December 2, 2006

Carolina Sue enjoys a ride from SaraLynn	We went to church at Mt. Pleasant Sunday morning.  A visiting preacher from PA preached the sermon.  He was difficult for me to understand and stay attentive to because he talked in very much of a high monotone with almost no inflection or pauses between phrases or sentences.  It seems that some of the more conservative Horning preachers use this style of preaching.  After church we went back to Papa's for a delicious "Thanksgiving" dinner.  Marsha's new friend, Gary Monroe was there to "meet the family".  I thought he seemed very nice.  Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture for all you out there that may be interested. :)  We headed home for SC around 2:30 and took Wendell, Naomi & Julie Heatwole along with us.  Their car had broken down on their way North and they needed a ride to get back home.  We were very happy to have them ride along.  It made a long drive seem quite a bit shorter!  We had a little problem with traffic and got back around 10:00pm.
I've been doing some work here at the First Baptist Church's new "Merge" youth center.	Monday was a gorgeous day weather-wise.  Ina Sue dug into the laundry duties while I ran off to work.  Neither of us got all of our tasks for the day done...   I came home to a supper of chicken/rice soup and fresh salad.  After supper I went over to Wendell's to help him load a pickup load of bagged pecans out of his grove.  Then I drove up to Denmark and played a couple sets of tennis with Richard.  I must be getting old & soft... He won 4 sets to my 1.  :(
Happy children with their monkey	Tuesday was another beautiful fall day.  Ina Sue finished up the washing and ironing, then took the children with her outside and worked at getting our windows washed up.  I went in to work early this morning but also was able to come home around 4:30.  Ina Sue fixed us chicken cordon-bleu calzones for supper.  She was not happy with how they looked but they tasted great!  After supper I went in to the jail for Bible study while Ina Sue straightened up the house and cared for the young-uns.
Here is a picture of the main warehouse at Grant OSB Mill where I've been doing work.	I spent a regular day at work on Wednesday.  Ina Sue was ecstatic to finish up her job of washing windows.  Our neighbor, Ms. Margaret came over and visited for a while in the morning.  We had leftovers for supper and milkshakes for dessert.
The log crane at the mill	I was planning to take Thursday off but it didn't completely work out.  I had to go in to the shop in the morning so I took Carolina Sue along with me.  I normally do not take her with me to work because it can make it a bit hard to get things done.  All my customers though always seem to love seeing her and love giving her candy and playing with her.  Thankfully, she does not seem to be afraid of strangers and is happy to talk to whoever.  I finished up my work then we stopped at the library on the way home to pick up some story books.  They were just starting story-time so we took that in.  Then, just before we left, Santa Claus made his grand entrance and of course made a beeline for Carolina Sue.  She was rather over-awed by this personage to say the least...  She had quite a story to tell Mama when we got home. :)  I planned to work on the screen porch during the afternoon but it rained most of the time.  We worked on misc. odd jobs and Ina Sue caught up our finances on the computer while I read to the children.
The truck with two fronts at the parade.	I headed off to work again on Friday while Ina Sue kept the children and did the normal Friday cleaning.  It rained for quite a bit of the day.  In the afternoon Ina Sue took the children and our bed quilt up to Denmark to wash the quilt at the laundromat.  I had a service call up there right at 5:00 so when I finished it up we all met at Hardees for our supper.  We had coupons and ended up with quite a delicious supper for around $5.00.  I brought the children on home while Ina Sue took my car and went shopping at Dollar General.  The children & I read stories, worked on the webpage, etc for about an hour & 1/2 and still not Mama.  Suddenly a terrible thought hit me.
Watching the parade of fire trucks...	My car had been just about out of gas and Ina Sue did not have a cell phone with her.  I could already see her the car sitting dark along the road while my wife trudged tiredly down the road in search of gas....  I had already put Landon down to bed so I grabbed Carolina and we rushed out to the van and down the road in search of Mama.  Imagine my chagrin to find her still parked in front of the Dollar General.  She had been having such fun shopping that time had gotten away from her.  I told her to take her time but to stop for gas on the way home.  Then we went on home.  She got back soon after.  :)  Ina Sue has been soaking a turkey for the last day or two so we put it in the oven this evening then I stayed up till 12:00 to turn it back down for slow cooking...
Ina Sue got up before I did on Saturday morning and starting carving the turkey.  It turned out delicious!  She worked on cooking for most of the day in preparation of her turn as hostess on Sunday.  I spent almost the whole day plumbing in a new laundry sink on our back porch.  Ina Sue has wanted it for a long time but I never got up the nerve to attempt the plumbing.  I finally decided that today would be the day.  Our porch is pretty tight down to the ground so the crawl space if very limited.  Then while crammed into this tight space I had to use a hammer & chisel to break through the block wall into the underside of the house where I wanted to tie into the water pipes.  To make a long story short, it took 4 trips up to Brookers in Denmark, two sets of very dirty clothes, and a very sore back to end up with the sink mostly plumbed but with no hot water to our entire house.  No, don't ask!  We did take a short break around 3:30 to drive in to Barnwell to see the parade.  Carolina Sue was enthralled to say nothing of her mother... :)  Her dad especially liked the old pickup that seemed to have two fronts.  It actually had two drivers (facing opposite ways) and each steered his end of the truck.  It looked hilarious!  After we got back home we worked to clean up the house then I took a cold shower myself but tried to heat up water on the stove for my children & wife to take their baths.  I am really starting to appreciate the blessing of hot water on tap....