Happy New Year

Well here I am at home on New Year's Eve. We had a devo at church and a finger food party afterwards. Tom and I were at home by 7:00. Our son has been in CA and he is due home anytime. Our GA son was hoping to come with his family this Friday but since they fly standby the chances aren't real good. It was so much easier for them to visit us in CA because there were more flights from Atlanta to Orange County - or they could fly into Los Angeles. Of course living close to Disneyland was a better incentive than flying to Tucson. Tom Jr just got home so I will go visit with him. Happy New Year to all

Merry Christmas

Tonight I sang at an outdoor mall with some of our chorus. This is our Christmas outfit. Some members of our group have sung there every Friday and Saturday night since Thanksgving. We sing for an hour in between the snow falling. Yes, its fake, but the kids really like it - actually so do I. Since this was the last night of the singing we had a little party at one of the members houses. Tom came too and we didn't stay too long, but it was nice.

I finally decided on our Christmas dinner. We are having Honey Baked Ham and I waited in line for about 50 minutes to buy a quarter of a ham - for $25. It better be good.

I actually am finished buying Christmas gifts for Tom and son, Tom - it's not even Christmas Eve. It seems every year we are buying something on Christmas Eve. There are actually some good mark downs at this time.

Yesterday Tom and I took the three next door neighbor's kids (ages 5, 7 & 10) to the Mall. We ate at evry kid's favorite place, McDonald's and then went to see Happy Feet. We are so happy to have neighbors with kids. When we moved here Tom said he didn't want to live in a retirement community - he wanted to see kids in the neighborhood. He got his wish.

Merry Christmas to each one of you. I don't plan to post anything the next two days.

Christmas is Coming

When I was little all Christmases were at my house because my mother and I lived with my grandparents. I was an only child but my mother was the youngest of seven and all her brothers and sisters and my cousins would come home to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Los Angeles - my Texas aunt and uncle came some years. Anyway we would open one present on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning Santa Claus would leave unwrapped presents - all for me of course. We were not wealthy, my mother worked for Bank of America (she became one of the first women officers in the late 60's - before that only men could be a bank officer).The point is that we didn't have a lot of money, but I always made out real good at Christmas. Several years ago one of my aunt's told me the story how her daughters (my age) wondered why Santa always left me more toys than he did them. She told them it was because I didn't have a brother or sister to play with, unlike them who had each other. I think that is a neat thing to have said - although I'm not sure they bought it.

I am now the oldest living member of my blood relatives so I guess that makes me the Matriarch of the Davis Clan (My mother's maiden name). It wouldn't be much of a clan if my cousins hadn't had children - and grandchildren and great granchildren. I have one cousin in San Antonio and one cousin's grandaughter and her three sons live in Maryland, but the rest live in Southern CA. One of my sons and daughter-in-law and grandson live in GA and the other one is with us. I say all that to say that we will not all be together at Christmas and that makes me sad. The majority of them will be together in Orange County CA and will be eating at my cousin's house who is a caterer and a wonderful one. Everyone chips in with the food, but Rhonda's house will be decorated to the nth degree and the presentation is always beautiful. We didn't go to CA last Christmas either but we went to New York and we did see the cousin with the three kids (only the twins last year) in MD but Tom was sick and we didn't even go to Church on Christmas Day. Of course going to NYC over Christmas time was special.

So what am I doing Christmas Day? Probably cooking something for 3 people. I am NOT going to do turkey. Do you have any suggestions? I am posting a picture of my pathetic tree - top doesn't show - with Murphy. He wore that Christmas T-shirt for about two hours and thought it was in a restraint and wouldn't walk in it. We put it on him to take the picture and our Monday afternoon LIFE group got to see him in it. Don't forget to give me suggestions for Christmas Dinner.

Good News

Just before 3:00 PM today we got the results of Tom's MRA. It showed that he does not have to have surgery at this time. We are giving praises to God and we thank you for your prayers. Some how any other news seems trivial so I will not say anything else.

Changing Colors

When I logged on to Blogger today it said I had to switch to the new Blogger, so after having to change my password because I couldn't remember what I used, I played around with it for awhile and all I changed was my profile and the color of my blog.

We had a chorus Christmas party at a restaurant last night and I changed my order from ribs to prime rib and that was a mistake. I originally wanted prime rib but thought since it was a large group I wouldn't get it like I wanted - which is rare. So I signed up for ribs. I figured they wouldn't mess that up. Then I got to the restaurant and switched with someone. When the waiter came he told us the only choice for steak or prime rib was medium and so I was stuck. I should have stayed with the ribs. I just don't understand why anyone would eat steak or prime rib any other way than rare or maybe medium-rare. I did order cheesecake, which of course was not included in the overpriced meal, and that was good.

Remember last month we went to GA- to Savannah, Augusta and Atlanta. Well when we got home my camera said there were no pictures. My son recovered them on his PC and then burned them to a CD and now I have them - or at least most of them - some were damaged. Anyway I am posting a couple.


A tree in Savannah with Spanish Moss


Cotton fields in Georgia


Me in Augusta at the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and Botannical Gardens

I Am Tired

This has been a busy week. I had a treadmill stress test - and did fine. Tom had two different doctor appointments and he has to have an MRA next Tuesday. He has had an aneurism in the abdominal area for some while and they said it hadn't grown (they had checked that last month, but they want him to have the MRA to check the aorta something and then he might have to have surgery. So please keep him in your prayers. I substituted two days last week, for a third grade class and for the librarian. I also sang twice with some of my chorus. Since we have so many performances around Christmas usually about 20-25 sing at one time - instead of the 75 member chorus. This morning we went to a funeral for the mother of one of our friends from church and then to Famous Daves BBQ after with another couple from church. Then we went by a rehab center to visit another member from church. He is 90 and fell and broke his hip last week. His name is Jack and he and his wife, June can also use your prayers. Now I am going to take a nap but I was told by my friend, Sandy that I needed to post on my blog. If you haven't read Sandy you should check it out. She is a much better writer than I. Night night

And the Preacher is.....

It is official. The new preacher is Bobby Valentine. Tom and I went and looked at a couple of houses this afternoon that they are considering to rent. I have my preference, but we'll see what Pamella decides. I had been reading Bobby's blog for sometime and when I heard he was coming to try out I was so excited. My very own blogging preacher. I believe he has so much to offer our congregation. We have been without a pulpit minister since June and we love it when Clay Utley, our youth minister preaches, but he hasn't preached every week. He is happy being the youth minister. We are fortunate to have heard some excellent men from our own congregation - some of our elders, plus we have two chaplains who are stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. One of them is in Iraq right now and due back next month. But there is nothing like a full time pulpit minister. Welcome Bobby, Pamella, Rachael and Talya.

Just checking in

I'm waiting on my hot artichoke dip to be ready. We ate lunch late today and we are going to have dip and french bread for dinner. I went to the Y this afternoon and walked 30 minutes, while listening to Randy Harris on my iPOD. I feel a little silly laughing outloud while on the treadmill, but sometimes I can't help it. I love my iPOD and I especially like listening to Randy and Mike Cope and Don McLaughlin and Max Lucado. Podcasts are wonderful. Tomorrow I am going to look at a couple of houses that might be possibilities for our new minister to rent. Maybe after tomorrow I will be able to reveal the "mystery man".

Weather

We just got home from IHOP - our usual meal Wed nights after church. It is so cold tonight, I just put a blanket on my bed. I usually just sleep with a comforter, and not a very warm one. Yes, winter has come to Tucson. At least for the next few days. I think it is supposed to be in the 30's tonight. Of course next week it might be warm again. I kind of like being able to wear a sweater - or tonight, a jacket.

Yesterday I subbed for a resource teacher - which is the job I held for the last fifteen years of my teaching career. At this particular elementary school - which is the only one I sub at - I saw a total of about 15 students, ranging from 2nd grade to 5th. I saw them in groups of two to one group of 6. When I retired I had about 30 students in my program and had 3 large groups in the morning and a group a little smaller after lunch. Our school went through sixth grade. The resource program is a part of special education. It is for students with learning disabilities that are not so severe that they need a full day or self-contained classroom program. The goal of the program is to try to get the student's skills up enough to not need the program - so general education teachers work hard to get a student qualified for special education then it was my job to get them out. Some students will always need that extra help, but some don't. We had a teacher once that had been in a resource program when she was in elementary school - but both of her parents were teachers. One of my former students is now a department manager in a Target store. The stories do not all have happy endings - one student that I had had from 3rd to 6th grade was killed when he was in high school by a gang member - he was taking a date home and was in the wrong part of town. Another student who I only had one year- the one year I wanted to teach in high school (big mistake)- was arrested for killing a boy who had supposedly stolen his girlfriend. This happened after he had graduated from high school. I don't know what the outcome was. I do know that he was very hard to like. He was surly and I always felt he was capable of more. Yesterday for the first time I really missed teaching - but not enough to go back full time.

Tomorrow is dentist day - only a cleaning, thank goodness. I have crooked teeth, but they are strong. Well I think I will read a few blogs and go to sleep.

After Thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving. The couple from church that we invited seemed to enjoy it - they ate everything on their plate. Somehow after cooking for so long I am never as hungry. On Friday I even watched UT vs Texas A&M. I don't usually watch football but it just seemed like the thing to do on the day after Thanksgiving. I NEVER go shopping on that day. I did it once a long time ago and said never again! Anyway, I rooted for Univ of Texas and they LOST. I didn't get dressed until evening and then it was so I could go and get McDonald's. I was tired of turkey. I think next year we will go to Mississippi and have ribs with Dee and Tom. Or maybe Dina will have that great place in Hawaii and I'll go there.

We've Got A Preacher!

I am so excited. I still can't tell you who it is because I don't know if he is ready to tell yet. Maybe he will reveal it on my blog - or his. Welcome and I couldn't be happier.

Sick Day

I woke up in the night thinking I had heartburn - we had gone out for Mexican food last night. Then this morning I had stomach cramps and diareah (I don't think that is spelled right but I don't feel like looking it up). I haven't eaten anything today and it is noon. I have chorus rehearsal tonight and we are getting ready for several Christmas performances so I need to be there. Maybe I will feel better by tonight. No news yet on our new preacher.

The Weekend

I just got home from singing at a Senior Center about 2 hours from here. We sang from 3 - 4:15, then some of us went to a guest ranch and had dinner and listened to a country singer and a guy who played guiltar and keyboard. We even sang for the people in saloon/restaurant. Now I am tired, but felt like I needed to check in. Yesterday Tom went to a clean-up day at a church camp and I went to see Stranger than Fiction with Will Farrell. I liked it. End of review. Last night we went to a small group gathering to visit with the "visiting preacher". It was great to meet him in person after reading his blog. I wish I could tell you who it is but I guess we won't know until after tomorrow night when the elders meet. If he is our man I'll tell you as soon as I know, If he isn't our man I won't tell you because you would wonder why we let him get away. I am really praying that he is the one. I like him and his family. Pray about it please.

Greetings from California

Well, we took a little detour coming home from Atlanta. We fly standby and the seats to Tucson were full, but there were seats on the flight to Orange County, so here we are. Our son is driving up from Imperial where he has been working since last Wed and we will drive back to Tucson this afternoon. When we were leaving Atlanta going to Savannah last Tuesday night there were seats on a Delta flight to Paris and if I had had my passport we could have been in Paris. I lost it when we went to Mexico City a year ago in March. I didn't lose it in Mexico but in the taxi in Tucson. I never got a new one but I have the paper work at home and first thing tomorrow I am going to get that filled out and mailed in.

I got some good pictures in GA, but I forgot to bring my USB attachment for the computer so you will have to wait until I get home to see some of those. I will write more about our trip when I have the pictures.

Now for the exciting news. A fellow blogger will be preaching at Palo Verde Church of Christ this Sunday. We hope he will be the minister that we have been praying for. I will just say it is not Scott - nor Mike Cope, but there a lot of other ministers out there who blog, so its your guess. Please pray for us.

Off We Go

Yes, we are taking off tomorrow. We are flying to Atlanta, changing planes and going on to Savannah. We are renting a car there and will spend three nights. We are driving to Augusta from there, spending the night then driving to Atlanta on Saturday. We are planning to worship at North Atlanta Church of Christ on Sunday. We are hoping Don will be preaching. We are hoping to fly home on Sunday night. I just noticed I started every sentence, except the first one with "we". I know that is poor writing, but "oh, well".

Friday

I subbed today for Kindergarten. I had 14 students and I had a good day. One little boy had to have his card turned to red. They start with green, then first turn is to yellow, then to red. This partiular boy could have had "triple red". He just always seemed to be doing something he wasn't supposed to do - or was someplace he shouldn't have been. One little girl didn't make it to the bathroom in time, so she had to go to the office where they keep extra clothes for such emergencies. I really think K teachers have a special place in heaven - Bev, I'm thinking of you.

We were supposed to go the Y when I got home but Tom said he could pass it up and I needed to sit down and put my feet up. For some strange reason I couldn't see my ankles. You don't sit down much in Kindergarten. I am getting hungry so I better figure out if I'm going to cook or go out to eat. Decisions - decisions!

Halloween - the Day After

I have just finished reading several blogs about Halloween and I didn't read of one that shared our experience - we had our Halloween candy stolen right from our front porch. We have a security door and a little entry and Tom had put a little table out there with the candy in a bowl, then he sat at the kitchen table and played on his computer waiting for the kids. I was in the bedroom keeping Murphy from barking at the trick or treaters. He had seen several cuties when our next door neighbors came over. When he got to the door he discovered we had been robbed- no candy and NO BOWL! At least they left the table. Can you believe that?

The Show is Over

Boy, am I tired. My knee hurts, my feet are swollen, but we had two good shows today. Last night we had a dress rehearsal and we were at the theater until 10:00PM and had to be back this morning at 10:00 AM. The shows were at 2:00 and 7:00. My husband and son came to the evening performance and we went out to eat after the show. I have rubbed down with old lady cream - icy/hot. I am too tired to sleep but tomorrow afternoon I will try to catch up with my sleep.

BTW I got a new iPod video with a recording attachment and a lapel mike for my birthday. It is so cool. I even downloaded PacMan from the iTunes store. Before we have a show or competition we have to tape ourselves singing in the chorus. With my new iPod I can record and then email it to my section leader to review. No more buying tapes and batteries. I am so high tech. :)

Birthdays

October 26th is a special day. It's my birthday. Tom has been treating me all week and I'm not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but he's been leaving me notes with #'s on them and telling me to choose. So far I've picked #'s 1,2 and 4. We have eaten at three of my favorite restaurants so far, Claim Jumper, Red Lobster - where I had jumbo shrimp cocktail, and On the Border. I am hoping a movie is part of tomorrow's plans. Tom only goes to the movies on special occasions, where I could go every week - and sometimes do. I think I've mentioned my age before but since some of you may have missed it - I will be 64. I am not sure how that happened, I don't feel 64. The only age I remember not wanting to be was 30. I was in graduate school at Chapman College (now University) and most of the students were going straight through so they were younger than me. So at 29 I was the "old" one. Now I am proud to be my age and would not want to be 29 again. so, was there an age you didn't want to be and/or do you tell your age? Now if we were talking weight - that's totally different.

Saturday

I am sitting outside on my patio in this great weather. I just finished balancing my checkbook, or rather making sure I have written down all my checks and ATM withdrawals. The bank had $201 more than me, and I found a $100 sub error, in my favor, but I can't find the other $100. I don't add it in to my checkbook I just note it, then usually it works itself out eventually.I am such a great accountant. At least there is money in the account. YEA!

Acappella is performing this afternoon at our church. I am looking forward to that. Our show is one week from today and this morning as I was going over my music I found a couple of mistakes I have been making. It is so hard to unlearn wrong notes. I think I will be glad when the show is over. We have several smaller performances between now and Christmas, but they shouldn't be as stressful as this show has been. I don't know why I get stressed - I have been doing this (singing with Sweet Adelines) for over 20 years. I have taken a couple of breaks over this time period. I am afraid if I take another break I won't go back, so I will keep singing a while longer.

I like this picture better

New picture

I am not very photogenic and I really am getting tired of seeing my picture when I write in my blog..... so you now get to see my baby. This is Murphy, my six pound toy poodle. Isn't he cute?

Still Exercising

We just got back from the Y and I walked on the treadmill for 25 minutes, did 5 minutes on the elliptical machine and lifted 10,000 pounds in weights. That sounds like a lot of weight but that its ten machines going around twice. I was on one machine that works on your outer thigh muscles and the lady who got up had her weights set for 162.5 pounds. I asked her if that was how much weight she did and she replied, yes, two sets of 20. I promptly changed the weight for me - 37.5 pounds and I did one set of 10. She of course was younger than me and a lot thinner. We feel so much better when we go and because both Tom and I go we hold each other accountable.

And the winner is...

The chorus contest was wonderful - even watching it on the webcast. The International champions for 2006 is the Richtones Chorus from Richardson, TX. Because lightening hit a tower in Las Vegas several choruses were not able to be seen, although you could still hear them on the live webcast. So if you go here you can see and hear the winning performance. They were incredible! I am begging you to listen - esecially Scott. You can actually understand the words. The archived performance is even better than when I watched the live webcast. It is clearer. So you Texans can be proud of another thing. BTW the winning quartet is SALT. They were also incredible. Please go listen to the chorus.

Pay Day

Yea, I got my three days sub pay today. It goes to my checking account automatically and so after checking my bank account online I feel a little richer. I was going to buy an i-pod with the extra money, then I thought about putting it toward a dishwasher and now that it is in the bank I will probably be spending it on groceries and eating out. I didn't work any this week but I have agreed to three differrent dates in Oct and Nov.

I listened to the webcast of the Sweet Adelines International Competition all day yesterday - from 10:45 AM until 8:30 PM when they announced the top ten choruses that will be in the finals on Saturday. They don't tell you what place you are in going into the finals, they just draw for placement. The San Diego chorus, which is representing our region will be in the finals. There are some really great choruses so if you possibly can tune in on Saturday do it. The link is here Now that I have figured out how to link things here is another great link my chorus We have our show coming up this month and you can see our great flyer as well as click on our competition songs from last regional contest. Today's quartet finals start at 12:00. Our directors quartet, SPARX, came in 14th place, not enough for the top ten but if a quartet scores in the top 15 they can compete at the next international without having to compete in their region competition again. The quartet, XTREME, will be competing today and the members of that quartet are from my former chorus in CA, Harborlites. Pam, the lead, is the director and she has won with a former quartet called PANACHE. I will be rooting for them today.

International Competition for Sweet Adelines

This year's International competition for Sweet Adelines is being held in Las Vegas. In order to compete at the international level a chorus, or a quartet must win first place in their respective regions. My chorus, Tucson Desert Harmony, came in second in the spring regional competition and the first place winners, which was Harborlites, from CA (my former chrous) came in first. They will be competing next year in Calgary, Canada. I just finished listening to the webcast of the semi-final quartet competition. You can hear Thursday's semi-final chorus, or the finals for quartets on Friday or finals for choruses on Saturday. You just need to go here and check it out. If you have never heard Women's Barbershop I think you will enjoy it. The times are on the website as well as order of appearance.

Waiting for LIFE Group

I did sub all three days last week - Wed thru Friday and the secretary knew better than to call me today. The house is clean and I have about thirty minutes before our LIFE group arrives. I hope it is not as controversial as last week. Of course we are still in Acts chaper 2 and will go through 2:38 today. We shouldn't have any controversy unless the couple who are not members of the coc want to discuss whether we are saved before or after baptism. Should be interesting.

Remember when I said I cut my finger and did not go have stitches. Well, it isn't healing right and I have an appointment this afternoon - even will have to leave LIFE group early to have it checked. Both Tom and I had fasting blood work this morning and the vampire lady (the one who draws blood) said I really should have it looked at. Of course no one could look at it while I was already in the office - that would have been too easy. I sure miss my CA doctor.

We had hail here this morning. It didn't last long. Last night we really had a lightening show. But the days are getting cooler - only about 80 right now, with a breeze. I don't even have the air conditioning on. Guess I will read a few blogs before group comes.

I Subbed Today

You may or may not remember that I couldn't make up my mind if I was going to substitute teach this year or not. I hadn't subbed since last October. I signed up this year and then made myself unavailable. This morning at 8:00 I got a call from a school secretary at the Elem school I like. The Special Ed teacher for the 4th and 5th graders was going home. I said I would come in and now I have made myself available for that school only, with the understanding that I won't work more than 2 nor 3 days a week. We had an interesting day. Even though I knew some of the students when I subbed in their primary class their day was still different and most Sp Ed students don't deal well with any change. Just after we came in from recess where one of the boys had been given a time out that boy went off, and started beating up on the girl sitting next to him. While the two aides in the room eventually got him out of the class and to the office, but not until he had spouted a lot of obscenities I was wrapping my arms around the girl while she just bawled. The other students sat with their fingers in their ears. He had to spend lunch recess inside with another teacher and after lunch he was fine. He also apologized to everyone and shook our hands. After school the aides and I were talking to the Primary Sp Ed teacher and she was even surprised that this particular student had a problem. According to one of the aides - "This was a bizarre day". You might think I would not want to go back but I absolutely will, if the teacher is out again tomorrow. General education is so boring :)

Frustration

Our afternoon LIFE group just left and I am feeling a little frustrated. You know how I am the oldest blogger in at least one circle, well I am the youngest member of our LIFE group. We have one couple who comes that are not members of the coc. The wife is Christian Missionary alliance and dresses very much like an Amish and the husband is Baptist. The wife never talks during group time. Anyway we were studying Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost and that went fine, but somehow we got off on instrumental music. You may think this is not an issue, but for the people in this life group, except for the non-coc couple and me, and maybe Tom, it is. I showed them the book, The Other Side of the Keyboard by Milton Jones and offered to let anyone borrow it. No one did. I really don't want to argue, but I wish we could just discuss it without someone saying that it is not in the NT therefore we can't have it and that's it. End of discussion. Tom told me he wished I would just keep my mouth shut, even though I was not the one who brought it up - I naturally jumped in. I prefer accapella music, but I believe it is not a sin to worship with instrumental music. The frustrating thing about this is that there are topics that I would love to discuss, not just about instrumental music, but women's roles, pattern theology, grace, and I don't feel I have an outlet for these. Maybe that is why I enjoy reading blogs from so many younger people - they talk about anything, and a lot of times it makes more sense than the typical Sunday school class, or Wed night class.

Blogaholics

Here is the first meeting of Blogaholics Inc. If you wish to join please send your $100 application fee to Scott

ACU lectureship

We got home from Abilene Friday afternoon, went to a wedding that night, which was beautiful - outdoors wtih twinkly lights - and cleaned up the van from the Texas bugs on Saturday. Actually the people at the car wash cleaned it up. I had a mini-detail with the carpets shampooed. We stopped on our way home from Abilene at Apple Annie's Orchard/Produce in Willcox, AZ. So Saturday night we had fried green tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob, fresh green beans cooked with salt pork and a Pork Roast. Tonight I will make fried okra and some more corn on the cob along with the left overs. YUM YUM.

Now about the lectureship. Of course the highlight was the blog party at Cole's on Wed. night. Thanks, Cole for hosting the party. Tom and I were a little late because we actually went to the lecture on Wed. night. We met Cole, Beverly, Candy, and Tracy. We had already met Scott when we went to Hawaii in May, but it was great to see him again. We missed Katie and Jeremiah - they had already left when we got there, but we had seen them at Highland on Sunday as well as at the lectureship.

All the speakers at ACU were good but my favorite was Don McLaughlin. We went to all three of his morning classes at 8:30 - very early for us - and heard him on Tuesday night. His main emphasis is on multi-cultural churches and what they should look like. He is very energetic and easy to listen to. We went to our first ACU lectureship in Feb and we definitely prefer September. It rained on Sunday but the rest of the week was beautiful.

Did you see Desperate Housewifes last night? It is going to be an interesting season.

Good Movies

Over the last week I saw two really good movies. The first one is R rated for language and it is Little Miss Sunshine. If you can stand listening to a lot of vulgarity, the movie itself is excellent. A really great story. Alan Arkin plays the grandfather in a rather unusual family and he is hilarious. Of course he is the one who uses all the bad language.The other movie is Akeelah and the Bee - it is out on video now. I am probably one of the last to see it It is a family film - and what a story. You've got to see this one. I love movies! Oh, I almost forgot I saw The Mermaid Chair on Lifetime. I had not read the book but it had been recommended to me a couple of years ago. I liked this one also.

From Food to Texas

Surprize! I actually cooked lunch. We had hamburger patties - cooked in the George Foreman grill, mashed potatoes and gravy, blackeyed peas, and some green peas. Oh yeah and some fried onions. Now I am resting up from all that work - before I clean up the kitchen. We eat out nearly every day - so any time I cook at home is a treat - for Tom anyway, even if it is just hamburger. I don't know why I don't like to cook, besides the obvious - cleaning up. I grew up with my grandmother making homemade biscuits every morning. My mother worked so she only cooked on Sundays. She used to stay home from church and her excuse was that she had to make lunch for my grandparents and me, while we went to church. I hated that she didn't go to church with us -sometimes it was just my grandfather and I, when my grandmother was sick. I remember walking to church with my grandpa and talking about Texas and living on the farm. My grandparents moved to Los Angeles when my mother was a senior in high school, so I wasn't lucky enough to be born in the great state. I always felt like a Texan though, since I grew up on red beans and cornbread. I have one first cousin in San Antonio. She was born in CA also, but stayed in Texas after graduating from ACU. I know I still have some more distant relatives still living there, but we don't keep in touch. Well, this was a rambling post. I guess I better quit procrastinating (another great trait) and go clean up the kitchen.

LABOR DAY

I am getting lazy about posting. I have always wanted to read rather than write, but for my loyal readers I guess I better do some writing. I titled this Labor Day because it IS Labor Day, but that is all I am going to say about that. Holidays don't mean much to me since I have been retired. Every day is a holiday. We went to the Y this morning to walk and do our weight circuit. After coming home and cleaning up we went to Little Anthony's Diner (a local 50's diner) with our Monday afternoon LIFE group. Our Sunday night LIFE group had gotten down to two couples so we decided we would go to another LIFE group on Sunday nights. We went last night and the group has been going through Jeff Walling's book, Daring to Dance with God. I had read the book quite a while ago - bought it from Jeff BTW, when he was our preacher in Mission Viejo. Anyway we read the wrong chapter, but we were able to participate just fine. It was a good group and we are planning to go back. We have a preacher who is coming to try out on the 23rd. His name is Tom Washburn from Enid, Oklahoma. Do any of you know him? OK, I've done my posting now I can go and read -much more fun!

I got it Right

I love these tests. I never wanted to be a nurse, but 34 years of teaching must have been a good choice.
I got this one from Kyle's post

Your Learning Style: Competent and Cooperative

You have a great head for facts and figures. You can remember and use any fact you've read. You Should Study: Dentistry Education Environmental Science Finance Nursing Nutrition Science Medicine Law

What Should You Study?

I knew I shouldn't wash Dishes

I only had a few dishes to wash up before our afteroon LIFE group was due. I planned to mop the kitchen floor after that. Somehow a glass slipped out of my hand and I ended up with a nasty slash on my little finger - right hand. I screamed - of course and both husband and son came to my rescue. They got the bleeding stopped, poured hydrogen peroxide on it and bandaged it - so tight the end of my finger was turning purple. I loosened the bandage, expecting blood to gush everywhere - it didn't, but boy did it throb. I got to the recliner and began barking orders. "Bring me some prescription ibuprofen - two please" Actually my first words were I need a morphine drip. I've never had one, but my husband did when he had a blood clot and he seemed to like it. If you haven't noticed from my comments I don't do well with pain. My son vacuumed the living room, but my floor didn't get mopped.

My pills kicked in and I made it through our group time. It was then time to pick up Murphy, our 6 lb poodle from the vet after his annual teeth cleaning and physical exam. He has to be put under for that, so he is still a little groggy. Of course with my major injury I couldn't possibly cook, so we went to Texas Road House where I comforted myself with a filet, medium rare, and a baked potato, with butter AND sour cream. I am feeling better now. Murphy and I are sitting in the recliner, writing about our adventures for the day. I love my Mac iBook. Tomorrow will be a better day.

This is Me

You Are 35% Indie

You're a pretty normal person, with a few unusual streaks. No one would ever call you a freak, but you've been called weird - once or twice.

How Indie Are You?

Decisions - decisions

I just can't seem to make up my mind about Substitute teaching. I haven't done any since last October and I guess I don't really want to. I signed up this year, but then turned around and made myself unavailable. Monday will be the start of the third week of school and I can't bring myself to call that sub line and put in available days. Maybe I will just leave it alone.

Exercise is going good. We went 5 days this week. We skipped yesterday and went today. Why is it that something that is so good for you and does help you feel better is something we try to avoid?

Hail in Tucson

Here is the picture taken about a half hour after our hail storm.

What's Been Happening

I've noticed some of my blogger friends have not been posting as much lately. Our lives must be getting very busy. Our son is now living with us for awhile. It's nice to have him here. I have actually been doing a little more cooking. I made biscuits, bacon and eggs for breakfast - after going to exercise. Now I am waiting for my roast to be done for dinner. I've been slow cooking it and have just added the onions, carrots and potatoes. We had a hailstorm here in Tucson this afternoon. I took a picture of the hailstones left on my porch, but I haven't put it into my computer yet. We were in the middle of our afternoon LIFE group and we all had to go to the door and watch the hail. It doesn't take much to excite us old folks. :)

Shall We Dance

I just got home from the first Church of Christ wedding that had a dance. The ceremony was held at church and the choice of music was beautiful - all classical, including the Wedding March. It was taped music. Then the wedding reception was held in a Lutheran church across the street. Someone recently wrote on their blog, I think it was Greg England that white Church of Christ dancing was something else. He is right. All in all it was fun.

My wedding was 45 years ago last Sunday. We got married at Vermont Ave Church of Christ, in Los Angeles CA. This was the church where I grew up. It was by the old Pepperdine campus. We were able to bring in an organ and my piano teacher played for us. I don't remember any of the music, except the Wedding March. We had our reception of cake, mints, punch, etc. in the fellowship hall - no dancing. I honestly don't remember much about the wedding, but we planned it in 2 months. Tom and I met in October of 1960, when I was a Freshman at Pepperdine. He was in the Navy and stationed in San Diego. We met through a guy I was dating, who reminded me of Gomer Pyle. As soon as I met Tom, George (Gomer) was out of the picture. Did I mention that George was good looking, tall and blond, but oh, that Alabama accent! Tom and I started "going steady" after knowing each other 2 weeks. He started asking me to marry him in Jan and I said "yes" in March. We originally planned to wait until Tom was out of the service and I graduated from Pepperdine, which would put our wedding date in 1964. By the time I had my engagement ring in June and we decided to marry in August. When we told my mother, she cried. It was not that she didn't like Tom but she really wanted me to finish college. She adjusted and I did graduate -in 1967 from West Georgia College in Carrollton, GA, which was Tom's hometown. I love weddings.

Drugs

Did I get your attention with that title. I just got home from the doctors office and pharmacy and I've taken my antibiotic and 2 teaspoons of cough syrup with codeine, and I am in bed. I am missing Sweet Adelines rehearsal another night - two weeks in a row now, that is not good. We are learning a lot of new songs for our show on October 28th. At the rate I am going in learning the songs I may not be in the show. We celebrated our 45th Anniversay on Sunday and we ate at a Hunter's Steak House in Yuma, AZ. I really want to write about how we met but not tonight. Maybe I will feel like it tomorrow. Our son in still in CA but will probably be here this week. Please continue prayers for him.

Another Trip

Well, we have taken another trip. This time it was not expected. We are in CA helping our son pack to move home. It is not a happy time, so please pray for him and our family. Thanks

Feeling Ill

We got home from Georgia yesterday and I have been in bed ever since. I started getting a cough while we were there and yesterday I lost my voice - for awhile. While we in GA we saw the Braves defeated by the Mets. We went with my daughter-in-law's church group and sat in the $5.00 seats about 4 rows down from the top, out in right field. Turner Field is a neat stadiom and they had a fireworks show after the game. But I think I prefer sitting a little closer to the field. I've been catching up on my blog reading since I couldn't check while I was gone.

Another Trip

We are just about to leave for the airport. We are going to see our son and his family in Atlanta, Georgia. They actually live in Mableton, which is a suburb of Atlanta. Tomorrow night we are going to a Braves Game and Saturday we will be driving about 2 hours north to Summerville, GA to celebrate Tom's brother-in-law's birthday. He will be 85. Tom's sister died last year so we try to make sure we keep up with Joe. We are going to be celebrating my daughter-in-law's birthday on Sunday. I won't tell you her age, but she is younger than 85. HA. I won't be blogging while I am gone. I will be anxious to hear about Discom's trip when she gets back from seeing JJB. I know who he is. Probably the last to know, but oh, well. Everyone have a great weekend.

Lost and Found

I thought I had left my Bible at church last Wed night. I looked for it Sunday, but no, it was not there. I wasn't too worried because I misplace things frequently. Last night I got a phone call from a lady who had found my Bible in the parking lot at IHOP - I guess on Wed night since we went there after church. Anyway she had turned it in and then when she was there yesterday she saw no one had claimed it. I did not have my phone number in it but my name was on the outside. She looked me up in the phone book and called to tell me where it was. We just got back from picking it up. She told me her name but I couldn't understand her. What a nice lady.

Categories

First you were either liberal or conservative, then progressive or not, now I've found out we actually can divide into six categories. I just recently read Joe Beam's article in Grace Centered Magazine. You can find it online at www.gracecentered.com/
(I still can't make this a link) Look in the archives for the article, "What's Happening to churches of Christ" by Joe Beam. I understand this was written awhile ago, not sure how long, and many of you may have read it, but it was new to me. I found it very fascinating and I believe I know people in all the categories. We recently had our preacher leave and one of the reasons he stated was our congregation was too diverse. Maybe he felt he couldn't connect with the extremes. How about you - where do you fall? Where does your church fall? Is it important to you? BTW I think I identify with the Open category - which is not how I grew up. I am not sure where our church is - I think we have them all, except hopefully not the exasperated. I would say I grew up as a Zealot. In the fifties was there anything else?

Exercise and Food

I am still sticking with my exercise program, the only problem is I still want to eat. This morning I swam 500 yards. I did 125 yds (5 laps) and rested then swam another 125, until I got to 500. That's pretty good since when I started I couldn't swim one lap before stopping. I actually made lunch today. We had chicken (left over) mixed with stuffing with cream of celery soup over the top. We also had pinto beans - that I cooked - deviled eggs, and avocado slices. I am getting ready to go to my Sweet Adelines rehearsal and I am not hungry now, which probably means I will be hungry when we are through at 9:30, and more than likely I will stop for a $1.00 double cheeseburger at McDonalds. Oh well.....

Check-up

I just got home from my 6 month check-up and my doctor says I will live. My exercising must be working- my blood pressure was good. I have been on blood pressure medicine since I was 38 but since I have been retired it is always good, although the doctor never takes away any medicine. Tom went for an eye check-up this morning and the doctor added a drop to try to get the pressure down in his left eye - if this doesn't work he may have to have surgery again on that eye. I really like doing the weights at the Y and I am looking foward to swimming again tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to do 3 laps.
BTW I had to explain to my doctor what a blog was. I told him he needed to get with it.

Exercise - again

Well I can now swim two laps before resting. I must explain that I count a lap as swimming from one end of the pool to the other. A real lap may be up and back. The weights are interesting - I have better lower body strength than upper. We are going to do weights 3 times a week and cardio every day - except Sunday. We saw Superman Returns this afternoon and it was pretty good. I understand it was in 3-D in some areas, but not here. You could tell the parts that would be in 3-D.

Three Days of Exercise

OK -When is it I am supposed feel better? Just kidding, I guess it will take awhile. Yesterday I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes and rode the bicycle machine for 5 minutes. This morning I swam laps. Rather I should say - swim one lap, rest, swim one lap, rest. I did that for 20 minutes. I forgot to take my goggles - I won't do that again - chlorine stings. Tom did the treadmill while I swam. Tomorrow we each get an hour with a personal trainer and he will set us up on a program with weights.
whoopee...

Exercise

Wednesday my husband and I joined YMCA. Today will be the first day we have used our membership. We had a preview of equipment on Wednesday. Next Wednesday we will have a personal trainer set up our program on the weight circuit. Today we plan to use the treadmill, bicycle and some other cardio machine. We both need this so badly so I am requesting prayers that this will become a habit we can maintain. I also like swimming, so I plan to take advantage of the pool.

Pictures

I just spent about an hour figuring out how to add my picture to my blog. Of course I first had to figure out which picture to use. I don't like most of my pictures -except for a glamour shot I had taken a few years back. The one I picked is not the glamour shot but it probably looks more like me. Do you think women or men dislike their pictures more? I would say women.

Sunday Reflections

We just got home from our LIFE group. We were meeting at our house, now we are meeting at someone else's house, but we are still the leaders. We will still have our Monday afternoon group here.

Our youth minister, Clay Utley, spoke this morning and he gave a good lesson. He told us to sell our big SUV's and big trucks and buy small SUV's and small trucks. We have part of it right. We have a small Ford Ranger pick-up that we bought after we came to Tucson and we sold our F150. We did have a Nissan Maxima and now we have a Toyota Sienna. I know there was more to the lesson, but that was the part that stuck with me. I also caught myself yawning while singing, "The joy of the Lord will be my strength" I guess I am still catching up from our trip.

Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to report. Just letting you know I am still here. Even when I am not wrting I usually do not miss a day from reading others' blogs. Some of you are going through some heavy stuff right now and my prayers are with you.

Resting From Traveling

Sometimes the best vacation is the one you take after you take a vacation. We ended up staying an extra day in Portland because we couldn't get a flight out on standby. So we ended up paying for tickets on America West. We were so tired yesterday we didn't get dressed all day, nor did we go to church last night. I washed most of the day and then my dryer went out. So today I took the last load to the laundromat - where I fell getting my dry clothes out. The floor was wet and I had on sandals and down I went. I feel fine now but I bet I will be sore tomorrow.
We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory while in Portland. This restaurant used to be downtown and was the orginal Spaghetti Factory, now it is in a new location alongside the Willamette River. I took these pictures. This was before the heat wave set in - I think it was only in the 80's. By Sunday it was 102. So much for the cool northwest. It was beautiful however.

Connected at Cascade

Hi guys,
We are having a blast here at Cascade College - formerly Columbia. We went to dinner tonight with some of the graduating high school class of 1981. Right now we are connected through the college and we are so tired we can hardly stay awake - so I will write more later.

At the Airport

We didn't get out on the flight we wanted at 2:45, so we have been at the Atlanta airport since about 11:30. The next flight for Portland leaves at 6:10 and hopefully we will get on the flight. Thank goodness for Wi-fi at the airport. It does cost $7.95 a day, but I guess it is worth it. We had hoped to get to Portland in time for church tonight, but we won't be doing that. We will be able to worship in Vancouver on Sunday and we are anxious to see some of our friends from that congregation.

Leavin on a Jet Plane

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go...

We leave tomorrow for Portland by way of Atlanta. Sometimes that's what you have to do when you fly standby. There are seats available this way. We will spend the night in Atlanta and then arrive in Portland on Wed. We are going for the 50th Celebration of Columbia Christian College, now Cascade. I am taking my computer so I don't have to stop blogging. My husband graduated from there in 1975 at the age of 34. I taught at the high school for three years and he taught there for six years. We miss the people from that area but we don't miss the weather, although I am really looking forward to 70 degree weather since it's been 107 here.

Online Giving

ONLINE GIVING AVAILABLE

Online giving is now available and is as easy as 1-2-3. Simply set up a web account with just a few keystrokes, designate the amount of your gift, and provide your bank account information for a one-time, weekly, or monthly, gift. Your giving history for the past year will also be available for you to view. Do you prefer contributing by cash or check? No problem, this is simply a method now available to answer the requests from those who like to do all their banking on line. If you have questions about how it all works, there is a page of frequently asked questions on the GIVING page to answer these for you.

I copied the above from the North Atlanta Church of Christ website. I can't figure out how to make a link for you so you will have to go to their website-http://nacofc.org/ to read more. I actually think it is a great idea and emailed our elders with this info. What do you think?

After the Party

My husband's birthday party was lots of fun, but I didn't really get any good pictures. However we ended up leaving on Sunday and taking my GA family to San Diego. They had planned to fly to Los Angeles, but couldn't get a flight out, so we decided to take them to SD and they took a train to Los Angeles for the rest of their vacation. While we were there we went to Sea World and took a tour of Petco Park - the baseball stadium of the SD Padres. We got to go on the field, sit in the dugout, visit the press box and see where the rich folks sit - in suites. We stayed in San Diego two days and it was so nice and cool. I actually got sunburned at Sea World, but it was great weather. Enjoy the pictures.

Grandkids

I know many of you who read this post are not at this stage yet, but let me tell you it is wonderful to be a grandma - or grandpa. Right now my grandson from GA is sitting on my husband's lap in the big recliner, along with our 6 lb. Poodle, Murphy, watching Freaky Friday on the Disney channel. My husband is talking to our other son from CA who is on his way over after spending the last several days driving from El Centro, CA to Los Angeles, to Bakersfield, to Las Vegas, to St George, Utah, back to Vegas, to Yuma, AZ for a job he was doing. He is bringing his family, along with two more grandsons. They are just now leaving El Centro and will be here in another 6 hours. Everyone is here - and coming - to celebrate my husband's 65th birthday. We are going to see the new Disney movie, CARS, tomorrow afternoon and then tomorrow night we are having a party at Peter Piper Pizza with our family and friends from church. If you are in Tucson tomorrow, come join us. I'll be sure to let you know how our party goes - maybe even some pictures.

Retirement Part Three

I realize that I am one of the oldest bloggers of all the bloggers I regularly read and sometimes feel that I am a little out of place. However, it hasn't kept me from reading - or blogging. I am energized by younger people and even though I don't mind growing older I don't want to be part of the Senior Saints, Citizens, or whatever we are called.

With that said my posts on retirement are probably not of much interest to you younger folk, but it is my life. When I was teaching I knew people who should of retired but were afraid because they didn't have a life outside of school. I also knew teachers who retired and died within a year of retirement.

At first it wasn't strange because I was used to being out of school in the summers, so it just seemed like summer vacation-plus we moved to a new state, so there was the excitement of being in a new place. One day I woke up and thought "is this all there is?" Fortuneately that didn't last long. I waited a year before I did any substitue teaching and then it wasn't much. I started the school year this year working one or two days a week, but I quit after a couple of months. My husband had surgery on his eyes and we were making a lot of doctor visits. Once he was better I just didn't have the desire to sub. I actually never was completely off the sub list, just listed as not available. This spring I got a letter inquiring about my interest in next year. The letter stated even if I wasn't sure turn it in as Yes, so I did. We'll see when school starts.

So what do I enjoy? I love waking up when I want to. I love the time I have for Bible Study and I love singing with my chorus of Sweet Adelines - and no, they are not all old. Our youngest member is 13 and we have all ages.I love our church and the fact that I can actually go to Ladie's class, which I have never been able to do, because most classes stop in the summer. I am not quite sure why that is. I really, really love being able to travel. Oh and did I forget that I love my computer - it is an Apple iBook and I can actually lay in bed, watch TV and blog. BTW, retirement comes sooner than you expect, so be sure that you are prepared.

Sunday - A Day of Rest

I don't know about you but doesn't the Bible say you are supposed to rest on Sunday afternoon. I've noticed most people don't post on Sunday, so I assume you are all at church in the AM, resting in the afternoon and back at church in PM. We don't have evening services now that we have LIFE groups on Sunday night. We were leading one on Sunday nite and Monday afternoon. Last month we decided to move our Monday afternoon group to Sunday afternoon. Bad idea. We are meeting today - in a few minutes and then going back to Monday afternoon. I missed my Sunday afternoon nap - and I tried to get it during LIFE group last week. People coming, gotta quit.

Van Ryn Family story

If you have not already found this blog on the story of the mix-up of the two girls, please go there immediately. This is an amazing story of faith. lauravanryn.blogspot.com. You will have to type this in. I have not figured out how to link this

Martin Luther

Recently I rented the movie Luther. It starred Joseph Fiennes. Someone recommended it to me a couple of years ago and I just got around to seeing it. I grew up believing that there was always a group who worshipped just like we do - the true church - that came down from AD 33. My grandmother taught me this and it was reinforced by many people I knew. Therefore, anyone who disagreed with that wasn't really a Christian, and I really didn't need to know about people who weren't part of the true church. I am not knocking my heritage, I am grateful for my grandparents who taught me about Jesus. What I am trying to say is that is very refreshing and freeing to believe that God worked in people's lives through the ages. I cried at the end of the movie thinking about the bravery of Martin Luther who lived in a time when questioning of "the church" could mean death. If you have never seen this movie I highly recommend it.

Memorial Day

When I was teaching I must admit that Memorial Day meant a three day weekend. It usually didn't mean going anywhere, since my husband hates to drive over holidays. But it did mean a day off from the routine. Now that I am retired every day is a holiday, so on this special holiday I can reflect on what this day is really for.

My husband served in the Navy as a hospital corpsman. He joined the Navy to see the world, but saw San Diego. He is from Georgia, so I guess San Diego was a little farther. I met him when he was in hospital corpsman school, through a guy I had been dating. We got married less than a year after we met. By then he was stationed at Camp Pendleton at the Hospital. He was in the service from 1960-1964, between the Korean conflict (war) and Vietnam. He never saw a ship or a foreign country - but he did meet me.

My oldest son served in the Air Force and was stationed in Turkey, and again no conflict. He is now in the Navy Reserves.

My Uncle Marion served during WWll, but came home safe, so no one in my family died during any wars - at least that I know of.

I feel proud that members of my family have served their country, but even more blessed that I didn't lose anyone My heart goes out today for those of you that have lost family members in conflict.

Kermit Revealed

Scott and me at Wailana Coffee Shop Waikiki


My husband, Tom and I - same place

I Got Nothing

Just to let all my many readers know. I just can't think of anything to write about. I think I am still recovering from my harrowing trip to Hawaii. Just kidding. I think I just don't want to be back. I hate to repeat myself, but if you have never been to Hawaii you must go. My good friend is leaving for Maui on Friday, next time I am going there.

What's In A Name

Have you noticed some of the different names that movie stars are naming their babies? I can't remember what Tom Cruise named his baby except that it was a Hebrew name. Was it Suri? I think Gwyneth Paltrow named her baby Apple. I would always think of my computer with that name.

I was named after two special people and given my nickname after another friend of my mother's. My first name is Marian and I was a fourth generation -the rest being Marion, since they were men. My great-grandfather or maybe great-great, my grandpa and my uncle. My middle name is Lavon, named after Lavon Staggers who was my mother's friend growing up in Sherman, Texas. Lavon died when she was young. Now for some reason my mother called me Vonnie - another one of my mother's friends. I went to school in Los Angeles and at that time you could not go by a nickname, so I went by Lavon. Whenever I get mail addressed to Lavon I know it is from someone I went to school with. I am now Vonnie to most people and that is the name I am the most comfortable with. BTW I know I just finished two sentences with prepositions, but I don't care! I love being named after people who were special to my mother, although when I was young I wished I was Mary or Linda or anything more common at that time. But now I am happy to be Marian Lavon (Vonnie). Were you named after anyone special?

Hawaii

What a trip! We are back from Hawaii. It was wonderful. We stayed at Waikiki and visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We had planned to go snorkeling, but instead we took a greyline tour of part of the Island. We saw Hanauma Bay and several other beaches, then went to Pali Lookout in the rainforest. It was even raining in the rainforest. The weather there was cool, but in Waikiki it was sunny and in the 80's with a breeze. We went to the beach and only got a little sunburned. We visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. On Sunday we went to church at the Honolulu Church of Christ and met Scott -the preacher boy. He took us to breakfast on Monday morning at the Wailana Coffee House and had a great time getting to know each other - after meeting in blogsphere. Oh yeah, I actually took these pictures. Waikiki at sunset!

Trip to Hawaii

I am through packing and hopefully all ready to leave for CA tomorrow morning, then on to Honolulu on Wed. I don't know about you but I always overpack. I am never sure that I won't need something. It is not as if I am going to a place where there are no stores. I can't wait to swim with the fishes. And of course to meet Scott.

Second place is great

Back from our competition and we came in second. Usually people want first place, but we knew we were up against an international winner - Harborlites from Anaheim, CA. This is the chorus I used to belong to and even was with them when they won first place in the region but I moved to Tucson before they competed Internationally and won their gold medals. Yes, they won this competition and will be competing in Calgary, Canada in 2007. Anyway our chorus' goal was to score at least 600 points and we got 601. Hooray. We also hoped to come in second place and we did it.I got home about 10:30 last night and was up early for church. I am getting ready for a nap, but had to share my news Oh and I guess I will read a few blogs before closing my eyes.

Dress Rehearsal

Tonight was Friends and Family night at Sweet Adeline Chorus rehearsal, which is like a dress rehearsal before our competition. The chorus I belong to is called Tucson Desert Harmony and we will be competing in Phoenix this Saturday along with 11 other choruses in our region. The winner of our region will compete in an International competition in Calgary Canada in 2007. This is the reason I will not be going to Pepperdine this week. My husband and I went last year and really enjoyed it. We leave Thursday, so if I am not blogging for a few days, you'll know why.

Retirement Part Two

I set my alarm once a week - Sunday. I also set it if I have to get up early to leave on a trip. Otherwise I get up when I feel like it. Every June the teacher's association I belonged to had a retirement tea for the new retirees - both teachers and administrators. One year I was even the retirement chairperson - looking forward to mine. Anyway, part of the program was introducing each retiree and reading something about them. Almost everyone mentioned that they were looking forward to not getting up to an alarm. If you are a morning person you may not understand this. I don't thing I am a morning person, or a night person, I just don't like schedules and I lived with them for 34 years of teaching. This part of retirement is great!

Babysitting

I am taking a break from my retirement posts to talk about babysitting.

I remember the first time I was allowed to babysit - I couldn't have been much older than 12, maybe even 11. I am an only child so I loved being around younger children - especially since I had already decided to be a teacher. I started with neighborhood kids, then by the time I was 15 I was spending the night at one of my mother's friends house - that was my favorite, because I got paid more.

One summer I worked everyday caring for my cousins. I read a lot, watched American Bandstand and cleaned everything up just before my cousin came home. One day my mother came by unexpectedly and caught me laying (lying?) on the couch, while the kids were outside -doing who knows what, and she wasn't too happy with me.

Today I am babysitting my neighbors' two kids, 3 and 5. It is only for a couple of hours and they are sitting on my bed watching Dumbo. When we go off on a trip, such as our upcoming trip to Hawaii - can't wait to meet Scott - our neighbors reciprocate by watching our dog. We have a poodle - all of 6 pounds - and he is spoiled, of course. He is an indoor dog, so they just come over daily and change his potty pads and check the food level. Do you think dogs are aware of time? I hope not. The longest we have left him is 10 days.

Retirement- Part One

For 34 years I taught school. I decided to be a teacher when I was in third grade, so I always thought I wanted to teach third grade. When I was in my senior year and had to do an observation quarter - before student teaching - it seemed that everyone wanted primary classes, so I went to an upper grade class. I don't remember which grade.

Then when I did my student teaching I was in a fifth grade as well as splitting my time with Special Education. My love had become Special Education and in the 60's the college I attended, West Georgia College, had just started a major in Sp Ed. I can remember asking my professor, Dr. DeHoop - from the Netherlands, I believe - how would I know I would be a good sp ed teacher. He advised me to try it and see and I never regretted it.

Yes, I did teach some years in the general ed program at all levels, elem, jr. high and high school. I also taught in both public and private schools and although I loved teaching in Christian schools and am grateful my one son was able to go through 8th grade at a Christian school, the opportunities were not there for sp ed.

My area of expertise was mental retardation and at the time I started the students I taught were classified (I hate that word) as Educable Mentally Retarded. When I finished my career in California that term was changed to Learning Handicapped, either Severe or Mild. I spent the last 15 years working as a Resource Specialist Teacher in an Elementary School. One of those years I spent in high school, which was a mistake. Maybe I will do a whole post on that experience. I will write more tomorrow

Reading Blogs

I checked this morning and I had saved 57 bloggers. I decided to narrow it down a bit and now I only have 33. It is remarkable I only started reading two people's blogs and following their links I just got carried away. I used to get up in the morning and after reading my Bible I would read the newspaper. Well, I never get to the newspaper, I guess I will stop my subscription.

First Post by Vonnie

Well, I am officially part of the blogger world. I have been lurking around since I went to the ACU lectureships in February, starting with Dan Dazell's blog, then Mike Cope, then too many to name. I didn't intend to write, I am not much of a writer, but in order to make a comment on some of the blogs I had to register - so here I am.