Rain!

My goals on returning home were to get into a better schedule and to work on copywriting 3 hours a day or 15 hours a week.  I want to report I was successful this week.  I am reaching out into new markets and I am studying a Business to Business case study course.  I like writing success stories so this is a good fit for me.

Oh, small miracle for me.   My client paid me through PayPal. PayPal sucked like $30 in fees from me.  I’m thinking there are a lot of things I could do with $30 other than pay fees.  And the website says “instant pays” don’t have a fee.  So I mention to my client we need to find another way to pay and I say I’m complaining to PayPal.  He says several uncomplimentary things about PayPal and how they charge fees even when they say they won’t.  He has had fights to get fees reversed and says, “You’ll never get them.”

But on a survey I complained again, and Jerold from PayPal called me from lovely downtown Manila.  We had a nice chat.  He explained that it’s free for the SENDER to send money through PayPal… but the RECEIVER gets hit with the fee.  But he took pity on my ignorance and reversed the charges!  I was so pleased with him; I had him put his supervisor on the line so I could gush.  I’ll still avoid PayPal all I can… but at least I feel happier with them.  And, I credit God for the miracle.

For the past nearly 4 weeks my daily planner has been blank.  I finally went back and put in Family Reunion…. LINE through the week.   Switzerland…. LINE through the weeks.  This week my daily planner is full again.  When I have lists, I am more productive.

Monday we made salsa and on Saturday we made relish.  While the tomatoes are getting sketchy, the cucumbers have a new lease on life.  I really think they should get a job in espionage. They are so successful at hiding until suddenly they are the size of Winnebagos. We’ve given bags and bags away.  The zucchinis have succumbed to the bugs. We have a carpet of dead leaves there… and only the tip of one zucchini still struggling to put forth new leaves.  Our beans are lush and full and have climbed to the top and over on the arched trellis. But—we have no beans. I think it’s been too hot.  The second series of blossoms are coming on.  I hope they are more successful.

We are also sharing the garden with birds, bunnies, shrews, and skunks. It think it’s been so dry, they are all coming to the only well watered spot. I would love to offer them the cukes.  But instead they took one of two cantaloupes we’ve grown… and a sampling of the tomatoes. To date, the carrots are still thriving.

Thursday Tom had a meeting in Branson in the evening.  He wanted to see a movie—Snow White and the Huntsman—that was no longer playing in Mountain Home, so we went to Branson early, did a little shopping, and went to the movies.

The movie was more intense than your typical fairytale.  Thunder roared… it kept rumbling… even when the movie showed sun… Hmmm.  We finally figured out that after weeks of drought, the thunder we were hearing was outside the theater.  It rained nicely there—through a good dinner at Bob Evan’s and dessert at Andy’s.  Through Tom’s meeting and part way home.  At home, we got 2.3 inches of rain.  Oh!  The yard LOVED it!

We had a sweet grandmother who did for her daughter and grandchildren—even to sacrificing her own needs. She passed away this week at nearly 91. It will be hard for her family to learn how to cope on their own. I made two salads for the funeral.  Tom stressed about the program as the original plan put forward by the family was not in accordance with the church handbook… and the family can be sensitive.  But the funeral was today and I think all went well.

I’ve been trying to catch up on my seminary and institute responsibilities.  We have training coming up.   I need to schedule training through the year.  I need to see that my teachers are enrolled in WISE which is the program to record attendance.  They have to get their materials.  And even though we hoped to have teachers trained this summer, we still have new teachers called.  I’ve been sending emails and making phone calls.  I hope I’ve been making progress, too.

My bishop asked me to give a talk today.  So I spent time preparing that. It was on being an active learner (No not ADHD) but learning by the spirit and taking responsibility for your own learning.  So I talked about how to get the spirit, why one needed the spirit to learn spiritual things (see Corinthians 2) and what some elements of a participating learner were—whether in the class room, reading scriptures, or in life learning.

I guess that’s all the news.  Hope all are doing well.