Bye, Bye Winter!

What a crazy wacky weather weekend! This morning we woke up to crusty frozen snow on our car and on the grass, lawns, and trees but the streets didn't have any snow or ice. We hope this is winter's final blow. I sympathized with friends who volunteered to hand out water during a marathon on Saturday morning. Even though it was about 50 degrees it rained almost the entire time they were working. They were miserable at their water station and the runners also could hardly grab their drinks because their hands were so cold. Then later a cold front came through and late in the day there was sleet and snow. Someone mentioned they heard thunder and saw lightning when it was snowing! How strange is that?

For months I planned to go to the LWML Indiana District Retreat otherwise I would have been at the marathon handing out water to the freezing runners and would have suffered like my friends did. The theme for the retreat was "Sisters in Christ--Chosen to Care." Katie Schuermann the retreat speaker asked if there was any place in the Bible where God instructs us to take care of ourselves. The answer is "no" and the same is true of the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. God takes care of us and we can take care of others because of his love for us.

10 Pew Sisters from Concordia pose for this photo

We've watched some exciting basketball games and were disappointed that Purdue didn't make it to the Final Four. They played very well defeating Tennessee in overtime but weren't able to survive overtime against Virginia last night. We were happy to see Texas Tech and Auburn win both making it to the Final Four for the first time.

Visiting Sisters in Texas

My usual routine is to post weekly, but since there wasn't much to write about other than weather and technology issues with our home printer I haven't posted anything. That changed a week ago and today I'm writing about our trip that began on Friday, March 15. Ray and I headed out early that morning traveling southwest toward Texas. We picked up Gloria and Ross on March 16 at Dallas's DFW airport and then drove south to Hillsboro where Tom and Judy have lived for that last 40 years.

Judy prepared a lovely dinner and everyone sang Happy Birthday that evening. The next day we sang to Ross as he has a St. Patrick's Day birthday. Ice cream on both days too! I can't remember in the 50 plus years that I've known Ross that we've ever been able to celebrate together. A birthday to remember.

Judy surprised Ross and me with this beautiful cake

On Sunday we attended church at Christ Lutheran and after dinner, we walked to the nearby park for a little exercise.

Enjoying sunshine and warm weather in Hillsboro's City Park

I was hoping to have lunch at Magnolia Table in Waco on Monday but was disappointed that we'd have to wait 2-1/2 hours. We saw a large crowd mingling outside the restaurant when we drove up and suspected that school spring break and lovely weather was responsible for bringing out so many people. Plan B was to drive to The Silos where we could find lunch at one of their food trucks. We browsed through the market and discovered long lines at all the checkout registers. The Market was the vision of Chip & Joanna Gaines after they gained popularity and a big following from their TV series "Fixer Upper." The popularity of the Silos has brought a lot of jobs and I would guess prosperity to this area of Waco.

Visiting Magnolia Market at the Silos

Tom & Judy had just listed their home "for sale" and I decided to take a few photos to remind myself of the beautiful woodwork in this Victorian home.

Stairway to the second floor in this 100-year-old home

Upper view of the stairway

Woodwork in the downstairs hallway

Gloria & Ross enjoying the rockers

We said farewell to Tom & Judy on Tuesday morning and drove to the airport for Ross & Gloria to get their flight back to San Francisco. Ray and I headed east and arrived in Little Rock with enough time to visit the Little Rock Central High School Visitor Center. The Clinton Presidential Library is also in Little Rock, but we ran out of time to visit it and if we're in the area again, we'll try to stop for a visit.

The interpretive displays reminded us of the turmoil in the late '50s

Central High School is a beautiful building but, unfortunately, we missed seeing it. However, we would not have been able to enter since it's still operating as a school.

We continued on our way spending overnight in Osceola, AR arriving home about 3 PM on Wednesday. I had time to unpack and then attended the Wednesday afternoon Lenten Service.