I'm here and I'm alive

The sun is starting to come out from behind the clouds after a couple of days of Northern California Spring, "sunshine". I am beginning to recover from the plaque of last week, but I feel like I had a complete body peal. Which is to say, my skin is very tender. My brain is just starting to clear from 10 days of burning, pain and itching. Time to wake up and smell the roses (or in this case mums.)

.

   I am so thankful to be back to my schedule. It would surprise most of my readers if I were not at Starbucks. These flowers were purchased by a customer for the ladies at my Starbucks last week on a day that the water wasn't working. I was here,so it must have been 10 days ago. It is as if I weren't gone.
    I am wrapping up my week as I get ready for the State Geological Conference in Davis. We leave tomorrow at noon. Today I have classes and tonight Mary is having her Award Banquet for the industrial division of the college. My oldest daughter,  Mary, is a diesel mechanic. She will be graduating soon from Shasta College with a dual degree in Diesel and Welding at Shasta College. This year she has been the president of the Diesel 4x4 club. Tonight I would imagine she will be getting an award or presenting one. Last night I had this text conversation:

               Mary-Your coming to my banquet tomorrow, right?
               Me- I did not know it was tomorrow, what time, where?
               Mary- 5 in  4000
                ( Of course, I will. 21 years of adventures that this child-woman has given me...would I miss her finale? )

     This picture was taken at Thanksgiving 1991. Mary is 7 months old and that is what was left of a celery stick she had been gumming for while.

     This was the picture we sent as her Senior picture with High School graduation announcement, May 2009.
     This weekend she is having a Car Show. The Diesel 4x4 club is having its ~3rd Annual Anything on Wheels Show.  She is excited that her younger sister is going to take pictures for the club as the photographer for the event and has been floating off the ground for a month with the plans for this project. Last year they raised $400 with the BBQ to give a scholarship for this year.
     Abbie, daughter number 2, has an Archaeology class on Saturdays, so she will be busy all day diggin' in the dirt.

     These type of  pictures have been popular on Facebook and this is one that Abbie and her Archaeology buddies posted. This is not far from the truth. I love that she just wants to see the world and get a lot of education. Whatever the Lord brings along the way, is fine with Abbie.

     
   This is one of the 3 top pictures that Johanna picked from her year to make her graduation announcements. She was asked if they were professionally taken, because WalMart isn't suppose make reprints without the permission of the photographer. She told the gal that she was the photographer. My question then was, "Who was your tripod?" She sets up the camera, she poses and her best friend or Abbie push the button on the camera.
    Busy month ahead. Ian will be 16 on the Cinco de Mayo. Johanna will graduate on the 19th and Mary and I will have graduation ceremonies on the 25th. Last year I had a post-it note on my Desk with that date on it to encourage me that was my goal. Time to make new goals.
     This week-end with the CGS in Davis is another goal that is about to be met. I am excited that the speaker for the first night is Art Shapiro . Dr. Shapiro is the Butterfly specialist at Davis. That almost make this GIS Butterfly very happy.

~Shalom
GIS εїз

Walt and Neva

   This last week, as I have mentioned, I have spent a lot of time resting. With a mandatory rest comes a "mandatory reflection time". The past 10 years we have had the privilege of worshiping with Bowman Community Church.. My children were only 6, 7, 9, 11 when we started attending Bowman. I had lived in the area for over 10 years prior to attending Bowman, but not until a chance meeting in the grocery store with my sweet friend Betty did we finally get it together to attend.

   Betty and her husband, Wayne, offered to take my olders girls to Release Time each Thursday. Soon summer came and they offered to take us to Vacation Bible School. Now they are like Grandparents to my children and rightly so, as they took us in as the Lord states:

    "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."
(Matthew 25:35-36 ESV)

   There is another special couple from Bowman that I have reflected on a lot this week. Walt and Neva are leaving our community soon. Three weeks ago Walt announced to the church he has a short time to live with a cancer that is incurable. He has spent a lot of time at Loma Linda lately and now will be moving down near his family for treatment. They moved up to our area around 20 years ago from Southern California.

  Their moving story is very unique. Walt had a two story staircase with a dream of building a house around it. Over the course of a couple of years they came up to Cottonwood during the "dry season",our average rainfall is 30 inches, so that could be tricky. Approximately, 19 years ago they made Bowman their home.
 
  When we showed up at Bowman Church ,they had just helped finish complete the new building. Walt and his friend Andy had brought a number of interesting piece of construction fabric as well as a wealth of skill for construction and metal work form So Cal. They created a design for a multipurpose building around an industrial "garage door". I am very familiar with this door, because I am the church janitor. I often raise the door by pulling the chain and then pull down the floor to the stage that comes from the wall like an old fashion bed, to revel the alcove that contains the pulpit, drums and piano.
   Neva was Ian's Sparky leader in AWANA. She and Ms. Sherry had an amazing control of those busy little bodies on Wednesday nights with  Neva's Jump rope strung between them and children hang on to it like clothes blowing in the wind. Miss Neva and Miss "S'erry" will always be remembered with that jump rope strung with Sparkieswearing smiling faces.
    Walt came down to visit with me frequently through the years as I cleaned. He would tell me about the history of the building which was helpful in my cleaning and making the Deacon's aware of  maintenance needs. He also share about his journey with the Lord as  a Fire Fighter and a director of a Christan Camp. Neva also share with the girls the importance of good hygiene in the kitchen from her years with their camp it was natural information to share.
   Sometime through the years Neva realized that I like Country Woman Magazine and counted cross stitch. Just when I need it: a few of the ladies in the church leave packages for me in the down stairs kitchen at church. This last week I got my last installment of CW Magazines, 3 wooded embroidery hoops and some floss. "Just when I needed a pick-me up"
    So, as I laid here this  weekend re-cooping from The Plaque I had a stack of magazine in a reusable tote to take my mind off the itching.  I plan to make a set of counted cross stitches and use these hoops as frames. I will make sure to put on the back that these hoops were a gift from Neva Schlenz.
   Walt approached me while I was cleaning 3 weeks ago and told me, "Thank you for always having a hug for me this old man." Since then I made a point to make sure I hugged him. I am not the only person to say that I am a better person for knowing Walt and Neva Schlenz. Walt sang this song with his daughter three Sundays back.

WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE
by Jim Hill 

There is coming a day
When no heartache shall come
No more clouds in the sky
No more tears to dim the eye
All is peace forever more
On that happy golden shore
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon His face
The One who saved my by His grace
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day that will be.
There'll be no sorrow there
No more burdens to bear
No more sickness, no pain
No more parting over there
And forever I will be
With the One who died for me
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon His face
The One who saved my by His grace
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day that will be.



The Lord's gain will be our loss. Thank you Lord, was time well spent.

‘I’m on food stamps. Don’t hate me for it.’ - Chicago Sun-Times

‘I’m on food stamps. Don’t hate me for it.’ - Chicago Sun-Times

Thanks Tom

   I want to publicly thank Tom, though I doubt he would find my blog. A fellow this morning had a stack of his "Free" coffee postcards from Starbucks and he gave me one. Normally, I would be in my Sign Language Class, but I have a doctor's excuse.

    I don't think I have had a doctor's excuse in 40 years. I got an infection that makes it difficult to set down for long periods of time and this is the "grand-daddy" of infections according to one of the veteran Doctor's aids at my Clinic. 

    So, what do you do when you can't sit, have to pick you son up in an hour and it is 15 miles home? Go to Starbucks and sit on your own blanket in the chase-lounge, of course. To make it all the sweeter I am drinking my "Free" ice coffee thanks to Tom.

    No one know the wiser. It is a relaxing place with nice musik.  In the 80's when I was living in the L.A./ Orange County area and had the opportunity to use an elevator this was "musik". 

    The doctor ordered rest and a number of creams and pills. That's funny. Rest, I will try. I also was asked about my diet. Avoid white bread, bear and wine. I  don't eat wheat and haven't had alcohol for  a  while. I did get dehydrated on Saturday and had a "natural" sugared drink. That  drink along stress and change of season to "WHAM".

    I have been on a gluten free diet for the past few years. That helped a lot. I avoid sugar for a while, but chocolate called me down the path or over weight and waiting for the right day for an explosion.

So, for now I am on a yeast free diet. That is no sugar, no fruit until the infection is gone or even high- glycemic foods. I will be losing weight without trying, but I didn't want a cold turkey situation.

     When the rash is gone, I will start with the low glycemic fruits like: apples, strawberries and cherries and will be able to add exercise to the equation. For now the fruit is like nice smelling candles, "I like them but I wont eat them". Two nights ago a friend of my daughter who works at a bakery stopped by with fresh Cinnamon rolls. Again, I can smell them, but not eat them.

     I needed to go back to the other diet. It is healthier and I will remember for a long time the price it cost me. Meanwhile, I count my blessings. The infection is better, except on my fingers (what's up with that) and I have a free ice decaf, with sugar-free peppermint. Thanks again Tom.

Spring is Finally Here

    The rain and wind has gone for a few days and we have been feeling Spring. My iris have not yet bloomed, but my friend who took some of my bulbs a few years ago has beautiful "purple flags." These iris are very special to me, because I got them while tending the garden of my dear friend, Earlene. For about 10 years I was: "Deena's Overall Cleaning and Garden Service". Earlene was one of my first and last clients. She has gone home to be with the Lord, but  she left big mark in my heart.
     I had the pleasure of being in the dressing room before heaven of a wonderful group of people. I liked to picture it as the place in a fancy hotel were the maid hands you a towel before returning to the dinning room. I only went to one of those kind of places once, but I often felt that I was allowed that kind of personal service to my clientele. They came to me from all walks of life: Earlene had worked in Kraft's factor, she would say, "You know, like the Mac n' Cheese" and as a secretary for a union. My last two clients were a retired teacher and a housewife who was born in a Basque sheep herding family. All my ladies were in there 80's and 90's when I released them to heaven or a nursing  home.
     That was one of the reasons I returned to school to get a degree and start my own career. Up to that time being a momie was good enough, but as my children were well into their teens, I knew it was time to prepare for the next career. Our oldest daughter is 21 today, the next daughter turned 19 in March, daughter number 3 is 17 and my son will be 16  May 5th.
       All my children are reasonable, polite, resourceful and believe in serving their community to make the world a better place. That was my goal as a parent to bring them up with this in mind and there is no disappointment in my heart. I am by no means a perfect parent. I don't think there is a perfect parent. We each have our weaknesses and strengths.
       Now my degree hangs on the wall and I am enjoying my first internship with GIS. This last weekend I was involved with a geo-chasing event at Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, CA.
The weather was perfect and we had a variety of ages participate. A week ago Friday we went around the park setting points for the GPS units. On Saturday I deposited plastic eggs at the spots with a clue inside. When all 7 clues were put together it spelled out: "Happy 15th Birthday Paul Bunyan Forest Camp".  What fun!
     A group of  Girl Scouts were one of the first to complete the hunt. It was exciting that they were completing their GPS badge. Turtle Bay works with the local girl scout to help them with various badges. This was the first GPS badge to we awarded from one of our GPS geochasing days.

   In two weeks I get to go to the CA Geographical Society Conference in Davis. This will be my first big event to see lots of GIS people together.
    Back to the now and here. I wont hang up the "mommie hat" for another few years, so I need to put some clothes on the line and enjoy some wonderful spring air.

Shalom,
~GIS εїз

5 weeks 5 disciplines

      Today I ran across this site through Proverbs 31 ministries. The rain outside doesn't seem to be giving up for me to walk without getting wet, so here is my answer to the challenge.

    The 5 areas of Discipline 

Mind : Remind myself daily

 " If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."
(James 1:5 ESV)

Body :

  "... for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
(2 Timothy 1:7 ESV)

 Spirit  :

     But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
(Luke 18:27 ESV)

Work :

  " She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."
(Proverbs 31:26 ESV)


 Time :

   " And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
    (Romans 8:28 ESV)

My goal for this week is to memorize all these verses with the references. I know a lot of verses, but the "address" are a challenge. I printed up a great plan from Cortney's blog. I will be working out how to implement the plan and for today....I will go walking in the rain.

♫  Singin' and walkin' in the rain.♫

Shalom,

 GIS  εїз

Green Pastures

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
        He makes me lie down in green pastures.
    He leads me beside still waters.
        He restores my soul.
    He leads me in paths of righteousness
        for his name's sake.
    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
        I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
        your rod and your staff,
        they comfort me.
    You prepare a table before me
        in the presence of my enemies;
    you anoint my head with oil;
        my cup overflows.
    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
        all the days of my life,
    and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
        forever.
(Psalm 23 ESV)

      My youngest daughter (on the left) is our photographer. After looking at our Easter photos I was told over and over, "It is so green there". "We live in  a tin can in an irrigated pasture", is my response.
        Psalm 23 has meant different things to me at different times of life. As a small child I memorized the passage to help myself sleep when I was frightened. In my early teens I remember reciting it as I walked to church. It was only less than a 1/2 mile, but in the frozen fog one night I remember especially the peace I had walking in the quiet of the fog on a Sunday evening. (I looked like a snow princess when I got there as my long blond hair for covered in hoarfrost.)
         In recent years I have lived in a Pasture by still waters. I haven't looked at it quit that way, but now I see that He has restored my soul. Often I did feel I was in the shadow of death and with His help I feared no evil. As I close this blog post I will ask that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life and that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Shalom,

 GIS εїз

 

It is finished.

"Finished" is my favorite ASL sign, favorite word, favorite favorite!  

     ^{After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(John 19:28-30 ESV)}


END OF ACT 1


                                                   Three days later.

           ^{Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
   
(John 20:15-16 ESV)}
   
       


That was just the beginning of  Act 2 I suggest you read on for yourself.


And...by the way I finished that counted cross stitch project.

Shalom ~ Happy Passion Week and may you have a bless Resurrection Sunday.


GIS εїз

“…with God.” ~ Matthew 19:26

I wish I had a quarter for every time someone asked me, “What is GIS?” Geographical Information Systems is basically making maps with information collected to provide a service. It is much more than that, but that is the basic use. The service could be trails, a system of maintenance for trees on a campus, or providing marketing information for a possible new location of a supermarket, the purposes are unending in the civilian world as well as the military. The part that makes this different from just making a map is that there are attributes with the maps that can be keyed in to: created, review, updated, and a number of other possibilities.The greatest part is that these maps are changeable and can even be 3D and time lapsed.
      This last week I have been working on a class assignment that involved 3 D images and raster layers that are comprised of cell data. 
       Last night I worked on the project and told myself to put it on a mental shelf and get back to it after I had more information from my instructor. I took out my counted cross stitch and worked on that until I was ready to fall asleep.

      My mind obviously was not finished trying to solve the GIS puzzles. In a dream I was working on my GIS project again. But in the dream... I had my base-map of the aerial view of our house, a building shape file for the house and pump house, another vector file with the entire yard of wild violets in the lawn (basically a page of dots) and I was working on the project of how to map the need of fixing a bad spot in the lawn caused by a dead carcass.  A little disturbing to say the least. I was so glad to look out the back door and only see overgrown grass.

I told the instructor today that everyone should be required to do a counted cross stitch in the g
class to work out their projects when the computers is being gluggish.   I’m not sure the spelling of that but it is when you want to fix it with a hammer.

      So, I got the new instructions to go through tomorrow. I am almost finished with this beginner project  in counted-cross stitch so that I can submit my intermediate project for the sisterhood  of farm girls badge. I was submitting my bird picture as an intermediate badge, but I needed a beginning project. It has been nice to have a simple project.

                                            

    But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 
(Matthew 19:26 ESV)