And We're Back

Hey there,

I'm deeply sorry about the last two weeks of silence, my friends. But, suffice it say, it was a necessary thing. It's not as though I've been laying around on the couch, eating bon-bons, and reading dime-store novels (or "dinosaur novels" as one of my mission companions used to say). We've moved. We are safely installed in our house on the outskirts of a small town with a population of 700. It's definitely a different experience than living on the outskirts of Detroit.

In the last week or so, I've helped plumb a dishwasher, installed a new 220 outlet, built a dresser, two end tables, and a counter/cabinet, painted three beds, installed a dryer vent, and hung about thirty seven thousand pictures and shelves. We've been busy to say the least but it has been good. It's felt nice to establish ourselves in this new place and make ourselves comfortable. We've been made to feel very welcome by people at my job, people at church, people in the neighborhood. It's been nice.

There's plenty to tell and write about - like, for instance, that Suzanne and I have discovered that Illinois is not only the land of Lincoln, but it is also the land of Diet Rite, double-negatives, and facial piercings.

But for now, I'm going to leave it. There are still books to put on shelves here in my new office and then it's home for dinner. I'll write more again soon.