Spring break here!

I think I should add a little something here so that it will look like someone's home!

I'm just enjoying my Spring break. I love Spring break.

We went up to the mountains Monday and Tuesday. My sister and brother in law are trying to finish building their cabin. The insides and deck are the last things to do, but it's very involved...lots of details...so it will still be a while until they have things like running water, heat and flushing toilets. It is beautiful though and we are looking forward to visiting that cabin LOTS. I may have some postable pics on my camera, but I only have a few minutes now, so that is another day.

Today I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time......I joined Curves, that workout place for laaaaadies. (you have to read that with an Eliza Dolittle accent) My friend Cheryl went with me, along with Maggie, who I had to keep sending back to her chair so that she wouldn't 'coach' me. (or laugh...ha) It felt good to do those resistance machines. I hope it still feels good tomorrow morning when I get out of bed....uh hmmm.

Sunday night after I got a call from my daughter Hannah to say she had gotten home in Flagstaff safely, we turned on the news and heard about a terrible accident on I-40 between Flagstaff and Williams, the town we used to live in. There were two people killed during a white out on the interstate. Visibility was only 10 feet, according to our friend Kai, whose car broke down on that highway five minutes before the accident happened. She heard the whole thing happen...it happened about 100 feet behind her...and she heard the whole thing, crashing and screaming and more crashing. Over 100 cars piled up into a twisted mess and over 40 people were hospitalized, 11 in critical condition. As I read the names of the people who dies yesterday, there was one woman from Williams killed. It sounded familiar but was not ringing a bell. Today when I read a more full report I realized it was the woman who lived right behind us. We were back fence friends, discussing our dogs and kids through the chain link fence several times a year.....and I would stop and talk to her sometimes at Walmart, where she worked. Her tiny little dogs, a chihuahua and a pomeranian used to get under the fence and come to visit our dogs. It is a strange thing to realize like that...that someone you knew had died so violently. I am so sorry for her family. And I wonder about her dogs. And I am just so amazingly thankful for Hannah being home and safe.

Wordless Wednesday: Cactus fruit

From my backyard:



***To see more entries or to join in and do your own, go to Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom.***

Let me introduce you to....my brain

This was a fun personality type of test. The link is at the bottom. It is pretty right on, I think my 'sides' are pretty balanced, but the right side takes preference as I see it.

Because my father recently went through the end of his life with dementia and two of his sisters had/have Alzheimer's, I am trying to put into practice some more challenging things with my brain....and although I like it, I'm not talking about Sudoku! lol I have been trying to do some writing exercises, like poetry and grading school papers without a grading key. I am a second grade teacher's aid....so it's not as if it's extremely challenging, it just gives my mind a little workout. I want to challenge myself to write a children's book/story, but I am way too wordy I've found. Need to learn conciseness. (wow, that is a real word, I thought I was being silly, but my spellcheck didn't argue with me)

And now....my brain:

You Are 30% Left Brained, 70% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Africa, hockey and milk....

This morning we had a good Bible study in our 'First Friends' class as well as an awesome church service. Our team of six ladies who have committed to go to Mozambique Africa this September to teach women there, each gave a testimony about how God moved them to do this and how He is equipping them to go. It will be very rough, traveling hours between groups in the back of a covered pick up most likely. The missionaries there are from our church and I don't know who is more excited, the women going or the family who will be hosting them.

Our men are going this June, including my husband. They will be teaching men there. They have a lot of men ready and who feel called to be pastors in their communities, but little training. So the missionaries there have training events. They gave their testimonies last week. Next week our youth and college group will give testimonies about how they came to sign up for a mission trip to Mozambique next summer.

Now it is Sunday night. My husband and teens are beginning their first Sunday night foot hockey games. The youth room IS a hockey rink and they are very serious about their teams and games. I think it lasts 8 weeks. I'm sure you'll hear more about it and perhaps see some photos of the action in the coming weeks. After having my sister, her family and my mom to lunch, I put my head down for a minute and woke up an hour later, realizing I needed to get to the store. Have you ever woken up to the thought of....MILK! ? If you're a mom, I'll bet you have! If my children do not have milk in the morning to put on their new cereal, I will not be Miss Popular around here! Mission accomplished and here I am, on the couch (nice, nice couch) and writing to you. (nice, nice you)

Have a nice great week.

Walking, praying, remembering

Saturday morning We had a prayer walk in the neighborhoods around our church. We put doorknob hangers, inviting people to our Easter services on the doors and prayed for the people who lived in those houses as we quietly walked up to their door and back. It is amazing what you can sense and learn about people just by walking thoughtfully up to their door. Some yards were well kept, even the driveways were clean, no stains, no debri, some homes had shabbier yards but had toys and bicycles around, as if they were left in mid-fun to come in to dinner. One home had a rough looking mom and dad weeding the yard with about 5 children, happily pulling weeds and chatting. The music blaring from the car stereo and deep lines on the parents' faces told of a rougher lifestyle, but there they were, having a very nice Saturday morning. We handed them a flyer and they thanked us. At another home, I warily approached the door and hung the flyer quietly while a worn out mom cursed and screamed at some yelling children inside. We walked past a group of exHUBERANT neighborhood children having a yard sale, lots of their worn out, well used toys sat in crooked rows on tables. They shouted to us as we approached, "YARD SALE....come to our yard sale! Just a dollar!" They surrounded Charles, wanting him to look at their things, "Well I don't need to buy anything, but here is a few dollars for you anyway." He pulled three dollars out of his wallet. It was cute.

As I walked up to each house, I was silently praying that God would bless them with the knowledge of HImself and the knowledge of salvation and His love for them. I prayed that they would be drawn to one of our Easter weekend services and find a place of acceptance and love awaiting them.

Saturday afternoon I hung out a bit with my friends Kelly and Joann. We went to Curves to check it out and found they have a great deal if you sign up with them in March. So we will go this week and join. They are trying to get their bodies strong for a mission trip to Africa this September. I just want to get my exercise and have energy. (and drop some pounds I am praying!)

Saturday nightIt's kind of strange to admit, but I read the obituaries almost everyday for our area online. Several people I have known have gone through it since I began doing this and after seeing how many people die who are in their 40's and 50's, it makes life seem more urgent....more fragile and dear. Today I found out a dear man we know passed away.

My sister and brother in law have a cute cabin near Payson and they bought there because their best friends' and their parents owned a cabin in the same area....a two minute walk away from my sister's cabin if you're slow. The father of the clan passed away while recuperating from a stroke this week. We will miss him. He would work on his cabin, in the yard or in his little shop and if we came over to talk, he would sit on his porch swing and we would visit Jerry and his wife Verlene....often for long talks. They loved Maggie. We have a picture of Maggie sitting in the swing with Jerry, chatting it up when she was about four. She would chat away (and she can still out-jaw anyone we've ever met) and he would listen, nod his head, and occasionally (when she took a breath) he would comment on what she was saying.

The huge thing about that (which shows true and deep character) was that he really listened to what she was saying and would thoughtfully respond to her thoughts. It was very cool. We'll miss visiting with him, but I happen to know that he is at the feet of Jesus right now, awaiting his reward and worshipping around the throne......maybe beside my dad.

Friday night's alright

Charles and I used one of our many, many new gift cards to have a nice night out at Olive Garden restaurant. Last Sunday was the second anniversary Charles becoming the pastor of this church, so they gave us a huge surprise gift card showering. Each Bible study class and ministry area took up love offerings and bought us gift cards. For a long time, we will be enjoying movies, eating out, buying things to fix up our home from Home Depot and Target, as well as other places. They children's, youth and college departments took up an offering for our children too. It was overwhelming. I haven't even been able to mention it until now because it took a while for it to soak in.

But now I am ready to shop! =) We plan to replace some fixtures and the sinks in our two bathrooms and maybe a new bedspread set. The men's group in our church recently repainted our kitchen cabinets and replaced our counters and kitchen sink for us. Amazing....it would have been years for us to make those changes and now it's all beautiful and cheerful! And our new sink fixture doesn't leak...woohoo!

A Limerick for March

Robin at Pensieve is having another Pensieve's Poetic License day. I'm trying it again, this time with correct form and following every rule. *blush* This month's challenge is writing a limerick using March words.


O' the Irish have such a fine Easter
And a green shamrock kite is a pleaser
But when leprechauns sing
And it's windy in Spring
Flying kites will toss you on your keister!

And another:

Have you seen the Spring Shamrock so green
Sweetest kite that the Irish had seen
But a leprechaun came
Said the wind was to blame
And that Easter kite blew off the string

Women's Retreat 2008

A couple of weeks ago, 43 of our church women and a few guests went on a retreat in the mountains. It was just what a retreat should be....relaxing, great fun, a little crazy, and great times of reflecting on God's Word with a wonderful Bible teacher, Mindy Williams.

We have a saying, "What happens at the retreat, stays at the retreat." (this year I added, "Unless someone has a camera.")

Here are some pics of our Foolish Follies. My camera battery then died, so I do not have any other pics!

Such a pain in the neck

I am sitting here on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position. I woke up this morning and could barely move my neck at all from side to side and not forward either. It made getting ready for work very slow and painful. I took a hot shower, running hot water on my neck, loosening it up just a little bit. By the time I was dressed (pulling off my pajammas and pulling on a t-shirt was almost unbarable) I was exhausted and just wanted to lay my head down for support. So as silly as it sounded as I talked on the phone, I called in sick for having a pain in the neck.

And it is all American Idol's fault.

I went to bed on time last night, but had missed Tuesday and Wednesday night this week of AI because of church meetings, so I got on the AI internet sight. There is a link there to the videos of the performance videos from this week, with a pull down menu on the left of each contestant's performance. I began watching and took off my glasses to see the small video window better, so pulled closer to my laptop, which was sitting on my nightstand. I was leaning on my left hand, leaning in closer to the computer, and concentrating (I guess) to hear the songs. Apparently this is a big no no position for healthy neck and spine. I didn't realize it though until I was done watching both the boys' and the girls' performance videos. ehn I got up to rearrange for sleeping and my neck got a 'catch' in it, almost throwing me to the ground. So I stretched and rubbed it, but it did not go away. I woke up 2 times during the night, having to make a little trip to the water closet, and still....stiff, pain, no movement. ehn

This morning I have been gently stretching, I took 3 advil, try not to hold my neck in one position for too long and I keep putting my head back on a pillow to give it a rest from holding my gigantic head up! I don't usually feel like I have a gigantic head, but when your neck hurts....it's like carrying around an over-sized bowling ball on your neck!

ehn

I'm such a dork!

Wedding nights and twinkle lights

Friday Charles performed a wedding for some good friends of ours from church. It was a beautiful wedding. I've never seen our sanctuary look so nice. Twinkle lights, topiaries, a 5 foot urn of flowers as you entered the sanctuary, and our 7 foot tall rough wooden cross (made last Easter season) covered with twinkle lights and a swag of gauzy fabric in the center of the platform where the bride and groom stood during the ceremony. And of course the wedding party were all lovely and handsome. A friend of the family came and did makeup and hair. (I wished I was in it after seeing them! lol) And the reception was wonderful too, with tables in the courtyard area, twinkle lights in the trees and a live worship band playing. The crisp, not chilly evening, celebrating a wonderful couple committing to sharing their lives together.....the atmosphere made the smiles, hugs and conversation just right.

A lovely night.

What made it even better is knowing the couple, their life stories, and their commitment to serving Christ together.