Trying To Be Normal

I love this picture of John....studying...Will laying beside him. Wish we had electric power to read by. Today was a good day...each day gets easier as we get into the rhythm of living like Laura Ingalls.

Al and I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon packing up the remnants of her things at the house in Richmond. She and a friend borrowed a truck and hauled the final pieces of furniture today. We loaded it into the house in the dark.

We do have a new little generator, but it's just been hard to find gas to run it. Hopefully tomorrow will bring electricity!

Keith Spain came by today and helped John remedy the gaping hole in the driveway where a bit tree uprooted. They just cut the tree off hoping that the stump/roots would just plop back into the hole. Of course, it didn't. Keith went and got his truck and rope and pulled the tree stump back into it's hole! We didn't know he had come back...he texted that it was finished and we never heard a peep! Yep, there ARE "angels among us!"

P.S. I now have to fasten Will's diapers with duct tape so they will stay on :)

Good Night IRENE!!!

What a day! John, Allie, Jeff & I awoke to a bit of chaos. Hurricane Irene was supposed to slam into the Tidewater area....but instead, she decided to visit us....and when I say us, I mean Deer Run Drive! We had one major tree across the drive, John's little plum trees were uprooted & on their sides, but the biggest miss of all was the HUGE OAK tree beside our back deck. Irene uprooted it and slammed it to the ground, thankfully AWAY from the house!
We had parked Al & Jeff's cars down at the circle so we could have a vehicle in case trees fell across the driveway (which they always do during a big storm). Sherry had called to say that a huge pine tree just missed Al's car...power lines are all gnarled down there....multiple trees across the Hass drive and yard and a big oak fell into their pool and flattened their gazebo.
John & I cut thru the tree and cleared enough room for the cars in the driveway while Allie went out to scavange batteries & water. She came back empty handed.....with all the power out, stores and service stations had no goods nor gas.
John went to Prince George Christian to preach (I couldn't believe they were having church!) while Al & I scrambled in Home Depot and bought a generator. Later in the afternoon, the two of us went almost to Crewe to get gas....Petersburg was no place to be if you were sane. Cars lined up for literally miles....police rerouting traffic around Wawa....
We made it home....hooked up the generator to the refrig and the three of us headed to the pool in our bathing suits for baths. We fixed dinner by flashlight and all curled up in the bedroom with the fans and tv. We were "living high on the hog!".
Once we get this generator thing figured out we'll be able to shuffle appliances a little more easily. I'm thankful for at least being able to contact the outside world with cell phones and facebook. We're thankful for the cooler evenings too...our generator isn't big enough to run the air conditioning.
Tomorrow, Al & I head to Richmond to finish packing up the final tubs from her house and bring a load home. She and a friend are borrowing a pickup and trailer Tuesday and bringing the final pieces of furniture. She also has a class at VCU tomorrow nite if the school is open....
So, ...an airplane fiasco, an earthquake and a hurricane all in one week. Don't think I can top that anytime soon!
P.S. The photo is of circle up one morn at workcamp....we sing "Sweetly Sings the Donkey" to wake everyone up, so one of the staff decided to bring a REAL donkey to morning sendoff. His name is "Donkey".

What A Summer!

The photo is from when Allie & I went the THE BLUE WILLOW tea room back in March. So much fun! Al is finally back from England. She had a wonderful time out in the England countryside but her journey home was not without a hitch. NEVER, I repeat, NEVER fly DELTA or any airline operated by Delta. Bottom line, she had to spend the night in Queens, NY.....I had to drive to Dulles to pick her up the next day. Story too long and involved to write, so just know that if you ask me about it on the phone or in person, you're gonna get a mouthful!
Yep, we experienced the EARTHQUAKE yesterday! Al & I had just brought back a load from her rental house in Richmond. She retired to her bedroom to eat lunch & watch a video....I plopped on the bed beside napping John to rest a bit. The bed started shaking like crazy...looked down and the floor was wavy....loud banging like an unbalanced washing machine was in the bedroom. It was the large hutch with TV banging against the wall. Al yelled from her bedroom to get into the doorways....John gathered up the dogs....it actually wasn't scary...just WEIRD!! Totally no phone service for awhile afterwards too.
Now we are awaiting a visit from Hurricane IRENE.....and NO, I don't believe this is the end times!!!!!!!!
I now put diapers on WILL...yep, diapering the dog. It's so much better than the alternative though! Our little buddy is happy, fun, but blinding and deaf.....the vet tells us we'll just know when it is time.
I love that I'm getting projects done around here. Today is treat the pool, a couple other things and then heading to a matinee to see THE HELP with neighbor Debbie D.

Alisha is having a good week. She is with children's camp at Camp Kehukee :)
Lovin the cooler weather!!!!

It's Quiet Here....

It's pretty quiet here ....John is speaking this morning at Prince George Christian, Allie is somewhere in Dover, England. Louie & I are snuggled here in the bed getting ready to dig around on the Ancestry.com.

I've tackled a few projects around here and am getting ready to mulch the front yard beds. Maybe something will set a fire under my butt later, but right now, it's overcast outside & muggy and the bedroom is really comfy!

Talked with John's brother, Mike who is still in the hospital in NY. He's battling lung cancer, congestive heart failure and chemo....& he's positive and fighting. Thank God for Nat, who is keeping tabs on him for all of us.

I hate it that we are missing Alyssa's wedding up there, but we can only be so many places at once. I know it will be precious.

Any of the photos I post are probably some view of workcamp & the people I love dearly from there.

Lots of Info!

The photos are just some WORKCAMP shenanigans! So much is happening and so much is going on that I'm spinning! Allie did not get into the history grad program at VCU because of her lack of history credits, etc. They don't have a Religious Studies grad program, so she is applying at other schools for the spring. She is moving home, taking a couple of classes at VCU in Religious Studies and substitute teaching until spring.

OH, and did I mention, she is headed to London on Tuesday....with a side trip to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Yep, she will be staying with my cousin and checking out King College's Religious Studies grad program, visiting family, checking out London and then flying to the "mother country" for a few days and staying in a hostel. Looks like from the DNA tests, that's where the largest concentration of J2b folks are....

John is speaking at Prince George Christian church a couple of Sundays in August while their pastor is away. He was wonderful with the adult groups at camp!

I need to figure how to put the links to this summer's photos on here....Hmmmmmm.

I am enjoying some down time. I have a couple of projects I'm looking at while Al is gone....we'll see.

Tomorrow is a Tabernacle Sunday and it is the first Sunday of the month so we all eat lunch together :)