Waving Goodbye

The notebook is full, pictures taken, goodbyes said, and new calendars hung. Birch trees are trimmed, money spent, daughter married, and birthdays past.

Pretty simple, really. God is good.

Family Fun

Great weather added to the blessings of being with family today. Each of us read a portion of Luke 2 before opening gifts. Angel enjoyed her stuff, especially a Planet Frog habitat (have to order the tadpoles). Thanks to Ginnie and Jack, Marty and Karen, John and Betty and the kids for remembering us this season. We love you all.

Barb cooked a huge pre-sliced ham, her famous scalloped carrots, cranberry jello and slightly burned on the bottom rolls. Potatoes covered in cheesy stuff rounded out the simple fare. No menu-making this week! Plenty of leftovers for stuffing ourselves.



May God have mercy on our nation as we remember His greatest gift of His only Son and turn to Him in faith and love.

Stress for Less

Between the Jersey Prison Ship, Walker-Texas Ranger, Christmas Lights, my Sick Better Half, a Sunday Wedding, Paul McCartney on PBS, an Itchy Back, and Good Health, today's minutes tick-tock by in a regular rhythm, like footsteps in time, like a drip-drip-dripping drain pipe in the middle of the night, like the clickety-clack on the railroad track.

You guessed it! I've got absolutely nothing worth noting this evening.

Another Empty Nest

"True love is the gift which God hath given,
To man alone beneath the heaven.
The silver link, the silver tie,
Which heart to heart, and mind to mind,
In body and in soul can bind." Sir Walter Scott

Elizabeth enjoyed the party festivities at her bridal shower last weekend when a few of her soul sisters honored her with their presence. Games, food and a $40-40-bite cake (from Baskin-Robbins) rounded out the wing-ding. Now she has that crock pot she's been dreaming about!

With the wedding coming up soon and a new move into an old house, heads are spinning and the panic attacks are looming over the horizon. Change can be a killer emotionally. But love and hope usually win the battle.

Barb and I will return to the empty nest for about the 4th or 5th time. It's getting to take on a nostalgic flavor, this stable and quiet experiment. We'll miss the messes mostly. Someone (make that two) to clean up after. Maybe the new happy family will hire us to come over and clean up after them anyway. Best not to offer.

I'll be taking pictures of the wedding, Lord willing. I don't think the extra flash attachment equipment will be here in time (just ordering it now). But I won't stress over it. They're not paying me, so gratis covers a multitude of goofs.

Hotdog Buns and Honkin' Ducks

Liz's bridal shower started at 4:00 this afternoon, so I took Angel to the museum park so she could feed the ducks and take video. And did she ever get into shooting anything and everything. I'll try to coax her along in the photography department and see if she has an eye and passion for it. Both have to go together.

The photography forum I frequent always has a few newcomers who are still newbies in the photo world. Some of them look promising. Others rave about nothing more than a jumbled snapshot that lacks all the main ingredients that create a pleasing shot. They ask for a critique and may or may not get one, depending on the 'friendliness and tact' of the person who replies. I don't like to hurt people's feelings, so I've seldom answer these posts. Sorry. Guess I need to practice "telling the truth in love" more.



Angel loved feeding the ducks. A few slices of bread and two hotdog buns. She loved chasing the pigeons, so I had to tell her to stop. She ran out of bread and started teasing the ducks with the wrapper, trying to put it on their heads, I think. So I had to tell her to stop that shenannigan as well. It was time to leave. Getting dark, and I wanted some pizza.



A few "stand over by that tree" pictures punctuated the walk back to the car. Another memory made with a wonderful memory-making granddaughter. Thank you, Lord, for those precious gifts we neither deserve nor appreciate as we ought --- especially in giving your Son to live and die that we would know and love you eternally.