My last days with a 16 year old son

Soon this young man will turn 17. 

Time has been flying so quickly.  

He is getting more handsome everyday.  

In my humble opinion.  

Well, as humble as a momma can be.  

Nerds will be Nerds

For the next few days my family is in Knoxville for the FIRST Robotics Competition.

The kids are team members of the Redstone Robotics club.  

Redstone Robotics is comprised of students from several Huntsville City High Schools. 

Our team is very young with most of the kids being freshmen or new to robotics - or both.  

The last few weeks have been a bit of a scramble so it will interesting 

to see how the robot will compete.  

The team seems to be coming together nicely now.  

I hope this competition will be an exciting, motivational, bonding experience for the kids.  

Redstone Robotics' robot is called Overjive.

There are teams from all over the Southeastern United States here.

 Our team's booth was next to a castle.  Look at their framed medals.  

This ain't their first robot rodeo.

The "pit" is the area of the exhibit hall where each team has their booth set up.  

Although there are some very simple booths there are many teams 

who have invested much money and time into their areas.  

Tools, equipment, rolling tool chests, spare pieces-parts displayed in creative booths - 

these teams are ready for whatever robotic emergency arises.  

There seems to be a few common threads amongst all of the teams.

First, they are all highly intelligent teens.

Second, they are excited to be here.  The team spirit is running pretty high around here.

Finally, these kids are nerds.  Plain and simple.  

But having married a nerd and been around them most of my life, I gotta tell you that nerds rule.

The stage is certainly set for an exciting competition - I mean - look at this! 

Cool huh?  

Some final adjustments being made by the officials.

Bruce and I are looking forward to sitting in the stands cheering on our kids 

and the Redstone Robotics team.  

Ode to Christmas Lights, part two

Oh Christmas lights, why do you insist on hanging on for so long?

I thought you got the hint last year.

I dissed your green cords.

I dissed your dim bulbs.

In all honesty, I did like the homey light that you shed during the holidays.

You certainly made it easy for folks to find our home at our Christmas party.

Yes, I know that it has rained often since the new year.

Yes, I know that it is dangerous to get the ladder out when it is muddy.

But it is time for your to find your way back into the Christmas stuff. 

Like I said last year, how can we miss you if you won't go away?

We Got Pie!

 Thursday night I got to host my woman's service club at my home for a pie social.

We are always looking for something fun to do as a group.

We have done day trips together, evenings out, and museum trips but sometimes it is nice just to stay in and enjoy each other's company over something sweet.

Besides, it gave me an excuse to break out my grandmother's china.

I love this delicate china.

Not to mention that our club flower is a pink rose.

I had everything set for the gathering.

I even set out some non-sweet snacks for munching on. 

We had a very enjoyable evening laughing, talking, and enjoying some very tasty pies.

We might have to plan something similar to this next year.

Maybe a bring your favorite cake party!

President's Day Weekend

Bruce started talking about going to Columbus, Georgia over 

the long President's Day weekend while I was in full Uganda planning mode.  

I told him to plan away because I didn't have time to think about another trip at that point.  

Well, shortly after I got back from my trip I received an email from Bruce 

with a proposed itinerary for the trip.  

(Gotta love engineers!)

It looked fine to me.

Definitely a hoo-rah weekend.

We had plans to see several military sights including

The Infantry Museum

Andersonville Civil War prison site and the Prisoner of War museum

and

The National Civil War Naval Museum.

I have a husband and two kids that like history very much.

My guys are crazy for military history. 

It is hard for it not to become a little contagious.

As it turns out we didn't have time to make it to the National Civil War Museum because 

we spent too much time at the Infantry Museum.  

It was that good.  

The facade of the infantry museum was fitting 

a museum of such an important part of our military.

You can't help but be proud and thankful for these brave men and women 

who have served our country over the years.  

This museum was fantastic!

The displays were very creative and engaging...

like this video display of a paratrooper landing projected into an open parachute.

We also found out that there were no mannequins used in this museum.  

All of displays use wax castings of active duty service men and women.

Cool, huh?

Very moving tributes everywhere you look. 

 There was another video being displayed inside this helicopter.  

The sights and sounds really make you feel part of the action.

Very brave words.

The trip to Andersonville and the POW museum was equally moving.  

Going through the POW museum I couldn't help but empathize for the families at home waiting for their family members what were being held as prisoners of war.  

I couldn't imagine being put in the position of being held as a prisoner of war. 

I came away being very humbled and proud of our military families. 

The film at the visitor's center and the driving tour around the Andersonville grounds 

illustrated very well this low point in our nation's history.  

Before this weekend I had never given Columbus, Georgia much thought.  

I knew it as the home of Ft. Benning but not much else.

After this weekend I am thinking that we need to go back and see the things that we missed 

and maybe repeat a few of the things we did!

Good trip.

Uganda - Congregation Share Meeting

Our mission team had the opportunity to share our experience with our congregation. 

We each had a chance to get up and tell something about our role on the trip or a meaningful experience.

We had a wonderful turn out of about 125 people who came to hear our stories.  

It was wonderful to get a chance to share our experiences with the very folks 

who had spent time praying for us during our trip.

Heidi talked about her experiences including her time in triage.

Brenda talked primarily about her time working in evangelism.

Patricia talked about worship with the Africans and evangelism.

Mary and I talked about the medical aspects of the trip.

We each had about 5 minutes to talk.  

Considering that talking before crowds is not anywhere near my comfort zone, 

the time went really fast.  

In fact when I was done and had returned to my seat I had several things that 

I wished I had time to talk about.  

Like the African fossil.

Like the disfigured girl.

Like how we ended clinic.

We have felt so supported by this sweet congregation.  

Their prayers really helped us stay well, safe, and focused on our trip.

I can't wait to go back!  

Uganda - Reentry

We have been home for a full week now.  It has been a busy week of getting gear unpacked and cleaned, restoring routines, and preparing to share our experiences with our church family.  I have made my family's favorite dinner and have had lots of hugs and kisses.  Getting my Uganda blog posts edited and published this week has been an enjoyable distraction.  It was fun to relive my memories and spend time looking at my pictures.  But I gotta tell you, I miss being in Uganda, my team, and the Africans.  After 12 days of experiencing such an amazing time and feeling like I was fulfilling God's desire for me, coming home is a little confusing.  Please don't mistake my words here, love and enjoy my family and friends.  But after such a mountain top experience I feel a little like I am left dangling in space.  There is still work to be done - mission trip wrap-up tasks and the usual routine that is my life - but I feel just a little like I am wandering.

I wonder how long this feeling will last.

(photo by Heidi Meadows)