It's a high 2 degrees out.

 Week of January 20-26

After Staff Meeting, we worked on our Inspector's List.  We have inspectors for each Zone that go to each of the missionary apartments and see that they are keeping them clean and then report back to us if they are in need of anything.  Every 6 weeks, after transfers, I update which missionaries are in each apartment so the inspectors can contact them before going over.  I got those all updated and mailed out to them.  We ordered some new missionary badges for new Service Missionaries that have been called to help with inspections.  Then there is always a long list of emails to go through and answer.  Usually new apartment leases to sign and Insurance to get.  That takes up a lot of our time.

Tuesday it was a high 2 degrees outside!!  We went over to San Carlos Dos and cleaned.  It is always so surprising to us how much missionaries leave in the apartments when they get transferred.  Lots of clothes and lots of junk.  We usually end up at Goodwill with 5 or 6 garbage bags of clothes and throw that much away.  After we finished San Carlos Dos we went over to the Greenway apartment.  It didn't look too bad, so we stayed a cleaned it up.  Only took us 1 1/2 hours to clean.  That was an easy one.  We have another apartment, Millennial Apartments, it was a Senior Couple Apartment that is now empty.  Just needs a little straightening and clean up.  Won't take much to fix it up.

Wednesday, we went over to the Archer Apartment to start cleaning.  It's a cute little house but needs lots of work.  There was so much snow we couldn't even get in the front door, so we went to the side door and got in.  It was so cold inside.  We looked at the thermostat and it was turned off.  You aren't supposed to let house get below 60 degrees, it's not good for them.  It was 29 degrees in there.  I refused to stay and clean.  So we turned on the heat, took a quick look around and left.  Another day...   We went back over to San Carlos Dos and put in a kitchen table and 2 chairs; Next, we decided to go over to the Longacres apartments in Illinois.  The Elders there have been without a dryer since November and now their lights aren't working, and the dishwasher is broken.   So we went in and talked to the manager. She was nice and listened to all our complaints and said she would get them taken care of, I guess we'll see.  We also have our old apartment there that is empty, and we still need to furnish it.  We took everything to our new apartment. We had Sisters in that complex also, but they had bed bugs so bad there we had to move them out.  She assured us that the problem was gone, she took us up to it and we looked around.  It looked and felt clean.  We will probably get it ready for new missionaries to go in.  It was still early afternoon, so we went over to the mall, and I bought 2 pair of pants.  I really needed some pants to wear in the office. 

Thursday, we were in the office with the sole purpose to get all the emails updated.  I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but the emails were back to October and each one needs a lot of attention.  You have to update leases and insurance. After about 8 hours of sitting in front of the computer we finally cleared the last email!!  We were so excited, but no one was there to tell.  We felt like a big burden had been lifted.

Friday, we went back to the Archer Apartment.  It had warmed up, thank goodness.  So, we stayed and cleaned it.  Then went over and finished a few things, like new light bulbs in the San Carlos Dos apartment, and stopped by Mallard apartment to check on it.  That night we had dinner with 8 Senior Couples at the Pasta House.  The Hartvigsen's have finished their mission and are leaving on Monday. We all said our good-byes.  

Saturdays are starting to be just our rest up day!  We cleaned the house up a little, did a little grocery shopping and then sat down and watched movies the rest of the day.  We needed the break.

Sunday, Andrew wasn't at church again. We had talked to him the night before and he had said he would be there.  So, when he wasn't we were worried.  The O'Neal's, who usually give him a ride, told us he was in the hospital.  We called him and he told us where he was so after church, we went over to visit him.  But no one could find what room he was in.  Weird.  We asked several different nurse stations and no one even had a record of him being there.  We talked to him on the phone again and he said he would be coming home on Monday, so we told him we'd call him later.  We visited with Robert Taylor.  His son was there visiting him also. They haven't had a very good relationship through the years, but his son is really trying to make to have a better relationship with him. l It was nice to meet him and get to know him.  

Sometimes, I have to remind myself that what we are doing is important.  And we are really loving getting to know all the missionaries.  That is one of our biggest blessings.  We feel happy and blessed and super tired.