IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

I have a coworker who attends St. David's Church in the 9th Ward. If 9th Ward sounds familiar to you, perhaps it's because it was an area devastated by Katrina flooding after the levees broke.

After the storm, St. David's parishioners were merged with those of St. Maurice Church, also in the 9th Ward. Parishioners began the cleanup of St. David's, and since it was a smaller church with lower maintenance and utilities costs, they returned as soon as they could back to their former parish.

A rededication of St. David's is in the planning stages, and my coworker, Terry, was describing to me some of the details. She commented that there was a church that had come to NOLA several times to help out with the renovation effort. At one point she mentioned Binghamton. Turns out the church parish that is helping is St. Catherine of Sienna, in Binghamton, N.Y. (My home town)! Small world? But wait... it gets better.

As the conversation progressed, Terry mentioned that prior to getting their new pews, St. David's had received a gift of pews from St. Rita's church, also in New York. "CLICK!!" (visualize light bulb turning on) For much of my adult life my parents owned a farm just Northwest of Binghamton in Chenango Forks. Less than a quarter mile down Rt. 12 sits St. Rita Catholic Church! Linda attended services there whenever we were home on vacation. St. Rita's is where my mother made her conversion to Catholicism. Now THAT'S a small world!!

Last night we had Outback takeout at P&Js as Wednesday was Major Dad's birthday. We celebrated with dinner and a Chantilly berry cake from Whole Foods. DEEEEEEEE-Licious! After dinner DLG was getting Molly ready for bed. We heard a scream, "ROACH!! Come GET it!!", so Ian was sent to do the task. Well, as he tried to hit it with a shoe, he missed. The next thing we hear is, "If I find that roach in my bedroom I'm gonna KICK YOUR A**!!" Nice. Fear of roaches is not a pretty sight!!

H2/H2GF are in H-town visiting with H1/DIL1. Looks like the weather should hold and they should have a great time. We're wishing them a pleasant visit and a safe trip home.

We got to have lunch with Big J this week. He was back in NOLA, however briefly, and took the time to drop by for lunch. It was good to see him again, although he looked to be enjoying retirement a little too much. He could have tried to look like he missed us a little bit. The day after we got pics from Mrs. J of the snow that had fallen that night. It was really beautiful. Looks like he chose a really nice area to live in the mountains of Northwestern North Carolina.

I hope all our family and friends are well. We're looking forward with great anticipation for S2's visit. She's coming early in December. We're very excited!!

That's about all I can muster today. Take care, and God bless!