Failed!

Today is a special day in our family because it’s our granddaughter Paisley’s birthday! She is now six years old. Where did the time go?

This morning Walter slept in a little. He did really well yesterday until the evening, when he felt a little feverish again, so I figure he needed the sleep.

I was up at my usual time getting started on my Bible reading before making a fabulous breakfast and a huge mug of tea. I was still enjoying my tea when the appointed time came for my video call with my friend Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and I have been friends for 44 years, and it’s unfortunate that for most of those years we have been on different continents. We are both MKs from Africa, but she has spent her adult life in Bolivia with her Bolivian husband Hugo. So anyway, I’m thrilled at any chance to talk to her, but today I specifically wanted to ask her about the organization they use to fund their mission work, because they like us are independent missionaries and have been for over thirty years.

Of course, we did also catch up on each other’s lives! It was so great to see her face and hear her voice. And she had a lot of helpful information which will help us decide if that same organization is a good fit for us.

Meanwhile, Walter hauled all the parts of the cribs out to the patio to have a look at them. We had two cribs—a “compact” size for when the kids were too big for the sidecar bed but still needed to be in our room, and a standard-sized one for when they were a little older. After surviving our rambunctious offspring and then sitting up in the attic for a couple of decades, they are not in any shape to be passed on to anyone.

So they’ll be hauled off to a dumpster this weekend.

Our big adventure of the afternoon was going to get fingerprinted. The official place to get it done is in an office at the back of the Army Navy store. Strange, but okay. Walter went first. A very nice old lady took his fingerprints:

It took quite a while. Several had to be done more than once. Then it was my turn. That’s when I found out that you can fail being fingerprinted. My fingerprints are substandard. In fact, I don’t really have fingerprints at all. That sweet lady tried over and over and over. There were none of those nicely whorled lines that you’re supposed to have. Just a few random lines here and there and lots of tiny scars, I guess. Ten out of ten fingers failed to provide a satisfactory fingerprint. Apparently this is not all that uncommon in women my age. Her theory is that it’s because we work so hard with our hands. I apologized profusely to the ladies behind me in line, because it took so long for me to fail.

So anyway, we walked out of there assuming that I’d have to go back and try again sometime. By the time we returned home Walter already had the email with his completed police report. I was waiting for my rejection email, but after an hour or so I also received my report. I’m sure you’ll be relieved to know that we both have spotless records. But I was teasing Walter that if I had but known I had no fingerprints, I could have been committing crimes with impunity for who knows how long! I honestly had no idea that you could just lose your fingerprints.

After supper, we got to have a brief video call with our birthday girl, Paisley. The whole family was in a hotel room in Denver, because Tiffany is flying to Texas tomorrow to go to her grandmother’s funeral. Since it was Paisley’s birthday, she got to be the “line leader” in school today. We sang Happy Birthday to her and she happily brandished her new unicorn umbrella, which was one of the gifts we sent.

Other than our nightly video, I have spent the evening making valentines for a few of my loved ones.

I don’t know why, but the only kind of valentines I ever send are homemade ones that look like they were made by an eight-year-old. It just feels more authentic to me.

Joy Spark: Well, getting to talk to my friend Elizabeth and see her lovely face was a BIG one. And getting to see Paisley and sing Happy Birthday to her was another one.

Quote of the Day: When talking to Paisley, after she told us she was six now, I said, “I can’t believe you’re such a big girl already.” And she said, “It’s because my Daddy has such long legs.” She’s not wrong.

Parting Shot:

Got another Thursday Throwback for you! And yes, lots of people thought we were siblings.