After 6 months.....

Well it isn't quite 6 months yet. I can hardly believe that it has been that long since I wrote the previous post. Where did Spring and Summer go? But it is obvious that Fall is here. How can I condense 6 precious months of life into a few paragraphs?

It was Spring when I last wrote, and I was leaving for Antioch preps and convention. I wouldn't want to have missed those days. But - I did find that I was nowhere near over being weary; not over being torn in the transition from Estonia to here; not yet healed from the changes that returning always brings.

Summer quickly followed those days. Since my house was for sale, there was much to do. My daughter and some of the grandchildren helped clean out the accumulation in the basement. I did a lot of sorting and discarding. That is good! A lot of people looked at the house. No one put an offer on it. "Cute! But, too small for us" they said.

Early in July, I went to New Mexico for preps and convention there. Those were such good days. They were healing days. I loved the time there at the campground (where the convention is held), doing things in the kitchen. My cousin from beyond Santa Fe came for a day, and that was wonderful! She said, "I can see why you love working with these people!" There was a Spanish Special Meeting; there were visits with friends; and there was time in the home of my special friend, and the things she and I enjoyed doing together....mainly eating out! Albuquerque has some good places for that!


I flew home from New Mexico, repacked, and the next day my friend Linda from Missouri came with her motor home and we headed north to Saskatchewan, Canada. Driving that was a new experience for me, but it went well and sure was a nice way to travel. We made some special stops along the way, visiting friends, and had a lovely Sunday north of Fargo, ND with my granddaughter and her family. Monday was a long day, but we reached our goal of the convention place north of Moose Jaw.

It would take way too long to describe those days and all that filled them. Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful privilege. Afterward, we had a special evening and night with friends in Moose Jaw, and the following day with friends in a lovely area just south of Minot. I had thought we shouldn't stay...but glad we didn't miss it! The picture to
the left is Linda (on the right) and Calina who we visited and enjoyed so much.

From there, the road led south and south and south....through North Dakota, through South Dakota, and finally Nebraska and home again.

Because no one put an offer on my house, I took it off the market. Two friends of mine in the University here asked about renting it, so after a lot of rearranging, they each have a room here - and so do I! It is nice to have them here when I'm away.....and nice when I'm here, too!

York preps began in mid-August, and the days sped past. Convention there was the first week in September, and the first in Kansas followed. Right after that, my daughter Maxine left with a friend for three weeks visit to Laura in Finland. You can read her part on her blog! My part was to stay with the younger kids at her house. So, I put on my grandmother hat and became cook, washerwoman, and chauffeur for three weeks! Really, it was a nice experience - another thing I wouldn't want to have missed.

I was tired by the end of those weeks - but not too tired to offer to take a friend (and her children) to the Spanish convention in Texas! Oh my! We left at 4:00 a.m. and traveled nearly 15 hours to get there. The heavy traffic was especially wearying. It was so special to listen in Spanish again, to see many that I've met in past years, but most of all it was nice to know that my friend could hear in her first language.

So....that is the synopsis of the past few months! Now we come to the present! I'm at home, getting things taken care of that need to be cared for before winter. I've contracted to have done most the things I'd hoped to avoid by selling it. It still pains me to look at the house next door, but the pain is not so poignant as it was.

"Do I have any 'big trips' planned?? No, and as I've said, I don't plan them myself. There may be more in the future, but I'll let you know about that. I do have some 'little trips' planned! I'm looking forward to some visits in the next couple weeks. Hopefully I'll write about them soon!

The most important thing about the present is the PEACE that I feel. "Peace like a river". The peace of God. I'm thankful.