2:34 p.m. Today's project was to download (upload?) the audio book I had stayed up until nearly midnight trying to get synced onto my iPod, synced onto my iPod! We had seen the audible.com ad of a free selection for joining, and Steve agreed that he'd enjoy listening with me, or on his own, to a "book on tape," now a totally anachronistic term, though it's the same concept. I went through all of the steps once again with the tech, and a western novel from the Christian/inspirational department (678 books strong, I was pleased to see) is now on my iPod.
Don't Go to That City--They Call it Cheyenne is the title that caught my eye, probably because we own a house in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and some of our fondest memories involve finding a house, buying it, and returning to stay in it for a few days in December of 2006. Nothing like the prairie wind whipping at you when it's already below freezing outside! Brisk and stimulating, to say the least. But the warmth, openness and trust immediately evident in everyone we met are the qualities that sold us on that city on the plains. A couple of stupendous steaks attest to Cheyenne's beef-growing industry, and Calvary Chapel was a most welcoming and spirit-filled congregation as well. A perfect package for this SoCal-weary pair!
The peace and quiet, the antelope roaming the streets and clear air--we could see all the way into the Colorado Rockies--had us tempted to move there, but we returned home and had a property management company advertise our house for rent. If our children had been much older, with their own families, able to vacation "out west, " we would have moved, because as a family we have vacationed often in Colorado, taken them to Yellowstone, and further yet, to Mt. Rushmore. It would seem like a reasonable trip to them, not that far, to go see us, and for us to travel back here. But with our kids barely getting into or just out of college and starting off in life, we would have missed too much of their formative adult years. Priorities, always! As the pictures above illustrate [Steve with Adrian at Jackson Lake in the Grand Tetons, and Xavier and I on our front lawn] we had a great time visiting our house on the way home from Yellowstone this summer with our grandsons and Jada and Bailey. Family traditions renewed!
Much as I thrive on learning new technology, it was also very challenging to accomplish a very old-time piece of handiwork-- sewing a button on a shirt, one I bought to wear on my first Wales mission trip. Two challenges: running up and downstairs to find a needle and thread to begin with; and then, threading the needle while not being able to see its eye, or the tip of the white thread! Have the eyes of needles shrunk since I was a girl? Geez! I even have on one contact lens for close vision--lotta help that was. Dug around in the junk drawer for an embroidery needle with a larger eye, and finished my project. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!
New hobbies, like email, Facebook and blogging, are perfect for those of us with way too much to say, and I participate daily with enthusiasm. But quieter, slower-paced hobbies, like gardening, baking, reading, journalling, sewing, canning, crafting, scrapbooking and quilting bring women together in ways that are reminiscent of my years as a young mom at home, visiting with my girlfriends, sharing the word of God together, encouraging and teaching one another, and delighting in all of our babies and toddlers. The toddlers are now married, and many of us are retirees, but our love for one another is still strong--timeless, as is the love of our Lord.
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