Random Memory from the Past

People Piles still exist!

I had not thought of them in years.  I took a picture of one on Saturday evening, but still did not clue in until someone asked me what it was.  It all made sense in my mind because I grew up making 'people piles'.  For those of you who do not understand, here is a picture to help you.  I know this may seem rather absurd to you, but those of you who know about 'people piles' will understand far better than the rest.

Women's Retreat - Surface Level

Here are a few random snippets from Women's Retreat this past weekend.  They are simple fun and random facts, that really don't delve into the depths of the experience.

Here is the sign from the dock by the cabin.  It made me smile and remember how far removed I am from where I grew up.  There were some comments from others that the alligator resembles a dinosaur.

76-78 degree weather, with dry(ish) air, and a breeze is very comfortable for shorts, pants, or something in between depending on who you are.  The weather this weekend was great!

If you are somewhat sick (with a cold/allergies) a Women's Retreat is a great place to get mothered by multiple people and fed all sorts of vitamins, cough drops, and the like.  It sure beats feeling completely miserable at home by yourself, but I felt bad for waking ladies up during the night and having them worry about me.

The second night not in my own bed is usually better than the first.  This may be due to the fact that after a not so good sleep, I am tired enough for my body to not care enough to be picky the second night.

I still enjoy sleeping on the top bunk, even though I don't get to do it as frequently as I used to.

I love the water!

We ate very well this weekend.  In fact we were somewhat spoiled.  I really enjoyed eating food that I wouldn't typically make for myself for practicality reasons.  It was also fun to eat meals with large groups.

Many hands make light work - as was evidenced in our clean-up of the cabins so that we could make it to Sunday School on Sunday morning.

Our cabins had great acoustics.  In fact, one of the coolest places to listen to the group singing was in the bathroom.  The sound was really good in there as well as in the bedrooms.

Stars always look brighter when you are out of town in the 'wilderness'.

It was a fabulous and fun weekend.  Later, when I am feeling more coherent and have more time I may post something more in depth about what I experienced and learned this weekend at Women's Retreat.  For now you will have to be satisfies with the above random details.

Pumpkin Carving

I have never been overly creative.  This year was the third time I carved a pumpkin.  I have not used a template or a design for it, but I have started with a cookie cutter and worked from that shape twice.  I tend to like simple designs that will look neat lit up.  Sunday evening we had a pumpkin carving fall party.  It was a great time of fun and fellowship.  

The youth from church were there as well as a number of the regular pizza group.  There were twelve pumpkins carved.  A number of them had super hero themes - most of which were actually carved by the girls, which the girls found ironic.  There were only two faces carved in the somewhat traditional manner.  It was neat to see a whole line of carved pumpkins lit up in lawn.  The time change helped because it got dark an hour earlier.

Last year's pumpkin: carved with the my good friend Catherine.
It even had the big dipper on the back.

This year's pumpkin: carved independently.
People kept commenting that I did leaves because I am Canadian, they aren't even maple leaves.

An extra one just for fun.
This is Paula's pumpkin, which I thought turned out really neat.

Part of the fun with carving pumpkins was separating some seeds to bake.  At one point I commented about the things we do for friends - I was going through the pumpkin guts separating a couple containers worth of seeds because my friends wanted them.  I really didn't care about the seeds other than the tradition of having seeds was part of pumpkin carving.

There was also lots of good food to go with the evening activities.  We also added in some birthday cake and goodies for Susan's birthday, even though her birthday was almost a month ago.  There was a fire for roasting hot dogs and s'mores; there were chips and a cheesy dip; there were peanuts in their shells as well as candy corn and candy pumpkins; there were cupcakes, spice cookies, pumpkin bread, cake, and birthday cake.  There was even hot apple cider, which is one of my favorites.

The evening was not complete until a board game was played after the pumpkins were finished being carved and the food had been enjoyed.  It was a great evening!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Yesterday evening our church did a Guess Who's Coming to Dinner event.  I was the main organizer, so I was glad to hear that it was a great success.  There has already been discussion about doing another one.

We had four different host couples who were each assigned 4 or 5 guests.  The guests were a combination of couples and individuals.  I actually quite enjoyed trying to figure out where to place the guests.  I tried to send the guests to homes they would not otherwise visit. I also worked to mix up the other guests so that they would be meeting new people, but not completely unfamiliar and uncomfortable.  It was a challenge, but in the fun sort of way of a puzzle.  Many of you know that I like puzzles.

Saturday morning we had our monthly Women's Prayer Breakfast.  There I was able to pass on information to some of the guests so that they would know where to go for dinner.  I had help informing guests where to go from our pastor's wife, Lynne.  She called some of the people and I emailed others.  Any guests going to her house I contacted.  It worked out very well.  I had a lot of fun knowing where everyone was going in advance, even though they didn't know.

The evening was a great success.  Before I went to bed after coming home on Saturday evening, I had heard from at least one member of each group.  Everyone enjoyed great food.  In addition to dinner and getting to know people better, one group had a small hymn sing, another group was playing a couple of guitars and even restrung one, another group played some games, and another group had a tour of their host's house.  I received some compliments on how the groups were a good mix and the locations suited people well, even if the hosts were not well-known to the guests.  I was thankful that it was such a great success.

Even today at church, it was good to see some of the positive results of the evening.  People were discussing it and comparing stories.  Others had gotten to know new people better.  Some people were intentionally greeting people they don't regularly visit with after church, but had been with the night before.  I am thankful that the event was such a great success.  I am also very thankful for our wonderful church family.  I look forward to continued growth in community in the future.

Satsuma

I picked a satsuma (a kind of mandarin orange) when I cam home from school today.  I ate it as part of my supper.  It was a little tart but very delicious, and it had no seeds.  I had eaten one already this season, but this was the first one from home.  Yay for having satsumas growing in the back yard.

Simple Things

Sometimes I am thankful for the simple things.  For example, this year I got a USB number pad for entering grades.  After entering grades for 3 years on the regular keyboard of my laptop I decided it was time for a change.  Another contributing factor was that this is the first year I have not had to use a paper gradebook in addition to entering my grades electronically.  So, instead of copying my grades from a gradebook, I copy them directly from the papers.  Being able to enter grades with one hand while paging through the papers with the other hand expedites the process.  Having to use a gradebook, and typing grades on my regular keyboard were not bad things, but I am thankful for the ease and efficiency of these simple changes.

New Record

I talked to Grandpa on the phone this evening.  He called and left a message yesterday while I was at Bible Study.  We talked for almost an hour (55:51).  That is definitely a new record.  Often we talk for 10-20 mins.  It was really good to chat with him and catch up on different things.  I am very thankful for modern communication and the ability to talk over such a long distance, for an extended period of time, and not have to worry about it costing anything extra.  I am also very thankful for my loving Grandpa who is a great Christian example to me and many others.  God has truly blessed me!