New Traditions

The past couple of years, Ron and I have been trying to settle on new Christmas traditions. The kids are grown and gone. They may or may not come home. They may or may not all be home at the same time.

When they were little, we would have a light meal for Christmas Eve, go to the Candle Light Service, read the Christmas story and then open presents. Christmas morning, we'd do stockings and then everyone helped with the meal. We usually had all kinds of people over that had no place to go.

Christmas Eve with Blythe and Joe at their house.

This year we are at the beach with Brandon for a few days. My sister will be in for a couple of those too. Then Ron and I get a few by ourselves which will include our anniversary.

Very relaxing . . .

The Shepherds and the Angels

Luke 2

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

(TNIV)

My Heart is Not Broken Any More

It's Christmas Eve. Hallelujah! Time to focus on Jesus. Like every single day. No day is time to focus on me, but I had been. My heart was broken. The day that letter came and I had to come face to face with what my relationship with my parents really was and always had been.

God had been preparing me for that day for so long. First He sought me out and saved me. Then He gave me Ron to nurture me and help me know that people were honorable and faithful. Then slowly He helped me come face to face with my damage so that I was able to look the inevitable squarely in the eye - so that it wouldn't completely devastate me when I did.

What I realized in all of this is that God sustains. He allows you to get up in the morning and do your job no matter how crushing your insides feel. He allows you to put one foot in front of the other and walk from one place to the other. He allows you to smile and meet people even when you cry yourself to sleep at night. God is sufficient through all things even when your heart is broken.

This fall old passions began to return. I wanted to pull out crafting materials that had lain dormant and gotten dusty, I started to write again - not for lessons or web sites or school, but for me, to express myself as I'd not in ages. I got mad over injustices at school. I . . . well I'm doing all kinds of things that I haven't done in ages.

I'm not brokenhearted any more.

Wordle

I kept seeing a Wordle on T.C.'s blog and went to the link . . .

Click on it and it will take you to the large one which is much more stunning. It's a compilation of words from this blog.

Bella

I thought we had an order coming in from the bindery last Tuesday, but they were a no show. So I cataloged DVDs that I'd let stack up. I hate cataloging DVDs. Several of them looked interesting though, so I brought them home. I thought I'd write a critique of a few - some are good, some were NOT.

Bella was good, really good. It's by Lionsgate, a company that is generally trustworthy as far as putting a movie on the Media Center shelf. It is PG 13 so it's not for the very young.

It is not an overtly Christian movie. The main family are Spanish speaking so part of the movie is sub-titled. There is death, there is life. There is pig-headedness. There is forgiveness - forgiveness of others and forgiveness of self. There are some who cannot forgive or let go. This is a sanctity of life movie about decisions that are hard to make. Not all the decisions made were right. Some of the decisions were life changing and brutal. It was heart breaking at parts. The main family was loving and supportive. The husband adored his wife and children!

This is not a brilliant movie and it did drag at parts, but it was well worth the watch and may well be good to use with youth groups for a sanctity of life Sunday or with school groups for sex-ed lessons.

What happens to old or even not so old books?

Every year in the Media Center, I have to prune books. We have a large, beautiful space and even then there is not enough room to keep every book known to man. I'd like to, but the fact remains that some books become out dated, some books just don't get checked out. Some books are never checked out. How sad. I buy some books, process them, and there they sit for ages. They become yellow, dusty, pitiful from just sitting.

The used book sales area of the media center has grown - partly due to donations that we just don't need. (Would you like a Left Behind book? How about Joel Osteen?) BUT it's also partly due to this pruning that must also occur. One of my goals for this upcoming year is to try to read more of these books myself. Some of the books that come off the shelf are EXCELLENT! It's hard though - just to find the time found to buy and catalog them . . .



Visit our Media Center

Book Giveaway

I stumbled across this today in my daily search of blogs about Bibles, Books, and theology:

All of these books could be yours! Today, it is my pleasure to announce the first ever Kingdom People Christmas Giveaway.

For the next ten days (Dec. 15-25), you have the opportunity to register to win all ten of my favorite books this year. Plus, an ESV Study Bible. That’s $260 worth of books!

Check it out!

Pseudo Research and Closed Mindedness

One of my Jack of All Trades traits - I don't mind changing my mind when I'm proven wrong or when research shows it. Practicality has to come into play also.

I will admit, I do not understand this King James Version Only (KJVO) mind set or the research they use to back up that the King James Version (KJV) is God's inspired word to English speaking people. Tell me it might be your preference, although I think if they really gave one of the newer versions a chance, they'd lay the KJV down, but don't make up Pseudo Research to support an unsupportable stance.

Here's one that was posted on the Baptist Board this weekend:
Which Version is the Bible? by FLOYD NOLEN JONES, Th.D., Ph.D.

These papers are entered into with one thing in mind and one thing only: to prove that the KJV is the one and only approved word of God. Nothing will get in their way. If they tripped over a piece of research that showed that God fearing men, qualified linquists, expert researchers, etc. translated the exact same texts used in the KJV, it would NOT be enough, it would NEVER be enough. Minds are made up. Case is closed.

Another thing that bothers me is the need to tear down ALL modern versions. Now some are now worth the paper on which they are written. But to say that all men except those that translated the KJV had nefarious intentions or that God stopped working through tranlations with the KJV is just plain hard to swallow.

NKJV: Counterfeit Case in point. This one is rich. I think you would agree regardless of the side you take on this debate.

This is not going to be solved. It's not worth getting into. I do not see why both sides just don't let the other be - like the drinking debate. But for whatever reason they don't.

Scarves for Christmas

I finished the scarves!

I still have a few purses to complete. Now how many days are there . . . mmmmmm

I didn't know

I didn't know.

I didn't know the distance at which I'd kept God for so long.

I didn't know how I really didn't trust him.

I didn't know how much I feared that He'd betray me.

I didn't know.

I didn't know how much was colored by my childhood by anyone's childhood.

I didn't know that if you're raised around so much anger that you are angry too.

I didn't know that I had quit talking for fear it would be repeated.

I didn't know that I'd quit writing for fear it would be found.

I didn't know how much on earth is reflected spiritually.

I just didn't know.

I didn't know how long pain could be carried.

I didn't know how strongly He wanted my attention.

I didn't know how much hurt I could feel.

I didn't know how humbled I could be.

I didn't know how bad things really had been.

I didn't know I could feel.

I didn't know how much He loved me.

I didn't know how open I could be.

I didn't know how glorious things are.

I didn't know.

Now I do.

Praise God.

I didn't know.

Weddings & Mothers of the Groom

Weddings - Glorious events!

Well . . . ;)

My friend Tina is about to be the mother of the groom today. Odd event this for us old gals. The men have their sons and we moms mmmmm we are an extra on the stage. The old phrase about wearing beige and keeping your mouth shut is very true.

Tina has very much been in my prayers.

Exams are done

Exams are a glorious and frustrating time. Students who have struggled rise to the surface. Students who should do better, fail.

This year:

27% made A's.

17% made F's.

Only a couple of those F's were expected. Two of them were normally A students who didn't do a thing during study sessions. They must have thought that they knew so much that they just didn't have to work. Today, when I collected the tests and work, they had no work. Now, I'm a fairly good math student and I wrote the tests AND I couldn't have done all the problems with no work. What a great trick!

74% made 80 or above.

YES!

I'm pretty happy with that!

How much is too much help?

During study session today - after going over dozens of math problems, students broke into small groups to drill each other on vocabulary. One of the girls came up to me and asked to go make a copy of a copy of someone's vocab work.

Nope, I responded.

Why not, she asked (not especially nicely).

I just looked at her.

At this point I've explained a couple of hundred times the benefit of looking the words up, reading the definition, writing the definition down. Right now in this one class, one child's vocabulary is now a classroom set.

I'm noticing a trend. There are doers and those that wait for things to be done for them. Some of the doers gladly do for those that wait. When I tell a kid to look something up - That problem is in Chapter 2 - near the beginning. We talked about it, so I know once you find it, you'll remember it. Likely as not, another kid will jump in and tell the other how to do the problem. Even small things like What's the date/time? When I remind him or her that a calendar/clock is on the wall, inevitably someone will jump in and tell them.

I used to explain that they have figured this out, so their classmates can too. This hasn't worked. I'm trying a new strategy likened to exercising. If someone is asking a question and I don't directly answer, then I want their brain to exercise. If they jump in and answer, then their brain gets double exercise and the kid who doesn't know the skill still has none.

We'll see if this works.

TNIV

I broke down and bought one. I'd been putting it off because the last one I bought, the ESV, was a disappointment (although technically fine), and I just didn't want to spend any more money on another version just to be disappointed again. BUT a couple of guys on the BaptistBoard (T.C. and Rippon) kept insisting I wouldn't be, so off to the store I went.

With Matthew under my belt, I can safely say that so far I'm happy. I do wish I hadn't bought the Study Bible though. There is only so much - so many places the notes can go and with several of those already. . . . Well, maybe it's the time of day I read. I'm finding the notes more distracting than helpful.

But so far, I do like TNIV.

Through the Bible in a Year

There are many plans out there if you are interested:

One Year Bible Online

Nice Chart from the ELCA - Aside from their other polity

Now this one is from eword and has a variety of plans for a variety of versions. They range from Chronological to historical to old/new to new/old.

Bible Gateway has one, but it's not in a nice printable form. It does link to the chapters though in NIV.

This is just a start. There are tons of online supplies available to help you read through the Bible in a year.

The Gift

We went to Texas for the weekend to see Brandon. Whirlwind trip. He starred in Southcliff's Christmas program.

Divorced dad. Co-worker gives him a DVD of the Christmas program. Nothing good on TV so he watches it. In the meantime, he finds out that his children won't be coming home for Christmas. He thinks of Christmases past - better Christmases. He realizes he needs more, that he needs Jesus, and calls his co-worker to talk.

On a reflective note, my son is grown. He has finished seminary. He has waited patiently on a ministerial role. In this performance, he played not only a man, but a mature one at that. I realized watching him in this role how much I miss him - seeing him on a regular basis. He is a fine actor. He will be a fine youth minister.

The Rich Man in Hell

I can't let this go.

We've been studying parables. Typical LifeWay fashion - there was a worksheet with references and titles to match. Such a challenging lesson ;0. So, I picked about a dozen for us to look at more closely.

Most I picked at random. I picked the new wine in old wine skins just so the students would know that not everything is easy to interpret.

This one though, the rich man in hell. It's been bugging me. Every one I've mentioned it to, they remember the part about the rich man wanting Lazarus to place a drop of water on his tongue. They don't remember the part about the rich man asking Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers about what was in store for them if they didn't believe. Abraham's response? Why would they believe a dead man standing in front of them when they had the words of Moses and the prophets? You didn't believe!

Now the students, they said, "OH, I'd believe a dead guy if he came to tell me about hell!"

"Oh really?" I said, "The Bible clearly says you won't."

One of the counselors gets a remarkable picture in an email. I do wish I had the picture because it was absolutely awesome. Truck driver saved in a wreck. He drops off the road facing in the opposite direction on a sheer incline. He'd have surely died if he'd been facing the other direction, off just inches. It was miles down the cliff. The first response was, "If he didn't believe in God before, he'd have to now."

BUT he doesn't, does he? Because if the Holy Spirit is not working, no event, no person, no words are going to make a difference. The thing is that we don't know on who, at what place, at what time God is at work and our part, our obligation is just to be ready to share.

Translation Debate by Eugene Glassman

We are in Texas to see Brandon in a play. I picked up Translation Debate by Eugene Glassman to read on the way over. He wrote this book in 1981, so many of the current versions are not included, but it is a fine piece of work that is nicely notated.

Glassman gives a brief history of how the modern Bible came to us. He discusses the differences in translation purposes - is the translator going to be truer to the original language or to the receiving language. He is not anti-paraphrase and discusses that all versions are paraphrased to some extent. Glassman does a good job of comparing a single scripture from various scripture to prove his points.

He brought up the Phillips Translation many times. I've got an old one on my shelf that I haven't pulled off in years that used to be one of my favorites to read. I need to go dust it off.

One of my favorite quotes was from the gentleman writing to the American Bible Society wanting to help translate Bibles for missionaries - he asked for a foreign language dictionary and grammar book and promised that in his spare time, he'd get the new testamant translated.

It's been a week . . .

I went a week in between migraines this time. Not a pain-free week mind you, but a week in between the kind that make you have to lay down and take major pain meds. THAT is a miracle! AND I'm really grateful.

It might have been longer if I'd not been careless at dinner Wednesday night. We went for Mexican and I ate hot sauce with reckless abandon, thinking while I ate it that this would be trouble. It was. Two days worth. One of them a traveling day even.

oh well.

You know, I did have a thought this past week. It was probably completely bizarre and makes no sense. I did an internet search and only found one other reference and it was in another blog. But I've thought and thought about the time my migraines went from several a year to the time they went to chonic and it seems it was about the same time I had shingles. It's also in the same location - same side of my face and down the same arm. Probaby a crazy thought, but I did think about it.

Beyond the call of duty

I was walking out of the counselor's office (across the hall from my classroom)

WHAM!

Well, that's just how fast things happen don't they! I got hit by a running kid. A kid who was supposed to be sitting in my class. Since I was a few minutes late, he thought he could sneak off to his locker like The Flash. I was still halfway in the door so it didn't knock me over. I was knocked into the door frame. He's sprawled all over the floor laughing. I'm not. It surprised me. I'm trying to figure out if I'm hurt, if he's hurt. People come running. At least my class has the good sense to act concerned.

Now I'm feeling a bit like I've been in an accident - sore from head to toe. I do hope the kid's ok . . . We had a wreck - minus the vehicles.

Merging Blogs . . .

1. I can't keep up with a variety of blogs, so I've been doing some merging.
2. Not all blogs are easy to merge. Bah humbug. This is going to take some time and cut into new writing.
3. I've learned some blog coding. HA! The look has already changed. Watch out!

Abortion

OK John Piper two days in a row. Or is it two in one. mmm

Well he's good. I like the clear and concise way he puts things.

Abortion. God makes life. Who are we to take it? When does life begin? Too many opinions. Life is precious because it comes from God.

God is at work. And if he is supreme, you leave his knitting work alone

-John Piper

Skinny by New Years

I have Sirrius Radio in the car and they play the most bizarre commercials. One of them is for this weight loss pill. Take it and night and sleep your weight away. It will fall off as you sleep. You'll be skinny by New Year. The web page is really something like skinnypill.com

Yea right. Give me a break.

Now this does make me think of this year's class actually. They just don't want to work. Every year, I have some students who are resistant to working, but this class has much larger numbers. If I give a challenging problem, the whines rise. Instead of using spare time to do assignments, they create spare time. I've had to change my teaching order because visiting is rampant. I always issue a challenge to students to not cut off educational opportunities today that will limit what they can do with their education in the upcoming years because they have no clue what God has planned for them, and still they look for opportunities to cut out problems, look for ways to visit, not start class on time, don't do their homework . . . Generalities of course - but larger than in the past. Skinny education.

Glorious Jesus!

Piper's latest sermon arrived in my email box. He's preaching through John. These are the titles for Jesus in just John 1:

1. The Word. Verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word.”
2. God. Verse 1: “And the Word was God.”
3. Light. Verse 9: “The true light . . . was coming into the world.”
4. Jesus Christ. Verse 17: “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
5. Lamb of God. Verse 29: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
6. Rabbi. Verse 38: “And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), where are you staying?”
7. Messiah. Verse 41: “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).”
8. Son of God. Verse 49: “You are the Son of God!”
9. King of Israel. V
   Publish Post
   erse 49: “You are the King of Israel!”
10. Son of Man. Verse 51: “You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Those have a new meaning to me since I've worked through them now as a teacher and because we spent quite a bit of time with those in Bible.

Last section of sermon:

God’s Greatest Glory: Dying for Sinners

So you could say that the greatest glory Nathanael, or you and I, would ever see is the glory of the Son of Man, the Lord of heaven, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, lifted up on a cross to die for sinners.

So when you see him this Advent season as Son of God, and as King of Israel, and as Son of Man, make sure that you see him dying to give you eternal life and, therefore, see him as glorious.

-John Piper

Glorious Savior! Who am I that you looked on me? That you care for me, that you died for me? Oh Glorious Savior!

I can't make up my mind!

Bible!

Life of Christ! I was so looking forward to teaching it and it's been such a trial. The text from Lifeway (LifeQuest) is just mediocre. The school did not buy the student texts - probably because they also are mediocre, but the teacher text is based on the fact that the kids have them. There are multiple problems with it:

1. It's an awful lot like what they get in Sunday School and I'd like to go deeper on the factual side.
2. There is the textbook issue.
3. It's meant for 5 1-hour sessions and we only have 4 30-minute sessions (please don't get me started on that!).
4. It's a survey course. This is fine, but some of these kids are really hungry for some deep learning.
   

I've had to essentially write, make, and then copy everything the students have to use. I'm sure the guys in the copy center hate to see me coming, but 8th graders need something in their hands to help them organize themselves.

So, I'm digging around in the book room one day and I see what looks like a set of Twelve Ordinary Men behind some new office furniture. I climb over there to retrieve one of the copies and I read it. Now this is exciting! A classroom set of something that the kids can hold in their hands. I do some research and there is a study guide I can get. The book is on CD, so I can use that intermittently. This can take third quarter planned appropriately - good meaty material!

Except, when the furniture is put in the office, there are only three books, not the classroom set I was expecting. So I send out emails and find that there is indeed a classroom set. At least two teachers have seen it. One has used it in the past. BUT where is it. I send out another email. I get some of the silliest replies about me looking for men, but nothing tangible about the books.

Heavy sigh.

One day in the midst of all this, I get an email from one of my media center suppliers. For purchases of $35 or more - there is no shipping. I check and yes indeed, they do have Twelve Ordinary Men. And what's this? They have hardbacks new for $9.95 a book. A classroom set will cost $250. If I throw in the $100 that the PTF has allotted me, then the school only has to fork over, ahhh spend $150. WHAT a bargain! Email sent to principal in a flash.

No response.

Wait.

Ah, I know, she's just sent the order through the appropriate channels. Let me check that route.

So, principal passes me in the hall. Appropriate channel asked. Ain't gonna happen. Money won't be spent. Now I'm upset. Even if the school spent the whole $250, that's $3.50 per kid on some good material. As far as I can tell, nothing's been spent in quite a while.

So, I'm kicking this around with a friend. And she's got a Piper DVD. I love Piper too. This one is called Blazing Center and is based off of Desiring God. Eight sermons. It's got a study guide which I've now got in my grubby little hands. I could get a could quarter's worth of lessons off of it too. It's good stuff. But it's not exactly directly related to the Life of Christ.

I know - I'm wordy.

My choices:

1. Stick with the LifeWay teacher material and keep working up material for the kids.
2. Use what I have of the Twelve Ordinary Men. Which is a DVD with some re-enactments, an unabridged CD, but NO books for the kids. They are only 8th graders.
3. Use the Blazing Center materials which isn't related to the curriculum.

It's taken me all day to write this and I still don't know what to do. I've no clear guidance.

Migraines

I've had severe excruciating headaches for as long as I can remember. My dad must have had them too because I remember he took goodies or ate aspirin and he'd squint and rub his fingers or palm across his forehead.

To mother's credit, she did take me to the eye doctor a once when I was a girl to see if my vision was so terrible that might be the cause of them. When it wasn't, however, that was the end of that.

What it taught me was to carry pain in silence because we did not discuss things without a cause. Things without a cause were not real. And we all know what things that aren't real are *wink* *wink*

It was with such relief as an adult to finally be diagnosed. Well, I suppose relief is a funny word. I'd rather not have a chronic illness. But in reality, it's better to give it a name than not. It's better to research it and try remedies - both pharmaceutical and herbal. And again, I do owe a debt of being able to work, host, teach, converse, write through small, medium, intense pain.

Dante Club

Good book by Matthew Pearl

My friend Debbie gave it to me for my birthday. It's taking me a while to get through it because I read at night and keep falling asleep. Not because it's boring by any means.

Set in Boston with Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, and Fields (a publisher) making up the club - they are translating Dante. Took a bit to get into. After you are into it, you won't want to put it down. Well, unless it drops into your lap when you nod off because you are too tired to continue ;)

Crocheting and Knitting

I am making Christmas presents this year.

shhhhhh, it's a secret, but it's been fun so far . . .

Dreaming and the alarm clock

I don't dream very often. When I do they are usually really weird.

This morning, I was teaching and handing out materials then the alarm clock started to go off and I couldn't tear myself away from the kids to turn off the clock!

Silliest thing!

Craft Store

I stopped by Zondervan's. I've been wanted to pick up a TNIV. Well, JoAnne's is right next door. I've been also wanting to pick up material for a new black purse. Material I got. They also had a knitting machine on sale for 1/3 off. I used to have one. This one in fact. I gave it away when we left Atlanta.

Guess what I came home with? *eyebrows raised*

I don't like your tone

Most days I like teaching even though I've decided not to return next year. Today was not one of them.

Event 1
My second period class is chatty and borders on disrespectful - borders. They are the same when they return to Bible. Today I had a student who I'd asked several times to turn around. I'd asked several times to quit talking. I'd done my usual waiting. He'd asked me to repeat questions several times. Then he whispered a comment which he wouldn't repeat.

Another student later in the day came up to me and said, "Mrs. Griffin, wasn't it funny when Harry said he didn't like your tone?"

What? I was flabbergasted! That wasn't borderline anymore. Harry was at his locker and admitted he'd said it. He did apologize. Won't happen again he says. mmmmmm I should hope not. Certainly not after detention.

Event 2
Young man who is going to be gone for ages on an over seas trip. I've been working terribly hard trying to get his work ready in advance - including exams, tests, keys and January's work for him to take with him so he can return and not be behind. His mom told the History teacher at car duty that they aren't going to take any of the work we've gotten ready for him with them on their trip. *sigh*

Event 3
After much negotiation, I thought we finally had an exam grade column on the report card for 8th grade that would help a) students prepare for the H.S. exam grade that counts 20 percent of their semester grade and b) help parents remember what that grade was come recommendation time. When I went looking for it, I couldn't find it. Had to ask. Principal changed her mind and forgot to tell us.

finished those Roman Shades

The re-covering was a dumb idea . . .

I thought it would make the room darker at night and in the mornings when we had the chance to sleep in. BUT they just didn't hang right. That's ok. They are finished now and are all beautiful and yellow. These go much nicer with the spread and pillows.

New Pillows

Well that's not exciting I know. I've had the material for ages, so I recovered a Roman Shade too. I think I'll do to more Shades tomorrow.

I did get the hole patched. Tomorrow . . . Wall Paper!

Fixing holes in the wall

you wouldn't think this would be hard!

Last week we had one in the bathroom. Joe has moved home during the week. Blythe is finishing up school and he's opening up a new store. So he's staying with us. I noticed that the towel rack was loose in the bathroom he's using. By the time I finished getting it off the wall, there was a hole - Metal anchors primarily to blame. So, some patch, sanding, small pieces of wall paper and it's nearly as good as new.

Which makes me think it's time to tackle the much larger hole at the bottom of the stairs that I've ignored for several years. Ron had tried to carry a mattress up the stairs by himself and it slipped. oops . . . I just hung a quilt over it. Since it was at such a prime location, I thought I should pull the entire panels of wall paper down for this hole - it spanned two. Joy! They didn't want to come off without the wall. What I thought would take 15 minutes took two hours. That was just pulling off the paper.

Tomorrow, I'll have to start patching the wall - not just the hole. Drat!

Well, darn

OK, so Sharon and James had to cancel . . .

Sharon is sick. I hope she get's well quick!

Company for Thanksgiving . . .

Sharon and James are coming for Thanksgiving!

I'm exciting. We won't have any of the kids over most likely. They would like to go out to eat. This has proved to be a feat greater than climbing Everest. We finally found a place closer than 100 miles.

My favorite was calling Salem Tavern.

We just found out we have out of town company coming. Are you open Thanksgiving Day?

Yes.

Wonderful! We'll need a table for four.

I can give you two tables for two.

But we have company coming. Couldn't you work out a table for four?

You've waited entirely too late to call!

Oh! Thanks anyway!

Oh well ;)

50!?!

Today I am 50!

*gasp*

Where did the time go?

I think the bigger question is: Why don't I feel 50? ;)

Guidance

This year, Kathy Glover asked to do Guidance during Bible. She's been doing a some decision making lessons and one of the situations was about a boy having to decide whether to live with his mom or dad. She made the statement that boys were naturally closer to their dads and girls were naturally closer to their moms.

When I got a chance, I had to whisper to her that this might not be true for a variety of reasons. I was closer to my dad - not that he was all that great a dad, but he was the one I gravitated toward. She asked me to share that, IF I didn't mind. AND you know, there were several girls that did say they were much closer to their dads than moms. Just because girls and boys are supposed to be a certain way - even in the best of homes - well, that doesn't always make it so.

My Cousin

When my grandmother Katie died, my cousin Brian wanted to buy her house. He and daddy worked out all the arrangements. Then of course Daddy died before Brian paid off the house with the land.

I wonder how all that really went down. Mother would have sued him, taken the house and put him on the street. That much I do know. But the contract Daddy wrote was legally binding and she couldn't. I wonder if he was anywhere near the worm Mother portrayed him as being. There is no way to tell.

A loss beyond words

We lost a student this week. He shot himself. He was actually on campus Monday to pick up his brother and then went home and blew off his head. There is no nice way to say that. He's gone. It's irrepairable.

Gabiden Kourman.

I taught him. He was on my math team. He was quite and intense even in the 8th grade. Still waters run deep. In high school, he stood up in Bible and said that he didn't believe in Jesus, in God, that he'd never believed. Students responded in all kinds of ways. The usual array from disbelief to trying to sway him to being mean. He later recanted saying that he was only trying to get them to think about what they believed. He was so close to himself, it's hard to know what his real intent was.

He was an excellent student. He loved math, he loved writing, he loved books. I heard that he'd said the pressure was too much. He was a freshman.

His 7th grade brother found him.

As mad as I got over the dismissal of David last year, I do know without a doubt that he would not have handled chapel today like Roger did. I do know that students have heard the plan of salvation over and over and over again this year. No one can leave Calvary Baptist Day School this year and say, "But how was I to know the way to heaven?" They know. Our walk through Romans has plainly and clearly shown our sin in Adam and the redemption in Jesus Christ.

While this is tragic beyond words, it is amazing to see God's hand, His placement of people, to know He is working.

I am heartbroken and yet awed in His presence.

Moving

We moved a lot when I was growing up. Sometimes Daddy would come home and he'd be gone the next day. We'd have to move within a week.

We were always told it had to do with Daddy's job. It was because of what he wanted to do. That may have been true. Also helped him hide affairs that's for sure.

BUT I do wonder now, with hindsight on my side, if part of it wasn't in part because of Mother. It had to be easier to up and leave when she had run through her course of friends. How hard it must have been for him to have to explain in a small, tight-knit community like Western Union was. Why won't Joy come over any more? She used to be so close to all the girls and now she won't even return calls.

I don't know and of course I can't ask. But I do wonder.

Cold bed pans

When I was in the 7th grade, my periods were terrible – so bad, that I could hardly get out of bed or keep any food down. I had to go to the doctor. He put me in the hospital. I missed enough of school that I got my one and only D in math. I also got several blood transfusions which made going to the bathroom impossible. I might not remember Mother and the cold bedpans at all except that our next door neighbor, Mrs. Rollo came to relieve her for a spell and during that period, I had to go to the bathroom. Mrs. Rollo warmed the bedpan for me to use. She didn’t make me use a cold one – she warmed it!

Captivity

I must accept God's continual presence in my life as absolute fact! I am parched for him. I want to surrender completely to you. I am so saddened it has taken me this long to surrender.

Captivity is anything that keeps me from have the abundant and full life with God. Lord, I've been captive and didn't even know. Please break these chains and set me free. I want victory in Jesus. I don't want them to be words. I don't want triteness and pettiness. I want be free from this bondage.

God's presence

Matthew 14:25-32
25And in (A)the [a]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
26When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is (B)a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.
27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "(C)Take courage, it is I; (D)do not be afraid."
28Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
29And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "(E)You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
32When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.
God is present during the storm. God is present is this storm.

Realizations

I've been thinking about the letter mother sent to me about Ron. There is more to it than what's written on the paper. Divide and conquer themes run rampant.

It would not surprise me at all if the ulterior motive was to divide Ron and I. A split. Ultimate divorce. To make me distrust Ron too. She has never given any indication that she has did not love Ron as a son, that she did not trust him with everything in her life - including her life. AND then out of the blue he is untrustworthy and has been for years.

Now I struggle for real words - the ones that come out of my mouth. They are much easier to come off my fingers. This year to me has been amazing. I know I've said that at least once in this journal.

I probably would have kept taking the horrid treatment my mother kept dishing out except that she turned on my family. She turned on my baby first. This was harder to put together because of the distance in miles, but we did. Then she turned on Ann (actually, she turned on her again, but her behavior toward Ann during her move was so juvenile). You don't say things to your children like, "I know you think you love me."

Through all this, I've found that I've been distancing myself from her. I can't trust that anything I said would be interpreted appropriately or realistically. I've felt manipulated at every turn. In reality I've been manipulated my entire life. Then of course there was the letter about Ron. This was the final straw in my eyes.

He is struggling with severing the relationship completely. He is struggling because he is the kind and generous and loving man that I married. No, I take that back. He is more kind and more loving and more generous than he was. It is amazing to me that he can think about picking her up for church, but he can.

I do not want him to be alone with her. I do not trust her. I don't say this out of malice. I say this out of fact and self preservation. If she were anyone else, I would have severed the ties ages ago. I would have come to the conclusions that it has taken me this entire year to draw years ago if not decades ago.

I know now that God has used this year to draw me out and away from her so that I could sever the relationship when the time came. The hardest thing in all this is to recognize that your mother has used you for her own gains -- which I truly believe are to make everyone miserable because she is miserable. This is a shame, but it's not my shame.

To Know God and Believe Him

God chose me to know him and to be his witness!

John 8:36
36"So if the Son (A)makes you free, you will be free indeed.
I have a personal relationship with Christ, but until this latest mess with mother came up, I had distanced myself from him. Why did I do that? He had not moved. I know it was me. I'd gotten busy. I'd been working on web stuff. I'd been looking for things to do. I'd been working on the house. I'd been empty.

So right now, I want to change the distance. I want to be in the middle of what I need to be in the middle of. I don't want to be satisfied with anything less than what God wants! I want to know God intimately.

Division

I've been thinking back over my adult life at the division Mother has caused. It's been there ripe for the picking. I just didn't know it.

Comments that were frequently attributed to someone else.

Your grandmother even commented that your mother-in-law is going to be a handful.
Joe mentioned that he wondered why y'all had moved me out here and hadn't done more than you'd done.

She's got something else in mind, that little daughter-in-law of yours. You better watch out for her.

Those kinds of comments, looking back on them, were made for one purpose and one purpose only: to divide and conquer, to keep people from fully trusting one another, to create disharmony. She's a master of it.

Now, I want to let this go. I do. But I don't want to sweep it under the rug either. I don't want to excuse it or make it less than it is. I want to embrace it and understand who she is. I don't want to forget. I want to look her full in the face (or at least a photograph) and understand how she has manipulated our lives.

Laverne

Laverne, my Dad's sister, left Arkansas as soon as possible and moved to San Francisco. She went to work for a shipper as his bookkeeper and rumor was that she became embroiled in some scandal involving the mob. Of course that rumor came to us through my mother. So that rumor served as a source to divide and conquer. Divide us from Laverne who I admired because she escaped.

When our grandfather died the scandal was used again. We couldn't go to the funeral. Who knows who would show up. We had to protect the boys. Like a lemming, I believed her. We didn't go. Did she use the same line with Ann? I need to ask. We were not talking much then, so I don't know for sure.

Laverne was in Colorado by the time my grandmother got ill. She quit her job and moved in with her to take care of her in her last days. Mother won't have this gift. Then when Daddy died, Laverne offered to move in with her. This seemed like a natural transition. They'd gotten along fairly well. Seemed like sisters. We'd not recognized Daddy (once again) for the buffer he'd been.

Things went smoothly for awhile. For awhile. Then we started to notice the comments. Mother didn't like the way Laverne hung the towels on the refrigerator. She didn't like the time of day she washed the clothes. She didn't like the clothes she wore to exercise. She didn't like the way she ate or drove or well, it didn't matter, she didn't like it. We were back to the best friends and then no friends. Before we knew it, Laverne was gone. Back to Colorado. Mother was alone and glad to have her house back. She'd made it clear that Laverne was a guest.

Can you imagine what Laverne's life had been like once Mother turned on her?

Adult Children of Abuse

I didn't know this list existed. Ann found it one night when we were talking on the speaker phone. She should have been writing a paper. I was grading.

It is the 13 Characteristics of Adult Children. But it's not just alcoholics. All everyone who discusses abused families uses. It's that kind of list. So many organizations use is, I didn't even have to list a source. Just put Characteristics of Adult Children of Abuse in Google.

I've grown through some of these because of my relationship with a loving husband and a merciful God. But at one time, I had virtually all of them. So did Ann.

1. Adult children of alcoholics guess at what normal behavior is.

2. Adult children of alcoholics have difficulty following a project through from beginning to end.

3. Adult children of alcoholics lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth.

4. Adult children of alcoholics judge themselves without mercy.

5. Adult children of alcoholics have difficulty having fun.

6. Adult children of alcoholics take themselves very seriously.

7. Adult children of alcoholics have difficulty with intimate relationships.

8. Adult children of alcoholics overreact to changes over which they have no control.

9. Adult children of alcoholics constantly seek approval and affirmation.

10. Adult children of alcoholics usually feel that they are different from other people.

11. Adult children of alcoholics are super responsible or super irresponsible.

12. Adult children of alcoholics are extremely loyal, even in the face of evidence that the loyalty is undeserved.

13. Adult children of alcoholics are impulsive. They tend to lock themselves into a course of action without giving serious consideration to alternative behaviors or possible consequences. This impulsively leads to confusion, self-loathing and loss of control over their environment. In addition, they spend an excessive amount of energy cleaning up the mess.

Drinking and Baptist Jobs

Well, I just don't understand why the two are at odds.

If it said: Getting drunk and Baptist Jobs - I'd understand. BUT really, having a drink is not antiScriptual. But it is heritage and it's hard to shake heritage. I've been amazed at the contingent against it. I've been amazed at the groups that make scripture say that wine in the Bible isn't wine. Now I understand that wine was watered down in the Bible, that it wasn't the strength that is served today. But to say that drinking at all goes against Scripture. Sorry, just can't buy it.

Why am I bringing this up. Well, we've lost our Associate Headmaster. He wasn't perfect. We butted heads on more than one occasion. He made me mad a few times. I don't think he always heard what I had to say. But I think he had great potential when he wasn't being a bull in a china cabinet.

He had a drink in public. He's gone. He violated his contract.

Well, so have others. I don't imagine that every one has turned in their lesson plans on time or serve in positions of leadership in their churches. I know that some have missed staff prayer. I wonder if we went through contracts with a fine tooth comb what we'd find. I just wonder . . .

Crying

I wish I could quit crying. There are times I am near breathless and I don't understand. This should come as relief. It seems quite unfair to have reached some of these decisions finally and still be in such emotional turmoil.

Mother's Car

When Mother called me over to tell me her driver's license had expired, she wanted to sign her car over to Ron and I.

Wouldn't that be awkward in lieu of her letter . . .

Hindsight

So much is clear in hindsight.

When Mother first moved here, I took her to all my doctors.

She liked Dr. Hudson, but they cheated her on the bill.
The nurses at the allergist talked ugly to her.
Her eye doctor in Arkansas was a nice guy but the gal that fitted her glasses spoke to her like she was ignorant.

The helped a young man with a loan and he quit paying it. When she went to see him, he wouldn't talk to her.

She's never had a job or volunteer job where the people didn't eventually turn on her.

This has played out dozens upon dozens of times. Here and there. Literally everywhere we've lived. It's not just friends. It's everyone.

Houston to Atlanta

I was pregnant with Joe when Ron was transferred to Atlanta. The movers came the same day Joe did.

I stayed with my parents while Ron moved. He made arrangements for us to move out 17 days later. I was anxious to see him. Even under the best of circumstances, it's not your parents you want to be with when you have a newborn.

Now Ann was living with my grandmother and going to college. She had planned to come in the weekend after Ron was coming back to get us. Mother and Daddy let me have it. Ann had every right to meet this nephew of hers and I would stay. I was alone, defenseless, and didn't even have a room to go into and shut the door because I was staying in the living room. I really did sink into my shell.

I tried to explain to Ron. I knew he wouldn't understand and it was on the phone.

I recently told Ann and her response was, you've got to be kidding? Of course I would have liked to see Joe, but you guys needed to be together.

I was almost afraid they wouldn't take me to the airport. AND I was never so relieved to see anyone as I was to see my husband that day.

Ron

Ron is not perfect. He would be the first one to tell you that. But he is kind and generous. He is generous when I am not. He has been oh so patient.

He has always been generous with my mother. He has taken her shopping for groceries and clothes, picked her up for church. He buys her air filters and changes them. He has changed light bulbs and moved furniture. He has paid for untold number of Sunday lunches and weeknight dinners.

There was a time I told people she loved Ron more than she loved me.

Pain

I physically ache. My stomach aches. My chest aches - or is that my heart? I could crawl in the bed and cry. I keep crying in short little bursts like when I've slipped out of class to run to the bathroom and have to get back quickly. I feel betrayed all over again.

AND I'm kicking myself. Why did I think that because she was aging or because she needed us or because she moved here or any other reason that might change? That she might want a normal relationship. That she might be different this go round. What in the world was I thinking?

I feel loss. I have finally come to grips with the reality of what I never had. And it is painful.

Duke vs WFU

I was at the game -- fully expected to see Duke beat the stuffing out of young WFU. Thought winning the the first half was a victory!

With 5 minutes to go, I was screaming. I was jumping. Ron kept saying, "we still have 5 minutes and it's Duke."

I kept saying, "enjoy the moment!" He still had a little smirk though - he couldn't help it. It was fun.

We had Duke customers in the box. Poor things - they came in fully expecting what I was expecting. They were so dissappointed and then when the Duke players started to foul out. One-by-one . . .

What's that on the court!?! Ahhhhh! the rush of Wake fans!

Dino, in the aftergame interview, he kept calling the players kids! Well, they are aren't they! All those freshmen and sophmores! And they beat Duke. I do realize this may be it, but man, they looked GOOD last night.

The Emotional Cripple

This would be my dad. I know this is why he worked the way he did because at work he could shine. At home he was just one of the rest of us. He was abused like we were. He even escaped once and came back! Ann and I probably had something to do with that. He didn't stay gone long enough for us to adjust and we were stuck with mother. We didn't know then that we had any other choices than to be her children.

Daddy's childhood was emotionally crippling if not physically crippling. I'm sure of the first. The second is not so easy to discern. Every thing they owned was sold out from underneath them. PaPa left with other women. He moved off with at least one. Laverne left and moved half way across the country as soon as she could. Martha Jean, well, she's the one we strongly suspect sexual abuse with, but too much time as passed and too many ties have been broken.

Daddy's first wife favored his sisters we've been told. She drank. She ran around on Daddy. She gave him a son and verbally abused them both.

Mother and Daddy met at Western Union in Baton Rouge. Married, had me, led and idyllic life. Right. Daddy had a great need to be dependent on someone, to have his life organized for him, to be told what to do and when to do it. Mother had a great need to make people dependent on her. It was the perfect union.

After Daddy left and came back, Mother had everything, absolutely everything put in her name -- bank accounts, business, CDs, house, retirements. She had that right. He'd left. He'd not been honorable. He knew he was tied to her in unimaginable ways. One of Mother's new favorite stories was that she could just utter the words, "Travis, we need to talk," and Daddy would blanch. She loved the control.

The moment Daddy went back to mother, I realized how dependent he was on her. They were tied together with a gossamer thread, but not the pretty kind like you think of fairies using. This one is harsh and cold and unrelenting. This thread is the kind that nightmares is made of.

Sexual Abuse

Mother was sexually abused by her grandfather while her mother watched. She's lied so much about so many things and I have only her word for this, but I believe her. It makes so many things right. It explains so much.

I don't even know if she remembers telling Ann and I -- not at the same time, but at different times. Once, when we were all here together in Winston Salem, after she'd moved, she told us in one of her pronouncements that she wanted to have sit down and explain some things to us that might help us understand her better. That's what made me think she'd forgotten that she'd ever told us. She wanted to tell us again. I cringed. There are some things you just don't want to hear. There are some hurts you are healing yourself and you don't have the strength to help your abuser heal.

The Young Couple

There was one young couple in Fort Worth. I don't remember their names. They were fun. They laughed. She had the cutest hair and they had a little chihuahua. They had holes in the bottom of their car and I remember that I was always afraid that my shoes would fall off and land on the road.

He worked for Daddy.

They came over for dinner one night and admired the handiwork of some salt and pepper shakers that Daddy had made. The set was wooden and had little tiles around the middle. They were eight or nine inches tall. There was another set in the drawer and I told them about the other set.

Mother and Daddy both said, "NO."

I should have caught on, but I was a kid. A pretty small one if we were still in Fort Worth.

"Yes, there is. See!" And I hopped up to get them. Well what I ruined I didn't know, but I ruined it.

Later that couple quit coming over. Daddy said the young man stabbed him in the back. Typical. It was always something. I guess when I said that Daddy never had a friend I forgot this one. He behaved more like Mother than I thought. Best friends and then no friends.

The Ice Queen

I'm not talking about the one from Narnia. I'm talking about the one in my memory. I'm not sure when I realized that's how I thought of her. It is sometime in recent history though.

Writing for LifeWay

An inquiring mind at the BB *coughEdEdwardscough* wanted to know more about my writing years at LifeWay, so here is the story . . .

We were living in Marietta and I was a children's division director at a mega church and very active at the associational level. I had taken a group of preschool and children's teachers to Ridgecrest for training and one of the conferences was on writing. It was led by an adult editor. He did every thing possible to discourage anyone from writing as I recall. He made it sound grueling and boring and inconvenient and unrewarding. It is all those things - except for the unrewarding.

At the end of the meeting, he handed out cards for us to fill out for our age division if we were possibly interested. I think I was one of a handful. He was a very good discourager

Not too long after that I got a phone call from the editor of Bible Discoverers, Louise Hobson and was assigned to my first writer's conference. Lots of changes happened during my time writing, and I about 8-9 years ago, I made the switch completely to the Media Center, so now I'm completely out of the loop.

When I first started, the KJV was still being used, not too long after that, we got an NIV-KJV parallel and used both in all the lessons. I know they use the HCSV now but that was after my time.

At that time, there were two writers for each unit. The unit writer who worked with children in Bible study and a Bible background writer who was either an adult Sunday School teacher or a Pastor. I had the great fortune of always being able to write my own Bible background. I don't know how that worked out, but it did. Later, all writers got to write their own Bible background.
In the children's area, we would have a writer's conference. Bible Learners, Discovers, Searchers all conferenced together at the same time. Family Bible Series - Children usually conferenced at another time. We were given our assigned scripture and we had to come in with a pre-assignment which changed depending on the layout of the curriculum - but would include a variety of ideas that we charted to make sure that there wasn't too much overlap. Some overlap was inevitable, but we really did try to minimize it.

At the conferences, we would work in large groups, we would work one-on-one with the editor, and we would work in our quarter groups. All the time we were trying to eliminate duplication. Those of you who use the curriculum wonder what happened I know - it's hard. There are only so many things that can be done in a single Sunday, so many ways to present a lesson, so many ways to get the kids actively involved . . .

The first year I wrote, I'd write a lesson and send it in. Louise would make corrections and call me. We'd argue ( ), I'd fix what she'd told me to fix, and resubmit it. Because I worked so closely with her on that first unit, I was asked to immediately come back. And soon I was writing two units a year for Discovers. And then I started writing for two publications - Discoverers and Searchers and doing some work for Learners in other capacities, and then I started writing for Family Bible series and picking up pieces for the children's magazines.

Writing curriculum is not like other kinds of writing. You write it, you submit it, they do what they want with it, and it is published. You are very removed from the process after you submit your work. You also work a year or two in advance. I remember one year, for my Bible background I'd written an intro about Anwar Sadat and I didn't know it had been cut until it the material was published. When I called the editor to find out why, I was told that she had good reasons at the time. This is one of the drawbacks of this kind of writing. At the time, she was a new editor and I was an experienced writer. I remember how unhappy I was because it was a strong intro for the background.

One of the things I really enjoyed were rewrites. One year, the powers that be decided to redo the curriculum in the middle of the year. Six of us were brought in to rewrite two year's worth of curriculm in a week on computers in conference rooms to the new format. And a couple of times, I got to rewrite curriculum that was turned in but not usuable.

I always wrote on a computer, but at first, I still mailed in a manuscript, then I mailed in a manuscript and a disc, then a disc, then I emailed it.

Again, I haven't done this in 10 years, so I don't know what's going on now.

OH and when I started, it wasn't LifeWay, but the Baptist Sunday School Board. Now I feel very dated.

Presents

Presents were odd things.

First of all, sometimes they were hand-me-downs. If Mother and Daddy got a replacement, Ann and I knew that the old would show up as a gift.

Second of all, we didn't get taken shopping. One year we made net hangers for gifts and Daddy asked what I was going to get Mother for Christmas. Why he asked I didn't know. I'd made her a set of net hangers and told him so.

"How do you think that will make her feel? That's what y'all made everyone else."

There was no offer to take me shopping. I didn't make an allowance anyway. I rewrote a poem I'd written for school and scrounged around and found a frame. It was the only gift I remember giving.

Emergency Room Visits

I had to take Ruth to the emergency room today. She didn't make it to Chapel. Who spoke, what was said, I don't remember. I got back to my classroom and Pam was waiting for me. Ruth is at the office and I'm to take her to the hospital. She's having chest pains.

So I spend a few minutes readying things for a sub to walk in behind me and off I go. We are of course sisters having been through this before. I am the natural one to take her.

They get her into an ER cubical. She is hooked up, wired up, NitroGlycerined up. She is probed, poked. Lunch time comes and goes. I know the school is waiting for an answer but we have none to call them with. We are both starving. She can't eat. Well, in reality, I can't either because there is nothing to eat. mmmmm We finally break the rules and call our husbands and the school to report . . . nothing whatsoever.

The highlight of the day was when they brought in some machine to do something (the day is such a blur that I don't remember exactly what test it was for) and the doctor said, "This will never do, she's much too tiny for this!" We both rolled with that after all the trouble she'd gone through to lose weight!

Way after dinner time, they announce that they have a room for her. Just precautionary as she's not had a heart attack. They are sure her chest pains are related to her surgery. After getting her settled in the room, I head back to church to close down her classroom, pick up her things and deliver her car to the house. I drop my bag in the parking lot (I am carrying two sets of things - briefs, purses - and she parks on the other side of the world from me). A woman passes by and says, "Awww, too bad." I know I scowl. She of course has no idea the length of my day.

Have I mentioned how wonderful Ron is lately? He picks me up from Ruth's house and takes me out for a long awaited meal. What was it? Doesn't matter! It was warm, filling and with him.

The Baby Primary

This was cute.

http://www.slate.com/id/2181495/slid...entry/2181476/

They don't all look incredibly comfortable holding babies . . . *ahem*

Scouts

Now Daddy was Scout Master. I can see him in his uniform. One evening I burnt my tongue on too-hot hot chocolate and he put a slab of cold butter on it. He was in his scout uniform.

I remember the scouts coming to the house, mowing the yard. I watched them from my bedroom window when I was just a squirt supposed to be napping.

I stuck my hand in a wasp's nest once when he was ready to leave for scouts and he put a baking soda paste on it.