Overnight with Maddie

Maddie and I finally got in a visit.  We had Chinese (P. F. Chang's Sweet and Sour) I love this item in the freezer--the chicken is wonderful and the accompaning fruit is very good--can't beat pineapple in a sweet and sour sauce.  Then we watched The Tale of Desperaux. Bolt (love that little dog) and went to bed to read.
Maddie is a prolific reader; she is now reading Louis Sachars Wayside Stories.  I had a copy of There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by the same author for her to take home.  He is funny.  I got a Junior Thesaurus and showed her how to use it.  She already knew what it was.

This morning after the required Toaster Strudel breakfast, we played Apple Scrabble and SkipBo.  Maddie is very good at words; I need to buy a regular Scrabble game and see how she does at that.

The we got out Brandon's Lincoln  Logs (wood, not plastic) and she designed and built a two-story hotel, with a very fancy fence around it.  What a girl!

Loved it all.

Vicky Smith

My friend and teaching colleague died over the weekend from a horrible cancer .

Vicky and I shared a hall in the English Dept.  She was a larger-than-life character--very straightforward.  If you didn't want to know what she thought in aces, don't ask.  Although she was very conservative, we had some really deep talks about the church.

She and I were virtually the only Democrats (except Mel Hailey) on the ACU campus, and we liked nothing better than to get people riled up.  We always decorated our end of the hall with election posters, pictures and buttons.

Vicky was an excellent, dedicated teacher who was very vested in her students' lives.  They trusted her with their problems, and she always had a spiritual answer for them.

Vicky enjoyed my bringing ideas from the public school classroom to her--she so wanted to move away from just lecture--which she did and the students loved it!

We swapped books, ideas, philosophy, and funny stories.  I loved that girl and will miss her.

Jesus, thank you for opening your arms to Vicky Jan Smith.  That is a great comfort.

Snow Again

I am sitting at the kitchen table watching the birds land on the bird feeder.  It has snowed about 2 inches of fluffy snow again--our 7th snow event of the year!
I am drinking Fresh Market's Christmas Blend and eating their pineapple coconut nut bread (to die for!).  My computer has been down for several days, and I am trying to get caught up on all the business of my book club and ladies' bible class.  It is a good day!

Swift Transition

I found out yesteday that my friend and teaching colleague at ACU has a vile form of incurable cancer--which was just diagnosed last week.  She is already in Hospice Care.  Vicky Smith is a larger than life person, an excellent, creative teacher.  She is single; her long-time friend Denise is caring for her.

I am just so sad and angry at this disease!  We need to throw billions of dollars at it to find a cure!
Please add Vicky and Denise to your prayer list.

Our days are so sweet, and they ARE numbered.  Make them count.