Greetings from DC

We are currently still enjoying our vacation. We have been busy, but that is what makes it fun. It also doesn't leave a lot of time for computer stuff - I prefer to live life not just blog about it so that is what I have been doing.

We set off for George Mason University on Sunday morning. The drive was peaceful and other than long we got to the university without any trouble - but it was then that the trouble started. We were at the wrong campus!

We got directions to the correct campus and dropped Eva off there and then set off for our hotel in Alexandria. We got settled in an just vegged the rest of the evening.

Monday morning dawned early as Emily started to cough at 5 in the morning. I got her up and we went to the hotel lobby as the guys were still sleeping. After a little girl time we got them up and had breakfast. We took the hotel shuttle to the Metro station. The most pleasant surprise of the trip lay in that ride. When we got into the van, the local Christian Radio station was on. And they were actually playing music, not just ads or talk! What really moved me though was the other family all began to sing as well. We were all singing and praising God. It was wonderful. We had, for the first time in ages, not attended church We were still able to get some worship in even if it was just in a van.

I took a few pics (imagine that) and we went to the air and space museum at the Smithsonian. What a lot to see! But as Emily and I had been up since the crack of dawn we decided to go back to the hotel. The hotel has a shuttle to the Metro and we waited for quite a while to get on it. When we got back to the hotel we realized that it was the wrong shuttle. They kindly took us back to the Metro station and eventually we ended up back at the hotel. Tom and the kids went swimming and I took a nap. We just grabbed a pizza and made a fairly early night of it.

That brings us to today. Tom arranged for a tour of the capital - which was pretty good. We also drove today. MUCH cheaper. The metro was $31. for 4 of us to ride and we are at the mercy of their schedules. Today we only paid $20 for parking and were literally just blocks from the White House were we met one of Tom's friends. We arrived when we wanted and left when we wanted. It is definitely the way to go.

We are meeting another friend tonight so I am off again.

Plans?!?

I did have plans for this week. It was to be a fairly quiet week. I was going to get ready for vacation. There are plans to finalize, people to talk to, laundry to do and clothes to pack. Those were my plans for the week.

So much for my plans.

Beverly who usually does the puppet shows with Todd pulled a ligament in her knee. This is the busiest week of the year. There are 4 different day care shows the Summit County Fair and a birthday. None of which you can do easily when you can't walk. So being first on the sub list, I am doing puppet shows this week. I know that when it comes pay day, I won't mind. I also know that I still can do what I need to do, I just need to do it a little smarter. But for now my plans don't count for much and I am off to the fair.

The search goes on...

We visited another church today - We agreed that this one doesn't even warrant another look. friends of ours go there and invited us and that is why we went. They obviously love it, but it is not for us.

One of the first things that is very important to me is Sunday school for all ages - all year round. I don't object if the programs are a little limited in the summer but it seems to me that if you have a congregation which was well over 300 that it wouldn't be that hard to get some substitutes over the summer - I was able to do it with a congregation of around 50. Satan doesn't take the summer off so I don't see why learning about God should.

Also one thing that was completely missing was worship. We were herded in like cattle and as soon as everyone was seated, the sermon started - no welcome, no announcements, no music just a sermon. The sermon itself was good enough. We agreed that it would have made a terrific Sunday School lesson, but as a sermon, it was lacking worship and thin on the teaching.

After the sermon, they had collection and then sang 3 (0nly 3) songs and that was it. I think I preferred the somewhat limited music of last week to the poorly led music this week. As I said no real invitation to worship and the sterility and size certainly didn't promote it either. We will not be going back there.

I am glad that my friends are happy there, but it is not close to home, and it is not for us.

The better to see you with...NOT

I have sadly come to the point in my life when I know that I am getting older. It is not the occasionally grey hair - I have had them as long as I can remember. It is not the spreading waist and the slowing metabolism - hate these but I can accept them. No - what has ticked me off is that I need bifocals.

So as if being dragged into middle age isn't bad enough Now I can't see anything. Partially I blame fashion. I mean really, how is anyone supposed to be able to see with the lenses the size of a grain of rice that is all trendy now. Maybe if I had a decent size frame they wouldn't bother me so much. But even getting the biggest frame I could the entirely if my vision includes the frame. And what is the worst is that right in the middle is that line for the bifocals. I actually like being able to see what I am reading. And the distance is about the same - but it seems as if where it is natural for me to look is exactly where the line is.

I am not happy, but I am not giving up this quickly either. I know that it will take some adjusting. My biggest concern is the migraines that this adjustment will cause. Things about my vision always trigger them - and what a surprise, getting bifocals has the same reaction. Or, maybe it is the tears of frustration that are doing that...

VBS at Olmsted Falls

Eva is at camp. Timothy is 14 and going into 9th grade in the fall so he is too old for most VBS. But this one is Emily's second. Although Olmsted Falls is not exactly next door, when I passed it I just got the feeling I should check it out. So I took Emily there for VBS.

I will say that it was an emotional time. The first person I came face to face with was Kim Fitz who was my mom's Hospice nurse. I could barely keep back the tears long enough to get the form filled out. For the most part I am at peace with my parent's death, but when something like this pops up unexpectedly I don't do so well.

That was not the end of it either. I went to Pacific Junction to check on Carolyn Carson who I used to work with ages ago at Jo Ann's. She and someone who I should know the name of because I worked with her at Reehorst opened a shop there. Mom and Dad also worked at Reehorst and the fist thing she asked was how my parent's were. So twice in a half hour I felt as if I had been hit in the stomach. I hope those experiences are done for today.

On the better side, I was able to talk to the minister there. He seems really nice (and to be honest is really cute). I also did a little snooping around the church and it definitely looks like a place that I want to take a Sunday morning to check out. They even have an Awana program there - but I am not sure how the kids would feel about leaving the one that they have been attending for 8 years. But I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Another Sunday...Another church

The church which we have been attending for 9 years closed June 29th. That was a very sad day for us. It was also the start of formally looking for a new church home. Today's visit was to The Orchard.

Sojkas began attending this church about a year ago and have invited us to come many times. This was the week we came. As it seems with just about everywhere we have been we are greeted with the same, "Oh, you are visiting...Well this week we are doing something different" So we have yet to see a 'regular' service anywhere.

The sermon was good. I noticed that there are several kinds of sermons. There are the 'fluffy' ones that barely have anything to do with the scripture. I definitely do not want that kind. Then there are the 'meaty' ones. Very true to scripture but basically factual. That was what today's was. Then there are the ones I have heard over the past 9 years which were a wonderful combination of both. They were strongly rooted in scripture, but there was a personal element which made it easy to connect the facts and apply it to everyday life - not in an abstract way, but in a personal way. But I realize I may not be able to get that, so 'meaty' is something I am willing to work with.

They are in the process of constructing a building, but for now they meet at a auditorium of a local school. I don't have a problem with that in theory, but in actuality, I end up looking around and being distracted by the stage and the catwalk. Where as a sanctuary helps me focus on why I am there, an auditorium distracts me from it. Once again I know that is not a permanent situation so I am willing to work with that too.

The biggest strike against it, is the music was awful! The regular pianist was on vacation and I didn't think much of the musical ability of the substitute. I like praise and worship songs. I like the traditional hymns. What I can't stand is where everything sounds like a funeral dirge - and that is what it sounded like today. If everything else were 'perfect' I guess I could eventually get used to it. However we were told that it is usually much better than this. I hope so.

All in all this is definitely worth another look, but that won't be for a while. I have a few other commitments and hopefully, by that time, they will be back to normal.

So why Paper Roses?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am mommysews - so why the name change? Well the answer is obvious...that was already taken so I was left to be creative and this is what I came up with, and a little as to why.

First of all the paper - It seemed fitting most of my hobbies involve some sort of paper. Scrapping: TONS of paper; Reading: books are made of paper; Sewing: I use paper as patterns. And in my work I aim to earn paper - in the form of a check paid to me to use for all my other paper addictions.

Now the other part, the roses. I like them. They are one of my favorite flowers and I grow them in my garden. But that is not why. I have come to associate roses with my Heavenly Father and just seeing them reminds me of Him. So of course, I had to include Him on my Blog.

So that is why I have paper and roses it is about what I do (work with paper) and who I am ( His beloved child)