Sept. 23-28

Monday Sept 23

Started the day good…..got up and exercised to my Biggest Loser DVD, which I played on my computer.

I had made cookies yesterday for the Elder Bruggeman and Elder Hullinger, but they couldn’t get them till this morning.  They stopped by about 8 a.m., while I was fixing breakfast.  They stayed just a few minutes, then left with a dozen of my chocolate chip cookies.  I learned later at work that when they got back to their apt., they each had a cookie in their hand, ready to take a bite, when one of them said to the other “this cookie will determine the next 18 months for Sister Yearsley”  or something to that affect, meaning either they would like my cooking or not, and then I guess if they didn’t, how they would react when I gave them more!  But, they said I passed the test!  I said, “well, I figured they would be okay, since all my family always raves about them, asking which are mine at family reunions”. 

Monday at work was steady busy all day for both Sister Crawford and I.

After work, when we got home, I made  bread….3 loaves.  I had decided before we came that I would only bring 3 bread pans and would only do a half batch (my batch is usually 6 loaves), since freezer space would be limited.

Went to the hot tub just before bed….hopefully, this can be a good routine to get into.

Tuesday,  Sept 24

Today at work, it was kind of slow today.  Late morning, the Pres. told Sis. Crawford that he needed her to run a missionary to a Dr. appt. in Stockton.  So, she left just before noon, and was gone till the end of the day.  But, it was slow with just me too.  I had time to read the help on IMOS to figure out how to change the check settings so that the name shows better in the window opening in the envelopes.  Also, spent some time looking at Google maps, getting an idea of the location of the zones and some of the cities I hear about in the reports we print out.

After work, had dinner, cleaned up, and was doing some ironing when Hope called.  Had a great visit with her.  She told us that Kim had her baby today….a boy named Austin Kelley Parish.  She had to have a C-section.  I forgot to ask how big he was. I will have to email her to find out I guess!

Went to the hot tub again tonight!  Ah, I could get used to this!  

Thursday, Sept. 26^th, was Sisters Retreat.  The young sisters where there all day…it was held in the San Felipe building, where we meet for church.  They had talks, workshops, lunch more speakers.  We, from the office, arrived just before lunch and stayed for the speaker after lunch.  It was very good.  The speaker was Sis. Watkins’ visiting teacher.  Her name is Sister Peterson, I think.  Anyway, the theme of the retreat was Finding Joy in the Journey, and Sis. Peterson spoke about challenges in her life, but how you can still find joy in them all.

I have learned a few more new things at work this week, but mostly things are getting pretty routine.  It is the odd things that happen that can throw me!   

On Friday, also, we stopped at Best Buy after work to get Gary a GPS so he will have one in the mission truck when he is alone.  Then spent the evening programming apartment addresses in it.  Went to bed too late!  Oh, did our grocery shopping that evening too.  Took too long grocery shopping, so we missed our hot tub tonight.  We have been making it every evening about 8:30 usually.  Well, technically, we still were going to jump in for a few minutes, but a sign on the pool  gate said it was closed for the day for repairs, so we stayed out.

Two evenings this week, I worked on ironing.  Did laundry in there a lot….it is a tiny washer and dryer, so I have to do more frequent, smaller loads.  Starting to get more used to that.

Sat.  Sept. 28^th….we finally left the city to see some new places.  We decided to test the new GPS, so visited a couple of the apartments, one in Gilroy, one in Seaside….the GPS worked fine.  Just need to fine tune it a bit, figure out how to lighten up the screen and keep it light so we can actually see it!  While in Seaside, we stopped at a Dollar store, and picked up a few items.  Also, stopped at the beach so I could get my feet wet in the ocean!  It was a little cooler than I thought it would be, but then, it is the end of September!     Sat. morning, as we were leaving, traffic was terrible!  In fact, cops had Capitol blocked off, which caused a traffic jam.  So, it seemed to take forever to get to the Credit Union which we needed to stop at, and get out of SJ!  But, once we left the city, it was great.  And, it didn’t take many miles to be OUT of the city, into the country.  One highlight…..on the way home from the beach, we took hwy 1 (we had gone down 101 to get there earlier), and stopped at a fresh produce stand and got LOTS of fresh fruits and vegetables for a great price!  Can’t wait to taste them to see how they taste!  We miss fresh stuff from the garden.

When we got home from our outing, we put the produce away, then I started on bread…..we go through a lot, and I can only make 3 loaves at a time because we don’t have much freezer space.  Plus, I had to make banana bread since the bananas were over ripe.  Then, made more cookies for our lunches for the week.  So, a busy evening.  Finished up in the hot tub, then bed.

Oh, last week, I forget which night, I had a phone call from President Shelton, our branch president of the Bayshore Branch.  He asked me if I would be able to lead the music in Sacrament Meeting this Sunday.