Brother Helping Brother

With a rather hectic day behind me I found myself trying to catch up and take care of those quick phone calls that seem to get lost in the minutes of the calendar. Having checked off a few of the things that I had fallen behind on I made one more call before I left the office. It had been well over a week since I placed the print over at Staples for the lodge and I haven’t heard anything from them. I am glad that I decided to pick up the phone as I was able to swing through Bryn Mawr and pick up everything that we needed to send the notice out this weekend (with the exception of the notice which will get done later this week).

With a fresh stockpile of dues cards, an address stamp, and newly retrieved mail in hand, I walked through the front door just as the Worshipful Master was heading out. After reviewing a few quick items (including the aforementioned dues cards which have a very minor change over the old stock), we circled up on a couple of things, shook hands, and parted for the evening. When I walked in I didn’t notice many brothers in the hall with the exception of a new mason putting together the announcement board in the corner. However, it was quite and I soon found myself finishing up a few items a little faster than usual and heading up to the lodge room to grab the embosser.

It was here where I found all the brothers that I thought would be at the lodge. Split into a couple of groups to work with new candidates, many of the recently raised brothers were instructing them on what they had just learned the previous week. Can’t say that I would have been able to do the same thing so soon after being raised. It really was something to behold as this was for them a normal part of being a mason. The fellowship that we have tried so hard to foster over the past year was slowly becoming part of what is expected from candidates and, therefore, new masons.

It was the epitome of brother helping brother. The room was mostly filled with those who have been masons for two years or less with a Past Master offering his wisdom and experience when needed. While I offered a few tips here and there to the new masons, I pretty much stood back and enjoyed being in the midst of such a drastic change over what we experienced last winter. While there are things that need to be done every week at the lodge, this is really what makes me look forward to driving to Ardmore every Tuesday night.

Errands, Sales, And Gift Cards Result In A Retail Hangover

With only one day this past weekend free from commitments, my wife and I spent the entirety of Sunday running errands. Some were overdue and now on a ticking clock, others were the result of the baby shower the day before, and some were just errands of opportunity. By the time we got home in the early evening we were tired and ready for another weekend.

The first trip was to the old apartment to pick up the cable boxes that I had forgotten to put in the car numerous times. I had gotten a call from Comcast last week and I really didn’t want to see another bill from them in the coming weeks. Now that this is done, it shouldn’t take much longer before our previous residence is finally a thing of the past.

From there we drove to Staples where I spent the next hour of my life scanning, formatting, and confirming the order for new lodge dues cards and address stamps. This is why I have been putting off this trip for so long. Of course, while we were there, it took the opportunity to restock on a few essentials (i.e. ink, envelopes, etc.). Between rewards dollars and coupons we did pretty well.

After swinging by my parent’s house and picking up a few baby shower gifts that got lost in the shuffle, we drove back west. On our way to drop off the aforementioned Comcast boxes (they don’t really have many convenient locations), and because I took a slightly longer route, we drove by the local Office Max which, turns out, is closing and was in the midst of clearing out the store. So, with the drop off taken care of, we circled back and slowly walked through the store. Got to love saving nearly 70% on items that you had been looking to pick up when the price was right.

By this point we were starting to slow down but we were only 5 minutes away from Babies R Us and we had both coupons and gift cards in hand (both from the gifts we brought home the night before and some that were in envelopes in the trunk that we had just retrieved). Needless to say, we decided to check a few more items off the registry and cherry pick the clearance racks and shelves. Even with a cart load of baby items, we actually still have some funds left to round things out a little later. Of course, there is still a lot of stuff on the registry too.

After a quick dinner (Bob Evans doesn’t mix well with pregnancy) we finally headed home for the day. While tiring we did manage to get a lot done that won’t muck up a future weekend. With that said, the retail hangover this morning was something that I don’t look forward to experiencing again.