At the Airdrie library

Should get Internet at home this week, Lord willing. It will be greatly appreciated and will stop these little trips to the library to get online.

Quickly - the latest - as I remember it:

1) Our family and a new foreign exchange student from America went for a hike up a mountain on Friday. I have a blister to prove it.

2) Painted bedrooms last week.

3) Hung pictures around the house. Aaaah.

4) Had our first week of METs (Mutual Encouragement Times) which are bible studies. Went well.

5) Will start homeschool this week ushering in a regular routine. Good beans.

6) Love and miss you all (you know who you are.)

In the new house

We're here! In our new house that is. Spent Friday and Saturday unpacking. Got most of it done with the exception of a few piles. Ah, it feels like home already, amazingly.

Aaron, great to hear from you on the last post! (He's one of my former students!) In answer to your question, our "new" house is in Carnbroe which is directly south of Coatdyke. Our mailing address is now in Coatbridge (both Carnbroe and Coatdyke are villages which are too small to have their own mailing addresses.) You'll get a kick out of this, Aaron. Angus said that we would need an Airdrie passport to get back past the "border" because there's a rivalry between Airdrie and Coatbridge. Probably been going on for hundreds of years or something. I told him that we were faithful Airdrie-ites and would spie out the land for them. But seriously everyone is truly happy to hear of our residence in this new location and anxious to visit. BTW, Carnes is my maiden name so that gives me a rather homey feeling to think of living in Carnbroe.

The leaves are already barely starting to change showing a glimmer of fall. One of the elders named Sam Bell (I like his last name because it's my mother's maiden name) said that the fall colors are usually spectacular. Yum.

Rob was excited to see a wee Scottish rodent in our back yard yesterday. It was the size of a weasel with a little white tummy. He likes to observe wildlife.

We found a clothesline here so Rob and Candace hung it up for me. Then I peacefully hung clothes on it hoping not to meet the wee rodent at just that moment. All in all the experience was quite relaxing. Haven't hung clothes since the children were little and living in the Texan backwoods.

What odd details I choose to divulge.

Just before we move ...

Woke up early this morning probably because of moving day anticipation. As I said, we're moving to another house in a town near Airdrie. Don't worry it's not far away; it's only a few minutes drive to the church. We will be truly settled when we move to this house, I think.

And we got our crate of stuff delivered to the new house! Ah, to have scissors and paper and casserole dishes and CLOTHES and such. It will be grand! Let's see, we sent it from Kokomo a month before we moved from there, and we've been here for a month, and so you do the math. Can't wait to unpack - it'll be like Christmas!

The most wonderful news of the week is that Josh made it safely all the way from Glasgow to Dublin to Chicago to Atlanta to Houston to Alto to Longview. Praise the Lord! God is certainly good and merciful.

Jenny will travel back to Indiana on Saturday and she will be muchly missed here.

Candace doesn't start her uni in Glasgow until the end of September. Party on.

Amy enrolled as a distant student with the University of Texas yesterday so she can take a couple of college classes. (Sorry all you Aggie fans out there - we never did really pick sides or anything. Does that make us bad Texans? Oh well, I have one sister that works at UT and the other one works at Rice, so we're going with UT instead of A&M.) Amy will also study some high school courses in our homeschool.

Ben and I can start our studies as soon as we're settled in and I have a chance to plan out the year.
(Oh darn, I should have bought one of my favorite lesson plan books at Staples before I left. Oh well, I'll muddle through somehow.)

This year's gonna be great! I relish the idea of studying with only my own kids again. Don't get me wrong, I love to teach in the classroom, but most of my teaching over the years has been with my kids in our home. I just love teaching my kids!

Rob has an room for an office in our new home. I'm so happy he will have his own space to get some work done this year. And a place to go and shut the door and talk to people too. Once again, God is good.

Breakfast to make, places to clean, boxes to empty. Bye now.

Beeps and flashes

Days run swiftly filling up the week. As time passes my perspective of people and places around me changes. Speech I once couldn't understand at all - now makes some sense to me. Customs which used to seem foreign and quaint are fast becoming a part of my second nature. All this proves to me that a person can acquire more cultural habits than those of his native country.

For example ...

Round-abouts are fun.
Have you ever watched a cat walk? Well, that's what I feel like when I drive around them.

Wanta' turn right? No problem - just turn on your right blinker, look right, and then jump out onto the round-about and start going to the left. Cars will be whizzing all around, but don't worry, if you do something wrong you'll get a honk and a glare. No biggy.

These folks are actually very good drivers and are good at avoiding collisions. Don't ask me how I know this.

I am improving ...

no really ... I am.

And then there's the honking. All honking is not the same.

There's the -
get outa' the way honk which is a sharp angry honk.

Then there's the -
friendly honk which is usually sounded in two short happy-to-see-you beeps.

Flashing at the on-coming traffic here does not mean the usual -
oh-no-there's-a-cop-close-by.

It actually means -
hey buddy, you can turn in front of me and I won't run over you.

Quite nice, actually. ::said in her best Scottish accent::

Other news:

• Josh flies back to Texas tomorrow. He will be muchly missed - but that's where he's supposed to be.
• The latest word on our ship load of stuff is that it will be delivered later this week or early next week. Yay!
• We will be moving to another part of town on Friday to a more permenant residence. (This house was always a temporary place for us since it continues to be for sale on the market.
• This week we are pleased to have over our friend, Jenny from Indiana, to spend many happy nights to help her celebrate her last week here in Airdrie.

Please pray for both Jenny and Josh as they journey home this week. Wow what a wonderful alliteration!

Random spatterings

Once again today, Rob and I will drive some folks to visit historic Scottish sites. Our church is hosting a Covenanter's Tour and 18 RPer's from the States are here for that. Yesterday, we followed the big blue van that Andrew (the pastor here) drove. We carried 5 people in our van and headed to St. Andrews.

Today we're off to Edinburgh. It's nice to drive and just follow a van. Don't have to concentrate as much. It's also nice to get to tag along on the tour. I'm soaking it up like a sponge. Had some nice chats too.

Our good friend, Virginia Landow who is the last one still here from the mission team, came along too. Good times. Ginny has been over at our house a good bit - spending the night, eating, helping to clean house - just like one of the "kids." (How old do they have to be before you stop calling them "kids"? Beats me.)

Fish cookery is moving up on my "to-do list." May (an elder's wife) lent me a fish cookbook after we conversed about how I haven't had much experience with fish cookery (except the nice pond fish Rob has caught over the years). Get back to you on that one.

Let's see ... what else.

My time and attention are required in some unique areas such as:

• spending lots of time looking for paper to write on,
• spending more time reading user guides,
• paying particular attention to voltage,
• and participating in a haggis taste test.

Just thought you'd be interested to know that.

And here are some things that have given me pleasure of late:

• when my girls and I have cooked familiar meals for new friends,
• when our 5-year-old neighbor, Olivia, slipped around behind our house to fetch me a rose from our own garden,
• when I looked out my kitchen window and saw two little Scottish boys sword fight with sticks,
• when I played frisbee with my husband,
• and when my family sang familiar psalms together.

Well, the nice paragraphs I started out with have reverted to random spatterings of lists. My apologies. Someday, I plan to return to a more traditional paragraph form of writing, but since blogging patterns should reflect the writer's life patterns, lists are all I have to give. My life just hasn't quite smoothed out to paragrah form yet.

Thank you for your forbearance.

Sabbath reflections

Cars whiz by outside the window as I distance myself from the noise and try to ignore the drone. Too much noise quickly boggles the nerves.

I pretty much train myself not to complain.

New country,
no sweat.

Conversations hard to understand,
no biggy.

Can't find syrup in the store,
just consentrate and look a little harder.

Being controlled by my own rules is no piece of cake.

Lord, please help me to find Your true Sabbath rest - today and this week.

Internet at home is a beautiful thing

The land of castles and kings is great and getting greater all the time now that our house has access to the Internet. Are we technology junkies, or what? I should feel ashamed of myself for being so dependent on email and blogging exept that it's become an ever more important link between us and ya'll (that's Texas talk).

I promised a dear friend that I would post pics of our house and neighborhood - and I will soon (D.V.)

• I've had tea with an elderly neighbor (cream first, then tea from the wee pot, then two sugars, please),
• I've scrapped my elbow on a castle wall because I was climbing up to a window (probably broke some royal rule - but we won't tell anyone, now will we?),
• I've seen burly men in skirts tossing telephone poles,
• and I've walked more than Americans ever do.

These are just some of the adventures.

I do miss my friends and family back home, but in a strange way - this place already feels so right. Hard to explain.

Anyway, my plan is to somehow live here while staying vitally connected with you (you know who you are.)

As one of my first attempts to stay close while far away, I'll keep trying to keep you posted on me/us. I will also have our new Jones/Scotland blog posted soon.

Yours as much as ever -
Suzanne

Thoughts from the other side

Hello out there - from Scotland!

What a crazy, roller-coaster, wonderful week it has been. I will definitely elaborate in the near future. Suffice it to say for now, God is kind and faithful.

We have met some kind and faithful people of God in this neck of the woods. They are enthusiastic about having us and very friendly. I do catch MOST of what they're saying. :-)

We have met several Americans here and just had dinner with an American couple tonight.

Tomorrow, we're off to take a ride in the Highlands north of here. Please pray for us as we timidly trek off on the wrong side of the road.

Glad to be back with you all!

Ending at the end

We're back home in Kokomo from the weeklong trip to our homeland, Texas. Perhaps another day I will post some pics from that trip.

Friends and family streamed through my mother-in-law's house to see us off. They knew that we won't be back for a while since we are about to move across the sea to Scotland. This last week in Kokomo will no doubt be filled with similar scenes ...

so humor me, I must philosophize.

Life is full of inevitable endings, but most of the time we rock along in the middle. I admit, the middle suits me. The middle is not filled with great ceremonial speeches to friends where you summerize your true feelings. The middle doesn't make you examine yourself as much to see if you have really changed anything for the better. The middle doesn't expect you to look around and appreciate every moment. The middle doesn't highten your senses as much. It doesn't make you want to reach out as much. It doesn't make you want to listen a little closer. It doesn't prompt you to go out of your way to reach somebody. Endings do this.

No, the middle is much more conservative. It doesn't require as much effort. It's comfortable.

But lately I've been thinking about how Christ handled endings. Endings were precious opportunities that life brought His way (respectfully speaking). He made use of them to communicate love and appreciation to people. He used them to say something meaningful. He made the most of them. He embraced them.

What an inspiration!

Oh Lord, help me not to hold back now. Help me not to hide in the middle when I arrive at an ending. And help me to remember that that middles and endings ultimately take place in a Kingdom that has no end.

Other remembrances

Still catching you up on photos from yesterdays.

These here photos (that's how it's phrased in Texas) were taken of the homeschool graduation in Kokomo, Indiana a couple of weeks ago.

Here John Christenson directs the homeschool orchestra.















The proud Fisher family honors Beth's graduation.















Candace and Miriam have a laugh.















The proud Yorks parents honor Jamey.















Amy proudly honors her brother, Ben, while Beth and Lindsay stand in awe.















Brenna grows sleepy during the long ceremony.

Old business

We're in Texas now. Lots of sun; lots of pool; lots of family and friends. It's been surprisingly mild - not too hot - nice breeze. So what's with the weather report, you ask? The weather is big news in Texas - especially if it ISN'T burning hot in the summertime. Now that's big news. And it isn't - so I share the news.

There is something about not being in your own house that makes everything more restful. Ah, nice time to blog.

So I shall catch up on old business and show you some pics I took a few weeks ago. Memorial day has come and gone - these were taken of the Memorial Day Picnic in Kokomo, Indiana.

Everyone gathered at a local park to share a relaxing day.













Here's Bill.
















Some of the girls anticipate the day's activities.















Here Trevor and Ben are up to no good, I'm sure.
















I told ya' so! They've loaded the water balloon sling-shot










... and here are their helpless victims!
















Greg fiercely guards the vittles.














Johnny and Brian wait to eat.














These men do some catching up.














Jamie helps at the pool.














Meg grabs a photo opp.

















Hannah and Rachel dry off after a swim.

















These ladies grab some shade.













Lynz joins Daniel, and his dad, Jason, to watch the swimmers.





















Here are some hill-billie golf pros







... and their competitors.














Everyone likes to share babies.












Celia is not a baby, she's armed and ready (get it?) Miriam offers her arm.














Time to chow down.













Loveliness.

End of School Pics

General jubilation ensued.

Long time coming

I suppose that the recent overload of emotion that I've experienced in my life has made me want to avoid blogging about it. Be that as it may, I now come a-blogging.

Saying that I was filled to the brim with emotions last night when I attended a homeschool graduation ceremony would be an understatement. I watched "kids" walk across the stage who attended my church, who were my students, or who were my volleyball players. A fellow volleyball coach who is younger than I suffered a debilitating stroke this year after volleyball season, and I watched her shakily walk to the middle of the stage to hug her graduating son. Yeah, I was pretty choked up.

I've not only recently packed to move overseas, I've also grabbed every opportunity to spend a little extra quality time with my Indiana friends. Very fulfilling but painful too. We seem to hug a little longer, and linger to talk.

We are about to have family devotions, but here's at least a snippet of what's whirling around in my brain.

Fridge thingie follow-up

Based on Candace's description of the stuff pictured below in my refrigerator, I took it out yestermorning, warmed it up in the microwave, and dipped my bran muffin in it for breakfast. It was good.

What is this?

And why is it in my fridge?

Behavior of the exotic peoples of the world

Synonyms for exotic: alien, bizarre, colorful, curious, different, extraordinary, far out, imported, not native, outlandish, peculiar, peregrine, romantic, strange, striking, unfamiliar, unusual, way out, weird

Exotic people pop up. Josh isn't the only one being exposed to life on the exotic side. My camera phone caught a few exotic people surfacing in my week. See for yourself.

Exotic people often -












... frequent coffee shops,
















... hide their wildly painted toenails,

















... sit on a porch in Chicago while shodding their feet.

















... still show their birthday age by a finger display,

















... disregard their trouser seams when opening presents,
















... color coordinate their shoelaces and trousers,
















... visit beautiful, historic RP churches in Chicago to preach and fellowship,














... pretend to be a friendly coffee shop employee,
















... pilfer tip money from a happy face cup,

















... remain manly while sitting in a purple room on a flowered chair,

















... open presents on their 16th birthday,

















... laugh at their sweet sister who gives them a present,

















... stay in touch with youth culture,















... pretent to be six,



















.... claim to own cars that don't really belong to them.

The thoughts of Marius

Marius has had the limelight for an adequate amount of time so I shall now post. As to his fate ... he is considering permanently moving to our next-door-neighbors' house (his second home), but is still tetter-tottering on that decision since two other cats already live there. They might cramp his style. I've been trying to talk Marius into adopting the York family since I heard Celia (the three year old) wants a nice kitty, but he just yawns when I mention it so I don't take that as a good sign. If you hear of other options please let me know and I'll bring them to his attention when he can find the time. I have to catch him between naps.

I only have five more minutes to post and then I need to get ready to teach my Latin classes. School's over after next week.

I've been packing everything. Nuf said.

Thought of the day from my morning devotions:
Exodus 14:13-14. Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still."

Ode to Marius

Oh Marius, he is an Indy cat.
Kokomo's where he roams.
He never wanders far away
From his food bowl or his home.

If I could pack him in my bag
And fly him across the sea
I'd take him to the land of the Scots
Where he would live with me.

But alas, alas, he will not go
For he is an Indy cat.
I'll fly away and he will stay
And that's the end of that.

Video footage by Benjamin

It's anybody's guess

The following are the most kooky questions I've ever heard.

As a kid, I was walking down the road one summer day minding my own business and I heard the voice of an old lady call out, "Is that you?"

How are you supposed to answer that? So I didn't.

More recently I was minding my own business cleaning the kitchen and I heard a voice coming from the den. I recognized the voice as belonging to my husband. I thought Rob was just being philosophical when he kept asking, "Who am I? ... Who am I? ... Who am I?"

Then I decided that he must be loosing his mind when he started throwing in, "Are you there? ... Who am I? ... Are you there? ... Who am I?"

When I slowly and reluctantly peeked around the corner, my worst fears were realized. I immediately noticed that his face had taken on an eery blueish color. My son who was sitting next to him was flushed with the same hue. They were swaying back and forth babbling incoherent phrases.

Nintendo has that effect on people.
I turned back to the kitchen.

Olympic gold

Candace won 1st place at the IUK Speech Olympics!


Her speech about suicide was well written and well delivered.
















Way to go, 47th Pea!