"They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything." - Bill Keane

I heard just the tail end of a story on NPR yesterday that made me think of what could be a fun exercise for a creative writing class.
"Write a short story, <500 _______.="" be="" end="" has="" is="" last="" of="" p="" specified="" story.="" that="" the="" to="" with="" word="" words="">What word would you assign?
Syrup. 
Fedora
Chalice
Go!

The Benadryl didn't clear up Buddy's congestion at all. When he breathes you can hear the rasp of sinuses full of snot, and don't be in the way when he sneezes. But I think it did help him sleep and that's benefit enough. The vet said on the phone that his weight (~45 lbs.) indicated a dose of one and a half tablets (25 mg each) so I gave him one tablet just to be on the safe side. I think he slept through the night. I gave him another tablet at 5:30 this morning so that hopefully he'd sleep while we're gone at church for the morning. Of course we were gone so I don't know if that worked our not.
I wish his vet appointment was sooner than Thursday morning. We have to figure out what has him SO miserable.

Last night we talked about the bookmobile. Based on bidding (in)action at this point I think it may go dirt cheap. And because it's a no reserve auction it WILL sell. If it goes for $1,500 with another $1,000 to have it shipped up here it would make a good candidate for a fun RV conversion. And that project would be fun. I've done just enough research online to know that everything required is readily available and there are lots of You Tube videos and a few books about doing this kind of thing So I asked Pam if she felt any draw to some day getting out of goats and chickens and taking trips in an RV to see the country.
Nope. None.
She has absolutely no wanderlust and is most content just staying home. She said she enjoys camping like we've done it - a week or so at state parks relatively close to home and then back to Baker Rd.
I would enjoy road trips. Pack up the RV nee bookmobile and hit the road for weeks/months at a time. Let's see the country! We'd be gone for 2-3 months to explore national parks, various parts of the country sampling regional cuisine, seeing the sites.....
Oh well.
It's not like Baker Rd. is a hole. It's pretty darn nice here and the whole west coast is at our back door.

My class this morning was...work. Last Sunday, expecting a much smaller turnout because of Christmas, I had almost the normal number of people. This morning I had about half the normal 40+/- and it's like they all had just rolled out of bed. Zero energy, no matter how hard I tried to draw them in. It happens, but it sure ain't fun.

I moved one project off my desk last week when I finished getting UFC's small groups into a system. We now know how many groups we have, when and where they meet, what they're doing in their meetings and who leads each of them. All of that information now goes to the elders along with a form they'll use to keep in contact with the 2-4 groups they'll oversee.
I'll still be the point person for people at UFC who aren't but want to be in a small group. I'll get their request and give them two or three options based on their age, location, and interests. But from here on out it *should* be fairly simple to maintain.

My focus now turns to the mentorship area. The church has a seven chapter discipleship booklet they created designed to be the basis for the start of the mentorship relationship. Unfortunately, it was a "committee" project and reads like one. I'm not sure it ever got a thorough proof reading or even a casual once-over. There are diagrams with symbols but no key. The page numbers in the Table of Contents aren't accurate past the first chapter. Sentences that go on longer than the book of Exodus, verbs that don't match subjects, personal pronouns for God that are sometimes capitalized and sometimes not, and commas used on what seems to be a totally random basis.
And more.
I now have a marked-up copy with the corrections I think should be made. I'll create a clean copy with those changes and then give it to Jaimie. I just met her last week but she and her family have attended UFC for years. Turns out before she was a stay-at-home mom she was a professional editor. Doh! She agreed to take a look at my "clean" copy which I expect to get back with an equal amount of red ink.
That's fine! We need a doc as good as we can get it. It's been embarrassing to go through just the first two chapters of this book with my three guys and have to explain what I *think* it's supposed to say. And a complete shrug when we get to the diagrams.

I'll work tomorrow but be home in time for the U of O v. Mich St. game at noon.
Go Ducks.
Then Tuesday off to work on the deer fence, prune fruit trees, and a handful of smaller tasks that can best be done on one of the rare rain free days we get this time of year.