Surprises From Some Super Boys That Made My Day!

Sunday was the last week with this particular group of 5th grade boys in my Sunday School class. Every year, promotion is bitter sweet. It thrills my soul to see my classes make some spiritual progress during the year and I always enjoy teaching Sunday School.  I usually get attached to my classes and wish I could keep them another year. This year was no exception.

I began teaching Sunday School when I graduated from high school in 1971 and taught for something like 35 years--with only a few years off along the way.  My first class was a fun group of 3rd grade boys who gave me the teaching bug!  I have taught grades 3-12 in Sunday School over the years and up until now, always liked the Jr. High classes best  However, This last class of 5th grade boys was the best I ever had and that's saying a lot because I have had many good classes. They were a very special group in that most were regular attenders, they all got along great, they were very open and eager to participate, willing to accept challenges, eager to learn; therefore, a pleasure to teach.   Over half completed the Dare To Be A Daniel evangelism course geared to Jr. Highers during the summer.  I am so proud of them!

We had some fun socials but Sunday, I was blown away when I received gifts and thank you notes from several of the boys. This was a first for me!

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It's Another Wedding Anniversary--13 Years!

Tomorrow is our 13th Wedding anniversary and as usual, we are taking this whole week off work! YIPPEE! We gave Abby a special bone Saturday to start our celebration.  She liked it so much that she didn't want to leave it out of her sight and took it outside with her when she went on her walk.  At first she just laid down and chewed on it but then she did walk around the block, carrying it with her. It is just so nice being home together and doing things with each other.





We have made lots of changes to our home and life over the years and have had some low points as well as mostly high points. It is so nice to have a spouse to share things with and experience things together. I am so thankful the we found each other, which I am convinced was God's doing. When we got married, there were two less lonely people in the world. (We like that song!)

Our plans for Monday include a visit to our zoo in the morning, lunch at Olive Garden with the gift card I got today from one of the boys in my Sunday School class (More about this on Tuesday), some reading, some blogging, and certainly fun with our pets. It may not sound all that exciting to you, but to us, it's a great day just because we are together.

For the 13th wedding anniversary, our book says the gifts should be lace for traditional or for modern, textiles or furs.  We don't need any of these things so this year we are buying a DVD player (which I hope I can figure out how to connect to our HD TV) and transferring some old movies to DVD so I will be able to use some clips from them for blog posts.

Other related posts you might enjoy:
What Did You Compromise When You Married?
What Type Do You Fall For?
Our 12th Wedding Anniversary (With wedding pictures included)
Hubby List
13 Changes In Our Life Since Marriage
What Does Your Wedding Dress Say About You?
I Married Mr. Wonderful!

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3 Things I Learned This Week #84 (football, nutrition, cats)

High School Football

In last Sunday's Cleveland PLAIN DEALER on the cover of a section called Parade, there was a picture of Natalie Randolph, one of the nation's only female football coaches. She coaches a boys' football team at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. She is 30 years old. I give her a lot of credit and wish her and her team well. She really cares about the students--that's why she was hired. (She looks great too!)

Cinnamon

At examiner.com I learned that Cinnamon is an "antioxidant superpower with huge health benefits such as a great source manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium.

Fat Cats

From playing my free kibble trivia game, I learned that obese cats are at higher risk for diabetes, arthritis and heart and lung disease. Non-obese cats live 15% longer! I'm going to have to put out less food--Spunky is too chunky!

Visit more Friday Fragments at Half-Past Kissin' Time.
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What I Like About Cleveland, Ohio

Welcome to Cleveland, Ohio, Blogtrotters!

We actually live in Parma, a suburb of Cleveland which is another good thing about Cleveland--it has lots of suburbs.  Cleveland/Parma has a lot of things that I like and is a good place to live in my opinion. I like having things so conveniently accessible. Churches (all kinds from which to choose), libraries, schools, tennis courts, ball fields, stores, fast food chains, donut shops, a bowling alley, Laundromat, restaurants and ice cream places are all within walking distance of my house. You don’t have that in the country! Everyone isn’t as well located as we are, but I’m pretty sure most Clevelanders could get to all these places by car in a half hour or less driving.

With the Regional Transit Authority, I can take the bus to work downtown or to special events and places of interest. There are at least four major highways that make traveling by car convenient too. From what I hear, our rush hour traffic is not near as bad as Chicago, New York or Los Angeles.

Cleveland has much to offer in entertainment such as theaters, rec centers, and professional sports teams, including the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, and Cleveland Cavaliers.  We also have a minor league hockey team--the Lake Erie Monsters. Youth sports is big here in Cleveland too and includes baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball, football, swimming, tennis, golf and hockey. If you are into drinking, there is no shortage of taverns and sports bars around. There are plenty of neighborhood movie theaters too.  If you have younger children, you must take them to our amusement for for little kids--Memphis Kiddiepark.  It was opened in 1952 and is still going strong.  It is small with just fun rides for the little ones, except for the carousel and Little Dipper.  Bet you didn't know there was an amusement park in Cleveland!  

The Cleveland Zoo is very big with lots of animals--a fun and relaxing place to bring a family. The Cleveland Metroparks are throughout the city and provide plenty of woods for hiking, bike trails, creeks, hills, and even horseback riding, swimming, sledding, and tobogganing at certain locations.

There are also many special events that come to Cleveland, such as the circus, concerts, big ships, air show and fairs. Even dog sledding which Gerard paid $5 to do.  One day one of the dogs that played the part of Marley in the movie "Marley and Me" even came to Cleveland and let people get their picture taken with him at Tower City downtown.  I took off work early that day so I could go.

There are several colleges and museums including the Art Museum, Museum of Natural History, Money Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. For those who love the country, Parma even has Stearn's Farm, an historical landmark right on a main road down from Parmatown Mall, just about 15 min. from our home.

If you like the beach or just like watching the boats, Cleveland is right by Lake Erie. I can actually walk to the pier during my lunch hour if I want to since I work downtown. I have a view of the lake from my office windows. Edgewater park provides a beach, swimming and fireworks over the lake on July 4th.

It is also nice to have a hospital close by with a Cancer Unit affiliated with The Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals worldwide! Cleveland has quite a few hospitals and plenty of police and fire stations around. I like the fact that if we would ever have an emergency, help is very close by. There are both public and private schools that give parents lots of choices as well as preschools throughout the city, as well as an extensive network of home schoolers.

We have a variety of weather during the four seasons. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes are seldom seen in Cleveland. We do get a fair amount of snow during December-March and usually one snowstorm in April but on the whole, Cleveland weather is pretty nice most of the year. The only downside to Cleveland is the snow and even that provides some fun if you want to look on the bright side.

What city do you live in and what do you like about it?  I wrote this post because I was asked to write about Cleveland for Blog Trotting.  Links contained in this post will lead you to posts directly related.  So, click some links and enjoy your visit with us in our city!

I added this to Saturday Samplings at Half-Past Kissin' Time. Check it out for more "posts of the week."


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I Survived My Oral Surgeon Trip--Hurray!

I survived my Dentist visit with less pain than anticipated. The surgeon was very quick about it although kept saying I don't feel a thing when I started making noises. He thought it was funny that the back of the tooth was stuck--I didn't didn't think it was one bit funny! Most of the tooth was already gone. He just kept pushing on it and it did hurt some but not to the extent that I had expected. The good news is they sent me off on my merry way and said I did not need to come back.

However, I was only supposed to bite down on gauze to stop the bleeding for about an hour and her I kept changing it and bit down on it for an hour and 45 min. Oops! No wonder my jaw is somewhat sore now. I did use a cold pack on it for 20 min. as soon as I got home to keep the swelling down. I Haven't noticed any yet so that's good. I watched old reruns of "I love Lucy" and "Who's The Boss" on TV Land with the pets. I didn't feel much like doing anything so took a nap with my dog. Manny visited us too. I finally decided to post this around 4:30. Oh, and I forgot my vitamins so guess I'll take them now.

I was told do drink water, stay away from anything hot and stick with cold things to eat and avoid things that could get stuck in my teeth. I had yogurt and ice cream for lunch. No rinsing today but tomorrow I am supposed to rinse every 2-3 hours with salt water according to my instructions. Now I don't know if I should take off tomorrow from work too or not. I also have to chew on the other side for a day or two.

In a couple days, he said I won't even notice I had a tooth taken out. I sure hope he's right about that!

Related post is just before this one: I'm Afraid--Dentist Is Going To Hurt Me!

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