Keisha and I woke up this morning before Jennie got home. We started getting ready for church. Jennie had planned to attend with us. Yesterday we planned today out - the bus rides and such.
Jennie packed some snacks for us to carry in our backpacks; I'd made some coffee and had a bowl of cereal. We left home, walked to the bus stop, and caught the number 7 bus.
The 7 took us downtown, where we transferred to the 11, which took us to Kettering Medical Center, across from where we were having church.
This Sunday was the first Sunday where I'd seen the entire church in three weeks. With the Olympics happening, it was a special service. A couple from the Cincinnati church came to visit. When we used to visit the church once a month some years back, they taught Keisha's Kingdom Kids class. Rozelle and Janine Winters. Before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Janine was selected as one of 2000 torch bearers in the Olympic relay. She got to keep her jogging suit and torch, which, for one brief moment, carried the single Olympic flame one-quarter mile to the next runner.
Today's sermon was entitled "Heart of a Champion". Our minister read some excerpts from some stories of actual Olympians that exemplify the heart of a champion that disciples of Jesus Christ.
Keisha had a wonderful time in her class. They are going through a unit about Esther, and they learned how respectful she was, not only with her uncle Mordecai but also to everyone else around her.
After church we caught the 11 bus back to downtown and hooked up with the number 16 this time. The 16 would take us to the Meijer in Englewood, and Jennie was able to get off as we got close to home. She needed to sleep. Keisha and I continued to Meijer.
We needed some lunch, and hence we stopped at Steak N Shake (map) for a Steakburger and a Shake. My shake was Chocolate Mint; Keisha's was Strawberry. I had her go to the restroom while I paid the bill. After I'd done that, I needed to go myself. I didn't tell Keisha where I went, and she had a noticably worried expression when I saw her after I emerged from the restroom.
We went into Meijer, and Keisha got a shopping cart that has a seat for older/bigger kids to sit in. We went to the Sporting Goods area because I wanted to see whether they sold bike wheels (mine had been damaged in a recent crash). I saw instead a spoke wrench, which, for $1.99 wasn't a bad deal and might even do the job.
Then we pulled out the shopping list Jennie had given me. We got juice, hot dogs, metts, napkins, and hot sauce. We went through the U-Scan system and got some money back so that we could buy stamps and get two rolls of quarters for laundry. (Aside: the U-Scan system works in English and Spanish; sometimes - just for fun - I'll press the Spanish button. I don't know exactly what's being said, but I get the gist from having used the system so often.)
While Keisha and I waited for the bus, she and I came up with some games to play. When the bus finally came, we got on, and I nearly fell asleep. Keisha spoke up, and I signaled for the bus to stop. We walked home, and, after putting the groceries away, Keisha put a movie in while I took a nap next to Jennie.
An hour and a half later, I realized that I still needed to do laundry and get dinner started. I got three loads of laundry started, and got the charcoal lit in the grill. I admit that I had to pack the white clothes in the washer.
45 minutes later I returned to transfer the clothes to the dryer, and I discovered that the washer hadn't drained. So I had to manually wring the white clothes before placing them in the dryer. I tried to let the washer drain by placing another $1.25 in the washer - for a load without clothes in it.
An hour later, the white clothes were not dry yet, and the washer still hadn't drained. I need to report it. I added another $1.25 to the dryer and waited an hour.
In the meantime, I had to wake Jennie up so that she could help with dinner. The grill wasn't warm enough to cook the meat as fast as I needed. Keisha was hungry, and it was getting late. Tomorrow is a school day.
At first Jennie seemed very eager to help. It was she who urged me to not put any new loads of laundry in - because of the time. While I battled the laundry, she took care of getting dinner ready.
We ate dinner, and Jennie read a couple books to Keisha so that she could record them on her weekly reading report for school. Then Keisha got ready for bed, and Jennie went back to bed - for 45 minutes before she had to get up.
Jennie had gotten upset because she wasn't able to get a full 8-hours sleep. That has been a major challenge since she started working 3rd shift. I told her that she could call me in the middle of the night to wake me up if she wanted to. She said she would, lol.
Now, I need to head back to the laundry room. Hopefully the white clothes are dry now. Keisha needs some extra bedding to help with her incontinence. I already woke her up once, and I'll need to wake her up again before I head to bed.
