Sunday, October 30, 2005

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Cold and Flu Season is here.....

Well, it's happened once again. The kids all went back to school and started sharing germs....if that wasn't bad enough....they bring them home to share with their parents.
We have 5 of the 7 rural carriers sick. Most of them are staying home, but the ones that don't want to stay home, bring it in and share it with the rest of us. I am about the only one that is healthy around there. I know that I at least have to work tomorrow as I have every day since last Wednesday. This is good for the pocket, but boy am I wearing thin. Will is off this weekend so that will help bunches. The kids don't have school today or tomorrow. It is nice to have Will here to help get them off to school.
I am really enjoying the fall colors and cooler weather. Our nice days have stayed around and we are all thankful. I don't know if anyone is more thankful than the cranberry growers. They all had to harvest late this year because of the warm summer (the berries didn't ripen as quickly). Now it is a scramble to get them all harvested. As you sit in your warm house imagine standing in hip waders in 40-50 degree water pushing cranberries into a corner of the bog so that they can get sucked up into a truck. The berries all float because they are full of air. That means the best way to harvest them is to float them to the truck. That is really a job that I don't know that I could handle. I can't keep my feet warm now, let alone standing in waste deep freezing water all day.
My Aunt Carrie cooked me a great lunch today on the route. I love to cook, but really enjoy sitting down to a good meal that I didn't have to work for. It works out very nice having her on the one route that I have been doing. I get to get out of the truck and stretch my legs and visit with her.
Jacob joined the chess team. He is ranked in the highest category. He played a game with the highest ranked player they have on the team and actually was ahead when they had to call the game. He really understands that game somehow. He does not get that from me. I used to drive my Father and Brother crazy when we played. I don't do anything that makes sense when I play, but I still have fun.
Well, time to get kids to bed.....yahoo! That means that I can go to bed too. Woke up with Will at 4:00 am this morning and that was a long time ago.
God Bless.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Life's changes

I was just looking at the picture of our family that Will posted at the beginning of this blog. It's hard to believe that it was not so long ago, but so much has changed. The kids are each at least 6 inches taller. Will and I have lost some weight, even though for some reason I keep finding it again and then losing it again. It is so hard for me to grasp how fast things are changing. My baby girl just turned 9. Our son, our eldest child (who should still be a baby) is almost 13. God willing he will graduate a little over 5 years from now. The sands of time are sifting through our fingers so quickly.
I guess my thoughts about that run to how effective I have been in teaching my children about God. So much in life can be easier in the knowing of him. My Mom always told me don't do anything that you cannot imagine Jesus doing with you. I guess that is what kept me from making as many poor choices during my growing up. Compared to Will I come off as a prim and proper young woman. We all know that is the complete opposite of the truth. If there was a mud puddle to run it, dirt to roll in or a mess to make, that is what I did. BUT I guess the secret was that all of my messes did not contain alcohol or drugs. THANK YOU GOD! I hope that my children can say the same thing when they are grown. I pray that they stay away from those types of situations. So far so good.
Life still goes on in the Donaldson house. Will is taking a nap in the chair right now. He worked 12 hours yesterday picking up picture window after picture window. His muscles are pretty sore. He gets up and does a little and then rests some more. I won't push him today because I have to deliver mail tomorrow, so he can work all day without my interference. We still seem to get more done on days that we are alone. I think a good bit of that is that we enjoy each other's company so much we spend lots of time being together. Even if we don't speak we are still "with" each other. I can honestly say that I love my hubby more today than on the day that we married.
Although we love spending time together we don't work well together. We seem to have a completely different approach to work and we drive each other nuts. It's that "women multi-task and men don't" thing. He does one thing at a time and does it well. He says that I work on everything all at once and it drives him crazy (short trip).
Well, while he is sleeping, I am going to go work some more in the yard, while the laundry and dishwasher go. Have a blessed day!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Something New!

I just added a new "blog" as promised please check it out and let me know what you think! www.holybible101.blogspot.com You will find a link for it on the right. It's officially called "The Holy Bible in Context 101. Thank you so much to those of you that encouraged me to try this and if you like it please tell your friends. Please continue to pray for me that I might fulfill the "Will" of God in this accurately and continually. Thank you.
Will.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Where there's smoke there's fire...

We just got done with our Family night cook out. Great time for all, I think. It was a little on the chilly side, but the fire was big and we all just sat a little closer. We had burgers, cheddarwurst and hot dogs. Great food. Burgers taste better to me cooked over a fire. Smores of course for dessert with a great pasta salad and some settler's beans. Then we had two cakes. My Mom's birthday was yesterday and Vicki and Curt from church celebrated their anniversary today.
We all sat around the fire and sang. It was great!
It sure is fun to spend time with people that know the Lord.
Hope you had a blessed day.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Fall clean up day....

Today is Columbus Day. That means I am not working, but the kids are in school. Poor Will is home too. That means........work, work and more work. We are able to get so much more done on days that the kids are not home. Lately, Will and I have not been home together. I sure get a lot of work done, but he gets frustrated because there is so much he needs to do, but he is stuck at work. You know how it is, while you are at work, things that you need to get done keep popping into your mind and you realize just how much you need to be doing. I pray today will be a great day with lots done.
God still is working with me on the "body of Christ" study. It seems that everywhere I turn people are talking about it. I keep finding more articles and books about it. When you look around at what is going on in the church, does it seem to you that God is separating the sheep from the goats? Our little church seems to be doing a bit of shaking itself. There really is a feeling of God's spirit in our services lately and they seem to be getting longer and longer, with no one really in any hurry to go home.
Have you ever really sat down and thought about what part of the body you are? What are your gifts? Where do they fit in with others? If we all have gifts, then they must work together in order to create the full body. Is one gift more important than another? Is one gift needed to fulfill another? It is interesting to me to sit down and contemplate how I fit into the scheme of things. Quite humbling actually.
This Friday night is a campfire cookout here at our house with the whole church invited. We usually meet for Family night on the first Saturday of each month, but this time put it off due to Cranfest. We were all too exhausted. This Saturday should be a blast! We all love to get together and catch up with what is going on in each other's lives. Family night is based on something my Aunt Glenda and her family do. On Wednesday nights they all eat at her house. Everyone that is that can make it. I'm not sure if they still do it every week or just once a month, but it was such a good idea to me. How can we be part of a "church family" when we don't know what is going on with each other? How can you offer support, prayer, insight or even share the good times, when we don't hear about them? It is a great time to invite people to church too, because they get to meet people during the fun and not feel pressured.
We try to eat together after church on Sunday with anyone who can in our family. We find it's easier in the cold months than it is in the summer.
Well, Jessa has to get on the bus and then work begins. Have a blessed day!

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Fall clean up days

Well Tuesday it was 90 degrees, Wednesday 86 and today 45. I guess fall is here.
Started cleaning up the yard yesterday with Will. We were picking up things here and there because it is supposed to be very windy today. Right in the middle I picked up my gardening hand rake and there was a hornet underneath on the handle. I didn't see it until he decided that I was trying to squish him and stung me. Well, after lots of benedryl and tylenol...I still cannot wear my wedding ring and my hand hurts, but I will live. I am allergic but do not have a typical reaction...my throat does not close up.....wherever I get stung swells and turns black among other things. It was pretty hectic there for a minute, but I think it's all going to be fine.
We have to make a quick trip to LaCrosse today. You know it's funny. When we lived in Florida it took 45 minutes or so to get to Al and Betty's house. We didn't think anything of it. We drove to work in Tally, went to church in Tally and did pretty much everything in Tally. All after driving close to an hour and not giving it a second thought. Here in Wisconsin, it takes us 45 minutes to get to LaCrosse (our nearest "big" town) and we put it off until we cannot help but make the trip. In Florida we drove it daily. Here we drive it about every 4 or 5 months, but only if we have to.
I have to go and renew my driver's license. It has to be done in LaCrosse, because our local driver's license office is only open on Fridays. I guess that tells you how small town we are. All of our local businesses still close at 2:00 pm on Saturdays and stayed closed until Monday.
Jacob is done with golf. He is disappointed, but I think this morning when he found out what the weather will be today he was a little happier. Hard to hit the golf ball when you are shivering.
Jessalyn came out today wishing it was December, but that's because her Aunt Carrie is taking her on a "big girl's night out trip" for her Christmas present. They are going on December 22 to spend the night in a hotel in Milwaukee and go and see "The Nutcracker" ballet. She is very, very excited.
Jacob goes with Carrie the week after Christmas to The Mall of America for a weekend with Carrie, my sister Dale, her hubby Jim and their son Tommy. Jacob is excited too. I think that Carrie hit the "great Aunt" button this year. They think she's tops anyway, but I think this moves her up a few notches.
It must be cold outside.....our outside cat came in this morning, yelled at me and then went to bed in the kid's rooms. She blames us for the weather when it gets cold and hibernates in the kid's rooms all winter. She has declared those rooms her domain and the other cat pretty much stays out of there.
Time to get the second kid on the bus.....
God bless.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

The air is turning crisp

Fall is coming, you can feel it and smell it in the air. Today is in high 70's and from now until Tuesday it will be up in the 70's and 80's. Then comes Wednesday.....high of 56. Stays in the 50's and 60's from then on for at least a week. It is my favorite temperature. Perfect weather for working outside and not having to worry about bees (I'm allergic) and not having to sweat so much. The trees are starting to turn color and I love being out on the route.
The kids are looking forward to Halloween. Jacob wants to be Darth Vader. We got him a talking mask and a light saber. My imagination will have to supply the rest. I think I will have to sew some muscles into the suit though. That boy eats more than all the rest of us combined and is still skinny. You can see his frame changing though, so I think that he will start to add on some poundage and muscle soon. He grew almost 1/2 inch in 8 days a week or so ago and I think that he has grown more since then. His typical trip to McDonalds is 3 double cheeseburgers, 1 large fry, 1 medium coke and 2 apples pies. He doesn't look big enough to hold all of that.
Jessalyn wants to be a fairy. This is usually a pretty good outfit to make except that I have to make her look like a fairy and still have her be warm in 30 or 40 degree weather. Should be fun. She is almost in 7th grade reading. They cannot keep up with her. She really is a student. She actually dances around happy when she has homework. Is that normal?

Jacob has decided that he likes golf and wants to keep on playing next year. I'm glad. The hours are tough, but season only lasts a month and a half. Hopefully he will get to play between now and then, but probably will have to wait until spring. Kind of hard to play in the snow. He didn't get to play in that last match last week because another kid broke his collar bone (they had to move the roster around). I think that he will probably play in a match this next week, but we will see what happens. He is not a fountain of information. Talking to Jake about school is kind of like playing 20 questions. He just files it all away in his mind and you have to ferret it out. I am very glad that he has taken an interest in golf. He wanted a sport to play and this seems to be it for now. I think that he wants to be on the chess team this winter too. Not sure about that though....he talks about it, but I don't know if he has decided to do it or not. Whatever he wants to do is fine with me.

Will is working on getting the house ready for winter. As for me, I am just trying to "find" the house. It kind of got lost under this pile of rubble during cranfest. Hopefully, next week we will have finished many of the jobs that we need to do before snow. Things have a way of creeping up on you.
Well time to get ready for work. Everyone is sleeping, so I will be able to get gone without disturbing them. Had to deliver phone books yesterday. Probably one of my least favorite jobs. Especially on this route. He has about 800 boxes. We have been delivering phone books for 4 days. I think I will finish today though...so good.
God bless.