Way too long

I wasn't in the library at all last week and this week is going by quickly.

Last week, I worked at home on Monday to prepare for the site team visit that required the rest of my week. Tuesday morning, I traveled about 3 hours south to a private university in Lynchburg to be part of an accreditation team visiting the university to determine whether they are doing what they say they are doing to meet accreditation standards. At the end of the week, the entire team agreed that it was the easiest site visit that any of us had been on, due to the experience of the team (there were no inexperienced team members), the preparation by the team, and the preparation by the university. We had a relatively accurate idea of what to expect, knew who we needed to talk to, what we wanted to ask, what we wanted to review, and the university did well in meeting those needes and requests.

I was very thankful it was an easy visit because I was fighting congestion. Tuesday I had a slightly runny nose. Wednesday I was definitely congested all day, despite taking decongestants. By the end of the day, I was starting to get a bit short, so when the team leader offered to let me cut out on the team supper, I was quick to take him up on the offer. I went back to my room at the hotel for a nap, after which, I felt significantly more civil and alert and was able to continue my work on the site visit.

Without getting mushy, I will say that the flowers and note from JM that I found in my car Tuesday morning, along with a couple of calls during the week, did help to keep my spirits up as I fought not feeling well and worked to keep up with all the demands of the visit.

My thanks to everyone who was praying for me as I traveled. On the way back home Friday afternoon, I had a tire go flat. It seems I ran over something that cut through the steel belt in one of the back tires. I was thankful to find an extra wide strip of gravel along the shoulder of the road, just as the tire went flat and I needed to pull over. After assessing the situation and pulling out the spare tire and tools from my trunk, I was just preparing to tackle changing a car tire for the first time by myself when a car pulled up behind me. The man got out and told me to go stand in the shade while he changed the tire. We chatted a bit as he changed the tire. He is the pastor of a baptist church in that general area and had just been on a hospital visit to see a family with a new baby. He changed the tire much quicker than I could've and prayed for me before we went our ways. Thank you, Dallas!

The rest of the drive home took longer on the spare, but I still made it back to Purcellville in time to get to the service station for a couple of new tires on my car. I was thankful that I was able to get the tires Friday afternoon, as I still had to go shopping Friday evening and had a weekend of running around to do.

Saturday moring, I attended a kitchen/housewares bridal shower for a friend getting married in October. The shower finished early enough so that I was able to show up and watch the BRTC performance in Bluemont. It's been a long time since I really watched a performance without dancing half of it and thinking about which dance I'm in next! I still got drafted to dance one song--in a skirt, since that is what I'd worn for the shower.

Saturday evening, I headed over to SS's for Girls Football--Florida v. Tennessee. It was a disappointment for the Tennessee fans. I don't have a strong connection for either team, but it was fun fellowship, good game, and I managed to get my Ireland pictures put into a photo album. They aren't label, but at least they are in chronological order and it's easier for friends to flip through them and see the sights.

Sunday, I tried to especially enjoy as the last non-Awana weekend for a long time. This Sunday is training for leaders and the following Sunday is the first meeting of the school year.

This week has been pretty normal, for a nice change. I had to catch up from last week and now I'm trying to clean my office and address the more looming backlog of projects from the days before I had help in the library. Of course, I can't forget the board report and accreditation report that are expected of me by the first of the month.