Friday Five: Random Thoughts

RevKarla brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals, which will be fun!

Playing Friday Five was my entree into the World of RevGals.  I remember the first time I played, I felt so welcomed by everyone’s comments.   That was in 2007.   And even though most of my blogging is through writing prayers for the RGBP blog, I can’t imagine my life or my ministry without this community.  I am so, so, so grateful.

So, since I am all weepy and happy thinking about this organization,  I offer you this Random Friday Five:

1.  What are you wearing right now?  (a question from my first FF play.)

TX is transitioning from a short spring to summer, so I am back to wearing sandals, along with light, striped pants from Chico's and a shirt with apples on the fabric, with rolled up sleeves, buttoned by a flap.

An advantage to living in hot and humid Texas is the fact that I can wear sandals almost year-round. My favorite and most comfortable kind are Wolky Jewel sandals, which I have in four different colors. This is the pair I have on today:

2.  What are you having for lunch (or dinner)?  (another question from my first FF play.)

Today is an eating-out day. For lunch, I am meeting my first friend (Lisa) in Corpus Christi from 1979 for lunch at a little restaurant that features salads and sandwiches. We grew up mothering our first three kids* together, but in recent years we only see each other once a month or so. I am looking forward to having a salmon salad with her.

Lisa and baby Avery, Dec. 2010

*Lisa had three children, and I had four. The first three are close in ages and grew up together, almost like cousins. We were initially connected through La Leche League when we were pregnant with our first children.

3.  Share an experience of community that was transformative or precious to you.

I am blessed with various small groups that give me experiences of community and continue to help me grow. One very small group that offers glimpses of the Holy One is the weekly Lectio Divina group that meets at First United Methodist Church.

One week ago three of us had a powerful experience of deep connection while in the Lectio Divina process pondering one long sentence of Paul's in Hebrews Hebrews 12: 1-2:

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,

12:2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

I continue to ponder "the sin that clings so closely" which was a totally new aspect of the scripture that I had never noticed (or had avoided) for years. I will not forget this time God blessed us with  felt presence of wordless, deep connection.



4.  Describe your favorite mug or glass.

My current favorite mug is one given by a friend named Pat for Saint Patrick's Day. It is a roundish, Polish-made mug with blue flowers and green shamrocks encircling it.

5.  Give a shout out to a friend or colleague!

 I immediately thought of Katherine of Meaning and Authenticity blog, who brought me into blogging with RevGalBlogPals in 2006 and whom I met at a 2 Year Spiritual Formation Academy in my covenant group. Love to you, Katherine!

My Friend Nancy

Nancy and I met each other at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan in 1962(3?) so we have been friends for over 50 years. Since I grew up in a military family and moved every few years, I don't have any other "childhood" friends that I am still in touch with.

Every five years or so, we go on a trip together. This year Nancy is flying to San Antonio, where we will attend an ART workshop on Saturday and Sunday. She flies in Thursday night, and I will drive there tomorrow. She will stay until Monday when she must return to CA to her family and her teaching job.

Here is a picture of Nancy from our last trip together--New Mexico in 2010.

Nancy at Chaco Canyon 2010

 I am excited about seeing Nancy and exploring San Antonio together on Friday. Nancy is much more artistic than I am (not), so this will be a growth experience at the workshop this weekend for me!

Friday Five: A Little Bit Random

Deb brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

I have been busy writing “professional” papers, where it is required that staid, measured prose be properly footnoted, annotated and credited. I am tired of living there!

However, my creative brain is somewhere in the land of strange to illogical. So join me in my flight of thought and tell us:

1. A color that you enjoy (and where you find it)
Green, and with spring comes the bright fresh green of new leaves, especially on the mesquite trees.

2. A food or drink you have discovered recently that is just da bomb!
I LOVE the soup recipes found in The New England Soup Factory Cookbook. One of my favorites is Vegetarian Mulligatawny Soup, with the recipe found here.

3. A simile for tiredness

4. A random picture from your phone, camera or computer

Very random picture of Ben's dog Troy

5. Your least favorite bill: car mechanic, dentist or plumber?
Probably car mechanic, because that usually means something major has gone wrong--lots of charges for labor.

BONUS: If you are going to have a Lenten practice or discipline, what is it? If you have a book or on-line resource, be sure to share it!
My friend Nancy sent me a book to read for Lent, so we'll be reading it together even though she lives in California and I live in Texas: God for Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Lent and Easter. Another book I like is Small Surrenders: A Lenten Journey by Emilie Griffin.

Helping Friends

After my last post, a blogging friend and other friends have reached out to me to give me support and encouragement. Today I found these words from Diane Walker, both on her Facebook page and on her blog Contemplative Photography:

Back in the days when we lived in Vermont, there were lots of jokes about taciturn Vermonters interacting with that most dreaded of species, the New Yorker.  And the punch line for one particularly amusing one I remember, uttered by an old Vermont farmer in that lovely accent they put on for strangers, was "you can't get theah from heah."

... which was what I heard when I looked at this photo: I mean, the gateway and path issue a lovely invitation, and there's a pretty cottage off in the distance, but the truth is -- you can't get there from here. There's actually a very deep body of water between here and there, not to mention a field thick with dune grass and a broken-down boardwalk through a marsh.

... which reminds me a bit of the spiritual journey: there have been, in my lifetime, any number of appealing and inviting paths I've pursued, only to find myself blocked at some unexpected point -- and frequently having to retrace my steps.

... which is, perhaps, the universe's way of reminding me -- as it says in Logion 3 of the Gospel of Thomas -- that the goal, the end point of this journey is not somewhere else: it's really right here. "Divine Reality exists inside and all around you," says Yeshua. "Only when you have come to know your true Self will you be fully known-- realizing at last that you are a child of the Living One."


By Diane Walker


Thank you, Diane!

Friday Five Fun

Here are a few fivers to get you ready for whatever is next in your day (or keep you procrastinating for awhile before you do what you need to do.)

1.  If you were a character in a children's storybook, which storybook would it be, or what character, and why?

One of my favorite picture books is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. When Miss Rumphius had many adventures when she was a young woman, but when she was older she became the crazy "Lupine Lady" by sowing lupine seeds wherever she walked. The flowers flourished and bloomed all over in the springtime each year. She did this because her grandfather always told her that she "must do something to make the world more beautiful." She eventually discovered this little way to bring beauty to the world. I would like to do that, too, but probably not with flowers.

I like to give this book to children 3-7 years old, especially when a new baby has arrived in his/her home.

2.  What is something you are looking forward to this weekend?
Most of all, I am looking forward to lunch today with my first friend in Corpus Christi, whom I met at a La Leche League meeting before our first children were born in 1979. Eventually, we both became La Leche League Leaders and have remained friends all these years. Sadly in recent years, we only see each other once a month or so, because Lisa returned to teaching when MJ was a little girl. In fact, my daughter MJ was in Lisa's 4 year old class and later in her first grade class!

Walking with a friend this Saturday morning, which has been a tradition since 1996. We didn't see each other last Saturday because I was in San Antonio and Austin.

3.  If you had an invisibility cloak for a day, how would you use it?
I am still thinking about this one!

4.  I "lose" my keys all the time.  In fact, sometimes I lose them several times a day.  It is so bad that a member of my congregation gave me "instantly remember where you left your keys intense memory-stimulating mint gum."  Is there something you misplace or lose often? 
Keys like you and my reading glasses! I have multiple pairs of reading glasses around the house, but always lose them. In contrast, my husband Chuck has three pairs which are kept in designated places, so he always finds a pair! (And I don't follow his example. . . . .)

5.  Use the following words in a sentence:   ladybug, rowing, diner, sloth, and knitting. 
The gray sloth was rowing by the diner on the dock when he saw that the ladybug was knitting a  life preserver.

Daffodils!

I love daffodils and took pictures of them during our recent trip to Washington State. And then tonight, I was totally surprised by my daughters from Seattle--they sent me a box of daffodils! Daffodils in Texas seem odd, but I am happy that they are here for a few days.

Here is a picture I took of my friend Terry by some daffodils in Seattle. I never thought to ask her to take a picture of me with them; now I wish I had.

Friday Five: Beginning Again

O begin!
 Fix some part of every day for private exercises.
Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. 
It is for your life; there is no other way; 
else you will be a trifler all your days. . . . 
Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. 
Do not starve yourself any longer." 
~~John Wesley 

Rev. Pat Raube brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

The New Year has dawned! At this point, we are four days in. As for me and my house, there is a concerted effort afoot to keep a record of everything I eat, as well as the seasonal re-commitment to morning prayer. At the same time, I'm trying to cultivate a more self-accepting stance, an attitude of gentleness and forgiveness with myself when I don't keep those promises. Herewith, a Friday Five all about Resolutions and Absolutions.

Resolutions, which are really re-commitments:

1. Start by sharing your success stories with us: In the past, what resolution has been your most successful? What change have you made that has been the most beneficial, to your mood, health, finances, or other way of being in the world?


Probably the major changer was the commitment to pray "Bless _____________, change me" when I was irritated or bothered by someone else. Getting into the habit of praying or merely saying that eventually brought forth peace within me and changes that I could perceive much later. It sounds inconsequential, but it is a powerful practice that I am committing to begin again.


In the past year, with my shoulder surgery performed exactly one year ago today, physical therapy, water aerobics and the re-commitment to Weight Watchers brought forth better health and well-being for me. And I am beginning anew after my indulgent holidays.

2. What is one thing you hope to do differently this year with regard to health, either physical or spiritual? If you are satisfied with your current status in both areas, perhaps you would be willing to share something you've already done (or regularly do) to care for yourself.


I want to start walking a set route more routinely/regularly. Our current cold spell in south TX makes it a good time to begin, because it is not as hot and humid like it normally is.  I want to return to water aerobics classes at the YWCA, which fell by the wayside with the holidays and colder weather. I am considering going back to Tai Chi again, as new classes start next week.

3. What is one thing you hope your family (of origin, of choice, however you define your primary place of mutual emotional sustenance) will do differently this year? A new tradition for birthdays? More vacation time? Game night? Feel free to really dream about ways to deepen your connections with those you love.

Learn to play Mexican Train dominoes-- I bought the game for my family to play over the short time the kids were here, but we never got around to it. Chuck and I cannot figure out how to play, so the plan is to invite friends (who originally told me about the addictive quality of the game) over for dinner and have them teach us how to play. Perhaps that will be a regular activity in the future, who knows?

4. What is one thing you hope your community of faith will consider doing differently this year? New music? Different approaches to preaching? Rearranging the furniture? If you are in a position to try to introduce change, share some of your enthusiasm and/ or anxiety with us!

With our new priest, there will be change--no one is sure what. He has a lot of enthusiasm with his youth (around 40), outgoing personality, and this being the first time he is the "main" guy.  
For myself, I am pondering what is the future of a church library. Ours was repainted--off white--last year. The walls are still bare, so what is to be done? It is almost like a blank canvas. Having the new year arrive is helpful to begin again with the library!

Absolutions:

5. In what area would you most like to learn to be gentle with yourself? For what would you most like to forgive yourself? Share your ideas and strategies for extending yourself the kind of grace we know we are assured of. 

This is connected with #1. I need to let go of guilt I automatically take up when things go badly, which is an illogical action. A friend told me a good story connected with that today:

A few days ago she noticed all the fallen, brown leaves (in south TX, leaves fall in January!)  on her lawn and thought she should rake them up, but she didn't. Then she observed herself automatically telling herself she was "bad" for not doing that, which spiraled down into condemning herself for putting off the leaf raking and other things ALL the time, and so what a "bad" person she is. She was able to step back and realize that all her energy was caught up in the self-condemnation instead of anything productive. She realized that there is nothing good or bad about the leaf accumulation, which is more about detachment. She said every time she observes a leaf, just lying in the house or anywhere else, she notices it without jumping into personal judgments. It is a practice in detaching.

My friend's story gives me an image of how I react to things in my life and how I would like to stop doing that. Remembering how she is trying to live is a lesson for me in the new year.

O begin again!

Friday Five: HAPPY!

Today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals is brought to us by Revkjarla:

Give us five "I haz a happy"s...... for your Friday Five.  AND, bonus points for photos!!!!!

1. I am happy that I could visit youngest daughter MJ in Utah this past week and also see autumnal leaves!

MJ at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City

 2. I am happy that daughters AE and KA came to visit in Austin around Halloween and that we could see them, our granddaughter Avery and her parents.

Avery with KA at pumpkin patch

AA, Avery, and DC at pumpkin patch

3. I am very happy that husband Chuck is painting the walls that used to be covered with wallpaper!

Chuck painting out entryway this morning!

4. I am going to spend two days at Lebh Shomea, silent retreat center, in Sarita, TX next week.

5. I am happy that I have good friends, some of whom are pictured below.

October 25

I found this on Facebook today and thought it was funny. It added to a very happy birthday for me today. FB brings wishes from so many people, far and wide.

I started the day off by voting at an early voting locale. It took a long time, but oddly I learned that the man in front of me graduated from high school the same year Chuck and I did--1968--but he lived in Corpus Christi. When I told him I'd graduated in Washington, he asked me where in WA? When I told him "Bellingham," he told me he had just moved back to TX from there. Such an odd connection with a stranger in the line to vote. . . . I am glad I have voted, especially as I will be on a plane back from Salt Lake City to San Antonio on election day.

I love cards, and I got nice cards from many friends. BEST of ALL, I received cards from three of my four children. Friends surprised me by stopping by with little gifts.

And my two oldest children mentioned me on their blogs:

Oldest son DC put a picture of Avery up and oldest daughter AE posted a recipe for applesauce muffins.

  And I realized that I am the age my mother was when my second child (AE) was born in 1982. I like to picture her at the same age, though I realize at the time I thought she was older than I feel now. My perspective has definitely changed.

And for the rest of you, this is notice that it is two months until Christmas. Growing up, I always knew that on my birthday, Christmas was two months away.

A Day of Spiders, Visiting and Prayer

When we first moved to Texas in 1978, we met a man at a light store who had a huge lump on his arm from a black widow spider's bite. I have continued to hear about poisonous spiders living here in TX, but I have never had a friend or family member bitten by one. I have been frightened of the thought of spider bites.

A spider that looked a lot like the one on the left was on the driver's window and side-mirror on my drive all the way back from Sandia to Corpus Christi this afternoon. That trip takes about an hour.

I worried most of the time that the spider would not be off the car unless I did something. So I finally stopped in Corpus Christi and pushed it aside, only having it scurry to the bottom of the car.

Being too scared of the spider, imagining such fatal things as one of our dogs being bitten--by a presumably poisonous spider (Nothing like extreme reactions on my part!), I drove over to our local HEB supermarket that has both gas pumps and a car wash. I decided that a car wash should knock the spider off the vehicle, which I am still hoping for.

I only noticed that the spider was black with white spots, so googling that description brought the picture above--of a "bold jumping spider." According to Wikipedia, the jumping spider has distinctive green eyes. I didn't notice that, as I mainly watched its bottom on the window. So perhaps the spider was a jumping spider, which is not poisonous, but whose bite might cause allergic reactions.

So that was a dramatic end to a day of visiting my friend Louise who lives on a ranch in Sandia. Driving there, I drove through various thunderstorms, but it was sunny on my return--just "clouded" with the spider!

We had a good day of visiting, along with two periods of silence for contemplative prayer. Neither of us has been practicing meditation twice a day, so this was a nudge in the right direction. The second prayer time is reinforced in our minds and hearts, because both of us were more deeply in prayer than the first time today.

A Gift from my Dad

Although my father died in 1992, I received a gift from him via my friend Jennifer. I stayed with her last week in Seattle. She told me how she remembered my dad attending her mother's funeral. He came up to her afterwards and told her that he was there for me; that I could not be there and he'd come in my place.

In all these years, Jennifer had never told me that little story before, plus my father never said anything more to me than he had gone to her mother's funeral.

Since I have no siblings with whom to share memories of my parents, I value my friends' memories. Jennifer was one of my high school friends and so knew my parents. And she gave me a sweet gift of remembrance, for which I am deeply grateful.

Friday Five: Grateful Edition

Today's Friday Five is brought  by KathrynZJ for RevGalBlogPals and she asks us to relate five things for which we are grateful:

1 Blogging: .Back in 2009, I did a 26-day series of ABC's of Gratitude which I just perused and remembered with thanks.

It reminds me of my formerly enthusiastic days of blogging, when I would spend hours looking at and commenting on other blogs.  It was fun to have so much interaction with blogging friends, mostly RevGals. That's why I like the weekly Friday Fives, because connection is renewed each week, more like "the old days."

2. Family: I am grateful for my family, especially remembering our first child DC, who was born 33 years ago today.

3. Books: I love books and have too many of them! It has been fun to have a subcategory on Pinterest "About Books."  To go along with JFK's quote about gratitude, here's one from Jacqueline Kennedy that I had stored on Pinterest:

I go off on different trails reading books. I am currently re-reading Patricia Cornwell mysteries beginning with the first one published in 1990, while starting ones that take place in England at the time of Henry VIII by C. J. Sansom. At the same time I am still reading books about Jung and Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer. I also recently started Wolf Hall on my Kindle, but am now going to save it to read on vacation. Wolf Hall is the reason I started reading C. J. Sansom's mysteries.

4. Vacations: Not quite a vacation, but still a trip, I am going to Salt Lake City next weekend to help MJ find a place to live while she goes to graduate school at the University of Utah. She will start in mid-August.

Our family vacation this year will be to Washington State (as usual) to visit family and friends. All our children and their partners will be with us for part of the week we spend on San Juan Island.

5. Friends: Friends are very important to me. I am lucky to have spiritual friends; book-reading friends; blogging friends; friends from my youth; eating friends; walking friends; WWF friends and the list goes on and on.

Death, Despair, and Love

My cousin Karen died last month, evidently from ALS. She had been in a nursing home in WA State for the past year, with this diagnosis only coming lately. Closer to me is a dear friend, who has steadily grown weaker due to ALS in the past decade. She shares God, laughter, and friendship with me. 

ALS kills, sometimes quickly and other times, more slowly. Someone spoke these words before dying from ALS:

The coin that pays for ecstasy is always stamped despair. One cannot love empathically until one wanders there.

Jane Krainin
Dictated right before she died of ALS

To receive such quotations every day, subscribe to Word for the Day at Gratefulness.org. 

Mystical Hope

According to Cynthia Bourgeault in her book Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God, mystical hope is:

1. Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions.

2. It has something to do with presence--not a future outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.

3. It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy and satisfaction: an "unbearable lightness of being." But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within.

Bourgeault, Cynthia, Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God. Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cowley Publications, 2001. 9-10.

This is a reminder for me to sit in quiet meditation daily. Through such prayer, I am more able to live in the present moment and not worry about whether or HOW I am contributing to the future.

I am grateful to my friend Louise who pointed this out to me last week.

Couch (or Ipod?) Potato

Though I am lately feeling like a couch potato (who reads rather than watches tv), I am wondering instead if there is an "Ipod potato" or "Words with Friends potato"? That's what I have been doing too much of lately. Choices, choices!

We had a fun day (24 hours) away for a friend's  daughter's beautiful wedding outside. Oldest son DC and his wife AA were there, also, along with long-time friends from Corpus Christi, which is where the bride is from. The setting in the Texas hill country was lovely, but HOT (91 degrees at 9 pm!).

The wedding reception had sumptuous feasts with different serving stations featuring Southern food, including cheese grits with a shrimp sauce and fried green tomatoes;  Chinese food; Mexican food and much more! And then the tall, elegant wedding cake was a carrot cake with multiple layers of cream cheese frosting. At least, I drank many glasses of water and only one Margarita! However, I was not discerning in how much I ate and still feel full, though that is caused more by the wedding brunch today.

There were several heavy thunderstorms as we slept last night, so today's temperatures in the hill country were much more temperate. It was cooler and less humid, so we really enjoyed the brunch, which featured cheese grits again, fried chicken, grilled huge shrimp, and fruit kabobs. The dessert was pecan pie with ice cream.

It is a good thing that I walk every Sunday night with my good friend Katherine, so that will get me moving this evening. That is a good choice!

Friday Five: Freedom

After spending the past six weeks with my right arm tightly bound to my body with a "shoulder immobilizing" sling due to shoulder surgery, I was able to discard that restrictive device three days ago. Such freedom in movement is to be savored! This brought to mind how we experience freedom in many different ways in our lives.


For today's Friday Five, tell us about your times of release or detachment (freedom!) in such areas as:

1. physical
The most recent physical release I have experienced is the one related above: I saw my orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday and he told me I could stop wearing the arm/shoulder sling! He told me this after he showed me the x-rays taken some minutes before, where he pointed out the white deposits of calcium where the bone was reattaching itself.

It is wonderful to not have that black contraption wrapped around me. The freedom to straighten out my arm is delightful. NOT sleeping with my arm bent inwards (the elbow always right next to my body) across my body is so comfortable!

I still cannot move my arm in all directions or to heights I would like. Having physical therapy three times a week plus doing exercises at home give me encouragement about my future mobility.

2. spiritual
Having a group of three friends that meet regularly for lunch on Mondays since 1996 has brought me freedom to express my doubts and wonderings about God in discussions. We were originally all in the same church and same adult Sunday School class, and it was refreshing to find openness and acceptance together when we could not always experience that in the first two places.

I am still fortunate to see these three women almost weekly, with time out for trips and grandchildren being born.

3. emotional
I was clinically depressed for several years in the mid-90s. When I finally could accept that "depression" was only a part of me and not the defining characteristic/weakness of my being, then I grew healthier.

4. vocational
I only realized the freedom I experienced as a teacher in Oregon after moving to Texas and teaching for one year here. In Oregon, we were allowed to individualize and work as teams instead of coordinating with each teacher in a certain grade to teach exactly the same thing (as in TX). We had state goals or guidelines for each subject in each grade to guide us, but there was more freedom in choosing to accomplish these. (This was back in the late '70's, so these judgments may not apply now.)

5. relationships
Thomas Merton's saying that the closer you come to God, the closer you come to your true self shows forth in my relationships with others. Earlier in my life, I was very much a people-pleaser and somehow I've grown more into my own self as I've aged. I know God has provided people, books, and such groups as Al-Anon and church to bring more awareness into action in me.

Friday Five: Love!

Revjarla brings today's Valentine Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

Share 5 Valentines you would like to give this year, and why--but here is the hitch,
Can't give them G-d, Jesus, Holy Spirit...or your mom, your beloved, your sweet child(ren)...tell us about the other amazing beings in your life.

1. Joe and Fan--dear friends who moved to Colorado last year, but are moving back this spring! In fact, today they are meeting husband CB and me for lunch, as they are her trying to get their return somewhat organized. Not only our church but the Corpus Christi community rejoice at their coming home to us.

2. My four bridesmaids, who are still good friends--though they live in WA and CA and I live in TX.
Do you remember that picture I recently posted of them from 1971? It can be found here. I am grateful that they are good and faithful friends.

3. Daryl, Paige and Melissa, who make up my Monday Lunch group. We meet almost every Monday to talk about our families, politics, and religion. In 1996 we started out to be an Emmaus Reunion Group, but soon fell into being a support group for raising teenagers and also to ask questions, often seemingly heretical, about religion. The continuity, acceptance and authenticity of these women nurture me on a regular basis.

4. Richard Foster, founder of Renovare and author of many books on spirituality. His book Celebration of Discipline, which I read for the first time in 1994, opened me up to spiritual practices and writers from the past and the present who have broadened my mind and my heart. Thanks to the bibliography in that book, I found books I had never heard of, which led me to other books--that kept leading me out and in.

5. The Wisdom Class--I wish I had the time and determination (as well as the use of my right hand) to send each person a Valentine. This book group, which I began facilitating in 2005, has opened my heart and mind. I send love in my heart to each person who has visited and/or stayed with this weekly group over the years, especially to Georgia and Helen, who were founding members of the group before I knew of it and who have joined each other in God's Beyond.

Dear Friends

Fan and Joe, dear friends who now live in Colorado, sent me these beautiful tulips this week. They arrived on Wednesday, the second day of my "pitiful me" time, a perfect gift at the time I needed it most. They still look bright and cheery on our kitchen table.

I am lucky to have such dear friends like Joe and Fan, who continue to send me cards and emails, give me rides, and even bring me food. Just today my longest-enduring-friend of Corpus Christi, Lisa, brought us dinner and stayed and visited awhile. Bringing along memories with her, she made us a pasta casserole from the old La Leche League cookbook that was published in 1982.

Another friend stopped by my house on her way to get her hair cut. Since she comes a long distance, I appreciate her taking the time so that we could sit together outside for a short chat.

And always on call is my dear husband, without whom I would not get dressed every day!

I am rich in friends and loved ones. How can I feel sorry for myself when I am so fortunate? (Plus, I am feeling better!)

Yixing Tea Pot

Every time we visit Seattle, we walk through Pike Place Market. When MJ and I did this last summer, I fell in love with a lovely tea shop called The Perennial Tea Room. Besides a fine stock of teas, they displayed lovely tea pots. I fell in love with the Yixing ones and bought a red one for my good friend Nancy and a green one for me. (We both opened them on Christmas.)

These teapots are unglazed and thus need to be "seasoned" before use. The Perennial Tea Room enclosed a copy of the seasoning method they prefer, which I am doing right now. First, it is boiled in water for an hour and later in a pot of the tea to be used in it. I am going to use English Breakfast black tea, so my green pot will be dedicated to this type of tea. Nancy has already seasoned hers.

first boiling of my tea pot

"Yixing teapots absorb a tiny amount of tea into the pot during brewing. After prolonged use, the pot will develop a coating that retains the flavor and color of the tea. It is for this reason that soap should not be used to clean Yixing teapots. Instead, it should be rinsed with fresh water and allowed to air-dry. A studious tea connoisseur will only steep one type of tea in a particular pot, so as not to corrupt the flavor that has been absorbed.

"Traditionally, some Chinese would pour the tea from the spout directly into their mouths."

Friday Five: The Things We Do for Love

Songbird brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

And although love looks different depending on how we best express it, there are definitely things we do for love. So for today's Friday Five, please share the following five things:

1) Something you did for love that was a hit
CB and I went to Seattle for our good friend Dennis' surgery when he had half his liver removed due to cancer. Going blessed our friendship on both sides.

2) Something you did for love that was more of a miss
When my second child AE was an angry adolescent, I insisted upon baking her a birthday cake from scratch every year, because that's what I always did for each of my children. She did not want to observe/celebrate her birthday at all, so I did not give her her wish. I don't think I realized the full extent of her resentment about this until this year when we spoke of birthdays.

I hope that she can see now the love I tried to show her back then by doing this. I am sad that I did not honor her as she wished; I am not sure if I could give that up even now as I love birthdays!

3) Something someone did for love of you
My children and husband surprised me on both my 50th and 60th birthdays by showing up when and where I least expected!

For my 50th, I was in San Antonio taking an evening class at Oblate School of Theology. Daughter AE took me out to dinner before it at La Madeleine's, and suddenly all my children were there! DC drove there from College Station where he was a student at A &M, and husband CB got BJ and MJ out of school early to get them to San Antonio in time. Also, because CB bakes me a cheesecake every year, he'd ordered one to be served at La Madeleine's.

For my 60th, I wanted to have dinner at the Eastside Cafe in Austin, one of my favorite restaurants. I was blown away by daughters AE and KA arriving from Seattle just for 24 hours to be with me! (Their dad planned it all.)

4) Something you *wish* someone would do for love of you
I wish all my children would occasionally send me cards or write notes that they send by U. S. mail. (AE does this already!)

5) Something you've done for love of God
I hope God continues to grow me into doing more and more activities for/through God's love.