Accentuate the Positive.

Tomorrow. May 1st. Our family will be heading down into the "bunker". One month of no grocery shopping. None.

Out of milk? Tough. Make some.
Out of eggs? Tough. Make some.
Out of bread....you get the picture.

I made 4 loaves of bread today to start us out. I'll make up some powdered milk tonight. We'll see how the milk thing goes. I predict milk consumption will go down by approximately 75% this coming month. Or more.

So what's for dinner tonight? I don't know...we're going out for one last hurrah.

And now we dance.

Dim Bulbs

Parallel circuit. The experiment called for 3 bulbs, but since the kit only came with two sockets, two it was...
Series circuit.

And we're still left wondering why electricians get paid so much. It's not exactly rocket science.

New Toy

No, it's not Play-Doh or Silly Putty. Brad (aka Count Rugen) gave this stuff to me at the end of my PT session today. It has a consistency half way between the two (Play-Doh & Silly Putty). I'm to pinch it and squeeze it...I could spend some time doing clay animation.

Now all I have to do is to keep it away from the boys.

Boy for Sale

After seven (7) grueling hours of homeschool yesterday, this song kept running through my head. Not sure why....

The Theatah

How long will it take to watch 7 hours of Masterpiece Theater...if I only watch 10 minutes at a time?

I started watching "Little Dorrit" this afternoon. I really don't have a lot of time to watch - a few minutes here, a few minutes there...

I blame Keira.

Our Man in Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

I trust that all is well for you. And if not that it soon will be.

This past week has been pretty good. I think I mentioned that the Saturday before last someone just showed up at the church so see if we were still doing English class. Well we`ve taught her a couple times since then and she came to church yesterday and agreed to prepare for baptism next month. We`ll see how that goes but it`s amazing how the Lord works. We can sometimes spend whole days outside talking to people and not get any return appointments with anyone but we head back for the night and the Lord just leads someone to us.

We had Zone Interviews with President McIntyre last Tuesday. I had been expecting to stay here for sure. However he seemed to be considering transferring me again. I guess I`ll find out tomorrow. The Zone was planning on eating at an all-you-can-eat parfait restaurant, probably not the healthiest thing :P, but it was too early in the day so we ended up going to McDonald's and Subway.

Thursday night I got a call from an investigator asking if we could stop by on Friday to pick up a couple bentos (Lunch boxes) she had already made for us. So on Friday we went and picked up the bentos and she also handed us an envelope with two train tickets in it for another Elder who mentioned he wouldn`t be going to Kyoto this Monday because he didn`t have enough money. Old people can be tricky when they want to be. I felt like a took a piece of bait and got caught. :P

Yesterday in Sacrament meeting the four of us Elders sang Army of Helaman. The ward here is becoming more lively and this area is moving forward.

Well we`re heading to Kyoto today and I don`t have much time so that`s all for today I guess.

Take care,

Elder West.

My Kind of Canning

I spent the afternoon up in Mt. Vernon at the dry pack cannery. I wasn't sure how much help I would be...with my one good arm, but it turns out you only need one arm to scoop powdered milk into can. Same with hot chocolate mix. Ditto for sugar. A friend (Pat) and I did the same items.

I know what you're thinking. You're asking yourself "Where can I get a cool apron and hairnet?" Answer: Go to the cannery.

Joseph L. and a person who would like to remain nameless (Jill) took the cans that Pat and I had filled and got them ready to have their lids applied. The lady who was in charge of us at the cannery did warn us ahead of time that they always have someone get a cut. Every time. Pat was the victim of our group. Don't worry Pat. It'll feel better when it quits hurting.