Hot Tuesday

The temperature, that is. At one point my car thermometer said 94. I did take the kids to the pool for a little while. I was able to stay comfortable reading in the dense shade of a tree, but it was warm. I said my final goodbye to my sweet Grandma. At this point, there's just no telling if I'll see her again. She's 85 and misses my late Grandpa terribly. Hopefully she'll hang on a while yet, but I always try to treasure the time I get with her. Maybe I can get out to Arizona soon.

I went to the ENT doc and he seemed pretty calm. He ordered a CAT scan to make sure it isn't something dental that just didn't show up on their x-rays. Option B seemed to be a cyst of some sort. He did not tell me to rush for the CAT scan-he said next week is fine. He put me on another week of antibiotic and said the numbness is due to the inflammation caused by infection. So now I can be curious about the CAT scan-never had one before. I am fascinated by the practice of medicine and medical procedures, so it will actually be sort of cool to see how that all works.

Now I will go read the last 80 pages of Enchantment so I can say I actually finished a book for the Nook WITHIN the allotted month. Won't that be a switch!

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Monday

Today started early-I always wake up early, but I had bonus time I wasn't planning on because my pal and I were going to walk but she called and wasn't feeling up to it. So, I got an hour to read Enchantment. I'm completely engrossed in the story and am begrudging this time right now because I want to be reading. Unfortunately, the weird combination of numbness and pain in my left cheek makes it hard for me to read right now. Anyway, back to the day, I snuggled back under my covers after saying goodbye to Eric at 6:30 and read for an hour till I had to get up and get going for work. I wasn't feeling great. I am still having that achy, annoying, just-about-to-come-down-with-the-flu feeling, but I taught a private lesson then went to the dentist. The good news is that I had one of maybe three clean check-ups I've ever had in my life! They said, and I quote, "Your home care is excellent-your teeth look great!" As someone with more root canals than I can count, a bridge and about 15 fillings, I would like to have those words engraved on a large monument and placed in my front yard. Sheesh. The other good news is that my weird cheek thing is not an abscess. The bad news, however is that my weird cheek thing is not an abscess. The dentist is worried because of the facial numbness and noticed in my chart that I was complaining of left-side numbness at my check-up last November. So, tomorrow I am off to an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor to see if it is something in my sinus or salivary gland. I am not nervous yet, but the numbness and the fact that I can now feel something through my skin just to the lower left of my nose is of concern. I won't say it's nothing because it's obviously something, but as Ivan would say, "Don't borrow trouble." One doctor visit at a time. At least I don't have to have another root canal. That is good news indeed.

In better news, I then spent the afternoon tidying up, reading and burning Harry Potter Cd's for my 85 year old Grandma. She has gotten completely excited about the books, but the large-print editions are very spendy so she's going to try out the audio books. I went over to Mom's to spend a last few hours with Grandma before she goes home tomorrow and we worked a little more on her oral history.

Right now, Johnathan is working on finalizing his enrollment at Howard Community College, and Eric is working. Sam is whipped after a bike ride and weight-training for football. Wednesday, Johnathan and Sam leave for a High Adventure cycling trip and Evan and I will be alone during the day for the rest of the week. That will be a quiet couple of days after all the hustle and bustle of the last month. Ev and I have already made some plans. Saturday, everyone, including Sara, gets home and we'll all be together again. That will be a good day. I love these quiet, relaxing summer days when the house is half-empty due to someone always being away at camp or on a sleepover, but I sure miss the kids when they're not around.

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Caught up.

Okay, so I'm a week late getting to it, but I finished recording our entire family reunion. As usual this week, I've been running around a lot-doing good things and fun things, but my energy is low. I have some sort of abscess in my jaw or cheek so when the day ends and the ibuprofen wears off, I've felt like I have the flu and have just collapsed most nights. I'm on antibiotic and I see the dentist on Monday. If they can't see anything on their x-rays, then I'll go to my regular doctor.

The good news for this week is that we have our first fresh tomatoes from the garden. I've been feasting on tomato sandwiches of all types all week long. Is there anything better for someone who likes tomatoes? I think not.

More good news is that last night, Eric and I did go out for Indian Food and a stroll through the bookstore to celebrate our 21st anniversary. That was nice. At the bookstore, I finally found Enchantment (love it so far) for the Nook and got a new, slim journal. It was a splurge-one of those nifty Moleskine ones, but I think I will like it. I was extremely tempted by the Special Edition boxed Harry Potter book with the additional color illustrations and the dragon cover, but I resisted. I will check Amazon Marketplace in a few days and see if I can score one. Tonight is my nephew's Eagle Court of Honor, then we race down to Chantilly, VA to catch the IMAX version of Order of the Phoenix with a few pals from the ward. That should be exceedingly cool.

Tomorrow is pretty open, thankfully, so I can rest or maybe work in my poor, parched garden. The funny thing is that when there's not much rain, and nothing else is growing, the weeds still seem to do just fine. Can someone explain that to me?

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The Week Comes to an End

Thursday was the most changeable day weatherwise, and since I didn't feel like going in the boat and watertubing or skiing or wakeboarding in the 58 degree drizzle, I stayed in bed all day and read my book, The Goose Girl. Others went out on the boat and had a nice time. The weather cleared at times and some kids even went on the tramp and went swimming. I think there was a lot of sitting around and chatting today and basically kind of a lull in the action, which is good during a week-long reunion. Thursday afternoon, Aaron, Amy and Grandma Joy went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Later on, the second shift went-Mom, Pop, Evan, Jake, Eric and, I think, Phil and Alex. Someone else should write about Thursday because I really did sort of take the day off.

Anyway, Friday was, among other things, picture day. Since I spent most of the day worrying about that, this post is mostly from the point of view of Kellie the Photographer. The weather was pleasant and partly cloudy but the clouds were moving fast. Lots of people swam and boated in the in-and-out sunlight and warmth. After lunch, we gathered by the lake and gamely attempted to take photos. The sun was too high in the sky at that point, but it was our best bet, so as you see, there is some squinting going on. Just as I would get my camera set for the overcast light, the sun would come out full on and vice-versa, so the exposure is off in just about every shot. Everyone was good-natured though, and I think we got some decent shots that at least tell our family's story, even if they are not great from a technical standpoint. This is when I thank the Lord for Photoshop.

Here are my favorites. If you want to see more of the photo shoot, click here.

The whole gang. If you count, there are 33 of us. This one is really good except Randi has her eyes closed. This one is pretty good of most everyone except several little ones are looking away or holding their noses, etc.

This is three generations. Most of my siblings, my folks and my dad's mom.
Here are 7 of 8 of us. I like this picture a lot.

Friday night was our fun talent show and I thought it went great. We had a wonderful variety, from getting to see video of Sophie dancing to video of Dave Elliott on the news at the Star Wars premier. We heard singing in Spanish, singing of hymns and decidedly politically incorrect singing (we'll never forget Grandma's pre-civil-rights lullabies, will we?). We heard Owen sing his name, and got to see a slide show of the boys' walkabout in West Virgina earlier in the week. That was a highlight. The whole thing was a treat and I am so glad we took the trouble to do it. It was really fun to share in that setting, to cheer for each other, and to enjoy the simple joys of being together.

After the little kids went to bed, we convened around the fire with the plan that each family would report on the happenings of the last year or so, but it ended up being another serendipitous opportunity to hear our Papa share his memories. This time it was memories of each child and it was funny and touching all at the same time. Things were brought to mind that I hadn't thought of in years and I gained insights into the lives of my younger brothers and sisters who lived much of their coming of age without me in the house since I married when Mandi was 4 1/2 years old.

At 11 or so, the geekiest of us got up from the fire and went over to Wal-mart to pick up our Harry Potter books. We got in line around 11:30, got our wristbands and worried a little as the store people talked about the fact that they only had 300 books. We figured we were about 50 people from the front and what if lots of them got multiple books???? It all turned out okay and we got our books quite quickly. We were out of the store and on our way by about 12:20. When we got home, some were still up talking around the fire and getting ready for bed. We got the books distributed and some of us commenced to read. Some of us did not, but it was fun to share the memory of participating in the hysteria of the most anticipated book release in history. And the book was awesome, so it was worth it to not have to wait any longer than necessary.

Saturday morning was packing, saying goodbye, getting a few last shots and everyone pitching in to get the house in shape for leaving. It went pretty smoothly, though we still, as of this writing, we still don't have the hot tub issue resolved. I will keep calling though. I would like some sort of compensation, but I guess I'll have to be sane about just how far I push it. Anyway, I am still on cloud nine about how lovely it was to be together. Certainly there were moments of all sorts-bad, good, dramatic, tense, funny, etc., but the thing is, I feel like all the moments blended together into something nice, something memorable and something that brought our family closer together. It certainly reinforced for me that heaven being organized into families is a good idea. I definitely think we got a few glimpses this week.

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Catching up on the week: Wednesday at Deep Creek

I really want to try and record the whole week, so bear with me as I temporarily skip right over Harry Potter and keep blogging about our reunion.

Today began with pancakes for breakfast, courtesy of Mom and a birthday crown for Tim, courtesy of me. You can see how excited he is about being singled out like this for being the birthday boy. I think his quote was, "I'll wear it just so you can think that I actually appreciate you making it for me." Bless him.


The rest of Wednesday passed in relative unstructured peace, with people hanging out, going to Wal-mart, kayaking, heading back over the the Fun Zone, and relaxing.

One of the fun things that happened was the completely impromptu way the sisters came up with of celebrating all the boys birthdays: Tim, Aaron, Ryan and Johnathan. We announced after dinner that the party would start at 7:30 and each family would draw the name of a birthday boy out of a bowl. They would then have one hour and any usable resource in the house or on the grounds to make a gift for that person. We provided glue, tape, Popsicle sticks, and post-it notes and sent everyone off. It was fabulous. These may look like run-of-the mill items, but only to the unschooled eye, for they are actually masterpieces of last-minute creativity and wit that will make me smile for years to come. Each craft demonstrated love for the recipient, familiarity with their personality and stage of life, and, best of all, great humor and fun. It was one of my favorite moments. In spite of the drama of a fallen gift on the way to presentation, the lesson learned that fifteen-cents-a-bottle glue from Wal-mart is not a bargain and neither is cheap tape, everyone rose to the occasion and made it a real celebration. Here is the gallery of the making and the gifts themselves:

Aaron and Amy crafting the perfect date for Johnathan:


The Adamoviches out on the porch making a Mexican Memory for Tim


Here is Sam taking Popsicle stick art to a royal level-this is the scepter he created for Tim:


Alex and Luc create while Phil contributes by keeping Olivia occupied elsewhere:


Meanwhile, Grandma and Ryan cook up something amazing out on the deck.


Here is the Elliott's clever (and delicious-looking) family tree for Aaron:


As well as the finished "Road to Oaxaca" diarama for Tim. Way cool:


Alex handcrafted a family portrait for Ryan that included him there on the far left. This was such a fun idea.


Mom and Pop's personalized rock for Johnathan:


The Nuss attempt to say how we feel about Tim: (BTW, if you can't read popsiclese, it says "Tim Rocks.")


Ryan and Grandma's superlative prophetic sculpture of Aaron at an advanced age, still going strong, sort of:


And last but not least, I am still compiling photos of some of the last creations, but Mandi and Tim made Ryan a very useful Girlfriend Decision Maker with petals of Popsicle sticks that are removable to help Ryan know whether or not "She loves me" or "She loves me not."
Ethan made Aaron an awesome airplane, Eric put together clever exploding Popsicle stick Frisbees, and Johnathan's perfect date was indeed perfect: beautiful, modest, and made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

The night culminated with Mandi's delish spice cake and about a hundred candles. The boys' combined age is 97 if I'm adding it up right. It was quite a cakey conflagration, but all the candles did get blown out and the party was over in time to get the little ones to bed.

After that, some headed back to the Fun Zone, and some of us thought about watching a movie but didn't , and most of us went to bed.

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A Moment Alone

I went to bed early last night after blogging and being up pretty much the entire night before helping out with the kids in the absence of some of the brothers/dads. My eyes popped open at 5:45 this morning after 7.75 hours of sleep, and I've spent the last hour blissfully snuggled in my 3rd floor bedroom above the lake, commenting on all my pals' blogs that I've neglected over the past weeks. The overnight rain has waned, but the trees are still dripping like crazy, so it sounds almost like it's still raining. The skies are heavy and more rain is predicted, so naturally that means this is the first day we have the ski boat reserved. Hopefully everyone will be game and realize that rain means the lake will be less crowded, right? We are not big into water sports-I used to be but Eric is not and I have put aside a lot of those interests for the sake of finding new family interests and traditions. It's not like I'm missing out for crying out loud. I'm so busy I can hardly think sometimes, so I do not regret a little re-prioritizing. It is fun to revisit every once in a while, though and Eric is good natured about stepping up to support fun things for us that he is not necessarily into. I really appreciate that about him. Hopefully I'll be able to remember how to ski and get up a few times. If not, then I'll have a blast on the tubes.

By the way, I'm a little slow on this, but it is especially funny for me who was reluctant to even do this blogging thing. I think my score was upped significantly by the fact that I now have 4 blogs that I am a contributor on.

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Free Online Dating from Mingle²

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The News from Lake Deep Creek

It is a good sign that I've not updated before now because I haven't wanted to take the time away from our time together. Let me try to catch up. On Monday, Eric went and picked up the water trampoline which was an instant hit. The kids have been using it a lot. We also got a kayakish canoe or canoe-ish kayak, I don't know which, but it is more stable than either, looks like a kayak but handles more like a canoe. Whatever you call it, it has been the perfect way for couples to sneak time together while 3 other women fight over the chance to watch their kids for 30 minutes. The kids have also had some fun rides in the boat and have been perfectly satisfied with the slower pace and calm ride.

We spent a lot of time in and out of the lake on Monday, with the only disappointment being that our hot tub doesn't work. It seems a little obscene to complain in such lovely surroundings, but it has been a teeny tiny bit frustrating. The kids are enjoying the "cold tub" anyway and I call the rental office daily.

The highlight of Monday was a fireside where almost all of us except the very young (and Grandma Joy, who had already gone to bed) gathered around the fire ring outside in the cool air to have a big family home evening. It started out open-ended and became a time for everyone to share stories, testimonies, and remembrances from childhood. We got to hear about Pop's early life in West Jordan, adventures that we siblings and in-laws have shared and lots of other wonderful stuff that is of little interest outside the magic of that small circle. My heart thrilled to this evening because it indicated that the purposes of a reunion were beginning to be accomplished: We are strengthening our family bonds.

Tuesday dawned cloudy and cool, but it cleared up into the perfect kind of afternoon for a visit to Swallow Falls State Park. The path from the parking lot winds through the extraordinary atmosphere of the last old-growth forest groves in Maryland. These old trees have stories to tell I'm sure. Muddy Creek Falls are also there, and they are the highest falls in Maryland. Keep following the path and two rivers converge, then Swallow Falls spreads the river into a wide, slow swimming hole that offers the intrepid and appropriately shod visitor the chance to swim, jump, brave the (fairly gentle) current, and skip rocks all the day long.

A short walk back through the magical green-gold light of this favorite forest takes one quickly back to the real world,
but the day is prolonged a few more minutes if one takes the opportunity to get an ice cream cone from the superlative Lakeside Creamery ice-cream shop that operates at the park.

While some of us were enjoying our afternoon in the river, 6 of the menfolk went off on their Man vs. Wild adventure. They packed their gear, talked Pop into going with them and drove off into the woods of West Virginia to hike and camp for the night. More about that later.


Tuesday evening was our girls' night-so much fun. Dave, Tim and Eric took all the big kids to FunZone for Go-Karts and laser tag and we sisters all worked together making chocolate trifle, got the little ones down and settled in for all four beautiful hours of Masterpiece Theatre's Jane Eyre. My favorite Mr. Rochester EVER. We enjoyed trifle, helped each other as the babies woke up for comfort and bottles and stayed up until 1 am and the glorious, bittersweet ending. It was a wonderful day.

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The Reunion Begins!

Well, after a settling-in operation that was reminiscent of a military operation, all 33 of us are in our assigned rooms, and everyone is helping out with the cooking, cleaning and taking care of the precious babies. The young moms can relax a little knowing that there is always a cousin, aunt, uncle or grandparent to keep a watchful eye. The older moms are reveling in the smell of babies' heads and cute toddler antics. The big cousins are being nice to the little ones and helping out at every turn to keep all the miniature people happy. So far, so good.

Most of of got here yesterday in the late afternoon. Phil, Alex and Mom were the exceptions, saving their grand entrance till about 11 pm just to keep us on our toes. Alex survived the plane trip and everyone is safe and sound. Many of the men and boy-folk went to see manly action movies last night.

Today we went to church in the wee Oakland Branch. I ended up playing the piano in Sacrament Meeting and Eric, Johnathan, Josh and Jake administered the sacrament. It was nice to be able to help even though my piano playing skills are "slender indeed." The afternoon actually went by pretty smoothly for a Sunday on vacation, with the kids making a joyful noise while the adults chatted, napped and snacked. Here is Ryan catching a catnap on the couch in the middle of total cousin chaos.
Here is Steph (The one working on her PhD) having a scenically serene moment of her very own. She is completely engrossed in Twilight, by the way. She missed dinner to finish a chapter.

Some of us made plans to run in the morning as we were standing around the kitchen counter enjoying a wide variety of sweets. I think our logic is that the more we run, the more we can eat.

Now everyone is settling down a notch or two. The little ones are starting to peter out, the grandmas and a couple of cousins are doing the dishes, and the lake is shimmering in the come-and-go sunshine of a storm system blowing through. When the light capriciously appears, it is the warm gold of the last hours before sunset.

Here is Owen fast asleep on the couch after a long day.
Here is Mathew fast asleep at the dinner table. When it's time, it' time!

Tomorrow, we will get the canoes, the water trampoline and the real water fun will start. We are right on the lake, so the kids can stick their toes in and swim without even having to go over to the state park beach. We probably will go over one day to have a nice sandy-beach kind of day. Lucas has already had one unintentional soaking, so we know the kids will enjoy the water.

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Poem

My sister is working on a PhD in Audiology while raising 5 lovely children and working full time. I sometimes ask her if the light at the end of the tunnel is getting any closer. I wrote this for her. (This also goes out to Clint and Oswaldo and anyone else working through something major.) I even made a really cool giant journal page about this poem because coloring always makes me feel happy, and it didn't feel redundant at all! :o)

The Light at the End

I am in a tunnel of my own making
all the scenery has disappeared and the road

is only forward or backwards

The walls curve unfeelingly around me
pointing me toward a single point in time

that seems as distant as the light of a star

In reality, tunnelling makes the most direct route
through obstacles, is an unparalleled feat of engineering

And protects from avalanches in the bargain

So, let this tunnel take me through
the crazy days when I wonder if

I'll be able to breathe a little longer.

The rocks may fall all around me,
but my in my focus and effort

I am moving forward.

The light will burst upon me
suddenly and in stark contrast

to the curving walls of obligation

and I will know that in spite of the brief darkness
I reached freedom faster.

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Potpourri

This entry is like the Jeopardy category of the same name-a little bit of everything that hopefully comes together in a pleasing way. I've thought of all kinds of things to write over the last couple of weeks, and one of my original fears about blogging is coming true. I'm not using my beloved red journal much any more. I take a few notes in church and scribble down a poem or two, but that's about it. I love how my previous red books are a snapshot of my real life, sort of like a combination between an old-fashioned Household Book and a Commonplace Book. They have everything from grocery lists to games of dots with Evan and Sara during church to scriptural insights to travelogues.
Now, I've gotten out of the habit of always having it at my fingertips and writing in it because I'm now editing in my mind to write things here. I am all for cultural and emotional evolution as long as it improves on things, so I am going to try and amend my previous habits by making notes in a smaller book once I fill up my current red journal. I can have the immediacy and tactile pleasure of a nice book, but use the notes as a basis for my writing here. I have a deep-seated aversion to redundancy in any form, ( I always challenge myself to get all my groceries in the house in one trip because I can't stand making multiple trips in and out of the house. You should come over sometime-it's very entertaining) so the thought of writing something once in my red book and then writing it here or having different journals for different things is bothersome to me, but one must adjust I suppose. I need to make a choice about how large a part blogging is going to play in my journaling life, because the red books constitute the most successful journaling I've ever done .

Something that sparked my interest recently was a "reprint" of a knitting book that I bought. The author had self published a very artistic, hand-bound book of sock instructions. It sold out quickly of course, and I never bought one. Now it is available on a disc as a series of interactive html and java based pages that one reads in a web browser. It has the interactivity and multimedia capabilities of the internet, kind of like a blog, but it is permanently preserved on a disc. I need to learn how to do that, because I really enjoyed using this new version of the old "book." Maybe that will be the future of my journaling.

So as I sit down to capture the last few weeks, I am paused between travels. But before the travels came a birthday, a little Shakespeare, and time spent with family.
June 30, the day I got back from camp, was Evan's 11th birthday. He requested a plain yellow cake with plain vanilla frosting and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. That is Evan's taste in food expressed in cake. He knows what he likes and it all fits on a very short list. The cake worked out fine from my standard recipe for yellow cake taken from Cooks Illustrated's The Best Recipe. The buttercream icing was simple and went well with the strawberry jam filling between the layers. Sometimes less is more. Unfortunately, Eric picked up the coffee ice cream instead of the cookies and cream while at the supermarket, so Ev was a bit disappointed on that score, but all was made right the next day and he got to have his ice cream for lunch. The party above actually happened on Monday the 2nd so that everyone in town could come over-Mandi and Tim and Grandma Joy in addition to Steph and Dave and Mom and Pop.

On his actual birthday, with his permission, we got to go on a wonderful double date with our friends Mendy and Michael. We went to see Shakespeare's As You Like It performed in the ruins of the Patapsco Female Institute-an antebellum girls school located above Old Ellicott City. It is so beautiful-arches and columns and beautiful light. They rent the property for photo shoots. It is spendy, but I think it would be great fun to do our next family photo shoot there. The show was great, the company was even better, and we got to have our first dinner at the Ram's Head. We've never been there in all our years of living just down the road. We will definitely be back. Michael and Mendy are great fun and we laughed a lot, ate swedish fish and M&M's and talked about everything.

Fast forwarding to the 4th of July, we started the day with the fabulous church breakfast at the park with the funny name by the shores of Laurel Lakes, then had a few hours of nothing (I love nothing during days like these) before heading over to my mom's for our traditional, old-fashioned Catonsville Independence Day. As usual, the parade was loud and colorful and the food was delicious. The fireworks got postponed this time, so we missed those, but the day ended successfully with an impromptu trip to the movies to see Transformers.
Here's Tyler in his Parade finery
Mandi, Tim and Tyler on Mom's front steps
There's nothing like a parade!
Sweet Grandma Joy
Sara and Mandi in their matching outfits
Everyone eating al fresco in Mom's lovely yard

On the 5th, I left for my adventure deep in America's Dairyland: Knitting Camp in Marshfield, Wisconsin. I'll write about that on my knitting blog and put up a link. Here's to redundancy if it gets the story told.

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In The Hollow of His Hand

Yesterday, I was trying to gather the energy to go visit a friend in the hospital who had just had a baby. I was tired, but I knew I wanted to see her. I hate barging in on folks in hospitals, especially sore, tired moms trying to figure out nursing, etc., so I was rationalizing myself right down to the the wire as far as visiting hours go. I was laying on my bed, about to doze off at 7:21, figuring that there was no point in going now because I'd get there only to be asked to leave. I sighed and settled into my doze. Then I experienced a sudden adrenaline rush and an insistent voice in my head telling me all the reasons I needed to go now. Right now. I decided to stop rationalizing and just go. I wrapped up the baby blanket I had just finished for this particular friend, and drove over just in time to arrive at 7:49. I visited with my friend, got to hold her precious baby, talked about learning to nurse and what it was like to have 5 c-sections (my friend had to have one unexpectedly). It was a lovely visit, and I enjoyed myself. I spent about 15 minutes with her and then the nurse came and kindly insisted I leave. She let me stay about 10 minutes late. End of story. Exit a happy Kellie for blissful early bedtime. Not quite.

While I was walking out of the hospital, I noticed that a guy waiting in a parked car near the entrance was listening to Harry Potter. We shared a laugh as I told him it sounded just like my house and asked him what book he was listening to. I turned around and walked to my car. I got in my car and got ready to drive home. As I was waiting to turn left, a minivan came out of the parking lot to my right. It was going slowly, so I considered turning quickly in front of it but decided to just let it go by. As the van went by, I noticed that it was a white man with two black children. No mom with them. He looked straight at me. He looked familiar, but it took a second to figure out why. As I was driving home, it occurred to me that it could be the husband of one of the women I visit teach (she is black and her two children favor her), but have no contact information for except her address. We have been stopping by and dropping things off, but have never been able to meet up with her. I had known her 5 years ago when she was investigating the Mormon Church and then subsequently baptized. Her husband had concerns about her membership in the church and so she dropped out of activity within weeks of her baptism. She has been a fixture in my prayers ever since, but I never found any contact information for her. When I saw her name as being back on our ward list, I volunteered to be her visiting teacher. I thought to myself, if he's been visiting the hospital with the kids, I wonder if she's the one in the hospital...

I thought about on the way home and seriously second-guessed that there could be anything to it. 5 years ago, I had seen her husband all of about 5 times and for mere seconds each time. I would not have recognized this guy in the grocery store, but my mind was telling me that it was indeed him, and I could not get my old friend off my mind. This morning, shaking my head at my own silliness, I called the hospital and asked if they had a patient admitted by her name. I just about dropped the phone when the attendant said they did, then connected me to her room and she answered the phone! She did remember me, told me that she had just had a baby herself on Friday and was going home today. I could hardly get words out of my mouth as I tried to get my head around what had just happened. I finally stammered congratulations and asked if I could come see her and if others could bring meals. She said they could. She gave me her cell phone number.

It was an electrifying experience for me as I thought about the timing. It was a split second sighting of this guy as he drove by in his car, and I was there. If the nurse hadn't let me stay, if the guy parked by the entrance hadn't been listening to Harry Potter, if everything hadn't converged, I might have missed it.

I suppose it's possible to chalk it all up to a series of random coincidences. I was thinking of my other friend, not this friend, and in fact, she had not really been on my mind much that day. Finding a lost friend was not listed in my mind as one of the reasons I needed to go to the hospital at that moment. But for some reason, I was there, he was there, and tomorrow, I am going to see her. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I choose to believe that yesterday, there were miracles of more than one kind at Howard County General Hospital.

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The View From Here

Here is the view from the Lodge at Blue Knob State Park, Group Camp 1, where we have held Girl's Camp for approximately the last 12 years. We had some rainy days, but Saturday dawned perfect and beautiful, and this view was the last thing the girls saw, like the ancient hills were blowing us a goodbye kiss and saying, "Till next year, girls!"

It was a good camp, with a new camp director and a new Young Women's president. I think the combination was a good one and everything went smoothly. There were a few of the usual incidents brought on by super-emotional teenage girls mixed with homesickness, ghost stories, bear sightings, too many bugs, and a thunderstorm or two thrown in for good measure. Everyone survived, however, and no one went home early because of anything except a family vacation starting up. The food went well-I got to know a lot of the names of the girls and most seemed happy and well-fed. Sara gave me some good feedback on favorites and not-so's.

I had one frustrating day when a fire started in the oven and I had to make the 30 minute drive to Altoona for groceries twice in one day because I forgot my list the first time. I was pretty hard on myself that day, but driving through the Pennsylvania hills calms me like few other things, and the second drive ended up being a good thing because it got me out of the kitchen. This was the view outside my car window for most of the drive from camp to Altoona:


I pretty much worked from 6 am till 8 pm every single day, but as I said before, I was not alone for a second and in fact, the opportunities that arose for uplifting interaction with the other women there who helped above and beyond what was assigned on the schedule were the best moments of the week. I got to reconnect with some dear friends in other wards, make a few new friends and be touched again by the power of loving people all working together, completely unselfishly, for the good of someone else.

Sara had a great time at camp. I was able to stay out of her way, but see her enjoy herself and she always said hi when she came through the kitchen. It was fun to see her in a different setting.

When I got back, my summer garden greeted me with bold blossoms and beautiful colors. This is the best time for flowers and butterflies. I love my hydrangeas, below, with hostas at their feet. The lilies are at their apex, with some of the more hybrid varieties just coming on. The common tiger lilies are just about done, but there are lemon yellow ones and golden, double-flowered ones, plus the liatris, dianthus and purple coneflowers are going to be beautiful in the coming weeks. I have lots of catch-up weeding to do, but I am inspired by my current reading to get back out into the garden.


Today I've ended up with all the kids gone, thanks to the fact that Johnthan volunteered to take Sam down to EFY and Sara and Evan went to Grandma's for the day. I have a day to myself to unpack, clean, organize and unwind a little. Everyone is coming over this evening to celebrate Evan's birthday, which was Saturday. Grandma Joy (my grandma), Mandi(my youngest sister) and Tim (her husband) are visiting from Arizona, so that will be a treat.

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