Holiday Weekend

A friend is in Ghana, teaching for a few weeks at the seminary there. Two of his parishioners died. So Gary drove to the south side of the metro area to preach at a funeral after work on Friday. He drove back the next morning for the committal, and stayed for the afternoon for the next funeral. Then Sunday, he preached and taught Bible class here because Pastor is on vacation. That's a lot to cram into a weekend even when you're not working a day-job.

Paul came home for the long weekend! So glad to see him! On the one hand, I wish he were getting scheduled for more hours at his part-time job so that he would've been unable to come due to a sufficiently-busy work schedule. But as long as he's short of hours, it's great that he was willing to make the drive to come home for a few days.

Maggie and I finished the sixth Betsy-Tacy book. I should've been thinking ahead. We didn't put #7 on reserve until we finished #6. Now we hold off on reading until the libraries shuffle the next volume to us.

Katie let me know that they will be moving to a new apartment in the next week or two. Not only does it appear to be quieter and better maintained, but it also has cheaper rent. That'll help. Also, Nathan's second job seems to be working out well.

Enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing afternoon on the Fourth with some friends. And enjoyed a lovely party on Monday at the home of other friends. Thankful for the good food and even better company!

Missed the fireworks altogether. The ones out in Dousman (where we watched last summer) were set off on Saturday night instead of on the Fourth. After Gary's funerals, we weren't about to drive out there at bedtime when he had to preach the next morning. By Sunday evening, we were 1) confused by the thought that the fireworks had been last night, and 2) tired and ready for bed. It initially surprised me when we heard the local fireworks booming away about 9:15. But at that point, we couldn't manage the oomph to get into the car and drive into the village.

Been watering for a friend who's out of town. She has 18 potted plants. They are beautiful. And I haven't killed anything! :-) I am overwhelmed by her commitment to making her home and yard lovely. I don't think I could spend a summer taking care of that many plants that need watering every single day. My practicality compels me to spend my gardening time on food-stuffs instead of pretties. But I can also see the value of how the pretties refresh and restore the soul.

Rosie is enjoying playing at being a huntress. I get a lot of laughs watching her stalking squirrels. She's also highly interested in the bluebird box, but our sweet, dumb cat is no match for a mama bluebird. She's actually caught a few gophers, but she doesn't eat them. Cats should eat their prey rather than leaving it to sit dead on the driveway. Blech!

The driveway needs to be sealed. I learned what needs to be done. Yesterday I began sealing some of the tiny cracks. (This driveway is SO different and smooth and uncracked, compared to the driveway we had at the parsonage.) Today we'll need to do some edging. The supplies for the sealing job cost a small fraction of the estimates we've been given by companies looking for business. And I bet I'll do a more meticulous job. But as I look at a whole week devoted to spiffing up the driveway, I wonder if by next Sunday I'll regret trying to save the $200 by doing it myself. Next on the docket will be sealing the deck; that's easier.