accolade

my sister is the best sister in the whole entire world.
quite possibly the whole entire universe.
and if you don't believe me i will come and convince you.
just let me know when and where.

Not Enough Time

That's the theme of my life this week. I am stressed about getting things done I need to in the time given by working extra hours to make up for leaving early this Friday to go home to Indiana to attend and participate in the 60^th wedding anniversary celebration for my grandparents. And I have to clean for people from church coming for a small group meeting. And I have to find my old journals because some of what I want to use for the "musical entertainment" I'm providing for the 60^th anniversary celebration is in the journals, and I haven't been able to find them. Not to mention that I haven't finished writing the rest of the musical entertainment, let alone typed it up for my fellow (good-sport) family members to help me sing. And I need to do laundry before I go home, or I'll not have anything to wear under my pants tomorrow. Not enough time.

 

And then today I look up info on a woman who was violently killed blocks away from my church, but whose story I hadn't heard, as I do not read or watch the news.  And I spent all my lunch hour  (which was supposed to be for lyrics) reading about this incredible woman and her incredible son, and the man who was husband and father and now murderer of them. I printed stories out; I don't like reading off the computer screen. PAGES and PAGES of tributes to this woman, and to her adult son who was seriously wounded. I still haven't read them all. I googled the story in the first place- typed in: Bonnie Jones Chicago. After the usual news sources, I went to the other hits. And was distressed to find three separate web pages dedicated to "protecting your 2^nd amendment rights" using the story of this 65-yr old teacher and her 30+ yr old fiddle-playing son as prime examples that Chicago should allow concealed weapons/hand guns/uzis and how incredibly stupid everyone is for not seeing this.

 

There is so much hate, insanity, unhappiness, mental anguish in this world. I would weep for it, except that I would be weeping every minute of every day. This past week I have seen little tiny things, even in myself and those in my immediate circle, evidence of this diseasing evil destroying the world.

 

How can I face all the hateful people? How can I bring healing opportunities for the mentally anguished? I cannot. And so the thought occurred to me as I was prompted to write this: I should be lamenting that I don't have enough time to tell another person about the peace, the calm, the healing, the clarity, the health, that is Christ Jesus. I should be upset that my day is so full I can't spend time showing God's gospel to anyone and everyone I meet. I will never have enough time to offer the Good News to all of the hateful, hurting, lost people I am surrounded by 24/7.

 

Not enough time. Maybe. Maybe not.

 

(now I've gone ten minutes long at lunch. Which means I'll have to stay ten minutes later. Which means I will have ten fewer minutes to get my house ready for small group tonight. And I haven't bought snacks yet, either. And I forgot to cash the check that was going to pay for the snacks. And my boss is probably wondering why I'm typing an email instead of these faxes he left on my desk before lunch. And I didn't change my bandaging on my finger at lunch like I was supposed to...)

 

regarding the video below...

click on the actual picture on the right-hand side, not on the text that says "click here to watch". (Not only will you see the cake in this video, you'll see someone you know...)

You've Got Videos

	leinbacker@hotmail.com sent you this e-mail: You have to see this ... SOX CITY HALL Click to watch the story In order to watch this video you will need Windows Media Player. For all the news video you haven't seen visit The FeedRoom. The News You Want, When You Want			SOX CITY HALL Council Honors Champs

here are the grainy blurry pictures.

apparently, can't send pictures in an email to post... hmm. anyway, also can't figure out why half of the emailed post isn't in Arial, which is what it was supposed to be. hmm. gonna have to learn more about this.
so, here are the grainy and blurry pictures. along with a pic or two of the 1.75 million people at the ticker tape parade last friday. They are from Channel 2 news website mostly. i haven't developed my film yet.

Trophy Hunting, my style

So, my job does occasionally have perks.

For instance, last Friday, my boss was kind enough to allow me to leave for 2 hours over lunch time so that I could walk five blocks and join 1.75 million other people cheering for the World Champion White Sox.

And this morning, quite by accident, my job took me into the presence of the World Series (and American League) Championship Trophy.

(all together now: oooooooh... aaaaahhhhhh.)

I had to deliver an MBE application to City Hall when they opened at 8:30 a.m. It meant I had to get to work about 30 minutes earlier than normal. I wasn't too unhappy, tho- it was a beautiful morning and since the sun goes down at 4:00 p.m. now (THANK YOU VERY MUCH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS), I was very much enjoying the only sunlight I was going to be able to really experience.

So I walk into City Hall with my box (yes, BOX) full of documents for this application, when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a giant cheesecake and 8 kegs of beer!

 

Okay, no beer, just checking to see which of you is still with me. There WAS cheesecake, b