Interesting Tidbit

Did you know that if you say the word
"gullible"
very slowly it sounds like

"green beans"?

Related?

The other day I was in a kindergarten class that I hadn't subbed with before. I asked one little boy if he and a certain girl were related.

His answer, "No, we're twins."

Pencil Sketch #2 of ???--Purse

A Puzzling Situation

Remember the picture at the end of this post last summer?

My oldest brother, P, asked if he could get a copy of it.
Oh, he likes my photo. Sure!

At Christmas, I received a lovely silver box from him, full of odd-shaped cardboard pieces. He'd had the photo made into a puzzle for me. Just for the record, I did put it together!


The infection wound on B's leg finally closed up! Hoping for most of April to be without any medical appointments, until pre-op stuff at the end of the month. He's scheduled for May 5 surgery to biopsy and freeze the tumor on his kidney.

I'm back to subbing, after taking off from it for the past two months. Already had 3 days last week, and have 3 scheduled for next week.

Our Lenten journey is drawing to a close. Our pastor's weekly Lenten service messages have been based on the hymn, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded."

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.

How art thou pale with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn;
How does thy visage languish,
Which once was bright as morn!
Thy grief and bitter passion
were all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But thine the deadly pain.

What language shall I borrow
To thank thee, dearest friend,
for this thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to thee.

Be near when I am dying
Oh show thy Cross to me!
And, for my succor flying,
Come, Lord, to set me free.
These eyes, new faith receiving,
From thee shall never move;
For he who dies believing
Dies safely in thy love.

Welcome, Spring!

B and I stopped at a greenhouse yesterday to get a few broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants. Ummm, we did that, but I think we brought home more pansies than veggies! So today, even though it was only 50-some degrees, B put out the garden stuff, and we set the pansies out along the south side of the house. (A garden photo would have just showed a row of milk jugs covering the plants.)
T has been home this past week on spring break from her freshman year at junior college 5 hours west of here. She left today to visit some friends before going back. K's final college spring break begins today, but she won't be home until she and a friend do some visiting elsewhere first for a few days.
Almost two weeks ago, B, M and I went to visit my mom for a few days. I was tempted to post a photo of her looking in the refrigerator, from when she was trying to load us up with food for the trip home. I think she'll appreciate this one better!

Thanks for the good visit, Mom!

He's Lost It

Yep, B's lost it! But that's a good thing. What he doesn't have anymore is the wound V.A.C. They took it off yesterday, and today the UPS guy stopped by to take it back to Texas! The sore isn't completely healed, but is almost there and is so much better than when we started. Now I "get" to play nurse for the next week, changing the dressing as needed.

I think we had record high temps for March 5 here. It was in the 80s! Unbelievable. B planted peas in our garden today.

Happy Square Root Day!

Sure enough, today is 3-3-09.

(Thanks for the reminder, K! We'll have to celebrate again in, oh, how about seven years and a day?)

March 20 edit: I should have said, we'll celebrate again in seven years, one month, and a day!

Signs of Promise

No blooms yet like Wanda has in California, but we do have hope of spring!

I know Martha in New York really doesn't care much for these particular birds, but seeing them here headed north is a good sign for us.

The season we began yesterday is another sign of promise for us.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:22-24 (NIV)

Progress!

We're seeing some progress! We've gone in every other day since last Friday to have the dressing for the wound vac on B's thigh changed, and each time the wound is noticeably, measurably smaller! It's certainly not all closed up yet, but it sure seems like we're headed in the right direction now.

Point of information: vac on the machine is actually V.A.C., which stands for "vacuum assisted closure". We sure are grateful that God gave somebody the brains to figure out that this nifty little machine would be just the thing to invent!

Simply Superb!

Wanda assigned me the letter "S" for listing 10 things that I love.

In no particular order....

1. Sunshine
2. Siamese cats--Tang, Ting, Ling, Zing, and currently Ka-Ching!
3. Scotcheroos, Sopapilla cream cheese dessert, and other Sweets!
   
4. Singing to my Savior--"I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have being." Psalm 104:33
   
5. Sleep/Sweet Dreams--"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for thou alone, O LORD, makest me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8
6. Snowflakes--especially ones that are big, fat, and slow to float to the ground
7. Starry Skies, Sunrises, Sunsets--"When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast established, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4
   
8. Sweetie, Son, and Sisters (That's B, M, K and T in case you couldn't guess!)
9. Silliness--there's nothing like getting those endorphins going with a can't stop, can't get my breath, here come the tears round of the giggles!
   
10. Sarah Sisters--That would be the ladies of the Sarah Circle I belong to at church. We are known to Study Seriously, as well as engage in much Silliness at our meetings.
    

If anyone else would like to make a list, just leave a comment and I will be glad to assign a random letter for you.