I got bit this morning. Bit by the garden bug! I went to a local greenhouse to get a nice plant for a friend’s new home, and I did. Then I saw the caladium bulbs and then I found the little plastic things you can start things in and I walked out with potting soil, zinnia, squash and lettuce seeds along with all the other things I got. The home where we are staying has a little greenhouse on the back which reconciles a homeless person like me to buying seeds! I don’t really feel homeless.
I cooked supper tonight for the first time in about a week and a half! Good ol’ Chicken quesadillas. The grocery store I went to has the aisles labeled in both English and Spanish, so you can learn Spanish while you grocery shop!
Hello world!
Archive for March, 2008
Around Town
What I did today
We are staying with some friends in their wonderful Lancaster home until we find a place to live. Their house used to be a warehouse so it has nice exposed beams in it and a cozy feel, lots of books and kitchen gadgets so we feel pretty at home already! My project of the day was to move out of the suitcases and make our our room feel like home, which I did. I also took a 45 minute walk, or I would have sat around in my pajamas and read all day. Truly, the reading material is endless! The first thing I noticed is that this really cool Italian restaurant is within 10 minutes walking distance, the Rosa Rosa. I walked all the way to the railroad tracks and found myself passing the Lancaster Arts Hotel, so I went in and browsed their little gallery there. I wanted to go to the bookstore on Chestnut St. but that was near the end of my walk and I wanted to get back and I know that that stop will entail serious time for me! I passed a few ‘young people’ and then one of them grabbed his skateboard and flew down the street with the rest of the traffic. I came back and had a little lunch and conked out for an hour and a half. I don’t think I have napped for that long since I quit teaching. Tomorrow I will take a different route and maybe I will remember to get camera batteries. I passed the camera store, too!
The Daily Strength
Sometimes when I pray for strength I wonder what I am going to get, A surge? Tirelessness? Well, I felt neither this weekend as we were moving. What we got were friends who came and helped for an hour or two, a whole day, an afternoon or morning. Sunday morning I woke up and I thought ‘Our friends were our strength.’ Joel is totally amazing! He was the one with all the talent this past weekend as we moved out of our home of 11 years. He wowed everyone as he filled a storage unit to absolute capacity. We still need more space! The more I did, the more aimless I felt. My good friend Grace came and took over ordering about around 11:00 on Saturday morning.We had our first garage sale on Saturday morning, as things were being loaded into a truck! We got rid of some stuff, other stuff is still in the garage. Got rid of some of Sam’s stuff!! We thought the weather would be pretty bad, and everything the forecasters said was true (rain, snow) and then the wind blew the clouds away and we had sunshine! We still have the house this week to do finishing touches.I woke up shortly after 6 Sunday morning, among earlier times and I still felt like I had been hit by something big. I had been determined not to miss church and I really wanted to go to my sister Emily’s, even though it is a two hour drive, It’s a nice drive. I dozed off again and was able to get up. We had to walk about a block to our car and the walk felt good. I struggled with tears some during church and went to the bathroom for a few minutes and then I was okay. We had a lovely dinner at Em’s and enjoyed friends and rolled back home again before we were totally through! I stopped at a drug store as we were leaving their town and bought Advil, sleeping pills, Burt’s Bees lip balm and ginger ale! I had a good night!
Beautiful day
I know I am supposed to be in hard drive, but I am not. Spring is on its way and the sun just felt so good on my face. I have a special place in this yard where the sun shines pretty directly this time of year and the wind is blocked from zooming through, which is pretty nice on a day like today. Well, the bills are almost paid, the laundry is almost done, the refrigerator is almost cleaned , the kitchen cupboards are almost packed. Yesterday I picked up the Sneller twins ,who are nearly 11 years old already, and they helped me haul boxes to the storage unit. We took 3 van loads of boxes, kitchen stuff and books. Whenever they got something heavy, they knew how to work together. We could load up the back of my minivan in less than 10 minutes. They told me they weren’t tired when we were done, they had lots of energy left! I didn’t! I was out at the end of the second load! Here is the St. Patrick quote I tried to post the other day. There is a beautiful John Rutter arrangement of it, too. One of these days I will scout it. Right now, I am going to finish something.
“Christ shield me this day: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me” (from “The Breastplate of St. Patrick”).
