Julie A. Duncan

  Mom turned 84 today. She didn't want to do anything big as they had scheduled her for a stress test (on her birthday!) and she didn't know how well she would feel afterwards. We stopped by to drop off her birthday presents though. I got her a puzzle with an artist's desk of bird drawings and paintings and then Greg picked up a cheesecake from Jo's Soda Fountain Eatery in Anadarko. She had been there a couple of months ago and said it was the best cheesecake she had ever eaten. It was absolutely massive! She sent Greg and me home with five of the slices, and she was right - it was amazing!

 The Sunday that Hailey was having her second spring concert, the orchestra was not playing at our church. We decided to take the full Sunday off and join Hailey and Tyler at their Norman church, Providence Road Church. We went to the 9 AM service and enjoyed worshiping with them and experiencing her church. Hailey was already in her concert black, so we had some time to kill as church let out at 10:30 and we weren't quite ready to eat lunch yet. So...we went shopping at Walmart, of course. Then we met Tyler at the Mont for lunch before heading to Catlett where they had to report by 1:30. After church, we got to buy Hailey some groceries. lunch at the Mont Greg and I had some time to spare, and so we went to the Fred Jones Jr. Art Museum across the street. Greg had not seen the Weitzenhoffer section and was blown away that there were Monets, Van Goghs, and Pisarros in the museum.  The concert was nice. They performed several American pieces in honor of the 250th birthday of th...

 Today was National Independent Bookstores Day, and we actually have two bookstores in Lawton now. Thursday was our widow Nancy Hamm's birthday and she loves to read, so we took her to the two bookstores this morning. They weren't having any amazing sales, but it was fun anyway. Nancy and I both ended up picking out some books. We also stopped at the Farmer's Market before taking her out to eat at Cracker Barrel.

 A horrible wind and rain destroyed many of our beautiful irises blooming in the yard last night. However, there were still a few left. The weather was gorgeous after I got home from the ladies retreat and I was able to capture some of my favorite flowers in the yard.

 I am not an extrovert and really have to force myself to do extroverted stuff. When it's also to help me grow closer to God, I figure that's a win-win. This is the second year I've gone to the Women's Retreat. We no longer take the trip to Falls Creek, but instead we meet at the church and watch the live stream together. This year's theme really was a good theme: Draw Near based on Hebrews 10:22-25. My favorite part was from Haggai. The Israelites were in exile in Babylon but the king had allowed some of them to return to Jerusalem. They were supposed to rebuild the temple but it's been a few years and the temple was still in ruins. They were in Jerusalem and were busy, but busy about the wrong thing. Misplaced priorities create an emptiness. We're working but not getting fruit. When we feel empty, it's not because we need better time management; it's God telling us to be busy about something else. Instead of looking at our to-do list in the morning...

For the past couple of years, the Comanche Cotton Baptist Association has the Association VBS clinic in Elgin, which is rather convenient for me. This year's theme is Illumination Station and focuses on the aspect of Jesus being the light. All of the decorations were neon, lights, and lit up with black lights. Caroline and I attended the craft section and by the end of the session, we had decided on our crafts! Yay! Especially since the supply list is due in about two weeks. The crafts were pretty easy this year with some cute ideas. We're going to do a light "illumination" craft on Sunday that will be quick and simple. Then with our first and second graders, we're doing a baptism scene with watercolor pencils and a light bulb with string. Our third and fourth graders are doing a shrinky-dink light bulb and a pringle-can kaleidoscope. It should be fun.

 Our April OBS concert in Stillwater was actually moved. We were originally planned at one church, but the church got a new pastor after the concert was scheduled. The church had other things scheduled and could no longer host us. However, the person in charge decided to forge on. He found another church for the venue and still did everything - including a wonderfully delicious catered meal and snack grab bag for the ride home. This was supposedly the first time OBS had been to Stillwater. It was a long drive, but hopefully we'll be invited back again someday.

We have gone to the moon again! Artemis II and its astronauts successfully went on a ten-day mission that went to the moon and back. They didn't land on the moon, but the fact that we got there again is impressive. Greg and I watched the return trip on the TV. He remembers watching the original Apollo missions on TV, but I wasn't alive. I've only read about it. It's a part of MY history now too. It's amazing to me that these pictures and watching it, is almost just like the ones we've seen and watched recreated in movies from the original missions. Much has changed, but much has not changed.

 Mom and Dad came over to join us, Jordan, Hailey, and Hailey's friend for Saturday dinner. We veered away from the traditional Easter dinner this year and had a shrimp boil. Later in the evening, since it was pretty chilly outside, we lit a fire and made s'mores before heading to bed pretty late in the evening. Tyler ended up having to go to a Pow Wow for one of his classes and the part he needed to see didn't happen until late in the evening. As a result, he drove down early Sunday morning and joined us at church. Hailey's other friend left immediately afterwards leaving just Jordan, Hailey, Tyler, and myself for the adult Easter Egg Hunt that Greg had planned for us. Greg filled and hid the eggs for us. We searched low. Then we searched high as Greg told us they weren't all on the ground. Searching high and low still missed one of the eggs. We all enjoyed the candy and money that we did find though! Jordan headed back to Edmond shortly afterwards. Hailey kept say...

 Tonight we met Nancy and Paula at the church's widows and single ladies banquet. They started it with my least thing - ice breaker questions. We were supposed to walk around and give the best piece of advice we had ever received. I couldn't think of any, so I didn't walk around. It was a fun evening of just chatting with everyone at the table. They purposely ordered too much food so the ladies could get to go plates and have another meal later. I thought that was such a great idea!  The hilarious part was when Pastor Mike shared a silly story/letter. The backstory was that a woman from England was moving to Switzerland. She had toured a house there and was very interested, but had a few questions still. She wrote a letter asking where the W.C. was. Well the country she was moving to doesn't call the bathroom the W.C. and so the realtor had no idea what she was talking about. He decided it stood for Wayside Chapel. His letter back to her was quite hilarious when read fr...