THIS PAST WEEKEND

(Written on Monday, November 5, 2012)

It’s been a very busy weekend.  Still no internet.  I spoke with three different people at Sprint and was told they are working on the problem and it should be back within the next two weeks.  We are getting disgusted with it and looking into another carrier this week.  Enough is enough already.  Yes, towers were damaged.  Yes, everyone had problems.  But every single other internet provider is up except for ours?  We have had problems with them before and were going to give them up when our contract is up the end of this month.  So we are feeling now is the time.

We ran all over the place on Saturday.  First we went to the farm.  It is the last farmer’s market of the season.  I really stocked up.  I got  carrots, potatoes, fingerling sweet potatoes (I had never seen them before.  We had them for dinner tonight and boy were they good!), green beans, candy onions, an acorn squash and some challah rolls.  I didn’t get to take a picture of everything because I was in a rush and Joe just put everything away.

After the farm we stopped at the library where I work to use their internet.  It is so tough not being able to get on whenever I want.  I didn’t know I was so dependent on it until I didn’t have it.  I see something on TV and think I want to look that up and I can’t.  I hear political commercials and wonder if they are true and can’t look up the candidate’s background.  Oh my!  So I have read your comments as of Saturday, but I haven’t had the opportunity to comment on anyone else.  Sorry.  It will get better.

Then we went looking for someplace to get a couple of pictures printed.  Everywhere we went was either really busy or had no paper.  Deliveries aren’t all getting through yet.

Next we got Joe a haircut because he wanted to look nice to preach on Sunday.  Our pastor’s grandfather died and he was in Rhode Island for the funeral when the storm hit.  So he has not yet gotten back.  Elder Rich was next in line to preach, but he lives on Staten Island and if you have been watching the news you know that there is no way he could have gotten to Philly.  So Elder Joe took over the preaching.

I then ran home and grabbed my things and ran out again because I was invited to my next-door-neighbor’s 70^th birthday party and I was a half hour late getting there.  It was such a cool party.  It was held at A.C. Moore’s.  We had a workshop room to ourselves.  All of us brought pictures of Bea (the birthday girl) and ourselves and made a scrapbook page for her.  All the pages were put together into a book which was her gift.  We were also given a gift.  We each got a clear glass candle holder and paint pens and were told to decorate it any way we wanted.  How creative these ladies were.  They all turned out beautiful! 

I was so not inspired that day.  After staring at the blank glass for a good 10 minutes I ended up drawing some autumn leaves and acorns.  It turned out nice, but was not very creative in my opinion.

The food and cake were wonderful.  Everything was so good.

Chrissy, Bea’s daughter who threw the party, used to work at A.C. Moore.  She got one of the employees to take a group shot of us.  It was so fun.  What a creative idea for a party.

Of course being at A.C. Moore I couldn’t just walk out.  I ended up buying a bag of mill ends in a beautiful turquoise color and a couple skeins of variegated blue and brown yarn to make myself a pair of socks.  The directions on the label say it’s easy, so I hope it is.  I have never made socks before.

When I got home I made dinner and then Joe and I worked on his sermon for Sunday – him dictating and me typing.  He owes me big time for all the work I’ve done to get this together for him.

Yesterday was another busy day.  At least the sun was shining brightly when I got up.

We had to get to church really early to set everything up.  Fortunately I know how to get the microphones, sound system, and video camera set up.  Joe tried to get the heat to come up, but it never got very warm in there.  When we came in it was 51* and when we left it was only 61*.  I was frozen and began to understand just how bad it is for those without heat.

The service went really well.  Joe’s message will be on our website soon (www.MyWBFC.org) so anyone who wants to see it can.  He spoke on Luke 16:1-15 – the parable of the shrewd steward.

After church Joe took me to Sonic for lunch to thank me for all my work.  It was good, but it’s starting to get too cold to eat in the car.  I was frozen through when I got home.  I was so cold I felt like I was going to be sick.  And I couldn’t get warm no matter what I did even though it was warm in the house.  So I ended up laying down on the sofa and wrapping myself in a heavy afghan.  After about a hour and a half I started to warm up and then I fell asleep and slept the afternoon away.

It is nice to see some blue sky, but as you can see from this picture there are still some clouds from Hurricane Sandy in the sky.  And now we are supposed to have another severe storm later in the week.  I feel as if this will never end.

My sister in New Jersey still does not have electricity or heat.  Since it was going down below freezing last night, she has decided to stay a few days with a friend from her church who has full power in her house.  Such a nice offer from this lady.  I am so glad Elaine is not staying in a dark, cold house.  She was able to bring her cockatiel, Spike, but not her dog, Cody.  Her friend, Frank,  is taking care of Cody for a few days.  She is now hearing the rumor that electricity will be back by Wednesday.  We are all praying for that.

Back to work today.  It is very cold at work too.  I am dressed warmly and hopefully will get through today without too much problem.

P.S.  Elaine's electricity went back on yesterday evening.  So very glad and thankful!

P.P.S.  It's snowing!  Our nor'easter is  here!