O Happy Day!

Elevator during reconstruction.  They
use the drywall mud as an adhesive
to hold the granite sides in place

The title may sound like we are on our way out, but not quite.  In reality we have mixed emotions as we prepare to leave later this week.   The title has to do with our mission office elevator. IT'S WORKING!  I've mentioned before that the mission office is on the 4th floor of a 4 story building. Since the mission moved it's offices here in August 2012, there has been talk about getting the elevator fixed.  It was just a dream for the 10 months, with an occasional person coming by to "inspect" the elevator shaft.  About 6 months ago, they began in earnest to get it working.  I don't know how long it has been out of service, but they had to essentially rebuilt the entire elevator.  So for the last 16 months we have trekked up and down 3 flights of stairs (57 steps, yeah I counted them many times) 2-3 times a day M-F.  To top things off, our apartment elevator quit working about 4 months ago (we live on the 3rd floor).  It might be worth it if we could brag about how much better shape we are in, but in reality it just makes us feel old and out of breathe.

Finished (mostly)

With just 3 days left to enjoy it before we leave, I've thought about spending a little "quality time" in the elevator, but then again, do I really want to get stuck in the elevator that's cozy with only 2 people in it?