The tribe has spoken ... and I've been voted OUT!

At least, that's a little how it feels. This is what went down. Last week I got an email from the people I was house sitting for saying they were coming home a week early. They wanted to beat the long weekend rush and would be home on Monday, July 2. I thought that was kind of funny to be home on the day that would probably be the busiest, but he said Monday, July 2, not Sunday, July 2 which could've meant he meant to say July 1. On Friday I emailed them again to make sure they were still coming home on Monday, but I got no reply. So, on Sunday I packed up and loaded my truck up with my first load and took it to my next house sitting place (yes, I am blessed to have another place to go to yet again). I did have a weird feeling in the back of my mind that, "what if the owners come home today instead of tomorrow?" but I didn't take it too seriously. Monday I would pack up the last of my things and then clean the house.

When Jennie called and said, "let's go for supper," I met her, Jon, Carmen and Karen at Earl's and we enjoyed a leisurely supper because the fireworks didn't start until 10 pm. I mentioned to everyone that the place I'm house sitting at has a beautiful view and we could probably see the fireworks from there if we wanted to opt out on the crowds. They said yes, and off we went. I told everyone my weird feeling about having the owners come home early, but we all just sort of laughed it off (can you see where this is going?). Since we had a bit of time before the fireworks, we decided to play cards. We had just set it up and Jon was explaining the rules to us when the doorbell rang. When I got up to answer it, Jennie said, "Is that them?" Sure enough. They were home! A day early! What to do? Well, as Carmen put it, I was in a frenzy. They said they thought they told me July 1, to which of course I could only say, "Oh. Really?" You know that feeling when you KNOW you're right and then start doubting yourself? That's what I started feeling. I started running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off. Jon, Jennie and Carmen were wonderful at helping me out and when I had one thing packed, they carried it out to my truck. I pointed out which food was mine, and Jon threw it all in a bag. Carmen pulled out the broom and Jennie cleaned the bathroom. There are a few things I can't find yet, like my makeup (Jennie, do you remember where you put that?), but I really appreciate their help.

After the initial shock wore off, the owners were very gracious and told us not to rush and that it was just a misunderstanding (yeah, on their part! ... sorry). They even offered to go to their daughter's for the night, which was sweet, but of course I would NEVER have allowed that. I apologized over and over that the house wasn't up to my standards of how I usually leave a house when I move out, and the part I felt the worst about was that I hadn't washed their sheets yet. I was going to wash them in the morning and have it all nice and ready for them. Well, luckily, like most responsible adults, she had a second pair of sheets (I'm obviously irresponsible because I would NEVER think to have 2 pairs of sheets .. haha).

Well, it was an experience and as Jennie said, "One for the book." (She wants me to write a book about all my house sitting experiences.) I know that God had that all orchestrated out because if I had stayed out after supper and then come home at 11 pm after the fireworks, the situation would've been even more embarrassing and to have to clean up and move out (by myself) that late at night .. well, it wouldn't have been pretty. So, thank you, God, for letting me have wonderful friends and for making a potentially REALLY bad situation only slightly embarrassing. P.S. I went back and checked the email they sent me and it in fact DID say, Monday, July 2. :)

Let me show you what I will be missing out on.

This doesn't look like much, but that's Abbotsford in the distance. My camera couldn't quite capture how beautiful the view is.

The Matsqui flats.

They also have a beautiful pond in their backyard.

With many beautiful flowers.

Here's the sad part. While I am EXTREMELY thankful to have another place to go to, this new place has no cable (heaven forbid!) and no computer (Zut alore!). How am I typing this post, you may ask? Well, lucky for me, my friend Bren is out of town and she left her laptop behind so I am at her place using her laptop. I know what you're all saying, "Are you going to go buy your own laptop, now?" And the answer would be YES!!! I will do a bit of research and hopefully buy one in the next week or so. But I have realized that just because I have a laptop doesn't mean that the house I'm staying at will have Internet access for me to plug my computer into or it doesn't mean there will be a wireless connection that I can tap into, so I'm just going to have to take my chances, or get really friendly with the Starbucks barristas.

So, I'm going to try to get a few posts in today because I don't know when I'll be able to post next.

I was going to let Jennie post about Friday night first, but seeing my urgency (paragraph above) and her lack of posting lately (sorry Jennie, but it's true, no?), I have to post about this now. On Friday night we celebrated Jennie's birthday (it was on the 20th, but she had the kids that night and that weekend). We went to Sammy J Pepper's. Don't try to make a reservation there. Not going to happen (but if it does, I'd REALLY like to know). Food was good, fellowship was hard because the restaurant is QUITE loud (maybe I'm just getting old) and Jennie finally got something she's been talking about for quite some time.

This was when she got a sneak peek as to what the gift was and she said her infamous, "SHUT UP!!!" She's so cute.

I think she's excited and surprised.

A bunch of us got together and purchased her this fine Kitchen Aid. Like I said before, she's been wanting one for ... oh, EVER ... ok, at least since I've hung out with her, so we figured she deserved it.

Happy Birthday, Jennie. You are a wonderful friend who deserves the very best. Thank you for making me feel so comfortable with you that I don't feel I always have to be "on." You know what I mean? I think you do. I love you very much and look forward to many new memories this year.

When we walked out of the restaurant, there was the most beautiful, vivid rainbow I think I have ever seen. Usually you can only see one end of it and then it disappears into the clouds, but we could see the full rainbow and it was so bright AND it was a double rainbow. It literally made us say, "WHOA!" when we saw it.

What an amazing reminder of God's love. Do people who don't know Jesus as their Saviour think about His promise when they see a rainbow? I know the story of the flood and Noah is "out there." I hope it crosses their minds.

One last thing on this entry. Remember when Bren and I went and test drove that BMW? Well, she didn't buy that one, but she did buy this beautiful Nissan 350 Z. It literally purred when she pulled into my driveway. SWEEEEEEET!

Congrats Bren! I look forward to many fun drives in this beautiful car.

Ok, that might have been the worlds longest post. I might do another post later on today, but for now, this made me very tired and I don't want to look at this computer anymore. :)