Sing Along with the "Muppets Movie"!

If it weren't for the people who surround me with love, I don't think I'd ever experience anything remotely cool.

Seriously.

I'm such a stick in the mud sometimes. Comes with being an introvert I suppose. My evenings could be consistently spent reading a book at home, and I'd be fine with that.

Last night, however, mom dragged me out of my comfort zone and bought her and I tickets to the "Sing Along with the Muppets Movie".

Never heard of it? Neither had I.

It was located at the Garden Theater in downtown Winter Garden and was hosted by Heather Henson and Davey Rocker. That's right, Henson, as in Jim Henson. Heather is his daughter and is just as committed to sharing her dad's gift with a new generation of Muppet fans.

I wish I'd taken my better camera.

Anyways, the general principle of the show is like that of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" gatherings. Upon entering the theater you're given a goody bag full of things you use to interact with the movie. As it says in the description of the show: "Children and adults alike are urged to shout out famous lines, blow bubbles, dance in the aisles, and of course, sing along!"

It was great. Really! Just what I needed after a long week of vacation bible school. LOL.
It reminded me of so many things. The fact that you can shout out at the movie, wow. . .Russ and I love Mystery Science Theater 3000, which if you don't know what that is you should check it out: MST3K
Plus, in the movie, Kermit sings "Rainbow Connection" and you're supposed to wave your butterfly fan or streamer. I actually teared up remembering all the butterflies and kites at Jim Henson's memorial service. Beautiful.

Add to all of that the puppets and kites that Ibex puppetry provided, and the "What Nots" who interacted with audience members. . .it was just a really fun night.

If you want more info on "Sing Along" or any of the other IBEX puppetry shows, check out their blogsite at Ibex Puppetry.

Baltimore Mission Trip 2013

Oh Lord, my God, your awesomeness humbles me.

The ways that you push and pull and gently but firmly get me to come out of my comfort zone.

You're pretty cool, and I'm so glad that I've got you in my corner.


Yeah, that was our mission trip this year.
Laughter, tears, frustration, pain. . ..oh the pain. . . .
HA!

The pain was actually nothing in comparison to years past, before my back surgery.
I'm just griping.
I actually tried really hard on this trip to hold back on the complaints. It's hard, and I know it's annoying to other people.
Oh well. I'll just keep praying about it.

Anyways, on to the trip.

What a trip! I had almost no clue what we were doing on this trip, work-wise and play-wise. It is VERY HARD for me to let loose and go with the flow. I like to know what the next step will be.
However, I think I did a really good job on this trip.

First two days of work, the Winter Garden team worked on clearing out brush on the side of a Baptist church in Glen Burnie, MD.

Wednesday and Thursday we teamed up with Ocala UMC youth and worked at two women's shelters in inner city Baltimore.

We also passed out flyers door-to-door for their upcoming Vacation Bible School.

Oh, and I painted a couple of murals.
Hadn't really planned on either one of these pieces. I have however decided that every time I go  on a mission trip that I will be bringing a box of paints and brushes and a sketch book. If a mural is in God's plan then He'll give me the inspiration and the skills needed to complete it.

That's how I go about every work of art. I try to tell everyone that this is a gift given to me by God and I will use it for His people, however that might be.

After our work on Wednesday we took a trip to the inner harbor of Baltimore.
From top to bottom:
USS Constellation Inner Harbor, riding the Water Taxi to Ft. McHenry, a tug boat outside of Fells Pt, Ft McHenry sign, hiking up to the fort, walking along the rampart pathways, inner harbor entertainment.

 On Friday we took the Metro down into Washington DC and visited some monuments and museums.
From top down:
Lincoln Monument (with a sorority centennial celebration in front of it. . .lots of DELTAS), Lincoln himself,
Vietnam sculpture, Vietnam memorial wall, the nurses of Vietnam sculpture, and the WWII monument (which I'd never seen before).

It drizzled rain on and off almost the entire time we were in Baltimore and DC.
No  matter.
All in all it was a GREAT trip.

All before the 4th!

I just got back from our annual week long youth mission trip.

I'm almost over my exhaustion.

Before I regale you with tales from the trip, I'd like to share a few shots of random happenings during the week of July 4th.

Just for fun. . .Jack Skellington workin' the shades!

Did some baking:

Sour Cream Poundcake Perfection!

Enjoyed my swing and my yard:

Anne Lamott's "Plan B"

Stormy afternoons stuck in the van with mom:

Beautiful storm cloud sunsets

Took mom to have dinner with her childhood friend Mary and her family at Olive Garden.

4th of July fun out at Lake Hickory Nut with the Branom clan.

Monica's Patriotic Mini-Cheesecakes

Finally, getting to go watch the Leesburg fireworks with Danny and Richard in their boat out on Lake Harris.

It rained. . .stingingly!

Looking back on all of that, I'm actually surprised that my week was so full in comparison to mission week.

June Musings

It really hasn’t been that interesting of a month.

Lots of little everyday, normal things that make me happy, that make me sad, that drag me on through the day. 

Got the new Dean Koontz "Odd Thomas" book from the library. Just finished it today, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Kinda depressed that I'm done with it, though. 

Had to bake a casserole last Saturday for the Father’s Day breakfast at church.

It was pretty good, although the recipe said to let it soak overnight, which I didn’t do. Didn’t have time. Oh well.

It’s been raining here every afternoon it seems. Makes me feel a little bad for the orb spiders who spend so much effort on their webs, just to have them knocked down everyday.

Well, not that bad. I keep having to remind myself to walk around this one on the sidewalk up to my neighbor’s house.

Speaking of the neighbors, I’m house/dog/cat sitting again. Different neighbor, though. This one has two dogs and three cats. It used to be A LOT more. I mean A LOT! She had six dogs and seven cats at one point in time. I mourn the loss of those animals, but I do not miss having to clean up all those litter boxes or feed all those dogs.

These pics are of my favorites in the fur pool. I love all of them, but these two stand out in particular.

 

Copper is a cocker spaniel that Carol rescued after finding him on the side of the road with a displaced hip joint. He’s full of it, doesn’t like to eat his food (unless I stay standing right over him) and howls like a hound dog.

Dharma is a tabby cat that Carol rescued after she’d been hit by a car. Unfortunately at the time they had to remove her front left leg. She gets around fine just the same, and has never lost her kitten attitude! She waits for me every morning to come in and give her scratches on her chin and cheek.

Aunt Joyce and Bumpa came over on Wednesday to pick up some fertilizer from my dad. They stayed and ate lunch with us (provided by Maryland Fried Chicken!)

It was nice to get the chance to visit over fried chicken and sweet iced tea. Plus, their visit was impetus enough to hang our new Leya artwork in mom's room. Russ and Lana sent us both the canvas print of Leya and her first paintings a few weeks ago. A wonderful edition to the room, even if it does make us miss them even more!

Blueberry Gleaning

The Young Adult ministry at church was offered the opportunity last week to glean some blueberries from the Tom West Blueberry Fields in Ocoee. All the blueberries that we gleaned would go to the Christian Service Center, also in Ocoee, to be given away through their soup kitchen.

Never picked blueberries before. Wasn't really sure what to expect. Made sure I had sunscreen at least!

It was a lot of fun and we picked A TON of blueberries. Actually filled up our cooler and had some left over to take home. I gave my extras to Julie and Steve, and they're still eating on them!

Here's some pics.

Group pic before we commenced gleaning

Forgot a belt, had to improvise

Richard, gleaning MY blueberries!

Can you believe these were what were left!

Bagging the fruit. Yes those trays were all picked by us!

FULL COOLER!

Juicy juicy berries!

Group pic at the drying table.