Skipped Friday

I skipped a really big event. Bummer. Yesterday, I worked at the desk, went to see Lanny and Ida, home for supper and then made a trip to Sarah Ellen's house to pick up 20 lesos for our church dinner next month. Daddy drove and the drive through what is mostly woods with the sun filtering through the leaves was much enjoyed. Well, I skipped a big one. That was lunch at Doris Douglas' house with a big bunch of church ladies. That was a very bad skip. I just blew it off and forgot the whole thing. Missed good food, good ladies and a change in my routine. What a loss. I'm hemming some of the lesos. A leso is a brightly colored piece of fabric that Kenyan mothers use to carry their babies, carry groceries, carry anything. it's about 4 ft. by 6 ft. We are using them for part of the table covering for the Mamlin dinner. Stores sell the cheap ones with no hems so I'm hemming them. It will make them last a long time. I still seem to own a jaw that is very sore. The important thing is that it doesn't get worse. I think it must feel like having the mumps. I love my hot water bottle in the bed. Today, my goal is to work in the courtyard at church. The weather should be great and I want to make that little gem of a garden better. It needs a fall cleanup. Some things need transplanting that didn't happen this summer.

Today I'm BIG time tired.

I think all the stuff that preceeded today is catching up with me. No pain but just soreness in my teeth, neck and jaw. Soup Kitchen was a bit difficult today. 5 people called in with an excuse of some sort. So...5 of us carried on. Just not quite enough people. But the success of the day was adding another hr. of work in the kitchen from 7:30 to 8:30 for me. I had my fingers in just about every part of the preparation. And...we were ready at 11:00. One of the workers arrived at 11:00 so I just sort of melted away doing other things from 11:00 to 12:00. I took my usual Thurs. afternoon snooze. And we will be going to farmers market and then choir practice tonight.
I called Dr. McSoley's office and set up an appointment for October 22 and I'm hoping the surgery can be done the first of November. I'm keeping October open for Sarah Ellen and ME. That's my treat to me. SEM. They should be landing in Indy tonight but I don't think I'll see them before the 13th of Oct. Their off to the ocean with all their kids/relatives coming for a week or so. It's catch up time for them. I love hearing all the grandchildren stories. Melissa/Kimmy/Penny/Kat. It sounds like a whole bunch of playtime. I need some of that. LR

Wed...

Movin' right along in the week. This morning was a morning on the desk at church. When I got there at 8:30 I worked on things that I usually do in the afternoon after I get off at 1:00...That means getting ready for soup kitchen tomorrow. Restocking the shelves, getting gal. cans of vegetables in the kitchen to open tomorrow. It just makes Thursdays easier. The desk was relatively slow. Checked my e-mail. Surfed the net among other things. This afternoon I finished what I didn't get done this morning. I'm looking for Passion Fruit juice so I checked at Trader Joes and a specialty store in Nora. Made supper and went to church with Doug. The men are singing Sunday. I spent the time working in the court yard. The zinnias are looking terrible so I pulled them out. Add enough weeds to the bag to fill it. Enough work for the day so I quit. The jaw is doing better but I have horribly sensitive teeth on the left side. I did do one pain pill this evening. And now...It's doing better. Tomorrow I call the doc to tell him how I'm doing and I guess I'll tell him to take the gland out. That's so hard to do when it's not hurting but so easy to do when it is hurting.

Easy Day

This morning was a take it easy morning. Just didn't rush around. Had lunch with the Muldoon ladies. They are three other teachers that taught first grade together 1 year at good old Forest Dale. We've met for at least 12 years now. Then I went to Meijers and bought lettuse for soup kitchen Thursday. I took it to church and changed the case in the west entrance, filling it with musical instruments from Kenya. I hung another leso. Great Kenya teaching tools are everywhere if people want to learn. This evening is just a quiet evening. Yahoo. I had one good strong jaw pain job at lunch. I got up from the table and found a quiet corner until the pain left. A sip of coffee brought it on. I'm staying away from cold drinks and thought coffee would be good. Well, not today. Now...one pain a day with just little twinges here and there is a great improvement.

Monday and Football and more!

Yup...it's monday night football. I'm just a crazy lady. I said it first.

This morning I took my face to see the doctor. I had questions...Why is this happening? Answer...the gland is damaged. What can I do for it? Answer..Take pain pills and antibiotics. What can I do so that it won't come back. Take the gland out. I'm calling Thursday with a how I am answer and really thinking very seriously about the gland out part. I don't have time on my schedule for pain pills and antibiotics. And besides those two things will do me in after a while. Nothing is for sure except taking the gland out. There will be no side affects. The other glands kick in if one is missing. I'm upping the dose on pain pills and really thinking about what I'm eating. Meaning...less of everything on the plate because I don't need another round of pain. Nothing cold...nothing sweet...nothing that makes me chew very much...what a diet! I had a small order of french fries and hot chocolate. I drank the hot chocolate with a straw so that it stayed away from the problem area. I think I managed quite well. Slept all afternoon but watched a little of the Columbia University lecture with the pres. from Iran. Didn't learn much between the naps. So...back to the chair with a hot water bottle. That's a very good thing. Add football and that's a very, very good thing.

Football Sunday

That's one reason I like Sundays. Football. I'm keeping track of wins and losses for all the teams. That's fun. I know...little dumb things keep me happy. As usual...off to church at 7:10. Doug and I and another couple set up the Hospitality Room. It looks so yummy with Panera pastries and a touch of Kenya decorations. We also have a cart of books people can choose from if they want to read. And it seemed really noisy today which is a very, very good sign. People are using a new way to connect with each other. Very hard to do when folks come from every corner of the city and the counties beyond. I gave choir a shot but I flunked big time. The old jaw decided to scream with pain so I bailed out. I sat among the non choir people and sipped and spit salt water. Sounds yucky but I don't think anyone noticed. And...I could be there. This afternoon lots of sleep. I'm not surprised. Well, I saw a lot of football but I also missed a lot. Colts won...Three in a row. Now we'll see how the Bears rip up those Cowboys. Usually wild animals win. That's my prediction. That's about it for Sunday. Back to watching the big fight on TV! Good luck tomorrow, Melissa.

Bigger trouble in River City.

Well, I haven't had a weekend like this in a long time. Maybe never. The blocked gland continued to be blocked and the pain, exactly like a kidney stone but in my jaw came in waves. And I think I've had some tidal waves. Reminded me of the waves of pain during child birth but the pain is all in the jaw and neck. And...it doesn't end. So...called the doc on Fri. afternoon. Doc wasn't there and nurse told me to take tylanol and come in on Monday. I knew I was in big trouble. This is not a tylanol pain. Friday night I had about two hours of sleep between 2 and 4. Not good at all. And this morning was an earthquake, tidal wave and tornado all at the same time. I told Doug we are on the way to the emergency room. So Codeine #3 is now on my drug list and it's working to some degree. Any degree...I'll take it. I'm sucking lemon drops to unplug the duct but I think the darn thing is still plugged. But...the good part is that I'm not moaning and growning and crying. It's really hard to stay on top of the pain. But...THANK YOU Mr. Codeine#3. I'm even catching up on sleep even if it is a drug sleep. Lots of people do that all the time. I tried to eat supper but the pain is still there but somewhat covered up! Yahoo for the covered up part. I'm loving my drugs. Avelox is the drug of choice for an antibody. I'm using all these names for you know who. I wish he lived closer so I could be better educated on all this stuff. And I just wish he lived closer...period. What a weekend. Uck. We're going to Panara Bread tonight for pastries during the hospitality hr. . That's an 8:45 pm trip. Sort of fun to see who is out and about at that hr. Tomorrow, church should be fun with all the visual arts we now have hanging at church. I want people to feel covered up with Kenya. And...I'll get church pictures to the other you know who in Georgia. Kevin' Armstrong is back from vacation. I ALWAYS look forward to his sermons. He can make me think a whole lot and the services are crafted so carefully with scripture, music, prayer and sermon coming together. What a worship team! The bar (not the drinking kind) remains high at North. Yahoo. Oh, dear. I feel a sleep coming on. Not a bad 6 pm idea. Just took a drug.

Trouble in River City

A not very nice thing has returned. What a bummer. Last winter I developed a blocked salivery gland. Tiny stones get stuck in the gland and the saliva cannot escape. It's quite painful. I guess I'm just a stone thrower...kidney stones but so far not gallstones. Well the blocked gland has returned. I have a horrible painful jaw from time to time and then it just goes away. Crazy. Not much sleep last night and then I remembered the old home remedia of saltwater rinses. That gave me some relief. Thankgoodness for that. I'll probably call the doc today if this continues. Eating seems to trigger it also so I'm laying low on food for a few days. Nothing wrong about that. I have plenty in storage. I've got to watch that the glands in my neck remain free of infection. Last time they got as hard as little balls. Not good. So...I think I know all the ins and outs of this trouble. Don't worry...JB...I'll go to the doc if I really think I need to. Sounds like something I've heard from the NORTH!

More on retirement

I've been thinking long and hard about how my life has spun on since I left the classroom. Here are some thoughts. Most obvious differences...a retirement salary, less homework, fewer children hours, much more time spent with adults, able to have just a bit more control over what I do. Similarility to the past way of life....still up early...busy, busy days and evenings chuck full of meaningful work. The last thing is probably the most important.
Yesterday was another block buster. I'll let you use your imagination. It's the same old same old as JB would say. Handbells went well even though I still have a hand full of blisters. I think I probably use my fingers more than the center part of the hand. Blisters look very healthy. Yahoo. Soup kitchen today. I always spend time Wed. afternoon with preparation for Thurs. That's a teaching habit that serves me well. It makes it a whole lot easier to get up on Thursday. Cans have been washed and ready to open, bags are counted, bread is sorted and pastries are ready to prepare for the bags, completely empty freezer now has some deserts ready for a rainy day. It's like money in the bank. Choir tonight. I love Wed. and Thursday evenings.

Wednesday's Second Try

What a bummer...I wrote and wrote and now...once again this is the second attempt. Yesterday was a furry of activity. Since the car was not finished, Doug drove me to church for a morning of visual arts work with Patty. Goodness...life looks a whole lot different at the top of a 12 ft. ladder. We hung Kenyan fabrics everywhere and it really looks festive for the next six weeks. At noon Patty and I headed out to a wholesale house where we purchased greens to use at Advent and a huge amount of bearded wheat that we will use in November. Then it was home via Patty and since the car was finished I walked to the Honda shop, about a three mile walk in the hot sun. Wasn't as bad as I had thought. Then on to see Ida and Lanny. Ida wanted to shop at the dollar store so into the car we went and shopping we did. That means...look a lot and don't buy much. I finally got home at 5 just beat. Went to S and S to eat and I said I prefer to eat lying down! After we ate it was on to Ellen Sayles, Ida and Lanny's daughter and five of us had a evening of talking about the progress made and how we might support Ellen and her parents. Woo...My head hit the pillow at 10:00 and I don't remember a thing until the alarm went off at 5:30 this morning. My hand continues to look like it's healing. I'm working at the desk at church today. This afternoon is watering time and tonight will be handbells. Oh...the retirement years! What a joke. LR

The good and the bad!

This morning I took the car in for a check-up. That was good. The bad is that I made the appointment for last Monday. Yikes. That explains the fact that my appointment did not appear on the appointment sheet. The good is that they said they would take it anyways. I checked the calendar after I got home. MY mistake. I'm so glad I didn't make a fuss. I've been on the web about burns. Dr. Russ has determined that I have a deep second degree burn. There's nothing good about that. It takes up to three weeks to heal. That's real bad. The good is that it is free of infection so far. The bad is that there is not much I can do with the hand and the weather is great for gardening. The good is that my clippers still works in my right hand. The left hand fits very well inside a clean rubber glove. I've been watching lots of TV. Don't know if that's good or bad. I did wash the sheets and change the bed...That's good. If the car is finished by 5 that's real good for a car that has 120,000 miles. The shuttle brought me home in a new Civic. That was better than good. $18,000 would get me a new car! Don't know if that's good or bad. Tonight I'm going to Greenspace with Judy, my neighbor. The program is about cooking with herbs. I think that will be real good.

Sunday afternoon

I'm watching the Colts! Looks good so far but two points can melt away. Fingers crossed. Some things to be thankful for. My hand looks very good even though the blisters continue to fill. Uck. But no big red inflamation marks. That's good news. I'm keeping it clean and covered. More poison ivy has not developed. Whoo. Very busy at church with Hospitality Hour. It's such a good place for people to develope friendships. After church I attended a short workshop hosted for greeters. Lots of laughs and good suggestions. I've had my afternoon nap and now feel like coffee would be good. Less than a minute...the Colts are making me nervous. OK...it's over. Wooo. I've heard from Ellen Daniels-Howell who is now in Eldoret. It's the rainy season and many places in Kenya are in a crisis state with way to much rain and floods. Traveling the Kenya roads will have it's problems.

A big goof!

Kat said that my blog must reflect what my term is a HUGE GOOF. Friday seemed to be a rather full day but it started out with good intentions but went down hill real fast. Remember...Pie making was the order for early morning. Most important thing to remember...Brown sugar will melt if placed in the micro wave to long. Pie making needs brown sugar for the topping. I put the bag of b. sugar in the micro to soften and when it came out it had liquified and instinctively when seeing that liquid was heading for the floor, I put my hand under the bag to catch the dripping sugar. Well, don't do that. I now have a hand that is filled with painful blisters. Uck! It took a spatula to dig the sugar off the floor. The sugar hardened immediately on the floor and on my hand. So...into the ice the hand went and it stayed there all morning while I was working the church desk. Thank goodness for time to do that. Last night I popped the blisters with a clean needle and I am determined to take care of this until it heals because for this reason, every time I pick up something with my left hand I'm REMINDED! I've had lots of practice with burns...glue guns, infected arm burn, pizza burn to the roof of my mouth all needing trips to the doctor are just a few I can remember. Dr. Goens reminds me often of all of these. The burns are bandaged and miracle salve used on the third degree glue gun burn are part of the treatment along with a rubber glove. I've gotten a safety paragraph from JB already. Thank you youngest son! Church was fine yesterday and my little group of workers started work at 1 and the letters were at the postoffice by 2:30. Yahoo. Kat and Eric came for supper and we all spent the evening being entertained by the little man! What a fun kid. My plan was to get him walking but he had other plans and of course his plans won out! Am I surprised? Not one bit. But it was LOTS of fun and hundreds of laughs just trying. This morning the redness has left the burn site and more med. has been spread around and I know I'll be fine. Just watch the sugar in the micro. I really did a dumb thing and you heard that from the source. The PIE was delicious. I think I'll do icecream next time even though I know Apple Pie is the tradition.

Wed, Thurs.Friday

I'm out and about on W Th and now F.and it's really been an about week. Nothing new about that. I think the best thing about the week is reading the blogs and I do that right here sitting on my chair. Meagan O'Neill's blog has been filled with heart felt experiences. I laughed with her and cried with her thinking about dear Kenya. I'm hoping that you are following her work and play in a very special place. Her Nile River experience is one only done by someone in her age group. She had such heart tugging experiences on the wards. Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin who are living and working there and members of North will soon be on their way back to the states for a month. SEM's letter asking me to locate cars for them during they stay, I can now say has been successful. Two people have generously made car committments for the last almost three weeks in Oct. Ellen Daniels-Howell is on her way to Kenya right now for 14 days of work on a new project that will provide support for orphans and vulnerable children in western Kenya. It's called the UMOJA Project, UMOJA meaning UNITY. Prayers for safe travel as well as for those she will be working with while she is there would be appreciated. Meagan, Ellen and Sarah Ellen and Joe will all arrive here at the end of the month. How richly we will be blessed. I continue to visit with Ida and Lanny. Both are doing well but the adjustment to apartment living within a community and Lanny's giving up his driving still are adjustments that are difficult. This morning I'm working at the front desk again and this afternoon I have a group of 7 people coming to church to work on the first mailing of our coming finance drive. I've gathered people for three years now and it will be a great afternoon of visiting and supporting the church though our volunteer efforts. Supper will be great tonight with Eric and Kat and Andrew coming. I can't wait to see all of Andrew's new tricks. It's simple Sloppy Joes and of course Apple Pie. I've got to get going on that one before I go to church this morning.

Yikes!

You heard it I checked for poison ivy and you guessed it! It's here So...I'm watching it like a hawk. So far, two spots on my left arm. It's in the one bump stage and so far...that's all. Can't believe after all that washing with special soap. My doc said that once I bump into it...it's to late. The oil goes right through the first layer of skin. Today the weather has been beautiful. Low 70's with little humidity and a very gentle breeze. I pulled a trash can full of weeds. Trimmed up a few things and what an improvement. The hostas have taken a beating. The heat just really burned the leaves so things are not as pretty as they could be. But...I'll take what I can get. This morning I closed some of the windows but they are all open at this point. It's a beautiful day.

Monday Evening

I loved today. Well, most of it. 9:00 and I was on my way to the park to work on the fern walk.
We had one area to clear in the woods and a few more areas to till. So...I went to clear the area. A whole lot of wood had been tossed into the area and grape vines were everywhere. Sue...the leader came along and said that she had sprayed a whole bunch of ivy which she said wasnt the poison type which at this point was dead . So...the loppers, shovels and clippers got busy and we started to haul out a whole bunch of dead wood. Leaves we threw back into the woods area. We saved some of the logs to line the path. About an hr. later...Patty Chester came along and told me that the ivy was really poison ivy. I believed her. Yikes! I'm horribly allergic to poison ivy having gone to the doctor and skin specialist this summer more than once over a months time. So...I headed right out of there and into the shower using special soap and scrubbing for at least 10 minutes. Well, the woods visit was great. The woodland garden has done quite well and on the next visit I'll just sit on a bench and listen for the birds. We had a lot of great help. Gardeners are great people to be with. I made a 10 minute stop at church. That's a new record and then this afternoon I watched the hearings on the war. Monday night football is on! Got to run as Payton Manning says...This time it's the Bengals and Ravens. I need a bowl of popcorn.

Monday Morning

This morning my eyes are itching. Guess the count is up! It's starting to get light and the temp is wonderful and should stay that way all day! Yahoo. Yesterday was church Lots of people came to the hospitality hour and once again Panara came through in fine shape and Doug's coffee was the best. The community room was buzzing all morning. What's just what we want. Lots of visitors arrived early for the second service and came on in to enjoy each others company. Football and sleeping took care of the rest of the day. I just couldn't stay awake as hard as I tried. Maybe sleeping is what Sun. afternoons are for when you get OLD! Seems my parents did that. I 'm planning to work with Green Space folks this morning. That's a gardening group I belong to. We are creating a fern walk in our newest Carmel park. We will be spending about $30,000.00 cleaning out a woods full of invasive bushes and planting a woodland garden red bud walk and now the fern walk. This project started last year. It should be a beautiful garden when all the plants are settled in and all the invasive stuff is gone. Gardeners are control freaks and very protective of what we identify as "good" plants. That means they don't push out other plants but get along with all plants. I've spent the summer killing out a self seeder what has roots that invade everything. If left alone that's all I would have. UCK! Roundup is my friend.

Usual Saturday

What a bummer. I wrote a paragraph and the darn thing wouldn't post. Lost it all. Oh, well there might be a message there somewhere. Not much has happened yet today. It's coffee, paper and cherrios. Should rain today. It's so MUGGY. Looking forward to the rain. This morning it's off to church again. I forgot hospitality stuff...juice, cream ets. last Sunday so we did a turn around. Today, I'm getting that stuff out of the house. The Africa theme will make it's first appearance tomorrow. I'm using a table cloth during the hospitality time that Eric brought home from South Africa. Yahoo for thematic teaching! Then this afternoon I'm seeing Ida and Lanny again and encouraging Ida to pick out her clothes for church tomorrow. And the sweeper might make an appearance here at home. No dog makes a HUGE difference with how many times I see the sweeper. Then a little college football today. I love that game but the pros make it more interesting to say the least. I think that's about it for today. Now...I hope this posts.

Braggin' more. new Kenya address

Well, of course I didn't have anything to do with it but how about those Colts. They came alive after the half time break. Must have needed some good strong coffee. Happy to see the Michigan Russells tuned in! This morning I'm at the church desk answering the phone and getting some things ready for Sunday. I'm also putting up a display the first of many Kenyan items near the sanctuary. I love to do that. This afternoon I'm visiting again with Ida writing for her a thank you memo for the church bulletin and newsletter. I'm looking forward to being home tonight. Next Tuesday Patty Hefner and I will hang many beautiful fabrices, gifts to us April Kenyan travelers, all over the church. They are just beautiful and will really make an impact against what is a beautiful but gray colored sanctuary. I love color. All of these will hang until the Mamlins go back to Kenya. You can find out about their Kenyan HIV/AIDS program designed by Joe Mamlin and his Kenyan counter parts by checking on line...iukenya project. Its one we worked in last April. Chior party was great and Ida and Lanny did well.

Thursday

A bit about last night. Martin...our bell leader is just so much fun and teases like crazy. Well, I didn't move to the part of the table as he said I would so I have it pretty easy. It's f and g. That's all. But it's one bell off of what I rang last year which does a mind trick when one reads music. I'll get it eventually. The brain needs a little stress once in a while. Today was soup kitchen. A very small crowd. We pushed the food out. The men loved it because they had more sweets then usually. They love that sugar. I think it has something to do with the drinking that some do. Took a nap as I do every Thursday after working all morning and then we did a visit to farmers market and on to our annual choir party with a great pitch in at one of our choir members home. Lots of people that fit well into their huge house. And...now it's COLTS time. Booo. New Orlene's just scored. It's a tie game. The city has been rocking big time all day long. Big party on the circle. That's it....I'm off to my comfortable chair for the rest of the evening.

Something left out.

The blog is bless-the-rains.blogspot.com You know...Kenya has rains and not rain. Megan can give you some real good accounts of Kenya roads and rains! LR

Wednesday...almost done

This morning I worked at the front desk answering questions and talking on the phone. Wed. is Shepherd Center day and there is a steady stream of people going left and right. Michael O'neill called on the phone with a question and I asked about his wife Megan who is in medical school and in Kenya working at the Moi Hospital in Eldoret in IU's Medical Exchange program. Well, she is fine and has a blog that you all should read. It's bless-the-rain.blogspot.com It's a wonderful account of life in Kenya as we saw it and she is experiencing. She has some great mud stories that we didn't have because we were there in the dry season. Some things are good, some very sad. She has another three weeks of study. Michael and Megan both sing in our church choir and both ring handbells. Speaking of Handbells. Tonight is our first rehersal. All of our bell positions have been moved. This should be interesting to say the least. It's the best way to advance in technique but it's a #$%^ of a thing to get use to. I've rung in 3 places and this should be the 4th. Problem is that now instead of ringing 4 bells it will be 4 in hand which means responsibility for 8 bells. But only 2 in each hand at a time. Now some of you are confused for sure. I fixed 2 dishes for the choir pitch in tomorrow night. I've got to figure out how to watch the Colts game and sing. I think practice will be short! It's very warm. I think 94 degrees today. Will summer ever be over?

Tuesday

So far so good. What more can I ask for? This was bulletin board day at North. More pictures up about Neema Home for Children at Eldoret. And...a little information/pictures about the Umoja project in western Kenya that 10 churches in the Indianapolis area have joined with a coalition of churches in western Kenya. The goal is to provide some necessities for orphan children to go to school etc. Checked out the supplies for Sunday's hospitality time. This afternoon I had a good visit with Ida and Lanny. Ida is going out for lunch with a church friend tomorrow and Thursday they will be at our choir pitch-in. Tomorrow morning I'll be at the desk at church again. That's an interesting place to work with people coming and going all morning. So far so good...What more can I ask for? Nothing.

Labor day

Hummmmm...Labor day was a day of rest. Yesterday Sunday a day of rest was a day of work. Crazy how things turn out. I did do some grocery shopping and watered flowerbeds. Now that's just about it. Watched tennis and slept. We had our first sweet corn of the year. Yumm. Nothing like picking corn and in the pot and on the table in 10 minutes. We finished up the meal with tomatoes and apples. Now...isn't that healthy eating. More tennis tonight. I'm ready for some football. Colts play Thurs. evening. I did print some pictures and write some stuff for our Nemma Home missions bulletin board at church and got some answers from Sarah Ellen by e-mail. Wooo, Wooo. Kenya is as close as my keyboard. Well, sort of.

Sunday...a day of rest?

Humm...I did rest this afternoon but this morning was a blurrrrrrrr. We got to church a little late because we had to retrace our truck steps since I forgot the orange juice and half and half were in the frigerator. So...Dear Waldene had everything pretty much set up by the time we got to the community room. Doug made the coffee and I got the pastries on to all the trays. With two people who help not being there, we did pretty good. The crowd was a bit slow because of the holiday weekend. I hung all the choir robes up and got the surpluses into the boxes and added some pictures to our Neema House Bulletin Board. Ida and Lanny came to church for the first time since they were beaten in April. What a great morning for them as well as all who have worked so hard to make this day happen. Alice Brown and I sat with them in church and we ushered them back to the church bus and Alice rode home with them. Hopefully they will soon be able to travel with other church members and not have a special escort service! I am encouraged. This afternoon I slept for what seemed to be all afternoon. Tennis is on now and then it's to bed at some point. What a wonderful morning. Miracles do happen.

Bushed in Carmel

I've been the washer woman today. I washed 18 black cassocks and checked all hems, some were in terrible shape, recorded sizes and then did the same for 18 surpluses. Goodness I'm glad this happens only once a year or for some robes not at all. And I'm glad I'm not part of the monks house. Yes...Bro. C. yours are white. New choir members will have something to wear. That is probably after I do a bit of heming to make them all fit. Ida got her fingernail polish today. She was really more out of it than I have seen her for a while. I think she was very tired which makes short term memory worse. Tomorrow morning will be filled with to do stuff. Choir robes back on hangers...coffee to make...Doug's job and pastries spread out, creamed cheese in bowls and juices available. We are short two workers so this will really be a busy morning. I'm bushed and will be sitting on a chair tonight. Took a nap already.

Time flies...9/1/2007

Last night the WBA Indy Fever beat Detroit. Those ladies can play! The Colts lost and the US Open fit in at the commercial breaks. And in the middle of all this Doug and I made a run to Panera Bread to learn how to collect day old pastries for our Sunday Hospitality Hr. at church. Wooo...I was ready for bed after an unbelievable day of doing. This morning I'm back at church collecting a huge number of choir robes that will be assigned to new members. That means two washing machines loads full of choir robes this morning. Ida and I have a date this afternoon to get fingernail polish. I love that lady. She is a wonderful gift to have. My hope is that I can spend some time in the flower beds later today. We might even have an ear or so of corn for the first time this year. I keep looking for nice fat ears.