Rain, rain, go away!

We woke up this morning to reports of flooding all around us. The storm continued through the night, last night, and into the morning until the creeks filled up and flooded many low lying roads. Schools were either delayed or even canceled, and TV coverage has been non-stop. It doesn't take very much rain around here to flood the roads. Fortunately we are not in a flood area, another thing to be thankful for today. It looks like the rain has stopped for today, so things will return to normal soon.

Stormy weather!

We are having another stormy afternoon here in the greater Houston area. Tornado watches and warnings are in effect until later this evening but, I still love storms! I love the anticipation as we wait and watch for the storm to arrive, and then when it starts to get dark outside as the clouds build up and cover the sky, and then the wind starts to blow and the rain begins. KABOOM goes the thunder, and FLASH goes the lightning! That's when it feels so safe and warm and dry inside our cozy little home. Finally, the best part is after the storm passes and everything returns to normal again. A storm is such a mystery!

On a different note, Amy made it back home last night. She had a good trip to Atlanta and is getting excited about moving there after graduation. It is so far away, and we will miss her. But, that's how it is I guess, when the little bird gets it's wings it can't wait to fly away, much to the distress of the mama and daddy bird. The time went by way too fast! If it were up to the mama and daddy bird the baby birds would at least live in a nest nearby.

Childhood Memories

Today is Saturday and it's a beautiful day outside. Earlier today the apartment management had an omlette bar in the Clubhouse for everyone, so Fletcher and I each had an omlette made to order by a personal chef in the clubhouse kitchen, then we sat outside on the veranda by the pool to eat. Life is good!

I talked to Amy, and she is having fun on her apartment hunt in Atlanta. Her friend "Bissie" and her husband met her there to help her look for an apartment to live in when she starts work there in July. She won't be moving in actually until August, but she is just getting some ideas of places that she might like to live once she moves there. She sounded like they were having fun.

Fletcher and I have been inside this afternoon, and I have been going through some of the boxes we've had in storage that contain photos and memorabilia. We found a box full of baby pictures of Fletcher and some things we have that his mother has given us with old photos of family members from his early childhood such as his baby book, and one old photo album, and things about his grandparents. So, as Fletcher is approaching his 50th birthday (very soon!) it has been fun to remember back when he was just a little boy growing up in Louisiana so long ago surrounded by a loving family of parents, and grandparents in the small town of Natchitoches, Louisiana. We love all of our family so much and really appreciate all of the sacrifices they have made for us through the years. I think we appreciate it even more now than ever before since we are parents of adult children ourselves. We miss being around our family now like families were in those days of the 1950's and early 1960's. But we are looking forward to what the future will bring in our family in the years to come!

Amy's trip to Atlanta

Our youngest daughter, Amy, arrived here last night around midnight from College Station. She spent the night here at the apartment with us, and then this morning Fletcher is taking her to the airport to catch her flight to Atlanta. She will be meeting a friend in Atlanta, and then they plan to look around at different apartments for a place for Amy to live when she moves there this summer. I always worry about Amy when she is traveling, and I wish we could have gone with her. Atlanta is a big city, but Amy knows her way around a little because she spent last summer there doing an internship with the company that she will be working for after she graduates. She was so excited to be going this morning so we wish her all the best. She'll be coming back on Sunday, so I'll give you an update then.
Good Luck Amy!

Sick Days

This is my 6th day to have the Shingles. My left eye is swollen nearly shut, but the redness seems to be subsiding somewhat. I think the rash is drying out and at least not getting bigger. My glands are still swollen on the left side of my face, but maybe not as much. I'm getting lots of rest and TV watching. I only go out when I can wear my sunglasses or if it is dark. (Kind of like a movie star/celebrity so I won't be recognized) The medicine is very expensive, so I am taking it three times a day as directed even though the doctor and pharmacist said they aren't sure how much it will help, but it is all they know to give for this strange virus. It's the same virus as Chicken Pox, but after you have the Chicken Pox, then you keep this residual virus which lays latent in your nerves and then for some unknown reason will pop out as Shingles. What a mystery. So, today I was at least feeling like finishing my other slipper, so I just finished knitting the other slipper, and now I have one for each foot! I have them on right now. They aren't pretty, but they are slippers that I knitted myself!! (And Fletcher said that I was too old to learn new things, that my brain would not want to form new pathways for knitting. )
Ha Ha! Ha!

Gratitude

Be joyful always;

pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

I recently read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. When she and her sister were imprisoned in a German work camp they even thanked God for the fleas! As it turned out, the fleas in their sleeping quarters gave them the freedom to share Christ with the other prisoners because the guards would not go in there.

Whatever God is up to in our current circumstances we know that it is for good, and it is God's will for our life, so today I am giving thanks for the Shingles even though I don't understand why I have to endure this suffering. There must be something good that is going to come from this experience.

Thank you God for this itchy red rash covering the left side my face. Amen

There is so much to be thankful for:

• Our cozy apartment
• The loving care of my husband
• Doctors and medicine
• Good food to eat
• Our cars that are in working condition
• Our three children
• This computer and the internet
• Our parents that love us unconditionally
• Our dog Tommy (who has no fleas!)
• Our church family that prays for us
• The unending love of God
• The gift of salvation through Jesus Christ

Romans 5:3-5

...but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Our sweet dog Tommy

Tommy is such a special blessing to our family and we love him so much! He is an 81/2 year old maltese. We got him from a friend of a friend in Tomball. One day I was at a friend's house for a Sunday School meeting in Tomball, and she had the cutest little white fluffy dog. When I asked where she got her dog, she said "Do you want one? Because I know where you can get one." I said "Sure" thinking that would never happen, then a few weeks later she called and asked me if we still wanted a dog because her friend's dog had just had puppies and there were 3 born into the litter, but one had died, so if I wanted one I needed to say "yes" right away. So of course I couldn't say "no", but I didn't ask Fletcher first because I'm sure he would have said "NO!". Anyway, a long story short, Tommy came into our lives just before Christmas in 2000. And, Fletcher loves him just as much as I do. God knew that we would need Tommy to keep us company after all of our children had gone away to college. He is our constant companion and friend.

Tommy's special talents:

• He can sing. His favorite song is "Happy Birthday" and he likes to join in with the family when we sing together.
• He can play dead for a treat when you say "Pow Pow" and point at him like you're holding a gun.
• He loves to snuggle in the bed with us and always wakes Fletcher up when he needs to go out.
• He barks at Fletcher if he touches me or tries to hug or kiss me!
• We have to spell words around him because he knows what we are talking about when we say: bacon ( his favorite treat), go outside, time to go to bed, get in the crate, let's go!
• He is our constant source of entertainment.

Sunday Sunshine!

As you can see the rain stopped and we were able to have our Saturday night cookout!
The hamburgers were cooked by Fletcher out on the grill by the pool at our apartment last night after the rain stopped. Today is a beautiful sunny day with a big blue Texas sky!

We had a great morning at church. Our new Pastor is James Clark. You can listen to his Sunday messages on our church web site: http://www.fbctomball.org/

Tonight I'm going to watch the Miss USA Pageant. One of our own Tomball girls is Miss Texas so we are all pulling for her! I think she has a good chance.

Aggie Parents

By the way, we are fans of the Fightin Texas Aggies!

All three of our children have attended Texas A&M University.

Gig 'em Aggies

Whoop!

The Aggie War Hymn
Hullabaloo! Caneck! Caneck!
Hullabaloo! Caneck! Caneck!
Goodbye to texas university,
So long to the orange and the white.
Good Luck to dear ol' Texas Aggies,
They are the ones who show the real ol' fight.
"The eyes of Texas are upon you...
"That is the song they sing so well.(SOUNDS LIKE HELL!)
So goodbye to texas university,
We're gonna beat you all to
Chig-ga-roo-gar-em!
Chig-ga-roo-gar-em!
Rough! Tough! Real stuff!
Texas A&M!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3XkxbIQ_Mo

Rainy Saturday

Well, it's another rainy day in Houston. I've been knitting this morning and watching silly movies on TV. First I watched The Ugly Dachshund (1966), and now Housesitter with Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin (1992). I love watching old movies that are funny. Anyway, there's not much going on here today. We were planning to have some friends over tonight to cook hamburgers out by the pool, but if the rain doesn't stop we will have to change our plans. I'll let you know how this turns out. Bye for now...

Houston Happenings!

This blog was started as a result of a rainy Friday afternoon and as a way to keep up with what is happening in our daily lives here in Houston. I hope it will be interesting as I keep track of what God is doing while we are here as we watch his plan for our lives unfold. I can truthfully say that at this time we have no idea what our future holds. But we are trusting God that everything will be okay. I am so excited to be blogging.
This is going to be fun!