Hope of spring

What did I see yesterday? Why, a flock of geese heading NORTH!

Need I say more?

The hardest teaching.....

The Gospel reading from Sunday mass. This is a very hard teaching to swallow as we begin the season of Lent. It is the ideal, what we all want to be, and continually fail to become. It is quite easy to be a good person in America, as the majority of our society is "good". So this teaching should really hit home with us. How often do we get angry, hate people who aren't like us, figure that folks in jail "deserved it" or they wouldn't be there, and spout our superiority with every word. We refuse to be kind, refuse to be reconciled, refuse to reach out to those who are different, those who are in need, those who are alone.

Gospel
Lk 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

Weekend Update...

Friday and Saturday was the Novice Hoe-Down at Park Hill / Park Hill South for Jordy. She ended up with a 4th place in Puff. (Public forum for you non-debaters). Great job! She was of course in a rush to get home and get ready for Courtwarming Dance. We tried a little pull back style, but it just didn't work out. Started from scratch with a wash and style and it looked FABULOUS DAHLING. Gorgeous daughter in a fantastic dress.

Saturday I just laid around reading Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers. Woke up at 3am with a migraine that just wouldn't quit. Ugh. We did make a short appearance at our church sweetheart dance, but surprisingly (hah) didn't dance.

It was REALLY nice to sleep in Sunday morning. Kids had youth band at the 6pm mass, so we didn't have to get up early. Ahhh. I got up at 7am which is late for me. Mass was great. The youth band just gets better all the time. When they first started last year it was a bit of a shaky start, but they really sound great now. They get lots of applause. Oh, last night they had the "hand choir" who are a youth group that do signing at church. Very cool.

Today, back to normal, back to work. Rode my bike this a.m. for the first time in awhile (indoor bike silly). I need a rack for my car for my outdoor bike!

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Here's a review I found on Amazon for one of my favorite books:

Doomsday Book is set in 2054, when time travel is run of the mill but everything else is, rather implausibly, pretty much like the present. The only real exception is a random collection of tech gadgets such as video phones and laser candles. Kivrin, a female undergraduate history student at Oxford, is to be the first person sent back to the Middle Ages (to 1320), because — wait for it! — no qualified historian is available. Everything goes wrong with the mission — the bungling incompetence of the academics organising it is, unfortunately, quite plausible — and she is delivered instead to 1348, the year the Black Plague reached England. Meanwhile a flu epidemic has hit 2054, and Oxford is quarantined. The bulk of the book consists of parallel accounts of the two epidemics and this is worked out much better than the time-travel setup.

Despite the weaknesses in the science and the implausible 2054 Oxford, I enjoyed Doomsday Book a lot. I much prefer well-written books with lousy science to engineering manuals dressed up as novels. I'm not sure it deserved its Hugo and Nebula award double, but Doomsday Book is definitely worth a read, especially if you are interested in epidemiology (used to produce a rather clever detective problem) or medieval English history.

A book review by Danny Yee © 1993 http://dannyreviews.com/

Random thoughts

• I was hoping to get out to Martha Lafite and bird watch while snow was on the ground. That would make it a LOT easier to see the ones that hang out under shrubs. Didn't make it, so I am hoping for a Friday night snow sometime so I can get up Saturday and try out this plan. Finally figured out the Manual Focus setting on my big camera. That will be a big help since my auto focus seems to like to pick a tree branch instead of the bird that I am trying to photograph.
• Steve filled out his 9th grade enrollment papers. Wow! I hope he gets to take the intro to Design and Engineering classHas it really been 9 years since kindergarten? Jordan didn't have any trouble choosing classes for 11th grade.
• Girl Scouts - we made baskets out of newspaper. That was very fun. Next time we are going to Modge Podge them. They really turned out quite nicely. Although I must say, the amount of effort you put into it, and the patience, directly relate to the aesthetic outcome.
• Sweetheart dance is coming up Saturday night. Same night that Jordan has courtwarming. Her dress is fabulous! It was such fun trying on dresses. I have heard stories from other moms about spending DAYS and trying on over 100 dresses. Luckily we don't go to those extremes. Just tried on 5 or 6 and were done in about an hour.
• Super bowl. Jordan got to do a service project, making valentines and treats for a local nursing home. They also had a youth party up at church but she came home early as they only had one video game, "madden". We had a good time. The Willbanks and Kieffers came by and watched some with us.

Fear

I'm not afraid of changes. OR..... do I just try and convince myself of that? Do I really mean it when I say "fear is the mind killer"? I guess conquering fear is a life-long process, kind of like being a perfect person. A long, long road.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Frank Herbert, Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, "Dune"

Decision Time, sad goodbye

After two nights trying to train for a different PRN position at the hospital, I threw in the towel. I realized I just wasn't up to working 60+ hour weeks for the next month. So, sadly I have to say goodbye to my 7 year employment with the hospital. I will still be able to transcribe as I have time and from the comfort of my home office. I just hate letting go. It makes me sad. I hate endings, losing things, losing friends.... I know it's for the best and don't need any convincing.

Ordinary Day

Just a song that's been on my mind

Just a day, just an ordinary day.

Just trying to get by.

Just a boy, just an ordinary boy.

But he was looking to the sky.

And as he asked if I would come along

I started to realize

That everyday he finds just what he's looking for,

Like a shooting star he shines.

He said take my hand,

Live while you can

Don't you see your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand

Three jobs, am I lucky or what?

The outsource company did offer all the hospital transcriptionists jobs, and I decided to try that out for awhile. The perks to that are keeping the computer equipment, and keeping the high speed connection until such time as the hospital transitions over to another system.

Not wanting to loose my hospital job, I also interviewed for a job in Patient Registration that will be PRN. I really like the hospital's 401k and I still get to contribute to that, one reason to keep that job. They also have a smashing Christmas party for the employees each year. (hehe).

Eventually I am sure one of these PRN jobs will have to go, but at least for now I can try them both on for size and see which will work in the long run for me.

I've been dumped........and other news

How does it feel to be unwanted, a burden? Well, now all us transcribers for Liberty Hospital know. Friday they met with each of us one-on-one to say "so long farewell, you can work for the outsource company we have hired or not, but either way Friday the 26th is your last day with Liberty Hospital". No severance, no nothing, even for the folks who have been there 20 years. (I have been there 7).

I feel so grateful that I started job seeking in the summer and found a job that I am certainly enjoying right now, and didn't HAVE to work for the hospital, but I really was proud to work for them, so I stayed on and helped out when possible. It was a nice little part-time job.

I have a meeting Monday afternoon with the outsouce company to see what they have to offer. If we don't take that offer, we have to turn all our equipment back in right away and give up our free road runner. Certainly that is some incentive to take what they offer.

Friday night I went to our dinner group and drank about 3 glasses of Merlot, so I was a bit numb. I did manage to win two rounds of pool though.

Saturday morning I ran some errands and just felt NUMB. I was in a daze. I haven't cried about it or anything. I just feel dumbstruck. Of course I feel HORRIBLE for the full time gals. They are very affected and it really hurts them deeply that they have just been dumped like this after all the years they have given.

Other than that, the last two weeks have been uneventful..... Oh wait, we had a super duper ICE storm last weekend, and a six to seven inch snow last night. But who cares about the weather right? It is allowing me to stay home and scrapbook today in my nice warm house. Although if I still had my snow boots I would have to go out and play for a little while, but they got "lost" last year. (GRRR).

I was all geared up for church bingo last night, but it got cancelled due to the weather. The kids were supposed to be at the Jr. Cotillion Winter Ball today but I am NOT driving to Excelsior Springs, and John's sick, so there you go. It may be cancelled for all I know. Haven't heard. Jordan did attend GS Owl Prowl last night. Luckily that was only a 2 block drive for me! I can handle two blocks. I am sure the roads and such will be cleared off for work tomorrow, so am not worried about that.

Well, that's all the news from here that I can think of. It's not Lake Woebegone, but sometimes I guess we all feel that way....

Happy Sunday Jan 7th

I have been so busy. One of the managers retired Wednesday. So, the director planned to move his office up to the front where the retiree's office was. I also moved up to the reception area at the front entrance. Thursday I put in an 11 hour day, moving, moving, moving, cleaning, cleaning, more moving. It was kind of fun. My feet hurt Thursday night though. Friday it was back to moving again. We filled up five tables in our conference room with stuff out of the retiree's office that we are going to begin sifting through next week.

Yesterday I decided to go bird watching out at Martha Lafite. I was feeling sorry for myself on the way thinking, *wah*, who could I call that would like to just stand around and look at birds? *wah* *poor lonely me*. But guess what! I ran into our old next door neighbors. They are VERY into bird watching. You should see Tim's camera. You'd all be peeing your pants with envy. We had a nice time walking around for a couple of hours. Then I invited them over and we played Euchre last night. (me and Tim won. !!!! hahaha). Any bird watchers out there????? A Carolina Wren landed just about 50 feet away from where we were walking and open up and sang a gorgeous song for us! It was fun. The other cool bird we saw was a Cooper's Hawk. Very pretty. Lots of woodpeckers, Juncos, robins and finches. We were trying to spot a Flicker but no luck. Oh, there's an albino squirrel out there too, but we didn't see it.

Here is the albino squirrel (from Tim) and the Cooper's Hawk. It was the grand finale! It swooped in looking for dinner (and not from the bird feeders I suppose!)

Cooper's Hawk
They saw it last weekend. Anyway. Today, Doing laundry. Then at 2 heading out to shoe shop. John bought me a BEAUTIFUL pant suit Friday night at The Limited. It's really nice. I need shoes to go though, some navy blue pumps. Tomorrow back to work. They are keeping me out there for a bit longer. I am taking a 2 hour lunch monday to go visit Darleen my friend who just started working at Cerner. She's a Test Designer. And, she's already making her presence felt! I'm so proud of her. She has teenagers too, and it is inspiring.

Happy Sunday.

2007 thoughts

Just some quick thoughts. What do I see in my coming year?

• Make more phone calls, and have more personal contact with friends and family
• I really need a daily devotion/meditation time each day. Many times this occurs when I am outside walking so maybe I should just get out and walk each day.
• Ending my three years on School Board in May
• Investigating continuation of Troop 83 with a new group of young ladies, perhaps in a less privileged school, with my senior girls assisting in the setup. I love Girl Scouts and the real potential for leadership and character development that exists there and think that would be a good thing to devote my time to as my own kids go off to college soon. I am still young and energetic.
• Saying "NO" more as I try to focus on where I can really do the most good without being spread too thin in all areas of my life.
• Saying "YES" to what really moves me. The big ones - Girl Scouts and Scrapbooking/Photography
• Another road trip

Dec 31 - New Year's Eve

Dinner at the Melting Pot on the Plaza. This was our first time there. It was a lot of fun. With the package I got roses and a custom bottle of wine. It was all very sweet and romantic. Oh, this little booth for two was in it's own little room and they pulled the curtains to give us our privacy. After we left we stopped by the house and then stopped by Darleen's. Here are a few pictures from the night.

________

________

Dec 25 - photography

I took a few landscape pictures on my Christmas Day walk. This is probably the best one. I like the fence post in the foreground, the S shaped furrows and the feeling of distance.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve was a really nice day. We went to church at our usual 7:30 time, enjoyed a bit of socializing over donuts after church. Jordan and I played a lot of cards (speed) while I was cooking the dinner. I made roast beef for my mom and dad. They came around 2 and we ate right away. We had a nice game of Monopoly (Steve won). We ended the evening by tuning into the TNT channel marathon of "A Christmas Story".

Christmas Day we headed up to St. Joe early for breakfast and gift exchanging with the family. We went to church at Cathedral at 10, then headed back. I took a walk trying to find some birds to photograph. Unfortunately it was EXTREMELY windy and cold. When I got back to the house, I just could not get warm. I took a little nap and then hung out around the stove to warm up. (turns out I had strep throat). Dinner was delicious. We headed back to Liberty around 6pm.

The day after Christmas was weird. I just didn't feel right. I was hot/cold and my throat kept hurting more and more as the day wore on. Now, try getting a doctor appointment the day after Christmas and see how far you get. Luckily with persistence I was able to find a doc in Liberty to see me and got on antibiotics right away after the postive test. (I won't EVEN talk about how crazy it was at Walgreen's trying to get the prescription!). I never did have a fever which was strange. Must have caught it early. By Wednesday morning I felt pretty good. The rest of the week was a bit hard, thinking of John and the kids having fun while I was working. Although John did take Jordan to the doctor as she didn't feel good Thursday. Wasn't strep, something else, and she got a shot of penicillin.

So, we are all back to good health now. It would be good to lose the holiday 7 though.

Here are some Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pictures:

The Tree

The outdoor lights, a bit sparse, but I think they are nice.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Jordan dealing out a speed hand.
Let me say, she is pretty darn fast!

Now, this guy really knows how to relax.
Fireball

Dad

Steve

Me and John

Steve and Mom



CHRISTMAS DAY

Mom and Dad T.

John and Erin

Steve

Kevin

Jordan and Sudoku

Isabelle and Raven

Shannon and Cameron

Mom T.

Mary
Anthony, Jared

Here is one of the windows from Cathedral
John used to live here


Jordan, John and Diane

MY LIFE SOUNDTRACK................

Jordan talked me into doing this little trick to find out your true, personal, life's soundtrack. So, the soundtrack to my life is.....

OPENING CREDITS: Stand Here With Me (Creed)
WAKING UP: What One Man Can Do (John Denver)
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: Speed of Sound (Coldplay)
FALLING IN LOVE: Glory Days (Bruce Springsteen)
FIGHT SONG: One Week (Barenaked Ladies)
BREAKUP SONG: Minas Tirith (Howard Shore - LOTR 3 soundtrack)
PROM: I Want You To Want Me (Cheap Trick)
LIFE IS GOOD: Somebody Told Me (The Killers)
MENTAL BREAKDOWN: Amigone (Goo Goo Dolls)
DRIVING: One Will Fall By the Way (W.G. "Snuffy" Walden - The Stand soundtrack)
FLASHBACK: Jesus of Suburbia (Green Day)
GETTING BACK TOGETHER: Careless Whisper (Wham)
WEDDING SONG: St. Jimmy (Green Day)
FINAL BATTLE: Our Love, Don't Throw it All Away (Andy Gibb)
DEATH SCENE: Don't You Forget About Me (Simple Minds)
FUNERAL SONG: To the Wild Country (John Denver)
END CREDITS: Across the Stars, love theme (John Williams, Star Wars episode II soundtrack)

Dec 23 - Christmas baking....

Fudge Meltaways, our family tradition, and nobody makes them like John. Jordan made spritz cookies this year. So, for the first year in about 15 we did not make peanut butter bon-bons. That was odd. I don't think anybody brought them to Christmas dinner either. But, the crowd there is a lot smaller than in year's past, so that might have something to do with it.

Dec 20 - Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?

I have no brilliant observations on which of these is correct.

If I had to guess, I would say art imitates life,

but you should make your own decision.

.....by Steve

Dec 18th - Guitar Hero

My guitar hero needed to take some new pictures for his own blog.... He took these himself! And doesn't he look the coolest!

Dec 16th - Jordan's 2nd annual Christmas Party

Imagine being mom to teenagers. Now imagine you hear the words, "I think there are 16 coming"....... Luckily Jordan is pretty good at crowd control. Here are a couple of pictures of what a teen Christmas party is like at our house.

Don't even ask........