Gathering Graces 4/4/2019

*Paul has enjoyed working on many projects this week as he has been on Spring Break from his teaching job at Kellogg High School.  This morning, I went outside and he had dismantled the bench around our Beech Tree, and decided, instead of putting back a square bench around the tree, he would make it a hexagon.  In the picture above he is relaxing after building his creation, and on the right you can see the finished product.  A new paint job will happen once the weather gets nicer.

*I headed out to the Goose ‘n the Tree for breakfast again today to meet my friend Carolyn Meade.  I had another delicious breakfast.  Their food never disappoints.  Carolyn had a wonderful time visiting and catching up with one another!!  She loved the new place as well!!

*Zoe called this afternoon with some exciting news.  She was excepted into a Master’s Program at Boise State University.  She will be working on her Masters in Teaching in Special Education over the next year, beginning in June.  It is an online program that includes field work that she will be able to get hours for at her job as a para-professional at Meridian Middle School.  I am so proud of both Zoe and Molly, who both have a heart for the special education students, and do a very good job working with them.  They are both kind, compassionate women and have become strong advocates for these children.

*Christy hosted a She Shed Celebration Lunch today in her backyard shed.  She prepared a fun sangria drink with Prosecco, a delicious Mexican-type dip, and a delicious Shrimp Cobb Salad.  She also made a Lemon Velvet Cake for dessert that was so moist and yummy!!  Beside myself, joining Christy for her celbration for three of her longtime friends Chris Chris Schonewald Meyer, Teresa Hill Baillie and Dawn Arnhold McLees.  We toasted to spring, celebrated a belated birthday for Chris Meyer, and I gave each of the women a bookmark that goes along with their special friendship with one another.  The weather was perfect, and it was an absolutely wonderful afternoon.

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A Toast to Spring and the She Shed!!

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So fun joining Christy and her besties for the celebration!!

Gathering Graces 4/3/2019

*The temperature this morning was a bit warmer, so our walking outside was a little more enjoyable than yesterday.  I love breathing in the fresh morning air, and watching Kellogg come to life.  And it is so nice to have it light out in the mornings once again.

*Before our walk, I had one of those “dream team” mornings with my classes.  I had six students I had taught before.  They are all good students with good attitudes.  They are all engaged in the class.  I enjoy each of these students.  This makes the morning even more enjoyable and the three hours I teach just flies by!!  It was a fun teaching morning. 

*Today is my father-in-law Burt’s birthday.  Paul called him this afternoon and they had a great visit.  What a wonderful man who has been such a Godly influence on my life.  And he has always been such a loving influence on Paul’s life....helping Paul be the incredible man he is today.

*The rain started falling later in the morning, so Paul decided to do some cleaning in our garage.  It actually is in pretty good shape.  But there were a few things that could be thrown out or organized better to make more room. 

*I spent this rainy afternoon involved in P.E.O. business.  I have taken over as Treasurer, and with this task comes some new responsibilities that I am slowly figuring out.  But by the time of our meeting this evening, I had the checkbook balanced, the report ready to give, and the budget for next year printed off to present. Whew!!

*Debbie Gibler shared a program at P.E.O. tonight that was very interesting.  She shared about what life was like for women back in 1869, when P.E.O. was founded.  She also brought in some of her own family’s history as well.  It was very interesting.

*Paul and I continue to learn more about wine as we watch The Wine Show on Hulu.  On one of the shows the focus was on celebrities adding their name to wine labels.  One of the wines they tried and liked on the show was Chateau Miraval Cotes de Provence from France.  The celebrities who make this wine are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  Chateau Miraval is their summer residence. I was absolutely certain this particular wine was sold at Costco. When Paul and I went to Costco yesterday, sure enough, it was there.  So I had to buy a bottle to try sometime.  Here is the description of the wine on thewineshow.com website:

Sniff the aromas of Provence. Smell the ‘garrigue’ hillsides. Enjoy the fragrances of the rich and famous. ‘Brangelina’s’ rosé continues to enthrall. Your glass fills straight away with wild strawberries and herbs. And when you sip it, the wine has a cooling freshness for a day in the sun. Brad and Angelina, is this what your life smells like?

Gathering Graces 4/2/2019

*It felt great to get out and walk outside this morning.  Nikki hasn’t been feeling well, so we have been unable to walk for a few days.  But today we got outside.  It was a bit chilly, but it felt great to walk outside once again!!

*What a beautiful day out today.  I was able to get out and cut back my roses and pull some dead grass and leaves away from some of the other plants. It is fun to see what plants are coming up.  I purchased a bunch of plants last fall that I planted in the “big pile of dirt”, and those look like they survived the winter.  Paul continues to work outside with a variety of projects, like putting a railing on the fence around the vegetable garden, and then putting a stain on the railing. 

*Since my rental continued through tonight at 6:30 p.m.,  decided to watch Bohemian Rhapsody once again, because it was fun to listen to the great music of Queen once again.

*Last year when Paul and I took a trip to Nelson, British Columbia in Canada, we stopped at a little book store, and I bought the book Forgiveness: A Gift From My Grandparents.  This was a best selling book in Canada, and is the story the author, Mark Sakamoto tells of the effects World War II had on his grandparents, mostly through the eyes of his maternal grandfather Ralph Maclean who fought in the Canadian military and was captured by the Japanese and was a POW.  The other part of the story was about his paternal grandmother, a Japanese Canadian whose family was relocated from Vancouver, British Columbia to Alberta to work on a sugar beet farm, enduring brutal work.  It was interesting reading the Canadian perspective from World War II, as well as their treatment of the Japanese in their country.

Gathering Graces 4/1/2019

*Staying close to home leaves you unscathed on April Fool’s Day.  No pranks happening here!

*Paul and I spent some time at lunch deciding what we wanted to do this week, and some options for the days, months and years ahead.  We shared dreams.  We shared possibilities.  The big question is....how do we narrow down these dreams and possibilities and come up with a plan.  That is the big question!!

*I tackled some projects on my “Monday to-do list” and felt like I actually accomplished something today.  It felt good to check those items off the list.

*I love this time of year.  I love walking around the backyard and front yard and seeing plants springing to life.  I love seeing the green shoots coming up in the ground.  I love the sunshine.  I love the warmth.  Spring is always such a wonderful time of year.  Welcome April!!!!!

Gathering Graces 3/31/2019

*How did it get to be the last day of March?  March seemed to fly by this year.  But with it came the official beginning of spring, sunshine and flowers blooming.  So I will take all of that and enjoy March coming to an end.

*Paul asked if I would sit and play the cajon box drum at church this morning during worship service.  He was playing guitar along with Tim Arnhold and Amy Arnhold was on vocals, and it was fun to do something a little different during the worship singing.  Paul chose some hymns to sing, and I loved how the four of us easily fall into wonderful harmonies as we sing those songs.  I love singing with our worship team.

*When I started hearing about the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, I had no idea what it was about.  Then I started talking to people who had seen the movie, and it was explained to me it was a movie about the British rock band Queen, and more specifically the lead singer Freddie Mercury, and their story from their formation as a band in 1970 to the Live Aid Concert in 1985.  I love watching movies, whether fictionalized dramatizations or documentaries about musical groups, and how those developed their sound and became the group I knew growing up.  Some of the parts I loved best about this movie was how it showed how Queen didn’t want to be defined by any particular sound, and how they always wanted to push the boundaries of making new music.  I enjoyed seeing how certain songs came into being.  For me personally, I was surprised at the decision to make this a PG-13 movie.  For me, it was refreshing to watch a movie that was mostly free of swearing and cursing throughout, and sex was eluded to, but not shown in graphic detail.  Instead it was more about the story of the music, and the band’s relationship with one another.  I don’t care of all the details may not be accurate.  It is a great story, one that was being told as I was growing up, and being influenced by their music in high school and beyond. 

*Their music is still influencing new listeners.  For example, last Wednesday when I was at Kellogg High School, and had the privilege of participating in a fire drill, a group of KHS students started singing the song Bohemian Rhapsody out in the parking lot as they waiting to go back inside.  I have many memories associated with Queen songs. During my senior year, when our boys basketball team was in the state championship game and lost the final seconds, the pep band from Madison High School started playing  Another One Bites the Dust.  If we had won, our pep band probably would have been ready to play We Are The Champions. I am not sure how this came about, but April and myself at some point during our senior year took the lyrics to Crazy Little Thing Called Love and changed the words to fit one of our classmates names, now singing the song Crazy Little Lee Ely.  In fact, we resurrected it and sang it at our 10 year class reunion.  When our family all had roles in the play The Miser at the Sixth Street Theater, back in the spring of 2007, we would all drive to the theater for rehearsal each night, and our routine was to play Bohemian Rhapsody on our drive to Wallace, and, of course, do the Wayne’s World head banging part each time we listened.  As I watched the movie last night, these memories and more associated with these songs came flooding back.  Yes,  I recommend you watch this movie. And, if you grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, I am sure the music will evoke some special memories of your own.