It's after 11 and the temp. is 68 out. Beautiful! It was 88 yesterday so it's quite a welcome drop. So far today, I've been reading the newspapers and checking out the coupons. I have to finish boxing up DGD's wedding gifts and get them to UPS tomorrow. They just got back home to California this week. We got them a good set of pots and pans, a 12-piece place setting of Oneida flatware, a set of 24 glasses like mine. I like them so much, I just had to. Also a SS mixing bowl and SS measuring cups and spoons. And a 14-piece set of Pyrex bakeware. It was such a deal! ($17.49 at Boscov's.) It has a lot of pans in different sizes (9x13, 8x8, loaf pan, etc.) I started looking for deals when we first found out they were getting married, so I had over a year to shop--and never left home :-) I have ribs to put in the oven later--don't know what else yet. Hope everyone's enjoying the day!

After napping in the car during the 24 hour jaunt down to NC from Ontario, beginning Fri. evening, I had a good sleep last night (after doing some email stuff and posting here after most Korea missionary reunion folks had gone to bed, I was up rather early (for me), waking at 7:20 a.m. (didn't know how to set the alarm on the bedside radio). Had to be in the dining hall for breakfast before 8:00 ... and I'd neglected to bring my razor from the car prior to lock up, so it was a fast clean-up. After breakfast there was a presentation for upwards of an hour about the various international and voluntary organization activities to help the people of North Korea have food (there was terrible flooding last fall, with three plantings of the crop that they use to make one of their staple foods - kim-chee, for those familiar with Korean cusine, and the final planting only growing to about a third normal height). They were telling also of bringing medical and educational supplies, capital goods, as well as food - generators to bring light to hospital operating rooms, and power the equipment, as much of it did not last long on the low-voltage current from the mains. There is increasing trust and cooperation among the foreign-based agencies working there, and a build up of it between them and their Korean counterparts - North Korea has been substantially isolated from most of the rest of the world for so long. When various missionary agencies agreed to work in various areas of the country about a century ago, the Presbyterians in Canada (later the United Church, after several denominations united), were assigned the north-east section of the country and some in Manchuria. Though none of us who were there 50 years ago had ever been to the North, we havbe long held a soft spot in our hearts for that area, and we are especially pleased to see the thawing that is taking place there. Then we had a hynmn sing for a while and a worsip, including reading the names of colleagues who had died within the three years since the last gathering - two pages, smallish print, with two or three descriptive lines for each. The offering to go to assist the various upgrading projects in North Korea. I was able to meet several of my friends, though I was only here for a short part of the program - with some of the Canadian group having come whom I hadn't expected. A good supper last evening, breakfast this morning and a delicious lunch has fuelled me for a time ... and I'm crying the blues over gas being $3.99 and $4.00 in this area - but not too large tears, as I filled at lower prices earlier and my little Mazda sort of sips gas (enhanced by my turning off the key and coasting sometimes on downhills - when there's no one close behind). And they have quite a few of those downhills in Kentucky and NC ... I felt a sense of respect for the folks who'd chopped off the large volumes of rock in the hills to dump into the vallies to build the roads, years ago. After yakking to you folks, I'm off across country to visit my niece in n-w GA ... and, leaving hastily, I forgot to bring her address, but I do remember the name of the street. I wrote her family in Alberta to ask them to send it ... but they appear to have not received the message. Anyway - missionaries (and former ones) have to learn to fly by faith (don't we all have to do that, a good deal of the time?). Last trip, I had a bit of a job finding their location, as Gainesville seems to be spread all over the map. Anyway - wish me luck. Plan to return to Ontario just before next weekend ... and Pooh Bear's to be vacationing, so won't see him. Have a lovely week, everyone. Start planning for your retirement - remember, every retired day is on (hopefully, prepaid) vacation. If it isn't prepaid, and one chooses to retire, or has the choice made for them, there's likely a problem down the road, for lack of food tends to make one seek re-employment at an advanced age (unless one plans to die within a few months/years of retirement - improbable with clergy or missionaries, as they tend to live to advanced ages. ole joyful

I got up this morning, took a bath, washed my hair, made a peach cobbler, cooked the meat loaf and Swiss chicken, set the table and then went to church. After church I got everything else out of the fridge and heated it up and fed 10 people. I never make enough deviled eggs, so I'll have to remember that. My SIL and GD#2 just about did all the cleaning and dishwasher loading. He'd never really helped like that and it was wonderful! He helped my pack up some stuff for the old gentleman at our church that just went home from the hosp. I know he'll enjoy some home cooking. They've all gone home now and DH has taken the food out to Mac. Peace and quiet and a dishwasher running. This is the life!!!! We're going to visit another friend that just had surgery and I guess that'll be it for the day.

Be careful Glenda...LOL Well it's a lazy day here...The sun is shinning..the wind is blowing so I'm guessing it's chilly outside... It's nearly 1pm..and I've made breakfast, cleaned up, the dishwasher is running...Been marking more bread recipes in this book I borrowed from the library, that is on my NEXT Amazon used book purchase list!! I really like it! I need to do a load of laundry...or two..probably just one... Waiting for hubby to help me hang ART WORK clips in the boys room... Thinking about digging up some more Crocosmia's to share, and replanting some of the iris' I dug up to transplant.