Cool Cat in the 'Hood

For weeks Mooch, a walk-on, has been around, developing love/hate relationships with Putter Davis and Miss Scarlett. He's a little less frightened of us now than he was at first and we are hoping that we will be able to wrangle him into the cat carrier so he can have a little surgical procedure. :) Maybe then Putter won't hate him so much and Scarlett won't be so afraid!

South of Broad

We are HUGE Pat Conroy fans at our house. Maybe it's our shared history as B.R.A.T.s, maybe it's the southern thing, or maybe we just plain love his style. Whatever the reason, we have been waiting for the publication of his latest book for far too long. Sa gave E.W. a copy a couple of weeks ago and he has hardly put it down. I think I'll finally get a chance to read it, though, 'cause look what came for him in the mail today from Sa...YES, his own autographed copy, thank-you-very-much!

Compassion, the First Letter

Since March, I've been looking forward to the day when this envelope would arrive!

It's my first letter from Patricia, the little girl I sponsor through Compassion International (I knew it would take a sweet forever; letters go to headquarters and must wait for translation before they are sent to a sponsored child. Then, children at the centers write letters and the process is reversed). From her letter,I learned that she loves to eat pupusas, so yes, I have already searched for a recipe and will be attempting to make them so I can experience a bit of her culture. She is also praying for me, for God's blessings and strength and wisdom. How sweet to know that a little soul and I are bringing each other's needs to God's attention. I am so appreciative to Compassion for that.

I love that she drew this picture on the back; shows that a child in El Salvador is really not so different from a child our country, doesn't it? Now...off to finish a letter to her! I think I'll include some photos (my drawing skills would horrify her!).

Road Trip

We're back home after a wonderful trip to Virginia to be with George and Sue (winner of the most gracious hostess award). Our niece, Sarah, lives just around the corner so that made the visit even better. Although the road between here and there is long, it is SO worth the drive to be able to be with them. For the first time in a sweet forever, there were no 'functions' (golf tournament, wedding, holiday) and we planned to do a lot of nothing. I WILL tell you that we were most successful and met that goal. I'm sure we each gained a few pounds due to the fabulous meals we had while we were there, but tomorrow IS another day.

Wordless Wednesday

This Face

I am missing this face! Just a few more weeks until Ellie and I get into some mischief...

The Same Kind of Different as Me

The Bluestockings had a range of opinions and emotions concerning this book by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. One thing we can agree upon is that some of us are not very photogenic!

Clean Slate

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Birthday Dawg

First, Finest, Forever

Last June, sparked by Bryna's trip to Georgia (girl has lived in Cali since we got out of school), Betsey invited us to come to her house at the lake for a long overdue get-together. College didn't seem like it had been *insert large number* years ago. It was such fun that we knew we wanted to do it again this year. Although we were down one in number (Ba had to go to pre-planning; boo!), we tried to make up for it by staying an extra night. Now if we just had someone to write down the things we finally got straight in our memories so that we won't have to figure them out again next year (because oh, yes, we DO plan to do this again)!