Clock is Ticking!

The dogwoods still aren't blooming, but the buds are coming closer to opening.  Perhaps this next cold snap will be "Dogwood Winter?"  My head is spinning with finalizing details of our trip.  We haven't been anywhere in so long that I have about forgotten my routine.  I don't think that we have been on an overnight trip since Woody stopped going to The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda...and, that has been a while!  I am checking things off my list so that is a good thing.  I am in the midst of baking a batch of cookies this evening.  I want to take cookies to share with my fellow classmates in our casual get-together times at the hotel...reminiscent of the many cookies that our families sent to us in "care packages" all those years ago.  I am also going to take a "care package" to the girls who live in the suite that I lived in while at Cottey.  Woody is enjoying sampling the cookies...making sure that they are edible!

The little boys just came over this morning for their time.  The rest didn't come over because they had to be somewhere shortly after Isaac was finished with his time with me.  I am not going to do long times this week as that will help me not have to do preparation for them. Woody was out working in the garden early today and went out a couple of other times as well.  He has totally finished the large garden that borders the driveway.  Now he is working on what we call the "shared garden."  Part of it is on our property and part is on Nathan and families property.  While I was having school with Isaac, Woody headed off to the Life Care center to have Bible study with Jeff and visit with several other residents.  I have stayed busy doing lots of little things to get ready.  The stack of "things to take" grows taller!  I have the bed cleared off in the guest room so we can put things to go in the suitcase there.  I gulp when I realize how close it is to actually putting things into the suitcase!  I have gathered my cameras and lenses.  I hope that I will be able to get some good pictures.  It sounds like they are hoping that I will take pictures, as my name keeps coming up when they send a summary of things that we will be doing...they say to be sure to bring phones for pictures and then they mention that they are sure that I have a "good" camera that I will be bringing.  They are basing this off of seeing some of the pictures that I post periodically on Facebook.  They keep calling me "a birder!"  Far from it...since I mostly take photos of birds just from my front porch...hardly off in the woods like a birder would be!  Anyway, I hope that I can fulfill what they think that I might do with my camera!

Woody went to Elijah's practice and then headed off to the Furnace Room prayer meeting and then home.  I had Isaac for a while as the rest of his family were in many other directions.  Isaac is filling me in on everything Star Wars these days.  He has recently bought himself a Lego Star Wars set and carries the spaceship just about everywhere he goes!  Woody is watching TV and reading and I guess it is time for me to go back and do some more baking of this batch of cookies...I am beginning to question why I made a double batch!  I'm glad that the next kind that I make will be bar cookies...lots less time consuming!