Lovely beyond words.
That is how I would describe the Sunday afternoon nap I just got up from; it consisted of two solid hours of Sunday Siesta-esque Snoozing. After a frightfully busy week and weekend (in addition to the time change), it was like manna from heaven. If a nap can, indeed, be likened to manna. From heaven.
However, since I can’t ramble on about naps and manna all day, I’ll get busy (in a yawn-y sort of way) and share a few recent photos.
Oh wait. Before I do that, I want to tell you about the lunch guests we had at our house today after the morning service. This weekend was a Missions Emphasis at our church and since we normally concentrate on foreign missions, this year we decided to feature home missions instead. For our special speakers, we invited two couples that work full time on two different college campuses in Raleigh—UNC-Chapel Hill and State. They work with the organization, Chi Alpha, which has chapters all over the United States.
They brought a State student from El Salvador with them and we were also joined by a couple from our church who has done missions work in Belize. Talk about some interesting lunch time conversation! I love it that Sarah gets to sit at her dining room table and get a glimpse into the lives of people from so many life experiences and backgrounds. I love watching her face as she listens to all the stories.
But anyway, let me get back to where I was before I got to this point . . . pictures!
While Nathan and Meagan (his girlfriend) were in town last week, she took over the dinner duties one evening and made a most marvelous Chicken Parm and Italian green bean dinner. (Nathan made the dessert—butterscotch pudding in a pie crust.)
May I just say, “Yum?”
I may? Okay. “Yum.”
Meagan is an accomplished young lady in innumerable ways.
Me. On my birthday. With my daily allotment of chocolate.
Nathan bringing in said allotment.
What are . . .
these people . . .
doing?
Here’s the scoop: Steve, Nathan and Meagan had gone off somewhere and when they came home and realized I was working in the kitchen, they made a great show of getting organized and lining up in front of the window for their little ol’ display. Of course, they made me smile. And snap a photo.
It was such fun having Nathan and Meagan here all week. I was especially thankful for Meagan’s ability to have a good time without spending a lot of money. We were sort of a pitiful little lot all week in that area: Since Nathan and Meagan are dirt poor college students and since Steve and I are making payments on two houses, the bottom line was that there was no extra money to be found. Anywhere.
But we still had fun! We played Taboo one night and watched a video I got from a thrift store (for a dollar) another night. (The movie was called “The Truman Show,” a fascinating and well done movie.) On another night, everyone else stayed up late and watched several Sherlock Holmes episodes while I went to bed early to read and ponder life. Nathan and Meagan also walked on the beach a little and did some sightseeing in downtown Manteo.
I don’t think any of spent more than $10 on food or entertainment throughout the whole week (except for groceries) but we still had a marvelous time.
Does money buy happiness? Nope. Not in this house!
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From the Comments Area . .
Q. Anonymous said, “Wondering where Sarah got her cute little backpack?”
A. It was given to Sarah by a long time blog friend, named Ann. (You’ll see her name crop up a lot in the comments area.) It’s a Vera Bradley brand which I know can be found all over the country. Sarah just loves it.
Q. Anonymous said, “This is off-subject, but have you ran into Andy Griffith? If you do happen to see him in the grocery store, tell him L in Alaska says hello!”
A. Although we haven’t seen Andy, we do walk and drive by his house (and land) several times a day since he lives less than half a mile from us. If I see him, I’ll be sure to tell him hello! (smile)
Kilgore Kids said, “My kids helped me make the peach cake this weekend. It was very simple and I love that it was just basic ingredients. It was very tasty but I will agree you can definitely cut down on the sugar. We used the entire 1 cup called for and I think it would have be fine with quite a bit less. Still they had great fun and we had a tasty dessert to share.”
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Just to let everyone know, I cut the butter by half when I made it last time and it didn’t turn out as well as before, mainly because the cake mix powder didn’t have enough liquid to “unpowder-fy” it. I think cutting down on the sugar would be fine but the recipe seems to need all the butter.
Q. Anonymous said, “Now for a question: Why is it that ‘Arise My Love’ is done with sticks? I must have missed that day in youth group/Sunday School.” =)
A. Yes, that is sort of a unique “take” on things, isn’t it? It all falls under the umbrella of “creative worship,” taking something that has been done one way and putting a fresh spin on it to make it more meaningful—to the viewers and performers alike.
When I first heard about the concept, I was a bit incredulous (sticks? really?) but when I saw the video of it, I was blown away by the creativity involved. Pretty cool stuff!
Q. Jan said, “What is a ‘worship chorus’? Speaking of music. I attended a Catholic Church this weekend that has reverted to Latin during Lent for the Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei parts of the Mass. I had a great time singing the liturgical language of my youth. (As I said, 48 is very young!)
A. Jan, how great that you got to participate in a service using that old, beautiful language. Sarah would jealous, since she loves Latin.
A “worship chorus” is basically a song that is not a hymn. As a rule, worship choruses are fairly repetitive, making them easier to learn quickly and sing easily. They can be very simple in their message or they can be as rich in theology as any hymn. In fact, some of the worship songs that have been written in the past few years are considered by many to be “modern day hymns,” songs that will be sung many generations from now.
In the Bible, the book of Colossians says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
And onto another subject altogether . . .
Q. Jill said, I will pray for your biopsy. I hate asking this but have they ever mentioned proactive mastectomy for you?
A. Jill, so far that option has not been mentioned. I’m sure if a doctor gave me some really, really good reasons for it, I would consider it but it’s sure not a road I’d want to walk down anytime soon.
Catherine said, “Becky, I said it last year, and I say it again: Go the top specialist and hospital in the area which is probably Duke. Where you took Sarah when she was in trouble. Give yourself the same care. With the issues about your breast, you not only need top care and monitoring, you need it consistently. If you go to a different place, doctor each year, they are going to dig around and redo the investigation which cannot be good for you and the breast.”
MN Mom said, “Becky, you are in my prayers as you deal, yet again, with the unknown. Hopefully, you will hear the same good news as last time. I agree that you should seek the very best care possible. Being from MN, of course, that would mean the Mayo Clinic for me, but I know that Duke is also outstanding.”
Beverly said, “Prayers for you as you face this trial once again...and I second (or third?) the idea that you should be going to Duke!”
I can’t tell you all how much I appreciate your prayers and concern and good advice as I await the outcome on this latest “plot twist.” If anyone believes in the medical excellence of Duke University Hospital, our family does!
However, since we now live on the Outer Banks, Duke is now 8-9 hours away, round trip. Believe me, if it were closer, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
Since we have moved to a few different places since all of these issues started cropping up, I’ve been very careful about making sure radiologist records, doctor’s reports and all mammograms films follow me wherever I go. That way, when I’m seeing a new doctor or radiologist, they have older records and films to compare with, and they’re not all having to start from scratch in their investigative process.
The surgeon I’m seeing Tuesday (who comes highly recommended) will have every single item of my medical records in his hands when I walk in the door; that makes me feel confident, knowing he’s got some history to help him put things in context.
As I said, thanks to all of you for your sweet and encouraging words. I am blessed!
