Boo!

W O R K C A M P
- Yes, we will be teaming up with Elderhomes again next summer....this past summer we installed 14
wheelchair ramps and stoops....no counting the handrails, etc....all of this was in addition to the normal
repairs that workcamp makes for it's residents......48 houses in 2 weeks!!! Here we come!
- We have limited the number to 16 from a church this summer in the hopes that it will allow more churches
that at new and smaller to be a part of WORKCAMP 2009. This is causing much anguish from the larger
churches, but we are believing that God is gonna work it all out. We can only take 360 so hopefully this will
make the wait list a little shorter!

THE ROMAINES
- Al and Drew are heading down this way for a Halloween festivity this evening so we'll get to see them a little
- It's COLD!!!!
-

The Pool Is Covered

(Brother & sister, Eason Bailey & Jessica Bailey-Mauger)

The pool is covered. I hate looking down there and not seeing the water. But, I try to put a positive spin on it...this means Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner! The tarp we bought ended up not being quite big enough, so we had to jerry rig it with bungie cords....

Hopefully we'll get to still use the fire pit at some point.

Al drove down and we went to the courthouse and filled in absentee ballots...yep, we have voted. JR wants to get up and the crack of dawn and stand in line and talk with people.....I think I'll just stay in bed under the covers!

It looks like we may have guests for Thanksgiving....the Somali brother and sister that Al is mentoring may be joining us for our meal. It should prove to be very interesting.

The reason for the photo of EASON & JESSICA....

- Eason proposed this past weekend and is engaged to be married next year

- Jessica (Asst Commonwealth Attorney for PG) is expecting her first child and found out this past week

that she is having a little boy! William Avery Mauger.....can't wait!

Their mom, Debra is a good friend....and all of the family is involved in Workcamp....Deb is on the board.

Life's Random Happenings

(JR sharing cider with brothers and sisters in Vic's kitchen in NY)

Life is full....full of random happenings.....

- In the water everyday at the YMCA doing aerobics....now if I could just get the diet thing down

- Al is coming home today after classes....we'll run over to Prince George Courthouse to see if she can get an

absentee ballot....lines will be long next week and she has class

- The monitor on the desktop computer finally went, so I'm heading out to replace it....funny how the

computer runs a good part of our lives!

- The leaves are beginning to really turn....and the pool STILL needs to be covered!

- Jr is preparing to preach again this Sunday....our trip to NY juggled the weeks around...I love the first

Sunday of the month....church and then we all eat together covered dish....lots of fun and good

conversation

- JR and I are heading to the local hospital this afternoon.....our dear church member WILLIE is there and

we just gotta see him!

- Took Will to the vet yesterday...our 11 yr old little fellow picked up a cough somewhere....which is odd

since he doesn't come in contact with any other dogs.....

- Nov 1st is a mile marker....I start looking at houses for next summer....and pulling paperwork together...

- Am going to work on a special Christmas gift for family....TIME, TIME, TIME!!!

Busy Weekend

The weekend was packed with lots of events and people. I had a chance to talk with Tim, Jenny, Michael and Edith in England on Saturday. Cousin Stuart spent the weekend with Allie in order to attend a portfolio sharing at the art school at VCU. Alyssa was supposed to come down from NY, but it didn't happen.
JR spoke at Tabernacle on Sunday on the Book of Hebrews....he was terrific! Then we hurried home for a Workcamp Board meeting and then a wrap up meeting with about 25 folks from the workcamp staff. I LOVE seeing all of them! Jeffrey couldn't come because he has a bad sinus infection.
I would imagine that the phone is going to start ringing now that I have mailed the 2009 workcamp brochures and there have been a few changes.....

SLOW & STEADY

(Cousin Alyssa, Grandma Harriet and Al in NY)
Still easing back into real life after our trip to NY.....
There is much to do and it's time to get into gear! JR & I fixed the front gutter, he's stacking wood, I painted the woodstove, water aerobics, updating all the files to get ready for workcamp, put together the info mailing for workcamp.....and the list goes on!
Cousin Stuart arrives in Richmond tonight to stay with Al and show his art portfolio to VCU on Saturday. Al made her first beef stew in her new crockpot....
And we still haven't covered the pool.....it's just to pretty!
JR preaches on Sunday, Workcamp Board meeting at 1pm.....then the workcamp staff gang arrives at 2:30 for a wrap up session and some Halloween cupcakes! Boo!
I start looking at houses for camp on NOV 1st.....can't believe it's here already!

SOUTHBOUND

The photos are of Amy & Joe's little restaurant "THE GATHERING". What a really neat place!
We are home....we left Sunday morning about 5am and beelined it home!
Saturday was a beautiful day. We picked up Alyssa at her apt and us three girls headed to a big mall in Syracuse. Alyssa needed to buy a dress for a wedding....IN VIRGINIA! Yep, she is headed to VA this coming weekend to look at Mary Washington and VCU.....she and Deanna are hoping to finish up college in VA next year. Al is delirious....they love each other so much!
Buzzy came down and visited....then we ALL went out to dinner at the cafe. Grandma Harriet went with us. It was so good to be with family and friends.
Back to the grind! Going to fill the crockpot first!

NORTHBOUND

Thursday morn at 5:30am, Al, JR and I hit the road to upstate NY. About ten hours later we pulled into Vic & Betty Romaine's driveway. It's magical up here. The air is crisp, the leaves are gorgeous and we run into family EVERYWHERE!
After hauling in our gear, we headed to Grandma Harriet's house and chatted awhile. She just celebrated her 90th birthday and is still going strong! Her house is filled with knick-knacks and African violets. Back to Uncle Vics for dinner and to bed early.
JR was up early for a walk down to the diner on Main Street for coffee and then he walked over th Grandma's to borrow her car for our visit so Al and I could have wheels. While he golfed, we went down to THE GATHERING, Amy and Jo's little cafe. It's so wonderful and the food incredible.
We found a neat little shop owned by a photographer and he printed up special "Moravia" shirts for us....Gracie came from Cortland along with Mike who had driven down from near Buffalo. It was an afternoon of coffee and childhood stories. Al and I ran by the local pharmacy and connected with her cousin Alyssa. We are heading to Syracuse with Alyssa and mom Lori tomorrow to help find a dress for a wedding.
All of my photos so far on on Facebook....Al took some fabulous photos......she will post them when we return home on Sunday.

Candles & Bill at VCU

The past few days have been hectic and filled with ups and downs. It's all good though.....
The bad stuff....flat tires and other yuck...
The good stuff.....
- I am loving water aerobics at the Y.....it's fun with Alicia!
- Al came home and we went to a Celtic service at Christ & Grace Episcopal in Pburg late Friday afternoon....it was lovely....hundreds of candles....communion....a single flute for the music....litergy....they have one once a month, so we will definitely go to the one in November.
- Then we headed up to VCU ( along with thousands of others) to see Bill Clinton speak in the commons area of the college. We met Paul B. and wandered around the blocks trying to find the end of the line (which was about 4 deep).......Al was wearing her "smartie pants" and directed us to the lower level of the commons building......we had front row seats on the inside of the building....couldn't hear, but prime seats inside the plate glass. We ducked out early to beat the traffic......Al came to PG, printed out her French paper (her printer is acting goofy) and then she headed back home to Richmond.

And The Acorns Keep Falling...

(A mural in Ocean Springs, MS painted on the building we stayed in last Feb during Hurricane Katrina Recovery)

The past few days have ended up being one of our "Book of Job" adventures. Most of the time we are blessed with our lives making sense and moving with reason. That has not been the case for the past few days....thus, I haven't had the chance to write. The acorns from the big oak tree in the back yard are dropping and banging relentlessly on the deck and roof....much like the chain of events happening around here!

This past Monday, a 26 year old young woman associated with our church took pills in a suicide attempt....she was taken off the respirator yesterday with extensive heart, lung, and kidney damage and pneumonia. JR is in constant touch with the family.....the outcome is in God's hands.

I had the chance to speak to a large women's group Monday nite.....it was a good thing

Tuesday, the craziness began! We awoke to water in our basement from one of our large hot water heaters "cracking" on the inside. The valve to turn off the water was frozen open, so we had to turn off ALL THE WATER from the well pump. No washing or flushing toilets til late the next day! When the workers came to install one finally, they couldn't figure out how to get it in the basement door....(these things are huge because this is how we heat our house!) It was finally remedied late Wed afternoon.

Tuesday, I accompanied Al to Dr. Cain's office in Richmond to get her "endometriosis" shot...The next two days have been "horrible" because the shots cause symptoms to intensify for about 3 days. So she has been taking care of business with her doped up and me as her driver. School stuff, visits with Fahayo, and another annual visit to another doc that happened to fall on the same dates. We did have fun lunches at THE VILLAGE CAFE and then one day at ALADDINS (a family run all middle eastern foods on Broad Street). Most of this was done in a rental vehicle.....next paragraph explains...

I headed to water aerobics at the Y and the van wouldn't start....dead battery! Out of the blue! So I went in and began working on the computer. It was late....the phone rang, and a friend of our's is going through chemo and needed nausea medicine....I took off in JR's car and took some med to Colonial Heights....It must have been ordained by God, because I normally would have been in the pool at the Y. Plus we hope to head to upstate NY next week and there were other things that needed fixing on the van that could have caused havoc on the trip. There were other incidents with the lawnmower, blood pressure medication, empty boxes of checks and the van. WOW.....thank heaven's our lives are usually more normal.....

WORKCAMP NEWS

Cassidy Pruitt is appearing this weekend in CHARLOTTE'S WEB in Valdese, NC! She'll be receiving a big bouquet of balloons at the theater from her workcamp family!

The Hanchey's in TX are investigating the possibility for our college workcampers to help with the recovery in the Galveston during Christmas or spring break.....nothing concrete yet,....will keep u posted

COTTON FIELDS & A LITTLE CHURCH

When I turned onto Malones Road in Dinwiddie County yesterday the first thing I saw were fields and fields of cotton in bloom. We were on our way to Tabernacle Methodist where JR is the pastor. I didn't have my camera, so I picked a couple of branches on the way home.

It was the first Sunday of the month, so of course, we all had potluck lunch at the church...boy, those ladies can cook!

The rest of the day was a lazy Sunday.....

WORKCAMP NEWS

Tonight I am speaking at an associational dinner and meeting of the Baptist women. It's held at Immanuel Baptist in Colonial Heights.

Into The Woods

JR and Jerry have been working diligently cutting up and splitting the tree that he cut down about 2 weeks ago. They pulled the long splitter around to the front of the house. Jerry uses a wood stove for heat in the winter also.
I put together the "fire pit" down by the pool so we can stretch out the days a little longer ....going to have the Scudders over for hot dogs and smores.
I am excited....I have started on CHRISTMAS surprises!!

TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS

(Here's a little guy from 1999.....wonder where he is now.....)
Thursday was just a day of takin' care of business......groceries, pharmacy pick-up, bank, .......I did talk with Edyth. I really want to go down to NC to see Cass in her play. She has a speaking part in CHARLOTTE'S WEB. But, we leave for NY the following week, so it's a matter of pacing ourselves and rationing gas. There was no water aerobics instructor at the Y, so Alicia, Ellen and I did an hour of the exercises on our own....fun! Talked with Jeffrey Bean too.....he was on the way to Donk's for rehearsal.....
Then....9pm.....glued to the tube to watch the VP debates.....God, I hope the US is smart enough to know what they were witnessing!

Mormons, Water Aerobics & A Nun

(Al & Drew at Ashlawn-Highland this past weekend)
Yesterday was quite a variety of happenings. Al had spent the nite with us because she was under the weather. She and I got up early, met Alicia, and we drove to Richmond.....dropped Al off at class. Alicia and I then headed up Monument Ave to the Mormon church to check out their genealogy library for a few hours. I hadn't been there in over 20 years! We did lots of digging and had loads of fun!
We met Al and went to the Village Cafe for lunch in the middle of the VCU campus. Good food...lots of laughs.
We all drove back to Pburg where Al went immediately to bed and waited for a call from the doc.
I am so proud of myself....went to water aerobics and to my surprise, the water held two friends! One was a mom from our old days at VACS (VA Assn. of Competitive Swimming) when Al used to swim year round. The other friend.......SISTER PATRICIA from the convent around the corner! Yep, I am doing water aerobics with a nun!
Al started feeling better, so she headed back to her little nest in Richmond....she was home only temporarily for some TLC.
I CAN'T WAIT for the VP debates tonight! This is going to be a hoot! I'm popping corn! It might be as entertaining as Couric/Palin on SNL!

WORKCAMP NEWS
October is here!!! That means Wrap-Up meeting, mailing list update and getting ready to roll NOV 1st to begin looking at houses!!!! WHEW!

A Bit Of A Tough Day....AGHHHHHH!

Yesterday started off well....and then slowly deteriated into a real challenge. After her morning classes, Al drove home because she wasn't feeling well. I took off to do errands....Debra signing checks, P.O., bank, .....about 2pm Al called me in excruciating pain.....the endometriosis had cropped up with a vengeance. I spun into Walgreen's....they called Dr. Cane....and by the time I got home, Al was really bad. Thank God for pain medication......
While she slept.....and her dad napped....I headed for the YMCA. Yep, I joined and did my first water aerobics class since I had my knees done. We bobbed and did orchestrated drowning for an hour.....ran by Ukrops and got big salads for all of us and headed home.
Al was stirring when I arrived.....she sent off a paper to one of her classes over the internet.....then we all crashed.
Speaking of crash....about 1am a horrific storm passed over. One huge boom and all of the electricity went off.....came back on at 4am.....
So with little sleep and a doped up daughter, we girls head to Richmond....drop Al off at class (she can't drive on the meds) and then Alicia on to the Morman library for genealogy! We are gonna make this a GOOD DAY!
Jerry is coming over to finish chopping up the tree that John cut down last week.....Jerry does the work and gets half of the tree. I am thankful for Jerry!

WORKCAMP NEWS!!!
Took a $500 check by Colonial Heights Middle School as a gift....we aren't in this to make money....right!!??? Let's give it away!