Happy Valentine's Day!

Lots of LOVE to all of you on this Valentine's Day.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but I have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects,
Always trusts,
Always hopes
Always perseveres.

Love never fails.

But where there are prophesies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love.

But the greatest of these is LOVE."

I Corinthians 13: 1-13

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day! I have lots to report from a wonderful weekend - Jill & Eric's big move and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of K-State basketball courtesy of Brent.

But, for today, be sure and let your family and friends know how important they are to you. And, YOU are important to ME. Thanks for taking time to stop by and visit the County Line!

The Big Move

Just call us R & K Movers. Our motto: We might not be GOOD, but we're CHEAP!

Today we helped Jill & Eric move from their one-bedroom apartment to a new three-bedroom house in Omaha. Our assignment was to arrive in Omaha by 4:30 yesterday to pick up the U-Haul trailer. Eric's parents, Alan & Christy, had an assignment, too (We couldn't have all the fun by ourselves!)

I decided to skip my 4.5-mile walk this morning. I used lift-and-carry weight training for a fitness option. Part of it was up and down stairs from Jill & Eric's second-floor apartment. Who needs a StairMaster!?

For some reason, Jill didn't go for the cattle trailer option. (Honestly, I'm glad we didn't have to pull the trailer from home to Nebraska.) With snow and slush a constant in Omaha this winter, she also didn't want to haul her earthly possessions in the back of the pickup.

Her dad and I have done our share of moving in cattle trailers. Of course, we haven't done too much moving. We have lived in three houses since our marriage almost 29 years ago. But all our moves have been within a 5-mile radius.

Our most memorable move was to this house. I was eight months pregnant with Jill, so we've lived here on the County Line for 24-plus years. Randy grew up two miles north of here, and he said he always dreamed of living in this house.

Jill & Eric probably won't be in their new house forever. But there is still great excitement and anticipation as they move to this new home (and especially move AWAY from a crazy neighbor at the apartment building!)

So, even if they are using slightly decrepit movers, it was a pleasure to help them on this next step of the journey. No, we are not hiring out. This moving company only works for a select few.

More to come on the move next week. And, by the way, I pulled the photo of their house off Jill's blog, and she had gotten it from a website advertising the house. They have never seen their lawn without snow. They think they have a patio under the foot or so of snow and ice.

Stowaway

Randy has been sharing his pickup cab with another girl. She's cute and all, but I'm not too worried about the competition.


Randy found her shivering in the cold when he went to check cows yesterday afternoon. It's quite a shock to the system to leave the warm confines of mom and end up in 20-degree temperatures.

So, this little beauty got wrapped up in red (perfect for Valentine's Day!) and she made the rest of the rounds with Randy. Besides the blanket and the heater going full blast, she got a taste of warm milk via the bottle before going back to the pasture to find her mom.

All is well. When Randy checked cattle last night, she was up taking a swig from Mom. So I guess her excursion didn't prevent any bonding.

She was the latest in a series of four-legged passengers who have been getting special treatment here on the County Line during the recent cold and snowy weather.

On second thought, maybe I SHOULD be worried about the recent passengers. I have to ride in the pickup for 6 hours today as we go to Omaha to help Jill and Eric move. Ah, the smell of baby calf and wet blankets.

Randy says he has sprinkled a little carpet freshener in the pickup cab. It gives a whole new meaning to the "eau-de-toilette" on fancy perfume bottles!

Happy Birthday to Me!

No, it's not really my birthday. But I'm still celebrating seven months after the fact. Last June, Randy, Jill, Eric & Brent gave me a gift that just keeps on giving: Tickets to a Broadway series at Century II in Wichita.

Last night, we went to "The Wedding Singer." (By the way, I am feeling really "cultured." "Jesus Christ Superstar" wasn't included in the four-part Broadway series, but I got to see that show a week ago. Two Broadway shows in one week ... not too bad for a Kansas farm wife!)

I'm not sure I've seen the entire 1998 movie of the same name. It starred Adam Sandler, and I'm not a huge fan. This wasn't one of those shows where I went knowing half the music already. And it's not necessarily one where I left humming the tunes.

But we did enjoy it. The voices were good. And it's always amazing to me how quickly the crew can change scenes. Having directed little church musicals and having been involved with shows at the Stafford Drama Guild, the logistics of moving such large pieces of scenery in a short period of time or giving that illusion of a new scene is amazing to me. (Not that a cardboard Bethlehem scene compares with a Broadway touring show, but still!)

Another interesting tidbit: The male and female leads were portrayed by a husband and wife J.Michael Zygo and Jillian Zygo. They played Robbie, the wedding singer, and Julia, a waitress at a wedding reception hall. Both are engaged to other people, but Robbie is left at the altar. And Julia discovers that money can't buy happiness, so she dumps her Wall Street guy for the sweet, likeable Robbie.


"Wicked" was the first show in the Broadway series. I LOVED that show. I am still listening to the music from it, and "For Good" has become one of my all-time favorite tunes from a musical. (It's overtaken my previous favorites from "The Sound of Music," which I have loved since I was a little girl and we saw the movie at a theater in Wichita. I've lost count of the times I've seen it since!)

The second show was "Avenue Q." I am not a fan. It was a raunchy takeoff of Sesame Street. I would have preferred watching Sesame Street.

The last in the series is "Rain," which will come to Wichita in March. It's a tribune to The Beatles, so we should know the music.

Century II needs to invest some money in their seats. They are REALLY uncomfortable. Other than that, it was a great evening with my date!

Test Anxiety

I have always had a bit of test anxiety. Just the thought of having to circle the right answer among a sea of multiple choice possibilities is enough to make my stomach twist and my palms sweat. I would like to think my ACT scores would have been higher if only I could have overcome this malady. (Well, I can DREAM, can't I?!)

Even eye exams can be a source of test anxiety. I have horrible eyesight: It's -6 in the right eye and -7.5 in the left - whatever that means. In real life, it means that my glasses are the first thing I put on in the morning and the last thing that hit the bedside table at night.

The regular eye exam is bad enough. "Do you see two sets of dots? Is this one better? Or this one?" "Is this better ... or is this better?" I ponder. I squint. I hope I guess right. And my doctor says, "Good." "Good." "Good." Does he REALLY mean it or is he just humoring me?

So when my eye doctor said I had to take a peripheral vision test at my appointment, I was less than thrilled. Thankfully, it included no math equations (always my worst case of test anxiety). But I was being graded, you know. I have glaucoma, and this test is supposed to reveal whether I'm getting even more blind than I already am. YIKES!

For this test, you are escorted into a room the size of a closet (and I'm not talking the size of a nice walk-in closet in new homes. I'm talking my old-farmhouse-sized closet). Taking up half the space in this closet is another of those contraptions in which you are required to put your chin in a holder and squish your forehead against a bar. (The technicians always make a show of wiping off these surfaces with disinfectant. I'm not a germaphobe, but if I were, that in itself might freak me out a bit.)

I was handed an eye patch and a clicker (I've always thought it would be great to be a Jeopardy! contestant and now I have a buzzer just like them. Oh ... who am I kidding? Jeopardy outside the comfort of my living room would be the ultimate text anxiety platform.)

So ... back to my story. The technician (maybe she would prefer eye care professional) tells me to look at this glowing red light in the center of this huge field of white. Then I'm supposed to click the button every time I see a flash of light. The machine whirs. I click. The machine whirs some more. I click some more. I remind myself to breathe. Really. I have to remind myself to breathe while I'm supposed to be watching for tiny pinpricks of light. The machine continues to make noise ... and I don't see ANY little pinpricks. Is that just to test me? Did I miss any? Am I going to be blind? My shoulders and neck get tighter and tighter. Is this test ever going to end? Just when I think I'm going to pass out from lack of oxygen, she says it's over.

Except for that other eye ... ugh!! I give myself a pep talk. I WILL relax this time. I WILL breathe. And that works out for me ... until the actual test starts again.

The good news: My peripheral vision appears to be holding up fine, the doctor tells me. I just need to keep using the eye drops (which, by the way, give you the same long lashes that Brooke Shields is advertising for Latisse. I guarantee you, however, that I would not be paying this kind of money for longer lashes!)

I have another six months before I have this kind of test anxiety again. Is this better ... or this?

All My Fault

OK. I admit it. All this snow is probably my fault. Instead of getting my Valentine decor out of storage last week, my snowman "stuff" is still decorating my house and my flagpole. I must remedy this situation TODAY. Shifting seasonal decor is on my to-do list.

Yes, I know Valentine's Day is only days away now. My kids find it somewhat amusing that I still decorate for each season now they are no longer little munchkins who enjoy such things. But I guess I do it for me. (It's definitely not for Randy. Sometimes it's a couple of days before he says, "How long has that been there?")

It was another pretty snow (if you can call snow "pretty" at this point?!). Randy is definitely not thinking it's too picturesque as he wears his knee-high rubber boots to check heifers. And he can't even get a vehicle into the lot for momma-cow-watching at Peace Creek.

The wind is supposed to come up this afternoon, so the snow lightly frosting the tree limbs right now will soon blow into the next county.

And now, after a brief time-out, TA-DA! A few frozen fingers and minutes later, I have accomplished at least ONE thing on my to-do list for today. (Don't you just LOVE crossing things off the list!?)

Now I just have to figure out how to thaw out the frozen snowman flag decorating the trash can on the back porch. The to-do list keeps growing ...

Jesus Christ Superstar

I got to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" on stage at Century II this week. Some friends asked me to go at the last minute. And I rationalized skipping church choir practice to do it. I was still worshiping through music, right?

By the way, I didn't take the photo above. I was a good girl and kept my camera in my purse. Plus, I wouldn't have gotten nearly so good a photo from our perch in the first row of the balcony.

Ted Neeley (pictured above) starred as Jesus. This guy is unbelievable. He first played the role back in 1972. (That is 38 years ago, just in case you're math challenged like me!) My friends and I were debating on our way home how old Neeley would be. He also starred in the movie version of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

So I did a little research. The guy is 66 years old. He has an amazing range. I've always told Randy that it's his job to pull me out of the choir loft when my voice gets that waver that seems inevitable for more "mature" sopranos. But this guy just defies the odds.

He was joined by a whole cast of other magnificent singers, most notably John Twiford, who played Judas, and Sarah Hanlon, who played Mary Magdalene.

Even though the movie was released in 1973 during my high school years, I never saw it. I'm not sure why. The musical was controversial when it came to stage and later to the movie screen. Some found the liberties taken with scriptural text sacrilegious. However, others thought it was a great new way to spread the Word to the world's youth. When the stage production opened in 1971, it was criticized not only by some Jews as anti-Semitic, but also by some Catholics and Protestants as blasphemous in its portray of Jesus.

I guess I didn't see the reason for the controversy. It tells the story of the final seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It dramatizes Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (see the photo below of the musical company singing "Hosanna!"), the unrest caused by his preaching and popularity, his betrayal by Judas, the trial before Pontius Pilate, and his ultimate crucifixion.

Some people believe that the resurrection isn't portrayed, but for me, it was implied as Jesus rose from the cross during the finale.

As I said, this was my first time to see the musical, though I knew several of the songs, most notably "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him." The lyrics are by Tim Rice and the music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Wow!


And, in my opinion, it was well worth the $52.50 ticket and a great way to lead into the season of Lent (Ash Wednesday is February 17.)