Power!

This is a picture of the house across the street as a small sample of the destruction in our neighborhood from Hurricane Ike. Thanks to good old Ike, we've been without power since Sunday night but finally last night, the electricity was restored. Hallelujah. Notice the white danger tape in the picture. That was all the evidence we had that the electric company was even aware we existed for the first three days. That wind was amazing though. God's power is truly awesome.

Being without power has its blessings.

* On our walks with the dog, we saw a lot more of our neighbors.

* We got to bed earlier than normal.

* Reading by candlelight is sort of fun.

* No recorded political phone calls.

* My refrigerator is very clean.

The worst part was not being able to make my coffee in the morning. Having to go out for coffee is so backwards. In order to go get coffee, I have to get myself ready to go out and face the day and how in the world can I do that before I have my coffee?! And without electricity to plug in the hairdryer. This morning as I made my coffee I said to Jeff, "Look at this coffee! Isn't it a beautiful thing?" Of course, being 16, he rolled his eyes and sighed and said, "It's just coffee, mom."

Jeff trying to figure out why we still had no power on Thursday.

Four crews showed up yesterday around dinnertime to begin working. These guys were all from Connecticut.

Finally, they got it all fixed. I haven't figured out how to take decent pictures at night yet.

I'm so thankful for power today!
~ Sharon

Random conversations

I was at the grocery store and I met this little old lady over by the cheese display. They had a sample plate out with crackers and a cheese spread (a small tub of cheese spread with some flavor in it). The cheese spread had been marked $30.0 and she was convinced she was eating thirty dollar cheese. Nothing I said would convince her that it was probably $3.00 and just got mis-marked.

She just took another cracker and smiled and said, "I just ate two dollars worth of cheese!" Later I saw her in the freezer aisle, chasing down another little old lady to tell her about the dove bars that were on sale. She was too cute.


***
One day last week a teen girl rang my doorbell. I seriously need to put up a sign that says, "If I don't know you, don't ring my doorbell." Usually, I just smile and talk through the window to the side of the front door but that day I was stupid and opened the door. She was with one of those junior achievement type groups that sends out groups of teens into an unsuspecting neighborhood to harrass the residents for no apparent reason. After we got past the "I'm with ___ and I'm just here to improve my communication skills" speech our conversation went something like this:

Her: So, like, I'm wondering what awesome skills you think I need for life? What awesome job do you have?

Me: I'm a stay at home mom.

Her: Awesome. You're a domestic engineer. Give me a high five on that. (raises her hand)

Me: I'm sorry. I just don't have time for this today. (I don't high five -- it's not really something I do.)

Her: (walking away muttering) You don't have to be rude about it.

Good night! Who trains these poor kids?


***

Wednesday at choir practice I was talking to a fellow soprano and I mentioned something about Jeff being 16.

Her: *gasp* You have a 16 year old?

Me: Yep. He's my only one.

Her: Do you mind me asking how old you are?

Me: I don't mind. I'm 41.

Her: *GASP* YOU'RE 41?!! I thought you were younger than me but you're OLDER!

Me: I guess so. Ha ha.

~Sharon
(trying to feel flattered but just feeling OLD)

First day of school - Grade 11

No new, cool backpack. No new box of crayons. But we still take time to take a picture for the first day of school.

Just for fun

41

Dara Torres is 41 years old.
As of last week, I too am 41 years old.

Last week the lovely Ms. Torres won two silver medals in the olympics.
Last week I tripped and fell on my face while walking the dog.

Quite sad really, but there it is.

(Bonus points if you can name the movie that last sentence came from.)
:o)

Olympics

I love the Olympics! I love the spirit of the Olympics. I love that the mens gymnastic team was thrilled with their bronze medal. I love seeing Michael Phelps win. I love it when the favorite wins (as long as it's not the French relay team), I love it when the underdogs win. I love staying up late and not getting enough sleep because the olympics are on.


The news people drive me a little crazy though.

* During the men's high bar event in gymnastics the announcer actually said, "High Bar 101: Grab the bar. Grab the bar." Really??

* The headline after Michael Phelps won the 200 butterfly was, "Goggle Gaffe." I like alliteration as much as the next person but leaky goggles do not qualify as a "social or diplomatic blunder."

* The worst is the MSNBC anchor in the afternoon. I don't normally watch MSNBC so I don't know who she is or why she's there but she drives me nuts. She wears skintight shiny vinyl clothes. Monday, when they were discussing the shoulder tape worn by one of the beach volleyball players she started talking about her tattoos. She curls her lip when she talks even when it's a human interest story. Someone needs to tell her to stop doing this. She stumbles through her teleprompter reading, but it's even worse when she goes off-script. You can tell within two words when she stops reading from the teleprompter because it's usually inappropriate or embarrassing. She's in New York and the two people actually in China ignore her half of the time. I'm not sure if they're having communication difficulties or if they just feel like I do and it's best to pretend she never said that and move on.

But I will still keep watching because I don't want to miss anything.
Go USA!



Sharon

Thank you card

I made this quick and simple thank you card for my friend Betty last week. She's filling in for me at the piano at church while I take a couple of weeks off this summer. I love playing piano and I love playing at church but sometimes, I just need a break. Playing at our church means Monday night rehearsal, Saturday morning rehearsal and warm-up Sunday morning followed by three services. When I told the worship pastor I wanted a few weeks off, I didn't know that Betty would end up playing either keys or piano almost every week this summer. She's a single woman who says she has the time and I know she loves to play but this goes above and beyond the call of duty. I owe her big-time.

It was my first time trying the ripped paper thing & I kind of like it but I'm not sure it's me.

Sharon

So blessed

At church this morning we got to hear Trace Bundy play two of his songs. Simply amazing! I have never seen someone play the guitar like he does. If you visit his web-site, be sure to pause the music on the main page and then watch the video. Wow.

Sharon