Blessings

Some of the ward members speak of driving people to Little Rock for doctor's appointments, and I've always thought What a lot of work and time! But one of the sisters I visit teach needed a ride to see a neurologist, and I thought, why not? I can do that. So I said I'd take her.

Then, another sister needed a ride from the airport home, so I told her if she could be in Little Rock about 12:30 ish, I could bring her home. It turned out to be a delightful day. We chatted all the way down.  I read a book while she was seeing the doctor, and then we picked up the sister at the airport and drove home. I left a little after 9 and was home about 5pm.

I thought we were going to have a young couple over for family home evening at 6... so I was a bit rushed.  But when I got in the house, I learned they had canceled.  It was good/bad.  I was happy to unwind, but sorry we couldn't support and help them.

We had already voted, but were interested in seeing the results of the Arkansas vote on Tuesday. Some of me people made it, some didn't.  The senate contender got trounced and so did my presidential choice. My judges got in.  I also had my mastermind group call in the morning and have no idea how I spent the rest of the day.

I had looked at my calendar and saw no work for pay. Not good.  So I went on Upwork and got two jobs. One is writing emails to encourage people to go to a very interesting blog. www.gskang.com  He writes kind of stream of consciousness, but has some good things to say. It was fun writing the emails in his "voice" and projecting his image.  He is so not a "Guru" or strong leader... I had to figure out a way to invite people to listen to him when he says things like, "I'm not very smart." or "I'm not sure why I'm writing this." On the other hand,  he has a great rags-to-riches story and is willing to help millennials figure out how to live a life of liberation-- for no fee.

Wednesday afternoon I went and printed off invitations for the Stake Relief Society Retreat and then cut them into the quarter sheets. Did some other church stuff and spent the evening on family history.  Found some children for a family, so that was exciting.

Thursday I finished my Upwork assignments and got them mailed off.  I also spent time with a neighbor struggling with some issues. Friday Tom and I worked in the garden. It's far too warm for this time of year. Daffodils are blooming, tulips are emerging, our peach, blooming quince, and wild plum all have blossoms.  I kept waiting for a cold snap... and it can still come. April 15 is supposed to be our last frost date.  In the mean time, we tilled the garden. The chickens and cats were delighted with the turned up soil.

Saturday we went back and planted peas, spinach and broccoli. We attended a baptism that evening. This was the first time I'd met this sister. I guess that's what happens when you gad about to different wards. I had the chance to help her get ready and then guide her where she needed to be. She had been in a car accident and paralyzed at one time and still suffers from some brain damage.

Our newer house in Whiteville has a septic problem. We had the tank pumped last week. They said not good things about the tank.  Tom went back this week to dig to find the junction box and see if the leach lines were working. Alas, they are full of tree roots. We will need a whole new system.

This means getting the county sanitation department involved, having the thing engineered, and struggling to find a place on the property that is 100 feet from our well... and the neighbor's well. Currently the tank and lines are under the old rule of 50 feet from the well. Pray that they will grant an exemption for this system.  I don't think we have a place that's 100 feet from all the wells on the half acre. Alas, this is a big-bucks-cure.

Today was Ward Conference in Houston, Missouri. It's about 2 hours from our house. I left at 6:30 to be there for the 8:30 meeting. I really wanted to take some general conference talks to listen to... but couldn't down load them.  I think my burn drive wanted to do a CD instead of an mp3 disk. So I grabbed some conference talks off the shelf... Alas, they were DVD's and of course, wouldn't play in the CD player.

Still, the ward conference was very good. I taught the lesson again. I'm amazed that while I have the same lesson prepared, it ends up being presented so differently in each ward. Some wards I hardly get past the first page. This time, I got through the whole lesson with time to spare. But still, we had good comments and good stories. I love how the Lord guides lessons for the benefit of those who need it.