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......

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

A friend of mine posted a list of random thoughts the other day. I had seen it before, you probably have too. It included things such as expressing the need for a sarcasm font, questioning why we had to learn to write in cursive (I don't think they teach it in George County, by the way), and a suggestion to Mapquest to eliminate the first 3 or 4 steps in their driving instructions since we should know how to get out of our own neighborhoods.

One item struck a chord with me, though. #5 on the list was this:

How on earth are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

Well, that happens to be something I have an answer for! My eldest daughter's best friend taught her how and she taught me and now I'm going to teach you. (I suspect the best friend learned it from her mother, who is a wise woman and whose counsel is worth paying heed.)

I thought about how to explain it using only words, but some things just need a picture.

Here's your sheet, just out of the drier or laundry basket,
probably with someone's sock or underwear
jammed damply in one of the corner pockets.

1. The first step is to untangle it and remove anything hiding in the corners.

2. Next, you're going to take your fist...

...and put it in one of those corners.
I find that it helps if I start with a corner on the left on the long side of the sheet.
(think 'landscape' rather than 'portrait' orientation)
Open your hand and get your fingertips up to the end of that seam.

3. Now do the same thing with your right hand on the right end of that same long side.
The part of the sheet that covers the side of the mattress will be hanging over your hands.

4. Now, bring your palms together, like this:

With your left hand, pinch through both layers of sheet to hold them together.
With your right hand, flip the right corner over the left,
so that both corners are now hooked over your left hand.

5. With your free right hand, follow the edge of the bottom layer,
(the one touching your left hand) until you find another corner.
Put your hand in that corner.

At this point, your left hand is under 2 corners
and you've just put your right hand in a 3rd corner.
There should be one last corner floating free out there.

6. With your right hand that is covered with corner #3,
ring corner #4.
It might be turned the wrong way. If so, pinch it through corner #3
and flip it over your right hand.

You should now have 2 corners over each hand
and the sheet will be folded in half.

7. At this point, essentially repeat step 4.
Bring both palms together, pinch through all the layers with your left hand
and flip so that all 4 corners are on your left hand.

8. With your right hand, smooth out the flap of sheet
that makes folding fitted sheets so difficult in the first place.
All the corner seams are in one spot.
(top right in the picture below)
The pesky sides are as smooth as they are going to get.

Keeping the fitted part to the inside,
the rest is just like folding any other sheet.

Looking at that, you'd never know it was fitted.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but once you've done it a few times, it moves right along.

And it wasn't nearly as tricky as trying to take pictures of the process without assistance! (I'd like to thank my Swiffer mop for standing in as one of my hands and the box of Kleenix for providing support for my camera.)

Lunch Hour Walk

Today at lunch I went for a walk. I was actually quail hunting! Not with a gun, though. I was just wondering if the little bird we saw last night was still hanging around.

The white building below is where the birds belong.


I didn't see any quail but I did see a trio of little chicks out for a stroll.


In front of this group of plants is where I saw the quail last night. I looked around the edges, but there is no way I'm foraging a path into this: sago palms bite. (Not to mention the legendary snake Beelzebub has been seen in this hedgerow!)

I guess I've never really looked inside a Sago palm before. Very interesting. Looks like new potatoes.
And there was a lizard hiding in there.
Look just above the "potato" in the bottom center of the picture. He is hiding in a crease with just his head sticking out. He is brown with a white jaw and his nose is pointing to the left.

The Great Quail Roundup

Things happen at rural churches that just aren't covered in any seminary class. Take today, for instance: a herd (or flock) of quail over-ran the church property. Probably 200 of the little birds running around. They escaped from an enclosure 2 doors down from the church. Mr. Davis raises them. I found out about the escape after I noticed several odd episodes.

I was sitting in my office when I heard a muffled crunch coming from outside. It was immediately followed by a disappointed-sounding exclamation. I looked out and saw Bro. D carrying a very large box. I assumed (in error) that he had been carrying it and the bottom fell out. That scenario seemed to fit the noises I had heard.

I didn't think too much more about it until a bit later when Mark came into my office. He stood in front of my desk to tell me something and then looked out the window behind me and started laughing. Our maintenance guru was outside and had made an odd noise. Mark showed me the action that went with the sound and it reminded me of something the 3 Stooges would do! Nick came down the hall and someone mentioned the escaped quail. I decided I needed to see this first hand.

The maintenance guru had already rounded up and returned most of the herd, but a few stragglers remained. He and Dusty had tried to trap several by placing a large box over them together. (Judging by the sound I heard earlier, I don't think they had much luck!) The 3 Stooges act outside my window was a result of him thinking he had a bird cornered and it flying up in his face. At that point it had run into the hedges lining the driveway. Well, there were 5 of us and only one little bird. We started beating the hedge, trying to drive it out. Nick spotted the bird at the base of one bush. We surrounded it and the guru grabbed it, proving that a bird in the hand really IS better than 2 in the bush!

Apparently, we missed at least one. This evening when I got to the church at 5:30 for a rehearsal, I saw one about 5 yards in front of where I parked. When I pointed it out to the girls, they immediately jumped out of the car and ran up to the bird. I disappeared into the hedges!

A Good, Good Day

Today was the day.

The day I took the bike on the road.

I have to hand it to Mr. H. He has endless patience, yet sets a plan of action and goes for it. I was planning on a few trips up and down our lane before venturing farther. Not him. "Here's what we're gonna do: down to Howell's Grocery, straight at the intersection all the way to Tanner Williams, then left over to Wilmer Road, then left on Howells Ferry and back to the house."

That is a 20 mile trip.

And I did it!

I learned that once you get going, the going is easy. The difficult part is stopping. Well, not exactly difficult, but there is a lot more to remember and keep track of. The first several times, I stopped well short of the intersections. I think I was afraid of running out into oncoming traffic (which wasn't even there.) I turned from stopping at a stop sign and even turned left while traveling (I held my breath, but didn't lay the bike down so that was excellent.)

Made it all the way back to the intersection of Howell Tanner Chapel and 612. I'm not sure what was going on in my head, but I managed to have the bike go over. I wasn't moving (or at least was barely moving) and wasn't turning, but it started over and I couldn't pull it back up. Mr. H helped me pull it back up. We rode the last 2 miles back to the house to have lunch and talk it over.

After gumbo leftover from last night and the end of the MSU-Bama game (we won't discuss that one), it was time to go back out. This time we went right at Howell's Grocery to CF Ward. In the car, I take the Will Howell Road shortcut, but the point where Will Howell ends at 612 is in a curve and the visibility stinks. Until I get more experience I'll take the long way (and so will Em when she gets her driver's license!) We crossed the bridge and I slowed enough to make the right turn onto CF Ward. The map below is of the center section of CF Ward Rd. (You may have to click on the X right above Sat to close the address box and be able to see the map.) There are 2 pretty sharp curves: the first to the right, then a 90 degree turn to the left.


View Larger Map

I was doing okay around the first curve, but didn't slow down enough for the 2nd one. About where the C in the vertical text of CF Ward is, I went wide into the grass. Amazingly enough, I kept my head, didn't brake, and headed back onto the road. AMAZING! I didn't stop and just kept going up to the stop sign. Mr. H was very proud of me for not freaking out! He suggested that we head to the church parking lot for some slow practice. Which I did, but very carefully because that parking lot is full of sand and fine gravel.

Coming home, I crossed over the R/R tracks with no problem. In fact, on that leg of the trip I felt very comfortable. Mr. H says that for the first 6 months or so, everytime I get on the bike, it'll feel like I'm starting over, but that's normal.

Over all, I am incredibly pleased with my first day of riding. I can't wait to make it a part of who I am.

The Sound of Ministry

The annual GA Mother/Daughter sleepover is this weekend. The leaders are in a frenzy of decorating, transforming our fellowship hall into a beach side retreat. The room is ALIVE with activity. It is literally buzzing in there. Girls from our church look forward to this event every year. Even after they are too old to be GA's, they still volunteer to come work at this event with the younger girls. Em and El will be there, helping and having a ton of fun. Last year my 20 year old and her best friend came down from Starkville to take part. There is something about Girls in Action at ABC that draws them back long after the 6th grade.

I can't help but think it's the love they feel from their leaders, especially Ms. Connie. The woman is simply AMAZING!!


**Note: 1/29/10 - I just discovered that I had never posted this after I created the draft last Thursday. I think I was intending to add photographs, but apparently never took any. Better late than never.