We hope that everyone had a happy Easter! We enjoyed watching Conference and having dinner here at the condo with our friends David and Teal. Greg whipped up quite an Easter feast. And today I found out that I got a new job! Well, it's not really a new job--just an additional job. I am going to be a freelance writer for a small company that provides articles about quaint Illinois eating establishments to newspapers and travel guides. My first assignment is to do an article about Maid Rite in Springfield, so Greg and I went there today for lunch. It is supposedly the first drive through in America--and it's right smack in the middle of Springfield! They make really good Maid Rite sandwiches, which are basically sloppy joes without the "sloppy." And they have delicious root beer too. So I am excited to write an article about it. I wish that this could be my only job, but it's not steady enough. I mean, I am really grateful for my Lincoln Home job, and I am still in awe of the fact that I get to walk where Lincoln walked every day, but the people running the show have created a very unpleasant work environment. 
But anyway, after lunch Greg and I went to buy some plants and some new dining chairs, when we saw this coming--black clouds. I hate black clouds. We had some thunderstorms last night, but the weather people said we would be getting worse ones today. The storm that blew through was indeed very bad, and it dropped some tornadoes after it crossed into Indiana. Luckily it didn't drop tornadoes here! But we're still under a tornado watch all evening.
After we were done shopping for plants, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. Here is our cute back patio--with some mud that washed up during the storm. I'll have to take another picture once things dry out and I can sweep the patio, but I love how our cute black chairs look with the flowers. Unfortunately Greg's grandpa passed away last night. :-( I never had a chance to meet Grandpa Bowles, but he was a very generous man. So Greg is leaving tomorrow to head out to Idaho for the funeral, but thanks to the Lincoln Home people, I can't go along and visit Utah. (Cue the Travelocity gnome song.) But I hope Greg has a nice time with his family, and I'll stay here and try to protect the Lincoln Home and the animal children from any tornadoes.
