The Countdown

One more run to the grocery store should do it.

Tomorrow our home will be full and noisy - all good. My parents, aunt and uncle and 2 sisters (plus another surprise visitor) are coming for a long weekend. The den will be converted to a bedroom, as will the sun room, and our bedroom will host another air mattress user, as well. Yea! I love parties! It will be good, even if it rains. I was listening to the birds chirping and singing and figured if they're outside in the rain and don't mind, I shouldn't be complaining when I'm inside and dry.

I'm in a study about the complementarian role of women, full of questions about how that plays out in real life, in marriage, in the church, in God's economy. Mostly, I just want to be using the gifts God's given me, in the place He has for me, for His glory. I'm not too good at the philosophy stuff that drives it. I'll let you know if I learn anything.

Versatile

Yep, my trusty Pampered Chef mini serving utensil can serve as a putty knife, spackle blade, just about anything, in a pinch. This business of not having a workshop anymore has put a crimp on our organization - many of Bruce's tools are still boxed up in the garage, but we're working our way around the issues. Today I moved Christmas things from a closet to the garage attic and reassigned the extra chairs that had been stored behind our bedroom door to the freed up closet space. We're still learning to live in this differently-appointed space.

I was reading a really great book last week - truly inspirational - until I got to the chapter I refer to as the "dog poop in the brownies"...one of those super-nice people who do wonderful things in the world in the name of Jesus, but thinks Jesus is just another option. The philosophy was fairly camouflaged but the guy showed his cards about halfway through the book. I must say I was sad. I know he grew up in the deep South and was disillusioned by the church - he is a person of tremendous influence, but I'm truly sorry about his theology. I'm sorry he lost confidence in the Way and the Truth and the Life because of lame people, and even sorrier that he's telling people that the Son of God is an "also ran." 

I can only say, "Don't eat the brownies."

Heat Wave

Unseasonably warm this week - the neighbors have their AC on, but we don't. I just shut the furnace off 3 days ago, and there seems to be something really wrong with running both the heat and AC on the same day.  I took the opportunity, though, to sand some outdoor furniture we inherited with the house. It's made of an Australian timber called jarrah, and should look pretty good once I get it sanded down and finished.(I thought it was teak, but I was wrong.)  Anyway, wore my Maui shirt out in the sunshine. I've never been to Hawaii, but I'm a good enough friend that I got the shirt.

Tried out the grill today and I'm restraining myself so I don't run out and start buying plants. Last frost date is April 15 here, and we aren't there for almost a month. Besides, we don't have a landscape plan in place yet. But I did dump some bags of dirt to fill in a low spot in the yard, so it medicated my need to garden.

We visited different churches last weekend and today. I think we're getting a bead on where we may land. I'll keep you posted. It's been an interesting, discussion-filled process, and Bruce and I have not been on the same page too often.

My journal is filled with thoughts, things I'm learning, and things I'm wondering about. I heard in a commercial today that the average person has 3000 thoughts every day. I'm pretty sure I have that many by 10 a.m.  I'm also checking out "Frownies" to see if I can remove the permanent look of scrutiny I have developed. The wrinkles don't go away anymore - PermaCrease has set in. Over 50!

OK, I'm back

Vacation was wonderful.

Got to see another part of this new state of ours - the side with the mountains and plethora of tourist traps devoid of meaningful entertainment (OK, my sister wanted to know what I did to deserve to be sent to "a tourist hell hole"). The wonderful part was hanging out in a mountainside cabin with 3 other couples, eating wonderful food, laughing until we almost had to get out the Depends. These are Bruce's people from the Shelby County 4-H County Council days some 35 years ago. He still has his jacket, as seen at right.  I was not kidding when I said the man never throws anything away. Anyway, it was worth some laughs when he showed up at the airport wearing it. And I am grateful to be grafted into this crazy, funny, thoughtful group.


Our van did well on the steep and curvy mountain roads, even loaded with 8 adults. One group vehicle had a water pump issue, so for a day or so we had the whole group traveling in ours while the other was being repaired. "Community" at its finest. And Bruce and I were feeling pretty smug since we took a lot of trash talk from our offspring last fall for purchasing another minivan. We told them we wanted a people hauler - and I guess we got one!