Thinking

I just finished cleaning most of the house (since my parents get here tomorrow) and a friend sent me an email that now has me deep in thought. This kind of thinking is the distracting kind where it is difficult to think of anything else...

Company

I love when people come to visit us. 1) I love to have company and 2) We always manage to make noticable progress on the house b/c we have a goal.

The house is starting to feel more like home and I have even ventured into the basement to try to find some "decorative" things that I had forgotten we owned. It is amazing how little things really make the difference and make a house feel like a home.

Mom & Dad will be here tomorrow and I am very excited. Daniel is taking TH/FR off so that he and my Dad can get some work done. They are going to tackle the master bathroom. The plan is for them to build the shower pan so that it can be tiled later. They will also have to move some of the plumbing since we are enlarging the shower. Then they can install cement board in the shower and there is a lot of drywall work to do - all of the closets and also the wall b/t the MBR and MBA. If they have time there are plenty of little things to work on. I am so excited b/c the end is seemingly in sight for the house!!!

Christmas In July

Today I participated Christmas in July - an activity where the congregation I worship with provided lunch and gifts to a men's homeless shelter in downtown Charlotte. The shelter is called The Charlotte Rescue Mission and it is for recovering alcoholics who are also homeless.

My specific role was to help cook and serve lunch to 130 men. I, along with 9 others, donned santa's hats and joyfully wished everyone a "Merry Christmas" as we served them lunch. The men got a kick out of us - wishing us a "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" in return. After lunch, we mingled with the men before gifts were passed out.

This was my first visit to a homeless shelter. I was amazed that this particular group of men were so seemingly "normal." I realize that this is not the norm and that some homeless people have severe problems, but it was a good first experience for me and I was definitely touched today.

Spider Web

When we got home tonight from our daily Lowe's trip, we noticed a huge spider web between the Pathfinder and a tree. On closer inspection we noticed this rather large garden spider spinning the web. I don't think that I have ever seen a web being made. The actual process is pretty amazing.

Tea Parties, Dress Up & a Feather Boa

Who knew that dressing up and having a tea party as an adult could be fun? This afternoon I attended a "tea party" at church for the women's mentor group. I really wasn't sure that I would have fun, but I went anyways.

When I got there, there was a table covered with every type of hat that you could imagine, as well as a chest full of gaudy, over-the-top jewelry and feather boas. It was every little girl's dream (except maybe mine).

As soon as I came in, the older women informed me that I had to dress up. I found a floppy, khaki hat that I liked. Then the women told me that I needed more so I picked out a pretty shell necklace. Minimal and I still felt like me.

Then one of the elder's wives told me that I still did not have enough and handed me a red feather boa and a big, chunky, yellow fish necklace. We all looked pretty crazy.

We learned about where tea came from (first in China and then transported to England via the Portuguese and only for aristocrats originally). We had a traditional English tea and a chance to visit, followed by a devo. I was surprised to find myself enjoy the event (even though I had to wear a boa)...

Shrek the Third and a Big Thunderstorm

We saw Shrek 3 tonight. It was cute. Throughout the whole movie we kept hearing thunder rumble - there were times I wasn't sure if it was the movie or outside. It turns out it was outside.

When we came out of the theater, the rain was a torrential down pour. Sheets of rain is not quite adequate to describe the down pour. Daniel was a gentleman and ran to the back corner of the parking lot to get the car and came and picked me up.

Lightening, thunder and rain so hard you could not see the road the whole way home. I love thunderstorms, I just hope that we don't end up with another downed tree!

I received a call from Sporting News this afternoon. They are a company from St. Louis that just got relocated to Charlotte - they put out "year books" for Nascar and all of the professional sports teams (hockey, baseball, basketball, football, fantasy football, etc) as well as college sports. It seems they are interested in me, which is interesting... we will see.

We are hoping to make some decent headway on the master bathroom this weekend - hopefully we will finish gutting it.

Coloring Books, Silly String & 20 Kids

That was what I had in order to direct a video announcement for my church. On August, 18, 2007, Providence Road Church of Christ, along with the Gateway YMCA are sponsoring a Book Bash. The Book Bash is an event where kids who cannot afford school supplies will come to the Gateway YMCA where they will receive a book bag and supplies for the upcoming school year.

In an effort to get the message out that volunteers are needed to work the event as well as to donate items, we created a video announcement using kids from the congregation. The idea for the announcement was to have a group of "bored" kids decide to "bash" each other with books. The kids were great at making chaos happen. I provided them with coloring books and silly string and they all spontaneously went nuts. Then the children's minister came on the scene to find out what was going on and then proceeded to explain what the Book Bash was all about. They all did a great job and the filming on the announcement was a success (and very funny to watch). The children's minister did a fantastic job of getting the kids to do what we needed.

I am excited to see the finish product and am happy that we were able to utilize kids in the video.