Hey, Siestas! I LOVED VANCOUVER! I loved the group God gave us so much! It was the best possible way to start a new speaking year AND our 10-year anniversary celebration. If any of you were there, let me begin this post by giving you a huge hug with words (if you’re the kind that likes hugs and, if you’re not, a really enthusiastic wave from about 12 feet away) and my deepest gratitude for having the joy of serving you. I just thought you guys were the cutest things. Very engaged despite my southern accent. (What someone once had the gall to call “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” How rude.) Then again, I guess you probably had to listen really hard. I am glad, however, that we found immediate common ground with “Eh-men?” Much love to the Canadian Siesta who insisted in the last post that I really don’t just throw up on stage (as a speaking style – and sometimes almost really) but I am afraid I really do. I’m still a serious work in progress and sometimes I wonder how you all sift clear thoughts out of some of the messes I make. I really do have notes up there and try to come before you prepared. I don’t know what happens. (Please don’t feel the need to answer back to any of that stuff. It’s just mostly in fun anyway. We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously.) Nevertheless, God is so awesome and faithful and wonderful and even FUN and, as we learned together this weekend, HIS WORD DOES NOT RETURN VOID! That’s the only thing that lasts when the conference is over. The only thing with a promise attached to it. I’ve already been praying for you, especially those who brought things to the altar. Remember to take one day at a time with Jesus. Sometimes one hour at a time when you’re getting over a fierce addiction and please seek out a support group of other believers and find yourself a good Bible-teaching church if you don’t have one. We have to do this thing together. Whatever you do, stay in the Word and keep up your memory work! Because “The Word of God is ______________ and _______________ . Sharper than any _______________ -_____________ _______________, it penetrates even to dividing ________________ and ________________, __________________ and ___________________; it judges the _____________________ and ___________________ of the heart. Nothing in all creation is ______________________________________________.” You’re getting it! Yahoo-Jah!

As for the rest of you, I’m gonna throw something out there I think might have some potential fun attached to it. I just got back from the grocery store. That’s not the fun part of it but, come to think of it, there was a particular delight on the way in the door: cub scouts that were selling coupon books and were so cute I could have eaten them alive. Most of them didn’t have any front teeth. I could also tell that their mothers had fixed their hair and kinda slicked it back. The fun part I’m writing to tell you about is that I remembered to get one of my very favorite not-naughty treats while I was there and was so filled with anticipation that I grinned like those cub scouts all the way home. (Keith does most of the grocery shopping because he’s the much better cook so it’s kind of fun for me when I get to go and pick out a bunch of stuff he refuses to buy me. For instance, he wouldn’t eat a whole wheat carb if you bought him a new pair of cowboy boots to go with them – he’d say the latter would taste better anyway – and gets an expression on his face like he sat on a spur every time he sees one in the cupboard. Myself, I’m rather taken with Nabisco Garden Harvest Toasted Chips if I’ve had my quota of tortilla chips and hot sauce that week and am going to throw myself into a man-hole if I don’t have something crunchy and I don’t mean celery. That was a run-on sentence. I’m sorry. I’ve been in a time-change and I feel a little extra compulsive. Hence, this post on treats. I’m simply trying to tell you that Keith likes naughty treats that put five pounds on you while you carry them into the kitchen. So do I but one has to pace one’s middle-aged self.)

SO, today while I was at the Kroger I got me some of those low-fat ice cream sandwiches called “The Skinny Cow.” Have you guys ever had one of those? Now, that’s some good eatin’ right there, Siestas. I try to remember to get a six-pack (that’s how many come in a package and they’re big, too) every time I go but I usually end up getting all distracted on the hair product aisle and forget what I really wanted until I get home and trip over the dogs while trying to get to the kitchen. About the time I say “Dad-gummit!” I remember a few extra things I should be saying “Dad-gummit” about. I almost always forget half my shopping list…because I never make one. I’m a wreck. Anyway, for all you South Beachers, no, “The Skinny Cow” ice cream sandwich (in both vanilla and chocolate and even packs with both) is not low-carb but it IS low fat and not a ton of calories and, for crying out loud, it has 3 grams of fiber in it. What the heck do you want from me here??? I have you know it’s approved by “Best Life” and it’s mighty tasty to boot! (Much tastier than a boot. I don’t care what Keith says.)

OK. Now it’s your turn. What’s your very favorite high-taste, low-guilt treat? If you have to get it somewhere special, don’t leave your Siestas hanging. Give us the goods.

I’ll be checking to see what my Siestas like! I may be about to make my very first shopping list! Sure love you, you darling things. (P.S. I’ve already read a ton of these and they are just as fun as I thought they’d be! You’re even going to find some great recipes! Yep, I’m gonna be making another trip to the grocery store but not the same one because NOT ONE SINGLE TIME have I ever seen a Skinny Cow in mint. I feel betrayed.)