Monday, February 27, 2006

This Week

The past week I've done several interesting things.

1. On Friday Mia and I drove up to Camarillo to look at the church where she wants to get married--Camarillo Evangelical Free Church. It's a beautiful Spanish style building and the only problems I see are no center isle and no reception facility available. Afterward we visited the beautiful Catholic church across the street and after a lovely tour of the church we found out that since neither Mia nor Tim are Catholic they are not allowed to be married in a Catholic church. Then we went to see Martha. Beth was gone but Steve came home from work/dinner so we got to see him. As always, Martha amazed me with her tales of getting free food from grocery stores by using coupons. I don't know of anyone who does it better than Mart. At one point I mentioned that I wanted a Brita and Martha got this look on her face and said, "I think I have one..." She had two she had bought four years ago because it was cheaper to get a whole Brita on sale than buy the replacement filters. So now I have a new Brita. John bought some filters and we have nice water to drink. Thanks, Martha!

2. Yesterday I finished sewing up my pink mohair sweater that I knitted from copying an AF sweater with hood that Mia bought at a thrift store. I'm wearing it today and I really like it. Yesterday I also rewrote an afghan pattern that I made a few years ago. I think there was a mistake in the original pattern so I knitted a swatch and then rewrote it because a friend wants to borrow some patterns to make an afghan.

3. John and I had lunch on Saturday with my cousin Dan and his wife Peg. They are missionaries with Baptist Mid Missions. They lived in Mexico for 20 years and now Dan is the director of Hispanic church planting in the US for BMM. It was good to see him. I took my photo album of old family photos. Dan enjoyed reminiscing and I laughed because he identified EVERY car that we had owned.

4. Saturday night Andrea came over and we watched five old Dick VanDyke Show episodes. I'm amazed at the FACES Dick could make. I recommend the shows to anyone who wants to laugh hysterically.

5. I high scored in Collapse tonight. 443,904, which beats Travis's score from last Thanksgiving.

OK, so my life is really boring. But it's MY life.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

A Random Questionaire

1. First name: Linda

l2. Were you named after anyone? My middle name is Louise after my maternal grandmother, Emma Louise.

3. Middle name? : Louise. See #2.

4. When did you last cry? : Last month. A passage in a book brought tears to my eyes.

5. Do you like your handwriting? : Yes. I'd better; I teach handwriting.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? : False.

7. Birth date? : 17 March 1950

8. What is your most embarrassing CD? : I'm not much of a CD person, so that's not much of a question for me.

.9. Do you have a journal? : My Blog and a journal of Bible verses and worship song/hymns lyrics.

10. Do you use sarcasm a lot? : I don't know about a lot, but I do use some.

11. What are your nicknames? : Willow.

12. Would you bungee jump? : Do I want to die?

13. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? : Yes, the ones with laces.

14. Do you think that you are strong? : Physically? No.

15. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? : Chocolate, Chocolate.

16. Shoe Size? : 8 or 8.5

17. Red or pink? I wear more pink than red.

18. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? : my weight.

19. Who do you miss most? : my mom.

20. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? : No.

21. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? black and black.

22. What are you listening to right now? nothing.

23. What was the last thing you ate: taco mac for lunch.

24. If you were a Crayon what color would you be? : Cobalt Blue.

25. What is the weather like right now? : 60s and getting cloudy.

26. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? : John.

27. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? :Age.

28. Do you like the person who sent this to you? : Of course. I gave birth to him.

29. Favorite Drink? Americanos and also hot chocolate.

30. Favorite sport to watch? : I like to watch ice skating. Basketball is ok. I'd rather go to the dentist than watch football or soccer.

31. Hair Color? : Blonde.

32. Do you wear contacts? : No.

33. Favorite Food? : I really like soup and bread and chocolate.

34. Last Movie You Watched? : I don't remember. We watch a lot of movies but I seldom remember the names of them.

35. Favorite Day of the Year? : Mother's Day.

36. Scary movies or Happy Endings? Happy endings.

37. Summer or winter? : Summer in Oregon, winter in Southern California.

38. Hugs or Kisses? Kisses. Dark Chocolate.

39. What is Your Favorite Dessert? Ice cream.

40. Who Is Most Likely To Respond? One of my daughters.

41. Who Is Least Likely To Respond? John. He never reads my blog.

42. What Book Are You Reading? : The Windrider's Oath by David Weber. I was reading it yesterday at PT and left it there and had to go back today and get it.

43. What's On Your Mouse Pad? : my mouse.

44. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? : A little bit of the Olympics.

45. What's in your CD player right now? : Nothing. Unless you count Revival in Belfast that is in the car cd player.

46. Favorite Sounds? : Birds chirping, my family laughing,ocean waves.

47. Rolling Stones or Beatles? : Beatles.

48. What is your Favourite Pastime? : Reading, knitting, spinning, walking, bike riding, watching movies.

49. What do you do for a living? : I am an urban missionary in Los Angeles, teaching reading and writing.

50. If you could go anyplace in the world, where would it be? : on vacation? Europe, for a long time. North Africa holds some fascination for me too.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Happy Valentine's Day

I want to wish all my beloved readers a

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Ohhh I just figured out how to make red letters.

Anyway, I hope everyone gets all the chocolate and flowers they want.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Tim

I know that I have not said anything here about Tim's departure for his deployment in Iraq. He left last weekend. It is really hard to write about it.

I'm going to miss him. And mostly importantly, Mia is missing him.

Please pray for his safety and for a good successful time of service to the country and to his team.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Reverend Dan

Dan is now an ordained minister.

He attended the ordination council with six other men and after two hours of conferring, testimonies and questions, all seven men and one woman were ordained in an hour plus long ceremony. At least there wasn't a sermon--just lots of prayers which I found quite nice. Each council member prayed for each candidate and then sometimes elders, family members prayed for the candidate, too. John offered a very nice and appropriate prayer for his son. And, of course, we are very, very proud of Dan!

After the ceremony, Mike D, Will, Mia, Dan, John and I went to Denny's for a celebration dinner, mostly because only Dan had had any dinner. Dan couldn't eat because he was scheduled for a physical for the Army at 5am this morning. We enjoyed referring to Dan as Rev. Dan much to his "annoyance".

Soooo, after 3 hours of sleep, Dan and I drove to West LA and I dropped him off at MEPS and sat in a Starbuck's parking lot until it opened at 5:30. At 7 Dan called to report that prior service people have to have their medical waiver (Dan needs one for his eyesight) in hand BEFORE the physical--which was news to everyone including the chaplain recruiter. Anyway, we'll have to go back again a morning at 5am, hopefully sooner rather than later.

After a stop at LA Co. Hall of Records in Norwalk (yes, we have driven ALL over Los Angeles today!) to get a certified birth certificate for him, we went to the bank and the post office in Whittier. I dropped him off and drove home. I couldn't go to sleep because I had a physical therapy appointment at 2pm.

Now I am home from PT and waiting to hear from John. We are invited to a BBQ and Gospel concert practice for the Japanese Gospel Choir and Firm Soundations, Ray Sidney's group. We'll see if I'm recovered from PT and still awake when John gets home.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Halloween? Guy Fawkes?

Last night someone parked a car in front of the business next door to our house and lit it on fire. My neighbor heard the tires popping and his dog barking so he got up to check, saw the flames and called the fire dept. I woke up when the fire truck sounded its siren (probably at the cross street), and when I saw the flashing lights so close, I got up to investigate.

Why would someone light a fire in a car? Maybe because he was mad at the owner, or had stolen the car and wanted to get rid of fingerprints... who knows?

Anyway, we now have a burned out car on our block. I just saw a parking enforcement car out there so maybe the city will remove it as it is blocking Song's Ironworks driveway.

A word in praise of Los Angeles Fire Fighters--they came quietly, they quickly put out the fire and made sure that all the flames stayed out, left just as quietly. They are true heroes.

Which leads me to mention that my nephew Bobby Price is scheduled to take theLA fire department physical exam on Monday! This means he passed firefighter school and the background check. I am soooo proud of him. Way to go, Bob!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Hand Knitting Master Program Level II

I PASSED!

I received the package and notification today in the mail that, at long last, I have passed my level II Hand Knitting Master Program competency. It took me so long to pass knitting up a vest (3 tries because I tried to make an original pattern twice) that I am now thinking that I might like to go ahead and try for the third level.

But not before the summer.