Home and Church

The house is pretty much put away! My living room/dining room wall stuff is not hung up yet, and I have a few odd items out of place, but boxes are a thing of the past. Yaay! For the first time since the Elm St. house, we are able to have all of our bedroom furniture actually IN our bedroom, with plenty of room to spare. There is so much room in this apartment; I find myself overwhelmed with the many cabinets in the kitchen, the space in our closet. I barely hear the dryer from the bedroom. I forget where I have put things. I feel out of my element at times here, being so accustomed to the necessity of having to put my organizational and practical skills to work to make little spaces work. But, hey! no complaints here!

It is way below freezing outdoors and we don't even need our heat on. I flip on our gas fireplace for 5-10 minutes approx. twice a day, and it heats our whole house. I wish it didn't put out as much heat as it does (it is shocking, really); nothing beats a cozy fire all evening.

Stephen came home tonight and helped big time. I know he would have loved nothing more but to plop down in the recliner and go brain-dead until bedtime, but instead he hung our coat hooks, took down ALL of our boxes to the garage himself (!), helped me take down trash, vacuumed, moved his chest of drawers from the closet to the bedroom, and then moved our deep freeze from the dining room to the laundry room-- all done cheerfully with no complaining. I am totally in love with this man--- not because he does things for me (but that is nice) but because he is an innately thoughtful and helpful man. :-)

Wednesday we went with Chris and Kim to the advent service at their church. The pastor & wife were very eager to greet us, at some points in our initial conversation too eager, but whatever. It's so awkward going to a church for the first time, especially when you haven't gone regularly in ages. Stephen really likes it there, and I do not strongly object to anything; I think I need to go a few more times to really have an opinion about it. I'm going back with Kim Saturday morning for a breakfast-- I can't remember what she said it was for. I'm nervous, but genuinely interested... nervous because church is a big, scary challenge (at least the practical and doctrinal aspects... I am quite sensitive and find myself very uncomfortable with what, how, and why things are said/done), but interested because I really do want find a church family where I feel at home, can connect with other like-minded people, and can use my gifts. So, we'll see how it goes.