My thoughts exactly. (A friend had this on his blog.)

Did you hear that?

Wait for it.... wait for it....  There, did you hear it?  Another baby step toward adulthood was made yesterday!!  Dan took Dawn to the bank to set up her own bank account, complete with an ATM card.  Yep.  Yet another step toward leaving home.  She leaves for college this coming Monday.  She has 3 weeks of pre-season volleyball training before freshman orientation and classes. 

Sorting and packing are being done during the morning and afternoons this week, plus getting some volleyball coaching and then practice with some friends in the area every evening.  Time is getting short!  She is excited but apprehensive about being in shape and getting back "on top of her game."

We the parents get stuck with doing paperwork, ordering books, filling out more forms and worrying about how to pay for this venture!

Debbie

The pictures say it all!

 

Dawn has long dreamed of owning a PT Cruiser.  Doesn't it suit her?  We surprised her with it while my mom was here.  Dawn's graduation gifts paid for a quarter of it and we made a step of faith for the rest of it.  We were excited and thankful to find a used one at a great price and thank everyone that helped make it possible. 

Now that she has wheels, she is beginning to understand things like having to pay for her own gas, insurance, oil changes, etc.  She looked hard for a job in June, but so did 32,000+ other people (Unemployment in our county is among the highest in the US!).  She didn't have much success.  She does have an occasional dog sitting job, house cleaning job and official volleyball coaching with her high school coach's summer volleyball camps.

She's trying to get in shape for volleyball, going through things in her room in anticipation of packing for college and trying to figure out what to take and what not to take. 

This is the summer of transitions, freedom-wing tryouts and pre-empty nest.

My mom was here too!

When Dan dropped Bea off at the Ft. Lauderdale airport for her trip home, he picked up my mom.  They had scheduled back to back visits since we only have 1 guestroom.  My mom stayed for 10 days as well.  (Allegiant Air again) Again, it was seeing her out of context.  Instead of being in South Carolina, there she was in our house...and in Florida no less!

 

Mama joined us for our church's luncheon honoring graduating seniors. 

We enjoyed showing her around our new corner of paradise, did some shopping, and a lot of yakking.  I was especially thankful that she was able to help me with my Haitian paintings.  Due to the style of art, Haitian paintings are notorious for being difficult and thus expensive to frame.  The next best thing, I figured, was to have her continue the painting around the sides.  (She's an accomplished artist.)  She worked on 6 or 7 of them and did a fantastic job.  I could have never done it on my own!  They now have a nice finished quality to them.

She was also here and able to witness a very exciting happening in Dawn's life.  But we'll save that for another entry.  It deserves an entry all by itself.

The time went by too quickly.  You have to come again, Mama!

Bea was here

My sister, Bea, had her first vacation in 20 years -- at our house!  We had a great 10 day visit.  She joined us on our week vacation on Ft. Myers Beach.  We did a lot of yakking, had some beach time, a little shopping and a bunch of relaxing. 

See!  Bea really was here!

Dawn and her Aunt Bea

Since we only see her when she's in South Carolina, we had to keep pinching ourselves to remind us that we were here at home and she was the one out of context.  It was fun, especially since my family hasn't come to see us too often.  We can thank Bea's visit to a $9 ticket (yes, that is $9.00!) from Allegiant Air, Columbia, SC to Ft. Lauderdale (Dan had to travel 2 hours to Ft. Lauderdale to pick her up).  It was their inaugural charter flight, so she was pleased to find it! 

Anyway, the time went too quickly so you have to come back more often Bea!!

Hope for Kidz packets are in the mail!

It's been a busy week at RMI!  After much work, blood, sweat, tears, and the work of many volunteers, the Hope for Kidz packets for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year are now in the mail. 

We are excited about the new look of the materials.  We also think you'll be pleased at the new information that is enclosed with each child's packet. 

Marilyn McLaughlin and her team in Haiti did a fantastic job of getting the pictures and all the needed info.  Rob did a great job of re-designing the new look and all the information that now comes with the packets.  There are 3,000 kids up for sponsorship!  What a great opportunity to change a child's life forever.  Let's pull together to see that each child gets sponsored!

And a special thank you to all of the Hope for Kidz Coordinators.  We appreciate your efforts to get the word out and finding these kidz sponsors!

Debbie

The latest edition of theBridge is out!

The latest edition of RMI's theBridge is in the mail.  It is jam-packed with news items, useful information and touching stories.  Please take time to read it - you'll find that it will be time well spent.

You can also find it at http://www.rminet.org/portal/publications.htm.  If you are not on RMI's mailing list and wish to get theBridge to keep informed on the Sister Church Program, get ideas for your Sister Church Partnership and learn about the latest happenings in RMI, please call the RMI office toll-free at 877-RMI-5439.

Debbie