Stay Away from the Dumpster

No joke; it is super stinky!



You see we have had a major heatwave here in Southern California for a full week now (think triple digits). This weekend it culminated in a power outage on our block. It went out at 4:45 pm on Sunday and stayed off until about 8:15 am Tuesday. Groceries don't fair well in the sweltering heat especially with no power, so our collective dumpster is filled with spoiled food, is any racoon's dream, and by the end of the day I suspect we will be able to smell it from our apartment.


Two nights without so much as a fan and certainly not air conditioning was definitely an insult to our pampered life. Sleep just doesn't happen for me when I can feel the sweat pooling up on my body as I lay there wide awake. It was even worse for Brandon who needs to use his CPAP machine at night, which requires power. Thankfully, one of my classmates offered us accommodations on the second night. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Abbie!!


There were some great things that came out of the power outage, in particular, quality time with our neighbors. We have been able to spend a great deal of time with some of our neighbors as we've tried to make the best of the situation. Sunday night we sat outside and visited until our hungry stomachs cried out for satisfaction, so off we all went to the Soupplantation. We closed it down as we were not in any hurry to return to the dark furnace of our apartment building. Monday, it was no surprise to find everyone camped out at Panera for the day (it's the perfect spot for that kind of thing: good food, coffee, and free WiFi). Monday night we decided to grill out some our defrosting food with some other neighbors. It was quite a feast: salmon and cheesecake!


Dan & Chelsea live next to us on one side. He's in the Philosophy program at Talbot and she is working on her Masters in Social Work at USC. They are Orange County natives and a lot of fun!

John & Erica live next to us on the other side. He's also in the Philosophy program and she is a substitute teacher. They hail from South Carolina.

Danny & Kara live across from us. He is in the Philosophy program as well and she is a middle school science teacher. They just moved here from La Crosse, WI of all places. We swam in the pool and BBQed with them as we reminisced about favorite places back home.



We are so glad to be able to live here in grad housing with all of these great people. These are just some of the friends we have here. The Lord has provided the communities of grad housing and ISF (my program) and though nobody has very much money being in this phase of life, we find ourselves to be rich indeed.