I Can't Believe...

I can't believe how many hours I have spent since 10 pm last night trying to book flights online for the trip to Cambodia. And oh, how many things I have learned that one cannot do in one's frequent flyer program.  And how many websites do really strange things for hours, then suddenly do what you want them to do even though you haven't changed anything. I still haven't figured out why the chosen password consisting of 6 alpha letters and 4 numerals didn't fit the description of 6-20 alphanumeric symbols.  I am so dismayed when I get a Delta agent on the line asking where I want to go and when told Phnom Penh and given the airport code PNH, she asks how to spell it, then in surprise declares that it's in Cambodia. Really? Has it ever been someplace else? I don't expect the average person to know how to spell Phnom Penh, but an airline ticketing agent is something else. You must also consider that she doesn't have to know how to spell it when all she has to do is choose it from a drop down box. Hmm.... 

I am finally finished though. I was able to get on flights with my group (they got their tickets without me! long story). I am smarter, having done it myself and can now probably handle it alone in the future.  All three of my speaking engagements at church went well and were effective, I was told. I had excellent material to talk on.  Cambodia, here I come.

See what I saw

Thinking about Cambodia again today.  We've got word that quite a few of the children, including my friend Chanra, are ill with unexplainable high fevers.  They will be going for blood tests tomorrow.  I remember when Julia was only about 4 years old and had recurring high fevers and we couldn't find any cause for it.  It was a scary time.  Imagine having 20 + children and five or six of them sick like that... Please join us in praying for their quick return to health.  And let me know if you enjoy the slide presentation that my friend Trish put together for our talks this weekend.  Click the link below for a quick visit to Prek Eng, Cambodia, orphanage houses Jeremiah's Hope and Joshua's Hope.

Cornerstone Cambodia Summer 2012 

Thoughts of Far Away Places



Sulang and I were the oldest of all the adults. She cooks for and mentors more than 20 children. I can't wait to see how she likes the new house they were able to move into. Amazing how much we communicated even with the language barrier.



It's the time of year for me to think of going to Cambodia again. No, I've really been thinking about it for months, but I guess I mean that it is the time of year for DOING something about it. Something like buying a ticket for a flight. Today it's been on my mind in a big way because this weekend I will be part of a presentation about the orphanages in Cambodia. I have a chance to talk for five minutes about my experience there to a group of possible supporters on Saturday night and two more groups on Sunday. These people represent a lot of support financially and some will be persuaded to come on the next trip and see for themselves what it is like. My friends and mentors in this project will also speak and show an awesome video they made of their children there.  I would so love for my words to be effective in helping more children to be rescued and cared for and loved.



The children were having so much fun singing songs and dancing for us. Some of them are awesome performers



I can't wait to see my sweet friend Chanra. I hear she wants to be a nurse and I want to encourage her.



Tribute to a Barn

For several weeks I have been searching salvage stores, antique shops and other likely looking places for an old window with some character and hopefully glass in all it's panes.  I have wanted to use it as a frame to showcase pictures of one of my favorite old barns - Grandpa Roy Smith's barn in Hayward.  I only found a couple windows at one shop, priced over my budget at $50 each and they were missing glass.  But last weekend I went north to visit Julie in Gainesville, wondering whether I might have time to poke around up there.  It is not as much a shopping venue as our beach towns and it is within reach of more rural areas where old houses abound.  On Friday I had time to myself and decided to investigate Alachua. I chose it because I liked it's name. It's about 7 miles from Julie's house - an easy jaunt.  However as I asked around, no one there knew of any places of the kind I was looking for.  My last stop was a small garden/gift shop with Christmas decorations going up in the window.  The owner didn't know of any salvage stores either, but when I mentioned I was looking for old windows she said she had a couple at home that she would sell - for $15 each!!  I could hardly keep myself from dancing around in front of her.  She agreed to bring them the next day and I promised to return for them.

Julie and I did go back and I ended up buying three wonderful old windows - just the kind I had been praying for.  They have distressed paint in several layers, glazing that's missing in places and so much character.  I can only imagine the faces that may have peered through them in the past. I chose this one in particular to display my barn pictures in because it has red paint showing through on the frame and a curious paint on the glass. The paint is white on the outside but on the back side of the glass it is a pale greenish gray, and that is the side that I have showing. (Whoever painted the outside last was very messy but I love the way it frames the pictures.)  The wood in my barn pictures has some of the same hues of red and green as the window frame.  They go together so well.

I hung it above my desk. I LOVE looking at my old window and the old family barn that I remember so well

Cleaning the Counter

I'm constantly shuffling papers on my kitchen counter. The mail ends up there, telephone messages, church bulletins, cash register receipts, medication instructions, coupons. I'm just so sick of paper everything. I'm for saving a few trees. The most frustrating thing during my latest sweep was a product registration form - let's call it a prf - that gives no clue what the product was.  Evidently we bought something that could be registered. That sounds quasi important doesn't it? Well, I wonder what it was. I'm so glad that failure to register it doesn't affect it's warranty rights. How can I send it in when it quits working if I don't know what it is? What if it goes rogue and starts killing people and they won't be able to notify me of the recall because I haven't registered my whatever-it-is?  Spanish speaking people buy a lot of these too because it's a bilingual registration card. How handy. They're covering all their bases, well, except for telling you what it is you're registering. Hmm... in the trash. I'm just sayin'...

I'm an Artist, kind of...

I tried a new thing today. Trying new things is good in that it gives me exercise in facing fear and helps me know that I am  not yet an old dog, because old dogs cannot learn new tricks. Today I face painted.

This was a volunteer job - I could have chosen other activities to oversee but there is just something in me that never quits wanting to be artistic. So I volunteered to do a shift at the face painting table and gave myself a week to figure out how to do it. Thank God for the internet. There is a nice lady who has done quite a few videos on face painting and I spent an hour watching her talk about it. It helped even though I would rather have watched her DO it on faces. There are people who make their living painting on people, which is really kind of unbelievable when you consider that the paint always gets washed off relatively soon.

It's kind of a big deal when you know you're going to hold someone's face in your hand and attempt to paint a picture on it. You have to get really close to this person (this is where the phrase "in your face" actually has some meaning). No one likes to sit still for very long so it's got to look like whatever it's supposed to be on the first try. And you must deal with the person as well as deal with the paint. Both can be challenging. Often I was able to talk children into the picture I knew I could paint - say a star, or a flower.

The boys were the hardest since not many of them ask for stars or flowers.  "I want to be Spider Man" he said.  I looked at him for a long, awkward time and then referred him to a book of faces on the table.  I have to confess I do not know what Spider Man's face looks like - at all. He found a picture of a red face with web-like lines and evil eyes that really looked more like a devil than a spider but I decided if he liked it I could do some modifications.  I'm not one for making small children into devils. He ended up being very red and webby and evidently it bore some resemblance to the arachnid hero because he was quite pleased. Boys like dolphins too. I was also asked to do a snake on an arm which I did in a beautiful periwinkle blue with black stripes. Boys will be boys.

Mommies get their faces painted too. They sometimes have to show their children that it doesn't hurt and that it is cool.  One Dad had his bald head painted. It was a pumpkin. I couldn't help thinking what a wonderful canvas he made. I'm not sure this would be my choice for a profession, but I did get an inquiry as to whether I could do a birthday party next week. That at least makes face painting an easier job than selling Mary Kay. I'm just sayin' maybe I will order some paints of my own....

November Plans

Since our staff turnover seems to be continuous, I thought it would be good to clarify my request for time off during Thanksgiving week when Jonathan and Esther plan to visit Florida. I usually get the weekend off but had asked for Friday as well.  I planned to work on Thanksgiving itself, get off as early as possible and have a quick turkey meal before heading to the airport to pick up the visitors. I am excited to say my plans have changed. 

Today, I heard that there is a Bluegrass Festival in Myrtle Beach, S.C. over Thanksgiving week and if all goes well my employer intends to be there. I, on the other hand, will be in Bradenton and off work from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Imagine my surprise and delight.  I had to keep from doing a dance in her presence.  Instead I calmly remarked that the schedule would work well with me and I would do whatever I could to assist her and the new nurse to get ready for the trip. It does sound like a fun trip for her and I'm glad that she may get to go - for my reasons as well as hers.