Waterlogged Friday

1. This is the fifth day in a row of rain. We had a very dry summer, so much so that many trees and shrubs in our neighborhood are failing and I am waiting anxiously to see if my dogwood will come back in the spring. It seems that we're getting all that missing rain all at once. I miss the sun. I joke with my friends that I'm solar powered because I function so much better when the sun is shining. It didn't help that no one in the house seemed to sleep well this week. Supposedly, the sun will come out tomorrow, but I don't expect the lawns to be dry enough for mowing for quite some time.

2. Half of my family is in Europe presently. Or nearly half. My parents left yesterday for a week in London and Wales with dear friends as an early celebration of their 40th wedding anniversary (next June) while my brother Brandon and his wife left Wednesday for Italy to celebrate their own wedding in July. I guess I envy their travels; mostly, I just miss them and wish them joyful vacations.

3. If you missed my mention of it last week, my mother's book is now in print!

If you haven't already ordered a copy for yourself, do so now! You can find it available for order here.

4. Many of you have been praying for my mother-in-law who had quadruple bypass surgery last week. She continues to heal, thanks be to God, and I was able to visit with her last Sunday night before Youth Group. She looked a lot like herself which was a great comfort to me. The Lord is good.

5. Miranda took her own scissors to her hair last Saturday morning, much to my severe annoyance. My friends tell me most little girls do this. Anyway, her short do is even more adorable than the previous cut, if that's even possible.

I have beautiful children, truly.

6. I'm finally all caught up to series 7 of New Tricks, which is currently airing. I cannot recommend the series more highly. It has just the right blend of crime-fighting, mystery-solving squad of people you grow to like without any of the unnecessary gore that plagues so many American shows. Who ever says television shows will only survive using young and beautiful leads has never seen what good writing can do with this group of actors.

I was thinking about the general obsession with crime shows both in the US and the UK (I watch plenty of them) and reflected that as morally debased as our society may be, we still want to see wrongs punished and justice served. We honestly want to watch people doing the right thing for good reasons, righteous reasons. We are weary of moral liquidity and want heroes that are respectable. One of the reasons for my enduring fandom of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is how I love to watch Buffy do the right thing in the most difficult circumstances. I don't care if Joss Whedon isn't a believer; he understands more about grace and forgiveness than most people I know. But I digress....

7. I really need to bundle Miranda up now and drag her off to the grocery store. And then come home and fold lots of laundry. I can keep up with the washing, just not the putting away.

And here's Jen.