Virginia trip

We've been out of town this week visiting Debbie's Dad and (step)Mom in Waynesboro, VA. Tasha and Matt came up, too. Dick and Ingrid treated us to tix to Williamsburg, so Wednesday we went there, then went back on Thursday and went to Jamestown, Yorktown, and back to Williamsburg. Lots and lots of history...of course, you can't be in VA at all without running all over something historic.
Yesterday (Friday) was mostly 'down time' resting up from going across the state the previous two days, but we managed to do a little work in Ingrid's flower gardens. Today was another mostly rest day, except we took Tasha and Matt to see "UP" which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't yet seen it. I caught a lot more of the inside jokes this time--first time they just went by too fast. It's a really sweet movie. One example of the jokes I missed first time I saw the flick...near the end of the movie, the old man who's the main focus of the story, the 'wilderness explorer' (boy scout) who's his companion, and the talking dog they rescue are all sitting on the curb outside an ice cream stand, playing a game the boy used to play with his Dad...counting cars. When the boy and his Dad used to do it, the boy would count red cars, the Dad counted blue cars, and whoever got the most won. This time the boy counts the red cars, the old man counts the blue cars, but the dog butts in with "Gray one!" (In fairness to Matt, he was the one who caught and explained this joke...if you didn't get it, look up 'dog vision' on Wikipedia or Google).
Tomorrow we'll celebrate Father's Day with Dick, and head on to the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville on Monday. The actual meeting is Tues/Wed, and we head home Thursday.

Progress on the building

I haven't said anything about my building lately...with the help of some volunteers from my church, I got the roof on (and tar paper, but not shingles yet).

The front and back doors are on, and I'm pretty much set now on building a porch on the back.

I'll post some pix as I finish the last few details.

Vacation? What vacation?

Man, the time just flew by this week. We went down Tuesday to New Smyrna Beach, FL. We'd gone there many years ago when the boys were small...
The old house we stayed in first was still there...still as run-down looking as ever. I'm sure they had to have repaired it some in the meantime, but to me it looked just the same.
We had thought about staying at Coastal Waters Inn, another place we'd stayed with the boys, but online bad reviews scared us off...however, those reviews often stay online a long time even after problems are fixed, so we may give them another shot sometime.
The Bahamian Club is across the street from the beachside condos. It's a condo association where some owners also rent out by the week. We were lucky enough to find an owner who'd rent for the 3-night minimum. It was a really nice condo, and would be large enough for our entire family to visit together. One upstairs bedroom has a double bed and single bed...could work for Nathan/Kayla & Brenna. The other upstairs bedroom has a king bed. Two full baths upstairs, one with a tub, the other with a large shower. Downstairs is a great room, kitchen/dining, and a half bath that also holds the washer/dryer unit. Downstairs also has a 'Florida room' that has an upstairs deck on top. Sliding doors from both upstairs bedrooms also open onto the deck, and a set opens from the kitchen to the sun porch (which due to palms, bushes, etc. is really a 'shade porch' most of the time.)
We got one good day on the beach Wednesday, plus a great meal on the 'backwater' at JB's Fish Camp. Thursday it POURED rain...and workmen showed up to replace the A/C unit between downpours. Then as we arrived at Norwood's (a longtime favorite restaurant) the power went out all over beachside. Stayed off, too! We ended up lunching at Blackbeard's and going to a movie...I highly recommend "UP". The main character is voiced by Ed Asner but looks like Spencer Tracy, and the 'bad guy' looks like a caricature of Kirk Douglas.
Friday was 'leaving day' and we went back to Norwoods. Food was great...have their salmon salad with goat cheese. Definitely NOT the menu I remember from when I first went there 30+ years ago! Then it was simply an 'old Florida' fried fish house. They still do that, and do it well, but they now have more 'upscale' offerings. If you go at lunch, the prices are still pretty good.
Anyway, we arrived home this morning about 5 past midnight, after driving all afternoon and evening, and listening to the Braves be incompetent at the plate and (unusual for them) on defense. Today was a quick dermatologist appointment for Debbie and for me. She had her usual dozen or so precancerous growths removed, and I had two 'frozen.' The doctor thought from my skin that I might be Italian...
Tonight's our spring storytelling event. I enjoy these, because I love telling stories, but it's not like the storytelling I grew up with. Most of these storytellers have their stories memorized. They tell them well, but comparing them to the way I grew up telling stories (i.e. partly 'made up as you go along') to them is like comparing jazz improvisation to someone playing from sheet music.
Next week...VBS and the first of our mission groups.