HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEY!!!

Yesterday I got up, with most of my Bahamian accent still in tact and my first order of business, to get a mini refrigerator. Ky went with me to Target and I we picked Mar up from Home Depot. After I unloaded it, Ky and I tried to find the best place to put it. However, it meant making some other changes in the kitchen. Our old microwave konked out on us that morning and since mine was in the basement, we brought it up and moved it to a new location to free up space on the counter.

I went with Mar to the container store to pick up shelves to install for all of her books. I had another social cultural reality check as we were at a stoplight and I hailed a guy in the car next to me. I forgot that you HAVE to do that back home but you MUST NOT do that here. After quickly ending short the conversation that ensued between our car windows, I'm back on track. Mar's friend came over and helped her paint and I kept thinking the paint smelled tasty.

During the evening I accompanied Jovanna to The Cheesecake Factory, which I'm liking more and more and seems to be "the" birthday place-Joey and Zilke took me there for my birthday last year. We met up with some other friends from church and some of Joey's friends from high school to celebrate her birthday. Apparently The Cheesecake Factory downtown is hopping on a Friday night and it took us at least an hour to be seated. Unfortunately, we couldn't be seated together so we had 2 tables that ended up being the high school crew and the church crew. Lots of fun and good food. It was good to see so many old friends after the holiday and catch up with them like AC, Zilke, Bev. I was glad that we all had a chance to get together to celebrate with Joey.

When I returned from home yesterday my mood and mindset fit the weather that greeted me. Everything is so comfortable there and I'd been questioning what I was doing here, how long I wanted to be here and definitely missing my family. These past few days have been great in reminding me that I do have a spiritual family here, which is important in the midst of the hecticness of life in the US of A.

Today, I made it to church in time for our Sunday school teachers' prayer meeting and taught my first Sunday school lesson with my small group leader assisting. The sermon was great and I kept thinking that although I miss the comforts and familiarity of home and am not sure what the future holds for me here, I love and appreciate the warmth and fellowship of good teaching and preaching I can find in this church that I am happy to call my home church.