A Few Comments on Recent Comments

Okay, as if my fingers aren't already bruised and bleeding from the world's longest blog entry(see below), I thought I would comment on a few of your comments.

And then Steve and I are going to the gym (yuck) and to a movie. (yeah)

And somehow I managed to NOT get groceries again today so I have no foggy idea what we might eat for dinner again tonight.

You might be thinking, "Well, maybe you should be getting groceries right now rather than writing!" And my answer is, "Naw."

Okay, on to the comments:

Sarah wrote and said she looked in HER fridge and saw only, "olives, ice cream and a hamburger bun." I think she has me beat in the bare fridge category. Although actually, I DO think that ice cream would do very nicely for breakfast, Sarah. I'd eat it in a skinny minute. (Or maybe not so skinny minute but you know what I mean.)


"Anonymous" asked if this picture (second from right) is of a younger Sarah. It sure is! It's kind of fun to see an old photo of Sarah that I've never seen before. I actually had to ask Sarah about it, to confirm it was her and she said, "Yes, I remember that ugly funny pack." Can't argue with ugly fanny packs!

And then Sue G was giving Pam D. a hard time because Pam wrote, "Happy Father's Day to Steve.. having actually met him (and even shared olives with him!), I can attest to his fineness and wonderfulness. You are certainly fortunate.. but then again, so is HE.. so it's a never-ending circle of good fortune. And don't you ever forget it...."

Sue said, "Isn't it just like Pam D to let us know AGAIN that she has met Steve, you, and Sarah???? Such a name dropper. Or, rather, an event dropper."

And Pam responded, "Sue, if YOU met royalty, wouldn't YOU throw it out there every chance you get?"

I tell ya, Pam and Sue need their own TV show! And I bet when the day comes when they DO actually meet (and I have no doubt it WILL come) that there will be plenty of wild and wacky conversation floating around!

Actually, I was sort of glad Pam DID make the comment about Steve because it occasionally occurs to me that I say such nice things about Steve that some people might think, "Oh for crying out loud. No one is THAT wonderful."

Thanks Pam, for confirming that Steve really is a great guy! And Sue, Pam has MY permission to throw around the fact that she met us any ol' time she wants! :-)

And lastly, Guerrina asked if "unspiring" was a new word. (I accidentally mispelled "uninspiring" in my post.) I actually sorta like "unspiring," though. I think it's a cool word which kind of describes how I feel right now--sort of half way between inspiring and uninspiring.

Lastly, I would just like to thank EVERYONE who takes the time to post comments;you always make the time I spend here at the keyboard writing feel extra worthwhile and I appreciate you all.

Okay. Off to the (sigh) gym I (sigh) go. Sigh. Can you sense how unspired I am?

Pulmonology and Leftovers

Hi all!

I'm still hard at work on the Charleston Story but I did want to let you know that my Pulmonology appointment went fine; there were no actual pulmonary function tests that had to be done this time around (they're only done every other visit) so it was mainly just a matter of reviewing symptoms and meds and a having a physical exam.

I continue to have a "fairly severe, non-reversible, fixed obstruction form of COPD." It's not really asthma because she said that with asthma, the breathing can be restored to normal with the use of albuterol. In my case, the meds make some difference in my breathing but not much; that is where the "non reversible" part comes from. Still no clear idea of what caused it (for a life, long non-smoker) or where the disease is headed but for the moment at least, I seem to be fairly stable at my 60% lung capacity.

Although I felt like it was, all in all, good news, it's still a sobering thing to even have to visit a Pulmonologist twice a year and be reminded that I have "sick lungs." I was already wiped out from the weekend when I drove to the appointment so I'm definitely not feeling overly perky at the moment.

I never did get up the energy required to go and get groceries and so our cupboards (along with Mother Hubbard's) are bare. I'm in the process of contemplating the leftovers in the freezer and wondering which one I can thaw, throw some grated cheddar cheese on and re-bake. (Cheddar cheese covers a multitude of leftovers!)

In other news, Steve talked to our realtor late last week to see where we were on the sale of the house. She said she has our house on FIFTY Internet sites and we have still have had only two showings in six months! She also said buyers are offering ridiculously low prices, sometimes $30,000 less than the asking price and then also demanding the seller pay the closing costs.

Can you say, "Buyer's market?"

The other reason that Steve called her was that our "For Sale" sign keeps disappearing from our yard. A couple times, he's found it in surrounding yards but Saturday it was gone completely and he couldn't find it anywhere. However, when we arrived home Sunday evening, it was right there, lying on our front lawn.

I guess some people don't have anything more exciting to do in life than remove For Sale signs. Hmmm. If they're THAT bored, I could have them come cook dinner for us tonight so I could take a(nother) nap!

Okay. I'd better sign off so that I can work a little more on the Charleston Story and also continue to ponder what delightsome icy lump of leftover I shall deem worthy of being crowned with cheddar and reconstituted, re-baked and re-presented as dinner.

I'm so glad Steve and Sarah aren't picky eaters!

Gripping, Fascinating and Scintillating

Greetings and salivations! (Or is that "salutations?")

We just got back from Charleston which was a 525-mile round trip. I am happily exhausted and will head for bed (wonderful bed!) very shortly.

Tomorrow morning I have a pulmonology appointment in Raleigh so that will take part of the day but I'm hoping for a good chunk of time to write up our weekend. It was rather--er, interesting. (Good, but interesting.) Also, "challenging" and "stretching" are two other words that come pretty quickly to mind.

The good news from the weekend is that my voice was even stronger this time around than it was in the concert we did last month which Steve and I were very thankful for.


Although Nathan is still in Florida, he did remember to send a Father's Day card to Steve; the envelope said, "Mr. (Dad) Steve Smith." (smile) Nathan also called Steve today; I was very proud of him for remembering. Nathan obviously has inherited his dad's gift of thoughtfulness.

Okay people. Tune back in here tomorrow for a gripping, fascinating and scintillating tale about our gripping, fascinating and scintillating journey.

For now though, I'm goin' to bed!

Pastor Dad

Today I am attempting to publish a post when I'm not even home. Isn't that so exciting? I'm writing this on Saturday and hoping it will post automatically on Sunday morning. So if you're reading this on Sunday, my plot worked! If you're not reading this, well, never mind.

I've decided today to write about my son's sister's uncle's nephew's grandma's husband's son. (Did you get that?)

If you DIDN'T get that, I'll just tell you that I'm writing this post about Steve and about Father's Day.

And on Father's Day, what could be better than a few Father's Day quotes? (Well, that and "Soap on a Rope!")


It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping.
-- John Sinor

When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.
-- Jewish Proverb

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.
-- Mark Twain

And my favorite quote?

The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
-- Attributed to both Theodore M. Hesburgh and David O. McKay


I am very thankful that my children have a dad who opens the door for me, thanks me for dinner, isn't afraid to help with housework, compliments me, affirms me, and prays with me.

Will that make a difference in the way Nathan treats HIS wife? Yes!

Will that make a difference in the kind of man Sarah chooses to marry? Yes!

So today, I would like to honor a certain Steve Smith (whom the kids have lovingly dubbed, "Pastor Dad,") for being the kind of dad who affirms his children, laughs with them, prays with them, and teaches them--both by word and by example.

And I'm especially thankful that "Pastor Dad" is the kind of dad who loves his children's mother so well.

Happy Father's Day, honey!

Woned, OE gewunod, ptp. of gewunian

Today was Washing the Car Day, a Smith family tradition which I am, thankfully, not usually invited to. (Except of course, in a purely advisory capacity.)

OR if I just happen to wander up with my camera, as I am wont to do.

And speaking of "wont" which I am wont to do (er, speak of "wont" that is), I looked it up so that you wouldn't have to. (Yes, I AM nice!)

Here's the definition:

Origin: 1300–50; (adj.) ME wont, woned, OE gewunod, ptp. of gewunian to be used to (see won 2 ); c. G gewöhnt; (v.) ME, back formation from wonted or wont (ptp.); (n.) appar. from conflation of wont (ptp.) with obs. wone wish, in certain stereotyped phrases

I especially loved the part where it said, "woned OE gewunod, ptp. of gewunian." Wasn't that GREAT stuff? Didn't it SPEAK to your heart? Didn't it SEEP into your soul? Didn't those words change your LIFE? Didn't they just MOVE you?

No?

Well, at least we all know what "wont" means, right? Or maybe we don't. Um, and maybe the reason we don't know is because I forgot to post the actual definition because I was so taken up with all that lilting, lively, life changing language UNDER the definition.

The definition for "wont" is simply, "Accustomed." Does everyone have that? (There WILL be a test. )

Okay. I think I have digressed.

As I am wont to do.

As I was saying (a loong time ago) Steve and Sarah washed the car and I took the pictures. An excellent partnership, to my way of thinking. It requires no Carolina humidity, sweating or wet hair on my part; all I have to do is snap a couple shots and run inside to the sweet coolness of the house and start typing. Ahhh. MY kind of job.

Since I'm in a sort of "wandering around in my writing" mood today, let me just mention that I posted another of my original songs in the upper left corner. It's got a sassy country flavor and is a song that just about every woman I know can relate to on some level. Enjoy! (And order the CD if you'd like!)

We're busy today getting ready for our trek to Charleston tomorrow. I have decided that Sir Snowy is just going to have to have a reality check on the trip and will have to move his cute little behiney to other locations in the car besides my lap. While I DO realize that I have the "fluffiest" lap in the Smith family, that is still no excuse! Sarah and I will come up with a plan to get him to spread his company around so I'm not stuck with him all day. (Don't know what that plan is yet, but we're thinkin'!)

Thanks to those of you who have been so encouraging about our trip and the fact that I will be singing in TWO Sunday services, back to back. Should be an interesting weekend; thank you for your prayers.

In closing, I just posted this picture of approximately 120 sheets of vintage music on Craig's List; however, if any of my blog readers would be interested in buying it all (it's mostly from the 1930's) give me a holler. Or better yet, an email! The price? Best offer.

It's about lunch time. I shall go down and have a little bite of lunch followed by a much larger bite of something chocolate.

As I am wont to do.

Plus and Minus

Steve got a call from a pastor friend yesterday with a last minute invitation to sing and preach in Charleston, SC this Sunday morning.

Okay. That's good. A chance to do what we're called and gifted to do. A chance to earn some income. (Which, in our present state, is a lovely thing.)

As you may recall, we sang in another church about a month ago and I was all nervous about it, since we hadn't done a concert in seven years AND I had no foggy idea what my voice was planning on doing. (It has a mind of its own. Just like my hair.)

But this time around when I heard about the invitation, I was feeling a little bit, sort of, quasi-confident because, hey, I'd done it before! I'd sung seven songs in a row before and I figured my chances were good I could do it again!

However, as I was getting all the details from Steve he casually said, "And by the way, they have two morning services."

I sputtered to a stop. Two? Morning services? I have to sing two services back to back? In one morning? Using only one slightly used, not-so-reliable, undeniably fragile voice?

Um. Hello? Is this such a great idea? Non-stop singing ALL stinkin' mornin'?

Let the butterflies commence their abdominal maneuvers.

The other difference on this trip is that we will be taking Princess Groovy Chick and The Dawg with us since Nathan is not at home to babysit the aforementioned family members. Sarah, of course, is a delight to travel with. Snowy? Not so much.

He seems to get it in his head that the ONLY Snowy-worthy seat in the entire vehicle is on MY lap. Or leaning on MY arm looking out MY window. Which is fine. Except I can't read or work on my computer when my lap is already occupied by six pounds of Snowyness. And we have to find a hotel that takes dogs and find something to do with him during the TWO morning services. AND it's eight hours, round trip. I'll definitely have plenty of "Snowy on my lap" time.

Sigh.

But with all that aside, I know it will be a great outing. Sarah has not heard her parents do a concert since she was six years old so I'm sure she'll be a fascinated audience member. In fact, the last concert she ever heard us do was on Mother's Day, 2002, five days before her cancer diagnosis.

It really amazes me that we can never really know when life is about to change abruptly. We had packed up our equipment on that Sunday so long ago and driven away from the church with a full calendar for the following year and cases of newly recorded Cd's in our truck. We were set to travel forever. And then some.

We had absolutely no way of knowing that that Mother's Day morning marked our very last official, "on the road" concert. Ever.

And now seven years later, here we are on the road again. For a weekend at least. Except with a thirteen year old daughter instead of a six-year old.

And minus one College Dude. (Of course, back then, he was an Elementary School Dude.) Minus one strong singing voice and one healthy set of lungs. Plus a lot more wisdom and maturity. Plus a pound or two. (Or three.) Minus the hundreds of pounds of gear and the semi truck. Plus an actual house to live in. Minus an RV. Minus the youthful certainty that we were in charge of our future. Plus the thankfulness that we still have the opportunity to sing and preach. Minus the knowledge of what our immediate future holds.

Plus the comfort that we know Who holds the future.

Even WITH the dog in my lap for eight hours? It'll be a great weekend.

_______________

I'm posting a video here that I will also post on Sarah Smith's Spot. I thought there might be a few people who come here that don't always go to that site and I wanted everyone to see the celebration of ten years of the special friendship between Sarah and Victoria.

Biscuits, Realtors and Faith

Okay. I think it's a record. I have now gone for three days without posting an update.

If anyone has noticed. Which you probably haven't.

Or I don't know. Maybe you have! Maybe your entire week has been filled with a sense of emptiness and sadness as you have trod mournfully to this site day by day, only to have a great expanse of "nothing new" sadly greet you.

In THAT case, today is your lucky day! Today is your day when your mopey mournfulness can be turned into gleeful, grand, and glorious giddiness! :-)


We had someone come and look at our house last week. When the phone call came, our family burst into the kind of action that is normally reserved only for classic Keystone Cops episodes. Snowy stood in the middle of the house, bravely holding his ground, as his frantic family ran amok, crashing into each other in our frenzied and agitated attempts to make everything as lovely, neat, appealing, and attractive as possible.

We all made it out the door with two minutes to spare and since none of us had had breakfast, we took ourselves off to the drive-thru at McDonald's. Snowy got so excited when we drove up to the window because he was fully convinced (in his very small brain), that he was at the bank and he knew that the bank always gave him a dog biscuit at the drive-thru.

But alas, it was not to be. The human biscuits came out but there was NO dog biscuit. I don't know if you're ever seen a devastated doggie before, but it ain't purty. I took pity on my crestfallen canine friend and broke up a couple peanut butter crackers I had in the car; he seemed greatly impressed with that culinary offering and inhaled them with his patented brand of furry fervor.

Nathan and Steve both ordered sausage biscuits and then did the most amazing thing. They put GRAPE jelly on them! Have you ever HEARD of such a thing? I was grossed out at first but when Steve offered a bite to me, I actually found it to be quite good. (Just what I need. Another way to ingest empty calories!)

Later that afternoon, Steve got an e-mail from the realtor which said, "The clients loved your house. However, they were looking for four bedrooms AND an office."

Um. Excuse me? Did they not look at the house stats on the Internet? Did the realtor not tell them how many bedrooms the house has? That there was NOT a fifth, office-esque room?

I guess not.

Oh well. I got a sausage biscuit out of the deal, and Snowy got a broken up peanut butter cracker. I'm really trying to count my blessings here!

Only two "house views" in six months. That may be some kind of a record in Non-Views of Houses. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Guinness Book of World Records knocked at our door any day to put us in their record book!

Hey! Maybe I could sell them our house!

____________

You may recall that we've had some concerns as to whether we'd be able to send Nathan back to college this fall. Well, the answer is, "He's going!" (Hooray and hallelujah for college!) Steve was able to put some things together that have made it do-able. (And hooray and hallelujah for Steve!)

In the meantime, we continue to wait, wait, wait. And then wait some more. Have I ever mentioned that I'm not so good at waiting? That I like action? That I like to know what to expect? And how to plan? And WHEN things will happen? And WHERE things will happen? And HOW things will happen?

Is that too much to ask?

Hmmm. I guess so.

The Bible says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Since there seem to be plentiful plethoras of "evidence not seen" around here, I guess that means that we are getting plenty of practice in practicing faith.

I know that someday we will look back at this chapter of our lives and see how everything worked out. But looking at it all from this perspective? Truthfully, it seems just a tad overwhelming.

Steve and I work really hard at keeping each others' spirits up and saying encouraging things to each other. But occasionally those days hit when both of us run out of our supply of encouraging words at the same time. Have you ever been there? And as far as I can tell, Wal-Mart does not seem to have any "Encouraging Word" departments where we can go and re-stock.

So what do we do then? We just make it up as we go. We use our faith (that we're getting so much practice at developing) and we say uplifting things whether we feel like it our not. And eventually, our feelings follow our words and we climb back out of the Pitiful Pit of Pathos that we fell in and we just Keep. Going. On.

Eating biscuits and jelly.

Setting world records in Non-Views of Houses.

Practicing faith.

______________

I'll close with a few pictures of the lovely yard that I will miss seeing when we move. Would anyone like to buy a yard? (With a house attached?)

But a yard isn't worth much without some memories to fill it. Here are some precious memories.

Picture Fun and 8-Tracks

Do you recognize this person? No?

It's ME! As a criminal! Who speaks French! And wears a beard!

Okay, Okay. I realize that that is a bit of an alarming sight to see when you are used to dropping by Smithellaneous to experience warm fuzzies and happy family-ness. Does THIS help at all?



WHAT? Seeing Nathan as a ferocious Jedi STILL doesn't give you warm fuzzies?

All right. How about this? It's kind of a nice quirky, Steve-esque picture.



And a few more . . .

There now. Wasn't that fun? (photofunia.com)

I'm actually trying to drown my sorrows in picture stuff because my eldest child took off for Florida this morning and will be gone Eight. Whole. Days. The church that Nathan attends when he's at school is covering the costs for Nathan and a friend to come and help them with a week long children's outreach.

So I really miss him! Already! It's a good thing I've still got Steve, Sarah, and Snowy (The Three S's) to keep me occupied while Nathan is out and about.

And speaking of Steve, I was going through some old papers today and saw a letter he wrote to me when I was nineteen years old. (It was right before we got engaged.) My sisters and I had just been in the recording studio and he wrote and said, "If you have your recording on 8-track, I would love to buy a copy."

And the funny thing? He was NOT kidding!

8-track!!

Does that tell anyone how old we are?
____________

Be sure to listen to the song I wrote that is posted on the top of the left column. It's on our "Like a Blanket" CD.