Car Problems

We are a few hours from home at our annual missions conference/camp meeting.  We had to pass through the area of the L.A. fires.  Mop-up operations have started since the fires are bout 25% contained.  All the residents have been able to go home again.  I brought the camera to try to get a couple of shots, but haven't had time to look at them yet.

We got off the freeway near the San Bernardino mountains to continue on our trip.  Ther was a detour and we lost our way.  I got a little (?) tense and picked on Rob.  We went the wrong way and when we hit the intersection, he couldn't stop the car.  We were way past the crosswalk when we finally stopped.  Of course, I figured it was his driving and he said it was the brakes.  We drove the next 20 - 25 miles very gingerly.  The brakes were indeed very squishy.  It was a little scary.

We got to our hotel and asked directions to a brake shop that was reputable.  They gave us direction to an area where there were several repair shops.  We went to Midas and got the brakes looked at.  The master cylinder is out.  Ka-put!  No good.  That's what we get for driving an older car - these things just wear out.  I won't tell you how much it's going to cost, but this is going to be a very expensive weekend.  We'll probably be going on a diet this month.

We can praise the Lord that we have the money in the bank, there are people here willing to take us from the hotel to camp meeting and back and they serve 3 meals at the camp meeting! 

Will try to update and get pictures in after we get back from the meeting tonight.  If not, we'll be on sometime tomorrow afternoon.  I miss my home connection.  I forgot my favorite pillow.  I miss the dog . . .the birds . . .well, I don't miss work.

Be blessed,

Beauty from the Ashes

I wish I'd had my camera with me for the drive to and from work today.  This morning, the sky over the ocean was a pinkish-purple-gray, billowing from behind the hills to the south of us.  Los Angeles county is on fire!  The color was spectauclar but unsettling.  All the way to work I could see the shifting colors and feel the heat of the day starting early.

Yesterday, when the fires started, the temperature at my work was 102 degrees.  Even nestled where we are, we could see smoke drifting our way from the fires some 30 miles south-east of us.  The Santa Ana winds kicked up all day long.

It cooled through the night, but the fires raged on.  I got the fnatastic sky-view on the way to work.  By the time I arrived, the heat was blistering around the blacktop and buildings of the storage place.  I was sweating quickly between the time I left my car and got the front door open.  Heck of a time for fires.  It's already hot enough and the smokey covering keeps the heat in.  I had to step back out to get the cart and felt a bit of nausea as the wave of temperature hit me.  I was sluggish all day.  Thank God the Santa Anas didn't kick up again. 

We watched the TV news most of the day and saw the fires up close and personal.  Million dollar homes were threatened, but the firefighters worked tirelessly to save them.  So far only one home and some out-buildings have been lost in the 17,000 acre fires.  Many people have been evacuated and the freeways are jammed up.  Of course, L.A. freeways are always pretty terrible.

On the ride home from work, I listened to radio news.  I always wear my sunglasses because I drive home to the setting sun.  This evening, with the sun sinking in the sky, the colors were more orange-grey-red, with a HUGE red ball of sun partially obscured by clouds and smoke.  That's when I felt like hitting myself for not bringing my camera along today.  It was incredibly beautiful!  Even in a disaster, there is beauty around.

I am totally in awe that from the ashes comes such loveliness.  That's God for you. 

Patrick's New Tuesday Two

Patrick's started a Tuesday meme.  Two questions, answer only one.  I chose B:

QUESTION B:
Do you feel your present age now?  In other words, do you feel that you are younger, older or right at your actual age emotionally and physically, and why?

This is the lesser of two evils.  Physically, I feel much older than my physical age of 56.  I've had a lot of illness the last year or so that has gotten me down.  Emotionally, however, I am still surprised when I pass a mirror and don't see the young girl who lives inside me.  My mind is active, playful and ready to go even if the body can't keep up.

What Book of the Bible Are You?

I got this from Charley, who got it from somebody else.  To take the quiz, go to www.quizilla.com

It's pretty complementary, but on the whole it's also pretty much like me . . ."there but for the grace of God . . ."

Better Late than Never

Can you believe this?  I missed my journal birthday!  True I wasn't feeling well, but I've thought about it and planned and thought about what I would say when From Here to There reached her first birthday.  Yes, of course my journal is female.  Last time I looked, I was female, too.  Men don't think like us.

I wrote my first journal entry on September 16, 2004.  It was John's weekend assignment and he asked what song we played at our wedding reception.  Here's my answer.  Since then, I've added a couple more journals.  One is autobiographical and the other spiritual.  Truth is, they are all about me and my relationship with life.

Wow, Journal, you've served me well!  and this week I found out that Kelly picked my name as one of her blogs for Editor of the Week.  Cool, huh? I never get picked for anything.  I've made a lot of friends here in J-Land in the last year.  If I were to try to name them all, I'd miss one and feel terrible.  So suffice it to say that I love you all. 

I really love having this journal.  It's a release for my frustrated writing talents and for my thoughts.  I'm pretty good verbally, but have always been better at the written word.  I started typing out stories at about the age of six on my mother's old portable Smith-Corona. I am always writing something down on this computer.  I thought a 100 gig hard drive would be great and I'll bet I've used up more than half of it already.

I think it's great that AOL has set up J-Land for us to play with and share our thoughts.  I'm grateful to my son for introducing me to you.  I sure hope the second year of this journal will be as great as the first has been.

Be blessed,

 

Anniversary

                               

 

I've been so self-absorbed this week I didn't realize what day it was.  As many of you know, I had surgery on Thursday to remove a lump I found above my right breast.  As far as the doctor can tell, it was a benign lump so everything is okay.  I'm relieved, to say the least.  I wasn't all that worried, but the mind still plays tricks on you when you least expect it. 

The surgery hurt more than I expected.  I figured I could be back doing everything on Friday.  Wrong!  I wanted to go back to work on Saturday, but opted for another day at home.  My co-worker wasn't too happy, but I didn't figure I'd be at my best on pain drugs.  Tomorrow I'll go back to work. 

Tomorrow is a very special day for me . . .and until just a few minutes ago, I forgot.  Just don't tell Rob I forgot.  He'll never let me live it down.  It was four years ago tomorrow that we got married.  I could relive that day in my mind a bazillion times and it wouldn't get old.  I still get that little tingly feeling in my stomach when he smiles that special smile at me.

I know, I know.  I should feel that way after only 4 years!  But let me tell you, we've been through 20 years worth of experiences in these 4 years.  And really . . .I've been married so often that you'd think butterflies would be a thing of the past for me.  You'd be wrong. 

I think when God picks the right person for you, whether it's from the start or after a few tries, the butterflies and tinglies will last forever.  Our hearts weren't slammed up against each other with that HUGE thrill like I felt when I was a teenager, rather wound together like a vine, twisting and turning and making adjustments for age and wisdom and mistakes.  That vine reaches up toward God with a kind of love that I can't explain, but God can.  He knew what he was doing when He knit us together as a family.  We'vehad to take our life experiences and weave them into the structure of our life together to make a perfect whole.  There's nothing about me he doesn't know or I wouldn't tell him.  Like Popeye, I am what I am.  Likewise, I know Rob better than anyone else alive does.  We fit together like hand and glove.

You know, I thought after being widowed a few years ago that I'd had enough love to last a lifetime.  I had a good life serving the Lord and it just couldn't get any better than that.  Never second-guess your Father in heaven!  He had more love to fill my heart and my arms.  I am so grateful that He loves me enough to send a treasured second family into my life. 

Blended, we are.  We were mixed together in God's blender and if I do say so myself, we came out mighty tasty.

 

Happy Heather Day

                         

Tomorrow is my daughter Heather's birthday.  I'll leave it up to her to tell you how old she is, but suffice it to say she's not a baby anymore. 

Heather was born on a Friday night at 10:26 pm.  It was an easy labor and delivery and a tiny, pink, beautiful little girl slid from my body into this world.  I wasn't much more than a little girl myself, but I was deliriously happy.  Somehow I knew she would be a girl and my husband and I named her Heather Lynn.  Her dimples showed up right away and in the nursery at less than an hour old, my precocious little girl kicked off her blanket and rolled to her side.

I thought she was the most beautiful baby in the world.  I told my mom that I couldn't have more children because I knew I wouldn't love them as much as I loved that baby.  My mom said there was enough love in our hearts to love as many children as God wanted us to have.

Heather was a pretty normal kid for growing up in a broken, re-broken and broken again home. I'd like to say our relationship was perfect, but it wasn't.  Gotta take the blame for a lot of that. I can't change what's past, but we have a wonderful relationship today.

                 

Heather lives in the mountains of Northern California.  It's been more than 2 years since I've been able to hug her or hold her and I miss her.  Fortunately, she has internet and a phone, so we are in almost daily contact.  She has 5 great kids.  Through all her struggles and there have been many, she has never given up on those children.  She's stronger than most women will ever hope to be.

I'm going to miss her day tomorrow because I am having surgery, but all the same I will be with her in spirit.  Below is a picture of Heather, her boyfriend Jason and 3 of her 5 kids.  If she had a journal, I'd send you all off to wish her a happy birthday. 

        HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATHER!!!!!!