WALTER BRENNAN

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I love Walter Brennan and the way he talks/sings his songs. When we were little we had an album I loved that had a song called "Old Rivers". But for some crazy reason I can never remember his name. At random times Michael will ask, "Who is the man that sings "Old Rivers"? Drives me nuts. He asks me because he knows I won't be able to remember. And because he knows it drives me nuts.

Today in church in front of God and everyone he asked me. And of course, once again, I couldn't remember. After he tells me I will sometimes say it over and over until I think it sticks. It never sticks.

Today I had an idea. I'm a visual learner. So I found this little picture and thought if I type his name over and over, my brain will take a picture and file it for future reference.

Like next time I'm put on the spot in front of lots of people.

The Judge, The Meteor and the Rock

Christy had a conference in Reno so Cathy and I boarded planes and we all met up in Albuquerque to go on up to Nevada together. We always enjoy getting to spend time together and this time it was in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains.
On Tuesday we drove up to North Lake Tahoe. Probably one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. It started snowing big ole' snowflakes and it was perfect.

On the last day of the conference, Christy did a little quiz thing that gave a name to people with different types of personalities. She figured out what all of us are. Christy is the Judge. The Judge does all the planning of all the details for an event and makes sure they are carried out. Cathy is the Rock. The Rock also is a detail planner but goes along with things if there is a change in plans. Before she even told us what the Meteor does, I already knew. I am the Meteor. The Meteor is the one who just goes along with whatever, pretty much oblivious to the planning or details. I tell you those definitions were right on. At least mine was. Especially when I'm on a trip with my sisters. I don't have to be the planner, I know I'm taken care of -along for the ride. Pretty sweet.

We always do pictures trying to figure out where to sit each one so I can crop us all into one picture. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The focus button on my camera won't move, which I didn't know until I got back, so most of the pics were a little fuzzy, but I worked with them anyway trying to salvage what I could. The cropping went well on two of them, but on the third I got a little frustrated so I started cropping my head all over the place. Pretty funny. At least to me.

Thank you, girls, for the sweet time. For the laughter, the movies, the popcorn, and for North Lake Tahoe. It was all beautiful.

Pray People Pray

Hannah and Leah just walked in with their driving permits.

Enough Said.

Still Small Voice

So I was jumping up and down in the concert the other night . . . okay, not really, but the thought of that made me laugh. Out loud. Okay, start over. I was swaying back and forth at the concert the other night, careful not to lift a foot just in case someone might think I was acting younger than my age. The music was deafening. I have no idea what the young lady was yelling in the microphone. And then I heard it. God spoke to me.

He told me to start thanking Him for the victory instead of pleading for the victory in a situation I've been desperately praying and pleading for. Whoa. I heard it. It was so clear and so exciting to me that I shouted "WooHoo!!" I shouted it out loud for 20,000 people to hear. This girl knows when it's safe to shout and still keep ego intact.

There has been several other "Woohoo!" moments and a few "Yippee!" moments in the last six months. At least that was worth an 'out loud' expression of elation.

I usually try to be in bed by weather time, around 10:15 p.m. Back in October I was already watching Pete Delkus give the forecast. I didn't shout, I just said "Yippee!" Michael walked in and asked "Did you just say "Yippee"? My reply: "I sure did. The low is going to be in the 60's tommorrow night, which means our days are going to start cooling off!"

If you are an over fifty hormonal woman you understand where the excitement came from. When you have an internal oven there is much gratefulness and excitement when the outside oven starts cooling off. Makes me a little easier to live with.

Another night I was in bed waiting for Pete's forecast to begin. There was another story on before he began that warranted a "Woohoo!" That time Hannah came in and asked "Did you just say "Woohoo"?" My reply: "I sure did. They just said shoulder pads are coming back in style. When I used to sell Premier Jewelrey, they told us to tell women that shoulder pads make you look five to eight pounds lighter. Add earrings to take off another two. I'm about to look 10 pounds lighter!" Pretty exciting, huh? Definitely deserved a "woohoo".

At Christmas when the kids were all home I was at the sink doing the dishes from supper when one of the kids told me to look at Eli. He had his 'Big Bro' t-shirt on. I felt all the "woohoos" and "yippees" rolled into one couldn't express how big my heart felt.

So this "Woohoo" moment in the middle of a very large, very loud crowd was because I could hear His still small voice in whatever situation I find myself. It was because I can trust His word to me that He will deliver victory.

The next morning His word was confirmed to me when I was watching Charles Stanley before church. He was preaching about David and Goliath. He asked what we thought was going through David's mind as he was standing across from that big ole' giant. Dr. Stanley thought he wasn't afraid. He thought that little shepherd boy David was picturing himself holding that big mammoth head up in his hand so all the soldiers of Isreal could see how good their Holy God truly was. He saw the victory before the battle ever began. Wow.

To trust that much. Oh, how I want to trust that much.

Thank You, Father, for the victory.

Apologies

I realize that when I begin rambling on about the aging process that my children want to close their eyes, plug up their ears and sing "My Country tis of Thee". I guess I should spare them the shame of knowing their mom lays it all out there for all to see.

So kids, "I'm sorry". I'll try to better.

No promises. I'll try to warn you from now on so you won't have to field any more questions about facial hair and the like. It is a little cathartic though. I've been so busy lately with the pictures for the pictorial directory that I feel a bit mechanical in some of my daily responsibilities. It feels good to sit and type without thinking. Just let it come on out.

Sunday after church we had a fund raiser lunch to send kids to camp. I met Brandi at the church about eight thirty to start making tea and getting things set up. It wasn't until I spilled some tea on the floor and bent over to clean it up that I discovered I had on the wrong shoes. They worked okay, but I was a little disappointed the rest of the service. Not that I liked these less than the others, or have ever been a shoe connoisseur, it was just another reminder that I'm losing it a little. I'm not sure what "it" is, but I do know I'm losing it.

I received a coupon for a manicure for my birthday. The lady worked on my nails then put a salt scrub on my hands and started massaging. I started crying. It was so sweet. How could she possibly know I needed a little pampering? It didn't even lose it's sweetness when I saw the lady next to me do the same thing for the little grandma sitting at her station. They are either really sensitive or they do it for everyone. I'm kinda thinking the latter is true. But I don't even care.

We took 11 students to a Christian rock concert Friday night. We had seven adult sponsors. I am old enough to be the mom of the sponsors.

I just heard someone laugh.

The music was so loud that my clothes were vibrating. We stood for two-plus hours. I felt like I lost ten pounds. That music was so loud I know it had to pulverize fat cells without me even moving. By Sunday I was hearing a little better. By Monday I decided we could take the kids again in April. May even wad up some toilet paper a poke it in my ears like the elderly gentleman did in front of me. I thought he looked pretty ridiculous, but now, not so much.

Sorry for the rambling. Just needed to talk.

Sorry kids.

Who Wears Short Shorts

Back in the mid seventies there was a commercial for Nair leg hair remover. These girls all came out in really short shorts with really long legs poking out of those really short shorts. They were arm in arm sort of doing the "hey, hey with the monkeys" walk showing off those hair-free long legs.

I decided I needed to try the Nair, after all, I had just finished sewing my own pair of short shorts. I think the term we used was "hot pants". Gee. I can't imagine with a name like that how I ever even got out of the house. Probably because I was wearing some dark panty hose underneath so it didn't seem quite so revealing. And white sandals. I'm sorry.

I was reminded of these things last week when I was pulling out the Sally Hansen facial hair remover from my make up drawer. Yes, I said facial hair remover.

There are many fascinating things that come with growing older. Loss of eyesight, loss of metabolism, loss of estrogen and . . . hair growth. Hair growth on your face.

Kudos to the retailers of the world who jump right in there to help us manage the loss of so much with products that make us feel like normal people. Normal young people. We have reading glasses/10x magnifying mirrors, bigger clothes, and hormone replacement therapy. And Sally Hansen Facial Hair Remover.

The problem is that I subconsciously think that because my facial hair is blonde and I can't see it, that nobody else sees it either. I do try, however, to stay out of direct sunlight so my face won't resemble the waving wheat of Oklahoma.

So I put the cream on my face, remember the burn I used to feel on my legs years ago and wait the 3-5 minutes before wiping it off with a damp rag.

The problem is that lately I haven't hardly been home. There were no clean rags. So I used toilet paper, wiped off the cream, checked myself out in the bathroom mirror. Looked pretty darn good.

I then pulled out the 10x magnifying mirror. Not only was there still hair that needed to be evacuated, there was also traces of Charmin Ultra Soft wedged in between some of that hair. All over my face.

The scary thing is that if I hadn't checked out my 10x mirror, I could have left the house with toilet paper scraps all over my face that could very well attract attention to the left over hair.

Don't get me wrong. I love growing older. I just don't want it to get away from me. I can embrace some of the idiosyncrasies and try to counter some of the others. In order to do that I may need to price a 20x lighted mirror.