I missed last week's...and it was a good one. So TWO feasts this week! Here's the first:

Appetizer
If you could have a free subscription to any magazine, which one would you like to have?

Today's Christian Woman. I read it cover to cover - literally, ads and all - each time it comes. I absolutely love it.

Soup
Describe your living room (furnishings, colors, etc.)

I can do better than that!


























Salad
What does the shape of a circle make you think of?

Wedding rings, the shape being without a beginning or end...

Main Course
Name 3 things in your life that you consider to be absolute necessities.

God
A tie - chocolate & friends
Contacts

Dessert
What was the last really funny movie you watched?

Really funny? Hmmm. I haven't seen much lately and no real side-splitters. I saw Failure to Launch the other night and there were some funny parts in that.

Thirteen Things That Are Making Me Happy Today1. I am off from work for the next four days! 2. I only have a couple of things planned for that time so I won't spend it all running all over creation like usual! 3. I had an appt this afternoon that went well and made me very happy and might lead to further happiness. I'm feeling very hopeful about it. 4. Ramona is feeling better and acting much more normal and friendly. She even came out to visit with Emily & Sarah on Friday. 5. Did I mention I'm off for the next four days?!!?? 6. I cut my hair today before my appt - there was no other way - and I don't look like a freak! I had flashbacks to being 5 and cutting my hair while I was doing it...only this time I didn't cut off three inches and hide the evidence in the bookshelves! 7. I finally finished the children's ministry schedule & orders of service for September. We're starting new curricula in two classes and I was trying to figure that all out. 8. Our new pastor has arrived! Our bishop is doing a commissioning service Sunday and then he'll be in action. This is a great relief! 9. We got out women's retreat invites out on Sunday and people are excited! I'm already receiving responses back, which is wonderful. I'm praying for a great turnout. 10. I don't have to go to work for FOUR DAYS. FOUR! 11. I am planning to get some things done around the house this weekend that I haven't had the time or energy for. As fall approaches, the fibro cannot be far behind. I have to take my less painful days and energy as it comes. And so far, so good! 12. I can sleep in a few of those days. And NAP. Nap, nap, nap. 13. I'm having lunch with a friend tomorrow and dinner with other friends...so no cooking for me. Yahoo!

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This weekend, while Michelle & David were at the race in Bristol, I had promised Sarah some fun - and hoped to get some myself as well! The first part of our fun was a surprise - we met up with Robert & his daughter, Emily, in Exton and Emily & Sarah & I had dinner together and then they both slept over at my place Friday night. Saturday morning, it was off to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire! I hadn't been in a couple of years but always loved it when I went with my folks in the past, so I thought the girls might enjoy it. And enjoy it they did...especially this fellow...a little Orlando Bloom-ish, eh?



Some other fun highlights...running into Trish & Jack & the boys, the mud pit, the Mud Fairy, the fire-eating Fool, the pickles-on-a-stick, the huge turkey legs and of course, funnel cake!



Boys & their toys...


Laughing at the Mud Pit


A Mud Pitt-ian and the Mud Fairy, sculpting


The fire-eating Fool


Pickle, stick...you do the math


Holy turkey leg, Batman!


We left tired...but happy!

Yes, I do know that it's really Wednesday but I have wanted to post this for a while and haven't been able to...so pretend it's Tuesday!

My treasure this week is an odd one to some. It's my stress ball collection. It started quite harmlessly - a squeezy red blood cell someone gave me from a trade show they went to. Then a head you could squish...then suddenly a pig arrived, then a cow...then the whole thing took on a life of its own! It became a challenge for my coworkers to bring me the coolest one back from their travels. The collection has blossomed to include:

• Two tropical fish (one pink/blue and one yellow/blue)
• A Commerce Bank "C"
• The cow
• A brick
• Two heads
• A hippo
• A pig
• A pyramid
• A computer with arms & legs
• A globe
• The red blood cell
• A heart (the real internal organ type)
• Two brains
• A liver with gallbladder attached (by far the grossest!)
• A kidney
• An airplane (famously stolen by a friend from her son at a Christmas party)
• A train
• A buffalo...my latest addition

I don't actually use these - they are more for the people visiting my office. In the old place, they sat right on the front my desk across from my guest chair, the perfect location and conversation starter. Now they sit on a bookshelf, next to the guest chair. Not having many guests, however, it's not been as much of a conversation starter as I had hoped.

But it makes me happy. It reminds me of my dear friends and how nice it always is to receive a gift for no reason. : )

I can say nothing more than please read this today. I am in awe and humbled.

A Broad in Athens: There and back again

...I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've had things to blog about almost every day this week but when I get home my lovely interenet provider isn't interested in working right. It connects, then disconnects for no good reason and I frankly haven't had the wherewithall to contact them and spend an hour on the phone with them, trying things I have already tried, and getting frustrated. I shall this weekend, though, because I can't be without my email for that long!

Appetizer
What color is your car?

Forest green

Soup
If you could wake up tomorrow with full training in another occupation and a job in that field, what would it be?

Teaching, as in kids (I am trained to teach adults and already work in that field, but it's not as much fun!)

Salad
How many times in your life have you had the flu (or something similar)?

Flu...probably a bunch of times when I was a kid (I was a sickly one!) but in the past few years, I'd have to say maybe once.

Main Course
What is something that has happened to you this week that you didn't expect?

I took the day off on Tuesday to go for a second look at a house I am very interested in. I went through again, told my agent I'd be calling him that afternoon, etc. I called right when I got home, ready to make an offer. Silly, silly me! I told him how much I wanted to offer and that I wanted to ask for seller's assist and we had a long conversation about the...well, basically, futility of that idea. So I decided that I needed to do some juggling financially to make sure my closing costs and the good faith cashola that apparently needs to go with the offer (which I totally didn't know needed to be SO MUCH) is actually in hand before I move forward. I was disappointed but I need to be realistic here. So I have spent the better part of the week trying to rollover funds from one account into another type of account, with the same company, and banging my head against a wall. I may have finally resolved it after about two hours on the phone with them today but it still may take 30 days to access the cash. The financial guy said I should make the offer anyway, since it will be available by then, but judging by all the madness it's taken to even get this far, I'm not willing to take that chance. Also, there is another offer in on the house and if the seller takes it, well, then it just wasn't to be! As much as I want to leap at this - I know I need to be more pragmatic and not get into something I can't follow through with in the end.

Dessert
How old were you when you had your first kiss?

11. His name was Duane. We "went out" for all of 12 hours. Whoo hoo!

I am a dumb bunny.

I had my half day yesterday and ran a bunch of errands before meeting up with Nancy & Michelle. One of my errands was to the local Christian bookstore to pick up a new curriculum for the preschool class at church...but I cannot enter a bookstore and leave simply with what I came for. Oh, no! I have to go an look and see if my favorite authors have put out any new books this summer. Two of them had - but I did manage to exert a tiny bit of self-control and only bought one - the new Yada Yada Prayer Group book. I absolutely love this series! And there was no way I was passing this one up.

I got home around 10:30 and spent some time cleaning up the house a bit, then tucked myself into bed with the book. At 2 AM, I decided I probably should stop reading and get some shut eye. And now, I am paying for it!!!! I looked at a house this afternoon and ran some errands, then spent a few hours completing some overdue church tasks...and I am exhausted. Yet, I think a bowl of ice cream and the Yadas are calling my name!

And you know I won't sleep until it's finished this time!

Today is absolutely gorgeous! We have summer hours at work and today was my Friday to have the afternoon off. I ran my errands and now I will be able to relax tomorrow and actually enjoy part of the weekend for a change! Yahoo! I'm actually hoping to look at some houses tomorrow. There are two I am interested in, so we shall see. This househunting thing is full of ups and downs...I see something I like online, I get excited, then I wait for my agent to setup an appointment. I get excited again, I go to see it, then I am (thus far) disappointed. I found a checklist online that you can take with you so you make sure that you are getting everything you want in the home before you make an offer. I think I'll start using that; it might help some.

Some of you have been asking about Ramona. So far, the insulin shots are going...okay. Not great - she doesn't like to hold still - but she is at least tolerating them. I don't think they hurt her. Starting Saturday, though, I have to give them to her twice a day (morning and evening) and I think that might be more of a challenge. But I will do my best and hope it makes her feel better! Nellie, however, thinks I am evil now and hides all day from me. The only time she comes out is at night when I am safely in bed. I guess she realizes that at that point, I'm not getting out to chase her down and do anything to her. I hope she never needs shots! It definitely won't happen with her.

Well, I've got a few things to get done before I get together with some girlfriends tonight, so tata for now!

Today, I took the day off of work and we ventured into the city to help one of our sister churches with some projects. They have a thrift store and needed some help sorting and pricing there. They have a garden...in the middle of a not at all nice part of the city, they found a vacant lot and made it a beautiful garden...we didn't have any work to do there today. And they have a new meeting place. They are retrofitting the first floor of a building that was built back in the early 19oos. It's an interesting place but A LOT of work is needed there. I had hoped to be working on framing out some walls or putting up drywall but today was not a day for that. Today it was about cutting up PVC pipe (which was fun), cleaning up pipe and wires and what-have-you from all around, and tearing the wood off of windows and letting the sun shine in and air breeze through.

It doesn't look like much...but they can see the potential there - and I can see it too. Through all the dirt and dust and...well, junk...I can see a space where people can come, in the middle of a not so great part of town, and find the Lord there, through his people who care enough - care so much - to make this a priority, to put in their time, to put in their money, to put in their sweat and probably their tears.

I feel like summer has completely passed me by. Where were the long, leisurely days? Where was my trip to the beach? Or the lake? Heck, I'd settle for the local pool - or even an inflatable pool in someone's back yard.

I feel like I have totally missed out. And it's going to be September...and then the holidays!!

How did this happen????????????????????

The ups, the downs, the turns, the twists!

And now, another chapter begins.

The pastoral search is over, praise God! We interviewed and selected a new pastor and he accepted on Friday (even that was a roller coaster but the end result was positive!)

I feel like a great weight has been lifted.

...for baby Addison today. She is only 12 weeks old and undergoing open heart surgery today. Please pray for wisdom for the surgeons and for the hand of the Master Physician to guide theirs. Please pray for Addison's mom & dad, who have shown so much faith in God and strength through this storm, and for the rest of their family and friends as they await word of a successful surgery & recovery with no complications.