Today Sarah and I are actually taking a road trip that will not end up at Duke Hospital or the emergency room. We’ve had way too many of those this year.
She has to get her name changed on her driver’s license and the closest place that has an available appointment is an hour and 45 minutes away. So when she invited me to hit the road with her at 6 a.m. to accompany her on her errand, it took me just half a nanosecond to accept the invitation.
A road trip with my sweet daughter replete with good conversation and great company. What could be better?
I mentioned in my last post that I was heading out early last Monday morning in response to a jury summons. I ended up being selected and served on a one-day jury. As a person who loves watching people, I really enjoyed that aspect of the day. As an introvert, I wasn’t quite as thrilled with being put in a small jurors’ room with total strangers.
Fortunately, my pastor’s wife side came out and helped me launch right into introducing myself, asking where everyone was from, pulling out a protein bar for a young woman who hadn’t had breakfast, sharing my sweater with a woman who was freezing in the courtroom, and helping to smooth over the grumpiness of one of the fellow jurors.
One of the best things I’ve found when being in a new, uncomfortable situation is to focus on other people and try to forget myself. It ended up being a positive experience and I got to interact with about twenty people over the course of the day I wouldn’t otherwise have gotten to know.
The courthouse was over two hundred years old and I kept walking around seeing fabulous things to take photos of. But no cell phones were allowed so I just spent the day continually reaching for my non-existent phone and then being disappointed when it wasn’t there.
I did manage to nab this photo of our courtroom from the Library of Congress. Isn’t it beautiful?
Steve remembered that November 2 was the fortieth anniversary of when he proposed. (Which I did not remember.)
He made me breakfast and bought me beautiful flowers–which I did not remember to take a photo of. (Hmmm. It seems like being married this long has adversely affected my memory.)
I do remember, however, that I am thankful every day to be married to that wonderful man of mine .
Sometimes I’ll browse through old photos just to see what memories pop up. I sent this one to Vernie to see if she recognized anyone in it. (This was about 1983 when I was twenty-one.)
It was my one and only time to go snow skiing. I took a lesson and then spent two grueling hours on the bunny slope, skiing to the bottom, turning left, and then falling over. (I never did learn to turn right or stop without falling over.)
After performing those glorious and impressive athletic maneuvers, I would make my wobbly way over to the rope tow which, in addition to transporting me back up the imposing bunny slope, also yanked my shoulders out of their joints.
Also, as it turned out, I had gotten a pair of boots that were too small and they were irritating an ingrown toenail so my feet (as well as my shoulders, back, legs, arms, neck, and every other part of my body) were miserable.
Oh yes. Have I ever mentioned I am always cold and am not a fan of freezing weather? Factor in all those things and you can see why it was my only ski trip.
However, snow skiing is something Steve and Nathan love; they are hoping to get a chance to do it when the Floridian Smiths visit at Christmas. We’ll see if the weather cooperates.
A couple of other older photos:
This one pulls at my heart on several levels. Not only is that Sarah in the photo but the quotation makes me tear up every time I read it. She is definitely flying!
This was taken last year shortly after Gage and Sarah became officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Sarah and I surprised him by driving eight hours round trip to see him act in a community theater. You can read that post here.
And I always love when this photo pops up. Noah on the left; Nathan on the right.
And lastly, how do you like this one? An ancient video of Steve’s sermons.
Not a day goes by that I don’t marvel at the beauty that surrounds us on this island.
Here are a few shots from a recent bike ride.
The reality was so much better than the photo. For a few seconds, the whole world turned golden,
Can you believe this photo was taken fifteen minutes from the ocean? I’m amazed that there are woods like this so close to the sea.
After Steve and I returned from Wisconsin, we saw that a Connect Card had been turned in from some church visitors–visitors whose names we just happened to recognize.
Bob and Jane Wise pastored a church just outside of Boston that Randy and Debbie (my sister and brother-in-law) were on staff at over two decades ago. After they left the church to go on the road with us doing music, the four of us returned to that church several times with our Christian band. In the process, we got to know this wonderful couple.
When Steve saw their name on the card, he immediately picked up the photo to call. Bob had no idea that when they dropped into our church on vacation that he actually knew the pastors.
We had lunch together and are looking forward to them returning to the area soon and staying for a couple of months. Pastor Bob has been a pastor to hundreds of pastors and Jane is just as dear as can be. We’re looking forward to spending time with them and gleaning from their incredible store of wisdom.
I always enjoy reading articles that make me think and open my eyes to things I might not have seen before. I’ve thought about this article many times since reading it and wanted to share it with you. Statistics on Clutter That Will Blow Your Mind.
I am trying to become more and more aware of clutter and make it a goal to take several bags out the door each month to thrift stores. And then I am trying to be extra aware of each thing I purchase so I just don’t replace what I got rid of. Moving toward a more streamlined life brings me a lot of joy; I’d love to know your thoughts about it.
Have you ever thought of four things you and/or your family would hate to run out of? Maybe it’s coffee, popcorn, eggs, a certain soft drink, milk. (Things like toilet paper would obviously be on everyone’s list.)
I have one more Wisconsin post to go which will feature a pretty cool story I can’t wait to tell. But I wanted to end today’s Thing Post with some fun things that my sister Ruth’s family put together to entertain the grandkids when they come over.
Can you imagine a more lovely place for children to hang out? Nestled in the Wisconsin countryside, watched over by the hills, breathing in the sweet country air, playing under a blue sky.
I love the creativity that Ruth, Arnold, and Levi showed in building and designing all of the elements. I’m proud of my oh-so-creative family
What about you?
Have you served on a jury? Was it a positive experience for you? Do you dread getting called or did you sort of enjoy it?
Are you a snow skier? What are your favorite things about it?
What are the four things your family would panic over not having in the house?
What are your thoughts on the clutter article or clutter/streamlining in general?
How do you deal with situations that make you feel uncomfortable or ill at ease?
Great thing post! Love the activities for the grandkids, a paradise for sure. Why are the motor vehicle depts so booked up? Lack of employees? Everyone catching up on license stuff? Anyway, so glad for your time with Sarah, she certainly is flying!
Jury duty: I don’t do well in groups, I tend to hang back and watch and might find one person to relate to. Usually, I am excused as I am Sarah’s only care provider. We just moved so I am sure a new summons will arrive tomorrow, ha!
Skiing: I took lessons because my boyfriend skied. I went with his family to NH and did my best but it didn’t come easy. I was anxious, cold and self conscious. But I hung in there whenever we went. Snowmobiling was much more fun as all I had to do was hang onto the back 🙂
Clutter: Nope, can’t live with it. I am the best clearer-outer you’ve ever seen. Lately, the refrain in my head goes something like this- Do I want my boys to have to deal with these items after I die? That makes it real easy.
Four things: Not including all Sarah’s medical needs, it would be Chocolate Protein shakes, bread, sliced turkey and peanut butter.
Uncomfortable situations: If I can’t actually leave, I become the crab(cancer-astrological sign) and pull inward, hard shell goes up and I wait. I may also dig into the sand and try to hide 🙂
Lesley,
Sarah and I were wondering the same thing about DMV being backed up but have no clue. But regardless, her license now officially says Sarah Long.
I like the refrain in your head; it’s a refrain that more people 55 and older need to keep on a loop. In fact, I’m adding it to my loop even as we speak.
Hmmm. That crab-by behavior sounds kind of fun. Not that I’d ever get away with it but can’t say I wouldn’t want to!
I love Thing posts!
I hope your trip with Sarah was successful and fun!
I’ve never served on a jury. My husband was a police officer for a few years so that usually rules me out 🙂
I am a snow skier and I love it. I am not a fan of cold though so I’ve gone less and less as I’ve aged. We taught our children to ski and snowboard when they were very young (3!) and they love it. I love the activity out in nature.
I think my 4 things (not including toilet paper) would be chocolate, cheese, hot water, bread even though we don’t eat a lot of bread I always seem to want to make sure I have a fresh loaf!
We are working on decluttering our lives. It’s so hard to do but so freeing once you do it!
Good for you for putting on your “pastor’s wife” hat and making others feel at ease. I wish I had that trait. I tend to sit back a bit or focus on one person when I’m in that kind of environment.
Have a wonderful week!
Suzanne,
How fun that your family all shares in the love of snow skiing. I know you’ve made some great memories out there on them that hills. Or mountains!
Decluttering is definitely a “work on” kind of activity. Most people can’t get everything decluttered in a weekend but if it’s always sitting there in the back of your mind, you can make it a daily, step-by-step process. You’re right; it IS freeing.
I’ve only been called for jury duty once and didn’t get selected. (Unless you count getting a summons for jury duty in Arkansas forwarded to me almost a year after we moved to Texas). I hope you had an interesting case to decide. I’ve never snow skied (before my senior year in high school my youth group was going to go on a ski trip over spring break, but decided on a summer beach trip instead.). You still look the same as you did in your ski picture! Thank you for sharing all the beautiful pictures of your island paradise!! Have a wonderful week.
I almost forgot about my four things – the main one would be Dr Pepper. My husband and I are both “addicted”. I was actually thinking the other day about what I would do if we couldn’t get any (given that there are so many empty shelves when grocery shopping these days.) My second would be something to read. I was one of those nerds who used to read cereal boxes while eating my breakfast. It’s hard for me to “just sit”. I need to be reading something or doing a puzzle or something. Not sure what my other two would be.
Sue Ellen,
Ah. I DO love a drink with carbonation.
I was (and am) exactly like you with reading! I have actually stood and read the back of the toothpaste tube just because it was there. We belong to that special society of compulsive readers. 🙂
Sue Ellen,
A year later? I hope they had pretty much given up on you by then. 🙂
I’d pick a beach trip over a ski trip any day. Sounds like your youth group made a good choice!
I love the pictures in this post! That one of you and Vernie is especially endearing. 🙂♥️
Your Thing posts are always such a fun conglomeration of stories and information.
I love the signs Ruth painted for the play area. Such a nice touch of whimsey. A child’s paradise for sure!
Proud of you for jumping in there and putting your pastor’s wife skills to good use with the jury. I’m sure you helped make it a more pleasant experience for everyone.
Love, Deb
Deb,
Yeah, I thought that ski photo was pretty special. The Smith women back in their younger years.
Ruth’s signs definitely put the finishing touches on all of those cool playground items. They are certainly all so creative!
Glad you enjoyed all The Things. It’s fun to gather them up every month. Hugs.
I have served on one jury. It was probably the early 90s as it was when I lived in KC before. I got called for jury duty in Tampa – after I had moved to Kansas – so clearly that didn’t happen.
I have never snow skied and only water skied a few times.
I try to keep my house relatively clutter free. My bedroom is almost always clutter free but my dining room table and desk can accumulate some clutter. My spare bed is a catch all for things. Right now it’s pretty full so I hope I don’t have company. There are six shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse. Those will be gone by Sunday if not earlier. Then there are several bags and boxes of things I have brought from my parents house that I need to go through. There are several picture storage boxes – those might be there a while. Several people asked at the estate sale for my parents where all this stuff was stored – in every nook and cranny! After cleaning out my aunt’s house in 2019 and my parents house this year, I am vowing to get rid of some stuff in my house. Not sure when that might happen but I’d like to see it happen.
Five things I don’t want to run out of – definitely toilet paper, prescription meds (I only take two), eye drops, orange juice and diet A&W Root Beer.
Love the pictures you took on your bike ride as well as the ones at Ruth’s.
Phyllis,
A&W Root Beer always brings back so many memories of the A & W drive-ins I grew up with in Wisconsin. Such fun to pull up and order and then sit and eat and chat with everyone all around. Just one sip of that soda brings back all the memories. (Except in Wisconsin we called it pop.)
How great that you have gotten six shoeboxes ready to go. That is such a wonderful ministry to children all over the world. A seemingly small thing to us but so huge for them.
Glad you enjoyed the photos!
I guess I jinxed myself. In today’s mail, I have a jury summons for the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Phyllis,
Oh dear. That is TOO funny!
Yes, it was a long trip to get the DL changed, but what better way than to spend it with Sarah. Great courtroom. Lived in the same house for 30 years, never called for jury duty. Moved and within 2 months was called. We had made reservations for a vacation so didn’t have to serve. Dear Steve, for you to remember the date you proposed, that is priceless.
Went skiing once. Didn’t think it was that cold out until I got to the top of the hill – it was blowing and freezing. I too am a cold person and like to be warm. It is rare when I am too hot>
Loved that poem. Had to write it down.
Wow, Noah certainly looks like his dad at that age. And look at that young Steve. Bet his video(s) were great.
Use to watch the Hoarding show, but couldn’t do it any more. I do not like clutter. I buy containers (baskets, etc.) to keep stuff in so they are laying on the steps or on the counter.
Hmmm, 4 things – Don’t think Ipad counts, so coffee, tissues (Kleenex), Vasceline Petroleum jelly (scrapes, sores), ah, yes, popcorn.
Love your Things post!
Sharyn,
Sarah and I had such a good time on our trip; lots of good conversation driving through the North Carolina backroads.
I’ve never watched the Hoarding Show but I don’t think I could do it, either. It would be too difficult to see the clutter; I would want to jump right in and do something about it.
And popcorn is a big thing on our list, as well. Can’t do without it!
Becky, your ‘Thing Posts’ are always my favorites!
I am so very impressed that Steve remembered the proposal anniversary with breakfast and flowers!
Love the photos of Noah and Nathan.
I spent last week on the Outer Banks visiting my brother and sister. I had plans to attend Manteo First Assembly yesterday
but wasn’t comfortable driving in the storm. Northeastern storm winds are very intimidating!! I did make it to Linda Tillet’s
Bible Study Class on Tuesday morning and enjoyed it very much. I left Kill Devil Hills at sunrise this morning and headed back
to Asheville.
Gloria,
How wonderful that you got to attend Linda’s class last Tuesday! She is such a treasure; she’s been teaching at our church over thirty years.
I’m so sorry you couldn’t make it to service but I certainly understand that driving in storms is not the most fun thing to do. We had a lot of flooding and overwash in the Buxton and Hatteras areas but I think it’s better now.
I love decluttering so very much. I keep my local Goodwill stocked! 😄 I’m also happy to help friends declutter too and for some reason find the whole thing so satisfying.
Ellen,
I agree. It truly IS satisfying. Sometimes when I’ve cleaned out a coat closet or something, I’ll just go look at it several times a day, just for the sheer joy of remembering the former clutter and enjoying the current order.
And how nice of you to help friends declutter. A true gift!
I have served on a jury. It was the trial of a grandfather who abused his two-year old grandson and it resulted in the child’s death. I will never forget the pictures that I saw or looking at the other jurors and seeing tears in their eyes too. That one lasted a week. Shortly after, I was summoned again and seated on another jury which, thankfully, was not nearly as horrible. but still quite sad. I got summoned yet again, and when questioned, it was discovered that I just served on two difficult cases and was excused immediately and removed from the pool. (Here, once notified, we are on jury duty for 6 months so could potentially get called many times.) I am glad I got the opportunity to serve regardless of how awful the cases were and really liked the chance to experience how our judicial system works.
I AM a snow skier! I was raised in Colorado and learned to ski when I was in middle school. We would go practically every weekend until I graduated from High School. We had friends with connections so it was very inexpensive. 🙂 I haven’t been skiing for a few years but would really love to do it again!
We don’t really panic if we run out of something nowadays. However, when my kids were young, it was definitely panic-ville if we ran out of milk or cereal! Oh and cheese. We shall NOT run out of cheese!
I really dislike clutter and try very hard not to have any. About 10 years ago, we gutted our kitchen to remodel it. Since everything from the kitchen was in the dining room, I began weeding out and it really started me on a continual path of clearing out and going through stuff. Every couple of months or so, I end up taking a bag of donations to the local Goodwill store. It feels so good to not have excess stuff.
I am sort of shy so don’t feel like I am good at meeting new people. If I get into one of those situations I tell myself “Pull up those big girl pants…..you’ve got this!” It seems to help. Lol
Lee Anne,
Oh my, what a difficult jury to serve on. I can only imagine the tears.
Interesting that you are on call for six months! n NC, we are only allowed to be summoned and serve every two years. Thankfully, the third time you were excused. So glad for that. And yes, it is an honor and so interesting to be part of the judicial system.
That’s the thing about snow skiing; in most situations, it IS very expensive and that’s the main reason Steve doesn’t do it more often. (For Nathan, it’s expense AND the fact that there isn’t a great deal of snow in Florida.)
Pull up your big girls pants. . . love it!
My husband is an expert skier so when I first met him I agreed to try skiing, well it didn’t go so well, we were going up on a T-Bar and he said don’t sit on it, just lean on it, well I sat on it, fell over backwards and was being dragged up the hill by my leg. They had to shut down the T-bars to get me off….my parents had a vacation home in Vermont so we were up there one week-end and I agreed to try it again. I went to the top of a mountain with my husband and sister (who also was an incredible skier, apparently she got all the athletic skill in our family). Somehow I fell on my stomach and managed to ski over my thumb and slide down the mountain on my stomach. My husband and sister were laughing so hard that they couldn’t even reach out to help me.
Dale,
I can only imagine your husband and sister laughing too hard to help you. I was laughing just reading about your plight!
I’m not sure I would have ever recovered from being dragged up the hill by my leg and having to shut down the T-bar. Not to make you feel self-conscious but the other skiers who witnessed that are probably still telling that story around their Thanksgiving tables. 🙂
I have only been called for jury duty once, I was excused because my uncle worked for the CA highway patrol.
My clutter is multiplying after two weekends and buying way to many Christmas ornaments!
I can’t be without coffee, milk, eggs, and cheese.
When I was younger I snow skied and was quite good, now I am afraid of falling and breaking something. Tripping on a table leg in the dark over a year ago and breaking my arm from my shoulder to my elbow. This required a long plate, four screws, and about 20 pins. All because I walked across my living room in the dark. It was quite horrific since I ended up on my back and it took me over an hour to get situated and grab my phone. I will never do that again!
Cindy,
I hadn’t realized the extent of your injuries in that fall. Wow! And to have to lie there for an hour until you could call for help? I can’t even imagine.
Thankful for people who come to our aid and surgeons who put it all back together. BLESS you!
We have a little corner store on our block, and while things are much more expensive there, we will always pay a few extra dollars if it means avoiding the perils of living without eggs, butter, bread and cheese.
Robin,
Yes, those corner stores are wonderful to have nearby because those essentials are truly that . . . essentials! I’d say your four are very close to our four . . . except for the addition of coffee.
I have been called for Jury Duty and sat for the day stressing about being called in. Fortunately I have not been called in to sit on a actually Jury. I wouldn’t mind the people, but I have a low concentration level and worry that I won’t be able to understand all that is said, remember what is said, and make a good decision. I dread those Jury summons.
I have not tried downhill skiing, and was told never to try by my friend who knows my clumsiness. I have cross country skied for fun and really enjoyed that. I still fall, but am not going fast when I fall!
I think I would not want to be without: potable water, lip balm (my addiction), electricity, and some medications.
The article on clutter was very interesting and I enjoyed all the statistics. We see so many new storage units going up around us and my husband is always commenting on why there are so many. I think the article showed why.
When in an uncomfortable situation I try to think of what I will do when it is over, or like your Jury experience, sometimes I am surprised that I enjoy it and meet some fun people along the way.
Patti,
I also worry sometimes about getting all the details straight on a jury but I am always comforted to know that I’m not the only one making the decision and it’s a joint effort.
I think cross country skiing is something I might be able to do without too much trauma. That actually sounds fun!
Those storage units that spring up everywhere have caught my eye, too. It would probably be a good business to go into since there seems to be an increasing need.