Bummer!!! Watch out for spell check

Early this morning, with my first cup of coffee, I sat here and wrote a lovely entry. Several paragraphs and I wasn't complaining about a single thing. I pushed the spell check button and my entire entry was gone. It's out there - zooming around in cyberspace. I was rather irked, to say the least. I looked in every place I could think it was saved and nada - gone. So watch out for spell check.

Now I can't remember what I wrote about. I think the most interesting thing would have to be the 12 Russian translators that Grace Methodist Church is bringing to the US. Our church knows several of these young college students through our ministry of sponsoring an orphanage in Ivanovo. I think I remember at least 2 of them and am looking forward to seeing them again. Grace Methodist has funded their plane fares and host families are providing their lodging and some meals. I saw the proposed schedule for these kids and they're going to be worn out by the time they head for home. A wonderful trip has been planned for them. Tomorrow evening our Russian Mission Team is having a pot luck dinner in their honor, to be held at the home of the Mission Team Director. They're expecting about 30 people so it's going to be quite a bash. Since I work during the day, I opted to do some baked things. I'm baking an apple pie and stolen from Dom DeLouise, his Death-By-Chocolate cake. Both are very popular and I've made them for our bake sales. In fact, the cake brought $10 from a man who wanted to buy the whole thing. He is single and was taking it to his sweetheart. I sure hope he didn't tell her he made it.

Since I have my baker's hat on this afternoon, I'll make a batch of brownies for David and Sharon. I like to do something for them whenever I do something special. They both are dear friends to me.

I know I wrote a lot more this morning but my memory seems to have gone south. Must be dementia setting in again. :o)

I feel good today. Only minimal arthritis aches and pains and the Spirit spoke to me this morning in church. A woman was promoting a program, dear to her heart, supporting mental health facilities in our county. She lost her daughter to a malignant brain tumor and through this loss she has learned a lot about mental illnesses and is trying to teach us that it is a physical illness. An illness of an organ in our body - our brain. She gave a wonderful talk and mentioned that she is starting a Friday night social hour, where interested people can gather, have a bite to eat and either share their stories or learn more. I was particularly taken by her and think I may volunteer to help prepare the food, serve and clean up. I'm going to pray about it and see where the Lord leads me. It can't hurt.

It's supposed to be a sunny, warmish day today. Once again the weather guessers are off base. It's overcast and cold. A good day to bake something. Hey - I planned that one good, didn't I.

God bless you all.

The Weekend is here

Well, it's been quite a week. Very busy in the office and I - fighting brutal headaches. I caved in at 2:30 yesterday and came home early. Laid my head down for a few minutes' respite and fell asleep for an hour. I guess I needed that.

My dear friend, and chiropractor, David came by, as he usually does on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and through his magic, he worked on my neck, my head and face (no - I didn't turn instantly beautiful. In about 20 minutes my head cleared and the headache has left me. I hope for good.

This morning, I headed out to the mall to be at Lenscrafters at 10:00AM, when they opened. On Tuesday of last week, I broke my 6 year old glasses. I put on my 4 year old glasses, which never worked for me and had taken up residence in my purse, and headed out to Lenscrafters. The eye exam showed that there was no change in my prescription (from the 6 year old lenses, that is)so I opted to get a whole new pair of glasses. The old ones were and still are terrible scratched. I nearly went into cardiac arrest when I realized how the cost of prescription eyeglasses has escalated. The eye exam itself was $57.00 and the total cost of the glasses was $425.00. I gasped and mumbled to myself under my breath. The guy asked me if I had vision insurance and I said no. He said there had to be some way he could help me out with the cost and I said I was a former AARP member, having not renewed last October. I dug out my expired card and he said that was good enough for him and discounted the glasses by $128.00. It still was nearly $300 but I took them and ran. Well, that's not the end of it yet. The following day, while at my desk I noticed what I thought was a dirt spot on the right lens. I cleaned it off and put them back on. It was still there....so upon closer examination I found a flaw in the lens itself. It looks like a dimple in the lens and once I realized it was there, it drove me nuts. So to make a long story longer, I took the bloody things back this morning and they are replacing the lens for me. I was proud of myself. I actually went in and out of the mall and didn't spend one penny. :o)

Tomorrow, after church, I'll pick up the completed pair.

I'm not in the best frame of mind, but keeping my Lenten promise in mind, I won't vent. I'll just say that I took this job to avoid stress and to be happier. Well, that ain't happening so something's gotta give.

We'll see what we shall see. I'll dig out my Hugh Grant DVDs and have a marathon. That'll cheer me up.

Thank you God for this beautiful sunny day.

Wednesday - Hump Day

My last entry said it was a beautiful day. It was short lived. Today it's cold again and very windy. But I don't have to worry about the wind - I'm still carrying plenty of ballast. My weight loss is moving along, but still have a way to go.

This week has been crazy at the office. Being 'Corporate Headquarters' we are hosting a Manager's Conference for all of our contracts. We have managers in from across the country and there are a lot of new faces, wandering around the halls, apparently lost. With me now supporting 3 Managers, it's been a busy time for me with dead time in between the meetings. They come out during the breaks, check their emails and give me last minute tasks. Especially the 'big boss', who really has too much on his plate, but my role is to serve and I'm doing the best I can - and cheerfully too. (Yeah - right) But it could be worse. I could be in the bread line.

I got a letter from my dear friend Jim, who resides in a Federal Correctional facility in West Virginia. He is in good spirits and whenever I do hear from him, he truly lifts my spirits. He is busying himself helping others and has always been a wonderful minister for the Lord. I think that's been the glue holding him together through this awful time. I miss him.

Only a little over 3 weeks before I get to take my first trip of the year. I'm visiting my dear friend Donna in Missouri. I really can't wait. It will be a good time to just chill and enjoy her company.

Oh what a beautiful day

It's March 10th and it's 74 degrees outside. The sun is shining and the weather guessers are promising more of the same for the weekend. I'll settle for the warm weather so I can open my windows and air out this joint.

TGIF!!!

My Sister - Diana

This is my favorite picture of my late sister Diana. She preferred to be called Dian. Tomorrow, it will be four years that she left us. I like to think she is singing and dancing with the angels.

Losing her was very hard for me and I still miss her so much. She was everything I wanted to be. Tall, pretty, clever, talented, a mother and a wife. It took the better part of our lives but we became very good friends.

Without knowing it, she taught me so much about life and about being the best I could be in whatever I did.

As much as I miss her, I'm glad her suffering is over. She fought a valiant battle. And in the end she won. She is at her great reward.

God bless you Diana LaVerne. I love you.

What a loss.

My heart is so sad. When I saw the blurb on MSN.com that Dana Reeve had lost her battle with lung cancer I wanted to cry.

This woman stood beside her injured husband for 9 1/2 years and was encouraged by him to never give up. Then 7 months ago, she was diagnosed with that awful, dreaded killer.

I can only say sleep well, sweet girl.

Short, sweet and to the point (yeah - sure)

Prior to the beginning of Lent, I couldn't think of anything to 'give up'. There just wasn't anything that meant a sacrifice for me.

It just hit me!!!

I know it's a little late, but I am giving up whining about my job for Lent.

God brought me to it and I must be there for a reason. He didn't bring me this far, only to throw me under the bus.

It will all work out.

Thank you Lord. :o)

A matter of the heart...

I've not lost faith in God, I've lost interest in my church. Quite a dilemma. Nearly 3 years ago, our ministering staff was replaced. The senior pastor had been in this church for 11 years and the associate pastor had been there for 8. I was very close to both of them. They had been through a lot with me.

My late sister had been very ill for at least 6 of those years. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer about 4 years after I became a member. Both pastors prayed for her as well as me....asking for strength and courage for me, to help her face this disease and to encourage her to fight. And fight she did.

During this time period, not by my choice, I was involved in a federal investigation of my former employers. I was questioned (more like interrogated) by the FBI, INS, IRS and the Asst. US District Attorney as well as other Dept. of Justice underlings. I was called to testify against the men I worked for. It was a very stressful time by itself, but coupled with my sister's illness, I was a nervous wreck.

And then to top it off, I changed jobs and within a month, realized I had made a terrible mistake. I wondered what had happened to the nice guy who I had interviewed with and who had offered me the job. Three weeks after I started, he disappeared and a dragon headed twit emerged.

Anyway, I'm veering away from the matter (No - not me). With these three things happening in my life, both of my pastors were holding me up, by the bootstraps. With sympathetic hearts, they led me through it all. Then they were gone. The senior pastor retired after too many years of service and the associate went to his own, well earned, church to lead his flock.

We were assigned a veteran pastor who did not lead in the style I was used to. I didn't like him taking over 'my' church (Yeah, a little heady, ain't I?) And the associate was a female. A young, super smart college grad that I instantly disliked and haven't learned to accept to this day. She will be ordained in June and hopefully, transferred to another station.

The senior pastor is another matter. I have grown to like him and will miss him when he's gone (He's retiring in June). He's a big windbag, but he will be the first one to tell you so. I like that about him. I'm hoping that at reassignment time in June, we will get 2 new ones. One not a female. I'm old school.....I prefer a man to be my spiritual leader. Like in 'God, the Father'. I'm not saying that a woman is less holy or reverent or qualified, but I prefer a man as my pastor.

I know I should be getting ready to go to church this morning. I used to love going to my church. I would drive past it and get a smile in my heart because it was 'my church'. I don't feel that way anymore. If the associate pastor is preaching, within 2 minutes I'm grumbling under my breath and then doing my grocery list. If the senior is preaching I last a little longer, maybe 15 minutes before I fall asleep. The thrill isn't there.

And that's the dilemma. I feel very guilty for not attending the service but I feel worse if I go because in my heart, I really don't want to be there. Like I said, it's not that I've lost faith. I KNOW that God forgives me and loves me unconditionally, because every day, in every way, He reminds me and shows me. He speaks to my heart and I know He knows that I feel bad. He knows that I'm searching and I'm sure he's trying to show me a new way, but I'm not seeing it.

So here I sit, still in love with the Lord, but just not liking my church.

God bless you all.

Say hello to a full fledged groupie

My friend BJ and I went to Constitution Hall last night to see Michael Buble, in concert.
<------ There he is. (Oh be still my heart) Our seats were OK and the music was too loud. But every second was wonderful and I was in heaven. I guess I was spoiled by the first time we saw him. (Last July he performed at Wolf Trap and my former boss had given me tickets. He is a patron so the seats were wonderful. 5th row, center, orchestra. )

The show format was almost the same, but he was really great. I screamed my head off, yelled "I love you Mikey" (knowing he heard only me) and danced in my seat for an hour and a half. It was worth the money and effort in getting there. I'll do it again the next time he's in town.

Another wonderful thing was my dear friend (also my chiropractor who works wonders on my spine) and his wife were at the same concert. Two rows in front of us, I sat on one aisle and David said on the opposite aisle of his row. BJ and her fiance JC had the chance to meet David as well as me meeting his wife Sharon. All parties had heard so much about each other it really was a treat to finally meet in person. I do believe a good time was had by all.

Pardon me, I've got to find my 4 CDs and do the concert all over again, this time in my living room. :o)

Something pretty - almost

This is a watercolor done in Florida by a friend of a former friend (did I lose you yet?) It supposedly was painted on my birthday, Jan 10 in 1997. I've scanned it but it loses something in the translation. It is a very pretty picture.

Pleasant memories

Although distorted, this is a very pleasant memory for me. On my first trip to Russia, nearly 3 years ago we travelled to Moscow. I had no idea where we were staying - the church had made all the arrangements. I knew I was in good hands. I knew the hotel was The Russiya but didn't know its location. It was a very cold and snowy day. We were exhausted but exhilirated as we arrived at the hotel around 2PM. I had always wanted to see St. Basil's. It was one of my longtime dreams. As we circled the hotel, I looked out of my window in the van and there was the catherdal!! It was dismal outside and there were raindrops on the window but I wanted to capture the picture and remember the thrill of seeing St. Basil's for the first time. I couldn't believe it was right in front of me as was The Kremlin.
Here is St. Basil's the next day, in the sunshine. There was scaffolding all over it and it partially obscured the building. This past November, I saw it without the scaffolding. It's beautiful. The renovations are now complete. It is not a practicing cathedral anymore, however it is open to the public as a museum.
The Kremlin......and that's me, holding the purse. Freezing to death. We flew into the coldest spring in 132 years. We were told the April weather was comparable to that of Northern Virginia in April, so we had no cold weather gear with us. That day it was 15 degrees with a strong 25 mile an hour wind blowing. To say the least, we didn't stay outside long. We found a little shop and bought head scarf (babushkas). The gal in the right hand corner is our team leader. :o)
This is the Bolshoi. There were no performances going on so we weren't allowed inside. Trust me, it was a thrill to stand outside and know what went on inside.

Same walk-about. All of that walking makes one hungry. Here are my team members (I'm taking the picture) at a fast food restaurant (lovingly referred to as "The Chicken Place") where we ate fried chicken and french fries. We were astounded to find out that there was a charge for the little packets of ketchup. Our chaperone said they cost about $.25. We were aghast and used it a bit more stringently.

This first trip to Russia was a quantum leap for me. It was the first time I was outside the US and to go to Russia was a big deal for me. I was very grateful for the opportunity to go and when I came home I found I had a new love and respect for my country.