Jehovah's Witness

Yesterday at around 11:30 I got a knock on my door and my first thought was that it was Jackie home early from work and needed me to open the door for him. But when I opened the door a young man in a dress shirt and tie stood on my porch. He was a Jehovah's Witness and my first thought was, "Well, at least I'm not still in my pajamas like last time!" Yep, last time was over a year ago and, though I'm sure it was also near 11:30 or so, I was still in monkey-print pj's that said "princess in training" on the front. Classy. There were two ladies then, one older who did the talking and one a good bit younger who stood behind her and tried to keep from laughing.

Not this time, though! No this time I'd just showered and had on lovely skirt, I'm sure I looked quite presentable. I answered his question ("Yes, I do believe the Flood actually occurred.") and took the material he offered (which I did actually read) and bid him adieu only to turn around and see this:

His view of my nearly barren living room complete with lawn chair and walker flanked attractively by two end-tables. Ha, ha.

Now I'm sure that anyone who goes out knocking on people's door unexpectedly must be prepared for whatever lies on the other side. I'm sure Jehovah's Witnesses have seen a lot and that in all likelyhood I'll never see those people again. But it still peeves me that I'm never perfectly presented! I've come across as a lazy slob AND a bad decorator.

"That poor lost soul," I bet they walk away saying. = )

Purging and Packing

The countdown is down to 24 more days! It won't be long before we'll have to start packing, but we've tried to do a little purging first. So closets have been cleaned and garbage cans filled. There have been box-laden trips to the consignment shop and ebay sales. I think I've gotten my furniture arrangement down so also been selling the furniture we don't need to take.

Our kitchen table is gone now and has been replaced by egg boxes which will soon be packed to the brim with our belongings! Thank goodness Jackie works at a grocery store...it makes finding free boxes a piece of cake. Jathan will be eating out of his walker until we move and we'll make do with tv trays! Hopefully we can buy the table I've got my eye on to have in the apartment, though.


We also sold our grill, the one we bought with all the gift cards we got for our wedding. So it was a little sad (only a chick would get sentimental over a GRILL!) but there won't be any where to use it and it's not as if we used it all that much here. We were still on our first tank of gas! Plus we know it went to a good home. = )

Earlier this week we loaded up all the junk we couldn't pawn off on our friends = ) and had a yard sale. My dad knows a guy and we got to set up in a really good spot right on the highway. We sold over $200 in four hours on a Tuesday so I think it was a real success! I'm taking another trailer full tomorrow to sell and hope I do even better since it's a Friday and there are usually more people out. If not, then oh well. Sitting out in the blazing Alabama summer sun is doing wonders for my tan.

Lasting Promises

On Tuesday of this week we went to Mr. D's, furniture shopping. As usual, we found ourselves explaining a lot.

"Yes, well we're moving to a small apartment so we'd like to see your doll furniture collection, please."

"No, no. We're not moving into the new apartments they're building down the street. Actually we're moving to New Orleans next month."

And then we get, "Oh! Why?"

And then we explain about seminary and that it is very different living on campus than out in the ghettos and so on and so forth!

On Tuesday, though, after getting an "Oh!" Jackie asked, "Why does everyone say that?!" That particular man told him that it was because that just seemed an awful long way from home. Yes, furniure man, sometimes it does. Sometimes when I think about leaving my Granny's peonies that are planted at the side of my house on the street that I've lived on for 23 years NOLA does seem far from home.

Some people think I ought to settle down and build a big, fancy house and buy a nice, fancy car like other people my age are starting to do. You know, close to home. But then I think about heaven and what the Bible says about home.

"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1

"Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and member of the household of God." Ephesians 2:19

I know that no matter what ties I manage to make here...however long I live in one tent, however big or small I manage to make that tent...it's still just a tent. Just a temporary dwelling to sustain me on this leg of my journey and that someday I will have a building from God, eternal in the heavens and that I don't belong here; I will forever belong to God's household no matter how comfortable I get in one place here! I think about that and I don't get so homesick for fading memories, I get happy for lasting promises. = )

The Countdown Begins!

We are a mere 37 days away from our moving date! Things are really start to become "real" for us. We have put our living room suite on the market should you know someone who needs a fabulous set of furniture, I'd like to send it to a good home.

We've been furniture shopping this week though odds are I won't be able to get much on our budget. I will definitely be needing a kitchen table, however, since I kind of sold ours. I had one in mind when I sold it but apparently it was a discontinued style and the ONE that they had that I had seen was gone. = ( So now I'm on the hunt for a perfect replacement!

I haven't started packing yet but I have started purging. I've cleaned out our closets and sent four boxes of clothing to the consignment shop. I also want to have a yard sale when I can talk someone into helping me. Hopefully we can lighten our load before it has to be loaded.

Jackie has started preparing for a class this week. The three books he has to read and write about before he will be admitted to class arrived on Tuesday so he's been reading as much as possible.

And that's what's going on this week!