Well, I've had an interesting couple of weeks.  I have been waiting to update my blog until I was feeling better, because I don't like to update when I have nothing to talk about but how BLAH I feel!  Today is a better day. . . so here's a brief catch-up.

We had a full week of company from April 2nd-9th, and ended that fun but tiring week by hosting the students (who were here in Glasgow for a week of outreach and evangelism) over for lunch on the Friday.  That went well. . . and the men's week of outreach went well, too, with several contacts made.  There were 8 visitors in the Knightswood congregation as a result.

On the Saturday I went on an outing with the other Sunday School teachers from our congregation.  We took the children who attend Sunday School to the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves (though I'm not sure how much they learned from the exhibits).  For me, it was a fun day because although I've known about David Livingstone since I was a child, I had never realized that he was from the Glasgow area!

The next week David and I took another brief trip to Inverness, where he had classes on the Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thankfully the travel was made easier for me because we were able to get a lift in a car both ways instead of taking the bus.  I had the opportunity to get together with some of the other wives on the Tuesday and we went to the Floral Hall, a lovely conservatory in Inverness.  Enjoyed a walk in the fresh outdoors and a wee lunch in the cafe. . . time to fellowship. . . and a fun curry night at the Woods'!

Since getting home I've been in recovery mode, but things have still been so busy that I've had a few days when I just couldn't cope physically.  My body is showing signs of advanced pregnancy, alas.  I am trying to focus on getting through one day at a time and rest as much as possible, because I can't do much else!  My stamina has gone completely downhill.  And the baby has been moving constantly - so constantly that it has literally been making me feel ill (motion sickness from my stomach churning for hours on end!).  The other day I told David, "If I could tranquilize this baby. . . ."

I'm encouraged by this lovely spring weather!  We are currently seeing 14+ hours of daylight here and every day is growing even longer.  The beautiful blue skies and sunshine help me stay cheerful.  Hubby and I took a lovely walk around our neighborhood today.  Here's some photos of the spring growth in our garden:

Well, we had a delightful weekend with the Ratti family. . . they arrived on Friday night and left around midday today.  Davide is the Italian student also studying with David in the FCC seminary.  They have three girls ages seventeen, fifteen, and nine - which meant there were seven of us in our little house!  We have only one spare bedroom so we transformed the living room into a "sleeping room" each night with air mattresses and sleeping bags heaped from one end to the other!  Thankfully I felt like I have learned a lot from my mom over the years so that I was well prepared mentally for hosting and feeding a crowd.

I had eight people for Lord's Day dinner because Parthee (another student) joined us. . . thankfully it was a very easy slow cooker meal and everyone loved it.  I made a new recipe I had never tried before. . . a beef and mushroom ragout of some kind. . . with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  Yum.  Then we had nine people for supper when we got home from evening service - because Alasdair (another student) and Esther (his fiancee) who were in town from Inverness, came to visit!  Thankfully the "left-overs" were enough to feed a crowd. 

We managed to kill two toasters in the course of the day, though!  One toaster simply stopped working - I think it is old and worn-out - so we pulled out the "replacement" toaster which had been given to us by a friend whose parents didn't need it anymore because they had bought a brand-new one.  The "replacement" toaster responded to being plugged in by EXPLODING!  And that was the end of making toast for the evening.  What excitement.  I am now in the market for a toaster!

So anyway, we still have the Rattis' oldest daughter Giulia staying with us . . . for probably the rest of the week. . . which was unexpected. . . she was supposed to stay with friends, but the friend got sick, so at this point she is still with us and we will see how the week goes.  Our other guest arrives tonight - Raymond, another student, who is coming into town for the students' Evangelism Module this week and will be staying with us until Friday.  So my week is not about to get quieter, it is getting crazier!  I am hoping I have enough sanity to get through it. . .

Well, our guests will be arriving in a couple of hours, and I am beyond grateful to say that this house is actually just about suitable for visitors!  My spring cleaning has advanced successfully thanks to the extra measure of strength and perseverance I have been given to get through this week.  I have been praying that the Lord would bring me through and help me accomplish all the things on my to-do list, and He has answered that prayer!  :-)

Wash and air-dry all linens in house: check  (The weather has been beautiful, which really helped my motivation to get through the piles of laundry!)

 Make beds in guest room: check
Finish working my way through the pile of dirty dishes: check  (Yay!  So good to have every dish clean!)
Clean cooker: check
Mop kitchen floor:  check  (This is a huge accomplishment!!  First time my kitchen floor's been properly cleaned in months - shameful!!)
Done major grocery shop for company: check  (That was my exercise for today: I walked to the shop and then took the bus home because the groceries were way too heavy to carry.)
Spaghetti sauce in slow-cooker for dinner tonight: check  (And it is making me soooo hungry - the smell is permeating the house!  Yum. . .)

And so on. . . the list is certainly shrinking, and it feels good!  :-)


Another praise - we were given four nice sturdy dining room chairs today!  A friend no longer needed them, and offered them to us.  I had been trying to arrange to borrow some chairs/stools so that we would have enough seating for all our guests (we only have seating for five, including a folding chair), but the Lord provided in perfect timing - and the chairs weren't borrowed, they were given to us to keep!!  This is such a blessing!  Since we moved in, we have been really limited as to the number of people we can host for meals, etc. because of our lack of seating.

It has been a rough week for my back, but there are two blessings related to that. . . First, I did have a massage on Wednesday which seems to have been really helpful.  It certainly left me feeling more relaxed than I had been previously.  Then I had an appointment with the physiotherapist on Thursday, which I felt was the best appointment I've had with her yet (this is the third time I've seen her).  Since I last saw her, I've had no improvement with the pain and discomfort in my back, and so she was a bit puzzled as to what she should do next.  So she decided to check my back again and see if there was anything she could feel.  Sure enough within just a minute or two she had located the one main spot that has been causing most of my problems (I have tried to explain to her where it is, but this time she actually managed to find it).  So she worked on it three times, "mobilising" the muscle (it's where my spinal muscles meet my rib cage in the middle right of my upper back).  Since I saw her I have certainly noticed a large measure of relief from the horrible pain I've been suffering in that area.  It may be due to the massage, or it may be due to the physio's "hands-on" treatment this week, or both - but either way, I am very thankful and hoping that the relief lasts!

Hubby has sweetly volunteered to do the hoovering of the house for me, because I have found that to be very strenuous on my back.  So that is one more check off my to-do list!  Now I'm off to scrub the bathtub before I call it a day and put my feet up until our guests arrive. . .