Miscellany from my week

Katie helped collect library books Sunday afternoon.  There were a lot to collect, and she found them all.  Whew!  No fines!

We had a good group Sunday night, with a good prayer group at the end.  I am getting closer to these ladies and we’re all beginning to open up more.  I think there’s potential for some real friendships here.  Andrew went home to spend the night and next day with Zach.  They are quite different from each other, but they generally get along well.

Katie went back to college on Monday.  Most days, I am happy for her and pleased with the way God’s leading her.  Some days I’m a little sad, and on a few days, I’m really sad.  The realization that she won’t be coming back to live here any more sinks in only gradually and is not something that gets processed once and and for all.  I have to work through it over and over again.  All days, I’m so extremely proud of her I could burst!

Thankfully, although it takes something like 26 hours to fly from Dulles to Springfield, it’s a proven fact that one can fly from Springfield to Dulles in about nine hours.  Maybe it has to do with wind speed and the rotation of the earth. . . ? After I dropped her at the airport, I met a friend for a late lunch.  It was really nice to see her.  She’s been through a divorce and is recovering from all that, but she seems to be doing well.  We caught up on each other’s families and stuff.

I pulled out of that parking lot, thinking about which library branch would be best to drop the books at.  (I couldn’t think of a good way to avoid ending that sentence with a preposition.)  As I made a left turn onto the busy street, it dawned on me that the Panera where we had just eaten was adjacent to The Library Station!  We had planned it that way a few days earlier, thinking that I’d have Andrew with me and he could browse the stacks while we visited, but he was with Zach and I had forgotten.  At that point, looking back over my shoulder to change lanes, I glanced toward the trunk and failed to see the two loaded book crates. . . mainly because they were still at home in the dining room!  Hmmm. . . another trip to Springfield would be required.

Andrew and I were invited for dinner and cards at our pastor’s house two nights in a row.  Hamburgers and bridge one night; pork chops and spades the next.  Actually, he played with the kids and I played with the adults!  It was a lot of fun.  = )

I had our new rear van brakes adjusted on Wednesday.  There was no charge for that, which is a good thing when you consider what it cost to have them installed.  Then we zipped to Springfield for an ortho appointment, because one of Andrew’s rubber band hooks had come off for the second time.  AARRGGHH!  We had been to a regular ortho appointment two weeks ago, and we have another one two weeks out, but this one could not be avoided.  However, this time, I, singlehandedly mind you, managed to to remember to bring with me both crates of library books.  I also found a neat book for me at the Brentwood branch.  So far, it’s quite inspiring and challenging.

This week’s counseling session was fairly intense, Andrew’s tumbling was cancelled, church was really awesome, and Andrew had youth worship practice after.  The logistics of that practice session are somewhat interesting.  Jessica (not ours) sings and plays keyboard in the adult service, and her husband, Pete, plays guitar and drums (on a drum machine).  He is also the youth pastor.  For this youth worship team, Jessica sings, Traiten plays guitar, Andrew plays keyboard, and Pete plays drums and maybe guitar, too.  The complicating factor is that Pete and Jessica also have two younger children who need to get to bed.  One of the teen girls has been commandeered to go home with their children, get them in bed, and stay with them till Pete and Jessica get home from worship practice, but Abi doesn’t drive, so our family has offered to be responsible for taking Abi and the two kids to Pete and Jessica’s house.  This week was our first run, and it was not without incident.  We got to the house, but no one had a key. Ten year-old Reece said he knew where a key was hidden, but he needed a light.  Now, I could readily have provided a tire gauge, half a box of Kleenex, a set of ear buds, and two pairs of nail clippers, but light I did not have.  However, he and Abi managed to climb a fence, find the key  in the dark, and get into the house.  Next week, I’ll stick a flashlight in the glove box and ask Jessica for a key.

Thursday was a home day.  I like those for two reasons:  I can get a lot done, and I don’t have to wear any make-up.  I finally got ALL the guys ironing (from, ahem. . . two and-a-half weeks ago!) done, and that was a nice feeling of accomplishment.  I’m sure I did something else useful that day, but I don’t remember what it was.

Today, Andrew had a swim and gym thing at the Y in Springfield all day, so I had some time to take bags of stuff to the thrift shop, get some potting soil and weed-eater oil at Wal-Mart (did you know you’re not supposed to dump that little square bottle of oil into the weed-eater reservoir?  and that if you do and then add gas to it, the weed-eater won’t start? I’m hoping our handyman friend can rescue me from that stupidity before I have to explain the dead weed-eater to Scott. . . ), shop for some clothes (which I ended up not buying, but that was OK, because now I have a good idea of what I really want), buy a new journal, and go to the post office.  I’ve been spending a lot of time there lately, it seems, thanks to that silly 13 ounce rule.  Back home, I worked some on homeschool hours, planned Josiah’s academics for the last week of March, did a lot of ministry correspondence stuff, updated Quickbooks, and wrote a LOT of thank you notes (some of which I did by email).  I also sent an encouraging note to a friend who’s going through a lot of tough stuff, and by then, it was time to pick up Andrew.

We had a relaxing dinner of pizza and pears while watching some TV, and afterwards, I managed to redeem myself in gin rummy, skunking him 269 to 69.  I mention that because Andrew demolished me last time we played, and tonight I felt vindicated.

We will have a group here Sunday night, the yard looks really horrid, and I need to clean a couple bathrooms, two bedrooms, both halls, and the stairs.  I think Saturday will be a cleaning kind of day, inside and out. Then we have tentative plans to go out to eat with our good friend, Donna, who is celebrating her resignation today from her job of 13 years.  Let’s just say that she has endured a LOT with that job, and we all know God has wonderful things in store for her now!

It’s been a good week!

A full Sunday

I overslept, never a good thing, and especially not on a Sunday.

We visited a church and saw some friends from long ago there.

Jessica starts MSU tomorrow and had to attend a convocation there at 2:00 PM.  Due to parking, walking, etc., she planned to leave home at 12:45.  We were sure we’d be out of church by 12:00, home by 12:15, and she’d have time to eat and leave.  Actually, we needed to go to a non-Wal-Mart grocery for some lettuce, margarine, and coconut (not to be eaten together!), and if we got out early enough, we’d do that shopping on our way home.

Church went till 12:30, we got home at 12:42, and Jessica flew in, changed clothes, grabbed some food for the road, and flew back out.

While she was driving, she called us on speaker and we all de-briefed the church service.  Good discussion.

Because my Mondays are so busy and I have an extra appointment tomorrow, I decided to go ahead and do the ironing this afternoon.  I also coached Andrew through his piano practice at the same time.

I met with Josiah and Andrew about some academic adjustments we’re going to make effective this week, to hopefully enable me to have an off day.

Scott met with Josiah, and I decided that before I went to the grocery, I really needed to plan a week of menus.

I did the menu planning and made a grocery list.

On the way to town, I called Jessica’s friend, Melissa to try to pick up a receipt, but it didn’t work out, so she said she’d bring it out to the house sometime later.  (Melissa’s phone is being repaired in Springfield.  Jessica told her she’d be in Springfield a lot and could pick it up for her, but she needed the receipt.  Melissa lives in town, so I was trying to do that errand for her and Jessica.)

I went to Staples to drop off the used ink cartridge that I had forgotten to take when I was in there a couple days ago.

Next stop:  Harter House for produce and a few other items.

It was a lot of other items.  The total was $91!

I brought all that home and Andrew helped unload and put it all away.

We had canceled our home group tonight, because several families couldn’t attend.  That’s why I was able to do all this other stuff today.

While Andrew and Scott pulled together some supper, I worked on academic checklists.

We ate supper and cleaned it up.

Scott worked on some house-related stuff, while I got Andrew’s checklists printed for this week.

I also printed his books read and filed his checklists from last week.  Someday they will be entered into Homeschool Helper, but since I am right now entering August 2010 for both boys, readers are encouraged not to hold their collective breath till I get last week entered.  = )

I watered the upstairs houseplants and spilled water on the trunk in our bedroom.  And cleaned it up.

It’s 9:25 PM.  Andrew’s finishing his shower.  Jessica’s watching the Cardinals game.  I’m not sure what Scott’s doing.  I’m sleepy.

G’Night, John-Boy.

 

If you can’t SINK the three ball, just drop it in

So far today, I have:

Read the Bible, walked, and prayed

Helped folks get ready for the Castle Bluff day trip

Done a massive breakfast clean up

Entered ministry donations from Friday

Updated Quicken – household checking, VISA, and MasterCard accounts

Reconciled my checking and savings accounts for the past (ahem) three months

Updated Jessica’s and Josiah’s expense ledgers

Sewed a black slip for the puppet stage

Mended two purple socks – and be it noted that, in the absence of a darning egg, the three ball worked quite well.

I now proceed outdoors to mix more dirt, but here’s a funny.  Bear in mind that it’s 80 degrees in the shade here today, sunny, and right now very windy.  I was listening to the radio while mending.    The weather forecast at 1:00 PM was given as follows:  “Highs today in the 4os.  Lows tonight in the 30s.  Probability of rain and snow after 1:00 AM, 40%. ” This is difficult to imagine, especially the part about today’s highs being in the 40s when I’m wearing shorts and it’s already 80.  The only thing I can figure is that perhaps the announcer was reading the forecast for February 3 instead of April 3.

A short post for my lonely little blog

Well, what happened was that Katie came home for a wonderful nine days, during which we were also spending time with and helping the Browns; then the Browns moved and Katie went back to school and there was little-to-no rejoicing as we missed them all greatly; and then we spent a week trying to get life going again.  So that is why there have been no posts to my lonely little blog lately.

However, I do want to note the following milestones (both positive and negative) for all posterity.

1.  The Browns did make it safely to Delaware in what sounds like one of the smoothest relocations in modern history.

2.  I think most of us are past the S.T. (severe tears) phase, which is a good thing.

3.  Jessica has been cleaning for Kelly and doing a lot of administrative work for the church.  These activities yield income for Jessica, happy owners for Kelly, and margin for Mom.

4.  Katie is doing well in college life.

5.  Andrew’s attitude in church was much-improved last night.

6.  Josiah will soon have a new (to him) mattress and box spring, so he will no longer have to (get to?) sleep on the floor, and he will be able to keep his room clean.

7.  Ministry is never easy or simple.  It is not possible for us to plan and schedule things that everyone can come to and about which no one will be hurt or offended.  We still try.

8.  Thanks, I’m sure, to the prayers of all the FNL ladies, I have been able to accomplish HUGE progress toward my goal of (in general) organizing my life and (in particular) organizing my weekly time commitments.  I now have a nifty yellow checklist that is daunting, to say the least, but at least I know that if I do everything on it, nothing critical will have been forgotten.

9.  Accounting is not my grace gift.

10.  Organization and communication are not Josiah’s gifts.

11.  I am pretty sure that Scott and Jessica both have ALL the gifts!

12.  Our daffodils are blooming.  They make me smile.

13.  I planted tomato, red pepper, and various flower seeds yesterday.  They are now in trays in the office closet, which is nice and warm.  Once they sprout I will put them in the attic under my very nifty grow lights.

14.  Scott’s taking me on a date tonight, so I don’t have to think about what’s for supper, cooking supper, or cleaning up supper.  Hooray!

65 and sunny!

Here it is late January, and it was 65 and sunny today!!!

I also got to have lunch with my dear friend, Dianne, at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then help her with some overwhelming paperwork.  It was the mindless filing out of a bunch of forms, and being the strange person that I am, I actually enjoy filling out forms.

I was also encouraged to be able to talk today with another dear friend, Sue, like me, is in the situation of trying to help her recently-graduated daughter figure out what her next steps should be.  As I’ve stated before, that role of (high school) guidance counselor is not my favorite, by any means; mostly because I feel so totally ignorant and unequipped to fill it.  We encouraged each other, and even though there are a number of unknowns for both of our families, at least we are not alone in our struggles.

Finally, just as I sat down to lunch, I got the text announcing that our friend, Kelly, had given birth to her much-anticipated son, Ellis!

It was a sunny day, all the way around.

Ok, so I missed a day

But there were good reasons.  On Wednesday, I

- took Andrew to piano

- went to Wal-Mart for a big one, including six brooms and seven deodorants

- forgot to go to the bank

- picked up Andrew from piano

- worked with the boys to put all the groceries away

- supervised Andrew’s academics (compressed due to piano and Odyssey taping)

- cooked the equivalent of six batches of chili for the neighbors (whose mom just died)

- baked a batch of cereal cookies

- cleaned up the kitchen

- collected all the stuff to take to the neighbors (food, paper goods, etc.)

- finished collecting the library books

- arranged for a friend to make the bank deposit I forgot

- went to dentist for him to attempt to repair the tooth I cracked apart by chewing on ice (was there from 4:10 – 6:30 PM, and he thinks he successfully re-filled it; he knows it won’t last forever and the next time it breaks I will have to have a crown)

- remembered to call Desiree to say Andrew would not be able to help in Kidz Church (due to the dental visit)

- took Andrew and a zillion books to the library in Springfield

- got home and had a 30 minute phone call with a friend who was emotionally distraught

- went to bed at about 11:00 PM, with some six neighbor kids also sleeping in the house (many thanks to Jessica and Josiah, who did ALL the hosting, arranging, entertaining, and cooking for them)

So that’s why I didn’t post yesterday.

 

Enjoying an inch of snow

We had about an inch of snow, total, yesterday and today, and it is so lovely to behold.  I have walked the past two days in my snow boots, because the snayplow threw the little bit from the road onto “my” walking shoulder, making tennis shoes impractical.  It’s also windy and bitterly cold – tonight we expect lows around zero with a windy high of 17 tomorrow.

In other recent news. . .

Katie left at 8:45 Sunday morning to drive back to PHC.   She did 12 hours the first day and six the second, because she had to be back for some R.A.-related dinner meeting at 5:00 PM Monday.  (Classes start Thursday.)  On each of her drive days, I called her and we talked for a long time.  I was following her on google maps, and I’d tell her what road she was about to cross.  She told me what she was seeing as she went (note:  Pig’s Ear Road!) and it was a lot of fun.  I narrated her right into the PHC parking lot.  = )

Frustratingly, half the other R.A.s didn’t show up for the meeting,which ended up being all of five minutes long, talking about nothing, following a meal of sandwiches in the coffee shop.  So she has two days basically alone in the dorm with nothing to do, which she could have spent at home.  The Stingray was rather disgusted.  Zzzt-zzzt.

Jessica, Josiah, and Andrew left at about 12:30 PM Sunday to meet the rest of our Friday Night Light group and caravan to Voice of the Marytrs in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where they are doing a three-day service project.  Jessica was in charge of food.  She planned meals for 18 people three times a day for three days, created a shopping list, compared prices, did all the shopping (with Katie’s help), loaded it all up (with Scott’s help), and is cooking and/or coordinating the cooking of all those meals as I type.  WHAT a woman!  We heard that the first day went really well, and as far as I know, Andrew’s still in good graces with Bob, his surrogate dad while away from home.  Jessica preached the first night, it was Courtney last night, and Jessica will do it again tonight.  She also drove our van out and will drive it back.  I’m guessing she may be a bit tired when they return.

Last night I redeemed one of my “FREEDOM FROM COOKING” coupons, which were a Christmas gift from Scott.  He offered to bring home Chinese for the two of us, which he intended to pick up at a restaurant in Ozark.  However, when he got there in the snow, the restaurant was closed.  Bummer.  Not to worry in this age of technology, though.  I got online and found another Chinese restaurant in Ozark (fairly close to Wal-Mart), which Scott called.  He was able to place his order on the phone and pick it up a few minutes later.  Although we don’t like the same types of Chinese food, he graciously picked one that I do like, and we shared a meal that was designed for one very hungry Asian and had a full meal left over!

Afterwards, I called my good friend, Marilyn, who lives in Texas, and we talked for over an hour, getting caught up on our family’s lives (we probably haven’t talked in a couple of years) and laughing at/with each other.  It was great.

Meanwhile, Scott amused himself by researching skiing opportunities and creating a spreadsheet with all the lodging, air fare, car rental, lift ticket, and ski rental information for various possible locations, times, and configurations of people.  I think it would just be the three guys, but I’m not sure.

We watched an interesting documentary about Ulysses S. Grant on PBS.  I think it may have been part one of two.  It was pretty interesting, and I ate popcorn.  = )

Yesterday afternoon, I broke out my new sewing machine!  It is wonderful and I was actually able to put a little something together.  I am working on another little something today.

I have been practicing the piano a bit.  This is a good thing, because I have a lesson tomorrow, for which I am decidedly not ready,. mostly because I basically haven’t practiced at all in over three weeks.  I have worked pretty hard getting ready to play for our Friday night service, but that’s not accomplishing much toward the  studio goals.  Thankfully, I will be able to practice a lot again tomorrow.

Normally, I do our laundry on Wednesday (tomorrow), but, shrewd woman that I am, I started it today, because in the past, when the temps have dropped near zero, the washer won’t drain.  Having a un-emptiable tub full of cold water and a bunch of clothes that someone needs to wear is not fun.

Two keys on our piano won’t play properly, and the sustain pedal is all loose and floppy.  Scott told me to go ahead and call Mr. Dugan to tun and service it.  That’s on tomorrow’s list.

I’m supposed to be washing the supper (and lunch, and breakfast) dishes right now, but I REALLY want to write SOMETHING daily on this blog, so I stopped by my desk – you know, on the way from the dining room to the kitchen sink; ummm. . . and I wonder where the boys get their distractability. . .  I’ve decided that while it’s just the two of us, there’s no point washing dishes three times a day.  However, I did pull out my lovely pink, extra-long rubber gloves.  My hands have been so dry and cracking, despite dutiful lotioning, and I’m hoping that wearing the gloves to do dishes will help them heal.  And besides, since I never got to use them to clean the oven, I need to get our money’s worth out of them.

Off to wash dishes now.

“Why, Mommy, why?”

1.  Why is it still so stinkn’ hot here (88 degrees and humid) in the third week of September, when it was 47 degrees at 7:00 AM on September 3rd?

2.  Why can I remember to wash and dry the sheets and towels but not remember to fold them?

3.  Why does Andrew spend the day YEARNING to get his chores and academics done so he can go out and play, and then sit staring at Josiah’s computer once his work is finished?

4.  Why is it so easy for me to play a certain piano piece, but so very difficult for me to memorize it?

5.  Why do my tomatoes ALWAYS suffer from nearly fatal early blight, then a couple months later grow healthy vines months so high above the dead ones that there’s no way to support them as they resume setting fruit?

6.  Why are our favorite shirts the ones that are most tedious to iron?

7.  Why must the moles raise their tunnels in the nicest looking parts of the yard?

8.  Why are damp towels destined to be left in places where they cannot possibly dry out and which will therefore smell nasty as a result?

Just wondering.

Vacation at home

This week I am once again singing the praises of  Camp Lookout.  I dropped Andrew off Monday morning at about 10:00 AM, and I’ll return for him at noon Friday. In the meantime, I have chosen to not feel guilty about enjoying a few days off from the dailyness of parenting a high maintenance child.  Instead, I have had time to do some of the things I enjoy most:  a bit of de-cluttering (clearly not enough!), organizing and uploading a slew of digital pictures, shopping alone and without rushing home to keep people on task, and playing the piano as much as I want.  Ahhhhhh!

In other news, last night Josiah informed us that there was not hot water on the first two floors.  Sigh.  He was right.  This morning, Scott went down and tried diligently and unsuccessfully to re-light the pilot on the water heater.  We ended up calling the propane company, but they said their maintenance guy was out on vacation this week.  They would send the regular driver and if he could fix it, fine.  If not, we’d have to wait till next Monday or call a plumber.

Sometimes we just don’t think of all the things for which we like to use hot water.  Showering, of course, tops the list, but washing dishes and doing laundry are also a little more exciting with cold water.  Actually, with Jessica away on a mission trip and Andrew away at camp, there are fewer showers to schedule and fewer dishes and clothes to wash.  Scott, Josiah, and Katie managed to stagger their morning showers in the attic, but I, being stubborn and way too proud, and not wanting to shave in that little attic stall, decided to brave a cold one in the master bath.   It actually wasn’t too terribly bad, but I did take care of business quickly and emerged quite invigorated.

When the propane guy came, he checked everything out carefully and then showed Josiah the secret “technician only” re-set switch (a good thing to know) and said they’d send us a bill.  Don’t you agree that since we are one of their most loyal customers and we buy a lot of propane, they should just write off off that service call?

Now we’re off to a 9:30 softball game in light rain.  Only diehard fans would go to such a game, but I am a diehard fan.  A diehard fan who is very thankful to God that her husband (who had a major ski injury seven months ago) is even able to play third base.

Catching up

The past few days have been busy, to say the least, and readers of this blog know I almost NEVER say the least.  = )

Jessica was preparing to be gone for several months, and there were a lot of details to be taken care of, errands to be run, things to be planned, purchases to be made, packing to be done, details to be communicated, questions to be answered and then more of most of those.  In the midst of all that, we did get in some bridge and some pool, and Jessica managed to have breakfast out with Tess, have lunch out with Scott, make a quick run to hug Courtney’s neck, build K’Nex cars with Andrew, make Josiah laugh, spend some time with Katie, and make blueberry muffins with Andrew.

Throughout, my main job was to think of obscure details and mention them.  Do you have enough shampoo for four months?  Do you know how to contact our friends when you land in their country?  Do you have the cash?  And batteries for the camera?  And the other contact information?  And your passport?  And your e-ticket printed out?  (They were all “yes” till we got to the e-ticket.)  And so it went for many days, etc.

In a funny twist of fate, Jessica’s phone (which also plays her music) was having trouble a couple days before she was to leave.  She needed something to play music but wasn’t about to spend major money.  Our kids almost never spend major money on themselves, and “major” is a relatively small number.  The big three are all both very generous and very tight.  I’m proud of them that way.

Anyway, it occurred to me that I had a brand new ipod hidden away, and I wondered if Jessica might want it for this trip.  A few years ago, I somehow won Country Mart’s “Apples for ipods” promotional contest.  I didn’t know there was a contest, but one day I got a call saying I had won.  We do buy a lot of apples.  I had to go in to the store to receive my ipod and have my picture taken with the other winner in front of the apple section of the produce department.  I brought the ipod home and had no idea what it was or how to use it.  Actually, I think we considered giving it to Katie for Christmas, but she already had an mp3 player or a phone or it didn’t have enough memory or something.  So it has been stashed away for years.

I pulled it out and offered it to Jessica, and the night before she left, she was busy putting music on it.  It is small – a mere 2 gig, whatever that means – but she will be able to use it on her trip, and I felt a surge of pride in that I was able to provide what she needed at the critical moment.

We had a only one false start in leaving the house at 4:15 AM, raced to the airport, where her visa was initially declared to be invalid (yikes!  it was declared to be fine a few minutes later – go figure), and saw her off.  She arrived in another country, only to find that her flight to her destination city had been re-routed due to stormy weather, and she had a several-hour delay.  I think her grand total travel time came to about 33 hours, and I’m sure she handled it all like a trooper.

So now, we are once again a family of five, and I am off to pick up my new lined trifocals.  Wish me well!!!