I'm torn.


I'm anxious for the hottest, driest summer in half a century to be over. I can't wait until the first crisp breeze.


And yet, where did the time go? There's so much summer stuff I didn't get done! Ah, but I got to spend lots of days and nights with a sweet little granddaughter, so I won't complain about what didn't get done. 


I wouldn't mind, though, if someone were to sneak in and insert two more weeks on my August calendar.


Cool ones.

Labels: Grandkids, Summer, Weather

Okay, it looks like I haven't been "here" since July 1. You'd think summer would give me the free time to blog, huh? But not in 2011. This summer has held surprises, trips, changes in plans, and a lot of driving involved with all of those. So my blog has languished...


In fact, I've considered giving it a quiet expiration party, but I'll wait until fall to decide that :-)


I am back in Shawnee, Oklahoma, with CJ and Tony and Ava, enjoying some more snuggle time with my granddaughter. She's made such tremendous progress that it's hard to imagine her at 3lbs 4.5oz just a few weeks ago! She's now looking much more healthy at 5lbs 9oz and beginning to do some of the things that term babies do. As she should, since yesterday was the day she was scheduled to be born!


It's also been a big blessing to see how tenderly and patiently these two newlyweds have learned to parent Ava already. I know from experience what a shock it is to have a preemie after seven months of marriage. Though our little one did not survive the first month, I still get flashbacks of caring for him when I watch them. And in many ways, what they are experiencing is even harder than what we went through, since they are now responsible for the total care of this tiny one. It can be scary, and it's exhausting! I'm delighted to see that God has equipped Tony and CJ, so early in their marriage, to be all that Ava needs...

Labels: Family, Grandkids, Summer, The Papa

Okay, just let me get this out there. I watched the Royal Wedding. From the pre-game shows until the Royal Kiss. Well, all right, just before the Royal Kiss. I did miss that part after falling asleep right before dawn. But I watched. I watched because I enjoy the Royals way more than I enjoy reality shows and Entertainment Tonight and the red carpet before the Oscars. 


But I have a beef. If you didn't care to watch it live, then I think you should be happy to watch short clips of the really interesting bits the next day. I get really annoyed when the news shows and other bona fide programming get pre-empted to show the ENTIRE. WEDDING. OVER. AND. OVER. But I suppose that if you've paid big bucks to send the likes of Shepard Smith over there to eat the overpriced food and stay in a fancy hotel at jacked-up rates, you want to get the most for your money, so you replay all his gaffes OVER. AND. OVER. AND. OVER. And I'm not picking just on FOX, though their choice of correspondents was particularly offensive. CNN seemed to be colluding with FOX to make sure they both replayed THE. ENTIRE. WEDDING. OVER. AND. OVER AT THE SAME TIMES. ENOUGH!


And while I'm on the wedding topic, wasn't The Dress exquisite? Do you think maybe, just maybe, sleeves and gorgeous necklines will now be back in style instead of every single bride in the country looking like a clone and worried to death (or hoping, in some cases) that her strapless bra is going to fail during the meet-and-greet at the reception? Probably too much to ask, but I can dream. Lace really is lovely.


Please. Don't even get me started on the hats. I'm so embarrassed for the Brits I can hardly speak about it.


Some of you may have caught my note on Facebook that I gave up on the book Fall of Giants. I would never watch a TV show or a movie with THAT level of graphic, lurid activity, so why should I have John Lee read it to me? It was shaping up to be a great story, but I have my boundaries and Ken Follett went way beyond them. Pillars of the Earth I could handle and truly enjoy...but World Without End (another one I couldn't finish) got worse and this one was promising to be off-the-charts pornographic. Some folks grew up reading this stuff in teen "romance" novels, but I didn't and I'm thankful that the needle on my meter can still be exploded.


So what did I do? Picked up an audio book about the history of Hawaii (Unfamiliar Fishes, by Sarah Vowell) that I couldn't wait to be done with. I did finish, but I'll recommend that you not bother with it. After living in Hawaii twice and visiting there quite often, I love the state and its history, and I grieve over how the US treated Hawaii. But I had little interest in hearing a pseudo-historian with a hatred of all things American read her caustic, one-sided rant. To make it even worse, she read her own work, and her voice is the most grating I think I've ever heard. No wonder she does silly voices in animated movies...but does she have to do the same voice while reading books to grownups? Fortunately she reads at a snail's pace, so I dialed up the audio to 3x normal and just gritted my teeth and got through it. Not sure I'm any the better for my trouble.


On a happier note, this past week we had our upstairs re-carpeted (with vinyl in the bathrooms and one bedroom), and that gave my kids the impetus to a lot of cleaning, de-cluttering, rearranging, and decorating on the second floor. Every single one of them got involved, signaling that it really is a different era around Granny's House :-)

Tomorrow Kristen and the elves arrive for an extended stay...they'll arrive with five children and leave with 20% more than that, and in the meantime we'll enjoy their presence with us, not to mention that we'll enjoy having another one of them born in our home. If you've got an extra slot on your prayer list, please use it to ask God to get Dave down here in time to see the little one born! (And no, we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl. Some of us are positively medieval that way!)


Summer around here is going to be much more math-heavy than it usually is. Due to some hiccups that I won't go into (or for my daughters: "into which I will not go"), my remaining two students need to put a couple more months into finishing this year's math, so none of us will get a complete summer break. I think I'll schedule summer math for 6 am on weekdays, and maybe that will encourage them to speed through the rest  :-)


So I see that Mitch Daniels, GOP governor of Indiana, signed into law a bill that will make his state the first to ban federal Medicaid funds from being used to slaughter babies (or to fund organizations that say they give mammograms but make their profits from the slaughter of babies). Looks like he's trying, as I heard someone say this morning, to "get right with the right"--as he should. I think his statements about not fighting cultural wars hurt him even though many misunderstood him, and this will go a long way toward regaining the trust of those who acknowledge the sanctity of every life, no matter which end of the birth canal a baby occupies. 


Will Daniels run? Perhaps...it's a strange field so far. My opinion is that we've got a lot of people that are right on many of the issues but they're either annoying for some reason or another, or they have a habit of shooting off their mouths, thinking they need to have expertise or opinion on everything all at once. Gingrich? Please, no. Trump? Uh, can we talk? Bachmann? Smart lady, but something about her just doesn't say "President" to me. Romney? I may have to eat this, but right now I say NEV.ER. Huckabee? I think he's already decided not to run and I don't think he has the fire to raise the obscene amounts of money necessary. Pawlenty? Still has the "Pa-Who?" factor going against him. Paul? I might have softened a LITTLE on this guy, but I'd rather wait for his son, who seemed to inherit the brains and respect for the Consititution without the wacky factor. Palin? She peaked during the last campaign and she's definitely climbed higher on the annoying scale. Stay tuned...maybe The Papa will run.

Well, that's a slew of snippets! On Thursday I am flying west for a few days of best friend time...may or may not blog from there. Hope you have a terrific first week of May!

Labels: Books, Family, News, Political Observation, Social Observation, Summer, Sundays

I bid you good morning (it is still morning as I write this) after one of the loveliest Easters ever. When it was over last night I had no desire to blog or to do anything but bask in the light of the Resurrection and the joy of being with family and friends. Alas, the snippets went to bed unwritten.


One of the joys of the day was my completion of a goal I set right before New Years: memorize the book of Philippians by Easter Sunday. I actually finished two days ahead of schedule and had some time to review the entire book a couple of times before yesterday. It was a beautiful feeling to have done this with thousands of others on the Partnering to Remember journey this year. So..."Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord!"


This Easter, my consistent thought has been that someday I will have my own Easter! If Christ is the firstfruits of the Resurrection, then something else follows--ME! And YOU! For all those who belong to Him, we will follow Him into an eternity of being like Him...He "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." (PHILIPPIANS 3:21)


After Easter, I can always "smell" the end of the school year and I begin looking forward to the change of pace (if not the heat) of the coming season. We have two vacations in the works and another one or two in the talking stage, so we intend to make full use of the summer. Never mind that a couple of our students (guess which: we only have two left) will be scrambling to finish their algebra courses this summer...they'll be lugging books along if necessary. I remember my days in school. If we got only 2/3 of the way through the book, oh well, it was over. I don't remember that we ever finished a textbook, math or otherwise. But algebra isn't the place to do that, so we'll plug on until the last page.


Things that make you go "hmmmm...": Facebook's brand logo on their site and other places is spelled with a lower case f. But if you're typing a status on facebook and you use the word "facebook", with the lower case f, you get the squiggly red line that indicates it's misspelled. Then if you type it with an upper case F, you're good to go. Go figure.


As I type, there's a lot of banging going on upstairs. The carpet and vinyl installers are here, hoping to do the entire upstairs by the end of the day. This is one project that is WAY overdue and I'm going to be smiling really big when it's done...


Enjoying the epic Fall of Giants via audible.com. John Lee is a great narrator.


I've written many times before about Peggy Noonan and her uncanny ability to step back out of the blur of current events and visualize with clarity "the big picture"--politically, sociologically, culturally. If you agree with me that it's important to have people who can do this, go over and read what she wrote late last week about our efforts in Afghanistan and other parts of the world where we find radically different world views. This issue isn't going away any time soon.


Not sure whether I should be giddy or depressed over the fact that there are, as of yet, no serious challengers on the Democratic side to Obama's re-election. Part of me knows that a Democratic "Obama Shrugged" could be less damaging than what we've got...on the other hand, Hillary Clinton could be a much more formidable challenger for what seems right now to be a weak field of Republicans. So I'm watching with interest...


This week I'll attempt to do some bulk cooking to get ready for the swelling of our household for several weeks. It'll be nice to have some large-batch meals already done!

Happy Easter Monday--have a great week!

Labels: Books, Holidays, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Political Observation, Summer, Sundays

These last weeks of spring have been beautifully busy. With all the major activities of the school year finished, I'm making lists and tentative schedules and planning some travel for the summer. I always love the looseness of the summer as a break from the school year routines...and then, come late August/September, I'm ready to tighten up again and "fall" back into the routines that hold us together for most of the year.

My partial summer list: Get started on my Rosetta Stone course. Be available to work on wedding plans with CJ. Fine tune school plans for the fall. Finish reading How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil (it's slow reading, but oh-so-worth it). Declutter our room (it's become the victim of my inability to walk and use my hands at the same time!).

Our attempt to get AT&T U-verse installed this week fell through when the installer was unable to get the expected signal at our house. So we settled for upgrading our cable package to one where we can DVR and order movies from more than one TV, and get more channels (including FOX Business!) than we've had before. We're still anxious to get U-verse, but it could be another year according to them.

I know I keep saying this, but I need a new computer. And a new phone. But I'm going to try and make the ones I have limp along until the end of the year. I finally got everything from my laptop backed up on a hard drive, something I should have done long ago, so at least I'm not living in fear of an unrecoverable crash. And I've freed up some space on this old not-so-faithful.

Last weekend we celebrated Shelley's graduation from high school and her senior piano recital. About 200 friends and family joined us for the big occasion and were treated to a 90 minute concert of Shelley's best. Later we presented her with her high school diploma and lots of roses and finished the evening with a nice reception. Shelley will now take a European-style "gap year" to work on material for college auditions and to breathe a little while she decides exactly what to do about college choices. Here are a few photos from her recital...




Thursday was a big day for me! I went for my routine appointment with my surgeon, expecting him to clear me to move from 25 to 50% weight on my right leg. After seeing the xrays, he was confident enough to tell me that I could put 100% weight on the leg "as tolerated", making sure that I didn't do too much too soon. My "surprises" at doctor's appointments of late have not been good ones, so I left walking on clouds instead of tile! At that point my plans for the summer changed a little, as I was expecting a very slow summer adding weight very gradually and needing a walker for a few more months. But it appears I may be free of that unwelcome companion sooner than I thought!

Just five months until the election when we may begin to retake our stolen government and return it to a group of men (and increasingly, women!) who respect the Constitution and will stop the madness that could soon have us modeling Greece.

All year long, while sitting here in my chair or lying in the bed, I have been craving some giant sea scallops, perfectly seared and sitting on a bed of couscous. Random, I know, but I'm going to find them.

Our freshly remodeled deck was the site of a Hawaiian luau last night, meticulously planned and executed by our church deacons and their wives. Yes, it was complete with a kalua pig, roasted in a pit in the ground in our back yard, which is being filled in by The Papa and Sons as I write this. It was a delightful evening, blessed by unseasonably mild and breezy weather. Here's a taste of our luau:




For the next couple of weeks, we'll be getting ready for Kristen and the elves to move in with us for a month or two. Dave is still in training for his new insurance job, and soon they'll need to relocate to the DFW area. In the meantime they'll keep us company as they wait for the big move. We're delighted...Kristen is a big help to me and a wonderful companion, and it's a joy to have the children here. Last time they lived with us there were four of them, and now there are five!

I hope you enjoy your last week of spring, 2010. I, for one, am more than ready for a new season!

Labels: Books, Church, Family, Food, Health, Political Observation, Summer, Sundays, Technology

Our city has something for everyone...enjoy!

DINOSAUR QUEST

Cultural Centers - Museums, Entertainment - Events, Cultural Centers - Art/Visual

05/01/2010 - 09/30/2010 at RIVERCENTER MALL

Venue Name: RIVERCENTER MALL

DINOSAUR-QUEST is an exhibition of Dinosaurs, displayed in brilliant lighting and sound, all complemented with high-end video animation.
More Info

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Pictures Made with Light: Impressionism & Photography

Cultural Centers - Museums, Cultural Centers - Art/Visual, Visual Arts - Photography

06/08/2010 - 06/10/2010 at McNay Art Museum

Venue Name: McNay Art Museum

Play with light, learn about landscapes, reflect on water, picnic on the grounds, and paint outdoors
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A Night at the Witte: Dinosaurs After Dark

Entertainment - Activities, Entertainment - Events, Cultural Centers - Museums

06/11/2010 - 06/25/2010 at Witte Museum

Venue Name: Witte Museum

Grab a sleeping bag and get ready for a night of exploration!
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Oh, I do LOVE Lizz Wright!

Lizz Wright in concert

Music - Jazz, Music - Blues, Entertainment - Events

06/12/2010 - 06/12/2010 at Carver Community Cultural Center

Venue Name: Carver Community Cultural Center

Lizz Wright’s smoky, full-bodied voice stirs jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues into prayerful meditations on her Southern roots.
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BRAVO! an evening of song and dance

Entertainment - Activities, Performing Arts - Dance, Cultural Centers - Historical Sites

06/23/2010 - 07/22/2010 at Arneson Riverwalk Theatre

Venue Name: Arneson Riverwalk Theatre

BRAVO!, an evening of song and dance Variety show featuring Fandango, Alamotion and Mariachi Campanas De America
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How fun is this???

Playhouses and Forts

Visual Arts - Installation

06/26/2010 - 10/24/2010 at San Antonio Botanical Garden

Venue Name: San Antonio Botanical Garden

An original Playhouses and Forts exhibit opens at the San Antonio Botanical Garden on June 26. 2010
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The Temptations

Music - Other, Music - Rock/Pop, Entertainment - Events

06/27/2010 - 06/27/2010 at Majestic Theatre

Venue Name: Majestic Theatre

Experience Motown’s best! Join The Temptations as they celebrate the 45th Anniversary of their first Number-One hit, “My Girl.”
More Info

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NOW OPEN! A New & Improved Tot Spot dedicated to guests up to 36 months!

Entertainment - Activities

03/10/2010 - 12/31/2010 at San Antonio Children’s Museum

Venue Name: San Antonio Children’s Museum

NOW OPEN! A New & Improved Tot Spot dedicated to guests up to 36 months!
More Info

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Labels: Fun, Music, Summer

It's been a fun and varied weekend. Well actually, I suppose any house with twelve people living in it is bound to have some variety, but this weekend was especially so. Set-building for the musical, a tea party, a trip to a water park, homemade cookies and other treats, cleaning, reorganizing, movies, work, job-hunting, potty-training (ok, that's our grandson, but it was happening at our house!) and who knows what else...at least it's never boring.

On Wednesday my sweet cousin and best friend from California will arrive for a twelve-day visit. It's her vacation from work, and getting this far away is about the only way we can keep her days off from becoming just another work day. During Lyric's time here, she and I will get away for a girls' fun trip to a Hawaiian/Texas-themed bed and breakfast in the Hill Country, where we will be deliciously stranded for two days of reading, sleeping, watching movies, and ordering room service. We THINK we can handle it :-)

And then...when that's over I will have to admit that summer is over despite how short it seemed. We'll get down to business with school, jobs, meal plans and chore charts...in short, to routine. It's something I think I don't like until I've been without it for three months; at some point I begin to long for the predictability of the days and the welcome rest of the nights. But since I don't remember half of this summer it doesn't feel like I'm ready for it to be over!

I haven't read nearly as much this summer as you'd think I would with so little else to do. But I am still savoring John Piper's The Pleasures of God. It's one to read slowly...

For six weeks now, Anne and family have been with us and we're still having a great time. No jobs have come through for them yet, so we don't know how much longer the situation will last, but we're enjoying every day. Sure, things are crowded with twelve people in one house, but life has been surprisingly smooth and the only casualty so far has been one dishwasher :-)

It's fun to have a 12-year-old who still loves to build with Legos.

I'm not one for much reality television, but I do enjoy the "Next Food Network Star" and HGTV's "Design Star"...maybe because they're pretty clean and don't involve fake romances and break-ups LOL. I was tickled to see Melissa D'Arabian win the Food Network Star competition and look forward to seeing her show. Nobody yet beats Guy Fieri in this category but we'll see what Melissa can do. And I'll have to admit I'll enjoy Design Star much more when most of the men guys are eliminated (though the two girls they kicked off were pretty bad).

I'll be back, hopefully later today, with pics from the fancy tea party that my kids and I threw for my three youngest granddaughters on Friday. It's funny how quickly a fancy dress, china teacups and bonbons can create genuine princesses!

Happy Sunday!

Labels: Books, Family, Friendship, Summer, Sundays, TV

Is it August? Is that possible? Where did my summer go? Ah...traction. Surgery. Drugs. Physical therapy. Nights in a recliner and days trying to catch up from the lost sleep in the recliner. Okay, now I remember. And as much as I hate having had to go through it, I know it was part of God's plan for my life and I'm trying to mine it for all it's worth...

My mother and step-father have "downsized" from their sprawling 6000 sq. ft. Tudor into a 2200 sq. ft. penthouse condo in downtown Fort Worth. This has meant her needing to give away some of her treasures, so this week Nathan and John Caleb drove up and returned with a load of paintings, silver, crystal, teapots, etc. It's been bittersweet going through them...I'm honored to be the next owner of these sweet things, but the very thought that she needed to "shed" them as they make their final move is sobering.

It's been very good to have The Papa back home after two weeks in Hawaii. I tell ya, I'm gonna have to make one of these trips with him again soon. Souvenirs only go so far!

So, once again our "appliance curse" has hit. After not quite three years, our fairly high-end Whirlpool dishwasher quit working and the repair estimate was pretty much equal to the original price. So for the umpteenth time in eight years I am shopping for ANOTHER major appliance. I HATE THIS! (In the meantime, warn us if you're dropping by, okay?)

Annie and fam have been with us for a month now, and, for me at least, it's flown by. Still no word on whether they'll stay here in town or be offered a job somewhere else, but either way we will always treasure these weeks of summer...

I've been pretty amused that Barney Frank got caught on camera this week admitting that the famous "public option" part of the health care reform bill is just the first step toward getting a complete single payer, socialized medical system. I hope the Republicans burn up the airways this fall with commercials featuring this clown and his now-not-so-subtle plan to remake society one sector at a time...

This week, since I'm walking a little and can stand for a few minutes without pain, I'm going to work on putting our room back together. A couple of weeks ago we rearranged the furniture but I still have four or five laundry baskets worth of books, stationery, office supplies, pictures, and knick-knacks to replace or find other homes for. Also, I'll be finalizing homeschool details for my three remaining students. Not to mention all the other summer things that I now have to pack into August :-)

What a joy it was to be worshipping IN PERSON with my church family this morning. I haven't been to church (or much of anywhere) since the end of May, so it felt like a celebration today. Nevertheless, the hymn lyrics which struck me the most this morning were not the ones that sound like celebration, but ones that made me think deeply about how little I deserve and how much God gave for me:


--from "Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended", lyrics by Johann Heermann, 1630

Labels: Church, Family, Health, Homemaking, Music, Summer, Sundays

Okay, I'll admit it.

Sometimes my tolerance for the school year extends farther than in other years. This happens to be a short year.

I'm about 4.1 cm away from all the lessons I can manage for this year. I think it's time to sunbathe and sleep really late and jump on the trampoline and take on some projects we don't have time for during the year...whaddaya say, kids?

Except for online classes, WE'RE DONE!!

(Good work, by the way, ALL of you!)

Labels: Fun, Homeschooling, Kids, Summer