1000 gifts #6

51. chatting online with a childhood friend
52. help with priming the exterior of the house
53. leftover lasagne for lunch
54. sunshine after several dreary, rainy and cold days
55. free chromatic tuner
56. hearing a niece's story of a raccoon in a tree
57. seeing & talking to my youngest sister while running errands
58. an evening at home
59. watching a 7 year old niece play soccer
60. hearing a 5 year old niece say she would take ballerina dancing

Bible Club Week 6

I was a little worried before arriving at Girls Inc. today. Last week we had to move book tables out of the way. They had had a book fair the Friday before (in the room in which we have Bible club). In wanting to make sure each girl received a book, they had left the books set up. They had plans to move them before we arrived but those plans were not realized. When we arrived last week, 2 teenagers were in the room giggling & reading books...the K-1 grade level reading books. We shooed them out so we could move the tables, put out the chairs & get our easel and flannel board set up. We didn't realize they were in there to move the things out of our way. We quickly got everything where we needed it. The tables which were loaded with books, we scooted to the back of the room & prayed the girls who sat closest to those books would pay attention to the story & not want to look at the books. (That would have been difficult for me as a child. I loved Sunday School Charlie & would really want to listen to the story but I also absolutely LOVED to read. Those books would have been a temptation.)

To help ease my fears, we made sure we arrived early. And I had nothing to worry about. All the books (except 1 box) were gone. The 2 tables on which the books had been were folded up & leaning against the couch. We moved them against the back wall & set up the room.

We had stopped today to get a Pal's tea. After setting up the room, John went out to the van to get the teas. As he was gone, Little J (who is so much like big sister, E) stopped in the room. I asked her if she were coming to Bible club today. "No," she said, "I'm going to the library". "Oh," I replied. "Do you like to read?" "Yes." "What is your favorite book?" "A Halloween book". And that gave me the question I would ask each girl before club began.

Between 16-18 girls came to club today. It was a little hard to keep count. Since today was the last Thursday of the month, the Girls Inc. activity leaders were continually coming in & calling out girls to receive their Character Counts awards for October. They like getting the awards. I do have to say though that Sunday School Charlie guarantees that they return to club very quickly.

As I went around the room today, I could remember most of the girls' names. I asked them if they were going to dress up for Halloween & what they were going to be. That was a good question because that was what they were talking about as they came in the room. Some of them have 2 different costumes. One for Girls Inc. party tomorrow & then one for their actual trick-or-treating.

We then started Sunday School Charlie Mystery of the Golden Key. Charlie & Red have known each other for a year. They are planning on going to summer camp together. The day before they leave, they are fishing & Charlie catches a key chain with 15 keys. He takes those to camp with him. They eagerly meet the other boys & girls. One of the boys is named Muscle Mike. He doesn't want anything to do with Sunday School, VBS or anything like that. Charlie decided that maybe God wants him to be a missionary to Muscle Mike. One of the valued items at the camp is the treasure chest. It is an antique which has been brought from Germany. The camp registrar keeps the camp money in the treasure chest. It locks with a golden key. All the first day, Charlie keeps reminding himself of his memory verse. Matthew 5:44 tells us we are to love & pray for our enemies. Charlie is glad he doesn't have any enemies but prays that when he does, he will remember this verse and put it into practice. The girls were disappointed when the story ended. They all told me what they thought would happen over the next 4 weeks.

John came up & led them in a few songs - "Father Abraham", "12 Men Went to Spy on Canaan", "Let's Talk About Jesus, Let's Talk of His Love", the "Stop" & "Go" songs. And then one more which I cannot remember. While they were singing the last song, I set up the flannel board for our review game. Oh yes, it was "I'm a Missionary's Helper" (sung to the tune "I've Been Working on the Railroad)".

This game is called "Feeding Gilbert". It is also by Ed Dunlop. The girls were told to imagine they & a group of friends were meeting to celebrate their friend, Gilbert's birthday. They meet at Gilbert's favorite restaurant but Gilbert is late in arriving. They each decide to order something for Gilbert. The only problem they don't know what foods Gilbert really likes. I had John draw a card from a pile of 4. On this card are listed 5 foods. We kept these foods secret until the end. In the center of the board are 24 circles - each having a picture of a kid-friendly food on the front. In my hand, I held several cards. They were numbers. If a girl answered a question correctly, she came up front, drew a numbered card & then was able to choose that many food items from the board. Each food item had points on the back. I would remove the food from the board, tell them the points, and then put that food item on the side of the board we had designated for their team. 2 of the food items had super special on them. The girls got 1500 points for those and also got another turn. After each food item had been chosen, placed on the side for that team & John had totaled the points (& also told the girls which team had which points), he then looked at the card he had chosen. The first four items on that card brought 1000 extra points each for the team which had chosen that item. The last item (which was Gilbert's all-time favorite) brought 2000 points. The team which had been behind ended up winning because they chose more of the favorite foods. The girls loved the game.

That game took a few more minutes than usual so the girls were a little later in leaving. Fortunately, for us, the vans had not started leaving yet for the apartments. We gave them each 2 Tootsie Roll suckers. We purchased some more. The current special color/flavor is a light blue/blue raspberry. The girls were so excited to see that we had the suckers again. That is their all-time favorite treat.

Next week we will not have Bible club as the leaders are preparing for the regional Girls Inc. meeting. We will attend some of the meeting on Friday.

1000 gifts #5

41. viewing pictures from Germany
42. Saturdays (even if they're on Monday)
43. sleeping past 7 am
44. visiting my sister
45. seeing God's love expressed through other believers
46. trying a new (to us) restaurant with friends
47. a cousin's phone call
48. being able to share Wednesday leftovers with Mom & Dad
49. vacation day filled with encouragement
50. girls' excitement upon realizing it's Bible club day

Bible Club Week 5

I was excited to get to Bible Club today. It was the end of the first story of Sunday School Charlie - Missionary to Slocum Alley. I remember from being a young child listening to Aunt Evelyn tell the stories that I always looked forward to hearing how everything worked out in the end but also was disappointed that the story was ending. With our retreats having ended and no activities which will need the camp store until the spring, we took the remaining snack size 3 Musketeers & Twix bars from the camp store. By the time the camp store opens up, these candy bars will be stale.

I cannot tell you how many girls were at club today. The numbers really fluctuated today. Some of our regulars didn't come because they were going to art gallery. I am not sure what that is but they were excited about it. It seemed like the parents arrived earlier to get their children also. I know when club ended we had 5 girls left.

Well as you remember Charlie had been clinging for his life onto a small shrub/bush trying to keep Red from drowning. Charlie as he's slipping...slipping...slipping, calls out for help. His dad happens to be at the Bend looking for his fishing rod & is able to save Charlie & Red. When the truth comes out about the fishing rod, Charlie gives his father the $2.13 (still in his pocket) for Red's share of the fishing rod. Charlie promises his father that he will pay the rest from his allowance. At supper, Charlie's dad says he isn't going to use the money given him to purchase a fishing rod. Instead he's going to purchase Red a Bible. And maybe Red will accept Charlie's invitation to attend Vacation Bible School. Red does accept and Charlie is excited to get on the VBS bus Monday morning. But when the bus stops at Slocum Alley, Red is nowhere to be seen. Charlie is disappointed & tried to find every way possible to get out of VBS. When Charlie finds out that the pastor offered Red a ride to church & Red has decided VBS isn't that bad, Charlie is excited. Red does accept the Lord as his Savior & Charlie & Red both agree to do whatever or go wherever the Lord sends them.

The girls were clinging on to every word that I said. And just as I remember being they were a little disappointed that this story was over. But excited at the promise of the next Sunday School Charlie story. John then came up & led them in singing, "1-2-3 Jesus loves me", "Jesus Loves Even Me", "12 Men Went to Spy on Canaan" (by request), "Did You Ever Talk to God Above" and then "Stop and Let Me Tell You" and "Go & Tell the Story" (those last 2 were also by request).

After the songs, we played a game called Gone Fishing. Also taken from the book "Mouse on a Mission" by Ed Dunlop. I had put 2 boats on either side of the flannel board. In the center were about 24 different colored fish. When a child answered the question correctly, she was allowed to come up to the board & pull a card (from the stack I was holding). That card told them how many fish they could choose (either 1, 2 or 3). We put the fish they chose under their boat. At the end of the game, I pulled the fish from under each boat. Points were on the back of the fish. We added those points & then we added the points. There was only a 3 point difference between the 2 teams - 43 t0 46.

One funny thing that happened is that during the singing, the CEO of Girls Inc. came to Bible Club looking for one of the girls who had been paged numerous times. Her mother was here. I kept thinking to myself (as she was paged) that she had been one of the girls called to go to the Art Gallery. So when the CEO told me she was looking for this girl, I said I believe I heard her called for the Art Gallery. She was so thankful I had remembered hearing her name. I think they were beginning to wonder where she was. She is a very faithful Bible club attender.

Upon entering Girls, Inc., we are required to sign in. I remove a notebook from a shelf on the wall, sign our names what time we entered, what we are doing, where we are located. When we exit, we are to sign ourselves out - which is just writing down what time we leave. The CEO & activities director were both at the front desk. So I kind of reviewed with them the next few weeks. Next week they will offer club but the next Thursday (11/6), there will be no club. I don't think they will be open. That weekend is the regional Girls Inc. "meeting". It runs Friday - Sunday (?). It is here in Kingsport. They will be closed the following Monday - which I'm sure is for them to recuperate from their busy meeting. The CEO asked us if we would like to attend the meeting on Friday as their guest. She said they were wanting to have as many of their activities represented as possible. We are looking forward to attending that meeting to hear more about this program.

After Bible club we stopped at Office Depot to get a toner for the fax machine. I have only purchased one toner right after it was given to us. We had been told the toner was not working so went ahead & purchased a new one. The past 2 things which have been faxed to us have only come 1/2. The first one I just thought it was the other fax machine. Then when it came that way from a totally different machine/area, I decided to look into purchasing a cartridge. Office Depot was currently out. They did carry the item - or so I thought she said but when I asked her if they would be getting an order in soon, she said she thought they would but I could just go online & order one myself. She gave me the model # & everything. So I may order it from the company directly. (I didn't tell the lady I knew the manager...I wonder if she would not have been so eager for me to order it myself).

I am now home. John has gone out again. He's helping a man from church with a job he is doing this evening. I hope to get at least one load of laundry done.

A glimpse into the not too far past

I hope you take the time to view this video. This is the info I got with the video:

1945...as interpreted by Kseniya Simonova, the 24 year old winner of Ukraine's GotTalent 2009. Using sand on a light table, she masterfully interpretsGermany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII.

1000 gifts #4

31. a week off from Girls Inc.
32. year round dumpster
33. getting to the office supply store before they closed
34. fellowship with friends before Wednesday evening service
35. farm fresh eggs
36. smell of wood smoke
37. Sunday lunch with family & friends
38. marzipan from Germany
39. parents' love
40. encouragement from an aunt

Teen Retreat

This weekend is teen retreat. No pb&j sandwiches were served this evening. They all took lasagne & from what I can tell they all liked the homemade stuff. Thanks Aunt BJ, for sharing the recipe via the faculty wives' cookbook. Tomorrow morning is biscuits & gravy and then taco salad for lunch. John has some cousins here as campers this weekend. One of them has already asked for taco salad. His hair is growing quite long so John told him that if he had his haircut, John would make taco salad for lunch. The cousin thought about it for a few minutes...then realized John was teasing him. John has not told him that is what we're having for lunch tomorrow.

The Dave Ramsey class tonight was a good one...like they all are. He is able to share good guidelines via humor. Tonight's video was a little over an hour but you did not realize you had sat there for an hour.

Bible Club Week 4

Before going to Bible Club we had to get a treat for the clubbers. We happened to be on the other side of Kingsport so used the Thomas' Wal-mart as I call it. Mrs. Thomas lives near that Wal-mart & when I am trying to distinguish between our regular one & that one, that is how I refer to it. We purchased a large pack of snack sized Skittles - approximately 40 packs.

Upon arriving at Girls Inc., we got set up, the figures ready & I was able to pray for each seat. Since it was a dreary drizzling at times, raining at times kind of day, the girls were all playing in the gym. I could hear them talking excitedly about the coach. Finally we heard the activities director announce that it was time to clean up the gym & line up on their lines. The girls did so & then a quiet descended upon the gym as the activities director made the announcements. This week is the beginning of a new time schedule. From M-Th, Girls Inc. is open until 7pm. But on Friday they close at 6:30pm. They also are now charging $3/minute/child for however long they have to stay after the closing time. That was one announcement made this afternoon. Followed by "please make sure your parents are here to get you by 6:30. That's a lot of money if they're not." The girls were all agreeing. They also learned that in 2 Fridays they would have their Halloween party & the Thursday before that they would be allowed (if they had behaved & completed all homework) to go trick-or-treating at one of the assisted living places. The girls were excited about that. Next week is the last chapter of this Sunday School Charlie story so we may just not go the week of Halloween. They'll be eager to go get their candy from the "old people" as they call them so there won't be that many on that day.

Finally those that wanted to go to Bible Club were dismissed to our room. We ended up with 14 girls. 2 little girls told me they would be in club as soon as they proved they had done their homework. Only 1 of the 2 came. I guess the other 1 had not finished. I asked the girls their names (I do know quite a few of them) and also asked them to tell me what their favorite thing about school. Most of them said science & history. One girl said math & a few said recess. Only one said lunch...her reasoning for that was that was the only time she could talk with her friends.

We then went into chapter 4 of Missionary to Slocum Alley. Charlie sits in the missionary conference & is excited to see the native items that the missionary speakers have brought to show. The missionary who is giving the sermon that day tells the boys & girls that God wants YOU to serve. I put a pentagon on the board with the word YOU on it. Then I put a triangle on each side of the pentagon. Each triangle named something we can use to serve God - heart, time, wealth, love & body (our feet to take us to someone, our hands to serve, etc.). The speaker pointed out that the triangles on each side of the pentagon now made a star. He also said that our lights are to shine. The girls (at club) really liked that. Charlie goes home & as he's in bed trying to sleep, he keeps thinking how can I tell Red about Jesus. The next morning, Charlie takes the $2.13 out of his piggy bank, gets on his bike & rides to Slocum Alley to see Red. Red is not home & Charlie learns he is at the river. Charlie rides to the river & discovers Red has fallen into the river at "The Bend". Red can't swim so Charlie dives in after him. We left Charlie hanging to a very thin shrub (losing his grip) and Red is digging his sharp fingernails into Charlie's ankles. The girls were VERY disappointed.

John came up & led them in "Wide, Wide as the Ocean", "I'm a Missionary's Helper", "Stop & Go" & "Untold Millions". Then we played the ice cream game (Meltdown) again. I have a few more made up but took this one. After we ended the game, we sang "The B-I-B-L-E" while John added up the scores. After that John gave them 2 of the snack-sized Skittles packs. We dismissed them & then went to purchase groceries for this weekend.

John is responsible for the menus for Teen Retreat. So instead of having hamburgers, we're having lasagne - Aunt BJ's recipe as we call it. For breakfast we're going to serve biscuits & gravy for the teens. We have done that one other teen retreat & they like it. We, as staff, also like it. Lunch will be the teens favorite meal - taco salad. We did buy some bread so we can serve pb&j sandwiches in case none of the other food is acceptable to these teens. You know how picky eaters are.

Visiting...

This evening I went to visit my sister & family. The girls were excited to see us & they were especially glad that Uncle John watched their Latin video with them & then watched Winnie the Pooh also. I enjoyed talking with my sister & nephew. I also was able to give her a facebook lesson. I think she will like facebook once she gets the hang of it.

After leaving my sister's, we went to the airport. Oma & Opa arrived around 8:30p.m. They were a little late getting to the airport in Frankfort so weren't sure they would be able to get on their flight but made it. Unfortunately the plane landed late in Philadelphia so they didn't have enough time to get through customs & to the place they needed to be for the connecting flight to Charlotte. Fortunately they were able to get the next flight out & then were able to get their original flight from Charlotte to the Tri. One of their suitcases didn't make it. We went over to their house after leaving the airport and left with 2 loaves of marzipan for my mother, some candy bars for the girls & then some chocolate for ourselves. About 1/2 of their chocolate is in the missing suitcase so I guess we will get some more when that arrives. We did eat some of the chocolate there at their house. They had been able to get some "unwanted" chocolate from a butcher shop. It is dark chocolate with a hint of orange flavoring to it. We snacked on that. And opened one loaf of marzipan to snack on. John came home with one box of Mon Cheris - chocolate covered cherries. That will be his to eat...I'm not too fond of them.

1000 gifts #3

21. an aunt's encouraging phone call
22. a family member's 76 birthday celebration
23. cool breeze at night from open windows
24. Christmas music in October
25. promise of currant crescents in the morning
26. family fellowship while eating promised currant crescents
27. finding another copy of a book I had loaned to someone & never returned
28. having $24 left over from grocery budget
29. smell of lunch in the crockpot
30. nieces' excitement to see me

Junior Retreat

Retreat has gone well. We've had 17 campers. We were expecting 21 but 4 didn't show up. One is sick. We're not sure what happened to the other 4. Supper yesterday evening was the usual hamburger. John grilled them outside. Breakfast this morning was pancakes, grapes & cereal. John & I fixed breakfast. Of course every table had syrup on them. And I did remember to put the peanut butter on the counter beside the pancakes. I don't know though if anyone took any this retreat. We had some peach preserves down at our house so I quickly went down & brought them up. John thinned them down to make a peach syrup to put on the pancakes. The staff really enjoyed those. This morning the pancakes were just plain pancakes. During the summer John experimented different weeks by adding either blueberries or chocolate chips to a little of the batter. One boy came through the line this morning wondering what kind of pancakes. John told him plain & he said "Good. This summer you had some chocolate chip ones & I requested some of the plain ones." I smiled at the little boy & said, "We made the plain ones just for you." He said, "Really!" I think that made his day.

After breakfast was cleaned up I went down to the morning chapel service. I still am old school for children's chapel services. I'm not into the power point presentations. I believe if you're not going to just talk then you need to either use flannelgraph or the visual stories. The chapel speaker's curriculum has a lot of powerpoint & sound clips. Fortunately this morning, there were no sound clips. This summer I had difficulty in chapel...because the sound clips drove me crazy. He used them quite often. The children seem to enjoy the services so I guess that is good.

For lunch we had spaghetti, garlic bread, green beans & a salad. For dessert there was either bread pudding or brownies which had a white frosting on them. I opted for neither. The plain pancakes little boy has a sister who is also here. I was talking to her for a few minutes at lunch. This family travels to the college games every week. Their family is there today. I asked the sister if she were glad she had come. She answered affirmatively. Then I said is this more fun than going to the ball games. Her eyes lit up and she said definitely yes. I was concerned that maybe they might be a little "homesick" for the normal weekend activity. Of course these two when they found out that their family summer vacation fell the week their cousins were going to be here at camp, told their parents that they could go on to the beach without them. They'd just stay home & go to camp on Monday. So the family changed plans for a little bit. The children came to overnight camp & the parents went out of town for a few days. Of course the children have aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles & grandparents here in this area so they were never without someone stopping in to see them.

Right now the children are down at the store/canteen. After they finish they may have a few minutes to play and then closing chapel will be at 3. I don't think I will go to that. Campers will go home when that is finished. My prayer is that they go home with a new awareness of God's love. I also pray that if they have any homework to be done that they will not be too tired to get it done tonight.

We'll go to John's parents after camp. The family dog has cancer in its paw. We're going over every few days to check on her. Hopefully she'll survive until Oma & Opa (John's parents - German for grandma & grandpa) get back home. They've been in Germany. I know they have enjoyed their time. They have purchased lots of marzipan & other German chocolate. I look forward to getting some of that chocolate, hearing how the family is doing & seeing pictures of everyone. You did note the chocolate was listed first as the things to which I was looking forward!

Tomorrow is Friend Day at church. I have not invited anyone to be my friend. I'm not sure how many students I'll have. I know 2 of them will be out of town. One will be in "Deeana" as he calls it. His uncle's wedding is today in Indiana. Another girl's family is going away for the weekend. Depending on how long the ballgame goes today & how many of the rest of them attend it will probably determine how many of the others are there. The 2 kindergarten classes may combine again. We did last week.

1000 gifts #2

11. brother-in-law waking with the thought to check the car & finding something needed attaching
12. taking the next parking garage we found & finding it attached to the convention center
13. little traffic on roads we were unsure about
14. a shopping plaza within walking distance of motel
15. finding sign pointing to US52 when we thought we had missed the turn
16. a rainbow
17. SS students' versions of that day's story
18. Sunday School Charlie
19. an unexpected gift just when it was needed
20. a nephew's smile

Bible Club Week 3

Upon arriving at Girls Inc., the girls have a chance to play. On pretty days most of them go outside & play. But there are some that stay in the gym. This year I have noticed they have a coach. When the girls come into Bible club, they are talking about him & the activity he has led.

We meet in the teen room. Last year during the play time, the teenagers would be lounging around in the teen room. Some of them would be watching the TV or a video or DVD. We'd have to "run them off". This year they have lost their privileges to the teen room so there is no one in there when we arrive. It makes it much easier to get the room set up. Between 4-4:15, the activities coordinator calls over the loud speaker, "Girls it's time to clean up the gym & line up on your line." That is our signal that the girls will be in the room soon. The teen room is located beside the gym so we can hear all the activity. After the announcement is made, there is quite a bit of confusion as the girls clean up & get situated on their lines. Then there is complete silence. One of the leaders comes in & makes announcements. Sometimes there is a sleepover. Sometimes they are announcing a new activity or an upcoming field trip. Since today was the first day of October, they were giving out the Character Counts rewards for September. The girls all sat quietly until their name was called. Then they went to the office to choose their reward. The reward was based upon the number of points they had. The girl who has earned the most Character Counts points at the end of the year is awarded with a gift certificate or cash at the annual board meeting in December.

Since most of them receive some sort of Character Counts reward, it was a little later before they arrived in the room. The two sisters/cousins (I'm not sure which they are) who had come for the first time last week were here again this week & sitting on the front row. In the back was little J who I discovered was E's little sister. How much like E she is! E was very talkative & couldn't sit still at that age. E has matured & was quite embarrassed by her little sister's behavior. Today after asking the girls their name I asked if they had a pet, what kind of pet & what was it's name. I told them if they didn't have a pet they could tell me what they would like for a pet & what they would name it. But they all had a pet. Foreseeing that some of them could have several pets, I told them to tell me just one & it's name. They liked that. And they all had at least one pet.

Chapter 3 of Sunday School Charlie was next. The pastor spoke on missions. Charlie is wondering what makes missions so important all of a sudden. They had talked about missionaries last Sunday in Sunday School, then on Wednesday during church they had met a missionary & seen his slides. This Sunday they were hearing about missions & next week would be a missions conference. After church was over, Charlie rode over to Slocum Alley where Red lives. He stopped in front of Red's house. When Red realized he was there, Red came outside & told Charlie he would not pay for Charlie's dad's fishing rod (which had been broken). Then Red asked if he could ride Charlie's bike. Charlie really didn't want him to but told Red he could if he would come to Sunday School with him next week. Red says he is no sissy and does NOT want Charlie's bike let alone ride it if that will happen. Red runs inside his house & Charlie rides home realizing how hard it is to be a missionary. The girls were disappointed that the story was over for this week & when they realized they would have to wait 2 weeks, you could just see the disappointment in their eyes. When I see the disappointment I know I have done a good job with the story.

John came up and led them in Father Abraham and 1-2-3 Jesus loves me, 1-2 Jesus loves you. Then it was time for the game.

This game came from Ed Dunlop also. It was called Noah's Ark. We talked about how the Lord had brought all the animals to the ark. We also talked about how hard it would be for Noah if he had to go & get them. After answering a question correctly, they could come up & pull a circle from the calico gift bag. The circles had different animals on them with points. The girls got the number of points on the animal. They could choose up to 3 circles. If they chose a Stampede though they lost all the points they had pulled. If they stopped choosing circles before getting a Stampede they were able to pull a circle from the silver gift bag. If they chose a circle with an ark on it, they got to keep the points. If they pulled a circle with a rainbow on it, they got to keep their points and also got 500 bonus points. But if they pulled an escape they lost all their points. There were too many stampede circles for the amount of time we had so the next time I do this game for Girls Inc. I will take away some of the Stampede circles. They did enjoy the game. There was only one girl who did not pull a Stampede circle at some point in her choosing. So it didn't take John long to figure out the total. But while he was doing that, we sang "This Little Light of Mine" (just the first verse).

After we finished the game, it was 5:05 so we had the girls line up at the door. John gave out some more of the Tootsie Roll suckers. They were glad all the banana flavor was gone & they had a possibility of getting grape, raspberry, cherry, orange or chocolate. After today we don't have that many suckers left so I will have to get something else for next week.

We packed up and left. On our way home we stopped at Office Depot so I could get supplies for the office. Then stopped at Lowe's to get a key made. Now we are home and I plan on relaxing for the evening. I will review the Dave Ramsey reading material for tomorrow & check if I need to print out something from his website - I believe I do.