They Didn't Give Up!!!!

THE GAME WAS AWESOME!! Duke beat Boston Colleg 78-70. It was intense. It was exciting. Coach K is here too. The fans for the most part were good. However, there were a few around me that I was a little afraid of. Kinda scary. But it was a great game! Here are some pictures below. It was a great moment in the middle of a looong week. Thank you God for that time.

My Poor Boys - Don't Give Up. Don't Ever Give UP.

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I have not written in a while. Things have been pretty busy up here and pretty cold. February is an extremely busy month and I am sooooo looking forward to March 3rd. Other things are going on that I will share at a later time but keep me in your prayers. I am facing some new challenges that I have not faced before and I am working hard at it. Jimmy Valvano said, "Don't Give up. Don't ever give up" in a speech about cancer at the ESPY awards - a month before he died. So, I am not giving up. You can see his speech by clicking this link. You should see it. PRetty inspiring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXlkqkFH6s

It has been busy. Last weekend, we had two funerals in one day. Then the next day, we had the annual business meeting after church and then a youth class and superbowl party afterwards. YEAH PEYTON MANNING. I was dead tired the next day.

Also - if you don't mind, put my boys in your prayers too. Duke has lost four in a row. I don't know. There is pain in my heart. But, they are young. AND - the GREATEST thing is happening on Wednesday. I get to go see them play!!!!!! I GET TO SEE DUKE PLAY ON WEDNESDAY!!!! They are coming to Boston to play Boston College - which is about 10 minutes away from me. I GET TO SEE THEM PLAY!!!! SO - I am hoping and praying that they will win. They are coming up here with that four in a row loss. So, Don't give up boys. Don't ever give up!

Like my picture of the angelic bear and the devil. I have angels that watch over me and I cheer for a blue devil. hmmmmm

I am preaching on the 18th Keep me in your prayers. Charley starts his paternity leave tomorrow. Ahhh.

To go along with the whole "Lead with your heart" theme, Valentine's Day may be Wednesday but don't let that be the only day you say "I love you".

When It Rains it Pours but then the Sun Shines!

Or should I say, when it snows - it blizzards. I could not start my car yesterday (friday) so I rode the bus and then walked to work (10 degrees!). Today, my landlord and I tried to get the car to start and it didn't. The battery died in the car. Died - dead, no longer alive - dead as a skunk in Newton. I had to get a new battery. I just got a new radiator and thermostat. Hopefully the madness will end. The cool thing though is the mechanic who works on my car. The shop is a block away and he calls me "neighbor" and says, "How are you Rev?" Then and tells all his employees, "she's a reverend. be nice to her. she will pray for us".


BUT - there was a good thing that happened today!!! In the midst of the car blizzard, the Sun (son) came out. Charley, the senior minister at the church, and his wife Mireille had their baby boy this morning. Emmett Eastman is his name and he is ADORABLE with the deepest blue eyes you can imagine. 6 pounds 12 ounces born at 10:38 am. I am putting a picture on for you to see. He is about 5 hours old in our picture. Ignore the person holding Emmett and enjoy the precious gift of a child.
Emmett is lucky to have parents like Charley and Mireille. They are the best. And he also has the bestest big sister in the world - Phoebe.

Snow Comes Down

Here is some Boston snow for you to see. There is the car with a pretty white blanket. There there is a picture of the lake near where I live. Nice and frozen and covered.

Update on Gracie

Gracie is doing better. She has the hyperthyroidism and is on medicine two times a day. We grind up the little pill (because she hates it when i try to shove it down her throat) and put it in a couple of scoops of fancy feast cat food. Her appetite is back. He personality is getting back to normal. We are going to try the medicine for a while. I would love to cure her completely, but I need to save the money in order to do that.
I want to say thank you to Kim and to Laura for reaching out. That really meant a lot to me. You send out a plea and you find out who cares. You guys are awesome. You make the quote at the top of the page (under the heading) just as true. Thank you.
There is a close up of Jelly Bean (the orange one). As Gracie had little appetite, Jelly Bean was nice enough to pick up the slack in the food department. haha

What is Wrong with Virginia?

People up here are asking me what is wrong with Virginia. George Allen is using racial slurs, Virgil Goode is breaking first admendment rights - or that at least, our "free" country should not be using them - and does not see what he is doing wrong, hmmmmm AND now Hargrove from Hanover is telling african americans to "get over it".

You would thing there is a conflict about statues on Monument ave or something

Things were pretty rough this week. It is 10 degrees right now.

Gracie had to go to the vet and she may have hyperthyroidism and will require life long treatment. I can get her a one time shot that will cure the hyperthyroidism BUT it COSTS $1200-1300. I think I have that in my pocket. Let me check.
The car is breaking down and needs a new radiator. BUT here are some fun pictures for you to see.
NOTE: The picture of the house is ACTUALLY one house that a family lives in. I saw it when we went Christmas carolling.

Weather outside is COLD

OK - you have been wondering when the weather was going to become Boston-like weather. Here it comes. The HIGH on Wednesday is supposed to be 20 degrees! The high temps in the next three days: 43, 36, 32, and 20. We are supposed to get snow in the next day or two. It's gonna be COOLLLDDDDDD.
Before it got too cold, I went into town to take some pictures. Old South Church, Trinity Church (the one that reflects in the glass building), Boston Public Library, and the Citgo sign that marks two miles until the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The building just to the right of the picture is the entrance to Fenway Park. I could not find a way to get into the stadium to take pictures.

Governor Patrick

We had an Inauguration here yesterday - for Deval Patrick - the second African American voted as Governor. Doug Wilder was up here and people were asking him, "did you take a step back to become mayor?" I couldn't help but laugh. Then I laughed more about the wild time he is having in Richmond. haha

One More Surprise

I did one more thing that I need to show you. I got my hair cut. It had not been cut since August and I asked for a certain cut. I even had a picture. She went WAY short. Check it out for yourself. There is a before and after.

I Am Back - Happy New Year

Hey Everyone,
I am back. Sorry it has taken me a while to update the blog. For most of you who read the blog, I was in Richmond visiting you, so you know how my week went. :-)
I spent a week in Richmond and it was a good trip. I was delayed in JFK Airport on christmas morning but that was not a bad couple of hours.
I got to see the people that are important to me in Richmond. Those outside of Richmond, maybe I will get to see you soon. Those at BTSR, email does wonders until we can see each other. Ok - the trip was good. I saw people I needed to see. I heard things I needed to hear. I did some things I needed to do.
On the way back, would you believe it SNOWED in Boston? I flew back, got on the bus, spent about an hour and 1/2 at the South Station (train station) and took the Commuter rail back to my house. It snowed and I walked home in the Snow.

The bigger news is that I finally purchased that digital camera that I have been wanting for awhile. People were kind enough to give me gift cards and money towards the purchase.

Of course, I have been playing around with it. Mostly cat pictures until Saturday when I go downtown to see some sights and play with the camera. Until then, enjoy the pictures of the cats!

Christmas Pictures and kitty poses

Here are pictures I finally got developed. You can see my Christmas tree - the first one I have had in six years. You can see how the cats have taken over the place. You can also see pictures from my FIRST trip at the nutcracker. I would have taken more pictures at the Nutcracker but I got caught taking these pictures and they told me to stop. The pictures at the Nutcracker are from inside the Boston Opera House that was renovated 10 + years ago at over $3 million dollars I think. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and see that Christmas is pretty good up here.

Thanksgiving Pix

Scroll down to the Thanksgiving Post and you will see three pictures of my Thanksgiving Day - including an owl that I met while we were there. It was soooo soft. NOTE: the group shot by the fireplace is one that I took with a professional digital camera. It was NICE. A dream nice. :)

WHAT A SURPRISE I GOT TODAY

I had a rough week this week. It was a long, challenging, roller coaster of a week. I won't go into details, just know it was AHHHH. Anyway, today is Sunday the 9th and I had the best surprise of ALL. I was getting ready to walk on the chancel today and I was surprised with the visit of dear friends the LeRoux's from New Highland Baptist. It was a MUCH NEEDED surprise. David, Alicia, and Caroline came Boston for a four day weekend and surprised me. They have known for a while they were coming and did not tell me.
I can't tell you what a blessing it was to have them here, to come all this way and care that much to visit. THEN on top of the visit to church, they took me around Boston for the day. God, I know God had a plan. I had nothing planned for the day. The first day in quite a while where I had nothing going on. I got to spend the day with friends.
First, they took me out to lunch at a quaint cafe in the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum. http://www.gardnermuseum.org/ It was a beautiful place, with gorgeous paintings, gardens, and artifacts. Unfortunately, they were having a special event going on so we could only see the museum for about an hour.
Next, we went down to Govt Center and walked around and SHOPPED around Fanueil Hall. That was fun fo rme to see them in their excitement of history, shopping, and entertainment.
THEN....You are not going to believe this...BUT they took me to see the NUTCRACKER!!!! YES - THE NUTCRACKER!!! I teased Alicia because she is always reading my blog but had not for the past week. I was just as excited to see it today as I was last week and it was just as magical and phenominal. It was also wonderful to be able to share the experience with them. It was wonderful to be able to share my new life with people from home and they came up here to see me and they took the time out to do that. AFter the ballet it was time to say goodbye but I did not want to however I was wiped out. I felt bad but they understood completely. They kidnapped me for the day and it was the best kidnapping I could imagine.
They did not know the kind of week I was having but I bet God knew. All the way home, I was thanking God and smiling about my day. Thank you.

The Nutcracker - oh my goodness

I have seen the Nutcracker before but I have NEVER seen the ballet performed in the manner in which I witnessed it Saturday night. I was given the gift of a ticket to see the Boston Ballet and their performance of The Nutcracker, accompanied by the Boston Ballet Orchestra. Richmond is good, but this is 10 times better. It was wonderful. It was riveting. It was creative. There was magic. There was humor. There was fantasy and hope. There was even a hot air balloon. This was the first time I was taken into another world and became a part of the company. I was moved. It was breathtaking.
What helped was to enter into a beautiful Boston Opera House, down in the theatre district. I took pictures before I was caught and told to stop. So I am hoping they will come out for you to see. We are very busy at the church right now and this ballet was a much needed respite for me. It was a wonderful release.

I bought my first Boston Christmas ornament and purchased one of the nutcrackers. It is hanging on my brand new Christmas Tree that I have not had in six years. But right now, it is the only thing hanging from the tree. Thankfully I have Monday off to work on it some more. :-) I will try and take pictures of those too.

Hey - if you are reading this. A digital camera would be wonderful Christmas gift!!!!!!

Go see "Bobby"

I saw the movie Bobby this week. Movie about Robert Kennedy, written and directed by Emilio Estevez. You need to go see it, especially if you were not around at that time. The most amazing part of the movie was the actual footage of Kennedy speeches and photographs of his life. I was two years shy of seeing Kennedy. Seeing this film and the speeches and pictures really helped me to understand him, his passion, and his mission. It was good for me.
The movie itself was very busy. What I thought was going to be a documentary of sorts about the real life, it was a movie about the lives of 15 or so different people on the day of the California Primary. But what made it work was the connection of the Ambassador Hotel and their connection to Bobby Kennedy's impact on the United States and the world. You only wish that he were here today. And the other big question for me was, if Kennedy were not killed, can you imagine how different things would be now?
Anyway, go and see the movie and see the life of Bobby in the pictures and hear it in the speeches.