Contractors and a Slobbery Pillow

Slowly but surely we're making progress toward being ready for our departure date. Nothing monumental happened this week but a lot of little cogs were set in motion. I made calls to contractors for gutter cleaning, bathroom counter measurements, yard work, and so on. These little things will add up to make all the difference in how our house functions while we're gone, and hopefully, how it will look when we return. The goal is to list the house for rent soon, so we'll be starting the "Quick! Someone is coming by to look at the house- pick that up!" mantra. I'm sure our kids will love it and be completely on board.....yeah right. ;-)

Volunteering with our oldest son at the Food and Clothing Bank last weekend was fun. It's good for him to see how these organizations work and he totally stepped up. When I was a child, I was one of the people standing in line- so I'm especially thankful for the opportunity to help now. As an adult, I can appreciate the impact places like this make for families who are just trying to make ends meet and stay together. When I was younger, though, I was ashamed and embarrassed because I thought my friends would make fun of me. If you've never known what it is to struggle, then it can be hard to empathize with those who are struggling.  I can honestly say that I'm thankful for that experience because it taught me that no one is "better" than anyone else and you can learn something from every situation. I now have the drive to serve others, knowing that we are the same.

Once we were given the tour, several of us were assigned to the clothing area, which was perfect for me and my affinity for order. There is a door in the side of the building where people can donate bags of clothing and other items. The pile can get pretty big, so it needs regular sorting. The nicer items were hung on racks so people can look through them easily. All the clothes with holes, stains, pet hair, or smells (yes, smells...) were either donated to the Salvation Army or thrown away. For the most part, people donated really nice things and only a few items needed to be thrown away. I'm not sure why anyone would donate their old, slobbery, stained, ripped pillow- but there it was. Thank goodness for gloves! I can't give the Food and Clothing Bank enough credit. They really do care for the people in our community and work hard to make a difference- and they do!

Coming up: Girl Scout cookie site sales and more house projects... It's going to be a busy week!

- Jen