A change of plans--mine.

I was planning to go shopping today, and it was a lovely day to be out and about. However, my legs wouldn't cooperate--still too wobbly--kinda like a newborn horse. Well, maybe not quite that bad, but it felt like it at times in the past two days!

So, I decided God must have different plans for me today than I had for myself, so I had to adjust. Cleaning. That's what God had in mind for me to do today. Not nearly as much fun as shopping, but maybe more necessary? But, since I had grace to clean and not grace to shop, I cleaned. I felt pretty good too, even though it's much more taxing than shopping. It just involves less standing in one spot and more moving around and different positions than standing which seems to be the problem.

Now that I've had more food as the day has gone on, I feel much better, and I plan to go for a walk with Jeff tonight. I told him I wanted to wait and go with him (and maybe Abby too?) so that if I got too tired, he could carry me home!

I washed all the sheets too so that Katie and Hannah will have nice, clean beds to sleep in. It's warm enough to open windows too which is always so nice--love fresh air!!

I made quiche for dinner tonight which sounds really good--REAL food!! Not mashed potatoes (I didn't get to get potatoes since I didn't go to GE), but still something filling and nutritious and salty! :)

Jeff came home early today because he was up at 4:15am and had to go in without going back to sleep. I told him he should really try to get 8 hours of sleep--he would feel so much better, and it might help him with his weight loss goals too. (I've been hearing/reading things about not getting enough sleep making you feel hungrier--due to some hormone or something.) All he has to do is go to bed at an earlier hour, and tell those people to stop calling him with their problems at all hours of the night! :)

Hannah is coming home tomorrow which is very exciting! Hopefully she will be able to get lots done while she's here, and we won't distract her too much from her homework. Then we can party later in the weekend!

I'm so excited to get my hair cut! Today is one of those days when I feel like cutting it off myself because it is bugging me so much--bangs in my eyes, too long and in my face! But I won't because I know it will be worth it next Tuesday when I go and let Denise do it right! But I AM excited about going!

Well, need to go and check on the quiche--'twould be a pity to let it burn! I've been looking forward to eating it so much. And I was going to make banana cc muffins, but I used all the eggs to make quiche, so I guess I'll stick some crescent rolls in to bake too. So, until later, dear readers!

Recovering slowly, but surely...

Yes, I am feeling much better today, although my arms and legs feel like wet noodles at times. I have eaten boring things like toast, soup, and hard-boiled eggs, but not much of any of those things, so now that it's bedtime, I am really hungry! I want mashed potatoes with gravy--something salty and filling, but still not too hard on the tummy.

I was planning to teach my class since I was feeling better when I got up, but then after taking a shower, I felt like I was done for the day. I was really relieved when Abby came home and said that Karen had said I should just stay home and get better, and she would teach for me. I would totally have done it, but I would probably have been wiped out afterward. Nice to have someone who understands and just says, "Rest!" I had offered to give her the money for that class too, but she said not to worry about it because someday I could sub for her. What a nice place to work and what nice people to work with. It's really how things should work--looking out for each other, helping, and not demanding that everything is fair and even and compensated at each and every moment.

So, I did basically nothing all day. I ran the dishwasher and washed some dishes, read the Anatomy and Physiology book Abby brought for me from Karen to look at for next year--I might be teaching that class--took a nap after lunch, talked to Hannah for a little while, made some hard-boiled eggs for dinner. I was saving my energy to go shopping tonight after dinner for Abby's birthday--it's coming up, ya know!!

I'm really hoping to have more energy tomorrow. I need to do laundry, I'd like to do more shopping, and I should go to the grocery store too. I couldn't handle that today, no way. So, I'll give my disclaimer now--if I don't have things quite together this weekend, I apologize. I lost a day on Tuesday, and kind of today too. I'm just very glad that I didn't get sick at the end of the week--better to have it over with! Praying for Jeff and Abby still to avoid the plague.

Well, since I didn't do much today, I don't have much to say. I haven't walked either which is a bummer because today was a lovely spring day--sunny and 60. Unfortunately, it sounds like it might be getting cold again over the weekend. But we won't care because EVERYBODY will be home together!! Woo Hoo!! We are all very excited about that! So hard to believe that it's really time for Kaite to come home this very weekend--did I mention that we are all very excited?! So, I will go to bed and hope to feel even better tomorrow so that I can get ready for the Par-tay on Friday--Abby's birthday, and Saturday too. Until later, dear readers!

Feeling better today

Just a quick post to let you know that I'm feeling much better today--so far anyway. I took a shower and feel a little weak, lightheaded, etc. from not eating all day yesterday, but Jeff got me some toast and juice, so I'm hoping that will help soon.

I'll post more later, but didn't want anyone to worry about me! :)

A sick day :(

Oh, my. It's no fun to be sick. This is first day I can remember not even going downstairs in maybe forever. I started to feel weird last night when I went to bed, and didn't sleep much during the night. I finally went to the blue chair because my head hurt so much lying down flat. But after a while, my back hurt from sitting up kind of. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO achy. And my stomach was all upset.

When Jeff got up, he agreed to stay home and take care of me today, and I'm very thankful he did. I felt like I couldn't lift my head off the pillow for a long time. He got me popsicles and pop and put Monk on for me to listen to/watch. He's a good hubby.

I still haven't had anything much to eat except popsicles and pop and now a few Cheerios. Jeff also got me Tylenol to take for the achiness which has made a big difference. I didn't want to take Advil because of having an empty stomach. So, I feel a little bit better, but I'm so tired of lying down/sitting all day. And I've taken several naps.

Greta has been my constant companion. She hasn't moved from her spot on the bed all day. It's kind of amazing that she hasn't wanted to go out, eat, get a drink. Jeff has offered to take her downstairs, and out, and feed her, but she just looks at him and doesn't move. She really would stay in bed all day if someone were around to keep her company! (He finally did scoop her up and take her out for a walk even though she didn't look interested. She'll probably be up all night now...)

I'm not sure if I'll be able to teach my science class tomorrow. Karen has offered to teach it for me which is very nice. It takes the pressure off if I'm really not up to it, and it prevents the kids from missing a class. She's such a good teacher, that she can wing it and it'll still be better than what I can do winging it! I read the chapter and looked at the power points, but that's all the prep I can do.

Tomorrow, I was also supposed to go and stuff Easter eggs for the egg hunt on Saturday. I just said I couldn't do that. I'll need every minute to get science stuff together if I do teach.

I feel like God is teaching me that I am vulnerable to all of the things other people struggle with too. In the past, I so rarely forgot anything important, so rarely got sick enough to have to stay in bed all day, that it was easy to think those things just don't happen to me--I'm immune, or something. But, I have been very humbled by my many forgetful moments, and now this illness reminds me that no matter how careful I may be to prevent it, I can still get the flu. I guess I'm just human like everyone else!

I'm praying that no one else here gets it. Abby is planning to have friends over on Friday for her birthday, and that would be so disappointing if she got sick. However, she and I have kept our distance today, so maybe she will avoid it. Jeff has had to be around me, but I'm praying he'll stay healthy too.

We all have to be healthy for Kaite's return on Saturday, and I certainly don't want to infect Hannah when she comes home to see us this weekend too! She still has a couple of weeks to finish and too much to do to be sick.

Yesterday was a good day overall until the night part of it. School went fine and I rested some when I got home before making dinner. I had to go to Target to get refried beans for the taco salad because I realized I didn't have any after I started making it. Again, why don't I have refried beans? It was also kind of frustrating--though now it doesn't seem like a big deal. I ran over there, couldn't find them at first, and finally did. Was feeling like a loser--like I was losing my marbles, and then when I was walking down the main aisle to check out, a little, tiny girl was singing in her cart, "Don't give up! Keep on trying! Don't give up! Keep on trying!" I had to laugh and think, "OK, I won't give up--I'll keep on trying even when I forget stuff and don't have it all together." God's little reminder to me!

So, that is the scoop around here. Prayers for a quick recovery are much appreciated. I am praying for Kaite's sore throat, and Hannah's much work to do, and that Abby has a good birthday on Friday. I feel ready for another nap! Until later, dear readers!

Little sibs--Check. Small group--Check. Lunch after church--Check.

Saturday was kind of a weird day as it is whenever Kaite is traveling. It really shouldn't affect our day because we can't do anything about anything she's doing, but we always feel a little in limbo until we know she's arrived at her destination. I asked why we can track packages and know when they have left certain locations and arrived at others, and yet, we can't do that with people. Jeff said something about privacy, yada, yada, yada.... :) People wouldn't HAVE to give out their tracking number if they didn't want to! :)

I did have time to make a cake for today (more later) and drink some coffee and read my Lucky magazine in the morning. Jeff gave himself a haircut. We finally went for a walk--I also was kind of waiting for it to warm up and get nicer since the forecast had said "high of 65" for Saturday. It was cloudy and only 50s, but when we finally went for a walk, it did get brighter and warmer. Turned into a very nice sunny late afternoon.

We went to Marc's to get stuff for a salad for small group, then to Wal-Mart to get some other stuff, got home just in time to make the salad before people started to arrive. Whew! That's the beauty of not having to cook the main course! Kyle made lasagna (veggie) and Alycia made regular lasagna. Justin and Laura brought Texas Toast--and I thought horrified the French would be at the treatment of that bread. When I took it out of the box/package, it was completely covered in slippery, thick buttery stuff. 9 grams of fat/piece! It toasted nicely in the oven, but oh my...

Kyle had said Taylor would be here for dinner with a friend and then leave before the study, and so we assumed that meant a little person friend...it was an adult friend of Lisa's however, so that threw us off a little. Don't know why, but it was just a surprise, and I had to re-group! She was very nice and took Taylor to see a movie after dinner.

We told everyone that we needed to leave at 9pm to pick up the girls at Kent, so they all left right before that. We actually left around 9:15pm after cleaning up a little bit more. We still got there before the movie was over and waited for them in the student center parking lot. We took them back to the dorm, loaded up stuff, and said goodbye to Hannah, and took them home. We got home around 11pm.

Then to bed and up for music this morning, then I was in the nursery with Rosie, and church--good day--several new families and a great worship set and message. We ordered pizza after church and took it to James and Jenny's house for lunch. They live in Bath which is a beautiful area, but full of twists, turns, and hills. They are a really nice family and we talked and laughed a lot. Left around 3pm and got home in time for Abby to leave again and go to GVUMC. She's had a very busy weekend!

So now I need to unpack things from Little Sibs weekend and wash some towels, do the grocery list and definitely go for a walk! Our thermometer today when we got home said 90 degrees!!! The high is supposed to be 80. Oh yeah, I remember what this feels like! Being warm!! Opening windows, using the secret screen, lovely!

It sounded like everyone had a really fun time at Kent. The girls were joking around that Hannah didn't let them out of the room, made them clean her room and do her homework all weekend... :) But they really went to a carnival, swam, watched a couple of movies, ate at Eastway, and other fun things I'm sure. Ehler wasn't feeling great--sore throat, I think. I hope Hannah stays healthy for the last few weeks of school, and that Ehler feels better today.

Kaite sounds like she is having a good start to her week in Spain. Not sure of her plans for the week exactly, but I know God has her there for a reason, and He will show her what that is. And WE are excited that it is less than a week until she gets home to Ohio!! Sounds so much less exotic than France or Spain... Oh well, it's still home, and it's where God has us, exotic or not!

And now I'm off to do what I must do. Until later, dear readers!

Little Sibs Weekend Begins!

We just got back from dropping off Abby and the four Karen girls at Kent! Whew! I hope Hannah and Abby are ready for this! They were excited and full of energy.

All did not start out great however. As I was talking to Hannah on the phone on the way up, I realized that I forgot their permission papers that we had worked so hard to get signed, etc. Grrrr....How could I have forgotten yet another important thing? Well, they had been lying on the table, but since we had people over on Wednesday night, I had to move them over to my stacks of stuff, and it never occurred to me to even get them back out. So, we were too far away to go back, (never mind that traffic was awful going south at 6:15pm on Friday), so Jeff used the printer at UV and printed new ones, but it took a long time. Thankfully, Ehne Thau's stuff was at Ni Doh's house which is very close to the Eh's. So we didn't have to drive all the way to her house too. We still left Akron at 7pm which is what we expected.

Then we went to Sto-Jo and met Hannah, dropped off stuff and printed tickets for the girls--Hannah needed new ink, so she couldn't do it before we got there. We rushed over to Eastway to check in, our line, the S-Z line, was empty, so we walked right up, got our stuff (Josie was checking us in), and it was so easy. We left to go to the Student Center to eat, and as we were driving away, I got the T-shirts out so the girls could see them. Unfortunately, they had given us three child smalls instead of three adult smalls, so we had to go back. No way EDD, EDP, and Ehne Thau could wear child smalls! I mean, maybe EDP, but it would be really small. So Hannah and I went back and got it fixed, but yet another little glitch.

Then at the Student Center Jump was closed and Ambrosia--seemed funny on little sibs weekend...but we got Nathan's stuff, and Jeff stood in line for a long time for Subway, but I guess it wasn't really that much longer than us. It was good after we ate to finally get to talk--or really, listen--to each of the girls. They had things to tell me all about. Ehler got an award last night and had a ceremony with it. EDP had school stuff to tell me, Abby had a story to tell me too. Ehne Thau always has stories.

Oh, and I did call it, didn't I? I said she'd call today at 6am when "I sleep!" Uh huh...6:12am...Ring Ring, it's Ehne Thau! I'll bet she falls asleep fast tonight. :)

So after we had talked a while, it was around 9pm, and we left so they could still do something fun tonight. There was a Wii thing in Johnson, and I took Despicable Me for them to watch, since I knew the movie at the Rec probably wasn't going to happen--couldn't get there by 8pm. They'll have a lot of fun and make many fond memories. I am just praying for H and A to be able to handle helping everyone get food. They don't know the routine and it's hard to help so many of them at once. But there's a free lunch at the Rec tomorrow, so that may be easier. They are such pleasant, happy girls. Jeff and I were commenting on the way out, how little fighting, pouting, selfishness, cliques there are among those girls. They laugh a lot and are lots of fun, but they listen really well, and they are very considerate too. It should be a fun night!

Glad to hear that Katie made it to Paris, and I'm praying for her travels tomorrow. Jeff said on the way home, "I hope she remembers to go to the right airport. It's not the one she flew into before..." Great! Now I have something else to worry--I mean, pray--about! So, I am praying that if for some reason she forgets, that God reminds her of it in time--unlike me forgetting the papers or the food for Cindy and remembering when it was too late to fix it!

And now, I am going to bed early to make up for the early phone call this morning--although, 10:10pm isn't really early--just on time. Until later, dear readers!

Just a short recap of the day

Cindy was very gracious in her reply to my apology email. She claims she told Mike to tell me not to make her anything special and that there was plenty of other food, and she tries not to eat much meat during Lent anyway. So, according to her, it was all good. It made me feel much better anyway.

I talked to Ann and MaryAnn at lunch, and then Linda and Carol tonight at Bible study, and I also feel much more normal in the world of very busy women who forget things. Seems to not just be MY brain after all.

It's 10:20pm so this is short, but I did laundry, worked on school, talked to Mom, went to Panera with A and MA, worked more on school. Talked to Hannah (yay!), walked, made dinner, and went to Linda's. Very nice to actually get to talk to people, but I didn't get all of my school prep done. Guess I have to do it tomorrow.

Ehne Thau called at Linda's house and said she and EDP got invited to go somewhere on Saturday and could we pick them up and have them home by 4pm? I told her I had to talk to Mr. Jeff, but on the way home, I decided they would just have to pick which thing they wanted to do, because gas is approaching $4/gallon, and we would have to drive to Kent on Friday, Sat. afternoon, and Sat. eve. or everyone would have to leave earlier Saturday, and I didn't think that would be fair to EDD, Ehler and Abby. I tried to ask her when she was going to bed, because she called at 9:20pm, and she said, "You can call me late." So I called her back at 9:40pm and her mom said, "She sleep!" Kind of like, "of course she's sleeping! It's late!" Oh well. I tried. She'll probably call here at 6am tomorrow when "I sleep!"

So I guess we'll see what happens about that. I feel bad to make them miss something, but it sounds like they were just told about it tongight, so I don't feel too bad about it really. And whichever thing they pick, it's fine with me. But pick they must.

So, now I must choose to go to bed. I felt sad when I read Katie's blog tonight. I always feel sad about goodbyes. I know that Isabelle especially will miss her, and I feel sorry for her about that. But I also feel really happy that it's only one week until Kaite comes home again! And I know that Katie has had a wonderful semester there, and that it was a priceless adventure with many happy memories. Looking forward to hearing about the Spain adventure next, and I'm praying that all of the traveling part goes well, and that the week is a lovely end to a lovely semester. Until later, dear readers!

I'm sliiiiippppping.....

Oh, my. My brain is slipping. I was actually glad to hear that Katie forgot someone's name today because it makes me think that maybe it's not just me getting old. We had the leadership team over for dinner, and I was planning to make some chicken for Cindy because I know that she's allergic to pork, and I thought about it several times during the day. However, I didn't write it down, so I totally forgot to DO it. So I realized it while everyone was getting their food, and I debated about apologizing then, offering her some chicken corn chowder we had, but then I decided that she would be all embarrassed, and it would make her more uncomfortable than if I just apologized later. There was salad and fruit too and dessert and chips and I hope she didn't starve. I tried to think of something quick to offer her, but even the lunch meat we had was ham. What a loser. I am.

I sent her an email apologizing for being the super-loser hostess. Hopefully, she will forgive me. :( That's just how my brain has been lately. Slipping.

Otherwise, today was a wonderful day. I put the pulled pork in the crock pot before I went to school, and all went well at BOW. Karen is being the energizer bunny and getting things rolling and working on schedules, etc.

I went to GE afterward, alone, because Abby had driven to school and come back so she could be sure to be home in time to babysit. We unloaded everything, and I took Greta for a quick walk (she's been moving slowly for the past couple of days, but she ran a little on our walk), then I decided it was nice enough to go for a real walk. The thermometer hit almost 60 degrees!! Yay!! It wasn't really sunny at all, but it was much milder.

We had a good meeting after dinner, and everyone was out by 8:30pm ish. They left a lot faster than our small group--small group people all have to change their babies' diapers and put on their kids' jammies before they can leave. (I know, Jeff is wondering how the parents can fit in the kids' jammies...)

So, we cleaned up the kitchen which really wasn't much work. And I kind of watched American Idol, but not really. Kinda zoned. Trying not to beat myself up for forgetting to cook for Cindy. Why is it that we have such a hard time letting mistakes go? Honest mistakes. Yes, I SHOULD have remembered, but I DIDN'T, and there's nothing more I can do about it. Guess it's God's way of keeping us humble. No one is perfect, and some things remind us of that more than others.

I saw Ann today when I was out, and she asked if I wanted to go to Panera for lunch tomorrow. Of course! So that is good--I can work on school in the morning, and have lunch out. Maybe some time out will clear my brain!

Greta woke us up around 5am this morning because she was thirsty--she ate her food late last night since I was gone until later. I had a hard time going back to sleep and it seemed like it was too quick when it was time to get up. So, I think I will go to bed now. It's already after 10pm...Until later, dear readers!

And today it was snowing...again.

My blog seems to be the weather forecast of the day, but I think right now I am so eager for some warm days that STAY around, that it's kind of a focus of mine--and everyone else in Ohio too. It really was snowing again today after 60 degrees yesterday. The thermometer seems stuck at 40 degrees. But thankfully, we didn't have any of those crazy wind storms that often accompany that kind of drop in temperature.

I told Jeff tonight, that I think my brain is tired (and making my whole self feel tired) from not knowing so many things about the coming months. He asked me a question, and I just don't know--depends on girls' jobs, depends on when Claire is here, depends on....We just don't know yet, and it makes me tired. The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality guy calls it "waiting in the confusing in-between." That pretty much sums it up.

I am really looking forward to Claire's visit, but as I was talking to Kaite today, we talked about hoping she won't get bored here and wish to go home earlier than planned. While Katie's been in France, she has been able to walk out the door and go shopping, have lunch, take walks, go to school, meet friends, go to church, visit other cities, etc. Poor Claire can do none of that without us, since here we have to drive everywhere and she's younger too, so will have to be with us all the time. I hope that's not too much togetherness for all of us. Me included. I have never hosted someone that long at all--not even family. And I am kind of a private, like my family-only time kind of person. But, I realize what an opportunity this is for her, and so if she wants to be here for 5 weeks, I will trust God to give me grace to be a gracious hostess for 5 weeks. I'll try not to be selfish of our family's summer time together too, and remember how much we enjoyed Hisa's visit at Thanksgiving (also a very traditionally just us family time). God has good plans for all of us.

We worked on school stuff this morning, and we went to UV this afternoon. EDD needed a water bottle for a school trip tomorrow, so she went with me to Marc's after UV and we got her one. Along with a binder for Ehne Thau--she had asked me earlier, and hers is falling apart. They are really excited to go to Little Sibs weekend at Kent with Hannah! We will pick them up at UV around 6:30pm when their Kids' Club is over, and we'll probably have to take them to get their stuff at their homes, then head to Kent. They may need to eat something too because they said they don't always like the food at KC. I told them they could stay for Tangled on Saturday night if their moms didn't mind them getting home really late on Saturday. So that's the plan so far. And I got all of their papers signed by their moms.

I went to the bread store after dropping Abby off to get buns for the pulled pork I'm making tomorrow night for our leaders' dinner. But it was closed, so I'll have to get them at GE. It should be a fun evening, and everyone is helping by bringing some food, so that makes it fun for me too.

Katie and Hannah each had some exciting news today--Katie's missing wallet was returned to the Institute! So, although the money was gone, at least she has all of her IDs for traveling this weekend. And Hannah got a note from Ben at Panera that she has a job this summer! Yay! Things to celebrate in the midst of the unknowns!

So, I am hanging in there, looking forward to Katie coming home, Spring Break, Easter, having all five of us in one place again. That's the best! Until later, dear readers!

It's WARM today!! But raining....

Saturday night our small group was fun and zoo-y as ever! We got pizza, so the cooking was easy. Except for Jeff who had to get everyone's pizza orders. :)

I felt really tired and discouraged after everyone left though. Like I just keep doing things, and it feels like it's not making any difference. Like in our small group, we can hardly have a conversation without yelling over the kids, and I wonder if anyone is getting anything out of it. Maybe it's more work for the parents just to come than it is worth the effort for them.

And I feel like I need Spring Break. I'm tired of just keeping up the same routine every day--Monday, school. Tuesday, prepping school and UV. Wednesday, school, errands, Thursday, prepping for school, and Friday, cleaning. And every day I have to work to fit in walking and making dinner and a quiet time. It feels like a battle just to fit in those things let alone anything I really want to do that's extra. Shopping? No. Thrift store? No. Meeting friends? Not very often. Reading a book? That's about all I've been able to do, squeezed in between the "have to do's." So, I think I'm just feeling a leetle beet burned out.

I told Jeff all of that, and then on Sunday, Mike's message was all about hope for right now based on the hope we have for eternity. Do not grow weary of doing good. Yeah--he just always seem to know what people need to hear. So, I will keep going, and trying to make sure that what I do for my everyday jobs, I'm really doing for the Lord. But I still AM looking forward to spring break!

We did get some very exciting news on Sunday too! Kaite said that Claire is allowed to come to visit us this summer!!! We are all so excited! We got to skype with Katie and Isabelle and Claire and briefly "met" Herve. They are so sweet and funny--they laugh a lot--and it was SO cool to get to hear Kaite speak French when she was translating for us back and forth. So, the details are being worked out, and we shall soon know when exactly she will be here. I hope she has a good time and that she learns a lot and feels comfortable here. They have been so kind to Kaite, and we are happy to be able to say "thank you" in such a tangible way.

It made me realize that I really have NO idea what this summer will look like because never in a million years would I have thought up this idea! So I just told God that whatever He has planned for us this summer is OK with me. I will go with it, and I will stop trying to figure it out. I'm looking forward to knowing, but I know I can't know it all now. Patience!

Jeff and Abby went to IMPACT last night, but I stayed home, went for a walk, and worked on grocery stuff. I did go for a walk after my dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup. Nice that it's not dark yet at 8pm! We watched "Secret Millionaire" for a little bit--very cool to see people who have a lot of money give it away! That would be SO much fun!!

Today, Karen called at 8am and said April was sick and wouldn't be there, and she warned me that she wouldn't be there until 8:45am. So Abby and I had a little extra time. It's warmer and so much better temperature-wise today (60s). However, it started raining this morning and has been all day now. There were some really big lightning/thunderclaps during the day too. But now it's just steadily raining. It's supposed to be colder again tomorrow, so we might have more wind and storms tonight as the cold front comes through again. I was glad Greta was downstairs when we got home.

Abby has to babysit an extra day this week so she'll be busy, and we're having a leader's dinner here on Wednesday night. Making pulled pork though, so that will be simple. We're also planning to go to the new family's house on Sunday for lunch--James and Jenny. That should be fun. We're getting Donato's pizza--yum!

Well, I guess Jeff won't be golfing tonight, and I should therefore, make a good dinner. Abby suggested soup. So I should go and make it. I'd rather take a nap. Rainy afternoons are great for that. Ah well...Until later, dear readers!

A Quick Catch-Up

So, I haven't blogged for two days. Weird. But it's been so busy, I haven't had time. Thursday, we babysat for the Eatons which went fine. D, H, and E are very calm when it's just them. But that meant that Abby and I had to do all of our work on Thursday afternoon so the day was gone before I knew it. I also had to make a real dinner because I hadn't cooked much this week. Chicken, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, peas, and banana cc muffins. Ahh...very satisfying!




Friday I cleaned and washed sheets since Meme was coming over to spend the night. She got here around 4pm, and I was making quiche for dinner. I made two so that we'd have leftovers for lunch today. Jeff and Abby went to see The Civil Wars, and Jeff was able to stay because he found a ticket for Brandon. They enjoyed it a lot even though they had to stand all night. Meme and I just chatted all evening and caught up from the winter of events. That was nice too.




We've been trying to figure out Easter with the family, and that has been quite an ordeal. This morning, we had coffee, and Meme's idea was to have Easter on Good Friday, because that's when Lisa suggested since she has a wedding at 4pm on Saturday. The main problem with that is that Hannah is still in school and has class until noon IF she skips her Chinese class. There's always the possibility that her colloquium teacher wouldn't meet for class that day, but if she has it, then Jeff will have to go and pick her up and not get to Paul and Lynne's until later. But then we could eat all together and we'd have to leave to go to church that evening. It makes for a very busy, rushed day for our family, but I don't think we have any other choice. So, I'm trying to adjust my thinking to be OK with it, but I'm not completely there yet. Plus, Meme talked to Lynne and Lisa about it before we had a chance to hear back from an email I sent to Hannah, so now they're all set with it, but we don't even have all the information about Hannah's schedule yet. Oh well...




Meme wanted to go to the yarn shop to look for yarn to make these necklaces like someone did in Florida, so we did, and then Jeff called and said the Saturn wouldn't start at Staples. He had gone there to find out about why my computer says the battery needs to be replaced. So I came home and got the van and went to Staples, and Jeff tried to jump the car, but it didn't work. He called Jeff Marshall and he gave him some ideas to try. It seemed like we were going to have to take the battery out and take it to Wal-Mart to have it tested. But just then a man in a pick-up truck came by and asked if Jeff needed a jump. Jeff explained the situation, and the man asked, "Do you have a hammer?" Jeff said, "I have a wrench." So the guy gets out and bangs on the connections a little and tightens something, and Jeff tries to start the car again. It started right up! Amazing!! He said the connections got loose from the vibrations and they needed to be cleaned and tightened. Problem solved for free! Wow! Very amazing! Very thankful!




We had quiche for lunch, and Meme went back to Wooster after that. We walked in rain/wind/clouds. It cleared up some after we got home and then rain/snowed and now is sunnier again. Strange weather. I'm looking so forward to some WARM weather. It feels like it's been cold FOREVER! Four solid months IS a long time to be cold and snowed on. We still had to read our chapters for tonight, and Jeff had to figure out the pizza situation too. Slightly confusing. And now it is 4:30pm and people are supposed to be coming in 1/2 hour, so I had better go and get things ready. I did want to post a quick catch-up though. I've talked to Katie some, but haven't talked to Hannah much, so I wanted to let everyone know what's been up. Looking forward to catching up around the dinner table!! :) Until later, dear readers!

Snow? What? Again? March 30?

And now there is SNOW! Like lots of snow. Like inches. Like I totally wasn't expecting it at all. I think the weather said a 20% chance of RAIN, so I didn't even think about it as an issue today. It started during science class when we were going to go outside for an experiment, but the wind was blowing so hard, and the kids didn't have winter coats since it was sunny this morning, so we went back in. I'm not that devoted to science!



Yesterday was non-stop all day. I worked on science prep in the morning, then walked after lunch, then went to UV, then went to Ehler's to help her with homework, then picked up Abby and EDP and took EDP home, then took Abby to dance, then went to Panera to meet Alycia and Angie. Then picked Abby up at 9:30pm and home. Whew! I was too tired to blog.



After talking to Angie and Alycia, I was thankful I had already made it through the stage they are in. I remember the extreme exhaustion, and the unpredictablility of little children (and creativity!), and the struggle to remember that I'm more than a mom--oh yeah, a wife and a person too! But the complete and total sweetness and adorableness of children that age too. It's what saves them and allows them to grow up to be older children! :)



Today I feel like everything went so fast. I had a hard time getting up as usual. Even though it was sunny. And I got stuff ready for school, went to BOW, then Abby and I decided that we should take her home so that she could go to Chipotle at 2pm for the open interviews. I took the van back to school, ate and taught. Loaded up and went to the library.



In the morning we had been looking for The Boggart book that the library said was overdue, and we couldn't find it. So when I went to the library, I found it on the shelf and took it to the desk. Got that fine off my card! But not the one for the books I forgot were due on Tuesday!



Went to GE too and I realized I only had $25 left in my grocery envelope since we get paid tomorrow. But I wanted to get a couple of things that were on sale for today, so I did and it was $26! Yay! I unloaded stuff and found out that Abby had gone to Chipotle and was told you have to be 18 to work there. Would have been nice to know that before. But it wasn't on the application, website, and no one mentioned it when she picked up an application. Oh well. She can cross that off the list.



Then we were totally lazy. I didn't walk in protest of the snow. Abby watched "Becoming Jane" and I just laid on the couch and read a little and watched the movie with her. Then I got to skype with Katie. It was late there so she typed and I talked, but it worked! And I got to see her cute hair again and her cute scarf! She mentioned this very exciting idea of maybe having Claire visit us this summer if it could work out. Wouldn't that be awesome?! It would be an honor and a privilege to host her after the kindness her family has shown to Katie this semester! We could be improving international relationships between America and France. And wouldn't Ehne Thau be excited to meet someone from France where Thomas Jefferson visited! :)



And then I made myself a grilled cheese with an apple and some whole grain chips, for dinner. I had those WITH the grilled cheese, not ON it. Now I'm blogging and Jeff got home from his meeting, and Abby should be home soon too. Tomorrow we will babysit for the youngest three Eatons while they go look at some preschools for Zakk. He's getting to be such a big boy!



So somehow I also have to prepare for history and language arts while babysitting--hmm... I got an email from Meme today and she may come to see us on Friday/Saturday. Great to have her back in driving distance. We're trying to work out Easter plans too. It's a little more complicated this year because Aunt Lisa has a wedding on the Saturday before Easter, so our usual day won't work. :( We'll figure it out though! Since I haven't talked to my hubby all day, I think I will go and talk to him now--in between Amerian Idol performances of course. Until later, dear readers!

And then there was Monday...

Sunday was a good day too. We were greeting at church and a new couple came in and wanted to go to Sunday school too--turns out they were neighbors of the Hrubys and Nathan's (Jeremiah's friend who drums with us sometimes) parents. They seemed to like it and so that was good. There were several other new couples there too. One gal from Kent State even with her boyfriend from Georgia. And I talked to the new family--James, Jenny, John, J?, and Joy--about going out for lunch or coming over for dinner. She suggested maybe we come there so their kids would have things to do. So that was encouraging--finally got their last name and a contact number/email for them. I really like Jenny--she's really friendly. Then we had a chili lunch after church which was fun. Made plans with Alycia to go out for coffee on Tuesday while Abby is at dance--we haven't been able to get together much lately, and you just can't really talk at small group. We are going to see if Angie would like to come too--if Jeff can go over and help with kiddos. It felt like I was making plans right and left with people. I told Jeff that now that I am feeling better about life and have had some time off, I could easily start overbooking myself. Like I offered to host a dinner for the leadership team next week too. And then when we went to Kent I asked Lindsay about getting together with them some evening. All great stuff, and people I want to spend time with, but I must maintain constant vigilance not to overdo it. We came home, and we were all pretty tired. Poor Hannah didn't get much rest here this weekend after a very tiring week. She had to pack, I had to ? do something? Can't remember. Then we all went for a walk, Abby went to the 620, and soon after that, we took Hannah back to Kent. We had to be there for the tech rehearsal since she was doing the "snapshot of my journey" about the trip. We were going to go and eat at the student center before church, but nothing was open except that little market and it only had snack things. It was kind of fun being able to pick out whatever we wanted since Hannah has so much money. I got iced tea, a package of PB crackers, and some jalapeno chips. Good tide-me-over until we got home and ate leftovers. Hannah did an awesome job with her talk--she had very little time to work on it and very little sleep, but she pulled it off like a pro! I like h2o--it's a very nice group of people! I had to come home and have Jeff explain how to do these function problems for the SAT class today. It feels like functions just don't stick in my head, but I did understand them better last night. As it turned out, we didn't even get to them in class, but I'm still glad I was prepared. Then I worked on the grocery list and menu until bedtime while watching "Undercover Boss." A very interesting look at many jobs and industries. Today I was super tired when I woke up, but school went well. Karen is a whirlwind of activity, and she is working diligently to get things set up well for next year. I'm so glad she's like that--she makes things happen! We had a delicious taco salad bar for lunch--mmmm. I walked after school--it's still cold, but sunny and pleasant. I had a quiet time and made chicken fried rice for dinner. No Chuck on tonight, so we're planning to watch Monk. Jeff just talked to Jason, and Angie is coming to Panera with Alycia and I, and Jeff is going over to help with the kids! How fun will that be? :) Wouldn't I love to have a nanny cam to watch the evening's activities with 4 kids and Jason and Jeff? Good thing Jeff is such a pro with little ones--and how awesome is it that he volunteered? I didn't ask--he just offered to go over and help Jason so Angie could go. He's a good man! So, that about covers things here. We did talk to the Karen girls about Little Sibs weekend, and it seems like the Eh's and Ehne Thau can all go, so that should be really fun. Hannah is a trooper for being willing to have them all there. THAT will be something they will always remember!! "Remember the time we went to stay with Hannah at college?" I haven't had any time to read or work on becentsable stuff lately, but that is to be expected with all that we had planned this weekend. Next weekend, Jeff and Abby are going to see the Civil Wars on Friday night, so I'll do that stuff then, and Abby has something on Saturday with Brandon et al so we won't be having the Karen girls over then either. But we do have small group on Saturday night. Oh, and I told them (the Karen girls) that they were going to be mad at Katie. They said, "Did she cut her hair?" Jeff showed them pictures, and they said it didn't look like Katie anymore. But they didn't seem particularly shocked or anything! Ehler did ask why she wanted to cut her hair. I just explained that she had had the same hair cut since high school, and she wanted to look more grown up now and try something different. Maybe they'll understand some day! OK, I guess that will be it for now. Until later, dear readers!

Busy, Busy Weekend!

It has indeed been a busy, busy weekend thus far. Friday I worked all day on cleaning the house and making it ready for a group of 18. I rearranged the dining room to make room for 9 adults. I was going to have the kids sit in there because they could be more squished, but I decided I really wanted the adults to be able to sit around the table all together to talk better. I figured it out after much trying of different things, and I made little place cards so that I could help people sit in the most comfortable place for them.

I also pulled (with Abby's help) the comfy chairs from the living room into the family room so that we could all sit on comfy chairs in there too instead of people having to sit on kitchen chairs. It was kind of cool actually--I just put them in front of the TV with an end table from the basement (again, with Abby's help--my "muscle woman") and the floor lamp from the living room behind the one chair. I liked it, and everyone had a nice place to sit.

And, how weird is this, all 4 of the families arrived EXACTLY at 6pm! Like they had all been waiting at the top of the street and then pulled in at 6pm on the dot! Very cool! However, Dave wasn't with Patty, so I took away a place setting. We chatted--well, THEY all chatted, and I got the food all ready to serve. We had the kids start and then it was time for the adults to start eating, but Patty said she wasn't staying to eat either. So I took away another place setting. Don't know why exactly. But we eventually all got our food, and everything was good--rigatoni, salad, bread, pineapple and grapes, brownies in the cupcake cups with little Reese's cups in them.

It was a little loud at times, but eventually all the kids went to the basement, and the adults gathered in the living room and continued chatting. I think everyone had a good time, and it was great to get to catch up with the Rohrigs. I love those guys!

We went to bed soon after everyone left and we got things cleaned up. Then this morning, Jeff took Hannah for her HepA vaccine--she's done now with that. We got to hear about her trip this week, saw some pictures, and then I made some soup and rice for the Karen girls. We went to pick them up--EDD, EDP, Ehler, BeBin, Ehne Thau, and they decided to ask PawLah to come too. It's sweet how they think of others to invite as long as there are empty seats. :)

We came home, and Abby had put the French fries in the oven, so we ate soon after that. They wanted to play outside--four square--so they did that too. It was cold (30s) but they still wanted to be outside because it was sunny and dry. Would have been lovely if it had been warmer. After lunch, I helped Ehler with some of her preschool teacher homework. Then we watched "Sky High" and the girls drew pictures too.

After the movie, Hannah showed Ehler how to do Sudoku, and I helped EhDahDoe find pictures for a project for school--just 10 pictures of things she likes--puppies, lilies, dresses, and shoes. :)

We were going to take them home after that, but they were playing spoons, Uno, and Wii, and didn't want to leave. I am always happy when they don't want to leave because I know they are happy to be here. I asked Hannah what she wanted for dinner, and she suggested Tortilla Pie, so I put that together super-fast and then we took them home. We stopped at PetsMart after we dropped everyone off and got dog food for Greta--of course for Greta--who else? :)

We ate dinner when we got home, and I made a fruit salad to take to church tomorrow for the chili lunch we're having. I was bushed after I got done with all of that! And now we're watching a very funny episode of Monk--this girl is obsessed with Monk--very funny.

"You're only human," Natalie says to Monk. "No need for name calling," says Monk. :)

OK, I guess that about wraps up the update for now. Until later, dear readers!

Some exciting events today!

The exciting news around here is that Katie got her hair cut really short, and we all love it because it is totally adorable!! I'm glad that I didn't stay awake at 4am worrying about it! See, anxiety is needless...I'm really proud of her for just doing it after thinking about it so much, and I'm really happy that she was rewarded for taking the plunge and taking a risk. My biggest fear was that she would have that horrible, regretful, disappointed feeling I have had when I went to get my hair done and had high expectations and then it didn't turn out as I envisioned. Maybe she just communicates better even in her third language than I do in my first!! :) And she found the right picture which always helps. So, bravo, Katie! Can't wait to see you and your new hair style in person! We got to see her via skype which was fun.

And just after that, I went to meet Karen about BOW stuff. That also was a good meeting. We laughed a lot--I like Karen. We decided we need a meeting with April and DeeDee (who handles the finances) because we don't really know much about the legal and financial workings of BOW. Karen knows more than I do--I just got in the loop this year really. I tried to make sure at the beginning of the meeting that she knew that I totally just want to help her, and I realize April handed it over to HER. I was just there to help since she asked. She said she hopes to work as a team. I feel like I am willing to do whatever is needed since Abby will be there for another year, and I did like teaching this year.

I hope that I have students next year though. One family is moving, Gabe won't be there, one girl will be in high school, and one family is iffy. That leaves 2 of my 6 students. So we may need to advertise too. I can only teach if I have students.

We are also planning to give a survey to the parents to see what they want for next year, and we plan to have a meeting with the parents before school starts to kind of spell out what's up with what we can do and what we need them to do. More communication about expectations and all is good.

If all goes well, I would be teaching the second half of American history, Lang. Arts with literature too, General Science, and a DR high school personal finance class. Assuming there is an interest. Karen has a pretty set amount of students who will be back, so her classes are easier to plan for, but we'll see...Last year at this time I had no idea I'd even be teaching, so much can change between now and then!!

I went for a walk after I got home, and I got the laundry done this morning. I also prepped AH and LA, and I started on SAT, but there were a LOT of problems to do, so I didn't get those done before lunch. Not sure when I will, because this weekend is busy.

I made quiche AGAIN for dinner--seems to be our Thursday night dinner. Then Abby went to see the Middle School musical--Annie--all by herself. She DROVE. To the high school. Katie and Meghan F. were running spots so they were there too. So Jeff and I went to the thrift store for about 45 mins. before it closed. I got a new (brand new) black kind of shiny material coat for winter (hopefully NEXT winter) for $7.50, two tops for $.75 and $1.00, and Jeff bought brand new shorts for $6.00. Not bad for 45 minutes of power shopping.

Then we went to Marc's for some grocery stuff--feeding a lot of people in the next couple of days. Plus we have a chili lunch after church on Sunday, so I have to take stuff for that too. The weekend of large gatherings. I was glad to get to Marc's since I didn't get to go on Tuesday when we were sick. The prices there are just so much better on some things!

Tomorrow I will need to clean and make two batches of rigatoni for the big party tomorrow night. 18 people! So excited to see the Rohrigs again. Lisa is just one of those people who encourages me and motivates me. I am so glad they are making time to spend with us. And really weirdness--there won't be any little bitty kids. Hannah and Abby, 3 Hares, Ian H., and 3 Rohrigs. All big kids now!

Hannah sounds like she had a good week, and I'm looking forward to having her home. It will be fun to hear all about her week. She'll come home to a houseful of people probably depending on timing. Saturday we're having the Karen girls over too, so that will be a busy day, but it will be fun too. She hasn't gotten to see them much this semester. I told them (EDD, EDP, ET, ET) about Little Sibs weekend, so we'll have to explain it more on Saturday.

Well, it is now after 10:30pm, and since I have so very much to do tomorrow, I suppose I should go to bed. I will sleep well knowing that Katie's hair is cut and cute, and Hannah is happy and almost home, and Abby is well, she must be something with a couple of "A's" huh? How about Abby is adorable and around safe and sound? Yeah, it's late! But it's all true! Until later, dear readers!

A kind-of normal day...weird

I feel much better today, but since it is 10pm, this will be a short post. I spent my free time this evening looking at becentsable stuff because I got my email info to sign on as an educator! I watched a couple of video demonstrations of the power points with one of the gals doing the presentation. I definitely have some things to learn, and I need to try some of the techniques they describe, but it's so much more in my "comfort zone" to learn/teach about coupons than, say, physics!! :)

But, along those lines, I got some very interesting and somewhat surprising news yesterday. Karen emailed me saying that April had called her to tell her that she wasn't going to be involved with BOW next year, and could we meet to talk about that. Oh. My. April is the heart of BOW for sure, but after talking to her today, I really admire her ability to hand over her "baby" to Karen so that she can take care of her family's needs. So, Karen and I are meeting tomorrow afternoon to talk about what that means. Karen will be in charge, and I just want to be helpful to her in whatever way I can. It should be interesting!

I got a walk in between the rain today. Actually, it rained this morning, then when we came out of BOW at 2pm, it was beautiful, but by the time we got home from GE/library, it was raining again, and even thundering a little. There was hail south of here--Holmes County had some big hail!

We watched American Idol tonight, and it was actually very good. It's a lot more jovial without Simon, and probably a lot more likely to gloss over problems with performances too, but there is some really good, unique, interesting talent.

OK, here's a quote from Linchpin for the day: Anxiety is practicing failure in advance. Anxiety is needless and imaginary. It's fear about fear, fear that means nothing....Anxiety is diffuse and focuses on possibilities in an unknown future, not a real and present threat....Anxiety doesn't protect you from danger, but from doing great things. It keeps you awake at night and foretells a future that's not going to happen.

He has some very interesting thoughts on how to deal with anxiety--to "sit with it" and not try to always reassure ourselves that everything is OK, but just to refuse to react to the anxiety and let it be there. Pretty soon, it burns itself out. It's related to the anxiety about trying something new that might fail, and how anxiety can prevent us from trying and producing something that is true art--something that produces change, that connects with others, that gives a gift to someone. This is a book I would really like us all to read and discuss. I don't agree with all of it, but it certainly has a lot of great ideas about working in a way that is satisfying and meaningful.

The buzz on the weather is the possibility of snow tonight. I'm hoping not, but it's March, so even if it does snow, it won't last too long. I really hope Hannah won't be freezing out there in the great outdoors! I wondered today if she was out in a downpour. I hope not! :)

Read Katie's blog and chatted with her a little bit. She may be getting her hair cut tomorrow--very exciting!! Praying it goes great! And glad she is done with most of her work for now!

Abby made her maiden voyage tonight to Bible study at GVUMC! All went well! Yahoo! But Erin was sad she didn't get to give Abby a ride home!

I called Ehne Thau to see if she could come over on Saturday, and I asked her if she was having a good week. She said, "Kind of. It's kind of, because my friend cussed me today." I asked if she was mad at ET, and she said, "I don't know--she just cussed me." I always feel bad for them when they have school trouble, but I guess it happens. :(

Well, I must go to bed. Laundry and working on school tomorrow, plus meeting Karen at Panera in the afternoon. Until later, dear readers!

An unexpected Tuesday at home

When I went to bed last night, I felt like I was getting sick. Chills, achy, scratchy throat, headache...When I woke up this morning, I felt a little better, but my head still hurt and I was kind of woozy--dizzy-like.

Abby felt better tummy-wise, but was still feeling woozy too.

So, by 11am, we decided we had better not go to UV. Partly because Abby couldn't teach her ballet class, and partly because I didn't feel good about driving up there feeling dizzy. So we called in and stayed home. I felt a little like I was playing hooky even though I felt legitimately sick, but I'm so used to just pushing through it and doing what needs to be done anyway, that it felt weird to say, "I'm staying home and resting." I did prepare for my science class tomorrow and then I rested in the afternoon before making dinner.

We had shepherd's pie--ground turkey with mixed veggies and cream of chicken soup with leftover mashed potatoes on top. It was quick and easy and comforting too.

I'm really liking my latest book that I've been reading: Linchpin. So encouraging to try new things and not be held back by fear or just trying to fit in. Speaking of which, Jeff and I signed me up to be a BeCentsable educator officially last night! Yay! (I can't remember if I did that before or after I blogged last night.) But I'm excited to get the info and start working on the training materials.

I got a really good email from Cheryl today about her brother-in-law, Tom. He is doing well after surgery last week to remove a brain tumor. Although it is cancer, and he will have to go through chemo and radiation, they have seen God work in amazing ways in his stay at the hospital. So, please keep praying for him and their whole family. They are a great example of family coming together to provide love and support and help, and of trusting God in all the things life brings.

Read Hannah's new blog today, and I'm encouraged that she is doing something to make a change for a cause she believes in. According to Seth Godin in Linchpin, that is art. Art is doing something to make a difference, make connections, cause a change in the people who receive it, break the status quo. With that definition, we are all capable of creating art in any field or area or job or situation. Very interesting concept! Go, Hannah!

I also hope the spring break trip is going well for Hannah and company. The weather hasn't been too bad so far this week--here at least, and they aren't that far away.

Hope Katie's paper-writing is going well too. Praying for everyone's stuff!!

Abby is working hard on filling out and handing in applications for jobs. I'm praying for great jobs for all of you girls this summer! And maybe I can get BeCentsable off the ground too.

Well, my eyes are tired and my head is heavy, so I think I will go and lie down. Even though it is darker, and it rained this afternoon a little, the birds are singing, and it still feels like spring. But it was a good afternoon to be able to rest. I didn't feel like I was missing out on being outside on a lovely day.

So, until later, dear readers!

The First Day of Spring--For Real

Today felt like the first day of spring--for real. It was breezy, warm, sunny, and just felt like a real spring day--more like May at the end of finals week when you look around and notice there are leaves on the trees, and think, "Wow, when did THAT happen?"

I will try NOT to think about the weather forecast for snow at the end of the week....I will NOT think about snow... I will NOT....

We did notice that our neighbor across the street who had the snowman up on her door took down the snowman and replaced it with a spring wreath. We were wondering if she was strict about waiting until the first day of spring to change it, and well, maybe she is! I wasn't watching to see if she changed it at 7:21pm Sunday night when spring officially arrived!

Before we went to school today, we stopped at Target and got treats for my students since all of them got a 100% on their history tests. It was good we did too, because the history lesson today was long, but they stayed with me, didn't look drowsy, asked good questions, and were a generally terrific class.

However, I did an "uh-oh" last week that I just realized this week. Karen lets me borrow her projector for science on Wed. and we pack it up and put it in the closet and lock it over the weekend. Today she came in and asked if I had gotten out her projector this morning. I said no. She said she couldn't find it, so I went with her to look. We thought maybe someone had taken it out of the closet over the weekend which would be very strange. When we went into the room, there it was where I often set it before putting it away...After thinking about it, I had been helping a student with questions--the one who said I told them all the wrong answers to the study guide questions--yeah, that was stressful...

And the boys were putting away the tables so Abby was putting away my stuff and took the projector in the other room to keep it from getting knocked around, as we always do, but I had never gone in there to finish putting it away and locking the cabinet, so there it sat all weekend....thankfully, it worked fine and no one had bothered it at all. And thankfully, Karen is very understanding, gracious, and forgiving. She said, "I'd much rather it be you forgetting something of mine, than me forgetting something of yours. Isn't that selfish of me?" (laughing). So, all's well, and now I'll (hopefully) never forget again. We'll have a system of making sure it gets where it needs to go! We've done so well all year...

That's something that would really have bothered me in the not-so-distant past. I would have felt like a "bad person" for not being responsible for something so important to someone else. But even though I did feel bad about it, I didn't let it go beyond apologizing and making sure I do better in the future. Everyone makes mistakes, and it certainly wasn't intentional!

So, after school we went to the banks to transfer money for Katie, and Abby picked up some job apps. Her tummy has been hurting today/tonight--hope she's feeling better tomorrow.

I took a walk when we got home, had a quiet time, and then looked at the BeCentsable website to see about the educator idea again. And what I found was quite exciting!!

They have changed it so that instead of paying $250 to sign up and then getting free registrations to "pay you back," now you just pay $39 and don't have to pay them for registrations any more. They just changed it in February!! I'm so glad we decided to wait until after Jeff's bonus arrived, and now that cost is so much less, and it's so much less complicated too. You can charge whatever you want and keep all the money for classes. So, tonight I signed up!! Yay!! Looking forward to seeing what it's like. It will take a couple of days to get the info.

We watched Chuck. Very interesting...Now we have to wait for 2 weeks until the next one.

And now I am tired. My eyes hurt--sunshine, wind, and spring stuff...And I have been ready to go to bed since 9pm! But I made it until 10pm, so now there's nothing stoppin' me from crashing in my leetle beddy-by. So, until later, dear readers!

A Boring, Un-clever Title

I'll try to make the title of this post boring and un-clever to prevent post posting punish-ing.

:)

It has been a much more pleasant day than I expected weather-wise after listening to the forecast last night. The weather girl said the morning would be nice, but it would rain in the afternoon. It's 6pm and still nice. So we got to walk after lunch and that makes me happy!

Sundays always go so fast. We were at church from 8:45am-12:45am so that was a lot of our day. But then we came home and I unloaded the dishwasher and started lunch. I did an uncharacteristic thing and ran the dishwasher with a not-full load last night simply because we used up all of our silverware and most of our cups. We usually use all of the plates too with having small group, but because we had chili, we used disposable bowls--I just don't have enough for soup AND salad for almost 20! So much better than washing it all by hand, and I'm sure just about as economical and all.

Kayla came home with us from church so she and Abby could work on the flag for Space Pirates vs. Navi. It looks cool--splatter paint! Nice enough outside to paint it out there, and now it's drying on the dining room table. We had grilled cheese for lunch, potato chips and fruit with some leftover pop from last night. It was a very satisfying lunch with lots of salt and fat and comfort food. Not something I can do every day, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

We walked after that and skyped with Katie for a little while. Always good! She has met some interesting people and has now been in Tours for long enough to "run into" people she knows at the park, etc. And only one more week of regular classes. Then two weeks of some other class(es)? and then Spain! That will be exciting too. If she were just at home and getting ready to go to Spain in a couple of weeks, that would be super exciting! But now that she's in France already, it seems like just another leg of the journey--until you think that "she's going to SPAIN!!"

And while we were talking, Jeff took K and A to the 620 stuff, then we sorted music into the folders--there was much music, and Jeff took it upon himself to put it all in order--thanks, Honey!!

Then I made a frozen pizza (yes, we are going all out on good nutrition today!) and sent it on plates for the three of them to eat when they get to church. Dinner on Sunday night is always tricky, and when Abby is gone at 4pm, there's no time to eat. So, at least it's something besides just the chips and pop that is the snack at youth group.

I worked on the grocery list and menu, am blogging, and will next eat my two pieces of pizza for dinner. Then I need to have a quiet time, review stuff for school tomorrow and get things packed up. I was telling Jeff that teaching on Monday has really affected my view of Sunday night. It's really hard to be gone all evening, come home at 8:30pm and have to do the school review and packing then. So he has graciously agreed to me staying home and he goes with Abby and helps out as needed at youth group. Plus, I don't feel like I serve any purpose when I go to YG now. When we went before when the Eatons were leading, I felt like I was supporting them and helping them. Plus we were going to LT in the summer, so it was good to know the kids, etc. Now I just feel unnecessary. So it's even harder to go and feel unnecessary and then have to come home and do all of that other stuff.

Andrew has said he can go to LT this year, now we just need a female leader to go. There are only 4 boys and 2 girls signed up so far, so one leader of each should be sufficient. Of course, the two girls are Abby and Kayla, and they don't really want their moms to come--and we just happen to be the female leaders who went last year. So, I'm praying that someone else can go. It would be good for all involved.

Mike's message today was really good. He's been teaching about the Sermon on the Mount, and today was "Ask, Seek, Knock..." and he focused on our view of God and how He answers our prayers. How sometimes God's answers may SEEM like a rock instead of bread, but they never are. He used the clip from Charlie Brown's Halloween TV show--I guess that's something about the Great Pumpkin--where they all go trick or treating and look in their bags after every house: "I got a candy bar!" "I got a popcorn ball!" "I got 5 pieces of candy!" CB every time: "I got a rock!"

It was a very thought-provoking way of looking at things that we consider "rocks"--mourning, being poor, persecuted, etc. In the Beatitudes, Jesus says we're blessed in those things, and so maybe they aren't rocks after all. Bread isn't always material possessions or "blessings" that we tend to think of--sometimes those things are actually the "rocks" in our lives. Just depends on how you see God--as a loving Father who wants us to ask because He loves to give to us or a commander, slave-driver.

He also brought in the prodigal son story to show how the father in that story loved both of his sons, but the older one's words when the younger one came back, showed that he viewed his father in the wrong way: "Look! I've slaved away for you and obeyed all your commands, and you never even gave me a young goat to celebrate with my friends." He saw his father as a slave-driver and a commander, and one who wouldn't even give him a skinny young goat, but then killed the "fattened calf" for his wayward brother.

The father's words show the feeling of "what are you talking about?" when he says, "You have always been with me, and all that I have is yours." Basically--it's ALL yours and all you had to do was ask. So, Mike was saying that we need to believe this about God--that it's all His, and that He chooses to share it with us in the way that is best for us, and He would rather have us ask Him for anything that feel like He's not generous and loving.

That's all my paraphrase--watch the video--it's much better. But it's an encouraging thought that we can always ask and keep asking and trust that God will give what is good!

OK, long enough post for one day! Don't want anyone giving up or falling asleep! Until later, dear readers!

Post-"party" post!

Whew! Just finished cleaning up from small group, so this will be quick cause it's after 10pm. Such a zoo! So many people and kids and noise and confusion, but such nice people! I really like spending time with them even if it's zoo-y.

We worked on the budget this morning, Abby had a sleep-over with Katie Fuller last night, we took a walk after lunch, and it was time to take Hannah to Kent to leave for the spring break trip. So, we're praying they have a good time and that it's a good week. I'm sure there will be hard things, but praying God gives much grace.

Then we had about an hour to make salad and get ready for small group. Thankfully, all I had to do was make salad and iced tea, and get the plates, etc together. We had two kinds of chili and broc/cheese soup that others brought. Delish!

Then a discussion amidst babies cooing/crying/babbling...The Eaton girls are really attached to Mom and Dad right now, so they didn't get much of a break. But they are cute as ever!

Then cleaning up, unclogging a toilet, trying to plan the next study and food before everyone left, wiping off all the sticky stuff, vacuuming the living room again (thanks, Jeff). And now it's time to go to bed. Because we have to go early for music. I think Kayla is coming home with us after church and going to youth group later too.

So, I must go to bed now. I simply must. But I just wanted to check in first! Until later, dear readers.

Soaking in the Sun!

Wow, I didn't blog Wed. or Thurs.--how strange. What was I doing? Wed. was school, and a walk, and of course after school the usual GE, bank, library errands. Then dinner and I think I just forgot in the evening. I'm pretty tired on Wednesdays after school and shopping and I think I zoned out!

Thursday was indeed a lovely day weather-wise. 60 degrees and sunny! So, I worked on history and language arts and SAT prep in the morning and early afternoon. I walked and had a quiet time, had to make dinner "on time" because I went to Linda's for Bible study in the evening at 6:45pm and it's hard to eat and clean up and get there by then. Got home after 9:15pm and again, I was tired. Nothing extremely eventful happened either, so you didn't miss much really!

Today it is beautiful again!! It started out cloudy which made for awesome sleeping in weather. I got up at 8:15am and Abby at about 9am! I still felt like I could have slept longer, but really, I DID have things to do!

I cleaned the house while talking to Meme for part of the time. I did all of the dusting and sweeping of the floors while I talked, and then I just had the bathrooms and vacuuming to finish afterward. We ate leftover quiche for lunch--still having it almost once a week. And I just happened to make a Toll House pie last night too since I was making pie crust. Our quiche habit could make us fat, since it often leads to another pie for dessert!! (The pie was mysteriously left uncovered last night, so I hope it isn't stale tonight when we have it for dessert when Hannah comes home!)

I checked some of Abby's Geometry since I don't do that regularly enough. Next, I plan to go for a walk, and have a quiet time, and make dinner. Jeff is picking Hannah up after work because she had some writing to do for a paper that she thought she could do better there. So that will work out fine, because I can make dinner and have it ready when they get home. Planning on making RedHot chicken and mashed potatoes.

I also need to go to Target soon because I'm out of OJ and almost out of coffee filters!! I'm actually making coffee enough that I'm using them up!

I started reading this book called "Linchpin" by Seth Godin. This too will go on the must-read list for Summer Yackley Life Training!! The last chapter I just read was about how our country trains people to be cogs in a machine through public schools and how there is such a need for people to be taught to answer questions and to be leaders. The linchpin idea is that it's the indispensable part that holds everything together in any organization, and how to really be successful, there needs to be more of them--not just one. It's a book about work and jobs and yet so much more--thinking about creativity and art (not just how we traditionally think of art--but creating something unique in any field) and that everyone can do it in some way.

So, don't let school kill the desire to do something unique with your lives--you don't just have to fit in and do what everyone else does. Especially when you add GOD to the equation (which he doesn't even mention in the book), you have the potential to do something truly amazing--because God has truly amazing plans for each of you! I'm thinking that starting a school that actually teaches children to think and engage and be creative would be an awesome thing to do! But maybe that's just the "Marmie" in me! :)

So, we are looking forward to having Hannah home for a short visit before she leaves again on the spring break trip. Praying that all goes well, and that she has lots of fun and good weather and conversations too!

So happy that Abby passed her driving test!! Yay!!

So happy that Katie passed the DELF!! Yay!!

We have much to be thankful for! So, until later, dear readers!

A middle-of-March post

Thanks for the awesome comments on my last blog...Abby and her Russian accent crack me up every time! And Kaite's ideas for keeping my classes awake are great--I think I will make them stand up and stretch if it happens again. Funny too, that the 2:30 girl was most excited to hear about France if you come to talk to them--be sure to throw in that leetle fact about profs keeping you late if they want to! :)

I did email the mom of the one boy, and she said he 'fessed up in the car on the way home, so she had talked to him about it being disrespectful to not be paying attention. AND she said she'd make sure he gets to bed a little earlier on Sunday nights. All of which will be most helpful, I'm sure.

Please be praying for the Klines' brother-in-law/uncle who had surgery this week. It was serious and he needs our prayers. So hard. Give Erin a hug if you see her, Hannah! They haven't been "public" about things on facebook, so we only know because Mike texted Dad, so I won't say a lot either until they do, but just pray...

So, today I had a very hard time waking up. When I was falling asleep last night, I felt like I might be getting sick--chilling, sore throat, headache/burny eyes. So, I just "slept in" until 8amish--which still felt like 7am even though I went to bed at 10:30pm (which only should have felt like 9:30pm, but somehow it felt like 10:30!). I still had a headache, but as the day went on, I felt better. So, no sore throat/cold or anything today, thankfully.

Abby got to go to Panera with KtF this morning, so that was a nice treat. I was just finishing getting ready when she got home because she left before I was out of bed! It was OGT week, so KtF didn't have to be at school until a little bit later.

I worked on science prep today--and it was finally something I understand/actually know something about! Atoms, atomic number, the Bohr model! Yay!! I don't think I realized how difficult it was to prepare for those physics chapters when I really didn't have any background in those topics until I did this stuff today and just had to refresh my memory, not actually LEARN it myself! So, hopefully I will do a better job of teaching it too.

I finished a book called "Tribes" by Seth Godin about leadership, and I started another book called "The Question Behind the Question" by John Miller. Both of them were convicting to me about not complaining about others doing or not doing their jobs, but being a leader and making things better myself. What I read today in the QBQ book talked about not asking the incorrect questions (IQ) of why aren't they doing their job? Why did this happen? Who is going to fix this? Instead we should ask How? and What? questions: How can I make this better? What can I do to improve the situation?

Even though I would like my students to WANT to learn and all, I need to not blame them for their behavior, but just focus on what I can do to make the environment better to learn in. No pity parties, no blaming. Focusing on my actions to improve things as much as possible.

But that takes more work....and there you have it...why most people keep asking the IQs!

Abby and I ate our delicious veggie burgers for lunch, and then it seemed in no time it was 2:30pm and time to leave for UV again. It was rainy and cold today, so I didn't walk. I felt it too, after sitting all morning to work on school and all afternoon at UV. By the time I got to Marc's to shop very quickly, my leg/back were very tight, but hopefully tomorrow will be drier.

When I got home, Jeff and David (a friend of Dad's from long ago who hosted our web site for many years) were sitting at the kitchen table talking. That is so like guys. They went to Panera for dinner and then came here to talk more. Girls would have stayed at Panera all night! I'm glad I got to see him too though. He's been through so much and is a very interesting man. I did wish I had known they were coming here though--we always leave in a hurry on Tuesdays and the house wasn't perfectly cleaned up. But I guess it was OK. The big things were OK--no piles of dishes in the sink--just books out, school stuff, the usual everyday clutter of life.

So, now Jeff went to pick up Abby, and they should be home soon, and then I guess it's time for bed again. I was going to do the grocery list and menu tonight, but I ran out of time and would rather blog any day. I was thinking about starting another blog about my process of figuring out what to do with my life--just to help me clarify my thoughts and have a place to record what I'm learning, etc. It feels like I just can't do it fast enough writing in my journal--my hand gets tired of writing after I've written my usual stuff and then try to write anything extra. But, I'm afraid it would be lost in the shuffle of life too. For this blog I have a reason to write--to keep my family updated on life here. And that has a daily-ness to it that another blog might not. And then if I missed days, I may never go back to it....It would be interesting if I could have other people read and comment on it--so maybe I should just find a blog someone else is already writing about that topic and read and comment on theirs! We shall see. (Did you know that apparently, from my Grammar book, it is proper to say "I shall" instead of "I will"? But since no one does, it's accepted to say "I will"--how nice of them to accept it!)

The middle of March is here! The Karen girls were asking me today if spring is here and if it will snow any more. Hmm...Almost and probably! But Thursday is supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees. Great way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! So, until tomorrow, dear readers!

Good start to the week...

I don't know why I always think of starting with the weather for the day, but it seems that is what sets the stage for everything or something. We've had such note-worthy weather, that I guess it just IS news almost every day! So, today it was sunny and chilly, but not winter coat weather when I took a walk this afternoon. Such an improvement!

Dad was up a LOT last night for work, so he set the alarm for 7:30am instead of 7:00am which is when I usually get up on Mondays, but it actually worked out fine. I must have needed the extra half hour of sleep too. It STILL felt like 6:30am and not like sleeping in.

We got to school in good time, and April was in the kitchen making soup and bread with the cooking class. That was all I saw of her though today because she went to the hospital to see her mom after that. Her kids weren't there because they are in Florida visiting relatives.

My classes went OK, although I think the time change was hard on the kids too. In my morning classes the two boys were falling asleep--one had said he got up at 5am to work on a project for school. Since that is like 4am to his body, I can understand being tired, but STILL! I bugged them about staying awake for a while and then just ignored the droopy eyes. When you're that tired, I guess it's just too hard to look alert. We did watch the Schoolhouse Rock version of the Preamble though, so there was something fun. And we watched a two year old boy reciting the preamble--if he can do it, so can they! But I don't think I'll make them.

Then graded papers and finished those before lunch, ate the delicious soup and bread, and then reviewed my info for the SAT math class. Advanced Arithmetic. Good stuff, but again, one of the girls is just so ready to get out of there, that she isn't very attentive. When I asked for the answer to "What do you need to add to 3/4 to get to 1?" She raised her hand excitedly and said, "2:30?" Because it was about 2:30 and time for class to be done. NOT the best way to make the teacher want to let you out on time or early...So I made them stay a couple of minutes late and do the rest of the chapter. Not really on purpose. I was planning to do that anyway, but it did kind of irritate me. Especially since a couple of the kids were pretty slow getting in and sitting down for class, so we didn't start on time. Thank goodness for Abby and Carrie in that class! The other boy who usually sticks with me wasn't there today either.

Oh well, I can't expect everyone to be excited about learning how to do better on the SAT. Even though Abby gave a good sales pitch before class about how the things in this chapter helped her a lot on the SAT on Saturday, still, there will be those who just don't care...

We came home and Abby left to babysit, and I went for a walk. Sans dog. Then came home and took her down the street. She wasn't ready to come home yet, so we went down and back up again. I made veggie burgers for dinner, we cleaned up, and Jeff and Abby went for a walk too. I had a quiet time while they were gone. And now blogs and Chuck is about to start.

Hannah had a crisis averted today when she realized she needed tissue paper for a project and forgot to get it when she was home. But thankfully, Emily came through with a ride to the store tomorrow. Yay, Emily! Yay, Hannah, for asking her! Dealing with life is part of going to college, because life is full of problems to be solved. Life is so lifey sometimes! Indeed!

OK, I will be praying more for my girls. I know it gets hard this time of year with wanting to be done with school, the weather getting nicer, and just plain spring fever/sick of schoolness. So, I will be praying, but I would just encourage all of you to be working hard and finishing strong. We've got some spring breaks coming up, and Katie is almost ready to wind down with her classes. We will have some break time--we will! Just hang in there, girls!!

I started looking at the syllabus today with my classes and reminding them of the same thing. Everyone needs to see the end is in sight around now I think. Me too!

Oh, speaking of which, I was wondering if Katie and Hannah would be willing to come to the SAT class on the last day (May 9) and answer questions about college. I thought that would be a fun thing to do on the last day, and when I mentioned it today as a possibility, they seemed excited about the idea. I would have them think of questions ahead of time so we would hopefully have enough to talk about. But if it's a fun discussion, they'll talk plenty. It's only when it's answering questions that they are too quiet!

Well, I think that's about it for now. Chuck and Sarah are going to "Roosia"--and there was a "leetle Roosian clown car" according to Abby. She's really into the Russian accent--see what you've created Katie!! :) It's actually very funny! Until later, dear readers!

Sleepy Time Change Sunday!

Today it was hard to wake up at what felt like 6:30am. We went to bed at 10pm then turned the clock ahead to 11pm. But after I was up it was OK.

I was scheduled for the nursery, but no kids showed up. Guess no one was able to get there at 9:30am after the time change. So I got to go to church instead.

We were also supposed to have a new member's class/lunch after church, but no one was interested in attending, so we just came home. Kinda good because our afternoon was short enough as it was. We made sausage/pierogies/peppers/onions for lunch and then talked to Katie while it was finishing cooking! Short but sweet chat, then lunch. Then we cleaned up the kitchen and cleaned out the frig for trash day tomorrow. Very exciting!

We walked this afternoon and it was colder than yesterday, but walking helps my back/leg muscles feel so much better. I was even walking more up to speed than yesterday.

We had to leave around 4:30pm to get Hannah back to Kent and have time to eat. We dropped off her stuff and then went to the Hub and ate Chinese. The line was short when we went up, but it ended up taking a long time to actually get our food. So poor Hannah had to eat kind of fast. I ate part of mine but was full pretty fast, so I had time to eat. I also got a DRINK! That's what filled me up. I wanted to get iced tea, but it was empty, so I got pop and all those bubbles....

We dropped Hannah off at Bowman and went to the Slacks to watch those adorable kids! And we saw Bryce for the first time too. Such a sweet little baby! The kids were very cute. Carter had a list of things to do with Mr. Jeff. And Jeff said something about his list having "take a nap" on it. That worried Carter a little bit, but we went up to their room when Lindsay left to look at books. I read to Maddie, and Jeff and Carter looked at a couple of things, then Jeff said, "OK, now we'll get to my agenda." He laid down and Carter walked on his back for a little bit. Then Carter said, "MY agenda is to go and play Wii!" So funny how he uses big words! Correctly too! Maddie was happy to sit on my lap and watch them play Wii, and that was fine with me!

Lindsay got home around 7:30pm to feed Bryce, so we left earlier than usual. Abby got home just after we did. She and Erin were in charge of the 620 tonight because Brandon was out of town. Jeremiah and Kayla came too and Jer. helped Abby with music. Very nice.

Greta has this spot on her eye by that big bump that was bleeding today. I think she must have rubbed it when she was rubbing her ears on the carpet. It looks a little better tonight, but it's concerning...do we take her to the vet? What will they say? Should we just let it go and see if it heals? Again with the decision-making problems! I always feel like things should heal on their own--God made us to heal, but it is a spot where she has the potential to keep it irritated.

To answer Katie's question about UV internships: Jeff did say that he has a big job for someone to do, and he has a job description which he will email us. It's to take all ~20 grade cards for the teens in the program, see what areas they are weak in, and then design something for each individual kid to improve those areas. Not sure if you'd be interested in that, but there is also volunteering for helping with phonics for many of the older kids who are still not reading well or at all. That's going on M-F from 12-4pm in 1/2 hour time slots, and volunteers can choose when to come I think. They haven't really said that to all the volunteers; Jeff just filled us in on that. You could email Rodney again, or I can email Jeff and remind him about the job description.

So, tomorrow begins another week. I prepared for my classes, but I hope I remember what I prepared! Hopefully it will come back to me. I think April will be back, and that will be good. It feels like, "MOM will be at school tomorrow! Yay!" She does seem like the Mom of the school, and it doesn't feel right when she's not there. She COOKS! And makes it SMELL good! And she cares so much about everyone. What a nice person!

Hope everyone has a good first day of the week! Praying for my girls and hubby! Until later, dear readers!

Snow: Now you see it, Now you don't.

Let's see, Friday? Oh yeah. Snow. Lots of it. No school in Green. But really it was OK by later morning. But still, more snow was a total bummer. It would have been absolutely gorgeous in December because the snow piled up on the branches an inch or more thick, so everything was so white. Sadly, I just couldn't bring myself to really fully enjoy or appreciate it in March.

Thankfully, though, we were still able to do all that we had planned, and since there was no school, Abby didn't have to babysit in the afternoon. That meant that we went to UV to talk to Mr. Jeff about the internship offer and what it entails, and then she could go with me to Kent to pick up Hannah. Good thing because Hannah had lots of laundry after three weeks! We needed another PackYack! And the roads were all clear because it wasn't very cold.

There is a lot involved in the internship, and the hard thing about it is that it's really only for about 3-4 weeks of the summer. So, it's not enough hours to count as a real job, but it makes it hard to get a real job and then try to work in all the things they want her to do. No decisions yet, but we're thinking we'll have to plot it all out on a calendar and see if it's all possible. And then of course she would have to get another job if she can find one. Pray!

We had chicken divine and cheesy potatoes for dinner last night, then watched A Beautiful Mind for our evening's entertainment. Very interesting movie every time.

Today Abby got up bright and early for the SAT. She and Jeff left around 7:15am. She thinks it went pretty well--so we'll be continuing to pray for that too.

The rest of us slept in some--Jeff and I went back to bed after he got back from dropping Abby off. That seems cruel when she was taking a test, but she didn't know we were all nestled snug in our beds with visions of--well, not sugar plums--maybe sunshine and flowers though. We had coffee and Oreos (Hannah and I did) and talked about her schedule a little and her spring break trip. Good to catch up a little. But it went too fast and then she had to run up to Panera to talk to Ben about a job for the summer. He gave the usual, "Call back in mid-April," answer, but did say they could probably give her 20 hours, so that seems hopeful.

Abby and Jeff got home around 1pm, we ate lunch--provided by the Peters--a very large sub they got last night at a party and couldn't eat all of it. Then we debated the schedule and how to fit in a walk, a shopping trip to get Hannah what she needs for the spring break trip, and a movie and making dinner too. We were going to just have Jeff and the girls go to the movie, and I would walk and make dinner, but Hannah said she'd rather have family time all together than something bigger for dinner. Aww...thanks, Hannah!

So we went for a walk, and oh, yeah, the snow is mostly all gone. It was 60 degrees on our thermometer, and the 4-5 inches of snow we got on Friday is all gone by Saturday afternoon. Everything is a muddy mess, but the snow is gone. For that I am thankful!

We had a little time to read, do homework, and nap briefly (when Greta wasn't barking), and then we went to see Tangled in 3D. VERY good movie! Abby is asking for it for her birthday, and I'm glad! It was well done and especially enjoyable because of Zachary Levi--lots of Chuck-like things!

Then we went to the Wal-Mart at the Strip, got Hannah's stuff and came home and had leftovers for dinner. I did make pudding for dessert so we'll have something new and special for our treat. But we ate dinner so late that it seems too late for pudding. Especially when we have to turn the clocks ahead already tonight. Oh well. I'm sure we'll still enjoy the pudding!

So, it's been a good day. Always goes too fast. A "free" Saturday should seem long and lazy and with plenty of time to do many things. But we never looked at the budget for the bonus money--we did get Abby's Kohl's scholarship nomination done which took a chunk of time in the morning. But we did have a good time doing what we did, and so that is enough!

Hoping we can skype with Katie tomorrow afternoon. Sunday afternoons always go too fast too. What is it with weekends flying by? Being content...that is a trick sometimes! So, until later, dear readers!

The frig lives!

Here's the update on Refrigerator Revival--indeed our prayers have been answered and there WAS one! Whew! Jeff spent many hours learning about refrigerators and figuring out what was wrong, what needed to be done, and then this morning when the stores were open, he went and got the part. And he FIXED it! He just never ceases to amaze me with his ability to problem-solve and figure things out. What a guy! I'm so thankful that for $79 (one tenth the cost of a new refrigerator), he got it running again. It was a fan that stopped working that blows the cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator. That's why it was cold in the freezer, but not cold enough in the refrigerator part.

Our food that was on ice in coolers stayed cold enough, and so we didn't have to throw anything away. Well, we DID throw a LOT of food away. Yes, there was some old stuff buried in the freezer upstairs. It was the bottom foundational layer that kept everything on top from sliding off and out the door, you know. :) I'd really like to keep it like it is right now. All clean and shiny with empty spaces between things. But when we cleaned out the basement freezer a few months ago, I said the same thing. When I went down there to look for some Cool Whip, it was filled to the brim again. Oh my. As Ehne Thau says, "Why do you have so much food?" Maybe I'm better at BUYING the food than COOKING it? Hmm...I think I'm still in 5 people to feed mode instead of three, and even the three of us only eat all together Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday really. So, I will have to use what we have and rethink my purchasing choices. And then summer will come and there will be 5 of us to feed again! Which will greatly help to clean out our stockpile! :)

So, Jeff was home all day even though he finished the frig repair in the early afternoon. He worked from home in the afternoon and still is this evening. A bonus of having a broken frig--getting to have my hubby home! Sorry he has to make up the time, but really thankful he can take the time when needed to solve a crisis.

And he got his bonus deposited in our account--looks like we get to have a "Budget Committee Meeting" on Saturday! I have a feeling I'm thinking "Baby step=college fund" and he's thinking, "VACATION!" Nerd vs. Free Spirit. We have a great "checks and balances" built into our system here at the Yackley house. So glad we can discuss it and come to an agreement--I'm sure there will be a little of each!

Got to SEE Katie today! Well, skype see. That was nice--I miss that girl! I'm trying not to wish this semester away, but I will be glad when she's home, and Hannah's home, and we get to see each other and be all together for a little while. And maybe we'll have some nice weather by then. That would be great too!

Another totally rainy day with the forecast of a winter storm watch tonight into tomorrow which may bring us a lovely 4-8 inches of snow according to Dick Goddard's best guess. Ugh. This was weird. Today I was sitting on the couch in the living room reading/having my quiet time, and I looked across the street and saw our neighbor's door that still has a snowman on it. I said to Jeff (Abby was gone babysitting), "They need to take that snowman off their door! This is why we are still having so much snow! It's all their fault!"

So, later, after Abby got home from babysitting, out of the blue she says, "Our neighbors need to take that snowman off their door! It's all their fault that it's still snowing!" Jeff got this look on his face and said, "You guys are so weird!" Good to know that Abby isn't ALL like Jeff! Sometimes she thinks like me. But on the very same day within hours of each other? Weird, indeed!

So, I really hope it doesn't snow too much because Abby is supposed to go to UV tomorrow to talk to Mr. Jeff about the internship idea, and then of course, I REALLY want to be able to go and get Hannah ASAP. So, I guess we will wait and see. Maybe it's all hype and it won't really happen.

I made a chocolate pie since I was making quiche for dinner and making pie crust. And I tried using regular milk (again trying to use up the older milk--it's like the gallon that won't end), so we'll see if it's weird or not. It looks a little different, but I've always wondered if evaporated milk was really necessary in case I got in a pinch. So, it's an experiment. I'm guessing that chocolate chips, sugar, milk, butter won't taste TOO bad!

Just watching AI results show--a video of the finalists in the mansion. We must be old because all we could think about was them jumping on the bed, dragging their suitcases up the hardwood floors, playing football in the living room, and hoping the owners have enough money to fix it up after they leave! :) We're such parents!

Today all I did really was finish preparing for Language Arts and SAT class, read a little in between loads of laundry, and put food back in the frig and freezer, and made dinner. Kinda lazy. But kinda nice too. I did finish "What Should I Do With My Life?" though, and it was a really good view into SO many peoples' lives and realize that many of the decisions we agonize over because we think they are so permanent, may not be. We do the best we can to follow what God directs us to do, but sometimes He may direct us one way, which leads to another way in a different direction, and so on. I'm very thankful to have God though. Reading about all of those people who were mostly NOT focused on God, I can't imagine going through life like that. So thankful for a relationship with Jesus!

OK, I guess that's the day in a very large nutshell! Macadamia! :) So, until later, dear readers!