341/366 DPP 6

Tally for the day:
2 girls on time to science class
1 meal delivered
Revelation study attended
1 basketball game won
1 student council meeting held
1 basketball game lost
121 miles of driving finished
Advent reading complete

phew.

(today's photo credit to Lydia, who definitely got the best shot o' the day!)

340/366 DPP 5

happy birthday nannybannany!

339/366 DPP 4

On this afternoon, I plugged the crockpot in, which was immediately followed by a POP and a flash and a puff of smoke and a singed mark on the bottom. BUT, the Handyman disassembled it, and with some tools and a trusty mini-soldering iron, it seems to be working again.

Except, can you really trust a crockpot with potentially faulty wiring...?

338/366 DPP 3

Decorated for Christmas on Jackson Street.

337/366 DPP 2

First thing in the morning I read in Psalm 122-
I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
And I was.
Then later in the afternoon, driving east on the expressway, I was glad again.

336/366 DPP 1

Tonight we joined the audience at the Centro Cultural in Reynosa, Mexico for a performance of a very well done Charlie Chaplin-esque play. And the neatest thing? The actors were kids from Isaiah 55, the school for the deaf in Reynosa. What fun to watch, and rejoice with them in a job well done! (See those hands in the air at the very bottom of the photo- that's a member of the audience "clapping" in the front row! I love aplause in sign!)

And then we ate good Mexican food with fun friends, and stopped for yogurt too! Bonus!

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ah yes...
this is the weather that we daydream about through the 100 degree days of summer.

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The blackbirds are back.
I wonder if Hitchcock ever visited south Texas...

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H.O.R.S.E,
which turned to
D.U.C.K.,
which turned to
P.I.G.,
which turned to
P.,
I think.

December Photo Project- Year 3 (?)

NOW it can officially be December! The start of the December Photo Project has arrived. This is my third year of participating (I think... hmmm... maybe I should check the archives...), after a couple of years of anonymously stalking the participants daily entries. I'm excited- and it's a great way to finish up 366 in 2012. Just one more month!

Besides the challenge of finding a photo every single day, here's another thing I love about the DPP- figuring out the seemingly random degrees of separation of the other participants. Rebecca Tredway, who hosts, is a member of a church that is a sister (daughter?) church of a church that supports our missions work (Hi Zion!), and in addition, I always "see" other people I know who are friends or relatives of others I know, and isn't it a small world after all?

Want to play along also? Go sign up RIGHT NOW- December Photo Project at www.tredways.org

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Testing, testing...

and what exactly happens to the lights in those 11 months of storage that causes them NOT to work when you pull them out again? Scenes from Toy Story flash through my head- maybe Barbie and the Little People and the boxed away stuffed animals host parties at night when we're all asleep...

331/366

One of the unexpected yet nice surprises about the basketball season is visiting small towns, places I might not other wise ever find. Monday it was Granjeno, Texas- a town far enough south that we could see the border fence without squinting. Official population of Granjeno is 313, plus one dog who likes to lie in the road.

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Chocolate.
Pecan.
Pie.
Que rico!

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After more than two weeks away from home, that was the day I needed.

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What Child is this who laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Nails and spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
- What Child Is This, written by William C. Dix, 1865

Now, yes, ready for the Advent season.

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My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your truth to the clouds.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
- Psalm 57:7-11

(photo taken in the gardens of Parque Fundidora in Monterrey, Mexico)

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Team meeting,
dear friends,
carne asada,
much giving thanks.

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Nearly every morning for almost 10 years.
Gracias, mi amor.

324/366

I walked out of the grocery store to the very edges of the parking lot. At first glace I thought it was fake, the decoy a farmer might place by the field. A hawk, regal and still, talons clenched tight to the luggage rack, perched on the SUV parked across from me. I stood watching it, and a lady driving by stopped and took a photo with her cell phone.

I didn't have my camera.
So later I took a picture of the green beans.
(aren't some days like that?)

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There's no place like home.

(for the end of the Spain/NYC photos, click here)