God Bless America

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States.

Please take a moment right now to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

~~~from Lee Greenwood's song God Bless the U.S.A.

Thank YOU, Lord, for your many blessings....

A Lot of Hot Air

A family from our church had a cookout at their home today. They invited the entire congregation, and quite a few of us went. We all brought food to share. Lew and I brought potato chips and potato salad from the deli at the grocery store. (Lew put the potato salad in a different bowl so that it would look like we made it ourselves.)

After eating, some of the folks wanted to play volleyball with a really big beach ball. By "folks," I mean mainly the kids! But a few adults ended up joining in.

The initial hurdle to playing, however, was to blow up the ball. It had a plastic pump which didn't prove to be too effective. Finally, Lew decided to show how it was done "back in the day." He sat and blew the air into it himself, much to the amusement of us all.

Did I mention that it was a really big ball?!

But somehow, he did it! And he didn't even pass out afterward.

Yep. He's a keeper.

He's a Keeper!

I went to work for about 5 1/2 hours today:

***One of my colleagues had minor surgery yesterday and won't be back at work until Wednesday.

***Our office is closed for Memorial Day on Monday.

***We still have our regular deadlines for Tuesday.

So, I decided to take some of the edge off by going in today.

On my drive home, I was making a mental list of other stuff I still needed to do.

Like the laundry.

Our laundry machines are on the 2nd floor, which is quite handy. And as I was heading upstairs, what did my wondering ears hear???

The dryer!

My husband had done most of the laundry already. He did leave one small load, as he knew that I would want to add in a few things when I got home.

Thank you, my Sweetie!

(Postscript: I am so spoiled!)

We went to a play tonight! It was a children's production of "Charlotte's Web". Erica, a young gal from our church was in it.

After the play, we all went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday's. We had a really fun time--lots of laughing!

It's about 11:00 p.m. and we're on our way home. Lew is driving, and I'm about to send this post from my iPhone.

G'nite!

God Gives Me a Chuckle

On my drive home from work today, I was thinking about what I spend my time on. It's no secret that I've been tired the past few days. Is there something that I should give up? I even thought about whether I should continue my blog. (I am going to continue!)

When I got home, I saw that today's mail contained something from the Cumberland County Clerk of Courts. It was addressed to me. My first thought was, "Uh oh! What did I do?"

After I opened it, my first thought was, "You've got to be kidding me!" Actually, I believe that I said this out loud. Quite loud.

Excerpts from what I received: "This letter is NOT a summons for jury duty. It is a notice that you have been selected as a member of a pool to serve at some future time....Your name was selected randomly....Please answer all the questions on the enclosed questionnaire and return it to the court within 5 days of receiving it..."

I was on jury duty in the summer of 1996, so I have another year to go before they can require me to serve again. (But I still have to fill out the questionnaire...within 5 days.)

So, I was able to recover from my initial shock when I realized that this wouldn't be immediately added to my plate.

And I laughed! Although I was (and am) still tired, I didn't (and don't) feel as overwhelmed. God has a wonderful sense of humor! (Smile....)

Another Milestone

Lew and I actually watched American Idol tonight (instead of on Thursday, like we've done all season). It would have been extremely anti-climactic to wait until tomorrow, given that tonight was the season finale!

It's late, so I will end this post with the following news:

This is my 144th entry on my blog! That's 12-squared. Gotta love it.

G'nite!

Coming Out of the Fog

Other than the fact that I had to work, today was a lovely day! The weather was beautiful -- perhaps a little hot and muggy for those that have to work outside -- but I'm in air-conditioning at work. (I would have preferred being outside!)

I am slowly "coming out of the fog" of busy-ness that I've been in. I took some time tonight to catch up on a few things, but I'm not going to go totally crazy. I hope to get to sleep soon. That will be nice! Ahhhhh....

Lew and I sat on the porch and ate ice cream goodies tonight. We played a modified version of The Motorcycle Game. I guessed that 4 motorcycles would go by our house over a ten-minute period. Lew said "higher." My mom even joined tonight's game and guessed 7. (We let her play even though she was sitting inside on her couch.) Lew said "higher" for her guess as well.

He beat us both!

Jeopardy Question

Answer: Too much! Too much! Too much!

Question: How much does Tracy have to do?

(Postscript: Hang in there, blog readers!)

Busy day.

Busy weekend.

Busy month.

Busy year.

Busy life!

And I wouldn't want it any other way.

Smile...!

Teenager In the House

My parents got home today. They had a nice visit with Kim and her family in Illinois. In fact, they brought one of her family members back with them.

Our niece Kaelen has come to live with us this summer. She'll be working at a restaurant down the road from us. She just finished her first year of college.

I've decided to compose a song over the next few weeks about her visit. I already have a title: "Teenager In the House!"

I also have composed the first two lines:

Teenager in the house.
She's not as quiet as a mouse.

Welcome back, Kaelen! We're glad you're here. :)

A Milestone

I exercised every morning this week before going to work. It's the first time I've done that since I had the two surgeries.

All this exercise has made me hungrier than normal. So I ate too many cookies. But they were yummy! Once I'm really in a good exercise pattern, I'll work on cutting back on the cookies.

I'm going to take my time. :)

The Pooperia

My parents have been visiting my sister Kim in Illinois, so I have been on kitty duty while they are away.

Part of this duty includes cleaning out the litter box, dubbed "The Pooperia" by my father. Pepper calmly sits and watches me while I do this. I half expect her to critique my efforts.

My parents are both retired, so Pepper is used to having them around for much of the day. She is not pleased about this current situation.

When I leave for work in the morning, I see her sitting on the top of their couch or on one of their chairs. She has her back to me. I always say, "Be a good kitty today!" But I am ignored, even though I am not the one that abandoned her for a trip to Illinois.

Life is so unfair.

My New Adventure

I was just elected Treasurer at my church. The nominating committee presented my name to the membership for a vote, so I was basically running unopposed. No vigorous campaigning or anything like that was necessary!

Since Monday, I have been spending most of my spare time getting organized and trying to get a handle on this new position. I still have quite a bit to do and lots to learn, so my blog posts will be kind of "skimpy" for the next few days.

I still intend to write a little something each day, however, so please keep checking in.

Thank you for reading Mainely Tracy!

(Postscript: I'm also behind on personal e-mails and correspondence, reading that I want to do, and just about everything else! But this front-end effort will be worth it in the long run. At least it had better be!)

20/800

I went to my eye doctor this morning for a routine exam.

I don't need new glasses this year, which is a very good thing for my wallet. The last time I got a new pair was when I finally had to make the move to bifocals. I got progressive lenses, with the anti-glare and the special "non-coke-bottle-look" technology. It cost me a small fortune.

I asked my eye doctor today what my "vision" was. I knew that it would not be 20/20.

Her response was, "Oh, probably something like 20/800. It's pretty bad."

I guess I'm off the charts!

Poll Results "The Other Day"

A week ago I wrote about using the phrase "the other day." I decided to run a week-long poll on my blog.

The poll question was:

Would you say "the other day" when referring to yesterday?

The final tally:
2 Yes (both men)
23 No (1 man, 22 women)

I'm not sure that I can really conclude anything based on these results, other than that most of my current blog readers are women!

I do know that one of the 2 "yes" votes was from Lew. I'm assuming that he didn't vote twice. Many thanks to the other man, whoever you are, who voted with Lew. You are not alone! :)

Walking in the Winning Run

After today's loss, my beloved Boston Red Sox are 19-19 on the season. (This is not a good strategy for making the playoffs, guys.)

The Red Sox had a 6-1 lead in last night's game, but they ended up losing in extra innings. Lew and I had fallen asleep by then, which is a good thing. I probably would have been too aggravated to sleep if I'd watched.

To score the winning run, it would be nice if the guy actually had to run in order to cross home plate. In last night's game, the winning run was scored...on a walk.

Ugh!

When the bases are loaded, a major league pitcher should be able to throw strikes. At least the batter would have to get a hit to drive in a run.

Ugh!

This reminds me of a joke I heard when I was a kid. The rookie pitcher was upset when his manager took him out of the game, even though he had just walked the first six batters he had faced. The manager asked him why he was so upset. The rookie answered, "I had a no-hitter going!"

Lew's Sweet Victory

Lew and I played The Motorcycle Game today. It was our third time this season.

I had won the first two rounds.

It was Lew's turn to guess today, and he said "eight." I said "lower."

We saw nine motorcycles.

Lew's victory was secure once we saw the 8th motorcycle. But even though I had already lost, I was still curious to see if at least one more would go by.

Why?

Our pastor, PD, was the 4th motorcycle. If we had seen exactly eight, then I would have held him responsible for my loss. So PD is very fortunate!

Current standings: Tracy 2, Lew 1.

Josh's Great Game

Lew and I just went to our first Little League game of the season. Our nephew Josh was playing. He's the catcher for his team.

In the first inning, the opposing team got 7 runs. Ouch.

When Josh's team came to the plate, the first batter got on base. Then Josh was up and hit a smoking RBI double. Josh eventually scored, too. So now it's 7-2.

No runs for the other team in their next at bat.

Josh got an RBI single the next inning. 7-3.

No runs again for the other team. (This pattern would continue.)

Josh got a triple the next time he was up. (I think he had two RBI's with that hit.) His team ended up winning the game, 8-7. I do believe it may have been the greatest comeback in Little League history.

Josh had a great game catching, too. He threw out a couple baserunners and had a nice play at the plate.

It was the perfect evening except for the fact that I stepped in doggy doo-doo. I leaned over to Lew at the game and asked, "You are going to clean my shoe for me when we get home, right?"

My husband is such a sweetie.

(Postscript: For my baseball-challenged readers, RBI stands for "runs batted in.")

My Much Better Mood Day

I slept like a rock last night.

I exercised this morning, which felt good.

I got a lot accomplished at work.

Lew took me to Old Orchard Beach for a dinner of "pie and fry," which is our term for Bill's Pizza and Pier Fries. The actual name of the Pier Fries place is "Original Pier Fries." It's not on the pier.

We are now going to watch this week's American Idol shows. I already know the results, because I listened to "Eva, the Entertainment Diva" on the radio this morning while I was making the bed. Eva gives me the "show biz scoop."

Tomorrow is Friday!

Yes, I'm in a much better mood today.

My Bad Mood Day

Felt icky today.

What I should have done:
Stayed home and rested.

What I did instead:
Went to work.

So, I'm not rested. And I still feel icky.

And that's why I'm in a bad mood.

(Postscript: I'm actually more cheery than I'm letting on. But I really was in a so-so mood at work. I wanted my pillow!)

A Green Ball, A Gray Ball

Lew bought one of those big exercise balls for me for Christmas a couple years ago. It's green.

A few days after Christmas that same year, Lew's back was bothering him a bit, so he "rolled around" belly-up on the ball to see if that would help.

It didn't. In fact, he hurt his back even more by doing this.

So Lew went to a chiropracter, who sent him for an x-ray. After determining the problem, the chiropracter was able to help him. Ironically, the follow-up exercises that the chiropracter gave him were to be done with a big exercise ball!

To do the exercises properly, Lew had to buy an even bigger ball than the one that he had purchased for me. This newer ball is gray. He used it faithfully until his back improved. (I think that "faithfully" may be too strong a word here, but he did get better!)

Both balls have been sitting upstairs in our back room ever since. Unused. Until a couple days ago....

I tried the gray ball out as a chair at my desk, and it is great! I can roll around a bit and even do a little bouncing, which is kind of fun. I think my posture is better, too.

Now to find a use for the green ball!

The Other Day

When I say "the other day," I am usually referring to 3 or 4 days ago. Certainly not more than a week ago. And certainly not yesterday.

Lew will use "the other day" to mean just about any day that ever existed, especially yesterday.

A while back, I asked our Saturday morning breakfast buddies if "the other day" could refer to yesterday. She said "no"; he said "yes."

So, is this yet another male vs. female thing? My sample size of 4 people is kind of small. So, I'm trying something new on my blog. A poll!

The poll will be on the right-hand side of my blog for the next week. Please let me know what you think!

Become Your Mother's Biggest Fan

For his Mother's Day sermon, our pastor preached on becoming our mother's biggest fan. Actually, he spelled it PHAN:

Pray for her.
Help her.
Accept her with honor.
Notice her.

Some notes I wrote down as I listened this morning: Mothers tolerate a lot. They aren't divine, but they are instruments of the Divine. Mothers do become tired, hungry, sick, and hurt. A mother does a lot; notice those things and compliment her.

I am blessed with a wonderful mother. Over the years I have noticed the effort she has made and I appreciate her more and more. I will share just one story...a fond childhood memory....

I was in either the 2nd or 3rd grade. It was "Show and Tell" day, and the theme for that day was our pets. Mom brought our dog, Margot, to my school at the designated time. I remember seeing Mom through the window in our classroom door. She was holding Margot and she waved to me. I think Margot may have "waved," too. I don't remember anything more than that. But I remember the most important part: Mom was there.

Happy Mother's Day!

Following Up

A few things that you may be wondering about....

1) I saw my surgeon a week ago so that he could check the progress on my left leg. He said that everything that's supposed to be closed up is closed up, and everything that's supposed to be open is open. So far, so good! I go to see him again in a couple months.

2) Today I got a letter from the mortgage company. They have made the "change" that we requested. That is, Lew and I are named again on the mortgage. So I can cross another thing off of my list. (Now just to get that "Paid in Full" notice...ahhhh, still a few years away....)

3) I know that I have not been blogging very much about the Red Sox. It is much too painful.

Catching Up

This weekend I hope to catch up on a few things:

Sleep
Reading
Sleep
Housework (?)
Sleep
And more sleep

Exciting news: I finished the Fruit and Vegetables project...with help from a couple friends.

So, I'll have to come up with another list when I try to get all that sleep this weekend!

G'nite!

ABBA Banquet

Lew and I just got home from the annual Community Awareness Banquet for ABBA, A Women's Resource Center.

ABBA is a crisis pregnancy center in Portland. In a nutshell, ABBA offers life-affirming options and counseling. I was on the board of directors for eight years. This is a ministry that Lew and I wholeheartedly support.

We were especially pleased that Emily came with us tonight!

(Postscript: If there is a Christ-centered, life-affirming crisis pregnancy center in your area, I encourage you to learn how you can help.)

I Ate a Cupcake

I got out of work late, which meant I had to eat a quick dinner in order to get to choir rehearsal on time.

My husband had already made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me. He even put potato chips on my plate. I stuffed it all in my mouth.

My father bought cupcakes yesterday. There was one left, so I ate that too. It was chocolate, with white frosting.

The cupcake had a plastic ring on top as a decoration. The ring was green and shaped like a dragonfly. It fits on my pinky finger.

We were on time for choir rehearsal. And I wore my new ring!

Wendy, Our Prayer Warrior

Today is my dear cousin Wendy's birthday.

Wendy is not quite a year older than I am, so we have a special connection.

Wendy's life has been one of challenges. She is not able to live on her own, have a regular job, drive a car, or do many of the things that most of us can do.

Yet Wendy possesses a special kind of wisdom that many do not. She loves Jesus, and He loves her! And that has made all the difference.

She is our family's "go-to" person when prayers are needed. Wendy always tells me that she's praying for me, and I know that this is true. When I ask her to pray for a friend or some other situation, I am confident that she will.

I know that she and my Aunt Jean (her mother) read my blog together. So, I end today's post with the following wish:

Happy Birthday, Wendy!
With love from your cousin,
Tracy

But the Food Was Great!

Today I share a brief word of advice:

If you've spent an entire weekend celebrating your birthday, do not step on the scale on Monday morning.

Trust me.

It's not a good way to start the week!

Birthday Follow-Up

As I wrote yesterday, I had a wonderful birthday. Lew and I met our friends for breakfast, we ran a few errands, and then we went to the Portland Sea Dogs game. (The Sea Dogs are a Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.)

Lew had bought four tickets to the game, and I was hoping that Josh and Zack could go with us. Debbie told me they probably had baseball games of their own, but I held out hope until almost the last minute. But, Little League scheduling (Josh) and a fractured foot (Zack) didn't cooperate with me.

So, Lew and I decided that we would watch for two people going to the ticket window and offer them our extra tickets. We had to be selective, as whomever we gave the tickets to would be sitting right next to us!

Lew noticed two women in line -- a woman my age and her college-age daughter. I went up to them and they graciously accepted my offer, even with the warning that they had to sit with us. Lew felt it necessary to assure them that we weren't axe murderers.

So I now have two new friends, Anita and Tiffany. I ended up talking with them more than I did with Lew at the game. (Sorry, Sweetie!) And when they went out to get some food, they also came back with a birthday present for me...a pink baseball with the Sea Dogs logo!

And the Sea Dogs won, just because it was my birthday.

(Postscript: In addition to the baseball tickets, Lew gave me a Kindle. The Kindle is Amazon.com's e-reader. I love to read, so "Hooray!" I also got a new shell for my Miche bag from my parents -- a picture of "Lacy" is below.)

Happy Birthday to Me

I had a wonderful birthday today!

To continue in the birthday mode, I'm going to give myself a little break on the blogging thing tonight.

Thank you for reading "Mainely Tracy!"