A hodgepodge of stuff, without pictures!

It seems that everything is winding down for the summer. My Wednesday morning exercise class met this week for the last time until fall. We did our warm-up routine, and then played games like six-pen ~ and then we all sat down to a delicious potluck brunch. I brought my camera and intended to take some photos of these beautiful ladies that I’ve met this year; but then I ended up not taking any pictures at all! I wanted you show you my great instructors: Barb (mother of six … she has twin six-year-old girls, and then four others, right on up to a 20-year-old married daughter) and Angela (my dear friend from Germany, whose husband co-teaches our Sunday LOGOS class). And I especially wanted you to meet Benita (from Senegal), Carmella (from Italy), and Louise (from England). It’s been wonderful, the friendship that has formed between all of us. I still dislike exercising, but I no longer HATE it. The class has definitely been a stretch for me, out of my comfort zone, and that’s always good! So, Lord willing, I will return in the fall and hopefully reconnect with these ladies.

I also wanted to tell you about a neat family we met the week before last. Mr. Jones and I were at the church choir banquet and a young lady was handing out a printed flyer to various choir members. It was an invitation to “an elegant outdoor dining experience” and it was being hosted by two high school girls from church to help fund their upcoming mission trip to Arkansas. Steffanie and Jacqueline Day are two of ten children (ages 6 months to almost 17 ~ all home schooled), and the dinner was at their house ~ outside, on their patio. They cooked a wonderful spaghetti dinner, with garden salad, garlic bread, and a choice of delicious desserts. They had help from a few other high school kids; but for the most part, the young people did all of the preparation, cooking, serving, cleaning up, etc. These kids hosted this dinner four nights last week! You simply had to give them a call to make your reservation, and then it was a donation-based contribution to their mission trip. The meal was so good, but better than the food was meeting this family. They live right nearby us in Belmont, not far from Rapidfall! Their house is tucked away up a little hill, which turns out to be a 5.5-acre lot where there is an older but in-the-process-of-being-renovated home, a barn, some out buildings, their very own “swimming hole” (complete with a tarzan rope), a nine-foot circular sandbox (handcrafted by the dad) elevated about two feet and surrounded by brickwork (with every kind of digging apparatus known to man inside), a chicken coop (with brown eggs too!), their very impressive vegetable garden, a windmill … I could go on and on! We ate and talked and got a tour around the grounds and just enjoyed each other’s company. Christina (the amazing mother of ten) just quietly visited with the families who were enjoying the meal.

This Tuesday, while I was working in the Women’s office at church, I was asked if I would volunteer next fall every Tuesday morning in the 3’s during women’s Bible study time. I was hesitant to say “yes” because I’m already working with the 3’s on Sundays and feel less than qualified (and I’ll have to update you about that situation another time). I was told I would have plenty of help on Tuesday mornings because two incredible young high school girls were the helpers in the 3’s … and guess who they are? Steffanie and Jacqueline, whom I didn’t even know lived on this planet until I ate at their house last week! How’s that for the Lord’s timing?! I loved these girls right away. It will be so much fun to work with them and learn from them. They are wonderful with young children, so calm and quiet, but very good at leading and directing. I told you their mom was incredible, but not in a flashy way at all. She is smart but kind (a nice combination). She is quiet, yet completely in control (nice again). Also, the lead person on Tuesday mornings is said to be a wonderful mentor, very creative with little kids, and a good teacher to those of us who are challenged with leading folk. So there’s hope that I can gain some skills in this area!

Thursday night, Mr. Jones and I had two activities to squeeze into one night. The senior choir he is a part of was having their end-of-the-season potluck; plus, we were invited to a graduation open house (for the son of my cousin, Lois). We ate too much at the choir potluck, enjoyed the folk there, and then moved on to the open house. I took my camera, hoping Mr. Jones would snap a picture of my cousin and I; but my uncle and aunt (from Detroit) were there as well. We got talking, and I totally forgot I had my camera with me! Aunt Sally and Uncle Richard caught me up on all of the Holtzhouse and extended family news. It was so good to see them again and spend time with Lois and her beautiful family.

I’ve been working on my card blog all week long. I now have 12 cards loaded and ready to go! By the end of June, I hope to have 3 dozen or so, and certain staff from church will be able to access this site, choose a card, personalize it, and then I’ll send it out! This blog is only open to invited readers, because I want to keep it exclusively for the staff at church. I have had a lot of fun choosing which photos to use, which Scriptures to match with them, and composing a suitable greeting (that’s the really hard part for me). It has consumed most of my spare time for the last 10 days or so.

This morning, I finally got back to typing a speech given by my friend, Dr. Crompton, at a conference on Neuroethics titled: “The interaction between the Self and the Brain.” I’ve been meaning to get this done for him for months! The audio file I have of this speech is of really inferior quality, Dr. Crompton has a heavy British accent, and the terminology is completely outside my experience (and intelligence), so I’ve put this task off! When I began this project a few months ago, it took two hours just to transcribe one page of material. This morning I had better success, but I still have a ways to go. When I give the finished transcript to Dr. Crompton, I can only hope he doesn't ask what I learned about this subject!

It’s time I stop talking, get in my car, and head downtown to Festival of the Arts 2008! Mr. Jones and the senior choir is singing at 5:00 on the Circle Stage. I’m taking my camera with me, and plan to use it! A picture is worth a thousand words, and I just proved that with this extremely lengthy picture-less post!