Here Is THE PLAN

I have been a slug this weekend.  Not sure if it's the weather or not, but I have been worthless!  I got a shot in the arm though this afternoon when I received a FB message from Ranim in Nablus!  We have a schedule of activities.....OMG....I have forgotten about the cultural part and how they LOVE to get together in Palestine and celebrate just about anything!!!  Here's what our time with them will look like:

TUES., NOV 19 - Our plane arrives in Tel Aviv.  I don't know how we'll be picked up because none of them except Sami's wife are allowed in Tel Aviv.  In any event, we will arrive about 4pm..."everybody" and their families will be waiting for us in Nablus for a big welcome and birthday celebration for the Nairouz' youngest son.  Note to self:  birthday gift!   
We have been instructed at the airport not to mention Nablus and to say we are staying at the Anglican Church guesthouse in Jerusalem.  If we say we are going to Palestine....big no-no:)

WED., NOV 20  - Allie is meeting with the local Islamic Imam and we will visit the Samaritan village.  We'll get to see the local university where some of our workcampers go to school and then we will have lunch with Lillian's family.  Allie is very excited to talk with her father who is an activist.  Then we'll go to the Old City Nablus with the them.  Afterwards we will be having dinner with Fadi and his family in their home. 

THURS, NOV 21-  We will walk around the corner to Jacob's well and then meet Sami, Ibrahim J, and Alaa for lunch.    That evening we will go to Merna's house for dinner with her family.

FRI, NOV 22 -  EVERYBODY is going to Bethlehem and Jericho.  We plan to visit with the Nassar family in Bethlehem at TENT OF NATIONS, and visit with them. 

SAT, NOV 23 - We will spend time in Nablus with Sama & Sabastia , Nidal and Ahmeed.....that evening we share dinner with Majd and her family in their home. 

SUN., NOV 24 - We attend Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Rafedia with all of them and Father Ibrahim.  Afterward we meet in the church fellowship hall and then have lunch with the Nairouz family. 

Sometime after that they will get us back over the wall and Allie and I will make our way to Jerusalem.  We will stay at St George's Episcopal Guesthouse right there in Old Jerusalem.  We will stay there until we catch our plane in Tel Aviv to fly back home the day before Thanksgiving.  It should be really interesting though because at sundown that day, is the first day of Hannakah!  It will be fun to be in Jerusalem seeing all the preparations

The picture at the top of the page is of the soap factory in Old Nablus.  They have produced the olive oil soap there for hundreds of years. 

Back On Track

Hopefully I'll be back on track now.  Catching up on all the news will be the most difficult part, but once I start writing more often I should be back in the groove.  Actually what makes me start writing again is that ALLIE & I ARE GOING TO NABLUS, WEST BANK soon!  We leave on November 18....fly into Tel Aviv.....visit Jerusalem a couple days , but spend most of the time with our Palestinian friends!  Allie is doing this in conjunction with her thesis so it is a little bit of both work and play.  If it all works out, I hope to give daily updates on this blog.  Thus...I am back blogging again!

The top photo is of John at Keith & Ruby Spain's house for their annual barbeque get together.  It was so rainy, but lots of good food and fun with friends. 

The second picture is of Ellen and Al at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Richmond this past month.  Ellen & Bing came down for the walk also.  The shirts were a special project....Keith Spain helped us tie dye the shirts...they even have a pink ribbon in the design on the back.  I printed out transfers on the computer, ironed them on and the rest is history.  BEST SHIRTS THERE!!

Another thing that has happened that made writing in the blog difficult.  Our precious dog WILL had to be put down earlier in the year.  It literally broke my heart.  We had him for 16 years and he was such a dear part of our lives.  We thank God everyday for LOUIE who was dropped in our laps just  the right time.  I can't write anymore about it.

OTHER TIDBITS:
-  Paige and Grover went to France to visit Christy and family.  Haven't heard back from the yet.
-  John and I made a road trip to ATLANTA to see Al at Columbia a couple days.  Good to get away!
-  Allie was home for mid-terms week....only have one so she took it online....she is wrestling with her thesis.
-  Love getting up the fall leaves with the John Deere :)
-  Jeffrey turns 50 years old this November

I'll continue to write catch up thoughts in the coming posts....gotta scurry!

What A Year So Far!

If I could change anything about what has happened so far this year, it would be to have my dear friend Alicia back.  My last post was her celebration of kicking cancer.  My post now.....I have just come from Blandford Cemetary where she was buried August 22nd.  Most of it is vivid and at the same time just a blurry mess.  All I know is that I miss her terribly.....I just can't write anymore about it.....
I might as well get all the "ugly" out first.  My uncle Kemp passed away suddenly and I wasn't even notified by his wife.  Needless to say, there is a permanant wall up now....
I had to take our precious 16 year old dog, Will, to be put to sleep in June.  Enough said.....
So now....I'll focus on the good....
Our WORKCAMP 2013 was so incredible that I will devote my next posting to just that.  Having the new group from Palestine with us was greater than could be imagined!
Allie & I will be taking a road trip to Atlanta on Labor Day weekend.  I will stay for a day and meeting some of her friends and professors and then fly home .  This is her last semester at Columbia Theological in Decatur.  Time has really flown by!  She is hoping to get sponsorship from the school to travel to Palestine and Israel in November for her final thesis paper.  If she does, I will tag along.  I'm working at getting a few pounds off so that I can get up and down the hills though! 
I have fought on and off with our pool water all summer....next year I will NOT neglect to buy a Nature II cartridge.  Thought I would save some money, but with all the distractions, the pool has stayed cloudy most of the summer!  YUCK!
John is thinking of flying up to Moravia if we go overseas.  We are also planning a road trip together down to Atlanta so that he can see Allie's school....he's never been :) 
The cursor is acting funny so I will end this post.....I will write again REALLY SOON!!!



Time Is Flying....

Time is flying!  Before I can catch my breath from one event the other is staring me in the face.  It's ALL good...I just don't regroup as quickly as I used to:)
This first picture is from the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure yesterday in Richmond.  Allie, Ben, Ellen & I walked in celebration with Alicia.  She stomped cancer!  It was a terrific way to start the Mother's Day weekend.  Allie had driven home 3 days ago and is home for the summer!  It is so good to see her and spend more than just a few moments together.  She will start her thesis this summer and prepare to graduate in December.  It is hard to believe...it seems that she just graduated from VCU! 

The TCW 25th Annivesary Celebration was such a wonderful day.  We had about 150 people there with balloons, facepainting, and Lynda Smith w/ LiveWire.  The highlight for me was that Glenn and Sheila Plott were able to spend time with us!  It was an absolutely precious time.

My dad's brother, Kemp Eagle passed away....Paige read it in the Newport News paper and called me.  I don't even have the words to express how I feel about all of it.  It's way too personal to write about in a blog.



John and I went over to the Spain's to see the newest additions to their goat family.  SO sweet. 

Mother's Day Allie and I spend a quiet morning in bed while John visited Tabernacle's Sunday School class.  Then we wandered down to the neighbor's house to love on their old horses a little bit....so calming...

Driving From Atlanta Tonight

Allie is driving all night from Atlanta and I am on our living room couch driving with her.  She left Decatur about 9:30pm after class and should get here about 5:45am. I'm just curled up on the couch with Louie and Will is on the floor beside us.
The picture is from an overnight with all the Morton family at my aunt Janet's in Horsepasture VA.  This is Ben's first pic on my blog :)
I'll probably be good for nothing tomorrow because of staying up all night tonight, but that's just the way it is.  I have a load of clothes in the dryer and will flop into bed the same time she does.
John and I stacked wood together today. We try to do something productive on the maintenance of the house each day.   Worked on workcamp, but the big happening was that I HAD LUNCH WITH LINDA WILLIAMS at Wabi Sabi!  We yakked and ate for about 2 hours!  It was so good to see her and sort of catch up.  I'm so excited that she will be driving down and picking up Glenn & Sheila for the TCW reunion on the 20th!
I'm dealing with the fact that our 16 year old doggie, Will , is getting very close to the time when we need to lovingly let him go.  He is almost totally blind,in diapers and gets a little confused at time.  I know when I write it out it sounds horrible, but he's really quite happy and not in any kind of pain and eating well.  The vet says we'll know when......
Well, it's almost 4am....Al should be here in a little less than 2 hrs.....and the dryer buzzer just went off....

Whew....Long Time....No Write!

There is no way that I can even begin to catch up on EVERYTHING that has happened in the Romaine household since December!  It's now April 1st and a lifetime of happenings have gone by in the past 3 months.
I am neck deep in planning the WORKCAMP 25th Anniversary celebration...WORKCAMP 2013....and to top it all off, I am working at getting the Palestinian youth from Nablus with us again this summer. 
Al came home for what was to be a brief stay during mid-terms.  She thought she could write her papers from here as well as from GA.  But.....she ended up in the ER twice....kidney stone, kidney infection....and to top it all off she got the stomach virus!  She drove back to Atlanta last night and will turn around and come back in four days for spring break!
John spoke at Prince George Christian Church during Lent, but one of the services was SNOWED OUT!!! Can you believe!
We are now watching the LOST series together....we watch one a day!  It takes us away for a little bit. 
So.........I think I'm back on track with the blog thing!  We'll see...

Many Ups & Many Downs

So much is happening here at home, around our country and around the world.  Our nation now is grieving for the children and adults killed in the elementary school in Connecticutt.  Trying to make sense of it does nothing but make me sick on my stomach.  I want to look for the good.....I want to look for the good....
Allie drove straight through after her exam the other night.  Nine hours later she was in Virginia!  So glad to have her home.  Between she and John though, I don't think I am going to get much done the next month.  I still have presents to get, Workcamp house orders to write, ....lots to do, but it is good stuff.
We plan to go to Busch Gardens ChristmasTown tomorrow night.  JR might even join us!  We're trying to pick a time to get together with Paige & Grover.  Allie sees Dr. Ciurash on Monday morning.  John & I have been hauling & spliting wood while using the 4 wheeler & wagon.  So much fun!  The wagon got a flat though and won't be repaired until Monday.
John bought a new Camry....yep, just turned in the Honda and drove home a Camry.  It is so nice and I feel so much better with him in it.  We also have someone coming to put new windows in the house.  Ours are literally falling out.  Thankful that we have $$$ in savings to do it.
We're eating navel oranges like there's no tomorow.  Ordered a box of them from Ellen for a PGHS band fundraiser.  Went to the Colonial Heights Christmas Parade last Tuesday.  Missed the Prince George one :(
My banjo picking has slowed down, but I'll start practicing diligently soon.  One thing at a time! 
I met my niece Jennifer up in Lynchburg the other weekend and we went out in search of a graveyard of EAGLES. We have quite a time and met some really good people in the process.  Next time I think I'll take my metal detector. 
John has had church services, a funeral and has reconnected with some old friends. 

                                              Elvis in the Colonial Height Christmas Parade :)