Cathie asked me one of the funniest things I’ve heard in quite a long time. We made hose bats. Yes, we took two pair of thigh-high panty hose and eight wire clothes hangers and bent the wires into ovals and slid them through the hose, tied it off, cut it, and then taped off the end with duct tape. These things are going to be great. Tonight we have “Goofy Game Night” where the kids under 6th grade will play kickball and do some games with balloons and the bats. The older youth are going to play crab soccer with beach balls. So I can now say that I know how to make hose bats!
This morning Matt also took me on my first hospital visit. We visited a church member who has been in the hospital for quite a while. Matt was great because he had me follow his lead, but as we were walking into the hospital and to the room he was explaining a lot about his style of hospital visits. He gave me a lot of practical advice, like always stopping at the bathroom ahead of time and afterwards to wash hands so that germs aren’t spread one way or the other. He also explained why it’s essential for the church’s representative to pray each time.
Well, it’s time to prep a little more for the First Wednesday stuff tonight.

Wow, every new adventure I’ve done has left me with this feeling. On the first day of classes every school year I get home in the afternoon and take a very deep nap. I had to do the same with Seattle. Boston’s first day was also as taxing. I’m not feeling like it’s impossible, thankfully, but I am noticing that the energy I spent on the first day was mainly through absorbing. I’m not sure how much they know about me yet. I haven’t talked and shared a lot. They do know that I’m good with technology. It’s kind of sad that when I was showing Matt my laptop’s internet connection through my cell phone we realized that it was faster than the church’s connection. Hopefully with the new building the service will improve! Today I got most of the VBS stuff set up on my computer and I’ll transfer it to their server tomorrow morning. I think we may have over 100 kids this summer for the combined VBS we do with the Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist churches.
I am learning people’s names pretty well, though, and am incredibly excited about the new building project. The energy and fellowship that I saw with the team working on the new building was great! Rodger (who I’m living with) and Matt (the Associate Minister at Keokuk) were telling me that the volunteers are retired people who spend four hours each day building the inside of the new building. And I’ll tell you: they have skills! Everyone there gets involved and has a great time talking and sharing in the different projects. I’m still working on names, but the women (Carolyn, Phyllis, Shirley, Mary and Patty) who were working on cutting and installing the ceiling tiles were hilarious. It was obvious they loved the group they were in and the project they were doing.

To say I’m spoiled by the congregation so far is a complete understatement. Bill (the Senior Minister at the church) is gone this week at Week of Compassion meetings and Peter and Annaliese’s Wedding in TX, so they’re having me use his office until next week. When I came in this morning, there was a gift basket that just plain made me giddy! In it was bottled water, Cheerios, trail mix (how perfect!), a Wal-Mart gift card, and something that completely shocked me but was exactly what I needed: a YMCA membership card for the summer!!!! It’s already off to a fun start.

OK, so I’m now in Keokuk. What a place. I’ve only driven by the church, but I start work tomorrow morning, so it’ll all be good. Tonight was a great start to my summer here, though. Rodger and Lucille Whitaker are the first couple that I’m staying with. When I first drove to the house, I accidentally passed it (I used the excuse that I needed to see the house numbers first). After I drove around the block (one-way street), Rodger greeted me when I pulled into the driveway. We put some of my stuff in my room and then I parked my car in the street and we sat on the front porch and talked for about half an hour before he and Lucille started making dinner.
Here are some of the reason I miss Iowa so much:

• When I drove up from Ft. Worth a week ago, it was 102 when I left and it was an 11.5 hour drive.
• When I drove down to Keokuk today, it was in the mid-70s and it took about 4 hours, but that’s because I stopped and visited with my grandmother along the way in Fairfield.
• Iowans know how to eat. Sure, Texans can do some things great; but, my dinner tonight with Rodger and Lucille was t-bone steaks, potatoes, bread and butter and salads. What a meal. They were complaining too, because they said that they have steaks a lot but they’re usually bigger. WOW!
• On my way through all of the small towns, including when I was getting lost trying to find Hwy 34 again in Fairfield, people would wave at you even though they had no idea who you were. It was great. I actually enjoyed getting lost. I knew I wasn’t near the right road, but it didn’t matter.
• Tonight when I was talking to my parents and Ariane, I walked down the Main Street to the HyVee (the big grocery chain in the Midwest) which was 2 miles away from the house, got a pop (yes, they call it pop up here still — hehe), and then walked back. It was a relaxing time and while there was a lot of traffic, it was still calming. Lucille told me that 8 blocks the other way is the river — I’m definitely going to need to walk to that too!

Work starts tomorrow morning and I’m incredibly anxious to start. I only have a vague idea of what to expect. Expect to hear more about it as the summer progresses though. So when my mom asked me how it is so far, the only way I could respond was “so good … no … so great!”