BACK FROM VACATION

Back from vacation and already back in the swing!
With Rally Day fast approaching it's the plan ahead for worship, get Sunday School material together, get confirmation material together, and prep for all!
  With the M church it's all visits, visits, visits! Have three visits this afternoon. Had one this morning.
  Ahhh, fall is in the air!!!!
  The good thing even though our vacation was late, was that I got to see in the flesh, and hold, my great niece. Ok, she cried every time I held her except for once. But she is such cutie.
Enjoyed seeing my nephew and his wife as well. Plus, my niece who came up on Sunday for a quick overnighter bearing the gifts of the produce from her garden some of which we will enjoy tonight!
Seeing my sister and BIL is always good.
  So, it was a busy time with family and a couple days all to ourselves. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and we had some rain and two and half days of fog. That's life on the beach or at least what beach there was. With the high lake levels, there isn't much beach to walk without getting wet feet or needing a machete to cut through all the grasses and beach vegetation. So, I settled for some short walks on the beach.
  By the time we came home, the monarch chrysalis was half gone and the butterfly we fostered had made that magical transformation from caterpillar, to chrysalis to butterfly. We missed the butterfly part. Perhaps next year. This is the first year we had a chrysalis on the milkweed so maybe we'll have another next year and be around it to see it get transparent even if we don't witness the emerging butterfly.
   We have fostered bluebirds and now, a monarch butterfly!
  Although, we never became parents, we have fostered some amazing creatures!
  So, onward to make my visits.

LIFE

  A little Sturm und Drang at the L church I'm serving. Hopefully, the tempest is over as people have talked with and to one another, misunderstandings cleared up.
   Why do we think the worst of one another?
   Course, one person is not easy to get along with, but is also a necessary part of this community of faith. We heal and move forward.
   Then there's the M church. 4 visits last Thursday, two were somewhat emotional. And I went home drained to my very core. I ran from one to another and barely had time for lunch. Not good. I wolfed it down in 15 minutes. Also, not good.
   I am working on my sermon following vacation. It just has to get done this week. And the laundry for vacation. I am all over the place this week. And one week away isn't really long enough. Sigh.
But it's better than no time away at all.
   Now it's off to a Confirmation meeting with the L churches in the area and a visit later on.
I'm tired already!!!!
 

STUPID THING #2

I'm beginning to wonder if I really should count and track of all the stupid things I end up doing.
Maybe this is one of them, too!
  Actually, it was Saturday night and I was plugging my cell phone in for an overnight charge. This is my own phone. I had already charged the church cell phone that evening after the wedding.
So I grab the cord plug it into the phone and grab the socket end and plug it into the wall socket and off to bed I went.
   After getting up early on Sunday morning, feeding the dogs, letting them out and brewing the coffee for breakfast, I checked my smart phone only to see no little green light on it. In fact there was no light at all! How odd, I thought. I unplugged the socket plug from the socket and checked the phone, it was down to 13% and hadn't charged all night at all. Even odder. I took the plug out of the smart phone and realized, I used the charging cord from the church phone into my cell, and used the charging cord from my cell to plug into the socket. Duh!!! No wonder my phone hadn't been charged.
I charged it while I was at church and put the church cord away in the tote bag I use for that church!!!
(Both phones can use the same cord, coincidently!) 
   Well, now that was sheer stupidity! Next time, I will wait to see if the red light goes on after plugging in the phone! Maybe I will only use one cord to charge both phones! (That seems the safer and more reasonable option!)
   I can only wonder what next week will bring! I hope that's all for this week!

RGBP'S FRIDAY FIVE: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Lately I’ve been a bit obsessed with tracking some genealogical mysteries in my family. I’m reaching back through generations into the past, but I’m also moving from the past toward the present in an effort to locate cousins descended from the same ancestor. Naming patterns prove to be useful clues in these endeavors, and in turn, lead me to today’s Friday Five theme.
Share with us:

1. Is there a story behind your name?

            Don't really know. My last name is a bit like Smith or Johnson in a certain part of
            Switzerland. My mom wanted first names that would work in both the US and
            Switzerland.

1. If you have children, how did you choose his/her/their name(s)? If you don’t have children,

          how about a pet?
          We named our Beagle after an Old Testament figure - Baruch  Ben B- our last name.
           It was all alliteration. Our first greyhound we named Earl after Earl Grey Tea. Our
           second grey came with the name Benjamin - so we called him Benny. The third
           grey had the name Jetta Nickel and we weren't going to call him Nickel. So we called
           him Jett - therefore, we had Benny and the Jet!!!! The next grey had a weird name and
           because he is a bit of a goofball with an irrepressible spirit - we named him Jazz. Our
           most recent grey was a tough one. He had an awful racing name - not much one could
           do anything with, and he didn't react to his nickname. We tossed around many a name
           with no reaction whatsoever. I really looked at him and it crossed my mind that if
           Renoir would have painted a greyhound, this one would be it. I said, "Renoir" and
           he came over to me. He picked his own name as if he knew that was his real name.
          He's got brindle patches with mostly soft, diffused white - ergo - Renoir!

1. I named the stand mixer in my kitchen Ethel, and a friend of mine names her plants. Do you ever name household items, and what inspires the names behind them?

          I haven't named any appliances or plants really. I do name my vehicles. Mystic is my
          current van.

1. Do you daydream about what you might name a boat, a novel, a business, or something else that begs for a title?

           I always thought I'd name a boat - Wind Dancer.

1. If you were to write under a pseudonym, what might that be, and is there a story behind that name?

           Not really. I figure if I ever wrote anything worth publishing, it would be under my
           real name - for posterity's sake since we have no kids.
  Just realized the 5 things have come out as 1. Oh well! Been busy and have a wedding today.
It's just have to do.