The Car, "It Is Over"

For anyone who's been reading my blog for a while (all five family members) you know I like to use phrases picked up in Uganda. And this one certainly fits the situation. Our car? It is over! Didn't quite make it until we left, but close enough :-)

The same thing that happened to us in Atlanta last year during pre-field happened today, only the other side. The ball joint gave out.

But this time, with less than a week left, we are NOT fixing it!

Our daughter and her Man Friend are driving up after work tonight and had planned to carpool but now they'll drive both their cars so we can use the daughter's for our final meeting. We're speaking at one of our supporting churches in Caledonia, Michigan, on Sunday and since it's a two-plus-hour trip, we'll go up tomorrow evening.

*sigh*

I'm amazingly calm about the whole thing.

After packing enough boxes to fill a TWENTY FOOT CONTAINER, this is nothing. We didn't think we could fill it, but we surely did! Eight square pallets and one long, skinny one, loaded to the gills. I'd take a picture but it's dark and I'm too tired anyway.

The other-associate-pastor-who-lives-in-the-parsonage helped us this morning and our son spent all afternoon and into the evening re-enacting his old role as dad's-right-hand-man. THANKS ROB AND JON!!! We're amazed (and extremely grateful!) that we're basically ready for the container which is due to be delivered at 1 p.m. on Monday. All that's left is to load a couple small items on the last pallet either Sunday evening or Monday morning.

And figure out where to put the 300 hymnals arriving at 7 a.m. Monday. Fifteen boxes of hymnals shipped second day air in order to arrive in time. We're just praying that the boxes are smallish in terms of width. We can stack 'em high, but we're seriously limited on floor space.

Back at the beginning of this process the hubby said, "Let's just buy everything there." But I said, "We already have the stuff. Why not just take it?" Silly me!

I cannot emphasize emphatically enough, I NEVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN. What goes to Argentina, STAYS in Argentina.

Except maybe my sewing machine.

'Cause I totally have my priorities straight.

Steven Curtis Chapman Speaks Out

Cnn.com features an article by Steven Curtis Chapman that you should read right now. (Well, finish reading this first.)

And tonight (Thursday, August 7, 2008) he will be on Larry King Live at 9 p.m. ET.

What a great testimony of faith in the midst of tragedy! An inspiration to all who hear it. Makes my sadness about leaving family and friends for three years seem pretty petty.

No time to post anything except this today. We leave shortly on our last trip to Michigan to finish packing and palletizing. Doubt we'll have much (if any) free time until next Monday AFTER the container is loaded and gone.

We're Feelin' The Love!

We were up pretty late last night helping the daughter with the tie-dye marathon -- with most satisfactory results! Aren't those onesies just too cute for words?! We also did a boat load of t-shirts but you can't see those in the photo.

I think the daughter's partial to onesies 'cause she lived in 'em the first few months of her life. She was born in south Florida near the beginning of September. A cousin who had a daughter 7 months older sent a suitcase full of clothes, including 27 dresses -- by the way, wasn't that a cute movie? 27 Dresses, I mean -- which was largely a waste since the only time I ever put her in anything but a onesie was on Sunday morning for only as long as it took to go to church and back. She never came close to wearing all those dresses. But they looked pretty hanging in her closet. Which didn't so much resemble the closet in 27 Dresses. 'Cause 3 months to 12 months size clothing just doesn't quite spill out like bridesmaids dresses do. That closet cracked me up. I know some ladies with closets like that. Not full of bridesmaids dresses, just spilling-out-full.

Anyway, today the daughter is doing her more specialized, "custom" work. I won't be here tomorrow when she finishes them, but I'll try to get pictures up over the weekend. As I mentioned, she'll be selling the tie-dye AND some custom-made jewelry at a little outdoor event on Saturday with the hopes of raking in the cash.

But this isn't the end of her entrepreneurship -- she's also setting up shop over at Etsy with Azygous: Not Being One Of A Pair. In other words, everything she makes is unique! Not sure when she'll get it all online but I'll let you know when she does, so you can go admire her work :-) I'm not a proud mama at all!

Storms & Other Things Out Of Our Control

The daughter was a little worked up about something out of her control today. I sagely *ahem* pointed out that even when things don't go as we think they should, God has a purpose in it all.

Then I learned about something I was planning/counting on that has spiraled out of my control. Uh-oh

Easier said than done. My emotional equilibrium teeters on the edge. The last few days have been much better (comparatively speaking) but I'm afraid it wouldn't take much to push me back over the edge. And I'd rather not go there and repeat last week.

So just pray for a little peace of mind for both of us, will you?

Last night a storm swept through the area and treated us to quite the thunder and lightening show. The hubby and I were in the basement where you can't hear anything so we had no idea the weather was even bad until the daughter got home from work.

Weather.com showed us right smack dab in the center of the storm's path. The hubby went outside where he said it just felt weird (that calm-before-the-storm-feeling) and he could hear the weather sirens so we woke his parents and had them come down to the basement, just to be on the safe side. The worst passed over by 11:30 p.m. and they toddled back to bed although the thunder and lightening continued throughout the night.

I didn't notice any serious storm damage while out running errands today, just a little higher humidity. Ahhh, summer in the Midwest!

Tonight was slow at work so the daughter came home early, bearing gifts of fresh figs stuffed with gorgonzola and topped with fresh rosemary, caramelized shallots and pancetta. Oh.My.Word. These are SO GOOD! The hubby says maybe we can have a fig tree in Argentina. Ooo! Happy dance :-)

I'm going to help the daughter get some things ready for the tie-dyeing marathon planned for tomorrow. She's hoping to score some sales at an outdoor event this weekend to help pay for some of her books this fall. Do y'all realize how expensive college textbooks are now? They cost about as much as I used to pay for tuition! So we're praying she sells a LOT of tie-dye!