Hi guys,
        Well, I've been quiet lately, haven't I?  Pretty good for
me!!  "NOT!"  Actually, Ive been keeping up with the reading pretty
well, so I know pretty much what is going on, but I either lack the
energy, or the words to describe my life lately, so I just read about
yours.  I guess I've just found it easier to remain a passive lurker
lately.    If nothing else, this does show that I can be still for a
season at least!  GRIN!
        Ned and Vinny, you will be happy to know that I finally got my
piano tuned yesterday.  Yea!   The humidity had done a number on it,
but Greg also hadn't put it together correctly when he decided to try
to check things out for himself lat summer when I began asking you
guys questions about it.  Liz and I have been rassing him a bit about
it, now that we know.
        Two weekends ago, I was at a women's retreat in New hampshire where
I was one of the music leaders.  At first, it appeared that I would
be the only musician, but God does answer prayer and we did manage to
get a worship team together before all was said and done.  It went
much better that way.  Yea!
        I finally heard back from the drama company about my skit on the
parable of the four soils and they want to see it so I'm busy
tweeking and polishing it and hope to get it in the mail by the
weekend.  Of course, I'm still dreading the rejection letter as a
result, but I'll never know if I don't try.  I'd really appreciate
your prayer over this venture for me.  I feel as though I"m really
stepping out in faith.
        I'm also busy with my knitting.  I need it for peace of mind with
everything that is happening around me.  I made a prayer shawl for my
sister and am now learning a really complicated pattern for an
afghan.  Well, It may not be complicated for people to whom knitting
is old hat, but for me, I'm pretty amazed!
        I wish that parenthood were going as well.  Our oldest, Matt, is now
employed at Holiday Inn on the housekeeping staff.  He likes it, but
Matt likes everything.  What he struggles with is being self aware
enough to know whether or not he is doing well.  He works second
shift and he still doesn't have his driver's license, even after
taking the test twice, so Greg still has to run in and pick him up
and then, of course, pick up chris from Nicki's house along the way.
        Chris has 27 days more to live with us and then, he is out!!  We had
a meeting with a social worker today and two people from the
department of corrections to try to figure out where Chris will live
next.  Of course, it would be easiest if he stayed here, for them,
but even then, if he moved out, they aren't interested in helping him
too much, especially with any funding.  The problem is that he will
still be on juvinile probation for three months after he turns 18 so
he will be ending up in some sort of a no mans land.
        While Chris's outward violence against us has stopped, "he says he
doesn't want to go back to jail), the passive aggressive stuff has
increased.  Unfortunately, most passive aggressive behaviors don't
break the law, just frustrate everyone else in the house hold.  He
has urinated in a potted plant, stolen his brother's i.d. to try to
buy cigarettes, stolen things out of our room, not to mention
retreaved things that we had taken from him that he shouldn't have
had in the first place.  He spends a lot of his time at Nicki's, but
he has lied about us so much and undermined our character so much to
them, that they think that we are real jerks to even want to get rid
of him.  He is such an excellent liar and con, I almost feel like I'm
living with the guy from the movie, "Catch Me If You Can."  The
stories get so convoluted that we can't even tell what is up and down
sometimes.  Other people, however, who don't know him well, like the
people that we met with today, don't know that, or in truth, care to
know that.  If they did take the time to know, they might actually
have to act and as long as we are around, they have more pressing
matters to deal with.
        This family counselor that the courts hired to work with us wrote
this really glowing report about how our family had improved
dramaticly with his help; no doubt insuring job security for him and
the agency that he works for.
        You know, what is so hard is that this is all just so
wrong!!  Nicki's parents have said that, if worse comes to worse,
Chris can move in with them.  Her father claims that he can get Chris
a job at the Home Depot, where he works, but this guy is a drunk and
a liar himself.  Nevertheless, Chris is clinging to the offer, if
nothing else works out.  The probation officer also recommended that
we give Chris the bike of ours,  that he has been using since he
doesn't have anything else for transportation.
        I know that I don't know the end of the story yet.  I know that
anything could change at any time, but this is a pretty low point in
the story right now.
        God bless everybody.  Hopefully, my life will settle down again soon
and I can be a more frequent contributor again.
I love you guys and I appreciate your being there, always!
Kathy