Apparently We Have A Superhero In Our Midst

This morning when I woke up bright and early to visit the bloggy world before showering and leaving for Praise Team Rehearsal I heard an odd sound. A sound like something falling. Hmmm, could that have been Grey Poopon? Whatever it was, he was securely in the shelter I built for him yesterday and I felt confident that it would be sufficient to stop by there on my way out the door to give him his antibiotic and make sure he had a good supply of food and water. OH, darn - that reminds me that I did not stop in on Marsha's Musings this morning to continue her series of devotions on Psalm 103. Excuse me while I do that - I'll be back in a few minutes.....(or you can come with me - it's proving to be an excellent series)....Okay - I'm back. Wow. She took one verse and just broke it down for me. Perhaps more to blog about later. Now what was I saying? Oh - yes, Grey Poopon. So, I checked my email, and then my bloglines updater and here and there would hear dogsteps that sounded a wee bit close but thought, "Nah, I'm just hearing him in his secure, barricaded area." I caught sight of the time and decided it was time to get dressed. Still hearing dogsteps here and there, but still convincing myself that I'm just imagining them closer than they appear. Got dressed and grabbed my purse, closed my bedroom door behind me and headed down the hallway. Pass the first door on the right which is the bathroom and come to the second door on the right which is 12 year old boy's room. He leaves his door open so that his dogs can go and lay in his room while he is away at school. What do I see in there but this big, bony DOG. WHAT?? AS I am talking to all three of the dogs about the situation and sweet-talking to Poophead Grey Poopon to come with me to his designated area, I begin to see them. Places throughout the house where he has MARKED HIS TERRITORY as though he were Hansel leaving himself a trail to get back home. As I am now muttering to myself about how I wanted to be to rehearsal 30 minutes early so I could set up and make copies and pray at my leisure, I come around the corner and see the barricade that I had installed, still intact and half the stuff that had been ON the counter now on the inside of said barrier all over the floor(some of which actually fell into the food and water bowls left for this 'sick and mamed animal'). Did I mention that there were two barstools stationed in front of the barrier to deter dogs from climbing on either side of it?. So. Here are the possibilities - the dog either jumped over the counter, or jumped over the barricade. We're talking 35 inch-high countertops. (I measured). Oh dear. This is NOT good. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU NOW?" The kitchen was the only room I could isolate him in that still had the old 70's faux brick flooring in it, while still allowing the dogs who do their business outside access to the dogdoor. I decided I would just have to put Grey out in the dogyard/kennel and block the door so that he can't come back in and the others will just have to stay in the house until I return from Rehearsal because I can't yet be sure that they'll all be well and good if they have unfettered access to each other. So, I block the dog door, get him in the yard through the outside gate and return to the house to grab my bottle of Clorox Clean Up and my unopened roll of paper towels. As I see my time slipping away, I go around the house de-'marking' and de-grossifying. Just as I am finishing up, I hear the neighborhood dogs flipping a noodle. OH NO. Do NOT even TELL me that that DOG has jumped the kennel fence! Oh yes. The 'sick/injured/starving' dog of yesterday is actually a superhero in disguise who can FLY. So, after coaxing SuperPoop Grey Poopon back to the dogyard, I determine that my next and last option for keeping this doof safe until his people come to claim him is to tie him to the tree in the dogyard. THAT was fun. It became quickly and abundantly evident to me that it had been TOO long since I or any other person currently living in this house had picked up the doggiedoodoo in the kennel. You can imagine how it is that I figured this out. Okay okay - enough with the dog drama - I have GOT to go. I stepped back inside to get my music box rolling cart of pink greatness and purse and loaded up into the car. At which time I see that it is 8:30. This is the time that I had intended to be showing up at the Chapel all leisurely like and uber-prepared. Hmph. It takes 20 minutes to drive to post from my house. And now because of all the exertion I had been doing all morning, I have to eat or croak. I called one of the girls to let her know that I would be late and asked if she could please inform everyone else. I walked IN the activity room door at 9:00. Which is what time rehearsal is scheduled to begin. God must have slowed the time-warp-continuum. More posts to follow...

Rehearsal Went Great!

After I prayed and wiped my eyes and remembered how to walk, I went in to rehearsal. Right on the dot of 9:00am(remember?) For the 3rd consecutive week, rehearsal was soooo good. {Glory to God}. Every single member of the team was present, which is a praise all its own. We have not been immune to the flu/cold/yuck bugs in our commmunity that have been running rampant all over. Our team consists of(all women - cause it's for ladies Bible study) A pianist/vocalist~alto~, A flautist/vocalist~alto(on a cappella pieces)(who rocks praise&worship with that flute!), A guitarist/vocalist~soprano~(fill-in), A vocalist~alto~, A shakerist (?lol) /vocalist~tenor~THAT'sright~tenor~, a woodenspoonist(?lol)/vocalist~soprano~, and me - worship leader/guitarist/shakerist/woodenspoonist/vocalist~soprano~! I am so, so, so blessed to get to be a part of something this great for God's glory!
We are all different musical educational levels, personalities, levels of confidence, and flexibility - yet somehow, these women faithfully come back each week with an attitude of being a team-member and eyes focused on Worship. I adore each and every one of these women for very different reasons except two. They love the Lord, and they tolerate me because of it! Our rehearsal structure consists of each of us sharing one praise (mine was that my pants were falling off), prayer, going through music, and prayer. Although ideally we have 1 1/2 hours set aside for this, it often happens that we have to be done in under an hour for some need or another. For the past 3 weeks of rehearsal, we have been able to accomplish all these things in under an hour without feeling like we had to leave some stuff slightly rehearsed where we would have liked to have spent more time with it. Today, not only did we do that, we actually got to flip past this week's divider to the 'songs to work on' section and go through several of them at our leisure. And there was time for one of the ladies to pick tree out of my hair. It was great!! We all took a trip down to see the improvements that they have been making to the sanctuary of the Chapel and while there, I was humbled by the prayer that our Tenor led us in to close out our morning and send us on our way. I also had a couple of minutes to talk with our pianist about my upcoming recording project. Here is the set that we rehearsed today which we will present for the ladies next Tuesday....
Opener: DAYS OF ELIJAH (Our theme this year is Prepare For The Bridegroom)
Set: HOLY IS THE LORD
THE JOY OF THE LORD
JESUS PAID IT ALL
I LOVE YOU LORD
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!