I think I have been enjoying our last couple of weekends off a little "too much" since my brother-in-law, Gary, let me know on Facebook that I had not been updating my blog as of late. We were supposed to have a baptism service at the camp on Sunday, a group was supposed to rent the camp for the day, but they ended up cancelling. So again, we had a full weekend off! On Friday we took the day off and went to the amusement park here in San Jose with our children for a belated Children's Day celebration. Last year, we took the kids to the Children's Museum. The weather on Friday at the amusement park was gorgeous and we also enjoyed having a picnic lunch there. We stayed until dark and took a train ride through the entire park to observe all the lights on the rides, etc. It was a lot of fun! I personally enjoyed the water rides on what was a rather humid day! Quite unexpectedly, we got to the park entrance and it was a buy one, get one free day, so that was neat!
There's always a mound of administrative paperwork to do on a personal and a camp level. First, I have been in a slump lately with regard to writing. It is time to write another update letter to our supporters through Global Outreach Mission and there is actually a lot to report, but writing never does come that easily for me. So, you could pray for me in the next days as I scribble, erase, reword and attempt to write, that the words would be clear and that people could sense what we are doing here. And with regard to the blog, that writing does not come easy either. I like to include pictures as often as I can. Not sure that pictures of me folding laundry, organizing and moving furniture would be that impressive, but I have been doing some of that around the house during this slower time when a lot of it gets left undone. I do not function in my home very well with a lot of clutter and when we have our busy times it seems that we accumulate a lot of that from people "dropping and going".
And the camp; well, our fiscal year ends here in September and all of our receipts and book work need to be turned over to our accountant for the camp in October. With the camp being booked up now until the end of the year, and already receiving phone calls for bookings into next year, last night we had our annual discussion about rental rates and possible increases. Needless to say, this year we lost a lot of kitchen supplies, bakeware, silverware, even dishes and have had to make decisions about how we will manage that in the next year. So, the administration of the day to day operations of the camp always keeps us thinking and on our toes trying to stay one or two steps ahead!
This Sunday we will be going out of town with Katherine & David to do the logistics for the medical clinics for a January 2010 medical team. This always helps to see an area and location ahead of time to keep us within budget for the team in transportation, meals, and necessary medical supplies, etc.
And one last thing, a dear friend of mine and faithful supporter back at our home church in N.C. recently told me about a game on Facebook called Bejeweled Blitz when I was home. I heard what she said, but haven't really had a lot of free time to check it out. This last week, I checked it out and found that it is a pretty fun game. While it is addicting, I sit down with a very specific time limit on how long I will play and then return to my "activities of daily living" (I've typed too many medical reports over the years). Since I live out of the U.S. I am not able to play in the Bejeweled Blitz Tournaments. Now depending on how well you know me, you might sense an underlying level of competitiveness in my spirit. That being said, I rallied Kyle, our son, to try the game. So, now we compete (I hate that word, sounds so wretched, bwahahahaha) against each other sending little "smack" messages to each other on Facebook! We have stooped so low as to play in different rooms of the house from each other and tease each other! It's fun and keeps us entertained down here and our life balanced as "sick"as that sounds.
On a physical note, I feel exhausted from lack of sleep. You know you are tired when you look forward to leaving the country to have your VISA stamped! We do that every three months (90 days) and while expensive to do, this is when we get optimal sleep in a hotel! Last night, not sure how it happened, but even with our front gate closed, we had two or three dogs in our garage growling at each other and carrying on and one of them was the beloved "Miss Kooky". She has taken up residence on our front porch at night and feels this is her territory to protect, I guess!
I'll end with a challenge! Try Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, just one round and leave a comment here and let me know what you think!
Blessings!
