Friday's Fave Five, 8/29/14

LINK to Friday's Fave Five host blog.

1. Last Saturday night we had a really, really nice meal, compliments of Mike's company.  He had done a special project along with several others, and was told he could take his wife out for a nice meal and turn in the receipt.  So we did.  And we just about committed the sin of gluttony.  We never get an appetizer, and we very rarely order dessert.  And we never get expensive menu items.  So it was a real treat, but we both felt kinda sick afterwards.  Just too much rich food.  But it was really good at the time!

2. ML's teaching so far is going very well and she loves it. Even though I know that not-so-good days will come (they always do) at least she has started out by knowing that she can do it and she is doing a good job.

3. Even though last night's football game was a big disappointment (huge loss for our team), we spent the evening with dear friends, and that is always nice.  And supper was pizza, wings, chips/dip, and cookies - no cooking required.

4. Andrew has a new apartment!  He just moved a few hours ago.  I am so glad his school chose to move them.  They were living in quarters at another university, in an older building.  The surroundings actually were nice; they were surrounded by woods and a garden, even though it is a college campus.  However, a good bit of the dirt/mold in his apartment was not because it was a man-cave; it was China dirt from sometime back.  Plaster was continually falling from the walls; there was no hot water in the kitchen; the bathroom needed work, etc.  Some of his Chinese friends came to help him move, and he showed them some of the football game on his computer.  This was the first time these young men (and one lady) had ever watched a football game!

5. A three-day weekend is upon us!!!  Which also means that next week is only four days long - the best part of a Monday-off three-day weekend.  I am so ready for the break.

Not Friday's Fave Five This Week

Today is Friday, and really is the day for a "Friday's Fave Five."  But that's not the direction this week. I have someone on my mind, and am greatly sad for her, and am thinking more about how quickly things can change and how quickly we can be faced with our own mortality.

A week ago I left to run a typical series of Saturday errands and stop at a few yard sales along the way.  I made a loop through town, stopping at Chick Fil A for some chicken minis (my occasional Saturday morning splurge), then going to the old part of town to get some fresh produce at the local farmers' market.  I was headed up the four-lane highway toward where we live, on the way to the grocery store, and had stopped in a parking lot to take a phone call.  During that call, I ignored one from Mike, but called him back right afterward.  He said "My sister called.  K has been admitted to the hospital with a mass in her brain."  Mike's sister is a nurse on the neuro floor at the hospital, and K is a lady I know whose children I have taught. When they put together the connection, K said to Mike's sister, "Call Ann."

I turned the car around and went straight to the hospital.  K is a sweet lady, one who has had several curves thrown at her in life.  She had been having severe headaches as well as some erratic behavior (such as driving on the wrong side of the road) and inability to read or watch TV.  When it got too bad to wait for the approaching doctor appointment, she went to the emergency room, when she was promptly put in the intensive care and tests run.  This was now the next morning.  K told me whom she wanted told about this, and I spread the word to those people.  I've been up there four times since then.

Now it's six days later.  On Wednesday she had brain surgery.  A cancerous tumor.  Prognosis uncertain.  Three boys ages 16-20.

You never know when life is going to change "on a dime."  These young men and their mother have much to process.  Even in the context of God's will, and what He allows, this is a lot to process.  And for us all to think about.

Friday's Fave Five, 8/15/14

Link to Friday's Fave Five home blog.

1. Great friends from a long time ago were here for supper last night.  So good to spend time with them.  And my mom made a pie for us!!

2. Got a lot done this week at inservice.  Still have a lot to do, but at least the walls are done.  And my dad is helping me with covering books!

3. Daughter is getting started in a good way at her first teaching job.  Very proud of her.

4. Going out to a new seafood place, with some other good friends, in about an hour.  Sometimes we see hardly anyone for weeks - but when it rains, it pours.

5. Good visit with orthopedist on Wednesday.  I've got to have some shots in my knee to keep it going for awhile longer, but he said it looks good and I can go to the gym if I'm very careful and not overdo.  I felt really good after the two months of getting ready to do a lot of walking in China, and don't want to lose all of that.

And - tomorrow is Saturday!!  I can sleep in!!  After being used to a summer schedule, this first week of setting an alarm is rough.

First Year!!

Very proud of my daughter's hard work at putting together her classroom!!

She is so creative (yes, her mother is biased, but her mother also knows creativity when she sees it) and it's nice that she has a venue where she can really use her abilities.

I helped her a couple of days last week, and Mike came in on Friday also.  We set up a little refrigerator for her, and he put together some things she needed.

It is a big responsibility to be a teacher, but it is also nice to see a young lady who has worked very hard, who has the ability, and who loves children, to receive an opportunity to show what she is made of.

I am so proud of her!  So is her dad!

Tuesday Trivia

--My presentation about China went very well on Sunday night!  Thanks to family and friends who came.

--Knee doing well.  I'm icing it right now because yesterday I was on it too much, a friendly reminder that it is not completely healed yet.

--Bargain of the day:  Dial 8-bar bath soap, $4.89 at Walgreens; buy one get one free this week, and I had a $2.00 coupon.  16 bars of soap for $2.89.  :-)

--Daughter in her room at her school!!  I'm going to see it in a little while.  Starting a first teaching job is a very exciting time in life.