Thursday Thoughts

I want to thank all of you for your prayers for Feisty. Your prayers are having an affect on the situation. School starts one week from today and, if all things continue as they have the last few days, Feisty is going to be ready! Praise the Lord - and all of you who are such faithful prayer warriors.

Thanks also for your concern about the dog incident. I want to talk to the young father who is not doing the right thing with this rottweiler puppy. As much as I was angry at the dog, I do realize that it is the fault of the owner that the dog is not under control. I am just amazed at how calm Care Bear was shortly after the incident. Feisty has always had an unhealthy fear of dogs, and I'm sure this has not helped.


Yesterday was a great day for me. I know I have written before about my four high school friends - we used to get together every 3 months for lunch. One has moved back to Nebraska, and we have lost track of one. The one who moved back to Nebraska has bought a cabin here in Colorado, not too far from here. The three of us were at her cabin yesterday, and we spent 5 hours catching up (well, two of us had 7 hours, because we rode together up and back). Our jaws were tired, but it was wonderful.

I love the way the rocks come up out of the water in this lake.

Today DC and I took a trip up to the Social Security office to start the process of my hopefully getting some benefits when I turn 62. I am quite confused, but supposedly I can get something, or maybe not. We'll see! But the thing that really blew my mind - we stood in front of a window with a hole cut in it to talk through - in a large room full of others waiting for their turn. There were about 8 windows, and we were at the very first one - the thing that blew my mind was when they asked us for our SS numbers - we had to verbally tell them our number and other personal information to ensure that we were who we said we were. They wanted our birth dates, our mothers' maiden names, and I can't remember what else. But I kept thinking - I sure hope nobody's listening closely or can read lips! With all the commotion about identity theft, I found it quite inappropriate to have to say these things out loud in an open area. What do you think?


I had a strange realization today - how often we can accomplish what we want to do with technology that would amaze our grandparents, if they were still alive. I went into a bathroom where the light was off - suddenly it came on without any help from me. Of course, the flusher went off by itself, the water faucet came on when I waved my hand underneath it, and the hand dryer started by itself (other places of course have the "wave" towel dispensers). I go to the grocery store, buy my things, check them out by myself, pay by swiping a card, put them in bags (that if you forget to do, you get reminded by a disembodied bossy voice!), grab the receipt, and go home. Then, of course, there's the GPS telling me where to go and how to get there - and getting really upset if I choose to go a slightly different way. Isn't it amazing when you think of it? I know that there are many other examples of things that we can do now without the aid of a "real live person." Can you think of some?


I have been studying Ecclesiastes with Chuck Swindoll's study guide for the last few months. I have found many verses that I really like. These two have struck me this week:


Ecclesiastes 7:14: When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.


Ecclesiastes 7:29: This only have I found: God made man upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.


Oh, my - timeless words, apropos to today.

A Bit More Randomness

The first week of retirement was great - I have carved out the morning for myself, with anything Kristen needs to do coming in the afternoons, when necessary. I have made it to the gym by 8:00 every morning (except Wednesday, which is library story time day, so I have the afternoon off). It feels so good, and it's working! I've been riding my bike there every day as well, so that saves gas and adds a few more burned calories. I'm working the old WW plan - the plan works if you work the plan!

I'm going to do a "Tackle it Tuesday" for the first time next week - I'm making slow progress with my little office/playroom. It feels good to actually have the time and motivation to get my house in order after all these years of looking the other way.

The 4th was a busy day for us. We usually just hang around home, go to the park for a burger cooked by the Lions Club guys, back home for the afternoon, and then back to the park for the fireworks (we're blessed to live walking distance from the park, so we get to avoid the parking fiasco). This year, we went for the burger and met DC's mom and sister there. Then we went up to Kev and Sema's to see our new grandpuppy. They're the proud owners of Calypso (as in Pirates of the Caribbean, in honor of the black eye patch), to be called Callie. She's a bull terrier with lots and lots of energy.

The fireworks are always really good in our town, but this year was the best ever. I walked over to the sculpture park (I plan to share this place with you soon) and scoped out a nice place for the rest, who came about 8:30. I read my book and actually dozed off for a few minutes. The sunset was so great.

I tried the "night landscape" mode for the first time - the lights reflecting from the neighborhood across the lagoon.

I tried out the "fireworks" mode on my camera, but it wasn't too successful. I couldn't keep it still enough.

Now for a little tour of the current flowers in bloom. The clematis are gorgeous this year.

The delphiniums are vibrant blue.

We have so much shade that we only have one regular rose bush. But the miniature roses are profuse and beautiful.

The snapdragons are not plentiful this year, but they always bring back a fun memory.

Care Bear and I used to play this little game - Susie Snapdragon would talk to Care Bear and she would talk back - I learned some very interesting things when Susie Snapdragon asked Care Bear questions. Maybe Kate and Emma will want to play this game in a couple of years.

Have a wonderful week!

The Sequel

Friday was a good day. The time at work was enjoyable - the party with my family was wonderful. The flowers are more beautiful than when I got them. I got phone calls from Diane and from Judith. What nice surprises! Thank you all for your kind comments!


Recently somebody did a Show and Tell on her Willow Tree collection. I commented that I had purchased the nativity set this past Christmas and would love to have more of them. My wish came true when one of my gifts was the angel called "Celebration." I just love it.

I received so many lovely cards, and a nice Visa gift card from my colleagues at work. Dwight planned a nice party - everyone brought something. Sema's contribution was the cake - turns out she works with someone who used to work for the best bakery in our town, but now she free lances. She did such a great job! And it tasted as good as it looked - half was chocolate with raspberry filling and half was vanilla with lemon filling. Notice that she even made it look like pages on the edges.

In case you're having trouble reading the light blue script, it says, "Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy your next chapters!" There is a ribbon "bookmark" dividing the pages that says "Book on Dawn's Retirement." Note the pages are numbered 1 and 2. The second page lists what I should do now. Chapter 1 - Relax, Time for Self. The little symbols before are an umbrella, sunglasses, and weights (Sema must have told her friend that I plan to get back to the gym more often). Chapter 2 - Travel ... A Lot. Below it says Europe, Canada, and has a little cruise ship. Chapter 3 - Enjoy Life - a happy face and a sunshine. So beautiful.

It's funny. I know that I don't have to set my alarm foe 5:00 (or any other time really!) tomorrow morning. Intellectually I know it. It hasn't sunk in yet, obviously. I was watching a really good movie - The Bucket List - have you seen it? My first thought was to ask my friend at work tomorrow if she's seen it!

Yesterday DC, Kev, Sema, and Kristen went rafting on the Poudre River. The river is really roiling this year - lots of run-off from the mountains. You won't catch me within 10 miles of such an adventure - but they love it. I spent the afternoon with the 4 little girls.

The last run was the most intense. One minute Kristen was in the raft, the next second she wasn't. She and the guy on the left both landed in the river. Thank the Lord she had rented a wet suit. Otherwise, her whole body would look like her banged up knuckles do. She has a deeply bruised leg, but she's going to be okay.

My women's/mother's intuition kicked in about 6:00. They'd been gone longer than I thought they should have been. I tried to call them on their cell phones, but no answers. Of course, they couldn't have phones in the raft, so that meant they still weren't on their way home yet. I was trying to keep my tension from the girls. Kristen and DC had ridden his motorcycle up to Kev and Sema's place, so that was another scenario I was concerned about.

I decided it was finally time to get the kids something to eat, so thought I'd take them out. Care Bear started crying, missing her mommy. I tried to convince her that crying wouldn't make things any better. I finally got her mind off the situation by asking her where they'd like to eat. She got back to her own cheerful self. Feisty turned to her and said, "Care Bear, how did you stop crying so fast?" She said, "Well, you just stop making noise, wipe the tears off your face, and you're okay!" Oh, the wisdom of a 5-year-old!

When we were eating at Wendy's, she saw a wasp outside the window. We began a discussion about wasps and how they were even worse than bees when they sting. She said, "Why in the world did God create bees and wasps? They're just BAD! . . . Oh, maybe it was that other guy who made them - Satan!" She just cracks me up - this led to a great discussion about Adam and Eve and how bad things entered the world because of them.

We were very relieved to finally get the phone call that they were on their way home, just a bit worse for the wear, but alive. Kristen saw her life flash before her - I am so thankful for God's care for them.

Have a great week!

Friday Show and Tell - Memories Are Made of This III

So - one more morning with Peter. We've covered a lot of ground. I think he'll be okay. I know I will. The walls are empty of anything except nails, the shelves are barren - and Peter doesn't know what he'll ever put on them. My little 10' by 10' home away from home is no longer mine. It took me 3 days to get everything home, and now it is all sitting in the middle of my living room floor. I have no clue where I am going to put all of this stuff. It is all so sentimental to me.

Between the missionaries who have come to our church and the faculty going overseas for their projects and my son traveling to Africa, I had three shelves full of lovely souvenirs. I wish I had labeled them all. The plate is from Guatemala. The little blue egg hanging up is from Russia, the little white pot is from Cancun. The little card has a zebra from Africa. The wooden hand with God is love, the star, and the nativity scene is from Israel. The dust is from not having time to get it off the shelves, and being too lazy to remove all the "stuff."

The blue and white cows are salt and pepper shakers from Poland. The wooden paddles are from Sweden. I can't read the words on the other side of the beautiful cup - I can't believe I didn't mark the bottom. I know it's from one of the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe.

The beautiful green jewelry box is from Korea. The little pottery saucer is from Romania. The heart-shaped box is a wedding favor from Peru. The little tray and the Eiffel Tower are, of course, from France. The miniature spoon is from Switzerland.

The wooden bowl and camel are from Morocco. The little colorful plate is from Germany. The wooden box is from Madagascar. The sand picture in the bottle is from Hawaii. The beautiful hummingbird blown glass was a gift from the person whose job I worked in my first of two long-term temp jobs before I got this position.

The bowl wall hanging and the small picture on the right are both from Mozambique, and are made from banana leaves, believe it or not. The pencil holder is from Swaziland. The egg holder is from Poland. The little nesting dolls are from Russia. The straw bag is from Hawaii, the cup is from Bulgaria, and the little red bag and the woven matt are from Saudi Arabia.

The people have made it worth getting up and going to work every day. The 870 students (give or take 50), have made it a constant challenge and have given me great enjoyment.

"Gentle Ben" hired me - green as could be. I didn't know what an MSW was, but I was pretty sure I could figure out and coordinate the program. I must have gotten that from my dad! Ben was so great to work for - he appreciated everything I did and made sure I knew it. He and his wife, Georgia, were a great team - they still come in often because they run an animal-assisted therapy program through the School of Social Work. She used to make the food for our retreats, and helped us decorate and serve the students for graduation. She was the ultimate hostess at our annual Christmas party (before we had to quit calling it Christmas, and had to become politically correct - after he retired). They have the most beautiful home and we felt so welcome there. DC never enjoyed his work social events, but he loved going to mine - the faculty and staff were so much fun.

Ben and Georgia took me out to lunch last week as a retirement celebration - we had such a good time.

Tip and I started the same day. When she left after ten years, it wasn't as much fun any more. She and I shared alot of "kid" issues, and she was my prayer partner the entire time. She still is, for that matter. She was technologically so far beyond me - I would always ask her how she knew how to do what she was doing - she said "you just have to play around and figure it out." I kept telling her it wasn't play for me, it was hard work. She was always amazed at my memory for details in my life. I had written my Christmas letter the first year we worked together, and I had her read it over for me. She said she wished she had time to write a Christmas letter. So I wrote one for her - she couldn't believe I could remember everything that had happened to her that year that she had shared with me. It was so funny. I don't think she ever got it sent out. We still keep in touch, and I hope I get to see her this summer.

"Karla with a K" was another character in our cast. She was our work study student for 4 years, and we hired her for an additional year after she graduated. She was in her early 30s when she came to school. She had the kind of wit about her that allowed her to say the most insulting things to people and they would not take it as an insult. They would laugh. If I had said the things she did, I would have been fired! She eventually went for her MSW at a different school - she said she couldn't stay here for her master's degree because she had bossed our faculty around for 5 years and she didn't think it would be a good idea to be in their classes. She told me that I was responsible for her getting into grad school elsewhere, because she listened to everything I griped about that applicants did, and did the opposite.

We have had two Bobs, Brad, Bruce, and Ben all at the same time. Big Bob rode his bike to work every day (as does Brad) with his pants legs rolled up to avoid getting caught in the chain. He'd forget to put it back down before going to class. Karla would remind him. He was a jazz musician. He told the greatest stories in his booming voice - we really missed him when he moved to another program.

The other Bob has been my closest colleague in the admission process. He is brilliant - has several master's degrees and his doctorate. He has the most amazing vocabulary. But he can't remember students' names to save his soul. I will miss Bob.

Victor - the gourmet cook. The consummate absent-minded professor. So gentle. His most oft uttered phrase is "Oh, well." He takes everything so calmly. I wish I were more like him. I will miss him.

Maria was one of the children sent over from Cuba in the 60s when Castro was threatening to remove the children of professionals from their homes to indoctrinate them in government schools. She and her brother were airlifted out of Cuba when she was four, with many other children, and landed in a convent school in Ohio. They eventually were reunited with their doctor father and attorney mother in Florida. I will miss Maria.

Joyce is the office manager and works with the undergraduate program. She is an extremely organized person. She has never thrown anything away. She has a very generous heart. She still has a bit of her Chicago accent after 30 years in Colorado. I will miss Joyce.

There are many others, but I don't have time to write about them all, and you don't have time to read that much. The work study students have helped us so much - and I have been fond of many of them.

Tom Sutherland - remember that name? He was the professor who was teaching in Beirut, Lebanon when he was kidnapped and held hostage for 2,354 days. He was a professor here for 26 years before he went to Beirut. He had a hero's welcome home when he was finally released. What a goose-bump-raising memory that is when he returned in 1991. A sculpture garden on campus was dedicated to him.

Last, but not least, my sweet husband had these sent to me today, to take to work tomorrow to celebrate this momentous occasion. He's also throwing a party at home tonight!

For more Friday Show and Tell stories, stop by Kelli's blog, There Is No Place Like Home.

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Memories Are Made of This II

At the end of the work day Friday, I will have driven approximately 85,100 miles to work and back. I have watched the space between my town and the university town grow incredibly. I used to see this young lady riding her bike to a vet clinic every morning - now I can barely find the little building among all of the houses, business, and apartment buildings. Thankfully there is still some empty space between the two towns, which has been mandated by the voters of our county - so we can still see the mountains on that drive.

There is a tremendous crew of young people who buzz around the campus in spring and summer, planting and caring for flowers and bushes. The peak time will be a bit later in the summer, when many visitors will be on campus for conferences and conventions. In my last stroll around, I thought I'd share some of the beauty.

This lovely rose garden is on the patio of the student center - I loved to read where this young man is sitting on this beautiful summer day.

One of the most special spots on campus is The Oval. There are dozens of hundred-year-old trees around this beautiful spot where many weddings are held, and many races are run. Every year there is a canned food drive on campus, and the cans are stacked around the entire oval, several layers deep.

There are some very old and architecturally interesting buildings - such as the Statistics Building, which was refurbished to its original stateliness in recent years - they uncovered beautiful stained-glass windows in the upper levels, which had been painted over sometime in history.

The very first building on campus, which had served as the administration building at some time, called Old Main, was burned down during the turbulent 60's. This is the current Administration Building.

There was a whole little colony of squirrels having a wonderful time playing in the grass, running up and down the trees, chattering, making an incredible ruckus - really fun.

This project, built by some engineering students, is a favorite spot of the girls - they love walking around campus. This is a favorite spot for pranksters - just a bit of soap and the bubbly mess is amazing. And quite a chore for the facilities folks to clean up.

My first two mornings with Peter have gone pretty well. He is incredibly young, but very bright and a pleasant, polite young man. He will be younger than most of the students he works with. I have 3 more half days with him - it won't be nearly enough. But we'll do the best we can. I did get the memo today that there will be a bit of a get-together Friday morning for anyone who can make it to say good-bye. But many are gone for the summer.

MORE TO COME - THE PEOPLE.