This morning, after seeing Tom out the door for work, I sat here to go through my morning routine of checking e-mail, reading daily comics, solving a jigsaw puzzle, plus catching up with some of my friends via their blog posts. BTW, if you have one, please let me know. I love the rabbit trails they afford me (when I have the time.)
Last week Peter and I got down to business with his final year of schooling. This week Mary was included. She begins her high school studies this year so I decided to teach them both Earth Science and Economics at the same time. This will be a first, and so far we are enjoying both.
Our girls in Houston started their semester last week at UST. Kate will be graduating in December. She read for a part in the UST Theater production of MacBeth on Monday night, and had a call-back yesterday. I might be biased, but I think she has grown in her acting abilities. Tom and I were blessed to see her portray the part of Annelle in Steel Magnolias, one of the UST Theater productions last spring. We were unaware at the first that it was Kate in the opening scene.
Meghan is busy with her school as well as continuing work as a therapist with autistic children. The wedding is still progressing toward January 8 next year. We still have plenty of groundwork to cover, but I think it will be as nice as Elizabeth's was a year ago.
Elizabeth is still working as office manager for the Central Indiana Girl Scouts at the Lafayette service center. She and John Paul have been packing in anticipation of their October departure for Germany. So far it has been a bit of a roller coaster with conflicting information, but I know that a year from now when they are back in Indiana they will have some fantastic adventures to remember.
We also decided to bite the bullet, and went ahead and signed Mary for ballet this next year. She won't go on pointe, at least not right now. Mary and I both decided it would be better for her to get to know her new teacher, Dale Yashida, and for Dale to see Mary's abilities, first. That means we now can proceed with getting our downstairs "bonus room" outfitted for her practice.
This morning, while I was sitting down, I heard the first signs of autumn. A crew of honking Canadian geese beginning their journey south. It reminded me that although it is terribly hot and humid right now (by Canadian standards ... not Houston!) our cold is just around the corner. That means our labour day weekend will be full of more labor than leisure. The last of the exterior paint needs to be completed. We also have plenty of clean-up and preliminary landscaping in the front we want to finish before snow season. Tom's dad, Ray, and his Aunt Joy pointed out a lot of overgrown trees we need to remove from the backyard. Some will come out over the next 3 or so months. The rest will have to wait until next spring.
Last weekend we golfed 18 holes at a course I do not want to visit again until I am a far better golfer. What a challenging course!!! It seemed like every hole had water to cross, lots of sandtraps, and a few even had sprinklers!
As we were crossing to the 4th hole, we walked past the clubhouse, and a very Scottish wedding! Bagpipes and kilts, the whole shootin' match. Later on Saturday night, our backyard neighbors had their own Scottish wedding outside ... and their party lasted well into the dark early hours of Sunday morning. They must have fallen asleep, but around 2 in the afternoon it was all cranked back up, again!
Ahhh... we understand it all. The snow flurries will be here all too soon as it is.. so seizing the moment now is important. I often have been reminded, too, that the same goes for this life on earth. The moment can go at any instant, and to be ready for the next step into eternity is really on my mind. Not morbidly so, but realizing that while Tom and I have been blessed with all of our parents still living, it won't continue.
Not to leave you on a sad note .. just one that we all need to keep in mind. When I read news items that tell us how to live longer, or how just one simple change might add years to our life, I am also struck with the knowledge that the one thing we all share is death. It will come, no matter how we might plan to avoid it. It will still come. So, take heed, and don't waste away your time to prepare for the inevitable. May we all be in heaven together .. I'm doing my part, I hope you are doing yours! Shalom
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