I'm still here...

Wow! What a hiatus I took without meaning to...

It isn't that I haven't had things to say or share, it's that I haven't had time during the day to type them in and the evenings have been mostly full as well.

I've been waiting (patiently mostly, but more impatiently as time went on) for some time now and today was the day! I walked outside this morning and could actually take a deep breath! It was somewhere south of 80 degrees! Fall is coming!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
I don't enjoy summer, I endure it and so this time comes every year with a sigh of relief and rejuvenation for me! In fact, last night was cooler as well and I even left the screen door open for several hours to get some fresh air in the house.

OK, enough with my obsession on the weather.

Some things I've been doing or have accomplished while I've been away from here:

* Day trip canoeing on the Duck River with my Sunday School class one Saturday
* Music City Jam at riverfront park with 3 friends
* Finished the redo of Ethan's afghan - I'll post the pic as soon as I can
* Reading of many books, of course - currently working on Tale of Two Cities (audio) and The Three Musketeers, both I'm enjoying
* Started a new Bible study with my small group (Beth Moore's Patriarchs)
* Been to a Nashville Sounds game/fireworks after with my Sunday School class (AAA baseball for those of you who don't know)
* 3-day weekend in Indiana the beginning of August
* Delivered my first meal as part of the food team from church
* Spent time with my in-town "family"
* Taken both Isaac and Ethan to lunch separately (this was part of their birthday presents) and Elijah will go next week
* Had 4 friends over (1 of which plays piano) on a Friday night and had a sing along - we sang for over 3 hours and it was a blast!
* Had a Sunday School picnic at a local park for Labor Day
* Choir rehearsals have started again after our summer break
* Did an all day scrap last Saturday, which included an abbreviated spa session, and finished 4 pages!
* Got my quilt pinned so I'm ready to do the quilting and am hoping to start that this coming weekend

Well, I guess those are some of the major things that have been going on around here. I'm heading back up to Grandpa's for the weekend the last weekend of September and then am not planning to travel again until Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad are doing fine. We are all beginning the countdown in earnest now. They have just under 23 weeks to go till they are back in the US and almost 5 weeks after that before they will be here to see me! You can begin praying for them and all the things associated with their return: safe travel, safe arrival of all their belongings and all the things they will need to accomplish in those 4 weeks in Dallas before they hit the road.

For those of you who don't know, they will be traveling around the US (much like they did before they left for Thailand) for the remainder of 2008 and all of 2009. So they must buy a van, buy a cell phone, make and keep any health related appointments with their various docs in Dallas area, spend some time with friends they've not seen and of course the most important tasks of unpacking, repacking and arranging all things in their room in my brother and sister's-in-law house. Changing over from the things they've had with them for the last 3 years to the things they will need to load in the van to live in timeshares for the next 2 years - it is a very daunting and seemingly overwhelming task to contemplate, so please pray especially that they will not be overwhelmed as they begin to plan for this. Also please pray for their remaining time on the field that they will continue to touch lives where they are. Also, even though they are looking forward to coming home, it will be another period of high emotions and adjustments as Chiang Mai has been home for them for 3 years and they have friends and a church there that they will be saying good-bye too.

Well, I must get back to work now - my days are full to capacity and overflowing these days so I mustn't take out too much time. Take care and be sure to leave me your thoughts and comments - I'll do my best to be back sooner this time!