"I respect a man who knows how to spell a word more than one way." - Mark Twain

So the key to reversing the effects of stress....

What an interesting day.
Our staff meeting is every Wed. at 9:00 and goes for about 90 minutes. At 11:00 I meet with Dave, the executive pastor and my immediate supervisor to go over what I'm doing and what they want to see happen.
I got some helpful direction and information that's going to move me along and I like the way things are headed.
I realize they've taken a risk hiring me and really want to validate the faith they've placed in me. So doing what they want and doing it well is important.

Sally is back in the shop but it's no big deal. When I put it in park it will still roll forward or backward depending (obviously) on the slope of the parking lot. It was fine when I got it back, just started doing this Monday, and only does it if the slope is sufficient. That almost assures that the linkage from my lever to the tranny has slipped and needs to be adjusted and then tightened more securely. That's not something I can do crawling underneath the car and the mechanic can do in 15 minutes with Sally up on his lift.
We took it over this afternoon and will undoubtedly get it back tomorrow.

I streamed the memorial service for about 45 minutes until that staff meeting started. So poignant!
I decided the reason I respond so emotionally to the son's grief over his father is that it hits the spot inside me where my sadness over dad's death resides.
I told Pam I think about him all the time, especially when something happens that I'd normally tell him about. He was always curious about things like the goats and my car projects. I really wish I could tell him about my work at church. He'd be especially interested in that.

I made walnut squares last night and my first attempt at that went well. The process was very different from other things I've baked and I liked learning some new things. I took all but four of them to the office and then the eight I took around the corner to the PT office I went to.
I was going to invite Melissa (my PT) to our Christmas service at church but when I asked "What are you doing for Christmas?" she told me she's going home to Atlanta for the week, leaving the day before. Phooey! I think she probably would have come otherwise.

I recently learned about Filson Hats and that they're supposed to be pretty nice. I looked them up online and discovered that a) they're located in Seattle, and b) have FREE factory tours!! So one of these times we drive up to see mom we'll make time to take that tour. Should be fun and interesting, especially because of the variety of hats they make. Like the caps knit from buffalo hair!

I've misplaced my Bluetooth earpiece. I know they're geeky but talking on a cell phone while driving in Oregon will get you thrown in jail and Washington isn't much better. (Not literally, but as of 1/1/18 you're not allowed to even touch your cell phone except to swipe the screen for GPS purposes.The fines are huge if they see you doing anything else.)
Pam bought me a new one on Amazon and it arrived the other day. I got it synced this morning and tried it out by calling her. Yeah, it works. Still looks geeky but it's not like I have an image to preserve.
We can't make long distance calls from our land line and can't use our cell phones until we're about 2 miles away from home headed into town. So I usually try to call mom while I'm driving into or back from Eugene. A Bluetooth earpiece is the best way to do that.
If you've ever had one of these things you know that a voice says "Connected" or "Disconnected" to let you know it's working with your phone.
This one says it with a Chinese accent.

We've been married 47 years, a number that boggles the minds of the 20-something newlyweds at the church office.
One of my favorite things about being married this long, or at least our marriage at this age, is the way we can work through tricky issues. We talk things through easily and almost always readily come to a conclusion together.
T'ank you, Fadder.