A brief update

There's been a LOT of rain around here, much of it dumped on us last night. I had seen the weather warnings last night when a friend dropped in and asked me to go to dinner. Who am I to pass up a free dinner? So sitting at Cracker Barrel I was able to watch the storm move in in all its glory -- heavy rain, powerful lightning, winds that could blow a small car across the state. We left in the midst of some of the heaviest rain of the evening, giving three out-of-state Salvation Army workers a lift back to their motel on the other side of the parking lot. They were glad for the offer, and we were glad not to see them drown trying to get back to their rooms. I saw whitecaps on the flooded streets, no kidding.

Yesterday morning was really great at church. I'm a member of one of our handbell choirs (and a sub in another). We played at both services yesterday and it went very well. I hope that it was a gift to the congregation, because we certainly felt blessed to present the music. There were three songs, the first being "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee." This was played with piano, organ, handbell and the choir coming in at the end. Probably the most powerful piece we've done with the entire music program since I've been there.

The second song was "Passacaglia" - -I wish I could tell you whose since there are several. This was, without a doubt, the most difficult piece we've done, ever. We've worked on this for at least six months. It was one piece that we prepared to play at our festival in Tulsa in February.

The third song was "Down to the River to Pray" from "O Brother Where Art Thou." A very serene, simple song played as the offertory. I think most of us in the handbell choir really liked this one because it was an easy one after the other two.

And here's an "Only in Oklahoma" moment: Dr. Phil and Oprah were interrupted this afternoon for coverage of the Michael Jackson verdict. After the announcement that he was not guilty on all 10 counts, coverage of the verdict was then interrupted by severe storm coverage!

And coming up: I've got a heavier-than-usual work load for the next couple of works, simply to work ahead for a week off (not that the work load is particularly heavy, just more than usual). The timing is great because I am hoping to go to Texas during that off week to do some research in the Texas Newspaper Project archives. A cousin has asked for assistance in finding some old articles about my uncle who was a boxer during his time in the service. So far it's been easy finding out the base newspaper's name and discovering it is available through the Project. My cousin's job this week is to try to narrow down the dates a little more so I can limit the search. At this point I have a four-year window, which is doable but considerable.

Tonight: Meeting with my planning group at a nearby Mexican restaurant as we begin the job of putting together a Divorce Recovery workshop through our church. We've spent the past year and a half looking at other programs and studying the cirriculum of the program we've chosen. Now it's time to begin the planning of putting together the meetings. We hope to begin in the fall with our first group.

Lastly: I went to the pharmacy today to fill three prescriptions. Each is a 30-day supply. Total bill: $230. And one of those was only $16. YIKES! And I am currently without insurance coverage which makes it worse in many ways. Just needed a moment to whine.

I think this concludes today's summary. Maybe later, if I have more time this evening, I'll write an essay on some issues that have been popping up in my blogging circle. If not tonight, soon. So stay tuned!