Mr. Bell ran errands with me yesterday and took me out to Starbucks.  It was a good break from routine, but made a long workday since the only time we could really go was right on top of when I usually take my break.  Things coming up and taking me from my lunch hour didn't help either.  Shocking fact of the day: World War II veterans are dying at a rate of 1,000 per day.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 The end of last week was spent getting ready for the annual meeting of *ominous music* The Board.  Claudia and the girls spit and polished the whole building.  All I had to do was make sure I ordered sweet potatoes, Mr. Gothard's favorite food.  I almost didn't see him at all because *ominous music* The Board spent most of their time in the second floor conference room and I spent most of my time in the kitchen.  Most everybody heaved a collective sigh of relief when *ominous music* The Board left, but I had barely noticed they were here since I had just continued to do my job as usual.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 I have the weekend off.  Lisa put brunch out, Advanced EXCEL took care of dinner tonight, and Laura is doing dinner tomorrow.  Yay for not thinking about work!  This afternoon the staff girls went out thrift store shopping and, of course, Starbucks run. ☺  I took a short extra-hot mocha with an extra pump of mocha, and ordered a grande mocha frappucino with a pump of hazelnut and a pump of caramel for one of the girls who wanted to try something new and really likes sweet drinks.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 I've had a lot of firsts while I've been working here.  First time pumping gas, first time going to Sam's, playing ping pong, and volleyball were a few from last year.  This year, I've driven a fifteen passenger van, carried a cell phone, gotten a credit card, cooked something I've never tried before for more than eight people, and bobbed for an apple.  Tonight was my first time to play soccer...and be hit in the face with the ball.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 This morning, as we were trying to get lunch out with ovens that were unreliable, the health inspectors showed up.  First Josh came through and told me that there was a Dallas Health Department truck outside and we were probably about to be inspected.  So I quietly tidied a few things up and Laura had one of the girls wipe some counters.  We kept working on lunch and chores till Trevor came in and said the health inspectors were here.  They asked to see my certificate, checked up on things, and ended up giving us 96% and remarking that we have the cleanest place in Dallas.  We all had a buzz the rest of the day.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 This morning we had no butter to make granola bars.  When I was going out to Farmers' market and to get butter, Josh wasn't around to give me petty cash and I had to switch vehicles twice.  When I got back the girls informed me that one of our ovens wasn't working.  EXCEL girls came to help in the kitchen an hour earlier than expected and the granola bars weren't ready to set out at snack time.  We didn't have enough broccoli for dinner and the steak was still frozen when I wanted to be cooking it.  And yet, in spite of everything that went wrong, nothing bad actually happened.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 It was chilly out this morning as Amy and Rachel and I left for choir practice and the fifteen minute drive to church was quiet.  I followed Rachel and Amy through the halls and up the stairs to the choir room where I found my music folder in the 14th cubby and pulled my choir robe off its numbered hanger.  After warming up, we ran through the two songs we would be singing a couple of times and then filed out and down and across the church and up to the balcony where we would stand to sing our introit.  Down we came again to process into the sanctuary to the choir loft.  The whole choir had been introduced to the song we sang only last Wednesday, so we met in the choir room after service to practice a little bit more before the second service.

 Tonight we're having a 'staff activity' with refreshments (super bowl food!).

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Real gold fears no fire.

 We have two new vans here at the Dallas Ministry Center: a 2000 E-350 fifteen passenger and a 2003 E-150 Chateau.  I much prefer the 15 passenger.  The Chateau, being an E-150 and not having a V-8, is really just a car trying to drag around the shell of a van it got stuck in.  I had never driven a fifteen passenger before last month, but it's only a little bit different than a twelve and only slightly scary.

 Tonight since it's too cold to play outside, we're playing sardines in the basement.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 Two of the staff girls just realized they would both be gone before my birthday and decided they had to give me my present now.  They had already planned ahead and gotten it last Saturday when we were out at the mall.  I was very surprised, and delighted, to be getting a present two months before my birthday and from people I've known for less than a month!  They're both a lot of fun, and very observant to get me something I really wanted.  I now own the Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack.

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Real gold fears no fire.

 Last night was PCPC's choir's open house.  Anyone interested in seeing what choir is like was welcome to come join practice and share some eats afterwards.  Rachel invited me to come along and I liked it so much...I joined!  I'll start singing with the choir during service this Sunday.  It's going to be very different from youth choir, and it means giving up going to bed early on Wednesdays and sleeping in on Sundays, but I loved singing with them.

 Yesterday I probably spent more time out than in.  I went to the farmers' market after breakfast and heard from Bill that it's supposed to get colder over the weekend.  I had already been wearing pants under my skirt for three days so that didn't thrill me, but I'm hoping it will stay above forty so we can play ultimate tomorrow night.

 I needed to make a Sam's and Walmart run after lunch, but had to wait till Josh could go to the bank because I'd run him out of petty cash.  Waiting for him to get back, I put in the Sysco order and wrote out a chore list for the girls.  As soon as he got back, I signed myself out, gave the girls instructions for the afternoon, and took off.  It was nice to be out and I didn't hit any traffic on the way back so I was even back in time to help with dinner.  And I skipped out on dinner cleanup to go to my first (of many!) choir practice.

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Real gold fears no fire.