Ongoing Christmas

This has been a wonderful Christmas! We started last weekend in Corinth with my family. And I can't remember what order the photos are in but one is a whole group photo and one is me laying on the floor in order to steal a hug and kiss from Tracy and that is NOT an easy thing to do! There is also a photo of Wyot, Bil and Andrea's youngest with his $20 in pennies that his Aunt Diana gave him...at least she rolled them for him. She was nicer than me...if I'd thought about giving his money to him in pennnies, I think I would have just given him them in a jar. There's one ofour famiy with John, Laura, me, Tim, and Joe and one with Tim with Bows on his head. We have fun being together even if it was just for the day. I went back to Corinth last weekend while Tim and Joe were skiing and Diana and I took Mama and Mutt out to dinner and then we went to a movie. Diana got up early Sunday moring and went to Indianola to spent some time with Tamara Lynn and Brian and Billy. I went to church with Mama and Mutt and Robin and Cheryl and ate lunch with them. And got home in time to wait around at the airport for about two hours for Tim and Joe to get in, but at least they got in!

Now Tim and I are in Huntsville. Laura and John have been in Austin with his family and will be headed home today. Denise and Wayne were here yesterday as well as Jonathan and Sandy but they left last night as did Scott, Cathy's husband. Cathy and Noah are still here with us waiting on Carol and Charley and James and Laurel to arrive sometimes this evening. We played dirty Santa yesterday and Noah even payed with us. He got a re bandana that Tim had put a $20 bill in and he sat on it so no one else could see it. It was really funny...he kept telling everyone that they didn't want to take it because it was stinky...he'd aleady done something bad on it! But alas, his Uncle Wayne still took it from him and he ended up with a really neat Star Wars ship transformer thing that he was just as happy about. We get to play dirty Santa again tonight with Carol's family. Tim and I are learning to be quite dirty at playing this game since we do it about 4 or 5 times each Chritmas season.

Fun Skiing

I talked to Tim and Joe tonight. They made it in just before the blizzard got really bad though they say they could see the snow coming down hard past the lights on the plane. Several plane loads of people got stuck in Hayden, CO where Tim and Joe flew into (I think). They are having a great time and so am I! Looks like a win -win situation to me!

Just talked to Laura and John on the phone. They're about 30 minutes away from John's mom so we'll assume that they'll make the last few miles safely. Laura said that John had several other interviews-6 total now- one in Canada that is a reserch institutuion which is really what he wants to do! He was one of 3 they picked out of 135 applicants. He has been acceptd to present papers at meetings in Orlando this spring and in London this summer. We're pretty proud of him.

Merry Christmas!

Good Weekend...even better week?

I just dropped Joe and Tim off at the airport to go skiing in Colorado until Sunday...now what will I do with these few days alone? How I wish I could just lay back and watch TV and read good novels, but I must study for my MFT Boards and get my teaching materials ready for Ghana and see a few clients in between but at least I don't have to worry about taking care of anybody but me! Pray that I'll get a lot done while they are gone and that they will be safe. On Friday they have a day planned to go on the back side of the mountain on a snowcat in the "real" snow...

Last weekend was really fun with our family. Poor Mama was confused most of the day and couldn't remember who everybody was - especially the grandchildren that she doesn't see very often, but she did sit around with a big smile on her face all day knowing that her family was all there around her. We had wonderful food and wonderful fellowship. Tamara Lynn kept telling John stuff that he did not need to hear about how to get to me if I made him mad! I'm not sure that was a good thing...but we enjoyed having John and Laura with us for the little while that they were here. Tracy got on a singing Christmas Carol kick that was really fun. And Dirty Santa was fun as always. The younger neices and nephews all loved their Hard Rock Rome stuff and thought it was really neat.

OK, I'm off to do whatever I want to do...haven't decided yet what that is...what a wonderful feeling!

Great News!

We found cheap airline tickets at the last minute so John and Laura will be flying to Memphis this weekend after all to go to Corinth with us...much cheaper than Tim could fly up in his plane to get them anyway and they might even get here in time for Carrie's wedding! HOOOOOORAAAAAY!

P.S. John got a job interview in Maryland. Can't remember the college name, but he's excited.
and Tim has been laughing at me since my last post because I spelled Check Republic wrong...I still don't know how to spell Check Republic correctly, but you know what I mean anyway...

Sad But Understanding

I talked to Laura yesterday. She and John have decided that they are not coming to Corinth next weekend for Christmas with my famiy. That makes me very sad; however, I do understand why. Laura does and always has hated to fly in the little plane and the fact that Tim was going to have to go get them on Saturday morning and then take them back on Sunday was a little more that she is willing to face. A 9 hour drive one way is a bit much also so I guess we'll just have to wait to see them at the real Christmas holiday but it will be sad without them next weekend. John has sent out resumes to about 30 different places so maybe they'll end up someplace closer to here or in Europe...who knows? He's a bit discouraged teaching undergraduate students who are required to take his classes to graduate - not because it is what they choose to take and they don't take a whole of of interest in them other than gettng enough out of them to pass. He's been teaching graduate classes until now where the students were there because they wanted to be and it makes a big difference in their interest level.

Carrie Beth Frederick is getting married on Friday night so I don't know if we'll fly down to Corinth after the wedding or if we'll just get up and go Saturday morning. Tim wants to be back here for Sunday morning service and I want to go in Cointh with my family, so I may drive and he might fly. He's in the middle of doing a painting a little at a time (you can see the final result at artist-tim.blogspot.com (it's in several posts back) each week to do something diferent while we are looking for a new preacher to keep things interesting. But we planned our family Christmas for that weekend last year at Christmas so we wouldn't interfer with any other in-law's Chritmas plans and I intend to be there for as much of the festivities as I can, but of course, I can't miss Carrie's wedding - she's one of my children (I just don't have to pay for the wedding, thank heavens!)

When I got home from Italy, Tim had gotten me a new computer. Mine had been in the Apple store for 21 days and they called and said they couldn't get the part they needed so they would sell him one for what the repair bill was going to be. He took them up on the offer. Then soon after I got home, he started talking about giving his mothr his old computer and teaching her how to do e-mail on it and getting himself a new one like mine. Before long, he'd gone to the Apple store and done just that. Now I just hope she really will use it! I told him that he had used the principle of gettng forgiveness rather than asking permission on purchasing a lot of things including cars, the second aiplane he bought, and now this computer. He's been looking at new airplanes, but I told him that principle WOULD NOT work on another airplane and if he decided that he was going to do that he had better be reday to pay a high, high, high, high price. I've been telling Leslie (whose daughter is going to be a missionary in Togo) and Judy Shockley (whose daughter is a missionary in the Check Republic) to get their passports ready becuase if Tim shows up with a new airplaine, we're going to Togo and Check Republic and anywhere we want to go in between on his credit card! I think that might hold him in check for a while anyway.

Pray for me while I try to study for my Marriage and Family therapy boards and get my teaching materials ready for Ghana at the same time and see clients. I can ususlly multitask pretty well, but I'm not being very succesful at it here during the holidays! Too many places to go, people to see, and fun to be had!

Reagan and Gene are off!

I took Reagan and Gene to the airport last night. I was so excited to get to do that! I told Gene that we were old enough that we had earned the right to hail a taxi whenever we wanted to...just to be sure it was a real taxi and not one of those scammers who meet you inside the train station or airport and charge you double. He grinned his little Gene grin and agreed. Reagan was going to try to upgrade her ticket to sit with him in business class. I hope she was able to do that. It won't be long now until they are all back together as a family. HOORAY! Have a wonderful Christmas Holiday, Weavers, in Italy!

I've got to get my personal Christmas Card list finished today or they won't get mailed. Hope I can get that done!

I'm going to get my roots done in a little bit and I don't have a client until 5:00 this afternoon, so I should be able to have time IF I don't use all day playing on the computer (the Christmas card list)...

Tonight we have the elders and staff Christmas dinner to go to at church and then tomorrow night we have our annual group dinner that we'ver been doing since before we had children so that's been at least 27 or 28 years.

Happy Holidyas to all!

More Italy photos

The look on Vivian's face very time the train went through a tunnel.
Sunflower table clothes for Diana.

The oldest area in Italy (I think).

One little tidbit

This is the size diamond that I am gong to replace mine with if I ever loose it again (hehehe). Actually it was a doorknob on a shop in Capri.
The nail polish I wore in Italy was called "Marvoleous Memories" and we certainly did make a bunch of them!

one more thing about Italy

Being in Italy this time with Beckie was like being in England with Katie (Reagan's friend) in England in 1996(? - could it have been that long ago?)...Katie made us walk up and down every set up steps in London as many times as she possibly could...well, this time in Italy, Beckie found a way to make up walk UP HILL BOTH WAYS any time it was possible and I had the best time giving her a hard time about that! But since she let me reward myself with gelato and cappacino every day, I couldn't complain too much and she let me sit down to eat almost all of my meals instead of eating on the run. That was wonderful and relaxing!

Italy among other things

After a long flight to Amsterdam (on which I took a sleeping pill and slept all the way and I made Vivian take one, too, so she would not go crazy on the plane), Vivian and I had almost a whole day to wander around there. Trouble is, we didn't stop and get a map so we ended up spending a great deal of our day in the red light district. That as quite interesting. I dared Vivian to take photos of the ladies in the windows, but she wouldn't do it. When we got to Rome, we took a taxi to our hotel. Don't ever get in one of those cars where the guy comes up and tells you he is a taxi. He quoted us 20 euro to take us to the hotel and when we go in the real taxi line, it only took about 7 euro to get there. Beckie wasn't there yet and we were a bit worried, but she did finnally show up - she'd taken the wrong train! We spend two busy days there seeing all the things Vivian had missed on her one whirlwind day trip there in the summer of 2000. We managed to make it through will all our wits and wallets. On one city bus the man standing right behind us had his wallet stolen out of his camera case while we were all there. I think that he just put it in the camera case and the thief saw him do it. On Thanksgiving day, we ate dinner at the Hard Rock with a girl from Houston that Viv had talked to in the Amsterdam airport while we were waiting for our plane. She was traveling by herself and we just happened to run into her there. That was kind of neat.

Beckie did discover that she had been the victim of a theft while she was in Rome but it did not happen in Rome. Starting about four days before, she could not get my ATM/VISA card to work in any of the machines. They kept saying that her bank wanted them to confiscate my card but it gave the card back anyway. She called Reagan and asked her to run by the bank (since she used to work there) and see what was wrong...it seems that she was victim to the card fraud that has been going around Searcy. She am not sure how they got her information since she hadn't used that card in Searcy since September but someone was using it in MEXICO. They used it at a Burger King, Walmart and an ATM. The bank shut it down before it could be used anymore. The bank also has replaced all the money they stole.

Now, back to the trip. After Rome we took an overnight train to Taormina in Sicily and spend the day in that beautiful town. We went back to Messina and had to spend the night there because all the trains back north were full. That is a town were EVERBODY goes down to the main piazza on Saturday night and walks around or drives around. I have never seen anything like it! People, young and old, were everywhere walking around - kind f like at the fair! Next morning we took a ferry to Reggio di Calibria and strolled around there until time for our train to Naples. At the train station in Reggio di Calibria Vivian and Beckie were waiting for me to finish some necessary business when all these police started pouring into the station. They first thought it had to do with the fire was billowing smoke out of an office building but then a police officer came up and asked them why were out by the train tracks. When they showed him their tickets he said in a very serious voice that it was "dangerous" for them to stand there and he moved them back into a little hallway. They told him that their friend was still in a room down the outside of the building but he didn't quite understand. In about a minute a group of either soccer players or fans came trouping through the train station and the police made them walk between two lines of poilice officers until they got on the train. Right then, I came walking out of the restroom and walked right behind the police line and never knew anything was out of the ordinary. I wondered what was going on, but I just walked through them all like I knew what I was doing until i got to the hallway were Viv and Beck were and they jerked me in there with them and told me what was going on.

We spent the night in Naples and first thing the next morning went to Sorrento. I love Sorrento. It is a beautiful little town known for it's inlaid wood products. We found a great hotel near the station and roamed all through the town. The next day we took the ferry over to Capri. The views were wonderful but many of the shops have closed for the season. We decided not to take the bus or a taxi up to Anacapri because Vivian is so prone to motion sickness. I was afraid that she would be up there and not able to get down!

After two nights in Sorrento we headed back to Rome for Viv and me to catch an early morning flight home. Beckie went back to Firenze to get ready for the next round of company. It was a wonderul trip and if I can figure out how to put some photos on here, I will!

Last night, Tim didn't pan anything for my first ngiht home, thank the Lord, but Firday night, we went to see Grease at Arlington High School. It was great. Ed Riddick, the chorus director, played Teen Angel and he was awesome! I saw Bill and Jessica Ganue there and it was fun talking to them, too.

Tonight, the praise team Christmas party is here. You know how Tim was supposed to have the Christmas tree up...well he did have it up but not one ornament on it so I've gotta go get that done!

This has been a nice weekend. Wil, my nephew, who is a sophmore at Harding this semester came to spend the first weeekend of his Thanksgiving break with us and we've enjoyed haivng him here. He has a bad cough and cold, so we've not done much but sit around and talk and play on computers and rest. We did go to see the new 007 movie today, Casino Royale, which Tim says is the prequel to the rest of the James Bond movies. It was typical James Bond. I've kind of got a little sore throat myself and it has got to go away BEFORE Tuesday night! I need to feel great to go to Italy! We're going to first service in the morning. Tim's going to sing and then we'll eat and Wil can be on his way home. His car is having trouble, so he's going to take the Cadalliac with him. Now we are really glad that we haven't sold it yet.

I saw the cutest little boy this week as a new client. I am really looking forward to working with him. Makes me know why I wanted to go back to schoool and get this degree and why I am studying to pass those MFT Boards! I really love working with my clients - now if I could just get my timing right so that I could hold my sessions to 50 minutes to an hour...I really have a hard time stopping on time if we are having good conversation!

Well, it's about time for bed, so I'll sign off. Hope all the rest of you had a nice, relaxing weekend, too!

My birthday passed and I'm still here

Well, folks, my birthday passed rather uneventfully. I appreciate all the birthday greetings from everyone on my blog and on facebook and the cards and calls, too. 55 doesn't feel a bit different from 54, but it was kind of funny yesterday when one little girl came into the office and said, "MS Tammie, you look the same every time I come in here." She was speaking of the "travelers" clothes that I always wear that are so comfortable and so wrinkle free. My last client of the day, a middle aged man, said ,"Something looks differnt about you today." After a while, he said, "Oh, I know...you look a year older..." How he could have remember my birthday I have no idea...he's got a better memory than me! The first time I saw him several months ago and he told me his birthday. I told him that mine was not far from his and mentioned the date and he remembered!

My computer has been in the shop for over two weeks and I am having bad withdrawal. I have to use one of the office computers when no one is on it or Tim's (which I hate to use!). I am so ready to get mine back!

Vivian and I leave in 6 days for Rome to see Beckie. I'm ready! Gelato every day! HOORAY!!!

I spent last Saturday in Corinth with Mama and Papa Mutt and Diana and Robin and his family. It was fun to be with them for a while. I even got to show Judith how to set up her facebook account...now that was a real turn about for ME to be able to show a teenager something about a computer!

I saw Jennifer Parker, Ronnie's wife, in the Tim's office yesterday. We had a good little visit. I did not realize that Ronnie had had surgery on his throat to remove a tumor or growth or something; however, except for not beng able to talk for a few weeks, he is ok. I am grateful for that. She says it wold be ok if he couldn't talk for a little longer...He doesn't ever tell her any of the news I tell him when I see him anyway. I think I need to have him in for a little communication counseling (HA! HA! HA!).

Pray for Tim while I'm gone. He has to put up the Christmas tree by himself. I'm not sure he's ever done that before in our 32 years of marriage. We're having the praise team over for thier Christmas Party two days after I get back from Italy. Could be really interesting!

Almost my birthday

It is 10 days until my birthday and as I think about approaching my 55th year, I remember my many friends and family and fond memeories that have made these years so wonderful. I think of all the times in college that I got thrown into the lilly pool, which will soon become the Kenneth Davis Jr. Memorial Pool, on my birthday and ice formed on my pants before I could get back to the dorm. I think of all the times we had fun playing football at turtle field. I think of eating in Pattie Cobb and the Heritage (and those kids think they have it bad now-what a joke!) I think of fun trips to Cooter(and riding the ferry) and Steele and Pensacola and Tallahassee and Corsicanna and even Indianola and Dallas to the Cotton Bowl. I think of the wonderful group who came to be in my wedding and sing at my wedding whom people in Indianola talked about for years afterwards because it was the first time some of them had ever heard beautiful accapella music. I think about Tim's being in dental school and the Gillespies and Allens and Tuckers who took turns having us over to eat or taking us out so we wouldn't starve and teaching Jeff Montgomery when he was a little kid and now he's got 5 of his own and Alan who has only 2 (I think) and Kelly who has 4! I think about the birth of my children and all the wonderful friends here in Memphis at Sycamore View who loved us and took care of us. I think of the trying times with our children as well as the triumphs and how so many were and still are here to support and pray and cheer us on. I thank God for you all everyday! Some of these friends and family members are there through thick and thin...Some are younger...some are older...some pick you up...some put you down...some were Joe Cool in college and now they are Mr. Annoynomus who can only say "Wish you well." Just wait till I see you again Mr. Joe Cool...See if I stand up for you in front of all those ladies at the office and tell them how all the girls chased you in college and panted after your every move except the four of us who were smart enough to be your best friends - the sweet suite! Of course, you know I will because in spite of your little game, I love you anyway and always will!

Big Revelation

We just returned from Chicago to learn that Jesus is coming soon! That's right...you read it here first...Jesus is coming soon! Curt Sparks told me that his contract with Sycamore View was "until Jesus comes" and today while Tim and I were in Chicago, i hear that he announced that he and Nedra (yes, he's taking her with him and she just started a new job at HUGSR!) will be moving to Kansas City in January, so I guess that means you'd better get ready because if Curt was telling the truth about his contract, then Jesus will be coming in January! I have not yet had the opportunity to speak to Curt personally, but I will...I might have to twist his arm and make him promise to send me a hand craved Santa very year from now until "Jesus comes"; I'm not sure that I can trust him on that particular statement anymore. We'll have to work something out...At least when we go to visit John and Laura in Kansas City, we'll have a church we know we want to go visit!

Now back to our Chicago trip. We really enjoyed it. I got lots of studying done. Tim got lots of networking done. It was decided that the 2008 Southern District ADID Meeting will be in Atlanta. That was not my first choice, but they didin't ask me. Tim will be the president then so I will have to get out of my room and be nice to the other wives.

We went to see two Broadway shows. On Friday night, we saw "Piriate Queen" and on Saturday night, we saw "Altar Boyz."
The music in both was fantastic. The story in Piriate Queen was happy and sad and then it had a happy ending so, of course, I loved that. the "Altar Boyz" had great voices and the whole thing was sadly about the insecerity and way we "go through the motions" of church too often without really worshipping as we really should be. We wanted to see "Wicked" but it was sold out. We also enjoyed having Showtime in our room so we could just watch movies...you know how we love movies and some good ones just happened to be on when we were in the room. That was a serendipity.

We got home tonight and are enjoying sitting around doing a little of nothing...We ended up not getting to go to Harding homeconing and we really hated that! Tim had a meeting that he really needed to go to on Saturday at noon and the weather was not supposed to be good Saturday afternoon to fly so we just decided to stay. We really enjoyed out extra time togethrer, but we really missed seeing all our friends! We were especially sad today to read that Dr. Joe Pryor had died. He was a great man who had such a godly influence on the lives of so many people! May God comfort his family.

Sitting in Chicago

Well, here I sit in the Sheraton in Chicago...a very nice hotel and outside it is cold and rainy and yucky...I have gotten a lot of studying done at least yesterday morning and then in the afternoon Tim came and got me and we walked on a wild goose chase to find this wonderful area full of art galleries. The sun was shining and it was beautiful, but it was cold, so after walking about two hours and not finding any art galleries open (they were all open by appointment only) we headed for Starbucks to get warm and use the computer. We went to the third Starbucks before we found one that had internet access! (I thought they all had it!) Today, Tim had a luncheon to go to and considering the weather, I have stayed in my nightie in the hotel room studying all day, ordering room service for lunch and now finally giving in and paying for a day of internet service to the hotel. Neither of us was very smart when we left home. Obviously, we were both just ready to get away because neither of us brought warm clothes. Tim does have his fishing jacket and I do have some "Traveler's" from Chicos that I can layer but nothing to keep the rain out. I WILL plan better when I go to Italy!

Food for thought

I have been having this interesting discussion with John and Laura on their blog (hackerwright.blogspot.com). This morning in my quiet time I ran across this thought and I decided I needed to share it with everyone instead of just them. Makes you think...

"To believe in something not yet proved and to underwrite it with our lives; it is the only way we can leave the future open." Lillian Smith

There once was a woman who experienced a dream about jumping off a cliff. As she jumped with fear, she was suddenly aware of a wonderful floating feeling. She opened her eyes and found that her skirt had become her parachute. She was safely floating comfortably.

"leaving the future open" may be one of the most important commitments we make with our lives. Believing in something not yet proved may just be believing in ourselves.

We never know what will make good parachutes. When one is leaving the future open, it helps to know that there are parachutes not of our making in our lives.

For Christians, I believe that the parachute is our Lord Jesus Christ and the Scripture that was inspired by the Hand of God and the future that awaits us is a home in heaven in His Glorious Presence. However, this is something that I must choose to believe. For some scholars, they can work it out, or at least part of it with with history and archeology, and such, but for me...it's mostly just faith. I choose to believe. That way, I have the best possible life here on this earth with wonderful Christian friends who love and support me like a family...I can call on any one of them to help me when I am in need or when I am celebrating and when I die, heaven is waiting for me. If I'm wrong about all of this BUT I REALLY DON'T THINK I AM WRONG, and there is no life after this one, then I've had a great life on this earth anyway!

Thank you, God, for all of my Christian friends (you know who you are...I couldn't begin to name you all!) and for giving me your Holy Word as a road map of how to have the best possible life here on this earth and to tell me how to get to heaven!

The Revel

We had a great time at The Revel with Carol and Charley and James and Laurel. There were beautiful crafts and jewelry and artwork of every kind. Tim really had fun talking to all the artists and gathering their cards so he could send them invitations to the next National Art Exhibition sponsored by the Memphis Germantown Art League and looking for judges for their shows.

Carol and Charley have a beautiful new house for which Carol was the contractor. I don't know how she did it. It would have made me absolutely crazy but she loved it and the house turned out great. Charley says if she ever wants to build another house she can do it with her new husband. We really enjoyed being with Laurel and James, too. Tim and Laurel spent quiet a bit of time painting together and James is really into music now. On Sunday we ate lunch with Charley's mom and dad. It was really good to see them again. I downloaded photos from Tim's camera directly onto facebook and I don't know how to get them onto this blog from there.

It was a great weekend.

Finally Vivian Photos

These are various photos of Vivian with her hair in crazy ways before the hair cut and photos of her and her principal and two other teachers who all shaved their heads as a result of the challenge to raise money for Caleb. She also sent me a newspaper article. It says that Caleb said from his hospital room, "At least they won't have a bad hair day now." I'm proud to call Vivian my friend! Her students; however, are not very happy with her because her hair grows so fast, they already can't see her scalp anymore!

Addendem to Zoe

We flew in Friday night and spent the night with Cathy and Scott and Noah. We had a great visit with them and enjoyed it so much. Thanks, Cathy, for providing us with transportation and a bed and breakfast and such a good visit!

Zoe Confernece

We had a great time at the Zoe Conference. We was a great time of worship and praise. I attended the break out sessions by Rhonda Lowry, wife of the Lipscomb president, and it was a great lesson on grace. She used the prodigal son as the basis for her lesson. She also sent us out to meditate for 30 minutes...I find that very hard to do...to be still and quiet and not let my mind think but try to listen for the voice of God (not speaking out loud to me, but in my heart). Thirty minutes is a long time for me to be still and quiet without going to sleep! But I made it. Randy Gill spoke on Saturday night. He did a great job, too. We got to see so many friends that we haven't seen in a long time. I am going to try to post some of the photos here, but Tim is not here to help me so I don't know that I can do it by myself. I did get them off the camera and onto my desk top but I'm not sure how to get them onto this blog spot.

Well, I've spent about twenty minutes trying to get the photos on here with no success, so I'll wait til tonight and get Tim to help me, but we saw Janet Johns Bowers, Lwana Case Gill, Ken and Crystal Delano, Shannon Cooper and his cute little wife, Alita Gable and Travis and his cute little wife, Andee and Jimmy Cone, as well as several who were there from Sycamore View and two or three who came up and said they knew us from Harding days but, of course, we didn't have you, Beckie to be our brain for us and neither Tim nor I could remember who they were. I think I'm not going to do so well at homecoming this year without you, Rebecca Jane...

Laura left yesterday to go on a camping trip with her school with her new job. She is working with a Kansas City Environmental School that has a camping trip once in the fall and once in the spring. She is responsible for the fundraising in the whole school and planning all the field trips and when she's not doing that, she will be assisting the science teacher. I think she will enjoy it. I also think it is ironic because it is just the kind of thing I would have done at her age and I did do for her and Joe all through their school years when she used to tell me that she was never going to be like me but as she reminded me yesterday-she is getting paid to do it and I never got a pay check, but I did get paid with lots of hugs and thank yous from the teachers and the children.

Have a good day!

They raised $15,000+

Vivan called this afternoon. She was so excited! They raised over $15,000 so Dr. Foster, Vivian, and two of the fifth grade teachers all got haircuts today in front of the whole school. She said the children were so excited that they were all going wild and some were even crying they were so happy! All the Mobile TV stations and newspapers were there to cover the story. Vivian is supposed to send me a disc with the photos on it so I can post them on my blog. Hope they will come soon!

It's official!

Tomorrow, Vivian will have no hair! Today the kids brought in $11,300+ as of early this morning.....she thinks they may even come up with $15000 so that Caleb's classroom teacher will have to shave her head, too! This is great for St. Jude! I'm not sure of the word for Vivian...

They're up to $8850!

This is Wednesday and they are up to $8850. Vivian will be hairless by Friday, but she's having fun with it this week. Tomorrow she's going to wear her hair gelled standing straight up all over her head and Friday she says its going to be pink and green. At least she's having fun with it and she says she's got lots of hats to wear after Friday is over!

It's gonna be close!

I called Vivian's school this morning. They have a little over $7300 today (Tuesday) with 3 days left to go. The secretary said that Vivian has her hair in little pony tails all over her head today so her scalp can start getting some sun...

Vivian Update

Vivian called today. They have $6300+ in hand and the news media was at school today to interview her. She told them what was going on and that the kids kept saying, "You're going down, Miss Walker!" Several of you have asked on my comments how to contribute to this cause...Fed Ex your contribution to Hutchins Elementary, 10005 West LaKe Road, Mobile, AL 36695. The money has to be in by this Friday, October 6. I can't wait until I hear what is going on when Friday comes!!!

Call from Vivian

Can you imagine Vivian with no hair? Well, get ready because we might be seeing a bald headed Vivian by next week! A child from her school is St. Jude. Her principal agreed to shave his head if the PTA raised $2000 for St. Jude and then they asked Vivian how much they would have to raise for her to shave her head...She told them at least $10,000.
Well, the first week is over and they've got $5,000 in hand and one more week to go so we might have a bald headed Vivian on our hands by next week! Go Kids for St Jude! This could really be fun! and keep 4th grader Caleb Mosley in your prayers!

Tim and I just returned from a short weekend visit with John and Laura. We really enjoyed getting to see a little bit of Kansas City but we mostly enjoyed getting to visit with our kids. We flew up on Saturday morning and got there about 11:00. They live in this really neat loft apartment just like you see on TV (but I've never been in one in real life). They live on the 4th floor and have a beautiful view of the river and the Downtown Kansas City Airport. We, however, did not go into that airport because gas was $1.50 cheaper a gallon at a little airport about 20 minutes away and there was no tie down fee for over night and when you are buying 50 gallons of gas, that makes a significant difference in the amount of money that you spend. We filled up their car for them today for the extra miles they had to drive to get up and take us back to the airport, but that was nothing compared to the amount we saved in aviation fuel! Yesterday, John stayed at home and graded papers (I tried to talk him into giving multiple choice test so we could all help him grade them, but he said that wouldn't work...they had to be essay - he's a conscientious teacher) while we went to the open air market and ate and Laura bought fresh vegetables. It was very European. She even carried her own cloth bag to carry her stuff home in and then we went to the Kansas City Museum of Art. They had some really neat sculptures and there was like family fair going on on the grounds where kids could do arts and crafts.

Then Laura took us to our hotel and we rested for a while and then they took us out to eat at a wonderful restaurant in an old railroad station. The food was wonderful and , I'm sorry, Beckie, but I broke the rule. I ordered a chicken pot pie and when they brought it, it was the size of a dinner plate and I just could not help it when the words came out of my mouth, "This is just too much food!" However, I did refrain from eating all of it...in fact, I only ate about a third of it even though it was delicious because the waitress has already told us that they had a wonderful cream bruele and I wanted some. It was worth leaving part of the chicken pot pie to have room for! Nice and crusty on top and slivered almonds all around it...soooo good! We had a really good conversation with Laura and John.

This morning they took us to the little diner for breakfast and the owner finally asked us to leave so someone else could have our table. There was a long line and we were enjoying our visit a great deal! She did tell us we could take out coffee cups outside and keep visiting but she needed our table to serve others. We really enjoyed being with Laura and John. Poor John is having to work really hard to prepare for his classes. He went to William Jewell and interviewed for a position in the philosophy department but they also had an opening in the religion department and the religion people liked him better so they hired him for that department so now he is really having to study the bible in order to teach his classes. i keep telling him that he just might study his way into becoming a Christian but he keeps telling me that he doubts that is going to happen. I'll just keep praying about it. He is so smart. He and Laura and a very good fit intellectually! Now if they would just fall in love with God! They know that is my deepest desire and wish for them, but I love them anyway!

Hey, and I made it through this whole trip without saying anything stupid or doing anything really dumb! I must be growing up a little!

Happy Thursday!

It's just a happy Thursday because it is 12:30 and all my clients are done for the day and Tim and I will get to go to a movie this afternoon and it will be like old times! That is if we can find one we both agree on...I'm ready for a chick flick...

Leanne Braddock and I had a nice drive to Searcy and back on Tuesday. I spoke on A Clear Conscience - Dealing with issues of Anger and she spoke on How to be a Good Mother-In-Law. We were surprised at how many people were there and did not have nearly enough handouts prepared. But it was good to see so many friends. Sweet Macky Murray came to smile at me since Beckie wasn't in town to do that for me like she usually does. Alice Ann lead the singing and she did a great job. I also got to see Tony Garcia's mom and little sister. He has another audition with the Navy band in October. Mrs. O was there, too and several other of my AWH friends. Dana Evans ate lunch with us. She is getting ready to move to Kuwait and work as a civilian with Bob! I can't imagine going there! It was fun. Liz Howell gave me my plaque for reaching the Deanna Smith Memorial Membership Level in AWH. That was exciting! I am go glad to be there! Half way to the Louise Ganus! I might make it before I die!

We also got to see Wil and we made a stop at the Reynolds Building to see Dr. James, who we almost missed, because he was busy running around the building and would not answer his cell phone. We did get to see Dan Tullos, but not Jack Shock...he is never in his office when I am around; however, Dan decoded the messages from Jack to Beckie on her blog for me. Thanks, Beth for the offer of a bed, I knew I could call you if I needed one, but Leanne and I had decided to just drive over and back the same day. We both had clients on Monday and Wednesday. I'm looking forward to being with you at homecoming though!

Tim and I are going to Kansas City to see Laura and John this weekend. I will so glad to see them!

Different day

I had planned to attend the AWH National Council Meeting today in Searcy, but you know, sometimes, life just happens, and things don't work the way we think they should...i came home with a bad headache last night and took meds and laid down thinking it would go away like it has been doing lately, but it didn't...When Tim got home, he had to give me a shot. I had to miss going to sing to Mr. Al Simko, the sweetest little man at church who can't get around very well anymore. When I woke up this morning, I still had the headache and felt too woozie to drive, I stayed home. I really hated to miss that meeting. It is the funniest one all year because you get to meet all the students who get AWH scholarships. But anyway...

Today, Tim took me to see "Flyboys" this afternoon. It was a WWI movie about pilots. He love it, I liked it ok...
After last week's movie about football, I'm due a "chick flick" pretty soon!

Gotta get my speech for the Harding lectureships finished up and the power point done....That's next Tueday.

All you people out there reading my blog, leave me a comment so I'll know you're there!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN!

Happy Birthday, John! Hope you have a great day! I tried to send an e-card, but I'm not sure it went through. I'm sure there is some way to have this computer sing Happy Birthday to you but I'm not smart enough to figure it out so you'll just have to imagine it.
Love you and thanks for making my Laura so happy!

Shannon's Wedding

First let me correct Laura and John's blog address from the last post. It is www.hackerwright.blogspot.com

Now on to Shannon's wedding. Shannon is the daughter of my first cousin, Linda Sigler Mitchell, daughter of my Aunt Des, sister of my mother. Shannon went with us when we went to Ireland several years ago. She was our driver and did a great job driving that big van on the left side of the little small lanes in Ireland. And she was with us when we went to Italy a couple of year ago when Laura joined up and we spend a week in a villa in Tuscany and the pope died in Rome. The wedding was beautiful and I was so excited to see Sherry, Shannon's friend from Canada who had also gone to Italy with us. Mike James, who took my wedding pictures and Laura's wedding pictures also took Shannon's pictures. She had not decided on a photographer so after she saw Laura's photos on the web, she decided she'd have Mike come to do hers. I'm really glad, I think she won't find anyone that she would have been more pleased with. Her flower girls and one of the ring bearers really gave a show to everyone. The other ring bearer was the son of the groom. He was precious and he did everything just perfectly. The only thing that I originally thought was bad about this whole thing is that I found out that she is going to Greece on her honeymoon. That was our next trip that we had planned and now she's going without us! But we (my cousins and me) decided that maybe that would be good for us because she can go first and find out all the neat things we need to do and see and plan our trip for us (if she gets out of her hotel room long enough). Her husband promised that he wouldn't be one who would whine if she decided that she wanted to go on a trip with us...we shall see....

It was really neat seeing so much of our family all there together for a happy occasion instead of a funeral! Tim and Joe went fishing. They had a great day together, but I'm sorry they missed seeing everyone at the wedding. You can read about their fishing trip at www.artist-tim.blogspot.com

Have a great week!

Tim says it's been too long since I posted anything on my blog...I really haven't had a lot going on except same old, same old stuff. I have been seeing an acupuncture doctor for the past few weeks. It is amazing how many less headaches I have had since I started seeing him and when I do have a headache, I take meds and lay down for about 20 or 30 minutes and then it's gone...it is amazing even when it's cloudy or rainy or a front is coming through...It's wonderful! And I've lost about 6 pounds. Not that you can really tell since I have so much to loose, but anyway, a little is better than none.

We went to see "The Illusionist" today. It was a really good movie! At times, I really wondered if it was going to have a happy ending or not, but it did! Hooray! Tomorrow, Tim is going fishing. I am going to my cousin's wedding. I'm looking forward to it. I've been to Ireland and to Italy with this cousin so we have lots of fun memories together. Somehow, I don't usually do things as crazy with them as I do Reagan...But the pope did die the last time we were in Italy together and she stood in line all night to try to get to see the body...but they closed the line and she didn't get to see him. That next morning, the other cousins and I went to try to get a look at the Vatican thinking that the line was closed and ended up in the line...they had reopened it! We didn't stay in it because we wanted to see Rome and we only had that day to see it! When the news people came up to interview us, we were surprised to find out that we were standing in the line to see the pope! Guess I'll get to see the Vatican in November. I saw it in 1973 but that's so long ago, I hardly remember anything about it!

You can find out what John is teaching in his Christianity and Tyranny class if go to their blog sight www.hackerwright.com
He has some of his class notes on there. He may study himself into believing before this year is over!

Five Years Ago Today

Yes, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing...Cristen Roberts (then Godley) was picking me up at Bud Davis Cadallic on the way to class...she was taking counseling classes then at Harding Grad and when I got in her car, she was listening to K-Love and she said, "Listen to this - Do you think this is real or that it is just one of those end of the world kind of commercials that they play sometimes?" And they were talking about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. When we got to school, all the TV's were on and everyone was crowded around. It was very difficult to concentrate on class that morning. Then when we got home, we found out that all planes were grounded and the Sycamore view building was full of people who needed places to stay and food to eat so we all went into action to try to take care of the people. There were even some from foreign countries that Laura when up there to try to communicate with. It was wild. It was incredible. It was a day that I thought I'd never see happen in my lifetime. It was a day that changed our world forever. My heart goes out to and my prayers go up for all those who lost loved ones that day and those who have lost loved ones since because of the war. I have no idea what the answer to all of this is. I only know that I have no control over it and I can only pray that God's will be done when it's all said and done. I do not intend to watch any of the movies or documentaries about 9/11. I know how they all end and they don't have happy endings...you know me....I only like to watch things with happy endings...there's enough sorrow in real life to pay to watch things that make me sad!

On a happy note...Emily Godley got engaged and seems very happy. Beckie has written two fun posts from Italy. And I am enjoying my counseling practice very much! Tim and I are supposed to meet some Harding recruiters and juniors and seniors and their parents form the Memphis Area at Bahama Breeze tonight for a gathering. That should be fun if my 6:00 session doesn't go too long over time. That's my greatest shortcoming....I'm not very good at stopping at an hour if the client wants to keep going and I don't have another scheduled immediately after!

Labor Day Weekend

What a fun weekend we had! We went to Huntsville on Saturday morning to visit with Tim's family. Denise and Wayne and Johnathan and Sandy and Karina and her baby, Lucian, were there also. We had quite an enjoyable visit. We all went to church together on Sunday morning and then cooked out burgers for lunch. It was pretty funny because Tim's dad was saying that someone needed to make the hamburger patties and I was the only woman in the kitchen...every one else was changing clothes. I DO NOT PUT MY HANDS IN YUCKY STUFF LIKE HAMBURGER MEAT!!! I BUY ALREADY MADE HAMBURGER PATTIES OR TIM MAKES THEM!!! I immediately left the kitchen and went looking for Tim. When I came back with Tim, his dad was working all kinds of spices into the meat and cutting them out with a coffee cup. I don't know why he asked for someone else to do it anyway since he wanted to spice them up the way he wanted to do it. They were really delicious! After lunch, we all left for home.

On Monday morning, we went down to Corinth to spend the day with my family. It was fun, too. It's so nice to have most of my family in Corinth now. It's only a 30 minute plane ride. Billy came back with Diana and we flew him back to Indianola at the end of the day so it made our ride home a little longer but not nearly as long as his 4 hour drive would have been. Tim took my nephew, Tracy, up in the plane and few him over his house and his school. Tracy had never been in a plane before and he was so excited. Diana was going to let him ride back to the house in her convertible with the top down. He was running around the airport saying, "This is the best day of my life!" He was even hoping that his teacher was going to let them write about what they did on Labor Day today at school.

And I even got up and walked this morning...I don't know how far, but I could barely make it back home....I just kept saying to myself...you'll walk further than this in Italy every day....this will be nothing compared to how far you'll walk in Italy....now if I can just keep getting up and walking so I can do it when I get to Italy in November without dying! It's not too late, Diana...you can still get a ticket to go with us!

If you want to see some beautiful paintings, look at Tim's blog - artist-timblogspot.com but if you want to see some beautiful photography, look at Laura's blog hackerwrightblogspot.com Both of my children got their dad's skinny gene and his artistic gene....I am glad for them...too bad he can't somehow pass them on to me...I'd be satisfied with just the skinnny one!

Tammie is really in Italy in this photo. See how happy she is standing next to her friends? --Tim

boy was I wrong!

Tim's not going to use my Cadallic for fishing anymore because he has it sitting in front of the house with a for sale sign on it....boy am I glad I bought my ticket to Italy! This boy is accumulating too many toys...How can one person drive a Porsche, a pick-up truck, a motorcycle AND an airplane at one time? I give...I'll never be able to catch up with him....I can't even keep up now...

Mama and Papa Mutt are finally moved!

Well, I spent Monday night and all day Tuesday of this week in Corinth unpacking boxes at Mama and Papa Mutt's new apartment. It was fun being with Diana and Robin and Cheryl...Diana was beginning to think that her name was "Mama" because we all kept asking her what we should do about this or that. I hated leaving them on Tuesday night before it was all finished, but I had to get back for Wednesday. Cheryl made wonderful chicken noodle soup for us on Tuesday night for dinner, then I left and came home leaving Diana and Robin to finish up by themselves. Mama and Papa Mutt had been in Ponotoc with his nephew, Wallace, since Sunday afternoon. He brought them to the apartment on Wednesday afternoon. They are adjusting, I guess, but it's different from a three bedroom house to move into a one bedroom apartment. The neighbors are all really friendly though. They all came over and met us while we were unpacking and they seem very welcoming and nice so maybe Mama and Papa Mutt will be happy there. They've already found their way to WalMart and Papa Mutt has found a doctor so that's good.

I had a phone call from the past tonight. My second cousin, Debra Skelton Skipper, called. She has moved to Southhaven. We grew up around the road from each other and spent a lot of time together but we haven't seen in other in a long time so maybe now we'll reconnect. For your info, Beckie, she's Anne Skelton's niece.

Tim and I had a nice anniversary dinner on last night at Paulette's. I took a walk on the wild side and instead of my regular desert, i ordered a fresh peach crepe...I was not disappointed! And then we went over to the Studio on the Square to see "Little Miss Sunshine." It was a really funny movie; however, I didn't realize that it was a R rated movie and the language was terrible, but it was really good otherwise. We were going to leave town and we told everyone that was what we were going to do, but then we just stayed home and it has been really nice...I think the phone has only rang 3 times all day long...Tim did go do some dental work today...He traded some implants for a small pick-up truck!
So now, we are really vehicle poor! OH, WELL, GIVES HIM SOMETHING TO GO FISHING IN INSTEAD OF MY CADALLIAC!

A Fun Family Weekend?

I got together will all my siblings and their spouses and some of the children this weekend at my mom's house. Ordinarily, this would have been a very fun weekend; however, we spent the weekend packing up and sorting out and throwing away and garage selling to get Mama and Mutt ready to move to Corinth. They only have a one bedroom apartment available right now so we had to decide what would go in storage and what would go to the apartment. Poor Mama with her Alzheimers wasn't sure what was going on, only that we were moving her somewhere and she kept going around and picking stuff up that we had put out for sale and putting it back in the cabinets and Mutt didn't sell very much at the yard sale because everything was too special for him to sell very cheaply so we ended up at the end of the day putting most of it out on the street and most of it was gone the next morning.

Saturday night, we went to visitation for Aunt Dorothy Skelton. She was a very special sweet lady who had a heart attack on Thursday night. She had been sick for some time and her husband and children all said that it was time for her to go. I saw so many people at the funeral home that I had not seen in forever and of course since I walked in with Mama and Diana, they all knew me and I had no clue who most of them were until I studied their faces for a while. Then I could figure most of them out. I was really proud of my Joe (even though he got really ticked off at me calling him "my Joe"). He went with us to the funeral home and to the funeral on Sunday and was very cordial to everyone. Uncle Ray and Aunt Dorothy have a son named
Donnie Joe who named his son Donnie Joe and they call him "Joey"...Does that sound like someone else you know who named their kid Joe after his dad and was called Joey? Donnie's Joey is only 15 so he still tolerates being called Joey.

At 7:00 Sunday morning, we were back at Mama's packing again until time to get ready for church and then we went to church and they had a lunch for Mama and Mutt and Diana to say goodbye. Several of our cousins from Mama's side came from out of town to be with us. It was great to see all of them, but sad that it had to be so short! They were having a "turn-around service" as they called it and were going to be finished for the day. The preacher joked and said he hoped they wouldn't get labeled "liberal" for doing that...But we all left and went to the funeral.

Then Tim and Joe and I flew home. We landed just as the bottom fell out and we unloaded the plane in the rain. It stormed all night here last night and is still overcast today. I told Laura that she should have brought John down to Mississippi this weekend...He would have really gotten initiated into the family!

Weekend with John and Laura

Laura and John rented a tuck and drove down this past weekend to pick up a bedroom suite and sewing machine from my sister, Diana. She has moved from Indianola to Corinth, well, actually, Burnsville, but even I have never heard of Burnsville...they had been sleeping on a futon so I'm sure they are glad to get a bed but the light in Laura's eyes when she saw the sewing machine and it's chest and all the attachments was priceless...no telling what wonderful creations her imagination will come up with...she just might become a fashion designer after all...at least for herself.

I went to Indianola on Monday to help Mama and Mutt pack up...What an experience that was...I found church bullentins from the 60's and 70's stuffed in sacks in the cabinet...I had to throw them away when Mama wasn't looking...I also found a box of letters from Ma and Pa Horis written to each other...those I did NOT throw away. That's one reason it takes so long to pack because you have to go through things and read and remember and wonder...I think Mama has every plastic butter dish and empty jelly jar and avon bottle she ever bought...They had a garage sale on Saturday, but we're going to have another on this "Saturday and pray that we'll get rid of more stuff! I did find Laura's "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" Cup that she loved to drink out of when she was little and got it for her. How do you condense a life time of memories and two households from two 2 bedroom houses into one two bedroom apartment? It's not an easy thing to do physically or emotionally. Pray for us all!

I Don't Want To Get Old

I spent last night and this morning taking care of my sweet little mother. She has Alzeheimer's and she is so much like a child. I don't want to get old like that. She had a tooth ache and Diana brought her up here yesterday for her to spend the night and for me to take her to see her Alzeheimer's doctor this morning. Tim went ahead and pulled the tooth last night because it was so decayed and she was in pain. Several years ago she read some article that said if you drink vinegar that it will help you lose weight so she started drinking it everyday and it killed her teeth...ate the enamel off and made it all every soft so it has been a challenge to help her keep her teeth at all. (Translation: Even if you want to loose weight really bad...DO NOT DRINK VINEGAR...IT WILL RUIN YOUR TEETH!!!) But she couldn't get to sleep last night because she was hurting where the tooth had been pulled. We didn't want to give her too much pain medicine becuase we didn't want her to be hung over today, but to get her to sleep, she was hung over today and I had to cancel her appointment with Dr. Burns and reschedule it for next week. I got her up and dressed this morning and everytime she got still, she fell asleep again so I didn't figure her trip to the doctor would be very productive. I have to take my turn going down there sometime soon to help pack up the house because they have sold it and will be moving to Corinth in a few weeks so I'll go down next week and spend a day packing and bring her back on Tuesday for her appointment with Dr. Burns and then Tamara Lynn who has a dental appointment with her Uncle Tim on Tuesday afternoon will take her home. It makes me know that I want to make the most of every day that I have now and not put off having fun and being with my friends because who knows when Alzeheimer's is going to strike...Even now one of our friends that we went to Harding with is fighting with it....so live each day to the fullest! It's time for me to stop obssessing over this silly MFT Board and just study and do the best I can and give my children (all 3 of them) over to God and stop obssessing over their salvation and do my best to live so that Jesus shines through me....Leanne sent me this wonderful website this morning( http://www.rbc.org/ourDailyBread/devotional.aspx?s=ourDailyBread&id=49162). You should go there and look! It is most inspirational and after I left Mama with Bill and Papa Mutt, I went around to the Christian book store in the factory outlet mall....I could have gone crazy in there, but I didn't go too crazy...but I did enjoy looking in there....I bought a book about the Sister Chicks in Italy! Can't wait to read that! Only I think they are in Venice and my sister chicks and I are going to be much further south...but it will still be great! Thank you, Lord, for sister chicks and family and friends!

Oh, one more thing! I was so glad to see Buddy Jones at church yesterday...I just about got over my Buddy Jones hug deprivation....but it will take a few more times of him being there to cure it all...He has this silly 3 second rule...that you can't hug for longer than 3 seconds....It's gonna take a lot of 3 second hugs to make up for all the months I haven't seen him!

And Pam Cox Womack was at Sycamore View yesterday. It was so good to see her! I think she is just waht Harding Academy needs (She's the new president.) and I can't wait to spend more time with her. I hope she'll land at Sycamore View, but then, of course, I don't think there's any place better!

I Knew Almost All the Answers!

I just spent 2 hours with Dr. Flatt quizzing me and three others who are getting ready for the MTF Exam. I knew the answer to nearly every question he asked...I just don't get it....I told him I knew all the theories and thier "fathers" and the buzz words for each...it's just when they put them in questions and make the answers so close to each other that you have to pick the one that is the most right, I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that. He assures me that by the time we finish that I will be avble to do it. Jusst keep praying for me!

Dr. Flatt will be at the APA next weekend so we won't have supervision next week which will be good becuase Laura and John will be here so I will get to spend more time with them.

Have a great weekend!

Here I Sit

Here I sit playing on the computer when I have so much other stuff I need to be doing like studying for my test and puttting together hand-outs for the Mother's Day Out Orientation and preparing my presentation for the Harding Lecturship....For some reason, I'd rather play on my computer. I can not even believe I'm saying that becuase I used to be one to get on the computer, check e-mail, and get right back off, unless I was doing specific research for a paper...now I think I could spend all day looking at bogs of people I know and even random blogs and that is very bad when I need to be doing productive things! OK, I don't have the presentation stuff here -it's at the office so I'm going to go get the Mother's Day Out stuff in order so that I can make copies and then I'm going to study for my test...this time I'm going to outline the book as I read...maybe that will help me remember and then I have a client at 7:00 tonight. I'll have to call the office and check messsages to be sure I don't need to call anyone else, but surely I can tear myself away from this computer long enough to do that!

Friday, July 28

This has been an interesting week. Wil left this afeternoon to go to Searcy to be in South Pacific. He was summoned by Sally Paine. Someone dropped out and they needed a fill in for the last minute so Wil left to try to catch up.

We went to see Lady in the Water this afternoon. It was interesting.....

Luke Cooke and Joe have been in Mississppi the last few days helping Diana. She says they've been a good help and not in the way. I'm really grateful for that! Joe is going on Saturday to start his new evealuation. He hasn't had one since he was 16. It will be quite pricey, but it will be well worth it to find out if he still has schozophrenia...I don't know what I dread the most- finding out that he does or that he doesn't, because if he deosn't, we're going to have to makie some major decidions.

I ate lunch with Linda Bateman on Wednesday. We talked about our kids and lots of other things, among them, setting up an enrichment program for kids and maybe parents to discuss ADHD and help them understand exactly what it is and learn coping skills to help them in school. Maybe for the spring or next summer. I'm excited about those possibilities.

I talked to Laura a little while ago, They're doing well...kind of camping out in their apartment since their stuff won't arrive until Monday. They'll be back on the weekend of August 12 for April Cox's wedding.

Have a good weekend!

Sitting with Wil

Wil (my nephew) had his wisdon teeth out today and he is in the guest bedroom sleeping away. I have to go check on him every 30 minutes or so and in the meantime, I am writing my blog, reading everyone else's and I am eventually going to strat my research for my talk - A Clear Conscience - Dealing With Issues of Anger - for the Harding Ladies Lectureships in September...reckon there's an underlying reason why they picked me for that topic?

I bought my ticket last night to go to Italy at Thanksgiving to see Beckie with Vivivan. I can hardly beleive I really did it, but I did. Tim has been poor-mouthing ever since he landed his plane in the snow bank in Colorado last year before Christmas, but he's still planning all of his ski trips and fishing trips, so I figure I can take one trip to Italy with Vivian to play with Beckie. My family is having Christmas the weekend before Christmas and Tim's family is having Christmas at Christmas, so I'll get to be with everyone at one holiday so why not spend Thanksgiving with my other family - Beckie and Vivian?!? They've been my family longer than lots of people in my family anyway....

Tim did point out today that one month from today will be our 32nd wedding anniverisary. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday when his dad was calling to say that the landing gear had not stayed down when he landed in Searcy and he bellied in the plane and would be late for the rehersal and Mike James was calling to say that Jennifer had been born in the middle of the night and he was sending someone else to take pictures until he got there (and boy was I glad he got there as was the other photographer- we both thought the other was nuts!). Something went right though because it's stuck all these years through lots of ups and downs and I still wouldn't want to be married to anyone else...Tim has made a great life for us! And I thank the Lord for him everyday!

Joe and I went to Mississippi to help Diana, my sister, move into her new house which is up near Corinth, Friday night and Saturday. It's quite a bit smaller than the one she was in but a very nice house anyway and plenty of room for just her. And she is very sentimental about all knds of things and is having a hard time getting rid of a lot of stuff. The people who sold the house left it nearly full of furniture! So she has all that to deal with as well as her stuff. There's one particularly unique photo of pink flamingos that was left in one of the bathrooms. I encouraged her to use it for a Christmas exchange gift...but I don't think she's quite brave enough to do it. Maybe I'll take it off her hands...I ususally have several of those kind of parties to go to...surely I can find a use for it. By Christmas, all of you who read my blog will have forgotten about that picture so you'll be surprised when you get it!

Hope ;you all have a wonderful day!

Finally A Posting Page!

Thank the Lord or the Blog Help Support Team or both but finally I can get back on and write a post to my blog! Woodie and I had a great time last Saturday driving down to Mississippi with the top down all the way...Of course, our hair looked like we had driven with the top down all the way, but Stephen (Weasel) was glad to see us anyway. And we enjoyed our visit with him and with each other.

My practice is slowly but surely picking back up so I'm not thinking of wanting to go back to school so much anymore. The University of Memphis person never called me back so that put a damper on my spirit and then I found out that the on-line school I had been checking out is not approved by the American Psychological Association so I don't want to do all that work and then not be able to get a lisence...maybe I'll just be happy how I am... Life is good! Except my computer is running as slow as mud on a dry day!

Nice weekend

This has been a nice weekend so far. tim, joe and luke cooke left yesterday afternoon to go to the ocee for a float trip and to fish and I am enjoying the house all to my self. i went out to eat dinner last night with Woodie and Velma and Susie (Woodies' friends who have become my friends, too) to celebrate Susie's birthday and then came back here to the house to enjoy birthday cake and ice cream. It was quite a nice evening.

Tomorrow, Woodie and I are going to the prison for a visit if all goes as planned.
That's always a joy.

I'm going to signoff and just enjoy being lazy the rest of the day!

Great Home Group

We had a great home group meeting last night. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer and singing and sharing and, of course, eating(...can C of C people ever get together without food?) with our church group small community though we did have a few absent who were sorely missed. I even cooked a roast in the crock pot and made a fruit salad...yes, I cut up all the fruit myself (except for the blueberries and rasberries and balckberries which I just washed and dumped in)...not a single thing bought from Sam's and that is very unusual for me...I guess Freda Rushton inspired me and my home group thanks you, Freda.

I'm going to call a lady at University of Memphis today and set up an appointment to go talk about working on a PhD...can't decide if I really want to do it or not but it can't hurt to find out what all it will take.

They had an excellent presentation at church yeterday on Zambia. Tim has decided that he will go with them in 2007 on a medical mission trip. I don't know if I will go or not since I'm going to Ghanna in February to teach at Ghanna Bible college and I have several other talks to work up between now and then. I do need to get busy on those since I'm not a natural born speaker...i have to work on my presentations!

Laura and John will be moving to Kansas City, Mo in the next week or so and Tim and I will take a weekend to go up there and take them the rest of their stuff that they couldn't fit in the car when they left here. They have recieved serveral more gifts since then. I guess it's good Laura isn't working now...She's got tons of thank you notes to write!

Guess I'd better stop playing on this computer and get busy...but playing on this computer is certainly more fun!

Why blogging is so much fun

Yesterday I was reading Beckie's blog about frustration in making food for the 4th and all the comments that followed and just laughing out loud. Tim looked at me like I was crazy. I had to explain to him why blogging is so much fun. It's like being in the lives of your friends every day and getting to talk to people that you would never talk to otherwise (like my talking to Freda Rushton on Beckie's blog or her leaving a comment on mine)...I mean, I know that she and Scott are Beckie
and Gene's good freinds, but we just never see them and since we've been blogging, it's like the walls have fallen away. I can look at the Emerson's and Greene's blogs and see beautiful new pictures of their kids almost evedryday. It's like I'm getting to see them grow up before my eyes even though they are far away and that is such a joy! Allen and Sarah could put a few more entires, but even reading theirs and finding out that Sarah was brave enough to do reace car driving was exciting and getting to hear from Reagan and how her life is going every other day or so is so sweet. Now john and Laura have opened a blog spot but they haven't posted anything yet...now if they'll just post, I won't have to call and ask so many questions...no really, I'm trying to be a good mother-in-law and not call constantly but it's hard sometimes. Whoever thought of this is genius. It just makes the world smaller all the time! Now those of you who have been reading my blog but never comment, take time to say Hi so I'll know you're out there!

I Found It

I found my appointment book - not the basket...I had put my appointment book on my bedside table under some other books so I'd know right where it was but so that it would not be in plain sight of everyone...pretty smart of me, huh? I looked inside that nightstand probably three times this morning but decided to go look one last time before going to the office...and there is was hiding under those other books right where I put it! I think I need to start taking Aricept (or however you spell that Alzheimer med) right now!

Back to the Real World

Well, today it's back to the real world...the internship is over, the wedding is over, the 4th is over and it's time to go to the office and work....there's only one small hitch...in all the cleaning up the clutter for the wedding, my appointment book got put up somewhere and now I cannot find it anywhere...any of you who were here helping have idea where it could have gone to? I feel sure that it was in the basket on the shelf that Laura wanted cleaned off to put the sound system on and I've found 3 of the 4 baskets...so it must be in the other basket, but where is the other basket? I will find it I know...I've been looking all morning and am probably looking right at it and not seeing it...maybe taking this break will help me be able to see it now!

Fireworks and mototcycles

We just came from watching the Bartlett City fireworks. Our friends, Ed and Leanne, live right on the lake across from where the fireworks display is every year so they cook out and everyone else brings sides to go with the burgers and hot dogs. It's always great fun to visit with everyone and watch the fireworks. This year, I laid down on the couch and went to sleep about 5:00 thinking I'd sleep an hour or so but I didn't wake up until Joe came down and asked what time we were supposed to leave. I said, "About 6 or 6:30," To which he replied, "it's already 7:45." So we jumped up and i grabbed the cheese and crackers left over from the reception and we took off on THE MOTOCYCLES (because we knew there would be no parkikng places left by this time)...it was a real experience trying to hold onto Tim and the food on the back of the motocycle, but we made it just fine...brought back memories of 33 0r 34 years ago riding on Daddy's moptorcycle before we got married. In fact, since we made it ok this time, even in all the bad traffiic, I might even try it again...if I don't have to go too far!

one more thank you

I don't know how I could have ever left of Kate and Josh (Tim's nephew and niece-in-law). They were here all day Thursday and worked like Trojans! Josh even used his doctor's surgical residency knowledge to chop veggies! Kate put together the drink table and thanks to Joe (laura's brother) and Luke Cooke for working the drink table during the reception!

The Wedding Is Over

The wedding is over. All went very well. Granddaddy opened with singing The Lord's Prayer and it set a very good tone for the ceremony according to Laura and John. Cathy, Tim's youngest sister, to whom Laura is very close and one of their friends who came all the way from New York did readings during the ceremony and it was very good. Tim ended with a prayer. Laura looked beautiful even in her jeans. She designed and made the top she wore. Photos of the wedding may be seen at Searcypics.com and click on the Hacker-Wright wedding. The reception was great. We had a house full of people...I know I had 150 plates and we ran out and had to wash them and start over and even take plain red plates out of the cabinet to use. There was way too much food and I have no idea what I am going to do with all the left overs And is the Hacker family tradition, Laurel (Carol's little girl) and Noah (Cathy's little boy) hid in the back of Laura and John's car and jumped up as they started to drive off...this started when Tim and I got married - Cathy and Lori Pryor hid in the back of our car. Laura and Joe(y) hid in the back of Cathy's car now it was Laura's turn. No one had decorated thier car so they thought they were getting off scott free. Laurel and Noah really surprised them. It was really fun. And just like Jennifer James was born in the middle of the night before our wedding when Mike was to take pictures, Jennifer's Parker was born in the middle of the night before Laura's wedding only this time, Jennifer was in Texas so Beth went to be with her and Mike came here. Thanks, Jenn and Beth for letting us have the best photographer in the whole world for Laura's wedding. Jenn and Parker are both doing fine. Thanks also to Marianne, John's mom, Cindy and Micki Cogbill, Diana, Vivian, Beckie, Leslie, and Woodie as well as Mamie and her wonderful daughter, Twanda for helping by cooking or letting us borrow things or making runs to the store or wahing dishes and cleaning up or just being there to make sure everything went smoothly!

Laura and John came back here Friday night and this morning they packed as much as they could get in their car and headed to Ohio. We'll take the rest of the stuff to them when they get to Kansas City in a few weeks. It will give us a chance to see them and to see their new place. I had a lot of fun joking with John...the only thing is that his brain is much smarter and faster than mine but he doesn't get mad when I do come up with a good one...just keep praying for them...I have to believe that they don't stand a chance against all the prayer warriors out there who are praying for their souls! John is going to be a good son-in-law who takes good care of my Laura in every way except her salvation (which to me is the most important)...but I just have to believe the scripture and have faith that God will win her back someday and she will bring him with her!

The day before the wedding

Here I sit playing on my computer while John, Laura, Cindy Cogbill, and John's mom, Marianne, are at the bar busily cutting up veggies for the reception. John, Laura and I spent the day yesterday shopping for supplies and we finished up this morning...well, we finished up most of it and then I came home and let John and Laura finish up. Laura had taken as many of my questions as she could take and needed a break. Shows how good a mom I am, but they are having fun over there...guess I'll get up and go join them. Vivan will be here tomorrow to help us finish up and John's mom does catering, so I think we're in good hands!

It's Good To Be Home

Tim and I got home this afternoon. We had a fun time in Charleston, but it is really good to be home after being gone for three weeks! Laura and John were already here preparing for Thursday. I haven't done much today but I feel really tired and think I might just have to turn in really soon just to enjoy being in my own bed with my own pillow and veg out in front of the TV for a while...There will be plenty of work to do tomorrow...

I've got to save up energy to get Brett Emerson, the Yankee, when he gets here anyway...he made derotatory comments about the south on my friend Beckie's blog and then when we all ganged up on him and pointed out the error of his ways, he deleted all our comments, so ....He's got it comin', but I've got to have enough energy to get him! What am I saying? Laura is marrying a Yankee, too! We'll have to teach John about being Southern as well, I guess. So far he's taken the kidding pretty well.

Last Night in Philly

This is my last night in Philly. It was been a fun, exciting, scary, educational three weeks! It was sad today saying goodbye to my clients and knowing that I won't be around to finish up therapy with them but it was amazing to see how far they had come in just three weeks. It has been wonderful to get to know my team members - one from Minnesota, one from Germany, one who lives half the year in Jerusalem and half the year in PA/NY and our supervisor. One of my little boys thinks I talk like a cowgirl. The other client family and the rest of the team had fun laughing at my southern accent the whole time and getting me to say certain words to see how I would pronounce them...they really hooted over the word similar which I, of course, prounce simUlar, like all good southern girls. The last thing I said to my last client family was, "Bye Ya'll." When I walked back into the observation room, the whole team was about rolling on the floor laughing. See, Reagan, I'm good for a laugh no matter where I go!

I've got to go pack up tonight so that when I leave the house in the morning, I can leave from the hospital and go to the airport. I'm meeting Tim in Charleston at an Implant conference. We'll be home on Sunday. Betsy and Ed have been great hosts. I hope they'll come to Bartlett one day and let me return the favor!

Feelilng Helpless

What a helpless feeling it is to be in Philly with a weddding just 8 days away!!! I should have know better! I am learning a lot and would not give anything for the experience I am having here, but this e-mailing and long distance phone calling is just not the same as being together and getting hugs from each other and Laura does give the best hugs in the whole wide world...Tim and Joe and John give good ones, too....but, boy, could I use a Laura one right now!

It was Great to have Tim here!

Well, Tim has come and gone again already. He came in about 1:30 on Friday. We had a great weekend going around in center city Philly and old town and Penn's Landing (even walking the 20+ blocks from Penn's Landing back to our hotel...even though I found out just how out of shape I am and I had to take it really slow and rest frequently...you think that would motivate me to start walking everyday, wouldn't you?...but who knows if I will or not...probably not....) We saw the Andrew Wyeth exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum and it was wonderful. But as always, Tim was constatnly watching the weather when we were in the hotel room, so I had him at the airport by 8:00 this morning and he was on his way home because thunderstorms are supposed to be bad in the Memphis area this afternoon and he wanted to beat them there. I don't feel nearly as hug deprived as I did. On Friday I'll be flying to Charleston to meet him at a dental conference. Then on Sunday we'll go home to get ready for the wedding.

This past week at the therapy center was much more comfortable than last. It's hard to believe that I only have one more week with my clients. I'm just getting into good therapy with them and then I'll have to leave. I really hate that but there are others who will take up the therapy and it will continue as needed. I've learned a lot about how important it is to involve the whole family in the therapy process.

My friends, Beckie and Vivian, were together this weekend for my friend (and college roommate), Jeanine's son's wedding. It's a good thing Tim was here...i might have pouted all weekend thinking about all of them having fun together without me!

Hug Deprivation

You know how I love hugs...Well, I've been in Philly for almost two weeks now and I am feeling hug deprived! Thank Heavens Tim is coming this weekend! It has taken all the restraint I have to not hug my clients this week but I have refrained because it is MY need not thiers, but I did get a hug from my supervisior because she did come in and ask if anyone needed anything on Wednesday so I told her I really needed a hug. Of course, the whole group thought that was so funny...You try going two weeks without a hug when you are used to having several a day...doesen't feel good at all! Makes me really thankful for all my family and friends who give such good hugs all the time!

Small World!

I tell you folks that the world gets smaller all the time! I went to church this morning in a little town called Warrington (I think) any way...it was Valley Road Church of Christ and the preacher there is a cousin of Garland Elkins who preached for a long time in Memphis, but his son goes to White Station...I don't know him, but I might have to look him up. His nephew is Jason Burgess who works for Agape (where I worked for about 6 weeks before they decided that they couldn't get around the language in the grant that was paying my salary). Then I met this lady that was from Jamacia who knows Joseph Watson with whom I had classes at the graduate school. It was really fun talking to all of them and making connections! They also announced that Won by One from Pepperdine would be here in a couple of weeks...I'm sorry I'll be gone by then. I wonder if Allen Gillespie will be traveling with them?

I'm enjoying my stay so far with Betsy and Ed, sister and brother-in-law of Bill Yikes, Harding Grad of '70. Bill was in Acapella and I found out that he stays with Linda Thompson (one of my beach buddies-who had fun at Gulf Shores last week without me) when he is in Searcy.

I spent most of yesterday laying around and reading a novel. It really felt good-it's been so long since I had a chance to do that. And Tim has called me from LA the last two nights at midnight or after...of course, the night is still young in LA but I have been sound asleep and I hardly remember a thing that he has told me either time! Maybe when he gets home tonight I will get to talk with him and it will make sense to me!

Thanks Beckie and Leanne for your encouraging comments on my first week in Philly blog...Mr. Garner, HUH??? Wonder will there be a Mrs. Garner soon?

First Week in Philly Completed

This has been a most interesting week. You know I posted on the Harding Alumni page for a place to stay and a guy who was a senior at Harding when I was a freshman and who knew Tim's dad and had given Denise guitar lessons called his sister who lives in Philly and made arrangements for me to have a place to stay. The first week, I was with one of her friends, a dear little Jewish lady who only lived 2 blocks from the Philadelphia Child and Family Therapy Center. It was a wonderful experience all around. I learned so much about Judiaish and in the Clinical experience. None of the others here could believe that i could just post a request on the Harding Alumni page and end up with a free place to stay! They just don't know about the Harding tapestry and how far reaching it is! I have two cases and after the first day, I was in there with them on my own. The supervisior and other therapists were behind the mirror and would buz in occassionally to say "good job" or "go this direction". One of my families has children and I can do great with the kids (that's what I'm used to)...and I'm working really hard at learning how to join with the parents, as well, which is why I came here...They all tell me they've never seen a family therapist who can work such magic with children but keep reminding me that the purpose of this program is to learn to do FAMILY THERAPY and empower the parents...I know that and it's still difficult for me to do! My other case is a family of all adults...that is a really differnt experience for me and is really stretching my limits! Today I am moving to the other family's house. It has been delightful so far and i hope that the first lady, Carole and her sisiter, Rae, will come to Memphis one day to let me repay their wonderful hospitality. Carole owns the corner house of a set of row houses like Edith and Archie Bunker lived in. I felt like I was in TV land! And we had so much fun talking and visiting at night. She was such a dear sweet lady and I so much appreciated her hospitality! When I can figure out how to post a photo of her house...I will. And one more thing...Can you believe that my Starbucks coffee cost less in Philly than it does in Memphis?!?

The Second Test Is Over!

Well, folks, I took that test again this morning and I knew more answers this time than I did last time but I still have no idea what the end result will be...we'll just wait and see...It's a relief to be finished again but the real relief will be to get the letter that says I've passed!

On another completely different note, has anyone else seen that news story about those two girls whose identities were switched in an auto accident and one family thought they buried their daughter (Whitney) and the other thought they had been nursing thiers back to health in the hospital (Laura) for about a month only to find out in the last day or so that it was Laura who was buried and Whitney who was in the hospital?!? I saw about it first on Mike Cope's blog today and went to the blog spot and read some of the stuff and then it popped up on my RoadRunner news and I read the story. It is really amazing and my heart just hurts for both of those families and the friends of those girls. They must all feel like they are in some horrible nightmare! I pray for God's comfort and blessings to rain down on them all!

I finally got all of Laura and John's gifts stowed away today in a closet. Tomorrow, i have to see one client, then get my roots done ( have to take care of the important things before leaving town for 3 weeks, you know), and then pack to leave on Saturday. I've always said that I could be a leader or a follower, but now that I'm faced with going to Philly by myself and having to find my way around by myslef (especially since I'm getting in at night) I wish Reagan or my Laura was going to lead the way. (Actually, Laura and John did offfer to go with me to help me get settled in, but I didn't want them to have to go to all that trouble...) I'm sure I'll be fine after I get there and put my mind to it! But who will be there to laugh at me? I guess the people I'm staying with will have all the fun. I'll have my cell phone (901)233-2146 and my computer so everybody keep in touch....Hope I learn a lot!

ok, it's back

Now, I changed my template and got my blog back, but I still don't know how to put links on...Someone smart like
Reagan is going to have to stop by here and show me how to do it one day one her way to Oxford...

What have I Done?!?

I have been trying to put links on my blog but it looks like I have completely destroyed my whole blog site! YUK!

Laura's Shower

This has been a good Memorial Day weekend. Laura and John were here for their bridal shower. About 15 minutes before it was time to leave for the shower, Laura was looking everywhere for something to wear. She left the dress she'd planned to wear at home. I had fun teasing her today before they left about NOT doing that before the wedding. I'd say it was a fair estimation of the situation to say that they were whelmed. They opened gifts from 3:00 until about 4:50 without taking a break at all and neither took time to drink punch or eat. I, of course, on the ohter hand decided to have a little cheesecake and dropped it right in the middle of the floor right in front of everybody. Fortunately no one had a camera ready to take a photo of that mess but everyone got their laugh at my expense as usual. John did very well smiling and being cordial to all those ladies he didn't know. And two of my dearest friends in the whole wide world showed up from Searcy and surprised us. Beckie and Beth came over. It was so good to see them and get to visit. My other best friends in the whole world were throwing the shower. The day could not have been better. Beckie and Beth helped us bring all the stuff home from the church building since Tim was so smart and made arrangements to meet a patient at the office at 5:00 to recement a crown and was not available to help us. Katie Fulfer had her shower going on at the same time so we went to hers for a few minutes before Laura's started and then she came to ours a few minutes after hers was over. The very last gift that Laura picked up to open happened to be the gift that we had bought for Katie...don't know how that got mixed up but it was convient for her to be in the room with us so she got to open it with us there.

I retake my test on Thursday...Be praying for me to have a "ready recollection" of all that I've studied and "miraculaus memory" of everything else! On Saturday I leave for Philadelphia. Hope it's going to be as good of an experience as I am anticipating!