Thunder and lightning and DUST!

We had a storm move in late this afternoon. There was lightning and thunder and it really got dark. The wind came up with an old-fashioned dust storm. I could not see the shelter belt from Auntie Violet's windows! (about sixty feet away...) We got a few drops of rain with it, but I can imagine that the car and motor home windows are going to be filthy when the sun comes up tomorrow. I was just outside trying to see if I could see any stars, but it must still be clouded over. But, it does smell good outside -- there must have been enough rain to settle the dust.

When I was a kid, dust storms were not that uncommon. But there have been so many changes in farming practices, that they just don't happen that much anymore. The field above us that is fallow (in this dry country a piece of ground is only planted to a crop every other year, on the odd years it lies "fallow" in order to store up moisture) was recently weeded and I'm sure that's where much of the dust was coming from.

We had a full house in church at Menno this morning. There are families visiting on vacation plus the Jantz clan was having a reunion on the church grounds this afternoon. It was neat to see so many little kids in church!

I talked with a friend yesterday who I have not seen in many years. She has been reading this blog for a while, so knew what was going on in our lives. It was good to catch up with them and hear what they have been doing.

Sunsets and rabbits and Kindles...

It's been sporadically cloudy with lots of thunderheads building all around us, but we haven't had any measurable rain. It has made for some gorgeous sunsets.

I'm not sure if there is only one, but we've had the cutest little rabbit hanging around Auntie Violet the last several days. He thinks we can't see him if he's behind the clumps of grass. He holds very still as we walk by him -- I'm sure he thinks he is invisible.

I went up to the top of the hill this afternoon to see if I could get reception on my new Kindle DX, but no luck. I drove a few miles further to a hill overlooking the freeway (there now is wireless capability along all of the freeways!) and it worked! I was able to download a couple of the new Mercedes Lackey books as well as a copy of The Fixer Upper that I had almost bought at the airport in Columbus last week. It was very quick. When you rotate the Kindle, the text automatically moves from vertical to horizontal. It makes for a nice change as you're holding it and reading. I did sit out in the sun for a while when I came back and it was just as easy to read in the bright light as it was inside the motorhome. I think I may really like the thing...!

My Kindle is Here!

Daughter Mary Mae stuck the package containing the Kindle DX in with the Fixed Rate box with our mail she sent to Moses Lake today. The package really wasn't very big and neither is the Kindle, even though it's the larger one of the two they make. It's plugged in right now getting charged. I will most likely have to go up on top of the hill tomorrow to download anything with it as it does not seem to be getting reception down here in the coulee.

I've finally gotten caught up with the laundry! And between loads today, I was even able to get several months of finances entered into Quicken. I am caught up as far as May. When I lost the mother board on my computer last winter, the computer shop was able to back-up my files for me. But, during the fiasco of the lemon Dell, I lost everything. In a way it is kind of nice to start over again from scratch -- there's a lot less stuff now then there was when I was working.

We stopped to visit Phyl for a few minutes while we were in Moses Lake. It is hard for her to say more than a word or two...

And Yet Another Trip to Spokane...

The 90 miles between the ranch and Spokane are getting longer every trip! Though, for me the trip today turned out pretty nice. The new lens for our glasses were in and when I called Sarah, I was able to get in this afternoon for a bang trim.

For Forry, it was another story. He wasn't in at the dermatologist's office very long, but the doctor sure worked him over! He has bandages on both elbows and one knee. Sounds like the doc is trying a couple of different strategies on his persistent psoriasis.

I broke down this time and got the photo gray lenses which I have been resisting for years. But it has gotten to be such a hassle to keep switching between my regular glasses and my sun glasses. I seem to be perpetually misplacing my glass case! So far I'm not to pleased with the new lens for driving though. With the tinted glass on the Jeep windshield they do not get as dark as my sun glasses did -- there was definitely more glare.

And I even convinced Forry that we did NOT have to go to lunch at Costco for $1.50 polish dogs! We shared a great albacore tuna sandwich at the Rocket Bakery up on 18th by Manito Park. It's the only place I know of that makes as good a cherry pie as I do -- you can actually see and taste the cherries instead of that awfull canned filling stuff!

We were back at the ranch by 4:30 and I started back at work on the stacked up laundry. The pile in the hallway is beginning to look less intimidating...

Monday and it IS Laundry Day...!

At least today it is! I (started to say we, but that definitely would be incorrect!) have emptied all of the suitcases and piled up the dirty clothes. It's is amazing how many two people can accumulate in seven days away from home! We got back to Auntie Violet just a little after 1 AM, crashed and slept in until almost 9.

I got a few loads of clothes done this morning before we went into Moses Lake to see Phyllis and Vic and to pick up groceries. Now I have another load in the washer with several more lined up to go.

I got a weak "Hi, Hap" from Phyl when I first came in, but that was about it. She's much less alert than she was before we left...

Forry was able to make an appointment for tomorrow morning in Spokane with his dermatologist. He has to be there at 11, so I guess we'll be leaving here by no later than 9:30. It seems to take a good share of our time doing maintanance on the bodies when we are back in eastern Washington!

Aw, the joy of sleeping in!

What a wonderful feeling to lie in bed and know that there is NO reason to get up and get going early this morning! After a week of getting up at 6 AM (which is really 3 AM our time!), it is delightful to be able to roll over an go back to sleep.

We have a late check-out (1 PM) and then will go find someplace to eat brunch before we head for the Columbus airport. Our flight home isn't until 7 PMish, so we have no reason to hurry for anything today! The downside though is we will not get back to Spokane until after 11 this evening, with an hour and one-half to drive yet back to the ranch.

After spending most of our time together 24/7, it's been interesting to be in one place for almost a week with only occasional time together. I've mostly been in delegate or board meetings, while Forry has been going to seminars and?

After six days, you would think you would have seen everyone you know, but with 8000+ people in attendance, we were still running into people last night -- and getting more hugs! Life is GOOD!

Do You Realize It's Already JULY?!!

I was checking my bank statement last night and was surprised by the balance. Then I realized it was a new month and our social security had already been deposited! It's pretty bad when the city was celebrating the fourth of July yesterday and it hadn't dawned on me that we'd moved into another month... I am sure it's because I've been so busy, not because there is any mental deterioration on my part.

It was another busy day today, starting again with a delegate session at 8 AM and ending up with us back at the hotel by 11 PM. With Iris, I gave the report on the Spanish Language Intiative to the delegates this morning. It was going well until I looked down and could see myself in the TV monitor right in front of the podium (they were showing events on the stage over two large TV screens on the front walls). It momentarily startled me, but I think I recovered okay -- I just made sure that I didn't look down again!

Our flight back to Spokane doesn't leave until 7 PM tomorrow night (we won't get back to the ranch until way after midnight!), so we should have a quiet day tomorrow. We've been talking about going to the zoo, but we'll wait to see how ambitious we might be tomorrow.

Red, White and BOOM!

35 minutes of fireworks tonight -- thousands of people downtown! Columbus has a tradition of celebrating on the 3rd of July -- no one seems to know why, they just do.

It didn't start until 10 PM. We finished my last meeting a little before nine, so decided to go back to our hotel and watch it on TV. I'm sorta glad we did as the cloud of smoke over the city looked like it might make for some pretty tough breathing.

Today was a pretty good day. I think we've gotten adjusted to the early mornings and long days. Like anything else though, you just get acclimated and it's time to return home.

Two more delegate sessions tomorrow, then we're done. I've got a report to give with Iris on our Spanish language initiative program. We're supposed to do it in 7 minutes -- or less!

Mennonite Assembly -- Day Three

We got back to our room at 11:30 PM! We had a meeting of the church-wide Anti-Racism teams this evening that was supposed to start at 9:30, but everything else was running late, so it didn't get started until 10 PM. But it turned out to be a really good meeting.

Today was another long day, but a good one. There are some fun pictures on Facebook.

Day Two of the Mennonite Convention...

Well, no sleeping-in this morning -- and after a VERY short night too!
Son-in-law Todd missed his first flight out of Portland to Houston/Columbus yesterday, so he didn't get in until just after midnight. Then we had to be up by six to be showered and dressed and over to the convention center in time for a 7AM breakfast and Delegate sessions that started at 8 AM!

We got back to our hotel tonight at eleven after waiting until 9:30 PM for the "farewell reception" for Executive Director Jim Schrag and Asst. Director Ron Byler. We had two delegate sessions today. I had to go "on-stage" with the rest of the Executive Search Committee to be introduced, but didn't have to say anything. I seem to have a good group of people (7) at the table that I am the table leader for.

I did go to the Women's Dinner tonight, but left early in order to take in the Ted & Co. play. Ted is caring on his comedic skits with a couple of new actors. (His long-time partner died just before conference two years ago.) They put on a very funny "history" of the church and service.