A September Mish Mosh

Fall has begun in Indiana.

Despite the fact that False Fall turned back into Second Summer and my air conditioner is running, it's here.  And I'm good with that - Fall is my favorite season of the year.

The horse hunt continues for my friend Belle. The Standardbred mare was sold to someone else, and then another horse she and Tim looked at was not a good fit.

She is still looking, but in the meantime, she and I continue to zing memes back and forth and talk horses, horses, horses. 

And, later today we are going to some tack stores and buying grooming tools and anything else she might need when she gets her horse!

I was pleased to hear that someone I worked with has just received a huge honor.

In my opinion, this is a well deserved honor for him. He cared about the kids and he cared about the staff and was approachable and present.

He surprised me on my very last day of teaching by showing up unannounced and thanking me for my years of service in the classroom.

When you consider that my school was a half hour drive from his office coupled with all of his end of year duties, that is quite impressive!

In other mishy-moshy happenings, my bestie who moved to Indy last year was in town Sunday and speaking at a conference at our church. She had meetings beforehand, but texted me early Sunday morning and asked if I could meet her and chat during a gap in her schedule.

I sure could! We caught up as quickly as we could. It was short but very sweet, plus I was in the audience and got to hear her speak. We meet for lunch every three months or so, and we are going to get that scheduled soon.

Friday Night Lights continues every week. Sadly, after that initial scrimmage in Danville, I have been unable to attend. The bleachers for the away teams are always on the far side of the playing field which means you have to hike a long distance not only from the parking lot, but then around the field to get to them.

And, I am learning that accessibility can vary from place to place. It just takes one construction project to make it so that I can't get where I need to go.

Speaking of accessibility, I just had to renew my temporary handicapped parking pass. Only, it's no longer temporary.

Not gonna lie, when my doctor sent me these papers to take to the BMV, my heart sank - he'd made the determination that I was now permanently disabled.

Talk about a mind shift for me. While part of me was grateful, I don't see myself as disabled and I was a little shocked. I even sat at my desk and cried a little. 

It is what it is, I guess, and so I will keep going to physical therapy and my other appointments and hope I get back to some semblance of normalcy.

Speaking of the joys and woes of getting older, a very dear friend of ours just celebrated her 100th birthday. She's sassy, she's saucy, and she still lives independently!

Craig and I met Mary when we moved to Illinois in 1979, and she never fails to make us laugh. We still drive over and take her out to lunch for her birthday every year.

Off to go get ready to go horse shopping!

Stay 'tooned!

Lunch in Logansport

Recently I traveled with two dear friends to Logansport to meet another friend from Fort Wayne for lunch.

Kathy Nimmer, Lisa Connolly, me, and Gayla Sorenson.

Gayla is one of the matrons at the Indianapolis Temple, and if you look closely, you can see the gold and white bracelet (made by Kathy) that I gave her as a Christmas gift last Christmas. (I'm wearing mine, too.) Gayla loved the bracelet and was intrigued when she learned that Kathy was blind and asked to meet her.

Nacho, of course, came along and she was thrilled to meet him, too.

We had a lovely lunch and Gayla and Kathy hit it off so well that they would like to get together for lunch again. (Lisa is leaving on a mission and won't be able to join us.)

 

A close up of the bracelet. Isn't it beautiful?

When I gave the temple matrons their bracelets, I included a letter sharing with them how the bracelet had been made and why I wanted them to have it. Here is the text:

December, 2021

This chain mail bracelet in temple colors of white and gold was made for you by my friend, Kathy Nimmer. There is an interesting story that goes along with the bracelet, one that makes me think of you and your service here in the temple.

Kathy is one of my dearest friends and one of the most multi-faceted, talented, and interesting people I know. A former teaching colleague of mine, Kathy was Indiana’s 2015 Teacher of the Year and then one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year in 2016. She has been to the White House and met President Obama, won Dolly Parton’s Chasing Rainbows Award in 2016, and has countless other awards for her teaching. 

These accomplishments are all the more amazing when you discover that Kathy is totally blind.

Kathy is guided by Nacho, a yellow Lab from from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an organization that provides guide dogs free of charge to the visually impaired at a cost of roughly $50,000 to $60,000 per dog. Since she is a devout Christian and believes in giving back to others, all proceeds from Kathy’s bracelets are donated to Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

For me, the bracelet symbolizes two things. One is the gifts, talents, and challenges that Heavenly Father gives us, and how He then blesses us when we do our best to love and serve our fellow human beings. The other is how the chain mail symbolically connects to “putting on the full armor of God.” With His help, we can rise above our limitations, stand up to those fiery darts, and do good in this world.

You have “put on the full armor of God” and are using your gifts and talents to rise to those challenges. Our temple and the lives of patrons and ordinance workers have been blessed as a result of your faith and your selfless sacrifices. So, it seemed fitting that Kathy, someone who is also rising above the many challenges in her life, should make you something to remind you of how wonderfully you are rising above your own. 

Merry Christmas!

The Temple!

I made it up to the Chicago Temple today - a feat in and of itself because I DETEST the traffic up there. It stresses me so that I usually get a migraine. As a result, I do not go to the Chicago Temple very often, preferring Nauvoo or Louisville. (The Indianapolis Temple cannot open fast enough for me!)

When we were visiting teaching a day or so ago, I asked my friend, Lisa Connolly, if she wanted to go up with me. She was available so we hopped in her car and headed up this morning.

When we arrived, a greeter asked if we needed help finding the dressing room, and Lisa replied that we knew where to go. The woman then observed, "I can tell you have come from a long distance."

The two of us both got a bit of the giggles - did we really look that bad? So we said something along those lines and the temple worker hastily amended that she had not meant her words that way. Then she said something that I find interesting and have been thinking about ever since.

"I can tell you come from far away because people who live close to the temple hurry in and go directly to the dressing room without looking around at things."

Hmmmm. Food for thought, especially with the Indianapolis Temple under construction. I do not ever want to take having a temple close by for granted!

 Me outside the temple after our session.

 The fountain by the entrance - I have always thought it looked like something from The Jetsons!

 Lisa and me, ready to head home.

We got in a session and then drove home, so it was a quick trip. The traffic going up was not bad; coming home there was much more and I did feel headachy. But, attending the temple was definitely worth the annoyance of a migraine.