Winding down...

It's been a BUSY weekend, even though by all rights, since our Girl Scout camping trip was canceled, I should have had nothing to do since I had planned on being gone all weekend....

Yesterday was a strange day - wet and soggy, but in the afternoon we had blue skies and a gentle breeze, and I began to feel foolish, second-guessing our decision on Thursday to cancel the camping trip due to predictions of bad weather. But around 9pm we had severe storm warnings, tornado warnings, and I thought how hideous it would have been to be up there with the girls on the mountain at camp in platform tents, with no real shelter. Ugh... So yes, we made the right decision. We popped a big bowl of popcorn and played cards, listening to the wind howl outside.
Thankfully we didn't get any really nasty winds or weather at our house.

Church today was wonderful. Rachel and I went early to work in the church library. We spent an hour pulling all the children's books off the shelves and resorting them. Truth be told I did most of the sorting because Rachel kept opening books and reading them..... The shelves looked lovely when we were finished, and just in time too, because after Sunday School several kids came in to check out books. It was great to actually see what we have, and what we don't, so I am much better prepared when I visit second-hand book sales. Our church libary has a pretty good selection of children's books. Sadly we have no Winnie the Pooh books (yes, I was shocked!) so I will be looking for some of those, but I want to get the original ones, with the illustrations by E.H. Shepherd, not the newer "cartoon" books. We also have no Frances books - do you remember the Frances the Badger books? And we have no Max and Ruby or Curious George books! These are all books I loved reading to Rachel and James when they were young. Next week I'll be tackling the youth book section...

The sermon today was wonderful, and we had the Lord's Supper, and then we sang "I'm so glad, I'm a part, of the Family of God..." for closing. Just perfect.

After church Rachel and I and Jane (Granny) drove in to Chattanooga to get Rachel some new jeans and shirts; she has outgrown everything we bought at the beginning of the school year. And although I generally detest shopping for clothes, it was a successful trip! Yeah!

Blessings,
Adrienne

Camping Update.... and Something Extra

Well, here is the latest "Weather Alert" for us this weekend:

... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE SATURDAY WITH POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING TEMPERATURES SUNDAY NIGHT... A VERY POTENT FRONTAL SYSTEM OVER THE MIDWEST STATES WILL APPROACH THE AREA SATURDAY. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE REGION... AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS INTO LATE SATURDAY NIGHT. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS... VERY LARGE HAIL... AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

So needless to say, we have canceled our plans for taking our troop to Girl Scout Camp this weekend. I will be hunkered down at home with my family!

Hey, friends, my friend, and seamstress-extraordinaire, Judy Iserman, is leaving this weekend to go to Nairobi for a short-term missions trip. She will be there for three weeks, working with ladies at the Amani Ya Juu project and providing them instruction and sewing workshops. You can read about her trip here. I know she would appreciate your prayers for her trip and for this project..... Thanks!

Blessings,
Adrienne

Soggy s'mores anyone??

Well, we are supposed to be heading to Girl Scout Camp this weekend, but the weather forecast is calling for a 70% chance of severe thunderstorms. Folks, this is bad!

Our troop went to camp last Spring, and it rained and drizzled for two solid days. Sadly, I found out I am too much a creature of comforts to enjoy camping in the rain. Last year the rain resulted in cancellation of most of the planned activities: ziplining, canoeing, archery and horseback riding, leaving the girls with nothing to do but activities like “poking your eye with a stick”, “futility in firebuilding”, “the wet sock toss”, “finding 100 ways to annoy your troop leader” and my all time favorite, “the bad weather whining contest”….. When I went up to the camp lodge to see if there might be some board games, cards, ANYTHING TO KEEP THE GIRLS OCCUPIED IN THEIR TENTS, (duct tape perhaps?) I was told that "... perhaps you can take them for a nature hike?" I am NOT kidding! Now who would suggest taking a group of 9 to 11 year-old city kids for a hike in the rain? Seriously. Those people scare me....

Plus, adding insult to injury, it's really hard to enjoy a fire and make s'mores in a downpour... and what is Girl Scout camp without s'mores? I need prayers y'all!

Blessings,
Adrienne