Okay, I promised some people an update on Gracie. 

Praise…
…she’s doing
really well in communication and cognizant awareness…the lady was really
impressed with her jabbering with inflections, nodding yes in
appropriate places (even when the questions weren’t directed at her),
and the number of words she’s added to her vocabulary. 
…also, her
eyes are doing better (one was sticking slightly when she moved to
watch an object), so no more “divergence and pursuit”–for which many
of us are thankful.  It was one of the less fun excercises for her.

Prayer…
…we’re having to add five to ten new flashcards a week (flash cards that we make ourselves–very time consuming)
Praise…
…we have to add so much on the imput (what goes in, you know) because she’s so smart, they don’t want her bored with it

Prayer…
…what she hasn’t improved enough on is her tactile sensations and muscle
tone.  She needs to creep (hands and knees) a lot more and we have
to do more tactlie exercises with her.  She does have a sit-stand
exercise, but other than that she’s still not supposed to stand up
because of her knees.  And the tactile could be more
irrating for her–some of it can be almost painful.

Praise…
…I am glad that her mental processes are
progressing so fast.  It almost seems like it’d be easier to work
on physical difficulties than mental ones.
…we can
actually see the improvement related to all our work.

Pray…
…that
she continues to progress
…that we’ll continue to press on. 
This is one of those long-term “races.”  We really don’t know for
sure how long we’ll have to work this much with her.  They told us
that the first part would be the most involved and as she got older and
progressed things would kind of taper down.  So far none of the
involvement has been reduced and that can be wearing. 

Praise…
…none of us really mind–that’s the kind of emotion and
attitude that Gracie evokes in our entire family.  We’ll do
anything necessary for her benefit.

Anyway, that’s basically it.  Keep praying, and I hope some of ya’ll can see her again real soon.

so I’m changing who I am
’cause what I am’s not good
And I know you love me now
but I don’t see why you should

Yes, Rob, it is time for an update.  My trouble is I never want to
post anything unless it’s profound–like a great quote, or
entertaining.  And lately I’ve not remembered anything remotely
resembling either by the time I get to the computer.  I’m too
lazy to go look in my journal to see what I’ve written there, but I
really should get over it because God’s been teaching me
some awesome things in the last couple of weeks and I’d love to share
them.  Grow up, Sara!  It doesn’t help that I’ve been doing a
lot of Christmas shopping online and my eyeballs feel square.  I ponder decisions longer when
I have less money because gifts must go to exactly the right
people and everyone has to get exactly the right thing.  My
spending habits are just one of the issues God has been sending through
the fire…

In other random news…

Gracie had yet another evaluation yesterday.  Some praise, some prayer.  Details later… (that’s her in the pic, btw)

sisters and I seriously need to learn a new Christmas song, if only to have something different to sing at Trinity next year…

sisters and I need to pracitice the two songs we do have for Sunday night…

I desparately hope we can bless people with our music on Sunday and not just show off…

I can’t wait to see Noah’s play tonight…

I’ve decided…  I should be a stunt driver.  At the very least I need to officially learn how to do a 180.

Sounds nuts, I know (espcially knowing my mother and the fits she would
throw), but I bet I’d be good at it.  I survived Paris, which no
one seemed to think possible.  I grew up driving in Houston where
the drivers are insane but not stupid.  I really think I’d like
to test my skills… 

Movies like The Italian Job and The Bourne Supremecy are bad influences on me….or great inspiration…

          “Tell me,
what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
               
              
              
       
            
           
           
           
           
           
           
               
       ~Mary Oliver

Last night I was invited to sing at a dinner party.  The guest were charmed, of course.  (I did sound wonderful, though I say it myself.  I’m amazed how much teaching voice/ear-training can make me sound better, too.)                                                        

One young man seemed particularly spell-bound as I sang, “I love you for sentimental reasons…”  He stared up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, entranced.  His adorable grin widening as I shoveled mashed carrot into his mouth on a pint-sized spoon….????

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gotcha.

 

 

 

 

Had ya there for a minute, didn’t I?  *sigh*  Yes, he is marvelous.  Too bad he’s about 26 years too young.  Maybe someday I’ll get to sing in at a real dinner party (instead of one that includes Lunchables), or a charity banquet, and then I’ll catch the eye of some amazing man (who doesn’t have to have a bottle before his nap).

That’s been my weekend so far, I’m babysitting for some friends while they house-shop in Ohio.  It’s always interesting to go from big sister of 11 to “mother” of  three for a few days.  I get more solid moments of peace and quiet here because they’re all young enough to have naps and go to bed early.  But I have to say I miss my own “babies.”  (Scott will probably kill me if I call him a baby, though–oh!–*exasperated*–fifteen-year-olds!)  I miss having someone else in charge.  I miss being able to retreat when things get noisy, or messy, or sticky…I’m such a neat-freak! 

I really miss my Gracie.  I babysat her last weekend when Mom and Dad went up to a retreat with some friends.  She’s so much fun!  And of course, she loves me, and it’s always easier to care for someone who thinks you’re the greatest.  I like carrying her around and showing her off.  We taught her to do the sign for “awesome” (two-thumbs-up), but she doesn’t get it about the thumbs…she does her little pointer fingers.  It’s soooo cute!  Her hair has gotten long enough to put in two little pigtails.  She’s such a doll!  You know, some of you still need to meet her *ahem* (Brack, Diane…). 

Better run…the natives are getting restless.

Borrowed this from someone’s site.  I don’t usually take the time for these, but I had fun answering this one…

1. What is the geekiest part of your music collection?
about 5 or 6 country music CDs (it was a phase), but I guess that’s more hick than geeky

2. What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie? I’ll cry
at anything, but my secret one (as in, don’t tell) is Toy Story

3. If you could have plastic surgery, what would you have done? what if they messed up???

4. Do you have a completely irrational fear? no mine is
pretty rational

5. What is the little physical habit that gives away your insecure
moments? maybe laughing too loud…I think it depends, though, on why I’m insecure…it could mean tears.

6. Do you know anyone famous? uh…no.

7. Spontaneous or planned?  sometimes

8. Who should play you in a movie about your life?  Julia Roberts (but she’s too old)

9. What do you carry with you at all times?  a cell
phone

10. What do you miss most about being a kid?  not knowing how far I had to go

11. Are you happy with your given name?  yes, it means princess, so it suits me 

12. How much money would it take to get you to give up the Internet
for one year?  hmm…well, I suppose enough that I could spend my
time shopping (and buying) at the mall instead of window shopping online.

13. What color is your bedroom?  green and white, which I hate (another phase)

14. What was the last song you were listening to?  a song by Jars that says, “I’ll drive off and marry you…”

15. Have you ever been in love?  I thought I was once, but I thought love was something you never got over–and I got over this one

16. Do you talk a lot? 
yes.  well…sometimes.

17. Do you like yourself and believe in yourself?  No,
but–if i can say this without sounding pious–I like who I am in
Christ, and I belive in the God who promised to live in me.

18. Do transient, homeless, or starving people sometimes annoy you?  not unless they’re aggressive enough to
scare me (like in Paris)

19. Do you consider yourself to be a nice person?  yeah, but don’t ask my family

20. What is your ideal marriage location?  a southern plantation, or a lagoon

21. Which musical instrument do you wish you could play? sometimes I wanted to add the violin or guitar

22. Something you love and hate?  getting new glasses

23. What’s the one language you want to learn?  done (French), except I can barely speak it… oh, but then there’s Italian and Portuguese.

24. What’s one trait you hate in a person?   inconsistency

25. What kind of watch(es) do you wear?  something that fits my wrist (it’s too
small)

26. Most frivolous purchase?  which one?  okay, but that
lavender silk twill wrap was totally worth it…

27. Do you consider yourself materialistic?  I try.  Er…I mean, I try not to be…

28. What do you cook the best?  chocolate chip cookies
(says Dad); I also make the best cream gravy and pork n’ beans (why else would they always make me do it?)

29. Favorite writing tool?   Pilot SureGrip (fine point), a ball point pen that I can only find
at one store in all of Houston.

30. Do you prefer to stand out or blend in?  yes

31. What’s one car you will never buy?  one
of those weird things they had back in the seventies/eighties that
looks like a long car but the back is a truck-bed of sorts…can’t
remember what they’re called but I always thought they looked hideous.

32. What kind of books do you like to read?  fiction, history, travel, fashion, biographies

33. If you won the lottery?  it’d be a miracle

34. Burial or cremation? 
whatever

35. What’s one thing you’re a sore loser at?   arguements

36. If you don’t like a person, how do you show it?   I try too hard to be polite.

37. What kind of first impression do you think you give to
people?   apparently “sophisticated”, but don’t ask me how

38. Are you a giver or a taker?  well, I try to be a giver, but…

39. Favorite communication method?  one-on-one conversations at Starbucks

40. How many drinks before you’re tipsy?  only took one…on an empty stomach

41. Do you have problems changing clothes in front of friends? 
dumb question…I’ve lived with two sisters my whole life

42. Last movie that inspired you? 
 Italian Job—oh, wait, I guess they didn’t mean the movie that inspired me on the freeway

43. Favorite cartoons: 
tweety bird, road runner, pooh bear

44. Any last words?  May you rest in peace.

America is still America….

…the media couldn’t change us, no matter how hard they tried.  We are NOT divided.  We know exactly what we want.

“Any regrets, Eric, that you’re not down there with them?”
“Yeah…  No doubts, though.”

That’s how I want to live.  Regrets?  Maybe.  Doubts?  NEVER!