New Cell Phone - Finally!

Bob and I decided to get into the 21st Century! We bought a "new" car, a 2007 Mercedes E350 and traded in our 1991 Mercedes. Then, I decided I needed a new cell phone. My old Sprint cell phone was purchased when we moved to Sarasota in 2001. Well, I guess that is in this century, but it was certainly out-dated. And, the screen was very scratched and faded and I could hardly read it to make a phone call. Sometimes it was like playing Russian Roulette to see whom I ended up calling! I told Bob that since I had been with Sprint for so long, I felt like I was being disloyal if I changed to another carrier. He looked online and found this Samsung Sprint phone for me. I love it! I now can do texting, emailing, accessing Google and taking photos, among other applications. Bob and I were walking on the Katy Trail a couple weeks ago and I said I wanted to get a pedometer to keep track of my steps. He said, "There is an app for that!" He downloaded Cardio Trainer on my cell phone that keeps track of my steps. My phone does a lot of things that I doubt I'll ever use, such as make chirping sounds that sound like crickets! And it has a flashlight and a level. But, now you can send me a text! Try it out! I'd love to hear from you!

Lutheran Synod Assembly in Amarillo, TX

Bob and I went to the Lutheran Synod Assembly in Amarillo, TX this past weekend. Pastor Julio Cruz, his wife Maria and our intern Monica went with us as delegates of the Emanuel Lutheran Church. We flew to Amarillo on Friday. After lunch and a bit of shopping, (Maria forgot to bring a jacket and when we landed, it was 48 degrees!), we drove to the Civic Center for the registration and welcoming part of the assembly. There were close to 300 people from churches from Northern Texas and Northern Louisiana at the assembly. We had dinner at the Civic Center on Friday night. The assembly started bright and early -- 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. There was a worship service, mission moments, Bible studies, and voting on church issues and voting for the officers of the synod. We had classes we could attend in the afternoon. Bob and I took a break to go see Cadillac Ranch. There was a western dinner at the Civic Center on Saturday night. We were told ahead of time to bring our cowboy/cowgirl hats and boots. I have a red cowgirl hat that Zach gave me to wear at my Red Hat outings, so I wore that. This morning, we went for the business part -- more voting -- of the assembly. Then, the five of us left to go see Palo Duro Canyon. This was the best part of the trip! You can see my Shutterfly photos at: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKLQw

"Life"

"Life"

A Tribute to Cavan Scott Tubbs by Linda Tubbs Moody

My Son, Cavan Scott Tubbs, was a man who loved life and lived it to the fullest. He was passionate about the ones he loved, his parents, wife, family and friends. Cavan had a passion for any sport that gave him a rush like snowboarding, water skiing, bungee jumping and above all else, motorcycles.

At the age of fourteen, I watched Cavan buy his first motorcycle for fifteen dollars. The motorcycle didn't run, but Cavan took it apart and put it back together again. The motorcycle worked so well that he sold it for $250.00 Cavan was quite an entrepreneur and was able to use his skills to make money.

At the age of twenty-seven, Cavan built a racing motorcycle and joined his friends racing on a motorcycle track. On November 6, 2005, Cavan joined his friend Dale and drove to Jennings, Forida for a practice run, using Cavan's custom-made racing motorcycle.

According to Dale, both he and Cavan were attempting to pass a group of racers. Dale made it around the group but Cavan was nowhere to be seen. Dale went back to search for Cavan and could not find him. Dale contacted the officials who found Cavan "deep in the woods" that surrounded the track, lying on the ground with his motorcycle close by.

Life Flight was contacted and flew Cavan to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Family and friends joined me to support him. After a long night at the hospital, the doctor met to inform us that Cavan no longer had brain activity and was considered dead.

Lifequest, an organ -donor group was contacted as Cavan was an organ donor. Cavan's liver, kidneys and pancreas were able to be used to give life to three other people in need.

After a year, I sent correspondence to three recipients. Two who responded were Michael and DeWayne who received Cavan's organs. On January 10, 2010, I was able to meet them in Gainesville, Florida. It was a consensus of opinion of all, that Cavan was present in our meeting.

Cavan lived life to the fullest and upon his death gave the hope of life to three needy people who were able to receive his organs. May Cavan live on through these men and in some way continue his legacy.

I want to thank my sister for painting the picture of Cavan, DeWayne, Michael and me to submit to the National Learning Congress Gallery of Hope 2010. I also want to thank my dad, Rollin Smith, my sister-in-law, Chris Smith and Jeanette Laury for helping me write the 400-word description that will be submitted with the painting. And, I want to thank my friend Mary Kulpon for suggesting that we name the painting, "Life", which I thought was so appropriate.

Weekend with My Friend Jeanette

My friend Jeanette Laury who lives in Atlanta flew to Dallas on Friday to spend the weekend with us. I met Jeanette around 1983 in Broken Arrow, OK when we both lived there and our boys played soccer together. We have stayed close friends every since. On Friday, Bob went with me to pick up Jeanette from the airport. I think Bob was afraid that I'd get lost. I love having a considerate husband who chauffeurs me around! After we dropped off her luggage at our apartment, I took her across the street to West Village where we had lunch at Taco Diner and shopped 'til we dropped. We both LOVE to shop! And Dallas is the place to do that! The three of us went to Frisco for dinner at Lochrann's. My friend Allegra Calkins was celebrating her 40th birthday there. We listened to three of the Mysterious Ways band's music, then left for home. We decided that we are too old for that LOUD music!

On Saturday, we were lazy most of the morning. Jeanette says she likes coming to our house so she can get lots of rest and relaxation. Bob and I are big on R&R! After running a few errands that afternoon, Jeanette made us dinner. She told us that the recipe came with her electric bill. It was a crockpot dinner made with corn, chicken, taco seasoning, salsa and black beans. It was yummy! I was having a problem with a sore back, so Jeanette massaged it for me. She is a nurse at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. Well, I found out that the soreness wasn't really my back, but the piriformis muscle in my butt! It is much better now.

After church on Sunday, we took Jeanette to Plano to meet a girlfriend of hers from high school whom she had not seen in over 40 years. What FUN! We had lunch together. I love looking up "old" friends. Jeanette told us that she found her friend Peggy on Facebook. On the way back home, we stopped at the new outlet mall with the Nordstrom Rack store. More shopping! Jeanette made another wonderful dinner for us -- stir fry with tofu and Szechuan sauce.

Of course, she didn't leave before shopping at my own apartment with my jewelry. She picked out several pieces for herself and some to take back for her daughter-in-laws. I had to take Jeanette back to the airport at 2:30 p.m. I did get lost on the way, but thank goodness for the GPS, I got to the airport AND back home again! I miss her already, but we'll be together again soon.

Allegra Calkins 40th Birthday Party

My friend Jeanette Laury flew in from Atlanta on Friday to visit Bob and me for the weekend. On Friday night, we took her to Lochrann's for Allegra Calkin's 40th birthday party. I worked with Allegra at Project SEED for five years when we lived in Dallas from 1996 - 2001. The photo on the left are the SEED girls present at the party -- Kathryn Anderle, me, Party Girl Allegra Calkins, and Dennett Delzer. We had dinner, then Mysterious Ways, a U-2 Tribute Band played. Bob, Jeanette and I decided that we are too old for this LOUD music, so we had to leave after the first thee songs. Anyway, it was a FUN party!

Katy Trail

Last night was so warm and beautiful and I thought that Bob and I should get outside to do some walking. When I go during the daytime, I walk in areas that I know and mostly around West Village or to Albertson's or the Walmart Neighborhood Market. With Bob last night, I decided we needed to try a new route. We had driven down Blackburn Street (the street where we live) to the Oaklawn/Turtle Creek area before, but we had never walked it. I wanted to see how far we were from the Turtle Creek park and to take our walk there. About three blocks from our apartment, we saw a staircase that led to the Katy Trail. I didn't know we were so close to it! Bob and I walked the north end of the Katy Trail last June. We went up the staircase and decided to walk on the Katy Trail last night. It was so beautiful. Friends of the Katy Trail here in Dallas have remodeled it and lots of people are using the trail for walking, rollerblading, and biking. I learned recently that "KATY" stands for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad, or M-K-T or commonly referred to as "the K-T", which was its stock exchange symbol; this common designation soon evolved into "the Katy". I plan to walk on the Katy Trail more often now that I know it is only three blocks from our apartment. The photo is on the Katy Trail, called "Snyder's Union".

Gallery of Hope 2010

My sister Cindy is a terrific artist! She has wonderful talent of capturing portraits. She first made some portraits of her granddaughters and now she is making portraits for friends and family. I asked her to do a watercolor painting for me. In November of this year, there will be a National Learning Congress for families of organ donors and recipients in Grapevine, TX. I plan to go. And I hope that DeWayne & Michael, who are the recipients of Cavan's organs, will come to Dallas to go with me. There is to be a Gallery of Hope 2010 at the Learning Congress with original artwork done by family members of the donors and recipients. Since Cindy is a family member, she qualified to enter the contest. If I painted the same picture as this one, all of us would have looked exactly the same. I sent Cindy the photo that was taken of DeWayne, Michael and me in January when I met them for the first time in Florida. I told her that I wanted Cavan in the painting too. I think I have THE BEST SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!