Doin the happy dance!

Eric's home! Eric's home! Eric's home! Eric's home.

Doin the happy dance!!!!!!!! You might even call it a jig! After all, there was a layover in Ireland. There were hugs & kisses and more hugs. I said I'd even fake a headache just to get one of his headache kissess.

So we'll dance and hug and be happy if only for a few days.
Doin his laundry. Getting him his favorite food. Let us eat steak!
We rejoice in the fact that he's here and healthy. Though the visit maybe short, his tour of duty is almost done. We're thankful for all of you who have continued to keep Eric in your prayers.

Eric update

Hey!!!!
Uncle Eric is on his way home!

For those of you interested, Eric is on his way. It's not a direct flight....you might say it takes a couple of days. Expect to get the "Pick me up from DTW" on Tuesday. It's a wait but we couldn't be happier!

Slight delay

As I expected, Eric did not get off right away, therefore a slight delay. What's the saying...."All good things come to those that wait?" Well, it's worth the wait only if for 2 weeks, part of which will be spent at Spring Arbor University. It seems like just yesterday that I was helping him with his braid at Boot Camp Graduation....it's been 2yrs. Two weeks doesn't seem like enough time, but to me it's enough to know he's ok and having time with family & friends.

I'll admit, it's been a time of trusting God. The day Eric left for Boot Camp wasn't an easy one. I remembered praying, "God, I've raised but the child in the ways he should go, now it's your turn to raise up the man.

I remember the Sunday that Eric came into church wearing his ACU's. I wasn't prepared to see a boy leave my house for weekend duty and a man come into the church. I am thankful and grateful for the boy, the son and the man!

Will let all know when we get the call that he's state side. Thanks for all your support and prayers.

Something new

This is something new I heard about from my daughters. Like so many other bloggers, you like to know you're connecting with others. This is why I'm trying http://rssHugger.com, to see if I can get some more readers who share my interests.

As this website explains:"rssHugger aims to help visitors be able to easily find blogs that write about subjects they are interested in. These subjects include:Internet marketing, making money online, charity, sports, gambling and many more. If the visitors find a blog that they had not previously heard about, they can easily add it to there rss readers or bookmark it."

If you'd like to sign up, you can go to http://rssHugger,com and register. It's free if you write a review on your blog about it or a one time fee of $20 otherwise.

So what are you waiting for? Come join us!

Coming Home/ counting the days.

Like Eric, we (his dad & I) are counting the days till he's home for a two week leave. Eric has been in Iraq since Feb. and away from home since Jan. To think we'll see him in the flesh and not this nice night vision picture, is hard to believe. I have mixed emotions. I really haven't allowed myself to think about his being gone. We couldn't be prouder of him and all who have chosen to protect and defend this country. We have a sign in our yard that says "Our Son, Our Soldier, Our Hero".
I sure the two weeks will fly by before we have had time to think. He'll return to Iraq to finish his tour of duty. We pray that his mission is on schedule and he is back in January, which will be just in time to return to Spring Arbor University. Back to a normal; school, and home one weekend a month for Guard duty(this is when I get the pleasure of doing his laundry). What I wouldn't give to do it today!
I'll be patient and continue to trust God to protect Eric, to mold and make him the man God would have him to be.
Please continue to pray for our troops and their loved ones who wait for their return.

Somewhere in Time

Photographs by Lisabeth Conger

Somewhere in time, that's were we were September 6th. I had invited family & friends to join me in Greenfield Village for the Antique Car Show, but there were rules.

Rules you say....

1. Wear period clothing
2. Participate in choir practice
3. Ride the Merry-go-round
4. East frozen custard.

Simple enough rules don't you think? I let them know that if they don't want to be followed or photographed, not to come because it will happen.

And what's with choir practice....in a public place yet.....? Well, you see, I wanted a way to be a witness and decided that people will stop and listen to singing, so we sing Blessed Assurance, How Great Thou Art & Amazing Grace.

What do you think of the attached photos? I had so many to choose from that it was easy to make a choice. Thank you Lisabeth for helping capture a moment in time for us. Your work is breath taking.

I'd also like to thank those who went with me. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I know some of you expressed a desire to go back next year. It's something I haven't done in 3 years and I'm glad I went back.

I can no longer procrastinate!

I can no longer procrastinate! I have been work on a play for more then ? years. I was going strong in writing. I found a wonderful script writing program and went to town typing. All was going well… say “All was going well”, until I tried to download something on the computer and it froze my computer. I figured all was not lost, after all, I saved everything as documents and backed it up on a flash drive.
When we bought a new computer, I transferred my files over and was content to see the play title listed in Documents. That was until I opened the file. Horror of horrors, it was not the new program, but the first script.
Try as we might, we have not been able to get the program off the E drive and printed. The program will not open. I’ve procrastinated long enough. I can’t use the excuse that my computer ate my work. I typed it before, so I’ll type it again.
I’m putting the script program on our new computer and I’ll start again and remember to save it as a document.
I believe that God will tweak it and form it as He did before. After all, it’s His work, His vision. I’m just the instrument that He’s using.

So, the guessing begins

Remember the abandon silo I wrote about? Well, today on the way to pick up my mom, I noticed that it had been removed from the lot. To my surprise, later on my way to baby sit for Alex I noticed that the lot was now staked out with the black plastic border and a large hill of dirt was now some what in the middle of the lot. So, I guess now the guessing begins. What will they build? What will they put there that they feel we can’t possible live without? Can’t imagine. There’s a Home Depot, a Target on the back section, a strip mall with an Arby’s at one end and an Ink Stop at the other. So now what? I guess it remains to be seen.

The tradition continues

This week ended on a happy note. I returned to Greenfield Village for the Antique Car show and a picnic lunch. This is something I’ve done on and off for the past 25 years. It started as a fluke. I had been doing costumes for Mt. Clemens High school and the Macomb Theatre for Performing Arts (now the Emerald). I’m a history buff, though I’ll admit that I wasn’t into history when I was in school. Any way, my favorite time period is the late 1880 - 1911. I had costumes in storage and thought that the Antique Car Show would be a good place to use them. The first time we went, it was just my daughters (who were 5 ½ & 3 ½ at the time) 2 of my neighbors and myself. What an experience. We did a kick line to the music of a jazz band, which gained great applause and a theractial bow from Amy. We are photographed constantly throughout the day. Over the years, I have been give an award photo from Robinson's photography and 2 oil paintings (actually Irene has 1) from Morley Hasson of Trenton, Michigan.

(This photo is of stroller at Greenfield, not my costumes)

Over the course of the past 25 years as few a 4 have gone and as many as 22 and I’ve costumed them all. I even gave a personal Victorian Shower for a friend. We dressed to attend and paid to get in. I started a new tradition that year…choir practice. We sang songs from the early 1900’s.(Blessed Assurance, Amazing Grace & How Great Thou Art).

This year, after a 3 year absence, there were 8 adults and 10 children who went. Only my daughter Amy and grandson Alex had new costumes. The rest chose something from my vast collection. I was a bit discouraged because my favorite costume no longer fit. Imagine that, after 25 years….time for a new one…next year.

So far, the feed back from the group that went this year has been good. Some even request costumes of their own for next year (oh happy sewing!!!) So the tradition continues…fun, fellowship, antique cars, choir practice and a picnic lunch and endless pictures taken. I will share some of those pictures in the future as we had an amateur photographer join us this year.

I don't remember seeing that before

Is it me, or has anyone else noticed that this world is in a mad rush? I try to stay calm and at easy when I'm behind the steering wheel, but there are times I get pulled into the fast flow of traffic.
I believe that if I keep the calm edge as I travel to work, that I’ll maintain a calm edge at work. If I feel I really need the calming edge on the way to work, I purposely take a different route that requires calm! Or I’ll take my favorite scenic route to enjoy the view and relish the creation of God. Lately, my alternative routes are under construction, so I take them only if I really feel the need to slow down.
Anyway, last week as I was caught in the flow of the fast track as I traveled west bound on Hall Road (M59), I was astounded to see something I hadn’t noticed before. There in the middle of what use to be a clump of trees,(now a cleared lot) stood an abandon silo. It looks out of place as it stands as a reminder of a farm that is no more. Behind this lot, which by the way is for sale (no surprise there) stand a new Target (not yet open) and a Home Depot.
I remember when Hall road was a two lane road and it took forever to go from Gratiot to Van Dyke. It was a boring trip with nothing but farms to see. What I wouldn’t give for even one of those farms today. Progress has pushed farming out of this area. Ah progress! How many strip mall and gas stations can we have? How many malls for that matter?
I guess I’ve said all this to just say…..remember to take the scenic route, the calming route once in a while and relish what little scenic nature progress has left us.
Drive calm, take a deep breathe and enjoy the gift of nature that God has given us, as you inevitably get pulled into the fast track.

Out of Chronicalogical Order

Ah, the love of a good book.


You may think this silly, but I’m reading the Chronicles of Narnia. The desire to read it came after seeing the movie “The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.” Then they released “Prince Caspian”. I didn’t want to see the second movie until I read the book. Yeah, I know that the book and movie usually aren’t the same, but that’s ok.


So, I picked up my son Eric’s book and started reading “The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe”, which is the second book in the chronicles. Ok, ok, so I read it out of order, but that was the first movie. What difference does that make? Actually none, but that’s where I started.


I did go back and read the first book (The Magician’s Nephew) and when I finished it I was glad to know how certain things came about in Narnia. I’m now in the third book (The Horse and His Boy). It’s been a great challenge, but worth it. Sometimes a book is better then turning on the TV.


This past August, I had the opportunity to visit the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis and took a lot of pictures. I took this picture because it reminded me of the lamp post in Narnia after the snow melted.

Well, 3 more books to read and then the chronicles will be complete. The next book is Prince Caspian. Then I rent the movie.

Let me end with this, there's just something about Narnia and Aslan, that stirs my heart. I'm like a kid in a new adventure, and I'm greatful for authors like C. S. Lewis. I could only hope that one day something I wrote would stir the heart of man