A week without "work"

Of course I don't mean I'm just lying about, but this is the first week out of school so to speak. Bellevue got out last week and OCA has half-day exams most of this week. So really, I'm out of school for the summer. I do love substituting, though. I love the teachers I work with at OCA, I love the action at school. I love kids. AND I love leaving it there!!!

I've finally planted my flower pots on the deck. Well, got started anyway. I'm so totally out of fresh ideas that I went to the store and couldn't even see what I wanted. I ended up with petunias, dusty miller and ageratum. Guess I'm in the red, white and blue mood. I've kept my hanging geraniums alive through the winter, so I will probably cut them back, repot them and hang them up again. I couldn't resist buying lantana. This variety is yellow when it first buds and then the flowers turn hot pink. I've put it in a pot out on the pool deck. In Italy it flowed over fences around the pool park we used to go to. So I have sweet memories of it. Also, I think Maureen grew it on her balcony across from us. I'm NOT bringing it in in the winter, though. There are ENOUGH plants coming in! However, I think the rosemary has had enough. One pot has a branch or two still alive, the other looks a little better. They are both outside now getting sun from early morning to late at night. We'll see how they fare this summer. I'm sure they must be root bound. I've had them in various size pots since I bought them the summer of 2000!!! Not bad, huh?
We had our willow tree cut down while we were out of town for Will's graduation. It was very large, very old, and much of it very dead.( BTW, the guy who cut it is named "Vinny Palermo". How do you like THAT for an Italian name??) Now we have a huge stump and an empty place in the back yard. Our yard slopes quite a bit, so we're trying to figure out how to landscape it to improve the bare look and fit in a fire pit area. It's very hard to come up with good ideas. Den and I are not idea people! I wouldn't mind the pond idea either.
My other project I'm working on is a letter to the pastors of our school students. I've never worked with mail merge, so I'm trying to work that out! I just gave up and started writing this instead.

Change, just for fun

I was looking over the templates and thought I'd just do something new for spring. I'm not sure if it's "me", or if I'll like this new look, but it's fresh and fun. I could go with something pink..... I like the way it frames my photos. I couldn't figure out what other people's had a frame around them and mine didn't. All I can figure out is that it's the template.

My Happy Wanderer

Linnea is off to Peru! Amazing that young people can just decide to take off and go. She went with a friend from SC, and they are going to do the Machu Picchu hike. Click on the word and it should take you to the tour that I'm guessing she's on. Here's what she wrote about the rest of the trip:

Tomorrow we go to Cuzco and then hike the Inca Trail from Saturday till Tuesday, getting to Machu Picchu at dawn (apparently that´s the big deal) on the last day. Very exciting, I got all my hiking gear my last few days in Columbia so I´m all ready . . . hopefully. Anyway, after that we go to Arequipa (so you can follow this on your map), where there are canyons and volcanoes--it´s also close to Lake Titicaca--on Wednesday and then come back to Lima Friday night to fly out the next morning.

This is what happens when they watch Carmen Sandiego while they're growing up! They learn about all these places and then have an insatiable appetite to see them. I'm glad she can do this. Poor Andrew is feeling like he's going to be George Bailey, always wanting to "get out of this crummy old town and see the world". He's just got to find someone to do it with!

Blogger sisters

Here are the three of us, now all bloggers. (We have three more who haven't joined us yet!) My sister on the right joined us yesterday; she's "What's for dinner?" What fun it will be to read her thoughts, see her photos and stay in touch with what's going on with her family. She's a wonderful woman! Has the sweetest husband and children, and I'm glad I'm going to be able to hear what she has to say. She lives in Delaware and her husband is a PCA church planter. Her children go to a classical school where Em works some. She is great with women's ministry. Other tidbits about this sister....I was her teacher for 5th and 6th grade during the first year and a half of which I still lived at home!!! She couldn't get away with much! She also went to CIU where I went and met her husband there just like I did. After graduation she taught at Ben Lippen while her husband went to seminary.

So I'm introducing my sister. Enjoy reading her blogs....she's enjoying reading yours. *smile*

"Put no confidence in princes..."

We are very much into politics in this house. It can be very, what shall I say, volatile? emotional? passionate? Anyway, I think in recent times, our country has become more and more dependant on the State. We think our problems can be solved by the State, that our comfort depends on the State, that any difficulty in our lives is the fault of the State. A pretty sad state of affairs! (pun intended!)

One of the advantages of growing up in a Christian home and going to church all the time is that the hymns I grew up with are all in my head. Sometimes the words come to me out of the blue. However, the title of this blog came from the hymn we sang just last Sunday. I love it when the words come back to me all through the week. This line comes from the third line of the first verse. The second verse continues the theme.

Put no confidence in princes, nor for help on man depend;
he shall die, to dust returning and his purposes shall end.

Happy is the man who chooses Israel's God to be his aid,
He is blessed, whose hope of blessing on the Lord his God is stayed.
Heaven and earth, the Lord created, seas and all that they contain,
he delivers from oppression, righteousness He will maintain.

Psalm 121:1 "My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's the card I woke up to this morning! How did they know??? The inside says, "Well, at least that's the way WE remember it!

Score!

Andrew had his 20th birthday on May 8th. We were all home (except Linnea) which, for Andrew's birthday, is amazing. While Andrew was growing up, the ship usually was underway or Den was TAD. When he was out of the Navy, he was on a business trip. Will missed about 3 while he was in college, so it was great to have us all there.
Also, we found a birthday present. Now that he's a working man and buying tools for his work as well as to work on his car, we figured he'd like a place to put them. He was pretty happy. Good choice, whew!