the bedroom . . .

The glow of new adventures is fading, but not gone. There’s been a paper bag floor at the house the church owns, the chart of accounts for the church finances, church personnel contracts, and getting ready to be church treasurer with a fully implemented finance program still about a month off.

The living room with the fireplace . . .

The paper bag floor —

it turned out B – E – A – U – T – I – F – U – L – !

It’s a tough project, that finance stuff. I hope by the next budget cycle (October, 2015) that the software will be smoothly functioning. I didn’t realize that membership, contributions, and a bunch of other data besides the money part will have to be set up in tandem. It is lots more fun to do other stuff than focus on the chart of accounts, but I DID promise to do it!

The hardest part is that this finance project feels just like my old job . . . I’m SUPPOSED to be retired, eh? And yet, I can work on it at my own pace and not worry so much about getting fired!

The great mosque in Djenne — the largest mud building in the world gets a new coat of mud this month. It takes the whole city to get it done!

Vieux at dinner.

We did our Timbuktu and Back worship service at the end of March. It was so well received that we’re doing a West African dinner and the show — in October — a fundraiser for the church. Talked to Mamadou today and they are spending the second Sunday in a row putting mud on the mosque in Djenne. It is great to keep in touch with the new friends from Mali. I got to meet Vieux Farka Toure on Monday night — he played a concert at the Melody Ballroom after he visited at the Ko-Falen dinner at the Queen of Sheba restaurant. Such an exciting evening.