Correction: China is not changing her number. It remains as before: +51955324986
I had and continue to have a mountain of office work to catch up on. I’d been leaving a good bit of stuff until I got back to Peru and settled in.
Thus, when I finally had a day to get to office work, I did a typical Shawn thing and completely reorganized my office. I emptied all the drawers of my desk, went through piles of old paperwork, threw a tremendous amount of stuff away, then moved my desk.
My desk shares space with our guest bed. Caleb’s had been occupying the room the first few days, so I hadn’t gotten in there at all the first week. After they were out, the bed worked well as a table for holding all things office while I worked through it. After the bed was mostly emptied, I also decided to move it.
Now, my computer is away from the windows–no screen glare!–and my back is to the door. Since I often wear headphones or noise-canceling ear buds while working to block out the distracting cacophony that is my dearly beloved family downstairs, I have been scared half to death on multiple occasions from the silent ghostly hands of said beloved family members trying to get my attention.
They cannot really help it. They knock. I don’t hear. They open the door and call. I don’t hear. They put their icy white hands on my shoulder. I leap in a delightfully amusing way. You can’t blame them for going that route.
Yesterday morning before school, we had our first school board meeting with Caleb, China, and me. China says we now feel like a real school. Speaking of which, she is Miss Elizabeth at school and Aunt China at home. I think that is a good change.
We all played accordions in harmony and decided to move the school room to the upper east room. The children will then be able to come in the back door and through the mud room, which is right by the stairs to upstairs. That should keep us from encroaching on Aunt Belinda’s domain. There is also a bathroom upstairs, so it should be ideal.
We decided to get a few things that we will need to make the school room more better, including some other tables for desks, a small bookcase, and some rugs. We plan to rearrange that all Saturday afternoon.
Caleb and I met after our school meeting to discuss stuff. There is an awful lot of stuff to discuss. We had made a list last week, and we are bit by bit crossing items off while adding an occasional other item.
One thing we decided was to have a church retreat next week on Wednesday, Lord willing. Thankfully, all members will be available the whole day. We plan to talk about church things like identity, vision, division of responsibilities, and so on. We’re all looking forward to that.
Yesterday afternoon before chores, Caleb, Miss Elizabeth, and I ran into town to get the items for school. I wanted to be back in an hour and a half, and we just so made it. We got all the school things, plus a bookshelf for my office–which you will remember is under construction.
We enjoyed a song service at Caleb’s in the evening. Belinda offered for us to have supper with them, so that made the evening even more special. We sang out of the Purple Martin Books and reveled in enough adult voices to carry all the parts.
I actually have been getting some office work done over the past two days besides the reorganizing. I was able to cross four things off my list of ten, so that feels like good progress. Today, I’m making cheddar cheese (I’m excited, Evan!), and doing some odds and ends outside on the farm.
Everyone is doing very well. Steph’s hands get stronger by the day. Everyone is in good health and great spirits. We continue to have daily rain, and last night was our first thunderstorm. Gorgeous!
Juan David 