Cooking.....or not....

Yikes. It has been forever since I've blogged. Blame Busyness....blame lack of inspiration....blame Facebook... I do think about it on occasion, but don't seem to actually GET to it. And yet.

Tim is home. He's been living in Portland since he moved there the beginning of September, but was in Indy for a wedding. We brought him home as he is flying to the Middle East on Thursday for a couple of weeks -- a vision trip -- to see if that is where he would like to serve next.

Cooking is interesting when the Timster is here. First off, you have to understand that cooking for me is the 21st century version of what my esteemed grandmother did which was "apply heat to food." I apply microwave to food.

When it is just Bob and me, it's really simple. You buy in portions that will serve 2, and if you purchase them in larger sorts of packages, you break them down to portions that will serve two. Unless you are my dear husband who just throws them into the freezer regardless of portion size.

Hence the package of 6 frozen pork chops which I'm sure Bob bought because they were 20 cents/pound cheaper if you bought them in quantity. Good idea. If they had been broken down into three servings of 2 chops each.

Ahhhh!! but Tim is home.

"Tim -- are you home for dinner tonight?" "Yeah, I think so. Yeah."

OK -- pork chops out of the freezer.

An hour later:

"Uh, hey, don't think I'll be home for dinner. Going out with Michael."

Pork chops back in freezer, hamburger out -- can try that new hamburger helper I bought and see if we like it.

Several hours later: "OK, so you are going out with Michael for dinner tonight?"

"Uh, no. We went out for lunch. Guess I'll be home for dinner."

Too late to get the pork chops back out. Guess he'll eat hamburger helper with the two of us.

Dinnertime: Seems as though there is someone else here --

"Tim, is Sam staying for dinner?"

"Uh, yeah. Is that OK?"

"Sure -- HH stretches. Hope he likes it."

Sam is charming and grateful.

The hamburger helper is awful. The peas were -- well, peas.

Note to self -- don't buy Asian "mongolian beef" HH ever again.

Cleaning Drawers

Funny how Facebook seems to take up blogging time. Hmmm....that should be noted as a danger....

Anyway, cleaning drawers. Evidently I am a packrat -- at least about some things. And I have a pen fetish. I wish I could count the number of pens I have found -- and they are wonderful!! Lots of colors, glittery, not so glittery, fountain pens, gel pens, ball point pens, markers, highlighters.....the list is endless. Not to mention my drawer is full again (plus I have 4 pen holders full....)

Tonight I found our first recorded budget from August 1, 1971. We had been married just over a year:

Bob's check was $850/month. Mine was $580/month.

Our house payment was $265, car payment for Bob's Cutlass (does anyone know what that is anymore?) was $90. Mine for my Kharmann Ghia (OK -- that's a blast from the past) was $180. We were helping to pay back my parents for their contribution to my Wheaton College education by contributing to Rosie's college at $75/month. We gave $150/month to the church, Missionary Internship, and Winning Women. Water was $5/month, Electricity $15/month, Phone $20, Gas for the house $10. Yikes!! Our "allowances" (Dave Ramsey would be pleased) were $40/month each. "Entertainment" and "Living" (which must ahve been groceries and eating out and movies or whatever) added up to $170/month.

As of January, 1973, Bob's check was up to $925/month, and mine was $625. Heady earnings for a young couple with not children in that day. We were putting $500/month into savings. Food was only $70/month. What on earth were we eating?

I have a note in April, 1973 -- "leaving $190 for fun, frivolity and EVERYthing else!" And at that point we weren't saving quite as much either.

In January of 1975, we have a total of $2170 in savings and our debits -- we owed Wheaton College $550 and my parents $750 for a total of $1300. Plus, of course, our mortgage on our little house on Edythe.

We were rich then.

Goodbye, Beast

Bob has been looking for another car for me for ages. He's checked the Tribune every Saturday, kept an eye on various internet sites, and finally narrowed it down to a 2004 or 2005 Lincoln Town Car with no more than 75,000 miles AND at a price we could afford. We really do NOT want to make car payments again.

Saying goodbye to the Beast is tough. It's so distinctive that I never have any difficulty finding it among other cars in parking lots. It's big -- it seats 6 in the car and 4 in the trunk. It has a cassette player so I can listen to all the old books that aren't on CDs.

But at 204,000+ miles, Bob was ready for me to trade up so he wouldn't worry when I was on a long trip.

On Saturday, August 8, we said goodbye.

And purchased the "Beastie Boy". It's a 2004 Lincoln Town Car with 60,000 miles and enough bells and whistles (including both a cassette player AND a CD player!!) to even make me happy.

I don't have any pictures of it --- because --- it just looks like every other car on the road.

But I do like it.

I just don't LOVE it.

Yet.

It Happened Again....

I don't believe it.

But it is true.

It happened again.

The occasion was Andy's wedding in Seattle last weekend.

For the rehearsal dinner, I wore the dress I bought for Soren's wedding in the Outer Banks, but didn't wear because Linda was wearing it.

For the wedding, I wore the same outfit I wore for Soren's wedding. No one else had it. So far, so good.

But no one had seen Carole's dress -- or Linda's dress. Linda is the Mother of the Groom. In pink, which is appropriate for one welcoming a daughter to the family....




See what I mean???

The Timster is HOME!

Well, he's been home for awhile....since July 1, actually. But for some reason it seems as though my blogging time has been taking up by that other time-consumer, Facebook. So, the blog has been sadly neglected.

It has been wonderful having him home, and he seems to have made the transition fairly smoothly. Things like air conditioning (not that we have needed it very much), microwaves, long hot showers, fast internet, regular electricity and refrigeration have been very welcome. He's not missing the sandstorms and flies, the dearth of a toilet in his house -- especially in the middle of the night (!!), the pallet on the floor of his little cement hut that was his bed for the last 18 months or the holes in his roof so when it did rain, everything turned to mud. Sanitation too is just expected here -- there, not so much. He doesn't miss the food -- the camel hump, the sheeps' unmentionables, the goat. And he's learning all over again how to eat slowly and savor the food (even his mother's cooking which isn't something that particularly warrants savoring!)

He's been busy, and his first week at home has gone by quickly. Lots of friends to see and catch up with -- lots of places to go and things to do.

We too have enjoyed having him here -- sitting out on the deck, enjoying a leisurely dinner and just chatting before he runs off to see someone else. Last night we were discussing some of the things he wants to talk about when he speaks at College Church on August 30. I've been making a mental list of some things that he "just can't forget!!" Guess I better put things down on paper for him. It's so easy to think of them now, but will he remember them all in 6 weeks if we don't write them down?

-- The daily prayer times their entire team had together -- DAILY -- for at least an hour a day, with two hours on Wednesday and an evening prayer time on Thursdays. No wonder they were seeing so much fruit in that area!

-- The Marabout (Islamic teacher) that wondered aloud to Tim why "followers of Jesus" would leave everything behind and come and live with them to feed, teach, and care about the little boys from the desert

-- The differences between the Puulars and the Moors

-- What "incarnational living" is all about and how it impacts the lives of the people around them

-- The men he became close to and discipled as a "shadow pastor"

-- The deep relationships he developed there. Americans don't have such deep relationships. We don't spend much time just listening. Africans are very good at listening. Especially just sitting quietly, listening to God

There is more, much more, and I'm sure things will come out over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, he's gearing up to go away again -- three weeks or thereabouts in Thailand in August for their every-four-year international conference and some traveling.

What's next? At this point, only the Lord knows for sure, and so far, He isn't telling!!

39 and Counting....

We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary by doing a day trip into Chicago -- train (only way to go into Chicago on a Saturday when it is the Taste AND the Cubs and Sox are playing -- each other!!). Walked from the train station to where we were going to see Jersey Boys and then wandered around looking for a restaurant that was open for lunch. Decided on the Italian Village which was only about a block away. It was wonderful -- incredibly cute and quaint. It actually has three restaurants: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays you are sent upstairs to "The Village." We were put in a little booth that actually was a BOOTH -- little door, tiny window, and almost completely cut off from the rest of the restaurant. If it wasn't for little Johanna in the other half of the booth who screamed most of the way through her lunch -- she did want pasta, she didn't want pasta, she didn't want to share her pasta, she wanted pizza....it would have been terribly romantic. The building was built in 1927, and I didn't have any trouble imagining Al Capone and his cronies brokering deals in that same little booth.

Then we went to Jersey Boys. The theater was amazing. Built 102 years ago, it seats 2400. As soon as I found out it used to be called the Schubert, I remembered I had been there before -- as a freshman (?) student nurse, we were given tickets to see Carol Channing in "Hello Dolly." Same nosebleed section -- but oh, it was fantastic!

We really enjoyed this musical. Warning: the language is a bit rough....but the music is SO our era! The story is about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons -- just one of the more than 10 or so names that the group was called. Remember songs such as: "Oh What a Night", "Silhouettes", "Earth Angel", "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man", "My Boyfriend's Back", "Dawn", "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You", and "Rag Doll." ?? They were all there, and more.

Standing ovation -- the roar of the crowd -- great way to celebrate!!

What are the chances???

Linda and I did it again. This is the second time -- hoping it will be the last.

Carole's son Soren got married this past Tuesday. It was a lovely beach wedding which requires slightly different attire from your normal evening church wedding -- especially since we had to scramble down the dunes to get to where the waves were lapping dangerously close to the wedding party. In fact, the guitarist had to make a hasty move to dry ground when his loudspeaker got a bit damp. But I digress.

Needless to say, there was lots of discussion about clothes, and exactly what DOES one wear to a beach wedding, shoes and so on.

You might remember, back in the days of yore when I really was the MOB, I had chosen a MOB dress from one of the zillion catalogues that keep the post office in business. It was a lovely evening gown, long, beaded, and eggplant. Linda's son Adam got married two weeks ahead of Torrey, and for her MOG dress, she chose -- yes, the same one.

She bought the purse which we both carried. OK, so it wasn't the same day, and we weren't wearing it at the same time, and only Linda's and Carole's families overlapped the two weddings. But it was a but humorous, none the less. Linda is about 5-2 if she stands on her tiptoes, and I am close to 5-9. One would not think we would choose the same dress.

But we did then, 3 1/2 years ago -- and we did it again. This time we were both guests at the wedding, sitting next to each other. It would simply Not Do to appear in the same sage green, crinkle cotton lace dress. Since she got hers first, I perused the catalogues and found something that would be very nice -- and not at all like Linda's.

Good thing I did get something different. Her's arrived.

Mine is still wherever they carry stuff that is on "back order."

If it comes in time, I think I may wear it for Andy's wedding (Linda's other son) which is in Seattle on August 1.

Weddings are SO fun!!

Box Number 25....

This afternoon I packed up the last box we'll send to Tim in N. Africa. We made a special trip to Target to get him the power bars that he likes, and picked up a DVD (for cheap). Bob will make sure it gets out by the end of the week while I'm teaching in Southern Indiana and Georgia.

By the time he gets home on July 1, he will have been gone 25 months. He spent three months in Canberry, France learning French. We may have sent one box there. He then spent just over 3 months in Fez, Morocco learning Arabic. We sent him a couple of boxes there, and took ourselves over as well. We've sent 25 boxes for the 18 months he has been in "Narnia" (called so because it isn't....), and taken ourselves there as well.

It will be interesting going to the grocery store with just an eye to what is on our shopping list and not "what would Tim like...." What was challenging was sending him things he could eat that didn't require electricity to fix, and could be done over a one burner kerosene "stove." Do you know how much of our food requires microwaving? I couldn't send anything that needed refrigeration after it had been opened, and nothing that contained pork.

Heavy on the list has been protein powder from GMC the last 10 or 12 boxes because he's been losing so much weight. Power bars, cereal bars, candy (none in Narnia) -- emphasis on Swedish Fish and Mike 'n Ikes. I sent a couple of cans of soup early on, only to have one of them explode in the box. Now I know why they say, "no materials that are liquid, hazardous, flammable, dangerous..."

Well, I've sent liquids -- shampoo, liquid soap, and a few other things, but I'm much better at packaging them now. No more explosions have occurred.

I've sent books, and a few DVDs. I hid an 8 GB flashdrive in his protein powder, and have sent a few DVDs that I've not mentioned on the customs list. I did once, and the box was opened and the DVD stolen -- along with 2 of the 5 power bars I sent -- and the dishtowel that Tim needed.

I've sent battery operated fans and battery operated LED lights that he could stick to the walls as well as a great little battery operated lantern that has lasted the entire 18 months. He has enough batteries to open a small store -- but he'll give them to his friends in the little "subdivision" where he lives.

I've sent presents for the children, and one of the boxes I sent was all Christmas gifts for the four families that "hosted" us in October last year.

Only two of the 23 boxes Tim has received have been opened by the "Narnian" postoffice -- there are two more to get there. We've been really fortunate, as there is nothing to stop the folks in the PO from opening them and taking what they want.

Shipping the boxes has cost more than the contents of the boxes, but it has been a labor of love. I'm grateful to the US Postal system that they have international flat rate boxes, and I've learned to pack them compactly to get the most in a small space.

I'm feeling just a bit nostalgic over not sending him any more boxes....but -- we don't know where he end up or what he will ultimately do for his life's work -- or as he says, "for the next 20 minutes or so..."

If I were to hazard a guess, I suspect there are more boxes in my future -- and in Tim's.

At the rate postage is going up, I better start saving....

Governments Strapped for Cash???

I sent my taxes to the appropriate places -- IL, IN, and the Feds -- on April 15. The feds cashed my two checks -- owed taxes for 2008 and estimated taxes for 2009 with alacrity. IN cashed my estimated tax check quickly as well.

It's been nearly a month and IN hasn't cashed my check covering my owed 2008 taxes. I mailed all the envelopes at the same time in the same mail box. LEC taxes AND our taxes. A total of 6 envelopes.

Did I not mail the IN taxes? Did they get stuck in the post box? Are they going to charge me exhorbitant interest for late taxes?

I e-mailed and within 5 hours got a response. "Wait three bank statements and write again if still not cashed. Don't send a replacement check at this time."

Um -- that is THREE months!!

Linda's husband Will actually called and talked to a real live person. Evidently their check hadn't been cashed either. (LEC is an Indiana-based company).

He was told.....

Are you sitting down????

"It will be another 6 weeks. We don't have anyone to open the envelopes."

Remind Me That I Love Traveling....

I was blithely humming along I-55 on my 3 hour trek to Decatur IL, listening to my current audiobook, when a thought slowly began to take form.....I didn't remember putting my suitcase in the trunk.

Pulling over to the side of the road, I checked it out. The trunk sported our LCD projector, a wrench, a gizmo to take the nuts (bolts?) off the tires and -- nothing else.

Turn around, go back another 40 minutes, thank Jesus that I hadn't gone any farther than 50 miles, and head for home. The suitcase was politely waiting for me where I had left it, by the door of the garage. I heaved it into the trunk and set out again.

Dusk fell, and so did the rain....poured!!! Rainmakers -- here we are again. Just ask us to do a program wherever there is a drought. We'll take care of it.

The hotel was a new Hawthorn Suites. I got our key, went up to the room, turned right around and went downstairs to the desk again. "Carole and I are really good friends, but we would REALLY like to have two beds please." "Oh," said the rather geeky attendant, "there is a pull out couch as the second bed. It should be all made up for you."

Yes there was a couch, and yes it was made up. It was miserably uncomfortable. The combo of the pull out couch and the refrigerator that cycled LOUDLY every hour or so wasn't exactly conducive to restful sleep. The room was also a handicapped room. If you have never been in a handicapped room, they are wonderful for people in wheelchairs. I hung my dress on the ironing board holder. The sink was tiny and had the only mirror in the room. This is for two women trying to get ready for a professional program at 6:00 am???

We always try to get to where we are going at least 20 minutes early to make sure all the AV works and everything is in order so we can start promptly at 8:00. At 8:15, we were still working on the recalcitrant AV equipment. The wireless keyboard didn't work. Neither did the clicker. They gave us a mouse to switch the powerpoint slides, but it only worked sporadically. I finally went out and got our projector and hooked up our computers. Ahhhhhh......

We got back from lunch for the second session (we do two of these programs each day), and evidently it was the day to test the fire alarm system. It was a very loud DONG - DONG - DONG -- right in our room, 28 dongs every 5 minutes for 40 minutes.

Carole did a magnificent job of yelling through it.....and finally it stopped. Until the afternoon shift came on, and it started again during our video....

Next week this will all be funny.

Meanwhile, remind me why I travel for a living??

Oh yes, by the way -- today we are at another hospital (where the AV is working perfectly and there are -- so far -- no fire alarms) and received an award for "Making a Difference" in Breastfeeding Education for our Building Bridges program from the Illinois Department of Health.

Combat pay? Maybe this is why I love doing this....

Yep, it is.

The Beast -- Wounded, but not Fatally

Last Friday, a week ago, I was on my way to make rounds at the hospital, where about 1 1/2 blocks from home there was a horrible, grinding and scraping sound as the Beast came to a sudden halt. I gingerly got out of the car, and amid a horrid smell, there was the right front tire, deader than the proverbial doornail.

I called our favorite car-fixit-place, and gave them my name and said, "My car just died." "Oh," he said, "The Lincoln?"

You know you've taken your car in waaay too many times when all you give is your name and they know the car.....

So they took it away on a flat bed -- evidently you don't just *tow* a Lincoln, and Chris drove me home -- you also know you've been there waaay too much when they know exactly where you live and don't need to ask directions any more.

Called me back later with the news. The good news: it's fixable. The bad news: not until Monday afternoon -- and I was leaving for Springfield on Sunday. The worse news: it was gonna cost me....

But the really good news was -- I was only one block from home, and not on I-55!!

The ball bearing that does something funky with the tire on the left side had shattered and punctured the tire. I had had the right one replaced already (I think this is sort of like knee replacement surgery -- or maybe hip replacement -- in a person), but had had plenty of warning with the Beast just dying in the middle of the road for that one.

So -- I rented a car to go to Springfield. It was a nice, 2009 Toyota Camry (30 miles to the gallon!!).

But it wasn't the Beast.

She is home now, and driving just fine, thank you very much. But the verdict is that it might be time, just might be time to start looking for a new car.

I'm going to rent a car to go to Vincennes this coming week -- Bob is nervous about me taking TB on a long trip.

Another car?

I'm not ready.....

I need a bit longer.

Of course, when I have to actually pay the bill for this last surgery, I might be a bit closer to readiness.

Maybe.

Saga of The Beast

September, 2003. I fell in love. Bob and I were walking by the funeral home parking lot when I saw it....and fell head over heels in love with it.

IT was a 1997 Lincoln Town Car -- cream colored body with a blue top. It was the top of the line which meant it had all the bells and whistles for 1997. It also had 140,000 miles on it....




But....BUT -- it was only $4500!

We checked with our limo company who said that these cars were designed to go at least 250,000 miles if you took care of it.

Within hours it was mine. We figured if it would last until Tim graduated from Taylor in May, 2006, we'd have found ourselves a bargain.

This morning on the way home from the hospital, The Beast turned 200,000 miles.





I still love The Beast. I don't want to give it up. It still drives like a dream.

I figure if I keep it much longer, I can enter it in Old Car night on Front Street in Wheaton in the summertime.

The Beast's license plate?

JANZLMO.

Home....

It's funny how good it feels to be home.

Home.

I'm not traveling nearly as much this year as last -- perhaps that is why I am relishing being home as much as I am.

Home.

Sure. We get up in the morning, and I go off to the hospital to see moms and babies....have lots of stuff to do in the office when I return, but there is something about being ... home.

Although if I were traveling I wouldn't be facing a root canal tomorrow.

Valium, anyone?

The Yearly Physical....

Had to go in to see Marie for the yearly physical.

Doncha just love them? No matter how nice your doc is -- there are just some things that Are. Not. Fun.

This is one of them.

But I did get my chuckle when the nurse, dutifully filling out the computerized history form, asked me what I was using for birth control

"Um.....Old Age?"

A Visit to the ER

I spent yesterday in the ER with chest pains.....had had them since Sunday night -- all day Monday (but were faint enough that I could fob them off).

Tuesday morning I woke up at 12:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. There they were. Definitely left sided pains, radiating down to my left arm. No elephant sitting on my chest feeling, no huge sweats, no feeling of impending doom, just a pulse rate that was out of sight, and the pain -- front, back, arm. Hmmm.

At 4:45 I got up, showered, dressed, and told Bob we needed to go to the ER....

He showered and dressed while I stocked computer, book, Bible, contact lens case, glasses -- all the "just in case stuff", and, of course, put on makeup. You think I'm going to show up in the ER with last night's underwear and no makeup? Not me!!

12 hours later I was discharged with a clean bill of health. At least whatever I have in the chest is not my heart. (I will NOT listen to those TV shows that discuss how women's heart attacks do not have the same symptoms that men's do. The fact that my father died of a sudden coronary after being given a clean bill of health at exactly my age may have something to do with my paranoia).

My chest X-ray was normal. (Evidently they don't count fat as abnormal). My cardiac enzymes (blood work) was normal. I talked them into ordering all the other blood work my doc wants for my yearly check up which is next week....and then I had a nuclear stress test.

Uh -- don't do that. Not fun. Took about three hours. And I'm still, I guess, glowing in the dark. Not to mention the walking on the treadmill part. The walking isn't bad. The speed -- not so bad. The INCLINE??? BAD!! I will not tell you how many minutes I lasted. Suffice it to say I might have made it through two auditions on American Idol complete with Simon's caustic comments.

Maybe.

But the little donuts that demonstrate my blood vessels evidently are all clear. No clogging with Doritos, onion chip dip or chocolate.

Bob was most thankful that my chest pains happened on Tuesday and not today because he really has a very busy schedule today, including having breakfast with our new senior pastor. So glad I could accommodate him. Especially since Torrey was born on a Wednesday against his express wishes.

Memo to self: Avoid Wednesdays for emergencies or childbirth. Doesn't make Bob happy.

Oh yes, the day of Torrey's birth, he managed to leave my bedside in the labor room to go to his Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (P&T) meeting.

Grateful to Jill -- born on a Sunday, and Tim -- born on a Thursday.

But I digress. However, keep in mind that my "emergency" did occur on a Tuesday. Whew!

Anyway -- I'm here, safe and sound for the moment. And truly thanking God that there was nothing that showed up. I'm still not sure what the chest pains are all about, but the ER doc assured me that all they needed to do was make sure I was safe to go home, it wasn't my heart, and they didn't care beyond that.... Evidently they worry about lawsuits in which they declare the chest pains a figment of an old ladies' imagination (especially if she is wearing lipstick and bringing her book to read) and send them home to drop dead within 24 hours. Not good for the corporate image.

But as to really what CAUSED the chest pain? Let's leave that to Marie to figure out when I see her next week. (Marie being my long-suffering *real* physician).

Nice....

Sorry no pictures -- too bad they won't let me have a snapshot of my amazingly clear arteries. I'm sure you would all be quite interested.

Um, not.

Last -- and Favorite Stop -- Malta

After another wonderful day at sea - amazing how much there is to do....we got into Malta about 1:00 in the afternoon. It was wonderful. Of all the places we visited, this is the one I want to re-visit. Carole and Bob were right -- this is exactly what they said too. The ship pulls up right into the port of the city, so you can walk right into the heart of the main town -- or you can wait for a bus -- or you can take a tour with RC -- or you can venture out on your own.

We opted for a "venture out on your own" which wasn't too difficult as that required walking up a bit of a hill and then a bunch of stairs into the main "downtown" area. Valleta is one of those places you could spend a long time, particularly if you don't have a tour guide hurrying you along to the next stop. It isn't all that big....in fact, if you had a full day or a bit more, you could rent a car and drive alll along the coast.

The next time I would do what Carole and Bob did -- go on a bus to the M'dina -- the old walled city of Malta, and tour there. They said it was truly wonderful.

Coming into port was a fabulous view. The advantage to coming in at 1:00 in the afternoon is that You. Are. Awake!!

We started out with Linda and Will, but they opted to take a bus, while we opted to walk. (I'm the total martyr here, and plan to play it for all it is worth when I have to see Marie for my usual check up in February....)

Up the stairs....






Well, dang, I didn't take any pictures of the stairs. Sigh. They were there -- trust me -- my thighs do!!

The picture of the Lipton's Iced Tea is for Linda and Carole who refuse to drink any tea but Liptons. Yet another reason to return to Malta.

We visited THE Cathedral -- St. John the Co-something or other. Yikes -- I can't remember -- I'm sure it wasn't the co-conspirator, but of course, that is what comes to mind. In any case, it was absolutely beautiful -- well kept, geared to tourists in that we each got a little doodah that took us around the cathedral with audio lectures on each stopping point. It was truly amazing. Unfortunately most of my pictures turned out totally blurry (having not a clue as to how to take them w/o flash), and needing to really go to the bathroom. Finally found one, waited a really decent length of time in front of the woman's room, only to be a tad disconcerted when a man walked out of it.....

A toilet is a toilet is a toilet -- and if ya gotta go, well.....







True confessions:

1. I wanted to spend more money here than anywhere. Malta had the BEST stuff to buy. I resisted jewelry, but did get some things for everyone else -- my girls, and a bit for me as well. I have the prettiest vases -- Malta is known for its glassware. Truly lovely.

2. I had positively, without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt, the best capuccino I have ever had in my entire life. Right across the street from St. John the Co-whatever....

We met up with Linda and Will at that point, and after extracting many promises from Tim as to what time he would arrive at the ship, we let him go find an internet cafe from whence he could chat with friend Jen.

I LOVED Malta. Did I say that before? My pictures do not do a bit of justice to the little town we were in....up hill and down dale (though I'm not a bit sure of what "down dale" really is....)

Y'gotta have your MacFix....






We had, of course, go to St. Paul the Shipwrecked church. They wouldn't allow picture taking in the church, which was a pity -- but they also didn't charge us to go through it. That was obvious. Rather than the shiny gold, copper, and silver objects of arts that were in St. John the Whatever church, this church was smaller, dingier, and certainly nothing was polished.

Except for the statue of Paul the Apostle in the front of the church in a glassed in box. There he was, as, I suppose, they thought he arrived in Malta. Do go to the story in the Acts of the Apostles to read about Paul's arrival on Malta. Shipwrecked, they came into harbor with the ship gone, but not a soul lost. Paul and company are making a bonfire on the shore when a viper comes out of the brush and latches on to Paul's hand....he shakes it off into the fire, and since he suffers no ill effects from the viper's poisonous bite, the people of Malta declare him a god....well, it goes on from there -- you have to read it for yourself. Wonderful story - especially if you are visiting Malta.

So there is the statue of Paul -- replendant in green and gold robes, holding what looks to be a Bible which would have been printed in at least the 15th century. A snake is slithering up behind him....

It was gorgeous. A bit out of character as to what I THINK the whole scene looked like, but oh, how fun....

Carole told me that the M'dina had a lot more dedicated to Paul as they think that is really where he landed and lived for some time....

Sigh.

Anyway, we meandered a bit more through the town, taking pictures, buying souveniers, and finally headed back to the ship....





I absolutely cannot wait to go back to Malta. What a wonderful island!!

I'm hoping my dear sister will weigh in on this post -- she and Tim (her dh) spent a week here on one of their much needed, but not-frequent-enough breaks.

Maybe someday....

Camels, Michael Jackson, Pyramids, and the Sphinx!

Due to a storm that was headed our way, the captain chose to skip Cyprus so that there wouldn't be any danger of our not getting into port in Alexandria. That gave us an extra day at sea before our really long day in Egypt. For this one, we opted to go on the Royal Caribbean tour rather than getting one of our own...

Up early and eager, we got our number (19) and got on our bus.

Only to discover we had all been put on the wrong bus. This one wasn't going on the Nile cruise -- it was going to the City of the Dead in Cairo instead. Oops.

It was a long drive from Alexandria to Cairo. Our tour guide was hot into selling things -- T-shirts and cartouches which she promised if we only ordered Right Now we could get it at the end of the trip.

First stop was an old mosque. It wasn't terribly impressive, but it did have 365 lights in it! Poor February 29 gets left out again.





Next stop was lunch on a cruise on the Nile. Wasn't exactly what I expected. Evidently Moses wasn't born near Cairo -- there wasn't a bulrush to be seen. There were, however, lots and lots of buildings. Looked just like any old city anywhere. We even waved at TGI Fridays! The Nile is brown, in case you needed to know...




Tim looks thrilled with the food, doesn't he? It wasn't the best -- though I LOVED the ice cream!!



Now here is the kind of boat I thought we would be on...



I think I was expecting the Egypt of the old Agatha Christie mysteries, or Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody books....not the Egypt of 2009....

In fact, seeing the pyramids behind the city was a shock. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this:



The pyramids were surrounded by lots of um -- sales people and camel vendors. Will and Bob (Peterson) think they could market the place a lot better and perhaps do an Egyptian Disneyworld -- perhaps "Sphinx R Us" or "Pyramidic Planet". I do think they need help...

I digress.

I wanted to ride a camel. Another one of the 101 things to do before I die is now crossed off the list....Tim was an unenthusiastic passenger with me -- I didn't want to do it on my own, and there was no way I was going to get Bob to go! So Tim graciously decided he would accompany his old mother...






Our little camel boy spoke lovely English -- told us the camel's name was Michael Jackson. I told him Michael Jordan would have been a much better fit....which brought on a lovely discussion of basketball. He was quite impressed with Tim's command of Arabic....I too, am very impressed with Tim's command of Arabic. Despite having learned several phrases in Morocco, I'm left with la shukran. (No thank you).







The Great Pyramid -- the one the three of us are standing in front of -- is the only one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World that is still standing. The pyramids, however, are not the oldest man-made structure on the earth. That honor is given to a stone gate in Malta. (This took up a full breakfast discussion the next day...) And you can't get into the pyramids -- Evidently you can if you go to Luxor, but maybe on another trip....

Then on to the Sphinx... This guy -- well, you can't get up close and personal with him. He is surrounded by a fence which is probably just as well. That way the only thing that will make him crumble a bit faster is the acid rain and pollution from the 15,000,000 folks that live in Cairo and its environs.







The last stop of the day was one of the many "Papyrus Institutes" where we were treated to a lecture on how papyrus is made, and then encouraged to spend many euros on beautiful pictures painted on the papyrus. I opted to take pictures of the pictures instead....much to our tour guide's disgust because we are quite sure she gets a commission on all that is sold. Maybe Royal Caribbean does too....hmmm....







We finally headed back -- sleepy -- a bit disgruntled at spending so much time in the last shop rather than more time exploring the wonders of Egypt, and hungry....

The line was LONG to get back on the ship. And it was COLD.



The next time I go back to Egypt, I'm going to Luxor, and I'm going to find some bulrushes. I think I'm going to go with Agatha Christie, because I want to visit the Egypt of the past. I think it's much more romantic than the Egypt of the present.

Blago is Gone...

I don't think any of us are going to miss him.

I wonder how long it will take to get his name off the tollway signs...

Nope, none of us in IL are going to miss him.

look, Look, LOok, LOOk, LOOK! OPA!!!

And so began our introduction to Rhodes. The guide for our private tour was -- in a word -- unique. He talked pretty much non-stop for the entire day; was very nice, took us to some lovely places -- but oh my....

He tried to teach us some Greek. We weren't listening. But bless him,he did try. His favorite was to suddenly point and yell out, "look, Look, LOok, LOOk, LOOK, LOOK, LOOK!!! and when he finally had our attention, yelled OPA!! for whatever sight he thought worthy of our attention.

We started out going to Lindos, which is located on the eastern shoreline. We took a little side trip to visit an out of the way pottery place -- I'm sure our guide took a cut of whatever we bought, but their stuff was beautiful. Not sure what I'm going to do with what I got -- but it brings back good memories, none the less.






Lindos is a cute little Greek town -- from a distance looks like all the neat pictures of Greek towns you see on Webshots (my favorite cheap date). The exciting part was climbing 292 steps up to the Acropolis which gave an amazing view of the harbor which includes St. Paul's Bay where the apostle is said to have landed. The wonderful part about going in January is that there were NO lines. Of course, not too many shops were open either....











And more....













The cute little town...with the typical roadway and sidewalk decorations made out of pebbles




Rhodes, of course, was the home of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Colosseus of Rhodes which doesn't exist any more. That brought a huge discussion amongst us as to what we could name....not much, as it turned out. The great pyramid at Giza - the only one still around -- and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. There are four others -- but you are going to have to do what I did...use your friend Google and find out the rest of them!

We then went to the Old Town of Rhodes which was a fun medieval walled town. We wandered down the Street of the Knights and visited the old Hospital of the Knights -- um -- I'm glad I wasn't a nurse there! There we had some late lunch and said a grateful goodbye to our guide...look, look, look, LOOK, LOOK!!! OPA!!







Our guide explaining the doors to the city....OPA! Or would that be OPEN!!



Linda, Carole, Bob, Will, Tim, and our intrepid guide in front.






The hospital

Dare you to lob one of these at your enemy!

Yup -- the Body Shop -- go figure!

And finally, farewell to Rhodes...but not before a bit of drama with Tim who decided to find an internet cafe where he could chat with Jen for a bit. This involved getting very bad directions from people in the Old Town, walking for ages....and getting back to the ship just about the time I was beginning to panic.

You see, I had memories of a particular 'nuther cruise in the Caribbean when Tim and Torrey went out of an evening in Barbados and were booking it to make it on the ship in time. Last ones on the boat -- hysterical mother -- nope, not a good show at all.

Two Things...

Number 1: I cured the icemaker in the refrigerator once again using the hair dryer. I have saved SO MUCH money (read -- hard earned $$$) with that little trick. Read it and weep, Sears....

I totally ROCK!

Number 2: I burned the bottom out of my teapot by totally forgetting the water I set to boil for my cup of tea.

So much for my cup 'o decaf Constant Comment...sigh.

It's all Simon's fault.

Well, I was watching American Idol, hence it is Simon's fault. Or maybe Randy's.

Maybe?

Port Three -- Athens

But first, more tea....

Bless Bob -- he went out and bought me some plain cough medicine. Here's hoping it works. If not, I'll not be going to church tomorrow, and will miss our new senior pastor's first preaching Sunday. OTOH, he probably wouldn't appreciate someone hacking away every two minutes during his sermon.

But -- on to Athens!

I think one of the things that amazed me was when we pulled away from the port that late afternoon and the city seemed to stretch for miles. There was no sense that Athens stopped or started -- just kept on going and going. We actually ported in Piraeus, driving into Athens from there....

Again, Carole had gotten us our own van and tour guide so we were just the seven of us. That meant we could do a customized tour rather than the ones offered by RC. We wanted to see both the Archeological museum AND the Acropolis -- and in all the tours we looked at we could do one or the other, but not both. So we opted for a day trip we had a little more control over.

We saw the magnificent Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch -- and the Acropolis. But first, the Archeological Museum which was fabulous. The antiquities -- my goodness. They were beautiful...many of them are in the British Museum (go figure) -- guess we'll have to go there to see the rest of them.

Then on to the Acropolis. Just before you climb up to the Acropolis is Mars Hill where Paul preached to the Athenians and talked about their unknown god. It's rather plain. I don't know what I expected...should have looked at the pictures in my Bible Story book a bit more carefully I think.





The Acropolis is right there. It was quite a climb up the hill -- but we made it. Not for the faint of heart or the elderly, that is for sure. I'm a bit nonplused by the scaffolding around all the old structures, but I'm glad they are working to fix it up. So much is damaged by the acid rain and the smog -- looking out over the city of Athens and the suburbs, you can see why.







While we were waiting for Will and Linda at one point, Carole and I had a discussion with our tour guide about -- what else? -- Breastfeeding! It's not at all prevalent in Athens -- too many young mothers worried about losing their figures. She nursed her first baby for 5 months and was in the minority.

Do you suppose that discussion could qualify this trip as a business expense?

No, I didn't think so either.

We wandered into the Plaka and had some lunch at a little taverna which was decorated in the most garish green I've ever seen.

True confession: Greek food isn't my favorite of all the cuisines I've encountered. But it was fun, and I got to try some ouzo for the first time since we were in Greece 32 years ago.

Going through the duty free store on the way back to the ship, we were delighted to see the notices on these cartons of cigarettes:






Tomorrow: Rhodes!!

Sicily

I really should have written this on the ship. Now that we are getting further and further away from the trip, I look at pictures and realize I really can't remember what they are all about! Is it old age?

Nah, couldn't be.

Could it?

Anyway, we boarded the ship on January 5. Our first full day on the 6th was a day at sea. That's always fun because you can explore the ship and get to know it a little bit.

Here's pictures of our first night at dinner

Our first stop on the high seas was Palermo, Italy. Carole (our consummate cruise director) had arranged for a private tour rather than go on the RC ones, and it was fabulous....First stop was Erice, a little town with a medieval castle and 14th century Mother Church, tiny winding cobblestone roads and little shops.

It was so fogged in that we couldn't get much in the way of pictures, and it was BEASTLY cold!

Fortunately the fog began to clear as we started making our way back to the van, so I did get a couple of shots of the little town...






We got up close and personal with the temple of Zeus. Looked so much like Athens, but is just outside Palermo....Shows the Greek influence in the architecture. Still cold, but the fog has completely gone - and we aren't on the top of the mountain any more.

The countryside near the temple.

Back into Palermo. We decided to skip the exhibit with all the dead people, and opted instead for the sights of the city and another cathedral.






Back to the ship in time for tea and scones with whipped cream. Mmmmm....

Tomorrow -- another day at sea!!

We're home, but....

....I'm going to be posting...um, would this be post-tripolusly??

Er, anyway, post whatever, regarding our Amazing-Cruise-To-Europe-Camels-And-All.

For the already posted version, see my friend Carole's blog: cruzineurope2007.blogspot.com.

She (not that I'm jealous or anything) actually was able to log on In Her Stateroom.

I, that is, WE (in our stateroom -- Tim, Bob and I) were unable to log on in our room. OK, so Linda couldn't either. Why not? It seems that Brilliance of the Seas is not necessarily brilliant when it comes to internet access. In case you haven't looked, newer computers don't have a modem. They do, of course, have wireless capability, but no dial-up modems. And Brilliance, in it's ever-lovin' brilliance, simply doesn't have the capability of communicating with Macs. (So there, Steve Jobs....).

But I, as usual, digress. The reason for the tardiness of this post is simply because I had to get to a "hot spot" on the ship to communicate. And I didn't. At least not to add to this blog. I did download e-mails, but I didn't blog. So there.

For those of you who care, here are some pictures of Barcelona....




Number one, perhaps on my list of 101 things-to-do-before-I-die: Ride a cable car over nothingness. And here I did it -- on the way to Monserratt, the monastery where the roads had been washed out -- so up we went!

This is the beautiful (and famous) Cathedral of the Sacred Family. I don't have Tim here to remind me of what it really is in Spanish, so you can take it for what it is worth. Done by Gaudi (who is evidently very famous in Spain -- or in Barcelona -- take your pick -- it isn't done. Not by a long shot. Very lovely, but very full of lots of scaffolding and ladders and planks and whatnot. It was impressive on the outside, but not worth 11 Euros each (that's about $16.50 in $US -- each) to admire a lot of, um, not much. We consoled ourselves by considering that we had contributed to the restoration of said cathedral.

Think the IRS will let us take it off on our taxes as to a non-profit?

Tim here, is resting on his bed in our pink, that is to say VERY PINK, room at the hotel in Barcelona. I LOVED the hotel. It had a 24 hour open buffet which served all manner of goodies (including verybadwine) but only had 18 guest rooms, had a "dining room" which was sorta like your average family room -- that is, if your family room could seat about 30 people at small round tables. Anyway, it was a great place to hang out, especially since there were seven of us meeting up at various times.

This is the rest of the very-pink-room. If you are pink-o-phobic, don't book your overnights here.

Our hotel in Barcelona was about one block from what I called "Michigan Ave" in deference to the Mag Mile in Chicago. This is one of the structures by Gaudi (hey -- this pic would cost you at least 1 Euro in Spain -- and you are getting it for free, from my camera -- on this blog!! Such a deal!! (See reference to the picture above -- he's the guy that did so much of the Familia Sagrida)

For those of us into Mothers and Babies and Breastfeeding (OK, so I'm a Lactation Consultant -- and, we are into mothers/babies/breastfeeding...) here is the statue that is right outside the Barcelona Ministry of Health.

Gotta love it.

Two, of many, pictures I could have taken and shared with you of food in the market on Las Ramblas -- the street Bob, Bob, Tim and I strolled in the morning. I got 1/2 kilo of Savilla olives that taste as close to any of the ones Tim, Bob and I enjoyed in Sevilla back in '04 when he (Tim) was studying there. ("Back in...." sounds really far back, as though it was at least in the 1900s....) It truly was an amazing and beautiful market. No preserved lemons though -- I'm on the hunt.



The best, however, was noting that they did not go in for Dunkin Donuts....it was Dunkin COFFEE! Had to share this with y'all. Does this mean you are dunking your coffee into something? I'm just not sure.

Dunkin Coffee. Gotta love it.

More anon.

On Our Way!

We are here on the Brilliance of the Sea, chugging our way to Athens, having spent yesterday touring Palmero, Sicily. We spent a couple of days in Barcelona first...amazingly, we all met up with each other – Carole and Bob who made it without incident, Linda and Will who were rerouted to Zurich, and, true to form, lost their luggage in the process; Tim, who came via Alitalia and Rome, and us.

Barcelona is now definitely one of my all time favorite cities. It is absolutely beautiful! We were in a little hotel in the middle of the city, one block from Barcelona’s Mag Mile. We were also just a couple of blocks from Las Ramblas – a great street to walk down late at night when all the activity is going on. It was cool – coats definitely needed, but great walking weather. Our little hotel had only 18 rooms, and a 24/7 buffet where we could get anything we wanted to eat or snack on. We ate dinner out – tapas one night and paella the other. Tapas were great – paella not so much. Bummer.

Monday the 5th, we get on the ship. It’s lovely, but the internet leaves a little bit to be desired. If you don’t have a modem in your computer, or you use a Mac – well, you are out of luck being able to do internet in your room. Only Carole has a computer that is old enough to have a modem....

But it is wonderful anyway. So far, a day at sea, a tour of Palmero, and now our second day at sea.

Already my pants are getting a bit tighter....

We are off to the pool. More anon!

Christmas Eve

It IS Christmas Eve, though it isn't feeling much like it -- yet. Usually Bob takes today off, but because of his limited vacation time he can't this year. We'll be glad, of course, once we are on the cruise early next year!!

It's light outside. A couple of the neighbors have put out their luminaria. I'm waiting until Bob gets home from work to do that -- hoping he is able to at least leave a bit early.

Tim is out. Of course.

Torrey and Chris are most likely on their way to Ohio to spend the weekend with Chris' two sisters, two nieces, two nephews, and two brothers-in-law. Hmmm -- they may have double the fun!

The mail has come. I didn't get any Christmas catalogues. This may be the first day in the last 2 months that I've not received a catalogue of some sort. Maybe the merchants have figured out that Christmas Eve is a tad too late to order something in time for tomorrow. It would take more than Santa and his magical reindeer to get it here in time...

I'm imagining Deven just beside himself with excitement. Jill said she couldn't put anything under the tree as Deven would be helping to open it as soon as it was there. He is going to be a shepherd tonight in their children's Christmas pageant at their church. I wish I could be there to see it.

Usually on Christmas Eve we go out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner, the elves leave jammies, we go to the 11:00 service at College Church, and then get in our elf jammies for some hot tea before we go to bed.

But we did half of that last Friday night -- dinner at Beijing (which is under new managment and we didn't like it half as well -- time for a new tradition???) -- elf jammies, but no C'mas Eve service. It's a bit odd doing two Christmases -- half one time and half the other. No stockings tomorrow either....

But I am making cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

That is to say Pillsbury and I are making cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Another Great Video

OK, thanks to my dear niece, Liz Anne, here's another fun one...


Frisco Christmas Lights - Wizards in Winter
The song is Wizards in Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
© 2008 YouTube, LLC

A Favorite Christmas Song...

Mary Did You Know?
Music and lyrics for "Mary Did You Know?" by Spoken
© 2008 YouTube, LLC

Bowing

Ummm -- that is bowing as in applying bows, rather than bowing as in paying homage to the Queen. Or King, as the case may be.

Anyway, we have spent part of the afternoon putting bows on Christmas packages. We have a system. Wrap all the packages together. Heave a huge sigh of relief. Count to make sure everyone has approximately the same number of packages (this is left over from when the kids were little -- does it hang on forever?). Clean up the mess.

Remember that tradition calls to apply bows to said packages.

As I was doing so this afternoon, I chuckled over the rallying cry on Christmas morning -- "Save the Bows!! Save the Bows!!" I wonder how many years these same bows have seen Christmas duty. We have a big plastic box full of them. At least this year we for-bow buying any more.

I debate whether or not to just put a premade bow on the box, or should I tie shiny metallic curly ribbon (red, green, blue, gold, silver) on it? Bob's system is to tie one color of curly ribbon around it and then put a premade bow slap-dab in the center of the tie. No thinking there. But on his tags he always writes a little clue as to what the present might be.

Not too many surprises this year -- we shopped together. Chicos got the bulk of his money this year -- they had waaay too many nice things. So few surprises in fact that he got most of my presents wrapped -- at the dining room table -- before we left for church at 7:45 am.

Don't ask what time he gets up.

Even on Sundays.

Oh my. He just came up from downstairs with another box full of bows.

Good. More for me to add to HIS presents.

We're Cool Now....

....we've learned how to text-message. Now to learn the lingo.

Torrey & Chris got new phones and talked Bob into getting a new one too -- one with a touch face and full QWERTY keyboard. My "contract" isn't up until July, but Torrey gave me her old phone which has a full keyboard on it....

How cool is this?

Cn u jst c us txtg? Us old folk?

Yup, we are now the ultimate in cool.

Or we will be when we each get an iPod.

A Thankful Heart

On January 24, 1998, my friend Debbie started to keep a notebook of things she was thankful for. She covenanted to list at least three things a day for which she was grateful.

Debbie was one of the first people to welcome us to Wheaton. She came to our front door with her (at that time) two youngest children and a plate of cookies. "Hi," she said. "My name is Debbie, and I live right around the corner from you. This is my son Matthew, and this is my daughter Lori Beth. I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"And this is my daughter Torrey Beth," I said, as I pulled three year old Torrey from behind my skirts (um -- that is figuratively speaking....not literally, mind you).

Debbie and I became good friends. She lived in a lovely Victorian house on our block, around the corner -- a home that must have housed large Victorians, since ours must have had rather small Victorians living in it. She invited us to College Church -- to the "Young Couples" Sunday School class. We were hooked, and we never visited another church in Wheaton -- a city of churches.

That was 1982. Torrey Beth and Lori Beth were best of friends for many many years. Debbie held the flashlight when Timothy was born in August, 1984 -- at home, with no electricity -- during a major storm -- while Bob helped deliver him (HEY -- *I* delivered him -- Bob just helped!!) -- because the midwife didn't get there until 10 minutes after Timothy. Debbie said she THOUGHT she was going to make PB & J sandwiches and play Monopoly with Jill & Torrey during the birth -- not be a significant part of it!

We shared many a Thanksgiving dinner at Ed's mother's home -- who generally invited at least 20 or 30 others, including Russian refugees. Ed & Debbie introduced us to our new Thanksgiving tradition -- going bowling after T'giving dinner. It became a tradition to try and beat Ed....this year Torrey and Bob got the high scores (150 and 154) beating out Ed by just a few pins....

Thanksgiving Eve, College Church has a wonderful service -- it is hard to decide which one we like the best -- Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, or Easter Sunday. They are all amazing.

Each year, three members of the congregation are asked to give their testimony. Perhaps because of something unusual that has happened that year, perhaps because they have a special story to tell. When Torrey was a sophomore in high school, she was one of the chosen.

But I digress.

This year, Debbie was one of the three who were asked to speak. And that is why I know about the notebook of thanksgiving. Debbie has been keeping these lists for nearly 11 years. She has always been able to find something to be thankful for -- even when she broke her back. That day she found 11 things to be thankful for! She said she's missed a few days, but never because there wasn't something for which she could praise God.

Debbie and Ed don't live around the corner from us any more. They have moved to Wisconsin, where Ed was the owner/proprietor of an amazing and beautiful resort and campground. But their wonderful home here in Wheaton hasn't sold yet....

Since our trip to the resort in June, the bottom has fallen out of the economy. The bottom fell out of the resort/campground as well. Let's just say that life and finances have gotten impossibly and unimaginably difficult for Ed and Debbie.

It isn't over yet.

But Debbie still thanks God, every day, for at least three things.

God is good. It's easy to praise God when things are going well. Not so easy -- but much more authentic -- when life seems to be at its lowest ebb. You see, God is still good when the Dow plummets, and half our retirement is -- just -- gone. God is still good when we think retirement is a couple of years away -- and we realize that we may be working for another 7 or 10 years instead (and we are grateful that we have a job at all). God is still good when cancer hits. God is still good when a daughter gets pregnant out of wedlock, or another child send threatening suicidal notes. God is good -- and loves us REGARDLESS of our circumstances.

The question is -- do we still love God during these hard times? Can we still praise Him?

Debbie can.

Debbie is one of my "heros of the faith."

My "Thankful Heart" notebook is only four days long -- but one of my "thank-yous" is for my dear friend, Debbie.

Mom's Version of Torrey's Questionnaire

I love getting those questionnaires that make you think about what you like, what you don't like, and answering them. Makes me think. Well, Torrey put her answers up for this Christmas questionnaire on her blog, and so -- hey -- me too! Me too!! If you hate questionnaires, skip this one.
***********************************************************

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your family and friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it toyou......Tis the Season to be NICE


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper mostly because I can get it real cheap at Costco or from The Lakeside Collection. But bags are SO easy!!

2. Real tree or Artificial? I grew up with real trees, and for the first 30+ years of our married life we had a real tree. But then I got tired of cleaning up the needles and having to turn off the lights when we went out and having to water it....so....we have a fake one. We succumbed.

3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving morning. We used to do it the week before Christmas, on the 18th, but since getting the artificial one, we can put it up early and take it down late and there is no danger of fire. We do all our decorating then. This year we got the C'mas china out early and have a few decorations up. Won't take as long on T'giving Day then.

4. When do you take the tree down? Depends on who is home now. I'd love to leave it up until 12th night (January 6), but this year, we'll take it down on New Year's Day, most likely, since we are going on a cruise in early January.

5. Do you like eggnog? I haven't had it in so many years, I don't know....

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Yes, Torrey, you got way too many gifts as a kid!! When I was 5, we lived in Ireland, and had no money. My father made a wagon for me out of an apple crate and some wheels he scrounged from the dump. My mother gave me a little clothespin that was on a card that said "With love to Janny from Winnie the Pooh." I've never forgotten in, and in going through some things in Montrose this summer in preparation for the Torrey family reunion, I found the clothespin. Evidently my mother had kept it all these years...

7. Hardest person to buy for? I....don't really know. I think my son Tim. Like Bob, he doesn't really have any hobbies, and just how many DVDs can you get him anyway? And this year with him in Africa, it really limits me and stretches my imagination.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Torrey and Jill. I'm forever finding things I think they would like. Besides they are girls. Deven and Laura -- my grandbabies -- also easy to buy for.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. We've had it for years -- can't remember how long. It is kept in a box that my sister sent our presents in when she sent them from Japan (which had to be 1980 or 81). And yes, the manger is put in the little "attic" that the stall has, and Jesus is put in Mary's arms. I've always wondered why every manger scene has him naked in the manger. It was COLD, folks! Have you ever looked at the paintings by the great masters? Half the nativity pictures have him on the FLOOR -- naked -- with Mary dressed in some gorgeous robe (nice and warm, I'll have you know) with her hands in the air.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I always send a C'mas letter in a card. And I do mail it. I probably do it as much for me as I do for anyone else. Then the letter is put in a notebook where I have a copy of all of the cards I sent out (1970 thru 1980) and the letters which started in 1981...

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The old version of Miracle on 34th Street. The spiritual lessons it teaches are amazing.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Anytime in November, especially if I have to mail gifts overseas..

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I'm not sure. I do like Christmas cookies. A lot. And it shows.

15. Lights on the tree? I grew up with multicolored lights on the tree. And we still have them that way. White lights outside.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Parts of the Messiah -- I adore the Hallelujah Chorus, but in our church we sing that at Easter. The nurses sung it to me after Torrey was born though I had it on tape. I would have played it after Tim was born, but we didn't have any electricity. I sang it to myself after Jill was born -- having a baby is such an amazing Hallelujah type of thing. There are a bunch of them. We start playing them on Thanksgiving and play them through New Year's Day.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We stay home and hope that everyone will come to us.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? "On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen..." Are there any more? Besides Rudolph, of course.

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? A bow. I actually made it myself one year. It looked a bit dorky, but to my amazement, everyone seemed to like it, and so....

20. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Always Christmas Day although the Elves arrive Christmas Eve with new jammies for everyone. We started the Elf tradition when Jill & Torrey were little. Anyone that stays with us over Christmas Eve is "elfed."

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The traffic, the crowds, and the need to give too much when so many others have too little. And I'll add to Torrey's comment that I really don't like the focus on Santa (OK, so I DO like Miracle on 34th St) -- and the focus away from Jesus.

22.Favorite Ornament theme or color? My favorite color is always purple, regardless of the time of year.

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey (absolutely cooked off the bone), buttery mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pie. Add gravy, black and green olives, and dressing made with cranberries and orange juice. However, this is Thanksgiving dinner. Our traditional Christmas dinner which was basically the same ceased to exist the Christmas (2006) we discovered our turkey (I always get a fresh one) was deader than a doornail and, Oh Lord, he stunketh. Since then we have hors d'oeuvres and pick all Christmas afternoon and evening.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I want something I can't have, and that is for all three of my children with their families to be home....instead, this year we will be alone. I'm glad Torrey and Chris at least are coming the week before Christmas. Other than that....

25. Who is most likely to respond to this? My sisters

26. Who is least likely to respond to this? Bob. No question about that....

18 Days at Home...

I'm in the middle of 18 days at home -- longest stretch since last December. 2008 has been rather harried -- but amazing. Two trips to FL, one of which was to meet my new grandbabygirl,




one to Montrose PA for a Torrey family reunion (These are all the Wheaton grads at the reunion....)



and one to "Narnia" to visit Tim -- which also took in a short trip to "Perelandra." We did our first exhibiting ever -- at the National Association of WIC Directors conference in Louisville.



We went to Wisconsin for a weekend stay at a fabulous resort with friends we have known since forever...



And had the worst rain ever in the Chicagoland area -- true flooding, though our basement stayed dry -- praise the Lord!!



Other than that I had 35 speaking gigs -- some only one day, some as long as 6 days. Some as the only speaker for a conference, most with one or both of my LEC compatriots, Linda and Carole. I only have one left to go next month, and then am finished until February!!

So today....no mom/baby dyads at the hospital, no moms scheduled to come and see me here, nothing on the calendar!! Oh my, what shall I do?

My "to do" list is long. I could write lectures for 2009. I could clean up the dining room. I could mail the C'mas package to Lyn. I could look for the C'mas wrapping paper in the basement. I could....I could....

I could have another cup of coffee! I think I will!