such small hands

Dodged a Bullet

I went in for my annual mammogram on Monday. Today I had to go back for a re-check ultrasound. It was not the calcifications that they found before, back in 2006. It was just a cyst, which the doctor aspirated. He said I'm all clear until next year. Praise God from whom all reprieves flow! There is nothing quite like the anxiety of being called back after a mammogram.

The Kid Has a Summer Job!

After only a few weeks of sending out resumes and letters via e-mail (ah, the new world of job hunting!) Amy has landed a summer internship at Marx Layne & Company, a PR firm in suburban Detroit! I am so amazingly proud of her, you wouldn't believe it. She starts on Friday. Unfortunately, the internship is unpaid, but I am taking the long-term view here and looking at how this will help her land a real, paying job when she graduates in December. Her boss told her that she and the other two interns will be working on the Arts, Beats & Eats festival, which takes place in downtown Pontiac over Labor Day weekend. This is last year's Web site for the festival.

Amy could not be more excited about the prospect of working at a real job in her chosen field for the summer. It's going to be quite an adventure.

Purging the Bad Stuff

This is what happened to the scorecard from yesterday's round of golf. A really, really bad day for both Ken and me. All of the bad juju went up in flames from the barbecue grill. Just to make sure it's all gone, I think I'll clean my clubs before the next time I play. Oh, and spend a lot of time at the driving range working on drills, putting and chipping.

For a Good Cause

Saturday was the annual church Golf Outing to benefit the senior high youth summer mission trip. Unfortunately for Ken and me, Saturday was a perfectly awful day for golf. We played a best-ball scramble with the shotgun start beginning at 8 a.m. We maybe had a couple of hours of pleasant weather, in which the sun shone and the wind didn't drift every high shot off-course. Most of the time it was either lightly drizzling or outright pouring Our foursome actually made it through 15 holes before decided this wasn't fun any more and packing it into the clubhouse.

So far I have been playing well on the golf league. I shot a 59 (nine holes) the first week and 56 the second week. We'll see how I do tonight. I was hitting some pretty good shots on Saturday, and we even used a couple of my drives as the best ball.

Amy is now home for the summer, looking for a job and/or an internship in Public Relations. I guess that is my Mother's Day present. And while it is great having her home, it is an adjustment after at least two years of having her home for only occasional visits.

We are also giving her friend Alyssa a place to stay for a couple of months. Alyssa and Amy have been like sisters since they were in 5th grade. Alyssa lost her mom when she was about 5, and then her dad died of a sudden heart attack when she was in 8th grade. So she was staying with family until after high school. Most recently, she was living up in Midland. But she is back in Royal Oak, looking to get her license in cosmetology and find real work.

So, we really have a houseful for the summer -- four people and two cats. Lord have mercy.

I've cleaned up the garden for the most part and gotten it ready to plant. Yesterday, I planted seeds for lettuce, green onions and radishes. Still a bit too early for the more tender plants, as I saw a frost warning for tonight in the paper. We're planting more things to eat than flowers this year. What about you?  Has the recession had an effect on your gardening plans?

I am disappointed with the response to our free financial workshop/Bible study at church, which starts next Sunday. We've had 8 people sign up. I am praying that more people show up on Sunday than have registered. Really, I know people who need this and can't imagine why they haven't signed up. Update: Although we had only a few people pre-register for the workshop, on Sunday morning 35 people showed up for the class!! Maybe a few more will join as the participants talk about it with their friends.