Santa and the Mrs.
Rodney says the world already knows way too much. One has to wonder what he means by that? He says he’s going to the mailbox to get some messages he can hold in his hands and, as he heads out the door, he brings me a wonderful weight watcher’s pointless chocolate fudgesicle. I love that man. Darby the dog settles in close by my thigh in hopes of a bite. MMMM. After finishing my treat and disappointing the little brown dog, I am comffy on the love seat for a break and a bit of blogging.
It’s the time of year for celebrations. Weddings, graduations, and summer celebrations are happening all over. Tonight, we journey an hour and a half to congratulate our friend Ashley and her folks on her graduation and her fall acceptance to A&M. We’ve done the usual round of graduations and offered best wishes at weddings. It’s a time of year for happiness. I guess I’d never thought too much about it before but May is a month of endings. June is truly the month of beginnings. Excitement is truly in the air as high school ends and students are gearing up for their next great adventure. Brides and grooms say goodbye to the single life and look forward to a new life together. Nice. I remember when…
Someone asked me just a few days ago what it felt like to be married 30 years. I had to think about it long and hard before answering. It doesn’t feel all that different than it did the day of the wedding, really. You never know what is around the corner after thirty years any more than you did after 5 minutes. It’s still a challenge. I wouldn’t change a thing. I love being married to Rodney Curry. Life is never dull, never boring, yet somehow, always consistent. While circumstances change, he never does. What I loved in that man way back then, still remains. I doubt anyone could ever ask more than that from a husband. He has always been my partner, my collaborator, my friend. He loves me, he spoils me rotten and he’s always there for me. Amy asked me once how I knew he was “the one.” My reply, “I could not imagine my future without him.” I still can’t.
You may wonder about Santa in June. I love Santa any time of year. Anyone who knows me well, is acquainted with my Santa collection, now numbering over 500. I began collecting as a child of 7. I still have that first one. Last year was my first year in all our married life that I left the collection in storage. Because of our remodel, it was impossible to bring Santa out. Bear with me, there is a point here. I’ve always liked it when Rodney grew out his beard. Now that it’s white, I like it even more. I never thought about a connection between Santa and Rodney. Jason pointed out last week that Dad looked like Santa Claus. It occurred to him that I not only wanted to collect Santa, I wanted bo be married to him too!!! Not so. I like Santa very much but I love Rodney Curry. Still, I hope he keeps the beard.
Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Ephesians 6:10
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:6-8
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
2 John 1:6
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are!
1 John 3:1
I can’t say it better than that.
Yep, it was my first full day of running groups by myself. I CAN do this. It was also my first real paying job in a long time. That’s a blessing!
I was always told if you couldn’t say something good, say nothing at all.
We are remodeling this house. Since August. It looks great. Many thanks and praises forRodney and Jason who have worked so hard to get the job done. I love all the changes, especially my new living room. Can’t wait t be able to post pictures. I really like hearing J sing while he works.
Due to all the weight loss around here, I think we need to proclaim a “Biggest Loser” come next Valentine’s Day. That’s a day to love others but on that day, we can also celebrate loving self enough to take off the pounds.
Thanks to Gail who keeps my yard mowed. She does love to ride that mower and I (shame-faced) don’t even know how to turn it on. I so appreciate it.
God bless my children, all four of them. They make me so proud.
What would I do without my wonderful friends God bless them everyone. I’m looking forward to spending lots more time with them now that school is over.
I’m thankful for a dependable vehicle in which to travel to and fro. Thanks to Bill McRae Ford for keeping it runnng like a top.
While we seem to be in political turmoil right now, I can’t help but be thankful that I live in the USA and for the freedoms I have.
A special thanks to our military. I can’t say enough in their praise.
You didn’t know it was thanksgiving did you?
Never has a semester flown by so fast. Never have I learned so much in such a short time. Never have I laughed and cried as much. Never!
Our cruise was wonderful. It was fun to revisit places we’d been before but we had a brand new adventure. In Jamaica, we visited a rural school and I wanted to bring the children home with me. Rodney and I had so much fun interacting with the kids in the classrooms. 
We had a great time with our friends, Pat and Doyle and their kids and grandkids, ate wonderful food, toured old churches, learned where chocolate and coffee come from, and just generally relaxed.
Rodney and I with the Maitre’ de. He was a hoot. And don’ you think my husband looks great in his tux?
After the cruise, i was time to work. Literally…the next day. We arrived home on the 11th and my first day at work was the 12th. It took nearly the first month for me to adjust to my new schedule. Leave at 6:30. Drive 1 1/2 hours. Start the morning with report. Then begin the daily routines of counseling, group therapies, study, research, supervision with Dr. W, and more meetings. School on every other Wednesday so I had to leave work by 3 on those days but most others it was often 6:30. Then I waited on Amber til 8:40 at schooll. We got home about 10:15. I was tired. My usual late hours at the computer were no longer reality. I fell into bed and slept as long as I could and I drank lots of coffee…and I made it!
This semester was, as Dickens says, the best of times and the worst of times.
In the “best” category: On Feb. 1, we all started Weight Watchers. To date, Amber is our biggest loser. She more than met her goal…she has lost 28 pounds! Rodney is next at 26 and I am not far behind at 25. We have kept each other accountable and we’ve chosen well for our daily diets. It’s ongoing. I hope to report double that loss for each of us by summer’s end.
In the “worst” category: Amber’s epilepsy, previously not a big factor, is now a monster at the door. She has had a rough semester. We all have. Her petit mal seizures, present form birth, have continued but she has additional episodes now where she loses consciousness. These are preceded by an aura, which, thankfully, I am recognizng and can get her to a safe place sometimes. It’s hard to get a physician these days who will listen and harder still to get one to work with you if you are private pay. Once they hear there is no insurance, they hurry you away, doing only what they must. Sigh. Nuff said.
Our babies are growing. I can’t believe how much. Ryan was supposed to spend the day today but I have a feeling that he didn’t get his schoolwork finished this morning in a timely manner.
Tonya and Amy finished up their semesters at SWBTS. Tonya’s birthday is Sunday. Happy Birthday!!!
Amy is moving at the end of the month. I will feel better knowing she is on campus and close to her brother and sister. She and Allegro will have a roommate now too. Very nice…they can look out for each other.
Jason is still seeking God’s will for him and Tonya. Where do they go from here. You can bet this mom is praying.
I finished with my degree this May. It is just now beginning to dawn on me that it’s done. I weathered my oral comps and though I was terrified, I passed. I got all my work turned in and all the paperwork done for graduation. I didn’t walk this time. I’ve hd that experience 5 times now. Somehow, it seemed better to forego the stress of walking up the steps and across the stage, fearing all the while that I would fall in front of everyone, only to receive a picture of the bell tower. The real diploma comes later in the summer. I’m good. I have to take my licensure exam soon so that I can practice in Texas, legally. I am hoping to take that on the 6th of June.
Other future events:
I’ll be filling in for folks during vacation weeks this summer where I have just finished my practicum. Hopefully, in the fall, I will have a permanent job there.
Amber has lots of tests being scheduled for the summer to see what is up with her. She’ll spend a week at Baylor Hosptial in Dallas sometime this summer.
Amy has a new job working at a preschool. I want to visit her at work and meet her kids. We will help her move Memorial Day weekend.
June 11-15, Amber and I are going to San Francisco to see my friend, Michelle. That will be lots of fun.
July 8-18, Rodney and I are going with Donna and Peter to Alaska. I can’t imagine how much fun we will have. We will fly into Vancouver, B.C., catch Carnival Spirit and sail up the inside strait, and then spend some time in Anchorage and Denali before we come home. We have glaciers to visit, bears to see, and whales to watch. We are going panning for gold one day!
August 6-9 is the APA convention in Toronto. While our plans are not completely set on this one, Doc and I are hoping to be going a few days early. We will take Amber and Rodney and drive up, stopping in Washington, D.C. along the way and letting Amber have some time at the Smithsonian. Hope that works out for us. I’m looking forward to the conference and wish that some of the sessions were scheduled for other times so that I could do more of them. The speakers look fantastic.
Sometime this summer, Amber, Darby, and I need to go to San Antonio. She has research to do for her master’s thesis.
So, it’s a full summer…but I hope to be stopping by often. I’ve missed being here.
Happy New Year! It’s been a while. The internet is still down most of the time. It’s supposed to be fixed tomorrow. I’m not holding my breath. It’s appropriate that my first post in a long time occurs on the first day of the new year.
Son, Jason and wife had a smoke out at their house in the fall. It took a long, long time to get their house liveable again. They even got it all decorated for Christmas and it looked so pretty. I know they are happy to be back in their own place among their own things. I’ve been there and I remember how it felt to have life rearranged so drastically.
Rodney and Jason both graduated from their respective programs on Dec. 12. Rodney is now a certified HVAC tech and Jason has a masters (MACE) from SWBTS in Ft. Worth. I’m so proud of them both. All the girls are now working on master’s work; Tonya and Amy at seminary and Amber at UTT. That September 1 morning in 1987 when Amber began kindergarten at our dining room table seems so long ago. Our years of home schooling are but a memory now but the memories are wonderful. The kids have come so far, so fast. They all have their dreams are so motivated to pursue them. They are called to their professions are dedicated to following them as God leads. Again, I’m so proud of them all.
December ended my classroom hours in my quest for a master’s degree. This semester is dedicated to my practicum. I’ll be working for a company based in a big teaching hospital not too far from here. I will be using nursing, counseling, and assessment skills and learning, oh, so much. I can’t wait. My clients will be in rehabilitation following severe brain traumas. I’ll counsel with them and their families, run a support group for all the clients and families and do psychological assessments. I’ll be working with one of my favorite professors. It really sounds too good to be true and I look forward to my first day on Jan. 12.
but first…
We leave Sunday on another cruise! May’s adventure was wonderful and most relaxing. Rodney and I both felt a need to get away and so off we go. We’ll visit the same ports but take a different ship on a different route. Friends will be onboard too…not that we would ever be lonesome together. A full week away…bliss on RCI Voyater! I’ll let you know how I liked it!
The kids were all home for Christmas. I’m so grateful for times together. Christmas was all the sweeter because they were here. I found myself missing my dad and grandparents so much more this year and Rodney said this was a year he really missed his folks. Lots of memories.
Christmas morning...new pjs
Our granny Polly will be moving away sometime in this new year. We will miss her so much. It won’t feel like our hometown without her. The kids have never known what it is to be w/o her. At 90, we felt it was a hard time of life to make such a drastic change but she is determined.
It was the first year my mom’s brothers and sisters did not all come together for a Christmas dinner. Some of us did meet just before Christmas at a local restaurant but it wasn’t the same. Instead of Christmas, they decided to meet around Valentine’s Day this year and maybe more of the kids and grandkids would show up. Hope that works. I was sad to forego the usual holiday get-together.
We all gathered in Ft. Worth for Jason’s graduation. He had a long row of family at the graduation. All in all, it was a wonderful day. Rodney elected not to walk for his diploma so we bought him the cap and gown anyway and made him have his picture made with his son.
- Family Pew at Travis Avenue
- The clan
It’s been a wonderful 2008. I’m looking forward to this new year. Aren’t you?
We’ve been offline for 2 months. Ike first knocked out our provider for broadband and then lightning got our router. I bought a new one but something still isn’t right. Hopefully we get that fixed soon. Until then, guess I just have to check in online from school. We’ve also been remodeling and it’s going well. My wonderful kids have come every other weekend and we work all weekend long on a room to get the walls painted, new flooring down and all new trim laid. Then I take some time to redecorate too. Lots of fun this is while I’m going to school but it will all be done soon. Can’t wait. It looks so good!!!!!
In other news, counseling with real clients….awesome! I have a practicum site, which is perfect and I begin there in January. More about that later.
For now, this is just a quickie post to let everyone know I didn’t die, I’m just busy beyond belief!
This Friday at noon, I have my first real client, my first real counseling session. It’s a make me or break me day. I feel like jelly at the thought but I welcome the chance to try my wings.
We’ve survived the wind, the rain, and the 90 year old granny’s birthday party in the midst of the storms. What a day Saturday was!!! You can have a 90th birthday party but once. The celebration came in the middle of one of the worst weather calamities of my memory. Ike descended on the coast with a terrible vengance. Then he plowed his way up through Texas and ran amuck here in the eastern parts. Granny’s birthday dawned gray and humid. The day grew steadily more dismal and nasty til around 11 when the first gusts began to blow. I put a Wal-Mart sack over my head and ran out the door, realizing that my umbrella would be useless against the wind.
We drove to town in horrible weather. The car, though larger than most on the road, was blown about as if it weighed no more than a feather. Trees were bending in the already 30-40 MPH winds and rain pelted down, drenching the party wear and freshly done hair. Creeks were rising fast and overflowing into the lowland areas. Power had flickered off several times during the morning hours and finally gave up the efforts to remain on about 10:30 am.
Granny was disappointed in her party. She had planned a buffet for 100 to help her celebrate and we were 22 strong in the fellowship hall at church. The power went off about 1/2 hour into the fun. About midway through the meal, shingles started to loosen on the church roof. The wind had intensified and rain was coming down in sheets. Many shingles ripped loose around the steeple and leaks started appearing all over the church. The sanctuary and main foyers were flooded. The party room sprouted a couple of spots and the party broke up. We went back to our cars in gale force winds and driving rain. It was a long ride home.
We did make it, though. We arrived home to no power just in time for the eye to make it to our fair city. For a little while we had a calm in which to assess damages and get back to shelter. My sister’s roof was hanging on for dear life but I’m happy to say it held. Our cars were under roofs and safe from hail. Our animals were safe inside and happy about it. We watched as the back of the eye rolled through. Ike was still between category 2-3 when it hit. In front of the eye, the storm is less intense than in the back. The wind now blew in gusts from the south and the trees bent low. Limbs fell. Rain blew in heavy sheets. Visibility was nil. My husband’s sawhorses and our trash cans became missiles as did the cat’s food pan.
The girls and I huddled in the living room with our pets and listened to the wind howl. My sister described it earlier in the day as the sound of cats yowling in a sack. I believe that in the back of the eye, the sound grew to be more like a freight train. There was no thunder and lightening such as we get normally. It was only wind and rain but such wind and rain!!!
The weather forecasters predicted that the storm would be over by 7 pm and it was. I cooked us some dinner on a Coleman camp burner…you know the kind…it has a base that you place a bottle of propane in and screw on the burner. I heated left overs and made skillet biscuits and so we had a hot meal despite no power. EMS said we needed to draw up water while it was still safe so we filled every available container with filtered water and then used a 58 qt tote to hold water for bathing. Rodney and Amy went to town to check on the damage and to get some ice so we could salvage our fridge contents. We got a big bowl of ice in the fridge and put the rest of the bag in a cooler. Even though there was no electricity, we weren’t hungry or thirsty, we were safe, we only had a few missing boards and prongs from the antenna, and we knew God was near.
We went to bed early. What are you gonna do with no lights? The next morning about 8:30, I was awakened by the ceiling fan coming on. What was this feeling…oh yeah, it felt cool! The humidity of the last 3 days was being chased away by the a/c coming on.
We had no church on Sunday. There were still no lights there and there was considerable water damage inside the building. Lots of church members were also picking up the pieces and our gym was housing 120 evacuees from Galveston in a facility w/o power. I emptied the freezer and cooked all the meat. I returned several pounds of cooked meat to the freezer later so I can happily say that I have enough cooked for at least 3 weeks worth of meals. Oh happy day!
Today, Monday, no school here, no power for most of the 12,000 in-city residents. Outlying areas are boiling water. Trees are down, their roots sticking up in the air like paralyzed spider legs. Many are down on power lines or telelphone lines and both services are out. My grandchildren live on a rural road where so many trees fell in one location, they were unable to leave their house. They are boiling water and until earlier in the day had no way to do that. They got a 2 burner coleman stove today and a supply of propane so they will have hot meals tonight and they can boil the water so it’s safe now.
(There they are, enjoying the sunshine God gave us today…it was good to get outside for a little while.)
The little ones think of it as a great adventure. I tend to be that way too. In retrospect, I feel that the storm was not as bad as it could have been but worse than I expected, after all, it isn’t the first storm that has come through East Texas. I can’t help but think about those who chose to stay and ride it out in those areas where Ike made landfall. I’ve heard their stories and watched their tales of rescue on tv. What were they thinking to stay in the pathway of something like that? I hope that having experienced the power and intensity of Ike, when Jezebel or Kenneth or Peter come along, those who stuck it out will get the heck out of there.
I watched the journalist’s accounts of the storm down south Having weathered the storm here, I cannot imagine facing it at a category 5 as some did in Katrina or as a 3 as those in Galveston and Houston did. I hope we all take a lesson from Ike and prepare to clear future storm’s paths. A lot more lives may be saved if we will take the warnings to heart. Some say that hindsight is better than foresight….probably so.
It is a weekend that will live on in my memory for some time to come. I had a lot planned for those days. I survived the muddle made of my plans. I survived the storm. In the aftermath, I can look back and tell myself as always that…”You know, in 50 years, no one will remember…or really care.”…but I will care and all those that face devastating loss last weekend will care and they will remember too.
I drove under this tree several times today. Some incredibly brave or awesomely stupid person cut away the bottom 4 pieces of the trunks here…You see the top one, that we all drive under rests on a broken power line and the cuts were made while the line was still hot.
I have homework due at midnight tomorrow and I have yet to read my assigned chapters…it will be a busy rest of the week. I know ya’ll will keep me in your prayers as I do my very best to remember always that nothing is impossible with God. Let’s also remember those who have lost so much, who are without power, water, and shelter, and those who have lost family due to the storm. And, lastly, if they don’t know our God, let’s ask Him to allow them to meet him real soon through an encounter during these present circumstances. Let’s pray that we’ll be His feet, His hands, and His body as we help those who are in need during this time.
I’m not kidding. I think 50 has taken a toll on me. School and homework and schedule and remodeling and babysitting 3 X a week and… well you get the idea. I used to have all this energy. Somehow it eludes me these days and I find myself lacking the old get up and go…you might say it got up and went.
It’s been a disappointing week in the accomplishment arena. I did a counseling session on Wednesday night at 5 with my lab partner. 3 people checked the setting on the VCR. It was on record. The machine said it was recording and we got on with the session. I got home to a tape that showed 1 hr, 20 mins of video. Problem was that the picture was only wavy lines. That puts me behind a week. My schedule can’t handle that. Another classmate and I were excited about and preparing for co-leading a counseling group and the dept chair nixed that one. Ah well. The standard response to this dilemma is the same as in other similar situations….and just who will care about this in 50 years?
Ike is bearing down on the coast of TX and the roads are full. Hwy 69 might as well be one-way as everyone is heading north. We are full up with people in this little town tonight and more still stream in. I hope we can feed and house them all. We expect some very stormy weather as a result of this storm. I’m praying it doesn’t cause harm or damage. UTT shuts down at noon tomorrow giving students time to prepare their homes for electrical and water outages.
We are working on the house this weekend and our usual working areas are crazily congested. There’s a truck where our saws are usually. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow which is not helpful in times of painting.
I’m tired. I’m going to bed to re-charge. Tomorrow is, after all, a new day. Looking for the umph of a 2 year old when I wake tomorrow.
