New Telephone Numbers

We recently cancelled our land line and are relying solely on our cell phones. My number is
440-813-9287 and Tom's is 440-813-9273. Just thought you might want to know.

Finally Finished!

Friday Tom laid the tile in Tommy's bedroom. He had wanted an Ohio State Buckeyes motif and he got it. I stenciled a big ole Brutus on one wall and an "Ohio State Buckeyes" border all around the top of the room. He has a large Ohio State rug, an Ohio State pillow, flag and wastebasket. I had made an Ohio State quilt for him a year or so ago and we put that on his bed. Iwas pleased with the way the room turned out and so was Tommy. He carefully arranged his treasures and stuffed animals on the shelves and kept going into the room to look at it. But....when it came time to go to bed he slept on the couch! Go figure!

My stenciling. I'm not as fast climbing up and down a stepladder as I used to be.

First Day of Spring

For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2: 11-12

Two Quirky Men

I like to observe people and the cafe at Barnes and Noble is a great place to do this. Tom and I've been watching two men in particular for a year or so. They're always seated in the cafe and have text books and papers scattered around them. Sometimes they seem to be deep in conversation. Apparently they subscribe to an alternative lifestyle which I don't condone. They are interesting, however. They always dress alike and always wear hats, but not your usual baseball caps or cowboy hats. Oh,no. Their hats are the quirkiest part of their outfits. I don't know if they scour thrift shops for them or what but all the hats are weird! Sometimes they look like something Dr. Seuss would have drawn, with a squiggly thing sticking up out of the top. One set of hats is purple and looks like the soft kind they make for women undergoing chemotherapy. And they are colorful-green, purple, etc. One set is a multicolored knit African-appearing thing.

Much to Tom's and my delight one time they wore matching multicolored bowling shoes. I'd like to be a fly on the wall some morning when they are choosing what ensemble to wear for the day.

One afternoon Tom decided to talk to them. He found out one is studying for an advanced degree and the other one is a professor of some sort.

They bike around town on this recumbent tandem bicycle.

They're a ten on my quirk-meter.

Two Women and a Bulk Food Store

This morning I decided to run to the bulk food store in Ashtabula to buy chocolate to make Easter treats for my Sunday School kids. I called my mom to see if she would like to go with me. As it turned out, we were like a couple of kids in a candy store! We happily poked around among containers of spices, various types of flour, dried fruit, trail mix, teas, flavored coffees, bouillon, bean soup mix, pasta, gluten-free stuff, pudding mix, cookie cutters, teapots, coconut, and, oh yes, chocolate--milk chocolate, dark chocolate, pink chocolate, orange chocolate...

After wrenching ourselves out of there without too much damage to our pocketbooks we decided to do lunch. At Steak and Shake the hostess asked how we were related. She shook her head and said to Mom, "You looked just like her twenty years ago." Mom replied, "Yes and this is what she will look like in another twenty years!" We ate a great meal then treated ourselves to a junior-sized milkshake. Steak and Shake's milkshakes are the best!

After a stop at the Kingsville Library to return a stack of books we headed home. It was a very satisfying morning, spending time with Mom.

Not My Pastor!

Within the text of Senator Obama's speech on race are these words regarding his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

I would like to tell Senator Obama that my pastor, Rev. Byron Gurnee, has never said anything controversial within my hearing. He has more integrity than that. His example in the pulpit is one of love, not hate.

Sorry, Mr. Obama, but you do not speak for me.

Spending Time With Kenton

Today I got to spend some time with my friend Kenton Gurnee after his class field trip to Barnes and Noble. He showed me his Horton Hears a Who poster his teacher gave him. He also received a Horton button , a sparkley pencil and a sticker. As excited as he was, it must have been a great field trip.Kenton told me he's taller than his measuring poster.

Things look different from different angles.

The future Mensa member works a puzzle while waiting for his lunch to appear at Cracker Barrel.

Thanks, Kenton, for a fun morning!

An Exciting Book

For some time now I've wondered at what point Jesus knew who he was. I've been curious about his childhood, too--did he get sick, did he have friends, was he "normal?" The Bible gives us so little about him between birth and the Wedding at Cana. I've wondered about his relationship with his parents and sibling. I just want to know.

Well I found a wonderful book that speaks to my curiosity. The name of it is Christ the Lord. I heard about it a couple years ago but was reluctant to read it because of the author. Anne Rice usually writes vampire novels and I wasn't sure what kind of Jesus story she might write. But I was in the library the other day and decided to take a chance on it. What a treat. The story is told from the viewpoint of a seven or eight year old Jesus. It begins when Joseph is told of God in a dream to return to Nazareth, that King Herod is dead. Jesus hears his extended family talking about when they went to Exodus in the first place. Jesus is very curious. He knows he was born in Bethlehem but no one will tell him what happened to cause them to leave the Holy Land for Egypt. Joseph assures him that he will tell Jesus when he's older. We are with Jesus as he sees the Temple for the first time. We sit with him as he studies under the rabbis and Pharisees, learning about the history of the Jews and memorizing psalms and prayers...hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one. Gradually he comes to realize he has different abilities from other boys. He prays for his critically ill uncle and the uncle is completely healed. He wishes it would stop raining and it does.

The book is, of course, fiction, but it's a good example of how it might have happened. Anne Rice is a Catholic so she treats Mary as a perpetual virgin, explaining that James, Jesus' brother is Joseph's son by a previous marriage and his other brothers and sisters are adopted when their mother dies. Joseph seems to be okay with this arrangement. It's certainly not gospel but a great read. Rice has a new book out that starts with the Wedding at Cana. I cannot wait to read it.

An

More Snow!!!!

Cleveland's Channel 5 News is predicting 17 more inches of snow for us by 3am Sunday morning! After finally getting our power back that is not what I wanted to hear. I headed to Orlando's Golden Dawn for "a few things to tide us over" and ended up spending $93.00 and I didn't even buy any chocolate! It amazes me that I spend the same amount of money on groceries as I did when the boys were home. Prices are simply out of sight. Anyway, half of Conneaut decided they needed to stock up before the storm, too. There should have been a traffic cop in front of the deli. I quickly decided that we did not need sliced ham or turkey breast. If Tom wants a sandwich it'll have to be egg salad or, my favorite, pb&j.

Oh, I lied, I did get some chocolate of sorts. I bought two packs of Klondike bars. I adore ice cream and the Klondike bars allow me a reasonable serving. If I had a half gallon to dip from it could spell disaster.

I have four visits with Judi today and two tomorrow so I'll be out in the snow for sure. I really don't mind, though. She was at her sister's during the last storm so I had nothing to do, except for housework...ugh. I missed working.

A Rough Night

This ice storm is the pits. When Tom got home from work last evening he said the roads were treacherous and he "white-knuckled it" all the way home. After we were in bed, settled down for the night, he got a call from Plastpro where he works, saying they had no power. After he and the plant manager pow-wowed they decided they should go in to check it out. So he left home at 11 pm to secure the place. He ended up changing his route due to all the downed tree limbs, all the time phoned to ask him to call all the maintenance crew not to come in, since there still was no power. The power company said there would be no electricity at least until tomorrow morning. Tom thinks he needs a nap. I wonder why!!

We're having a nice day, reading and drinking coffee and generally playing bookstore. Tomorrow it'll be back to work as usual, but today it's a quiet relaxing day.