to the store. Then I went home for lunch and a nap. 
Jaide & Jared arrived here at 5:30. We went out for a dinner at Golden Corral. It was crowded and the food wasn't that great (to me) but the kids loved it. After that we went to WalMart to pick up some cookies, frozen pancakes, and bubble bath. Right now, Jaide is soaking in the tub while Jared watches Rocky & Bullwinkle. When her time in the tub is up, Jared will go in for a soaking and she'll watch the tv. They are spending the night and we'll all get up and go to church in the morning. 

Day 159

A special day today - 

It's Friday .....  It's Skype-Day ...... and it's Wade's birthday. 

This morning I had a good talk with Wade on skype about this and that. Wonderful time. He is still struggling with craziness that is rampant on the base right now. He's just trying to hold on until he can take some R&R. Prayers are very welcome. 

This here is the cake that I made for his birthday 2 years ago. It's full of peanut butter and chocolate - I'll be happy to make another of these when he comes back home. 

This is how I think of him - every day. 

But then, there's also that part of him that just makes me laugh - he has always had that ability to lift my spirits better than anyone else. This was last year on our way home from a visit with his father in Arkansas. 

This is your birthday present this year - not the snow blower, just a picture of you in the snow playing with your new snow blower. Does it make you feel cooler? Can you even remember what cooler feels like?? 

And now this year - you're rockin' that hat, Mr. Wide!! I can't wait until I can give you a hug, a piece of peanut butter & chocolate cake, and laugh at your jokes. 

Happy Birthday to my bestest, BESTEST friend.

My BBF!!!  ha-ha. 

LY MWMTY 

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Tonight I leave the church parking lot at 5:00 to hop on a bus full of women (wild and crazy women??) to drive to Columbus and see Beth Moore. We will hear her speak tonight - then drive back home (around 11:00). Then tomorrow morning, very VERY early we will meet in the parking lot again (at 6 AM) to drive back and listen once again to our sister, Beth. What a good time we will have. I can't wait!! 

Day 158

Thursday - This morning Jared and I went to breakfast - buffet at Frisch's then we did a little school clothes shopping. He was actually a great little shopper - and he LOVED all the Tony Hawk clothing that was at Kohls. We got some nice things and then visited Old Navy at the Upper Valley Mall. And just like Jaide, we were done by about 11:00. 
Then I came home, rested, had lunch. Later I went and got my nails done. I am going to be going to Columbus tomorrow night and Saturday morning to see Beth Moore, so I needed to get them done today. 

On my way home I took some quick shots of the neighborhood. This is Fairfield Pike between Rocky Point and Old Mill Rd. 

This is also on Fairfield Pike and on the left is the field that will have lots of deer in the late fall. 

I turned the corner and am now heading down Old Mill. The field on the corner this year has soybeans.

On Old Mill before I hit the wooded section. Look at the beautiful clouds. The weather was so nice today. No humidity and just around 78 or 79 degrees. 

This last one is a picture taken off the internet. The meteor showers will be visible in the sky in Northern American tonight so I'm assuming that there will be no showers in Iraq. When we were young and more energetic, we would go outside to watch the meteors. And I always considered it a pre-birthday fireworks display. So instead of me going outside and getting eaten by mosquitos or other critters. I will share this picture with my best friend. Missing you tonight!! 

Day 157

It's Wednesday - it's cooler today - the high was only like around 79 or 80 today - so that was much, much better than it has been. 
I read some chapters from "The Farmer Boy" with Jaide this morning. 
After that I went to Walmart to pick up some things I needed for Sunday School.
I also bought a harness for my cat. I was thinking what a great thing that would be. I would put the harness on and we could walk outside and he could explore the backyard and I would be sure that he wouldn't get free or lost. I have never used a harness on a cat. Getting it on him was fine - he slumped a little, but allowed me to put it on him. Then I had a light-weight retractable leash in my closet and I hooked him up. Well the noise from the leash going in and out freaked him out so bad that he tried to run away. Zing......around the corner in the hall and right to the end of the leash. When I caught up he was just standing there. I walked up to him to help him and the leash made the same noise. Zing....... around another corner............ the third zing........... and I saw what he was doing. He was running full tilt and then flying upside down when he came to the end of the leash!! That poor kitty. By this time I just put the leash down and went to rescue him. His little harness was all

 twisted and turned around because he had been trying to run and jump out of it. So I unhooked him and just held him for a while. Poor thing was seriously disturbed by this time and only a small kitty treat was gonna make him feel better. So I have put away the harness for the time being and will pursue this another time. I hope he doesn't scratch my eyes out tonight while I'm sleeping. Do cats have good memories?? Will he associate me, his human-mama, as the 'baddie' that hooked him up and let him become a horizontal yo-yo?? Only time will tell. 
I had a meeting tonight with the Wednesday night kids teachers and we made plans for the upcoming year that starts on September 7th. I will be another character again this year. All I know so far is my character will be visited in the country of Japan...........
I am a chef................
and my name is.................
Terry Yaki !!!!!!! 

How fun. Can't wait to be wild and outlandish again this year.  That is if I survive tonight and my cat doesn't plot revenge.............

Day 156

Today was Tuesday and I had a (H)aircut and (H)annah (H)ouse on my plans. As I told Tiffany - this Tuesday was brought to me by the letter "H". I only discovered yesterday that I had a hair appointment this morning. I'm am glad that I have a good calendar system on my computer.

This summer there has been so much road con-struction every-where and I'll be glad when it's done. Highway 68 from Fairfield Pike all the way up to almost Urbana (both ways) is just one lane while they repair the roads. Some days we can drive on the left and other days on the right. And so far in Ohio, it's only illegal to 'text' while driving. So I'm assuming it is legal to still take pictures while driving. 
I had a nice visit with my friend, Cheri, while she cut my hair. We caught up on her girls and what they're doing this summer, about news at the church and with friends in our Sunday School class. Plus she does a wonderful job on my hair and I appreciate her very much. 
When I got to Hannah House, Selena was interviewing another young mother with a little 1-month old baby boy. I didn't hear what the results were. I took care of office work, then on my way out, I made a deposit at the bank and paid the water bill at City Hall. Funny thing, as I was coming down the staircase at Hannah House and saw this picture on the wall.

It was as if it was the very first time I saw it and even asked Selena if this was new. Nope. I am just not being very observant but it jumped out at me today. I really liked it. And it's one of those pictures that I could spend hours looking at and still find something I didn't notice before. 
Tiffany called this evening on her way home from work and we had a nice talk. Tonight I'm just relaxing and watching TV. Later I'll read and maybe do some Bible study. If I could figure out something else to do that starts with the letter "H" I might do that...........