For Jan And Her Dare

Jan, I take that Dare, and I will go farther than just one more of the quizzes! I picked a few that made sense to me, and didn't give me unfavorable results.

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek, and almost always achieve, a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

I wear shoes that are like Crocs, but a different brand, with flowers cut in the pattern of holes. Navy, with little ladybug buttons added. Comfortable, stylish, and easy. Light, and perfect for traveling. Airports love me.

Your Nail Polish Color is Purple

How you're unique: You are artistic and expressive Why your style rocks: You pay special attention to color and fabrics What this color says about you: "I'm creative and know how to take care of myself"

What Color Nail Polish Best Fits You?

I only have one shade of purple in the basket of nail colors. Light and iridescent. But I also have a pair of clogs that are purple, and I do love wearing lavender. I don't like the smell of the plant, but the color is soothing.

Your Element Is Earth

You excel at planning and strategizing. You could be a champ at chess or Survivor. Well grounded, you are able to be realistic and rationalize. On the inside, you have a hard core. It's tough to phase you. You are super productive, and you are able to think anything through. Focused and super charged, your instincts are a good guide for your next step.

What's Your Element?

I had to see what my Element was. Unfortunately, it wasn't a Honda. But, the Earth stuff aligns well with my Taurean sign. I am not surprised. I have been called Grounded a lot, and I don't mean as punishment from my parents. Steady, loyal and stubborn. I would guess that about sums me up.

OK, I have taken a few more of the quick quizzes. Now, to waste more time, and this time money, on entertainment today. We are going to the new Warren Theatre in Moore, to see Kung Fu Panda. I have been in one of the Warren Theatres in Wichita, and they are nice. This one has dinner in the balcony, and a bar! I have to laugh, though. If popcorn and water costs so much, what will the alcohol cost? I am scared to even ask. I won't be able to take pictures to show you, but I will make some mental notes and bring back some thoughts later.

I have to go find something comfortable to wear to the theatre.

I Let The Peer Pressure Get To Me

Alright. I had to. I took the "What Cake are YOU?" quiz. And I got a disappointing answer.

I can't have ice cream often, no matter how much I love it. This thing calls me High Maintenance, and Easy to overdose on. How... odd.

Here you go, Jan. I may try again, just to see what other cakes are available. I prefer Cheesecake, in a variety box from a Factory.

You Are an Ice Cream Cake

Surprising, unique, and high maintenance. You're one of a kind, and you don't want anyone to forget it. You're fun in small doses, but it's easy for people to overdose on you!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

A-Musing Potpourri

Word of the Post
Today's word is: brouhaha
/brew"ha*ha/ noun
The confused noise of many voices, cacophony. A noise much louder than its reason deserves.
I heard a clatter, and the sound of the resulting brouhaha carried all the way outside.
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Ever wondered why you bother? I have had a few days of that. I try and try, only to be disappointed again.

Roadrunner and I were supposed to do our multi-family garage sale on Friday and Saturday this week. And it rained. A lot. Getting up early, I took a shower and got dressed. I pondered the irony of putting on sunscreen as I heard the thunder for the first time. My paleness is legen- (wait for it...) dary. I can get a burn by starlight, I think. And I never even get a tan to show for it. So sad.

On Friday, we had both been awake from before 6, and had done all that weight lifting getting the stuff outside and onto the tables, only to take it back inside. We decided on Friday that we would try again some other weekend. We only had one lady actually look at our stuff, and we weren't even done displaying it that early. We were ready by 8, we were packed and back in the house by 11. Depressing. As if the rain weren't enough.

Today, DH and three other people went to work at the Luther Christian Service Center. It is a store of sorts, run by a lady in the church, who serves a very poor area not far from the city. She has a wall of shoes, piles of clothing, donated bulk food, furniture, and even toys. The guys are part of our clandestine group of charitable givers. We have had several workdays out there. When I went once, I helped one of the guys replace about 40 of their 6 foot flourescent light bulbs. DH helped replace the ballasts for some of their non-working lights today. He came home exhausted. Good work wears one out.

When he came home, DH brought with him a desktop computer tower. He said it was in the dumpster. The processor is the same brand as ours. The tower has a 160 gig hard drive, 1/2 gig of RAM, a DVD writer drive, a CD reader drive, built-in card readers (like the little external attachment I have for the laptop to read my camera card), and a black faced floppy drive, instead of the cream one (from DH's first computer, Maleficent). Most of that information is mumbo-jumbo to me, but I get some of it. I am wondering why it was thrown away. If the hard drive is bad, but the rest is useable, we still can upgrade our own tower for nothing. Yay! If the hard drive works, we just added quadruple the storage to our system. I hope it works. Even if just one part is salvageable, we are better off. Normally, I would have issues with him bringing leftovers from a dumpster, but this is different. Whatever we can't use, we can throw away, give away or sell in the next garage sale attempt. We couldn't buy these components right now, so I choose to think of it as reward for DH helping the Service Center. We don't do this for reward or profit. We do this to help Miss Ruby help the less fortunate.

Today has been a lazy day for me. I have done a lot of reading, some dishes, and I spent a lot of my TV time on the Hallmark Channel, or the Contemporary Christian Music Channel. I am reading The Shack by William P. Young, on the advice of Niki. She wants to have discussions about it. I am thinking these discussions will be good. I have about 50 pages to go, out of 248. It is a short book, as my reading list goes, but it is a lot to digest. Each chapter is full of deep thoughts to ponder, absorb and reflect upon before moving on. I want to rush through and finish, but I find I can't.

I made a Citrusade. Two lemons, two limes, one orange, some orange juice I had in a jug in the fridge, a little Marischino cherry juice, some Grenadine, a bit of vanilla and LOTS of sugar. I think it still has less sugar than the juices I could get at the store. I wasn't too terribly impressed, but DH is now on his second glass, so it can't be bad. I should have done some more housework. Laundry, dishes... something. But I just couldn't. The work yesterday wore me out. Today has been a rest. Tomorrow will be God's day, and then I can do work on Monday.

I made a mini crock pot of potpourri from the peels of the orange, lemon and lime. I added cinnamon stick, bay leaf, drops of mint extract, drops of vanilla, a dash of ground corriander, a teabag of Honey Peach Ginger tea from Cellestial Seasonings, and some whole cloves. My house smells yummy, and I can smell it best when the air conditioner kicks on. I need to take the teabag out, before the paper totally falls apart. I am thinking about just opening it up, and dumping the tea leaves in to keep the peachy scent alive. Or I can peel and core an apple, and add those bits while I have a tasty snack. Oooh. Idea.

The noisy bunny-painted ice cream van just drove by for the fifth time today (at 8 pm), and that is just the times I have seen it. I should call the city about the noise violation that thing is. Nuisance. It has a flashy yellow light on the top, and that is a danger to those prone to seizures and migraines. Health danger to the public, oh yes, I do need to call the city. I wonder what that guy's Carbon Footprint is? (Joking, but it can't be good.) He certainly can't be turning a profit, going through the same neighborhood six times a day, and using all that fuel.

Have a cold drink and a little dessert. You deserve it!

Where Did You Find That?

This week I have been cleaning out boxes full of stuff I haven't looked at for years. I am cleaning, and pricing to get ready for the garage sale this coming weekend. Roadrunner and I are doing a sale at her house, with three families worth of junk.... er, treasures. This has cleaned up space for me to actually organize the junk... er, stuff I still have. In all of my sorting, I have found a few special things that were lost.

The one thing that I am sharing with you here, is the recipe that I have been tearing the house apart to find. A note: I make this in my 6 quart oval crock pot, and I only make half, so I don't have to worry about the lid not fitting. And it makes the whole house smell so wonderful!!!!

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Crock Pot Apple Butter

24 cups (approx. 30 medium) apples, peeled, cored, and sliced. (Cameo variety works great!)
4 cups granulated sugar (or less to taste, depending on the sweetness of the apples)
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Place 1/2 the prepared apples in a 6 quart crock pot. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add half of the sugar mixture and half of the vinegar to the apples. Add remaining apples, top with remaining sugar mixture, and remaining vinegar. Cover with a lid. Lid may not fit at first, but apple will shrink down as they cook. Cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 8 to 10 hours, until thick and dark in color. Stir occasionally and mash apples with a potato masher to get a smooth consistency. Makes approximately 4 1/2 quarts of apple butter.
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You can substitute 4 or 5 teaspoons of pumpkin spice mix INSTEAD of the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. (But I prefer the strength of flavor of each spice separately.) Half recipe measurement of note: I also add a 1/4 cup of dark rum; it adds color and flavor, and the alcohol cooks out. I put the apples in late one night, and do the canning the next day. I can the apple butter in 1 cup glass jars. I also take out some of the juiciest juice, to make the butter thicker. It makes a tasty snack or an interesting addition to sweet desserts, or an awesome ice cream topping.

Reserve the apple peels and cores to make a potpourri in a mini crock pot. Mix with orange peels, lemon juice or peels, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, tea bags, peppermint oil (only a drop or two, or your eyes will burn!) and whatever spices you love, and cover with water. Simmer all day long for an irresistible aroma in your home. Make sure to keep the water level up, as it evaporates in the heat.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Please tell me if you try it, I want to know what everybody thinks of it. Have an enjoyable Tuesday!

Weeds In My Heart

Beep. Beep. This is a test. This is a test of the Emergency Christian Network. Were this an actual emergency, you would have jumped to action instead of sitting like a lump and questioning "How high?" It seems you have passed this time, but the next time you might not be so gracious. We now conclude this test. Beep.

Do you ever think of minor questions as major tests? Today, a teen neighbor came over and asked if he could borrow our lawnmower. Technically, since I don't use it much, it is DH's lawnmower. I called him to ask if it was OK. I hesitated. He said yes, without much thought. I was the doubting one. My DH is so good!

Now, if it had been for his own yard, I would have been skeptical. But this was for my next door neighbor's yard. Across the street from the teen's house. I have to say that I am... ashamed. And I am still skeptical. I took a bit to go out and clean sticks from our yard, and the teen was mowing across the fence. I was watching him, hoping that he would not break our mower. Begging God that the mower come back full of gas, as it left. I still do not know what will happen. The lawn was tall, and the mower strong, but the teen inexperienced. I do not know if the boy has been raised with the courtesy I hope to see.

This seems to be a small thing, and the part of me that is embarrassed that I hesitated is hoping that his home circumstances allow him to be more than what I expect. It is no small cost if the mower gets broken. His single mom can't afford a new mower for me if he damages ours. After all the car repairs we have had lately, more household expense looks scary.

This seems to be a large thing, and the part of me that gave in is reading the Bible, and remembering that giving to the "least of these" is giving to God. I could be entertaining angels by this kind action. The lawn in question gets mowed nicely, and they only have to pay the teen. The teen learns responsibility, learns to return borrowed items in good condition.

This was a test. I feel as if I passed (I did loan the mower), and failed (I was too wary) at the same time. Does this make sense to anyone but me?

While I was typing this, the lawnmower was left on my front stoop (where the squirrel was a couple of posts back), and there was nobody to be seen. I had only checked the front yard because I saw the car leave across the street. The mower was full of gas, which is very nice, but it was left out in the open in a time when the wrong person could wander by and steal it. I swept off the little green leftovers, and locked it in the garage. He didn't even knock on the door, to tell me thank you. Sigh.

So did I pass? Did I fail? Did the teen? Jesus would have loaned the mower, don't you think? Life is full of little hypothetical questions, and daily challenges. How we act in the face of such determines where we go when our time is up. I hope I made the right choice in the face of my own worries.

It all makes me want to go put on some sunscreen, and go mow my own lawn. Work out my salvation... with work (as well as the fear and trembling). Yard work seems to be like gardening. If I can clean up the yard, maybe I can work out the cleaning of my mind's cobwebs. I am reading a book called "The Shack" by William Young, and while I have not yet finished it, it is making a lot of sense in regard to the mess of our souls. We have to clean out once in a while, and be left with a good, empty patch of fertile ground to receive the seeds that God intends to plant in us. More on that later, especially with Niki, who recommended the book to me.

I need to devote more of my time reading the Bible, and less time thinking about the reasons not to loan the mower out.

It All Depends On Your Definition

Word of the Post
Today's word is: perk
/perk/
Today, we get several words for the cost of one. Ah, the perks of being a reader here at Chelfspace.
1. verb. To perk; to make smart, to straighten up, to display jauntily or saucily, to erect. As in, to perk the ears. Also, perk as a peacock.
2. verb. To gain or regain energy. I perked up after my nap.
3. noun. A perquisite (abbr.), which is an incidental benefit awarded for employment. A company car is a great perk.
4. verb. Percolate (abbr.), which is to strain through. I love the smell of coffee perking.
5. adjective. Perky, as to be bubbly with enthusiasm, to the point of annoying others. Katie Couric is paid to pretend to be perky.
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This week has been an adventure.

Saturday, June 14, DH and I were honored to pick up Niki and Benny and Max at the airport, so they could run Camp Zenith at O.C. They had an amazing week, and I got to help a few days. I dearly miss my days of being a counselor at Four Corners Encampment in CO. Kids can ask the deepest questions, and they take home a fire from camp that is a high like none other. They learn that there are other kids struggling in the same ways, and they learn to lean on the strong for support. Unfortunately, they also learn to let the weak drag them back down sometimes. Teens are just as human as the rest of us, but learning to handle their crazy hormones, too.

Monday, June 16, DH got up around 7. He cleaned up a hairball. (We do have two cats as masters) Then he took his shower, got dressed complete with tie, went to feed the cats. He came and kissed me goodbye with the "I love you" I get every day. His pattern is set.

Tuesday morning, June 17, at about 5:00, I heard one of the cats giving us a new "gift"... so I got up to clean up. I did not sleep well that night, so getting up early like that meant that I stayed up. Tuesday was a rather long day for me.

Wednesday, June 18, DH was scooping the cat boxes (his job now, so that someday when I have kids, I don't have to touch that junk and make me and the kiddos sick!), and rounding up the trash from all over the house, as is his pattern before we leave for our midweek Bible study. He was just dumping his own trash into the bag from my can (reusing those plastic bags - our small bit to be more green), when he discovered a treasure. The "hairball" from Monday was actually a "hairy" MOUSE!

We always use massive amounts of tissues or a paper towel to pick up the yuckies, so I know DH didn't actually touch the mouse, but now I am grossed out by the fact that there was a dead mouse in the trash on the other side of the room for THREE DAYS. And I am pretty sure that DH is grossed out that he pick up a dead mouse. He says that fortunately, there was enough time between the touching and the noticing that the disturbedness was lessened. Still... Ew.

I don't know which cat caught it, but they put it on the floor at the foot of the bed, precisely in the middle. A "gift" for both of us. How sweet. As if to say, "I know you don't always eat breakfast, but you need your protein. I love you, parents!" I have been grateful for years that the toy mice are not real. They end up on the bed all the time. We even joke about the "Gift of Mouse" that gets left while we are away. This time, I am just grateful that it wasn't on the bed. And I wonder which baby to thank for it?

Today, we got our laptop up to date with new downloads. We had to install the driver to tell the computer that it has a wireless card. Now we can see our own wireless network at home! We also got the new "genuine" Windows copy activated, and now I have to get used to all the updates that have come in the time our poor laptop was disconnected. I used to have cats on my buttons for Firefox, I have to try to get that back. We have been playing all afternoon.

As much of a blessing as this laptop has been, it can be frustrating for me too. I assume (I know this is what my problem is) that the computer should do what I tell it, the first time. Yep, I expect Windows to work. Ha! There is the rub. I guess I have to treat this new update as a new program that I have to learn. All over again. I wish we could afford a Mac. Right out of the box, they work. And I could reasonably expect it to work the same every time. Anyone know how to make a Gateway laptop sleep? Since the Great Blockage, it stays hot if it stays on, even when the lid is closed and the screen goes dark. I have been afraid to leave it on at night, I would rather turn it off, until I can tell it to sleep. I can't have any fires starting in my living room while I sleep.

I hope you get all the perks you could ask for this week!

Random Wordiness: The Musical

Word of the Post
Today's word is: anathema
/a*nath"e*ma/ noun
I found this on dict.org, my first dictionary site, and decided they had the best explanation:
Anything devoted (especially to evil), a curse, to dedicate.
1. A ban or curse pronounced with religious solemnity by ecclesiastical authority, and accompanied by excommunication. Hence: Denunciation of anything as accursed.
2. Any person or thing anathematized, or cursed by ecclesiastical authority.
This definition makes me want to read Colleen Coble's newest book, Anathema. (Anathematized... wow that looks like a $10 word I could use in a sentence! Ooh, and Solemnity. I love vocabulary building!)
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I have always enjoyed watching a passing storm. Dad used to turn the couch around to let us view it all through the widescreen of our picture window. Today, the raindrops fall on the trees in gentle music, tickling the ivory keys of the leaves, percussion falling on different surfaces below, creating a symphony of sounds. Like parts of the music in Fantasia (Disney presentation), the scene would be almost serene, save for the clashes of the lightning and resulting thunder's sonic booms. "Drip, drip, drop, little April showers..."

(Funny, that looked a lot longer in the notebook when I wrote it yesterday than it does now that it is typed.) This is the big branch that is still in our backyard. The big tree in the center of the yard is partially dead, and likes to "drop hints" that it needs to be pruned.



So now that you have the soft plinking of piano in the background of your head, I can share more of my last two weeks. The royal owners of the plantation, the cats, were having a busy day guarding the grounds. Can you tell what they are so interested in?



Yes, that is a squirrel... on the front stoop, taunting the cats. Oh, for a paintball gun, or a pellet gun. These nasty little creatures have made all our lives miserable recently. They have managed to get back into the formerly sealed hole in the roof, I think, and they are making a wreck of the cats' senses. Nasty vermin.

On Friday, June 6, when I was granted an audience with the Prince Gum Drop, I took the moment to be paparazzi. (I thought that was a collective term. I wonder how I am one female photographer of stars? Papparazza?) Most of my pictures, and experience, up to that day had been with both the Candy Kids. Here is me, and the Gum Drop.



After we had dinner with Gramma and Grampa, we played in the back of Grampa's truck. Gum Drop left little "ghost" footprints in the dirt in the bed of the truck. Here we see the path of the Sasquatch, coming toward us, through the rough terrain.



This is the resulting dirty foot.



The ants are still around, but only show their faces when DH leaves a little juice in the bottom of the glass. This photo was taken after a three day absence of ants.



I played a little with the view at the side of the glass. Does anyone else read "OC" there? Ack! They are coming back to haunt me! I paid them off, and now they want more. Beware the groove.... Groove!



I spent Monday this week doing laundry and my nails. I told Niki in an email that I had chosen to go with "an obscenely bright pink". This is one of my new little bottles of joy from O.P.I. nail products. The bottles are big enough to give me four or five manicures, and small enough that if I don't like them, they are not a huge loss when I throw them away. If I really like them, then I can buy a full-sized bottle.



This is WAY out of my comfort zone, but will go nicely with the purple shirt I am wearing today for our Steak 'N' Shake luncheon today. Niki is doing what we try to do when we travel. We love to go to restaurants that we don't have at home. When we went to Colorado, DH picked Black Eyed Pea, because we haven't seen one outside of Texas in several years.



I got this picture of Marvel yesterday. I love how I somehow caught him looking at me, and you can see that he has gorgeous eye color. I am amazed that it didn't turn out looking like reflective marbles like my picture attempts usually give me.



This is one happy kitty! Look at those whiskers!


I hope the world is rubbing you the right way today. Have a nap, have a party, have a quiet time with God. Do whatever makes you happy today.

Going Home, I'm A-Going Home

When last we saw our heroine, she was leaving Gallup, and winging her way East, toward another edition of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Bloggers. (Thanks to Niki who was the clever one to come up with that parody. I wish I had thought of it first.) Aren't the clouds pretty? You can see them all over the Southwest. Sky isn't as open in the big city.

We proceeded to Albuquerque. This is near the interchange at I25 and I40. In Dallas, they call their big messy area the “Mix Master”. Oklahoma City has flyover loops, but not many areas that are so many levels.

Driving through Albuquerque, I always get the sense that they are working on making the City pretty. Their overpasses are painted, their highway walls are stucco and have impressions of art on them. There is a tall thing that lights up at night. Jenna is embarrassed by the thing, but it is nothing if not interesting. I certainly wouldn't call it pretty. It is near the highway, so I didn't get a good picture of it. Which may be for the best.

We first went to Jenna's house, to clean out the car, and visit for a little bit. One of her dogs, Charlie Brown, is convinced that I have to be stared at. He knows my Mom, and he knows me. He seems to know we are similar, but he also knows we are not the same. I wonder sometimes if he has figured out that I am essentially her "pup". He sits on my lap, and looks deeply into my eyes, which for most dogs means a challenge. He will not bark at Mom when she visits. He sits near her when she is at Jenna's, as if she is in need of a guard. Jenna is sweet, moving the dogs to her room, where they can go outside if they choose. DH likes this, because he isn't really a dog person. I am OK with dogs as long as they don't bite me.

We then went to LooneyMom's home for a wonderful dinner. She prepared a Green Chile Stew, and even made tortillas from scratch! We got to meet her lovely family, and we had a good time visiting with her. Some of the people I have met online (and then in person) have spouses who wonder why they are letting this crazy lady into their lives. Not so with Liz's husband.

He was involved in the conversation, and was happy to meet us. I got to enjoy my favorite things about New Mexico: The green chiles and the people I miss so much. I got to indulge myself in a little homemade peach ice cream. We had a fun visit. Like so many other visits before, it ended far too soon. I cropped the pictures so that you can't see the writing on the wall. (There were household scribbles on the white board behind us, and they looked important, but Liz didn't want me to show them to you.)

We left Liz and went back to Jenna's to spend the night. I tried to get a picture of Albuquerque from Jenna's back door. She lives above the city. It was a spectacular view, but my camera didn't do it the justice it deserved.

Saturday, we decided that the 10 hour drive was going to be easy. We were not in a rush to get home. We drove at a leisurely pace, and stopped to see the things we had never stopped to visit. The one thing that really was in my mind was the huge cross on the highway at Groom, TX.

I have seen it from both directions for over 10 years, but this is the first time either of us had ever stopped to actually visit the scene. As I am not Catholic, I don't completely understand or agree with all the 14 Stations of the Cross. I took pictures of the ones that made sense to me. Here is Pilate washing his hands of the responsibility of killing Jesus.

Here is Jesus carrying the cross, with help from Simon of Cyrene.

Here is the Soldier nailing Jesus down to the wood.

A closeup of the hand of the Soldier, holding the hammer. I think of this as all my sin and anger nailing Christ to the Cross. I have this as my thumbnail picture on my profile. It is profound to me, and precious. Jesus still loves me after THAT. How can I help but live for Him?

Near here, they have a replica of the tomb. Up on top of the replica of the tomb there is a scene of three men hanging on crosses. The Center is, of course, Jesus. The other two are the criminals that were mentioned in the Biblical accounts. In the recreation, the thief on the right (the left of Christ) is the one that is repentent, and the one on the left (to the right of Christ) is the angry one. I got pictures of those in the sunset. It was hard to tell the features, because of all the back lighting.

But, that gives us my favorite picture. This is the representation of Christ hanging on the Cross, between two criminals that should have been me, you and everyone who has ever lived.

The area impacted me. It is not often that I can find meaning in images of what people think Christ looked like. These are bronze statues, so there is the earthen color of them, to make His skin look darker, which is closer to the actual Jewish heritage, and less like the Rennaisance/Romance/Pink Jesus usually depicted in art. I can't help but think that we are too gentle with the thought that He was pretty to look at. Isaiah said there was nothing about His features that made us come to Him. It was His love for us, not His pretty face, that put Him on that Cross for ME. It was His words and His way of caring for us that made Him attractive, not the soft hands and well-groomed beard and straight, golden-lit medium brown hair. I find it hard to think of these statues too long, as they are part of what I would consider as a graven image. God thought images were so important not to do, that he made it one of His Top 10 List of Do's and Don'ts.

I have pondered long and hard about huge crosses, because after Groom presented theirs to the world, a Community Church in Edmond went through a lot of trouble to recreate it here. That church put more money in Legal Fees fighting to get the “right” to build such a monstrosity, than my church family makes in many years. What if, for the sake of argument, they had used that heap of cash to feed the poor, heal the sick, provide for the community? Which acts would have shown the world who Jesus truly was? Now, they still have a hurting world to care for, and the only evidence I see of their faith is an ugly structure that may have cost their souls. I simply don't understand what is so important about displaying a cross instead of displaying the love of the One who suffered the cross to save us.

This is the large cross as I saw it looking down from the top of the hill where the three crosses were. You can see the “stations” around it.

To the left of me from this view, there is a building. It has in the center of it, a water fountain, with an image of Jesus standing in the middle, I guess making a speech.

There is a gift shop (that was closed because we were there far too late in the evening). The area continues to grow. The builders are working on a nativity scene. The family and visitors of baby Jesus.

The camel that likely brought them from afar.

Everything was made of, or pointed to, the cross. Even the light fixtures that shine on it at night are supported by crosses.

The rest of our trip through Texas and Oklahoma was made primarily in the dark. We got home, and had to remind the cats that we still live here, and that we would not harm them. We have never been away for a full two weeks before. Even though they had occasional company from our wonderful friend Cathy who came every day to feed them, they thought we had officially lost our marbles. Which I have not. In fact, I even bought one in Boulder.

I am sorry that the Vacation Chronicles have taken so long to finish. We have had a collapse of computer access. My DH is so intelligent. He rescued a lot of our pictures and word files from our failed laptop. He saved us at least $100, by getting into our desktops and burning CD's of information. I couldn't get the thing to let me into any of the programs. We did have to buy a “genuine” copy of Windows XP Home, and that is now loaded. We still have to get a driver, to tell the computer that it has, and can operate, the wireless modem. (We found out after we loaded the new Windows programs that we could have burned that information, too. C'est la vie!)

This post brought to you by the Awesome DH, and the marvels of modern technology. And by the letter T. And also by the number 3.

Oh Six, Oh Seven, Oh Eight.... Oh My!

Several people have emailed and commented to me that I should put something new on the blog. I have been hesitating and procrastinating. I decided from Jayme's Life Lessons Learned that I cannot spend my "5 minutes" wasted on thinking of doing something when I must DO something. I also chose to put away the putting off of duty, delegation and desire. I should not put off the good I can do today, to wait for better tomorrow, as I may not have a tomorrow. Without further ado...

On Wednesday, June 4, the world should have celebrated a great milestone. However, most of you will never even know about it. 71 years ago on June 4, a man named Sylvan Goldman invented the shopping cart. He first produced them by building a little cart with wheels, that held two small shopping baskets. He also invented the later addition, a child seat in the top part of the cart. They were first used in Oklahoma City. (the news station told me, so don't think I made this up)

Also on June 4 back in 1919, the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was instated. It guaranteed the right of Women to Vote. Handy to remember all those 19's.

On Friday, June 6, I was entrusted with a very valuable cargo. I got the opportunity to watch my nephew, Gum Drop, for a few hours while his daddy went to work. His mommy and sister (Jelly Bean) are out of the state on an adventure. This weekend, Gramma and Grampa are borrowing Gum Drop. They have never gotten to have him all by himself, because he is the second child. So, I was trusted to take Gum Drop to the Baby Swap meeting, near half-way between our fair city and Gramma's home. This is a 45 minute drive from Gum Drop's house. He is so laid back, such an easy baby. Totally different from his high-maintenance sister. (Not to say that she is bad; on the contrary, she was an easy baby, too. She just demands more attention.) I took a picture Friday that reminded me much of an old picture of Jelly Bean. Maybe I can get the two pictures side by side here for you someday soon.

I finished reading the most recent book I couldn't put down. It was "Abomination" by Colleen Coble. I loved Colleen's book. It was the perfect blend of thought-provoking and scary. Chills. I was certain the killer was someone else. I see now how she dropped little clues. I didn't see it at the time. Oh, it was great!

I hate to tell her, but there were two mistakes I caught. One of them ruined a bit of the early drama, and the other was a minor typo (and probably not her mistakes at all). I do relish being a Proofreader. I miss it greatly. I need to be in contact with some of the publishers. I want to get transcripts to things electronically, and "telecommute" to work. I don't really want to Edit, per se, but I would love to correct everyone's grammatical and spelling errors. I would so very much enjoy fixing the writers' and publishers' mistakes. Spell Check on your computer program cannot possible find all the mistakes. See? Possibly, you missed it? In a hypothetically perfect world, "an" and "a" would not be interchangeable, particularly in front of words beginning with H. I know. I am a psycho; but my little world is so much more clear, and fun for me.

Today is 06-07-08. It is THE wedding day of the year, supposedly. DH suggested to one bride we know that she should have the wedding start at 3:45. I wonder if there are babies being born today, that will be happy to know their birthday is such an interesting set of numbers? Yesterday was a birthday for a friend from High School (that I have since lost track of). There were three of us, S. born on 04-04, Me born on 05-05 and V. born on 06-06. V. was into lots of strange things, like Numerology, smoking and E.S.P. She commented once on the fact that my upbringing (church of Christ) would not allow me to go to dances, while hers (United Methodist) threw them. It isn't so much that my church wouldn't let me go, but my mother thought I needed to be more mature to go. I was planning to go to my Senior Prom, but when nobody asked (one of two or three nobody's in very particular), I took my father to see a movie. Daddy/Daughter dates were rare, and I enjoyed it. The only downside was that he had to drive home in the downpour of driving, sheeting, bucketing, cats-and-dogs rain.

I have been quietly cleaning up the blog, adding the books I have finished for the 888 Challenge, and massaging the links that I have. I have added a few new links that I have checked often for a long time, but decided to share with those of you who may not go the same route I have traveled. I have removed some links that have not updated for several months. (Jared, I would add you back at a moment's notice, so don't despair!) I finally took down my link to Suezque. It breaks my heart all over again to have to remove something so cherished. I saved the link, and have looked at it often, but I couldn't stare at it anymore on my side bar. In fact, it has been hard for me to come up with something new for the blog, because adding another post would move their remembrance from the top three posts, and I wasn't ready yet for that to happen. I may never be ready, so I decided to do it today.

Flip Flop Mamma lost a close friend recently, as well. He was only 32, and was an amazing story of faith and strength. One of her friends, while at Steve's funeral, said to FFM, "Can you imagine being so amazing that God only needs you on Earth for 32 years?" My memory gave a start, because at the Whitlow graveside service, the second uncle of the three to speak pondered, "The greatest Man to ever walk this Earth died when He was only 33." He was referring to Jesus, of course, and the fact that Gary had not yet made it to his 34th Birthday. I am just 34 myself, and barely so. Stark realizations have set in. I can't imagine that my funeral would be as positive. I must work to change that. I don't believe Gary's age was "coincidence", any more than I think that the tornado was an "accident".

Sally said that she had a friend whose daughter was touched by Gary and Kim's story and dedicated her young life to Christ. What greater good can come out of such tragedy? The work of the Lord goes on, in the lives and hearts of younger people all the time. Legacy. We inherited it from our family or mentors or teachers. It will be passed on to the following generations in the same ways, for all time to come on this Earth. Until Jesus comes back to take us all home, we must forge ahead. Forging is not always an easy or pleasant job. I have to remember to keep looking for good. I have to be good to others, and not let my own disappointment and depression keep me mired in the mud where I seem to be stuck. God will give me His Joy.

DH just told me that Big Brown finished Third. I don't know why that is still so intriguing to me. When I was a child, reading all the horse books I could get my hands on, the current running of the Triple Crown was the only sport I was curious to watch. Big Brown this year had already won the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Today was the running of the Kentucky Derby, the third and largest (well, most televised and talked about) race of the Triple Crown. I was rather hoping Big Brown would win. It has been many years since one horse captured all three races. Rare, and exciting to follow. I think Black Beauty got me hooked on the real races, and riding my cousin's horse in the summer trips to Kansas.

Blessings on your weekend!