Hot - Hot - Hot

After 3 weeks I'm back, but it's been an eventful 3 weeks. João and I went the Baptist Convention in London and really enjoyed ourselves. We learned a lot and got to see a lot of people. We got back on a Saturday and had all the preparation for Sunday.
The following week I was off to Toronto for a board meeting of the women. It's now my third year on the board and I finally feel I'm catching on to things. It was a productive meeting too.
In the meantime we had a tremendous thunder storm that zapped my computer. The damage was extensive, but fortunately repairable. More than could be said for my modem, router, cordless phone and remote control fan. So there went $500 down the drain.
Then last week Denny, a church member, had a bad motorcycle accident and we really felt that deeply. I'm glad to say that although he will have a long recovery, we feel he is well on his way now. But there were a few tense days.
One of our church members, Odete, has returned to Brazil (boo-hoo - we will so miss her!). She left us her car and we were excited, although it was quite old. But after spending money getting it partially fixed up, we discovered it couldn't pass the safety test. Alas and alack, more money down the drain and no license. Oh dear!!! But the guy at the garage is looking for the parts to fix the problem in a scrap yard and if he finds it, there won't be too much cost involved.
It's been quite warm here in Ottawa - with a humidex of 45 (that's around 105 or so) and we are feeling it in the house. I've been hibernating in the basement to be honest. The heat gives me a headache! So Sissy I went to the Rideau River (by bike) and jumped in. We were having a good time as you can tell. It cooled us down quite a bit. We needed a little bit of fun, that's for sure.
So that's enough news for one day, right? Stay cool and enjoy.

Under the Lilac Tree

João and I are offfffffffffff! Away we go the the Baptist convention for the first time since we've been here. We are looking forward to understanding things better, meeting new and old friends and learning new things. We will be in London (alas, Ontario, not England).
Couldn't resist showing you my beautiful Lilac bush in the back yard, taken as Mom and Carol were leaving to go back to Kentucky. Isn't it lovely? (you decide, us or the tree!)

Smith Girls

It was a whirlwind week with a lot of things happening and no time to write. But it was a great week. I so enjoyed having my Mom and Sister here. Although we didn't do a lot, we had fun hanging out.
Since all good things do come to an end, they both had to go back to their own homes, so on Thursday we all said good-bye, but here we are in my living room on our last night together.
After so many years of being far from my family, it is so nice being able to be together. I think now more than ever I appreciate ties - being able to talk about our mutual past and remember the same old stories and sing the same dumb songs. We are so much alike in so many ways. I think you can see - but I can feel - the family resemblance.