A DELIGHTFUL AFTERNOON

I had an unexpected wonderful afternoon yesterday! I went to up to Mediapolis to visit Grandma Stoller and she took me to her Friendly Circle meeting, which is where a few women from her church get together for a social. It was myself and seven other ladies, including my grandma and my great aunt Kate (more on Kate later today!). Mind you, most of them were a good 50-60 years older than me!! But they've all known me since I was a baby, so it was fun to see them, and they delighted to see me.

We sat in the living room and caught up about family members, trips, and of course, the flood was the main topic of conversation. Everyone had been affected in some way, and even their church is cancelled this week because of the flooding. I brought my laptop and was able to show them all the aerial pictures of the flooding. They appreciated that, and we looked at the homes and talked about who had lived there.

They also talked about Oakville during the "good ol' days." I learned a lot!! Before the highway came, the railroad actually went through there. It was a booming town for the area and even had an operahouse! Who knew?!? Grandma talked about Grandpa playing in baseball games there, and they all talked about the little restaurants Oakville had. How sad that now it's basically gone and very well may never come back.

We then went in to the dining room and had coffee and dessert. But what I loved is that Ada, the hostess, had put a tablecloth on, and used crystal plates and water glasses, and cloth napkins. She even had china cups and saucers for the coffee! It was absolutely lovely! I think entertaining like that is an art we are losing, and I wish I saw it more! It was really special to be able to sit and listen to the ladies. You can learn so much!

Flood Notes

1. Big Ditch - had a bit of a scare yesterday as the boil is pretty good size. The levees are saturated. It's still holding, and at least I'm confident it will! It will still be a few days before it's safe, so keep praying!

2. Iowa River - it's going down fairly quickly and is predicted to be at or below flood stage by next Thursday. This will help because not as much water will drain into the flooded area.

3. Mighty Mississippi - This is not going down as quickly, but is going down. We need teh Mississippi to go down because then the water in our area will be able to drain.

4. FEMA - Mom and Dad are meeting with a FEMA rep this morning. Yay! They were impressed with how quickly that happened.

5. House - Mom and Dad have some good home offers. Totally been a God thing! They're hoping to go through a a house this weekend and really start making a plan in this direction.

Going to breakfast with Gramma, my great aunt Margie, Nate, and my two nephews! I'm going to start staying at my Grandma Stoller's tonight. I get to start sleeping in a bed! woo hoo!!