"T" minus 3 days...and counting!

As far as we know right now, Patrick is coming home this weekend. He'll work Friday, then go to Knoxville, spend the night, and come home on Saturday. Only three more days!!!!

I've been praying to St. Joseph (the statue of whom is buried in the yard in Finger, face down, per the instructions)...today was the 7th day of prayer. Now, the instructions do say "morning" but I've been saying it at night. Hopefully that won't throw St. Joseph off too much. I've also been including Mom & Dad's home in the prayer, too, and they've had 2 couples look at their home since Sunday....so I take that as a sign that it's working. You're supposed to say the prayer for 9 days...so I've got 2 more days to go. Everyone--keep your fingers & toes crossed for us!!!!

We are going to go ahead & renew our rental agreement for another 6 months. We like the apartments and where they're located, and we really don't want to move again unless it's to a house...so maybe in the next 6 months the house will sell!!! And, the longer we wait, the more equity we've got, so maybe we can talk about dropping the price (did I really just utter those words????) and still get the money we want from the sale.

It's finally gotten to be autumn here--it was in the 70s on Monday & Tuesday; around 64 today; and will be around 54 tomorrow and I think the Weather Channel is forecasting around 50 on Friday. The trees have pretty much turned--I hate that Patrick missed his first fall in Greenville...hopefully there will still be some trees with their leaves, and maybe we can go up to Paris Mountain--it's not too far, and that way he can look at some fall color.

Had some exciting weather in Middle Tennessee--Dan & Janet are fine and have reported no damage...other than all their yard work got washed away (Mom, Dad--I think you can relate!). Maybe they can steal some dirt from Marcy & Marty Terwilliger.

There was a tornado that touched down & did some damage in Paris, TN--North of Jackson--but no damage in Jackson, and I'm assuming Finger is fine, too. I know that the Coles would have called if, oh, say a tree fell on the house. We had absolutely no weird weather here...we did get some much-needed rain, but I didn't even hear thunder (and they were forecasting thunderstorms), which I'm a bit disappointed about. Patrick said that the weather in Mt. Sterling was a bit troublesome, but he promised that if anything were to happen, he'd go into the self-contained cleaning apparatus in the hotel room.

I noticed going to work the other day that Allison Krauss & Union Station were going to be at the Bi-Lo Center in G'ville...and so checked out the date--it's December 9. Which is odd....I've been seeing ads for MONTHS for The Wiggles, for the Mark Stewart Chapman & the Mercy Tour (or whatever it's called...I'm not in to Contemporary Christian music--not that there's anything wrong with it. I just prefer more "Dirty Deeds" than "How Great Thou Art." Now if you throw in the Louvin Brothers' "Great Atomic Power," then I'm all fer it. It's hard not to like a song about the atomic bomb wiping out humanity while in near-perfect harmony.). But this was the first time I'd seen AKUS on the fancy electronic billboard. Even though we'll miss that particular show (we'll be celebrating Christmas early in Nashville with Dan, Janet & Rachel...and, to be honest, the good seats were already sold out!) it's nice to know that we're in a place where acts like that will come & play...

We're not sure where Patrick will be stationed next...we're really hoping Greenville. Actually, we're hoping that they don't have a pressing need for him next week...if not, he's taking off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I don't have vacation time, so I can't take the time off, but it'll be nice to have a house husband to come home to!!!

Speaking of vacation time, I witnessed a small miracle today. I checked the mail, and lying in the dark recesses of the mailbox was a white envelope from the State of Tennessee. For those who have not been kept up-to-date on the adventure, here it is in a nutshell: I left the State of TN on June 30. I left with 29.7 hours of vacation time, of which I would be able to have that paid out to me, as I'd earned it, it was mine, and I was taking it with me. Now, you'd think that when they processed my last paycheck, they'd just tack that on. You'd think that, and you'd be using logic, and you'd be wrong. Well, the small miracle that I was a part of today--the check arrived. Which is good--it was a nice chunk o'change...but it's taken....4 1/2 months of me calling about every 2-3 weeks, asking where my check is. So, that saga is over and done. Now what will I focus my attention on???

I've been trying to think of meals I can make in our crock pot, especially if its going to stay cold. I'm thinking a nice bean soup would be good....