Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Work, work, work

I worked today and will work the rest of this week and, most likely, next week as well. I love getting to work but feel bad about getting excited about it. I'm subbing because the lady I have normally taught with (and am now subbing for) had an ectopic pregnancy and emergency surgery. Her name is Courtney and she could use your prayers.

Stuff like that changes your perspective a little. I received an email from our friends Gailyn and Becky VanRheenen today. They lost their oldest son in a wreck February 12 just shy of his 35th birthday. He left behind a young wife, a 20 month old son and an 8 month old daughter. That most definitely changes your perspective.

I feel like my blogging is a downer today. I don't really feel "down". I'm just looking at life a little differently this afternoon I guess. The weather is spectacular. It's 81 degrees and sunny and breezy. Where are my kids? Inside watching TV and playing video games. If it was 42 degrees, they'd be outside. I'm not going to complain too much though because about every 10 minutes or so Josiah comes over and sits in my lap and hugs me and gives me kisses and tells me how much he loves me. Yeah. Good stuff!

And besides, my sink is still clean! (and so are my toilets)

Monday, February 27, 2006

Church

We went to Southlake Boulevard Church again yesterday. This time we went for Sunday School too. I called and talked with the children's minister and they are just starting up a special needs class and have already got volunteers lined up. Josiah went to his regular class but had someone helping him. It was awesome.
Guess what one of the class options is for Adults on Sunday morning? A contemplative prayer room!!! Sound familiar? Sound like the youth house? Sound like what Todd's been aching for? I can't get over this church. It's like someone's been eaves-dropping on Todd for 2 years and made a church out of everything he's said. Not that I haven't been part of the conversations.... just that he talks more than me :-D
Could you all start really, really praying about this church? They're still in process for hiring a minister and, so far, we are still on the list.....as far as we know. I've been praying hard but I feel like the kid who's asking for too much for Christmas, know what I mean? Maybe if it was further away....or not so neat....or fraught with strife, then I wouldn't feel like it's too much to ask. Would God really trust us with such an amazing church? Would it be spoiling us to place us with a church so close to our home? Has He been orchestrating this all along?
We shall see.
Pray!!! please.

P.S. Our friend Jenny sent us a cool video link. Todd hasn't blogged in a while so I'm gonna let him post it. Check his site (but give him a little time)....the link to his blog is to the right of your screen.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Ever Have a Day Like This?

This little dude was in our back yard this morning. It made me smile. I SO have days like that. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Grey Day

Today really is a grey day. It has been grey for several days now, in fact it's probably rained more these last couple of weeks than all the time we've lived here combined before that. I'm glad. We really, really needed it. It makes me think of our friends in East Africa struggling with drought right now. Drought for us means brown grass. For them it means no food. In town it also means sporatic water service and frequent power outages. Droughts are not nice.

Josiah and Ike and I are home today while Hunter and Todd do their cowboy shooting thing again. It's so nice and quiet(er) around here when we're short one kid. It's also strange, I keep looking for him. Instinct I guess.

I really don't have anything to blog about. I just hate going too long without blogging. I'm just posting for posting's sake. Take what you can get, eh?

By the way. My sink is still clean!!!! One whole week. The longest ever! So far I've also been keeping my toilets scrubbed and my bathroom counters swiped. Can it last? Just say YES!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Quote of the Day

"Nothing says I LOVE YOU like a Clean toilet to throw up in when you are sick!" - FlyLady

Yeah. I love this stuff!

P.S. My sink is still shinin'!!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

More yarn

And this is my latest skein of yarn in the works. Geraldine, I know this is not how you're supposed to use a Turkish spindle, I'm trying the Navajo method of plying with it.

I am not addicted. I am not addited. I am not addicted........I'll be right back after I spin some more. Posted by Picasa

This is my sink!

Well, actually it was my sink yesterday but it still looks like that today! It has looked like that since Sunday in fact but with different washcloths. It looked half like that Saturday night because it took me two days to get it totally clean. I intend for it to look like that from now on. Posted by Picasa

Monday, February 20, 2006

"Flying" Lessons

She's called the FlyLady. About a year ago I heard about her at a Lady's dinner at church and checked out the web site but never signed up officially. She helps you keep house. Todd describes it as "housekeeping for people with ADD" and it is so wonderful! I use her "emergency clean" method when I have company coming but if I follow her plan I shouldn't ever have to "emergency clean" again. That's the plan anyway. I'm getting about 15 e-mails a day reminding me to do little things. Easy things. Things that I don't feel intimidated by but will help out so much! And she says over and over, "You are not behind, don't try to catch up. Just jump in where you are right now." Everything is small baby steps. The first day all I did was clean my sink. The second day my whole job was to make sure the sink was still clean and shower and get completely dressed and leave my shoes on. I have received e-mails today but I need to go check my "Day 3" list online. Meanwhile....

My sink is spotless and has been for almost 2 whole days now. My sink is empty and so is my dishwasher, how weird is that? Part of what she reminds me to do is drink my water and moisturize my face....all of it designed to help me feel better about myself.

Housekeeping has been my one major failing all my life and I SO want to change that! So here's the goal, and you're gonna help me: I'm gonna stick with this 100% for at least 21 days. 21 days to form a habit right? I've never made it to 21 days of clean sink in my entire life. Can I do it? I am so motivated right now. Will you help?

And, if you feel like you're living in "CHAOS"(Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) then you should do this with me. Change is easier in groups. Check it out and see what you think:

www.flylady.com

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Cheetos

It had not occured to me. The smell of orange Kool Aid had blocked out all other food comparisons until Todd brought it up. It looks like a big skein of Cheetos. It makes the knitting options so much more fun when you think of Cheeto-y things. Even the undyed spots enhance the Cheeto look. How cool is that? Posted by Picasa

Friday, February 17, 2006

Do not attempt to adjust the color on your screen.

This is the actual color I got from 5 packets of orange Kool-Aid on an off-white skein of home spun yarn. The lighter parts are not light reflections (except those 3 spots of white), they're lighter parts of the skein. I didn't stir it around like I should have because I was afraid of felting the yarn. Overall...I like it! Hat? Scarf? Only time will tell. Posted by Picasa

oops.

I was just cruising through all my friends' blogs and being disappointed in several of them for not posting since Valentine's Day and realized......"Hey! I bet I haven't blogged since then either." So I checked and, oops!, it's been even longer! The problem is I've emailed to friends and told them all the local news and then felt like I had blogged.......or something like that.

Anyway, Valentine's Day was really nice. Todd always makes sure he and the boys go all out to treat me like a princess on Valentine's Day. They go to Dollar Tree and put together a big basket of goodies for me with a balloon, it's alway so fun! What did Todd get me? A motor for my driver side window in the van. Sound lame? NO WAY! I've been wanting one for ever-so-long and I can't wait to get it installed and roll my window down at the drive throughs and bank tellers and passers-by I wish to shout greetings to. I'm so excited it makes me giggle.

Oh yeah, and he got me a PDA too, mostly because he's tired of me forgetting everything but also because it has an MP3 player for me to use when I work out....which I haven't done in a while. I did manage to clean up our room yesterday. Todd almost passed out. I got a dinner out for that one.

I did my part for Valentine's Day by preparing all the obligatory junk for school parties, making heart shaped gluten-free pancakes for Josiah and heart shaped biscuits for the other boys (who wouldn't eat them). Todd got a dozen rozes and some coffee flavored candy from his lovely wife and we all went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet. I love that Valentine's Day is about the whole family like that.

One more thing. Have you ever been to Ikea my friend? (If you've never seen Three Cabeleros, never mind the reference.) One opened here this summer (here meaning Frisco, which is 45 minutes away on a good, fast day) and there was such huge hype about it and miles and miles of traffic to get to it and parking out to the hinter lands. I had no desire to go. Then the other day I saw one of their cataloges. Whoa! It's well made stuff with Wal-Mart prices, no kidding!

Mom and I made plans to go that kept being changed and moved and cancelled. Our chance finally came Wednesday evening (yes, I skipped church to shop with my Mom. I'm just evil that way.) The problem is, everybody was on their way home from work. It took us 2 hours to get there an hour and a half before they closed. That's alright though. I've come to an important revelation....I ADORE IKEA! It is so great! They really do have neat stuff and it really is inexpensive, really it is. Mom bought us a lamp and a chest of drawers and one for my sister's new house and I proceeded to spend almost $50 on odds and ends. I could spend so much more! And I probably will.....next time I feel like driving across the world.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Where've you been all this time?

I tell you what. A job may be just what I need. I had so much fun subbing this week. I taught 2 year olds Wednesday and Thursday. As any of you who know me are aware, 2 year olds are my group. They are the group I've taught 3 years out of 4 of teaching pre-school. The best part? I wasn't alone! I love teaching with a co-teacher, even when there are 13 kids. Isaac also had a blast in his class. He even learned how to write the letter "C"!

Hunter was home both of those days coughing and coughing. I finally got him to the doctor Thursday evening. He doesn't have anything serious but the doctor wrote a prescription anyway...don't they always? He said it would most likely resolve itself but since he'd been coughing so long.....I asked if we could wait it out. I suggested Saturday, he said wait until Monday. I'm keeping the scrip' just in case. He also suggested a marvelous cough suppressant called Delsym. It's over the counter and 12 hour and works great! Hunter was not happy about going to school Friday but came home happy and said it was a great day. Goofball.

And Friday? What was I doing all day Friday? SPINNING! I got my silk in the mail and started spinning it. It is so fabulous! It is so much easier than the wool and so much prettier! I am so hooked! I still have no clue what to do with it when I'm done spinning it but I'm sure Geraldine and I can think of something. She's been my online tutor these past few days. She even bought me a fancy spindle!!! It's on it's way and I'm trying not to hold my breath, I can't wait! You know, it's too bad she didn't get me hooked on house keeping. :-D


This is my silk in several forms. It comes in the "hankies" that you seperate and then pull into the "roving" then spin on the spindle into yarn. After that you "ply" it by twisting two or more strands of the yarn together. (I tell you all that like I didn't just learn it all myself this week.)





This is my first "skein" of wool yarn! It's made from the two different samples that came in my "kit". I plied them together. It reminds me of Africa because we got some handmade animal puppets that were obviously made from these two types of yarn. It is only about 15 yards, which may make a potholder or something....maybe. It's ugly, but I'm proud!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

I....

have a job! Well, just for today. The preschool at Heritage finally called me to sub! I said yes, totally forgetting that Hunter's sick and staying home today. Well, he's a big kid now, not so sick that he needs me every minute (he's coughing but not barfing or anything), and I'll not be that far away.
Ike will come with me. I hope it's fun!

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Another One.....


So what's with this fiber obsession? I think I contracted the disease from my friend Geraldine. She is all about all things fiber.

I received in the mail a spinning kit (eBay). It included an appalingly cheap drop spindle and 2oz of wool. I practiced all I could stand with it and then went to Hobby Lobby and spent the $3 it took to make 4 decent spindles. Then I spied it.....a bag of wool on the clearance isle for half it's original price! It weighs (I'm guessing here) about a pound and is plenty of fibre to practice with! I am a lousy spinner but I'm learning. I love it!

Just another reason to NOT fold my laundry. Sorry Mom.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Fear

Do you know what I'm really afraid of? I live in fear that God really does hear me. That He knows exactly what I want and is just saying, "No." because it's not what's best for us. I'm so afraid that what's best for us is to live with much, much less that what we've been living with the last few years.

So far that hasn't happened. We're using our retirement now and are able to pay all our bills and eat out some and buy fun things like yarn to play with. What if what we need is a good dose of poverty? Does that scare you? It terrifies me. We've been pretty close to that before, in college, not able to pay all our bills, living on beans and cornbread, dreaming of buying diapers without feeling guilty for spending the money. I, personally, did not enjoy that time and prefer not to go back there.

The thing is, we grow so much during times like that. I know God will always provide what's best for us, I'm just afraid what's best for us won't be what we really want....like that cough medicine I've been making my kids take, hard to swallow.



Saturday, February 04, 2006

Dear God....

My heart is breaking. I am ashamed of myself. Ashamed that my faith in your tender mercies is so fragile that a few months of unanswered prayer makes me wonder if you even hear me much less care. Hope is so easy when things are resolved quickly. Lord please restore my hope. Hear my cries for mercy. Break my heart again and again until I trust you to heal me once more. Draw me close. I miss you.

Friday, February 03, 2006

What to do....

Well, I got to work out yesterday but didn't go today. See how easy it is to fall back into sloth? I guess it wouldn't be a "deadly sin" if it wasn't easy, eh? Today was just rainy and cloudy and bleh all morning so I laid around and knitted. I had to pick Josiah up early but I was expecting that. I figured that about the time his cough medicine wore off his teacher would call me. She did. It lasted until about 1:30. She said he was having a perfect day and was getting crabby. She thought we should quit while we were ahead. Considering he tried to kill a fellow student last week, I figure she was right on the money. He seems to be alright, just sniffy.

We're all sniffling and snuffling and some are even coughing pretty good. Todd felt so yukky yesterday that he came home early and went to bed. My official plan is to lay low this weekend....all except for that birthday party on Saturday for our nephew. Some of us may even have to miss the party. We don't have the insurance to all get really sick.

I finally broke down and ordered a drop spindle and some wool to spin. It was a beginner's kit and only cost $10. I've been reading and researching online all week and just couldn't stand it anymore. I went on and on about it until Todd broke down and ordered it for me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Right now I'm knitting a "pocket hand warmer" for Hunter. It's a little monster that you can put a hot "rice bag" into. He'll love it...if it turns out. I've finished the head and body and it really doesn't resemble the photo of the original very much. I'll try to post photos of both when I finish. No, really I will.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Ain't That Just How It Goes?


So.  I didn't work out on Monday because Isaac was sick, remember that?  And remember how worried I was about getting out of the habit.  Well, yesterday I went later than usual, thinking I'd avoid the crowds that are always there in the mornings.  I found out why everyone's there in the mornings.  The child care closes from 12 until 4.  I was sunk.  The other boys are home by then.
 
Today I had a 10 o'clock goal.  I got up and around and dressed and was headed to the post office to mail some stuff for Todd and then to the gym.  A flat tire.  WHAT???!!!  Out of nowhere, I've got a flat.  It's rear passenger side and I felt it even before we made it to the end of the driveway.  It's totally flat.
 
I would probably just wait for Todd to get home tonight to take care of it but he needs those packages mailed today.  I'm not sure what he'll do but I'm guessing he'll head home soon.  He told me not to try to change it myself.  I feel like I could figure it out without trouble, but I'm grateful he told me not to.  That van is really big and the thought of suspending it on a relatively small metal tool and putting myself, even partly, under it makes me really nervous. 
 
I bet I've got a can of Fix-a-flat in the van but since I'm at home and not stranded anywhere I think I'll save it.  Meanwhile, I'll fold laundry and knit.....how domestic is that?
 
 
BTW....Todd's home already.  How's that for fast service?
 

There it is.

 Posted by Picasa