9 Days

Tomorrow I finish up nine days away from home. I'll have preached twice, talked to small groups eight times, and gotten to know a number of people in the broader church world. The conference was pretty well run and I would definitely do it again. Today I'm just enjoying the quiet. I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner pretty much by myself. I took a long walk. I worked on (long overdue) student papers, which are still not done, but hopefully will be 50% there soon (this part is making me wince). I missed a few mini-milestones. Sam apparently slept on a mattress on the floor in grandpa and grandma's room. Eli peed in the toilet (standing? sitting? details to follow...). I can tell it's been a bit of a rocky week for Emily, with late nights, night interruptions, some early mornings, etc., etc. Even a ratio of 4:3 with the kids is not a piece of cake. It will be a fair amount of driving tomorrow. Ninety minutes to friend Matt's service. Then several hours to where my friend Greg is. Then home to the family. I think it should be an okay day. Today it rained a lot. I was lucky to have aircon until today, but am now just running on Vornado power (this is the fan we bought to see if we want one when we go abroad again). That's the news from here. I still have no cell phone, but am able to do typing on my little chromebook. I have my dad's taste for orphaned but creative technology. Someday I'll start posting pictures again too.