Play day, Mama’s new cooker, prayer help

Today at work we are scheduled to build gingerbread structures to represent a village. Our theme for the year is “It takes a village.” So, the idea of constructing a village plays that idea out well. Doing it in gingerbread is a clever addition. We will be at it most of the morning. Lunch will be provided, and a White Elephant gift exchange will follow in the afternoon to finish out the day. it will be a fun day. Since my singular focus at this job is training, I have been tasked, along with two of my coworkers, to build a train. Mama sent construction paper to work with me to cut for the tracks and I bought edible lettering to add an “ing” to out little train. I am not sure whether everyone will get the humor, but it is worth a try. For many it will feel like a short day. For me, not so much, but it will pass the time productively as far as the company is concerned.

Once all the teams had assembled their structures, we voted on our favorite village settings. Once the vote was counted, all the individual teams moved their projects to a central location to make our corporate village. It took a bit of work to get all this done in the hour we were allowed and then move the assembled gingerbread buildings to the table in our area – the largest in the building. The creativity in our office amazes me every time it gets to be expressed especially because the instructions in the box required the assembled gingerbread structures to stand for three hours before decorating them. No way that was possible. So we did the best we could. I was happy with the final result of our little train.

Mama used her new kitchen appliance yesterday with great success. She made chili using the slow cook mode. Victoria did not know that mode was offered in the cooker. It makes an excellent crock pot. Mama was excited. Victoria was excited. I smiled from the sideline and I enjoyed the chili. I also enjoyed the cleanup. One pot. No overcooked edges like we get in a crockpot. It was nice. After I appraised the dual cooker closely, I am glad Mama insisted on getting the larger, 8-quart version. We will use it more than a smaller one because it will not frustrate Mama as often by failing to accommodate something she is trying to cook – either with pressure or air frying. I now am certain that when we remodel the kitchen, I will need to drop at least two extra electrical outlets into the kitchen to allow us to use more than one appliance at a time.

Mama and I have asked several carefully selected people at the church to join with us in prayer about the potential job change. We need all the help we can get.