notinKansasanymore

Felloshipper, Did I read that correctly? DID YOU SAY that you started smoking again two months ago? Clarification, please. I love you way too much for you to smoke! "Be just, and fear not."

Oh, how the brethren have perverted the word of the paper of the news, which mine husband readeth to me-eth this morning-eth. So, there's an angina-challenged occupant of the oval-eth office. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we take our profits from the oil fields of our enemies. Rev. 2T, prophesy on, bro. "Be just, and fear not."

Mine own husband readeth this to me from the paper of news this morning. We thinketh that it is a joke, and not true therefore, but the fact that we can't quite be sure is what worries us . . .. President Bush was informed by his secret service agents that Vice President Cheney had suffered an attack of angina. Bush replied, with a silly grin, "You can't fool me with that! Boys don't even have anginas!" :)--> "Be just, and fear not."

Hooo-HOOOOOOOOOO! Hundredth page. :)--> "Be just, and fear not."

I'm trying to get us to the 100th page! While I have your attention, it's such a sad thing about Mrs. Weirwille having Alzheimer's. I think that as a nurse, she surely saw the signs of Alzheimer's in herself, and knew what was coming. Such a wonderful lady, and so sad. I will keep her in my prayers. The only reason that I ever ran a twig in Van Wert was because she asked me to. Because of that, I got to spend time with Dan and Marilyn Friedly, Coramae Peters, and many other wonderful folks. I always appreciated how Mrs. Weirwille would answer a question "straight," without having to think up what was the "approved" answer. She is a very honest and nice person, and I like her very much. "Be just, and fear not."

I'm thinking about doing the South Beach diet. Anybody want to do it with me? Would it work to have an anonymous, long-distance diet buddy? My sister is Miss GoodHealth, and she says it's a good one. People are supposed to loose 8 to 13 pounds in the first two weeks, and then level off to a more believeable rate. Honestly, it sounds just like some of the healthfood binges that some of us were on in the old days; no refined sugar, no white flour, lots of meat. Whatcha think? If we have folks who are interested, maybe we could set a start date, and do it together. "Be just, and fear not."

Want to hear something stupid? The bank won't let my sister on Mom and Dad's checking account (to help Mom pay bills) unless Daddy signs the card. Box of rocks is smarter than that rule. That rule is so dumb, it would probably vote for "W." all over again. Dumb rule. They opened a new account. "Be just, and fear not."

He said I'm nice. :)--> "Be just, and fear not."

Excathedra, neat. "Be just, and fear not."

TooGray, Thanks for your sweetness. Honestly, it never crossed my mind! I want to come and share that stuff, but likewise, don't want to bring the thread "down." It's kind of weirdly right that serious comments are juxtaposed with silly stuff. It's cool, dude. "Be just, and fear not."

Yup, you guys are just as weird as ever. Just about all I can say, to mah people, at a time like this, is it's good to be (clap) home again, been away too long. pecan pie, anyone? "Be just, and fear not."

So, yesterday I was back in Texas for the weekend, with Mom. The children (4 and 6) wanted to see the gravesite. They were there at the service, but hadn't seen it all covered up. We gathered thousands of seeds from the rampant wildflowers and rubbed them into the mound. As we worked, I sang "the Old Rugged Cross" (Daddy's favorite hymn), "How Great Thou Art," and "Bringing In the Sheaves." On the way from the cemetery, we sang fun nursery school songs. It was nice. Nobody cried. It was peaceful. The children have done amazingly well with all of this. Did somebody say something about a weenie roast? "Be just, and fear not."

Word. "Be just, and fear not."

Hey, sorry that I haven't been around. Lots of stuff to do! Just wanted to say "hello," and let you folks know that I'm thinking of you. Ex, I live about two and a half hours from Mom, and will be seeing her every weekend for a while. She's really hanging in there. My sister and brother-in-law are there. I must have gotten 80 sweet e-mails from students; we missed a Friday and a Monday of classes, and yesterday was our first day back. Youse guys goin' to Vegas? Gonna witness to the Elvis impersonators? (Actually, I have to take that back. One of them has three neat "believer" ladies as his backup singers. A group of us had dinner with them several years ago. They were really very nice.) Thankyou. Thankyou very much. "Be just, and fear not."

Thanks, you are all wonderful. The sensation of walking into a room and just "feeling" him there started to subside after about two days. Mom is doing much, much better than I think I would be, in her place. The neighbors are wonderful, although one of them has developed pneumonia; maybe the stress of what happened to Daddy added to that; please pray for our sweet elderly neighbor man. Another neighbor mowed Mom's lawn; the church ladies brought a pullman-case-sized box of fried chicken to the gathering afterwards, for the friends and family. Tonight is my first night back with my husband and babies since I got that first call, to go to the hospital. Thank you all so very, very much for your prayers, your kind words, your encouragement, and your love. Sometimes, I would take a minute to check e-mail, particularly as I sat at the comuter writing Daddy's obituary. I stopped in to lurk, even when there wasn't time to properly reply, and your wonderful words and hugs were very uplifting. Thanks. By the way, it was the longest darn obituary in the paper, by a mile. He'd have loved that. Cheapest funeral, prettiest wife, longest obituary. Lots of people crying their eyes out, Taps, a slowly folded flag on behalf of "the President of the United States and the people of a grateful nation," and then folks getting on with life. That's the hard part, that last part. You all really helped, thank you very much. "Be just, and fear not."

Thank you, thank you all. The graveyard that Daddy picked is tiny, old, and at the end of a dead-end road. You have to drive by a mule in a field on one side, and a horse in a field on the other side, to get there. There are small, very old stones in all sections. It would take about three minutes to walk from the entrance all the way to the back fence. All of those things make this place perfect for Daddy. The best of all, however, is that across that back fence are back yards of country houses, where swingsets and children rule. Only a few yards from his gravesite, children will be swinging, laughing, rough-housing, and growing. He always loved to be where children were happy. Here's a phrase that we've found jotted down on slips of paper, and left all around the house, in his handwriting: "The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears." I appreciate all of your sweet, kind, loving words. Thank you for your prayers; we really need them right now. Love, niKa "Be just, and fear not."

Yes, it rained and rained, and then rained some more. I have been raining, too. I got a phone call about 8:30 Thursday evening, saying that my Daddy was being taken into emergency surgery. They were only waiting for the surgical team to make it to the hospital. By the time I drove there, the surgery had been going on for about an hour and a half. It was supposed to last about that long, or maybe two hours. It lasted almost five hours, and he just couldn't take it. Daddy passed away at about four o'clock yesterday morning (Sept. 12th). Please pray for us, and most particularly, for my sweet Mom. Love, niKa "Be just, and fear not."

Thanks for asking; Brother actually waited until they opened the cage today before cussing them out. They were supposed to try to move him to the "cat room"; it's a playground-type area for felines, and is further from the barks of the dogs. They want to try to get him to let them handle him without my intervention, if possible, because seeing me again would make him immediately think that he was coming back home. If he could tell the difference between my little girl's room and the litterbox, he'd already be home. Poor little guy. But he'll be better off as the only cat, or only male cat, in his next household. He won't feel so "territorial," if you know what I mean. I dropped the grad course, by the way. Instead, I've been going to school for lunch with my boy, and reading to the kids for an hour each day. Even though I'm still teaching four sections, it's been like a vacation. Aaaaaaaahhhhhh. Grapes. Send peeled grapes. "Be just, and fear not."

Today, I watched children read the names of strangers, friends, and parents who were killed two years ago. Every so often, I would have to turn it off, because I was crying so hard. If it's hard for me to even watch them reading their father's names, how much more indescribably difficult must it be for them to live each day without their loved ones? Let's keep them in our minds, and in our prayers. And pray that they are the last American children who have to go through this. "Be just, and fear not."

They just called. He's backed up in the cage, won't talk to them, and has shown them his large, white teeth several times. I may go and sit with him tomorrow, to get him to come out and let one of them pet him. He's a really cool cat; he's just freaked right now. Anybody want a sweet, friendly kitty-cat? Got some heavy gloves? "Be just, and fear not."

I gave "Brother" the cat away today, to a local nonprofit which finds homes for animals. They'll get him a berth as somebody's housecat, rather than as our yardcat; he'll live longer, get more petting, get to sleep at the foot of the bed instead of in a box in the mudroom, etc. The first thing that he did was rip open the forearm of the vet who was trying to get him out of the carrying cage. Oh, Brother. "Be just, and fear not."

Do you think that Pawtucket was 9th Corps? We really do seem to like his (his or her? Pawtucket is such a mystery) website. I'm up so late because I just put a course (one of the courses I'm teaching) online for the first time. Cooooooool. 'night. "Be just, and fear not."

By the way, has anybody figured out the phrases under our names? I used to be a "regular," but now I know "the menu too well." Is that a promotion? Why is Exie "Madison?" When did Rocky meet the Chef? I'm so confused. Say, how 'bout them Sooners? "Be just, and fear not."

Faster than a Hot Wheels Corvette. "Be just, and fear not."

I'm thinking of dropping the graduate course. It was pretty self-indulgent of me to take it, in the first place, not that there's anything wrong with occasional self-indulgence. I thought that there would be enough time. There's not enough time. Send coffee! Send a maid! Send a laundress! I'd rather take the time and spend it reading to my children. Leaning that way, certainly. Thanks for listening. (((((((((((you))))))))))))))) "Be just, and fear not."