Local and not so local news

It was so good to see Jim and Kay back from Florida. The sunshine state agrees well with them; they look wonderful.
Mr. and Mrs. M. are back from Egypt -I do hope they'll share their videos and pix with us.
Addy returned safely to Paris from London. She sure packed a lot of sightseeing into 5 days. And from the pix she emailed, she has certainly mastered the use of her new camera.
Jenn and BF Sean spent a day in Boston - and somehow found themselves in the midst of a peaceful protest. They never experienced a protest before. They report "it was cool." Reminds me of how far back in time the 60s are, with all the marches, sit-ins, be-ins, vigils, etc being so common on all our campuses.
Jenn says she feels like a real college student, tons of reading to do, papers to write, meetings to attend, and she's out of pocket change. Her near immediate goal is a successful trip to India. She has a lot of people supporting her in this, and we are grateful for her taking part in this service trip.
As for my wonderful birthday brunch, we'll have to do it again when we are all back together.

A Birthday Brunch

We enjoyed a fabulous brunch at the Tuscan Kitchen. Our first time there. It was Geo's surprise for me. Excellent. We sat at a table behind glass and overlooking the dessert table. Desserts included everything from chocolate cake, cream puffs, cannoli, cheesecake, and creme brulee (why do all the best desserts start with the letter "C"?) The creme brulee was to die for delicious.
Geo, a mimosa, and an outstanding meal - what a great way to begin a new year!

The Serenity Prayer

I've never taken "The Serenity Prayer" very seriously. I'd read it as far as "to accept the things I cannot change," and thought I'd rather see, work for, pray for a lot of change. I still feel that way.
Last night I went to a Lenten prayer service. The priest asked us to read this prayer for as many days as we'd like, each day taking just one line and imagining what our life would be like if we actually lived that way. Using this approach, I thought I'd give this prayer another try to see if it could actually be meaningful for me. Surprisingly, I now believe that this could result in a lot of change!

Lord, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things that I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

Jeffery Deaver's THE TWELFTH CARD

Just finished the novel Dorothy sent me. I don't usually choose current suspense thrillers, but gave this one a go. It became quite the page-turner about 1/2 way through.
I liked the way Deaver blended historic fiction with current fictional events, like 2 stories happening simultaneously, and he kept the reader wondering how they would tie together, right up to the final chapter.
I picked out a few favorite sentences:
From chapter 36, "...This's home. And you know what you do with your home, don't you? You change what oughta be changed and learn to be proud of what you can't."
From chapter 44, "Early Wednesday, the autumn air cold and clear as fresh ice."
And, not least, throughout the book, "Word." Now that's one of Jenn's favorite responses. (That gave the book some authenticity to me, and made me smile.)
There are five other Lincoln Rhyme/Amelia Sachs novels by Deaver. Geo has read a few.
THE TWELFTH CARD interested me enough to read another, and I just may go for the series.
Thank you, Dorothy. Aunt Marie, the book will be in the mail on its way to you.