Gettin' on Down the Road

We're heading out in about 45 minutes but I wanted to blog once more since I will be leaving the computer for Don. I don't want him to get too bored while I'm away with my siblings. I feel sure they have WiFi, but I'll be nice and leave this for Hubby. He really enjoys staying home I think, because he can get so many projects done (well, he can work on many of his projects, how many he finishes is another story altogether. Why? Because he has so many things going on that he jumps from one to another. He's not one who has to get one done right away; in fact, there are a few that will probably never get done, at least they haven't in the past 10 years- ie, my mom's old Hoosier cabinet, my aunt's pie safes, an old cedar bed). Oh well, he's happy with what he is working on.

I hope to have some photos to attach to my blog when I return from our trip, so don't desert me. I do plan to be back on a week from today. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves, wherever you are and whatever you do. Life only comes at you once. I must get on down the road now.

Where to Begin?

My planning meeting for our 50th high school class reunion went very well tonight. We are working very hard trying to get as many as possible of our classmates to attend. You know, however, that there will always be some who just won't come. So far, we have over half who have responded positively; now, we have divided the rest of the names up and will begin calling them and encouraging their attendance. I suspect some are like me: weight gain; addition of wrinkles; hair that's turned white or turned loose; arthritis or some of those boys are residing with them; and, many other reasons/problems. I do hope that they will consider that we have all aged considerably but are so happy to be kicking even if it is at a much slower, lower level.

The 9 of us who are meeting, eating and planning have really enjoyed our time together, so much, in fact, that we are talking about continuing these outings once a quarter after all is said and done. I have gotten reacquainted with these friends, a few whom I was not close to in high school. I regret that I didn't know them better when we were young and sassy. This is really a good group of folks.

Tomorrow, I will spend the morning frying chicken and delivering to my friend's home; then, I have to help my sister who has yet to receive her first retirement check which was due yesterday; enjoying my grandchildren (they said they loved fried chicken and would see me tomorrow); and, of course, I must get my packing done for our sibling trip. At least I had time (though rushed as it was) to pick up my snacks, water, etc from the grocery store.

I had my weekly trip to the hairdresser today and I was somewhat depressed over the treatment my good friend received. It seems that there was a misunderstanding between the customer and the employer. The customer came her regular time but the worker thought she wouldn't be coming; therefore, she was very upset to see her walk in to get her hair done. There was a mix-up on the week and some words passed between the two. I hated that so much. There really was no need for the hairdresser to get upset with the little lady; I agree that the customer was right and that she was misunderstood. Sometimes, we just are too prone to jump on something without thinking it through. So many arguments could be avoided if we took the time to stop, take a deep breath, and let it go. Just let the issue go. Everyone would end up feeling so much better in the end. Lord, help us all to be more understanding, more sympathetic, more attuned to the feelings of others; and, it would be all right if You begin with me.

Sleepy Time Gal

Have you ever been so sleepy that you could hardly hold your head up? That's the way I am this morning. What is so unusual is that I awoke at 5:45 AM and couldn't go back to sleep; since then, I've been up busy as a bee cleaning out a closet, changing bed linens, etc. Now, I am so sleepy but don't have time to nap (I'm what the song called a "sleepy time gal"). I have an appointment at the hairdresser's in an hour; I must visit the drug store and the grocery store; I need to take my cleaning lady home; and, I have a dinner meeting tonight with the high school class reunion committee. I also have to pack since we will be leaving for the beach on Saturday morning for a week. Some time in between all of these things, I have to fry chicken to take to a recently bereaved church family's home. Maybe I'm making myself tired as I'm making my "to do" list.
I have a dear friend/colleague with whom I try to meet on a monthly basis. She lives more than an hour away but we don't want to lose contact with each other. That's something we have to work at, just making the time to travel. It's worth it though because she is such a good friend. We try to meet somewhere half way between.

Are you a bruiser? I have been for quite some time now and seem to be getting worse. I have always had "thin skin" (My hubby always said), but now I have thin skin I suppose. When cleaning one closet this morning, a box fell on my arm and there you have it, a nice bruise. The problem is that they tend to spread much bigger than the actual contact was. Any suggestions for prevention? (I'm running out of big band-aids!)

Reflections

I have been keeping the grandchildren today while Kendra went to work. They have been so good...and entertaining, too! During lunch, Livvy mentioned the word, "reflection." Clay asked her, "What is reflection?" but Livvy didn't respond, just used the word again. So, he asked her again, "Reflection, what does that mean?" Then, she finally responded, "I don't know." After pondering the word, Clay said, "I know what reflection means." Livvy turned to him and said, "Then, why don't you explain it to us, Clay." (I was about to laugh aloud during this little discussion). Clay's wheels got to turning and, finally, he said, "Those pots up there are shining. That's a reflection." Actually, he did a fairly good job with the word. The light outside was shining on the pots hanging over the stove and he could see a reflection of other things on the pots. The way "little Miss Teacher" asked him to explain the word was cracking me up.

The kiddies have enjoyed many different activities today I believe; but now, they are resting. Actually, Clay is napping and Livvy is being her usual active little girl (she is staying in the room but I don't know what's going on back there though. It's quiet).

I saw on the news this morning how the sand on the beach can cave in and bury little bodies. That was a frightening report, something that I had never heard of. It seems that there have been several of those to cover children, often times being fatal. There just seems to be so many different hazards in this world that we must take caution against.

Which brings me to this question on which I wish to reflect: what happened to the idea of playing in trees and never getting broken bones, enjoying the outdoors and never being abducted, walking to and from playmates' yards without mishaps? I hate that children today are not free to enjoy many of the pleasures I found as a child. We didn't have a TV until I was around 8 but I enjoyed many active activities (One reason I weighed so little I suppose). We enjoyed making up games too; now, I do see my little 4-year-old grandchildren doing this and it really makes me happy to see their imaginations so active. Everyone should turn off the TV for several hours and let the mind have at it; even adults need to keep the mind active. I'm hearing that we should do more of that if we want to lessen the chances of having alzheimer's during our later years. Maybe I'll go wake the kids and join in their fun!

Overweight is such a Bother!

What a time I have had for the past several days, ever since we returned from our trip to the beach, actually. We experienced another death in our church family on Thursday, meeting that night, wake on Saturday night, funeral Sunday and baby sitting today. I enjoyed having my little granddaughter here today while Kendra had things to do. Livvy was quite entertaining: writing; adding and subtracting (pretending to add and subtract, that is); and, eating. That child loves to eat and will eat almost anything. Her mom said she could only have healthy snacks and that is all she ever asked for. She ate cantelope, a banana, and fresh pineapple. For lunch, she only wanted a salad. She tickled me asking for her snack; when she spotted the bananas, she said, "Well, I think a banana would be a great snack, don't you? A banana will be just fine." She was a great little girl. Tomorrow, I will have both of them while their mommy goes to work.

I'm planning to try another weight management routine in a few days. Yes, I will try to stick to Weight Watchers too but I will be trying a new program also. I will have to make a stronger effort to exercise though. It looks like I may have to start going to Curves in the evening since I seem to be tied up during the day, at least this week.

My brother came down tonight and we discussed our siblings' trip which is coming up Saturday. He, my 2 sisters, and I will be heading to the beach for 6 days. I'm looking forward to that outing because we always have a grand time. There's not too much serious stuff happening those days. My sister who lost her husband last year really needs this trip. I try to visit her at least every other week and we go out to eat, shop, and one day, we even took in a movie. We hope to continue doing these things; however, if I go on this program, I will have to be even more careful with my dining out. Being overweight is such a bother! I wish I could do as I did when I was young: I ate anything I wanted at any time of the day or night and I never weighed over 100 pounds! It really stresses me to even think about this, so I'm going to get me a Schwan's 50-calorie fudge pop and satisfy my chocolate urge.

Get Me Out of Roswell

I always seem to be in too big of a hurry when blogging. When I go back to read what I've written (usually a day or more later), I find several errors, mostly grammatical. I really need to start taking the time to proofread what I'm writing. I will still make mistakes, I'm sure (I know better; I'm just not careful enough).

Today, I have been busy cleaning out drawers, mostly our "catch-all" drawers in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. While I was busy doing that, I was in a position to look at the blue/green pictures on the televisions which were messed up by the thunderstorm last night. I have to decide what to do with these 2 sets. It will probably cost more to have them fixed than it would to purchase new ones. Perhaps we should wait until we want to buy the new TV's that will be compatible with the new systems. (I don't really know what I'm talking about, only that I heard that all old TV's would not work in a few more years unless they had something to make them receive some kind of signal. See, I told you I didn't know what I was talking about). I caught the end of some radio show of Clark Howard's who was telling something about this. I think he said some adapters could be purchased for the old sets but I'm not sure about that either. I figured when the time came I would be more attuned to the topic. Right now, I am most interested in getting the characters on my 2 TV's to have the proper skin tones; I'm tired of looking at these aliens (makes me feel like I'm in Roswell!!).

White hair and Beard Do Not a Santa Make

I know my daughter will want to put this tidbit on her blog but I just couldn't wait any longer to tell you the funniest thing that happened on our trip to the beach with the children. Don is still laughing about this). We were all sitting over at Kendra's RV, all except Don, that is, who was visiting with the white-headed, white-bearded neighbor in the RV parked between the two of us. When we thought that Don had gone back to our RV, we decided that it was about time to go out to eat, so we told Livvy to go over to our RV and get PaPa. She goes lickety-split across the field in back of the camper between us, stopped short, looked over at the neighbor's, then back at us, and, nonchalantly, yelled back at us: "PaPa is over here talking to Santa Claus." We cracked up! Kendra had said that she hoped they didn't call him Santa Claus, but no one had mentioned it at all in front of the children. The man, laughing as hard as the rest of us, heard her matter-of-fact comment and thought that she was so cute.

For the not-so-funny event, last night and early this morning, we had a horrible storm here. I was lying in bed when, all a sudden, there came the loudest clap of thunder I think I have ever heard. (Don said he didn't hear the noise, but it was a funny thing that he sat straight up in bed! Then he returned to his prone position and enjoyed his slumber). Immediately, the TV screen went to blue/green. It seems that the storm knocked the red coloring out of the picture. This morning, when I turned on the TV in the kitchen, I got the same color picture. I went to the den to check the big screen and, fortunately, it was still fine. I told Don that it would probably be cheaper to replace the tv's than it would be to have them repaired.

Getting Things in Order

Yes, it's back to the business of planning class reunions, church group trip, committee work, etc. First things first: I have to stop and think what is first. Oh yes, the next thing coming up is the vacation with the siblings (the 28th). In the meantime, I must get busy with plans for the church trip since I am the "official escort" (meaning I have to make sure everyone is accounted for at all times; plan bus activities; ensure that everyone is satisfied with accommodations; assign bus seats per their request; share procedures for planned activities; make sure everyone is accounted for; bus stops, and, once again make sure everyone is accounted for). We have such a good group of folks going that problems are little or none. Thus far, and time is running out, we have 36 people signed up with 3 more considering the trip (5 are young children and 1 toddler). I'm excited to have young ones on the trip once again. Until last year when we had 2 visiting youth join us, the last trip that we had many youth accompany us was in 1997 (Is that right Fran?). They used to enjoy our trips so much that we now hope to be able to get them interested again. I think many of them would say their favorite trips were to Washington, DC, PA, Disney World, and Niagara Falls. We just have to find places that will once again, get them excited about going with us. I just wish there was something we could do to make the trips less expensive. Our youth group used to have yard sales, car washes, do chores, sell candy and pizza kits, etc., but their most successful thing was selling thousands of doughnuts! Kids were not so involved in other activities then either, such as ball, gymnastics, and dance. Ah, the good old days... where did they go? Yet, every day can be a good day; many days, however, we just seem to have a work harder at making sure it is a good day.

First, I have to get back on the school reunion stuff since we have another meeting coming up soon. I must get my calendar up to date so that I can remember the order of things!

A Quickie

Just a quick note to say that we returned yesterday afternoon from a most enjoyable trip to the beach. Being with the grandchildren was a real treat! They are so good on trips! (Actually, they are good most of the time). They have a mom who is strict, but loving to them and, basically, they seem to want to please her. Their manners in restaurants are great! They are quiet as they need to be and better than you would expect. While other children are throwing little tantrums, they are acting like little adults, causing other adults to take note of their behavior. I'm impressed! They and their mom left the beach and motored down to the beach where their aunt is staying (They called it "Aunt Marty's beach"). I miss them so much this morning. I looked out and didn't see their camper or their little feet running toward our RV. Livvy had to come over every morning to see what I was eating for breakfast so she could eat again. You would think that Mom never feeds her because she is always ready to eat again.

I have errands to run this morning. I hope to share more later today.

Whatcha Doin'?

Heading to the beach in a little while. I have to wait for Radio Shack to open so I can carry my phone by for some quick (I hope) repairs. It seems that the charger won't fit into that tiny space necessary for charging. This is a new phone and I hate to have problems already. Hopefully, it will be something minor. I believe we will be having a hot vacation but one the children will enjoy. I'm looking forward to this quality time together too.

Last night, I was thinking about different expressions that we use here in the south, ones that really don't mean what we are actually saying or asking. One in particular, that comes to mind is one we use on the phone for anyone, "Whatcha doin'?" Now, I don't really want to know what the person on the other end of the phone is really doing; what I'm actually asking is "How are you doing?". Why I don't ask that, I really don't know. I need to start trying to ask what I want to know because someone could get offended with that question, especially if they are doing something they don't want me to know about, right? Gotta run now, so will let you know what I've been doing on Monday. I'm not sure there will be any WiFi available there or not. If so, I'll be in touch.

Song Lyrics/History of "the Clock Song"

I mentioned the other day on my blog about the kiddies wanting me to sing the song, "My Grandfather's Clock". I sang the words that I could remember which was about half of them. When I went to Baptist Women's meeting that night, I asked the ladies if they knew the words and, can you believe, not a single one of them had ever heard of the song! They asked me to sing it to them and only one of them said she had heard the song. So, I went in search of information including the words about the song. I learned that the song was actually written in 1876 by Henry Clay Work. It's popular as a bluegrass number in the US. The most common theory about the song's origin relates to a wayfarers' inn in which there stood a grandfather clock. The inn was owned by the Jenkins brothers who, when one of them died, legend has it that the clock stopped and would never go again, even with repairs. This song is supposedly responsible the longcase clock being called a "grandfather clock" . Another theory holds that the lyrics were actually written by a different man, C. Russel Christian, who also wrote a poem about his grandfather. The important thing to the grandchildren, though, are the words to the song. The part they really stopped and listened to in awe, was the chorus:
"Ninety years without slumbering,
Tick,Tock,Tick,Tock,
His life seconds numbering,
Tick,Tock,Tick,Tock,
It stopped...short...
Never to go again,
When the old man died."

That's when Livvy had to tell me about Harley, their family dog, who is also very old.They were so cute all day that I had them. Both of them are becoming great conversationlists!!

Good News

We were happy to receive good news about Don's brother who had stints placed in his aorta. He came through fine but will be observed for a couple of days for wandering blood clots. He is such an active 80+ year old that I'm sure it helped the positive outcome of the procedure. He walks 6 miles a day and does 40 push-ups!!! I can barely do one push-up and struggle to walk a mile. He is amazing!

I have been busy trying to get things ready to go to the beach tomorrow. Don got the RV out and I have been busy getting food, clothes, etc. into the rig. Actually, we keep a lot of non-perishables in there so I only have to check to see what needs to be replenished. I'm looking forward to the trip but I do dread the heat we have been experiencing here in the South. This will be a short trip because we have 4 others already planned for the rest of the year, and we have at least 2 more to plan as well.

I spent yesterday with my older sister and we enjoyed going out to eat lunch, shopping at little at Target and Lowe's, and checking out the movies at the local theater (Nothing on but cartoons or trashy ones so we didn't go). We went back to her home and enjoyed her screened porch, a must for many folks who live in the South (Great protection from those aggravating mosquitoes)! What a nice, lazy experience to have! Swinging, reminiscing, and watching the traffic as people were getting off work and rushing to their homes so they, too, might enjoy a few minutes of "just a-swinging."

My Grandfather Clock

It's so odd that Kendra blogged about an experience with her granddad today and, while I was keeping her children, they asked about their granddaddy. Clay started the conversation by asking where my family was. I explained about my brothers and sisters. Then Livvy wanted to know about my mom and dad. I told her that they were living with Jesus now. She wanted to know if they were old when they went there. Livvy then said their dog, Harley, is old and will be going to Heaven soon; she said she would miss him. Clay chimed in and said, "Well, we can get another dog and we have Muffin and Fin." (their cats which Livvy says they are not old).
Soon, Clay asked me what the long arm on my grandfather clock was and I told him that it was a pendulum. Then, he proceeded to tell us what the job of a pendulum is. They were so cute! All of this led to my singing the old song, "My Grandfather's Clock." One problem, I couldn't remember all the words of the song; I remember the tune but not the words. So, I need help here. Who knows the words?
We had a grand time today. Clay helped me clean out 6 cabinets (that was a great help because I didn't have to get on the floor and pull the things out! I really appreciated that a lot! I told him that the next time he comes, we'll do the other 6 lower cabinets. That little 4-year-old is great help.
When I put them down for their naps, Livvy wanted the clock set so she wouldn't oversleep (Right! like she would have gone to sleep. She doesn't require much sleep). I set it, I thought, for almost 2 hours later; however, I missed the mark by 30 minutes. That scared us all when it went off; it woke up Clay but not Livvy who, you guessed it, never went to sleep. That's okay though, because she got a nice rest for her mom.

Kendra also talked about my odd way to tie a shoe. She is absolutely right but I tie the prettiest bow around! I don't know who taught me but I can't seem to do it any other way. I really have to labor it. I tried to teach her when she was small, showed her once; she said, "Wait, I'll do it myself". About half hour later, she came out of her room with her shoes tied. She was four then too, just like Livvy, who has just learned to tie her shoes.

I have to get busy on the Baptist Women's minutes now since we have a meeting tonight. This has been a busy Monday.

Faith Renewed

I was so impressed yesterday when I went into the local "quick stop/stop and shop". I had 2 ten-dollar bills, a five, and a one when I entered; however, when I went to the counter to pay, I was short $10. I looked around on the floor and saw nothing. I had just decided to retrace my steps around the store when a young man came up to me and said, "Is this yours, Ma'am?" I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say, except "yes" and "thank you." He left the store and I didn't even get a good look at his face but I remember the kindness in his voice should I ever hear it again. I regret that I didn't do more, but what should I have done? Should I have given him my $5 or all of the 10? (He may have needed it more than I). I feel like my thanks was not enough. He gave me more than my $10 back. He gave me my somewhat lost faith in young people's integrity. I wrote briefly about integrity last weekend, how I am distraught when someone questions my integrity; yet, that is what I have been guilty of sometime. Now, I must once again, approach the subject from a different perspective than I did in my private, personal blog last week. I learned a valuable lesson. I now believe that everyone, even the very worst, have some integrity, often when they don't show it to others. I know that I have to trust that everyone will do the right and honest thing and, until they prove otherwise, I must have faith. I never expected to see the $10 again because there were 6 or 8 young people milling around in the store at that time. So, I learned that my expectations are just that...mine. In a way, I think I didn't deserve to see the money again. I had been careless with it, stuffing inside my jeans pocket, so losing it was entirely my fault. Sometimes, it becomes our fault when our integrity is questioned, too. Perhaps, I have placed myself in situations where I may look guilty; this can easily happen when we "hang out" with someone who has a reputation of dishonesty. I really try to befriend everyone; yet, sometimes, that trait may be misunderstood in and through the eyes of others. My faith in others has been renewed! How great it feels to witness something good! I now realize that I, too, must believe the best in others just as I want others to see and believe the best in me and my integrity.

Careful with the Cell Phones

I have to tell you that I was a very bad person yesterday. I was in a Radio Shack buying a couple of new cell phones for Don and me when this lady came in and was really pestering everyone in the place, making silly comments, asking ridiculous questions, etc. After about 2 hours of this and the clerk handed me my 2 phones, the lady asked me, "Do you have to have 2 phones to use?" I was caught so off-guard that I responded before thinking and said, "Yes, I keep one in each pocket." Now that was ugly and I'm ashamed of myself. The lady didn't even know that I was making a joke, a very poor one at that. Anyway, I apologize for my bad behavior. That was absolutely a poor way to respond to an innocent question. I hope you readers will forgive my thoughtlessness.

A funny thing that did happen in the store while I was there was about this lady who came in to purchase a new cell phone and a holder for it. When the clerk brought her the case, the lady asked if it would stay on her belt and no problems. The clerk said that it would do great. The lady then said, "I don't know. I had one just like it and it came off and fell in the toilet. Will this one stay on and not fall in the toilet?" She was laughing as was everyone else in the store, especially since she wanted a guarantee that this would not happen again. She decided against that particular holder when the clerk told her that you really have to be careful with all your phones. We met this guy in Alaska who had been up fishing in Homer. He said that he had several phones in the bottom of the lakes; that's why he always traveled with 2 phones, in case one took a dive!

Watch Your Boo's!

We now have 37 paid deposits for our church trip. I think this will be all that will be going. We have a great trip planned: Amish Country for a couple of nights where we will be seeing the play, "In the Beginning", taking a ride in an Amish-owned buggy; shopping in one of their quaint areas; riding the train through the back countryside; visiting a Mennonite replica of the "Tabernacle"; and, eating in an authentic Amish home. Later, some of the younger group will visit Sesame Place and before we head home, we will visit Philadelphia. All of this sounds like fun to the group (the ones not going to Sesame Place are already excited about shopping at the big outlet mall). We always wonder where we might visit each year since we have been to most of the places nearby: Washington, DC; Branson, MO; Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge; Atlanta; New Orleans; Niagara Falls; Boston/New England; Savannah/Charleston; Beaufort/Okeefenokee; Huntsville/Chattanooga; Disney World/Orlando. Every trip has been different yet filled with many fun activities. Everyone gets along so well, no booing and arguing about anything (that's great).

Speaking of booing and arguing, I was listening to Fox News last night and heard a brief discussion about booing at sports activities. It seems that Washington State aims to curtail such practices. It seems that there are many folks sitting on both sides of that fence. That's a new thought that I may have to contemplate. I do think that such behavior is rude, but the worst part is where a simple "boo" can lead a crowd of upset people, especially parents (I think they are the worst). Even at Little League ballgames, parents are much worse than the kids and I think they are teaching the children poor sportsmanship. I recall going to a college football game at a different school from mine. The home team lost the game and my brother, trying to be polite and sympathetic to an elderly lady sitting behind us, told her that he knew how she felt, that he was sorry she was so disappointed. I thought the little lady would beat him with her purse, she was so mad! She yelled and screamed, saying, "you don't know how it feels either. Your team won! You are a bad sport!" Whoa! I thought. Who is beating whom over the head with insults? We rushed to get out of her way! I really wonder where this plan in Washington will go. I do think we need to get hold of our feelings before we do damage to others by saying things we don't mean purely out of anger or disgust. It's so difficult to retract behavior.

Hop To It

We now have 32 paid deposits for our church trip. Wow! We will soon have a bus load. Actually, we never want a full bus load; we enjoy stretching out, many having a seat by themselves. We also assign seats for folks to keep their extra stuff/junk/snacks, etc. Ofttimes, we carry picnic lunches, small coolers, and always snacks to share with everyone on the bus. There is no danger that we will fill up all the seats, however, since there are 54 on this bus. I have planned a special surprise on this trip that I hope everyone will enjoy, perhaps even warrant a laugh or two. We always have a trip theme plus our devotions too, thanks to all those who will accept a part. We find a place to meet at bedtime for our nightly devotions. This draws us together at the end of a busy day and sets our hearts and minds on Jesus. Since we have always practiced this, now the people expect it and seem to appreciate the opportunity to worship briefly together.

My mind has not been functioning too well this week (as if it ever does); I've had other things/thoughts/experiences always coming to the forefront it seems. Hopefully, things will settle down soon, I can forget traumatic moments I've felt this week and return to a somewhat cheerful, worry-free self. I don't enjoy being pre-occupied as I have been lately. It keeps me from concentrating on more positive things. When this happens, maybe I will get back on a fairly regular blogging schedule.

Don has gone to visit his ailing brother as he does each week. I worry about him and his wife. They have difficult decisions to make that all of us may have to make at a later time in our lives. My friend will be coming by soon and she and I will enjoy spending some carefree time together. Maybe next time I blog, it will interest you more (and me too).

I thought I would enjoy a movie on tv this afternoon while Don is gone...NOT! I have never seen such weird stuff! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to subscribe to Direct TV, especially the Starz Movie channel. I can't even locate a good Western today! Neither AMC, TMC, nor the Lifetime movies are enticing today. Maybe I will just put in an old DVD and watch; or, perhaps, I will work on my other extracurricular projects; or, maybe I will clean out some kitchen drawers; or, call a friend; or, just keep playing on the computer; or, go visit my sister. There's plenty to be done, so "Hop-to" (as my elementary teacher used to say).

Tripping Along with Friends

We have now confirmed 27 participants on our church trip, but I know there are 8 more who have said they are going with us. We always have a wonderful time on our trips even though I have to work very hard preparing themes, games and devotional plans. I have always looked forward to spending time with my church family and other close friends while traveling. I don't know why many of them turn to me for planning and leading these trips; I am only one lowly member who is humble and wants to please and protect everyone. (Perhaps that has something to do with my chosen career when I had to listen to and look after many, many employees. I always tried to protect each of them from all types of harm). When this trip is behind us, I am considering some other ideas about my retirement years. With God's leadership and Don's counseling, I hope to make some appropriate and wise decisions.

Integrity

I just spent an hour composing a blog on integrity but I won't publish my thoughts on the topic. I will say that integrity is a very important way of life for me. Without it I could not live comfortably with myself. What about you?