Do Re Mi...

...Fa Sol La Ti Do!

Lew and I had choir rehearsal tonight.  I'm pleased that I was able to make it, as I almost fell asleep walking to my car after work!

Singing with my choir "peeps" always gives me a lift.

But now I'm really, really ready to turn in....

Good night!

Latin & Logic Lesson All in One

My father told me that I had to explain yesterday's post.  I told him to look it up, and he didn't find that to be an acceptable response!

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc is Latin for "after this, therefore because of this."

In general, this is not good logic.  You can't always say that one event caused a later event just because it happened earlier.  For example, Lew made spaghetti for dinner tonight.  Then one of Lew's friends stopped by on his motorcycle.  But Lew's spaghetti-making did not cause the visit from his friend...especially since the friend stopped by after we had already eaten!

Still, yesterday's muggy weather may have contributed to last night's headache.  Or not....

On a completely different subject, I used Skype for the first time tonight to have a video chat with my friend Kimmee and her daughter, Jun.  Kim's husband, Ryu, even popped into the picture for a minute.  Kim and I will definitely "Skype" again soon!

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc?

Muggy out today.

I have a headache....

I Need a 4-Day Weekend

I wrote on Friday about my "day off" to get errands done.

I was busy yesterday, too.

And somehow, today got away from me!  I'm finding myself behind on stuff once again.  Ughh!

Lew is trying to write a hit country song called "I Need a 3-Day Weekend."

Could you change that to four days, Sweetie?!

Shopping With Emily

Today's project was to find a dress to wear to Emily and Matt's wedding.  And I'm really terrible at shopping for clothes.  Just ask my mother.

Emily graciously agreed to suffer through the shopping experience with me.

We met around 10:30 a.m. this morning.  And one hour later, we were on our way to lunch, our shopping done!  I bought a dress that we both loved, shoes, and even some earrings.

Perhaps my shopping skills have improved.

Or maybe it was Emily's mention of "ice cream" that did the trick.  Lunch sure was good!

Tracy's Day Off

I took the day off from work today.  I had some stuff that I needed to get done...and I did it all!

Car inspection & oil change (read while I waited)
Gas for car
Quick stop at home -- "Happy Birthday, Kaelen!"
Meet with my friend Penny about some church stuff
Stop in to see Lew's new office (Finally!)
Car wash
Stop at bank to ask some questions (more church stuff)
Register car
Get beach parking permit
Mail some letters
Buy some stamps
Purchase some cards
Return home
Paperwork!!!!
BLT's for dinner
Walk on beach with Lew
More paperwork!
Devotional time with Lew
Watch one TV program with Lew
Online stuff (Facebook, e-mail, blog)
Collapse, exhausted, in my bed....

Oops!  I haven't done that last one yet!  I have, however, accomplished the "exhausted" part.

G'nite!

Ichthys

Lew and I were talking last night about how fortunate we are to live in a country where we can freely worship the Lord.

This got me to thinking about the "Jesus fish" symbol that is often seen on bumper stickers.  It's called "Ichthys."

A few weeks ago at church, we learned that this symbol originated in the early days of Christianity.  It was kind of like a secret handshake.  One person would draw an arc in the sand.  If the other person drew the corresponding arc to form the fish, then they both knew they were safe in the company of another Christian.

I think that's a neat historical tidbit.  But it's also sad that these early Christians lived in fear of persecution.

There are still countries in the world today that persecute Christians.  So, while I thank God for my own freedom, I pray for these fellow Believers.

Miche Bag Update

My Aunt Debbie spends the summer at her cottage in Maine. She arrived today! Hooray!

I was showing her my Miche bag, and she commented that she had seen my earlier blog posts about it. Then I realized that I hadn't yet posted a picture of my most recent shell. Oh, no!

As Lew says, I now have a shell for each day of the week.  He actually has a favorite -- the newest one -- named "Brianna."  Here it is!

A Really Bad Poem

The "lawn care guy" showed.
So our grass is now mowed.

Prepare dinner? -- Not I!
So we did "Pie and Fry."

My snail mail's in a pile.
It will take me a while...

to win this paperwork fight,
but for now it's "Good night!"

Father's Day Follow-Up

Dad purchased a new TV.

He also put in his window air-conditioning unit. It's been pretty hot here.

As for the lawn....Rumor has it that our "lawn care guy" will be mowing tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day

A few thoughts on this Father's Day:

Dad is celebrating Father's Day by watching sporting events on TV. Perfect, right?? Well, last night the picture on his plasma TV "went." He will be calling someone tomorrow to find out if it can be fixed. In the meantime, he is using a spare set that Lew and I had up in our attic. We call it the "little white TV" and I am able to carry it around easily all by myself. It's funny to walk over to their side of the house and see him watching this teeny little screen.

Of my father's three daughters, I am probably (uh, definitely) the one that is most like him in temperament. And that's as much as I'll say about that!

God blessed my sisters and me with a wonderful father. Dad is not the "touchy-feely" type, so he really makes it count when he shares his heart. Many years ago I was going through a difficult time, and I believe his exact words to me were "No matter what happens, remember that you're our daughter and we love you." I will always remember.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you!

(Postscript: Tomorrow, when another Father's Day is behind us, Dad will mow the lawn...and perhaps purchase a new television.)

The BIG Game

The 2010 Scarborough Little League Champions:

THE LIONS!

Josh pitched 2 scoreless innings, caught for 3 innings (with a great "out" play at the plate), and played third base for one inning. He hit the ball hard to the centerfielder, who ended up making a nice catch.

Both teams played great -- they made it worth sitting outside in the sun on the hottest day of the year.

The game really could have gone either way.

But, as an aunt, I'm glad the Lions pulled it out.

Yippee!

Three Short Stories

There is an elementary school right down the road from our house. Although the last day of school was yesterday, the school zone lights were flashing when I headed for work this morning. So, I slowed down to the 15-mph speed limit. Other vehicles going in the opposite direction were also going slowly. But apparently the driver of the jeep that nearly rear-ended me didn't feel that it was necessary to obey the school zone restriction. He didn't slow down at all until he was practically on my bumper. Then he had the nerve to honk. I waited a few seconds, and then I pulled off to the side to let him go by. Gee, I hope that he had a great day.

While Lew was at work today, he received a phone call from Matt. Matt was on his way to a wedding and couldn't get his tie tied. He had been looking for instructions on the Internet and apparently couldn't find anything that helped him. So, if he stopped by to see his dad at work, would he help him?? And Lew said, "Sure, stop on by." And the tie got tied. A happy ending.

It was a gorgeous day here in Southern Maine. Lew and I took our first beach walk of the season after we got home from work. We saw several little kids laughing as they played in the water. And we also saw a lot of bikinis!

ROAR!

The Lions won tonight!

The championship game is Saturday at 1:00.

Congratulations, Josh!

:)

The 5-Minute Post

Had choir rehearsal tonight, and a tough day at work. So, just to do something different, I am timing myself tonight....

I'm giving myself 5 minutes to do my blog post! Not sure how interesting it will be, but it will give you a sense for how much I can write in that short amount of time.

Will not have time to edit. Planning on stopping when the time is up!

Tomorrow will probably be another tough day, but I hope to enjoy the evening. Josh's Little League team has a playoff game. If they win tomorrow night, then they make the FINAL game on Saturday. So, Go Lions!

Also, Josh found out that he made the All-Star team. I congratulate my nephew on his accomplishment!

I'm so happy that he enjoys playing baseball, as it is my favorite sport to watch. But I do prefer watching it in nice, warm weather.

Only 1:11 left!

One of our breakfast buddies is celebrating her 60th...oops, I meant "39th" birthday tomorrow.

Fading fast....waiting for the cell phone timer to play it's little Timba beat to tell me that....

Time is up!

G'nite!

I'm Getting There

I shared in an earlier post that I am now the Treasurer of our church.

I put in quite a bit of time on it at first.

Then I just "kept up" with it for a couple weeks.

Now, I'm back to the intense "let's get this all set up the way I want to do it" mindset.

Yes, I'm a Type A personality -- obsessive, compulsive, the whole nine yards.

Please pray that I don't drive myself crazy! (Smile....)

(Postscript: I'll let the reader decide what "I'm Getting There" refers to. But I'm hoping that it's not "crazy"....!)

Meeting for Lunch: A Comedy

While at church yesterday, Lew arranged for us to go out to lunch with my parents and Kaelen. I was chatting with someone else at the time, so I was not involved in making the lunch plans.

My parents and Kaelen left church several minutes before Lew and I did. While walking to our car, I checked my cell phone:

12:26 -- text message from Kaelen asking if we were meeting at the house or the restaurant

12:27 -- a voicemail from my father (from his home phone) wondering if we were meeting at the house before heading out to lunch

12:29 -- a call from Kaelen's cell (no voicemail message)

It was 12:36 when I tried to call my parents' home phone. No answer.

It was 12:37 when I tried to call Kaelen's cell phone. No answer. So I sent her a text message that we were coming home first.

Nobody was home when we got there. So we hopped back in the car and drove to the restaurant.

And they weren't there either.

I tried Kaelen's cell again, but there was no answer. I wondered, "Since when is a teenage girl's cell phone NOT attached to her hand?"

As I was trying to figure out what to do next, they drove into the parking lot.

Their side of the story: Somebody (it remains unclear to me "who" it was) decided that Lew and I must have gone straight to the restaurant. So off they went without waiting for a response to their text/calls. Kaelen needed to charge her cell phone, so she left it at home. Dad didn't bring his, because he figured that Kaelen would have hers -- an extremely reasonable assumption, in my opinion. They waited at the restaurant for us -- for THREE WHOLE MINUTES (!) -- and then left to go find a pay phone. Dad tried Lew's cell phone (from memory), but didn't get him because Lew was waiting in the restaurant already and didn't hear his phone. Then Dad tried mine, except he didn't remember the number correctly.

There was a lot of friendly finger-pointing once they got back to the restaurant.

I ended the debate by dubbing them "The Three Stooges."

We proceeded to have a very nice lunch.

Lew's Busy Morning

Our choir song for this morning featured a wonderful soloist -- my husband!

He and I were also scheduled for special music today, too. We sang a Steven Curtis Chapman song called "His Strength Is Perfect."

That turned out to be an interesting choice. Neither one of us slept particularly well last night, so we were quite exhausted this morning. Perhaps God gave us some "unrest" so that we would let HIM work through us in our song -- His Strength IS Perfect. In our weakness, HE IS STRONG!

So, Lew had quite the busy morning with two songs to prepare and sing.

And after the 9:00 a.m. service, he had to do it again for the 10:45!

Thank you for sharing your God-given gift, Sweetie!

Breakfast Out

Lew and I had an early morning commitment today, so we didn't meet our friends for our usual Saturday morning breakfast.

On our way home from our event, Lew mentioned that he was starving. And he had not had a chance to get his morning coffee yet. When he asked if I was hungry, I knew what that meant....

The breakfast place that we were closest to was not our regular Saturday morning restaurant, and I felt like we were "cheating on" our regular waitress.

But the breakfast WAS yummy!

How to Celebrate a 50th Wedding Anniversary

My father is not a party guy, and my mother is usually a bundle of nerves.

Hence, today's monumentous occasion was (and will not be) celebrated with a big bash.

But, we DID celebrate!

We all went to Josh's Little League game, which went into extra innings. Grandma (my mother) got hoarse from cheering, and Papa (my father) got to be friends with some parents of boys on the opposing team.

And the game finally ended in a victory for Josh's team. Hooray!

Oh, and Dad mowed the lawn today, too. He really has a flair for celebrating.

So...Happy 50th Anniversary to the "best-est" parents in the world. I love you, Mom and Dad! I am blessed.

(Postscript: While "visiting" the porta-potty after the game, I could hear people yelling "Good Game" to various members of the team. Then, I heard my husband shout, "I got the last two hotdogs!")

Job Postings

I need a secretary.

It would be nice to have someone to take care of my mail (both snail and electronic), pay my bills, and help me out with keeping the household organized.

And I could use a maid.

If you are interested in either position, please let me know.

(Postscript: Both positions are zero pay. And I'll be offering no benefits.)

"Are you ready, kids?!"

Once upon a time there was a grown man -- let's call him "Lew" -- who met an enjoyable cartoon character as he was channel-surfing.

And the character?

SpongeBob SquarePants, of course!

Lew introduced his wife, his nieces, and his nephews to SpongeBob.

Lew enthusiastically responded when a co-worker asked him "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

Lew's own home became filled with SpongeBob paraphernalia:
placemats, a kitchen sponge holder, pillowcases, blankets, a whisk, an ice cream scoop, a watch, many figurines, several dolls...and more.

And how does his wife feel about all of this?

She finds it amusing and quite cute, actually.

But please don't ask her to move into a pineapple!

My Address Book

A few years ago, I decided to update my address book.

The problem with that was that I had addresses and contact information collected on little pieces of paper, on typed lists, and in multiple books. I needed to consolidate all of this information into one place. And I wanted it to be easy to update!

I thought about doing it on the computer, but I really wanted a "hard copy" for easier reference.

So, I bought some 5 1/2 by 8 1/2-inch lined paper (with the pre-punched holes) and an appropriate-sized looseleaf binder to store them in.

I made my own alphabet dividers out of card stock.

I use one piece of paper per person/family. I have their address/phone/cell/e-mail/etc. all written on that one page. And at the bottom I record anniversaries and birthdays.

When any of the information changes, I just write it in. Or if the page is getting too messy, I can replace the entire page.

In the front of the book, I also have anniversaries and birthdays listed by month. That makes it easier when purchasing cards and such.

The binder itself has clear plastic over it that allows for inserting a title page. So I made a nice decorative insert for the front of the book, as well as for the binder side.

I really like my address book.

(Postscript: And it's easy for Lew to use, too!)

Looking Around The Back Room

I can't decide what to write about tonight, so I think I'll list some of the things I see when I look around the room:

A wall hanging -- hanging off the corner of a large mirror:
"A cat is a cat
and that is that."
(I think my father bought that for me.)

A little stuffed bear that Debbie and her family gave me for my birthday. He has a wonderful saying on his belly:
"Life's short.
Eat Chocolate."
(I can do that!)

A couple hand-made cards from Suzy. They say on the front:
"Loads of Love!" and "Friends ALWAYS"

A SpongeBob mini-surfboard. (I don't believe that I have yet written about Lew's dedication to all things SpongeBob.)

The pocketbook that I sewed in Home Economics class when I was in Junior High. It's a green and white checked material, and I did a cross-stitch pattern on it. A boy dog facing a girl dog, with a heart between them. (Awwwww.....)

The life jacket that my brother-in-law Glen gave me when he got his boat. He wrote "TRACY" on the part that goes behind your neck. And on the part that goes across your chest: "Aunties and Children First!!"

My "Address Book." I designed it myself.

I'll end my list for now.

I do believe that I have come up with some ideas for future posts!

Sunday Rest

I was just telling Lew that this is the first Sunday in a long time where I felt like I really experienced "rest." And that wasn't because of inactivity!

The day started off with church. Our choir song for this morning is one of my favorites from last year's Easter musical.

"Oh, Happy Day, Happy Day!
You washed my sin away.
Oh, Happy Day, Happy Day!
I'll never be the same!"

Our pastor was away, so our friend Trista delivered the message. The Scripture she spoke on was Luke 7:36-50, the account of Jesus being Anointed by a Sinful Woman. (Five "S" words to think about when reading this passage: sin, sacrifice, sorrow, service, salvation.)

After a quick trip to the grocery store, Lew and I went to visit his mother. We asked her what we should bring over for lunch, and she wanted a hamburger from Burger King! We could do that.

We got home mid-afternoon and we both ended up taking a nap. Actually, Lew slept first. When I went to see if he was still napping, I ended up falling asleep myself. I usually don't nap (unless I'm ill), but that may change after today. I do believe that I like napping.

After I got back up, I ate a bowl of Cheerios and a peanut-butter-covered banana for my dinner. I finished the latest book that I'd been reading on my Kindle.

Lew and I just completed our devotional time. We both agreed that it was a great day.

Thank you, God! I really like the day you made today!

Weather Report

We had a thunderstorm this morning, but it cleared up fairly quickly. I did some errands late morning, and at the most, it was that "sprinkly" rain while I was out and about.

The weather was so-so in the afternoon. Lew and I took a walk in the early evening, and it was very nice. We didn't even need jackets.

But, believe it or not, we were under a tornado watch. In Maine! What's the world coming to?!?!

(Postscript: Today's Motorcycle Game results...Lew guessed six, Mom guessed we would see five. I said "lower." We saw only one. I win again!)

Ribs and Shoes

I managed to stumble in to work this morning. I'm not sure how productive I was, but it's the thought that counts, right? (Well, maybe not in this case.) Maybe by Monday I'll be my normal self, rarin' to go....

Lew and I decided that we should treat ourselves tonight, so he and I, along with niece Kaelen, went to Famous Dave's for dinner. Kaelen had never had ribs before, and I'm happy to say that she liked them! I had ribs as well, and Lew had a steak. We all ate entirely too much, but no one's telling.

Then we went over to Cabela's to walk around, and I ended up buying two pairs of shoes -- actually, a pair of sandals and a pair of slip-ons. Both will be great for the summer.

Good food, new shoes, and the weekend ahead of me....Yep, by Monday I'll be rarin' to go!

Raggedy Tracy

I should have seen it coming....

I've been pushing myself and my body finally "caved" today.

Slept, ate, slept, ate, and now it's time for more sleep.

I am like a little limp rag doll!

Oh Doo Dah Day

Lew and I are off to choir, Doo dah, Doo dah,
Lew and I are off to choir, Oh doo dah day.
Going to sing all ni-i-ight,
After we worked all da-a-ay!
We'll see some friends and rehearse with them,
Then at the end we'll pray!

This is my 151st post! Isn't it a beauty?!

My Day

Why does having a Monday Holiday always make me go crazy at work on Tuesday?

Why? Why? WHY?

I will attempt to regain my sanity tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in!