Yeah, yeah. So it's been a year since I last blogged. Well, I'm back.

We just returned from our annual summer pilgrimage to Missouri. It would not be fair to call it a vacation, for that might imply we rested and were relieved of stress, etc. Going back home is always a whirlwind trip, but this one especially so because of its shortness. We left last Wednesday after making the decision to go on Monday evening. Let me just give some miscellaneous notes regarding the trip. That might be simpler.

• My cousin Jason was in the hospital in West Plains. He is doing a little better, but he is still up there as of right now.
• Brianne and Brendan were there. Kaitlyn spent the whole time with Brianne, Emma spent the whole time with Brendan. They had a blast.
• Grandma LoLo whacked herself in the head with a 1x6.
• Ear drops in eyes? FYI to all, Poison Control Hotline # is 1-800-222-1222.
• Seed ticks. And bigger mosquitoes.
• Cardinals baseball.
• The second hardest rainstorm I have ever been in on the way up, 2 hours of pre-dawn lightning on the way back.
• Benjamin driving 142. Need I say more? (Well, probably for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about.)
• Emma finally went potty, ending a string of non-travel bathroom breaks which lasted nearly a year. Last October when the girls and I went up for the Dellhalf meeting, we stopped in the McDonald's in Opelika, which had an auto-flushing toilet. Emma is terrified of auto-flushing toilets, and therefore refused to go the rest of the way up there (another 10 hours or so). On the way home, she didn't go at all. Up there and back in November, she held it. Up there last Wednesday, same story. We were getting ready to stop for lunch (in Opelika, coincidentally) on the way home on Monday, and Emma "offered" to go potty. "I'll go potty if we stop at a restaurant." OK. Who can blame her for not wanting to go in a gas station? I pulled into Chic-fil-a and she said, "No, a restaurant that doesn't have fries." She associates the auto-flushing toilets with fast food restaurants. So, we went TO Longhorn and she went AT Longhorn.
• Speaking of which, the McDonald's in Alexander City, AL. Don't go there.
• I left the power cord for my computer at home. Not fun.

Well, you get the general idea. A typical trip. Thanks to Ron for teaching for me last Wednesday, Jim Gore, Jr. for teaching for me Sunday morning, and to Jim Lee for taking care of the preaching on Sunday. And thanks to Brandsville for letting me preach up there on Sunday morning.

On tap for the rest of this week: VBS at Lake Park and painting the bathroom(s). Next week: cleaning up paint.