70 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-3-17”

  2. Good evening Jo. I suspect Aj has sleeping in on his Saturday agenda. So he put it up early. We never would have known that except for your afternoon post..

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  4. Sounds like fun. I spent several hours at school on this Saturday. I have the report card grades done, but still need to do the comments. They aren’t due until Tuesday evening and I only have twelve students, so I should be fine. There has been a lot of growth, so it will be fun to write the comments.

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  5. Good Morning! Oh how I would love to be hanging around a pond…the little town of Elizabeth is having a street fair/market….I have to work and will miss it this year. It is always fun with the smal town feel, Celtic music being played and everyone just smiling along…good times!

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  8. I slept in. I was awake from 1-5 worrying over things I cannot control so between trying to go back to sleep and not sleeping I told God about a lot of them.
    We still haven’t had the next step in the job situation and this has been going on since May 4th. I have spend about $200 getting myself ready.
    BG leaves for Jamaica this morning. I have prepared her as much as I can. If she ends up in a Jamaican jail or hospital there isn’t much I can do from here and I made sure she knew to have cash on her to get out of the country at the airport on her return. I have told her not to go off the resort unless it was a guided, group event. Beyond that she will have to suffer any consequences.
    Then there is my friend M. I went over yesterday about 4 and stayed until about 8. We talked about a lot of things. The next 60 or so days are going to bring a lot of changes in her life and she is a fresh widow. We planned a reception at her house next Saturday. The Art Center set up a tribute to Bob last night for First Friday. On my way home I stopped by to see if there was anything I needed to do to help them clean up. They had an arrangement of sunflowers and hydrangea, several pictures of Bob doing various things around there different times but same blue polo shirt, and a short write up about him serving on the board and all the various things he had done over the years to help them out. That is when I cried. Seeing his face smiling.
    I am “friend on call” today. I encouraged her to get out of the house today, but for some reason she is obsessed with cleaning out the refrigerators today.

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  9. What is in Jamaica? I hear it is a lovely place, in places.

    I did the same, from about midnight until one thirty. I suspect my wanderer was wandering but I was too tired to tell him to get back to his room. I need to make the effort as it is not good for him to be wandering. May have to put the alarm back on his door.

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  10. They take really good care of their tourists in Jamaica. If you are prone to wandering around on your own it isn’t very safe. When I was there, in Montego Bay there were policemen on every other corner with Uzis. A man walked up to me and offered me some ganja.

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  13. The drug trade, and the accompanied organized crime are problems in Jamaica. Then again where are they not? One should never go wandering by oneself in an unknown city, especially if you do not know the culture and/or language. My father loves to travel and learn about new places, but he nearly gave the mission director a heart attack when he strolled off by himself in Chihuahua. He just wanted to take pictures of the cathedral, and was in the habit of taking early morning walks in the neighbourhood where we stayed, despite the fact that our house had bars on the windows and was surrounded by a wall that was topped by shards of glass. He insists, to this day, that he was in no danger, but I tell him he had no idea of the dangers that are below the surface in northern Mexico. Perhaps the fact that he has black hair, brown eyes, and the skin on his face and forearms weathered to a permanent tan protected him from being immediately spotted as a potential wealthy tourist to be fleeced.

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  14. I’ve been working my actual job the last couple days and am now far behind on real life, so that will be my morning. We also could, if we decide to, attend yet another Championship Little League game. Yesterday’s was exciting as our Adorable was thrown out at home plate and his team lost.

    Way too many things to do tomorrow and I’m trying not to pout. I’m baking muffins for the Teacher Appreciation between services (4 dozen baked, one more to go this afternoon) and will need to help with set up, filling in for the Sunday School teachers attending a funeral–but the subject is sin and anger at which I am experienced, singing second service and then ducking out to buy food because we have a voter’s meeting following and my husband signed me up to provide lunch. (Making cookies this afternoon).

    It remains to be seen if I have to take minutes.

    Whenever we finally escape church, we’ll attend a graduation party for one, skip the second and collapse at home by dinner time.

    I’m not looking forward to my day of rest. My husband, fortunately, recognizes how put out I’m feeling.

    I guess that’s all a sin, isn’t it?

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  15. I could not handle that pace. Any of it. God has put me right where I belong and I am delighted. When I look around and see how much there is to do, I get sad, but then I remember that God has me here rearing children and don’t have to deal with all the stresses of city life and I am content. I guess that’s a sin, right? I should be content in all things, even if he puts me back into a city.

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  16. Michelle, I also have things to do on my day of rest. There is a hymn sing in the early afternoon, and being in the choir, I need to be present. I usually take my Sunday afternoons to rest body and mind, which helps me get through the coming week. Ah well, it is only one Sunday, and I will enjoy singing traditional hymns minus the usually accompanying band. I have no spiritual issue with bands, but it would be nice to hear oneself singing along with the rest of the congregation instead of just having to have faith that we are all singing. Occasionally, the band will back off for effect, and suddenly you can hear all these human voices raised together in song, and then the band ramps up again and the voices vanish in the cloud of sound.

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  17. Michelle, it sounds like your arm is twisted behind your back until you cry out, “Uncle.” Uncle is a clone. That is what you need along with prayers for you to get some rest.

    I am continuing in the mornings to get out and take care of some of our overgrown front yard. It is good exercise and except for the sweat, I enjoy it.

    We watched an old Hitchcock movie last night, Strangers on a Train. The special feature afterward which told a lot about his films was really informative for those interested in such things. I pick a movie that I think will allow us to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but forget to factor in the time for such special features. It was another late night.

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  18. Great photo

    More frustration this morning with washer dryer install — long story that will result in a complaint but they’re in. I was cranky, probably got their day started badly. There’s just been no communication on arrival times (I’ve tried to replace my old phone number with my cell with them several times but the message seems to never get through). Just a whole lot of frustration again, I’m hitting my limit for the year at this point.

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  19. Mumsee, I have happily lived in the city most of my life, choosing city over country . . . though I found Nashville the best of both worlds, big city with lots of natural areas and lots of trees, water, and wildlife. Now I’m rather enjoying the beauty of country living–this morning I was thinking I will probably never again live in a house that has mature cottonwood trees in its yard. I miss aspects of city life (esp. having neighbors I know and having less yard care) and will very happily settle back into a town/city someday. But every place has its unique joys and its unique annoyances or inconveniences. God can give contentment and joy–and grace for the inconveniences–anywhere.

    If I hadn’t married my husband, I would not have willingly moved to the country again. But a calling to marry my husband was a calling to live in the country for a season, and I’ve enjoyed it more than I expected because of the unique access to wildflowers and wildlife. But when my husband as beginning to court me, and asked me if I could give up my love for Tennessee enough to move to Indiana, I told him place is secondary. And it’s true. There are some places that are simply TOO far outside one’s comfort zone, but I think that’s different. I couldn’t live in Alaska because I couldn’t handle it (though I could find God’s grace and beauty even there, if He placed me there), and I tell people 14 years in Chicago was 13 years too many (though in reality, as bad a fit as it was for me in many years, I did thrive there while God had me there).

    And I cannot imagine renting a 633-square-foot studio apartment in New York City for $4,795 or a 434-square-foot one for $3,740, never building equity, never having a place you can call your own, and having very little room for company, books, or even a dog. That’s insanity. (I’m editing a book that is set partly in NYC, so I googled apartments just out of curiosity as to what they cost. Those were some of the worst, but a one-bedroom, one-bath mostly ranged between $2,100 and 3,800 a month and few gave the size of the apartment. One helpfully suggested you could share the rent with someone else by turning the living room into a second bedroom. Um, OK, yeah. How about just not moving to New York?!)

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  21. I have lots to do today and I just tripped on the bottom of my stairs – landed hard on both knees. I’ve iced them and will try to get stuff done anyways – ouch.

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  23. I have lived in a lot of cities and did just fine. But I am delighted God has me here now. Understanding that that may well change and He will give me what I need to live joyfully wherever.

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  24. Phos. I used to get irritated to the point of losing the spiritual benefit of the meeting when the organist played so loud that it drowned out the voices of the congregation.
    Now, it’s the drums that do it.

    😦

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  25. Phos, I don’t like being drowned out either and I like to hear those around me singing. Some sanctuaries are so poorly designed that even with only a non-miked piano you still can’t hear your neighbour sing. 😦

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  26. Thanks for the prayers Cheryl. I really did get up on the wrong side of the bed as all of that unfolded just making my mood worse!

    I channeled my frustration from the past 1-2 hours into tearing into the upper cabinets of the spare bedroom, the only areas left in there to excavate. 3 more boxes down and sorted — a few things to hang on to but most to give away, throw away. Boxes torn down.

    I have loads and loads of laundry to do after 2 weeks without a washer/dryer — and more things being added to the pile today still from the displaced bedroom ceiling project several weeks ago — but I probably need to sit down with the basic instructions to make sure I know what I’m doing before I start using the new machines, though they kind of look easy enough.

    I feel awful about being so short with the delivery guys, it wasn’t (entirely) their fault, and they didn’t know the history behind the difficulty of getting these machines hooked up, but it looked for a while like they couldn’t do it, said they were leaving, I’d have to reschedule for another day again. They finally found the part they needed in their truck and then they decided they’d better figure out a way to get the dryer inside the sliding glass door after they initially told me “Won’t fit” and I spun out again. 🙂 “Fine, just leave it in the garage, I’ll find someone else!”

    They managed to get it inside after that. But none of us were in a very cheerful mood by the time they left. Grumble. Hoping their next delivery was a happier, kinder-gentler one. I confess that I was not a good start to their day. 😦

    From here on I’m just going to concentrate on getting my closets back in order and clearing stuff out of the living room and back into the bedrooms (though first I have to finish off the spare bedroom).

    The foundation and other projects left can wait. I need a break from all the big stuff.

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  27. At least the closet in the spare bedroom (and it’s a big one) is (almost) completely cleared out and I have 2 dressers in there also with empty drawer space. And another growing pile of stuff for another Salvation Army pickup which I’ll need to schedule soon.

    Kare, take care of your knees, that sounded like it must have hurt!

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  28. Taking a break sounds like a fine idea. If you need to run away, we’ve got room.

    When my husband retired from the Navy, we crossed out places we didn’t want to live, otherwise the rest of the country was open to us. We crossed out Alaska (beautiful, but too different and cold for winter living and too far from family), Tennessee (beautiful but personally problematic owing to a powerful individual who had moved there), Silicon Valley (Way too expensive and crazy).

    We’ve now visited Alaska and Tennessee a half dozen times between them and my husband drives to Silicon Valley once a week for work (but only for the last 10 years). We make plans and God laughs . . .

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  29. You know, Donna, why don’t you contact their boss and say you know you were short tempered, but they hung in there and got the job you desperately needed done. Tell them you hope you didn’t ruin their morning but you appreciated you have the washer and dryer running and their diligence was important to you.

    It might help them and it might help you feel better. Your call, but it’s an idea.

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  30. Chas & Kare, they have an old style electric organ, which has been integrated into the new style but is also used for the old at times. As powerful as it is, it wouldn’t overwhelm that sanctuary, which is a century church with a double barrel vaulted roof far above the balconeys. But the band is just too amplified. The few times they have used purely acoustic guitars, taken out the drums, and, incidentally, had me on violin, we have been perfectly audible and people enjoyed it. Part of the problem is that the band themselves are wired with ear sets to hear each other and they can turn the volume on separate instruments up and down. I don’t think they fully appreciate how loud it sounds to the congregation which have no such luxury.

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  31. Good idea, michelle.

    Meanwhile … I was out working in the garage when I glanced down at my arm and saw a mysterious rash that hadn’t been there before. Because Carol has scabies — and has had them for some time as she began complaining about a ‘rash’ probably 6-8 weeks ago now, and ‘incubation’ time is 5 weeks — I’m obviously worried. I’ve frequently handled her things, getting them in and out of the Jeep on the probably 3-4 outings we’ve had since she’s had the rash. This rash area on my arm looks too close to the photos I’m seeing online. Now I suppose I should head on over to urgent care. … to see if there’s any way they can test it at least.

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  33. And all I did was ‘widow sit” and answer questions so that the widow wouldn’t have to. Some other friends are taking her out to dinner tonight.
    Now I am home. I would suppose that BG has now landed in Jamaica. She sent a text to her dad and me from Miami.

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  35. Make sure you tell them what you suspect so they can take proper precautions or they may get miffed. Not that those people ever get miffed, of course.

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  36. We have a Voter’s Assembly tomorrow, too. Printing the agenda and all of the reports now. Also providing the lunch (along with DIL) and taking minutes (I am the Congregational Secretary).

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  37. My nurse friend (whose also had scabis caught from patients) said the same thing so I just handed front desk a note — one way to get mov d up on the waiting list !

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  39. At yesterday’s funeral, they began with 15 minutes of piano and violins playing hymns, beautiful. Then we sang several during the service. So peaceful. They had us sitting the whole time and finally I just had to stand for the last hymn, even though I was the only one. On the last verse, everyone stood with me.

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  40. What are you serving this time, Linda? My husband will pick up foot-long sandwiches, chips and the fixings for Caesar Salad–which I’ll make by leaving church early. I’ve got the cookies and some fruit. That’s it.

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  42. Dr. was uncertain of diagnosis, maybe scabies, maybe not; but he did give me RX for the head-to-toe cream which I’ll put on tonight — just in case. Has to stay on for 12-14 hours. And I have to wash all the bedding, towels, clothes, etc. So the new washer/dryer will get broken in, I just started the first load.

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  44. To get a full-on confirmation would take a referral to a dermatologist. I somehow think it’s easier just to use the cream and be done with it (hopefully).

    My nurse friend thought it looked like scabies to her, but who knows.

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  46. I hope you have enough cream as you need to use it again when any eggs may have hatched. Actually I got my best sleep the night I put on the cream as it was so soothing. Then they all die and I got really itchy. Kept staying up later and later because trying to go to sleep with dry, itchy skin was awful.

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  47. DJ You certainly lead an eventful life. 🙂
    I am up early, although I slept well. I have church this morning then I have been assigned the duty of badgering me friend M into shopping today. Neither of us are born shoppers. It has been good to see the outpouring of love she has received through this. Bob touched a lot of lives, mine included.

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  48. Eggs?

    Plenty of cream left + he gave me 1 refill if needed. I kept it on for 9 hours (instructions said 8-14 hrs) and will repeat in a couple weeks, just to be sure.

    These new washers sure make funny noises. The cat is not fond of it.

    But I love how much this washer holds — and how efficient the dryer is at drying everything, even bedding, in one cycle. My old dryer took 3-4 cycles to dry just a load of regular clothes at the end (and that was true even after I’d had it professionally cleaned out of all the lint a couple years ago). Laundry just got a lot easier — and a whole lot less time consuming. 🙂

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  50. In Texas, Elvera used to wash Chuck’s diapers in the trailer park washeteria and hang them on the line to dry. When she finished the last one, the first ones on the line were already dry..
    West Texas low humidity and wind.

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  51. Good Sunday!! Nothing like sleeping on fresh air dried sheets…we are not allowed to have an outside clothes line here…but I have been known to put a line in the basement, open all the windows and dry them there!

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  52. During the dry season in West Africa, clothes dried so quickly on the line that it was as if they had been dried and ironed. The rainy season, on the other hand, never allowed anything to ever really dry.
    The church observed Pentecost this morning. It was interesting. Towards the end, they had us sing songs in a couple of different languages, to emphasize how the Gospel is for all languages and cultures. I observed that the congregation sounded most confident singing in French – that mandatory high school French has an effect.

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  53. Donna, is the rash in between your fingers at the bases? That is what one of our NPS uses as a definitive way to tell if it is scabies.

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  54. It is amazing to me how many places do not allow outdoor drying. And yet we are supposed to lower our energy consumption?

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  55. We had a clothesline in Phoenix. And yes, we basically would hang one load, and we’d make room for the second load by taking down the first load, often as soon as we finished hanging it. In fact, we didn’t want to leave it much longer, lest the sun rot the clothes. The biggest problem were the days that we’d hang clothes and then the wind would whip up the dust into a small dust storm while the clothes were still wet, or it would start to rain, so we’d be frantically trying to take clothes down.

    I don’t understand the clothesline-fresh concept, though. Clothes are softer coming from a dryer than from a clothesline, in my experience.

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  56. So, AJ, is that a young woodpecker, or am I just not used to seeing the top of his head and so it looks small from that angle?

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  57. Opened my door yesterday to find a large rat in the entryway. YIKES! first time for that. Somehow seeing it is different than hearing noises in the attic. Neighbor set a live trap last night.

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  59. showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 5pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5pm

    What does that even mean?

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  60. We had a clothes line when I was growing up — but I kind of agree with cheryl, clothes come out much softer from a dryer, typically.

    Rkessler, there was one spot near one of my fingers at the base that the doctor was interested in, he did check my hands — nothing too much of note other than that from what I can see.

    After church I launched into that online traffic school (which I’d hoped to start yesterday before but the long urgent care visit nixed that idea). I’m not even half way through yet and have spent 3+ hours on it. I started out taking notes, but that was slowing me down too much — on the quizzes and final test you can look back to find your answers at least. So far I’ve scored 100% on all 4 of the ‘pop’ quizzes, but had to look back at a couple answers as some of this is quite technical.

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  61. We had a fire drill at the end of the service today!! I was in the toddler room, so I had been forewarned, but nerve-wracking. We kept counting the littles, checking which ones would need to be carried and which ones would be able to walk with the rope (has little loops for their hands to go through and hang onto). The sound booth guys are supposed to come and help us carry the littlest ones, but there was only 1 sound guy on this morning. Thankfully, some of the sound guys not on duty came to help us out. Once everyone was all at the muster point across the street, the all clear was given and parents could sign out their children. It all went really well.

    I’ve never had a fire drill at a church before, but it was eye-opening in how unprepared we would have been in the event of a real emergency. Now we’ll have that in the back our minds as we look after the children.

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  62. I love the feel of towels that have been dried outside and the smell of sheets, but that’s about it – most of my clothes dry on a line inside. Everything else goes in the dryer due to pollen (and laziness in winter – just too cold).

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  63. The online course I signed up for is called “My Dog Traffic School.” It includes little witticisms about dogs scattered between the chapters.

    Like this one:

    “My dog is half pit bull, half poodle. Not much of a watchdog, but a vicious gossip!”

    And, one of my favorites from Mark Twain:

    “Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”

    Now I’m on Chapter 11 out of 16 … Still getting 100% on the quizzes. I only need to get 70% on the final ‘exam.’

    I’ve learned to not run over pedestrians and that a speed limit is a speed limit — doesn’t matter if “everyone else” is going faster. 🙂

    Woof

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  66. Speaking of country living vs. city living: Our town is rural-suburban. There are some nice suburban neighborhoods, but also quite a few farms.

    Every now & then on a Facebook page for the town (run by residents, not town hall), someone will post asking if anyone is missing a cow or goats, because one or the other is roaming the streets.

    We have a gang of chickens in our neighborhood that often come into our yard & don’t have the sense to leave when the dog barks at them. (They belong to our next-door neighbors, but I like to call them a gang. 🙂 )

    I grew up in middle class suburbia, but Hubby grew up in cities. We both enjoy where we are now.

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  69. Cheryl and DJ- I think you are confusing “fresh” with “soft” when it comes to clothes dried on the outside line vs in a dryer. I find the idea of fresh to mean the fragrance. I’d rather have clothes that are a little stiff, but have the fragrance of outdoor freshness rather than soft with the artificial fragrance of dryer sheets.

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