This past weekend Gary and I travelled to Albany, GA to spend time with our Sower friends Bill and Dolly. Bill is retired Air Force, and thus can stay at visiting officer quarters in military bases all around the country. They were working at Faith Christian School in Vienna, GA – our very first project (back in October 2004). We picked them up (and were able to say hello to our friends at Faith), and then headed to Albany. The weather was beginning to spiral downward, and by the time we were eating dinner in Albany, the rain had begun. But you know what – instead of spending Saturday jaunting about town, checking out the sights and maybe tramping through flora hunting geocaches, we all slept late, ate a big yummy breakfast, took a post breakfast nap (well, I watched a movie, but there was a lot of nap taking going on), took a quick drive downtown where we did a little shopping and then picked up some easy food for dinner (gotta love those rotisserie chickens), headed back to our room and then took in another movie. I’ve never really been on a military base – they are pretty impressive. Our rooms were lovely, the amenities great, and the movie was only $2.50! So in a way, the rainy, stay in our little cocoon of a room weekend was just what the doctor ordered. Thank you, Bill and Dolly, for including us in your little get-away! Here we are in our little hide-away:

It was a much needed time away for both of us – but especially for Gary.

Back here at TC the 4+ inches of rain was a little more of a problem. It was a parent’s weekend, and most of the boys were not able to leave campus. I understand there were a lot of board games going on!

Gary was taking pictures with my newly repaired camera (yea!! it was under warranty), and caught me with my newest computer obsession – on-line Scrabble. I’m still losing badly, but I will get better, won’t I?

I’m so far behind in catching you’all up with our adventures – I’m sorry! Right now I should be packing for a little weekend get-away we have planned. But first……

California.
It was a wonderful trip. Lara and I had lots of “girl time” – soaking up girl-goodness at a beautiful spa, working together on one of her beautiful knitting projects that actually required sewing (that’s where I came in handy!), taking in the sights of San Francisco with both Lara and Jeff, eating out and eating in! She and Jeff even took me out for a Karaoke night – yikes! She (and all her friends) were great. I, on the other hand, left just a little to be desired! I need to find me a good song and work on it!
I didn’t have a working camera until our day in San Francisco, so my pictures don’t really tell the whole story, but here are a couple of my favorites….
Lara and Jeff- with Alcatraz in the background-

I think this bird has a little attitude, don’t you?

Can you see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background?

If you’d like to see the whole batch – from the two of us sewing, to our beautifully manicured toes, to more sights from Fishermen’s Wharf feel free to visit here.

In other Conrad Family news, Ellie has lost her first tooth!

I told Toby they’ll be packing her up for college soon!

And in a little Teen Challenge news – and our life here – an additional cook has been hired! She has lots of experience and seems very comfortable in the job. It has really freed up my schedule – enough so that Gary and I are getting away for the weekend and meeting our dear Sower friends, Bill and Dolly up in Albany, GA. (He’s retired military, so we’ll be staying on the Marine base there. Even though the weather is calling for rain, we are totally looking forward to getting away – even if it’s just to play cards and watch movies! We got them hooked on geocaching, so I’m sure we’ll be trying to fit some of that in too!) Gary has been getting a little discouraged on the A/C installation front – some of the equipment is in at the warehouse, but TC had no money to pick it up. But today he learned that they are expecting a promised check from a foundation they have been working with on Monday. Praise the Lord! Hopefully he will be able to get a fair bit of it done before we head out the end of May.

I won’t bore you with the fact that we’ve had our A/C on the last couple of days, or that the trees are all beginning to bud. I’m sure spring is well on it’s way where ever you are too!

I better get packing!