A Busy Weekend

This last Saturday night our choir gave us a going away party. It was a really fun evening with a lot of games, good food and friends! Hubby and I didn't realize it was a going away party til after the evening's events started! HA! I think we were a little dense there!! Anyway we were surprised at the end when they gave us handmade pillowcases that everyone had signed! The sentiments were all wonderful and some made us a bit teary. We're going to miss these folks!!

The pillowcases were made by my friend Chris and they will fit king sized pillows - they are a little hard to see, but the edging is sheet music! Perfect since we have been in this choir for more than 35 years!!

Sunday morning we went down to San Diego for MissA's dedication in church. In our denomination we don't baptise til the person is old enough to make that decision for themselves. But we do bring babies and dedicate them to Christ and the parents dedicate themselves to raise the child to know and love Christ. It's a really neat time! Well - of course MissA was adorable and when the pastor's wife was holding her and the pastor was praying for her, MissA grabbed her necklace and stuffed it in her mouth. It was so cute - and since there are always folks who don't close their eyes when someone is praying, a ripple of chuckles went through the congregation. We looked up to see her holding that necklace and happily chewing on it!

She is in that stage of getting teeth when the world is her chew toy - and at lunch, she "talked" Uncle Jeff into sharing his watch!

Sunday night was the annual Pie Auction at our church. Every year our teen department holds this event to raise money to send kids to church camp in the summer. It has gotten quite expensive for the week over the years and this helps more kids go at a reduced cost to their families! Pies - either purchased or home made are brought to either be served at $3 a slice or auctioned off. Folks also commit to bake a pie at some time during the year, and these "future pies" can be bid on too. It usually starts slow, but it doesn't take long for folks to get into the action. I baked 3 chocolate silk pies - (incredibly yummy!) - and during the evening they sold for between $150 - $200 each!! There were a lot of pies and in a 2 hour period we raised $6100!!! The last "pie" of the evening traditionally is the "pie in the face". This pie raises the most money, because all the bids go into one pot - I think it ended up at over $1200!! The person who had the most money pledged for them to get the pie, being a good sport, covers up with a plastic bag and the whipped cream flies! Many times Pastor has taken it, several times the Youth Pastor has gotten it, but this time hubby "won" the privledge!! He has been the chairman of the church board for more than 20 years and since we are moving, it was proposed that the new chair of the board throw the pie! So good friend Jeanne got the honors!! She was kind and only smooshed his face not his hair!!

Good times!!

More Remodel Pictures and Thots

My friend Morning Glory went by our house this weekend and I was greeted with a bunch of lovely new pictures of our house this morning when I turned on my computer!

They had to put a huge beam and trusses in to hold the whole thing up - it spans almost 40 feet from end to end!!








We didn't think they would be able to give us a vaulted ceiling at first - but our contractor said the truss company engineered it so it could be bumped up and it will be sooooo neat when it's done!!







We have some lovely big windows to take advantage of the daylight and the view. I am running out of adjectives to describe how excited we are about this; "wow" and "wonderful" and "beautiful" just don't seem like enough any more!! Its going to be big - and right now with no furniture in it - "huge" is another word that just doesn't seem like enough!! HA!!




They just started on the kitchen island and that is also going to be spacious and will take full advantage of the wonderful light and views! I'll also be able to be a part of everything that's going on! It has a bunch of drawers and a wide cabinet with pull-out shelves, the kitchen sink, dishwasher and a cool cabinet that will look like the others, but will house my trash can out of sight, but handy!


We picked out some paint colors - a soft goldy-yellow for the kitchen, medium taupe for the greatroom and a lighter taupe for the old living room/new dining room with a dark red accent wall at one end. We have a carpet sample, and the colors look good with it. That's as far as we've gotten though - we have no clue what the new furniture will be! We'll have to get in and live with it a bit before we make those choices. We do have the wonderful dining set and we'll bring the furniture we have now so we'll have some time to get the new stuff right!


One month from today - July 2 - the truck will be pulling into the driveway and the new chapter will begin! I started thinking about that yesterday - a new chapter. I do a lot of reading and authors usually start a new chapter when the story line makes a change. The existing characters don't change, and the relationships in the previous chapters don't go away, but there is a shift to something new. The chapters in the story leading up to the new chapter usually have set the stage for the story to shift, and their content has an impact on the continuing story line.


I sort of feel like that is what is happening in my life; my current chapter is winding down and the next one is about to make it's appearance on the new page. The characters that are in the narrative to this point don't go away or become less relevant to my story, they are special, and always will be. The story has been shaped by the friends and family and the daily lives we have lived, and we don't suddenly change because we have a new address. But in this new chapter there will be new characters and new adventures, and once again the story will be shaped by our changed environment. We have had a solid group of friends and family our whole lives and they are hard to leave. (We are hoping they will make frequent good use of our guest rooms!) The time with those folks will be always be special because we share a long history of friendship, prayer support and good times!


I'm excited about this new chapter - and a little apprehensive too - in order to meet new friends we will be challenged to step out of our comfort zones! I have lived in SoCal for 59 years and 353 days, and my mom and dad and grandparents before me! But 60 seems to be a perfect age for a new adventure!