Sunday, November 9th

I have so much to do at church this morning, I will be lucky if I get half of it done.

Steve has a fall clean up in Cranston at nine, so we catch the bus together on Hope St.  I get off on Thayer and he continues on to get a transfer to Park Ave.  By the time I reach church, it is eight o'clock.  This gives me time to get my classroom all set before my meeting with the Youth Task Force.  We talk so long, we miss the teacher appreciation breakfast which is also scheduled this morning.  It was our hope to present some ideas at the breakfast, but we weren't quite ready to do it until after it was over.

Sunday school class is small and sweet today, with seven children.  An election is held during children's chapel to decide which charity we will send money to after our annual slightly used toy sale on December sixteenth.  The teachers and children choose between The Make a Wish Foundation, an organization which helps feral cats, and a UU organization which is helping to ease the  ebola situation in Africa.   The vote goes to ebola.  I am surprised by the results, because in the past, the animal charities have been the recipients of our money.  I am so proud of our children and the choice they have made.

In class we talk about animal homes, where they live in the wild and where they live with humans.  We make pictures of barns and fill them with animals.

 After class, I receive such a nice gift.  It is a pair of mittens knit by my friend Dana.  She a very talented knitter, and has knit me a pair of the most beautiful mittens I have ever imagined owning.  They are so soft and warm, and knit with such love and care.

 Our class runs late, as it often does, so I don't make it to the Joyful Noise rehearsal that is happening after church.  This is a practice for the children and adults who will be singing together at the Thanksgiving service on November twenty third.  You need to attend two rehearsals to participate, so I will try again next Sunday.

When we are done with Sunday school, Sarah, my knitting pal and fellow Sunday school teacher and I decide to drop off the apple the kindergarten class used as peace trees back in June.  We had hoped to deliver them to the peace flag lady, Ginny Fox, back in September, but things kept happening, and we couldn't get it done.  Finally, we drop them off to her house today.

By the time I get home, it is nearly one.  Steve should be home soon, and we want to go visit our niece Julia at work.  She has been working at Napolitano's Brooklyn Pizza in Cranston for months now, and we still haven't been to see her.  We need to go early because we are supposed to go see A Christmas Carol at Trinity this evening, at five.

Our visit with Julia is short but sweet. 

The Back Wall of AS220

 We leave in enough tome to get our zipcar back to the lot near Whole Foods Market and walk to Trinity Rep.   We  make it there early, so we walk around and look at some of the murals that are painted in the area.  There are several good ones, but my favorite is the Shephard Fairey wall.

Shephard Fairey Wall

We head back to Trinity to find that we are a week early!  It is fine though, the weather is mild, and it gives us the opportunity to finish walking down Westminster Street, window shopping and finding a few more murals as we go.

When we get back home, we find two surprises on our doorstep. The first is a book in the door from Doug and Kathleen called The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night, written by Peter Spier. The book is special not only because it is about a fox, but Doug met the author when he was young.  Peter Spier  illustrated two books that Doug's mother had written.

The second surprise is a pot of lentil soup left by Soli. Dinner, just when we need it. It has been a   magical day.