We had arranged to do a Fat Tire Bike Tour of the city of Berlin. We met the group at Alexander Plaza at 11 & enjoyed about a 4 1/2 hour biking tour. We had lots of stops to see the sights & have an explanation of what we had or were about to see. Some of the highlights were the Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie station, a portion of the Berling Wall that is still standing, the site of Hitler’s bunker, the German Parliament buildings & much more. It was FUN!

After the bike tour, we walked to the Story of Berlin museum & looked around the exhibit.

An added bit of excitement today was the Germans playing in & going on to win the game against Argentina in the quarter finals of the world cup soccer. THE GERMANS DID CELEBRATE THAT WIN!! Made for an exciting subway ride home. :)

1st Berlin day...

We were SO tired & didn’t get up & around until after noon today. We had tickets to do a “hop-on/hop-off” bus tour to see the main sights of the city & decide what we wanted to go back & see more of later. We had a quite a hard time finding the stop for the bus tour, but FINALLY got on & enjoyed the warm ride. After finishing the tour, we found a bite to eat.

Tommy ordered a GREAT bratwurst with mashed potatoes & sauerkraut. It was yummy. We then headed back to the hotel & called it a day.

London...but just the airport...

Tommy & I got to DFW in plenty of time for our 5:35 PM flight out. Because of some rainy weather, the flight coming in was delayed, so we didn’t leave until about 7:15.

We arrived about 9 AM in London. As soon as we got out of the gate, we saw Cori, Lacy, Kenli & Morgan. The other 3 girls were headed back to DFW that AM, so we only got to hug their necks & visit for a minute. We were SO excited to see Cori! She’d been in Oxford since the end of May doing a study abroad program with ACU’s College of Business.

We had a little time to kill before our flight out, so we got a bite to eat while we sat & visited.

We left London about 12:55, headed to Berlin and arrived late afternoon. There was a driver at the airport waiting for us (wow...were we glad to see him standing there with a sign that said DONAHOO!!). We got to the hotel, checked in & put our things away. We decided to just walk a little & find something to eat.

It's HAPPENED!!

This week I was privileged to attend a workshop that Granbury ISD provided for its faculty & staff. It's a program called Capturing Kids' Hearts. We spent 3 enjoyable days learning how to make our jobs easier & make a difference to our students.

There were approximately 50 people in the room. After we'd been there about an hour, we were divided into two groups. Each group circled up & we all had 1 minute to tell "what we do & why we do it". About half of the group had taken a turn, when a young man stood up & said, "My name is Jeff Cocanour" & then looked my direction. My jaw dropped & I said, "You are kidding!" He said, "I wondered how long it was going to take you." I think I had seen Jeff only once since he'd been in my 5th grade class. It was one of those "WOW" moments we teachers are lucky enough to experience once in a while.

One of the things I remember about Jeff is that he was an incredible artist. It just so happened that I still had a picture at school that Jeff had drawn when he was in 5th grade. I went to school that afternoon & took it with me the next morning. What a fun thing to share with the group.

I have fond memories of the time I spent in the classroom with Jeff several years ago & am THRILLED to know that he is going to be teaching art to the 9th grade students in Granbury. They are SO fortunate to have him!!

Jeff, I know that you'll touch many lives. I'm so proud of you!!

Perspective

Today I went to the foot doctor to get a second opinion on why my foot has been bothering me. The verdict was that we have to let it get well (by giving it a break) from physical activity. He wants me to do nothing but ride my bike for 2 weeks. I'll go back for a re-check & we'll go from there... That means no boot camp, running with my friends, etc. I left there very sad...& as I had tears driving out of the parking lot, I hear my phone beep that I have an email. I read the email from my daughter forwarded from a college friend of hers (whose dad actually was one of my college friends). The girl's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago. She has undergone multiple surgeries, treatments, etc. Below is an excerpt from the email Cori received today...

I just wanted to update y'all on my mom. She was doing so great over Christmas after her surgery to remove her cancerous lymph node! But she recently has gotten frozen shoulders which is just this thing that makes the joints in her shoulders freeze up so she can't lift her arms up. (it has nothing to do with her cancer) She went in to see a surgeon last week about this, because it is fixable, and they did some scans, in which they found some spots of cancer on her lungs and another cancerous lymph node. I just really want to ask for your prayers right now because she is considering some alternate forms of treatment that might be able to treat her cancer, but they do have some high risks because they are not yet FDA approved. Anyways she is very at peace about this, and is really trusting God to bring her through! I just also wanted to encourage y'all to not get discouraged about the situation either because I KNOW that these prayers are being heard! Just because God is not taking this cancer away does not mean he's not listening, I know He is because my mom is SO strong! And she believes He will bring her through, as do I!

Don't worry...I've already prayed for forgiveness for my selfishness!! God bless the Mack family. Please say a prayer for them today.

Words to ponder...

The scripture James 3:9-12 was mentioned during the lesson at church tonight. It reads like this:

⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Wow...I read it & knew it was filled with words I need to ponder!

I need to make sure that the words that come from my mouth are consistent with what I profess to believe. I must strive to "walk the walk" & not just "talk the talk".

I am also reminded that we are ALL made in God's likeness. I am not superior...or inferior...to anyone I come in contact with in my daily activities. Those precious kids at school (& their parents, too!) are just as precious to God as my family is...& I want to make sure to treat them with all the respect God would expect. It doesn't matter the balance of our checkbook, the size of our house, where we've been, what we've done, or how many degrees we have. God created & loves us ALL THE SAME!

Just a thought...

Thanks, Dr. Knox, for the reminder!!

Christmas '09

Christmas 2009 has come & gone.

December 23rd brought 70+ degree temperatures. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! Who would've thought that the next day would produce a WHITE CHRISTMAS??! Soon after we woke up on the 24th, it began to rain. Shortly thereafter, snow begin to mix in with the rain. Perhaps it was predicted, but we hadn't watched the forecast & didn't know it was coming. There were lots of folks that were inconvenienced by the icy roads & delayed flight schedules. We were among the fortunate that had nowhere to go. We just stayed inside & enjoyed watching it through the windows, while sitting by the fire in the fireplace.

Tommy suggested late afternoon that we go drive through the pasture. I took my camera & will post a few of the pictures we captured that we will enjoy in days to come.

BEAUTIFUL redbird that we could barely see through the brush...

Our family was blessed to be healthy & with those we love. My prayer is that your holiday was happy as well!!