BUSY week

This was a very busy week for me.  First off, because of an annual church conference taking place next Tuesday, my work at the church office is a lot more than usual, getting things ready for the conference.  In fact, because I really have no idea what I'm doing, I have shed some tears.  I hate feeling lost and incompetent.  I'd take a classroom full of kids any day.

This was election week, in case you weren't aware of that, hahaha!  At Houserville, which is a voting location, we had a Vote-N-Go Cafe, so people who came to vote could also pick up some food to either take home or eat right there in the cafe.  Some of the ladies put in DAYS of work beforehand.  Over last weekend, while I was having fun in Pittsburgh,  they baked up a storm of yummy baked goods, the sales of which benefited our church's Mommy Shoppe.  They cooked lots of chickens and deboned them.  On Monday they made gallons of chicken corn noodle soup, ham and bean soup, baked potato soup, chili, sloppy joe meat, mac and cheese, and cherry and pumpkin pies.  I went there after work on Monday and cut up 50 pounds of baked potatoes for the soup!  And of course, all that cooking means mountains of pots and pans to wash!  On Tuesday I went there after work and helped to sell food.  In addition to the things I mentioned above, the men were outside grilling sausages and hot dogs, handing them in through the window when people gave us orders.  When they were running low on things, ladies would go down to the kitchen and make more rice krispie treats or mac and cheese (the best I've ever tasted, by the way), or run to the store for more sausages and rolls, or run home and bake more brownies.  I'm telling you, this church knows how to feed a crowd!!  

On Wednesday it was thirty years that my mom lost a vicious three-month battle with pancreatic cancer.  That was a dark time in our family's life.  For just a brief time during those three months, Mother was allowed to come home from the hospital, and we were hopeful.  Here's a picture we have from that brief time, taken at a family gathering we had at my house.  My sister Barb had had a baby boy a few weeks prior, in the same hospital that Mother was in.  In this picture my sister Janet was holding baby Eric, Mother was admiring him, and Janet's son Scott was looking on.  It's the last good picture we have of Mother.

That was the day before my 31st birthday.  On Thursday I had my 61st birthday.  It was a full, regular Thursday - working at the office longer than usual, piano lessons, and Fillmore choir in the evening.  Actually, Dick took a good picture of the choir surrounding me and my cake, but I forgot to get it from him.   I did get birthday wishes from each of our kids, either by phone, Facebook, or text.  Even an awesome video of Sophie and Lisa singing three different versions of Happy Birthday to me!  Miki sent her birthday wishes in Swedish, so I had to go to Google Translate to figure it out.   She said she's trying to keep my gray cells activated, haha!   This is my official "61" self portrait.

The earliest picture I have of myself is this one, taken at nine months.  Looks like I had a big mouth right from the start!

Today I'm catching up here at home and eagerly looking forward to Sam, Jenn, and Sammy's arrival late this evening.  And they're bringing Destiny along!!  I haven't seen any of them for so long!!  Look at this little ham!

I haven't seen Austin all week, which I HATE!  So today I'm picking him up from preschool and bringing him here for a couple of hours.  They're going to Philadelphia this weekend, so I gotta grab him while I can!  His latest words of wisdom were these:  "But I like candy.  That's how God made me!"  Couldn't have said it better myself!