Our dehumidifier quit

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised since it's been running 12+ hrs/day for almost six months now. It switches on and makes a short beep, but nothing else. We had Gerry come in and take a look, but couldn't find anything obviously wrong.

We could send it out for warranty work, as it's still under warranty, but that means paying hefty shipping fees. And even then, we need another unit ASAP so all of the moisture doesn't collect inside all over again. So we are trying to locate one to borrow, or else we will have to purchase another unit (hopefully the hardware store still has some in stock -- they cost more than ours did, though... sigh.)

Today is the first day of spring, or so I'm told. Looking outside, it's hard to imagine spring being here. The precipitation has turned to fairly heavy rain today, though, so maybe that is a sign.

Amy has been going to swimming lessons this last two weeks. Although I haven't seen it yet, I'm told that Amy has progressed from barely dog paddling about to being able to use her hands and arms effectively in the water.

Pastor Brown is here this week and he will be giving the sermon, so I have a break of sorts this week, at least from that particular bit of work.

We decided to use some of the sales proceeds to pay off the mortgage on our rental property. That way we save immeidately on interest payments, more than we would gain by leaving the funds in a money market account, and the rental income becomes a real income stream rather than simply passing through to the lender. We'll also be completely debt-free, at least until the next mortgage.

The children's choir is scheduled to perform twice during the first week of April. The first is on April 3 when our Alaska Conference leaders come through Petersburg. They do this once a year and have music and some talks. This year we will add the children to the mix. The evening begins with a potluck dinner, the music, and then talks on health and spiritual topics. I've invited the families of the choir's kids to come and stay for the whole program.

The second performance is for the community Good Friday service on the 6th at the Lutheran church. The tradition is that each minister in town who participates speaks on one of the assigned seven last words of Christ. I'll be giving a short message of around three minutes on the phrase, "It is finished," followed immediately by the kids singing When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, in a contemporary musical setting.

As far as I can tell, my body is still suffering from stress, though I haven't been experiencing bad headaches. Either the stress level has gone down, or my body has readjusted to the higher stress and I don't notice it anymore. I hope it's the former and not the latter. It really doesn't help that I haven't had much opportunity to go out and exercise as much as I would like. All the snow, slush, and ice hampers outside exercise. And there isn't enough room indoors to do anything.