Palm Sunday

Phillip and I got up early this morning to go to church in Philipsburg. We picked up a friend at 7:15. He had been to this church a couple times before, so knew where it was. I hadn’t been to this one. Phillip really wanted to go to this one because it was early and he still had the whole day to study then. We were really excited about Palm Sunday! We love getting palms and I enjoy making things with them. I don’t know what to call the design my family usually makes with them. You sort of weave 4 pieces together. They are neat. Dad figured out last year how to make a cross with one. That’s what we wanted to do this year. I even looked up directions last night on how to make one! Well…

We got to church just in time for the blessing of the palms. Some people had palms and some didn’t. The ones that did, didn’t just have the normal pieces like you usually get. They had a whole branch! (I’m sure branch isn’t the right word for a palm tree…but seriously they just ripped a big section off of the tree!) We quickly realized that people were supposed to bring their own palms to be blessed! They didn’t pass out palms in church! So only the people who brought their own got to take palms home. I was so upset! I wish I’d have known. It would have been fun to take my own palms to be blessed!!!

This church was a lot bigger than the one in Simpson Bay. It was completely full too though, and even had people standing inside and outside!!! The doors and windows were open so they could still probably hear. That’s right…no air conditioning! The fan by us wasn’t working either! It was so hot, it was miserable in there! The church in Simpson Bay is definitely my favorite, but I think we’ll probably start going to the one in Philipsburg frequently. Phillip has decided he wants to make time to go to church. We always went together at home. I went two weeks to Simpson Bay without him while he was studying. I’m so excited that he wants to start going again, so for that reason I will gladly go to Philipsburg even though I like Simpson Bay better. It’s just too bad Simpson Bay doesn’t have a morning mass. Something else that was interesting…there are 2 priests for the churches. We think they must trade off weeks. Last week, Father Manuel was in Simpson Bay. He was in Philipsburg today and gave the same Homily!!! I was so shocked! Then he told another story at the end of church…same one as last week also! I couldn’t believe it! I bet they usually have totally different people at each church, so alternate weeks on purpose to use the same material. Interesting!!!

Phillip went to the library after church. I did a few things around here, then took a nap. 6 hours of sleep just isn’t enough! When I got up from my nap, Phillip had just come home to take a nap!!! Then he went back to the library to study more. He spent most of the day there, right up till 11:00p.m. when they closed and kicked him (and tons of other students) out!

Julia, Willow, and I spent the afternoon at the pool! We floated on rafts. It was so perfect! The water is the perfect temperature and it has been really hot here lately, so the pool was great! I talked to one of the AUC professors and his wife, who were at the pool too. They live in Trandwinds also. Can you believe their son married a girl who is from Evansville, and now they live in Evansville?!?!? Small world!!!

I told Julia about the palms at church this morning. She was planning to go in Simpson Bay at 5:00. We thought about yanking some off a tree for her, but she checked with her cousin who was here last year for Palm Sunday also. She said that they do give palms in Simpson Bay! Sure enough, they did! Julia called me after church to say she was stopping by with palms for me!!!! Hooray!!!! She saved the day! I was so excited! I didn’t have time to make anything with them yet today though, so stuck them in the frig. I heard that will help them stay fresh longer and not dry out. Hopefully they’ll be ok to make tomorrow.

This evening I made myself do laundry! I hate dragging everything down 3 flights of stairs, into the car, driving to school, then lugging it all up to the laundry room. At least there’s an elevator at school. And at least THE CAR WORKS!! It was terrible when I had to carry it all to school! So I shouldn’t complain! 5 loads of laundry, 3 hours, and $28 later, I was finally finished! The security guard at our apartment complex was so nice! He helped me carry my laundry to the car in the beginning, and then back to the apartment afterwards! It was so sweet! I had a laundry basket, a laundry bag, and a box full of laundry. Yes that’s right, a BOX. Pretty pathetic huh?!?!? But it worked!