The Life of Sue

A FRIEND IS A FRIEND...

2008-07-25T21:09:00.003-05:00

Forty years ago my mom and dad dropped off their barely 18 year old daughter (me) in Kansas City, entrusted to the care of Weaver Airline Training School. I had been taking instruction via the mail for months and this was to be the culmination of my education and the beginning of a career in airline reservations. I had responded to some mail my sister, Lana, had recieved as a senior in high school, and soon enough a salesman showed up at our house. I still remember his last name.... Outhouser..... hmmmm. We bought in to the idea that this should be my future and, although I changed my mind in the middle of my senior year when a teacher said that I ought to be going to college, my folks had paid their money ($200 or so, I think) so that was that.

I spent several weeks in KC being educated and at the end of that time TraveLodge folks showed up there looking for reservationists for their first-ever reservation center that was to be set up in KC. They hired me and 7 other young women to work for them. The first time we all met one another , this tall, cute, energetic girl and I decided to get an apartment together. I don't remember if that was before or after we exchanged names, probably after, but not by much. She went back home and so did I. I returned with my folks and found an apartment in the Country Club Plaza area, on the 6th floor of the Longfellow apartment building. I remember crying after they left me there, very much alone. In a day or two, Paula showed up and the world improved greatly. I think we probably shored one another up. If she was scared, she certainly didn't show it. She even had a guy mooning after her already. What power!

For the next 2 1/2 years or so we were roomies. We moved some and had other roommates as well but no other compared to her. We clicked.

Well, in life you loose people. Jobs change.... people move and get married.... life happens.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to google Paula. I knew she was married but didn't remember her last name. I knew she used to live close to Sikeston, Missouri so I googled that and her maiden name. Unfortunately, what I found was her father's obituary, but it did give me her current name and where she lived. I sat with that information for a few weeks, somehow thinking that she was thinking about me as well. Today I looked up her phone number and, feeling particularly brave, called her up.

Now, several thing could have happened... she might not have been home.... she might have said "Sue who?".... she might have been embarassingly cool (it has, after all, been 40 years since we've talked). What it was, was great! We talked and reminised about the silly things we had done (she still has that young girl's laugh). Funny - some things she remembers so clearly, I didn't remember at all and vice-versa. For 30 minutes or so I sat there grinning into the reciever as we talked and Paula re-appeared. She even said that she's been thinking about me lately, too, and that someone in her family (I think it is her son and members of his family) is on RAGBRAI right now. I just finished riding one day of it with Janet and they overnighted in Ames, where we live.

What a small, marvelous world. Let's stay in touch, Paula!

More Birthday Bash!!

2007-11-22T08:09:00.000-06:00

We took lots and lots of pictures at our Birthday Bash so here are a few more photos of the event. Here's our sweety, Ava, playing with Benji's piano.

That's Benji under the Sox hat, checking out his Doodle Pro.

I brought along a hat that used to belong to Ava's daddy when he was small. It's still way big for her, though.

Ooooooo, pretty dress!

Ava got an airplane and...

Benji got a microwave. Go figure. I love it!

Cousins, Ava in Benji's chair (that used to belong to his Dad and Uncle Josh).

Oh, let's share, shall we?

Sharing..............................................

Ok, 'nuff of that sharing stuff................................

Leaving.

Pig-tailed cutieness.

The look you get when you know you're king!

Swimming with Mom! He really likes that.

Our Birthday Bash in Chicago

2007-11-04T20:39:00.000-06:00

Well, it seems like half our family decided to be born in October, sooooo we went to Chicago on October 19th for the weekend to celebrate Benji's October 4th birthday, Josh's October 15th birthday, and Ava's October 28th birthday. Ava's 1, Benji's 2, and Josh is 28. Happy birthday everyone!

All the birthday kids had a great time and we got all sorts of wonderful pictures. Josh is sitting next to me right now (they're here for the weekend) teaching me how to download movies to my blog. It's gonna take awhile and I hope I (Marv) remember(s) how after Josh is gone. (Not likely). Anyway, one of my favorite movies is of Benji singing his ABC song into the mic of his little piano, and Ava dancing beside it. It's almost like they're at a piano bar, milk only, of course.

So here's Benji and Ava....

And Rollin', And Rollin'

2007-10-01T13:53:00.001-05:00

That's weird.... I wrote that last post over a week ago in a motel lobby and it only just now got posted on my blog. Weird.

I journaled on this trip, which I never do, so I'll let you peek into my book (re-written for this post). I take you back to the beginning of the ride.

...........................................................................................

This was all Janet's idea - she said she needed to do this ride and that she would do it alone if I didn't come along, so.... We didn't really practice, unless you call three 20-mile rides practice, so I was, at the very least, concerned about the outcome.

Friday morning, I awoke to the sound of multitudes of crows outside my window- a raucous, scary noise. When I went out to set up my bike to go, there was a dead crow in the alley. It didn't seem like an auspicious beginning for the trip. It was a good ride, though. We biked 40 miles from Ames to the Boondocks, with a tailwind most of the way. Nice! I lost all my M&Ms to Janet that night playing King's in the Corners.

The next day, Saturday, a black cat walked right in front of us, twice, as we were leaving in the morning. Another great day though. Started cool, but we shed clothes through the day as it warmed up. Yesterday I was having problems with my right hip-flexor (a recurring problem with me) which caused me concern because it normally lingers a while and makes it hard for me to lift my leg (can make it hard to get on the bike, much less pedal). I iced it last night and had no problem with it at all today (or for the rest of the ride). The most trouble has been with our feet. They only seem to want to ride for 25 miles and then they complain - a lot.

Sunday's biking started out really slowly. I was working really hard and figured it was the headwinds. Finally, I noticed a recurring noise at my front tire. There is very little space between my front tire and the fork, too little, and there was a spot on the tire that would rub on the fork every revolution. In effect, it was like I was feathering the brake that whole time. Dang! I let a bit of air out of the tire and all was fine after that.

Did I mention headwinds? AUGHHHH It's awful when you have to fight your way up a hill only to have to force your way back down again. I couldn't coast all day.

Tuesday we had head winds again. The first 5 mile were awful! I was working really hard and still slowing Janet down. Finally, when we stopped to rest, she said," Sue, why are you working so hard. It shouldn't be this difficult for you. It's not that bad! Maybe you should check your tires again." At that, she looked at my rear tire and said, "There's your telephone!" My cell phone had slipped out of my un-zipped (oops) rear pannier, fallen toward the bike, and wedged itself between the frame and the tire. It had been a brake for 5 miles. I wore a flat spot on the edge of the phone and took who-knows- how- many miles off the rear tire. Well, it was much easier pedaling after I removed it. Can't believe it didn't fall off onto the road- and, it still works!
We only had to bike 35 miles Tuesday, but it took us 6 hours to do it because of the wind. We would wait for a semi to come along (in the same direction we were traveling) and kind of ride its slipstream for a bit after it passed. Gave us a little boost.

Wednesday was a short ride to New Ulm, 20 miles. We contemplated riding on to the next stop, but decided against it. Had a pleasant afternoon playing Kings In The Corner and reading. We didn't even use the hot tub that night. I think it was in New Ulm that we stopped at a hardware store and bought some wide, white electrical tape. Our bicycles are called BikeE's and that is written on the side of the flat, rectangular frame. With cutout tape letters, we changed that to PrayBikeEat, which is what we did all day. I realize that I've neglected to tell you about the neatest part of the ride. Janet bought along a list of all those attending the retreat and each day we took 12 or 15 of them (or so), wrote their name on a payer card, attached some beads and waxed thread to it, and prayed for them by name. /when we got to retreat, we attached the cards to our bikes, which were parked in the main hall, and folks could retrieve their prayer card to take home.

Thursday's day started with "THE NEW ULM HILL". It's awful ; steep and long , way long. We were going 3 or 3.5 mph the whole way up. About half-way up the hill was a wreath tied to a post next to the roadway. I was beginning to think it was for me. We had side winds all day that turned into headwinds at Hutchinson. 46 miles and no coasting at all. We had several close calls with the traffic on highway 15 and were glad to get off the road and into a hot tub.

Friday was nice. Not much wind at all and, knowing that it was the last day we had on the ride, we enjoyed it all the more. We got to the retreat center in Paynesville about 2:30, before anyone else was there, in fact.

It was a great ride! Janet and I enjoyed the biking, the challenges, the scenery, the people we met, and each other. There were downsides to the ride, and these we decided to immortalize in a song, which we sang at the talent show. Actually, I sang it and she led the audience in singing the 3-word chorus as she played guitar from her bike. It's sung to the tune of "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Aching backside, knees and toes (knees and toes).
These are all our biking woes ( biking woes).
And bugs that fly right up your nose.
Aching backside, knees and toes.
(Up your nose!)

Sun that burns and wind that blows (wind that blows).
Wearing all those spandex clothes (spandex clothes).
And bugs that fly right up your nose.
Aching backside, knees and toes.
(Up your nose!)

Dead things lying on the road (on the road).
Skunk and snake and rat and toad (Yes, a toad)
And bugs that fly right up your nose.
Aching backside, knees and toes.
(Up your nose!)

All those corn fields to and fro (to and fro),
Keep us hidden as we go (as we go)
And bugs that fly right up your nose.
Aching backside, knees and toes.
(Up your nose!)

Trucks that blow us off the road (off the road)
Biking with a heavy load (heavy load).
And bugs that fly right up your nose
Aching backside, knees and toes.
(Up your nose!)

Hills and hills and hills and hills (hills and hills)
Hills and hills and hills and hills (hills and hills)
And hills and hills and hills and hills,
Hills and hills and hills and hills.
(Up your nose!)

This ride coming to an end (to an end).
No more biking with my friend (she's my friend)
And bugs that fly right up your nose,
Aching backside, knees and toes.
(Up your nose!)

Rolling Down The Road

2007-09-23T18:55:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am in Algona... or more correctly, here we are. The first day, Janet and I biked 40 miles or so to Williams and stayed by the Boondocks,. Yesterday was another 40 miles or so to Ft Dodge and today we biked 5o miles plus to get to Algona. We have been blessed with tail winds all three days, but don't confuse that with being easy. Hills are hills and miles are miles and sore feet are sore feet. That's what's giving us both the most problem so far.... numb toes, wooded toes, cramping feet, and, at times, all of the above. Of course there's also 'bent butt, achilles tendon soreness, hip flexor problems, tired calves and thighs, and a recurring rash (on my legs- not where you're thinking!)

I have an allergy to laytex and I guess that means spandex, too. Well, there go the biking pants. I'll be wearing some cotton 3/4 pants I brought to sleep in , to bike in from now on.

Everything's going well.... we're having a great time...still talking to one another and everything. We've been spending some quality time in the hot tub everywhere we stay. It's what keeps us on the road.

Tomorrow is our longest day - 55 miles, I think, and there's some rain in the forecast, so we will be setting out earlier than usual.

Today's highlight was the two eagles we saw.

Will write more if I get the chance.

Disc Golfing, A Dangerous Sport. Really!

2007-09-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

Marv and I have been playing disc golf since Josh introduced us to the game when he was going to ISU- 8 or 9 years now, I guess. We decided a while ago that we would see how many different states we could play in. Part of the fun of this trip was to add some more states to our list. We had 21 so far, but no western states at all, since most of our states had been added traveling (wandering) to see Matt and Kim and Benji in Virginia and to see Josh and Beth and Ava in Wisconsin.

The first course we played on this trip was in a nice, typical, park setting in the Denver area. We played with Michelle, Joan and Noah (in a back-pack). Noah carried a disc and would put it in the basket when we got real close. It's fun to introduce new people to the game and I think Michelle and Joan will try it again. We all had a good time.

The second course was Red Lodge, Montana.

In the internet, the basket on this course were discribed as being make by "restless natives". What fun! They were some of the oddest things you've ever seen. One actually looked like a real basket so we didn't bother to take a picture of that one.

This has got to be my favorite basket of all time. It's really a work of art, constructed totally of driftwood (except for the chains, of course).

We think this is meant to be a basket. At least we couldn't find anything else.

This one was gorgeous, too. Made of big chunks of wood.

The next course was going to be Casper, Wyoming, but driving there, the weather was rainy and nasty. As we pulled up, though (once we found it) it stopped raining so we decided to play. We pulled on our boots (suggested because of cactus and snakes) and st out to have fun. We forgot our camera so no pictures of this one. It was an arid setting with lots of rabbits, cactus and rocks. I filled my bags with cool stones to bring home. The second nine holes was filled with some kind of critter holes, maybe 6" in diameter and really deep. Didn't ever see anything emerge, so we don't know what lived there.

I kind of strained my back on this course. I don't know if it was the rocks or the 5 lbs. of mud I carried on each boot. I vote for the mud.

Billings, Montana was our last course. (We wandered a lot on this trip.)
It took us a bit to find this course, too. Once we found it, there was another car in the parking area, but we never did see another person there. We're thinking that this might be a course you play, maybe, once a year. It was awesome!

I always thought rock-climbing would be fun, and it is . This whole thing was climbing one rock after another.... Teeing off on top of a boulder..... baskets on top of boulders....trails through boulders....

This is generally what the area looked like.

Me, between a couple boulders.

Here's basket #7, with #8 above it in the distance. Don't look for a path - there isn't one.

Me climbing up to #8. This isn't staged at all, it's how we had to get there!

Standing by #9 basket, looking down to where we had been.

We almost didn't play #9. From a distance, it was really formidable. Looked for sure like we would lose a disc or two, if not our lives, but we had to try it. The stairs you see there kind of floated in space. I know they didn't sit on anything at their base, so they must have been connected to the rock. There was one other hole where you were supposed to tee off from the top of a boulder, but the two ladders they had there to reach the top were both rotten, and the mattress at the foot of the boulder didn't encourage me to try to climb it.

#9 basket. Can you believe this!?

We set off to play this course with no phone (the battery was down) and only half a bottle of water (stupid). Our car is parked just beyond that hill. You can barely see it. If something had happened to us we could have yelled all day and nobody would have heard us. We survived though we only played 9 holes. They were the toughest holes, though. 10 through 18 ran along the rim of the rocks, so they would have been safe unless you threw too far right.

More boulders and rocks. These rocks were too big to carry home.

#9 basket is way up there on the right.

So now it's 24 states we've played in. Who's sending us to Hawaii for our 40th anniversary? ;-)

In case you (reader) haven't noticed, I blogged 3 times today to cover our whole vacation, so don't miss the first 2 blogs, okay? Okay.

Friday, Janet and I are leaving on our bikes for Minnesota. Hope my back is fine by then. We haven't biked hardly at all in preparation for this, but, like I told Janet yesterday, how hard can it be?

Later.

National Parks, Here We Come!

2007-09-15T13:57:00.000-05:00

We had no sooner gone through the gate of Rocky Mountain National Park, than we saw some elk in a meadow. We're thinking they were tethered there for the tourists. Well maybe not...

As we were driving there, traffic stopped. I figured - bear on the road or something, right? Once we were stopped for a while, moving in fits and starts, we figured it wasn't that. As it turned out, Estes Park, Colorado has Scottish Days annually and it backed up traffic for 6 miles going into town.

We hadn't made any motel reservations, figuring it was pretty much off-season after Labor Day. Wrong. Every old person in the nation waits until after Labor Day to vacation, it seemed. (I know we were there) We had to search hard to find a room several days. Wednesday night we stayed in Rapid City. We decided to try a Microtel there and try to pay under $80, since we had been paying over $100. The guy at the desk said they didn't have any single rooms left except one with a hot tub, so he gave us that room for $73. Fun! We soaked.

The road out of RMNP was a beautiful drive through steep rock canyons. It was gorgeous and we didn't take picture one. Bubkis. Nada. Just take my word for it, really, really pretty.
Yellowstone Park is just awesome! No other word for it . Really other-worldly. This picture is of one of the many hot pools and the color was just that, a lovely turqouois.

This picture shows the road hanging out over thin air. We said a lot of "Oh, man!" "Oh, crap!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, no!" as we wound our way up and up and up and looked down and down and down.

Marv and I were taking pictures of each other when a young couple offered to take one of the both of us. I kiddingly told them then would have to give us their car keys to hold before I would hand over our camera to them. Later I mused that our camera would be a cheap price to pay for their Honda Element, if we were untrustworthy.

We took 5 pictures of Old Faithful and they all looked like this. The lens didn't open. Wasn't very faithful, was it?

There were signs all over to be cautious of the bears. Yeah right. There are NO bears in Yellowstone Park, or if there are they are all busy s#!$$ing in the woods. Therefore, I took a picture of the woods, figuring there was a bear in there somewhere. I had this vision of all these bears coming out of the woods after our car passed. Marv bought me necklace... a bear claw set in silver with a couple stones of turquois. It was as close as we got to a bear.

Bison, they had. Lots of bison. They're huge and they travel wherever they darnwell please.

Pretty picture

We took David Digby's GPS with us. It has a big screen and "Emily" told us where to turn. These mountain roads wound back and forth on the screen on top of each other, all most. It was wild.

It was all great fun. I was kinda tired and about to fall asleep in the car one day (I do that a lot) but couldn't picture myself sleeping through Yellowstone. I really is beautiful and makes Iowa cornfields pale in comparison. It was still wonderful to be home, though.

She did, He did

2007-09-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

Joan and Noah, teeing off. (Noah was a pretty good putter and carrier.)

Marv and His brother, John. It was great to be able to talk with him although he told me, privately, that he would rather be beat than have to go to something like this. :-)

Marv and I just got back from a great vacation. It's been a REALLY long time since we vacationed just for the heck of it - not visiting someone, not biking somewhere, just vacationing. Well, not exactly, I guess. It was Melissa and Cory's wedding that took us to Colorado in the first place, but after that there was no agenda but to have fun.

I've decided to write several posts on this vacation. All today.

Melissa and Cory got married. We were invited to the rehearsal dinner at Old Chicago on Thursday so early (4:30) on Thursday, we left for Denver. When we pulled into the parking lot at the Motel we were staying at, we were greeted by Joan (Michelle's partner) on her way to the pool. It was a great way to start the fun as we connected with Michelle, Joan and Noah a lot during the weekend. We even all went to play disc golf before the wedding on Friday. (That's Joan and Noah in the picture.)

The rehearsal supper was great - good pizza, good friends we hadn't seen for awhile, good conversation. Brenda and Jason and family (Michael, Olivia, Jack and Carter) were there. John was there. Todd and Lisa and family (Ian and Lindsay) were there. Sue and Ed were there. Jack and Bertha. Michelle, Joan and Noah. Lots of Sue's family.

The wedding the next day was lovely. A little too "women will subject themselves to men" for me, but lovely none-the-less. Jack was ring bearer, Olivia the flower girl, Michael a groomsman and Lindsay a bridesmaid. They were all so cute!

I didn't take nearly enough pictures and trying to put the ones I did take on this blog is really frustrating. It puts them in at the front of the post and adds the next one before the one before it, so they end up backwards. Hmm, let me see if I can put text between them.... It seems that I can, so with a little planning the next post will be more cohesive.

This is life. This is life turning on a dime.

2007-08-19T07:58:00.000-05:00

Anjeanette Perkins is a good friend of mine. She's smart, she's funny, she's challenging, she's such a caring person that a couple years ago she gave her dad a kidney, she's moving to Indianapolis to go to seminary.

We wanted to get together as much as possible this last week since she's leaving Wednesday, so Friday we all (Marv too) went to see Hairspray. It got done about 9:15 so we decided to get together at our house and play some Farkel or something.

As Anj pulled up to the curb in front of our house, John Lott pulled up behind her. While we were laughing in the darkness of the movie theater, Anjeanette's mom had been trying to get ahold of her.

Anjeanette's father, Jerome, his partner, Peg, Peg's nephew, and a friend of Peg's, Deb, had all been eating at a sidewalk cafe in Minneapolis in the company of 20-some other people, when a woman in a Ford Ranger pickup drove into the crowd at 30 mph. She may have suffered some sort of medical episode so have caused that. We're not sure yet. Thirteen people were injured, Jerome critically. People standing nearby had to take the truck off him. His heart stopped at the scene but he was revived by the EMTs.

When Anj called her mom (her mom and dad are divorced), all she knew was that he was badly hurt and in surgery. John and Janet drove Anj and her car to the cities, getting there at 2am. They left directly from our house because she's been living in Zearing in a borrowed storefront since she sold her house and there was no time to go there first. I gave her something to sleep in and a toothbrush and toothpaste and she gave me her keys so we could feed her cat.

Yesterday morning we drove to her place, fed the cat, packed a suitcase full of her clothes and other things she needed, and headed for Minneapolis. I had been talking to her, intermittently, and knew that things weren't going well.

Although he suffered some internal injuries the real damage was massive brain injury. His pupils were non-responsive and he hadn't improved in any way since he had been admitted. The family talked to a representative of an organ donation service, and authorized donation. They knew he would want that since he was the recipient of a kidney. Anjeanette is hoping that her kidney can live on, helping someone else to live. Last night at 7:00, there was to be a final test to determine brain function. The doctors held out no hope for a positive outcome. All his friends and family who needed to be there would have gotten there last night by midnight. I believe the plan was to release him from life support some time this morning. I haven't talked to Anjeanette yet today to see if there was any change.

Peg had a gash on her arm requiring 40-some stitches. Her nephew had a slight concussion. Her friend, Deb, escaped visible injury. Other persons on the scene were treated and released.

Hug your loved ones. Hold them dear. Life is too full of turns.

Or Bust

2007-07-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

I hate to complain, but you all didn't pray hard enough.

We four started out for Ft. Worth on Tuesday morning at about 9:oo, in David's van. We had only gotten as far as Osceola..... (O S C E O L A, Iowa!!!.... for heaven's sake) before the radiator started spewing. Actually, we weren't in Osceola quite yet. We actually had to limp to Osceola, 7 or 8 miles, stopping often to add water and anti-freeze (and using my only towel to remove the radiator cap). We got to a Ford dealership at noon. Of course everyone who could have worked on itwas gone to lunch, so we walked a quarter mile or so down the road to eat. By the time we got back, someone had looked at the problem we call a van and determined that it was the thermostat that was causing all the trouble. $450. Unfortunately, it was hard to get to and it was a 3 hour fix. So we were stuck there. Someone had the great idea to call the Disciple church in town. We did and told the secretary about our plight. She came with her van and took us all to downtown Osceola and dropped us off, promising to pick us up a 4:00 after she got groceries. We walked around downtown, which was actually fun, and stopped at the farmer's market and were lazing in the shade in the town square, when David got a call on his cell phone. We were hoping that meant the thermostat was fixed. No. What they said was, that in the process of removing the thermostat, they had broken the intake manifold. They couldn't get the parts to fix that until Thursday...... (Later, during Assembly, he got the bad news that this was all caused by a radiator leak, and so, $2000 later...)

What to do, what to do.

I called Marv and David called Meg. In a few hours (we were waiting at the Disciples church) Marv showed up in our (little) Mazda Protege 5 and David's nephew, Eric, came with David's little Tracker. Mary Jane, Darla, and I piled all our stuff in the Mazda. There was no possible way to fit David and his luggage (meager as it was) in too, so he and Marv and Eric took the boat we had been towing (yes, we were taking a sail boat to Assembly) back home to Ames. We three women got to Emporia, Kansas that night and David got to Ames. He drove all the way to Ft. Worth the next day in his little Honda.

My pre-assembly volunteer event was great. I don't necessarily want to go into great detail but I was asked to do an extended "invitation to give" for church on Sunday, so I will copy that here...
Oh. By the way... the scripture was about how Jesus admonished his disciples to feed the 5000.

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The pre-assembly volunteer event in Ft. Worth brought together a group of about 70 persons, all of whom had come to give of themselves to Ft. Worth and the surrounding communities.
They worked at food banks, boxing food. They worked at community gardens, weeding and watering. They drove to various low-income housing apartments, knocked on doors, and held bible school for the children living there. They painted over graffiti-covered walls. They put together a carnival for the folks who live at Julliette Fowler Home , a nursing home in Dallas. They worked at homeless shelters and women’s shelters, cleaning. They made dolls for small hospital patients and much, much more.
For some that came, this was not a PRE anything. This was The Event! They have come to every Assembly for years, just for the volunteer opportunities… to give of themselves and to help others. For others, this was their first Assembly and their first mission event.
There were two ladies, in their late 60’s I would guess (one with mobility problems), both widows – who came early to help.
There were two sisters there who cooked for us all.
There was a couple there, in their 60’s, from Arkansas, who have spent the last year and a half, or so, in Port Arthur, Texas, organizing the Disciple volunteers who come there to help with hurricane recovery. They had brought a group of youngsters from their home church in Arkansas so that they, too, might learn how to give.
There were two other youth groups in Ft. Worth as volunteers …, one from the gulf coast of Mississippi and one from Port Arthur, Texas. Both areas were devastated by hurricane Rita in 2005 and both areas are still rebuilding. These kids see everyday how everyday people can make a difference and they came to Ft. Worth, not just to enjoy the Assembly, but also to give of themselves.

You feed them. Jesus said, YOU feed them.
Don’t wait to see what someone else will do.
Don’t wait to see what’s left to do.
Don’t put it off and put it off.
You feed them.
Take what you have to share and you feed them.
Don’t turn the other way and nibble on what you’ve got.
Don’t pretend you don’t hear their cries of hunger.
Don’t ignore their pain.
You feed them.
Pull your resources together, have faith in tomorrow, and you feed them.

Please bring what you can… please bring what you are… to the table.

...................

The General Assembly itself was great, full of wonderful speakers, filling worship and friends I hadn't seen for a while. It all reminded me again just who Disciples are and what we stand for.

After a long day of driving and a stop in Oklahoma to visit the folk we HAD intended to have supper with the day we started the trip, we got home last night, about midnight.

Amen

Ft. Worth or Bust

2007-07-17T06:55:00.000-05:00

Today, there are 4 of us from Ames heading toward Ft Worth and General Assembly. They are David Digby and Mary Jane Button-Harrison, our pastors, and Darla Ewalt and myself. General Assembly is the semi- annual national gathering of the Christian Church, Disciple of Christ. It doesn't actually start until Saturday evening, but MJ and Darla are taking a pre-Assembly course and I'm doing some pre-Assembly volunteer work in Ft Worth (don't know exactly what, yet). David will be doing some pre-Assembly sailing with his brother. We're pulling his small sailboat and a canoe.

I would ask for prayers from my readers for the travel.... really fervent prayers.

I ran into David's wife yesterday and she had just gotten back from a trip with the van we'll be using. It had overheated. Now we will be heading into the heat in that van, pulling a boat, so heaven know how we'll do. My sister and her husband have been here visiting, from Tyler, Texas, and are headed back today. Marv told them that if they see a big green van, pulling a boat, pulled off the road with car trouble, not to pass us by. He thought he was joking, but it could happen. Traveling with David is often an adventure.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin' Down The . . .

2007-06-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

Ooo, ooo, ooo! I got a new bike for my birthday. Well, I got PART of a new bike for my birthday. I threw in a considerable amount toward the purchase. And isn't this a lovely picture. I went browsing for pictures and couldn't remember how to look at them so I just guessed. Lets get a better one now . . .

Hmmmmm . . . They're being added in backward order. Ah, well. My first comment related to the picture just above it and now we'll talk about the one above that . . . me riding down the street where you can actually see the whole bike. Notice how it looks just a little off? That's because it is. The pedals are forward of where they would typically be in a normal bike. That's so the seat can be lowered and you can still get full extension on your legs . Thus, you are closer to the ground with your feet. For people with actual legs, you should be able to touch the ground while seated, making it easier to ride around town. I can't, but it's still easier to ride around town in than my Bike E. This is called a Townie. It's very comfortable since the seating is so erect. 21 speeds and a VERY low granny gear. Just the ticket for what I'm calling "my old lady bike".

I'll try another picture . . . Oops, not the one I wanted . . .

Oh, look! moM discovered Text Color! Wonder what else there is I can use up there.

I digress. But don'tcha like my new bike, though?

Later . . . . .

The Numbers Game

2007-06-14T14:12:00.001-05:00

1. T a 7 r s a 6 w s o t A f. (T i f d.)

2. I t 45 m t b a c p a 425 d.

3. C i 6 h r A.

4. B i 41/2 h f A.

5. O 13 i 2 m a O 11.

6. 911 i n h p e.

7. T a 12 s i A A.

8. O, 2, b m s. T, f, s t d. 5, s, p u s. S, e, l t s. 9, t, b f h.

9. T a 143 s i a r o p a y u 1.

10. M m, D, h 11 b a s.

Back by popular demand.................. fun numbers! Hope Matt and Kim have computer access to play along.

Bag and Baggage

2007-06-10T15:02:00.000-05:00

Forgot to share this story about my trip to Richmond.....

Space, of course, was going to be at a premium when Matthew and Kim and Benji and Benji's Grampa set out by car for Chicago, and Kim was hoping to get some more of Benji's clothes there relatively soon (so he didn't grow out of them before he got a chance to wear them). She was thinking about boxing some up and mailing them to her folks but I suggested that she just fill a suitcase with some things and that I take it back with me, since I only was planning to check one piece of baggage anyway.

Well, that's what she did. She filled a suitcase with some Benji clothes and some for Matt as well. Problem was, as I saw it, that although it was a nice suitcase, it was a very black, very innocuous suitcase. How would I be able to recognize it as it came down the chute. Hmmm... I had noticed, on the flight to Richmond, that one couple had tied blue ribbons to all their black bags to make them stand out and easy to spot. Now that's a good idea, I thought. The problem was, by this time we had packed all the ribbon and anything else I could think of to tie on the bag. So I grabbed a plastic grocery sack and tied it to the handle and also a little piece of green ribbon that was lying on the floor. There! No one else would certainly do that.

When my flight had landed and Marv and I went to claim our luggage I told him how I had marked the bag. We stationed ourselves at the tail-end of the baggage belt and waited. It didn't take too long and there it was - A big, black bag with a plastic grocery bag tied to the handle. We pulled it off the conveyor... it looked a little big... the sack looked a little small... where was the green ribbon? There was green tape on the handle but.... %$#$%@ we had the wrong bag! Quick, we put it back on the conveyor so no one would think we were stealing it and proceeded to wait for our bag to come along, hoping that the owner of the fake Kim's bag would notice that ours was marked with a grocery sack too.

I mean really! Who would ever think that anyone else would tie a grocery sack to their luggage!

On The M---!

2007-06-01T07:36:00.000-05:00

Well, Matthew and Kim and Benji are m----- to C------ soon. (Is the word out to everyone yet, guys?) I had offered to help them p--- u- if they flew me to Richmond (and home again). So that's what we did... on the 23rd I flew from Des Moines to D.C. where Matthew and Benji picked me up. We spent the next full week putting everything they own into boxes. They own a lot! When I left we were nearly done and they still have a week and a half before they l----.

I could have kicked myself, though, and you all will probably want to kick me too because I forgot to take my camera along. I had it on the table, ready to pick up, and forgot about it until we were well on the way to the airport. I missed soooo many great photo opportunities.

We didn't know how Benji would react to all this packing and change, but he did fine. Spent a lot of time playing with packing peanuts. "8?", he would say. "8?" You know those packing peanuts that look like 8's? He liked those. When I helped him up or down the stairs, I would count them aloud (there are 12) and toward the end of the week I was there, he started counting them. "8, 9, 10, 11, 12. He would always start with the 8th step. One time I was counting and was at 9 and he said "8" and I said "No, 9" . He insisted it was 8 and ... he was right.

All week I worked on getting him to say "Grandma" . "Grandma", I'd say. Mama. "Grandma". Mama. "Grandma". Mama. "Grandma". Dada. Smiling with those twinkling eyes the whole time. He knew he was being funny. A few time I would see him saying the word with his lips alone, practicing for when he would try it out, I'm sure.

And we danced. I watched him while Matt and Kim went out for an anniversary dinner. He was "dancing" to a beat on his piano and I told him to come stand on Grandma's toes and we danced like that. He thought it was great fun! Unfortunately Kim, in her sandals, couldn't understand why Benji, in his shoes, was treading on her feet when they got home.

He's changing so, from day to day. New words, new understanding. It was great to be able to spend that much time with them. We're all so glad we will be able to s-- m-- of them when they m--- to C------!

Indie 500

2007-05-08T07:46:00.000-05:00

It's almost exactly 500 miles to Indianapolis from Ames.

Last Wednesday, my friend Anjeanette and I headed there to find her an apartment. It isn't easy saying good-bye to a good friend, but if she feel called by God to go to seminary, and she does, the best thing to do is help her on her way.

She's been accepted into Christian Theological Seminary, with their best scholarship I might add, and will be moving there in August to start her education toward a masters in theology and possibly working toward a PhD. She's not interested in having a church (although that may change) but in teaching theology or something at a university. She put her house on the market and sold it within a week. She was a bit concerned that it might not sell quickly because it had been for sale for months and months when she bought it. She's put a lot of work into it, though, and obviously it shows.

Anyway, back to Indianapolis....

We left early (7:00!) and got there, with the time change, at about 4:30. We had to get there before office hours closed at the seminary in order to get keys for the guest house where we were staying. Neat place, the guest house. It was a big (BIG) old house, all redone inside and able to house probably 20 people. Nice rooms and each with a bath and, far as we can tell, free. We couldn't find anyone to pay anyway. I digress... The seminary grounds are beautiful, wooded, and well kept with walkway running through them and the chapel awesome. We walked the grounds a bit, went for some supper and then set about to get familiar with the area. She had made some appointment at some apartment complexes the next day so we located some of those just to see what they look like. The Indianapolis has some web site that you can put the name of an apartment complex in and it shows a map of the area around it and the location of any crime in the last 3 months. It even show what type of crime... crime against persons, crime against property, or "other". That was really helpful, especially since we didn't know the city.

The next day we started. The first one we looked at was a studio. She decided rather quickly that she could probably afford a one-bedroom after looking at that. Really, really small! We went lots of places. Most of them had sample apartment you could look at, but some didn't and many didn't know what they would have available in August. In Ames you have to give something like 4 months notice to move out, but in Indie it's only 30 or 60 days, depending on the place.

Anj had asked the woman who had the keys to our room at the seminary for suggestions on where to look. She told us about where she lives and that she really likes it, so that was one of the places we went. I was really nice... wooded with a tiny lake stocked with fish, geese running everywhere. Not a new place but well kept up and in a safe neighborhood. They didn't have any empty to show us, however, and didn't know if there would be any empty. They were willing to forgo the deposit, the cat deposit was returnable, the cat fee was the least of any we looked at and they would give her $300 off her first month's rent! She told us to call back, that there was a possibility of an opening coming up and, for $50, they would hold it until August.

Well, we kept looking. There was this one place, privately owned, ubber-friendly. The rental office was a hole and the owner took us into one where someone was already living - without any permission! He tried calling the lady, but when she didn't answer, he took us in anyway. No thank you. I think Anj was considering living there but I don't think, if it was me, that I would even consider it.

Anyway... Thursday afternoon, after much searching, she called back the one with the lake and they had had a notification that someone was moving from a one-bedroom. They had a two bedroom empty that they could show us just to get an idea of what they look like, and it was really nice so Anj gave them her $50. She feels much better, more secure now, knowing where she's going to be living and I feel better having seen where she's going to school and where she's going to live.

We were planning to stay until Sunday, if we had to to find her a place, but there we were, Thursday afternoon and all done with what had to be done. So we went to an art museum. There's this HUGE art museum really close to the seminary built by the Lily family. It's new and neat and we spent quite a lot of time wandering through it without seeing even half... we got hungry.

We got home Friday night in one piece, or maybe two pieces since there's two of us... anyway, it was nice to be back in Ames. My next big trip is the 23rd! Off to Richmond I go to help Matt and Kim and Benji move! This could get habit forming!

Q

2007-04-24T12:14:00.000-05:00

I always loved Matt's quiz number posts, so here's 1 o m o.

1. T a s 4 w on a 2 w d v.

2. T a 6 o i a c of C P 'n B.

3. 1 h g + 1 b g = 2 e g.

4. There are o 2 n o the o P f t d-g t. D!

5. Y D's b i T, A 26th.

6. M's D i M 13th. D f, J!

Guess away!

VEISHEA princess

2007-04-23T08:08:00.000-05:00

Well.... Ava had a very full and slightly traumatic VEISHEA.

Josh, Beth, and Ava got here at around their normal 10:00 on Friday night. Ava had slept quite a bit of the way so she was wide awake when she got to Gramma and Grampa's house. Mommy gave her over to a waiting Gramma and..... wwwaaaaahhhhhh. She didn't want to be with that strange lady! Really!! She cried really big tears! Poor baby... I gave her back but she didn't quite trust me the rest of the weekend. Later, as long as Mommy or Daddy was within reach, she would put up with Gramma and Grampa, maybe even smile, but she had her limits.

We missed most of that with Benji, I think, although the last time we saw him, we got there after he was in bed so he didn't see us until we showed up in his bedroom the following morning. Though he was chattering away with Dad before we came in, he got VERY quiet when he saw us. It didn't last too long.

VEISHEA was fun. It was a great day weather-wise and anything else-wise. A little windy, I guess but that just helped to keep everyone cool. We went to the parade, had ice cream, strolled through campus, watched them launch a high-altitude balloon, checked out glass-blowing, walked through a newly-remodeled Marston Hall, and lots of other hyphenated things. Ate supper at Taste of VEISHEA (I've never done that before). It was fun. Josh and Beth went to Andrew's to see his new house (and play Oi) leaving a napping Ava with us. When she woke however, she was having none of that. She cried and cried, so we had to call Mommy up and she came home to save her. She was one upset baby!

You can see by the picture though, that she had fune times here, too. I saw that chair and ottoman in Goodwill one day and had to buy it, figuring grandbabies would have fun putting dollies in it. Then I though about how much fun it would be to have a picture of yourself in the chair your dollies were now sitting in. TA DA! Good thing we didn't wait much longer. It was a snug fit.

Taller now

2007-04-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

I had to un-squish it!

Grampa's girl

2007-04-18T20:52:00.000-05:00

Ava has a hard time recognizing Grampa's smile so she took all weekend to give him one!

Ava discovering a whole new world of music and flashing lights. Isn't she cute in her Sunday dress?

In Gramma's shoes

2007-04-18T20:33:00.000-05:00

Since we insisted on taking pictures of him, he took some pictures of us!

Benji was so much fun! On this morning, although he already had his own shoes on, he decided to try out Gramma's shoes also. Love this picture.

We're new at this picture thing, so bear with us. (I think I squished that last picture) :-0

Adventures in disc golf

2007-04-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

Marv and I got some disc golf instructional videos for Christmas. We watched them carefully several times, hoping to improve our games and finally the weather improved enough to try out our new-found skills.

Until today, we've been pretty pathetic. Marv has had to wear his mudder shoes 'cause his discs seem to have an affinity for the creek. His drive (and mine) actually have been longer, but there's no knowing where it's going.... until today that is. Today we put it all together.... wonderful, long drives, impressive approaches and actual good putts. It felt soooo good! He ended up with a 3 and I with a 7. Not super, duper scores, but not bad for this early in the season.

Thank you Santa!

Grandbabies

2007-04-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

People have always told me how great it is to be a grandparent and I'm here to tell you that it's the truth. Marv and I have just gotten back from spending 5 days with our grandson and it was a real kick! Now, I was a bit concerned about spending that much time anywhere ( we actually got there late Wednesday and left early Tuesday) but it went really well. He has changed so much since we saw him last. Wasn't too sure about the new people in the house when he woke up Thursday morning (not at all), but by Monday, when Kim asked him to take something to Gramma and to take something to Grampa, he went right to the right person. We got to watch him dance, we got to listen to him sing, he took our picture, he tried out Gramma's disc golf spin drive. He was a joy. So quick to learn. I was playing a weird noise game with him while I was changing his diaper once and the next couple times I changed him he was doing his part of the game, expecting me to join in again, but I had forgotten how it went. We seem to be on opposite ends of the learning spectrum. :-)

Just a few days before going to visit Matt and Kim and Benji we spent a couple days with Josh and Beth and Ava. Ava is changing even quicker that Benji. We got smiles and giggles and toe sucking and lots and lots of snuggles. What a sweetie! If they could only get to to go to sleep at a reasonable time she would be darn near perfect. ;-)

I have so many great pics but I have to figure out how to post them. Hope this is a steep learning curve.

blogger-moM

2007-04-09T20:15:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official.... I've joined the world of the blogger. Not sure that I'll have anything interesting to say, but I will hae some great grandbaby pictures to share with the world out there. More to come when I've figured out what I'm doing, for as long as I remember how to do it!