Time for a quick catch up

Well, we had a wonderful trip to Canada. The weather was really nice, warm during the day and cool at night. Even the day we had rain was nice. The rain was lovely to hear pattering on the water and in the leaves. I got to hear the loons call, probably my favorite lake sound. We went out in the boat and took some wonderful pictures.

Here are a few more of the lake and the "cottage" we stay in (all boats have to go under the bridge to get from the cottage out onto the lake):

On a different note, I have a face-to-face interview with The Church Much Nearer to the In-laws in the middle of August. I'm already nervous about that. Last time I had one of those, they picked the other candidate, so I'm already psyching myself out about my chances. Prayers please.

We'll be celebrating L's third birthday this coming weekend. My family is trekking down from N'ville to be with us and bring her her new big girl bed. She's been needing it for a while, but we could just never coordinate schedules and U-hauls to get it down here. I think she'll be excited. She got to pick out the comforter and sheets a while back and she loves to pull them out and "nest" in them. I can't believe she's almost 3! More on that later...

Second one down

I wanted to make this a separate post since it's a totally separate matter. But I did have my other phone interview with the Church Much Closer to the In-Laws. They really seemed interested in me. We talked for close to an hour, and it was a good hour, not the kind that seems to never end. By the close of the conversation, they were already asking me when I could come up for a neutral pulpit. So pretty soon after returning from Canada, it looks like I'll be off on another trip of a much different nature. I'm hoping they'll feel like flying me up there, I don't think I really want to drive for 9-10 hours before preaching and then turning around and doing it again to come home. Especially if I have to do it alone, which it looks like I may have to since P will be negative on vacation after we get back from Canada.
This church did exactly what I hoped and asked good questions. It was clear they'd read my PIF and drawn questions from it and they'd been well led by their interim as to who they are and what they need from a pastor. I was pretty impressed. And I think they were too, which is a very good thing for me.
On the other hand, I have no idea what this area will be like to live in, other than it seems to be rather expensive, at least the housing market is. But then again, this church is also offering a whole lot (and I mean a whole lot) more to a first time pastor than anywhere else I've looked. Of course, it's also fairly close to a very popular east coast beach area, and though I don't go beach crazy like some folks, I do enjoy it on occassion, but even better is that it's also right on a reservoir that is a great recreational lake area. I need to do a little research on the area. But it is well-populated enough to be a likely area for P to find a job too. That's my main concern on the family front.
Well, I do need to get going on all that post-vacation-no.-1 laundry. I'll let you know how things are going. I hope to hear back from Church Much Nearer to My Family soon about whether or not they want to do a face-to-face or let me go. That'll be big news. Until then.

The In-Between

Well, we had a wonderful time with the in-laws this past week. We got home in the evening on Saturday. The animals were happy and healthy. (we decided to go with a house sitter rather than board them and I know that really helped them-and us-feel better.) I got to rest and let the grandparents take care of L. As I suspected might happen, L finally decided that the potty wasn't so bad and just about overnight she's potty trained. (I'm doin' the happy mama dance over here!) She only had one accident at the in-laws, and thank goodness it was on the hardwood kitchen floor, not on their carpet.
The weather up there was really pretty good. It was much cooler than down here and we went to the Baltimore Zoo on Tues. It was surprisingly good. We saw polar bears, giraffes, elephants, penguins, and a lot of other cool animals, but those were the favorites.
Here is where I pause to thank the stars that I have wonderful in-laws and we all get along well. MIL really helped out and we took turns taking L to the potty about every 10 minutes (or at least it seemed that way). L took a real shine to her Uncle M, daddy's younger bro by about 3 years.
Now that we're home I have to unpack, wash and repack for our trip to Canada. I really can't wait! I know the driving will be long and tiring, but I really can't wait to canoe and boat and watch loons and muscrats and herons on the lake. I'll try to post some pics when we get back since I've talked about it so much lately.
Well, I need to start my lists of things to do and find before we leave again on Friday.