My Turn

I guess it really wasn't fair that everybody else in the family took their turn being sick for a day or two and I opted out. So today I decided to join them. I woke up with a sore throat, all over achiness, and pressure--lots and lots of pressure--in my head. When I stand up my head starts throbbing in a very not pleasant sort of way, so I've spent most of the day doing the kind of work that can be done from a chair. Computer work and phone calls, that is.

Aside from a few minor things to tweak, I finished up on a very short edition of the Western Skies tonight. This was the first time ever that deadline day came and I had received NOTHING--not one single article or boost for publication! Crazy. I sent out an e-mail that night and some folks managed to get some articles and pictures to me by the next day, so we're in business. Eight pages this time instead of the usual twelve. I'm kind of glad, all things considered.

I also spent a considerable amount of time this afternoon trying to secure dates and locations for our Regional Convention and Family Camp next year. It required talking to "the mayor," which is anything but helpful to a person with a headache. Only some folks from our region can possibly understand that. ;-) It didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped (why do I cling to stupid hopes like that--shouldn't I know better by now???), so I called our current ;-) Camp Director and hashed out the options with him. He pretty much confirmed the decision I was already feeling like would be necessary, thus giving me somebody else to blame when people complain about the decision we were forced to make. :-) It helps, too, that we're being forced into the decision. There aren't really sufficient grounds for the gripers if there was no other option to be chosen, right?!

Let's see. That's about it. I keep thinking I'll blog about the Assembly... but why? Most everybody who was interested was able to watch it online! What's left to tell??? And I keep thinking I'll blog about our time in Tennessee the week after the Assembly, but it seems too daunting. Mostly because it would require taking the time to upload a whole bunch of pictures. Ah, why not??? It's not like I'm going to work on the ironing tonight anyway. I'm already sitting here trying hard not to get up, so why not take the time to post pictures? Here they are...

First of all, let me say to all of you parents out there with little ones... HANG IN THERE!!! The Assembly will be sooooo much easier in a few years! Ha! My kids were at a really great age this year as far as being able to endure the long days of sitting still and being quiet. And this was the first year Sam has attended Children's Assembly, so that helped, too. He tried last year, but had to be sent back to his mother. ~ahem~ Actually, he didn't try. He HATES situations like that. He gets it from his Mom. There is no worse place in the world than a room full of people who seem to know each other, but you don't know them. Ooooooh, I hate that. And Sam is built the same way, I guess. But I MADE him go to the Children's Assembly this year because I escorted them there the first day and stuck around for the first 15 minutes and could tell by all of the costumes and props (it was COWBOY and INDIAN stuff, for goodness' sake--right down Sam's alley!) and the people in charge that it was going to be GREAT and Sam would really enjoy it... if only I could make him stay. I reasoned with him sufficiently (okay, I threatened him within an inch of his life) and convinced him that he could and would stay there, have a good time, and not make any trouble at all. I don't know that he pulled of that last part, but at least he wasn't sent back to his mother this time! ANYWAY (rambling, rambling), due to Children's Assembly and just the fact that my youngest is now 5 years old, the Assembly was sooooo much easier and a whole lot less tiring than this year. Wa-Hoo!

So all three kids thoroughly enjoyed the Assembly this year. Sam even confessed to liking Children's Assembly..."jus a little bit." We sat behind or next to the Salazar family from Venezuela throughout the week and Katie fell in love with their daughter, Koana. What a neat family! Brother Salazar cracks me up. He's such a happy, jolly sort of fellow. We don't understand one another's languages, but he communicated just fine showing hand tricks (to look like he was pulling his finger off) to my boys and digging a litte, furry fake mouse out of his pocket to try to scare his daughter with. Ha! He's great!!!

Joe had a truly great Assembly this year. He was just DYING to meet somebody from Africa and would ask about every black person that we saw, wanting to know where they were from. He was shocked beyond belief with I told him that Brother Booker T. Smith (that is his name, right???) is from North Carolina. HA! Joe was all excited one day because he'd been talking with some girl from "Poe-toe-Ree-koe." (Puerto Rico, that is.) And he got his picture taken with Brother Mbogo, which thrilled him to no end.

The other great honor that Joe experienced was being able to finally meet Donnie Estep. He's been dying to do that ever since he heard that Brother Donnie used to be scared of the dark when he was a kid! Ha! He had confessed to such on my blog a year or two ago and it truly helped Joe to know that a great big, burly, manly sort of fellow like Donnie Estep (from our description of him, that is! Ha!) was afraid of the dark, too. It really did help him to work through it. Thanks, Brother Donnie, if you're out there! And thanks for the politician's pose. You made my son's day. :-)
And that's about it for Assembly pictures. Jenna got all of the good ones. ;-)

The week after the Assembly was spent at Mom and Dad's house. We had a good, relaxing week, but James and all of the kids took turns being sick with serious fever and headaches and such. They're all doing better now, though they're all still coughing that nasty cough and Joe is still acting groggy. Of course, with Joe it's hard to tell his groggy from his not groggy! Ha! Here he is at Mom and Dad's house, "relaxing" (?) in the hammock.

And Dad shoving the kids off for a little ride. Not really. He took them, not sent them. ;-)
And the dogs taking in all the action. :-) I just love these puppies. They are so friendly and lovable and fun to watch. And it's just the coolest thing in the world how they roam freely all through the woods and all over Mom & Dad's property, almost always a foursome. I've never seen a pack of dogs before, but these guys certainly keep to the pack!
They do have some bad habits, however. Here's Mom discovering one of her coffee mugs in the yard. They're quite the adorable little thieves. One day Jon came in the door with one of Joe's tennis shoes that he had caught a dog carrying off. We looked for the other shoe for days before accidentally discovering it down the hill behind the house next to a tree stump.
Who could do such a thing??? Surely not these innocent little darlings! Just look at them!
And look at that face! Not him!!! ;-) This is Ralph. He's my favorite. He's got lots of personality and lo-o-o-o-o-oves attention. And I just love all of his extra skin that wrinkles up like that!
Granddad took the kids fishing on the pond for quite a while one day. I think they caught 8 or 9 fish altogether. Josiah is a great little fisherman. He loves it and will spend hours and hours casting and reeling and casting and reeling. He caught a giant catfish this day, but the line broke just as he got it up to the boat. No matter, he's got a great fisherman's story to tell now. ;-) Here he is with his best fishing face. And Sam with his best... Sam face, I guess!
Dad's fishing face...
And Joe's I-just-landed-another-big-one face. Makes me very happy. :-)
And here's Katie's best my-day-to-be-sick face. She slept most of the day.
Granddad and Sam shooting some hoops. I love their form--both of 'em!
And Joe...
And the two puzzles Mom and I put together that week. :-)

~sigh~ I love these pictures. Everything about them says, "This boy needs a dog!!!"

Here he is with Maxie, the mama dog. I was taking these shots through the window and couldn't get a good angle, but I still love the pictures.
And Katie teaching Granddad and Uncle Jon how to do it right. Ha! Her method is HILARIOUS, but she's actually pretty good! I was amazed. And proud. ;-)

Dad doesn't just do granny shots... but they're always my favorite to watch!
And one last picture of the puppies. :-) The love to wrestle, any time and anywhere, but their favorite spot seems to be Mom's front porch. Here they are knocking a chair over... I'll never understand her. She didn't even think it was cute or funny or anything!
We left Mom & Dad's house on Friday after left-over Thanksgiving dinner. Ah yes, we've begun a new tradition. Since it appears we may never again be together for Thanksgiving, we're going to try to have a pseudo Thanksgiving dinner together each year after the Assembly. We did pretty good this year for it being a spur of the moment idea, but I'm sure we'll be able to make it even better next year!

Anyway, we stayed around for lunch on Friday then loaded up the van and headed west. We stopped and ate at Casey Jones' for dinner. The food there is soooooooo good. Wow. We drove on to... Hhmmm... Forrest City, Arkansas??? I think that's where we stayed.

The next day we ended up in the right place at the right time to meet with Ray & Tammi Adams for dinner. Fun! We shopped around Mardel in turbo speed, then had a nice visit with them over some Mazzio's pizza before heading out again. We took a detour so we could stay in Borger, Texas, that night, enabling us to visit the cemetery in Stinnett the next morning. My grandparents are buried there and it had been way too long since I'd been back to visit. We replaced the church flag on their grave with a fresh new one and spent a while just sitting and thinking and talking and crying. The kids never knew them, but Joe sat and cried with me. He's just that kind of a kid. It's so hard to go back there, but somehow it feels so good. I'm so thankful to have had and known such amazing grandparents for as long as the Lord left them with us. It makes me miss them so much more when I go to the cemetery, but I'm glad to do it. It's better than forgetting.

After we left there we drove on to Amarillo. James saw enough billboards in the 300 miles leading to it that he made up his mind we were going to stop at this place for lunch...

I LOVE all of those Texas flags blowing in the wind against that great blue sky!

To save me from explaining it, here is the restaraunt's claim to fame...
And a picture of the display steak just inside the door. You can't really tell the size from the picture, but it pretty well covers up a nice sized plate. James didn't try it, in case you're wondering. ;-) We just ordered nice little regular steaks.

We drove the rest of the day and made it home at 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We unloaded the van faster than I ever would have dreamed possible, everybody threw fresh shirts on, I washed my face and pulled my hair and Katie's hair back anew, we jumped in the van, zoomed into town and made it at 5:00 on the dot--just in time for church! Wa-Hoo! It was ABM service and, as always, was great. I especially enjoyed the part about us being salt. Other churches may have food to offer, but The Church of God just tastes different! Food with no salt is bland, but when it's seasoned just right you find yourself coming back for more. There's a "salty" spirit about God's Church that just makes the Word taste so much better, don't you think???

Since that time I've been doing laundry, scowling at the mountain of ironing yet to be touched, and working on the regional paper. School with the kids. Oh, and yesterday it was COLD here so I found myself making our first big pot of that delicious corn chowder this year--and cinnamon rolls for dessert! Yum! I'm SOOOOO glad I did. It was terrific last night, but it was extra nice to have it today when I wasn't feeling well. ~sigh~ Life is grand. I think the high a day or two ago was 53 and the low was 26 or something like that. I love our weather!