So Many Happy Things

Quotables and more . . .

• Amy, reporting on her conversation with Mr. Kenney, owner of Homestead book store, "I told him, 'I can't believe you don't have a copy of Ivanhoe!' He said, 'I can't believe it, either' . . . so he went and found one."
• "I almost caused a fire, but Josh was happy 'cause he got to use the fire extinguisher." --Heidi
• "Why are you walking on sticks? You're not old!" --Jonathon A., asking Mary S. about her crutches
• "Wearing flowers [in your hair] just really boosts your spirits. You should give it a try." --Kate S. to everyone in Friday morning's meeting
• "If I had hit my head, I don't know where I'd be." --Dad, thanking God for safety on the wood drive
  "Well, we know where you wouldn't be!" --Gretchen
• I mean, it's shabby, but not too shabby." --Craig, thanking God for his first-ever royalty check
• "When you have to cut a vine with a chainsaw, you know it's been there too long." --Brandon
• "Don't worry; I'll refuse to go for you." --Amy P., reassuring Laura M. that she didn't have to worry about coming down early Saturday morning at the ladies' retreat and wondering if everyone had been raptured
• "It happens to everybody at the same rate. It's nothing bad that I did." --Miriam H., on getting older
• "I hope He's a little beyond that." --Miriam H., on whether God values us based on our skin age
• "When you look in the mirror and see the first grey hair, that is a sign from God." --Miriam H., on grey hair being a glory
• "Life is not for sissies." --Miriam H.
• Bria confessing that she had recently spelled her last name without a "d" in the middle of it
• "I got it from Tim, who got it from Willie, who got it from a garage man: What you lose in the apples, you gain in the bananas." --Aunt Sharon
• "You're not going to come to the end of your life and starve because you were $10 short." --Aunt Sharon, on whether it's a crisis if we spend a little more money than we wanted to
• Bonnie dinging the bell on the dining room table in Aunt Sharon's workshop because she (Bonnie) was being like a child
• Becky B. suggesting that we evaluate how much we spend on clothing items by dividing the cost of the item by the number of times we will wear it, and Laura M. helpfully applying the advice by proposing that people wear slips for wedding dresses
• "It is solved by walking." --St. Augustine, quoted by Laura B.
• "Sanctification: becoming who we already are in Christ." --Laura B.
• "Everybody needs a Luke in their life." --Choral M., on the amusement her grandson brings her
• Ladies' retreat
• Mom using frozen veggies as ice packs
• Being invaded by 3 "24"-ish characters as Dad, Mom, Kay, and I were relaxing and watching a movie one Friday evening (Ben, Bobby, and Craig were walking by and saw us and decided to come upon us by stealth)
• Slightly warmer days, which leads to the wearing of slightly cooler clothing
• A kind card from the Rose family, thanking me for my investment in their daughter
• Making plans for summer
• Anticipating the visit of the Murray family
• Craig enjoying my hammock
• Spotting two enjoyable bumper stickers: 1) [in Obama colors, with the Obama "O" in "Over"] "Bend Over for Change" and 2) a line of Arabic with the caption, "If you can't read this, thank a soldier."
• My baby sister being almost 18
• Switching shifts at work so that I don't have to work at all for the first Sunday since October
• Wiffle ball in the park with the kids I work with (and making it all the way around the bases!)
  
• Ultimate frisbee in the park with the selfsame kids (and trying not to fall in the mud because I was still in church clothes)
  
• A trying to figure out how he can appear cool when he goes on "pass" from placement and has to have his father accompany him to the skate park: "I'll just tell people that I've killed a bunch of people and he's my parole officer."
• Me, wondering to myself if any of the kids at the skate park will notice that A looks a lot like his "parole officer"
  
• Another resident recommending that A wear a muzzle to the skate park: "That'll scare them!"