Partied Out

We survived!

Benjamin's party on Saturday went off without too much of a hitch. A good number of people there, though some that had said they would be didn't make it. Which aggrevated Meron somewhat since she had made goodie bags for those kids that were coming and that was one less step and expense that we had to go through. But all-in-all, it was fun. Benjamin didn't really get the cake thing, so no huge messes there. Lots of gifts, including an Elmo given by formerly dear friends of ours (OK, just kidding) that was a Giggle Gabber or something like that, but basically you shake Elmo and it talks--and it has no off button. Isn't that lovely? Thankfully Benjamin was distracted by the numerous other things and hasn't gone nuts too much with that. Once we get some pictures developed, I'll put one up for display.

Sunday was Consecration Sunday which went very well. I know Blake had invested a lot of time and "political capital", if you will, to do this his first time out, but pledges were up about 25% and there was very good attendance. The only stressful thing was the caterer. Meron was in charge of getting it all arranged and she told the guy that we wanted to eat at noon. So, 11:40 comes and there's no caterer and the guest preacher is winding down. You think she was stressed on Saturday? Nothing compared to that.

Thankfully the restaurant that was catering was only a few blocks away, so I sped down there to see what was going on. They were loading up and just about to head out to the church, because the guy "thought we were supposed to be there at noon." My friend Ken said, "I used to work in catering, I've used that line before." The food was easy to set up, and it only required having the meeting we were going to have after lunch before lunch instead, so major catastrophe averted.

I'm getting more and more into the holiday spirit. I can't wait for Thanksgiving next week, and I may even try to do some Christmas light work this weekend. I've got to get the house in good shape as well, since we are probably going to do our traditional open house after the Christmas Eve service for our church. It's a come and go thing that has been very well attended the last few years. We were in Ohio last year for Christmas, so this will be the first time we've tried it with a kid. May be a challenge!

Benjamin has his one-year doctor appointment today, but since he's on an antibiotic for a sinus infection, I don't know if he'll get his shots or not. I'm sure he won't be thrilled with the doctor in any case.

Enjoy your Monday, if at all possible!