A day of incredible proportions!

What a fabulous day today! Normally I expect Sundays to be this way and today was no exception. Since the Bible study is one which I already finished on Tuesday nights, I opted to stay home this a.m. and take care of a few other things. Upon arrival at church I put up the easel and bulletin board to post the announcement about the Ladies' Group brunch on the 7th of February.

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Worship was excellent and it was so great to see Lawcock's again, the first time since CHRISTmas. Paul told me on the phone yesterday he had been laid up for over a week due to kidney stones and, of course, we had a big laugh when I reminded him about Kramer passing his kidney stone while at the circus. Oh, how we laughed, even though poor Paul was having pain. He had already passed two of the three stones that were cursing him, and today he told me that right after talking to me, he passed the last of them! He said he wished he had talked to me a week ago to help him pass the stones sooner. Just another service I offer......

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After church, Kathy and I went to eat lunch together at Aron's Pizza because I was soooooooooo hungry for stromboli. We quit going there on Tuesdays because we had trouble making it to Bible study on time since they usually had only one waitress working. It was time for me to have a stromboli! Following lunch Kathy and I came here and set up in the river room. We worked together, going over her portion of the data gathering needed for the meeting with Synod team coming to tell our congregation whether or not we should add grades to our preschool. The data requested was in depth, asking for particulars which were incredibly involved, and in some cases, nearly impossible to determine. We referenced as many websites and resources as we could, including those the Team recommend, to seek the answers to these involved forms. Some of the blanks are filled with common knowledge or simply assumptions while more is fact-based materials. After a couple hours of working, we reached a point where Kathy was no longer pulling out her hair, having a fairly good handle on the situation, she felt. The information packet will be mailed off to WI at the end of this month for the Team to look over before they come down at the end of February. Hopefully the weather will improve here before they come so we can show the two guys some warm Southern hospitality!

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Late afternoon, Brenda W. called to see if we were still on to have dinner tonight. Oh, yes, indeed! They had to wait around their house most of the day because AT&T was coming out to install their Internet and cable television package. Brenda knew it was going to take all day for them to install it so the time for our dinner was up in the air. When Brenda called she told me the install was aborted after about 5 hours of working, discovering that their house was 90 feet outside the established service area! Evidently no one knew that until it was time to fire it up! Oh, man! They had to rehook up the service that was already there and just call it a day, earning no pay for the day as they are paid according to the number of TVs they hook up. Bummer! Kathy and I finished up the paperwork but before she left, I showed her a scrapbook of the trip to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon in 2001.

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I truly enjoyed my time spent with Kathy, even though the project is proving to be a huge pain in the derrier, trying to locate the minutia information asked for. Certainly all this data will mean something to those evaluating what is gathered, and this is what they do on a regular basis. The information, regardless of what the Team determines, is quite interesting and can prove valuable to our congregation. This can help us as do outreach efforts or determine what needs of our members are or are not being met, that type of thing. I am anxious to hear what the Team has to say, no matter what they determine about our adding more grades!

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Dinner with Brenda and Jimmie was terrific, as expected. Last year at this time, actually on Timmy's birthday, I made Wimpie sandwiches and had folks over but Brenda wanted to go out, just us, and I agreed. Once more I sat at a table in Longhorn and we just had the nicest time. Jimmie is so good for my spirits as he always has such high praise for me, and it is reciprocal. They are not big social people which made tonight all the more special for us. Right off the bat a lady came to our table and asked me if I was Kim. I was! I am! We knew each other from my time spent standing at the counter in the Building Dept. getting permits. Her son was born right around the time of Timmy so we always had that connection. She still works there, but, like me, is no longer married. And, like me, is quite happy. She said she just saw my former spouse at a local emporium......like I needed to hear that!

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Justin was invited to come along but slept through his phone ringing. That was okay, too, because once in a while, we grown-ups like to go without their kids, or even mine, although Jimmie thinks the world of Justin and I think the world of their sons. As we were eating, laughing, and yakking, Brenda's phone rang and after a brief conversation, said, "She's right here", handing me the phone. It was JD, the other man from this family who helped carry my son's coffin on January 19, 2001, eight years ago tomorrow..........