Stuff I found in the dryer...

Over the last few days I have beginning to feel a bit antsy again. My "time off" has been fine - watching interesting documentaries on Netflix, reading books I've meant to read in forever (currently finishing up Seven Years in Tibet), making home and cooking (and blogging). I've been having crazy thoughts like: I'll join the local chapter of Friends of Sabeel! Maybe go down to the conference in DC! Or maybe I can attend the conference in NYC with Thich Naht Hanh! Or go protest with Occupy Wall Street! Or maybe volunteer, say at the soup kitchen in Trenton. Anything! Give me something to do! (besides laundry...)

Beau says I should continue to enjoy my time off (he would say that :)) Then he reminded me that I have an interview next Sunday and I will need to write my sermon before then because we'll be on vacation the week before I preach. Yikes! That means I'll have to get on that one. At least I won't have to preach on one of those really challenging parables of Jesus in Matthew. In three years, I will pay my dues on that one...

Nothing terribly special planned for the vacay, just a day trip into NYC to see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and the 9/11 Memorial. Someday we'll be able to afford to see more. We also sometime want to spend a week in DC taking care of our "West Wing" fix. Boston is on our list to see as well.

I almost forgot to mention that we went "down the shore" last week! The place was nearly deserted, so we had practically the whole beach to ourselves. We stood in awe of the rolling waves of the ocean, the hugeness of it, and the taste of salt and sand on our lips. The ocean is really big, by the way.We had fun collecting shells and racing the waves. Then we went to the aquarium at Point Pleasant Beach and saw some cool fish and sharks. We finished the day in the most perfect way - a caramel apple, which is one of my favorite parts of fall. It was delish.

Our place is finally really looking like a home. Check out our living room, where nearly every piece of furniture is from IKEA!

Here you can see Patches looking out the window at the birdfeeder. We have been visited by many birds, and unfortunately many squirrels too. I'm trying to figure out how to sneak the door open when the squirrels are here so that the cats can give them a good scare. Haven't succeeded yet. I also don't know if the cats would have any idea what to do if they DID catch one. :)