"The Rack" Comes to School

Mike brought me a sandwich for lunch today, and brought "the rack" with him.  I had told the 9th through 12th students that he was coming at lunch, and would be in the parking lot if any of them wanted to see the big rack.  I was late getting out there; he told me that at least forty students came out to see it!  At least he could answer the questions they were asking me in class - "What kind of gun?"  "How far was the scope sighted in?"  "What was the distance of the shot?"  A Canada buck with fifteen points, that scores 186 on the Boone and Crockett scale, is a big deal, especially to these young people!

Friday's Fave Five - November 30, 2012

Here is the link to the Friday's Fave Five blog:

1. Today is payday!!!

2. I took my husband to Atlanta last Saturday to catch a plane (we left at 4:45 a.m.!) and on the way back stopped at my favorite outlet mall.  Got several good wedding presents as well as some small Christmas presents.  I picked him up in Atlanta last night and am thankful for two safe trips.

3. Thanks to my son, the tree is up and decorated, the Christmas picture for the fireplace is up, and the outside wreathes are hung.

4. I have been able to be very efficient this week with getting school planning, test writing, grading, and everything else done.  I love my job unless I feel covered up - so this was very nice.  And on Thursday, a young man who is fantastic with electronics took care of a problem with my DVD/VCR combination player, linked with a separate DVD player, that is going to greatly simplify my life.  I am very appreciative of that!  (He earned a World's Famous Chocolate Caramel bar, as sold as a fundraiser by the seniors, for his efforts.)

5. It's always nice to spend time with just one child.  On the weekends it's usually ML, since Andrew is usually on the road.  She and I went out for Sunday lunch just last weekend and had a very nice time.  But Andrew has been home this week, and due to my husband's trip and ML being at school, it's just been the two of us.  And we had a very nice few days!

Watching THE APOSTLE

This morning in his chapel message Pastor Bartlett mentioned that a man might be a tremendous preacher, but if he beats his family, takes money from the church, has a girl on the side, or any combination of the above or any other flagrant sin, he is not a minister of the gospel; he is a false prophet.

On Monday night Andrew and I had just re-watched a movie on that very topic - THE APOSTLE, with Robert Duvall, who also produced it (1998).  It is a fascinating study of a false prophet.  It's done from a secular viewpoint, but Duvall has the character down perfectly - as do the other actors and their characters.  Duvall must have had some experience with this subject in order to produce this so accurately.

I was especially interested in it after growing up in the south.  The people that I knew closely when growing up were not like the ones in the movie; however, I saw enough of the rural south to know that the characterizations were very good.

Andrew made a great point - Sonny (the "apostle") had a great deal of Bible knowledge and training and was highly regarded by the people in his church/denomination.  Yet he was unconcerned that he was a womanizer, short of temper, and eventually even a murderer.  All he cared about was "evangelizing." And his charismatic personality caused many to be taken in.  However, Rev. Blackwell, who supported Sonny's efforts to start a church in Louisiana in the last half of the movie, did not have the education and was not as well known as Sonny--yet even though Blackwell was also a little simple-minded and naive about joining forces with Sonny, his much purer heart shone through very clearly.  It's all about the heart, not the head, or the personality.

Someone might read this and think "I would never be fooled by a charlatan like that."  I would suggest that you find a copy of that movie and watch it before drawing that conclusion.  I found it to be an eye-opening account of a wolf in sheep's clothing.  It's extremely easy to see the sheep's clothing and not the carnivore inside.

Huge Help

Andrew is here for a few days and he was a huge help.  I had asked him to please get the Christmas stuff out of the attic - but that was all I asked him to do.  When I got home from school - the wreaths were on the outside windows; the tree was set up, lights strung, and ornaments on it; and the Christmas picture hung over the fireplace.  Wow.

New Acquisition

This. . .

. . .is why I love to play around with eBay, making minor sales to build up my Paypal account.  Then, when I find a Hummel like this, full size, for $11.50 (a rare find at that price), it quickly becomes mine!

Friday's Fave Five - November 23, 2012

Link to "Friday's Fave Five":                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

1. A lovely Thanksgiving day even if I was a little under the weather and stayed in all day.  First time in years I haven't been out and about.  Mike worked but my son and daughter went and joined the family-- 

2. Both offspring home for 24 hours--                                                                                                       

3. More looks at the red-breasted nuthatch - only there are two of them!  They are very tame.  Yesterday I stood not four feet away, getting ready to fill the feeders with seed, and they kept right on feeding without moving.  I so wished I'd had my camera there.  They act like hummingbirds as they keep chasing the other one away.  Even though there are two suet feeders!                                                    

4. The night of our Thanksgiving service, someone gave me $100 to give anonymously to a family that has joined our church and is working in our school - a fine family that we are so glad to have with us now.  The expression on my colleague's face when I gave it to him was very precious.  It was a blessing to be the bearer of that kindness!                                                                                                

5. One of my seniors wrote in her journal that she loved the game "Pretty Pretty Princess" as a child, but hers got away from her and she's not seen it since -- yet she's missed it very much.  Being an eBay lover, I checked it out - but most copies were $25+ - more than I was willing to pay even to do something nice for someone.  Last weekend at a yard sale I found one - for $2!  I gave it to her Monday morning and she was very happy to get it.

Two Pics that Express the Day

Definitely related--

My beautiful new little great-niece, a month old in this picture, born last month --

--and beautiful ML at the same age, 21 years ago, being held by her dad.

Definitely from a similar gene pool!

This morning!

Dad and daughter left at 4:15 this morning. . . this is the result of their efforts!

Friday's Fave Five - Nov. 16, 2011

Link to the Friday's Fave Five blog:

--We have a red-breasted nuthatch coming to our feeders!  Haven't seen one of those in years!! (picture taken from the internet)

--Had a great time going to see ML's house dorm and then eating with her in the college cafeteria.  Soon we were surrounded by grads from her high school - former students of mine - and it was a great time.

--Mike took my car to get the oil changed on Tuesday and found that, though oil changes will be more expensive, they also will be much more infrequent with this car.  And, there's a button you can push to see how much life is left in the oil - so there's no guesswork involved.

--An easy week at school because many of my students are involved in our play production three days this week.  So I have extra time to get papers graded during the day.

--Birthday supper for a colleague/friend last night.  Five women around a restaurant table.  Great time!

Pics from Operation Christmas Child Project

As written about previously, we did an Operation Christmas Child missions project in our high school.  Two local ladies with children in our school are very committed to this project, so we signed on to help them.  At first we were going to try to incorporate the entire school, but because of a communications gap, the elementary had already begun another project.  As it turned out, that may have been for the best, because we had our hands full just managing all that was brought in by the high school.

We started out having a contest (grades 7-12) for one month, for bringing things in.  I'm not crazy about contests for missions projects, but the reward for this one made it a little more palatable - The winning class got to choose a class to miss in order to pack boxes.  We roughly made $1 worth of anything worth one point.  They were asked to bring in items for the boxes, as well as money (each box is supposed to have $7 attached for transportation costs to the countries), empty shoe boxes, and wrapping supplies.  

Each day I took a cart around to each homeroom and collected the day's bounty.  Pictured below is some of what we collected.  Some classes really took to this and others - well, not so much.  Winning class was the seniors, with over 1200 points; and second was the freshmen with almost 1100 points.  Unbelievable for young people this age. 

All month I allowed girls in my study hall to go wrap boxes when their homework was done.  Lids had to be wrapped separately from the boxes.  (FYI, those boxes with the attached flap-style lids are very difficult to wrap.)

The day of the packing, some students commandeered the choir room to try to get the rest of the boxes wrapped for filling:

Seniors going down the line, gathering age-appropriate and gender-appropriate items for their boxes.  They chose my class to miss.  (Why would they want to miss a day of studying MACBETH?)  Since the ninth grade did so well, even without being able to drive or having jobs, we let them miss a class also to work on boxes.  They got out of algebra to finish the job.

Many of our high school students, showing off the boxes that they brought items in to fill:

 

And the final product. 167 total boxes full of socks, toothpaste, soap, washcloths, small toys, underwear, T-shirts, pens, pencils, tablets, puzzle books, clothing items, candy, and other useful and fun items.  The OCC people will add a Bible booklet/tract in the appropriate language to each box.

We also had just the right amount of $$ collected, and donated from another project, to have the $7 per box they ask for.

 It was a very good missions project for our high school students.

Best Line of Writing From A Student in a Long Time

She is writing about her part-time Christmas job at a local clothing shop and is describing the layout of the shop:

"If you choose [to go to the right], you may happen to see me, standing at my post, folding away like a mother of one hundred children at a laundromat."

Mrs. Martha's Clam Chowder

I've never made clam chowder in my life, until this week.  We had it at the birthday party we were at with our dear friends Carroll and Martha and family (Carroll turned 70), and after tasting Mrs. Martha's chowder, decided to try it.

I sprang for the good stuff at Publix.  Bar Harbor brand - bottled right there in Maine.  Notice the top of the bottle - had to go find a bottle opener to get into it.  Been a long time since I saw one of those.

Bottle of clam juice and can of clams simmering together.  

And the completed soup simmering for awhile.  It's very good.

And if you are interested, here is Mrs. Martha's clam chowder recipe:

  CLAM CHOWDER

2 CANS (6-I/2 OUNCES EAC H) CHOPPED CLAMS

2 CANS CLAM JUICE ( BOTTLES )

1 CUP WATER

1 CUP DICED CELERY

1/2 CUP DICED ONIONS

2 CUPS POTATOES DICED

SIMMER CLAMS, JUICE AND VEGETABLES TOGETHER FOR 30 MINS

1 QUART HALF AND HALF (CREAM)

1/2 CUP FLOUR

1/2 CUP BUTTER

1 TEASPOON THYME

MAKE AS WHITE SAUCE. ADD 1 TABLESPOON ACCENT, SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE.  MIX WITH THE CLAM MIXTURE AND SIMMER ON LOW  HEAT FOR 45 MINS.  STIR OFTEN.

Friday's Fave Five - November 9, 2012

Here is the link to the Friday's Fave Five blog:

1. Last Saturday I was privileged to go to the luncheon at the Arabian Horse Shoe, where an award in memory of my sister-in-law Jane was unveiled, to be given to the "Best in Show" horse and rider for the next fifteen years.  It was an honor to attend.

2. After the show, I stopped at a very nice thrift store in that area.  It's run by Mennonites, and the proceeds go to an orphanage they support.  I have to wear skirts to my job, and it's sometimes difficult to find basic straight skirts in black, tan, brown - basic colors.  I found three skirts there!

3. After the election, the knowledge that God is in control, that nothing takes Him by surprise, and that He is still good - those attributes are a comfort.

4. Thursday was a hugely hectic day - but our students wrapped and packed over 150 boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  Very proud of them!

5. This Albert Mohler article had good thoughts about the election.

Lay Up. . .

Lay up your treasures in heaven;
Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory
Where nothing in this world will take them away;
Oh listen people hear the master say:
Come on and lay up your treasures in heaven,
Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory--
Your treasures in this world will fade away
But the things of the Lord will last forever, evermore!

Well the Lord looked up and saw the people there
Tied up with worry and burdened with care,
He said "Seek first the Kingdom and you will see
The things that will last for eternity.

Lay up your treasures in heaven;
Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory
Where nothing in this world will take them away;
Oh listen people hear the master say:
Come on and lay up your treasures in heaven,
Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory--
Your treasures in this world will fade away
But the things of the Lord will last forever, evermore!

"Some people trust in their silver and gold
They put their faith in the wealth they hold
But fortunes will fade and kingdoms fall
So put your trust in the Lord of all!

Lay up your treasures in heaven;
Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory
Where nothing in this world will take them away;
Oh listen people hear the master say:
Come on and lay up your treasures in heaven,
Oh people, lay up your treasures in glory--
Your treasures in this world will fade away
But the things of the Lord will last forever, evermore!

The Day After

God is still in control.

God is still on the throne.

Nothing ever "occurred" to God.

Great is Thy faithfulness!!!

A Horse Show Luncheon

I went to a luncheon at an Arabian horse show today - something not usually on my Saturday agenda.   The Western Carolinas Arabian Horse Association is holding their annual show this weekend at the huge T. Ed Garrison Arena nearby, and as part of the program they are doing several things to honor my sister-in-law who passed away last May.  They held a hot dog supper last night, as well as a silent auction today, to raise money for a fund for Jane's children.  

And today at the luncheon the members of the Association unveiled an award that is going to be given for the next 15 years in honor of Jane.  In the words of the woman who introduced the award at the luncheon, Jane was a "trainer's trainer" and was highly known in this area for her work with Arabian horses.  Her family was invited to attend.

A slide show was running throughout the event with pictures of Jane, many of them showing her riding horses, but also some of her with her family.

This will hang on the upper level of the arena and a trophy will be given to the award recipient each year.

A close-up of the picture at the top.  The second line of the inscription reads "A trainer's trainer, a huntseat rider extraordinaire, and a friend and mentor to all."  

All the siblings who were able to attend today.  Mike had to work and one sister is on a trip.

This is the interior of the arena where the event was held and where Jane spent many hours showing horses over the years.  It's a magnificent building.  Out the gates in the back is where the horses are stalled and that is also where they enter the arena for showing.

Also, earlier in the morning, I went to a indoor yard sale at the family's old home.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the homeplace.  The changes that have been made to it are lovely (even though Mike and his siblings miss the olden days of the house) and I loved going back inside.  The scent is still the same!

"The Choice"

Charles Krauthammer's column in the Washington Post, titled "The Choice," puts the election on Tuesday into historical perspective as to the direction of our country.

Friday's Fave Five

Friday's Fave Five hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story:

1. Had a crown prep/temporary crown installed yesterday at the dentist's office.  That level of dental work can sometimes cause aftereffects for several days, but I have had very little pain or discomfort since then.

2. Our girls' volleyball team won the state championship last weekend, capping a 19-0 season that included beating our chief rivals three times this season!

3. My folks brought over a plate of Mike's favorite cookies last night.  He loves their date cookies.

4. Our high school students have responded remarkably to our Operation Christmas Child drive.  So far they've brought in over 2000 points worth of things.  (Each dollar donated, or dollar's worth of "stuff," counts as a point.)

5. Mike was off the first of the week and cooked supper one night and took me out another.  Very nice!