T minus 14

Hello friends,

You should see the couch in my study. It is piled high with things I will pack either for myself or for our friends on the other side of the world. This has been another week at the speed of blur. But we have accomplished several important steps toward the trip. I think we have everything we need to pack for ourselves except one black shirt and it is being shipped as I type. And I think we have everything we plan to take to our friends except another box of things being shipped as I type. We have upgraded our cell phone with an international calling plan. We got our international driving permit this week too. Who knew you needed that!?! Praise God for our finding out before we stood at the rent car counter in Crete! I find myself asking what else don't we know?!? Before I enter another entry next week, I hope to have all of the gifts packed with the suitcase closed. And we will have all of our personal items together just waiting for the final moment to be folded and closed into the suitcase. I have this whole red, white, black color scheme thing going to try to minimize the clothing by maximizing the mix-n-match. I wish I could say we are cool as a cucumber, but in reality, we are entering that EEK! zone where you keep saying "Oh, yea! We mustn't forget that! Write it down somewhere! Quick!

Thankfully, the wedding coming up next weekend is a lot like a well oiled machine. You would be amazed to see how organized Meghan has everything. She sent us a wedding day task list today. And she sent us a wedding weekend schedule... blow by blow schedule... last week. We are amazed at how together she has everything. You go girl!

Kathy is taking a more relaxed approach to their wedding, but I think it is shaping up really great too. Kelly got her bridesmaid dress in so I drove to Austin last weekend to make a slight alteration. That was another task I needed to complete before we left on our trip. The dress is beautiful, by the way.

That's one of the additional challenges to our getting our trip off the ground. Getting all the last things done before we leave that have nothing to do with our trip but everything to do with the fact that we will be away from home. Well, this trip is sure to be an experience of a life time, so it is very worth the effort we have put into getting ready to go.

Oh, I just have to tell you about something that happened at the homeless shelter this week. I help process intake requests every Tuesday afternoon. Part of that process includes sharing the belief foundation of the shelter. I use the bridge diagram to tell about that. Well, since the number one objective on every woman's mind at this point in the process is that I will tell her the magic words, "We have a room for you", she is eager to please me and tell me whatever she thinks I want to hear. So most of them tell me they are already firmly planted on the right side of the gap in the diagram. The woman I was working with this week seemed different. And the net of the discussion was that she decided to step across the gap right then. I just helped her understand how. Now, I can't know if that was a people pleasing step or not, but as Maynard reminded me, it isn't my job to discern that anyway. So I am grateful to have been able to participate in this assignment.

Well, guess I will go check on Mark and Maynard. It is Mark's 27th birthday today and his wish was to come over for dinner then after Kathy left for work (she does childcare at BTBF) to work on the car with Maynard. They are doing some sort of filter or intake stuff. Whatever it is, they are having fun. Oh yeah, they have come to realize that the original hood won't fit now that they have added the big aftermarket muscle parts. Oops! Now they will have to get a new hood with one of those holes in the top so the big part can peek out. Stop laughing all you grease monkeys reading this. I am writing it in my girl fashion which is the only way I know how. :-)

Until next week,
Sheryl B