Sunday Stash & Dash memories

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Church did not go smoothly this morning.

When it is communion at my church and we have the early service, things always feel rushed. Then there were lots of miscues.

Things were fine until I went for Sunday School. I had 10 kids and it was chaos. Then we only did a small part of the abbreviated activities before it was time for communion. Then our new minister (who was doing her first communion with us) got caught by the liturgy saying The Lord's Prayer, Sung and a hymn #. She, naturally, expected us to sing it. We never sing it. Except that liturgy has been used 3x over the past years and so obviously we sung it but there was a scramble, especially by the organist who has never played it before (although she should have if it says 'sung' in the liturgy.) Then dh and I had to sing the offeratory while communion was distributed because it was missed during the offeratory.

We finished only 9 minutes late (which was amazing) and got over to the second church with lots of time. I did my announcements again, and dh and I sang the anthem with that choir then scooted out.

I've been listening to the end of my friend's service so heard part of the sermon and his communion. He does communion so well, I love listening even if I'm not partaking.

Now to start a load of laundry and then read over my next service while I have some lunch.

Ds wrote this morning (his night) to let me know he's alive, he hasn't injured himself, he's eating OK but he decided to not have a productive day since he's so tired. I like that format - quick and essentials. I wrote back with the answers as they pertain to me (I have injured myself in that the dancing last night was too much for my knees but I hope physio will get me through this - they are getting worse as the day goes on.)

[Twins' Mom]

Done with that round and I think dh is home, just heard the garage door.

Once things settle down:
-straighten MBr and bath
-make the bed
-reboot laundry, fold, put away, etc.

[Harriet]

In laws never figured out they needed to call ahead

Agreed - that is The Mother of All Stash n Dash troubles. Perhaps I should say, "The Mother-In-Law of all".

When my late dh and I had 2 small children, things would often be far from company-ready around here. A car in the driveway, or, if we were remarkably lucky, a phone call saying, "walking out the door now" would find my military-minded late dh getting the children's attention with a whistle and a motion in the air above his head that looked like helicopter blades. The children knew that this meant Stash n Dash, and Daddy expected a jack-rabbit start to it, too! So I had to be careful later, since sometimes the very thing I was looking for would be under stuffed toys and Tonka trucks in the children's rooms! Still, I was grateful for his instant effect on the children's work ethic!

Nancy, so sorry about the low, and so glad dh was with you.

Kathryn, once our youthful then-minister was so intent on a new, casual communion moment of having everyone standing encircling the pews, backs to the walls. There were glitches to iron out of course, and he became a little flustered. He put the bread ahead of the grape juice in the service, and was so disappointed. No one criticized, but he could hardly forgive himself!

I took dd to the place she had hoped would be a good running spot for her - walkway around a business park's pond. But we were met with "no trespassing" signs and couldn't decide if they were new. So we didn't know if just walking/running around the pond was a no-no now or not. (People have always done so in the past, but if these signs are new, it means things have changed.) No one else was there today, so she just couldn't bring herself to use it. I needed to get gasoline and we picked up some take-out, so by the time we got back the sun was blazing and she didn't run here, either. Oh well, a morning of mis-cues.

She's been invited to a "black tie" birthday party for a girlfriend (younger than she, will turn 14). Sigh. Dd doesn't own an evening gown. Why have fancy parties for young teens - I don't get it. Perhaps relatively formal sweet-16 parties are traditional in some families, but this is for turning 14, and black tie affairs are expensive for everyone, hardly comfortable. I suppose she can wear one of the gowns I have saved for when I lose weight!!!! How do I know that will probably disappoint, however, assuming it is not to teen's taste.

Update - she has tried on the solid black column dress I wore in DC and finds it acceptable if she adds her own new-fashion thin belt with gold accents. So if I can convince her the shrug that goes with it can be shed as soon as she arrives, I think we are set. She is happy she can wear black sandals she already owns and likes, and would like her friends to see. Now maybe affording the gift won't be toughl!!! I'm pensive on 2 counts - 1) I didn't get back into the dress before my youngest dd did, and 2) my youngest dd can wear my clothes.

Ds and my green-eyed boy came yesterday and basically trimmed tree limbs and napped, respectively. Poor little one had a diaper rash appear fast and furious, but Grandpa knew right when the Balmex was and so the menfolk handled the situation even before I arrived home from the shower. So glad I'm stocked. The key to the tractor has been lost, and is a sad state of affairs for the menfolk here. First tractor key lost in so many decades no one can remember, but they will figure it out. Green eyed boy found one of his great-grandmother's precious Alice and Jerry books and while all held their breath, looked through it and then put it back in the bookcase! Note to self: put that book up high! (even though it would have made my mother happy he liked it)

[OKay]

a morning of mis-cues.

That describes our morning very well.

LO woke up chipper and talking non-stop (his normal self). His allergy meds are back to normal schedule and all is well.

We arrived at church 45 minutes before time for service to start. What should have been a calm time was filled with chaos and mis-cues. I can't remember all of them but a few are
** DH was the only elder at church this morning so he was surrounded with people asking questions and sharing their concerns.
** Coffee table was started but was only partially done (no sugar, creamer, etc). I got those items and put them out.
** M was looking for the nursery director but only knew her name. I found T and introduced M to her
** Hugs and chatted with 70+ year old lady who is a bit needy
** Welcomed guests as they entered arena. H usually does it but he was sick.
** Saw a guest wondering around and discovered he needed to talk to H. Guest only knew H's name but not what he looked like. I took him to H and introduced them.
** Hugs with R & C while visiting with S about upcoming zumba & ripped classes. All the time thinking.....do I really want to commit to this?
** K motion to me from the stage (while he was playing piano). His monitor wasn't working and asked me to fix it or find someone who could. I ran up the stairs and relayed the message to T. He started troubleshooting the sound system to track down the problem.
** Discovered drummers monitor wasn't set up - notified T (who is very knowledgable and eager to fix sound problems).
** Person who normally starts our service wasn't there this morning. 5 minutes after it should have started I gave up and asked S & guest musicians who is going to get it started. Guest musician took the microphone and started the service.
** DH noticed our preacher isn't there. Preacher had decided to speak to 300 teenage girls at another place and was going to **try** to make it back to our church by the time he is suppose to be on stage preaching. ****groan****
** Guest musicians kept on playing ......by this time DH is pacing the parking lot. Preacher shows up 40 minutes after the service started. He ran and jumped up on stage and started his message.

We were about 45 minutes later than normal getting out of church. All the eating places were packed and most had waiting lines running out the doors. We stopped at the grocery store and bought a bag of chip and dip to eat for lunch. It seemed like a perfect match to the way the rest of the morning went.

[Nancy]

Harriet if it is lawn tractor any of the same make will make it start if its any thing like we had. A call to the home center should help.

[lucylee]

HELLO!!! Just a very quick check in, and I saw Harriet's post from Wed. night -- re: cartoons/sketches for school newspaper.
I had artists from time to time who would do topical sorts of cartoons, or design logos/titles for certain recurring features in the paper, or just draw whatever they wanted to. It's really up to the sponsor and what the kids want. But it sounds like a great opportunity for dd and I predict she will enjoy it. Good for her! (They tell me newspaper looks good on college applications, too. )

[OKay]

We lost a tractor key once. A mechanic gave us the suggestion to purchase a marine (boat) ignition switch. It was much cheaper and fit perfect. A bonus was that it was water proof. After that lost key mishap, we started keeping all our tractor, gate and mower keys on individual lanyards. The brighter color lanyard the better.

We had a quiet afternoon then worked outside in the yard for a little while. I'm feeling refreshed and ready to start the new week.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Second part of the day went much better.

Got a load of laundry washed (but just so the door wouldn't unlock - we left it and headed off.)

My church service at the retirement home went very well. They are such a joy. I had 19 (capacity 22) and 5 came down for tea and cookies after the service.

Back at home I phoned the Third Amigo, ds' adventure friend and dfs and made arrangements to drop off ds's stuff. First was to the Third Amigo's dad's home where we met up with him (halfway between his house and ours.) Actually, first was getting the car running. We needed to check the oil which entails opening the hood. Dh couldn't figure it out but I remembered pliers are involved and that was enough of a clue for dh (the hood release handle has come off.) The oil was fine so we headed out. Dh was behind me and then he wasn't but there was a car on the shoulder behind me so I turned off to the side (in a construction zone.) Turns out it was dh. As I got my phone on, he pulled back into traffic and signaled me to pull in front of him as he approached. We pulled off at the next exit and while he went slow he never pulled over again so I continued, stopping to wait for him when necessary and to avoid people coming between us.

Turns out the check engine light came on when he pulled onto the highway. So he pulled over and checked oil (ok) and so continued on. It was a tense drive for the two of us.

Dropped off the car. The Third Amigo will take it to his house, see if he can get the car into shape to safety check it and then sell it. He doesn't want ds to keep it any longer and ds needs the money.

Next was to see dfs' and drop off the boxes earmarked for him. Finally, ds's adventure friend (without this guy in his life, I don't think ds would have ever decided to take the plunge and do half the things he's been doing these past 3 years.) We left him ds's climbing ropes to use (it means he can take others climbing even if they don't have full gear.)

We picked up a few groceries and a pizza and watched a movie with dinner. I heard a skype call notification and it was ds who had time to kill so called to chat. He starts his orientation today but arrived a couple of hours early. His room in the dorm isn't ready but he's dropped off his food and was sitting outside a closed shop that had free wifi. Tomorrow (which is today for ds) is a holiday so not a lot will be open.

We watched the end of the movie, finished up the radio surveys we agreed to complete this week and will now head to bed. My knees are super sore and my shoulders are too but that is probably from window cleaning on Friday.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a busy week.