Saving Brain Cells

I suppose I'm a bit tardy in telling you that the kids and I did not go with Clay on the mission trip this week. Maybe you thought I was there and that's why we've gone a week with no blog post. Instead, the reason is more complex than that. Brandon has been uninjured. Abby and two cousins have been underfoot. Clay has been unavailable. In short, the week has been uneventful and I have been uninspired. Or perhaps I'm simply just trying to store up all possibilities of brilliant thought for the 5 writing assignments I have this fall. :-) I think we'll all agree that I need all the help I can get....perhaps I should have begun storing up months ago! :-) I AM excited about those opportunities: 2 adult curriculum projects (Life Values and Quick Source), 1 new youth piece called "sixty-six", a FUEL (dvd-driven curriculum) assignment, and high school's "Life f(x)", because they've done away with the Family Bible Study piece. So if your church uses any of that stuff...check it out! It's both funny and wonderful how over the last few years, whenever I've tossed around the idea of going back to teach school, God answers me loudly with writing and speaking opportunities, which are what I really love to do anyway. So I'll sit in this chair as long as He wants, continually thankful for His activity in my life!

I'll also be leading a ladies' Bible study (Beth M.'s new patriarchs study) on Wednesday nights at church and will direct the high school Sunday School department. We're going to use Fuel, and I'll get to do some large group teaching on weeks we decide to take a break from the dvd presentation. Thanks to you who have kept asking me about when and how I'm going to jump in and get going here at FBC Midlothian.

Back to mission trip~all reports from Clayton are good. He's having a great time and wishes you and I were there. Shout outs to my elder friends who are having birthdays this week and next---SA, AL, and LDW---it's so nice of y'all to break in those bigger numbers way before I have to think about it myself. You're so considerate! :-) love ya'~

Wear a WHAT???

Have you ever looked at a word and your brain just can't seem to decode it correctly? It happens to me from time to time, so I'm hoping I'm not alone in this. On Monday night the kids brought 3 friends to VBS. So I was busy registering them and when it came time to check off which craft class they would choose for the week, I read them off...."Gliders", "Scrapbooking", or "Wear a Bleee-art...wear a blurt...(then loudly and with foolish confidence) Wear a Blurt. I don't know what that is, so you might not want to choose that one." After I got them all situated and was walking down the hall my brain finally decided to kick into gear and it made my mouth say the words correctly aloud, "Wearable Art!!! It's wearable art!" Wow. But in my defense, the words on the card were printed as one word like this: wearableart. So you can see how such a mistake could be made.

Well the house is looking fantastic. Cabinets are in, trim work is complete and the bricking should be finished up later today. Tomorrow we go to pick out fixtures and stuff and then I think we'll be done with all our choices (except for landscaping, of course, which will be a long, costly, and arduous adventure spanning the next several years.) Next week, they'll paint. So our August move in is looking more and more do-able. Isn't that nice how I hyphenated that word for you so as not to confuse your brain?

Went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today. Say what you will about Mr. Depp, but he's exceptional at playing odd characters. I was a big fan of the first adaptation--Willy Wonka--but this one had some pretty funny stuff added in and I didn't have to sit through Granpa Joe and Charlie singing two painfully awful songs. And those Oompa-Loompas are dark brown, it turns out, instead of reddish-orange like those first movie-makers tried to make us think. I, for one, was strangely relieved.

Brandon's stitches are out and his face looks mostly normal again. Case of the mad terrier attack closed. Welcome Week (alternative to VBS for incoming 7th graders) is going swimmingly. Hope you're all having a fabulous week as well. Later.

A Very Super Summer

Upon further review, I think that maybe our lives are just eventful...and that's the reason some fun things happen to us. Because in addition to the neat stuff, we seem to have quite a list of the other kind. Take this week, for example. While Clay and I were at Super Summer in Abilene, the kids went to Midland for the week. Brandon (who I'm beginning to think should perhaps be kept under lock and key for awhile) managed to get bitten in the face by a dog. He and his friend, P, had gone to a neighbor's house to feed the precious little Terrier. Said dog was already in turmoil because his owners were away on vacation and remodeling was going on in the house. Then along came the two well-intentioned preteeners. Trying to make friends with the upset dog, Brandon reached down to pet him and came up with a hole in his lip. The result? 4 stitches and a way swollen face.

Other than that, the week was a success. The kids had fun, Super Summer was...well, super, and I was even able to fit in some Midland time myself. The marketing job was fun, especially rolling around campus on our official marketing golf cart. I worked like a dog, though (and hung in there quite well, I must say--a question before the trip since I haven't exerted that much energy in at least the last 5 years). It was lots of fun to see the students (FBC and Crestview) at recreation and throughout the day in their Bible study and family groups, and the worship times were especially meaningful. Let's see, oh yes...food! Though the Hardin Simmons cafeteria was available to me every day, LDW and I snuck off no less than 4 times to eat at Rosa's. And since I had not yet met my Mexican food saturation point, I topped off the week with one last visit in Midland on Saturday. Excessive? Yes, but tasty and thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.

So now we've arrived home and jumped right into Vacation Bible School. It's in the evenings, though, so I think we'll be able to get some r&r during the daytime this week. On Saturday, we're supposed to be leaving for Harlingen for the high school mission trip. We've got a group who is supposed to go over to Matamoros to do construction while the rest of us do soccer camp and other stuff through Buckner in Harlingen. It may end up being hurricane clean up, though, in which case the kids and I will stay here.

I think that should catch you up on life here (at least for the next day or two...)

An Aggie Couple in London

Just a few moments before I attempt a pleasant night's rest on the eve of my first trip to Super Summer to spend the week slaving away in the Wienie Wagon...thought you might be interested in reading our London friend's account of events this week.

http://wandsworthdiaries.blogspot.com

"Bueller...Bueller...Bueller..."

I guess it's really true, CG. All the cool stuff DOES happen to us. Last night we got to go to an Astros game at Minute Maid Park, compliments of Dad's workplace. We were down on the field level, 24 rows up a little way past first base. We got there way early because it was Clay's vacation and he's a huge fan. The kids and I left him to watch batting practice and headed (only a couple of sections over) to the kids' area, "Squeeze Play". As we walked up, a media girl was there to inquire whether Brandon or Abby would like to be video-taped demonstrating the games. Since Abby had her big TV moment last week, I figured it was Brandon's turn. The camera guy filmed him looking cute and waving hello, racing the giant mechanical bball player at "Home Plate Stretch", whacking water drops coming up from the "plate" at "Splatter Up" and throwing pitches into the giant catcher's glove at "Strike Zone". Oh, and he got a free hat.

Then we, with Clay, purchased signable souveneirs for the kids so they could stand along the first base side of the field to see if they could score some autographs. As they stoood there waiting, we had a front row view of Brandon, complete with first and last name, on the Jumbotron as promised. And before the National Anthem was even sung, Brandon was the proud new owner of a ball signed by Morgan Ensberg and Brad Ausmus, and Abby proudly toted a pink Astros bat signed by them as well. The only thing that could have made our Ferris Bueller moment more Bueller-like would have been for one of those foul balls to land softly in Abby's nachos like she was hoping. But she was content with her new bright yellow Squeeze Play hat that Brandon gave her (even wearing it loosely "in case my head grows during the game") and Brandon was happy for more obvious reasons. Later, we took them back to Squeeze Play when the game was well in hand for the 'stros because at Minute Maid, it may cost $7 for a bowl of melted cheese on tortilla chiops, but those kids' games are free for everyone.

Next stop on the summer tour: Super Summer in Abilene for Clay and me and a much-awaited return to Midland for the kids. As sands through the hour glass....