H.H.

Post, Everybody!

2007-11-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, after many months of silence, I've decided that I can bear it no longer, we must have activity! So, the main hope of this post is that it will bring back to life the blog that so many of us miss and wish would be updated, especially after such a wonderful summer. Unfortunately, I wasn't at H.H. this year, but I did come Friday night. What I heard was absolutely wonderful. Now, I pass the torch on to you who were at H.H. this year. Post pictures, discuss it, start a countdown to the next one, whatever, just bring this poor blog back to life!!!

Boot Camp Sunday at LPBC

2007-03-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

Lewisville PBC Annual Meeting

2007-02-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all... if you are planning to come to the LPBC annual meeting in March and will need a place to stay (particularly if you're coming without your parents), please let me know as soon as you can. Our church brethren are working on planning lodging for visitors, and we'll be running out of beds/floor space, etc. pretty fast...

We'd love for any and all of you to come... it starts Friday, March 23 and goes through the weekend. Elder Sam Bryant and Elder Paul Blair are our guest preachers.

Email me... most of you either know my address or know someone who does, and I don't want to post it here.

Lynn

2007-02-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

18 DAYS.

An Encore...

2006-12-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody, I am Forty-One.
Most of you know me by my previous alias, Ludwig. Ludwig retired from Blogdom but called his trusty friend, yours truly, to take over the reigns. You will be pleased to know, however, that Ludwig will be behind the scenes monitoring and advising me in my new profession. By direct order from my predecessor, I have made a few adjustments to Shed of Emotions, primarily, just that. It now dons the title "Bakin' a Cake," the significance of which title, you will discover when you visit the blog. While I had intended to make a few more maintanary adjustments before I revealed the new version, certain and unfortunate circumstances, the details of which I will not bother you with, have forced my hand to immediately provide you the information necessary to make the journey to the new site. The addresse, which I had not originally intended to change, but the aforementioned circumstances demanded, is www.abeauchamp.blogspot.com. You may also click here. I, personally, like this more than the other anyway. I hope you do to.
Please spread the word as you see fit, for this information is of utmost importance to any who would like to visit my blog. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

pics from beatrice's birthday

2006-12-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

okay,this is really long, but please read all of it.

2006-11-20T08:26:00.001-08:00

q. shenaynay

You can pretend we're sitting in the prayer garden on the hill if it makes it easier to read this all the way to the end. You and me and two icy cold Dr. Peppers. Sound good?

I went to a wonderful meeting in Tyler over the weekend and heard some stirring-up, soul-feeding preaching. The Lord was there -- to feel His presence like that always feels oddly like surprise -- a weightless, luminous surprise.

I got to hear Elder Steven Bloyd preach for the first time in... oh goodness. I have no idea. Eons. I went to college with Bro. Steven at Texas Tech, and we both attended the Lubbock church during that time. Back then, he was the skinny, quiet, reserved fellow who was always super polite and a consummate gentleman, who always showed up for church with a car full of elderly people whom he fussed over with great tenderness, who held down a real grown-up job while going to school, and lived with his grandparents so he could take care of them -- something he did with startling devotion and patience and selflessness. Needless to say, he sincerely didn't have a spare minute in his crowded life for girls, or in fact, for much of anything social -- he didn't hang out with the other young people much. I think most of us never felt like we really knew him, but we were all secretly sort of in awe of him. He was a little scary. His quiet example was a needling reminder to the rest of us comparatively footloose college kids in that church that we actually could be more mature... be better servants of the Lord and His people... IF we would just decide to knuckle down and grow up. But we're all sinners, which means we really don't want to be reminded of that, do we?

It was such a joy to see the manner in which he has grown over the years -- the quiet boy I knew in college is now a confident, forthright man, speaking with power and strength and conviction. It was also a joy to see that some things have not changed: he is still carrying elderly people with him wherever he goes -- he brought aged Elder Compton, who has been his steady travelling companion for many years, to Texas with him. Because of Bro. Steven's willingness to travel with an old man who can no longer see nor hear much and needs a lot of tender care which undoubtedly makes the going much slower and more complicated than it would be alone, all the rest of us were blessed to hear a 101 year old man preach the gospel with a century's worth of wisdom. Think of that. Amazing. How many people in the history of the world have ever heard a 101 year old man preach the truth? I feel blessed to the point of astonishment.

So all of this made me begin to think about those days in college and all the young people who attended the church in Lubbock during my years there. The twenty-ish, pre-preacher versions of David Pyles, Dwayne Shafer and Bro. Steven (and I think a few other future preachers besides) were all there at the same time, and a whole host of other young PBs, from twentysomethings on down to babies. It was quite a crew. And then I began to think about how many of those young people are gone now, no longer occupying a pew among us in the Lord's house. The list was stunning, sobering, and heartbreaking for me. Imagine if they had all stayed. This has affected you, whether you realize it or not. Most of those people have kids about your age. And those kids will soon grow up and start families of their own. Just think of the pews they would be filling had they not fallen away. Think of what their presence would add to our fellowship -- their children would be counted amongst your dearest friends. But they are not here. You do not know them.

Why? Because at some crucial moment -- some moment that probably seemed relatively insignificant at the time -- they began to grow just a little bit cold. And they let it happen. And the rest of us let it happen.

Perhaps they woke up a little tired one Sunday from a late night, and decided to sleep in instead of going the God's house for worship. There's always next Sunday, they told themselves. The church will still be there. Then, without really noticing the shift, they began to sing more pop songs in the shower and fewer hymns -- actually, hymns hardly ever got stuck in their heads anymore like they used to back in their middle school/high school days.

Then their lives got busy with relationships and new friends and college stuff and maybe part-time jobs and stacks of textbooks... and mom and pop were not there to make them figure out how to squeeze some time in God's Word into that new day-to-day existence. When spare time came around, the remote control was just easier to fiddle with than the pages of their Bibles.

And they began to feel comfortable with that.

As they began to feel more comfortable in their spiritual numbness, they began to feel less comfortable praying. So their fervent, transparent, open-hearted prayers dimmed to quick, brief mantras of routine phrases -- just enough to make them feel better about themselves. Just enough to check off the daily prayer box. They began to feel more easy with their non-church friends than their PB buddies, perhaps because they felt less guilty around them, less convicted. And the next thing they knew, the ties were crumbling... and then they were gone.

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar?

I knew those people, and I loved them. I still miss them. And now I know you, and I love you. Which is why I'm spending a whole morning writing this. I do not want to ever have to miss you. Missing people you love hurts. Mostly though, I mourn that they are missing out on so much, too.

The Word renews the mind. Which means without the Word, your mind is simply not renewed. Do you get that? It's like flesh that doesn't generate new cells when the old ones die. In other words, it rots. And without the constant fellowship of the saints, the continual sharpening of iron upon iron, we become useless weapons covered in rust.

My daddy uses the vivid analogy that faith is something we carry around in buckets full of holes, and that we must continually bring our buckets back to the Lord's house to get refilled. Holey buckets, get it? I guess you have to imagine him saying it. ;-)

The confounding thing about growing spiritually cold is that when you do, you don't care as much about it as you might think -- you sort of feel numb and satisfied with yourself at the time. That's the way the devil works.

Tell yourself the truth. Do you feel satisfied with the condition of your spirit right now, with the state of your walk with the Lord, with the manner of your fellowship with the saints? Truly? If so, my friend, get on your knees before the sun sets on this day and ask the Lord to disturb you, to stir you up with a blast of His reality, to knock the icicles off your heart and the blinders off your eyes.

I am left to wonder if I could have done something in my friends' lives that would have made a difference. What if I had loved them better, if I had been a better example, if we had been more faithful to hold one another accountable... would their lives have been affected by that? Would they still be on the pew come Sunday morning if we all had not been so silent about letting them go?

I don't know and I never will, but in hindsight I can say this with certainty: It would have been worth a try. A better try than we gave it, certainly.

Please listen to me. You are there. You are now who we were then. And that same roaring lion is still out there seeking whom he may devour. Don't assume that your friends in the church are going to remain strong in the Lord without those buckets being continuously refilled.

Your friends need the fellowship of the saints. That means YOU. It means your vigilant, discernable, obvious love. And when I say love, I mean the kind of love that shows up, love that speaks up with audible words and is ready to walk up cold mountains in all-weather hiking boots. You're in a rough world out there, a world that hates what you love, that wants to tear down everything you would die for, that wants to get in your head and rearrange your mind to make it more convenient for them to put up with you (and your inconvenient Jesus) as a citizen in the twisted global village they are designing.

And it's not just you the world hates... it's a world that also hates every friend you've got who sits on a pew on Sunday morning. Stick together, will you? I'm begging here. If you see a friend getting a little frost on the surface, ask the Lord to give you boldness and compassion and a gentle spirit. Pull that friend aside and express your care and concern, pray with them, send them emails with verses and encouragement, stick letters in the mail, pray like mad. Get in your car and drive if you have to. They may not seem to appreciate your concern. Expect that. This is love in hiking boots, like I said. Just love them, love them, love them through it.

I do not want any of you to disappear from among us. Not one.

As I sat in church this past Sunday thinking about all these things, I started crying before the song service was even over. But I was not sad -- I was overcome with happiness over still being here. I was crying out of an overwhelming sense of God's mercy. For reasons beyond my own merit, I was spared the hard frost. Despite my own seasons of coldness, despite how much the world has hated me, despite how hard the world tried to deceive me, despite how stubborn and stupid and hardened and prideful and selfish I have been in my life, by God's grace I AM STILL HERE!

I was loved through it by God's people.

I am so happy to be here. I cannot fathom being happy anywhere else. I cannot imagine my life without the old Baptist church and all my loved ones in this big, raucous, challenging, maddening, joyous, beloved family in the Lord.

I have never thought of you all as "the young people," like some separate category of brethren. I think of you as MY people. Age is nothing -- eternity is timeless and so are our souls. You are my brothers and sisters in the Lord, and I hope you all know that I love you. I pray for all of you. Lots of other people do, too.

Please stay strong. Please stay.

7 months to go!

2006-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

and only 4 till Boot Camp!

A Harmony Hill Sunrise

2006-10-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is a picture taken during Harmony Hill 2006. I can't exactly remember which morning it was that I took it though. The sunrises at Harmony Hill are one of the many reasons to get up early.

8 months...

2006-09-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

and two days!!!

TROG

2006-09-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hey! I decided to post this on here because way more people read this blog than they read my own blog, so I would like to beseech you TROG members to actually go on there and post some at least. It's kinda sad to see only maybe about four people regularly posting out of the 102 members there are. If you could just take some time to post we'd really appreciate it! Thank you!

please read my blog.

2006-09-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

i'm not feeling well.

at all.

there's a little more information on my blog.

and friendly calls, emails, and especially prayers would be great.
:)

2006-08-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

BOO!

Scrap what I said earlier

2006-07-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

I have now upgraded my old website to an actuall website. You can see it at www.xon-designs.com or by clicking here. Anyway, also, I have a new email address. It is will.xon@gmail.com or will@xon-designs.com.

Later

Guess what...

2006-07-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

I'm 16 today!!!!!

Wish me a happy birthday, won't you?

New Site

2006-07-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Just to let everyone know, I have a new site at: www.xon.5000megs.com

Thanks

Please Read Mole End

2006-06-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

On my blog, Mole End, I have a post about my rebaptism. Please read it to understand my reasons, since I know some of ya'll were confused and puzzled about it. I'm just trying to spread the word so that by Boot Camp people will hopefully understand.

2006-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

i hear that the week went very very well and am so glad to hear it! I MISSED IT A LOT. MORE THAN A LOT. CAN I DESCRIBE IT? NO. I CAN'T. YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE ME.

I am 17 going on 18... Well, not really.

2006-06-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

"Truely sir, are you 18?"

"Yes my young chap. That I am."

"What can you do now that you are 18?"

"Abosolutely everything and nothing."

"What do you mean...."

Okay, I turned 18 I feel great. Well, not really any different. Isn't funny, that though you age, you never really feel any different. Especially on birthdays. It is like, "Okay, I am a year older now, why don't I feel any different?" Anyways, I think I will sign off now.

Later

Yes.... those good drugs....

2006-06-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

Ha ha, okay, so my title is a little carried away, but, for those of you that have ever had poison ivy really bad, you may know what I mean. Anyway, on with the lame story. Well, last Tuesday night, I helped my dad clean out a little bit of a fence row. Lo and behold there was poison ivy in it. Duh! Anywho, the next morning I was covered. What made it worse was that fact that I had to work this week. (Still do sine it is this week still) So, in the morning I talked to my mom about getting a shot but she said that since you have to go to the emergency room to get it(Otherwise they will give you some pills instead) it would cost about 250 dollars. So, needless to say, I didn't go. Well, I asked around at work and found out that my boss, well, one of my bosses, had a great pediatrician. I got in contact with them and they said that a walk in was going to be 25 dollars, but since I was a friend of Becky (my boss) that I would get a discount on the shot and could get it for 8 bucks. Well, if I could have leaped for joy, I would have. (But poison ivy has a very druggy feeling when you are covered with it. [and I know that was horible grammar]) And so, I went and got the shot. It has been two days since then and the poison ivy is almost gone. It seems like a miracle. Anywho, that has been my only good experience with drugs. And although I will stay as far away from drugs, or medicine, I will gladly take them when it comes to the itchy rash.

Two More WEEKS!!!

2006-06-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Two more weeks! Just two more weeks! Two more weeks until HH. Can't every just taste it? Well, maybe not taste it, but, you get the idea. I can't wait. Hope to see everyone there.

The Taylors were on AFV!

2006-05-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

WASN'T COOL!?

It was really neat to actually see someone I know well on National TV!!!! What did ya'll think? Wasn't the video they sent in funny? We were actually present that day that Sister Kathy taped the dog taking the Roman candle and we were running for our lives! Lol! Personally, I think they should have gotten first place, but that's just me.

Happy Mothers Day!

2006-05-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of yall know, today is mothers day. I hope that everyone wished their mother a happy mothers day. Today we reflect on all that our mothers did for us. Isn't amazing that God has made someone that can raise a family while try and do everything else in the world? Or better yet, put up with me. Anyway, today we thank the Lord for our mothers. I hope everyone had a great day today.

I HAVE CHOOSEN....

2006-05-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

For many of you who don't know, I have been in process of deciding what college I was going to go to. So this past Thursday and Friday, I went to my two top choices to go talk to the department heads of what majors I thought that I might take. Thursday I went to Pittsburg State University which in Kansas about 30 minutes from our house. Friday I went to College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, MO. (For those that don't know, it is about five minutes from Branson) Well, on the truck ride to C of O I felt really excited. (Don't ask me why because I don't know, I think though that it was the Lord telling me that he wanted me to go there.) Anyway, when we got there both me and my dad loved it. My dad and my mom are both alumnis for C of O. But after talking to the Computer Science department head, Dad liked it more than he had. (He wanted me to go to Pitt State because it was close to home so that I could live at home.) Well, when we left dad made the comment that he might get back into IT because of what this guy had told us. We both liked the math and computer science department heads a lot. So, needless to say, I choose C of O. I am very excited and hope to have a great (but hard) time at college. Whenever I get there. Anyway, I hope everyone is good and for those that get to go to HH, you have one month left.

God Bless

The Countdown Continues...

2006-04-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

:: drum roll ::

Ladies and Gentlemen! May I have your attention please. I am about to make an important announcememt.

It is, as of today, henceforth from now, all things being equal, officially, only 48 days till Harmony Hill.

This should be a cause of great rejoicing to us all, and fill us with anticipatious happiness.

The dying blog

2006-04-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

As this is a dying blog I feel the need to revive it. So my subject will be, well, I don't know exactly. I just want to see how everyone is doing and hope that everyone is fine. We are having lovely weather today. It has been raining for the first time in a long time. Fine day, fine day it is. Wish it would do this more often. Well, I guess I will stop boring you all. Later

In Memory of Brittany Stanaland

2006-04-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

I love you, Brittany.

Uncertainty

2006-04-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if we're coming this year. I think we may be leaning toward trying to go to Camp Moriah instead. Does anyone know yet what the theme will be for HH this year?

And then there were two!

2006-04-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Two months, to be exact.

Yes, Singing School is exactly two months from today!!!
Oh, I can hardly wait!

So, who's coming?

Hyper Moments

2006-04-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hello again, and though your sick of hearing from me, I would like to say that I have found a blog that is most interesting. It is called Hyper Moments (yeah, we all have our time) and is located at hypermoments.blogspot.com. I will not tell you more so that curiosity, which indeed did kill all the worthless cats, did I say that?, anyway, curiosity will take you over there. Have a nice day.

Ah...

2006-04-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, BC is over and everyone is gone. No more fun for us in this song.

Hello to all those that are away, I hope everyone is doing well. And this is just a blank post, something for me to do so disregard it. Later.

Oodles of fun.

2006-03-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

Wasn't Boot Camp just wonderful??? I don't know about the rest of you, but I had a blast and can't wait to return to Harmony Hill in June!!!

What was one of ya'lls favorite memories from this weekend?

Boot Camp is today!

2006-03-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Anyone excited?

Woot!

2006-02-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Seven days until Boot Camp!!!!!
Can't wait to see all of y'all!

For the Jackson kids...

2006-02-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

I ran across this quote from G.K. Chesterton this morning. Lacey and all her JPBC partners in crime from singing schools past will understand perfectly why Aunty Lynn here laughed -- no, make that guffawed -- out loud when she read it:

"Playing with children is a glorious thing; but the journalist in question has never understood why it was considered a soothing or idyllic one. It reminds him, not of watering little budding flowers, but of wrestling for hours with gigantic angels and devils."

;-)

Boot Camp!

2006-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

March Boot Camp is coming up!

...Huzzah!...

...um...be sure and bring a toothbrush...

Totally Cool

2006-01-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

A question I was asked last week (by a perky Young Life girl):

"So, like, why do you like drive all the way to like Lewisville for like church? I mean, that's like totally cool but like why?"

(I'm not exaggerating the 'likes'!)

And I think to myself, 'Oh my if I even began to explain.."

Long live....!......uuhhhhhh...I mean.....

2006-01-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

As I seem do be the one doing these things around here, I cannot let this one pass;

Let us pause for a moment to think about Robert E. Lee, who's birthday would have been today, if he had not died.
So let's all remember Robert E. Lee, defender of the south.

Happy birthday!!

7/12ths down...

2006-01-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

Five months (less than, actually) until Harmony Hill!

Merry Christmas

2005-12-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you see a childs face light up and wake up to a happy new day.

Happy Birthday!!

2005-12-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

In commemoration of the birthday of one of the greatest writers of all time.
Here's to Jane Austen, a master of language.

Update

2005-12-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new H.H. site. Well, not really new. just the address. Hope you find enjoyable as always.

Update On Links

2005-12-13T10:35:00.000-08:00

I have updated the links. Hope everyone is satisfied.

Then Emily said...

2005-12-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well...
GO LOOK for yourselves!!!

Woooo and indeed HOOOOO, Miss Emily!!!

(We love you!)

My First Post Ever

2005-12-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have done it! I am actually posting! (bowing to tumultuous applause) Thank you, thank you!
Fa-Sol-La-La told me to post this on whatever blog I can use so here I am (though this does all seem somewhat self aggrandizing).

Seven...

things I want to do before I die:

Sing in Handel's Messiah

Go to Scotland

Meet George W. Bush

Learn Italian

Turn a cartwheel

Ride a train across England

Read the complete works of Shakespeare

things I cannot do:

Turn cartwheels

Love beets

Whistle through my teeth

Run a marathon

Write cursive

Handle mullets

Bungee jump

things that attracted me to my spouse (hypothetically):

He loves to laugh and makes me laugh

He is a man after God's own heart

He sees the beauty in the little things that are all around us

He can chop firewood

He wears a fedora

He is a true gentleman

He is as honest as the day is long

things I say most often:

Oh my stars!

Good heavens.

Whasa wrong Wacky?

Ya gotta give a little to take a little.

...it's absolutly fabulous!

It's my birthday.

Now get along!

books I love:

Jane Eyre -Charlotte Bronte

Little Women -Louisa May Alcott

Winnie the Pooh -A. A. Milne

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -C. S. Lewis

Anne of Green Gables -L. M. Montgomery

David Copperfield -Charles Dickens

Persuasion -Jane Austen

movies I could watch over and over:

The Sound of Music

Henry the V (1989)

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Little Women (1949)

Sergeant York

It's A Wonderful Life

Spiderman

people I want to tag

Mama RachelRachel

Tommy Sacran

GravyGal

Joe Black

ThePizzaPizzaMan

ShapeNoteSinger

Nate

HIPPY PAPY BTHUTHDUTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY

2005-12-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

Pooh looked on admiringly.
"I'm just saying 'A Happy Birthday,' "said Owl carelessly.
"It's a nice long one," said Pooh, very much impressed by it.
"Well, actually, of course, I'm saying 'A Very Happy Birthday with love from Pooh.' Naturally it takes a good deal of pencil to say a long thing like that.'"
"Oh, I see," said Pooh.

Happy birthday and many happy returns, Sistah-Frien' Girl!

May the next year be filled with many happy times.

Thank you for being my best friend, fellow-dweller in the Leaning Tower Of Pizza, staying-up-late buddy, guinea pig, audience, comedian, partner in crime and drama, and general all-round buddy for 14 years. I hope I haven't done you too much harm.

Long live the Sisterhood of Margaretta and Roxanna!

And long live the coolest person I know..... folks, let's hear it for (drum roll)... Claire!

Advantage Moron (inside joke?)

2005-12-04T20:58:00.000-08:00

I am now taking advantage of being a member of this blog and posting on it. I hope my stunning silence has not caused any deathy harm to any one. I feel like my time is up now, plus I really need to be studying for a calculus test? good bye. Godspeed.

etc.,

Ludwig

ps. I request the the title of my blog be updated on the list of blogs to the left. thank you person-in-charge.

To tell you the truth...

2005-11-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

My dad preached tonight at Providence PBC in Bay Springs, MS, which is a little over an hour away from Jackson. Our whole Pyles/Bruce gang went, and we dragged Lacey along with us for our personal amusement and general good cheer.

In the lunchroom, an oldah sistah with a thick, drawly Mississippi accent sidled up to my husband and introduced herself. She was all warmth and big smiles, very hospitable. But by way of introductory chit-chat, she inadvertently (I hope) said one of the funniest things I've ever heard in a church lunchroom:

(Please read this with a thick south Mississippi drawl.)

"It's so good to have you here! You know, Sistah Lynn hasn't been here since she was a child... and we are SO GLAD!"

hmmm.

Just think about it.

2005-11-24T17:06:00.000-08:00

Just stop for a second and think. How many times in the worst case scenario could you die? Just how many? Driving a car. Riding a horse, motorcyle. What else? Isn't it amazing that so many bad things don't happen to you. That you don't get hurt as much as you might be able too. There must be something that stops the bad things. I wonder?

Renaming the blog

2005-11-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

The blog will be renamed to HH because we have violated the name in every way possible. Anyway, I like it better this way. I hope yall don't mind. Happy Thanksgiving.

7 Hot Tamales & 2 Party Burritos

2005-11-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

B-Day in Missery

2005-11-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hey, Kole (also known as thermodude) was thinking of having his birthday party at our house the Wed. or Thur. before Boot Camp in march. What do yall think of it? Would anyone be even able to come if we had it?

A Picture of a Common, Unknown Species

2005-11-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

I thought since everybody was gonna be posting pictures of butterflies...
This is a pic I took of 6 unknown butterflies eating a rotten Granny Smith apple. Taken by a very old digital camera.

A picture of monarchs--by me

2005-11-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

2005-11-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

I thought this neat. It's the epitaph of

Benjamin Franklin written by himself at age 22.

He never ended up using it though.

The body of
B. Franklin, Printer
Like the Cover of an Old Book
Its Contents torn Out
And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding
Lies Here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be Lost;
For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More
In a New and More Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author.

The Stranger

2005-11-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

I saw him walking in the lobby, obviously unfamiliar with the building. He knocked on the door, uncertain but not shy. Poking his head in, he demanded,
"Are the men working here?"
Thinking he was supposed to be helping in the church in some way, I questioned him.
"The men?"
Yeah, any men?"
"The pastors?"
"I guess, just, just any men. I have some problems I have to talk about."
I left to get Shannon, the college and career pastor. When I came back in, the man was sitting on the couch. His hair was long, stringy, and blond. His clothes were clean, the t-shirt said 'it has been...' I worked at my computer, then paused to take a bite of my lunch.
"What do you think of when you think of God?" he asked.
"What do I think of God?" He nodded his head.
"Someone who takes care of me, protects me,"
He interrupted.
"You know what I think about religion? All this," his gesture indicated the church,
nothing. Don't believe it exists."
"I don't think I could exactly say that I believe in religion, what that has come to mean, but I believe in God and his gospel."
We talked for about three minutes, as I struggled to understand his slurred words that were muffled by the nervous gestures he made with a small plastic sack full of clothes. He told me that to him, God was Hell.

This really happened, today in the church office where I work. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be convinced that God was evil, like this man believes. Please pray that God would open the eyes of his heart, and that his broken soul would be healed.

For a friend

2005-11-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

I wrote this this morning for a friend who could use some prayers.

I don't know how to start
this poem I write
so I'll just get started with
'I hope you're alright'

I know the great pain
the sorrows and emptiness
that you feel in your heart
of sadness and lonelyness
that won't ever depart.
for I once lived as you
until I had
hardened my heart

I made my heart cold
myself callous,
my skin thick
now all my feelings
are as a brick

I would tell you to do this
(it might make you sick)
but how does the sun
not shine like a star.

So I say this to you
to give you some hope
"A friend is near
who will help you to hope"
I will have a shoulder to cry on
an ear to listen
I will be here for you
when you will be missing

A flower must grow
through storms and showers
and the next spring day
it show a beautiful flower

for it came through the storm
and lightning and thunder
to become and appear
that beautiful flower

So take heart and rest
and lift up your sorrows
to the one who will take them
and give joy for tomorrow

I sit here now,
to finish this song
and say to you, ever
if you fell like crying
or are as mad as can be
just don't forget
I will always be free
to help you through.

New site.

2005-11-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I have a new blog. It is necrochron.blogspot.com and it is my story that I have been writing for about two weeks. There is more to come. Stuff that I haven't got on the blog too. It is a medival fantasy. And don't be expecting much if you do decide to read it.

This is what it's all about.

2005-11-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

Blue Like Jazz

2005-10-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Partly modern-day Francis Schaeffer, with F.S.'s down to earth/you don't have to be a university graduate to understand/I'm being completely honest with you attitude; partly G.K. Chesterson's paradoxes and isn't life fun!?!?!?!!! style; and partly C.S. Lewis' practical christianity, Blue Like Jazz is a fresh perspective on life and everything that comes with it. I am not saying that Donald Miller can write like the afforementioned gentleman, but an intangible something that makes up their passion for God and the gospel of Jesus Christ comes through in his brutally honest words. Definately not your typical Christian self-help book, or a hokey "three-step plan,"
he stays away from lists and typical Christian plots to sell Christianity. Neither is he like such wonderful modern Christian authors such as John Piper. He's just Donald Miller, who I can only describe as jazz.

"Donald Miller writes like a good improv solo-smooth, sweet, surprising, uplifting, and full of soul and fury and joy." Brian McLaren
(what he said)

a sample: "Author's Note- I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theatre in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxaphone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he didn't open his eyes.
After that I liked jazz music.
Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.
I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened."

p.s. very good for dinner conversations, but don't hand the book to anyone younger than thirteen. if you read it, which i highly recommend, don't be put off when you read the chapter about him not liking going to church. parts of the book are his spiritual journey, and later he gets over his church allergies.
r. the b.o.

A Wedding

2005-10-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

I love weddings! The hustle and bustle, the general aura of awkward efficiency and somewhat organized chaos, but most of all the pervading sense of happiness. I have never been anywhere near a wedding that I have not been involved in up to my fingertips. Even though this time around I don't even know what the happy couple look like, but I'm almost as involved in the commotion as if I was the bride's sister. Guiding those from out of town who can't find the church; babysitting some of the small children, who were not raised P.B. and therefore cannot sit still for any length of time; unobtrusively interjecting myself into the mother-of-the-bride's conversations to jog her memory with this or that; fetching these people here, and those people there; I love it all.
Someone, no one in particular, but someone, needs to get married, and soon.
Wedding bells are ringing, now we need someone to step up to the alter.
Not that we would say that it was obliging of them, and just what we wanted. Oh no, we would congratulate them, and wish them well, but secretly, we would be thinking of how appropriate their timing was, and how totally gratifying to our wishes they are. Oh yes...

My Third Post Today

2005-10-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

I found this picture in beehive smugmug photos with the caption "What we could do with thought bubbles. Being bored, I decided to do as hinted. Unfortunately, I can't come up with anything funny. So your job is to email me, ebrown@pdionline.net, with any ideas you have.

By-the-by

2005-10-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Is a non-P.B. like me allowed to TROG? If so, what's the web address?

Wake up you sleepyheads..

2005-10-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

Rub your eyes, get out of bed,
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead!
She's gone where the goblins go,
below, below, below, yo ho!
Let's open up and sing,
and ring the bells out.
Ding dong, the merry-o
Sing it high,
sing it low,
let them know the Wicked Witch is dead!

Come out, come out,
wherever you are,

Hey! Where did the world of blogdom go?!?!?! Is school preventing you from whiling (sp?) a few moments away on the web? Can't you spare a few seconds to tell us you are too busy to write? Chances are you won't even notice this post until you wake up from your education enduced sleep. Darn.

Not very nice....

2005-10-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

Why are we not informed of something great. The Lewisville meeting was either moved or misannounced because we have come two weeks early and now the chance of coming down again is slight if any. Well, its not very cool just because that is a pretty big deal to us country folk. Well, we are in Texas this weekend and we hope to see those we will miss by not attending the meeting. Life's life.

2005-10-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

hey y'all. um i guess this is my first post on here. and its just to say i somehow kind of erased my blog so my new one is www.liveittothefullest.blogspot.com kind of long but its all i could think of. i love your latest post btw ithilien. =)

Music

2005-10-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

She had not played in a long time, so she hesitated a long moment. Slowly, with a feeling of reliving old times and the old happiness, she touched the instrument. Placing her fingers in the keys, and very, very softly, and very, very shyly, as if meeting a stranger, she played a note. Under her fingers she felt the instrument coming alive, warm and vibrating beneath her hands. It spoke to her, whispering, an inexplicable murmur that pulled her unresisting into itself. Once more, as she had done innumerable times before her world changed, she played a scale, smoothly, unhesitatingly, growing stronger and stronger. Unbidden to her mind rose the lilting song. "Your song," it whispered to her. "Play it, make me come alive again with the joys of the world before it was broken, and you let me fall, and your heart shattered." Lightly but firmly, her fingers pressed the keys, the music rising from her heart. Her lips were pursed, but her eyes glowed again with that forgotten joy as her fingers flew, filling the Forgotten Corners of Everywhere. It sang to her, and the love woke again in her heart. She played children's songs, the great works of the masters, and the melodies of creation. She played and played again, and then it seemed to her that the sun rose and fell, and the moon began to rise and the very stars to sing in counterpoint before she lifted her fingers or breathed again. And she knew joy, for the glory of her redemption had risen in her again, and her Savior sang to her through the music of her heart.

EIGHT MONTHS

2005-10-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

... till Harmony Hill!!!

Let it Be Know

2005-10-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Let it be know that the Giles Boys are planning on coming down to the dedication meeting. Hope to see everyone there. The Giles Parents will stay on at the Giles Ranch(?) to feed animals and do chores. Oh the sweet blessed morn'n when the Lord works his wonderful days like pieces of a unsolvable puzzle fitting piece into piece. (if you can't tell, I am overflowing with excitement)

Sorry for any spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. Haste really hinders one who is not very good at them.

Aunt Helen

2005-10-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Aunt Helen came to stay with us a couple of nights, and we've had a ball. We went to church, had tea, ate enchiladas, sang a bit, looked at old pictures, laughed, and mostly talked about how much we both love all of you.

She is, at this moment, on her way from our house to Rachel's, in Mississippi. Please say a prayer for her.

We took her to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, which she just loved. We've spent many days there with people we love over the years. It's one of the most beautiful places on this earth to spend a leisurely day just strolling and quietly visiting. So beautiful, actually, that it made her cry.

Wish you all could have been with us!

"Do not climb on trees."

I'm telling.

all photos by The Shieldmaiden, except for the one she's in

Let it Be Known

2005-10-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

To all and sundry:

I now have my own blog! And coloured is not spelled incorrectly. If that spelling is good enough for Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, Sayers, Macdonald, and the rest, its good enough for me. Advertising myself feels very awkward, so I shall close.

canarycoloured.blogspot.com

My Weekend...

2005-10-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

...was much better than I thought it would be. Someone I respect very much told me I should go to our church's college retreat. Well, I went, and this very wise person was right. I have only felt that much at home at Harmony Hill. I won't bore you with details, but I will say two things. I had forgotten what silence was, and though I love my family dearly, it was wonderful to sit for an hour or two together without seeing anyone or hearing any sounds except the wind or the rooster crowing. Silence gives you time to realize what your brain has been trying to tell you amid the chaos of daily life. I also learned that wonderful men of God can have tattoos and still be such wonderful men of God so that you don't even think about the tattoos. Though I still wouldn't recommend them.

Weather

2005-09-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

The dry heat of Texas summer has suffered its first blow. After a high of 111 degrees yesterday, last night a cool front blew in. As I speak, the temperature is only 65.
Has anyone else ever noticed the difference between the coolness of spring and the coolness of fall? In the spring, I can never concentrate on what I am supposed to be doing. I want to be out and about, running around, playing outside. In the fall, I feel content, cozy, and sheltered. I like sitting here in our church office, doing various and sundry things, from punching paper and re-doing the rolodex for our church of 2200 to cutting out paper Noah's ark figures covered in laminate. I actually did math of my own free will this morning. (I did terribly.)
I found the perfect word for this kind of weather in a book by Edward Eager, "coolth."

Chesterton Quotes

2005-09-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

Thieves respect property; they merely want the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.

We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor.

You cannot grow a beard in a moment of passion.

I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean.

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.

Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.

(and last but not least)

Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.

Be careful what you wish for...

2005-09-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

9 MONTHS TILL HARMONY HILL!!!!!!!!

2005-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

OH yeah......

See anyone you know?

2005-09-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: I imagine all of you recognized everybody, but here 'tis just in case:

front: Kathryn B, Emily, Caitlin, Kathryn G, Rebecca B, Eleanor, Elsie and Ellen.

back: Carol B, Claire, Caroline, Molly, Kim with Elliot, Kathy S with Ann-Marie, and Connie Weyel.

To give you some idea of their ages, Caitlin and Kathryn B were 8; Claire, Eleanor and Caroline were 5.

[Click to enlarge]

Hint: September 1997. Virtual M&Ms to anyone who can guess more than 12 people correctly.

Can you guess the name of this gentleman?

Q with no A

2005-09-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

What do people call recurring dreams?

Another MS update

2005-09-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

A note Elder Mike Ivey sent to the Lewisville PBC this evening:

I just received a call from Elder Lonnie Mozingo Jr. He had just delivered supplies to 3 PB churches in Southern Mississippi for distribution to neighboring communities. He indicated the scene is beyond comprehension. There is no gas and people who are trying to leave the area are stranded on the hiways. They had to carry enough fuel with them to make the delivery and get back. They delivered medical supplies, water, tarps, toilet paper, non-perishable food, etc. He is heading back to Atlanta to get more supplies and will be returning tomorrow night. He urged me to contact anyone I can to ask for more help. He indicated people are dying from dehydration and lack of medical attention. When he arrived at Ideal PB Church some members were there trying to remove fallen trees off the church. One 70 year old sister collapsed in his arms. She had eaten very little and had little to drink for 4 days. They delivered a generator to another brother who had been without needed oxygen supply due to lack of electricity.

Please keep praying for these and others. And please be generous with your help when we take up funds tomorrow.

May God be merciful,

Bro. Mike

Update on MS churches

2005-09-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Just heard today that there are about FORTY Primitive Baptist churches in the devastated areas of south Mississippi.

Please keep praying.

MS brethren need our help

2005-09-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Please pass this information on to your parents and churches.

Our Primitive Baptist brethren in south Mississippi are in dire need of help. Some of our elders have managed to have brief contact by cellphone with Elder Lonnie Mozingo, Jr, who has been in Hattiesburg helping his family cope with the aftermath of the hurricane. He reports that the devastation is endless. Their homes and possessions are destroyed and all the trees are down. Many roads are blocked, and there is no gas, no power, no phone service.

He is en route back to Atlanta today to pick up supplies gathered by the Bethany PBC brethren and will return immediately. He told my brother David that he is seeing lines of homeless people wandering all along the roads. He says it is pitiful and indescribable.

Bro. Lonnie's family members in Mississippi have relocated to a relative's home.

The best way to help our brethren there is to send checks to Bethany Primitive Baptist Church and specify that the money is for hurricane relief supplies.

Bethany Primitive Baptist Church
PO Box 178
Tyrone, GA 30290

You may also wire money. To do so, contact Bro. Chris Taylor, a deacon at BPBC, at 404.668.2937.

Lynn

Old email working again

2005-08-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

My old email is working again. Thank you gmail.

Going to see some friends

2005-08-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this shouldn't be on this blog but I don't care. We are goint to have some company over in the middle of September and I can't wait. I will be so much fun. But before that we are going to California. Which is totally awesome. I can't wait for that either. And even before that, we are going down to Texas tomorrow. We will get in Friday, Help grout Saturday at the Church and then leave Sunday morning with a trailer of my grandparents stuff. We won't get to go to church Sunday morning which is the bummerest thing of all. I so wish we could come but we have to get back to Missouri quickly so that we can set up my grandpa's trailer so that he will be able to live somewhere up here.

And after this, Dead Will will be dead. Ouch, that doesn't sound to well at all. Hope everyone will be having as fun a time as I am these next few weeks. Later.

*Queen, please do not hurt me if I mispelled anything or my grammar was exceedingly bad. I was in haste and had not time on my hands.

My dying email

2005-08-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, for some reason or other I can not get on my email so I got a new till I can get it fixed. It is darkside.death@gmail.com for any of those that care. Sorry for the inconvience it may have caused.

Little Hannah Hasenmyer

2005-08-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

Thermodude & Darkside, this is especially for your sweet mother, who is sadly missing out on our three new babies at church.

And yes, C&C remain the Fairy Princesses of LPBC for the preschool set (which, for those who don't know our church, probably outnumbers the adults in the congregation).

This was last Sunday -- we got to have lunch at the new church building! It's *almost* finished!!

(Hannah is the daughter of Elder Mark and Sister Andrea Hasenmyer. Jenna Elsenbrock is on the left, Lauren Barr on the right; the Big Girl is Caitlin.)

Vaya con Dios, Razzman

2005-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Please keep Raz Shafer in your prayers this coming year. He called to say he leaves tomorrow for Hillsdale College in Michigan. That's a LONG way from Texas. Same country, different world. While I've no doubt Raz will make friends no matter where he goes, it remains that he'll have to adjust to no Willie & Waylon, no Bar BQ, no real Tex-Mex... and young women with northern accents who will undoubtedly flip over his Texas drawl and his boots... mercy, do pray for him.

I suggested he start a new blog so we can keep up with him better... and so he can begin developing his base to run for president. ;-) He promised he would.

(Photo taken May 2005, picking around on Claire's otherwise rather lonely mandolin during a weekend at our house)

I could edit the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-08-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

Alright people! Listen up!

I am on a campaign. And my campaign is to rid the world of ALL email-style abbreviations. You know, those horrific, vile corruptions of the English language such as lol, btw, gtg... you get the drift.

There are practical reasons for this. People will take what you write more seriously, and treat your words with more respect, if they are written properly, with a thought as to the ordering and grammar of the sentences. There is no better way to signal that you do not care whether you are writing well than to use email-speak. And this is inconsiderate of the person you are writing to-- it shows that you do not care enough about them to take the time to write well and correctly. And why choose to write incorrectly? How lazy.

Long have I sat by idle, while our noble language was being mercilessly attacked by those careless souls who were only concerned with speedy communications, giving no thought to higher things such as felicity and elegance of composition. People who use these horrid abbreviations only want to get a lot of words in a little time and space, and they sacrifice the English language to do so. These are usually the same sorts who use little or no punctualization or capitalization in their emails. I will not name names. I only implore you to end this injustice-- let words be the elegant, expressive things they were meant to be. It will only take you 1-2 more seconds.

My Last Day

2005-08-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is my last day at my character-building job. Being well-paid for doing almost nothing may be fun for a week or two, but four months of pretending to be busy gets very old. But now I am free! I have my last paycheck, and at 5:00 precisely I shall leave this place, never to return. I am sure I learned something here, but I am not sure what. Probably when I am old and grey, it will hit me and I will be grateful. But for now, all I feel is a great sense of relief. "Rejoice with those that do rejoice." Romans 12:15a

Another great one from HH

2005-08-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

Instant
Jello
For
Instant
Peace!

Darkside

2005-08-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is to prove to Darkside that a picture has been taken of him, and a good picture at that.

And you think you've had a bad day.

2005-08-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

This story was emailed to my dad from a friend. (it will be a shorted version however).

A man rolls his motorcycle into the kitchen from the patio to clean it. He gets some rags and a bowl of gasoline. After he cleans it, he sits on it to make sure everything is alright so he starts it. It however starts in gear and crashes through the glass door onto the patio. His wife runs in and sees her husband lying there cut pretty badly so she calls an ambulence. They come and pick him up and take him to the hospital. She proceeds to clean up the mess. To get rid of the gasoline she tosses it into the toliet. The husband comes home that night, greatly stitched. He goes into the bathroom lights a cigarette and sits on the toliet. He then tosses the cigarette into the toliet, which promtly explodes because the wife didn't flush it, flinging him through the bathroom door. She ran into the bathroom because of the noise and her husbands screams and called an ambulence again. The same two paramedics come and pick him up. They lift him on the stretcher (he had severe burns on his rear end) and caries him to the street. One paramedic asked the wife what had happened. She told him and the paramedics laughed so hard that they dropped the stretcher and broke the guys collar bone.

And you think you've had a bad day.

LOTR Field Trip

2005-08-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

boy, did we have fun! we sang songs in the afformentioned crowded elevator-great scot temporarily confiscated jacob's ipod because it had ashley simpson on it-on the way back mama let us listen to all of jacob's strange but fun music-she said that anyone who likes her little boy can listen to anything they want in her car-by the way jacob, the seat where you sat smells like cologne-we ate at a marble-slab creamery-sang happy birthday to fa-so-la-la-sang happy birthday to the Queen's brother-after the chris and jacob left, we had a caylin(sp.?) where we all had to entertain one another-great scot and spuddy buddy sang take me out to the ballgame-irish question did bob dylan while we all did the wave-pippi longstocking did her "i'm coming nell" routine-the beehive kids did an early dixie chicks song, re-written-we brown kids did salty dog-the c.p. and i did our special song-many other antics took place-for details on the actual exhibit, you will have to go to the bird and baby blog-

Saturday

2005-08-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

[Click to enlarge]

I've uploaded lots more pics from Caitlin's 3-month-late Sixteenth Birthday LOTR- Roadtrip-to-Houston-and-Ceilidh-Extravaganza at www.beehive.smugmug.com.

It was a mondo beyondo fun day, but one of the most memorable moments was when we left the museum and got on an elevator in the parking garage to get to our cars on the very top floor -- and all FOURTEEN of us crammed into one small elevator. One of the little guys started mumbling "Share the Well" and of course ALL of us immediately started singing it, in harmony, realllllly loud... with Papa Eric Brown pounding out some pretty spicy and precise percussion on the elevator walls with his hands and Papa Dan Bruce enhancing the effect with his stomping feet. Then the door opened on the third floor... and we were suddenly aware of a crowd of mighty bewildered folks standing there gaping at us. We were quite a spectacle, I'm sure.

Needless to say, nobody got on with us.

To paraphrase the immortal words of Hobbes to Calvin, "We're here to make your life just a little more surreal."

What It Looks Like From This Side of The Screen...

2005-08-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Assignment for August 4th, 2005

2005-08-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Alright all you lovely people, your assignment for today is to go learn #137 in the PBH, also known as either Resurrection Scene or Triumphant Wing depending on whether you look at the title or the tune name. It's a frightfully cool song. Bro. Bryce wrote it, which means it is original and has these wonderful, fascinating, unusual chords and harmonies. It is old and new all at the same time, like all really good hymns. The words are excellent, and for those of you who learn the tune before you get the words down and want to sing it anyway, it can be sung quite nicely to the words of I Would See Jesus. I want more people in my life to know this song! Enjoy it.

I'm Back

2005-08-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Not that any of you care, but if you do...I have recovered my sanity. I love Alabama. I love Mississippi. I love Tennessee. I even love Missouri, for the sake of friends. I am not even pushy about the supremity of the state of Texas today. Enjoy it while it lasts. God's in His heaven, all's right with the world.

Friends

2005-08-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Friends who are dear
will help shed a tear
with laughter and hope
they cure our fears

They sit there and laugh
with you speaking still
only to look
you in the eye
and say how happy they are
to see you again

Friends who are cheery
but not a bit leary
or curious not vain
are better than rain

They shine like the sun
to all those around
give brite hope and happiness
even when there is none

I have a few
of these friends so dear
I love them like brethren
especially when here.

Charish the friends that you have.

Tired of Alabama

2005-08-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

Don't take me wrong, I love the people from Alabama. I am just tired of seeing the letters a-l-a-b-a-m-a all in a row over and over again. Since none of this is making any sense, let me elaborate. I am a secretary at an insurance office, and all day long I have been checking lists of people to see is they are pre-approved for some insurance gobbeldy-gook. In this process, I must type in their address, including the state. You see, alphabetically, Alabama is the first Every Single Time. Over and over I must go down the list to Texas. It gets old very quickly. a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-a-l-a-b-a-m-a-........................

Ambleside Conference

2005-08-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Aunt Lynn and all the other Ambleside ladies did a terrific job. For those of you who don't know, Ambleside is a homeschooling curriculum/method, and Aunt Lynn is one of the Advisory Board. Me, Kathryn, Caroline, Morgan, Maggie, M.J., Caitlin and Claire, with a few other girls, donned Ambleside t-shirts, and helped backstage. We cued the speakers, fixed the food, passed out lunches, and generally had a very good time. All of us, plus Sister Joy and my mom spent the night in ONE hotel room. TEN people in ONE hotel room. Very crowded, but very fun.

BEEing silly here at the BEEhive....

2005-08-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

The conference the Queen "threw" is over. I can't say that I'm not glad its over, because I am. But then, I also can't say that I didn't have a good time, because I HAD SOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!

Fa-so-la-la and I stayed in one hotel room with the other helpers (IthilienPrincess, PippilotaLongstocking, Faintly Macabre, Marjoniqua, Peachy-keen and their sister MEB) and Aunt Carol and Aunt Joy. It was so much fun...the Screebees2 girls and the Beehive girls stayed in the hotel together for four days and the Brown ones stayed one night... every night we stayed up late talking, playing games, and watching movies on MEB's laptop. Friday, the day before the conference, we went to the mall with the Screebees2 girls and had a ton of fun.

The next day, we had to get up EARLY and go out to the church that the conference was at and set up. Then people started coming! Peachy-Keen, IthilienPrincess and I were in charge of the registrations, and Ithilien and I then had to run to the side of the church to give a fully costumed Charlotte Mason her cue. Then we went on to sell t-shirts, sing hymns, prepare food and hand out lunches.

On the whole a fun day. My ankles still hurt.

Then we went back to the hotel with the Brown-ones and played Apples-to-Apples. The next day we went to church, and the singing was wonderful, due to all the added voices, though we could have used a few more basses HINT HINT thermodude and darkside.......

The Browns left, and we went to the Beehive for lunch. After lunch, we got out the dress-up and put on crazy outfits. I had on a black wig and a ballgown reminiscent of civil-war times, MEB had on Spuddy-Buddy's armour (sword and all) and a blond wig and a hard hat, Fa-so-la-la wore a teal sweater from when she was four and a bright red 80's frump-woman skirt, Peachy-keen wore a 50's hat and a silver cape, and Marjoniqua donned a blue dress and hot pink sequin covered mob-cap, and we then paraded up and down the street, recieving many odd looks from old ladys driving past.
Then the five girls went out to dinner in 1950's hats, and then went and bought ice cream to eat in the hotel.
Marjoniqua and I went into the hotel wearing our wigs, and, under the quizzical eye of many, proceeded to do a prepared skit in the lobby (Me: "Yes, I'm giving my hair to Locks of Love." M-J: "Me too!" MEB: "I work there! Just let me cut your hair now and I can take it to work tommorow!" M-J and I "OK!" We then took off the wigs and handed them to her. We got a few stares. I can't imagine why.).

So, as you see, we had a great time.