LOOKING BACK ON THE WEEKEND

Today I am in the second day of a cold: 'nuff said. We did have a pretty good weekend before it hit me, however. Now I'll just stay in and take it easy.

Every year the club hosts a Seafood dinner, which includes oyster stew, already peeled shrimp, and a whole Maine lobster, just to name a few items. We always take Jim IV and Laurie and this year Brenda and her friend Tony were able to join us, also. We had a great time, needless to say, all dressed in our plastic bibs and chowing down on a great meal. There was also some fancy dancing going on (obviously, some of the members spend a great deal of time and money at Arthur Murray), but we forewent it this time.

Then on Saturday morning we went to the funeral of a friend of ours from church. That's never a fun experience, but the service was upbeat. I also went to lunch afterwards with my first grade friends, Judy and Janice. I always enjoy getting caught up on their news.

Brenda came by this weekend and saw the house for the first time in a while. She said that it looks much better than the pictures I put online. So if you have seen only the pictures, just take it up a notch or two in your mind and you will have the real thing.

Interestingly enough, Brenda and I talk every morning for 20 - 30 minutes, and that's the first time I've seen her in ages. I'm grateful for our conversations so we can keep in touch.

NOW! I'm going to go to bed or maybe lie in the sun and try to dry out the cold.

LUNCHEON

As mentioned yesterday we had another high school lunch get-together today. Fourteen people attended and we all sat around a big square table. It was great because we could either talk to those around us or to the whole table at once. I enjoy these affairs so much and this one was no exception.

Patsy had been given another award -- she was added to the public school hall of fame -- and she told us all about her visit back to the school. Sounds like it is very run down and in need of fixing up.

One of us suggested that maybe somebody should burn the school down like it did 57 years ago and just build a new one. It's hard to believe that that happened that long ago. But the building there now is the one that was finished up in 1955 just in time for the genius and his class to graduate.

I'm not surprised that it is need of repair. First of all, the building is old, and secondly, there are a lot more students attending now. And thirdly, the problems with the present day kids are much worse than when we attended.

We all agreed that we had it made in the fifties. I threw out the question of anyone's ever seeing alcohol any time we were in high school. One or two of the boys said they did, but certainly not very much, and none of the girls had seen it. Drugs were unheard of except for nicotine and that we did see: many of us smoked every now and then. That was the biggest "sin" unless you count what went on in some of the parked cars on dates.

That was probably somewhat like today, except no one talked about it. The subject was strictly taboo in mixed company and even with our own sex!!

Anyway, the picture of the attendees is below.

Ah, a nice rainy day. (I can't believe I'm saying that.) There's something about spring rain that is different than any other time of the year. It's refreshing and cleansing, kind of like crying at a sad movie (like Marley and Me). I'll just plan to stay in enjoy myself.

I took the dogs to the groomers today. Of course, they didn't want to go in and I had to chase them all the car to get both of them. They were in dire need -- the groomer said Rufus looked like a "fluff ball."

Actually, I do have an inside job planned for me today: switching closets around. It's such a pain to do, and then no sooner do I get it done and the weather shifts and I'm back in the other closet digging out clothes to wear. But the time has come -- I've been in the off season closet too many times lately trying to decide what to put on. I'm about to run out of ideas for transition clothes, but I don't want it to get hot either. So I'm not complaining.

I do like living in an area where there are four seasons, especially when it's fall or spring. The daffodils have come and almost gone, but the redbud is in full bloom in the front yard. The dogwood will be next and then my gorgeous hydrangea bush. They have huge purplish pink blossoms that are just beautiful. Someone said at bridge club the other day that you should put a certain kind of fertilizer on them depending on whether you wanted pink or blue flowers. Since mine are in between, I guess I'll just leave them alone like I always have and enjoy the color.

Tomorrow is the Burro Babes luncheon and we've invited the men, too (Should we call them buddies or bubbas?) I always look forward to seeing them and catching up with their latest news.

I'll let you know how it turns out. And maybe even put a picture of us on the blog!!

BACK TO DECORATING

Yesterday I had a nice leisurely, "unstructured" day, doing what I wanted when I wanted. It was nice! I ended up going to Home Depot -- again -- and managed to spend an hour there.

I've never had to make so many decisions regarding color, texture, size, shape, etc. as I have these last two months. Yesterday was just another day of doing that. But I finally picked out the vanity top, sink color, towel racks, and a toilet paper holder for the bathroom. I have yet to decide on the new toilet, but I did a lot of looking and measuring. I have mixed emotions about giving up my old john that has a jet flush and switching to one that is water saving (but not if I have to flush it twice every time!). I also have to choose the faucets, but that looks fairly easy.

One thing this experience has taught me: you can spend a LOT of money if you want to (or even if you don't) on redecorating. I've really tried to be careful about that, but sometimes I have gotten caught up in wanting the best. Case in point was my selection of tub/shower installation: I elected to go the cheaper route of putting in the acrylic lining as opposed to tearing out and starting over, but I chose the "cadillac version" (according to the salesman) and I don't regret it. And I selected granite over laminate or fake marble for the vanity and don't regret that either. But I absolutely wouldn't let myself get carried away by brushed nickel or bronze or brass for the faucets -- chrome is fine. And so it has gone, over and over until I'm just about ready to stop and enjoy what we have. The kitchen will have to wait.

Besides, the next big thing I want to do is put hardwood in the living/dining room and kitchen. But that's for another day.

BREAK TIME IS OVER

Alas!! Spring break is over, but it was great while it lasted. Gone are the sleeping in, the genius in relaxed mode, and the delicious meals at night. But to look on the bright side: Gone are the "planned days" where every minute is accounted for!

A typical day during the break began with my sleeping till 8:00 or 9:00 while the genius took care of Rufus's needs. Then by the time I got up he was "starving" and wanting his breakfast. So as soon as my feet hit the floor it was to go to the kitchen and prepare sausage, biscuits, toast, eggs, etc. Coffee came later many times. You can imagine my efforts of trying not to be too grouchy during this hour; after all, he had allowed me to sleep while he fed, walked, played with Rufus. But, as most of you know, this is not my best hour of the day.

But I tried and most of the time was able to carry it off with a minimum of dropping things as I stumbled around the kitchen.

Then I would sit and have my coffee while we "planned the day." Quite frankly, this was difficult to do before a caffeine shot, so I usually just yielded to whatever he wanted to do. One day it was get new tires for the Accord, on another it was go to Costco, or grocery shopping at Walmart, etc. Just mundane things that have to be done in life. But every night was topped off by a fabulous meal usually at a new restaurant we hadn't tried before.

Whenever I mentioned how much we were spending, the genius's reply was, "Well, we are saving on motel bills and plane fare or gas money by staying here, and we still have the good meals!"

And then last night we topped off the whole vacation by going to TPAC and watching Jersey Boys, the story of The Four Seasons, a group that was popular in the 60's. We enjoyed it thoroughly and it was a good way to end our ten days of "vacationing."

But I must admit to a sigh of relief this morning when I arose and could get used to being awake by degrees and let the day plan itself!!

SPRING BREAK

The genius and I have once again been eating our way through his spring break. Every night we try out a new restaurant so we can have a memorable experience and also so we can have a new list to fall back on. We have several to add to the list.

Last night we tried City House, an Italian place in Germantown. First we started with their homemade pizza as an appetizer, then went on to the main course. The genius had steak with a delicious sauce and I had a pasta dish. Then I also had a dessert that was a kind of a tart made with a cornmeal based crust and filled with dried blood red oranges with homemade whipped cream on top. It was really unusual and really good!

We have sampled Italian twice, Asian fusion, global fusion, seafood, ecclectic, and Mexican. By far the best one for me was the global one -- Mambu's -- on Hayes Street in the midtown section. I know a lot depends on what a person orders on a particular night, but I hit a winner that night. We will definitely go back there.
They've all been good, though, I haven't had anything I didn't like.

We've also progressed on the house, although much more slowly than before because of the weather. When it is good, Jim IV is on the court, teaching; only when it is raining does he come over to work. He now has the bathroom painted and the walls of the bedroom done. He still has the woodwork to do in the bedroom and some little odd jobs left. He's done a great job and I am very happy with our "new house."

And we're ready for company, so bring it on!!! Come visit and stay in one of the new suites!

NEW PICTURES

Everyone in the family has been after me to put some pictures of the new tub/shower on the blog so here they are. I love taking a shower now, especially with the curved shower rod that makes it feel so roomy. The problem now is that everything else looks shabby. I feel the urge to spend more money coming on so I can replace the toilet and vanity top. Will it never end???

BJ and Jerry came for dinner on Saturday night and of course, brought Monty. So I stuck a picture of Rufus and him on here, too.

THE YEARS FOLLOWING

When I look back at all this and count the years, I can scarcely believe that it occurred almost 40 years ago. The vision is still just as real to me today as it was the morning after. But the years since then have been filled with other experiences, both negative and positive.

In the first place, the genius’s walk was much different from mine, as you might imagine. He didn’t have any “Road to Damascus” experience, and while he thought it was great for me, he had to find his own way on the spiritual path. So little by little, in an intellectual way, he began his own search. And over the years he has developed a solid faith that is dependable and meaningful for him and comforting for me. Someone once compared women and men in their spiritual walks by saying women are the kindling of a fire and men are the back logs. I don’t know about all couples, but that analogy is pretty accurate for us. The genius is just so steady and I am sometimes on an emotional roller coaster.

Secondly, finding a church over the years has been a real challenge for us. Good preaching and music are the two things we looked for, but what pleased me didn’t necessarily appeal to the genius. I didn’t care if the service was unstructured and had contemporary music, whereas he wanted a traditional service and the hymns he had grown up with. I liked the hymns, too, but didn’t particularly want to be tied to the same old cold services with opera-type singers in the choir.

We visited and/or joined Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, even Nazarene churches all over the city, but all of them left something to be desired for one or both of us. Finally, a few years ago, the genius attended a funeral for a former IBMer and came home raving about the preacher who did the service. I agreed to visit the church with him and we did so some weeks later.

From the very first, we both felt like we had at last found a place we really loved. We already knew many of the people, some we had grown up with and hadn’t seen for years, and others, as well. So, after 33 years of searching, we had finally found a church for both of us. It is mostly traditional, but not frozen in the past, so I can enjoy the services and other weekly events also. Our minister and the choir are just what we like and enjoy each week.

I trust that we have both grown spiritually over the years through thick and thin; I am certainly not the giddy believer I first was, nor is the genius the doubter he was at one time. We have both matured over the years and are learning to rely on each other spiritually as well as intellectually, as we always have done.

I’m not saying we have arrived, but we are much farther along than we were some 40 years ago,

THE AFTERMATH

When I awoke the morning after I had my “encounter,” I had much to contemplate. I was struck by the fact that I didn’t know Who my visitor had been – was the person Jesus, as I suspected? I thought he had died and gone to heaven, so this didn’t seem likely. Was it an angel? No, I thought, it was too much like a divine Being. I didn’t believe that it was a dream nor a figment of my imagination --- the whole experience was the most “real” thing that had ever happened to me. But I had many questions, so I decided to turn to the Bible and see if I could find answers.

My pastor had recently suggested that I get a modern version of the Bible and start reading it, and I had. But the words didn’t mean much to me; it was like reading a history book that was not really very interesting. I couldn’t understand that something that had happened 2000 years ago could hold much meaning for me. But that morning I decided to try again.

An astonishing thing happened: the words almost jumped off the page at me! I started at Matthew and began reading and suddenly it all began to make sense. I think this experience amazed me as much as the night before! And over the next few weeks I couldn’t get enough; I read straight through the New Testament and started over again, underlining and writing notes in the margin. The more I read, the more excited I became.

Of course, I discussed the entire episode with my pastor, who was very encouraging and helpful. He helped me to see that Jesus is still alive and well and what’s more, very active in the world through His Spirit. The Holy Spirit was something (Someone, I now saw) that I had never thought much about, but now I began to look for references in Scripture and there He was – all throughout the books, both Old and New Testaments. The Book of Acts, particularly, explained His place and purpose in our lives, but I had never seen it. He was (is) the power behind the throne, so to speak.

My family began to notice a real change in me. Who was this joyful, peaceful person who had replaced the old sometimes depressed, sometimes irritable wife and mother? Of course, I told the genius about my experiences and also talked to the children about God and began to pray with them. And for a few weeks or months all was rosy in our household.

Tomorrow I will discuss the years since my remarkable transformation.

MY ENCOUNTER

As I mentioned yesterday, I had begun to explore the venue of prayer as a means of communicating with God, Whom I now believe existed. The first area in which I saw an answer was in my effort to quit smoking.

For years I had tried to quit to no avail. I had even smoked during my three pregnancies, although I did cut back. I can still remember the wonderful taste of coffee (which had tasted awful during the nine months) and a cigarette after giving birth. And yes, I smoked even though I breast fed all three of my babies. I hated myself for being so controlled by a drug, but I couldn’t seem to break the power it had over me. So I was very willing to pray about this with my pastor.

I quit cold turkey, suffered physical withdrawals for about a week, all the time praying that this time I would be successful. And the good news is that I was able to kick the habit, although I must say that I miss it to this day. Cigarettes were my good friend and now they were gone out of my life.

When I saw an actual answer to prayer, my tiny little mustard seed of faith began to grow, and prayer in bed at night became a ritual before I fell asleep. I had begun to “feel” something when I prayed -- an elation, a peace, I’m not sure what to call it – actually, a warm fuzzy feeling is pretty accurate. So each night I fell asleep praying for family members, friends, etc.

On November 18, 1970, I was following my routine of prayer, when an amazing incident occurred. When I describe the next few seconds (minutes?), I will relate it one thing at a time, but everything occurred simultaneously. I was as usual experiencing the warm fuzzies, but suddenly that feeling intensified and spread over my entire body. I immediately became aware of the fact that there was a “Presence” at the foot of the bed and I had the impression of “white.” (White robe? White light? I don’t know.) And the last impression was that the word JESUS was stamped (seared) into my mind across my forehead. As I said, this all happened at the same time.

My initial reaction was FEAR – a lot of it. What in the world had just happened? But as I mulled it over, my fear was replaced by a strange peace and amazingly, I drifted off to sleep. But my life had been changed forever; I would never be the same again.

To be continued.

SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH (CONT’D)

The next step in my spiritual journey was when I was sixteen years old. I found a book of Mother’s lying around and began to read it. The book was entitled The Wall and was about the plight of Warsaw Jews during World War II. Essentially, the events that occurred in this book opened my eyes to the evil that existed in the world and I began to have my first real questions about God and His purposes.

My thoughts ran like this: if there is a God, how could He allow such horrible things to occur, especially to a group of people who were “His chosen”? These doubts continued to be present in my thoughts for many years. I remember once asking for an appointment with my minister to discuss some of my uncertainties, but for some reason, he kept putting me off, thus making me even more unsure. I finally sought advice from Mother’s former boss, a minister who worked for the denomination but didn’t actually pastor a church. He told me to pray about it, a suggestion I didn’t find particularly helpful; how could I pray when I didn’t believe in a God to pray to? So I continued to flounder in a sea of doubts for several years.

In my mid twenties I became interested in the supernatural world of the occult. I read a book about a man who by going into a trance could picture a person in his mind and could tell what was physically wrong with him/her. He would then describe a cure that usually involved some kind of natural solution. There were many testimonials written about him and his healing techniques. What got my attention was the fact that here was something that could happen outside of natural forces. To me that indicated the possibility, perhaps even probability, that there was some sort of higher power in charge, causing these supernatural events. So for several years I explored the concepts of these “new age” ideas, from healing to astrology to reincarnation and many types of “paranormal” experiences..

The importance of all this is that I began to believe in God, but I still had many questions that needed answers. I was not receiving any in the church I belonged to so began attending another one a little farther from our house. The children liked this much better and we all began to go on a regular basis.

The minister of this church was very likeable and we quickly became friends. I volunteered to help him with some secretarial work once a week and our friendship deepened. His influence on my spiritual beliefs gradually grew and I began to see that the “supernatural” existed within the Christian realm, as well. I admitted this to myself even though I didn’t really embrace orthodox Christian beliefs. I just couldn’t deny that prayers were being answered in this small church.

I began to pray seriously myself for the first time since I was a child. Tomorrow we shall see what the result was.