This week's update

It's been a busy week full of deadlines! First was a fund raiser -- cookie dough-- for my son's school. The second was the school picture order. The third was the Science Fair. Throw in a Monday followup visit to the oral surgeon (he's healing well!). Also, we had a benchmark TAKS test on Thursday. The good part of that was that he had no homework, being excused from his assignments to be able to work on the TAKS test. The benchmark test, if you're not familiar, is to assess the deficient skills so that they may be addressed over the year.

I'm feeling better but still have been using my nebulizer off and on and having the occasional coughing spell. Usually when taking a big breath before answering the phone! I had to turn down two opportunities to participate in worship, which is one of my passions. Disappointing, but life moves on. And God's timing is perfect.

My hubby and I made our first batch of prickly pear jelly for the year. A couple of weeks ago, my hubby harvested them, cleaned them, and cooked them to get the juice. This is the first chance we've had to cook the jelly. We experimented with the recipe and may not have gotten enough sugar and/or pectin. It might be prickly pear syrup. If so, we'll try recooking it and adding more sugar and pectin. If your interested, I can give you a jar when we get it right! (I still have some from last year, too.)

We're still getting a few e-mails from time to time from mission organizations. Sometimes I feel like we're stalling out on our progress, but life has kind of slowed us down a bit lately. And every day is a ministry, no matter what "hat" you wear. As I discussed with a friend last week, sometimes it would be nice if God dropped a billboard in front of your face so there would be no doubt what direction He would have you to go. The only problem with that "still, small voice" is that you have to be still and quiet to hear it!

I went to a cluttered spot in my living room to retrieve some things and ended up going on a cleaning tear. It looks much better, but we're still nowhere ready for Better Homes & Garden or the white glove test. But it's a baby step in the right direction.