Most of the time....
Things are pretty crazy with us right now. Ok, so I don't know that they are "never" crazy with us, but right now it's true.
I work for the Post Office and love my job. Yesterday was a little hard though. We had terrible weather on the weekend and it left a layer of ice over everything. With it being Christmas there are tons of packages, for which I am very grateful. I love delivering Christmas to people. The looks on their faces when they get a card or a gift from a loved one is a blessing to me. Especially the older folks when they get pictures and cards. They love it and I love delivering them. Yesterday was hard though. That ice really caused lots of problems for me and it slowed things way down. It's hard to stay "happy" when everything seems to go wrong repeatedly.
When I finally got home after a quick stop at the store, I made the mistake of just sitting down. Big mistake for me at night. If I can keep standing, I can keep going. If I sit down, I'm done. I sat here at the desk staring at the screen, but I'm not sure that I actually did anything. I think I might have just stared at the screen. I went to bed after I realized that I had been asleep sitting up with my hands on the computer keys. Pretty sad.
Today hopefully will be a better day. Jessalyn is going to run off and do something with her Aunt. Jacob is working on projects around the house. Will is off to work and so am I. We have a busy week planned too. Wednesday will be youth where we are composing a letter to our child Ashaba that we sponsor each month. Thursday night I'm sure will have something going on. Friday is blowing insulation into our attic and then the youth are coming over to have a pizza party and work on our huge Christmas project that is a present for the whole church. Saturday Will and I are going out with our friends for a shopping and lunching day. I'm looking forward to it. Sunday will be church, potluck, a funeral for a great friend of ours and then a pampered chef party that my friend and I are giving.
We were blessed with a way to get Will a new lawnmower and snow blower. Things have been really tight financially, but there was a little extra and he was in need badly for equipment that actually worked. He really did his homework and we traipsed around and found just what he was looking for. He got a huge discount on a 42" deck lawnmower and found a 28" snow blower. I hope that they both last as many years as the last lawnmower did. He's a happy camper. He has power tools!....insert Tim Allen man laugh here (he has been).
As I said...it's a wonderful time here. Things are busy. Jacob decorated the entire house inside and out with lights. Our ugly/beautiful fiber optic tree is lit and there is now snow on the ground. If we can get this week out of the way....we are on the home stretch for Christmas. I hope you all are having a great time too!
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
An Almost Free Christmas Tree
For years Will has talked about using an artificial Christmas tree. I love the real ones, but we are terrible at having them. If it's not the cat climbing through the inside knocking all the ornaments off, it's the leaving it without water for days. Not to mention forgetting to "do away" with the poor thing until February or March. By then when you throw it out, it is naked as it goes out the door. The needles stay on it fine until you take the lights off...then woosh...they all fall down.
A couple of years ago, my Mom and Dad bought this beautiful fiber optic tree. They don't have to put lights on, because they are already on it. It's great. Will saw that and his "lightbulb" went on and that's what he's wanted ever since. Since then we(meaning "me") have watched for after Christmas sales for an artificial tree that would work for us. This is not a cheap endeavor since our ceilings are tall and we usually have about a 9' tree. Still I just couldn't find the right tree.
I have been shopping on ebay and found one that I thought we could try in our entry way. It was 7' tall, but thin. I didn't think that it was anything great and wonderful, but depending on the price would be worth $10 and people would be able to see it from the road. Yahoo...easy Christmas decorations. No standing out freezing my butt off stapling lights onto the fence etc. I bid my $4 to start and let it go. The price jumped in the next couple of hours to $50....way above my cheapskate limit. I thought "ok...we don't need that tree" and went on with life.
Low and behold I get an email with a second chance offer for the same tree at $4.00!! I bought it and figured what the heck...try it. It arrived 2 days later and when the lights are not on it is an ugly, and I mean ugly tree...but turn the lights on and it's beautiful. It's sitting in the middle of the living room where they tried it out and my hubby has to turn it on each and every time he's in the room. The strobe lights in it are painful and I'm sure would cause seizures after any amount of time, but you dial past those and it turns beautiful. Now they (the rest of them in the house) want to use it as our family Christmas tree this year. I'm not so sure that I'm willing to be outvoted on this one...you know if the mama ain't happy.....
However it works out...my hubby is happy...he plays his mafia wars each morning by "tree" light and I got to find a "deal" and an almost "free" Christmas tree (even the shipping was free).
Have a great day!
A couple of years ago, my Mom and Dad bought this beautiful fiber optic tree. They don't have to put lights on, because they are already on it. It's great. Will saw that and his "lightbulb" went on and that's what he's wanted ever since. Since then we(meaning "me") have watched for after Christmas sales for an artificial tree that would work for us. This is not a cheap endeavor since our ceilings are tall and we usually have about a 9' tree. Still I just couldn't find the right tree.
I have been shopping on ebay and found one that I thought we could try in our entry way. It was 7' tall, but thin. I didn't think that it was anything great and wonderful, but depending on the price would be worth $10 and people would be able to see it from the road. Yahoo...easy Christmas decorations. No standing out freezing my butt off stapling lights onto the fence etc. I bid my $4 to start and let it go. The price jumped in the next couple of hours to $50....way above my cheapskate limit. I thought "ok...we don't need that tree" and went on with life.
Low and behold I get an email with a second chance offer for the same tree at $4.00!! I bought it and figured what the heck...try it. It arrived 2 days later and when the lights are not on it is an ugly, and I mean ugly tree...but turn the lights on and it's beautiful. It's sitting in the middle of the living room where they tried it out and my hubby has to turn it on each and every time he's in the room. The strobe lights in it are painful and I'm sure would cause seizures after any amount of time, but you dial past those and it turns beautiful. Now they (the rest of them in the house) want to use it as our family Christmas tree this year. I'm not so sure that I'm willing to be outvoted on this one...you know if the mama ain't happy.....
However it works out...my hubby is happy...he plays his mafia wars each morning by "tree" light and I got to find a "deal" and an almost "free" Christmas tree (even the shipping was free).
Have a great day!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Getting ready for winter
I am never ready for this time of year. I'm just now getting into the swing of things for summer and fall is already over. The leaves are still turning colors and many are still on the trees, but you can feel winter in the air. Yesterday even had that dreaded word "snow" in the forecast. I'm not ready. Truthfully, I'm never ready.
With so much of my fall devoted (lovingly) to Cranfest, I seem to miss the every day stuff that other people see. It feels like I go from hot, hot, hot to freeze. There is no in between around here. It's hard to get into the get ready for winter mode for me and then suddenly it's here.
In less than 2 months Christmas will be over. I don't even have any shopping done. Usually by now, I've at least bought a couple of presents...not this year. I'm running behind...
It's time to put plastic on the windows, put up the snow fence, cut and stack wood, start collecting my stash of emergency supplies, placing emergency kits in all the vehicles etc. Time to get serious about the cold even though my mind is still trying to deal with fall.
Will and I, along with kids and our friends will cut and stack wood next weekend. Hopefully enough to get us and my parents through the winter. The two fireplaces going really help when heating this great big house. I have them both going today and it's comforting somehow.
I hope you are all having a wonderful fall and will continue on and have a blessed Christmas filled with the wonder of God's love for us all. I say that because Christmas might be over before I get a chance to post again. I hope not, but you know me.
With so much of my fall devoted (lovingly) to Cranfest, I seem to miss the every day stuff that other people see. It feels like I go from hot, hot, hot to freeze. There is no in between around here. It's hard to get into the get ready for winter mode for me and then suddenly it's here.
In less than 2 months Christmas will be over. I don't even have any shopping done. Usually by now, I've at least bought a couple of presents...not this year. I'm running behind...
It's time to put plastic on the windows, put up the snow fence, cut and stack wood, start collecting my stash of emergency supplies, placing emergency kits in all the vehicles etc. Time to get serious about the cold even though my mind is still trying to deal with fall.
Will and I, along with kids and our friends will cut and stack wood next weekend. Hopefully enough to get us and my parents through the winter. The two fireplaces going really help when heating this great big house. I have them both going today and it's comforting somehow.
I hope you are all having a wonderful fall and will continue on and have a blessed Christmas filled with the wonder of God's love for us all. I say that because Christmas might be over before I get a chance to post again. I hope not, but you know me.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
I remember.......
I would imagine that there are so many blogs out there that are remembering September 11, 2001. I will have to join their ranks. Undoubtedly, I will probably disagree with many of them. As an American that is my right. Thank you God.
In my opinion what happened on 9-11 was a tragedy in more than one way. Americans died. Those people can never be brought back. It was and is a horrible thing. We lost them, but for a while there we Americans seemed to find ourselves.
We all pulled together and people prayed. Now....not so much.
As a nation we seem to be headed down a road that feels more and more like a nation not "under God". The government and other confused individuals have forgotten the principles that this nation was built on. They have forgotten the Declaration of Independence. They have forgotten the Constitution. There is a reason that the founding fathers mentioned God so often. They believed in Him. They knew that they only had this nation because of Him and they wanted to make sure that the world knew it too.
In arrogance people have started thinking that we have what we have because we earned it. We are a blessed nation because God made us that way. We said we were a nation under God and believe me, God takes care of His own. I live my life under Him and know that all things come from Him. If we had what we deserved it would be terrible....like maybe a falling economy, jobless rates that are on the rise, hatred and violence abounding, murder....you get my drift. We've forgotten where we came from, who we owe it to and what we should be thankful for.
My generation the 40 somethings and 50 somethings are not pulling our weight. We raise our children to lie, cheat, hate and in general expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter ....because they deserve it. BOLOGNA!!!!! We should be ashamed of ourselves.
Of course we were raised by that enlightened bunch of individuals from the flower children era.
People don't teach morals any longer. They are not taught in the schools. The schools teach rights. I have this right and that right. Give me a break. People try to take the 10 commandments away saying we shouldn't be forced to live by them. Tell me how would it be so bad to not lie, cheat, steal, murder, have affairs? What would be so wrong? Even if you don't believe in God, how can you say this would be a bad thing?
The greatest tragedy to me is all of the people in this world that do not know God. Especially those poor wretched unknowing, unloved, pitiful people that think that Jihad is the way to live. I have friends who are Muslim who are wonderful people that do not believe that way. Do I think all Muslims are evil? No I do not. I think that they are deceived and do not know God, the true God. That is a tragedy. They have this distant god that they pray to not knowing if he even answers their prayers, for that matter, if he even hears them. They have no hope. That to me is a tragedy.
As for the others. They are crazy sad people that are trying so hard to be someone special. Someone looked up to for something they've done. They are terrorists. No other way to put it. I'm really tired of the government trying to smooth things over. Let's not call it what it is. I can't help what they are. They mean to hurt people. It makes me really, really sad. What a way to live your life...
Let's remember where we came from. Where we were and who we owe it all to. I can guarantee that it is not our President who seems to be one of those lost people trying to be special. It's not our government who can't seem to find their own nose in the dark. It's all owed to God, the Creator, the Founder of this nation.
GOD bless America. Please.
In my opinion what happened on 9-11 was a tragedy in more than one way. Americans died. Those people can never be brought back. It was and is a horrible thing. We lost them, but for a while there we Americans seemed to find ourselves.
We all pulled together and people prayed. Now....not so much.
As a nation we seem to be headed down a road that feels more and more like a nation not "under God". The government and other confused individuals have forgotten the principles that this nation was built on. They have forgotten the Declaration of Independence. They have forgotten the Constitution. There is a reason that the founding fathers mentioned God so often. They believed in Him. They knew that they only had this nation because of Him and they wanted to make sure that the world knew it too.
In arrogance people have started thinking that we have what we have because we earned it. We are a blessed nation because God made us that way. We said we were a nation under God and believe me, God takes care of His own. I live my life under Him and know that all things come from Him. If we had what we deserved it would be terrible....like maybe a falling economy, jobless rates that are on the rise, hatred and violence abounding, murder....you get my drift. We've forgotten where we came from, who we owe it to and what we should be thankful for.
My generation the 40 somethings and 50 somethings are not pulling our weight. We raise our children to lie, cheat, hate and in general expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter ....because they deserve it. BOLOGNA!!!!! We should be ashamed of ourselves.
Of course we were raised by that enlightened bunch of individuals from the flower children era.
People don't teach morals any longer. They are not taught in the schools. The schools teach rights. I have this right and that right. Give me a break. People try to take the 10 commandments away saying we shouldn't be forced to live by them. Tell me how would it be so bad to not lie, cheat, steal, murder, have affairs? What would be so wrong? Even if you don't believe in God, how can you say this would be a bad thing?
The greatest tragedy to me is all of the people in this world that do not know God. Especially those poor wretched unknowing, unloved, pitiful people that think that Jihad is the way to live. I have friends who are Muslim who are wonderful people that do not believe that way. Do I think all Muslims are evil? No I do not. I think that they are deceived and do not know God, the true God. That is a tragedy. They have this distant god that they pray to not knowing if he even answers their prayers, for that matter, if he even hears them. They have no hope. That to me is a tragedy.
As for the others. They are crazy sad people that are trying so hard to be someone special. Someone looked up to for something they've done. They are terrorists. No other way to put it. I'm really tired of the government trying to smooth things over. Let's not call it what it is. I can't help what they are. They mean to hurt people. It makes me really, really sad. What a way to live your life...
Let's remember where we came from. Where we were and who we owe it all to. I can guarantee that it is not our President who seems to be one of those lost people trying to be special. It's not our government who can't seem to find their own nose in the dark. It's all owed to God, the Creator, the Founder of this nation.
GOD bless America. Please.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Where did the time go?
Things have been on warp speed around here lately. It seems like I just posted last week and it's already 2 months later. Part of it could be that I have been working 6 days a week for 5 months now. That seems to put damper on most things. Oh well, it needs to be done. The good news is that I can now take all the time that I really need at Cranfest time and not have to use up my regular vacation days. I am pretty much using comp time. A winning situation for me.
Jessalyn is back in school now. HIGH SCHOOL! It's hard to think of my baby being that old, yet she has always been so smart that it kind of feels right in a weird way. Jake still has not officially graduated, but very soon. He had a few assignments (mostly due to his surgery last year) that he had to finish. He was going to do them during the summer, but then his teacher went away for a month or two, so now he's gonna finish up. I'm hoping to have him done by Cranfest.
We are now entering one of the favorite stages for me in my life. The count down to the Warrens Cranberry Festival. Once again this year, I am in charge of the Farm Market and am having a blast getting it all ready. It's like this huge puzzle with moving pieces that needs to come together each year and I love the challenge. With the economy, I was a little worried about vendors being able to come, but we are filling up slowly. There is always a push for people that insist on sending their applications in at the last minute. I am hoping for wonderful weather. This week should start all of the paperwork on the other vendors and then we go out and spray paint each and every one of the 1200 booths onto the ground, so that they know where to set up. I love it. It's a blast for me.
That being said I am not ready for fall. I had so hoped to have the house ready to list for sale and move into a smaller one in Warrens. The kids are getting older and this is just too much house for us. It's too much room, too much to clean and too much upkeep. We just don't have the time. Work schedules excluded, we just do not want to spend what time we have here on earth always working on the house. There's going on 2 acres to mow and no matter what we do the mower (any mower) keeps giving us trouble this year. It seems like every time we turn around it's something. I'm sure someone would love to move in here and work in the 8 or so flower gardens, the fenced in veggie garden, the 3 car shed, the mother in law apt, the back patio etc. I do not have time and the older I get I do not have the inclination. I am so ready to downsize.
We found a house that would be perfect for us in Warrens. The upstairs is perfect for Jessalyn, the down stairs is perfect for Jake and the main floor is good for Will and I. It has a nice sized, no hassle lot and a 2 car garage for Will. There's even a nice back yard to fence in for Will's parent's camper. The only trouble is that we need to sell this one to buy that one. Better yet, it's right across the street from my parents, so we would be close if they needed anything etc. It seems like a win, win situation. So far God has not given us a way for it yet, so we keep trying to get this one ready for sale and praying for diving intervention. I am so ready to be done with working on this house and I never thought that I would say that. I'm just tired.
Yesterday was a 65 degree 62% humidity day around here. We went with our friends the Fischers to Wildcat Mountain State Park down in Ontario. What a blast. I've lived here so long and I'm ashamed to admit that I've never actually been in that park. I've driven by it several times, but never stopped. It was great fun. We cooked out, the kids hiked, we played botchi ball and in general goofed around and laughed. Man, did we laugh. We just love hanging out with that family. The are great people.
Well, time to get busy around here. I have the day off for once, so there is of course too much house work to get done, so guess what I'm doing today?
Have a great one!
dea
Jessalyn is back in school now. HIGH SCHOOL! It's hard to think of my baby being that old, yet she has always been so smart that it kind of feels right in a weird way. Jake still has not officially graduated, but very soon. He had a few assignments (mostly due to his surgery last year) that he had to finish. He was going to do them during the summer, but then his teacher went away for a month or two, so now he's gonna finish up. I'm hoping to have him done by Cranfest.
We are now entering one of the favorite stages for me in my life. The count down to the Warrens Cranberry Festival. Once again this year, I am in charge of the Farm Market and am having a blast getting it all ready. It's like this huge puzzle with moving pieces that needs to come together each year and I love the challenge. With the economy, I was a little worried about vendors being able to come, but we are filling up slowly. There is always a push for people that insist on sending their applications in at the last minute. I am hoping for wonderful weather. This week should start all of the paperwork on the other vendors and then we go out and spray paint each and every one of the 1200 booths onto the ground, so that they know where to set up. I love it. It's a blast for me.
That being said I am not ready for fall. I had so hoped to have the house ready to list for sale and move into a smaller one in Warrens. The kids are getting older and this is just too much house for us. It's too much room, too much to clean and too much upkeep. We just don't have the time. Work schedules excluded, we just do not want to spend what time we have here on earth always working on the house. There's going on 2 acres to mow and no matter what we do the mower (any mower) keeps giving us trouble this year. It seems like every time we turn around it's something. I'm sure someone would love to move in here and work in the 8 or so flower gardens, the fenced in veggie garden, the 3 car shed, the mother in law apt, the back patio etc. I do not have time and the older I get I do not have the inclination. I am so ready to downsize.
We found a house that would be perfect for us in Warrens. The upstairs is perfect for Jessalyn, the down stairs is perfect for Jake and the main floor is good for Will and I. It has a nice sized, no hassle lot and a 2 car garage for Will. There's even a nice back yard to fence in for Will's parent's camper. The only trouble is that we need to sell this one to buy that one. Better yet, it's right across the street from my parents, so we would be close if they needed anything etc. It seems like a win, win situation. So far God has not given us a way for it yet, so we keep trying to get this one ready for sale and praying for diving intervention. I am so ready to be done with working on this house and I never thought that I would say that. I'm just tired.
Yesterday was a 65 degree 62% humidity day around here. We went with our friends the Fischers to Wildcat Mountain State Park down in Ontario. What a blast. I've lived here so long and I'm ashamed to admit that I've never actually been in that park. I've driven by it several times, but never stopped. It was great fun. We cooked out, the kids hiked, we played botchi ball and in general goofed around and laughed. Man, did we laugh. We just love hanging out with that family. The are great people.
Well, time to get busy around here. I have the day off for once, so there is of course too much house work to get done, so guess what I'm doing today?
Have a great one!
dea
Monday, July 11, 2011
Wait where did June go?
It seems like I was just dealing with snow and here it is July already. We've already had the fireworks and they feel like just a blur. Life is traveling very fast right now. Most of it is caused by the lack of substitutes at work, due to one factor or another. I am working 6 days a week now, most of the time and that does not leave much time for anything else.
Our summers are so much cooler than the ones we had in Florida, yet I find myself not being able to take the heat. My comfort zone seems to be in the 70's now and anything above that really throws me for a loop. I guess I'm getting old.
Our lawnmower died a very painful and long death. The motor kept going, but it's poor transmission...well it has issues. Our friend Randy and Will tried taking it apart and fixing it. No go. So, we found one on Craig's list and Will and Randy are on their way to pick it up now. Randy is going to put our engine into his mower with no engine and that way something good will come out of all of this. The best part is that prayerfully, we will have a mowed lawn that did not require hours of walking behind a small push mower.
I am still having minor health issues. I call them minor in comparison to some people I know. My main frustration is that there is no rhyme or reason to when mine will strike. Usually, it is at the least convenient moment. I will go on though.
We leave Wednesday to take my youth group to Sonshine. A Christian music festival in Minnesota. It's for 4 days and they are really looking forward to it. Of course now is when my stomach decides to go crazy. I stayed home today because I've been awake almost all night for 3 nights now in pain. It comes and goes, but it's very frustrating. They want to do exploratory surgery, but until I get a sub at work (it's in the works) I'm stuck.
I'm praying that this will be a life-changing trip for each and every one of us that are going. I am looking forward to basking in the love of Jesus and hopefully being able to put everything else to the side and just letting God's love be my main focus. It sounds pretty refreshing.
On the upside/downside...Will and I are trying to make major life changes here. We are downsizing. We even found a house that we would like to have that would enable us to hopefully become debt free in about 3 years or less. The main problem we are having is this house. It's a wonderful house, but we would need to have that house, paint it and do some minor repair, move in to it and then sell this one. It pretty much needs to be in that order.
We will see what God has in his plans for us. We would love that house. We would love being debt free. I would love being closer to my parents, church and Cranfest and would love having less of a work load, but I don't want it, if it is not what God wants for us. Meanwhile, we wait on his plans...
Our summers are so much cooler than the ones we had in Florida, yet I find myself not being able to take the heat. My comfort zone seems to be in the 70's now and anything above that really throws me for a loop. I guess I'm getting old.
Our lawnmower died a very painful and long death. The motor kept going, but it's poor transmission...well it has issues. Our friend Randy and Will tried taking it apart and fixing it. No go. So, we found one on Craig's list and Will and Randy are on their way to pick it up now. Randy is going to put our engine into his mower with no engine and that way something good will come out of all of this. The best part is that prayerfully, we will have a mowed lawn that did not require hours of walking behind a small push mower.
I am still having minor health issues. I call them minor in comparison to some people I know. My main frustration is that there is no rhyme or reason to when mine will strike. Usually, it is at the least convenient moment. I will go on though.
We leave Wednesday to take my youth group to Sonshine. A Christian music festival in Minnesota. It's for 4 days and they are really looking forward to it. Of course now is when my stomach decides to go crazy. I stayed home today because I've been awake almost all night for 3 nights now in pain. It comes and goes, but it's very frustrating. They want to do exploratory surgery, but until I get a sub at work (it's in the works) I'm stuck.
I'm praying that this will be a life-changing trip for each and every one of us that are going. I am looking forward to basking in the love of Jesus and hopefully being able to put everything else to the side and just letting God's love be my main focus. It sounds pretty refreshing.
On the upside/downside...Will and I are trying to make major life changes here. We are downsizing. We even found a house that we would like to have that would enable us to hopefully become debt free in about 3 years or less. The main problem we are having is this house. It's a wonderful house, but we would need to have that house, paint it and do some minor repair, move in to it and then sell this one. It pretty much needs to be in that order.
We will see what God has in his plans for us. We would love that house. We would love being debt free. I would love being closer to my parents, church and Cranfest and would love having less of a work load, but I don't want it, if it is not what God wants for us. Meanwhile, we wait on his plans...
Friday, June 24, 2011
No complaints here.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the weather here in Wisconsin lately. While the rest of the nation is suffering from extreme heat, we are basking in 70 degree temps. I appreciate it greatly. There is nothing quite like being out on a mail route in a car with black interior driving in the sunshine with your window down...no cool air there. I associate it with being kind of like making "sun tea".
Yesterday was one of those days that you wonder....What's the plan here God? I woke up and got everything in order for my work and Will's getting the van taken care of . Gave him a list of what he had to do during the day (I had made the appointments while he was at work just like he asked me to). I went to work and he started off on his adventure. We have been dealing with a shimmy issue and didn't know what it was, but with 3 different places looking at it yesterday, I figured someone would find out the issue.
Place one-tires rotated. No shimmy.
Place two-new brake pads...then they found the issue. It was the caliper. The only problem is that I had taken it to the mechanic, not once but twice to get them checked because that's what we thought it was in the first place.
This day was turning out to be expensive. It seems that lately we have not been in the $100 here, $100 there mode. It's been $500 here $1000 there for months....it can wear a person down. When Will called I was at the point that I was just waving money goodbye. You can either get upset, depressed or just take a deep breath and know that God is going to take care of it somehow. You might not know how, but you just have to leave it to Him. Well, I took a deep breath and let go...
Will called back. They put the caliper in. Said it was under warranty, waived the deductible and only charged us for the oil change. Thank you God!!!! We still had to pay through the nose for the brake pads (which I understand cost twice as much for the van as they do for my jeep) and the labor for putting those on, but much, much better than paying for the other.
Even better...no shimmy. New brakes and a smooth ride make Will a happy camper.
God came through. I just keep breathing deep and hanging on.
Yesterday was one of those days that you wonder....What's the plan here God? I woke up and got everything in order for my work and Will's getting the van taken care of . Gave him a list of what he had to do during the day (I had made the appointments while he was at work just like he asked me to). I went to work and he started off on his adventure. We have been dealing with a shimmy issue and didn't know what it was, but with 3 different places looking at it yesterday, I figured someone would find out the issue.
Place one-tires rotated. No shimmy.
Place two-new brake pads...then they found the issue. It was the caliper. The only problem is that I had taken it to the mechanic, not once but twice to get them checked because that's what we thought it was in the first place.
This day was turning out to be expensive. It seems that lately we have not been in the $100 here, $100 there mode. It's been $500 here $1000 there for months....it can wear a person down. When Will called I was at the point that I was just waving money goodbye. You can either get upset, depressed or just take a deep breath and know that God is going to take care of it somehow. You might not know how, but you just have to leave it to Him. Well, I took a deep breath and let go...
Will called back. They put the caliper in. Said it was under warranty, waived the deductible and only charged us for the oil change. Thank you God!!!! We still had to pay through the nose for the brake pads (which I understand cost twice as much for the van as they do for my jeep) and the labor for putting those on, but much, much better than paying for the other.
Even better...no shimmy. New brakes and a smooth ride make Will a happy camper.
God came through. I just keep breathing deep and hanging on.
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
That wandering bug....
I don't know why, but lately, I have been just ready to hop in the car and go. I've always had a wandering bug and a desire to see what is around the next corner. Both of my parents have it (especially my Dad), so I guess I come by in naturally.
While I'm on the route, I listen to a lot of Bible studies, preachers, music and do a lot of praying. Not as much as I'd like to, but some days I cannot find the focus (I know, shame on me). I wish that I was much more disciplined, but some days when the sun is shining and the animals are out for me to watch, I just have to pay attention to the world. I do say thank you God many times on those days and thank Him for His works. He has done and is doing great and wondrous things.
On other days...
My mind will wander and I mean WANDER. I plan trips. I even have an atlas in my jeep to use when I need to check the geography in my head. I have trips to go almost every where in the US and another one to take in the countries that I would love to see in Europe (there are not too many of those). I have to laugh though because although most of my trips are designed around scenery, there are a couple that are designed around "food". Who designs a trip around what you will eat???? I guess I do.
For our retirement plans ( you think about this stuff when your kids start graduating), Will and I plan on selling everything, packing up what we need to keep and storing it, and then we are going to hit the road traveling in some type of RV for at least 5 years. That sounds like heaven. I figure in 5 years we can spend about 3 weeks in each state (for the most part) and never have to see snow again, unless we want to. I would love to spend at least another month on the Oregon coastline, or just plain in Oregon itself. Then there's the trip out east for the fall color. The trip down to the keys during some winter, just to see it. A trip to the Grand Canyon and of course I want to see the Hoover Dam. I don't know why I want to see the dam, but I'm thinking it could be pretty interesting. I want to see Gettysburg again (it was one of the most memorable occasions in my life when I first saw it). Go to Maine for lobster, Boston for chowder, Texas for BBQ, Memphis for BBQ and pretty much any where that has wonderful food, great scenery and new folks to meet.
My traveling bug is hitting quite hard right now. If Will said "let's go" I think I could have everything packed and taken care of in less than 1/2 hour. Kind of funny if you think about it. I drive for over 4 hours a day and I'm still ready to hit the road running and take off. Oh well, back to the real world. 100 degree heat, dirty dishes and peanut butter.....hmmm.....
Calgon...take me away!!!
While I'm on the route, I listen to a lot of Bible studies, preachers, music and do a lot of praying. Not as much as I'd like to, but some days I cannot find the focus (I know, shame on me). I wish that I was much more disciplined, but some days when the sun is shining and the animals are out for me to watch, I just have to pay attention to the world. I do say thank you God many times on those days and thank Him for His works. He has done and is doing great and wondrous things.
On other days...
My mind will wander and I mean WANDER. I plan trips. I even have an atlas in my jeep to use when I need to check the geography in my head. I have trips to go almost every where in the US and another one to take in the countries that I would love to see in Europe (there are not too many of those). I have to laugh though because although most of my trips are designed around scenery, there are a couple that are designed around "food". Who designs a trip around what you will eat???? I guess I do.
For our retirement plans ( you think about this stuff when your kids start graduating), Will and I plan on selling everything, packing up what we need to keep and storing it, and then we are going to hit the road traveling in some type of RV for at least 5 years. That sounds like heaven. I figure in 5 years we can spend about 3 weeks in each state (for the most part) and never have to see snow again, unless we want to. I would love to spend at least another month on the Oregon coastline, or just plain in Oregon itself. Then there's the trip out east for the fall color. The trip down to the keys during some winter, just to see it. A trip to the Grand Canyon and of course I want to see the Hoover Dam. I don't know why I want to see the dam, but I'm thinking it could be pretty interesting. I want to see Gettysburg again (it was one of the most memorable occasions in my life when I first saw it). Go to Maine for lobster, Boston for chowder, Texas for BBQ, Memphis for BBQ and pretty much any where that has wonderful food, great scenery and new folks to meet.
My traveling bug is hitting quite hard right now. If Will said "let's go" I think I could have everything packed and taken care of in less than 1/2 hour. Kind of funny if you think about it. I drive for over 4 hours a day and I'm still ready to hit the road running and take off. Oh well, back to the real world. 100 degree heat, dirty dishes and peanut butter.....hmmm.....
Calgon...take me away!!!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Update on the storms
I drove around my route yesterday feeling like I was in a war zone. You'd be driving along and everything would be fine, turn a corner and the trees were all down. It's not a very wide destruction path in the scheme of things (about 600 feet), but to the people that it demolished it must seem gigantic.
Some friends of ours lost almost every tree in their yard and too many to count in their pastures. They have sheds blown apart, a barn with a caved in front, huge trees down on their sheds and damage to their house. It could have been much worse. Thankfully God held the roof down so they have a place to live.
A neighbor of theirs went into his basement and when he came back out his roof was gone. Then he noticed that his entire attached garage was missing...completely. They found his garage door a mile away.
Other parts of it were scattered all through the woods around his house. His pole barn is hanging in the trees around his house.
Barns and houses are missing roofs, trees are down in a path that looks like a big bowling ball (600 feet wide) just ran through the woods (except there must have been a spin on that ball because the trees are all twisted).
The eagle baby must have died. The parents were gone. I don't know if I will ever see them again and that makes me so very sad. I love eagles and having them on my route, to see each day, has been a huge blessing for me. This was the 4th family I had watched them raise. I've watched as the babies learned to fly, hunt and then spread their wings and leave. It's like the chapter of a really good book is closing. I didn't want the chapter to end, let alone the book.
Yet life goes on. Every day there are new blessings, new issues, new things to learn. I hope that as time goes by, I learn a few things along the way. Things like keeping my mouth shut and not telling the truth "in love" when really it's just criticizing or complaining. Things like remembering to put the coffee filter in before you make coffee. Things like taking the time to call that person you just thought of, even if you don't really have the time, because you never know if it will be the last thing you get to say to them. Even then, sometimes just calling them and showing them you care might be the most important thing that happened to them that day.
All of these things that happened are really, really sad, but in all of this you see the important things come to light...people. I'm going to try to be a little more about "others" from now on. I know that helping others has always been important to me, but I think as I get older it seems to be gaining ground as a main focus in my life. So much suffering, so many lonely hurting people. So little time.........
Some friends of ours lost almost every tree in their yard and too many to count in their pastures. They have sheds blown apart, a barn with a caved in front, huge trees down on their sheds and damage to their house. It could have been much worse. Thankfully God held the roof down so they have a place to live.
A neighbor of theirs went into his basement and when he came back out his roof was gone. Then he noticed that his entire attached garage was missing...completely. They found his garage door a mile away.
Other parts of it were scattered all through the woods around his house. His pole barn is hanging in the trees around his house.
Barns and houses are missing roofs, trees are down in a path that looks like a big bowling ball (600 feet wide) just ran through the woods (except there must have been a spin on that ball because the trees are all twisted).
The eagle baby must have died. The parents were gone. I don't know if I will ever see them again and that makes me so very sad. I love eagles and having them on my route, to see each day, has been a huge blessing for me. This was the 4th family I had watched them raise. I've watched as the babies learned to fly, hunt and then spread their wings and leave. It's like the chapter of a really good book is closing. I didn't want the chapter to end, let alone the book.
Yet life goes on. Every day there are new blessings, new issues, new things to learn. I hope that as time goes by, I learn a few things along the way. Things like keeping my mouth shut and not telling the truth "in love" when really it's just criticizing or complaining. Things like remembering to put the coffee filter in before you make coffee. Things like taking the time to call that person you just thought of, even if you don't really have the time, because you never know if it will be the last thing you get to say to them. Even then, sometimes just calling them and showing them you care might be the most important thing that happened to them that day.
All of these things that happened are really, really sad, but in all of this you see the important things come to light...people. I'm going to try to be a little more about "others" from now on. I know that helping others has always been important to me, but I think as I get older it seems to be gaining ground as a main focus in my life. So much suffering, so many lonely hurting people. So little time.........
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Here at the funny farm.....
They could never say that life at our house is boring. In fact, it borders on the ridiculous quite often. Unfortunately for my children, I seem to have passed on the stupid things happen to Deanna rule.
Poor Jessalyn was working on the back patio and somehow slammed herself in the eye with the wooden end of the push broom and is now sporting a partial shiner. Only my child could do that.
Jacob was playing kick ball on Friday and hurt his ankle. He did not want them to lose the game and so he kept playing. He hurt it again. He continued to play and ended up colliding with another kid on top of 2nd base and hurt it again. They started to play tug o' war and he ended up twisting it in the wrong direction. We spent Friday afternoon in the ER with him. They don't think it's broken, but we have to wait and see. He still cannot put any weight on it, so he will probably have to get it xrayed again. Just what he needed. Forget that, just what I needed. Well, at least once it was someone else and not me getting a test for this stupid mystery illness that I have.
Bad storms are cropping up here, so I'll get off for now and check in again later.
Wow! Little did I know that when I signed off earlier in the post that things would get hectic around here. It looked like we might get a bad thunderstorm, but that's it. The weather radar was red, but then it just turned to yellow, so we were not too worried. Suddenly withing seconds the whole thing turned red, the tornado sirens starting going off and we had multiple tornados all over around here.
Will and I heard thumping and it was huge hail coming down all around us. The flag went from hanging limp on the pole to standing straight out and not moving at all just staying straight. Will was at one end of the house and I was at the other watching. We had our stuff ready in our tornado position, but somehow never made it there. It was all over that quickly.
Our house is fine. No damage. Although I did manage to save some of the hail in the freezer.
My mail route did not fair so well. I heard through the grape vine that a couple of my roads had been in a tornado. Will and I picked up Mom and Dad and went to investigate. If the roads were toast, I needed to know for work. Alternate plans have to be made. It was bad. Trees down on houses and cars, roofs blown off etc.
The hardest part for me though, is that my eagle nest has been destroyed. I have watched the eagles raise 4 families in that nest. Enjoyed seeing them every day as part of my daily routine and that is all done now. They had another baby this year and I don't know if the baby made it. It was not flying yet. I called the DNR and told them about it, so hopefully, someone will go out and check it out. I know they like to save them and rehabilitate them if they can.
I know that in the scheme of things, no lives were lost so it's all good, but I still feel like I am in mourning. Those birds were part of my life and now they hopefully will rebuild somewhere, but it probably will not be where I can watch the nest and see them daily. A part of my life that I enjoyed greatly is gone. I know, I know, life goes on, but sometimes things that happen are not what I would have chosen. Still, God in His grace continues to bless me each day with other great things. So I will head out today to see what the "new" plan is.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Memories of Oregon
Listening to the story of Japan has been heart wrenching. I cannot imagine what they are going through, but the Tsunami brings other thoughts and sadness to my mind.
It was just 11 months ago that Will and I took a wonderful beautiful trip to Oregon and the Northern most tip of California to pick up my mail jeep. The city where we spent the night is now changed forever. We gloried in sitting on our own private balcony right on the ocean watching the sun as it set. Now we wonder if it is still there. The hotel was right on the beach and in a very low area and supposedly that area received major damage. The port that we watched boats go in and out of has been completely destroyed.
We ate breakfast in Crescent City CA and drove around it just looking. I guess it received major damage also. Many of the towns we drove through on Highway 101 are dealing with water issues.
At one point Will and I stopped and took pictures. They are now showing pictures of the Tsunami waves hitting it. When we were there, we were way above the water. Now the water in the photos is cresting the scenic lookout area.
It's made me think of the times we spent there. I wish I could go back and see more. If Will said let's go, I'd be in the car in 10 minutes. It goes to show you how quickly things can change and how we should take advantage of every minute and not waste one. What a terrible thing to look back at my life and see the "regrets".
God has brought a change in me lately. It was emphasized on my conference trip. I am bogged down in "stuff". I have entirely too much stuff. I am so ready to get down to the basics of living. I have been trying to streamline things around here, but now I find that I am going to go much deeper. If I don't have it laying around, then I don't have to clean it. If it's important enough to keep then I'll keep it, but things are gonna change. They have to. Get ready for the garage sale of the year...coming here this spring. I'm chucking it all. I'm sick of cleaning. I'm sick of housework. I want to live. I want to travel...I want to see all that God has created and enjoy it and marvel in it's splendor. I don't think I'll do that dusting thingys that permanently live on shelves or in rubbermaid storage containers. It's all gonna go!!!!!!
It was just 11 months ago that Will and I took a wonderful beautiful trip to Oregon and the Northern most tip of California to pick up my mail jeep. The city where we spent the night is now changed forever. We gloried in sitting on our own private balcony right on the ocean watching the sun as it set. Now we wonder if it is still there. The hotel was right on the beach and in a very low area and supposedly that area received major damage. The port that we watched boats go in and out of has been completely destroyed.
We ate breakfast in Crescent City CA and drove around it just looking. I guess it received major damage also. Many of the towns we drove through on Highway 101 are dealing with water issues.
At one point Will and I stopped and took pictures. They are now showing pictures of the Tsunami waves hitting it. When we were there, we were way above the water. Now the water in the photos is cresting the scenic lookout area.
It's made me think of the times we spent there. I wish I could go back and see more. If Will said let's go, I'd be in the car in 10 minutes. It goes to show you how quickly things can change and how we should take advantage of every minute and not waste one. What a terrible thing to look back at my life and see the "regrets".
God has brought a change in me lately. It was emphasized on my conference trip. I am bogged down in "stuff". I have entirely too much stuff. I am so ready to get down to the basics of living. I have been trying to streamline things around here, but now I find that I am going to go much deeper. If I don't have it laying around, then I don't have to clean it. If it's important enough to keep then I'll keep it, but things are gonna change. They have to. Get ready for the garage sale of the year...coming here this spring. I'm chucking it all. I'm sick of cleaning. I'm sick of housework. I want to live. I want to travel...I want to see all that God has created and enjoy it and marvel in it's splendor. I don't think I'll do that dusting thingys that permanently live on shelves or in rubbermaid storage containers. It's all gonna go!!!!!!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A weekend of no stress
Everyone should have a weekend that they can be stress free and pampered. The last 4 days were that for me. I attended the Wisconsin Governors Conference on Tourism from Sunday through Wednesday morning. What a blast!
We left right after church (well as "right after" as we are able to) and headed down to the Kalahari resort in Wisconsin Dells. That was where our conference was going to be held and I got special room rates for the family and our friends. We spent the afternoon at the water park. I had to sneak away to attend the opening reception and eat some marvelous food. Then headed back to the room for more family time.
They all left the next morning and I went on to my classes. I enjoy this conference. It's all about tourism, but more importantly it's about hospitality and that is my main "theme" in life. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I'm all about making other people feel special and spoiled. My family says that my life's mission is to feed the world. I'd rather do something nice for others, but I will admit that going to this conference feels like "me time". That's something I don't get very often.
I love to learn and I love to create and discuss and brainstorm and round table. That's what we do at this conference. I had classes in cultural tourism, native American tourism, mobile advertising and more. While I am in class, ideas literally jump into my mind and I spend as much time writing notes about the class as I do writing notes to remember the thoughts that I had during the class. To me it is like creative water seeping into my dehydrated flesh. I LOVE the whole tourism scene. After the kids are gone, I may try my hand at becoming more involved on a state level.
My conference started with meeting the Lt. Governor of the state of Wisconsin and then getting to congratulate my friend Stephanie on becoming the next Secretary of Tourism. There's something wonderful about looking at the top person in tourism and having her call you by your first name and give you a huge hug. Does wonders for a po-dunk little wife and mother from the metropolis of Warrens (population 250 on a busy day).
I entered a twitter contest that asked what you did in Wisconsin for fun. I won an I-pad. That was pretty neat, although I really have no clue as to what it is. I seem to have gained some "cool points" with my kids.
I was very impressed with our Governor who actually opened the conference and then closed it too. The previous Governor didn't seem to think it was very important to be there at a function that held his name and was supposedly hosted by him. He was usually in China or somewhere. With tourism bringing huge amounts of money and creating thousands of jobs in the state, you would think that he would be willing to promote it. The new Governor is. He called on us to help promote Wisconsin, love people, and to help create jobs. He asked us to sing.
I was impressed that his wife came with him to the banquet. I was impressed that he gave 2 speeches without teleprompters, without notes and they were good. Aside from a few "little" jokes (nothing cruel or even really political" he never even mentioned the issues in Madison. He focused on tourism and how it can help bring Wisconsin out of this mess. Good job Gov.
All in all, it was a great time. The food was absolutely marvelous and I want all the recipes. The hosting conference center went out of their way to show us a good time. I even managed to come away a winner at the Casino. Big spender that I am playing the penny slots and cashing out before I lose anything....it was fun and I'm thankful that I had the chance to go.
Now back to my life that was already in progress. I think I hear dishes and laundry calling.....I want to go back to the conference..there's no place like WIGCOT, there's no place like WIGCOT, there's no place like WIGCOT....
We left right after church (well as "right after" as we are able to) and headed down to the Kalahari resort in Wisconsin Dells. That was where our conference was going to be held and I got special room rates for the family and our friends. We spent the afternoon at the water park. I had to sneak away to attend the opening reception and eat some marvelous food. Then headed back to the room for more family time.
They all left the next morning and I went on to my classes. I enjoy this conference. It's all about tourism, but more importantly it's about hospitality and that is my main "theme" in life. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I'm all about making other people feel special and spoiled. My family says that my life's mission is to feed the world. I'd rather do something nice for others, but I will admit that going to this conference feels like "me time". That's something I don't get very often.
I love to learn and I love to create and discuss and brainstorm and round table. That's what we do at this conference. I had classes in cultural tourism, native American tourism, mobile advertising and more. While I am in class, ideas literally jump into my mind and I spend as much time writing notes about the class as I do writing notes to remember the thoughts that I had during the class. To me it is like creative water seeping into my dehydrated flesh. I LOVE the whole tourism scene. After the kids are gone, I may try my hand at becoming more involved on a state level.
My conference started with meeting the Lt. Governor of the state of Wisconsin and then getting to congratulate my friend Stephanie on becoming the next Secretary of Tourism. There's something wonderful about looking at the top person in tourism and having her call you by your first name and give you a huge hug. Does wonders for a po-dunk little wife and mother from the metropolis of Warrens (population 250 on a busy day).
I entered a twitter contest that asked what you did in Wisconsin for fun. I won an I-pad. That was pretty neat, although I really have no clue as to what it is. I seem to have gained some "cool points" with my kids.
I was very impressed with our Governor who actually opened the conference and then closed it too. The previous Governor didn't seem to think it was very important to be there at a function that held his name and was supposedly hosted by him. He was usually in China or somewhere. With tourism bringing huge amounts of money and creating thousands of jobs in the state, you would think that he would be willing to promote it. The new Governor is. He called on us to help promote Wisconsin, love people, and to help create jobs. He asked us to sing.
I was impressed that his wife came with him to the banquet. I was impressed that he gave 2 speeches without teleprompters, without notes and they were good. Aside from a few "little" jokes (nothing cruel or even really political" he never even mentioned the issues in Madison. He focused on tourism and how it can help bring Wisconsin out of this mess. Good job Gov.
All in all, it was a great time. The food was absolutely marvelous and I want all the recipes. The hosting conference center went out of their way to show us a good time. I even managed to come away a winner at the Casino. Big spender that I am playing the penny slots and cashing out before I lose anything....it was fun and I'm thankful that I had the chance to go.
Now back to my life that was already in progress. I think I hear dishes and laundry calling.....I want to go back to the conference..there's no place like WIGCOT, there's no place like WIGCOT, there's no place like WIGCOT....
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A wild and crazy ride.
Yesterday I received a phone call from my friend telling me that our "adoptive" other son Luke was in the ditch down on the "dreaded" corner-Zingler's corner. I think every town must have one of those on some road somewhere. Some corner where accidents seem to happen. That's what ours is called. Zingler is the name of the family that have owned must of the land surrounding that corner for as long as anyone can remember. My friend said that someone was there with him pulling him out. I called Will to let him know what was going on.
Another friend called Will shortly after that and said that he was still stuck and she didn't know if they would get him out without help. Will and Jake suited up, loaded the truck and headed out. They finally got Luke out and he headed home.
Life went on as usual and so we headed over to the Fischer house for an evening of trying to put together the video presentation for our youth trip to Chicago. We spent a lovely evening there. Finally after plaguing their existence long enough...we headed home.
On the way home we turned one corner and there was a jeep in the ditch....way in the ditch. No one in it, so we headed on. Got to Zingler's corner and there was another car in the ditch this one with a lady in it. We called 911 because the corner was so dangerous and so very slippery that we couldn't stop on that side of the road for safety's sake. We turned around, came back and parked on the other side with flashers going to warn oncoming drivers as Will went to help.
As we were sitting there another truck came by, drove a little farther down the road and flew into the ditch. I called 911 because now we have 2 cars in the ditch. It's getting iffy around there. An officer is on the way.
We finally get headed home and are almost there when we notice another set of headlights aimed for the sky on the side of the road. This was a truck that had driven straight into the ditch. Someone was there with them, so we went on home, glad to arrive home in one piece. It was about midnight and we were all exhausted. We went straight to bed....and that's the story of our wild and crazy ride home.
Another friend called Will shortly after that and said that he was still stuck and she didn't know if they would get him out without help. Will and Jake suited up, loaded the truck and headed out. They finally got Luke out and he headed home.
Life went on as usual and so we headed over to the Fischer house for an evening of trying to put together the video presentation for our youth trip to Chicago. We spent a lovely evening there. Finally after plaguing their existence long enough...we headed home.
On the way home we turned one corner and there was a jeep in the ditch....way in the ditch. No one in it, so we headed on. Got to Zingler's corner and there was another car in the ditch this one with a lady in it. We called 911 because the corner was so dangerous and so very slippery that we couldn't stop on that side of the road for safety's sake. We turned around, came back and parked on the other side with flashers going to warn oncoming drivers as Will went to help.
As we were sitting there another truck came by, drove a little farther down the road and flew into the ditch. I called 911 because now we have 2 cars in the ditch. It's getting iffy around there. An officer is on the way.
We finally get headed home and are almost there when we notice another set of headlights aimed for the sky on the side of the road. This was a truck that had driven straight into the ditch. Someone was there with them, so we went on home, glad to arrive home in one piece. It was about midnight and we were all exhausted. We went straight to bed....and that's the story of our wild and crazy ride home.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The posting war
Will and I have been teasing each other lately about who's turn it is to post. We are really busy. Of course, we both sit in front of the computer doing "mindless" things daily, but making the effort to type something intelligent seems to be above an beyond us. So....I'm gonna win the war for today (he just cheats and posts pictures anyway).
Thursday and Friday were completely strange for me. In order to explain I have to go clear back 15 years ago when I was pregnant with Jessalyn. You see Will and I were in the car and ...wham..a deer came through the windshield and hit me in the head. Totaled the car and in general caused bunches of problems. We thought it was all over until a couple of years ago.
About 2008 I started having facial pain that was up under my nose and along my upper jaw. Then the infections started and we found out that the deer had killed all of my teeth along the top of my jaw in front. I knew that I would have to have root canals on all of them and get crowns. I put it off as long as possible due to financial reasons, but also due to the fact that we didn't know which ones were dying and which ones weren't. I wanted to get it all done at once, not keep going in every couple of months and do it all over again.
Finally they all reached a point where you could tell what steps to take and I went and had the root canals. Let me tell you this...I love Dr. Blair Johnson in Eau Claire. Quick painless and hardly any pain afterward. He's wonderful and I cannot recommend him enough. I love my dentist too (he's my brother-in-law).
Jimmy did the work and got the temporary crowns on Thursday. He made it as pain free as possible (although working on those front teeth you can't kill it all the way). Everything went fine except...
Right in the middle of the procedure I started getting dizzy. Now remember I said Dizzy not dizty, so no smart remarks. They said the blood all drained out of my face. They waited a while and I started feeling better, so we went on. I was fine on the way home until the last 3 miles. Then I got really dizzy and weak. I drove about 30 mph and as carefully as I could and got home. I went straight in and laid down.
I spent the next 5 hours with a high fever and chills, unable to sit up and certainly unable to stand up. I told Will when he called that I thought I needed to go to the ER. I didn't want to go for many reasons..for one I could not walk, I could not sit up, stand up or motivate. I was so cold that I knew I could not go outside. I thought the walk to the car and being outside might kill me..really. I did not think that I would survive. Of course most of that was the fever, but I truly was afraid to leave the bed. That is not a "good" place to be in.
I asked Will to call Darin's house where the worship team was waiting for me to practice. They had already figured I would not be coming, because of pain, but really I didn't have much pain. Darin prayed with Will and right away my fever started going down. So we waited to see if I needed to go to the ER. I just went to sleep and slept most of it off.
I spent yesterday trying to recover feeling even weaker than I did after my hysterectomy. What a terrible thing that weakness. If the house was on fire, I'm not sure that I would have been able to get out at times. I feel better now, but not up to my usual capacity. I'm hoping it gets better since I now have to work today.
During this last week we lost 2 substitute carriers at work. They both moved on to different jobs, so we are now 3 short again. Lovely. The last time this happened, I ended up with Thursdays off instead of Saturdays...I sure hope that doesn't happen again.
Well, now that I've told you about the weirdness that is my life...How's yours going?
Thursday and Friday were completely strange for me. In order to explain I have to go clear back 15 years ago when I was pregnant with Jessalyn. You see Will and I were in the car and ...wham..a deer came through the windshield and hit me in the head. Totaled the car and in general caused bunches of problems. We thought it was all over until a couple of years ago.
About 2008 I started having facial pain that was up under my nose and along my upper jaw. Then the infections started and we found out that the deer had killed all of my teeth along the top of my jaw in front. I knew that I would have to have root canals on all of them and get crowns. I put it off as long as possible due to financial reasons, but also due to the fact that we didn't know which ones were dying and which ones weren't. I wanted to get it all done at once, not keep going in every couple of months and do it all over again.
Finally they all reached a point where you could tell what steps to take and I went and had the root canals. Let me tell you this...I love Dr. Blair Johnson in Eau Claire. Quick painless and hardly any pain afterward. He's wonderful and I cannot recommend him enough. I love my dentist too (he's my brother-in-law).
Jimmy did the work and got the temporary crowns on Thursday. He made it as pain free as possible (although working on those front teeth you can't kill it all the way). Everything went fine except...
Right in the middle of the procedure I started getting dizzy. Now remember I said Dizzy not dizty, so no smart remarks. They said the blood all drained out of my face. They waited a while and I started feeling better, so we went on. I was fine on the way home until the last 3 miles. Then I got really dizzy and weak. I drove about 30 mph and as carefully as I could and got home. I went straight in and laid down.
I spent the next 5 hours with a high fever and chills, unable to sit up and certainly unable to stand up. I told Will when he called that I thought I needed to go to the ER. I didn't want to go for many reasons..for one I could not walk, I could not sit up, stand up or motivate. I was so cold that I knew I could not go outside. I thought the walk to the car and being outside might kill me..really. I did not think that I would survive. Of course most of that was the fever, but I truly was afraid to leave the bed. That is not a "good" place to be in.
I asked Will to call Darin's house where the worship team was waiting for me to practice. They had already figured I would not be coming, because of pain, but really I didn't have much pain. Darin prayed with Will and right away my fever started going down. So we waited to see if I needed to go to the ER. I just went to sleep and slept most of it off.
I spent yesterday trying to recover feeling even weaker than I did after my hysterectomy. What a terrible thing that weakness. If the house was on fire, I'm not sure that I would have been able to get out at times. I feel better now, but not up to my usual capacity. I'm hoping it gets better since I now have to work today.
During this last week we lost 2 substitute carriers at work. They both moved on to different jobs, so we are now 3 short again. Lovely. The last time this happened, I ended up with Thursdays off instead of Saturdays...I sure hope that doesn't happen again.
Well, now that I've told you about the weirdness that is my life...How's yours going?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Where does the time go?
Will informed me that it was my turn to post. We both agree that we should post more often. Finding the time to do so is just difficult. I know I could take the time, I just either find other things to do or am a mental vegetable incapable of putting words together.
We received a letter from the high school the other day informing us that it was time to bring our "baby" in to get her ready for high school next year. High school?!? I'm still having a hard time dealing with Jake graduating this year and now you want my baby too!?!
Now don't get me wrong, I want them to graduate and get on with their lives. I'm a very "hands on" mom, but even I can see that these kids want to fly the coop. Jessa maybe even more than Jake. They have plans and dreams. I can remember those days. It's just that it would be nice if they could do it without me getting older.
It's not really that I dislike getting older...it's just the stuff that goes with it. I hate having gray hair (even though I'm sure I earned them). I still color it otherwise it would be completely gray and I'm not THAT old. Although I am grateful to wake up every morning (thank you God), I don't like looking looking in the mirror and doing the "chin count" (how many do I have today?). I absolutely hate the aches and pains associated with getting older. I feel like slapping someone that tells me "you know you're not as young as you used to be"....no duh.
The only problem is that my mind still feels that young. I still make plans that 20 years ago I would have been able to accomplish in a day...now it takes me longer. I still feel like I can "climb that mountain" only to find myself huffing and puffing and exhausted by mid way. Life is good, so I try not to complain (much). It's just this learning to be "less young". My body is going a way that my mind seems to be uncommitted to. My mind still says go,go, go and my body says...maybe I'll sit here and rest for awhile. It's frustrating.
I do find one thing enjoyable though about getting older. Thinking about retirement! I have a plan. I keep working on the plan. Will actually is in agreement with the plan. He's just a realist (I call that a pessimist). He says "show me the money". I'm gonna try to.
I want to sell pretty much everything off at retirement and put the rest in storage. I would like to by then have bought a motorhome and have it paid for. My dream/plan is to travel for 5 years and see the US. God made such a wonderful land and I want to see it all. Now I just have to work on the plan. It's on the back burner and not at the top of my list of things to do (that list includes, new roof, new insulation, new secondary car, etc. etc). I deal with the real list on a daily basis and pray over it, try not to fret over it, plan over it...you know the drill. BUT on the route in my mind's eye...I dream of vacations, retirement and LIVING. Living with no stress, no bills (or at least not many) no appointments, no stress (oops I mentioned that already didn't I?). I want to wake up each morning and just sit and contemplate God's world with my cup of coffee in my hand. I want to walk holding Will's hand through forests, down valleys, wandering through meadows, looking over canyons, standing on the top of mountains, staring up at waterfalls. I want to see it all. Whether God blesses this plan and we get to do it or not...I can at least imagine it every day out on the route.
I hope that you guys have this type of imagination too. Whenever stresses, problems or just plain "life" gets you down. When you cannot see past the problem...imagine the future without the problem. Remember God sees the future with this problem gone...so it's gonna happen. Remember he said it in the Bible..."and it came to pass".
Here's to life! Even if I have to get old (yuck) to live it. Have a great day. (I'd wave but I pulled a muscle and it hurts to lift my arm. See what I mean about this getting old stuff? I don't have time!)
Go out and dream!!!!!!
We received a letter from the high school the other day informing us that it was time to bring our "baby" in to get her ready for high school next year. High school?!? I'm still having a hard time dealing with Jake graduating this year and now you want my baby too!?!
Now don't get me wrong, I want them to graduate and get on with their lives. I'm a very "hands on" mom, but even I can see that these kids want to fly the coop. Jessa maybe even more than Jake. They have plans and dreams. I can remember those days. It's just that it would be nice if they could do it without me getting older.
It's not really that I dislike getting older...it's just the stuff that goes with it. I hate having gray hair (even though I'm sure I earned them). I still color it otherwise it would be completely gray and I'm not THAT old. Although I am grateful to wake up every morning (thank you God), I don't like looking looking in the mirror and doing the "chin count" (how many do I have today?). I absolutely hate the aches and pains associated with getting older. I feel like slapping someone that tells me "you know you're not as young as you used to be"....no duh.
The only problem is that my mind still feels that young. I still make plans that 20 years ago I would have been able to accomplish in a day...now it takes me longer. I still feel like I can "climb that mountain" only to find myself huffing and puffing and exhausted by mid way. Life is good, so I try not to complain (much). It's just this learning to be "less young". My body is going a way that my mind seems to be uncommitted to. My mind still says go,go, go and my body says...maybe I'll sit here and rest for awhile. It's frustrating.
I do find one thing enjoyable though about getting older. Thinking about retirement! I have a plan. I keep working on the plan. Will actually is in agreement with the plan. He's just a realist (I call that a pessimist). He says "show me the money". I'm gonna try to.
I want to sell pretty much everything off at retirement and put the rest in storage. I would like to by then have bought a motorhome and have it paid for. My dream/plan is to travel for 5 years and see the US. God made such a wonderful land and I want to see it all. Now I just have to work on the plan. It's on the back burner and not at the top of my list of things to do (that list includes, new roof, new insulation, new secondary car, etc. etc). I deal with the real list on a daily basis and pray over it, try not to fret over it, plan over it...you know the drill. BUT on the route in my mind's eye...I dream of vacations, retirement and LIVING. Living with no stress, no bills (or at least not many) no appointments, no stress (oops I mentioned that already didn't I?). I want to wake up each morning and just sit and contemplate God's world with my cup of coffee in my hand. I want to walk holding Will's hand through forests, down valleys, wandering through meadows, looking over canyons, standing on the top of mountains, staring up at waterfalls. I want to see it all. Whether God blesses this plan and we get to do it or not...I can at least imagine it every day out on the route.
I hope that you guys have this type of imagination too. Whenever stresses, problems or just plain "life" gets you down. When you cannot see past the problem...imagine the future without the problem. Remember God sees the future with this problem gone...so it's gonna happen. Remember he said it in the Bible..."and it came to pass".
Here's to life! Even if I have to get old (yuck) to live it. Have a great day. (I'd wave but I pulled a muscle and it hurts to lift my arm. See what I mean about this getting old stuff? I don't have time!)
Go out and dream!!!!!!
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