Last Monday I was still in Mt Vernon with Jonathan and family and Miranda and family. Kristy spent a couple of hours assisting me with some financial matters that need the attention of one much smarter than me. Then Dan and I braved the freezing weather to install an exterior light at their barn. After a quick lunch, I was on my way home, with a stop at Aldis.
Tuesday was a catch up day. Visit the bank to close an unused account, get the oil in the truck changed - that ended up being an expensive oil change: the radiator was found to be leaking in a couple of different places and needed to be changed, and so it was - signing a contract on the rent house I had been preparing to go on the market, and scanning more documents. And the realtor called in the afternoon to say he had an offer on the house! Since the offer was less than desired, we discussed a proper counter offer. And it was accepted! On the market less than 36 hours and I have a signed contract. It is a cash offer, so the closing date is two weeks away. We bought this house 13 years ago; it sold for about the same price as we paid for it. So I won't see a profit in that sense, but it did pay good rent over that period of time and was paid for.
Wednesday I spent about three hours in the family history center; after all that is my calling. Later in the day I made a batch of cookies for the Thursday night activity.
Thursday evening was a family history activity which I hosted. We discussed ways and means to record personal and family history and then what to do with all that information. This was billed as a one hour activity with punch and cookies. It was a productive session with about 27 people present and there were lots of cookies. In preparation for this activity, I dug through the 'archives' looking for suitable material to share and found letters dating back to the late 1960's Sandy and I had written. Of course I stop to look at them and this opens the windows of sadness and grief. But it is not all that difficult to cope with; in fact I find a certain joy in reviewing our lives together over the past 50 years. A new concept I read this past week sums up my feelings: "For many people their grief is their most vital connection to that which is lost."
Friday was tax day. I worked on getting stuff organized to pass on to my accountant.
We did have a lot of gray, cloudy drizzly days this week. Friday we had big white snow flakes which melted as soon as they contacted the ground; the temperature was just above 32 degrees. But it show looked pretty. This week my weather station decided not to function; I suspect it needs a new battery, but I was not about to go out with temperatures in the mid 30's and to replace it.
Saturday the church youth had organized a wood cutting service project. There were sufficient youth and adults to split into three separate groups to cut and split wood for those in need. I was asked to assist; they needed my truck and trailer and I was a bonus. We had three young men, one young women, and five adults in my group and we spent almost 5 hours splitting wood, loading it in the trailer and delivering it. Our group did not have a hydraulic splitter to start with, so we did the maul thing for the first hour. Then two splitters arrived; good thing because those 30 inch cuts of wood were not easy to split by hand. Evidently the need to clear wood was greater than the need for wood; I still have at least a rick's worth on my trailer. Anyway, I came home and took a long nap.
Today in church one of the youth speakers addressed the new youth program and its four goals. The final speaker lost her husband less than a year ago and commented on how at times when she is in despair, going outside herself is the best thing to do; such as look for opportunities to help others. That thought resonated with me. Later this evening I have a dinner appointment with a church couple.
