November 10, 2007

Landon babies his "baby"	Time changed early Sunday morning with Daylight Savings Time going off.  Quite a luxury to sleep in an extra hour.  Unfortunately, even with the extra hour we still found ourselves rushing around at the last minute...   Mark Hochstetler preached an inspiring message on "Hope, the Anchor of the Soul".  We came home to a spur of the moment lunch of biscuits with Chinese chicken salad.  We rested for a while in the afternoon then since we did not have church at our church tonight, we all went in to the Presbyterian church to hear David Roche speak.
We went to hear this man Sunday evening.	Several people had invited us to come and hear this man's testimony and challenge.  He was born with a severe facial disfigurement and underwent radiation therapy that only seemed to make it worse.  He spoke on the importance of accepting ourselves as we are.  He said that in his case his disfigurement made him face himself.  Many others who may be much better looking, go through life being held up by perceived failings and inadequacies.   He was quite a humorous speaker and we enjoyed the evening.
Aunt Laura is a big favorite.	Monday was a rather frustrating day for me.  I went in to work at the normal time and spent just about the whole day working in the shop.  It seemed like the whole day I was frantically going from one task to the next but didn't really accomplish much of real worth....  Some days seem to be like that... :(  Ina Sue on the other hand got all the laundry washed, dried, ironed & folded all the while taking care of her little children.  We had tacos for supper and spent the evening relaxing.
Daryl & Sharon Brubaker	We both got up at 6:00 on Tuesday and I helped get the children dressed and ready to go with Ina Sue.  We both left around 8:20 with me heading to work and her and the children to sewing circle.  She spent the morning sewing more baby burial gowns for the hospital then they all met me in at the shop for a dinner together at Mi Rancho.  Carolina Sue did not want to eat anything and she felt like she had a fever.  When Ina Sue got home she took Carolina's temperature and it was over 104 again.  This worries us because she had a really high fever like that just about two weeks ago.  By the next evening she seemed fine again but we wonder if we should take her to a doctor to be checked.  I got home around 5:30 to take care of the children while Ina Sue planned to go to a Tupper-Ware party.  With Carolina Sue still being sick though, she decided to stay home with us.  We were glad she did and had a nice evening.  Carolina Sue is definitely more subdued when she is sick!
Sheldon Keller & Laura Strite	Wednesday we were lazy and slept in a little.  Carolina Sue felt better in the morning but seemed to get a bit more feverish through the day.  I spent the day at work while Ina Sue cooked and sewed on the dress she is making for Carolina Sue.  Since Carolina was still acting sick in the evening, Ina Sue stayed home with her while I took Landon with me to church for prayer meeting.  Uncle Enos led the discussion on "The Christian and Ecology.  After we got home we put the children to bed then Ina Sue & I made up a batch of hummus with chips and some hot tea for an evening snack.
Daren Diem cuts up the limbs	Thursday was pretty busy for both of us.  Ina Sue was busy working to get the food ready and the house cleaned up for our company in the evening.  I was able to get off work a little early and got home around 5:00.  That gave me time to help set the table and get everything ready before our company got here at 6:30.  My sister Laura and her friend Sheldon Keller drove over from Georgia for the evening.  Daryl & Sharon Brubaker filled out our small table.  Ina Sue served us parmesan baked catfish, baked hominy, collard greens, soda cheese & crackers, cinnamon baked apples, and cream cheese pecan pie for dessert.  We had a very good time visiting together.  It was good to have a bit more time to get to know Sheldon.
While the rest of us cart them away	Ina Sue finished Carolina Sue's new dress on Friday.  I had a bunch of accounting to do at the shop along with my other duties and felt a bit overwhelmed.  My wonderful wife offered to line up a babysitter then come in and help me with filing & cleaning in the evening.  I certainly couldn't refuse!  She dropped the children off with Betty & Carolyn then drove in to the shop around 6:00.  She went over to Blimpies and picked us up some very cheap subs (with a super coupon) and we ate a quick supper together before we got back to work.  I was thrilled with everything we got done.  It is so nice to feel on top of things rather than struggling to keep up.  She left a little before I did and dropped by Dons to pick up the children.  Douglas & Laura were there so she stayed and visited for a while.
Ina Sue & I planted 3 rows of onion plants.	Ina Sue made us egg & bacon McMuffins for breakfast on Saturday.  Then I worked on planting some of our plants out back.  We decided that we needed some more & I needed lumber for a separate project so I took Carolina Sue with me to Denmark and up to Driftwood Nursery for some more plants.  We were very happy with what I got including a very nice camellia sasanqua for the one corner.  When I got home we just barely had time to plant them before I had to leave on a "Youth Service" job.  We met some of the church young people at Delmar Diems then I took two of the fellows with me to a yard that needed cleaned up.  The others went with Delmar & Darren to their neighbors house to trim up trees and brush.  After we got done with our yard we went over and helped the other crew for the last hour or so.  I got home around 3:00 and worked with Ina Sue to plant three rows of onions and to clean up around the house.  After dark I took Landon with me to fill the car with gas and to get milk.  We also stopped at the Chinese restaurant in Denmark and got us some vegetable fried rice for supper.  Ina Sue and Carolina polished up four pairs of my shoes. When we got home we quickly bathed the children and ate our supper then knocked off for the day.  Now I'm doing this....