Of tour guides and the Good Shepherd

On a recent cave tour I was giving, there was a 10 year old girl who
followed close at my heals the whole time. It did not matter to her
that her mother was stopping to take pictures, or that the two of us
were several feet ahead of the rest. She wanted to stay with the
tour guide so as not to get lost. I was reminded of the Good
Shepherd. Jesus says His sheep follow Him and will not listen to the
voice of a stranger. Now, I was a stranger to this girl, but I knew
the way to go. Her mother was not a stranger to her, but did not
know the way to go.

The lesson: Am I listening to familiar voices that don't really know
the way? Or am I following close to the One who knows me best and is
the only Way?

More progress

 The kitchen work proceeds slowly.  Here I am beginning the painting.  Notice the tie-dyed shirt.  That way I can make a mess and no one will notice!

We also hired a painter to do the outside gable ends.  They were white and have needed a paint job for years.  While we were at it, we had the painter redo the shutters, which had faded to grey.  I include a "before" picture for comparison (taken last winter from a different angle). 

                 Before                                                    After

                  

New Kitchen- Phase 2

The kitchen remodel shows progress.  The new cabinets are in:

Here are the base cabinets before the countertop was installed.

Little P having a little fun.  Gotta get that girl a hobby!

The finished product.  Still need to paint, though.

And a new floor covering!

Someday we'll get the blue plastic wrap off the dishwasher.

New Kitchen - Phase 1 continued

The kitchen remodel shows progress.  Here are a few more destruction pics:

The base cabinets were harder to get out.  We needed a plumber to disconnect the water pipes.

The old sink and counter top out in the yard.

More of the wallpaper coming off.  Little P counldn't reach that high.

A new kitchen @ 3rd & College

We are in the process of redoing our kitchen.  What we had was here when we bought the house 6½ years ago.  Below are pictures from the first step: taking out the old cabinets and working on getting the wall paper off.  That part is easy; something we know-nothings can handle.  We hired an out-of-work friend to do the the real work.

Before.  We are not sure how old these cabinets are, but the ½ inch particle board shelves are bowed.

Here I am taking down the last wall cabinet.  I had to improvise as the screw heads were stripped, and I don't have a lot of  tools.  So I drilled around them and pulled them out with vice grips.

Even 15 year olds like to have fun!

H enjoying a new toy: it is called the Paper Tiger.  It has wheels with blades to tear up the wall paper.

Stay tuned for updates.

Mother’s Day

To any mother who happens by, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day.  Make sure you tell your children how much you love them.  Let them be a major part of your life today, and every day, especially if they are young.  And if you still have a mother, call her and tell her you are glad she is your mother and chose to give birth to you.  Believe me, women sacrifice a lot to raise children, and their job has not been made easier by modern society.

Cinco de mayo

Cinco de Mayo was yesterday.  As a Spanish teacher, I am now going to point out a few things:

1. It is not Mexico’s independence day.  That is el dieciséis de septiembre (September 16).  
2. It is not even a victory in a war.  On May 5, 1862, a rag-tag Mexican force turned back an invasion by a much stronger, better trained French army at Puebla.  Mexico owed the French a lot of money and could not pay it back, so Napolean III decided it was time for France to have territory in the Americas again, having sold Louisiana and lost Haiti to a slave rebellion and Canada to the British.
3. It is not celebrated in Mexico as much as it is in large US cities.  It is a holiday in Mexico, but not as big a deal to them.  Kind of like Presidents’ Day or one of our other minor federal holidays.

So, why is it that I, as a Spanish teacher of Puerto Rican descent, am asked by my students if we can have a party that day?  Because we as Americans like celebrating holidays from other countries.  Think of St. Patrick’s Day.

So I listened with interest as the news reported the high school students in California who got in trouble yesterday for wearing clothing with the US flag on it.  Isn’t California part of the US?  Do we not, as US citizens, have a First Amendment Right of free expression?  The students were told their clothing might offend the Mexican-American students.  Excuse me?  If the Mexican-American students are offended by the flag of their adopted country, then perhaps they need to go back to Mexico.  I am glad the superintendent’s office in the school district reversed the suspension the students received.  Let the Mexican-Americans celebrate their heritage, as do Germans during October, or Jewish adherents during Yom Kippur or Hanukkah.  Just don’t punish American students who want to show a little patriotism, as is their right.

Oh, and if you have a chance, go buy something sold in Arizona, or go spend money in the Grand Canyon State, or write the governor and thank her for doing what our “Representatives” in Washington do not have the guts to do concerning illegal immigration.

Various meanderings of the mind

Okay, so it has been a long while since I posted here.  I probably don't even have any more followers!  (Or they have found someone else to read who is more active.)  So this post will have a few thoughts on some of my "labels".

• Politics- It looks like a lot of Democrats are getting out of Congress.  This is good news and bad.  Good, because it will mean fresh blood.  Bad because the ones dropping out are ones a good Republican (or third party candidate) could defeat, while the Democrats nominated in their places have a better chance of winning.  That means the Republicans will not gain as many seats.
• Pondering- While the future looks bleak from a human standpoint, it is good to know God is in control.
• Peeve- The politicians and the lapdog media that do not want us to see that America is slowly becoming a second rate nation. 
• Praises- God is in control!!!
• Pastimes- Baseball season began last weekend.  I just don't get as excited as I used to.  Not having a son at home who listened to every Cardinals' game may have something to do with that.
• Provoking mirth- April Fool's day came and went without anyone really pulling a major prank on me.  But then, I think the current administration believes us all to be fools. 
• Poetry- 

It's Spring again as all can see.

A long winter past, from snow we're free.

The grass is green, the sky blue;

My heart yearns for fresh air true.

But summer draws near humid and hot.

Soon I'll look for a shady cool spot.

Then autumn will arrive and the trees turn red,

Then winter again, and all will seem dead.

So, on life goes, the years pass by.

And then some day, so will I die.

In that day, when in heaven I wander

No bad weather will be there to ponder.

Oh well, I guess poetry will have to do without my efforts.  Perhaps that should be under "Provoking mirth"!

The weather outside is delightful...

It's March!  Another Spring is just around the corner.  It seems this winter has been longer than the previous winters.  I guess it is because we have had more snow than any time in the last 30 years, according to some locals.

Anyway, we are finally getting our January Thaw, though it is over a month late.  Wonderful global "warming", eh?  Oh, sorry.  It is "climate change" now.  The pseudo-scientists decided the earth was not warming like they thought, so now they changed the name.  And with all the snow this winter, they are trying to tell us the warmer atmosphere has more moisture in it than before, so we are getting so much more winter precipitation.  Yeah, right.  And the Ice Age ended because early humans discovered fire, which added carbon to the atmosphere and melted the ice.  (I made that last one up.)  Never mind all the carbon emitted whenever a volcano erupts.  Or all the methane from animals passing gas.  Or all the CO2 from all of us exhaling.  But aren't plants fed by carbon?  No problem, then.  Just keep emitting carbon and the planet will get greener.  And if it all warms up, then we can plan our tropical vacation in Alaska and the tundra will be the new bread basket.

Oh, nice to solve the world's problems.  You'll thank me later.  I guess I better get my acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize all written and memorized.  But what to do with the prize money?  Hmm.  I wonder if there is any beach front property for sale in Point Barrow.

Thoughts on the Olympics

Just a few ramblings related to the Winter Olympics:

• It’s great to see so many Americans doing well.
• It was saddening when the Georgian luger died in that accident.  I cannot imaging going 90mph on a small sled!
• Can “dancing” on ice be considered a sporting event?
• Can we ever watch the figure skaters (or other events) without the constant chatter of the announcers?  I want to choke Scott Hamill whenever he groans after a skater messes up.  Comment on the replay!
• How many times does the announcer need to remind us that “only the first two go on”? It seems like the guy calling the snowboard and ski cross (race between four people at one time) felt like we needed to hear that at least twice every heat.
• Why aren’t all the American competitors (except the figure skaters) wearing red, white and blue?  
• What happened to patriotism?  Too many of the Americans either forgot or never learned how to salute the flag during the national anthem.
• Seeing all that snow makes me cold.  But then, we are getting our heaviest snowfall of the year right now, so I don’t need to watch the Olympics to see a lot of snow!