FROM THE CITY TO THE COUNTRY

Well, the long awaited day has come (and gone). We have "shifted" to the country. Friday night was the first night in our new home. We purchased two twin beds from the previous tenant for the guest room. Greg and I slept there--on borrowed bedding. Micah slept on an air mattress, which soon went flat. Fortunately, Greg found a good clearance sale and had bought two more. Knew they'd come in handy. Saturday morning, Greg tried with all his might to light a fire in the woodstove (the only source of heat in this house). Well, with no lighter or matches, it proved challenging. But, his perseverance paid off and soon we were enjoying a fire. Before long, our landlord brought us a dozen eggs (fresh from his chickens). Saturday we cleaned and unpacked. The house was very clean, but of course, still had bring it to our standard as neat freaks. There were plenty of cob webs to wipe down. Appliances were delivered and we were in business. Saturday night brought a cultural experience! We were invited to BBQ for the Kiwi equivalent of 4th of July. It was BYO: bring your own. I determined to take simple finger food: sausages, chips and soda. Soon after we arrived, I noticed ladies bringing out cups, cutlery, napkins, plates, etc. I suddenly realized I didn't "bring our own". I hadn't brought any of that! What would we do? Well, I figured we didn't need plates or cutlery, since we had finger food. I had a package of Tempo in my purse that would suffice as napkins (serviettes), but what about cups? My friend, Karen came to the rescue. The night before (while Greg and Micah were enjoying a fireworks show), I went to the Major home and borrowed almost everything from their self contained apt kitchen within their home. But, I had refused two cups, which I later decided I needed. I texted Karen and asked her for those two extra coffee mugs along with towels which I had forgotten. So, thanks to Karen, we had beautiful red/white coffee mugs to drink our Sprite from. I suppose even if I had known that I had to bring all that stuff, I still wouldn't have had it to bring (though in triplicate in the container which is somewhere over the Pacific).

We are enjoying our new home, but I must admit, I am thoroughly looking forward to the arrival of our container. I can't wait to begin using our own stuff again.

Oh, here's an actual line from the owner's manual of our washing machine, "stability is important to prevent the machine from wandering!" I suppose that could be a good sermon illustration for those interested.