The Latest Around Here

I haven't written in almost two weeks because each day would pass and I'd think nothing much had happened worth writing about. But I'm tired of seeing the Father's Day post up there, so here's an update on the combined happenings of 11 days...

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died last Thursday--one expected, the other shocking. I feel sad for both of them and their families. Did either of them know Jesus? Their public personas did not lean that way, though Farrah was given a Catholic funeral. Hard to tell and impossible to know.

But man I'm tired of hearing about MJ every. single. day. Surely there are other, more newsworthy, events happening in our world. Like the Iranian protests and crackdown, the North Korean saber-rattling, job losses, the health care legislation being debated, bank failures, and so forth. And while each of these topics might be given a headline at cnn.com or abcnews.com, or even foxnews.com, they don't seem to rate the entire sidebar list of articles about MJ...

Around here, my hubby celebrated his birthday earlier this week. He marked the occasion by going canoeing. We're so glad God gave him ALL these years with us, and of course we pray for many more. :)

I spent several nights glued to the easy chair last week, watching the College World Series. My LSU Tigers were in the championship series against Texas (of all teams). They (the Longhorns) challenged us early on, but we came back for a dominating win to take home the trophy for the sixth time in 18 years. The smack talk on Facebook was hilarious, not to mention the emails crossing double-time between my mother and my Texas friends...it's a good thing we won...

My mom has come for a visit. We took her berry picking--blueberries and blackberries this time. Yum! Her blueberry muffins were the firstfruits of that adventure. More to come!

I've been sick since last Saturday. Yucky cough, headache, sore throat stuff. I've been in bed more this week than I can ever remember. Because when you combine feeling bad with the exhaustion of early pregnancy, the napping factor multiplies. Oh, yes, I announced this on FB so you probably already know--I'm expecting "peanut" #4 :). The kids are excited, hubby and I are thrilled, and I'm tired. Not preggo sick, thankfully, just wiped out. But this, too, shall pass, and I anticipate great renewal of energy in the coming weeks.

We borrowed a teenager earlier this week. This one's parents were off playing in Turkey--yes, the country--and we kept their daughter for a few days. She was actually a great help playing with the kids while I napped. Once I was even able to scoot over to the pharmacy for my meds, alone!

The one thing that has NOT happened this week--that I had planned to happen--is painting the dining room and half-bath. See previously mentioned exhaustion and illness.

The Bible study group did meet Sunday night to discuss the book of Ruth. Blackberry cobbler and homemade frappaccinos motivated quite a few to attend ;). The discussion was rich, as well.

I completed an editing job last week, a book written by various missionaries that evaluates the contributions and future of "majority world" missions. This is the new label for those countries in which the majority of Christians live--what we've grown up calling the "third world" or "developing countries." Fascinating read, though a fast and heavy workload.

My coauthor Sue has been busy giving radio interviews since March (!) for our new book, Leading Women Who Wound. Her latest taping will be aired next week on WORD 100.7 FM in the DFW area. The show is Celebrate Women Radio, 2:30-3:00pm CST every day. Sue and other women leaders will be featured each day--and the book's topic of conflict resolution and management among women is the topic all week. You can listen online at www.thewordfm.com.

How about that? I guess some things have been happening lately.