LEAVING ON A JET PLANE!

3 May 2009

I'm writing this in Greek blue cause we'll be there SO SOON! It's late Saturday night/early Sunday morning as I write this. We've had a grand time with nearly all the kids today. Tobey and Chad drove down from Tulsa, bringing James with them (Tori and Daphne and Whitney all had their weekend previously committed). We had lunch with Sergio and Yvonne and then all the guys got the frisbees and headed across the street for a little frisbee golf.

They had no sooner thrown the first frisbee when the proverbial bottom dropped outa the sky. They kept tossing and having fun while getting totally drenched UNTIL the lightening started. Soon, we had 4 sopping wet boys in the living room. We took the wet clothes, got all but Sergio (who has his own clothes) kitted up in the rejects of Poppy's clothes - what a hoot! I'm SO sorry I didn't get photos - Chad won the prize by far! But James in his miles too long plaid flannel pants and a bright red/black plaid shirt was a close second.

After the rain passed, we girls took off and picked up Christina and Elizabeth for some shopping at the $8.00 store! The boys went to see the new X Men movie. We met up with each other for a "last supper" of sorts at the Cottonpatch Cafe. FUN! Then we went by Dave and Elizabeth's for some hugs and kisses from Alex and Jacob.

Home to fix up makeshift beds and then, too exhausted to even think of packing, we're headed to bed. Shakespeare and Dickens are in our closet, sleeping on the red pads that go in their cages. We will be up and attem tomorrow for the last minute packing, stuffing and praying over getting everything to fit in our 2 big suitcases. Then stuff the boys in their cages and wait for the shuttle. The plane leaves sometime after 3 for a 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. We barely have enough time to go through customs and change planes for the flight to Athens. We are due to arrive there shortly after 1 p.m. (which will be about 5 a.m. Monday for you Central time zone folks).

The Lockheed company rep (Ellie) will meet us in Athens, give us our telephones and rental car keys and then we're off to Patras to our hotel home. There we try to make a stab at unpacking, get the boys settled, have a shower and go find the closest taverna for a SOUVLAKI! I've not had any meat for almost 50 days - I've been waiting for that first bite - mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Just wanted to mention something UNBELIEVABLE that happened to us a couple of weeks ago. We took off on a Friday to go see Glen's mom in Cherokee, Texas. It's about a 3.5 hour drive through winding hill country roads. We came into the town of Comanche and I commented on the long line of cars leading down into the traffic light intersection in town - a LOT of cars!

As we snaked through the town, imagine my surprise when nearly the whole line (queue) turned right to go towards San Saba - the way WE were traveling! I said to Glen "it MUST be a funeral - all these cars going in the same direction!"

But then I noticed that none of the cars had on headlights - a requirement for a funeral procession. Then Glen noticed we'd just PASSED the cemetery and still this long line of cars kept heading on down the road.

Only then did I really start looking - they were ALL Corvettes! It took over half an hour but we finally got them all counted - THIRTEEN Corvettes! Some convertibles. Some the newer 2009 models. Some much older. But ALL Corvettes! (And Ian, not a yellow one in the bunch!)

Of course, we had no camera - no way to "prove" we'd seen them. But the surprised looks on the faces of the farmers who looked up from their plowing to see the parade of Vettes was priceless! So was the bunch of Harleys that passed us going in the opposite directions - such honking and waving and flashing of lights!
And there was even ONE Corvette going in the opposite direction. This guy stuck his arms and "almost" his head out of his sunroof!

What great surprises God has in store for us - even on the windy, slow driving roads of life! Keep looking up!

M