Alex & Prince Charles aka Chuck

Another fast & furious visit with Alex. Always good to be with my favorite son.

His puppy, Chuck, is just the cutest and sweetest.

I am so excited to have them home for Christmas.

Alex is a co-dog sitter, with his room-mate.

He is holding Jack, who wanted to be included.

I also got to see Alex in his current play,

Dirty, Rotten, Scoundrel

It was a great show, and we know who is my MVP and VIP.

It is so rewarding for me to see his hard work look so effortless.

Alex, really, how do you do that?

So what are they saying?

Lady..."How do you get your hair so shiny?"

me.. "Not sure, maybe the hair product.

Someday, I will quit coloring it and then it will be gray and frizzy.

Lady...."I hate it when I turn around and people see me much older than my hair looks."

*******

Marcus... "I wish I hadn't seen the recording of my golf stroke, I don't have time to fix it."

( He's in the finals of a match play at the local golf course)

me.... "I don't believe golf should be so technical."

Marcus - Jokingly...." Like your brain."

Me..."Explain that!" :)

Marcus... "No, I don't have anything else to say." :)

********

So, I was checking into Southwest Airlines to go to Chicago on an e-pass.

Gate Agent ..."Are you the employee?'

Me ...."No"

Gate Agent..."Are you the mother."

Me... "I am a mother, but the wife of the employee."

Gate Agent...""So, he married a normal one."

Me... wordless....

Gate agent..."Oh, you know, we tend to marry within the company, but my wife is a nurse."

*********

I'm beginning to think there is more to these conversations....but mostly it's funny!?

Do you ever feel like that?

Funny Preacher Stories

Recently a former preacher returned to visit. I forgot how fun this man is. He told of a wedding he took part in. The bride was Dave Ramsey's niece. However, this preacher was mistaken as Dave Ramsey, with Ramsey in the same room. One admirer ask him if there was an alternative to investing in his 401k. Mark replied that it was a good investment, but he might like 722(?) also. ( However, he didn't give the details that this was a popular song for C of C....Our God is alive.)

The man was appreciative as he walked away.

Yesterday, our minister told of his love for chocolate glazed donuts. Seeing only one remaining in the church office, before service on Wednesday night, he knew it was calling his name. He was willing to share it with a friend, but after that offer was refused, he ate it.

Heading to class, he stopped by the resource room, to say "HI" It was brought to his attention that he had "A friend on his shirt." Looking down, he saw something black ( chocolate icing?) and said he would take care of that. He picked it off his shirt and ate it, and as it crunched, he heard someone say, "It was a bug!" He did his best to remove it, using one of the ladies diet coke.

I'm thinking, one less love bug...glad they are finally going away, but sorry that Cary mistook it for chocolate .

There are many times when the best we can do is laugh at ourselves...and share with others.

My little models

My girls adored their older cousins, Teresa & Tina.

One day Teresa decided to use them as models for her

photography class.

Lana...1982

Myra...wearing her favorite worn out hand-me-down gown.

I love these memories... and so thankful that they

had wonderful cousins to look up to.

A bit distracted

There are times at church when I get irritated that I get distracted, but today, the distractions were sweet.

I noticed a little 4 yr old girl, wrap her arm around her mother as she sang, "The joy of the Lord, will be my strength...." This mother with 3 children under 6 yrs of age, is holding down fort while her husband is in Iraq...he has been gone 9 months. I know that Hannah has no idea that Jesus is the strength that makes this separation bearable.

Later, I noticed a young girl, about 8 or 9 yrs old. She took her grandmothers checkbook out and started writing the check for contribution. What a blessing, learning to give. Her grandmother is a precious example of giving, as she is raising this young girl.

Wow, I noticed a beautiful toddler, seemed like she was a baby just yesterday. Having a communion cup to lick clean, must have been a treat for her....someday she will know so much more about this emblem. Her parents and grandparents worship together, ... she is blessed.

Marcus holds my hand, with every prayer, and sometimes I think nothing of it, but today, it was a reminder that we are united in our faith. What a sweet gift.

As we sang, "Lord, reign in Me, reign in my heart..." I recalled the beauty of all the Cathedrals, and thought if that song had been playing in such a magnificent place...it would focus on what matters.

Some days a bit of distraction can turn into a blessing...that's how it felt for me today.

Movin' around Capri

Anytime we saw this cab, men were taking pictures of it.

Traveling around the island, this is what I call 1 -1/2 lane road.

At night time we notices a smaller boat leaving this yacht...

we watched as young kids (from the yacht) ran around

and played at the beach

in the bottom corner of this picture.

Beautiful view as we waited for our check.

Beautifully different

I don't love the unknown of other cultures,

and there was plenty that I wasn't expecting when we spent

10 days in Italy. I had not researched anything, so the fact

that Cathedrals drew the biggest tourist attraction was a wonderful treat.

Anyone wearing tank tops or shorts, had to cover up, to enter any of these

Cathedrals. So the scarf vender's made good money at these locations.

I wanted to know the purpose behind each emblem or design,

and the detailed beauty was overwhelming. It struck me that the beauty

within the walls, was massive, but nothing compared to what

God would want from the walls of our soul.

We ask locals about the best place to eat. We were surprised

that what we experienced, did not have the flavor of our

American /Italian food. We were never offered pesto dip with

the bread,(not sure they used garlic) the salad was basic lettuce, tomato, carrots

in all 5 cities, and we were to make our dressing from

Olive oil and balsamic Vinegar. I loved the pizza.

Breakfast blew us away. There were more desserts offered

each morning, than in a Luby's Cafeteria line.

Cereal spoons were always Tablespoons. We needed to

specify "No fizz, No gas or No bubbles", when ordering water.

It seemed we waited 30 minutes for our check

in very restaurant.

This was our Lido/Venice breakfast view.

We used the train to travel from Rome, to

Florence, to Venice, to Naples, then the ferry to

Capri. The train had no trouble staying on schedule.

I think that the time at each connecting station

may have been 3 minutes. When time to get off, you don't

fiddle around. Trying to take pictures of the beautiful

country side, at the speed we went, seemed futile.

I think this statue was outside of the Venice train station.

This beach was down the hill from our hotel, in Capri.

Beaches were rare on the island. Marcus rented a scooter, and

that was our way to enjoy the beauty of Capri.

If we need to stop at a restroom, it was usually a pay toilet,

and the commode seat, was optional, hanging on the wall.

It was a wonderful experience and adventure.

I love that Marcus found hotels off the beaten path.

I just wish the pictures reflected the true beauty.