After a week of managing the store while Nancy was out trying NOT to have pneumonia, I decided on Thursday that I needed a break. Friday after work I packed a bag, grabbed the two boxes of clothes I wanted to take the the Wycliffe head office, and Tasha's book that she left behind last time she was here, and got on the road to Portland. Somewhere along the Dalles, Tasha called to tell me the team was going to the movies, and would it mess up my plans if she went along. No, in fact it gave me a chance to hit the Fabric Depot on my way into town.
I met the new team members and my former castmates at the arcade outside the theater. Then Tasha and I went to a diner for dinner for me, and coffee for her. When we got to her house I checked the status of two auctions on eBay that were supposed to end while I was en route, so I'd bid on both. It turns out I won both of them, so sometime next week I'm going to have a proliferation of underwear showing up.
Saturday morning I slept in until 9, then went to Powell's Bookstore. I shouldn't have bought anything, but I only get there a couple of times a year if I'm lucky and in the area, so I bought Kahlil Gibran's "Jesus, the Son of Man." Gibran has written whole bunches of books, among them "The Prophet." The closest author I could compare him to would be Paulo Coelho, who wrote "The Alchemist." Though Gibran is more poetry than novella. After that I drove to Mock's Crest, the duplex at the Evangelical Center that the teams stays at while in rehearsal. It was Angie's day to cook, so for once I got to be on her crew, instead of the other way around. And I talked to Torrie at lunch. Her first question was, "Are they feeding you at the mission?" I've dropped several sizes, but I attribute that more to the lack of elevator and multiple trips up and down some major flights of stairs each day. Plus the whole too busy to cook and don't feel like it anyway thing.
Then Austen and Tasha and I went out for more coffee, and talked until it was time to leave town. It was so stinking good to see everyone. I also got a few minutes to chat with Adam (who may get to do the skateboarding tour he's been wanting to since last spring) and Rebecca, who I've promised to write.
Sunday morning I woke up early as all get out to be at church by 7:30. Whoever leaked it to the Presbyterians that I can play keyboard in a band needs to be shot. It's fun once I get there, but getting up before 8:30 kills me. Stupid morning people. There's not enough coffee in the world to combat cheerfulness at that hour.
Since I was out of town Saturday, we moved Bible study to Sunday instead. 10 more chapters of Leviticus under our belts. NOT the most thrilling reading in the world. We had Johanna and Nathaniel join us, which was fun, up until we had to read the discharge and sexual purity laws aloud in mixed company. Tuesday night we'll be finishing up Leviticus and perhaps getting into Numbers. We'll be glad to get back into the action sequences soon. Though, thanks to some clever hand motions and a few discussions of "what the heck did we just read?" I'm pretty clear on the three different types of sacrifices.
And now I'm at work. I came in an extra hour this morning to start sorting stuff in our stockroom. Our AARP employee has been pretty much doing all the sorting solo since Christmas. Nancy and I usually get back there and sort the load between "Antiques" and "Bargains" so that all the employees have to do is decide on a price. Hopefully we've already caught all of the expensive or collectible stuff. But with the Christmas sale and then Nancy being out, there's been no time to do that. If you'd been in the store recently you could have bought Depression glass for $.25. It just about killed me when an American Platter went away for $.75. So I hauled myself out of bed to try and put an end to that.
In other news, my first round of eBay auctions go off tonight. There are bids on almost everything, but I'm hoping the bidding wars will start in the next couple of hours. I'd really like to sell high the first time around...
