Greetings - two days in a row, eh?

Just wanted to clear up something that I've been getting asked about.  Two ways to get your books:

1.  Order online from Booksamillion.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com   PLEASE leave a review if you do this.  Lots of reviews means that when anyone is searching for a children's book about Biblical history, these two will pop up. 

2.  Order from me.  I can personalize and sign them for you - also a special embossed stamp that has Shakespeare and Dickens on it.  Email me at meweldon14.com for the personalization info.  I accept payment through Paypal.  Each book is $10 - or 2 for $15.  What a DEAL! 

I have a limited supply of "In the Beginning" but lots of "In the Gardens" available.

Blessings!  OH - wanta see my new pet?  This is Wally - I got him from Walmart of course.

OH MY GOODNESS - a 1000 apologies!  HAS IT REALLY BEEN OVER THREE YEARS?  UGH!  How on earth does one catch up almost 4 years worth of "happenings" - warp speed maybe?  God has been so good to this world traveling girl - buckle your seatbelts and let's see how we do.
                                                                                                                                       

Perkens

Shakespeare2

Only Janey can give "the look!"

I offer only this - life happens!  In the past 3+ years, I have returned from my beloved overseas life to being a full-time artist-in-residence in my lovely home in Texas.  I have sent my two precious kitties (Shakespeare and Dickens) over the rainbow bridge and welcomed in Lady Jane Austen (Janey), Shakespeare2 (Shakes - ummm - a girl), and Perkens.   They are such a delight and really keep this house on its toes.

Baby Bear in his Viking hat

I have also welcomed not just a new grandson-in-love in 2015, but a new GREAT grandson on St. Patrick's Day, 2017!  See?  Life has happened.  This is Bear - is he not the cutest!





Book #2 in my series is out - and when I can settle down to do it, I'm working on #3 and #4!

We did our first book launch at my church (New Beginnings Church in Bedford, TX) in Kid City.  Baby Girl came to join me and we read to the kiddos and signed books.  Here we are with two loyal fans.  How do you like our aprons?

We had our second book launch in Tulsa at Braum's.  Here's Baby Girl again (she lives there) with 3 cutie pies who are like family to us.  We had door prizes and they won a cat pillow - looks so real!  A friend from my days in Crete was working in OKC and she drove over and got a trunk full of books.  Thanks, Donna Dew!

I have been back to the Dominican Republic many times in the past few years, assembling and delivering curriculum for English classes.  As I write this, I'm preparing another trip to train a new teacher in how to use all of it.  I now have three girls and a boy (we sponsor him in Bear's name) who are able to go to school and get some hot meals every day, thanks to sponsorship.  This year marks the first high school graduation ever for our new high school.  What a blessing to be part of changing the world through this precious kiddos!

I've been on a personal improvement journey since January 2017 and have lost almost 50 pounds.  I feel amazing and ready to plow into life with even more vim, vigor and vitality.  I'm working hard to get caught up with all the little projects (like writing books and blogs!) I've let slide.  I promise more to come - soon.

                                                Looking pretty good for 71, don't you think?

Hey I've made it to AUGUST!  A month of "recovery!"

This month included lots of fun stuff.  I learned how to make gazing balls, "plate flowers," and bird baths for my garden and yard - going potty over these.

  

 We also had our first 2014 gathering of the AAA (Amazing Angleton Amigas) at the "upper ranch" near Burnet, Texas.  What fun!  I adore these girls and the giggles and good food hardly ever stop.  THIS TIME, however, we enjoyed a glorious praise and worship session on the side of a mountain top retreat.  Good times!

 

I also got to visit my beloved Dominican Republic with a team from church - to help open the new HIGH SCHOOL!  What a blessing it is to be a part of this ministry!  God has been SO GOOD to me!

REACHING BACK TO JULY 2014  …. ROAD TRIP

Time is flying – backwards – hee hee!  July was a month of road trips.  WOW is that fun! 

I started the month with World Cup playoffs – I love football!  (Both kinds – the kind where the game is actually played with the feet and the kind America plays!)  I think if the whole team had played as well as the US goalie, we’d have been in the playoffs – good word for ME!

July 4 found me with my family watching fireworks in Denton.  FUN FUN FUN!  Took me a loooooong time to get home from there – tried a new shortcut – ha!

Next day (5^th) I drove to Gainesville and met Tobey (#1 daughter) and her hubby Chad.  This is the start of the “LUCY AND ETHEL” roadtrip!  This year we decided to do photo shoots in silly shirts, crazy glasses and goofy hats.  Will see if you agree!

We didn’t leave until Tuesday because I have ESL lessons on Sunday morning and Monday night.  So we spent Monday doing errands at home – and making stepping stones.  Made quite a few – great memories.

Our first day out, we stopped in West, Texas for a few photo opps.  Can hardly see Tobey in this pic but it is the official West sign.

    

Can you tell we’re wearing our Sunday best?    We takes our road trips seriously!                

First stop was in Georgetown where we met up with a friend from my Abu Dhabi days - Carrie Eubanks and her kids.  She only had Joseph, Nathan and Sarah when they lived in Abu Dhabi but has two gorgeous girls added to this flock from overseas.  I didn't get photos of anybody but Nathan and Joseph and me - sorry!

   Love these guys!

THEN we went to San Marcos for a visit with our "donkey" friends - Trisha and Ralph.  We shared our silly shirt pics with Trisha - only her shirt wasn't so silly!  I posted donkey pictures last month - check em out.  Those babies are adorable!

I'm not sure Trisha acts silly until we come by - just sayin!

Along the way we shared our silliness with the weary travelers on the road with our new moustaches!

Mine's cuter I think!

One of our favoritest places is Buc-ees - and the biggest one EVER is outside San Marcos/New Braunfels.  They've got SO MUCH STUFF in this store - love it!

We stopped over at cousin Linda's in Portland and had dinner with her baby girl Kristin and hubby John.  Had a great time visiting and talking marketing for my books!  And eating - too busy to take photos - hee hee!

THEN, on to Corpus Christi and long time friend Jack.  (Tobey calls her Aunt Janice) Jack and I go waaaaaaay back (we plus Trisha were "We Three" in the University of Corpus Christi days) and SHE was the first to see our sweet Tobey.  Jack got to go up in the nursery, dress Tobey and bring her down to us - she and Tobey have a TIGHT bond!  And this may all be scuttled when she sees this photo - hee hee!

So, here's the story.  One of Jack's

most favoritest things is taking her guests on a dune buggy ride of the beach.  Tobey just wanted to put her feet in the water and do some shell hunting.  WELL, no sooner had we started off than the big black clouds gathered.  Tobey got out to "shower off" from her sand adventure and KABOOM - down came the flood.  No windshields, windows or doors in these puppies and we were all SOAKED - including Jack's older sister Joyce.  OH BOY - fun!  

We came home and dried off and then went out to eat at a yum Mexican restaurant - couldn't resist getting a photo with this ginormous rooster!

And yes, the food was FANTASTIC - even with a big rooster bodyguard hanging out!  We also worked in a trip to Goodwill - I LOVE HANGING OUT THERE - ya find the most amazing treasures!  Can you BELIEVE somebody actually threw this away?!   Tobey said if my eyes were on straight then my nose was crooked - hee hee!

We had one more stop - this one a short one outside Brookshire (near Houston) where my cousin lives in an airplane hangar!  This is my sassy cousin Dee Ann and her hubby John beside their plane. Tobey wanted to sit in it - so we've got a shot or two of her in the cockpit - but trust me, we never got out of the hangar!

We got home tired and weary but had SO much fun.  Got Tobey to the airport early Sunday morning - she had to run to make that flight.  WHEW - and it was only the 13th of the month.

July also brought a mini-reunion.  AAA friend Kay Bacon and her sister Jean Rae drove up from Waco and we teamed up with another former Angleton High School teacher who JUST HAPPENS to be my neighbor!  Carolyn Teague!  We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and went for a short shop at Sprouts.

And then ... my Mexican daughter Rocio came to Dallas with her family for a visit.  I picked up Roci and her daughter Rebekah and took them to visit my son and his family.  Roci lived with us when Tori was a baby and now she's an English teacher herself!  FUN!

WHAT A GREAT MONTH!

REACHING BACK TO JUNE 2014 .....     REFRESH

Yup - it's been that kind of month.  Still working on purging excess items in my closet, drawers, garage, kitchen.  UGH!

Had the first ever Merry Hearts Lifegroup after church the first Sunday in June.  My son and his family came along with a former country/western singer and his wife.  What fun we had listening to Gaither DVDs and then trying out the songs ourselves!

I'm still working on data entry on Mondays at my church - and still teaching ESL on Sunday mornings and Monday evenings.  It's really fun to be back in the saddle of teaching again.  I left most of all my resources in Hong Kong so I'm searching frantically online and through my books - plus ordering textbooks.  Thank goodness for friends at ULI in Tulsa who are clueing me in to good texts for beginners.  We have a new student - a Spanish lady who's been in the US over 20 years.  Makes the class lots more fun to have more students.  I hope someday we can have a real school - but I'm getting ahead of myself!

This month is a great one for reunions of sort.  I started out to my family reunion in South Texas and made some fun stops on the way down - and back.  First I stopped in Temple to visit my friend Kay Bacon.  We had breakfast before I left in a fun shop where she found this sign:

                                      

After breakfast, I drove to Marble Falls where I met up with Janie - another AAA friend.  We had lunch at the Bluebonnet Cafe and then I was off to San Marcos. This is a photo of Janie and me but NOT at the Bluebonnet Cafe.

Then it was on to San Marcos to spend the night with my long time friend Trisha and her sweet husband Ralph.  They raise miniature donkeys and Ralph makes stuff.  Like bird feeders and yard flowers - oh yes, I'm all over that for when I get home!

Next I drove to my hometown of Angleton where I met up with the 3rd AAA friend, Kathy Duncan.  She's the beauty in purple glasses in this photo - we were talking and visiting too hard and fast to take photos that day.

Out in the country outside Angleton lives my cousin Anne.  We were joined by cousin Robert from Little Rock, Ark. and the Zilch began.  Each person in this goofy game gets 6 dice - look at the ones they gave ME!  (I still won - most!)  You can tell from the photo below that we are ALL smart! Right? 

This is a photo of me with my precious Aunt Cooter.  She's in her 80's and is one of my favoritest people!  The other photo is loads of cousins - some don't look very happy but we DID have fun!  My son and his family drove all the way from Denton, TX to join us - and then headed back late that night!

I drove up to Huntsville to stay overnight with Janice - #4 of the AAA girls.  I got to see all of them but sweet Shirley - this is Janice but not at her house.  We didn't take any pictures that visit - too busy yakking!

I got home Sunday night late and just have to say - WHEW!  Best part of the trip (almost) was finding out about PALEO - thanks Kay Bacon!

That week my BFF Linda came from OKC and we shopped and played and had a blast.  Linda headed off home early on Saturday the 21st of June and I started packing.  BIG THINGS going on this month.

On Sunday the 22nd, I taught my class, went to church and then to the airport.  I've been blessed to be a part of the ICRS (International Christian Retailers Show) by my publishers - Evergreen Press.  I didn't get to Atlanta until 5ish that afternoon and by the time I took the train and walked all over town, I got to my hotel at 8:45!  I dumped stuff and ran over (not really ran - more like limped) to the convention center where my great friend Donna was waiting with .... MY BOOKS!  

I got there too late for registration but Donna had arrived earlier so she picked up the books.  I am IN AWE of how beautiful this is! WOW!  We heard Phil Robertson - and Alan - of Duck Dynasty and I finally got to bed long after midnight!

The next morning, I was racing over to the convention center to get registered when I ran into ... yeah he fooled me too!  Name's John Morgan and he's a "W" impersonator!  Nice guy!   

                                                          

I also "ran into" Mart Green - of Hobby Lobby and Mardel's.  I got to tell him a big thank you for bailing out "our" university (Oral Roberts University in Tulsa).  Sure would love to have my book in your store, Mart!

My publisher's booth was right across from the Charisma BUS - talk about good location!  It was gloriously fun - I signed/gave away 100 books in 2 hours!  That's Brian Banashak, owner of Evergreen over my shoulder.  I'm BLESSED!

Left: Don Piper, author of "Ninety Minutes in Heaven"  Right:  the developers of the new movie "Let the Lion Roar."  I also got to meet Rick Renner, author of "Sparkling Gems from the Greek" - one of my heroes.  WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!  Thank you, Lord for this - and thank you Evergreen Press for having faith in me!