Another Update

We went to the hospital this morning and Tom will NOT have to have radiation
therapy. The test that he took this am shows he does not have
hyperthyroidism but an inflamed thyroid and radiation will not help
him. He will be seeing the endocrinologist next week (hopefully) to
find out what kind of treatment he will need. Thank you for your
prayers.

Update on Tom

I'm coming out of my break to let you know that the medication Tom was taking for his hyperthyroidism was not working so he is going to have a radiation treatment on Thursday. He will take a capsule that has iodine and the radiation which goes to the thyroid. Tom will be radioactive for a period of time - I think 24 hours. They send him home from the hospital and I have to stay away from him. We are hopeful that this works. Please pray for him.

Taking a Break

Maybe I'm just a follower but since a couple of my long time blogging buddies, Scott and Beverly have taken a blogging break I think I'll do the same. I will still be reading, so you might see a comment now and then. Meanwhile have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

Almost Thanksgiving

We found out why Tom was getting so tired. He has Hyperthyroidism, which can cause fatigue. He has been on medication since Friday night, but because he has a cold he can't say that he is feeling any better. We are leaving for Atlanta on Thanksgiving morning so we are hoping he will be ready to travel. We are going to be there for a week. I have some other news but I will save it for when we get back.

I woke up at 4:00 AM and couldn't go back to sleep, so here I am on the computer, watching the news. The weatherman just said it would be around 77 on Thanksgiving and then by Friday it will be in the 60's. We broke a record on Sunday of 88. It has been nice in GA but it is supposed to start cooling off by Thanksgiving with some rain in the forecast. I know they need rain, but I wish it would wait until we got home.

So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Feeling Better

I guess I just had a 24 hr bug. I feel fine today and I even got something accomplished. I don't know about you but I am terrible about filing receipts and just deciding if something needs to be kept or thrown away. I am pretty good at keeping bills in one place - most of the time, but what I end up with are stacks of papers I think I'll go through later. Later becomes later and much later. I actually started this job on Friday, cleaning out two drawers and the stuff on top of my dresser. I moved it all into the kitchen, along with my two different filing thingees and a large recycle can. I got it all out and then left it there since I was sick yesterday. I want you to know that it is all put away or thrown away and I have two very neat drawers waiting to be filled up with more junk. How about you? Do you have a system? Do you always do it on the same day each month? Or are you one of those real neat people who actually deal with it daily? Let me know. I am open to suggestions.

Sick and Tired

Just checking in to let you all know I am sick today. I have a head cold and have been in bed all day. I just ate some left over lasagna at 5:30. I'm not sure that was the best to eat on an empty stomach but it was easy and it sure tasted good. The tired in the title refers to Tom. He has been getting tired very easily and even went to the doctor because of it. He doesn't usually go to the doctor outside of his regular appointments. The doctor said he might have a viral infection but he couldn't give him anything for it. He has a physical scheduled for Tuesday. So keep us both in your prayers.

More Birthday Parties & misc stuff

After having a surprise party in CA I didn't expect more.....but. Friday night I thought we were going to dinner with Bobby and Pamella and their girls and our son. She thought the same. We arrived at the restaurant to find three more couples for a total of 13 people. It was a surprise for both of us because Pamella's birthday was today. She is considerably younger than me. Today our LIFE group went out to lunch and had cake to celebrate not only Pamella and my birthdays but two of the men in the group. At least I wasn't the oldest of that group. One of the men turned 85 this month and I think the other fellow is older than me, but I didn't ask and he didn't volunteer. The Mexican food was good and the chocolate cake (from Costco) was delicious. We had enough to send some home with those who wanted some, plus we left some for the waiters at the restuarant.

I subbed today and I will again tomorrow. I am subbing for the aide in the Special Ed primary class. The teacher was absent also and another retired teacher was the sub teacher. We made it through the day, but it did not go quite as smoothly as it would have if the teacher had been there. Hopefully the teacher will be back tomorrow.

Last weekend I was at a church retreat for the women in Casa Grande - between here and Phoenix - about an hours drive. We had a good turnout and the speaker was Rebecca Huey from Phoenix. The topic was The Bride of Christ and talked about the Jewish wedding customs during the time of Christ and how we could relate that to our relationship to Christ. It was only Friday night and Saturday morning and after lunch many of us went shopping. All in all a perfect women's weekend. The food was good too.

The weather is still hot here In Tucson. I am really ready for fall to arrive. I think we get a week or so before it gets cold. If you consider in the 60's cold. When we first came to Tucson almost 4 years ago I saw the following in the local paper. The four seasons of Tucson - Almost summer, Summer. Still Summer and Construction. I guess we are in third season although I think construction is year round.

We've Come A Long Way, Baby

Found this on a baptist preacher's blog. He titled it Women Know Your Place (wink).

Disneyland, Birthday etc.

Our trip to California was wonderful. We spent the night in Blythe on the way over and Gila Bend on the way back. When we were younger we could have driven in in one day - but now we try not to drive over 4-6 hours in one day. Friday night our GA family flew in and we picked them up at LAX. We then drove to Fort Mac Arthur to spend the night in Base housing. When my son said we were staying in San Pedro I couldn't imagine what kind of housing because I have never thought of San Pedro as a pretty city. I was wrong. I didn't get a picture of the base but you can see here. Saturday morning we walked around Pt.Fermin Park. I got this picture of a racoon.



After breakfast on Saturday we rode up the hill to Palos Verdes and visited Wayfarer's Chapel. My uncle Jack (deceased) helped build this famous landmark. Here is a picture I took.



I was worried that we wouldn't have time to visit with my cousin on Saturday because she said she had parties both Saturday and Sunday but she said if we arrived at 1:00 she would have an hour before she had to leave for a party at 2:00. She is a caterer. She hadn't seen my kids in a couple of years. Anyway we got there at 1:00 and the party she had on Saturday was for me. What a surprise! All my cousins and most of their families were there. I think I cried for ten minutes. It was truly a surprise.

On Sunday we went to church at Newland St Church of Christ in Garden Grove. One of my dearest friends who is 88 and still drives to church went to lunch with us and then it was off to Disneyland.



As you can see Disneyland is decorated for Halloween. We got there about 2:00 and the kids stayed until it closed at midnight. Tom and I hung in there until about 8:30 and then took a shuttle back to our hotel where we were staying Sat and Sun nights. Disneyland is always fun. I was actually there in 1955 - the year it opened. It is a lot more fun when it is not so crowded but Sunday it was packed. Harrison (grandson) didn't care at all. He had a ball.

On Monday we took our kids to the airport in Orange County to fly home and we spent one more night with my cousin before taking off for Tucson on Tuesday. She and I got to go to a movie on Monday afternoon - The Jane Austin Book Club - which was very good.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful biological family. If it wasn't for our church family here at Palo Verde I would be very unhappy not living closer to my family in California. Fortunately we are able to travel to see them and our kids in Georgia.

Exercise and Randy Harris

I'm sure that title got your attention. Tom and I went to exercise this morning after about a two month lapse. I walked on the treadmill and listened to my iPod. Today I was listening to Randy Harris who was the guest speaker at Providence Road Church of Christ in Charlotte NC where Jeff Walling preaches. You can get the podcasts from this website. This sermon was from September 9. Anyway, the sermon was on evangelism and if you've never heard Randy speak he always has some funny stories. In this sermon he was talking about exercise and said he didn't like it and didn't do it. He said partly because of genetics. He said people in his family lived to be 100 but their mind began to go at 70. So he figures if he didn't exercise his mind and body would go at the same time. He also said he didn't know why people resisted going to heaven. He said he would eat his chocolate donuts and see you there. Oh and his points on evangelism were good too. I only walked twenty minutes and finished listening when I got home.

We are leaving Thursday for Orange County, CA. Our kids from GA are meeting us there and we are going to Disneyland to celebrate Harrison's (grandson) and my birthdays. Our birthdays are three days apart - Harrison will be 10 on the 23rd and I will be 65 on the 26th. I am now officially on Medicare and our Y memberships are being paid by our new Health plan - Healthnet. When I got my medicare card in the mail it seemed so funny. I thought only "old" people had medicare cards.

Substituting

Today I was the sub for the classroom I opened this year. The classroom's air conditioning has been fixed and oh what a difference! I was working with a small group and one third grader was checking out my elbow and said I had "old skin". I said "Yes, that's what happens when you get old." He replied with "but I don't want you to die." I assured him I wasn't THAT old. The kids all gave me hugs and told me they missed me. One student, actually I think it was the same one who asked about my old skin asked me if I had my birthday yet and I told him it was next month. What do you think that means?

A Post at Last

For all of my loyal readers - at least Dee, I thought I better get back to blogging. When last you heard from me we had just returned home from Hawaii and I was starting a special ed classroom as the substitute. I did last the 16 days and got the higher rate of pay. The bad part was our classroom's air conditioner was broken and I was sick the whole last week I worked. The district transferred another teacher who had only one student in her class. She and I worked together that last week and I don't think I could have done it without her. I learned that my mind is still capable of teaching full time but my body isn't. I told the school on that last Friday not to call me the next week and I stayed in bed most of that week. Then last week I worked Monday and Tuesday. I don't imagine I will get any calls this week because it is parent conference week and school gets out at noon for conferences. I really did enjoy the students and they all gave me hugs on that last day. When I subbed last week I got more hugs. I am only going to substitute at that elementary school, which is what I did last year. So far this year I've worked 18 days and I don't think I worked that many days all of last school year.

This time last year we were at the lectures at ACU but we didn't go this year. We listened to Landon Saunders speak last night on
totallyacappella's website. You can listen tonight and tomorrow night at 7:00 Abilene time, which is 5:00 Tucson time. I think they also broadcast the 11:00 AM lecture. Last night's was awesome. Mike Cope gives a short review on his blog today.

Home and Tired

We had to stay an extra night in Hononlulu because we couldn't get a plane out on Sat night. We left Sunday night at 11:00, flew to San Francsisco, took the BART to Oakland, flew to Salt Lake City and got the last flight to Tucson on Monday night - getting home at 11:00 PM. School started Tuesday and I don't remember being as tired as I was every afternoon last week. This morning I was at the Y at 5:30 and swam 350 yards in twenty minutes. I do think it gave me more energy today. Oh yeah, one other minor detail - my classroom is one of three in the school with no air conditioning. It is broken and they are hoping it will be fixed this week. You know how hot it is in Tucson right now? We spent about twenty minutes in the hall, which has air after lunch and then we went to the cafeteria where it has air to work on math. I have 12 students, 3rd to fifth grade and three aides. Two boys have autism and they each have a one on one aide, then there is the classroom aide, who is a man. We are doing pretty good for one day of preparation before school started. I hope to make 16 days because then I start making $50 more a day and it is retroactive back to the first day. I've got to pay for the Hawaii trip, you know. My own goal is to make it nine weeks and I hope they have found a teacher by then. I do enjoy having my own class compared to being a substitute and I love the kids already but I'm not sure how long my body can take it.

This afternoon our LIFE group had a birthday party at a Mexican restaurant for Lois who was eighty something and Bobby V who will be 39 on Saturday. We had a good meal and a delicious chocolate cake - from Costco. What? You thought I would bake a cake? Yeah right! The people at the restaurant were so nice we left half the cake for the staff.

Guess I better quit blogging and plan for tomorrow. One day at a time. Pray for me.

Finally - Hawaii!

We finally made it to Hawaii. If you read my blog you will remember that we tried at Easter and we got to Salt Lake City and we had a seat on the bus, as Tom likes to say, and the flight was canceled. Then in June we were going again and before we even left Tucson we realized we weren't going to get a flight to Hawaii so we went to Atlanta with the intentions of going to London. Well we ended up going to Boston and we really did enjoy that trip.

I don't think I posted about our trip to San Francisco. We did that in July with our kids from Georgia. We stayed at a Coast Guard Temporary housing in Novato. Our son, who is the pilot is also in the Navy reserves so he can stay in these places. It was really nice - a two bedroom apartment. There were wild deer on the property. Novato is about 30 miles north of San Francisco and a great place to stay. My grandson, daughter-in-law and I saw Hairspray on the opening day while we were there.





I can't say enough about our hotel Waikiki Sand Villa We stayed here in January but this time we didn't even make a reservation before we got here because of the chances of not making it. Anyway we booked it online from the airport in Honolulu and when we got here they remembered us and gave us a corner room on the 10th floor. We have this view from one balcony.



and from the other corner balcony you can just see the ocean past the hotels. It is about 3 blocks to the Waikiki beach



Besides the fact that the prices are reasonable (a little higher than in January) the most scary but miraculous thing happened. Yesterday when we went to the beach we left Tom's wallet with both our ids and credit cards, cash, his cell phone and my ipod in a safe in the room. As we were walking back from the beach Tom asked me if I locked the safe. I said "No" did you? Well...
We got back to the room and even though the maid had cleaned up our open safe was untouched. We saw the maid in the hall and she told us she had called down for security to check it out. I thanked her profusely for being an honest person.

We are going home tomorrow night because I have taken a long term sub position for a special education classroom at the elementary school where I usually sub. I didn't find out until Monday afternoon and we left Wed morning. I told them I couldn't be there for teachers first day on Friday. Our flight is an overnight flight - through San Francisco, then to SLC and finally by Sunday night we will be home. All the flights look good except the one to Tucson from Salt Lake, so worst case scenario is we will spend the night in SLC and come home Monday morning, also a teacher workday. Students show up on Tuesday. The school knows I may not be there until noon on Monday. I might tell you more about getting my room ready on Tuesday but my power on my laptop is getting low. we don't have wi-fi in the room but we do by the pool - where I have been eating breakfast and writing this. Dina, if you are reading this, I plan to call you today.

Tagged by Bobby Valentine

My friend and fellow blogger, Bobby V, has tagged me. He has asked that I divulge eight random facts, and meaningless!, about myself. So here goes ...

1. I was on the Art Linkletter Show when I was in 6th grade

2. I skipped the B-2 (We had semester classes in Los Angeles)

3. I wrote a letter to Ricky Nelson and invited him to a Sadie Hawkins dance when I was in 10th grade. He declined.

4. I was voted "Most Talkative" by my senior class.

5. I started teaching myself piano when I was in elementary school - on a neighbor's old - old piano. Later I took lessons and got my own piano - I have had 4 pianos - and I still don't play for anyone but myself - and kids.

6. I went to a party at Pat Boone's house (at the time he was renting Humphrey Bogart's home in Beverly Hills. I went with my Pepperdine College Sorority - Kappa Kappa

7. I used to Ice Skate and learned to do a "waltz jump" (for you non skaters that means I could jump about an inch off the ice)

8. I don't ice skate anymore since I fell just standing still on the ice 2 summers ago when I went with the youth group from church. I decided at that time that 62 was too old to be ice skating.

I tag Desert Diva, Beverly, Scott, Dina, Candy, and Tina

...but it doesn't look like Honolulu Part Two

Since my last post when I was reporting on our trip to Boston, Portland, Maine and Plymouth Rock with a couple of days in Atlanta we came home , rested a week and left for Portland, Oregon. We flew to Salt Lake City, then instead of getting a flight to Portland we flew to Medford, Oregon and rented a car. The weather was beautiful - in the 70's and I took this picture at a rest stop on our five hour drive to Portland. We ate lunch at the White Horse Inn in Sumerlin, Oregon and it had a bird aviary. The food was good and the owner (?) gave us a free strawberry shake and a piece of rum raisin pie - UMM. It rained the next two days but it felt great. We stayed with our friends, June and Gene Anderson in Vancouver, Washington and when we weren't attending Columbia College (now Cascade) reunion activities or driving around and looking at the apts/houses we lived in we were playing pinochle with June and Gene. When we lived in Vancouver we played at least once a week.

Here is a picture outside the Johnson Center at Cascade College. Aren't the roses beautiful?



I haven't been posting since we got back and I am not sure why. I may be losing interest in blogging - I haven't even been reading others blogs. But I am going to do that right now.

..but it doesn't look like Honolulu - Part One

If you read my last post you might wonder why I have on a jacket when I am supposed to be in Hawaii. Well, we didn't make it. We fly standby and when we first started looking at the loads a week ago there were seats available...but. I had said I would not turn around and fly back to Tucson and as it turned out we knew before we left Monday morning that we would not make it to Hawaii so we decided to go to London, England. We have never been to Europe so we just packed a little differently. We planned to fly to Atlanta, spend the night and leave for London Tuesday morning. Before we went to sleep Monday night or I should say around midnight we checked the loads to London and surprise - it had changed. Tom was getting a little irritated but I was going with the flow. We thought about Edinburgh - it is one of Delta's new routes and so it looked pretty good. The problem was the hotels there seemed very expensive -- and it was going to be cold, at least colder than London. Neither Tom and I had been north of New York City so we decided on Boston. Now remember we are making all these plans while at the hotel in Atlanta on Mon night - late. We found a hotel - a La Quinta in Andover, Massachusettes, made reservations and made car rental reservations - all over the internet. Yes we both have our laptops with us.


We got up early this morning and drove to Portland, Maine. We got lost trying to find the tour office but we found AAA and stopped there and got maps. It was raining - kind of misty rain - most of the morning. We could have been in Portland, Oregon. Tom took the first picture while we were on the tour. We were at Cape Elizabeth and this is the Portland Head Light, the second oldest lighthouse in the US.



We ate lunch after the tour. I really wanted Maine lobster but instead we ate at Becky's Diner which our tour guide said was a local favorite. We both ordered the special which was Macaroni and cheese with a hot dog - which turned out to be just the weiner.It really was very good and I only ate half of the mac and cheese and then had some pecan pie. For dinner tonight we are having our leftovers from lunch and last nights leftover chicken parmasan.

As we drove back we went on Highway 1 through the small towns. I got excited when I saw the turn for Kennebunkport.



I thought if we just turned east we would find the ocean. We did eventually - I'm not sure what the name of the beach is but here is a picture.




How would you like to live here? This was on our way back from the nameless beach.

More tomorrow.

On The Road Again

We are going to try to get to Honolulu again. We are leaving in the morning for Salt Lake City. We are listed on the standby list and everyday the seats available to Hawaii are fewer. So we are making alternate plans. We can fly to San Francisco from SLC, spend the night then leave for Honolulu Tuesday evening. We already have our reservations in Honolulu and we will lose one nights fee if we don't show up Monday night, but it is still worth it. Actually it would be fun to spend some time in San Francisco. I love that city -and it's cool. Today it is supposed to be close to 100. Have a good Lord's Day.

Ladies Who Lunch

The Washington High School Girl's Class of Winter 60 (Los Angeles, CA) met at the Long Beach Marriot at 11:30 AM last Saturday. What a blast! It was so much fun visiting with women, most of whom I haven't seen in 17 years and some whom I haven't seen since we graduated. I would have to say we looked pretty darn good for our ages, since we have either turned 65 this year or will on our next birthday. I think I was one of the youngest since my birthdy isn't until October - I skipped the B-2. When I went to school in Los Angeles every semester was like a new year. You could actually begin school in February. Thus the B-2, A-2 etc. You changed classrooms and teachers in Sept and Feb. So instead of 6 elementary teachers or 7 with K you had 12 (or 14). We did that all through high school that is why we graduated in Jan.

Probably the biggest topic of conversation was how we are handling turning 65. That and how many husbands! Actually we had a pretty good percentage who are still married to their original spouses, including me. One of the ladies is raising her two grandchildren, one of who is 13- ouch. BTW she is one of the youngest looking ones, maybe there is something to having a young one around. Most of us were retired but some were still working. One of my friends is a secretary at Saddleback Community Church - where Rick Warren preaches. Her husband and I went to Sunday School together when we were in elementay school. He also graduated with our class. Another classmate who couldn't make it sent a letter to pass around - with pictures (then and now). She lives in Reno, NV and couldn't attend because she and her husband had two horses who were racing that day. Another woman retired from Los Angeles City Hall but still goes in (from her home in Palm Springs) 3 days a week - as a consultant. She was secretary (later title change to Administrative assistant) to the mayor(s) of Los Angeles. She started right out of high school. I think I was the only retired teacher, but we had three social workers (one retired, two still working). It was so intersting learning about each other.

I had originally planned to fly home on Sunday but had decided to fly home Saturday. There were seats available on a 5:20 flight out of Orange County and I was sure that would give me enough time. Well, by 3:20 we were still talking. I think we had about 30 women and we were each telling about the last 47 years. We had finished lunch started going around the room reliving our lives, taken a potty break and I had to leave. I think I missed about 4 ladies' stories. Next year I plan to go back and I will definitely stay over until Sunday. Our 50th High School reunion will be held in 2009 with the '59 graduating classes. Several of the women who were there are on that planning committee.

High School Memories

I graduated from George Washington High School in Los Angeles, Ca in January of 1960. My class had about 300 students. The June graduating class had about 700. I went to my 10 year and 30 year reunion. We lived in Washington when the 20th was held. I have kept in touch with one friend who luckily has kept in touch with a group of women who get together once a year for a luncheon. I will be leaving for Orange County tomorrow to attend one of those luncheons on Saturday. Tom is not going with me. I will fly home on Sunday. I am so excited but I wonder if I will recognize anyone. It is interesting deciding what to pack. It is in the 90-100 degree range here and the forecast in OC is low 70's. Of couse I won't mind the cooler weather.

Updated Links

I just added some new links to the side. I still don't have all of them listed but that would be too long. Just as I think I will cut down how many blogs I read I find a new blogger and add just one more. The newest blogger I have found is Kaye Check her out. She is a good writer. How do you choose who you read- only those you agree with or do you like to mix it up?

Painting

I really hate painting. When we moved into our house 3 years ago we had the entry, living room and hall painted. I don't remember what we paid but it was worth it. It was done so quickly and we weren't disrupted for long. We have been painting our bedroom (ourselves) for at least a week. First we moved the bed out completely and got one wall painted. Then we moved the bed back in and didn't do anything else for a few days. Today we took down the ugly blinds that were here when we moved in. When I say we I mean Tom. I help a little. Then we had to stop to go to Loews for some spackling stuff and temporary blinds - which will probably be up at least a year. Maybe not. Of course we had to eat while we were out. Now I am tired from all that work :). So I thought I would write so I won't feel guilty about reading and not writing.

Blogging

I have had a hard time wanting to blog since we returned from Pepperdine, church at Newland St in Garden Grove and two days in Oceanside - where we started our married life 45 years ago. We had a good trip beside the fact that I twisted my ankle the first day we arrived at Pepperdine. I took my camera and the one day I started to take a picture my batteries were dead and I never replaced them.

The lectures were great and seeing people I knew from the past is always a highlight. I also met some bloggers I had not met before - Greg England, Steve Puckett, Brandon Scott Thomas and his family (yes, his kids are gorgeous) and Amy Westerman who is Nancy French's sister. I think next year the lectureship committee should provide a room for bloggers to get together.

I don't know why I haven't wanted to blog - probably just laziness. I promise to do better.

On the Road

We spent the night last night in Palm Springs on our way to Pepperdine. Before getting on the road we are resting to allow the morning traffic to die down. One stop we are planning to make is in Duarte (you've probably never heard of it) to eat lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We first ate at this restaurant in Portland, Oregon when we lived there from 75-82. Actually we lived in Portland the first three years and then moved across the river to Vancouver, WA. Several of these restaurants are in CA and we used to eat at the one in Newport Beach and Fullerton. There is only one restaurant in the state of Arizona and it is in Phoenix. While we were there for competition we made sure to indulge. BTW the prices are about $3.00 higher in AZ. Weird. Check out the menus from Duarte and Phoenix Both Tom and I always order the spaghetti with Mizithra cheese. It is so yummy and I have never seen it on the menu at any other Italian restaurant.

Movies

I saw three movies since Friday. The first one was The Perfect Stranger with Halle Berrie and Bruce Willis. It was rated R and I think I probably don't need to go to R rated films. The story line was good but I had to put up with some junk. I am glad no one went with me - it's not one I would want to take a friend to. But if you like Halle Barrie or scary movies you might like it. But remember I warned you. The other two were better. My friend Sandy and I went to see Wild Hogs (our husbands went to the Men's retreat). We laughed so hard. The third movie was from Blockbuster - The Queen. If you haven't already seen it - rent it.

We leave tomorrow for Pepperdine. I am looking forward to it - seeing people you've known from all over is as much fun as going to the lectures. The singing is always awesome. We are going to take two days to get there. We don't like driving too far in one day.I'm not sure where we will stop - we'll probably just drive until we are tired.

Have a great week everyone!

Blog Anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of my blog. I have met some wonderful new friends and I have learned that I would rather read other people's blog than write on mine. My postings have become less frequent but I do try to keep at it. Today was the half way point in working a full week. At this point I think I am ready to be done for this school year. Tomorrow our class is going on a field trip to a symphony. It is especially for Kindergartens so our primary sp ed class (K-2) hopefully will enjoy it. I will try to post tomorrow and let you know how it went.

A Week of Work

I got called at 5:00 AM this morning to sub at my favorite school (actually it is the only one I sub for). The assignment was extra help, other - which could mean librarian, counselor, Resource teacher or special ed aide. It was the aide job. The teacher just got her 13th student which is one over the max. So she is entitled to a second aide. I agreed to be there all week. We are going to Pepperdine next week so I couldn't agree to any more than that. I haven't subbed five days in one week since I retired so I imagine I will be tired the end of the week. The secretary was teasing me about not making it past Wednesday. It's hard to believe I did this for 34 years. Retirement is so much more fun.

Trip to CA

It has been an interesting couple of weeks. On Easter Day Tom and I were supposed to fly to Honolulu. We got to Salt Lake City and there were enough seats on the Honolulu flight for standby passengers - however the plane had mechanical problems and they canceled the flight. So instead we flew back to Tucson. Exciting day! As it turned out it was a good thing because I was able to go to CA to visit with my cousin. I am not going into details but please say a prayer for my cousin's daughter, Elizabeth who is 13. My cousin works for Starbucks on the Warner Bros lot - actually it is the area from where the tours leave and return. Anyway I was able to take one of their tours - for free. I didn't see any movie stars but I got some shots from several sets. See if you recognize what sets I saw.

Home From Phoenix

We came in third place. There really weren't any surprises. Scottsdale came in first, San Diego second and we were third. We did improve our score from last year, so we were happy about that. We had a casino night (for prizes) on Saturday night after the competition. Your badge from the event got you $25 in chips. I used mine and Tom's (he was resting) and played blackjack. The dealer was real helpful to those of us who were not experts and it was fun. I traded in $150 in chips for 5 tickets - it should have been 6 - I wasn't paying attention. The prizes were baskets of stuff (bath products, etc) and the top prize was an all events ticket to International in Calgary in October. I didn't win anything - but I had fun. Too bad it wasn't real money. Of course then I probably would have lost. Thanks for all the nice comments on our costumes. I think they were a hit at competition.

Leaving for Competition

Saturday is the chorus competition for Region 21 of Sweet Adelines in Phoenix. Tomorrow is the quartet competition. Tom and I are leaving in the morning and coming back early Sunday morning so we can be home in time for church. This picture was taken Monday night at our "family and friends night" - dress rehearsal. Can you spot me? I am in the middle on the third row. It kind of looks like the second row right behind the director's head. I really like our new costumes. Purple is my favorite color.

Heresy

You know I've been bragging about our new preacher Bobby Valentine. Well - he's gone too far. At our LIFE group meeting on Monday we were discussing Acts 10 vs 9-33. This is the section where Peter has the vision about the sheet from heaven which contained foods that a devout Jew would not eat. Peter was told to eat and even though the lesson is about the acceptance of the gentiles I've always assumed that meant there were no dietary restrictions anymore. We read from Leviticus Ch 11 about clean and unclean foods. Wow, there a lot of things the Jews couldn't eat - can you believe no lobster, shrimp or crab? When I questioned Bobby he referred me to Acts 15 vs 22 - 29. In these verses the apostles are saying to the gentile Christians to refrain from food sacrificed to animals (no problem here) from blood, (rare steak??) from the meat of strangled animals (how do I know how chickens are killed?) and immorality (no-brainer). Well, I told Bobby he has quit preaching and "gone to meddlin". I love medium rare to rare steak. I thought when you cut into it that it was juice coming out? Is that blood?? Do I need to give up Ruth's Chris Steak House which serves the best filet I have ever had? Is well done steak really even worth eating? These are all thought provoking questions. What do you think?

Finished Another Book

I am so excited. I just finished NT Wright's book, Simply Christian and it was so good. It was a lot easier to read than his book on Paul, but I guess it was written for a different audience - meaning not scholars. So if you haven't read it yet give it a try. I am about halfway through Leroy Garret's book, the Stone-Campbell Movement and it is interesting to see the difference in the way religious scholars of different centuries approach the same subject. I feel so different than when I first started out on this Christian journey. I was taught by my grandparents about Jesus and I will always be grateful for that. I was also taught that if we just read the Bible and "spoke where the Bible spoke and was silent where the Bible was silent" we would all come to the same conclusions and be simply Christians. Funny how it has taken me a lot of years to realize that that doesn't happen. I am grateful for my heritage in the Church of Christ and at the same time I can understand how some churches, such as Oak Hills in San Antonio where Max Lucado preaches, has chosen to drop the name because they believe it has had some negative connotations. When you read about Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone you realize that they were not trying to start a new church but wanted to see unity among Christians. I think when you try to make doctrine your "unifying method" that is when you get into trouble. This is my opinion anyway. So, am I a heretic?

Reading Books

You may be asking where I have been - it seems like I am going longer between posts. I have worked a few days - two days last week and I am doing Kindergarten tomorrow. But mainly I have been reading. I have always liked to read and almost always have a novel on my nightstand. Since I started blogging my reading time has been consumed with reading about other people's lives and ideas. Since Bobby's arrival I have been reading more books and spending less time on blogs. He has challenged us to read through the Gospels three times in the year, and I have finished Mark and started Luke. I also read his book, Kingdom Come and just finished N.T. Wright's book, Paul. I am also re-reading the Stone-Campbell Movement by Leroy Garrett. I've started Nancy's book, A Red State of Mind but got sidetracked. It is really fun to read and you can order it from Amazon as you can the other books I've mentioned. N.T. Wright seems to be quoted by a lot of people lately such as Mike Cope and Simply Christian seems to be the one most often quoted. I didn't buy that one because I plan to borrow it from Bobby. I hope it is easier to read than his book on Paul. I had to keep my Bible and a dictionary handy to get through it. I have also seen a couple of movies - Tom went with me to see Dreamgirls (second time for me) and I took Talya (Bobby's youngest daughter) to see A Night at the Museum - also for the second time for me. Talya spent the night with us one night when Rachael was in the hospital and it was fun having a little girl around. I learned about Webkins. Oh yeah, my friend Sandy and I went to see Music and Lyrics - it was cute. So as you can see I have been busy.

Checking In Part 2

I passed my qualifying for competition. I ended up turning in a tape or rather recording it during rehearsal on my iPod and emailing it to my section leader. I wish I could get over my fear of singing in a quartet. I guess if I would just find three other people who would be willing to sing with me in a quartet and just do it that would help. Of course there is the other possibility that I shouldn't be singing at all - except at church. My voice will always be pleasing to God. The retreat this last weekend went well. Our coach made some changes in interpretation but we still have six weeks to go before competition.

We have not been to the Y to excercise this year on a regular basis and by that I mean I don't think we have been more than once or twice. Today is rainy and it is a good day to stay inside. Of course if it were sunny I would say it was a good day to do something beside exercise. We HAVE to get back in our routine.

This Saturday night we are going to a Sweetheart Dinner at a Sheraton Hotel. It is being sponsored by the Band of Brothers at Church. Tom and another man have been planning it and it looks like it will be fun. He didn't have a large response because of the expense. Hotels always charge too much, but he wanted it to be special- plus he really didn't know how many people would respond and we wanted to have a room big enough. We will be having entertainment - a quartet from Sweet Adelines made up of our chorus director and one lady from our church and two other great quartet singers. They are not an official quartet (meaning they don't sing in competition) but they sound really good together. Our director sings in a quartet that will be singing at the international competition this fall in Calgary, Canada. She had bronchitis last night and wasn't at rehearsal, so I am praying she will be well by Saturday. Our song leader and his wife will also sing a duet and there are some other surprizes for the ladies. Tom has really enjoyed the planning for this. He was involved in some fund raising dinners for the City of Children ( a Church of Christ children's home in Ensenada, Mexico) in their early days in the 70's. I love seeing him excited.

We are so fortunate to have Bobby Valentine as our new preacher. He is enouraging us to pray daily for Palo Verde, him, our youth minster, Clay Utley and our elders daily at 8:00 AM. We told him we would - if we were awake at 8:00 AM. Being retired we don't have a schedule but we will pray at 8:00 someone's time.

I will try to be more consistent in writing. Even though I haven't been writing daily I still read daily.

Checking In

I guess I better check in. I haven't wanted to post because I have to admit I didn't pass both my songs. I still have one to tape during rehearsal time next Tuesday. It is a lot easier for me to do it this way than in a quartet situation. Our retreat is next weekend and I have to have passed both songs before we go to retreat. They run through my head all the time and of course they are right in my head and in perfect pitch. For some reason they don't always come out right -if I'm nervous. So here's hoping I pass Tuesday night.

We almost went to Orlando Tuesday and would have come back today. Yesterday morning we woke up to the news of the tornados in the Orlando area. I said "Thank you God that we didn't go". I think Florida is a very pretty state, but they have way too many natural disasters. Arizona is a haven. No tornados, hurricanes or earthquakes. We do get our monsoon rains in the summer, but we are grateful for them.

Tom and I saw Night at the Museum Thursday afternoon (bargain prices, of course). We both enjoyed it. If you haven't seen it yet I would recommend it.

This morning I went to a baby shower at church. The expectant mother received lots of cute baby gifts, but I am much too old to get excited about baby gifts - unless of course unless it was my grandbaby. What do you think of the 67 year old mother that lied about her age to the doctor and gave birth to twins? Now that is just plain nuts!

Tagged by Bobby Valentine

I have been blogging almost a year and have never been tagged. I now feel a part since Bobby Valentine has tagged me.

Here are the rules: 1) Grab the book closest to you 2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence 3) Post the text of the following three sentences 4) Name the author and book title 5) Tag three people to do the same.

Believe it or not this is what I have.
P123- The Easter meals shaped the disciples' understanding of the Lord's Supper.
Just as the Emmaus narrative moves from the non-recognition of Jesus to the recognition of Jesus at the table, so the church recognizes Jesus at the table. There we recognize the victory of the resurrection as we eat and drink with Jesus in hope."
The name of the book is Kingdom Come by John Mark Hicks and Bobby Valentine

I tag Beverly, Dina and Sandy

Fears

Recently a friend of ours had surgery and we found out that he has a fear of having his blood pressure taken. I have been on medication for hypertension since I was 38 years old and know that sometimes my blood pressure would be high if I was anxious about it, but most of the time it has become routine. This man really has a phobia about it. My husband has a fear of heights and yet it doesn't bother him to fly. I love watching Monk because it is so funny, yet it is so sad to live with so many fears.

I have one fear and that is singing in a quartet setting getting ready to qualify for competition. Sweet Adelines is made up of choruses and quartets. At competition one day is set aside for quartet competition and one for the chorus. I am a CHORUS singer and not a quartet singer but before we can go to retreat next month (a weekend of coaching) each member of the chorus has to sing her part in a quartet. Now the other members of the quartet are section leaders so at least you are not singing with 3 other nervous non-quartet singers. You do this by going to someone's house along with 20 or so other people who have the privilege to listen while you sing. There are other people who have this fear so it can be difficult listening to them go through it. Of course not everyone gets as nervous as I do and maybe some people actually enjoy it - but not me. This is coming up for me next Monday night. The first group goes tonight and then there are three other nights set up. I wanted to go last but one of my friends who is a section leader encouraged me not to wait so I would have time to work on it if I mess up. Last year I passed both songs - an uptune and a ballad the first time I tried but we are singing the same two songs this year and I have changed parts - from lead to bass so I have the additional fear that I will switch back to lead in the middle of the song. I know the best way to conquer a fear is to do it but I don't really have anyone with whom I can practice singing this way. Please pray that I won't be too nervous. Do you have any fears?

Home, Tired and Cold

The trip to Hawaii went too quickly. I could only find one downside of living in Hawaii. I would have to give up drinking milk. It is only $8.79 a gallon. Yikes!! My son and I go through almost a gallon in one day.

Sunday was our last day and we went to church at Honolulu Church of Christ to hear the infamous Scott Self. Thank goodness he is a good preacher because look at the view we had from our pew.



We wanted proof that we actually were at church with Scott so we ask a sweet older lady to take our picture.




Then we ask another person to take the picture.





We tried to talk Scott into lunch but he is so popular he already had a lunch engagement. Be sure before you go to see Scott you make reservations for lunch with him. (Just kidding Scott)

After church we changed clothes in the church bathroom and went on another drving tour. We are glad we rented a car this time. They say you can't get lost in Oahu - because the road is a circle. However this is more than one road and when we went to the airport Sunday night we drove up to the gate at Hickham Air Force Base and I ask sweetly, "Is this the airport?"
The kind young airman directed us to the U-turn.

Anyway on to our afternoon. We drove up diamond head to a lookout point - no we didn't hike to the top. By this time I was getting hungry so we had lunch at Hanauma Bay. This is a great place for snorkling - but we are saving that for next time. Here is a picture of the bay and then one of Tom, eating a $12.00 hamburger - oh, that included a drink and fries. Hint, stop at the McDonalds on the highway before you get there.







After lunch we drove a little further to the Waimanalo Beach Park. This beach was practically secluded compared to Waikiki Beach. The only problem was that after I got out of the water the sun went under a cloud and I had to drive back to the hotel wet. Thank goodness for the hospitality room at the hotel. We cleaned up, repacked a little and left for the airport. After our side trip to the base we got our car back and we were at the airport by 8:00 - for an 11:30 flight. We flew back to Salt Lake City and then to Phoenix where our son picked us up. We missed the snow, yes you heard right - it snowed Sunday night in Tucson. By the time we got home Mon afternoon most of it was gone but we did have a little patch left in our backyard.

If you are still reading this you have the privilege of seeing me in a bathing suit. Aloha

Another Day in Paradise

When we woke up this morning it was raining - not hard and NOT cold. That was fine because I did a couple of loads of washing. This hotel Waikiki Sand Villa is a great place to stay. It is not fancy, but reasonably priced and close enough to walk to the beach. It has a hospitality room so even though check out is at 11:00 AM you can check your bags and take a shower before you leave, if you go to the beach. We don't leave until 11:30 PM tomorrow night so we plan to take advantage of that. We plan to check out before we go to church in the morning and I am not sure what we will do after that but I am sure we will not be sitting in the Hospitality room.

After washing a couple of loads of dirty clothes in the hotel laundry this morning the sun came out and we got on our bathing suits and we were off to the beach. We were meeting Dina and Tiki but first we stopped to have lunch at Duke's at the Outrigger Hotel. After lunch we settled in our spot on the beach and waited for Dina and Tiki. I had already been in the water when they got there but we went in again. Dina arranged for us to go on an hour long boat ride on a catamaran. She knows the captain. Thursday she introduced me to a lifeguard and she ran into someone else she knew today. She is one popular girl - and no wonder, she is so sweet. They didn't go on the boat with us because she had to get ready to to a party tonight. Tom and I volunteered to babysit Tiki (we're in love with her) but Tiki was getting to go to the party. Besides I think Dina thought Tiki might be too much for us - and after we were through with our boat ride I think she may have been right. We are about rested up and we are getting ready to go eat - maybe at Denny's - we are craving some bacon and eggs.

This is not the catamaran we were on but ours looked like this. The water was an amazing blue violet when we got out from the shore.



Me pretending to sail




Captain Kevin




This is me about 4:30 - after our boat ride

More pictures from Hawaii

Sorry about the picture

I don't have the best luck with posting pictures. That last post took me forever and I don't know why one was on top of the other so here is the one of Scott and Tom.

We are having a wonderful time in Hawaii. It is so relaxing and the weather is perfect. We rented a car and yesterday we went to Walmart and had lunch. Instead of a McDonald's when you walk in the door there is L&L Hawaiian Barbeque. We had a typical Hawaiian plate lunch. It was good but today's lunch was more special because we ate with Scott. We had driven around yesterday before going to Walmart to make sure we could find Scott's church at night. I know it's not Scott's church it is actually Honolulu Church of Christ. We saw Scott and then we went back last night for Bible Study. He is a good teacher. Today he picked us up at our hotel and took us the Oceanarium Restaurant at the Pacific Beach Hotel. We sat right next to the huge aquarium and watched the diver feed the fish. Here is a picture of Tom and Scott. They were engrossed in conversation and didn't know I was taking their picture. Scott isn't really picking his nose. It is just the camera angle. Sorry Scott.




Tom and I on Waikiki Beach - waiting for Dina and Tiki


Dina and Tiki joined us at Waikiki Beach - Scott had to go back to work - poor Scott.


Tiki the "Sand Monster".
Dina, Tiki and I went in the water and Tom soaked up the rays. Tom did take a picture of us in the water but I'm not showing you that one. We are hoping to go the beach again on Saturday with Dina and Tiki and maybe go on a boat ride.


After the beach Tom and I cleaned up and ate at a Mexican restaurant within walking distance of our hotel - the beach is also within walking distance. It was very good but not as cheap as our meal in Nogales, Mexico last Saturday. But did I tell you the weather is wonderful? Tomorrow we are driving to the North Shore and to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Oh yeah and the weather is wonderful!!

Escaping the Cold

Our family had a great day yesterday. We went to San Xavier Mission south of Tucson, then to the Titan Missile Museum. That was very interesting. We went down about 85 feet underground and actually stood in the command center from which the Titan missile would have been launched. It was kind of eerie. Our destination was Nogales, Mexico and we finally got there about 5 PM. We found the restaurant, El Tule, that had been recommended by a neighbor. There was no menu, therefore we had no idea what the prices would be. The food is served family style and you have a choice of carnitas (pork), carne asada, (beef) or pollo (chicken) or a combination. We ordered the combination for four, but the waiter brought for 5, I didn't really understand - I think he picked up the wrong order. There were 6 of us, including the grandson. Anyway we each had lots of chips, salsa and guacamole as well as two drinks each. The meat, with jalepeno peppers and onions, was served in a sizzling bowl, like fajitas with corn tortillas. There was no beans or rice. Oh yeah, they also brought us a plate of lettuce, cucumbers and tomato - but no dressing. The salsa was delicious - hot enough for all of us and a little too hot for Harrison (grandson), so they brought him some chopped tomato, onion and cilantro. We wondered how much our bill would be. When it came it was 320 pesos which translated to about $32.00, evidently that included tip because our waiter didn't want to take any - we gave it to him anyway. We walked away full and amazed at the price. We walked around afterwards and went into a party store, looking at all the huge pinatas. We bought some Mexican chocolate. We got home about 10:00 last night.

I know you are probably wondering what this has to do with my title since Arizona is very cold right now. Well I was supposed to leave for Orange County, CA on Tuesday, but instead Tom and I are flying to Honolulu, where it is 80 degrees. We started checking the flights for our kids to go back to Atlanta tomorrow and the flight standby doesn't look real good for tomorrow leaving Tucson, but if they can't get out of here then Tom and Tom Jr will drive them to Phoenix where they have more flights going to Atlanta. I am singing tomorrow at noon for a performance at a mobile home park. Anyway while I was checking on the flights I asked Tom Sr. if he wanted me to check flights anywhere and he said HAWAII. So we are flying from here to Salt Lake City on Tuesday and then a direct flight to Honolulu. We didn't rent a car last year, but maybe we will this time. We hope to see Scott at church on Sunday - or maybe Wed night - and Dina I've got to meet you and Tiki. I know all of you freezing Texans are jealous - but oh well. Note: encourage your children to become pilots. Parents get great perks!

Here Comes the Family

As I write this post my son, daughter-in-law and grandson are flying here from Atlanta. We will pick them up at the airport in about three hours. I got the room they are sleeping in all ready but now I have some stuff in my room I have got to put away.

Tom and Tom Jr helped Bobby move 53 boxes of books to the church office this afternoon. Their furniture arrived today from Milwaukee - but the moving company wouldn't take the books to church. I understand he purged before he left. How can one person have 53 boxes of books? Do you supposed he has read ALL those books?

Tomorrow we are thinking of driving to Nogales, Mexico. It's not that far - about an hour or an hour and a half. We've never been since we moved here three years ago so I am looking forward to it. The weather isn't cooperating though. Two days ago Tucson was the warmest place in the nation (continenatal US). It was 75, but it is turning colder and I think tomorrow's high is supposed to be in the 50's. Brr.

New Beginnings

Bobby, Pamela, Rachel and Talya arrived yesterday, along with the hamster and dog. Several people helped them unload their car - furniture is due later in the week. Tom and I took them out to lunch to one of Tucson's finest - Peter Piper Pizza. If you have been following my posts that is where we had Tom's 65th birthday party in June. They actually have pretty good pizza. Bobby didn't preach today but he says next week's sermon might be about new beginnings. We are looking forward to his sermons.

I finally took down the Christmas decorations and tomorrow I will clean the living room before our LIFE group arrives. We didn't meet the last two Mondays and I have really missed our being together. I think we are studying about Stephen tomorrow. Before I had children I considered naming a boy Stephen Job. I think Tom Jr is glad I didn't.

I downloaded an Ugly Betty episode from the iTunes store for my iPod that I didn't think I had seen but I had so I'm listening to it anyway. If you haven't seen it give it a try - you might like it. Only a half-hour and a new episode of Desperate Housewives is on. Yes, I know I have wonderful taste in television shows. I guess I'll start a Sudoku game - I didn't play at all yesterday.

Sudoku

For Christmas I gave Sudoku Live for the computer to Tom and now I'm hooked. That's why I haven't been posting as often. I have still been reading, but just haven't had time to write. Anyway about this game. It is supposed to be a game for logical thinking. At first I didn't think I must have any logic because I sure couldn't figure it out. But now that I have won a few I guess I still have some logic.

I have also seen three movies - The Pursuit of Happyness, Dreamgirls and Rocky Balboa. They were all good but Dreamgirls was my favorite. Our GA family is now planning to come next Friday - over Martin Luther King weekend. They will be here to go to hear Bobby Valentine preach. We are all looking forward to that. I have tried to get some housecleaning done - but I still have some more to do - as well as taking down the Christmas decorations. Maybe tomorrow.

Sorry this post isn't that interesting but I did want my faithful readers to know I'm still here.