Monday, June 1, 2009

In spite of enjoying my classes so much, I have to admit that I really enjoy the weekend. Friday, however, I think I pushed myself a little too much. (I must be feeling my age.) After class, Bill and I met at the pool and swam for over an hour. We usually limit ourselves to 45 minutes. We're always hungry after swimming, so we went to the newly refurbished Arrow Cafe on Hwy 9 and I ordered breakfast. I couldn't believe all of the sausage gravy, and pushed it aside. After dinner, Bill mowed both yards and edged. I finished a job that I had wanted to do since Spring came. I put plastic bags on the ground in the front planter, and then spread cyprus mulch chips over them. Now I won't have to weed and the chips hold in the moisture. I worked as a secretary at the Kaibab Bark Plant in Arizona for 3 months when Bill and I first married. I hated the job, but I learned a lot about bark. While there, I worked with several men who were polygamist and lived in Colorado City, Arizona. I also watched the manager steal the company blind! He was a large man, and one night someone put a sign on his door that read, "Porky Polyg". I got a job in the public school as quickly as possible!

Saturday, Bill and I took a drive to Thunderbird Lake near Norman on Hwy 9. It takes 20 minutes from our house. We didn't realize that it is so popular! They have horses, camping, and all types of boats to rent. We stopped for lunch at the Clear Water Grill. It was so relaxing! There is a tri-level deck that leads to the marina. We sat at a table with an umbrella where the mist would blow on us. I had mushroom/chicken and Bill had clam strips.

Sunday was very interesting! Ted, our new student from Japan, said he wanted to come to church with us. I called his homestay father, Chris, to discuss the possibility. Chris said that Pastor Larry had officiated at his sister's funeral and he wanted to bring Ted. (His sister was in her 20's.) Ted also wanted to stay for choir practice. We are preparing for June 28th, the Sunday before Independence Day. I will be playing a military version on the piano with a snare drum of "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" and then a very jazzed up, "Peace Like A River". After choir, we grabbed lunch at Braum's before I had to go to a jewelry party with the Saudi Arabian ladies from school.

I was so amazed!!! I had only seen the Saudi women with their scarves wrapped around their heads. At the party, where there were no men, these ladies were wearing cocktail dresses and had their hair done and make-up. What a shame that there were no men to appreciate how gorgeous these women really are! It was so enlightening because we discussed many topics that would not be appropriate in class. We talked about their weddings, their feelings about shared wives, breast feeding and many more subjects. Deena confided in me that she would like to get her doctors degree in botony research fron OU when she finishes our English school, and then she would really love to immigrate to the United States. I will pray that God grants her desire. I can sense the emotional and spiritual prison that she lives in each day.