A Quick Post

I'm having computer problems that should be fixed tomorrow so I will make this quick! I have been at General Conference each day and it has been great! I am home now...Friday night....and in need of some rest. Hopefully, I will get to go to the Foreign Missions service tomorrow night! I've seen so many friends and heard some wonderful messages. The worship has been strengthening. I'll post more tomorrow!!! God's best to each of you!!

Previous Post Continuation

I apologize for ending my previous post so abruptly but something came up here at home that I had to tend to pronto!
I kind of got on a kick about music and lead sheets and so on, hm??? Continuing on with that just a bit: When I took piano lessons, my lessons were recorded, but nothing was put down on paper, ever! I don't know why. It was like it was considered cheating or something. I remember doing entire Christmas programs with nothing but a list of the songs and the keys they were played in. No words. No chords. No lead sheets. Nada. My how things have changed. I have a lead sheet for most every chorus and song that we do now. I don't use them much beyond initally learning the song and I almost always change something about them, but they are very, very helpful and make learning new songs soooo much easier than just listening, then listening again, rewinding, relistening and listening again to a song in order to learn it. Thank you, Jesus!
Okay, I'm done with that topic! *grin*
My friend Theresa is coming for a visit tomorrow! I am not sure exactly what all we will be doing but I'll report back in a day or so and let you know about the fun we had!! I am looking forward to our day together. I just hope it isn't too chilly out so we can enjoy sitting on the backporch with our tea and coffee and chatting!
Well, it is time to call it a day! The Lord's best to each of you and I hope to see you at conference! God Bless!

Good Day, Everyone! I am freezing! I have layers of clothing on trying to get warm! I hope I am not "coming down" with something because General Conference begins this week and I plan to be there every day, so "coming down" with something just isn't an option!!! In Jesus' Name!

I apologize for not blogging sooner. I have just haven't been in a "blogging mood", whatever that is. *sigh* But, on the other hand, I DO feel a responsibility to blog because of you, my faithful readers. I will endeavor to do better in the coming days, k? Thanks for being so understanding.

Well, the grand Hocking County Fair has come and gone once again. I had told Ed that I just wish I could feel the excitement about the fair that I used to feel when I was a child or at least a teenager. Soooo.....on the Sunday night before the opening day on Monday, I asked Ed to drive down by the fairgrounds, thinking just maybe the old feelings would surface if I saw the rides and vendors and the animals barns and so on. Well, we drove by the horse barns, the small animal barns, the rides, the main gate, the lights were flashing, people were walking about, the fair food smells were wafting about......BUT......it didn't work. No excitement here. *sigh* We did go to the truck and tractor pulls Friday night, though. You see, since Daniel was a baby we have gone to the truck and tractor pulls. My oldest brother Bill and his wife Sandy are always there in the same seats, as is his son and daughter and their families. We've always joined them. It has gotten to be a kind of family reunion thing. Daniel joined us a while later. Then, about two hours later, Bethany and Drew joined us. And before we left, my nephew Troy and a friend from work surprised us all by joining us! We had an awesome time! I honestly can't say that I watched much of the truck and tractor pulls but I had a great time visiting with my family!!

I sold my first Ohio State afghan!!! My sister Debbie's visiting nurse bought it! $35.00!! I am now working on my fourth one and once it is finished, I am going to put it on Swap and Shop, a local radio program that lets you call in and advertise things that you have for sale and it is free! I think after I finish this Ohio State one, though, I am going to make one a different color. I've even thought of making a Michigan one because we do have Michigan fans in the area, folks. Yes, it's true......hard to believe, but true. *grin*

Daniel and Erin came to church yesterday morning as we had our VBS finale and Daniel had a main part in it. He was the voice of "Beakin'', the lighthouse pelican. Okay, now he is my son but I have to tell you.......I never cease to be amazed at the things this young man can do. He changed his voice to play Beakin' and I couldnt' tell that it was him and he is so awesome with the children....they just love him. It makes me wonder if he will have a ministry with children. The Lord knows.
After the morning service, we had a carry-in dinner for Daniel and Erin and everyone got to bid them farewell and visit with them, as this truly is their last Sunday at First Church.
Okayyyyyy, I'll be honest here: I have been in a bit of a funk because of the boy and his sweet wife transferring to Nelsonville. I know it's not very far away. I guess it is just a "parent" thing. Ed's been feeling the same way. Oh, we still talk to them often and all. It is just really different, not having them at church with us any longer. And also not having a drumplayer, though we do have a young lady practicing...*grin*. Daniel is such an awesome drummer and I am sure that us being mother and son enhanced our playing together, but I never had to give him signals or anything. If a sweet hushed presence of the Lord came into our midst, he would know just how to play or if it would be best, he just stopped playing, while at other times, his playing added so much to what I was playing without me ever having to give him instruction. He truly has a gift. He's never had a lesson. From the time he was old enough to grasp a pair of drumsticks, he has played drums somehow. He started by taking the lids of my pots and pans and putting them around on the sofa and playing them with little drumsticks. Then he inherited a set of play drums from his cousin, Shawn. We then bought him his first set of "real" drums. They were gold metal flake, but were a little too big for him, so we sold them. I believe we bought him a set of blue metal flake drums. He got big enough to play the drums at church for the children's choir, but he couldnt' reach the base pedal. Still, he did a great job. We transferred to New Life for a few years and he played the drums very little during those years, though he would still beat around with pens, pencils and his hands. *grin* When we came back to Logan, they were playing drums on a keyboard. The girl that had been doing it, gladly gave it to Daniel. He wasn't too excited about playing drums on a keyboard, but he relented......at least for awhile. And where they had just been keeping a standard beat on the keyboard, Daniel became known as "Mr. Happy Fingers". He did runs and all kinds of "drummer" stuff with the drum sounds on that little keyboard. Wendy, who was music director at the time, was amazed! Finally, the day came when Ed and Daniel went shopping for electronic drums. They first came to our home where Daniel set them up and gave them several good workouts. But our home was not the place for these drums, so they took them to the church and the rest is history, so to speak. Daniel can listen to a song, hear the drum patterns and just pick it up with some practice. It just amazes me. I guess it shouldn't though because that is how I have learned the songs that I play. When I first started playing, in the early 70's, we didnt' have lead sheets. I don't know why. We could have had them, but it was seldom that anyone used them. We were expected to keep everything in our head and memorize it. Believe me when I say I am sooo thankful for them today!!!

The Votes Are In!!!

All 7 (SEVEN) of them!!! That is how many people voted in our precinct yesterday in the special election to elect the Republican candidate for the 18th Congressional District. But we (the poll workers) made the best of it and we had a very good day! I believe all five precincts had a combined total of 65 voters!!

First of all, I just don't sleep well the night before an election as I am the presiding judge and I do have alot of responsibility and now that positive ID is required from every voter, the provisional voting will increase and there's alot of paperwork and little details to that. Anywayyyyyy......all of the little details go 'round and 'round in my head all night long. I can't help it; it's just the way it is. I finally went to sleep at 12:30am and slept till 3:30am. I lay there until 4:15am and finally got up. I started fixing Spanish Rice to take as all of the pollworkers take food to have that day. Well, I headed out the door at 5:30am and set the dish of spanish rice on the porch railing so I could turn around and check the door to make sure it was locked and all and I heard this "THUD". Ohhhh Noooooo!!!!!!!!!! Rocky had come from somewhere and knocked the dish off onto the porch!!! I hurried into the house to get some water and a broom to clean the mess up and he started whining and barking because he couldn't get to the food through the porch spindles! Thankfully, it didn't splatter everywhere and my dish didn't break, so I hurriedly swept the mess out into the grass and took the dish in and put it in the oven and headed for the polling place. When I got there the first thing I told my co-workers was, "The dog ate my food!" Do you know how untrue that sounds???? *smile* We had a good laugh over it and , trust me, didn't none of us go hungry yesterday!!! Whooooeeeee, did we have the food.! You see, there were five precincts at this location....Lee's Banquet Haus.....meaning there were 21 people. Anywayyyy....at least four husbands brought in boxes of donuts and the ladies themselves really hauled in the food. There were two crockpots of homemade vegetable soup, one of beef stew, the most delicious spinach dip I've ever had!!!, homemade chicken salad (the best I've ever had, too!! *grin*) on croissants, taco salad, broccoli salad, numerous chips, crackers and munchies, little pecan tarts and too many desserts to even mention! Oh, and did I say we had DONUTS ????? Now, being on Weight Watchers (17lbs. lost to date!), I took a chicken salad from KFC and some legal munchies. But I did have a little of most everything that the ladies brought. Now I am not much of a sweets eater, but I did have one of those little pecan tarts and was it ever delicious!!!

And then, to entertain myself, I took a word search book, a bible crossword book and my bible, two Reader's Digests, a couple of books (light reading stuff) and my yarn and hook. I got ALOT of crocheting done! *smile* Really, I did!

At about 4 o'clock, we all started playing "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". One of the ladies had brought a hand-held game. We had soo much fun and finally, thanks to Mary Grant, who is 80-something, we finally won $1,000,000!!!! She is a sweetheart! And another lady was working a crossword and we all helped her get the answers she couldn't and we talked and laughed and had such a good time. It is always amazing to me how quickly the time passes on election day and we are talking a long day because we get there at 5:45am and usually leave at approximately 8:15pm. Some of us also went outside and walked around the building at different times of the day and got some exercise and fresh air. I made some new friends and got to visit with old friends. In the words of D.R., it was good times. *grin*

Now onto November!! And I've no doubt we will have more than 7 voters!!!

A new fan is born

Ed, my husband, in previous years, has taken some pleasure in harrassing me and Daniel whenever the Buckeyes were playing, telling us that they were not as good as everyone said and then rooting for the other team, yadyadayada......and it had the desired effect: making me and the boy really mad! He seldom sat down and watched a game with us.I mean, I just don't understand how you can be from Ohio and not root for the Buckeyes....go figure.

Welllllllll.....there has been a change in the Cavinee household! First of all, last week when we were on our way to Canton/Minerva, HE/ED tuned the radio into the game and then searched for another station when the one we were listening to faded out. Before, he could have cared less. THENNNNNN.....come Saturday evening, he made sure he was ready and in his recliner with beverage and snacks at hand, to watch the game. And he watched the ENTIRE game! And he cheered and rooted along with me, as I crocheted on another scarlet and gray afghan! *smile* I could hardly believe it! I told him it was so great to have him on my side......at last! And we did have so much fun watching the game together. Of course, when something big happened I was either calling someone and yelling into the phone or they were calling me doing the same. I have a network of family and friends who I call while watching the game. This consists of Elder Sis. Martin, Arlene (a dear friend), of course, Daniel, my brother-in-law Bud, and sometimes my brothers, Johnny and Bill. Saturday night I received a call and all I could hear was the OSU fight song and I was laughing and screaming, "who is this?". It was Arlene!! She's as crazy as I am!

Well, anywayyyy....we stayed up till the very end of the game and what a game it was. I will be honest and say that I was not looking for the Buckeyes to win this one. I mean, there had been so much hype about the Longhorns quarterback, Colt McCoy and their running back, Jamaal Charles and concerns expressed about our defense and having 7 new players this year.

So, I am curious.....as a fan should we believe that they are going to win every game? If you are a true fan, is it okay to think that they might not win every game? Dave Maetzold, a sports commentator from Columbus, was on 610 WTVN radio last week saying that he just didn't think the Bucks could win this one and he REALLY caught alot of flack, let me tell you.

Well, they play Cincinnati this weekend and barring any unforseen incidents, we will be watching! Go Buckeyes!

Our oldest son

You see, Donnie's mother and I were very close friends. When Caroline passed away, I kind of adopted Donnie and told him that if he ever needed a hug(s) or some mothering, here I am. Thusly, we have developed a special relationship. He is such a fine, fine young man and he has a sweet wife and adorable children. Oh, but his mother and father and the Lord deserve all of the credit for the fine man of God he has become.
Here he is playing with his favorite toy....his blackberry. It does everything but cook Sunday dinner! Sheesh! This pic was taken after he had taught Sunday School and delivered a wonderful sermon in church Sunday morning. We were just waiting for the food when this pic was taken!

Another change in our lives

I know that some of you know this already, but for those of you who don't: Daniel and Erin will be transferring to Nelsonville UPC sometime this month. Erin's father pastors there and many of her family members attend there also. Although we know that this is a good move for them and that they have prayed about this and it is the direction the Lord is taking them, it is still a bit difficult for us. Daniel has always gone to church with us. *little smile* I know, I know.... it is not like they are going to Timbuktu. As a parent, though, I've always had him there with me and at times when I struggled to do what was right or to maintain a right attitude, his presence there, watching me, made me do the right thing, you know? Or if I was having some difficulty......we do have those even in the house of the Lord sometimes.......somehow having Daniel there made it easier to deal with.

Oh, we know we'll still see them alot, especially on Sunday at dinner time. *grin* And we don't mind at all. But there is going to kind of be an empty place at church now for us. He's always sat with us in church or in front of us. Oh, and he is our drummer, too. Hopefully, the Lord will help us to fill that vacancy. We're trusting Him, too.

They...Daniel and Erin.....stopped by here Labor Day evening to give me a couple of things they had bought for me at Jeffersonville Outlets. Here's a pic of them! Go Buckeyes!! More for my collection!


So, if you would be so kind, please pray for us as this change takes place in our lives. They talked with Pastor Martin and he was so supportive of them. This weekend was supposed to be their last week in Logan, but I believe that is going to be extended because of VBS and our big finale program which we are having on the 24th of this month. I'll let you know more and also we will be having a going away party for them.....of course! :-)

Labor Day Weekend Update

Hello everyone! We had such a great weekend. We left at about 1pm Saturday afternoon and firstly stopped by the Sweet Corn Festival in Millersport, Ohio so we could visit with and see all of our dear friends from Mt. Vernon church. Their church does all of the sweet corn for this festival. Now, I've been there before and have seen them husk, clean and cook the corn, but I NEVER noticed how they buttered it. And, Ohhhhhhh, to they butter it! They take like this basket of cooked corn on the cob and SOAK it in this metal container of hot, melted butter! Oh baby, oh baby......Well, I got about 4 or 5 ears of corn and Sis. Garrett found me a knife and I cut the corn off of the cob, salt and peppered it and Ed and I feasted on the best corn we've ever eaten! It was so delish!!! We cut it off of the cob because I hate to get the corn between my teeth and Ed can't eat it off of the cob very well. After eating and visiting for awhile, left and headed for Canton, Ohio. I've not been to Canton before but I do know that the Football Hall of Fame is there. Now, if Daniel and Erin had been with us, we probably would have gone there, but since it was just me and Ed, we drove right on by. *smile* We stayed at a very nice Comfort Inn and looked forward to going to Minerva the next morning where we were going to surprise our wonderful friends, the Ryans. Donnie pastors Christian Life Center in Minerva now. There was such a wonderful presence of the Lord in Sunday School and the worship service! Afterward, we had a cookout and fellowship. We were there until about four-thirty that afternoon. We had such a good time of eating and visiting. One of the ladies in the church made the best pumpkin pie I've ever eaten! And, yes, there was cool whip! The congregation may be small at the present time, but we could feel such a spirit of unity among them and there is such an air of expectancy in their midst. We are so excited for them. Here are a few pics of Donnie, Charity, Becky, Michael and Gabrielle.

Little Gabrielle looks tired in the pic above,hm? Bless her heart....but she was playing enthusiastically when we were leaving at 4:30pm! *smile* We had planned to stay two nights but we just don't sleep very well in hotels/motels. *sigh* So we drove home and slept wonderfully in our own bed Sunday night! I mean, what is a person to do who wants to go away for the weekend or longer, knowing they have to stay in a motel/hotel and probably won't sleep very well??? We take our own pillows and our lack of sleep was not the fault of the motel.....the bed was very comfy and all. Does this mean we may never take a lengthy vacation again? I don't know. At this point in my life, one thing I know for sure is that I have learned the value of a good night's sleep. Maybe we need to take drugs to help us sleep? But then we'll feel dopey the next day....what to do, what to do. Any suggestions??? (watch travel videos?? *grin*)

So after a wooooonnnnderful night's sleep, we were up early Monday morning, ready to celebrate Labor Day! *smile* Okay, so we didn't ACTUALLY do any celebrating, but we did labor, doing odds and ends of things here at home. I fixed us a nice breakfast and we just enjoyed the day! Actually, there was an all-day marathon of Top Chef on Bravo and I watched some of it while I crocheted on another Ohio State afghan! And how 'bout them Buckeyes!?!?!?!? I'm thinkin' the game this coming weekend isn't going to be quite the walk-in-the-park that this first game was but it should be exciting! Finishing up our Labor Day festivities...*grin*.....we rode into town.....(sounds like we hitched up ol' Nellie to the wagon and hit the dusty trail,hm?? LOL) and shopped for groceries, came home, and called it a day.

Gosh, but sometimes we sound so OOOOOLLLLLDDDD, don't we?

We used to go to bed at about 10:30 every night but for the past few nights we've been going to bed at about 9:30. Of course, no matter what time we go to bed, we are awake and up by six most mornings. Most nights, we both read for awhile after we have gone to bed. Anywayyyy....."early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"!

Well, that's a wrap, folks! Our weekend in a nutshell! Goodnight and God Bless!! Until tomorrow.........