Friday's Adventure

What a day! I worked extra hours earlier this week so I could have Friday off for a change, and I'm glad I did!

The day began with us hosting the monthly Community Coffee thing for our neighborhood. We had a small turnout of folks but a lot of fun. What nice neighbors! Margo laid out quite the spread (which meant I've been nibbling at leftovers all day and am now headed to bed with heartburn... when will I learn?).

I tried to snag a quick nap after the party but was interrupted when the John Deere guy dropped off our tractor. The shop offered to take it in to remove the mower and put on our snow plow blade before the winter season hits (such incredible service!), and they're willing to come out and walk me through reversing the process when it's time to cut grass again. I keep looking down that long, steep driveway and wondering what it's going to be like to plow it and fearing that I'll slip and slide all the way down to the street. From what the weatherman says, I may not have to wait long to find out... (I promise pictures!)

Then it was time to clean out the gutters from all the Fall debris. I'm getting the impression that the gutters haven't been cleaned in a long time; there was all this muddy gunk in there. The task really intimidated me; we used our 28-foot extension ladder, and it still couldn't reach parts of the roof from the back of the house because of the slope of the hill. I thought I'd try reaching sections by walking on the roof, but the slope is a bit more than 45 degrees and it was just too scary, especially in the back where the drop would be almost 3 stories. However, with Margo and Ben steadying the ladder and shouting up encouragement, we got almost everything cleared out. But it's not a chore I'm looking forward to each year. Bleh!

The highlight of the day came when we went to the Post Office. Wendy Hyde baked a batch of springerle cookies for my dad -- they're one of his favorites that my grandma used to bake, and they're really a work of art (thanks, Wendy!!!) -- so we shipped them out to him today. Now, normally visiting the Post Office in the holiday season is a miserable experience, but not so here. Our little town of Jeffersonton has this itty-bitty Post Office. It's a closet -- literally. There's this charming old community center in town, and the Post Office is run from a closet in the community center. You actually go into the big room with all the tables and stage and stuff, and over in one corner is the Post Office closet where you can do all the things you'd find in a big city office. We chatted a bit with the clerk (who was extremely friendly), and the whole thing was just so cozy and warm and neighborly. Really, really cool experience.

Bart Garihan stopped by to drop off a cable for one of the speakers with our keyboard. Bart's been great in helping us get set up; he's got such an inspiring servant's heart! It really warms my soul to hear Margo or one of the kids making music at the keyboard. I am so blessed to have such a musical family! And lately they're all playing Christmas carols, so those tunes are resonating in the house. Wonderful!

Tomorrow night is the big Christmas Party with our friends at Warrenton Bible Fellowship, and I'm really looking forward to it. Then, on Sunday evening, our kids are getting all dressed up for the Holly Ball (if there's any way possible, I'll try and catch a video of Ben waltzing with one of his sisters or something, but I'll have to be sneaky).