Sometimes It Just Takes a Curtain Call

This is my favorite story about my little brother, Bart. I thought I'd put it here for posterity. 

People who have known me for any length of time are aware that I have a younger brother, named Bart, who is three years younger than me and has "intellectual disabilities." Essentially, Bart functions at the level of a four-year-old most of the time. He lives in a group home/apartment situation about ten miles from my parents and has such a busy social life that he has to squeeze us into his schedule. Or, at least it seems that way sometimes. (:

Years and years ago (when we were teenagers), Bart was attending a school for disabled children that was religiously based. At the very least, he had a religion lesson on a regular basis. One day, around Easter time, Bart came home from school appearing very sad. When my mom asked him what was wrong, he said, "Jesus died." Apparently, Bart had learned the Easter story that day...but all he understood was that Jesus had died. He hadn't grasped that Jesus rose again. Of course, Mom responded with something along the lines of, "But then Jesus rose again, and Jesus lives in our hearts." No dice. When my dad came home, he tried to explain to Bart that Jesus died, but he rose again. All he got was, "Jesus died" and a very sad expression.

The next day, my mom asked Bart's religion teacher to re-explain the Easter story to him. She did, but Bart just couldn't understand the concept of the resurrection...he couldn't move from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. My parents tried again...I even tried...to no avail. "Jesus died", and that was it. Eventually, we gave the situation over the God, because we were at our wits end.

Fast forward a few months...for my birthday that year, my parents took the family to see "Jesus Christ, Superstar" at Wolf Trap (big outdoor arena in Northern Virginia). We packed a picnic, sat out on the lawn, and enjoyed the show. If you've never seen "Jesus Christ, Superstar", then I'll tell you that it's a musical (very loosely) based on the last week of Jesus' life. Lots of poetic license.

At the end of the show, Jesus is on the cross, and the background changes and soft music plays as he is lifted up into the rafters. Bart was with us, of course, and I could see him looking sad as he watch this. Jesus had died, after all. The show was over, and Jesus was dead.

The show may have been over, but there was more excitement to come...

What happens at the end of every dramatic performance?

The Curtain call
  
In groups and pairs, the performers came back on stage for their bows. Finally, the actor who played Jesus walked onto the stage to thundering applause and a standing ovation. As pseudo-Jesus came out, Bart's face lit up and he exclaimed, "Jesus lives! Mom, Dad, Patti...Jesus lives!" And we heard him proclaim that for the rest of the evening...as we left the lawn, as we rode the shuttle to our car, as we drove home...we heard Bart proclaiming, at the top of his lungs, the essence of the Gospel: that Jesus died, rose again, and still lives today.

Sometimes God works in the most amazing and unexpected ways to touch our hearts and open our eyes, including curtain calls of Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals.


 

Perspective and Giving Thanks

About three hours ago, I was feeling somewhat grumpy. Our Thanksgiving dinner had gone very well (and been given rave reviews), been eaten, and the leftovers put away. The dishes had been washed, and my parents and brother had already left. But I was feeling out of sorts and not really in the holiday spirit at all. There were reasons for that feeling, of course. Very valid reasons, as a matter of fact. I'm not going to focus on them right now.

I decided to take a break and checked F*cebook. One of the first status messages that cropped up was from my mom:  "We had a delicious dinner at chez Money with great food and great company. It was a lovely afternoon. We have so much to be thankful for."

Talk about a reality check and reminder. After all, that statement came from a woman who just this year has experienced a life-threatening diagnosis, four surgeries (five, if you count the port-fixing one) in three months, and is five months into an indefinite chemo cycle of two weeks on, one week off. Her life has been totally changed in the past nine months and (realistically speaking), will never be the same. Yet she can come up with that sort of statement. If she can have that sort of attitude of thanksgiving, then I can, too. After all, one of the main reasons I was feeling like a "Thanksgiving Scrooge" was because I was worried/upset about the effects of the chemo on her well-being (which is going very well, but it's not without drawbacks, of course).

 So, I began seeing things in a better light. After all, I had my entire immediate family with me for Thanksgiving. Both of my parents are alive, and live thirty minutes away from me. Ditto for my little brother. I have a husband who loves me (and who can cook a fabulous meal) and two beautiful, HEALTHY, and charming children. I have a full stomach, live in a lovely home in a safe neighborhood, and all my needs (and most of my wants) are provided for. It is highly likely that this weekend, I will get to see one of my dearest friends, one whom I haven't seen in two years (she's one of those wonderful college friends I mentioned in an earlier post, and she lives about eight hours away). Most importantly, I am a creation of the Most High God, whose love is so high and deep and wide that I cannot begin to fathom it. 

And then I got a call asking if I could possibly be on-call tonight, and the gratitude my fellow chaplain expressed when I said "yes" warmed my heart (and the opportunity to earn money helped, too).

And THEN, while I was reading her a story from her kiddie Bible, Susanna said "I have to go potty" and she ran to the bathroom, sat on the potty, and PEED IN THE POTTY. People, that is monumental. It makes me think that she's finally "getting" the whole potty training thing, and she may indeed be potty trained before she learns to read.  

So tonight, I will go to bed feeling grateful. And all it took was a quick peek at F*cebook to get the perspective needed to be grateful. 

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Random Ramblings, Sunday Evening Edition

James cleaned the carpet in the family room today. It was waay overdue, and since we're hosting Thanksgiving this year, the timing was right. It looks much better, but I find the smell of carpet cleaner overwhelming. Hopefully it will be better in the morning.

We didn't make it to Sunday School today, but we did make it to church. That was definitely a good thing, because the service was awesome, and I'm glad we didn't miss it. From the prayer concerns posted in the bulletin and on Twitter, and from what our pastor said, it was a rough week. There had already been three funerals and the fourth was scheduled for this afternoon. Plus Charge Conference (annual meeting with the district superintendent) and several more members in the hospital. So a rough week for the congregation and also for our poor pastor (although he didn't complain, of course. Or even mention himself in the equation. But I bet it was a really, really, rough week for him. I bet his wife hardly saw him. Hopefully he'll be able to take a break over Thanksgiving). I don't know if this was planned or in response to the events of the week (probably the latter), but the sermon was based on Colossians 1:11-20 (click on the link to read the passage) and essentially focused on God being with us through the rough times. After the sermon, he did an altar call (I can't think of any other name for it), had several Stephen Ministers up front, and invited us to come to the front if we wanted to pray with someone and be annointed with oil. A lot of people came up (it looked like about 10% of the congregation, which is impressive since there were 200+ people), which showed that his instincts were right; a lot of people were/are hurting. Anyway, it was a powerful service and one that makes me glad that we are part of this church.

We got a new oven a few weeks ago. Did I mention that? Anyway, it's very exciting. Our old one worked but was becoming "finicky". Last year, it took over eight hours to cook the Thanksgiving turkey and it burned the pecan pie that James made. Sometimes it would overcook stuff, sometimes it would undercook stuff, and sometimes it was fine. Since we were hosting Thanksgiving again this year, we decided it was a good excuse to get a new stove. The new one is really really nice. It's black (we like black appliances), gas, and has a double oven. We also decided to get a new microwave (also black) and installed it over the stove.

Greg is teething. He's apparently an overachiever, because he appears to be cutting both his upper front teeth AND his molars. Yes, really. We're thanking God for infant Motrin and also shoving frozen stuff into his mouth as often as possible.

Time to go and double-check that Susanna hasn't flushed my iPhone down the toilet. Have a great Sunday night!

Seven Quick Takes, Quick-for-me Edition

1. Today James and I had a date, our first one in over a month. We went to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1". I highly recommend it. I think it stayed very true to the books and ended at just the right point in the narrative. We contemplated going to see it in IMAX, but decided to save our money and see this installment at the regular theatre. However, we plan on seeing "Part 2" at the IMAX theatre, because it will be in 3D.

2. After the movie we had "lunner" at Olive Garden. The movie ended around 3:30 and we really hadn't had lunch (unless you count the ridiculously expensive popcorn), so we dubbed our meal "lunner". After that we made a quick trip to Home Depot to look at knobs for the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and bathrooms. We found one that both of us like, so James may be going back later this week to buy them.

3. I think that the check I wrote to the baby-sitter may have been almost as much as what our tickets, snack, and meal cost. Baby-sitters are expensive! We love ours (she's 16, lives on the next corner, she's very responsible and resourceful, and our kids love her) and we pay her the going rate, but she makes almost half my hourly rate. Isn't there something WRONG with that?

4. Incidentally, we've only recently had to start paying a baby-sitter. My mom used to always baby-sit Susanna when we needed a date night/afternoon/overnight. It's not like it was every week; more like once a month at best. However, since the Unwelcome Visitor (breast cancer and the four surgeries and chemo that have followed) arrived, Mom hasn't been as available as she used to be (which is OK, because the surgeries and now chemo treatments are hopefully ensuring that she will be able to watch her grandchildren grow up. It's a trade off, and I'll take it.) She still helps out; she watched them overnight for us when we went to a wedding in Richmond last month, transported Susanna from preschool to daycare for me two weeks ago, and took Greg for me one night so that I could get a few nights' sleep. We just realized that we couldn't keep riding the "grandma gravy train" forever.

5. Remember my how part of my "grand plan" for saving money on clothes was to sell Susanna's outgrown clothes via consignment? That may not be as easy as I thought. On Tuesday, I (along with my two sidekicks) took a box of mint-condition clothes to a local consignment shop that pays cash for secondhand kids' stuff. The lady looked through it...and bought a pair of shoes and a sweater. I chose store credit, so I now have...$2.40 in store credit. She handed back the rest of the box, which included a girls 2T winter coat (I would think that would be a hot item, but I guess not). I have a few other places I can try, and several more boxes of clothes, but I may be looking at either Craigslist or simply donating them.

6. James and I are planning on going "Sunday School class hunting" tomorrow. We haven't been part of a small group/Sunday school class in years. When we were in Lexington, we had a wonderful small group. I still miss them, four years later. When we moved to Danville, the church I was serving really only had one adult Sunday school class, and James didn't like the style (it was more lecture than anything else) and I liked using the time for last-minute sermon and worship prep. When we moved here, we didn't really try to find a class at the first church we attended (none of the Sunday School descriptions sounded interesting to us, and my schedule made weeknight evenings difficult). We've been at our current church for almost a year, but haven't made much of an effort in that area. Sad, I know, especially for a clergy person! So, we're going to begin making it a priority, for our relationship with each other, with God, and so our children can go to Sunday school.

7. I'm on-call tonight, and hoping to actually get a page (or two). I had a "Pager Palooza" weekend over Halloween (meaning I had four on-calls and one full-day shift in four days) and made loads of money, but I've had four on-call nights since then, and my pager has been silent for all of them. I take calls from home (so it's not like I'm away from home) and do get a pittance ($1.50/hr) just for carrying the pager, so it's not like I'm spending nights elsewhere and having nothing to show for it. However, my next paycheck is going to be on the light side. Thank God that I'm not the primary breadwinner!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Miscellaneous

OK, so posting every six weeks isn't that bad, right? Right???

Allow me to provide a few updates:

• Christmas was fun, and I think that Susanna really enjoyed it. She's really not into the gift thing (yet), which took the pressure off of us. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and James' mom came down on Christmas Day. Our gifts to each other were exceptionally domestic; I got a laundry sorter and crock pot, and James got a quesadilla maker and cookware.
• With great fear and trembling, I am putting myself up for an appointment this year. I've been working on some of my own issues that contributed to the SJ debacle and also much better informed on how to handle a "problem church." I think that the local church and I deserve to give each other another chance. I'm just terrified, which may be a good thing. At least I won't be cocky.
• I am LOVING my residency. I love my fellow residents, my supervisor, and the rest of the Pastoral Care staff. I also like Riverside. I hate the commute (40 miles each way) but at least I get to listen to lots of books on CD...the residency ends on August 31.
• Susanna is still not walking. She is standing fairly well with support and is developing more muscle tone, which is key. She's still working with the PT, and will do so until she reaches our goal (able to walk/run easily) or her third birthday, whichever comes first. Apparently I didn't walk until I was about 22 months, so this may be a genetic thing.
• Outside the walking issue, she is still clearly the most adorable, intelligent, and personable child alive. James and I are absolutely enthralled by her, and she charms everyone she meets. She's been sick more this year, with two ear infections and a recent bout of bronchiolitis (thankfully, no ER trip this time!), but her daycare is larger and she's not getting "mommy's milk" anymore. However, she's still pretty healthy, which is a relief. Last time we checked, she was about 31" long and weighed about 23 lbs. She has a smattering of words and lots of unrecognizable sounds. She likes bananas, quesadillas, green beans, and chocolate chip cookies.
• Simon is enjoying his life as a suburban dog and likes barking at the other dogs in the neighborhood. His closest "friend" is Charlie, whose parents are Joel and Melissa (good friends of ours who live in Hampton). He is incredibly gentle with Susanna, who calls him "Dog dog" and likes to pet/hit him. We have yet to see him snap or growl at her. He just gets up and moves when he's had enough. Simon is still extremely cuddly and likes sleeping in bed with us.
• James is doing very, very well at work. He's already gotten a big, fat raise and a performance award. He likes what he's doing, which is a nice change from those last few months at NCCU. Job Satisfaction + Job Success = Happy Husband.

And...I think that's about it. I'll try and post some pictures soon, so you can see how absolutely cute our daughter is.

Rest in Peace, Rocky

David Rockfish "Rocky" Sufficool
November 7, 1997 to July 17, 2008

My parents' dog, Rocky, died very suddenly this morning. My dad said that Rocky had a massive tumor that suddenly bled out. My dad took Rocky to the emergency vet, and they had to put him down. We got him when he was six weeks old; I was halfway through my junior year of college. I took Rocky on walks and took him to obedience school (which he failed miserably, mostly because he was the largest dog by about 30 lbs and I didn't practice with him enough). Although I haven't lived at home in seven years, I still thought of him as partly "my" dog, because we had so much history together.

Rocky was a wonderful dog, full of character. We'll all miss him, but I think his death will be the hardest on my dad, because he and Rocky were very close.

I like to think that Rocky and Woody are playing happily together in doggie heaven, munching on treats to their hearts' content.

Fourth of July Fun!

Last night, we went out on my parents' boat to celebrate the 4th of July. We cruised around the Chesapeake Bay for a few hours and saw most of the city's fireworks displays. It was great; no crowds, no mosquitoes, and at times we could see four or five different fireworks shows at once. Here are a few pictures of Susanna and James. She's wearing a life vest, per USCG rules. She really didn't like it very much, as you can tell from the picture. We think her expression says, "Oh my gosh, these people are unreal. Look what I have to put up with." She didn't have to wear the life vest in the cabin, so she spent a lot of time in there.

How to Transform Your Life in 30 Days or Less...

This blog post will either be very, very long or be split into several parts. I've been very busy for the past six weeks, which is why I haven't posted anything. So, I have a lot of news for you. Let me give you a brief synopsis, so you know what to expect and will stop chomping on your respective bits.

1. As of May 17, I am on family leave ad interim until June 30. This means I am no longer the pastor of St. John's. My last Sunday in the pulpit was May 4, and I took my remaining vacation time, through May 16. My District Superintendent totally supported me in this., and it was something that I needed to do, for a variety of reasons. I'm not going to go into those reasons here; you can e-mail me privately if you want details.
   
2. I've been accepted to a "Residency in Clinical Pastoral Education" at a hospital in Newport News. I begin on September 2. It's a paid position with benefits, and lasts for one year. After that, I may return to the local church or I may get a chaplain position. Only God knows!
   
3. We closed on our new house on May 16. The packers came to Danville on the 19th, they loaded on the 20th, and unloaded in Chesapeake on the 21st. We have about half the house unpacked, including our room, the kitchen, the family room, and most of the living and dining rooms.
   
4. Susanna turned nine (9) months old last Thursday. She has five teeth, number six is poking through, and we're hoping the teeth seven, eight, et al will wait a little bit. She's occasionally miserable, and so are we. Thank God for teething biscuits! She's sitting up by herself, scoots around on her back and tummy, and is making lots of new sounds. This includes "Da-da", which both James and I decided referred to him, since she was looking at him when she said it. Therefore, the kid has her first word at 9 months, and is looking to be as verbal as her mother. I'll post pictures soon, I promise.
   
5. The movers killed James' plasma TV. Thankfully, we had full insurance, so it will be replaced. However, in the meantime, we're back to the 10 year old 20" TV James bought in college. It's better than nothing, but we'll be glad when we have another nice, big screen TV again.
   
6. This stay-at-home mom thing is way harder than I thought it would be. I don't think I'm cut out to do this long-term. I love taking care of Susanna, but I'm not that great at domestic stuff. However, I think I will learn to be a better cook in the next three months.
   
7. James still loves his job. He's splitting time between Norfolk and Suffolk, and works what I call the "schoolyard shift" (between 6:30-7:00 a.m. and 3:30-4:00 p.m.) so he can beat traffic and spend more time with us in the evening.
8. It is so, so nice to have our family together again. It's also nice to be closer to my parents (who live less than 20 miles away) and some of our friends. We can actually have a social life now. Woohoo!
9. I feel peaceful and stress-free for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long. My marriage is better than it has been in a long time, and I hope that the next year will bring healing and wholeness.
   

Rocky Update

Yay!! Assuming he doesn't throw up within the next hour, Rocky will be going HOME tonight! My parents are thrilled about this. They knew he was doing much, much, better when the vet called and said that Rocky was pulling them around on the leash. That's our boy!

We found a house!

Last week, Susanna and I met James in Chesapeake to go house-hunting. Over the past two months, James has been working with a realtor and looking for homes in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. He probably looked at 50+ homes and narrowed it down to about eight that he liked and thought that I'd like. We spent Thursday looking at all of these houses. James had done a great job; I wouldn't have minded living in any of them! However, we did settle on a mutual favorite and wrote out an offer for it. The sellers sent back a counter offer, so we sent them our own counter offer. Finally, Kim (our realtor, who is simply amazing) called us this morning to tell us that our offer had been accepted! Yay!

The house is one that we'll hopefully stay in for a while. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and is in the best school district in Chesapeake (very important now that we have Her Highness). It has a nice yard for Simon and a lovely master suite for Mommy and Daddy. We're hoping to close shortly after Memorial Day. It will be so nice to be homeowners again; we've already begun thinking about improvements and landscaping.

Thanksgiving Report and pics

Simon gets to know his Grandpa Bill

Woody crawled underneath Bill and Nina's deck. Don't ask us how he did it!

We survived the trip to Indiana and back. Simon was fine in the car; he slept most of the drive. He had some issues in the crate that James' parents got for him (I think he was hyper after the trip) so they got up with him about three times on Wednesday night. The other two nights, Simon slept in between them and did just fine.

Simon reminds me more and more of my parents' dog, Rocky. They got Rocky when he was six weeks old, and I can see a definite resemblance. Simon is a sweet puppy and fairly good, but he's still a baby. He gets separation anxiety, occasionally has accidents in the house (thank God for pet stain remover!), and has boundless amounts of energy. He will be starting "school" soon; we're going to take him to a trainer for some initial training. Then he'll start "puppy kindergarten" after the New Year.

Oh! And Simon is growing with leaps and bounds. He weighed 7.9 lbs at his first vet visit on the 14th. We've taken him to get weighed twice since then. On the 21st, he weighed 10 lbs. Yesterday, he weighed 11.3 lbs. If he keeps this up, I won't be able to lift him by New Year's!

Over some rivers and through some woods...

...To Grandma's house we go! The four of us leave tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving in Indiana. I've never spent 10 hours in a car with an 8 week-old puppy, but there's a first time for everything. James' parents are very excited about meeting their new granddog. The "kids" will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa and James and I will be staying in a hotel. It should be a fun trip. We're especially looking forward to stopping for lunch in Lexington on the way back on Saturday. We've been craving our favorite Cajun restaurant-Joe's OK Bayou-for six months now!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Picture from Annual Conference

James and I hadn't downloaded any of the pics from our digital camera since we moved to Danville. The reason? We couldn't find the little black cord that connects the camera to the computer. James found it last week. So here's a much-overdue picture from Annual Conference in June. It was taken right before the "Service for the Ordering of Ministry", where I was licensed as a local pastor. You'll recognize James, me, and my parents. The guy on the far left is Dave Wade, who is a retired UM pastor and family friend.

5 Years And Counting!!!

Five years ago today, James and I got married! I can't believe it's been that long...seems like yesterday! We're looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together...and hopefully producing a few children in the next few years. :) I'm very thankful that I have the BEST HUSBAND EVER!

To celebrate, we're going to Chincoteague (where we went for our honeymoon) for a week. It will be lots of fun to be at the beach and have some time off. Woody will be spending a week in the lap of luxury (doggie-style) at Lucky's Pet Resort in Greensboro, NC. We're hoping that he has a lot of fun, since we'll be paying out the nose for it.

See you in a week! Hopefully by then I will have found the little cord we use to download pics to the computer and can post some pics of our vacation!

Happy Adoption Day, Woody!!!

Two years ago today, Woody became an official member of the Money family. He has brought so much joy and love into our lives; we know he was a gift from God.

The story: Our friend Mike was visiting from Virginia, and on Sunday July 18 we drove him out to Versailles to a railroad museum. On the way back to Lexington, we saw a sign for the Woodford Humane Society. Someone (either James or Mike) said, "wanna go look at dogs?" We decided to stop at WHS. James and I knew we wanted a dog, but were planning on waiting until fall to adopt one. However, we felt it couldn't hurt to "just look around." We went around the kennel, looking at dogs. There was a male lab mix in a corner cage. We took a second look at him, and while we were doing so, a staff member started talking to us. We told her what kind of dog we wanted: medium-large sized, over 1 year old, intelligent, and quiet. She pointed to the Lab mix we were looking at and said, "Woody is the perfect dog for you! He's 4 years old, well-trained, and hasn't barked in the month that he's been here!" We agreed to take him on a walk, since he did seem kinda cute. At one point, he looked up at me, and I fell in love. James liked him, too. However, we didn't want to make a spur of the moment decision and weren't sure that we were ready for a dog yet. So we left, planning to think it over.

James and I talked, and decided that we should probably wait until fall to adopt a dog. We had just moved a month ago, and had some bills to pay. It would cost a lot to buy dog food, toys, a bed, and other supplies. Still, I couldn't help but think of poor Woody alone in that kennel...On Monday July 19, James turned to me in bed and said, "you really like Woody, don't you." I said yes, but that I understood we had to wait before getting a dog.

On Tuesday afternoon, James called me on my cell phone as I was running errands and told me to come home. When I opened the door, a furry black thing rushed at me. It was Woody! James had gone out to Versailles that morning and adopted Woody as a surprise for me. It was my anniversary and birthday present rolled into one. Don't I have a great husband??

We're Virginians Again!!!

Since today was my day off, James and I decided to go to the DMV and get our licenses, title, and registration changed over from KY. We arrived at 10:11 am. Two and a half hours later (12:45 pm) we left the DMV as legal residents of Virginia. We had some snafus when we FINALLY got to a customer service window. We were both still in the system, and at first the computer wanted us to take the written test again...because our licenses had "expired." That got straightened out quickly (since we surrendered our valid KY licenses). Then they wanted to see our marriage license...since I was in the system under my maiden name. Never mind that I had a passport, Social Security card, and license in my married name. (: That got fixed as well. We are now "legal", with VA license plates to boot!

This afternoon/evening we began unpacking boxes. We got the bedroom finished, and are amazed at how big it is. Tomorrow we're tackling the living and dining rooms. Hopefully this week I'll be able to finish the office. Then the fun task of decorating comes. Good thing I have my very own Personal Decorating Consultant on retainer (a.k.a Mom the retired interior decorator)!

Still no furniture...

Our furniture should arrive sometime tomorrow. We had hoped it would happen today, but since we haven't heard from the moving company, that's not very likely. It will be nice to have furniture again. Ditto for our clothes, the washer and dryer, and the rest of our belongings. We bought two folding camp chairs at Target so we'd have somplace to sit. We also bought a new air mattress, since our old one developed a leak on Saturday night. I miss our king-size bed!!!

We've been eating out for nearly every meal, since we have no microwave or kitchen equipment. We've found the Panera, Wendy's, Quizno's, Bob Evans, and Chick-Fil-A. I'm getting desperate for a home-cooked meal. Not going to happen anytime soon, because...

Tomorrow I go to Danville for my "meet your pastor" meeting with my new church. Then I head to Virginia Wesleyan College for Licensing School. Dorm food for eight days, yeah!!

We're here!

I'm writing this from the "business center" of our new apartment complex in Morrisville, NC. We arrived here yesterday (5-13) and are getting used to our new apartment and the area. Our furniture should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. Woody likes the place, although he misses his sofa and his bed.

Our departure from Lexington took an interesting twist when James got food poisoning on Thursday night. I wound up missing my last day of work to care for him/deal with the movers. We ditched our original idea of sleeping in our house on Friday night, and stayed in a hotel, instead. James is feeling MUCH better now.

North Carolina, Ho!

Tomorrow our cable TV and Internet get turned off. The packers come on Thursday, the movers come on Friday, and we leave EARLY Saturday morning. James begins teaching next Tuesday (the 16th) and will continue teaching through July. On May 17th (Wednesday), James and I will make the short trip to Danville, Virginia so I can get familiar with my new church. I will be at Licensing School (a requirement for all new clergy) in Norfolk, Virginia on May 18-26. Since my parents live only 20 minutes away from Norfolk, James and Woody will come up on the 26th and we'll spend Memorial Day weekend with my parents. My cousin Marge will be there, which is exciting, since I haven't seen her since our wedding.

Since life will be fairly busy for us, don't expect a blog entry until June. :)

House sale update

We just accepted an offer on our house! It's a really good offer; only a little bit below our asking price. We'll still wind up "in the black" when all is said and done. The closing should take place by the end of the month.

Woody's sad that he's losing his yard. But we're assuring him that by this time next year, he'll have a BIG yard to play in.