NOSTALGIA

Went to a luncheon today for the Methodist District Conference. During the program, the praise team led the group in 3 songs. During one of them, the instruments stopped, and it was just the group singing, filling the room with such beautiful sounds. It transported me back to the college days of Baptist Student Union retreats and conferences...to the overwhelming feelings of love and being blessed. It transported me back to a retreat at HEB foundation camp...driving through the river to get to the camp...hiking in God's glorious hills...swimming in Blue Hole, ice cold and crystal clear...sleeping on bunks with such sagging springs that you had to do major climbing to get up and out of the bunk. And then...on the last night...sitting out under the stars with a few dear friends and the guy I was crazy about...and suddenly we all started singing "God Is So Good." That has been a special song to me ever since.

It transported me back to an awesome Conference...Mission 70...in Atlanta, Georgia. A huge auditorium of young adults all singing the song written especially for the occasion. I still remember the words. ..."oh help me Lord to find my place...in God's world today." (Funny, that's what we're all still searching for, isn't it.) An amazing conference...strong feelings of conviction...such life shaping events.

And then I returned to the present...back to the "here and now." I found myself awash with the longing to just once more be able to revisit and recapture those amazing feelings when the heart overflowed with love and the conviction to be totally selfless was overwhelming. I guess I will just have to settle for the nostalgia...the nostalgia and its accompanying mixed emotions...joy and gratitude for having had the experiences, but sadness that I will never again be able to experience them. I've often heard it said that you can never go home again. I know that's right, but in this case, I would love to try.

MUM'S THE WORD

Nope, I'm not trying to tell you to shush...I'm talking about all the great fall colors as the mums begin to bloom. I just love it when there is "a touch of fall in the air."

Today was a good day. It wasn't overly cool, but it was overcast and blowy...kind of like "blustery"...so I was able to convince myself that fall is close by. And indeed I think it is. The high temps for almost all of next week are in the 70s!!!! I LOVE IT!

I have some cool pumpkin pictures to show you...just as soon as I figure out which memory card they're on. I rounded up all of my memory cards tonight to look for a batch of missing pictures, and now I'm not sure which one has the pumpkin pictures on it. But never fear, I will find them!!!!

Slideshow came together nicely. The really nice thing about showing it on the big screen at church is that you don't see all the "noise" and imperfections that show up on the computer monitor. That's close enough to "editing" the pictures to make me happy! Only glitch to the finish of the project was when my slideshow program informed me that I don't have a CD drive on my computer. Uhhhh...yes I do. See...it's right there!!!! [pointing to the CD drive] But alas, there was no convincing it, so I had to resort to Plan B. Now that all of that is behind me, I can work on some of my other projects that have been waiting in the wings.

Other tidbits from the week:

I was quite annoyed on Thursday night to find out they had killed off Warrick Brown (CSI) without consulting me first. I have seen every episode of that silly show---MULTIPLE TIMES; surely that should have given me some special privileges, don't you think? BUT NO! I had to find it out when they aired the show just like everyone else....HOW RUDE!

I have decided our house is haunted. I wouldn't have been able to make such a brilliant deduction had I not been faithfully watching "Hauntings" [TV show] for several years now. I have learned soooo much. What other explanation could there be for notebooks that disappear and directories that turn up in the wrong pile and missing batches of pictures????????????? YEP...HAUNTING HAS TO BE THE ANSWER!

And now, since it is past midnight, I shall bid you a fond adieu.

Lovies and huggies to all!!!!

NO DOUBT

The jury has returned. The verdict is in. There is no longer any doubt whatsoever. It is totally and completely out of my ability to do a project simply!!!

Yep, I'm in the midst of yet another of my projects. (Not my idea this time, but I once again failed to say "no.") You know the projects I'm talking about. The ones where it is supposed to be "no big deal"...just a little something...keep it simple, but I am on my third day, full-time--and it isn't finished yet.

"Just a simple little slideshow," they said. Just a little something to show a bit of the church's history; something to be played before each of the services one Sunday during the stewardship emphasis. But simple isn't in my vocabulary. "Little" never applies to my projects. Audience or not, it doesn't matter. And so I am compiling a slideshow which pretty much shows the complete history of the church. Pictures of the progression through the years. Pictures of the buildings and the leaders and the people. Researching as I go, of course. But it'll be cool when it's finished, even if I AM the only one who ever sees all of it.

I'll let you know when the smoke clears and the dust settles.

TECHNOLOGY...JUST GOTTA LOVE IT!

This has been one of those days...one of those days when technology and I have locked horns...one of those days when technology wins by leaps and bounds.

Need to rip a track from a CD? No problem...should take about 5 minutes. It took 3 hours!!!! (new programs and hidden commands, in case you're wondering!)

Need to send email to a friend...a friend to whom you send mail all the time? BOUNCY, BOUNCY...4 TIMES!!!

Need a new title line for a new web page? No prob...you have a template and notes. But where the heck are some of the settings listed on the notes???????????

Need bad weather for your NOA weather alert machine to go off? Heck NO!!! You just have to be breathing on days like this, and it will "come alive"...not with warnings but with nice loud static!!!

I can hardly wait to see what the rest of the day will bring!