Playing House

Ely, IA

Hello,

I feel as if I am playing house. Perhaps it is because so many things around me are not “mine” and this is just a temporary situation. I remember having the same feeling when we went to Slovakia the first time. Would it have felt differently if we had rented an apartment for a month? I do know it would have been harder to manage. We would have had to struggle to get things out of storage because we did not pack things with the idea of taking out just enough to create good living in one bedroom. This is much nicer. We even have a king sized bed, sheets, blankets, towels, a washer, a dryer, dish soap, and toilet paper are provided. Then there are all of the utilities that we did not have to get hooked up and then unhook a short time later. If desired, we have cable TV and the Internet. We have our cell phones that we do not use so much because we can make free calls over the internet. Communication is certainly in a new era. I am happy to be living in these times. Just so you know we are not totally freeloading, but do contribute to the household expenses.

A great thing is that we did not forward our mailing address so no junk mail finds us. Perhaps I feel like I am playing house because I am so unencumbered and free. Someday I will just leave or quit.

Now I am blessed with two large calendars. That may not seem like much to you, but I am pleased. I had brought one back from SLC public library. It is a water stewardship publication from the SLC department of public utilities. I am in agreement with everything they have advocated so far. We will see what the rest of the year provides. I certainly do not want to look at things everyday that I disagree with. Then my hostess brought me a calendar from work. It is also good and filled with beautiful pictures. In addition we have a smaller calendar that has pictures of Sophia and Logan on it. Just think we will have no excuse for not knowing what day it is after we have moved.

Paula

Dripping Possessions

Ely, IA

Hello,

Leroy and I are talented at misplacing possessions; they just seem to slither right off while we aren’t looking. Maybe by the time we get to the end of our lives we will indeed be bare and unencumbered with extras. Who needs this stuff anyway?

It might not be needed, but it is wanted. Then the sheer challenge of finding it becomes engrossing. Leroy cannot find a pair of sweatpants or lounge pants that he purchased at Savers for the grand total of one dollar. That may seem cheap, but these pants are dear. He likes them!

He knows they are not in this living space. He is sure that he has not seen them since we have been living here. He was even convinced of that before we looked in all possible places two times. Then it was on to the other places that we have rested for a time. First it was a call to Miriam to see if it was one of the items that he left at her house. She helpfully shared the contents of two boxes that we left there so we do not have to bother to bring much when we fly there. “Black dress shoes(Leroy’s), why are they here?” she wanted to know.

“They are almost worn out and shoes take a lot of room in a suitcase,” was the response from me.

I have asked my sister to look at her house. I even think Leroy wore them there, but I personally think we did a good job of gathering up all of our things.

We will be at Brian’s house for the weekend, can you imagine weekends off? We have only experienced that for 6 years since Leroy graduated from seminary. You know about weekend work before you graduate, but it is quite a different experience to live it. Anyway the reason we will be at Brian’s house is because they are having a late first birthday celebration for Logan whose birthday is today.

Then two weekends after that we will be back at Leroy’s sister’s house in preparation for moving into our new apartment in Cedar Rapids.

While we are at those places we will look into all crevasses where we strewed or stowed our things. Hopefully it will turn up so Leroy can once again enjoy the feel of those pants on his legs.

Paula

Warmth

Ely, IA

Hello,

The sun shone and the temperature climbed along with our spirits. My mother used to talk about how the chickens would sing when the sun shone. Well, we were singing today.

We again walked to church and then in the afternoon walked up the bike trail. It was wonderful. According to my pedometer we walked a little over three miles today. Word was that the trail is used a lot and it would seem to be true as we met four people walking out there. We saw bike riders in town so I would guess that they had used it as well.

I took pictures of our children and grandchildren to church. It was great fun to show them off. So many people remember our children so I thought they might like to see how they turned out as adults.

Late in the afternoon Leroy and I drove to Iowa City for a choir concert that was to have been free. We thought that fit our budget. At the table to the entrance there was a sign listing the ticket cost of $17 per adult and $14 per senior. We probably fit the senior category, but we still turned around and left because we did not want to spend about $30. Perhaps we could pay that after we figure out just how much money will be available after set expenses.

It was a nice day for a drive up through this area that is quite familiar to us. There are just so many new houses around here. It is something to be in an area that is growing so much.

Yesterday we visited some old friends. It is just good to catch up and find out where they are going in life. To talk and to listen is such a satisfying activity. Are we all wired that way?

Leroy is adjusting to the weekends off, but I get the feeling that he does miss being in the church as a worker. Life has adjustments all of the time. It is surprising because I thought when I grew up I would have arrived and life would be just a gentle slide from there to the end.

Paula

Emotional Rollercoaster

Ely IA

Hello,

Yesterday I checked our credit card bill and was shocked at how large it was, but then I realized that we had not yet paid for the windshield wiper repair. So the two car bills made it over $800. There were also two bills that I thought were for towing the car. One was for $35 and the other for $80. How could two places charge us for the one towing job?

I have kept track of what we spend and have done this for years. Well it had been some months since I managed this part of our life. I was appalled at how much we have spent for gas, flying around, and using the bus. Using the credit card does allow one to ignore the flow of money. Leroy and I have always paid our bill in full so that is not a problem. But then I know that we have enjoyed all of these trips and we did have the money to pay for them. By the time afternoon came I had let that go.

Just as Leroy came home I realized that we had bought gas at the one place that I thought had done the towing. So that put all of this angst to rest. What a waste of energy!

All of my recent reading material has been rather serious. Somehow that did not help my frame of mind. One book that I got from the SLC library is not one that I want to finish. I had to grumble about the disappointment and the waste of hauling it around of more than a thousand miles. Last night I finally found something that is just a bit lighter read. That helped me to feel better.

Except for Sundays, I am once again walking two miles a day for Lent. Today I waited until Leroy came home before we walked. It was so cold and windy that we really wanted to be done long before that point. The biggest challenge was that the wind was at our back on the way out and in our face on the return trip. My thighs were chunks of ice and Leroy’s face a bright red. Luckily the house is warm and normalcy returned quickly. Now I feel fine for having met the difficulty head on.

Paula

Missing Sock

Ely IA

Hello,

I washed clothes today, felt successful, discovered a missing sock, checked twice, and felt unsuccessful. How do these things disappear? It is a black sock made out of nylon so it could be sticking to some item of clothing, but I did check a couple of the most likely attracting suspects. There is little room between the bedroom and the washer so I do not suspect that it could have been dropped and disappeared from view. I did my usual pattern of checking the same places at least twice just because I cannot believe it is not there.

Logan got a haircut. Today I saw him on the webcam. I was amazed to see that he might join his sister in the blonde hair club. All of my children were blond as was Leroy. All of my grandchildren have brown hair except for Logan’s sister, Sophia. A year ago when Logan was born he had dark hair. One the reasons that I got to see Logan was that he is sick and could not go to daycare. It is sad that I am so far away, even at four hours it is too far, because I would certainly have the time to take care of him. Oh for that private jet so I could dash from child need to child need with all of my free time. It seems that there is either time or money available, but seldom both. Perhaps that helps us to appreciate what we do have and question the importance of each in our lives.

On Sunday Leroy and I stayed at church for a lesson in how to play Bunco. Leroy was one of the big losers so he got a consolation price of a game of Bunco. We were quite happy to get that as we are not hauling any games around with us. This game set includes nine dice so we played the game of zilch with the dice last night. It was fun especially because I won one game and Leroy won one. It seemed smart not to have a play off.

Paula

Two Cars

Ely, IA

Hello,

We now have two cars cluttering up the street in front of the house here. It is good to have taken care of this matter as I think it has been in the back of our minds for almost a month. Leroy wondered if this 1999 model was worth fixing, but I figure that we could not have bought another for the price of repairs. Also at this point it is nice, but not really necessary to have two cars. However if I have a job too, then I need a way to get there; unfortunately in this country my options are fairly limited. What we need is more people living closer together so public transportation becomes more feasible. It does not look so attractive when it is worded that way. An easy answer is not coming to mind.

The Fastnachts were a hit this morning. Only half of the batch went into donuts with the rest becoming cinnamon rolls. It all tasted good.

More good news, we saw Rex. He looks quite different than he did the last time we saw him. He is ready to go home tomorrow. He certainly talked with more vigor than he had in the recent past. Hope this is indeed the path to wellness.

We found the newest pictures of our grandchildren. I have them out so I can enjoy them. That is a treat.

Paula

Church

Ely, IA

Hello,

Last Sunday Leroy went to the first service at the church where he was pastor for 15-16 years. This Sunday we went to the second service because my hair was still wet and I did not want to walk in the cool air with wetness. Once again we can walk to church.

It was wonderful to see some of the people that I had not seen in years. In many ways it feels like coming home. I even think of that as I drive down the road. There has been quite a lot of development in the intervening years, but it still feels familiar, restful, and comfortable to my eyes.

We had thought we should not go to the church here, at least not on a regular basis because there is an unwritten rule that former pastors should not interfere with the new pastor’s situation. Because we will only be here in town another month and gone one of those Sundays we will simply go here and attend alternating services so we will not look so familiar. The many new people in the church will not recognize us so that makes it not so much of a problem.

Leroy and I are both astonished that Lent starts this week. That truly points out the fact that he is not in the parish where he had to be on top of all such Christian holidays.

I am making fastnachts/donuts for the family here. They were talking about and remembering them last week so I just plunged ahead and the batch is rising for the morning cooking and consumption. The traditional day is to have them on Shrove Tuesday, but it will not work so we are just moving it ahead.

It will be a bit lumpy with potatoes because I had thought they were more thoroughly mashed than they were. I noticed pieces as I was kneading. Oh well, it will not hurt us just be a lump of potato. Cooking and baking is always a mystery and adventure with me.

Paula