It's been a very busy and productive couple of days around here. Yesterday was supposed to be laundry and ironing day, but ended up being recaulk the bathroom day instead. When we remodled the bathroom a couple of years ago we used an adhesive trim that never did work the way it was supposed to and James finally had all he could take and ripped it up yesterday. So I scrubbed all of the gooey residue off of the tub and floor, then used regular caulk to finish it out. It's so hard to get caulk to look nice and smooth and not smear beyond where it's supposed to be! I'm thankful for those two log homes I caulked in Colorado--I'm sure the experience I gained there helped my bathroom job to be much better than it otherwise would have been! Still, you'd think somebody would come up with a product that wouldn't be so prone to look tacky.

After the bathroom job I headed to the toy room. The kids had started in on "the big job" in there, emptying the bins and bookshelves to begin sorting everything and trying to get things in their proper place. It's a nice thought, but they are still 3, 5 and 6 years old and can't do the cleaning job of a 12 year old. They worked hard, but fizzled out just as the room reached the beyond-recognition stage. So I dove in. I was up to my elbows in toys when James pops his head in the door and says, "You ready to go?" Go? Go where??? Why, nursing home service, of course! Yipes! I had TOTALLY forgotten. I pulled Katie's hair into a fresh pony tail, then my own, changed my shirt and slid on some shoes on my way out the door. ~whew!~ We made it just in time. Just in time for a crazy night, that is. There was some sort of malfunction at the home and all of the fire alarms were flashing the whole time we were there, giving a bit of a strobe light effect. All we needed was some smoke and an electric guitar and we'd have been all set! HA! The lady who gives gifts to the kids all the time had chosen squirt guns for the boys this time. Great. It's impossible to give guns to little boys and expect them to refrain from taking aim at somebody, especially when the building is full of mobility challenged targets. The entire evening was quite informal, I assure you. I looked down at some point and noticed that both of my boys had their shoes on the wrong feet and one of them had his shirt on backwards. (Such things happen when you throw everybody into the car at the last minute, you know!) One lady had a sneezing fit during one of the songs and the more she sneezed the more cockeyed her glasses got until they were sitting somehow at a 45 degree angle or more on her face, one lens resting on her forehead, leaving her left eye squinting in an effort to make us out. She's a sweet little lady and I am in no way mocking her, but there was also no way to keep from giggling when we looked at her. We sang one song that none of us could remember the first stanza to. We had the words in front of us, but we just couldn't seem to remember the way the melody went on the first line of the verses. All four verses. We'd all be real quiet, trying to remember it and everybody singing it a little bit different (and each trying it differently on each verse), then we'd burst in good and loud on the second stanza when we actually knew what we were supposed to be singing! Ha! It was such a mess. In spite of the strobe lights, target practice, wardrobe issues, sneezing fit, and musical handicap, we had a good service. That may be hard to believe, but it's true--I really felt the Lord in a couple of the songs. A good night. A little strange, perhaps, but good. :-)

We put the kids to bed and I sat down with James to watch a couple episodes of his new collection: the 2nd season of Alred Hitchcock Presents. Ha! Those are so great!!! It was 11:15 when we turned it off and I felt the surge hit me--had to clean!!! I headed back to the toy room and went nuts. Got the bookshelf, bins, dresser and toy closet all cleaned out, everything cleaned, sorted and put back in it's proper place (and discarded enough junk to fill one of those big black trash bags), and then vacuumed. It felt great!!! I didn't make it to bed until 2:45, but it felt great! It didn't feel great when I was still awake at 3:15. Why can you not fall asleep when you most want to and need to?! Oh well.

I spent most of the day today cleaning up my office. All of the mess that didn't belong in the toy room had been transferred to the office, of course. So I got it all cleaned up and scrubbed down and vacuumed today and then managed to get the kitchen cleaned up, floor swiffered (I love that contraption!) and had a nice dinner ready for the family to boot! Jumped in the shower and then off to church it was. Good service tonight. Aunt Sue taught about trusting in God--having genuine faith that He will answer our prayers and that He'll truly do what He's promised in His Word to do.

And now here I am. I was going to go to bed early tonight, but now it's 11:40 and I'm still up. James has been talking to me while I've been trying to type. And he's done The Bad Thing. The really really Bad Thing. He pulled out the calendar and started trying to figure out what the next couple of months look like. I thought about doing that the other day, but I resisted the urge and determined to spend the rest of July in a state of blissful ignorance. I didn't want to think about the trips we'll be making and all of the time away from home. But alas, my bliss has ended. James is still sorting through the dates and locations, but it looks like we're going to be gone for about 25 days in all--that's between time in Pennsylvania with his family, Tennessee with mine, the General Assembly, and all of the travel time from one place to the next and back again. UGH. I look forward to the Assembly and the rare family time, of course. But I just dread being gone for so long! It seems like we've been gone an awful lot lately and I'm so ready to just be home. I like my home. ~sigh~ I miss it already just thinking about being gone for so long! And there are more trips to come after this big one, but I am refusing to think about them and I won't let James talk to me about them. One thing at a time--there's only so much I can take!!!

Okay, I'm going to shoot for bed by midnight. Maybe I'll dream about being at my very own home for a good, long while. My dreams are probably the only place that can happen for the next few months, at least!

Homesick Already,

~ Becki ~