It's been a long time...

... since I've written a sermon, that is. Much longer than I would have liked. Well, since I could pretty much pick any scripture I wanted, I used a very scientific method of selection-I picked the lectionary for my birthday. :) I guess it's a good thing it's on a Sunday this year, huh? I'll let you know how it goes next weekend.

In other news, L took to her big girl bed like a fish to water. She loves to bounce, and the cat thinks we put it in there just for him to take naps. I thought it would make her small room seem crowded, but because it isn't as tall as the crib, it actually makes it feel a little bigger.

We're gonna take her to the pool this afternoon. It's been in the hundreds the last week and doesn't look to cool off anytime soon. Our county happens to have a fabulous water park/pool and it just happens to be about a mile from our house. Since it's only about $5 a person to get in, it sure beats the Way-Overpriced-National-Chain-Waterpark. Plus, it's way closer. It's supposed to stay a little overcast today, so it'll be "cooler," only in the mid-90's.

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...

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.

Another day, another...

...church to send a PIF to. Well, since I'm still waiting around to hear from the other two, might as well hedge my bets. This one sounds up my alley theologically, it's in a city that P can almost certainly find a job in, so might as well test the waters and see if they're interested. I was surprised to hear Dad say that when he was looking for churches back in the day, most pastors and churches only looked at one church/candidate at a time. All I can say is, I don't have that kind of patience. Besides, I like to have options. :) What do some of you RGBP's think about that? I'm sure different denominations have different regulations, too.
On a completely different note, all you moms who might be reading this, got any ideas on what to do with frozen bananas? I have 10 or 12 in the freezer now that L's favorite thing to do is beg and plead for a banana, take one bite and be done. I try to convince her that she really doesn't want it, but she insists and it IS fruit and healthy and I don't want to discourage her eating good things, but... anyway, any ideas? We can only eat so much banana bread.