Jeremy's kitchen was my domain as I cooked and stocked his freezer with his favorite "Mom recipees". Destiny is pictured here in his living room.

Cute Sophie pics.

Once George and Dick helped Lisa get her mower out of the mud, she got the rest of the lawn mowed. Sophie watched from inside!

We said our good-byes to George when he left for work. Bless his heart - standing there in his hot dress clothes while the rest of us were in the pool! We even got to try the hot tub. Ahhh - those jets gave such a good back massage!

Parting pictures.

More parting pictures.

One last look at Lisa and George's beautiful Mexican villa.

At the Tampa Bay airport we did our usual things - returned the car, much to Destiny's dismay, checked in, ate at Chili's To Go, and watched Destiny play at the indoor playground directly across from our gate.

And then we were flying home. So many good memories, so much responsibility to go home to. Sigh. Once again Destiny found a friend - a boy her age sitting in the seat directly behind her. She put her DVD player on her arm rest so he could watch the movie Cars with her!

We're home

We had a very safe and uneventful trip home today, arriving here about 9:30 PM. After catching up on emails and blogs and mail I'm very ready for bed. I'll post pictures as soon as I can, hopefully sometime tomorrow.

Last day - boo hoo!

Well, here we are - last day here already, boo hoo. I could watch and listen and play with Sophie all day. She has the most delightful imagination. This morning she made me a great cup of coffee as soon as I came downstairs!

We had a full day at Jeremy's yesterday. I stocked up his freezer with his favorite meals while he and Dick and Mike put flooring in both bedrooms and Destiny played with the dogs.

Later we all came back to Lisa and George's - the guys hoping to soak their aching muscles in the hot tub. But unfortunately we were hit with a severe thunderstorm which caused the electricity to go out for a couple of hours. Lisa and I went to Wendy's to order take out for all of us, since we couldn't bake the lasagna I had made. What an order - for eight people! I was holding so much stuff on my lap when we got back home that when I tried to get out of the car I had forgotten to unlatch my seatbelt. We laughed as we found out just how far a seatbelt can stretch! We had fun eating in the dark on the screened in porch until the electricity came back on.

This morning we're just hanging out here, taking it easy, playing with Sophie, and laughing at Lisa getting stuck in the mud with her John Deere mower (Dick and George came to her rescue). I need to go try to reorganize all our stuff and get it packed up again. We'll be flying home late this afternoon- hopefully without all the extra "quality time" we had at the airport on Thursday!

Still having fun

We're still having fun down here. Last evening we went out to eat at their favorite Mexican restaurant. The food and atmosphere were great. I'll post pictures after we get home.

This morning we headed to the beach right away and had a WONDERFUL time. The water down here is so warm. There's nothing as relaxing to me as being in the ocean water up to my neck and letting the swell of the waves take me up and down as I look around at the beauty and vastness of the water and sky. Being with loved ones makes it that much more special. Sophie just loves the sand and Destiny could live in the water. So they were both happy.

After we came back to Lisa's and got cleaned up we headed to Jeremy's place in Brandon, about 1/2 hour away. (He was with us last evening at the restaurant and this morning at the beach.) Jeremy has two dogs - Lady, the sweet, docile Jack Russel that he's had for years, and Molly, the Miniature Italian Greyhound puppy that he just got this winter. She is a bundle of ENERGY. Add to that a male Shitzu that he's babysitting for someone else and Destiny who decided to pretend she was a dog all evening! Grrr!

I went grocery shopping soon after we got to Jeremy's, and while I was at the store it decided to start pouring rain. So I have looked like a drowned rat the rest of the day. This evening I made sausage and creamed potatoes for supper and molasses ginger snaps, two of Jeremy's favorite recipes.

While I was busy in the kitchen Jeremy and Dick and Mike, Jeremy's roommate, were busy tearing out the carpet in Jeremy's bedroom and starting to install wood flooring. What they've gotten done so far looks really beautiful. I'm glad Dick is getting the experience of doing it, because I really want to get rid of some carpets too sometime.

We're sleeping at Jeremy's tonight and will go back to Lisa's later tomorrow.

Just takin' it easy

We're here at Lisa and George's house taking it easy today - enjoying Sophie and Destiny, swimming in the pool, talking, eating, napping, etc. The story of getting here yesterday is a story in itself that I'll tell later when I get my pictures ready to upload.

We're off!!

Actually, we're not off yet. But we're supposedly getting a very strong storm in the next half hour, so just in case our electricity gets knocked out, I'm posting this now. I'm so excited!!

Getting acclimated

We have certainly been having HUMID weather the past few days. At least when we arrive in Tampa tomorrow night we will already be acclimated! Yes, I did say tomorrow night!! I can hardly wait. We'll leave here around 3:00 for the Baltimore Airport, earlier than necessary, but you never know what to expect during rush hour.

This evening Dick said, "I guess we'd better check what the newest security guidelines are." I said, "Well, I think I heard that we're now allowed to take breast milk and butane lighters on board." Of course we were quite relieved. Ha, ha!

Destiny wasn't here yesterday and today (until I picked her up late this afternoon). I worked out each day, gave a piano lesson, did some cooking, got all the music ready for Sunday and delivered it to the church for the youth worship team to use on Sunday, and now I'm doing the laundry so we can pack in the morning.

Below I posted a picture of the flowers that are behind my sun room. I don't remember what kind they are. When we were planting flowers in June I didn't have anything to plant there, and we had already spent too much money on flowers. Besides I don't think anything had ever been planted there before and the soil was all hard and stony. The people who lived here before had big, plastic storage containers sitting there and I just didn't bother to plant anything there the past two summers. So I bought a pack of seeds and some potting soil and dried manure, not really expecting anything to grow. Dick worked the potting soil and manure into the stony ground, then he and Destiny sowed the seeds. Nothing came up for over a week, but lo and behold, after while little green things popped up all over the place, and now they've started to bloom. I just love them. But I can't find the seed envelope, so I don't remember what we planted!

So what are these cheerful yellow things?

Anyone need a cute maid?

I know one in Florida. She does rugs...

...and tile floors...

...and steps. But I don't know if you could afford her. She really likes money!

Maybe Anthony and Lori should hire her. They're started this big remodelling project and could probably use an extra hand!

Of speeding tickets and dentist appointments

This morning I read on my friend Tracey's blog (at Show Me State...of Mind) that she had the unfortunate experience of being stopped for speeding on her way to church yesterday morning. I thought maybe I should loan her Destiny. Destiny has just recently become aware of speed limit signs, so now every time we're in the car she says, "Can we look for those signs, Grandma?" Then she sits there in her back seat booster and announces each speed limit as we pass the sign! Surely that would have saved Tracey some money!

Because Tracey said she was unaware of her speed due to the tremendously interesting things John Tesh was talking about on his radio show, it reminded me of something I was going to write about for a Story Saturday sometime. But I'll just tell it here:

When I was a teenager my parents and several of us girls were all working on memorizing the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5,6,and 7. One evening as we were driving in the car we started taking turns reciting it. When one would get stuck, we'd see how far the next one could go,etc. We were especially working on chapter 7 when my dad became aware of the flashing light behind him. My DAD, the PREACHER, was getting stopped for speeding!! We tried to hold our giggles in while he was being written up, wondering how many people passing by might be recognizing our Ford station wagon! But when we drove off, did we ever laugh. The funniest part of all was that right before we were pulled over we had been saying the verse, "Let your light so shine before men......"

My friend Tonja (at Gatherings) has a very dreaded dentist appointment tomorrow. I thought I would cheer her up by showing her pictures from Destiny's dentist appointment earlier today!

Look, Tonja! Going to the dentist is FUN!!

This is the trick, Tonja - when they're doing a procedure that bothers you, just hold your left leg up in the air and start counting (in your head of course, since your mouth will be unavailable!) as long as you can hold your leg up!

When the left leg gets tired, you put up your right leg and start counting to see if you can hold it up longer than you did the left one! Before you know it, the procedure is finished!!

The Lord is good

Due to several families being away on vacation and the men and boys' camping trip this weekend, our attendance was lower than normal this morning at church. But the Lord did not go on vacation! I just love when it's very evident that He has a theme throughout the service, even when we humans did not get together ahead of time to plan it out. The last two songs I led this morning before the message were "Let Your Holy Rain Fall Down" and "All Who Are Thirsty", both songs which confess our dry and weary souls that are crying out to the Lord for strength. (I'll type the lyrics below.) The elder who preached this morning had a message prepared from Isaiah 40: 28- 51 and Psalm 103 which speak of renewing our strength. We couldn't have planned it better if we had tried!

After church Destiny and I went to my friend Rose's house for a most delicious lunch. She has a lot of animals, so Destiny was in heaven. When we got home at 2:30 Dick was already home from camping. I got a goooood nap while Destiny watched her Veggie Tales Jonah movie.

This evening we went to visit Dick's parents. His stepmother finished chemo treatments for lymphoma a few months ago. Her hair is growing back and she didn't have her wig on this evening. She looks very "hip". I told her she should spike it!

Now for the lyrics from the songs I mentioned above. This first one I learned in the last year. I subscribe to SongDiscovery through which I receive a new enhanced CD of Praise and Worship songs from various sources every two months. I wish you could hear this song.

LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN

DAVID M. EDWARDS, REGI STONE

IN DRY AND BARREN LAND
OUR FIELDS HAVE TURNED TO SAND
BEFORE YOU NOW WE STAND
LORD COME AND HEAL THIS LAND

LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN
LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN
WASH AND CLEANSE WITHIN WITHOUT
WATER OUR SOUL'S THIRSTY GROUND
LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN

THE WELLS OF OUR SUPPLY
ARE BROKEN AND RUN DRY
WITH DESP'RATE HEARTS WE CRY
LORD OPEN UP THE SKY

LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN
LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN
WASH AND CLEANSE WITHIN WITHOUT
WATER OUR SOUL'S THIRSTY GROUND
LET YOUR HOLY RAIN FALL DOWN

2006 VAN NESS PRESS, INC.

I'll never forget the first time I heard this next song back in 2003. I was experiencing a heart rending event in regards to Destiny, and Jeremy led this song. I could not sing a word of the song as I sat and wept. My friend Kati, who knew nothing of what I was experiencing, felt the Lord urging her to get up and go put her arms around me. What a precious way to receive the love of Jesus.

ALL WHO ARE THIRSTY
BRENTON BROWN and GLENN ROBERTSON

ALL WHO ARE THIRSTY
ALL WHO ARE WEAK
COME TO THE FOUNTAIN
DIP YOUR HEART IN THE STREAM OF LIFE
LET THE PAIN AND THE SORROW
BE WASHED AWAY
IN THE WAVES OF HIS MERCY
AS DEEP CRIES OUT TO DEEP (WE SING)

COME LORD JESUS COME
COME LORD JESUS COME
HOLY SPIRIT COME
HOLY SPIRIT COME

1998 VINEYARD SONGS

Another nice, slow day

This was another nice, slow day. I did venture outside the house though. Don't I sound like some kind of recluse?? Ha, ha!

Dick left this morning for a boys' and men's camping trip at Camp Hebron with other guys from church. I went to the gym this afternoon and then did some shopping. That's the one time I REALLY DON'T miss Destiny - when I'm shopping for anything, even groceries. Her absolutely worst behavior is always in a store. She wants EVERYTHING.

I picked her up at 8:30 this evening, so we're having a girls' night in! I'll have her till Monday, because I have a dentist appointment for her.

Well, gotta hit the sack, since I must handle the Sunday morning routine and the worship team by myself tomorrow morning. I'll have to find something to take pictures of tomorrow. My blog is starting to look boring!

Home all day

I did not go anywhere all day long today, not to the gym, not even to get the mail. (So if you sent me something, I didn't get it yet. Ha, ha!) Destiny wasn't here so I decided to use my uninterrupted time to catch up on delayed bookwork, bill paying, and mail. It took hours. Then I spent the rest of the day finishing up the project I started earlier in the week of reorganizing all the worship team musicians' notebooks. For a long time I was listening to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir as I worked. Their music just puts me in the presence of the Lord, so I also ended up crying and praying a good bit as I worked. Other times I was so blessed I just couldn't keep my hands down. There just is nothing as awesome and sweet as the presence of the Lord.

I made a pan of lasagna with some of the spaghetti sauce I made last week. I'm trying to get away from using regular "white" pasta, but I just hate the flavor of whole wheat pasta. Lisa introduced me to Barilla Plus pasta, which is not 100% whole wheat, but it has other nutritious things added. That brand, however, does not make lasagna noodles, so I substituted with Penne. Amazingly, after it was baked it tasted exactly like normal lasagna. Except mine is better than normal lasagna because it's made with my spaghetti sauce. Just ask my children.

I am joining a group of bloggers who have committed to reading a chapter of Proverbs per day this month. I'm supposed to put a link here, but I'm too sleepy to figure out how to do it. I have read the book of Proverbs this way many, many times in the past. But it's been a while, and I know that as we get to different places in our lives different scriptures speak to us that didn't seem to before. Besides, I got this Message Bible this summer, and I decided it would be interesting to read the Proverbs in it. Is it ever!! The language is supposed to be current, so sometimes it's just plain funny. Like the last few verses of chapter 3 - "He gives proud skeptics a cold shoulder, but if you're down on your luck, he's right there to help. Wise living gets rewarded with honor; stupid living gets the booby prize."

A sweet day

I guess I'd better post something so you don't have to look at my prior headline about the bridge collapse. I suppose everyone has seen and heard enough about that already. I confess I'm a news junkie, but even I get to the point where I realize the media is milking every tiny aspect of it for all it's worth.

This morning our weekly prayer meeting was held here since my pastor's wife is on vacation. What a sweet time of prayer and sharing I had with my dear friends Betty and Chris.

Destiny wanted to make cookies today. I very seldom bake, but I decided to make a memory, so we made peanut butter cookies with sprinkles on top. She was even able to read most of the recipe! I sent most of the cookies with her when I took her back to her mommy. Of course I ate a few and saved some for Dick too.

When I grew up we always had homemade cake, cookies, or pie for dessert. I started out that way after we were married, but as the years and the pounds accumulated, I baked less and less. Now the only time I bake a dessert is for a special occasion.

Which reminds me, before Lisa and George came last month I made blueberry pies for the first time in many years. I have a cherry pie recipe that is hand written by my mother (she died in 1982, so you know I've had that card a long time!) Her recipe calls for red food coloring. So since I was adapting the recipe to blueberries instead of cherries, I decided to put blue food coloring in it. BIG MISTAKE!!! The pies were delicious, but they looked almost flourescent - especially on our teeth and tongues! We just cracked up laughing at each other!

A tragedy in Minneapolis

Wow, I just sat down to write something on here when I noticed a horrible news headline on my yahoo home page. Out in Minneapolis a freeway bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed this evening during rush hour and many cars fell. That just makes me want to go to Florida and drive on those long bridges!!

Speaking of Florida, we now have two trips to Florida planned in the next month. We're going to Tampa to see our kids there August 9 - 13. Then Sept. 1 - 3 (Labor Day weekend) we're going to Pensacola to see Ray.

My first day of in service at school is August 23 and the students' first day is the 27th. So with all that coming up, I guess I'd better be counting the days of freedom I have left!

This week I'm updating our church musicians' notebooks (getting rid of old stuff, etc.) It's pretty emotional, actually. Every song carries memories - of who I learned it from, the way it brought the presence of the Lord, what I was going through at the time and how it ministered to me, etc.

Which reminds me of a song that's been stuck in my head for days. I really am feeling the pain that Destiny's mother and her family are experiencing this week. I also am very close to several women at church and my precious niece Lori who are parenting their children alone through no choice of their own. My heart just aches for them all. And I thought of them all when I heard this song last week.

Cry Out To Jesus
Words by Mac Powell / Music by Third Day

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering

When you're lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus

To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

(c) 2005 Consuming Fire Music / ASCAP. All rights administered by EMI