Last night...

... we had our last Bible study group meeting. It was a ten week study, and it was VERY interesting.
We read THE SHACK by William P. Young and discussed it each week - with an intense look at a passage of Scripture that related to that week's reading.

Here are some pictures from last night...Above, from left, Karin, Kay, Charlie.



Margaret and Andy
(Whoa. That's weird. My dad's name was Andy.... (Mm. That's still hard to say in the past tense).



Laura, Doug and Jim.
Hmm. Doug and Jim didn't get the smile memo.



Doug, Shiloh and Laura.



Karin and Shiloh.

Don't ask me why I don't have a picture of Sam, the leader.

Lots were absent. Amanda was at a Stars game (she got free Platinum tickets!), Mrs. Graves was in Frisco visiting a very sick granddaughter (pray for Kristen); Traci and Erich were out of town, I think; Mark (Kay's husband) had to work late, I think. Let's see, if you're in the group and I totally didn't mention your name, well, chalk it up to ... forgetfulness.

In closing, here's a picture of our kitchen... just because it's like that one in the previous post (below)... on HGTV Rate My Space...

I think they look alike, don't you?
(Oh, I didn't get a picture of our kitchen table and chairs... that are almost exactly like those in that below picture.)

For today...

Whose kitchen does this look like?
If you've been in mine, you'd say MINE! (Well, not yours, mine.)
I was doing my HGTV Rate-My-Space-looking when I saw this picture.
Whoa!
'Course my first thought: this is blog-worthy!

If you look close you can tell that the room directly in the back of that kitchen is a dining room. In our house it is our (cluttered) laundry room/pantry.
[I need to take a picture of our kitchen.
When I get home I will.]

Right now I'm in COLD (and windy) Oklahoma City. Brrr. I brought my heavy coat AND my light-weight coat. I HATE being cold.

Speaking of that makes me think of the coldest I have EVER been... which translates into the MOST MISERABLE I have ever been...
I was 22 years old, teaching English and Speech in Mission Junior High (Go Eaglets). I was also a volunteer with the McAllen High School's Campus Life organization. (Similar to Young Life.) Anyway, I got a chance to go - for free- on a ski trip as a sponsor with that group. I had enough money to buy a ski parka and ski boots. THEN my car needed to be worked on, so that money had to go to my car.
Not to worry. I had been told how to dress to ski without ski clothes. You just take jeans, warm sweaters, a coat (which was kind of light-weight, since I lived in the lower Rio Grande Valley and no one wears a heavy coat down there) and Scotch Guard them (that's spray stuff you can put on cloth furniture to keep liquids from soaking in.) So I took the Scotch Guard spray with me on the trip.
Oh, another thing you need is long underwear. I didn't want to waste my money on that when I had pajamas with feet in them.
For shoes I just wore my regular ones.

At that point in my life I didn't care if I didn't look like a skier.

I didn't.

We go to the ski place (near Santa Fe) and I have sprayed myself completely and think I am ready to go. It was Jan. 3, 1975. (Surely that was the coldest day on record in that area.)
Anyway, we had to wait for 2 hours outside - to rent our skis.
I thought my feet were going to freeze completely off.

Oh, did I tell you I had never skied before? Well, once we got the skis and took the beginner's class, I found out that I was not a born skier. I fell and fell and fell and fell, and was absolutely miserable. That Scotch Guard quit working after the first fall.

Then, one of our teens had altitude sickness and needed a sponsor to stay with her - inside- the rest of the trip. My lucky break! I volunteered.

That was the last time (and only time) I've skied. EVER. I've been on ski trips...many.... and I always enjoy a good book, and lots of hot chocolate.

Sorry if this is a longer post than usual.
I'm sitting here waiting for folks to get out of a meeting so we can go eat out. .... and well, why not record that episode of my life?
AND it makes me not feel so cold up here in Oklahoma.

Sam is better!

Sam is better!
... and no longer contagious!
... so I've moved back into the master bedroom!
(It's all about me.)

Hurray!
Hoorah!

Did he have the swine flu?
Or regular flu? (for which he and I DID get a vaccine several weeks ago.)
Who knows.

In honor of the swine flu here's this:

[Thank you for your prayers.]

Going on eleven days....

Sam has had a fever for almost eleven days now. It hasn't been very high... and that's the reason he hasn't gone to the doctor.

Hmm.

I'm thinking it's doctor time now.

It's gone on long enough.

And...
I miss him!

This guest room is getting lonely.

Ah, but I did have fun tonight at Bear Valley's Thanksgiving Banquet.
My date was my mom.
Fun.

.... but I DID miss my honey.

[Pray for him, will you?]

Here we are in the photobooth at Justin and Amber's fun wedding last month...

[I just LOVE those pictures!]

[Don't forget to pray for him.]

Yum...

I got my Gloria's fix today!
Beth and I did our usual: we split the "Nancy's Favorite" platter. (Yes, it IS aptly named "Nancy's Favorite" (but only on the lunch menu).)

We left a generous tip... for two reasons: 1) we split the meal, and 2) we stayed so long (though not as long as sometimes).

That makes me want to tell folks that when you stay at a restaurant a long time, leave a big tip. I mean, some folks come to the tea room and stay three hours (yes, three hours) and leave a dollar tip. Hello?! The waiters refill your drinks every so often, and well, you're holding up that table. Grr.

Oh, I recently read on Facebook (by an angry FB friend) that because of the economy Oprah was suggesting folks just leave a 10% tip at restaurants. Boy that made me mad at her. Ah, but then I read that that Oprah 'tip' was just a rumor. So don't be mad at Oprah for something she didn't do (say).

In closing - and having nothing to do with tipping... here's a picture I like...One reason I like this picture so much is that Caroline looks EXACTLY like Elizabeth did at that age.

Uncanny.

And so sweet. mm.

I've had a crazy few days, so...

....today I tried to take it easy.

Well, the day's not over. There's still hope.

Part of my idea of taking it easy was driving to Dallas to meet my sweet daughter-Laura to give her some time-sensitive mail that I'd forgotten to give her Friday night. (She was meeting her precious friend Linh for lunch, and I wanted an excuse to 'take it easy' by going to Dallas and meeting her at the Barnes and Noble across from North Park Mall (my favorite B&N in the whole world.)

Hmm.
Was I thinking driving to and from - and in Dallas would be relaxing? I guess so.

I was wrong.

And, now I'm having to recover.

And for sure I'm thinking that Fort Worth has safer and more sane drivers than Dallas!

Yes, I'm thinking that for sure. FOR SURE.

Well, I guess you can see that there is not much to blog about today.

That is a good thing.

In closing, here's a picture of Laura and her boyfriend, the wonderful Ryan...Laura beat Ryan, by the way, in this chess game.
[Didn't there used to be a rule about girls not beating boys?]
['Course Laura's liberated.]
[Let's just hope Ryan is, too.]
Well, he looks pretty liberated.

Christmas card preview!

Friday night Mother and her grandkids, great grandkids, and I posed for some pictures, one of which Mother will use for her Christmas cards this year.
Bailey (Will's girlfriend) used my little camera, and Ryan (Laura's boyfriend) used Will's 'professional' camera. I haven't seen the professional ones but was really impressed with Bailey's 'amateur' pics.
Here is one...(From back row left: John, Elizabeth's husband; Cap (my twin Peggy's firstborn) and his wife Lindsey. Middle row: Elizabeth (Peggy's second born) holding Andrew.
First row: Caroline (Elizabeth's oldest); my mother; Laura (my second born); me; Will (my firstborn).
Have you noticed who is missing in these pictures? ????
Well, Sam-the-man was in the bedroom... not wanting to expose the rest of us to whatever he had (still has). The plan is - this very week - to get him photo-shopped in - right next to Lindsey in the back row.

The next picture was taken right before the above picture. I really like it. Notice the three females in the middle. They're having their own special little time together...I think that's sweet.

In closing, here is a quick pic of my mother. I took this before anybody else came. She was decorating the Christmas tree. (We had just taken the autumn stuff off, to get it ready for our Christmas picture-taking fun.)One classy lady, huh?

And yes, this is the absolute earliest I've ever put my Christmas tree up....

And no, I haven't done ANY Christmas-gift shopping yet at all.

One. thing. at. a. time.