It's working!

I've been offline for a few days due to internet problems...again. I've talked to my landlady and she said her older Toshiba (kind of like mine) won't log on either, but her husband's does. So, I was kind of resigned to running into town to use the library wifi this morning. My computer does fine there! Anyway, I decided to give it one more shot this morning and, lo and behold, I have three bars of reception! Thank you, Lord! It's been mighty quiet around here for a few days, but I WILL try not to overdo the computing.

Got my new glasses and she said they might take a couple of days to get used to. I got a headache and felt cross-eyed for several hours before I decided to just put them aside and wear my old glasses for now. If they ever fall apart I'll go through the misery of adjusting to the new ones. I even like my dreaded tri-focals better than the new glasses! Okay, finished complaining for today. I'm becoming "one-of-those-old-ladies-I-never-wanted-to-be"! (I'll just slap myself a few times and get over it.)

Son Josh officially finished up his masters degree in organizational leadership a couple of days ago! He's been plugging away for a long time, and I'm so glad that's behind him. He also has a bachelor's degree in accounting. Besides his online bookkeeping jobs he also has a few jobs lined up writing copy for other people's websites. He's a good writer. He also works part-time at a grocery store. His schedule needs to have some flexibility because of his family's health problems, but God is faithful in sending work his way!  When he began working on his masters he intended to do some sort of work with a Christian non-profit but never foresaw the challenges his family would be facing. Now it will take some creativity to find a way to use his skills when he can't really commit to a full-time job outside the home. But God will provide and use the gifts he's given Josh.

I have a new friend from church named Emmaline. She's in her '70's and her husband passed away about the same time as Bob. She lives in a cute little lake cabin type of house in the country. I went and picked her up for a Bible study last Monday. In the course of our conversation I find out she's a retired art teacher! She recently applied for a grant on behalf of several local artists and she will be teaching some classes. It will be fun to get to know her better. I think we have a lot in common and she's a very sweet lady.

Tomorrow, bright and early, (7 a.m.!) I'm going to help set up for our local ecumenical church service pancake breakfast. We'll be serving breakfast from 9-9:30 and then at 10 we'll mosey across the street to that little stage I've shown you before (pic below) for a three-church worship service. It should be a good time!

Remember this little place? We won't have this band, though, lol.

I haven't been doing a great deal with ATCs, but here are some I just mailed off. This was a Ballpoint Pen Only swap.

I spent some time fiddling with my "GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL" yesterday. Do you have one in progress? Everyone should...if you like to write. I'm trying to get all my notes in some kind of order. Over the years I've changed various elements of the story and some things are starting to gel in my mind a bit. A plan is forming. In a few years I'll just jump in and write the whole thing, start-to-finish, in one fell swoop! Right? Well, the planning is fun, anyway! Nope. Not going to show you the notes. It's a superstition thing. And an embarrassment thing. They're a mess. ;)

Hope all is well with everyone! I'll stop by to visit blogs as soon as I can. Happy summer!
Shalom!

Happy birthday, Audrey!

Audrey is seven years old today! Grandma will deliver some gifts this morning. Maybe I'll stop off at the local bakery and pick up some muffins.

Micah was remembering how her dad used to "fake cry" and say, "What am I going to do when I don't have a six year old anymore?!?" In Micah's case she'll have another six year old in six weeks! (Miss Hazel)

Thanks, friends, for all of the assurances and experiences you shared concerning cataract and basal cell surgeries. I've opted to postpone the cataract surgery for now. Partly because both of my appointments were so close together, and I'm unsure about my insurance coverage. But I think I'll be okay for a couple more years. I'm getting new glasses and I don't think the cataracts are at the unbearable stage yet.

Vacation Bible school is going well. Just two more days! These kids are really tugging at my heart. It's hard to believe there is such a high percentage of kids with behavioral problems. Or maybe they just stand out. Also, so many of these kids come from broken homes with multiple parents and lots of drug and alcohol problems. Bless their hearts. It's a broken world we live in. I'm thinking I'll get involved with the after-school program when the school year starts up. Not every day, but one or two days a week. They have a program from 3:30-5:30 every day. I don't feel like the most qualified person to help, but God can use weak vessels, right? Maybe I'll come up with some art projects.

Being involved in VBS and other things at church has kept me so busy and in such close contact with PEOPLE constantly that I'm getting kind of exhausted. Probably more emotionally than physically. I'm hoping to have a little rest for a few days when VBS is over. We'll see. (Maybe after we finish making a float for the parade?!?)

A FEW HOURS LATER: Well, I delivered Audrey's gifts and visited for a while. Now I'm off to Walmart to pick up some things I thought of for VBS. I attempted to take a nap, but my mind keeps whirring along. :)

Catch you all later! Thanks for stopping by!
Shalom.

Hey, y'all!

My internet has been on strike for a couple of days, so I'm typing this at the library. Just checking in and had a couple of life events to share.

I, apparently, have a basal cell carcinoma on my nose. A spot that hasn't wanted to heal for a long time. I went to the doctor yesterday and he is going to make an appointment with another doctor in Bemidji who will look at it and do the actual out-patient surgery. Have any of you had this done? I'd love to hear your experiences in the comments so I'll have some idea what to expect. :) I have at least one other spot on my face that may need a freeze gun applied to it.

Also, I will be having cataract surgery on one of my eyes this fall. Any stories?

Old age. The body is slowly coming to the end of itself! But, I trust I have some good years ahead, so...I continue to buy books at the book sale!

This time it was $1 per bag, so I stocked up. :)

I like to pick up books in foreign texts. I'll use the pages as background text for ATCs and give a lot of it to other ATC creators as gifts. I later realized that the book on the left is a Bible, so I won't be cutting that up. Anyone know what languages these are? Somebody donated a lot of them to the library.

Once more, some foreign text for collage. The bookplates are really cool, too, and would be good material for collages.

I was blown away to get these! I've given my field guides to my grands in the past and wished I had some more. Woo hoo!

Remembering the Kana is showing how to do Japanese calligraphy. Something else for ATCs. The other two books also have lots of collage-ready pictures.

I saw lots of Jack Higgins books in the jumbled boxes and thought to myself, "If hey had The Eagle Has Landed I would grab it." Ta-dah! I read it as a teen and thought it would be fun to revisit. Also, some Austen and Bronte. Villette is one of my favorites.

I love to learn about life in other cultures, so these called my name.

I always wished I  had hung onto some of my nursing materials. Just interesting, I guess. So I grabbed this manual. Another book about Japan. A celtic music DVD. And a couple of random magazine-type things.

A variety of spiritual material.

I couldn't pass up the little volume of Animal Farm. Read it in junior high. I keep buying Moby Dick and then not reading it. Someone called Melville "the American Shakespeare" so I thought I'd get it again...just in case. The SparkNotes of LOTR....why not? Tom Sawyer was a whim.

Another little hodgepodge.

Children's books. Some for me; some for Audrey. Not sure which is which yet. :)

I made a lot of little posters of periodical table elements to decorate for VBS. We have a lab theme. These took a lot longer than I expected. I made 15 of them and they don't look quite right, but close enough. ;)

I'm continuing to add to my scripture memorization journal. Did I mention this before?

I'll write out the bottom verse. I usually wait until I have it memorized before I draw it out.

Somebody mentioned having baby's breath in their garden. See the blobs on the hillside across the highway? It grows wild here. There's lots along the trail. This was taken out my kitchen window.

I'm currently reading:

If I like it I'll pass it along to Micah.

I have to hurry off to a picnic with the deli gals. My old manager has a lake lot, so it should be fun!

The grands ready for the 4th of July parade.

Always smiley, little Sully. :)

Glamorous Audrey.

Hazel being cheesy.

Della got a sucker for using the potty! Ha ha!

Oh yeah! I'd better get out of here or they may eat all the burgers before I get there! Love y'all!
Shalom!