Time with Ol' Friends

Yesterday we enjoyed a nice lunch with old friends. Bob and Vivian, and Ed and Lois - all are American Baptist pastors/spouses and retirees. It was great seeing them again. We had ministered together here in Pittsburgh in the early days. We compared notes about our current experiences in churches we visit; what it means to be in a church and have the "retired" status; the changing aspects of our denomination; what we're reading; and our families. It was a wonderful time around good food at Olive Garden at Robinson Town Center. We were there for two hours getting caught up.

Then, Dee and I visited other stores at that mall. The Dicks Sporting Goods store is two floors and humongous, the mall is very upscale. We also went to Ikea and The Golf Store. Dee went to a couple of others while I browsed. After we got home, Dee heard from the McGuinnes Sisters - a new store opening right near us (at the front of our housing plan.) They called to offer her a part-time job in their cafe. That store is kind of like a whole foods store, but not as big and is known for their high quality meats, veggies and cheeses. She's to start the first Saturday of September. The store opens on the 10th. I also heard from my contact at Coummunity College of Allegheny County regarding being an adjunct faculty there. She gave me contact info regarding the process of applying for such a position. I'll give it a try.

In the evening I went to quartet practice at the church. This was our first practice in preparation for Sept 7th. They wanted to try a couple of barbershop versions of religious songs. However, without a pianist to help, that was impossible. So we practiced some hymns from the hymnal. Since they were familiar, that worked out much better. We'll meet two more times, and settle on two songs for the early and late services. After practicing, we talked about the church - some about it's history, and also about my current experiences as a new person there and a visitor. We talked about their classes, the worship and their hopes. It was a good conversation. Then back at home Dee and I watched one of the shows we'd recorded.