Gray Lane

Dress Shop Closed Until Further Notice

2011-06-30T18:04:00.001-04:00

Each summer I attempt to get a little sewing done because (1) I never have time to do much if any sewing during the school year (2) sewing is not a favorite hobby (3) by the time I get the mending done, I am frustrated enough with the idea of sewing.

This summer as I was housecleaning the closet in the library I realized how much fabric was waiting to be made into dresses. Before I got started sewing, Romaine gave me another piece for my birthday (which isn't until October). I decided that sewing had become a priority for the summer. Making that decision brought me to the realization that I had just two weeks to do it before it is time to begin the summer job of stripping and waxing floors. I set my goal to be finished by the end of June. I counted out the pieces of fabrics and discovered there were nine--three of mine and six of Mary's.

I started with cutting one for each of us and sewing them at the same time. I thought it seemed to go faster that way. By the end of the first week, I had four dresses finished and one more only needed buttons on the sleeves. I was working on dress #7 when I found another piece of fabric in a box in the basement. I have no idea why it was there, but there it was. It must have been in that box when we moved six years ago because I know someone had given it to Mary before we moved.

The three to the left are mine. The other seven are Mary's. The last three on the right are new work dresses for her. Maybe she can get rid of some of the rags she has been wearing. Four of the pieces of fabric were given to us. Three of them Mary bought at a yardsale for $1 a yard.

This morning I finished dress #10. Tomorrow is July 1, and I begin scrubbing floors.

Bible Quizzing 2011

2011-03-12T20:01:00.009-05:00

My blog has long been neglected. I decided to post about Bible Quizzing although that isn't the only thing I have been doing since I last posted.

Keeping Score

Last fall the principal asked me if I would be interested in coaching a quiz team this year. He knew that I liked going to the quizzes whenever I had half a chance, but I had never coached before. I told him that I would be interested, but I didn't know anything about coaching. He promised that he would give me a team of quizzers who knew what they were doing and they could teach me.

We started quiz practices and eventually I got my team of three senior guys. They were self-motivated and knew how to quiz. They memorized Acts 13-20 and were all able to quote the entire passage in one sitting with almost no errors--that is about 300 verses! I learned a lot from them and had fun with them.

We were the THMH Adventurers.

There were seven other teams from THMH: Encouragers, Vision, Divers, Lights, Earthquakers, Glorified, and, of course, the Confused.

The Encouragers

Vision

The Divers

The Lights

The Earthquakers

The Glorified

The Confused

Refinancing Saga

2010-09-23T07:15:00.003-04:00

August 31 we applied to refinance our mortgage with the bank that currently holds the mortgage. September 9 we got a call to set up the appraisal for September 13 at 1 P.M. The same day the mortgage officer from the bank told us to have the property in tip top shape for the appraisal. That found us painting, grooming the drive, weeding and mulching flower beds, and doing other miscellaneous clean up projects Friday evening and Saturday. We worked from 6 A.M. until 11 P.M. and did not take many breaks even for eating. We each had a banana about 8 A.M., a sandwich about 2 P.M. and a bowl of soup about 9:30 P.M. We rested on Sunday. Monday morning we were up at 2 A.M. to clean the main floor and basement of the house. By the time we left for work at 6 A.M., the place was ready for the appraiser.

This week:
Day 1 -- we received an e-mail from the bank. "The appraiser has concerns about the non conforming use of the property due to the print shop. The appraiser contacted the township and according to our rules and regs pertaining to the secondary market your home is not legal for their purposes. This only means that it does not fit the parameters for the low rates and that's why your home mortgage has remained with **********Bank. It is not a sellable loan, therefore, I cannot pursue this refinance any further. . . You could refinance within ***********Bank but when a loan remains 'in house' as we call it, rates are not that attractive and it would not behoove you to spend the money. So sorry ladies..."

Day 2 -- I e-mailed the bank: "OK, that raises some questions for us. 1) non conforming use -- How is it non conforming? Non conforming to what? 2) township--what did the township say that disqualified us? 3) rules and regs pertain to the secondary market -- in what way is our home not legal for their purposes?

The bank e-mailed us: "It is non conforming due to commercial use being a print shop. The secondary market does not allow for any use other than residential. . . The township merely confirmed that it is commercial in nature, they know it exists and that's OK, but not for secondary financing....Does that answer your questions. Let me know.

We contacted another local bank about refinancing.

Day 3 -- I e-mailed the bank: "That does answer our questions. We may look into other possibilities.

The bank e-mailed us: "Our corporate office ...had the underwriter review the portion of the appraisal that was done by the appraiser. We may proceed with your refinance providing: that the appraiser finds 1 or 2 comparable properties that have sold and settled that are like your property. Statement that the use of the garage is legal as per the township zoning officer. Statement indicating that the garage can easily be converted back to a normal garage. I'll keep you posted so just hang in there.

We complete the refinance application with the second local bank.

Day 4 -- I e-mailed the bank: Hmmm now that raises more questions and these are more along the lines of ethics. If it were not legal two days ago, how is it legal today? If it is legal, why were we told it is illegal?

I am waiting to see what the Lord has in store for us.

Vacation - 2010

2010-08-07T06:05:00.010-04:00

After I finished scrubbing the floors at school, it was time for my vacation. Most summers I take a few days to return to Virginia and visit people that I don't normally visit when I go for a weekend. Mary stayed home to work and take care of the home fires while I roamed about the Shenandoah valley.

My first stop was with Joel & Bonnie in Maryland on my way to Virginia. I arrived about 10 AM and stayed for lunch. My next stop was in Bridgewater with the lady who had been my supervisor on my work/study job in the library at JMU. We have stayed in touch throughout the years and this was the second time I visited her on one of these summer trips.

My next stop was the highlight of the three days. In 1979 when I moved to Virginia, I was working at CLP with Doug Cyzick. He and his wife Reba frequently invited some of his coworkers to their house for an evening. I learned to know Reba and their seven children. Since then, Doug has left the family and is currently living in Tennessee. His children have grown up. His wife is remarried. He has quite a few grandchildren. But, I had not seen the family since 1985 when I moved back to Pennsylvania. A year ago I noticed the one daughter's name on facebook and began communicating with her. She told me that she and her siblings would like to see me sometime when I come to the area. The beginning of the summer I told her that I will be coming sometime this summer. It took me until the beginning of August to get that accomplished. Wednesday evening the Cyzick family got together for a potluck supper because I was in the area. I was glad Regina had posted pictures of everyone on facebook so that I could recognize them when I got there on Wednesday. Here is a picture of Reba and the Cyzick children as I remember them. Next is one of Reba and her seven children today. The last one is Reba and her husband Garry, the seven children and their spouses (not all of them could be there) and their children.

Back row Shannon, Amy and Jody,

Front row: Andy, Ethel, Reba holding Stephanie, and Regina

Andy, Ethel, Stephanie, Reba, Amy, Regina, Jody, and Shannon

Thursday I went for breakfast with Sharon, a friend from my Rosedale days (1977-1979), who lives in Harrisonburg. Then I went to CLP and took a tour of the place guided by one of my friend Sarah's nieces. It was interesting to see all the changes that have been made since the mid 1980s. I also saw several people who were working there when I did and are still working there. From there I went to Rockingham Memorial Hospital to the Hahn Cancer Center and sat with Sarah while she finished chemo treatment #2. On our way home from the hospital we stopped at Costco and Walmart to get some of her prescriptions filled. One of those was for Emend, an anti-nausea medication, that Mary had also taken. We always wondered how much it cost because Mary's co-pay was $100 for three pills. Sarah does not have medical insurance so I found out how much it really is. Each pill costs just over $100. In the evening I went to visit Ralph and Evelyn Landes.

Friday morning I spent an hour with Hilda Harlow. She was as entertaining as always. She was talking about her dog that she had before she moved to the retirement community. She said, "Heather was everybody's friend. She was friends with all the burglars and everybody. I never had any burglars, but she would have been friends with them." She was also telling me that she has more money now than she did before she fired herself (retired). That's Hilda--unique and entertaining. On my way home, I stopped at the United Zion Campground near Manheim to help Mary Martin cook for the Youth Conference there. After supper, I came home and started unpacking.

Vacation is over, but I have a lot of pleasant memories from all the visiting I did with friends from 1977-1985. Today I am trying to catch up from being gone for three days, and Monday I will be going to school to begin the process of getting ready for the students to return in less than three weeks.

Summer Job

2010-07-28T06:55:00.008-04:00

This summer has not been the norm. I realized my tenant was moving out of my rental property. There is a repair job that needs to be done and the taxes have to be paid. I had enough saved from the rent to pay either the taxes or the repair job. I had been thinking that maybe I should have gotten a part time job this summer. But my time is so extremely scheduled during the school year that I refuse to have much of a schedule all summer. Two days after I began processing all this, I got an e-mail from the school that the board had tired of doing the floors at school and were willing to pay someone on staff to do them this summer. The amount after taxes are taken out that they were willing to pay for the job almost exactly matched the estimate of the repair job. I decided that God wanted me to work hard this summer, but He was supplying what I needed. Therefore, I took the job. There was no schedule. I could go whenever I wanted to go, work as long as I wanted to work, and come home whenever I wanted to. No one needed to know when I was going to be there and when I wasn't going to be there. Some mornings I went as early as 4 or 5 and then left early before the hotest part of the day. Usually I started by 6:30 or 7 and worked until sometime between 12 and 2 P.M.

These were the basic tools that I used. I had three buckets and three mops: one for soapy water, one for clear water, and one for wax; and those were never mixed. The first thing that needed to be done was move everything out of the room so I could clean the floor. Next, I dry mopped the room. Then, slopped soapy water onto the floor and allowed it to soak while I got the floor machine ready to go. The next step was the floor machine with the black stripping pads on it. I went over the floor 3-4 times with those pads.

Then it was time to get down on my hands and knees and do the hand scrubbing. I used the centers of the black pads for that.

When I was doing the main hall, Mary came to help me one evening after supper because there was so much pitch on the floor from the new parking lot and lots of scrubbing needed. I hand scrubbed every block from the front door to the office.

After I was finished hand scrubbing, I ran the floor machine with the red pads over the floor another 3 times. The next step was mopping the floor with clear water until the water when I was finished was still clear water. That usually took 1-3 moppings. It depended a bit on how well I could get into the corners with the floor machine.

The rewarding step was putting the four coats of wax on the floor and seeing it begin to shine. When I was finished with the fourth coat of wax, the floor looked like it was wet when it wasn't. Several times I had someone coming to talk to me stop at the door and touch the floor before walking into the room. I knew then that my floor looked like it was supposed to look: wet. The last step was moving everything back in place in the room.

I started cleaning floors the last week of June and finished the last week of July. It took me 97 hours to do the whole school.

The question that remains: "Will I do it next year?"

Recovery

2010-02-12T11:10:00.002-05:00

Mary and I dubbed this year the "year of recovery." She had been saying that 2009 was a year of survival, but now it is time to recover in several ways: financial, emotional, spiritual, and physical. She took steps to attempt to recover the ground she had lost financially last year and made goals in other areas of life too.

I decided it was time to do some recovery also, and I have been recovering in an area that was not part of that decision. I have stepped up my payments on the rental property attempting to get that paid off more quickly, but that was part of the plan. I have cut back on spending at places like Goodwill and Ollies, but that was part of the plan. We have not been out to eat since the beginning of 2010, but that has been intentional.

For the last several years, I have had a serious malady that I did not talk about, that I tried to ignore, that was embarrassing: I wasn't reading anything. I had not read an entire book since 2004 or 2005 and that was a Ramona book. I started many books but never got very far. I had just burned out and couldn't force my way through an entire book. That was embarrassing for an English teacher to admit--especially an English teacher with a doctorate in English. Mary knew that I wasn't reading because she never saw me with a book in hand. The only thing I was reading with news online and papers that I had to grade. I even went to listening to passages of the Bible online for my devotions. I got more out of it by listening to it than if I tried to read.

This last Christmas Mary gave me a book for Christmas and that has been the turning point for me. I read all the way through Vera's Journey, and it was the beginning of my journey to recovery. Since then I have read four more books--almost 2000 pages. I must get away from the computer and get the house cleaned so I can start the next book.

Year -- Two Ends

2010-01-03T18:18:00.010-05:00

Each year has two ends. We reached the one end of 2009 and were instantly at the other end of 2010. Both of those happened while we were driving somewhere between Sioux Lookout, Ontario and Mohnton, Pennsylvania. Actually it was a lot closer to Mohnton than Sioux Lookout.

Here are a few pictures from our trip. We had a safe and a great time. There was a lot of time for relaxing, and we both discovered how much we needed that. It was great to go to bed and not set an alarm, but get up when we were ready--not that that was very late. It was good to spend time with friends and family. It was also good to see the beauty of the north. We were blessed with the sight of two moose walking out of the bush in front of our car (but not so close we had to brake for them). The worst part was the driving conditions on the first day. We stopped at a motel 150 miles before getting to our planned destination. Everything else on the trip went very well.

our trek

not a clear picture but we saw lots of emergency vehicles on our way

the forecast for the second day of travel

Christmas dinner in the preparing stages

Christmas dinner

and again

Bozey was always looking for an available lap

another train in progress

the old gold mine -- looking down into the shaft

the house had some structural problems

the wall hanging we quilted

in the hanger

the ice road across Beaver Lake

back in the USA

Skyline Drive and Beyond

2009-10-26T08:18:00.003-04:00

We were at Faith Mission Home this weekend. We spent Saturday at Skyline Drive. Although it was raining part of the day, the sun show up part of the day. The leaves were at their peak this weekend.

We grilled chicken for supper and ate at Big Meadows picnic area before going back to Faith Mission Home for the night.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Bridgewater. Mike & Sarah took us in the Jeep to the river bottom to see the little calves. This was the newest kid on the block.

The rest of the evening Mike & Sarah's family was at their house for supper. After supper, the violins, guitar, and bango were brought out, and we enjoyed a few hours of music.

Revitalized

2009-08-08T22:46:00.003-04:00

There was an old comforter at the cabin that was truly worn out. When we were there the last time, my sisters were ready to throw it away. This corner is actually in better shape than most of it was.

I objected to throwing it away because that was the one cover I always hunted for when I was there in the winter. It was by far the warmest one in spite of the holes it had.

I brought it along home with the intention of recovering it eventually. Last week I went to the Grand Opening of Goodville Fabric Outlet and bought seven yards of fleece. pieced it together and stuck it in a frame in one bay of the garage.

This evening we finished the knotting. I have to bind it, but that will wait until it is cooler. It is too warm these days to sit with that thing on my lap while I am hemming it. It will still be the warmest cover at the cabin when it returns.

The Death of a Childhood Home

2009-07-25T07:37:00.014-04:00

Friday, July 24, the house at Ephrata where we lived as children was torn down. I went about 7 AM and stayed most of the day. It was sad, but it was also a reminder that material things don't last forever.

The gutted house before they started on Friday.

The garage wasn't there when we lived there. It was the first part to go.

The garage is gone.

Everything, including the cement in the basement, had to be loaded into dumpsters and hauled away.

The first bite out of the main house.

The laundry was the next to go.

The last chunk of laundry is pulled down.

Then it was the original bathroom upstair that I remember only as a storage room.

It had been turned into a walk-in closet in later years.

and the spare room that was used by whoever lived with us at the moment: Eugene, the twins, etc. It was also a play room for our dolls.

There was a lot of dust.

Upstairs on the left was my brothers' bedroom.

The stairway and the kitchen on the first floor going, going . . .

gone.

Another view from across the road.

one section deeper into the house.

more dust...

Barely visible behind the dust is my parents' bedroom on the left and mine on the right.

Again another view from the road.

my bedroom wall -- I think that may be the wall paper that was on when we lived there. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar. A later picture has a clearer view.

This is a better view of my bedroom wall.

The basement under the kitchen. They found an old well (center of photo) that the last owner had no idea existed.

attic steps

A few little trees were in his way so he grabbed them and pulled them out and set them aside--simple matter to remove a few trees.

Clear view of the attic steps. My sister was scared of these steps and my mother used them for her punishment. I was scared to sleep in my room because of all the scary things that could come down those steps right into my bedroom and get me during the night.

The other end of the house just after the chimney was pushed down.

The bathroom where we read books instead of getting the bath we were supposed to be getting was in the back of the house. My sister's bedroom was in the front. The other bedroom had been torn away years ago.

The living room was on the first floor.

The last corner of the house to remain standing.

Same corner from the opposite side.

The last view from across the road. I had to leave at that point and didn't see it completely flattened. One of the other observers plans to send me a photo later.

Adirondacks

2009-07-13T11:16:00.002-04:00

We left on our mini-vacation Thursday evening. We spent the first night in East Stroudsburg, PA. Friday morning we stopped at Bushkill Falls and hiked to the main falls. We spent about 2 hours there before heading on toward our destination.

Our destination was Coyote Ridge Ranch at Port Henry, New York. Two single ladies who built the log home they live in in 1992, had invited us for an all-expenses paid vacation in the Adirondacks. We arrived Friday afternoon and stayed with them until Sunday afternoon.

One of our points of interest was Ausable Chasm. We spent several hours there walking along the chasm and marveling at the sights. We also stopped at two book sales and the hospital in Plattsburg where both the ladies work. We then rode the ferry from Port Kent, New York to Vermont on the other side of Lake Champlain and stopped at Goodies for soft ice cream.

It was an interesting weekend and a good place for a mini-vacation. We are grateful to the ladies for paying our way to visit them and hosting us through the weekend.

I've Been Blessed

2009-06-25T21:34:00.008-04:00

One girl's mother had volunteered her services to help me with mulching this summer. I told her to get some other girls to come along and we will make it a party. At 7:30 this morning, these five girls showed up to help me finish the edging along the drive.

The first part of the job was getting rid of the grass between the edging and the drive. We had to use shovels to dig it loose and then knock the dirt from the clumps of grass. We filled the garden cart about five or six times with grass and dumped it in a hole down by the fence at the back of the property.

One of the girls loved to drive the garden tractor to do the mulching. She was better at backing the trailer than I am although she had never driven it before. They did a nice job of mulching.

After we had the work finished, we went to Mohnton Navy Yard for pizza. They have a wood burning oven for making their pizza and some awesome pizza. We had two large pizzas. The girls were hungry after all the hard work they had done in the morning.

I am extremely grateful for their help. It is quite a privilege to have students who are willing to come in the summer and help with some work around here. I have been blessed.

Relay for Life 2009

2009-06-20T13:27:00.003-04:00

Last evening we went to the 2009 Relay for Life at Garden Spot High School. We walked around the track at least 10 times, bought 4 luminaries, participated in the lighting ceremony, bought some food, wished we had the camera, and came home again.

This morning after our breakfast in Morgantown and stopping at a yard sale at her uncle's house, we went back to the Relay for Life to take a few pictures. By then it was raining and there were not as many people walking the track, but we still got a few pictures.

Garden Report

2009-06-08T15:48:00.002-04:00

I spent most of the day outside since the rain has ended. I mowed and trimmed the lawn. That looks much better than it did this morning.

The garden also looks better, but is it certainly nothing to brag about this year. I am in the process of weeding it for the first time this year. It just didn't get done before.

But the weeds are not the only problem. When I bought seeds, I got the wrong kind of beans. Oh well, I planted them anyway. They came up kind of spotty, and then the rabbits ate them off. They are beginning to grow back--the few stalks that are there.

The other major issue in the garden is the potatoes. I planted my usual two rows of potatoes, but only about six plants ever came up. I guess we will be buying potatoes all winter this year.

So it is kind of a disappointing garden report this week. The healthiest plants in the garden are the peas which should be ready to pick in about two weeks.

The Last Treatment

2009-06-02T08:32:00.004-04:00

June 1 was the last chemo treatment. The nurses threw confetti on her and gave her a purple heart award for completing chemo treatments.

Grenada 2009

2009-05-11T09:08:00.004-04:00

Grand Anse Beach

children's program in the Coconut

The Coconut

Annandale Falls

Street Ministry in St. George's

Loaded and going to the river of lunch

Work Project -- improving the play ground at LaBorie school

Sophomore Spring Social

2009-04-22T07:06:00.003-04:00

A group of guys try to open a frozen tee shirt. I hope the owner doesn't get upset that his shirts are torn to shreds.

Pizza, nacho chips, salad, fruit tray, ice cream cake for supper.

10 bottles of soda, 1 skateboard, 1 rider, # pushers = human bowling

They didn't actually burst any bottles of soda.

Balloon lady

cool whip and cheese curls game that turned into a cool whip battle

stu co got the worst end of the deal

Old Rag Mountain -- 2009

2009-04-06T13:21:00.004-04:00

Once again we took the senior girls to hike Old Rag Mountain. It was a good weekend. They had beautiful weather except for gusts of wind. We stayed at a different cabin this year, but it was a very nice one.

At the trail head

the most difficult part of the trail

taking a break

on the trail again

at the summit

Sandwich Sale

2009-03-29T22:06:00.004-04:00

Shady had four skids of supplies for us to pick up on Thursday afternoon.

We loaded Geril's truck first with most of the meat and a bit of all the rest of the supplies. Then we put the rest of them in Paul's trailer and Mary hauled those.

These two ladies kept things orgainized throughout the evening.

Snack time

Sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches . . .

2009-03-26T09:13:00.005-04:00

The idea was Jan's.

She brought Charity and Priscilla on board to form a committee to make sure it happens. Because Mary and I were there, we became a part of the committee.

The volunteers are numerous.

The goal has been to raise money to cover medical expenses. For example, I am going to the pharmacy for one prescription of three anti-nausea pills and will pay $100 copay. the insurance covers the rest. She needs these three little pills with every chemo treatment.

After two meetings, we were ready to begin selling ham & cheese and turkey and cheese sandwiches. We lined up volunteers for selling sandwiches, making them, and delivering them. We will also be selling them at three local stores on Friday.

We have 4074 sandwiches to make this evening. The girls lined up between 40-50 people to help. We also have about 15 volunteers for Friday to help deliver them. Plus, there are people who bought sandwiches that they will be delivering after they get them from us.

We are very grateful for the work that has been done and that will be done tonight and Friday.

My camera battery is charging right now. I will post more photos sometime next week of making the sandwiches. I don't think I will have time over the weekend.

Much Ado About Nothing

2009-02-24T06:56:00.003-05:00

Not much has been happening these days. Chemo treatment #1 is done and the side effects were minimal. We could hope they will all be similar, but we are not counting on that. The next treatment is on Monday. We expect hair loss to occur after this one. She is ready with a selection of about 6 hats to wear. She does think she will have occasion to wear one of the neon green wigs available at Walmart. She informed me that she wants one of the curly wigs, but she wants to wait until after St. Patrick's Day to buy one--they may be reduced then. Nothing like a positive attitude! She said last night, "I may as well have fun with it."

The "new" Jetta was causing some problems and had to be in the garage for about a week. She noticed the one wheel seemed to be doing strange things a few days after she bought the car. She took it to her regular garage. They checked it out and said it was a major problem that would cost about $1500. She called the place where she had bought the car; he told her to bring it to him and he will take care of it. He thought the other garage was taking her across for not buying from them. After about 10 days in two different garages, she finally picked it up last night. We will see how it is now.

School is keeping me busy most of the time. We are just past the middle of the third quarter. Next thing I know it will be summer vacation again--won't be too soon for me though. I love school, but there are other things in life that need to be done too.

So, does all this qualify as "much ado about nothing"? or should I ramble on? I'll refrain from doing so.

Odds & Ends

2009-02-08T16:32:00.006-05:00

The Blueberry in the last post has been replaced.

Last weekend we were with a group of friends at the cabin.

It took lots of firewood to keep the cabin warm with the frigid temperatures we were having.

We got the van stuck in the lane and had to get it pulled out before we could leave.

Friday we went to a birthday party.

The "Blueberry" is History

2009-01-22T13:19:00.004-05:00

1/23/09 -- I added two pictures from the next day to the end of the post.

Last evening we were home when the youngest member of the household called to say she had an accident. She was a bit disoriented and didn't know where she was. We told her we would meet her at the emergency room at the hospital. When we got near the hospital, we saw all the lights of emergency vehicles and realized the accident was only a couple hundred yards from the hospital. We took a few pictures of the car and then went to the emergency room.

She was fine--just a bunch of bruises and bumps. She will be off work for the next four days to get her limbs limbered up again, take care of insurance business, and begin the search for another car.

We are thankful for a number of things: (1) her injuries are minor (2) we were able to be there for her (3) it was not her fault (someone pulled out of KFC in front of her. She flew across two lanes, hopped a curb, crossed a parking lot, and stopped a few feet outside a building.) (4) she only hit the one car (if there had been traffic coming the opposite direction [as there usually is on that stretch] she would have hit them too). (5) We brought her home with us from the emergency room last night.

deployed airbags that probably kept her from hitting the windshield

the "Blueberry"

the "other" car

Shift in Responsibilities

2009-01-09T16:07:00.002-05:00

Since surgery is past and the healing is going well, we have shifted our responsibilities. Mary is now doing most of the housekeeping responsibilities and I am bringing in coal and anything that requires heavier lifting. When the snow comes this weekend, I'll be doing the shoveling.

We have an appointment with the medical oncologist and two weeks later with the radiation oncologist. Following those, we should know more about the treatment plan.

The photos from the previous post are relevant to today also. It looks like that again even before the snow that is forecast for this weekend.

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-21T18:57:00.004-05:00

These are from this afternoon. We had ice on Friday; it didn't melt on Saturday; Sunday was an additional coating of ice and snow.

Moving Ahead

2008-12-17T06:38:00.002-05:00

Surgery is now scheduled for December 23. To some people, that may sound terrible to have surgery two days before Christmas. For us, it is a perfect time. It is the last half day of school before Christmas vacation. I will be available to bring her home after surgery and be home with her for the next two weeks. If we could have picked a day, it probably would have been that day.

It feels like we are finally moving toward treatment rather than just testing. We realize that testing is necessary to determine treatment, but this is a good step forward. Last night for the first time since the diagnosis, I heard her singing in her print shop. That was a good sign too.

Waiting Mode

2008-12-09T19:19:00.002-05:00

We are in the waiting mode right now. The MRI was on Monday and the appointment with the surgeon is on Thursday.

For now, we are just waiting for that appointment knowing that there will be lots of information given and many decisions to be made following the appointment.

She worked a full day today, but we are nearing the end of that for a while. Our guess is that surgery will be next week. She was approved for unpaid Family Health and Medical Leave from work. That means she can be off and will not lose her job. The supervisors have said they will work with her--allowing her to work when she feels well enough to work and not work when she doesn't.

The First Snow of the Winter

2008-11-18T16:52:00.004-05:00

It was snowing when we came home from work today. We have had flurries before, but this is the first time there was actually a wee bit of snow on the ground this winter.

Sophomores/Juniors

2008-11-01T17:52:00.002-04:00

The sophomore and junior classes had a social on Thursday evening. It was held in the barn of one of the families from school. They played a few games outside before supper: capture the flag, tug of war, pancake toss, etc.

Supper was prepared by Big John's Catering. We had delicious burgers and fries.

One of the after supper games was calf-dressing. Poor calves!

Perception

2008-10-21T13:21:00.003-04:00

What do you see?

Apple Festival

2008-10-12T16:53:00.003-04:00

Putting apples into the cider press

chopped apples

adding another layer of apples

beginning to press the cider from the apples

an hour later they were almost completely pressed

making apple butter

cooking three different kinds of soup: chicken noodle, ham & bean, and vegetable

snitz & knepp

Joanna Furnace stoves

There is Life After 50

2008-10-07T15:55:00.005-04:00

When Mary's niece delivered this to me this morning, I thought, "Oh! that's nice--a carved watermelon.

But, then, I lit the candle and stepped away from it. That was when I saw the carving is a balloon.

Camping at Little Buffalo State Park

2008-09-14T16:13:00.004-04:00

This weekend we were camping at Little Buffalo State Park. There were about 15 people coming and going all weekend. Most of us went on Friday evening and set up camp in the rain. We were thoroughly soaked by the time the tents were set up and we were moved in for the weekend. Fortunately, we had also rented a cottage for those who are not tenters. After we were set up, we had supper and played a few games in the cottage before the rest of us headed back to our wet tents.

On the left is the Hilton Hotel and on the right is the LaQuinta. The Ramada Inn isn't visible on this picture.

Saturday morning we were delighted to see the blue sky and sunshine. It was still very wet, but we at least had some sunshine. We did a little hiking in the morning. Visited the covered bridge, the mill, and the butterfly garden.

I missed out on Saturday afternoon and evening while I attended a 20-year reunion of the first classes at school. When I returned I took another lady with me; several others had come while I was gone too. They had had rain off and on all day and it was still wet but not too bad.

Sunday morning we were responsible for breakfast. We fried our eggs; Norma reminded us we had hashbrowns; we fried those. Norma reminded us we had sausages and ham; we fried those. Eventually, we got breakfast together.

After breakfast we had a devotional and then packed up. It was so hot and humid that we were not eager to do any hiking today so we all headed home much earlier than we thought we would.

Renovation Progress Report #8 -- The LAST One

2008-09-09T19:24:00.004-04:00

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!!

All I can say is "Thank You" to everyone who contributed to the renovation of our office. It is the area where we spend most of our time when we are home. We use it for the print shop and my school work. Most of what we do here on a regular basis is in the office. I say "thank you" because of the generosity of family and friends who made the renovation possible. For the last two or three years, we have been saving all the money we received as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, graduation, and any other occasion. That money made possible the purchase of all the supplies we needed for the walls, floor, and ceiling, electrical wiring we added, and the new cabinet to house the phaser and xante printers. Again, I say "thank you" to all of you who gave us any money gifts in the last two or three years.

This last update on the renovation has four photos--one of each wall of the office. The project is almost finished. There is a little trim work to be done. One wall we have to decide if we are going to paint or paper. Other than that, it is finished and we are moved in. We really like it and will enjoy many hours in here this winter.

Our desk area is much more organized.

I already have papers to grade spread out on my desk. The cabinet houses the phaser and xante printers and lots of supplies that we stashed on the table before the renovation.

We didn't do much to this little wall. It was done before we moved here.

The wall on the left of the photo is the one that needs to be either painted or papered. It is bare drywall at this point.

Renovation Progress Report #7 -- Hanna Moves Over/We Move In

2008-09-06T16:06:00.004-04:00

As Tropical Storm Hanna passes through the area, we were continuing the process of moving back into the office. Mary is modifying a new cabinet we bought to keep the phaser printer and xante film maker clean. I have gone through all the little "stuff" scattered around the rest of the basement deciding what goes back into the office and what shall be disposed of promptly.

2 weeks ago . . .

2 days ago . . .

Now . . .

It is good I posted photos of the room without furniture. Most of the walls are hidden now.

Renovation Progress Report #6 -- Moving In--Ready or Not

2008-09-05T06:46:00.004-04:00

Progress was slow Tuesday and Wednesday. We did a little each evening, but it was not anything significant. Thursday Mary was sent home from work so she had more time to do some of the finish work.

Last evening we started moving back into the office. She went off to see if they have work for her today at the other place where she works sometimes. She will find out when she gets there if they have work for her today. If not, she will go back home and continue moving into the new office.

Renovation Progress Report #5 -- Hanging the Sky

2008-09-01T21:01:00.005-04:00

We quit for the weekend! Hanging the ceiling has been quite a challenge, and we are tired. We will work at the project in the evenings this week and maybe by next Monday we will be able to move back into the office. We are satisfied with what we got done this weekend. I think we both knew we had set our goals too high to move back in tonight.

Fastening the first sheet of the ceiling

This is what the ceiling looks like when you look straight up.

Mary's Dad and Elma stopped in for a while. They didn't know they were going to have to work if they came this weekend. Mary had built a frame to hold each sheet of ceiling up and flat while we fastened it. Her Dad helped to hold the sheet up while we aligned it and fastened it.

We have one more big sheet of ceiling to put up and then one foot pieces along the one side. After that is finished, we will put the trim on the top of the walls, put the carpet in and add the trim to the bottom of the walls. Then, I think, it will be ready to move back into again.

Renovation Progress Report #4 -- Finishing the Wall and Preparing to Hang the Sky

2008-09-01T14:34:00.005-04:00

It doesn't look like much has happened, but it has. The room is completely empty now. We are just about ready to hang the ceiling. Mary has started on the trim.

Mary places the last piece of t&g on the wall.

Carol fastens 2x4s in preparation for hanging the ceiling.

Two walls of the office

The other office wall and the short wall to the dark room

Renovation Progress Report #3 --More Walls, Measuring the Sky, and Soup

2008-08-30T18:34:00.005-04:00

Did I say at 8 PM last night that we would wind down in an hour or so? It was more like three hours or so.

It is almost 8 PM and Mary is putting the last few boards on the last wall. We had enough wood to finish and a few boards left over. Today we bought a new carpet for the office and I put scotch guard on it. I have done the beginning preparation for the unconventional ceiling we are planning to use. Photos of the ceiling will be in a later update. I cut 2x4s to hang the ceiling from until we ran out. Another trip to Lowes...

The wall is not as bowed as it looks on this photo. It must have been the angle I took it that made it look like that.

Also the 21 pints and 14 quarts of tomato soup are canned. I did some in pints and some in quarts because Jan has yet to decide if she likes our tomato soup. If we continue making it when she is not here, a pint is enough, but if she is going to eat some of it, we need a bit more than a pint.

Renovation Progress Report #2 -- Bare Walls to Non-bare Walls

2008-08-29T20:08:00.004-04:00

It is after 8 PM and we will be winding down in another hour or so. Mary has been diligently working on the office. I picked two 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes and am making tomato soup.

The wall in the photo above now looks like the wall in the photo below. She has started on the second wall--a shorter one. There are two more walls for tomorrow.

There are electrical boxes and phone jacks to be covered and other little details to finish on that wall, but it is basically finished.

Renovation Progress Report #1 -- Beginnings

2008-08-29T15:22:00.005-04:00

Mary took a day of PTO (paid time off) today and started the "project." When I got home from school at 1:30, this is how it looked at the moment.

I have been carrying wood from the print shop where we have been storing it for the last few months to the garage where she is cutting it the right length. She has boards of different lengths lying out on the floor so she can find the best one to make the most efficient use of the wood we have. We only hope we have enough for the project. I have about half of it carried to the garage, but it is raining quite a bit at the moment, and I decided to wait until after it slows down a bit to finish the job.

They are all t&g boards that we got from tearing down a shed for her cousin. We sanded them but decided to keep the white paint in the grooves. We had seen that done in another house and decided it added to the rustic look. Of course, it also saved us a lot of work.

I'll keep you posted as we progress over the weekend.

Office Renovation in Progress - Displaced Stuff

2008-08-26T13:51:00.003-04:00

We spent about two years planning and dreaming of the office renovation. Over the last year we collected materials (thanks to the money gifts we received for birthdays and Christmas). Now, we have begun the renovation project that has been only a dream.

Last evening we moved most of the things out of the office. The three big pieces we moved into the center of the room.

Friday Mary is planning to take a vacation day and begin working on putting t&g boards on the walls. We have a ceiling to put in and new carpet for the floor. We hope to be moving back in on Monday, Labor Day. If we are not too worn out by then.

Fragments from the First Three Days Into the Year

2008-08-25T13:30:00.003-04:00

2008-09 school year, that is
year number 24 for me on this side of the teacher's desk
drop/add period ends today
routine will develop quickly--I hope
learned the names of about half the freshmen, all the new sophomores, and one new senior
creative writing class is being creative -- makes for interesting reading
speech 2 class determined the "correct" order of importance of 15 items if they were lost on the moon
speech 1 class has to soon give speeches if they are to be called speech students
freshmen -- still lost and confused
sophomores -- scared by all the horror stories they heard about being sophomores
juniors -- exploring new elective classses available to them
seniors -- ready for the last year and more serious about life
haven't taken any photos this year

Burkholder Reunions

2008-08-04T11:04:00.004-04:00

I grew up always having two Burkholder reunions every summer. One was always referred to as the "Little" Burkholder reunion, and the other was always the "BIG" Burkholder reunion. Those designations always made a lot of sense to me. The Little Burkholder reunion was never very many people since my Mom came from a family of 4 and we only had 10 cousins on that side--some of whom lived in Arizona and were seldom at the reunion anyway. In addition, they were smaller people. The BIG Burkholder reunion was lots of people since my Dad come from a family of 15 children and we had lots and lots of cousins on that side--most of them 10-30 years older than I am. Not only were there more people, but they were bigger people. My sister's dream was once to "be as fat as Aunt . . . . " (Should I add that it is no longer her dream?)

Yesterday was the Big Burkholder reunion. We have one remaining aunt, Aunt Nora, who is 94 and our aunt on both sides of the family.

Attendance is now more like 125 instead of the 400 as Aunt Nora reminded us yesterday. We had a candy drop from an airplane and neighbor boys brought their horses and were giving rides to the other children (not a planned activity).

There were many people at the reunion yesterday that I didn't even recognize as relatives (mostly cousins' grandchildren, I think). There were others there that I recognized as relatives (mostly cousins' children). There were others that I recognized as cousins and could generally place in the correct family, but being at the tail end of the cousins has kept me struggling to know my first cousins. My embarrassing moment yesterday was asking one of my cousins about her brother's daughter. I should have known, but I messed up again. She kindly got me straightened out.

Friends from Afar

2008-07-21T08:42:00.006-04:00

We are blessed with friends from around the world. Tuesday evening we visited with Gerlof & Machteld Born from the Netherlands.

He is secretary of the Dutch Mennonite Mission and shared pictures and stories of the work they are doing in many different countries. She is a geography teacher in the secondary school.

Friday evening we visited with Hannes & Barbara Wittwer and their three children: Luis, Sarah and Jeane. They are from Switzerland. We had met his parents when we were in Switzerland in 1997. Last year he brought his parents and aunt to America for a visit. This year he brought his wife and children.

Pocket Factory

2008-07-10T07:46:00.002-04:00

Stocks dropped 236 points yesterday. The future of the pocket factory looked shaky. Workers had been without a contract and management announced they may have to close the doors. This morning disgruntled workers walked off the job when they were required to replace worn out elastic in sleeves rather insert pockets. The floor will be swept and the door closed.

Mary and I both like pockets in our dresses. However, over the last few years, we have been given a number of dresses from people who do not put pockets in their dresses. Finally, all those dresses have pockets. The job is finished. I am glad!!!!!

Overheard at the Vet's Office

2008-07-08T07:46:00.002-04:00

Little boy: Does that cat live here?

Receptionist: Yes, she does.

Little boy: What's his name?

Rep.: Her name's Jackie.

Little boy: Does he listen to you?

Rep.: Most of the time.

Little boy walks up to the cat and says: "Simon says 'Blink your eyes!'"

Cabins & Hummingbirds

2008-07-06T17:29:00.006-04:00

Wednesday morning breakfast

Israel pictures

Merle, Elaine & Dallas playing basketball

Here we are

The late night Phase 10 game that lasted until 12:37

We have been enjoying frequent visits to our feeder by a pair of hummingbirds.

First Month of Summer Vacation

2008-06-21T19:35:00.004-04:00

So, what have I been doing since school is over for another year?

The first week I worked outside all week. I weeded flower beds and garden, painted the rail fence, mulched everything that needed mulched, and went to an outdoor wedding.

The second week I took it a bit calmer because it was too hot to be working outside. I made a dress for Mary and read two books--just for the fun of it. Sunday we had a picnic with people from church. The candy man had a candy scramble when he came walking in on stilts.

The third week I attempted to make a second dress for Mary and it turned out to be a disaster. We also had Bible school every evening. At the end of bible school, we had the annual train rides for the children and soft ice cream for everyone.

This week I bought a house for a friend on Monday (She's paying for it. I just did the bidding at the auction). We took two other friends to JFK early Wednesday morning. Today we were at the CWS picnic at Hersheypark.

I've been to two weddings, a picnic and a tea party in the last month.

That is a summary of the summer so far.

Graduation Time

2008-05-24T06:33:00.006-04:00

School is now over for the year and graduation season is upon us. Within one week I will have attended four graduation parties in three different states. It started last Saturday with a graduation party for Rhoda who graduated from nursing school. The next one was Joseph who graduated from high school in Virginia, Last night was graduation at Terre Hill. I think, tonight the one for a nursing student in Maryland is the last one.

One of the last events at the end of the year was the THMH/FMH softball games at Gap Park.

Kayla rounds third base on her way to making a home run.

Rhoda finished her BSN and threw a party for herself.

Immediately after te softball game on Wednesday, I left for Virginia to attend the graduation party for Joseph. The Showalters didn't know I was coming. I had told them just the week before that there was no way I could make it because I was giving finals on Wednesday morning and had the softball game in the afternoon. On Monday I started reconsidering; by Tuesday I had decided I could go. The party was on the front lawn with about 100 people there until a rain shower came through the valley and we all headed indoors. It was wall-to-wall people for the rest of the party. I spent the night with Sharon and then went back to Showalters to help Sarah clean up while we visited.

THMH Class of 2008

Donna has finished her RN training and has taken a job at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

Day in D.C.

2008-04-30T20:36:00.005-04:00

General Robert E. Lee

We spent the day in D.C. with the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Our first stop was the Madame Tussauds wax museum. It was a very interesting place because, unlike many wax museums, you could touch the wax figures.

Bob Dylan

The Oval Office

After the wax museum, I took five sophomore girls through the National Gallery of Art. I had a splendid group for that. They were interested in the art and trying to find paintings and/or painters with whom they were familiar.

We interrupted our visit to the art gallery to make use of our tickets at the Air & Space Museum, but the girls voted to go back to the art gallery when we had more time. So, we walked across the mall again.

We ended our day in D.C. with a talk by a Holocaust survivor at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. We arrived back at school about 7:30 this evening.

Loyalsock

2008-04-21T07:22:00.005-04:00

We spent the weekend at Loyalsock at a cabin. The children played in the Loyalsock much of the weekend. It was a relaxing weekend although I graded about 10 author projects while I was there. Bob's boat was a major attraction Saturday afternoon and evening.

The Loyalsock

the back of the cabin where most of the action took place

Gwenna and Cordell taking their turn to enjoy Bob's boat

Warren grills the pork chops for Saturday evening supper

under the careful scrutiny of Paul, Austin, and Clair.

Josiah and Cordell show off their roasted crayfish.

Liberty Martin

Besides Teaching

2008-04-18T07:16:00.006-04:00

Every year there are numerous responsibilities that we as teachers have in addition to teaching. As the freshmen homeroom teacher, I am responsible to chaperone the spring freshmen social. That class is rather inexperienced in planning and carrying out such activities, but this particular class has good student council members. These three young teens took their responsibility well: they planned the games and meal, gave leadership to the group throughout the evening, and cleaned up after the social was over. That was five hours of activity that they were responsible for, but they put in more hours than that in planning and preparing for the evening.

The EGG Toss

Oops! She missed the egg, but the egg didn't miss her!

Unity supper

Newspaper Scavenger Hunt

Free time between games was rather noisy and active.

Static Electric

2008-03-31T12:33:00.003-04:00

Moses Burkholer was at school today to give a demonstration in science class. The freshmen were a bit nonchalant and and univolved when he started, but it didn't take them long to be fascinated by the demonstrations. They were soon volunteering to be shocked, etc.

Mini-Terms 2008 -- Day 4

2008-03-07T14:50:00.003-05:00

No photos at all today. Mini-terms is over. It was a good week, but we are ready to go back to a normal schedule and activities. We were glad for all the time it wasn't raining this week (especially the horseback riding, tennis, biking, etc. classes). The school is returning to norm again. My room has desks in it again. Ping pong tables have disappeared. Sewing machines are back in the home ec room. The library has returned to being a library rather than a scrapbooking room. It has been a good break, but a break doesn't last forever.

Mini-Terms 2008 -- Day 3

2008-03-06T09:46:00.007-05:00

I did not get to walk by or stop in many other classes today. Hence, the photos are rather limited to my two Readers' Theater classes today and the bean bag class that runs in the yearbook room close to the office the period I am in the office to answer the phone.

Readers' Theater class carried 12 ft. ladders through the hall and then set them up in the foyer. Some of the ladders were amazingly flexible!

Readers' theater class "ice" skating.

rag quilts patches are ready to be put together

bags of bean bag stuffing waiting in the furnace room for the girls to finish their bean bags

While some girls are still sewing their bean bags, others are beginning to fill them.

or at least trying to fill them. But there is a problem when the bag gets a hole at the top and the bottom and the person holding the bean bag runs off.

Mini-Terms 2008 -- Day 2

2008-03-05T13:18:00.004-05:00

More activities of mini-terms . . .

table tennis

candy making

cake decorating

June, a former student, came in to talk to the college prep class about applying to college, first impressions of college, how college is different from high school, and anything else she could share from her experience. It was helpful that she is an LPN and the two students in the college prep class are interested in the nursing field.

The math room has turned into a bike storage area.

painting class is doing a painting of snowmen

Mini-Terms 2008 -- Day 1

2008-03-04T14:01:00.004-05:00

This morning we started mini-terms at school. I am teaching two classes of Readers' Theater and a College Prep class. Each class is 1 1/2 hours, and there are four periods in a day. The fourth period I am sitting in the office to answer the phone.

Today I took my college prep class to the local high school Career Center to get information about colleges, scholarships, etc. They came back with a handful of information and a lot more questions than they had when they went. I think it was worthwhile visiting the center and getting them started asking the questions they need to ask at some point.

The two readers' theater classes have a very improvised "stage" identified with masking tape on the floor of my classroom. Today we talked about characterization and read through several skits in each of those classes.

.

Not a part of the skit!

I have not been able to observe much of what is happening in other rooms. The other classes are breakfast foods, basketball, chess, scrapbooking, electrical, CPR, horseback riding, Creation Research, woodshop for girls, hometown cooking for guys, archery, digital photography, meteorology, quoits, rag quilt, candle making, blasting, hockey, slate painting, cake decorating, table tennis, candy making, auto body, tennis, cross cultural class,biking, chip & putt, auto mechanics for girls, urban youth, bean bag chairs, lawn golf.

Bean Bag chair class

Obstacle Course in Urban Youth class

"Leading the Blind"

The Extra Day?

2008-02-29T18:23:00.003-05:00

So what did I do with the "extra" day, February 29?

It started out a rather normal day. Jan made egg-in-a-nest for breakfast. I packed lunches. Mary tended to dog and chickens. Then, we all headed off to work.

I taught my first two classes followed by chapel, two more classes, hot lunch, and one more class. I had a former student visiting my classroom for periods 4 and 5 to observe as a part of her college training to be an English teacher. At lunch I received a friendly reminder note that I am responsible for the bulletin board in the hall for the month of March. At that point, my day changed.

Rather than studying my Sunday school lesson and reading Ben Hur this afternoon, I pulled a bulletin board out of the archives in my room and put it up. By 5 PM I was finished with that and ready to start on the tasks at hand. That's when Mary called and said she would be working another 2 hours because they had a job at the cabinet shop that was behind schedule.

So, here I am at 6:30 with my school work finished, a new bulletin board on the wall, my Sunday school lesson studied, and ready to begin reading Ben Hur. I am only about 25 chapters behind my students.

I need another extra day to catch up!

The Cat Comes Back . . . or Maybe Not!

2008-02-06T11:47:00.002-05:00

P.S. I'll add this at the beginning. On Sunday the man I bought the Suzuki from stopped in and told us Tyler sold it on ebay and there was a truck coming in from Ohio to pick it up that day. I guess we won't be seeing it around anymore. Goodbye, Suzuki!

In August we sold all the Suzukis. Mine was purchased by a local college student. Apparently he tired of it in several months. It could be rather annoying especially when it rained and the passengers received an involuntary shower. I guess I understand why he tired of it.

This week we saw "the" Suzuki parked by the road with a for sale notice in the window. It gave us a chance to get pictures of it with the hardtop (somehow we had never taken any picture with that on while I owned the vehicle).

He is trying to sell it for twice what he paid for it six months ago. I don't think it will happen very quickly. We certainly have no intentions of buying it back.

Bible Quizzing

2008-02-03T20:52:00.000-05:00

I spent Saturday at Lititz Area Mennonite School watching the MACSA Bible Quizzing. We had seven teams there quizzing all day. It started around 9:30 AM and was finally over about 5:20 PM. It was a long day of quizzing with stressful moments, funny moments, and a great time for meeting people I don't see very often. One of the funny moment was when Demetrius had no idea what the question was going to be except that it started with "what?" His answer: "What is this thou hast done?" The crowd packed into the too small classroom burst into laughter. It was the only verse in Genesis 1-11 that he could think of that started with "what."

Tyler concentrates on the passage during a quiz, comes up with the right verse,

but says the wrong question.

The "Babblers" won second place in the finals.

Holiday Activities

2008-01-04T14:16:00.000-05:00

Our holiday activities began by hosting the senior girls for a sleepover. Janelle shared some of the W.I.L.D. concepts (The Learning Cycle) with the girls in the evening. The following morning the entire school was Christmas caroling at Rockvale Square for about two hours. Then, Christmas vacation began!

One of the holiday activities was the exchanging of gifts among Mary, Jan and I. I gave Mary the license plate below for the front of her truck.

Saturday evening between Christmas and New Year we spent with several friends. I helped to finish the quilt they were working on and Mary helped to cut patches for comforter kits for CAM.

December 31 we celebrated Romaine's 60th birthday by cutting patches from Mom's old dresses. It was a good way to end the year.

By the time I got home from the day with my sisters, our New Year's Eve party had begun. We attempted to stay awake until midnight. It is getting harder every year to stay up that late. The next day we had the annual mashed potatoes, pork and sauerkraut dinner.

Now, we are back at work in the new year and thanking God for the blessings of family, friends, jobs, and a home.

THE ICE IS STILL WITH US!

2007-12-17T16:51:00.001-05:00

The ice is still with us and the road is still closed.

I took a few more pictures when we got home from work this afternoon.

ICE!

2007-12-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

We are in the middle of an ice storm. Late last night a cinder truck was on its side at the top of the hill. The road is now closed. The electric blinked several times. Mary heard a tree crashing down out back. The green trees in the first photo are usually about twice as tall. They are very bowed over by the ice. There is another picture of them at the bottom of the post. The fence around the chicken yard is covered with ice--as is EVERYTHING else. We are staying home!

Farm Sale

2007-11-24T05:40:00.000-05:00

Black Friday dawned bright and chilly. We did some work around home and then headed for the farm sale. There was a nice group of spectators and bidders. I was, of course, just a spectator.

I was at many auctions before, but I think this was the first farm sale I ever attended.

The grandchildren sold hot soup, doughnuts, and hot drinks.

Benefit Auction

2007-11-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

Last week we attended a benefit auction for Mary's 17-year-old niece. Geril has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Her youth group friends organized a benefit auction for last Saturday. The response was a bit overwhelming for the family. There were nearly 200 bidders who raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000. That will not go far in paying medical bills these days, but it is certainly a financial lift for a family of 10 children and no medical insurance.

Lauren, Sharita, and Geril

Barbecue Bash

2007-10-21T12:51:00.000-04:00

Friday afternoon the school went through a transformation from school to the annual chicken barbecue fundraiser. I haven't heard the statistics, but there was a lot of chicken and a lot of people there between 4:30 and 8:00 P.M. The funds go into the student activity fund that is used for field trips, socials, the yearbook, the school trips in the spring and many other things throughout the year. By the time I stopped in at school Saturday morning, everything was back in place and ready for school again on Monday.

The chicken was done by some of the freshmen and sophomore guys at Shady Maple with the help of an experienced supervisor. The rest of the food also came from Shady Maple. Then, it was all hauled to the school and served.

Some people picked up take-out meals and some ate at the school.

While the last people were finishing their meal and visiting, the students began the clean up process. All the table and chairs had to be returned to the proper place for school Monday morning. All the decorations had to be put away again. It was a lot of work, but it seems like the students enjoy doing it every year. There are always adequate willing helpers to make it all happen.

50-hour celebration is in progress!

2007-10-06T20:29:00.000-04:00

The 50-hour celebration for my Ed.D. graduation and 50th birthday is in progress. We have had guests from Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and, of course, Pennsylvania.

This was the first time the Showalters from Virginia visited me.

Debbie was here from Florida.

Several young ladies came at 12:40 and visited until 2 AM.

We were graced with the presence of a few "elderly" ladies (several of my students)

2007-09-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

Today was the family sale for Aunt Nora's things. At 93 years old, she was there all day and able to tell them what some things were and where they came from.

We had rain, sun, and a grand time visiting.

This wagon saw many trips up and down the hill somewhere.

Nora and her boys watch her things sell.

The cake top from James and Nora's wedding cake that was modified by Emeline and Mom.

The great grandchildren do one last read through the comic books.

I am most pleased with the purchase of an English/German primer that was published in 1846 and owned by Lizzie W. Burkholder.

Camping

2007-09-16T21:21:00.001-04:00

New Post

2007-09-08T07:10:00.000-04:00

New school year has begun.

New laptops provided by the school for all faculty.

New frustrations trying to use the new laptops.

New students (36 of them) to learn to know.

New occupant at Gray Lane coming this week.

New digital camera because the old one turned green and died suddenly.

New hobby for the dog: rounding up the chickens we have turned loose since they are not laying.

New Mode of Transportation

2007-08-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

I guess it is a step up from the Suzuki--at least I have to step up now to get in it.

PEP Boys -- Suzukis

2007-07-28T11:46:00.000-04:00

Mandy, Moe and Jack

Jack has died, and Mandy and Moe are on the way out.

We bought this Suzuki in March 2000 and drove it for a few months until the engine blew. Since then, it has been the "parts Suzuki," "the dead Suzuki," or the "junker."

In January 2001, we saw this one advertised at the district attorney's sale. It had been seized by the police. We went to the auction just to see what it brings and ended up buying it for $750. This one has run well most of the time, but we did have to replace the engine in about 2003 because it kept spewing antifreeze out after about 10 miles of driving. This was Mary's Suzuki.

We kept seeing a ragtop Suzuki parked along 625 in Bowmansville occasionally. One day on my way home from school in September 2002, it had a For Sale sign in the window. We took it for a test drive and bought it for $800. It had a standard ragtop on it when we bought it, but we did some work to it to turn it into a little pickup. We used a back door from the "dead Suzuki" to make a back wall behind the seats. I bought new canvas to cover the back and top (the original canvas leaked and needed replaced anyway). I also bought a fiberglass hard top to put on in the winter. This was my Suzuki.

July 28, 2007 we parked the last two out by the road with For Sale signs in the windshields and by that evening we had sold mine for the same price I had paid for it although I am sending the hardtop along in the deal. It has been cheap transportation. Mine did not have mechanical problems like Mary's did, but it is rusting quite a bit. The trim pieces under the door are screwed on and the screws will soon rust out. We have screwed steel plates to the floor because my foot went through the floor one morning on the way to school.

The end of the Suzuki era has come. We no longer have the time to keep them running. We are trading 15 wheels for 5. All three Suzukis are to be sold, and we have bought a Ford Ranger pickup.

Our Newly Discovered Gray Lane Resident

2007-07-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago we found a small snake, but today discovered, without question, that we have a black snake living in our wood pile.

Later this evening, Mary went outside to close the chicken house and this snake (its entire length of 4 feet) was stretched across the doorway.

We are not thrilled with its presence, but we haven't decided what to do about it either.

The Paper!

2007-06-28T16:09:00.000-04:00

The long awaited paper has finally arrived!

I went to the post office this morning to pick up a certified envelope from Pensacola Christian College.

This evening I bought a mat and frame for it (the contents--not the envelope) when we were in town.

Preen

2007-06-19T07:51:00.000-04:00

Last year Mary knew I would not have time to keep the garden and flower beds weeded. She sprinkled Preen on them to help me out a bit. I was rather skeptical but thought it was worth a try.

This year I decided I didn't want to spend my whole summer weeding. I bought more Preen and used it in almost every part of the garden and flower beds.

The photo is two weeks after I weeded the garden. I am sold on the stuff.

Goodbye Cannas -- Hello Hostas

2007-06-01T07:46:00.000-04:00

While I was congratulating myself on cleaning my kitchen like my mom taught me to, I was ignorant of the fact that my cannas had frozen once again.

Last fall we admitted defeat and hired a cleaning lady. She kept the place from becoming a total disaster, but she certainly didn't clean like we do--when we do it. That was the problem that brought about the aforementioned defeat. We didn't get the cleaning done until both of us tired of the mess we were living in. Then we would take an entire Saturday and CLEAN! With the coming of summer vacation, I started by doing a good cleaning of the entire house. I cleaned in corners that hadn't been cleaned for a long time; I moved furniture to sweep the floor (apparently that had not been done either for a long time); I scrubbed the drip pans on the stove, scrubbed the sides of the refrigerator and stove, and wiped the cabinet doors. The house was clean once again.

Then I moved outdoors to finally get the dahlia and canna bulbs planted. I found a bag of dahlia bulbs, but discovered the cannas had stayed in the ground all winter. They were a rotted mass not to be revived. How many years have I had to get new bulbs from Romaine because mine froze? I have no idea. I have now admitted another defeat. I have said goodbye to the cannas and planted hostas in their place. Every year when it is time to bring the bulbs indoors, school has started and I am busy (who said I don't have anything to do?) and it doesn't happen. Hostas can stay out all winter and will come back up the next year. That is the kind of plant I need. I console myself with the fact that because they were planted on the back side of the shed we never got to enjoy the flowers much anyway.

Success or defeat is a matter of making the right choices. I choose to be successful in growing hostas.

Track and Field

2007-05-23T21:24:00.000-04:00

This afternoon was the first part of track and field at school. I helped judge the girls' high jump and some of the running events. We will finish up with the girls' long jumps, the throwing events, and the mile run tomorrow afternoon.

GRADUATION -- May 9, 2007

2007-05-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

I have finally completed the last step of the doctoral program. I attended grad on Wednesday! Now, all I have to do is wait for the degree to come in the mail since they ordered it incorrectly and had to reorder it.

Old Rag

2007-04-25T17:47:00.000-04:00

Last weekend the senior girls hiked Old Rag Mountain in Virginia. They left the cabin about 8:30, drove to the mountain, and did not return to the cabin until about 6 PM.

They were exhausted for most of the evening, but were quite exhilarated by the hike.

April 16 -- I thought spring was here!

2007-04-16T06:33:00.000-04:00

I took these pictures just before 6 AM when we left for work this morning.

I thought spring was here, but this is evidence that we have a wait a little longer.

The snow was blown against the house on the west side. There was evidence the township had been out and plowed the snow but the closer we got to work, the less snow there was.

FONDUE is FUN to DO!

2007-04-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

Last evening we had Mary's sister, nieces, and nieces little girls here for a fondue supper. We had approximately 20 people here for the meal and seven who stayed for the night. It was a fun evening.

The meal could be started at any of the tables but I will begin with the Swiss raclette in the kitchen. We had baked potatoes, bacon, peppers, mushrooms, and ,of course, the melted cheese. I was kept busy frying bacon, peppers, and mushrooms as people wandered through the house and arrived at the kitchen at some point in the meal.

The next table was in the dining room. We had a sweet and sour sauce in one fondue pot and a barbecue sauce in another. We also had meatballs, Italian meatballs, chicken nuggets, and little smokies on the table. We didn't do much decorating in that room, but we did have classical music.

The third table was in the library. This table had a ranch cheese sauce and broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cooked potatoes. This room was rather devoid of decoration and music.

The last table on the main floor was in Mary's bedroom. We had moved her dresser into my room and moved the regular kitchen table into the corner of her bedroom. She brought the deck umbrella and lawn chairs in and set them up in there. We had fresh daffodils and instrumental music with ocean and sea gull sounds. The food in this room was a loaf of bread filled with a cream cheese/sour cream/ham/green chilies dip and a relish tray with two other kinds of dip.

One of the favorite tables of the evening was in the basement. We had an angel food cake and a fresh fruit tray. We also had cherry pie filling, cool whip, and a chocolate fountain. Mary's sister Arlene provided the chocolate fountain and chocolate. That was really a hit!

We spent the evening together and about 10PM the ladies and little girls started going home. The teens, just post teens, and preteens stayed for a sleepover. We had a late rising time this morning and a breakfast of mostly leftovers concocted into a breakfast casserole. By 1 PM the house is cleaned up and most things are back in place again. We still have a few pieces of furniture to move.

We worked on preparation most of the week as we eagerly anticipated the event. It was certainly a fun thing to do, and although we are not quite finished putting things back in place, I can imagine we will attempt it again at some point.

Fondue is a fun do!

Snow Days

2007-02-15T07:43:00.000-05:00

What do I do on snow days? Well, that depends on whether I am already at school when the call comes through that we are closed or if I am at home.

Yesterday I got up at regular time and got ready for school. We were scheduled for a two-hour delay, but all the time I was thinking: "there is no way we are having school today." Just before we left, I checked online one more time and saw the Garden Spot school district was closed. We usually do whatever they do. I quickly made the decision to stay home. I was glad because about a half hour later the call came through that we were also closed. I spent the day doing laundry, a bit of computer designing for the print shop, blowing snow in the driveway, and school work that I had brought with me the day before in anticipation of a day off.

Today we were again supposed to have a two-hour delay. I checked the local school district again just before walking out the door and it was still a two-hour delay. I decided to come along. Mary drove to Conestoga and then I came back to the school to wait for others to show up. I guess I will be waiting because about a half hour after I was here, I got the call that I will have the building to myself today. So what am I going to do? I spent the first hour catching up on my Bible reading. I have some papers to grade. There is a book I would like to finish reading. I could change a bulletin board (although the winter scene I have up now seems appropriate), I could always take a nap, and I brought healthy size bags of pretzels and grapes for breaking boredom. Somehow, I think the day will quickly pass in solitude.

Monday was scheduled for a snow make-up day. We hadn't had any snow days before yesterday, but now it is evident we will have school on Monday and the Monday after Easter.

Out in the Cold

2007-02-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning it was 16 degrees at 6:15 A.M. I was dropped off at the back door of my classroom. I had a box, a bag, my purse and my lunch on the step outside the door. I reached into my coat pocket for my trusty little key.

But, alas! My key did not open my door. I tried several times to no avail. I tried all the other outside doors to the school to no avail. I was locked out in the cold.

After about three tries at most locks, I called another teacher who called another teacher. He came and unlocked the front door for me. What a relief! What a blessing to have a colleague who will leave the warmth of his house to unlock a door.

I felt the effects of my being in the cold for 20 minutes without proper attire for such weather until about lunch time. I feel the effects of the gratefulness today.

The Passing of First Semester

2007-01-12T22:26:00.000-05:00

First Semester, born August 24, 2006, entered into rest on January 12, 2007 at Terre Hill Mennonite High School. Surviving is one sibling, Second Semester, Terre Hill.

All first semester papers, projects, and exams have been graded. Quarter and semester grades will be calculated on Saturday (We [the editorial we] hope all students have passed their English classes this semester). Second semester begins on Monday.

THMH now has one teacher who has celebrated his 60th birthday. (Mr. Isaac -- if you are wondering)

Another class of sophomores is getting legal driving privileges (some on the first attempt and some later).

We (not the editorial we) are set to complete two years of mortgage payments on this house within the next month. Has it already been two years since we moved? Has it only been two years?

Another Bible quizzing season begins with the first quiz in two weeks.

Winter has finally arrived, I think.

It is 2007 and I figured out when I was in third grade that I would be OLD by the year 2000. I guess I was right. I am old in the eyes of a third grader. In fact, I am 7 years past being old. I guess that makes me older than old.

I wonder how many mortgage payments I have made for eternity?

When the winter of my life finally comes, having passed the course of life will be more important than any student passing an English class or a driver's test or winning a trophy in quizzing.

I'm glad I've lived longer than First Semester. And if I live to be older than older than older than old, it will have been a life of blessing and fulfillment.

Star's Arrival!

2006-12-06T05:11:00.000-05:00

Star arrived at his new home yesteday. The new owners are quite delighted. We are quite thankful!

Across Country

2006-12-01T06:05:00.000-05:00

Star arrived in southern California this morning at 12:03. Now, he has to travel to northern California to his new home.

Colt Update

2006-11-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

Star left the area about midnight Monday night. As of today, he was in Kansas City, Kansas.

Still Going!

2006-11-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

Well, the saga of the colt goes on! We took the colt to UPS only to discover it was too large to ship. So, it came back home to be repacked.

We measured, and calculated, and measured and calculated again. We checked freight rates and decided that was a last resort. We considered a quick trip to California over Thanksgiving, but didn't think we would make it back to work in time. Finally, we decided we could do it UPS, but there is not even a quarter inch to spare.

After taking the colt off his base, drilling holes to sink bolts in his feet into the bottom of the box and raising the one end of the box 3/4 inch over his ears, and cutting holes for the points of his ears, we finally got a box constructed. He is totally wrapped in bubblewrap and covered with a lauan box that is screwed together.

UPS says 165 dimensional inches. We have the box 39" L x 43" H x 20" W. That is exactly a total of 165 dimensional inches. We will try again on Monday. We hope this time it actually begins its journey!

The new box is significantly smaller than the original one. We spent an evening and all day Saturday repacking. We earned anything we get out of the deal. Clair was rather generous in arranging the deal, but it certainly hasn't been easy money.

Before we sell another horse on ebay, we will be wiser in stating shipping fees. I think it will be "buyer arranges for shipping" or "local pick up only."

The Colt is Going, Going, Gone!

2006-11-19T07:27:00.000-05:00

More than a year ago Mary's brother-in-law had a colt that died several days after it was born. He had a full-body mount made of the colt. The colt made its rounds from living room, to feed mill, to basement.

Now, a year after he has it back from the taxidermist, he was ready to sell it and get it out of the way. A family with ten children needs all the room in the house without having a colt take up a few cubic feet. We listed it on ebay for him and it actually sold for more than he said he wanted out of it.

Saturday Mary took a big box and packing supplies to their house and packed the colt for shipping. The children said goodbye to the horse and then helped her pack him up. One of the little boys said, "I will never forget this horse!"

Now, the colt is packed and ready to be shipped. Monday it will begin its journey to California.

The Pursuit

2006-11-05T18:12:00.000-05:00

Oh, the interesting things one sees along the road! Last week a local farmer was selling pumpkins. They attracted a lot of attention with their sign. Was it intentional? Did a child paint the sign? Or, was it a very dutchified adult who did it ignorantly?

Sometimes I need to restrain myself from correcting people's errors. In the last week we received two invitations that said, "YOUR INVITED." Now, I would like to know what an "invited" is. The possessive pronoun implies that I own one--whatever it is. Is it something I can carry with me or is it something that I will need my trailer to haul? Is it something that will last for years or is it perishable? Just what is an "invited?" This morning at church, the superintendent was having devotions and several times in 15 minutes used grammatical errors such as yous can . . . .

I failed. OK. Maybe I didn't have an opportunity to teach the farmer who is selling pumpkins jeap. And maybe I didn't have an opportunity to teach the one person who told me I have an invited. But the other one was from a former student who should know better. She passed all of my classes and, if I remember correctly, was on the honor roll at school. This is a person I would like to correct, but that may be the end of the existence of my "invited." The superintendent is also a former student. He is another person I would like to correct. But I certainly cannot go through life correcting all of my former students' writings and speech for incorrect grammar. I failed in teaching them to correct their own grammar. So, what can I do to change that in the future? I suppose that will be my pursuit until I retire.

To Camp or Not to Camp?

2006-10-22T21:05:00.000-04:00

To camp or not to camp, that is the question.

I want to bed last night in 30 something degree weather inside a tent inside a sleeping bag with a second sleeping bag for added warmth. It was a bit breezy. I was chilly. I didn't sleep very well. Every time my nose peeked out from the pile of covers and got cold, I was awake again.

Who gets crazy ideas to camp the end of October? We were with the Motley Crew this time. It was warm when we planned the camping trip. We tried to live in denial that it was going to get cold; but when it came time for packing, we loaded a pile of covers and braved the cold. This morning it was about 32 degrees and we didn't mess around long getting a fire going again.

To camp or not to camp? Camp--but pick a slightly warmer weekend!

Admitting Defeat

2006-09-30T10:15:00.000-04:00

We recognized years ago that neither of us likes to clean. It has always been one of those chores we both dread, but we both know it has to be done occasionally. As a result, our house has suffered and we along with it. After we moved, I started cleaning the upstairs one week and the basement the other week, but that schedule, too, died along the way. At rare times, the mess gets too bad and we dig in and clean. However, it becomes an all-day affair. I won't clean if she has become distracted by something in the organizing process. That statement is true for both of us. Hence, one or the other is voluntarily being distracted while waiting for the other to get back to the business at hand.

This week we have admitted defeat and hired a cleaning lady. She is only coming once a month and cleaning the upstairs and the office area in the basement. We PLAN to clean the rest of the basement and the whole house the weeks she isn't coming, but at least we know our house will be cleaned once a month by someone who enjoys cleaning. That is improvement.

An Evening to Sit and Relax

2006-09-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

One morning this week a coteacher was leading in faculty devotions. He mentioned in his devotional that rather than do what he knows he should do in the evening, he likes to sit and relax for the evening after he get home from school.

That started my mind wondering what it is like to be able to sit and relax for an evening. I was trying to determine HOW a person sits and relaxes for an evening. I wondered, "What does a person do when he sits and relaxes?" But, then I had the startling thought that maybe he doesn't do anything. Is that possible? Maybe he reads? But when was the last time I read anything just for the pure pleasure of reading? I suppose people do that sometimes.

Maybe what I need is to hire a fulltime housekeeper to keep the house clean, have a nice hot meal on the table when I come home from work, do the laundry and return the clean things to my bedroom. If I were really fortunate, maybe she would even mow that lawn and keep the flowerbeds and garden weeded. Maybe then I would have the time to sit and relax for an evening.

I can only guess that is why my coteacher married a wife.

No Man is an Island

2006-07-29T09:29:00.000-04:00

Following Floyd's spectacular win of the Tour de France, the Landis family was mobbed by camera-lugging reporters , well-wishers, neighbors, friends, and strangers. People called, drove by and blew the horn, stopped for a visit. Reporters were at their house Sunday morning before they left for church. They followed Paul & Arlene to church where Floyd's brother Bob told the reporters, "We are here to worship. You are welcome to come inside and worship with us, but your equipment stays outside." When Paul & Arlene returned home, there were 15 reporters waiting for them at the door. Reporters swarmed the property until after 11 PM and returned Monday at 6:30 AM. Paul, Arlene, and Floyd's sister Charity tried to be gracious with the reporters, but the youngest sister, Abby, quickly tired of the publicity and tried to avoid them. They hoped in a day or two the publicity would fade and they could go on with life. However, then came the doping allegations and with them more reporters. The reporters became rude and demanding. The Landis family was eventually forced to leave their home because the reporters were not allowing them to function.

This whole experience is a better object lesson on the consequences of our choices than I could ever imagine. Regardless of whether they approved of Floyd's choices or not, the Landis family has to deal with the consequences of his choices. Whether it is fame or shame, they have to deal with the reporters. They did not choose to be on the front page of the local newspaper almost every day this week--but that is where they were. They did not choose to be interviewed on national television--but as a result of Floyd's choices, they were interviewed every day. Whether Floyd is guilty or innocent, is not the topic of discussion here. Whether we like the consequences or not does not make any difference. The choices others make have an impact on our lives. The choices we make have an impact on others lives.

As John Donne stated in Meditation XVII, "no man is an island."

Thoughts on the Tour de France

2006-07-21T23:13:00.000-04:00

I was trying to decide if I should write this before the end of the race or wait until I know who is wearing the yellow jersey in Paris. I opted for before.

Floyd Landis has made his bid on the yellow jersey. He went to France to win the race, and he has put forth his best effort. Whether he wins the Tour de France or not, is not the most important thing.

What has Floyd gained by becoming the American favorite to win the Tour? He certainly has more money than I will ever have. He has more fame than I will ever have. He's been on more magazine covers than I would ever want. He has seen more of Europe than I will probably ever see. He is certainly more physically fit than I am. He has an outstanding determination. He doesn't let pain get in the way of meeting his goals. I respect Floyd for his determination and perserverance.

But what has Floyd traded for all of this? He doesn't see many of his longtime friends or family very often--maybe once or twice a year. His hobby has become a job. After retirement from cycling, what skills does he have to take up another occupation? Most importantly, his relationship with God is something he doesn't discuss. He avoids the issue. He laughs and changes the subject. The Tour de France is going well for him at this point and he may win, but will he win the race that is much more important than the Tour de France?

There is a group of people not unlike the riders in the Tour. They have determination to reach the lost of the world in city, village, or country. They perservere through years with very little evidence of the work they are doing, but they are planting seeds. They give their lives to meet a goal. Few know who they are. They may not know each other. They own very little. They will be forgotten in the eyes of the world, but the contribution they make in reaching the lost will have rewards that will last much longer than a yellow jersey.

Dissertation Milestone

2006-07-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

One thousand sheets of paper and an ink cartridge later, the dissertation is in the mail again. The last two weeks have been kind of crazy as I focused on rewriting chapters 4 & 5 in just over a week. An e-mail arrived from my chairman on July 10 with his comments so I could get started. The rest of the packet arrived on July 12. I entered a time of seclusion with my nose to the computer and very few breaks for anything else. Over the weekend I enjoyed taking two days off and then Monday morning I was back at the computer by 6 A.M. Yesterday I began the long process of printing out 4 copies of the complete manuscript. I had two reams of paper and a brand new ink cartridge. This morning as I was printing out the last 100 sheets or so, I ran out of ink first and had to run to Office Max for another one. Then, I was a few sheets short on the paper. Thankfully, there is paper in a print shop, and I could finish it and get it packaged for mailing. The trip to the post office was not an inexpensive one since I mailed it express mail. The very apologetic postal service worker socked me $41.30 with a promise that it will arrive in Florida by tomorrow noon.

Sometimes I wonder why I ever started this ordeal, but I am sure I will be glad to have accomplished it when the misery fades into the background.

Odd Lots & Motley Crews

2006-06-04T21:29:00.000-04:00

Friends can be such complex creatures. We are friends with two groups of single ladies: the Odd Lot and the Motley Crew. The Odd Lot is an odd accumulation of friends that someone has asked, "What do you have in common?" Certainly our differences may be greater than our similarities. The Motley Crew is also a group of friends with many differences.

Who would ever name a group of friends either the Odd Lot or the Motley Crew? Does the name indicate a low self-image? Possibly. I think that when I hear one of the ladies say she used to beg God to just make her normal. But what is normal? Does the name indicate a feeling of not being accepted? Possibly. I think that when they ask if we really want to hang out with the Motley Crew.

Are these friends lacking in value? Certainly not! Are they unaccepted? Again, certainly not! Each of their lives and personalities have value. I hope I can encourage each of them to be all God created them to be. They are, indeed, unique--just like everybody else.

One week post school year

2006-06-01T12:49:00.000-04:00

So what does a teacher do over the summer?

Beginning last Thursday I set to writing the last chapter of my dissertation. Problem #1 -- How do you finish something like that? I wanted to write FINIS at the end, but I didn't think my committee would allow something like that. Tuesday afternoon I was ready to print the thing out once again. Problem #2 arose -- the printer kept printing garbage in the middle of a page and sending the rest of the page onto another page. Finally I went to school and used the printer there to print out 820 pages (four copies of 205 pages). The next stop was the post office. Do you know how much it costs to send 8lbs and 14 oz. of paper express mail? Too much! And I still have a bill from the school for using the printer there.

Yesterday I was back at school beginning the process of getting ready for another year. I have extra to do because I am getting all new textbooks next year. Today I am supposed to be housecleaning my bedroom. Actually it was on my agenda for January and I am only now getting it done.

So what does a teacher do in the summer? All the things there was no time for during school.