Final Fridays

WE'RE lucky to have the "Final Friday Gallery Walk" in Wichita the last Friday evening of every month. Local art galleries open for evening hours and provide complimentary wine/hors de vours. Most of them are in close enough proximity that one can walk from gallery to gallery, but those farther from downtown are accessible using the inexpensive trolley system. Shawn and I are usually out of town/busy during the event, but were delighted to participate this weekend. Since we were out with a few friends (and you know how that goes rounding everyone up), we made it to just two of the galleries, but had time at the end of the night to sample gelato at Cafe Moderne. New thing I learned: I LOVE gelato!

We also started working on sprucing up the basement for our enjoyment during the warm summer months. We are not sure if we'll paint the cinder-block walls or leave them rustic, but we will definitely put down a large piece of remnant carpet and move the futon/old TV/Shawn's office down there. I'm most excited about our new treadmill. Shawn set it up in the basement on Sunday, which has enabled me to walk a mile a day ever since (ok, I know it's only Tuesday)!

Catcha later!

This 'N That

WHAT a delight it has been to come across some free weekends! Although Shawn has had to work late nights and I had my overnight trip to Denver, we've still found time to enjoy each other and get some real R & R.

Always one to find a reason to bake treats, I whipped up a homemade chocolate cake Saturday to commemorate our 41/2 year wedding anniversary (don't tease about the 1/2 part)!! The cake was very decadent and I'm having a difficult time staying out of it! Neither Shawn nor I can believe that much time has passed since we exchanged vows in 2003. Time zooms!

Going to the "big city" is exceedingly exciting, and I get camera happy around skyscrapers! The 2 ladies in my department traveled with me to Denver to visit Colorado Trust. We were apprised of their work in grantmaking and learned a great deal!



Whilst this isn't the most riveting of news, it's what we've got going on! Ciao until next time!

The Lone Kayaker

ONE of my favorite times of day is driving home from work, not solely because I get to go home and forget about work's woes (yes, I do try to leave work at work), but because I have the most glorious of scenic views--I get to watch the winding Arkansas River and its banks evolve with the seasons.

What pleased me today was seeing a lone kayaker cut through the glass paradise of water beneath him. There was an urgency in his movements, like he was challenging the sun to hold its slumber for one more hour--and the water, oh the gleaming water. It so gladly made way for its voyager, but just as quickly returned to its former state, content to be still until the next interruption.

Am I so glad to move at God's beckonings? What if He's assigning a kind of love or deed so dreadfully inconvenient? Then I remember that if I avoid all of God's callings and all of life's difficulties and challenges, I would be robbing others-myself-to see, with clarity, the precious lessons carried and taught by those in our lives--those carried by the kayaker--earnestly on his journey, perhaps amidst inconveniences of his own to which I could relate--perhaps those that could be cradled by the hands of love and friendship.

Perhaps I could learn the same lesson he has learned: that life's inconveniences may not be that inconvenient after all, and maybe, just maybe, the sun will give us a few more hours to play.

He Sustained Only Minor Injuries

OK, so the picture above is of my wonderful Aunt Tam, me, and a yawning Marley. Aunt Tam was in town from Wisconsin, and we got to host her for an overnight stay. We showed her our workplaces, dined out, talked alot, and played with Marley. It was a HUGE treat to have her in town!

AND, the pictures below are of Shawn's recent adventure trapsing around the attic. We are working on installing a ceiling fan in our bedroom. Shawn wanted to check that the old anchor would hold a new, heavier fan, so he went to the attic to investigate. On his way back to the attic entry, he fell through the ceiling (right above the stairwell to the basement)!! He was hanging out of the hole like Chevy Chase on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! Fortunately, he wasn't hurt badly, but now we have a new problem/project!