BAJA--Bar-B-Ques--Billy and Babies!!

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!!

Baja was a great trip for Jim, his 2 brothers and Steve Z.

Good fishing all around for sure!

Steve was pretty proud of his rooster fish.

Look at those "feathers." Glad those are catch and release.
Okay, Steve concedes. Jim's rooster was bigger than his.
But Joe's tuna provided sushi for supper.

However, big brother Dale got the prize.

Wearing enough sun screen, Dale??

FISH STORIES ABOUND!!

A Memorial Day bar-b-que in the back yard provided

Jim & Steve time to study those fish pictures on the laptop

and relive their "reel" adventure.

We ladies talked about anything but fish.
Shelia, Mim and Hilda--dear ladies all.

How appropriate to spend Memorial Day with

2 women whose late husbands served our country well.

Remembering Marv (WWII) and Jose (Desert Storm).

BILLY GET HIS DIPLOMA!!

Today William Starbuck Vivian completed the race!!

At least this leg of the academic race.

He got his diploma with much pomp---no circumstance.

A few of his padre who were there to wish him well.

BABY KEATON COMES TO VISIT...

What a treat to have my nephew Kipp come visit us...

especially when he brings his precious wife Jenny & baby Keaton with him!!

While Kipp & Jenny had an appointment in Frederick,

I got to spend several hours with Keaton.

We went to Billy's graduation & the mall.

What a fun time for Aunt Judy!!

Afterwards we all went to Ledos for pizza!!

and had our favorite waiter!!

(We left him a big tip!!)

OFF to a NEW ATTITUDE!!

This is what less than 4 hours of sleep looks like at 4:55 a.m.

I make the Rules.

And the rule is whoever rides shotgun next to the driver can't nap.

Someone has to keep the driver awake.

And the driver is more than likely my son.

The others elected John David for that responsibility.

Off to Louisville, Kentucky and the New Attitude Conference.
http://www.newattitude.org/blog
God Speed Young Gentlemen...
Their first stop was the church where they promised to caravan
with several car loads of young ladies. How gallant!

Panama Assignment

Yippee!! I was checking my e-mail when a little chat symbol
popped up with the question…
”Do you want to know where I’m going?”
It was from Abby, of course. She found out her assignment.
As much as she would have loved being on a beach patrolling
turtle eggs hatching, she is going to be in the mountains...coffee country.

The Province of Chiriqui which borders Costa Rica.
A large city Boquete is a tourist center there.
She will be doing mostly environmental education in schools
but, also working with groups & perhaps some ecotourism.

I found this site on the internet with pictures

http://www.panama-chiriqui.com/photogallery.html

MIDDLE SCHOOL MINDSET

I caught sight of a black binder clip tossed between two rows

in the back corner of my classroom yesterday.

It was the same corner I had scolded a few minutes earlier for

chatting while I was giving one of my fascinating & inspiring

history lectures. Actually, I had earlier pointed my finger back

there & said, “All right, who is talking?” Silence. I asked again,

in that—it’s-not-really-a-question-but-an-accusation tone of voice.

Still silence. So I went on with everything they have ever wanted

to know about the Crusades until the flying object caught my eye.

“I’ll get that, thanks,” I smiled slyly, & continued teaching as

I walked back to pick it up from the floor where it had fallen

short of the desired target. There were 2 young ladies with

discernible stricken looks on their face. I spared them & didn’t

read the note until after class & laughed out loud when I did.
“NO 1 WAS TALKING!!!”

“I THINK SHE IS GOING CRAZY.”

“LOL YEAH MAYBE SHE NEEDS A HEARING AID.”

And then the part that really made me smile…
“IS THERE ANY PART OF HER OUTFIT THAT YOU LIKE???”

There is no mistake about it. God put me in this job to

sanctify & humble me. He gives me these great opportunities

to learn patience without irritation.

Disciplining without self-righteousness.

He gave me the 7th grade class---the chattiest and least

disciplined class I’ve had in 11 years of teaching.

He gave them to me because I am having trouble mastering

His lessons on teaching with mercy and grace---

the way He has taught me.

I’m learning these lessons very slowly. And along the way,

I’m discovering that I am not very fashionable either!!

My 7th grade class at last fall’s field trip to the Smithsonian
Which two were the culprits, you ask?
I won’t say---because at any given time, I believe they all might say,
“I think she is going crazy." or worse yet.. Is there any part of her outfit that you like??”

Abby's Latest Post

Abby was finally able to update her blog with pictures.

She is having a wonderful time.

Check out her blog http://abbyspanamania.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Abby

Twenty three years ago today I watched as my little

1-day old daughter was wheeled from the hospital where

I was recuperating from a C-section.

She was airlifted to Denver in hopes that the surgeons might

repair her tiny heart. As I touched her little face,

I wondered if I would ever see it again.

How good is our Lord!! He spared her life & blessed us greatly.

That day I wondered if she would ever see her first birthday.

Who would have thought she would spend

her 23rd in the jungles of Panama?

Yesterday was the first birthday we've spent apart.

A quick phone call from her the night before as she was in transit

through Panama City offered up this latest info.

This past weekend each Peace Corps volunteer-in-training

was given the name & location of a current active

volunteer somewhere in Panama.

Trainees had to find their way to their particular volunteer,

spend a few days with them and then return to their own village.

Since volunteers are not permitted to drive, they must walk or get

public transportaion that is not always modern and speedy.

Abby was delighted with her "assignment" on the beach with

a woman working on turtle habitat & teaching environmental

lessons at the local school. Ironically,this volunteer

has requested a helper since her region is large and

it takes her over 2 hours to walk between villages. Could it be Abby??

Riding horses & hiking the beach was how she spent the time.

She said it would have been a "romantic" weekend---

if it hadn't been two girls.

She was suspicious that there might be a

small celebration for her birthday.

Evidently, her host family indicated that a "special birthday dish"

is potato salad!! Never one of her favorite dishes.

Wonder if they could mix some chocolate chips in with the mayo.

Or maybe add a few Jelly Beans!!

Odds and Ends and Obama

A ho hum week...but those are nice. Who needs a crisis all the time?

But we didn't hear from Abby--which would have been nice.

Last Saturday I walked and ran in the school's 5K fundraiser.

Though I was unable to beat Miss. Rohr, I, unlike our headmaster,

was not taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Above you find me coming across the finish line and

there is real sweat under my arms.

It was one hot day with high humidity.

I tried to catch up with the elusive Sarah Rohr (5th grade teacher)

who had been trash talking me most of the week.

However, I started at the end of the pack,

chatted my way through the first loop before

getting motivated to pick up speed.

I was making good time when one of the kindergartners saw me

pass by and decided it would be fun to

"hold hands with Mrs. Furnish."

When she asked me to carry her water bottle too,

I knew I needed to leave her in the dust!!

I came in 1 minute & 22 seconds behind Miss Rohr,

but know in my heart that I should have won.

It's that darn kindergartner's fault.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

At home Sam & I had some Mother-Son time

sitting side by side on the couch with our laptops.

He has been given an opportunity to do a project

for the marketing department of UnderArmor.

However, one of the documents on the flash drive could not be

read on his Mac. He plugged it into my Toshiba, which read it.

I then e-mailed it to him.

The wonders of communicating side by side with

only a satellite to connect us, huh?

How did our parents ever get anything done without our technology???

MUSINGS ON OBAMA

Abby took the picture below at American University,

when the Kennedys were endorsing Obama this winter.

Both of my children have endured long lines and cold temps
to get a chance to see Barak Obama at their universities.

They are inspired by this gentleman.

Last week he took some hits for attending a church led

by a ranting pastor with controversial beliefs.

I couldn't help but recall how long it took us to leave

the Episcopal Church.

For 20 years it had been a special place for us,

where we had been married & Jim had come to the Lord.

We loved the liturgy and the tradition.

It was where we had been loved through 3 difficult pregnancies

and the death of our second child.

Even as leadership began to use culture

rather than scripture as a standard, we stayed.

We stayed until we felt God calling us elsewhere.

But we didn't break ties with the people there.

This morning on Meet the Press, Obama said

that when he joined the church,

"I was committing not to Pastor Wright,

I was committing to a church,

and I was committing to Christ."

A good reminder that a church is more than its leadership.

The church is really the people, the Body of Christ.

And, like snowflakes, our Lord didn't make us all alike.

How amazing is our God?

He died for our arrogance too.