Kentucky Was ...

.... hot.
Really, really hot.

Now I realize that "hot" is a relative term of indicating warmer than warm temperatures.  And I realize that some people like to say, "Well, 110 isn't too bad here.  At least it's a dry heat."
What.
Ev.
Er.

I think that I can fairly say that I am a professional when it comes to judging whether the temperature is, or is not, hot.

And it was hot.
We were in Louisville and the high was in the 90's.
It's in the 90's in Houston ..... I thought Louisville would be an escape!!
Evidently it's been their warmest spring in quite a while.
I have great timing.

So our trip started off, as many trips do, at the airport.
As the Daughters and I were waiting to board our plane I noticed a woman standing near us who looked quite familiar.
I racked my brain ... which doesn't take as long as it used to since I don't remember much of anything, and then it occurred to me that she looked familiar because she look quite a bit like Beth Moore.  But not exactly.   Just a bit.
Her hair looked lighter in color and a little shorter.
Besides, if she'd been Beth Moore she wouldn't have been traveling alone.
And she would've had a really cute, expensive bag.

The girls and I were the first ones to get on the plane .... one of those tiny ones that you have to walk outside to get on.  You know, when you climb up the stairs and turn around and wave like you're the President of the United States or the Queen of England.
What?  You don't do that?!
Sure.

This woman was right behind us.  I leaned over the aisle (which was very easy to do since the aisle was only about 6" wide) and pointed her out to the girls and said, "She looks a lot like Beth Moore", mostly just to show them what Beth looks like.  They'd never seen her.
One of the girls said, "Maybe she is."  So I looked at her again.  And looked at what she was carrying.  She did have a cute bag.  In fact, it looked kind of "Brighton-ish",  which sounds very much like Beth Moore (at least, the Beth Moore in my mind).
She was carrying a note book, and a Bible, which of course should have been a clear indication, but I also knew that the girls and I were not the only females on the plane going to Louisville.  And the 3 of us were also carrying Bibles.
So I wasn't convinced.  She still didn't look exactly like Beth.
In my "before" days, I would've just sat back in my seat and started reading, still wondering if it was her.  And I would've wondered all weekend, but still doubted that it would.  I would NOT have asked her, because that would be way too embarrassing.  Especially when she'd say no.
But the "after" Janine kicked in and came up with a less embarrassing way of being humiliated.
I peeked over my seat and said, "Beth!".  That way, when she didn't look up I could just duck my head down and hope no one saw me do that.
But she did look up.
And she didn't say no.
She said, "Yes?" to which I blubbered .... "Are you Beth Moore?"
She smiled and said yes and I told her that we were going to the conference.  She asked my name and said it was nice to meet me and asked the girls their names and introduced herself to them.  We talked about some of the Tuesday night studies I'd been to, plus some of the studies I'd done at our church.  I told her that I had been on our church staff until recently.  I told her about our women's retreat in February and that it was the first time I'd ever seen/heard Priscilla Shirer.  She was delighted to talk about Priscilla and Kay Arthur and told the girls that she was so glad they were getting to see Kay, since she's like the .... Moses to the Christian women who came after her, to teach as well as study (and no, she didn't say the word Moses, I'm paraphrasing here).  Kay has been many a woman's mentor and Beth has a very high degree of respect and love for her.
We continued to chat until everyone got on the plane and then I told her it had been nice to meet her and wished her God's blessings for the conference.

So there you go.
And .... just in case you were wondering .... it turned out that she looked EXACTLY like Beth Moore.
:)

We arrived in Louisville right on time and the girls and I were met at the airport by one of my Peeps!  Hi H!!!!!!
No, we'd never met but when she read that I'd be in Kentucky she sent me an e-mail asking if I'd be anywhere near Louisville.  Turns out .... I was smack dab in Louisville.  So we set up a meeting in her busy, family-filled weekend.  I was so blessed to meet her and to spend a couple of hours with her.  We went to a restaurant that is "famous" for its "chili pepper wontons" or something close to that.  So the girls and I decided we had to order them.  After all, when you visit a city you should certainly try to eat something it's known for.  And they were excellent!!
After lunch H dropped us off at the hotel (Thanks again, H!!!) and we rested until it was time to go to the conference.
We joined 8,000 other people there.  They had a great worship team so we had lots of praise music and praising going on.  Then each of the women got up and said a little something.  They introduced themselves and said a little about themselves and past conferences.  When it was Beth's turn to get up and say "a little something", she talked about meeting me .... and the girls .... on the plane that day!  Oh yes she did!
So now we're kinda famous.
And I think Beth and I shall become BFFs.
:)

Kay spoke that night, Priscilla spoke Saturday morning and then Beth spoke Saturday afternoon.  The conference ended up around 4:30 and we headed back to the hotel.  Fortunately one of my good friends reminded me earlier in the week that her lovely daughter lives in Lousiville with her hubby.  So we got in contact and the two of them came over to visit and then took the Daughters out for dinner.  I begged off, saying I was tired, but I really wanted the 4 young ones to go out and have fun without the old lady. And so they did. :)
I had a nice quiet evening in the room, mostly reading .... and eating Chinese delivery food.

We left yesterday morning to return to the heat of Houston, which is mostly always hot.

My shoulder is doing better.  It still hurts and I still can't move it freely yet, but it's getting better every day.
Now, if I could just say the same about my joints.
I think my body has developed an allergy to traveling .... which is too bad because I'm not going to stop.
But my joints hurt .... a lot.  My feet started swelling and are still swollen, though a little less today.
It's hard to walk around, but it's worse to sit for a few minutes and then try to get up.
I'm SO MUCH FUN!!

I have an appointment next week to see the specialist.  I hope we hit it off .... because this will be a very, very long relationship (depending on how long I live, I guess).  I don't want to go doctor shopping so I'm praying that he's really good.

So that's it for now.
I hope to rest a lot this week before heading to Florida on Saturday.

And since Mondays are usually my "Monday Memories of What I'm Thankful For" .... I'll leave you with what I'm thankful for today.

*A great weekend with Daughters 2 & 3
*A fun conference with some amazing women of God
*Safe travels
*the chance to visit a neat city
*the blessing of meeting a wonderful Peep!
.... and even though it sometimes sucks .... I'm thankful for medical insurance and for people whom God has blessed to help others, medically.

Happy Monday, Peeps.
:)