Rain, Rain, Go Away…

We are still feeling the effects of “IKE”. The rain has made for a few dreary days. Yesterday was busy with a ladies prayer breakfast in the AM and One Voice rehearsal in the late afternoon. There were 10 ladies at the breakfast and we made the decision to move our meeting back to the church – we have outgrown homes. It won’t be as “cozy” an atmosphere, but it will be easier for some people and handicap accessible. One Voice is coming a long. I hope to have my final cast member tomorrow night. Those already chosen are doing a great job working on their lines.

John had a good visit with his folks. He took down a few tree branches for them and evidently rubbed up against some poison ivy. He never reacted to it until a few years ago when he got some in a cut. His arm looks awful right now and he is pretty uncomfortable. Poor baby.  Not much else is new here…did some cleaning and changed a few seasonal clothes around.

I hope you had a great weekend.

All is well.

Not much to post. It has been a busy few days; I’m getting back into the Monday and Saturday One Voice routine. I have most of the cast chosen for the “One Quiet Night” drama. I hope to have it all finalized by Monday. School is going great. I am really enjoying the kids I am working with this year. John left for CT this afternoon. He is taking an extra day and visiting with his folks through Thursday. I am glad he could take the time.  All the girls seems to being doing well – just very busy with school…I pray your days have been well.

Whee! I mean WII!!!

Today is John’s birthday!  This morning I handed him a bag, before I left for school, and said, “I know you might need a break from your work here today so this might help. Besides Cassell might need backup…” He kept saying “Cassell might need backup” but was also thinking Castle.  He opened the bag and it was Madden NFL 2009 football for the Wii.  Right now the crowds are cheering in the other room while Tom Brady (aka John) is showing his quarterback strengths.  I know Brady isn’t going to play this season (so sad), but John can have fun pretending to be him.

I didn’t sleep well last night, so am off to bed early. Night.

Christmas stress…in September?

Hey y’all,

Things are going well, school is great, it’s just been busy. One Voice is back in the swing of things. We had a 6 hour retreat last Saturday at the lovely Stone Mansion in Wolfeboro and a 2-1/2 hour rehearsal last night in Meredith. This will be the pattern of our lives until mid-December when One Voice presents, “One Quiet Night”.  Rehearsals run Sat 4:00-6:30pm and Mon 6:30-8:30pm.  Every third week we have a 6 hour “work” retreat in Meredith.  I am directing the drama (I directed the Easter one in 2007). The drama is about refocusing on the true meaning of Christmas and letting go of the stress. It is a true-to-life script. At any point in time over the years I could have and probably did say some of the lines in the play.  I already have most of my cast and the great thing is I have the script almost 6 weeks early than we’ve had it any other year!  We are already praying for the people God wants to bring to hear the message of God’s love for us in sending His Son to earth.  It is great to be with other Christians from all over the lakes region.  It is a great encouragement for me and John.

On another note…I am not sure where my Mom got these great cartoons, but I’m going to try and share a few over the next few posts.

And my blog header happens to be a picture from ALASKA!

Out of the mouth of babes…

We live in a tourist area (the White Mountains of NH). Our house is on one of the main roads leading to all tourist attractions and ski resorts.  It is always a noisy road and from Thursday PM – Sunday PM there is tourist traffic heading north or south.  We are always making comments/wisecracks about all the tourists.

Yesterday our school held a moment of silence to remember 9/11.  It was fitting to do that.  A few minutes later the teacher asked if anyone knew why we had done that. (Remember, I am in a third grade class.)  One girl raised her hand and said, “We did it because in 2001 the world was attacked by tourists.”  The teacher heard her say “terrorists”, but she actually said “tourists”!  I had a hard time not laughing out loud during this solemn time of remembrance because I often feel like where I live is “attacked by tourists”!

There is your chuckle for the day.  Happy Friday!

Third time’s a charm?

I just completed the third application for a college loan for Katie. Although Sallie Mae wasn’t listed on the University’s webpage, I discovered that it is a viable lender for Eastern…so I took care of it online. The benefit to Sallie Mae is that half of Hilary’s loans are through them and they already have confirmation of all of John’s information. I pray that this is the end and that funds will actually be dispersed this time.

I spent about 5 hours with Dona Lynn today doing a One Voice Christmas preview. It looks/sounds exciting. I really like the drama theme (stress at Christmas) and I think many people will relate to it. I laughed as I listened to the CD and told DL that on any given day during the holidays, I might have said the same things…hopefully only on a bad day. We have a “preview” rehearsal at the Stone Mansion in Wolfeboro next Saturday. After that it is full speed ahead.

We are feeling the remnants of “Hanna” and have a flood warning in place until sometime tomorrow. We need the rain, but not quite this much. I hope you have had a great Saturday!

This is ridiculous!

When I went to apply for the girls college loans in August I discovered that the lender we have always used is no longer funding college loans. So, I went to the college websites and applied with a lender each college recommended. Hilary’s was no problem and is in place. Katie’s was complicated (as explained in another post), but eventually done, only to have that lender go out of business. Within 72 hours we had another loan in place and were given disbursement dates. Tonight I got an email from Katie and the new lender is no longer able to fund loans!!! That leaves one lender on the school website and a few others I can look at elsewhere. I left a voicemail for the Financial Aid Office to call me with their recommendations, again. What is going on with all these lenders! Please pray that whoever we get this next time will actually stick. Thanks.

What was I thinking?

John went fishing on Chocorua Lake this AM and then after lunch we head to Gorham. I had never been up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, so we decided today was the day…oh boy…Halfway up I decided the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Alaska was a piece of cake compared to this. I am not afraid of heights, but let’s just say I was “anxious” in a few spots. What was I thinking? Mt. Washington is 6,288 feet high and we drove our car to the top. Neither of us thought to bring a jacket, (what were we thinking?), so when we reached the summit John stayed in the car.it was cold and VERY windy – 40+mph gusts. I did get out and took a few pictures (what was I thinking?), but was glad to get back in and head down. There were times I had the window open, camera around my neck, leaning into John (away from the edge – like that was going to protect me) holding the camera up in the air and shooting pictures – I did not want to look down. Below are some of the pictures.

We drove up to the top of the mountain on the left.

One of the “I’m not looking” photos.

Mt. Washington Observatory

View from the top looking towards Conway.

Glen trails.

The Cog Railway at the top of the mountain.

And if all of that wasn’t enough excitement, I made a LARGE ebay purchase. A hacker messed John’s ebay up a few years ago, so he shut it down. Whenever he needs/wants something we use my ebay. Below is my purchase…hmmm…wonder who will be using this? What was I thinking???

1986 Suzuki Cavalcade 1400 Touring Bike. It replaces the one he sold a few years ago and the price was right. (What was I thinking?!?)

I hope you had a great Labor Day…first day of school tomorrow!