Sigr's New Name

My car has a new nickname: the Deer Slayer!

On our way to church Saturday night for the DiscipleNow gathering, we were hit by a deer. She came out of nowhere and slammed into the driver's side of the car. Thankfully, we are fine, the car still drives wonderfully, and the guys behind us (the students staying at our house) were able to merely witness and not take an active part in the encounter.

The front quarter panel and both doors have damage, but none affecting performance or drivability.


As soon as we arrived at the church, Em was in the parking lot asking if we were okay. It took me a minute to realize how she knew before we even got there. I had forgotten for a moment how connected" her generation is. The guys behind us were friends of hers. They either called or sent a text to her within seconds of the impact. She essentially knew about it the very moment we did! The world is getting smaller every day.

A Name

Last night in church, I did something I don't usually do. I sat in the congregation with my husband for the entire service. Even if I'm not singing in a service, he us usually on the platform as part of the praise band. Since we spent the afternoon with his mom in Ocean Springs, we got to the church right at 6 p.m. and missed the rehearsal.

The funniest part of the afternoon was when Em noticed the time at 3:45 and realized that she was going to miss Bible Drills. She proceeded to ask every 10 minutes if we could leave, and when the answer was "No", gave us dirty looks designed to intimidate us into yielding to her will. Whereas most grandmothers would be disappointed to hear that their granddaughters were in such a hurry to leave, this particular grandmother was pleased to note that this granddaughter was so anxious to get to church. I'm not sure if was the service or the fellowship that was so attractive, but it does show me that the closest friends of my daughter also are her brothers and sisters.

The message was centered around Ephesians 5:15-16. At one point in the service, Dr. T pointed out that within 50 years (or certainly in 75 years) there won't be anyone living who really remembers us. He said something to the effect that .... 'the only One Who has changed the world in a lasting way is......' and the congregation replied "Jesus." I have heard that Name spoken many times, in church and out, by individuals and by crowds. But there was something about that Name last night that caught me off guard. Maybe it was the mix of voices, maybe it was because it was unrehearsed and not coerced. It just came out. I could feel it lingering in the air. I think that was the first time I ever had a glimpse of the power of simply .... the Name.

Interesting So Far

I went outside while Mr. H was warming up his bike this morning. The sky was an interesting combination of pink and purple.

I was hoping it would spread over the entire sky, but this was about as far as it went.
By the time we got in the car to head to school & work, the sky was different shades of gray. The weather experts say that it's supposed to start snowing at midnight tonight and continue until around 3 tomorrow afternoon. It hasn't snowed here in the past 12 years. El has seen snow on the ground on vacations, but never falling on her. Tomorrow should be fun. Remind me to bring fire wood to the porch when I get home this afternoon.

On a completely different train of thought, a package was delivered for me yesterday after I left work. I went out to put it in the back of the car this morning so I wouldn't forget it. When I opened the hatchback, this is what I saw:

It looks like an American Express commercial, doesn't it?

The close-up doesn't look very clear, but you get a good look at it. It's the handle to a gray suede purse Em borrowed from a friend. The purse is on the shelf behind the back seat. When you open the hatch, the shelf swings up, opening a space just wide enough for this handle to slide through.

It's been an interesting day so far and it's not even 9:00 yet!

Another Saturday, Another Ride

It's the weekend and it's not raining. That means we go riding.

Yesterday, I went to Hattiesburg and picked up my new jacket, so I was all set to go. We got El to take our picture in our (almost) matching jackets.

I am really pleased with my new jacket. The temperature was in the upper 40's today, but I didn't get cold. And that was without the thermal liner! I was wearing a sweatshirt and flannel shirt layered underneath and was very comfortable. It was too cool to wear my new gloves: they're not insulated at all.

We drove down to the Advance Auto Parts in Hurley, looking for an LED tail light. They didn't have anything that Mr. H was satisfied with, so he'll keep looking. The tail light assembly on Dr. T's bike has a problem, so Mr. H is going to solve it!

After leaving Advance, we went down the road to an empty parking lot and did figure 8's for a bit, then headed home by way of State Line Road. That is a beautiful road to ride on. There are places that must have been flooded yesterday. At one spot, both sides of the road looked like large ponds. Just past that, I got a big surprise: a sand hill crane took off from the side of the road and cut right in front of me! Those are really BIG birds! Boy, I'm glad we didn't collide!

Today's ride was great. We took some back roads that I'd never been on and spent a little time on Hwy 613 and Hwy 614. I stopped at stop signs without stalling out - a good thing! I turned from the highway onto side roads without stopping or otherwise impeding traffic behind me - another good thing. The best thing was that I was feeling more confident than I did last time out.

One of these days, I'll get to ride when the sun is shining and the wind isn't howling!

School Announcements

The George County Middle School has a really nice method of getting announcements out to the parents. I get recorded phone calls and text messages on a regular basis concerning weather-related cancellations of after school activities. Somtimes the phone messages are recorded by one of the principals and sometimes they are generated by a text-to-voice program.

I got one of those messages yesterday concerning the semi-formal dance tonight (no tennis shoes or jeans allowed) and a special dress code allowance for today (Saints shirts or black and/or gold shirts are allowed in honor of the Saints appearance in the Big Game). What I find odd about the voice message is that it was one of the text to voice messages. Someone typed the message and it was converted to human speech by a computer. The result is sometimes amusing pronunciation. That was definitely the case last night. The last bit of the message delivered in the tinny, stilted, female computer-generated voice was "Have a great night! Go Saints! Who Dat!"

I hung up the phone laughing. Even the school computer is a Saints fan, she's just not getting emotional about it.

Riding Gear

We drove up to Hattiesburg Cycles this weekend. We wanted to see if they carried the jacket I want to get. They did have one, but only in a men's size medium. We have found that most places don't carry a lot of women's riding gear. I suppose there are not nearly as many women who ride as there are men.

Even though they didn't have one in my size to see how it fits, it was nice to put my hands on a sample of the jacket: so see how the zippers and snaps work, to check out the liner (and notice that the inside jacket pockets are duplicated on the liner so you don't loose use of them when it's cold!) Here's the link to one we ordered.

While we were there, I looked around at other stuff. I'm always on the lookout for gloves that fit. The ones I have are fine if I'm not doing anything other than holding on, but they don't fit snugly enough to suit me. Amazingly enough, I think I found the perfect glove. They are made by Joe Rocket and fit me...

...you got it...

like a glove!

When I took these pictures, I was wearing both of them. I was able to operate our little digital camera while wearing them. My fingers come all the way to the end, so there is no fabric or leather folded over at the ends. I am very happy with these.

Now, as soon as my jacket comes in, I'll be good to go...

I got an e-mail from a friend this morning proposing a motorcycle tour of Scotland. Hmmm..... I've always wanted to go to Scotland. We do have a year to get ready......