by jphilo | Jul 14, 2015 | Top Ten Tuesday
Today is my last full day at Family Camp. Here are the top ten rules to live by at Family Camp, 2015.
10. Take lots of pictures to document changes and progress from year to year:
9. Welcome unexpected visitors with calm, kindness, and wonder.
8. Spend as much time talking as eating during meals. (Please note: the photographer was too busy heeding this advice to take any pictures during meals.)
7. Work hard on your work crew in the mornings, but not too hard.
6. If you enter the chess tournament be prepared to sacrifice several hours for each match, if necessary.
5. Make time for conversation often.
4. Fun stuff for kids should always be a top priority.
3. Be grateful that Family Camp now has enough cabins and cabinettes so everyone can sleep in rooms with real beds and electricity.
2. Hug as many babies and toddlers as possible as often as possible.
1. Look up at the beauty of creation and give fervent, frequent thanks to its Creator. 
by jphilo | Jul 16, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
After a week in Alaska followed by another week in the Idaho mountains, it’s time to head home. Here are the top ten signs that say “It’s time to go back to Iowa.”
10. The mosquitoes found us two nights ago.
9. I ran out of calcium supplements yesterday and have just enough clean undies to make it home.
8. The food is so good here that if I stay any longer, my clean undies won’t fit.
7. While walking a mile to use the internet is healthy, it’s not very efficient.
6. My fingers are itching to get back to my mystery novel.
5. There’s this pesky book manuscript to get done by the September 1 deadline.
4. Mom left a voice mail message this morning wondering where I was.
3. Sweet corn season is underway in Iowa.
2. Hiram and I plan to visit the kids and grandchild this weekend.
1. I miss my hubby.
How do you know it’s time for a vacation to end? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Mar 8, 2012 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
We did lots of people watching (the PC term for staring) during our vacation. The students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) made the pass time highly entertaining and provoked more than three thoughts. Here are a few standouts:
- Though tights or leggings under dresses or long shirts with cowboy or high boots are big this year, my sister and I refrained from purchasing matching outfits. We apologize for disappointing you.
- Art and design students look as self-consciously devil-may-care as other young adults determined to express their individuality. But somehow, they carry it off with great drama and flair. But how do they keep from falling off their platform shoes?
- Some day, a passel of aging, artsy moms will fail to convince their teenage daughters that denim cut off shorts, bare legs, and high boots with spiky heels were once considered fashionable. To avoid the issue, maybe now’s the time to pull certain pictures off Facebook.
by jphilo | Mar 7, 2012 | Out and About
The first day back after vacation is such a jolt – the tedium of unpacking, laundry, planning meals, grocery shopping, sorting mail, answering emails, and getting back to work – after a week of wandering aimlessly in the sunshine and eating out. I thought the biggest jolt would be the temperature outside the airport. But Minneapolis was an unseasonable 60 degrees when we landed, almost identical to Atlanta when we left.
Instead, the biggest jolt has been the brown lawns and bare shrubs after a week in green and flowering Georgia. To combat the dreary scene framed in the window, I downloaded my vacation photos. They were so cheery, I decided to pass some faves on to you.
And just in case you aren’t convinced spring is coming…
Well, I’m feeling a whole lot better.
How about you?
