"Pups" you'll take the "angle" that I'm lazy Valentine - but the chances are - I'll land you with this little "bait" of mine!
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My appetite's deserted me! My sleep is fitful, too! Just dont' know what's come over me -
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Since I fell in love with You, Valentine!
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Dear Love,
Do I love you,
Why should you ask it?
You'll find my answer
in the basket!
(Here ya go, I brought you a toad. What do you think about that?)
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Showers of L O V E my Valentine!
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To my Valentine. I've tied my Heart to this Pop To let you know You're the top! (note, there are pop-out holes for including a lollipop).
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Keep in step - and lead the band - you're the best Valentine in all the land!
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You're a hit with me, Valentine.
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VALENTINE, GLIDE WITH ME and BE MINE! I LOVE U
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Presenting: Timothy Jenkins!

Hi there Valentine. Be mine.
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Welcome-homa
A very sweet story...and a great name for a blog.

Be My Sweet Cookie Dear Valentine

24/33!!

via Actual Unretouched Photo

I Love You. Here's a CARTLOAD of LOVE for YOU My Valentine
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My brother sent me a stack of old books he picked up at an estate sale. Inside one of the books, I found this little treasure neatly folded in half and then in half again. The certificate (from the United States of America) reads as follows:

The New York
Society of Self-Culture

To all to whom this may come, Greeting: This is to Certify that the Bearer is hereby constituted a Life Member of The New York Society of Self-Culture. Bureau of Enquiry Privileges are conferred as per Bureau of Enquiry Rules printed on the reverse hereof. In Testimony Whereof, we have herewith set our hand and affixed our seal on this, the _________ day of __________A.D., 19___, at The City of New York, in the State of New York, U.S.A.

The New York Society of Self Culture
No. B8231
(signed) Adelaide Gordon, Secretary

N.B. - This certicate is to be retained by the member and is non-transferable. The number must be mentioned in all letters of enquiry.

On the back of the certificate, we find this:

For Social Counsel
Upon Special and Personal Questions Consult
The New York Society of Self-Culture
For the guidance of those who wish
to appear well, and for parents who
wish their children to appear well

A membership in this Society includes the privileges of a Bureau of Enquiry, maintained to keep members in touch with changes in Social Forms; together with ownership of "Correct Social Usuage," a Course of Instruction in Good Form, Style and Deportment, which is also an authoritative work of Ready Reference, covering every essential of Good Manners. THis Course has been prepared by Seventeen Distinguished Authors.

Bureau of Enquiry

A memership in The New York Society of Self-Culture carries with it: (1) The privilege of twenty enquiries of our Bureau of Enquiry without other charge than prepayment of postage upon replies. This is to enable every member to consult us freely after a first reading of the Course of Instruction, that we may further explain any points not made sufficiently clear, and adapt any difficult procedure to exceptional social conditions. (2) The life privilege of consulting our Bureau upon any matter of Social Usage for the nominal charge of twenty-five cents per enquiry. By this means members are kept constantly in touch with authoritative information concerning changing Social Forms, and have easy accesss to a correct understanding of any perplexing social questions concerning which they may not be quite sure. For further information address

The New York Society of Self-Culture 32 Waverly Place New York

Attached, one finds 20 coupons:

GOOD FOR ONE ENQUIRY.
Customary Fee (25c.) Twenty-Five Cents.
Attach coupon to your letter, put in a 2-cent stamp, give full name and address and enclose in an envelope addressed to New York Society of Self-Culture, 32 Waverly Place, New York. Not Transferable.












A quick internet search reveals this book published by the Society and written in 1905 by 17 distinguished authors!

Correct Social Usage A Course of Instruction in Good Form, Style And Deportment

Gee - 'TANKS' for being by Valentine. Hurrah for the red, the white, and blue. Hurrah, for having a Valentine like you!
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It is time for the Second Annual Valentine Bonanza! I'll be posting at least one valentine per day until February 14th. These are from a scrapbook I purchased in a junk store a few years ago. This valentine is one of the earliest in the book.
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I don't usually do this sort of thing, but I have been collecting McDonald's Narnia toys. I never got a White Witch, though. Anybody out there have an extra one???
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I returned home from the ladies' retreat Sunday and have been unable to post since. The logical thing was to report on the retreat. To not mention the retreat would be odd, but it was the sort of weekend that defies explanation. In fact, it was such an intimate weekend, I would feel that I had betrayed something if I spoke about it in such a public forum. Suffice to say I was blessed beyond my imagination. I am not gifted in public speaking and I am not a model Christian, but God worked in that place despite me. It was beautiful to witness.

And now, for something completely different... please check out the latest news at Into Rwanda.

Abraham Lincoln, the photographic inspiration
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Abraham Lincoln, Colin's entry in the Abraham Lincoln in Art & Essay contest.
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Coming October 2006!!!!
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Jessie waited her entire life for her 15 minutes of fame. Finally, she made the front page of the Metro section of the Oklahoman. She was tickled pink. Uh....lavender.
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I really don't know why Sean Gleeson isn't making big bucks. His talent and sense of humor are second to none. This week he pokes fun at the Alito hearings. Go check it out, and be sure to scroll down to page one so you don't miss even one thing!

End of the Spear opens January 20th at Regal and Cinamark theatres.

Yeah, I'm still around. The women's retreat is tomorrow. I'm in charge and I'm speaking, so this last week has been crazy busy. Everything is going well, though. Now I just need some rest so I don't fall asleep at the podium!

I took Spencer to the Max Westheimer airport in Norman today. He loved it. We saw 10 landings and 8 take-offs, and the planes taxied in very close to us. Next week we hit the Wiley Post airport!

See you guys on the flip side.

So, I'm driving around today with a million things on my mind, but what pops up in my head? My idea for a January ad campaign for a plastic surgeon:

New Ears Resolution: . . .

or

Happy New Ears!

Clearly, I'm losing it.

Business Unusual
Colin entered his first art show today. They are calling all those who won awards tonight, so we are sitting by the phone waiting anxiously. It is 7:19 and I am already discouraged. My competitive nature is coming out!

Anyway, registration was last week and I had spent the entire Christmas break trying to get Colin to draw something for the show. He is a temperamental artist and not usually willing to work at anyone else's direction, so it was tricky - and I failed.

My hopes were up when he opened the Art House last week. He set up a small studio upstairs complete with a catalog of the sort of work he would do for money. He said he had been disappointed in the sales at his bone store and eventually went out of business. He thought an Art House might be a good money maker.

I offered 50 cents for a drawing of the planets if I could choose the paper (he often works on notebook paper). He agreed, but then bargained for just one planet. I chose Saturn. I told him I would only pay for his very best work.

No sooner did my feet hit the first floor than I heard him call out that my order was ready. I returned with my 50 cents to find my art complete and the receipt written directly on the image. My complaints were not redressed, and I never did get a "clean" copy of Saturn (or any planet, for that matter). While his store was open, I held out hope and even registered his drawing of "The Planet" in the show. In the end, I had to find an old drawing of the planets he had done on construction paper and I entered that in the show.


The Art House went under and Colin has now opened a fish store. He has clear plastic bowls with plastic fish, a net to scoop them out, more clear plastic bowls and tubs for fish tanks and a bowl of beads (for fish food). If you purchase a fish, he will put it in a ziploc baggy for you. The fish are cheap, but watch out! He is a master at selling the accessories! The good thing is that everyone gets a free bag of food and a free poster of the coral reef drawn by the owner himself.

UPDATE: No phone call. Bummer.

UPDATE: Dwayne the Canoe Guy just might qualify for next year's children's art show.

"Sea Creatures" by Colin
(these are to be cut out)

"The Planets" by Colin
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By Colin
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Spencer
Per request to update on Spencer:

Spencer did leave the house today, but he is still experiencing throat pain. It is only through the miracle of powerful pain medicine that he is out of bed. When that medicine wears off, it is most unpleasant for everyone concerned.

I wasn't prepared for the horrible stink, which presumably comes from the anesthesia. I was up with him for much of the night last night and it was all I could do to hold him! Let me just say, I proved my love. Ghastly!

It remains to be seen whether he will make it to school tomorrow. I'll have to time the drugs just right so he feels good soon enough to get dressed and go and it lasts all the way until class is over.

The Heart of a Mom
I was just printing out the last two months worth of blogging (I keep it in a binder, you see), and realized I had not updated you on my mom since she had the defibrillator installed.

Well, it turns out it was the best possible timing for her. Just one month after her surgery she had a cardiac event and the defibrillator was put to use. She had walked a few blocks to join us for Colin's Christmas concert. When she walked in the building and we started toward the sanctuary, she suddenly screamed a froze in place. Then she whispered, "I've been electrocuted." For a moment, I looked around for electrical cords, confused as to how she could have been electrocuted, but I quickly realized what had happened. She said she felt okay, but was tingling all over.

Thankfully, her cardiologist's partner's wife is a friend of mine and they were there for the concert. He calmed me down considerably (I was quite shaken - much more than mom was!). We got her doctor on the phone and he said if she didn't pass out and she felt okay, she could just come in the next day so they could get a read-out and discover what happened.

Amazingly, the little gadget keeps a record of everything her heart does, and they were able to discover that she had several small episodes that lead to the big one. Without the defibrillator she would have probably passed out, requiring and ambulance and a trip to the hospital. Frankly, she probably would not have had treatment soon enough to save her life. At a minimum, it would have been a major ordeal.

I am now in awe of the little defibrillator and of the perfect timing of it all.

This image has NOT been altered. It is real, people. I saw it in the paper while my computer was dead and I could hardly wait to show it to you. There are so many things to love about it. Mr. Manne's "talk to the hand" gesture is one of them.

Poor Mr. Manne. After years of study, practice and immaculate grooming, he finds himself in newspapers across the country with this guy. This is the guy you saw in law school, but you never thought he would actually graduate and pass the bar. And, anyway, if he did, he would still end up running pawn shops or, perhaps even, designing clothes for circus clowns. I mean really.

Another of my favorite parts (aside from the W.C. Fields/Oklahoma Highway Patrol ensemble), is the spot of red rouge on his cheeks.

I plan to keep this image around. It brings me no end of joyful laughter.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
I know this is old news to most of you, but Oklahoma is going up in flames. Mostly, it just seems like beautiful, sunny weather. At least to us city folk. However, the dry conditions and the wind have been a catastrophe for many Oklahomans these past two weeks.

A few city spots caught fire this weekend. I drove by one spot after it had been doused. The fire was big enough it had blanketed most of Edmond in smoke Sunday afternoon. I'm not a fireman, but it was easy to spot the cause by driving by. The blackened spot started near an intersection at the side of the road then fanned out into the field. It had to be a cigarette thrown from a window.

Yesterday morning when we left the house early in the morning we could smell fire in the air. My mother had the same experience 10 miles north of me, so I know it wasn't just a neighborhood fire. Then in the evening, the sky looked like a big, bad bruise. A yellow horizen faded upward into dark purple and then black.

Yesterday I recieved an email written by a friend who lives in the country and is in immediate danger from the fires. I hope you'll join us in our prayer for rain:

"Whether it's because I grew up on a cattle farm where the weather was discussed each day, everyday, or because I love the outdoors, or just because God asks me to, my passion for prayer is rain. I feel God's presence in the rain. He speaks to me. Like the song by Amy Grant, "maybe my eyes can't see, but you are surrounding me, here in the wind and rain, the things that I know so well...I know the voice I know the touch - Lover of my soul."

"Please pray with me, for rain. I need your help. My prayers start out with Psalm 63, "O God you are my God, and I will earnestly seek You. My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land
where there is no water" because that's how I'm feeling right now. I am spent. After losing [a friend to cancer]this past month, and this dry drought weather, I am weary. I need to see the answer "yes".

"Please end with Psalm 65:9 "You care for the land and water it, you enrich it abundantly...THEY shout for joy and sing" because He will answer in due time. Then we can all say together, (66:5) "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in our behalf!"

Excerpts from "I Want to Be An Airplane Hostess" by Carla Greene, 1961.

New Years Eve we played with the tigers! Petco in Edmond had 4 baby tigers (10 weeks old) visiting and for a fee and a long wait, we got to play with them for 8 minutes. It was an incredible experience. They weren't as soft as we thought they would be; the fur was more like a dog's fur than a cat's. And they were huge for 10 weeks old! Those kittens could have taken any one of us out in seconds.

The most incredible moment for me was when I looked into one tiger's eyes. I could only look for a few seconds. It was like looking into another world, and I could see wild in there. I could see that he was not predictable, and it seemed as if something about looking in my eyes was getting to him, too. I had to look away for fear, even though he was happily nestled in my lap enjoying life.

The whole experience was fantastic. If you ever have the chance to hold a baby tiger, take it!

Tonsils R Out!
Spencer's tonsillectomy went very well yesterday and he is home resting. We arrived for the procedure at 7:30 yesterday and we here home by 10:15! One of my biggest fears had been the time just before the surgery because I knew Spencer was scared. He did well, but he was showing some signs of fear. The nurse gave him a little 1/4 teaspoon cup of pink liquid and everything was fine after that. In fact, he became very silly and giggly ("a happy drunk") and got all of us laughing. It was kind of fun to watch, actually. The nurse said we now know what kind of drunk he will be, so if he comes home silly and giggly, we'll know what he's been doing.

A friend of ours who sells coblators to ENT doctors and knows our doctor well came to watch the surgery. As we left Spencer in the hands of the nurses, Steve went in with Spencer and prayed over him during the surgery. Meanwhile, my BSF leader sat with us in the waiting room. We weren't there long. Apparently the actual surgery takes about 5 minutes! The surgery went very well. Steve said there were two drops of blood on one side and none on the other!

I have to send a big thank you to the incredible friends who, after discovering MY anxiety about the surgery, took wonderful care of me. Spencer's best friend's mommy brought him over to play and eat dinner with us the night before, another friend gave us ideas to ease Spencer's concerns (like wearing surgery masks for fun the day before), another friend offered to watch Colin while we were at the hospital, and a group of friends appeared late Monday night to pray with me and sing with me. When I returned home, there were lots of calls inquiring about Spencer. All this for such a simple procedure! What a blessing.