Everything must go
After being up so late, on Monday morning we both slept in until about 8am. I spent the morning at home, though Dee went to the Chinese store for a little while to stock up on some household supplies. Soon after we got to the Institute, Sorella Thorup dropped by to pick up her new cell phone and accessories, paying us in cash. At 2pm we had a video call with the Skoubyes, a senior couple from the church offices in Frankfurt. They have responsibility for all the senior missionary couples serving the YSA kids throughout Europe. They wanted to understand how we are running things here, since our situation (having a dedicated Institute campus) is somewhat unusual -- we have the only such campus in all of Italy, and it is going very well here. They often send out ideas for activities shared by other senior couples, and it was a useful conversation for both of us.
In the afternoon, we went to the men's clothing store on the corner where I bought a suit in January. My wife noticed that they had signs out front saying Fuori Tutto, "Everything must go -- 50% off", so we though we would see. Sure enough, they are going out of business after many decades there, and everything was half off. As before, Gino pulled suits off the rack that fit me perfectly the first time. We ended up buying two very nice suits for a total of 500€, which is a great deal.
There were a bunch of kids around all afternoon at the campus, playing different games. It was P-day, so there were also a few missionaries around, including some who had to practice a musical number for an upcoming conference.
Dee gave the FHE lesson on the blessings of the scriptures, including the brief video on William Tyndale to which she added Italian subtitles so everyone in our group could understand it at the same time. If you don't know his story, you should look it up, or you can watch the video here. She had some really good points about how we need to use the scriptures to bless our lives. After the lesson, we had dirt cups and cookies for dessert. Several kids made a face and said that they didn't want a dirt cup (chocolate pudding, whipped cream, crushed Oreos, and a gummy worm), until they saw them and then they were all over it!
After dessert, basically everyone had to leave. It was a bit odd, since that has never happened before! Usually the party goes on for a while. As a result, we got to go home early, which was nice, particularly since Dee was still short on sleep.
We did want to give a shout out of thanks to our neighbors across the street back in Carlsbad, Marilyn and Dave. They volunteered to host the polling place for two elections this year in our absence. What wonderful people! We have had the polls in our garage for about 25 years, except for the 1996 election two weeks after the fire. It was amazing of them to keep alive the tradition of elections on our cul-de-sac, where all our neighbors know to come to vote. They seemed to manage it very well. Not surprising, based on all the terrific things they do. Lucky us!
I also went to the Chinese store in the morning, and was happy to buy a new tablecloth for the Institute kitchen. But I messed up on the size, and it doesn't hang over the ends at all, haha.
