More Nashville time

Friday January 26

When we visit we like to give Helen and Ben some couple time if possible. William loves to come for sleepovers. Since he is now in school (second grade) this can only be on weekends. So Friday afternoon we picked him up.

We had from Friday evening til Sunday evening. William likes to play games. Connect Four was the game of choice this time. And building the train tracks was the other. In stages it got better and better.

What he wanted at mealtimes was clear even before asking. We ask but we don’t really need to. He likes Manchego cheese on bread or toast. It’s from Spain. His favorite but any goat or sheep cheese will do. And he does like salads. Everything we like too.

Saturday it rained ... pretty much all day. Not so great for entertaining a seven year old. But at noon he was invited to a birthday party. I loved the invitation. Loved the idea of the theme and suggestion about the gifts.

So we were busy making a birthday card for his friend. He started by writing VIP (which I didn’t understand first), then arrows to first name and then last name. Totally his idea. No idea were it came from. More writing inside.

Sunday morning of course was church. Since their church starts at 9 am we had to wake him and hurry. He loves church so no complaints. Of course we have to stay for Sunday school, his favorite part. The weather was much better so Sunday afternoon James and William went for a nice walk around Long Hunter Lake. Helen came around 5 pm or so for an early supper and some chat and both left because William still had some homework to do.

Another chance to see them on Monday. Helen and Ben had invited us for lunch which was nice. Then there was one of those 5-minute jobs. She wanted the doors of the refrigerator/freezer to open on the other side. The way it was had bugged her for some time. We were happy to do it. It’s nice to be useful but it took longer than we had expected. Helen got William from school at 3 pm. He was patiently waiting while we continued. One screw! One screw we didn’t have the right tool for. When Ben came back with the tool he had on his truck we finished quickly. Helen was so very happy. It’s the small things in life ... And we got another hug from William before leaving.

Now we realized ... Rushhour! It seems that James is getting the hang of this Nashville traffic though. We made it without much problem in a round-about way. It can be very aggravating being stuck in long lines. It’s the small things in life ...

Since we arrived in Nashville I have been working on the February church newsletter every free minute I had. In the morning I had finished it and sent it off for proof to our rector and the wardens. In the evening it was time to get the mass emailing of the PDF going. With a slow internet it can take a couple of hours. Every month when that is accomplished I feel like celebrating with a glass of wine. Happy hour.

When I was stuck with the work on The Cloak newsletter I did some sewing. I had found two BOM (quilt Block of the Month) on the internet which intrigued me. I had some time to finish my first row for the German BOM. If you are interested you can see it on my “Love of Threads” blog. Sewing and working on Chrismons is my “therapy”.

And it was really time to get ready for our little trip. Of course most (summer) clothes had never been unpacked since we arrived here from Virginia.

Better have a good night’s sleep now so we don’t miss our flight in the morning.