The Apple Patch, Techno Toys and The Promise

Wow! How quickly time gets away from me! I feel like I just sat down a few minutes ago and now it is the middle of the night. This past weekend flew by, too, and I had the best time I had experienced in ages.

Spent time with Miss L. My daughter dressed her up in a little denim jumper with fall flowers on it and we took her to a pumpkin patch, or as Miss L would say, The "Apple" Patch. Too cute! The first thing she did was pick up a tiny pumpkin and carried it around by the stem the entire time. I still have not mastered the art of downloading pictures from my camera to this computer so I must go to Walgreens first and get everything on disk. I know - I am technologically challenged!

Speaking of technology. Sport is still in town and this evening we went out to eat and then he spent some time hooking up better speakers to my computer, adding closed caption to my tv (so I am ready for my dad's next visit) and then hooked up my DVD player to my new television. He refused to hook up the webcam on the computer and told me I just need to upgrade. With the economy the way it is, I will have to stay satisfied with what I have.

I could not bring myself to say this previously but when I mentioned in another post that I had "inherited" a newer computer from my brother, I did not say that it was because he had passed away. It happened this summer and was such a shock to my entire family. He was struggling with so many issues and took his own life. Carbon monoxide poisoning. The family had not heard from him for about two years and were not even sure where he was living. Turns out he was living about an hour from me. We had lost touch when I moved to North Carolina and then back to Texas. I found a sticky note with my old email address in his journal and it haunts me that he may have tried to reach me at that address and I only looked at it about twice a year. Over the years he had gone through so many stages of his life and even when he cut off the rest of the family in years past, he and I stayed in touch. I searched for him on the Internet many ways and kept telling my mom, "When R has something positive to share with us, we will hear from him again." It is difficult to realize that door is closed forever.

R was single and I ended up with many of his belongings - all of which were nicer than mine. I guess I feel closer to him now than I had for some time. Everywhere I turn in my home now there is something of his. I have even kept his screen saver on the computer - a beautiful picture of his beloved Bengal cat, Lily. So tonight Sport hooked up all the electronic "toys" that had been R's. I just have to figure out how to use them now.

On a more positive note, I went with several friends this past Saturday night to see "The Promise" which is a outdoor passion play about the life of Christ. I had been to see it with my kids and the church youth group 19 years ago and it was even more impressive now. There was a cast of over 100, live animals (donkeys, horses, a camel, doves, pigeons, sheep, goats, etc), a "river" which I hope for the sake of the actors was heated, wonderful costumes and beautiful sets. This is a limited engagement each year - only on Friday and Saturday evenings for a couple of months in the fall. It was great to get out, enjoy the company of good friends and the weather was perfect. This outdoor amphitheater is up on a hill and when the lights were out at various times, you could enjoy a sky full of stars. For an old city girl, that was a rare treat.

Well, I am finally sleepy - make it a great week!!