Something to hold on to...

"Today I am one day nearer home than ever before. One day nearer the dawning when the fog will lift, mysteries clear, and all question marks straighten up into exclamation points!
 I shall see the King!"     Vance Havner

Friday, August 31, 2007

Labor Days







Husband and I are off in about an hour for our annual Labor Day trip to the Cincinnati area for a softball tournament. We have a great time with about 40 of our friends. We save all of our pocket change for the entire year and it will completely cover our hotel and expenses. I highly recommend this method of saving for an annual event. If you are diligent about not spending any change and pay cash for most of what you buy instead of writing checks you will accumulate a lot of change.

And, for another type of "Labor Day", I want to take some time here and brag about my sister. Once again, she has out done herself. She will be a grandma for the first time in November. Her only daughter, my niece, is expecting a baby girl. My sister had some antique furniture just waiting for something special to bring it back to life, and, what could be more special than your first grandchild? I am posting pictures of the nursery and pretty much every item you see was a gift from my sister. Every piece of furniture was refinished, painted, commissioned or readied. Every fabric item: curtains, beddings, (both crib and single bed) the quilt on the wall, the mobile, and even the back rest cushion in the crib was designed and hand made by my sister. This was truly a labor of love. My niece knows how fortunate she is, and how much her mother loves her. This little one will soon realize it as well!

Well, that is all for now, we have last minute details to finalize. Youngest is on his way home for the weekend to baby-sit the animals, eat our food, and do his laundry. Soon, we are outta here!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Whew! Here goes!

Exhale.

I am updating. Take a big breath though when you finish because it could be a while before my next entry.

Okay, I really really want to do this blogging thing. I just get so caught up in the mundane and I forget there are people out there who actually like mundane! So here goes, some mundane, some insane and some (What else rhymes?? Too much pressure for that.) lame (?)…details of my life.

First for the updates.

Oldest son is still in Amsterdam. I am really missing him right now. It has been nearly 3 months. He loves it. He is making friends, going places and learning all the ins and outs of the Hostel business. There are some areas he would rather not work though, he really does not like being the night man and being in charge of the place in the wee hours of the night. He is not too fond of reception duty either. If you know him, you know his personality and being the front man at a reception desk is not exactly his cup of tea. He loves tea though. Just thought I would throw that in. He does okay with cafĂ© duties and the sleeper job is not so bad. He actually stays at the hostel, has duties for part of the night, and then gets to sleep there the rest of his shift. I could do okay getting paid to sleep. Only, he actually does not get paid. He will though, starting next month. He will draw a whopping monthly salary of almost $60.00 (U.S. Dollar). I guess we cannot feel sorry for him though; he is living in Europe with free room and board. He thinks he will be coming home sometime late November. He had thought of staying longer, but probably won’t.

Youngest son is living in an apartment in his college town with two other guys. I really like his two roommates. One of them just feels like another son because I know him so well and like him so much. I get pretty neat phone calls. Such as, “Mom how do you know when the waffles are done in this waffle maker?” And, “ Mom, tell me again how you cook your frozen corn on the cob”. Now, that is a tricky question because I do cook corn strange. I learned years ago from an old cookbook to add lemon juice and sugar (equal parts, about 2 TBS each and NO salt) to the pot of water. It sounds strange but the corn is always delicious. So, he had to be sure his would taste like his mom’s. He is excited about his classes this year, excited about living in his apartment, and quite honestly he is happier than I have seen him for a while. He recently obtained his driver’s license for those of you who might be wondering. He was holding out like I did until after turning 21.

So, both boys are happy, and that makes Mom really happy. It also makes Dad happy. When children and Mom and Dad are all happy it is a good thing.

So, now we are on to me. I had a pretty good summer. I accomplished a few of the tasks I had planned, but not all. There is one looming task in my house that I really need to take care of, but have not found the motivation as of yet. Perhaps I will take care of it someday.

I have returned to school and our class seems like a good one this year. 14 kids so far, which might seem small by some standards, but we have challenging students and a very small room. I have been praying that God will use me in a special way this year and that I can be a blessing to these kids.

Currently I am reading a very good book, "God is Closer Than You Think" ( I wish blogger would let me underline that title, I will just have to use quotes) by John Ortburg. It is reminding me to live in the moment and to meet God right there. He is already in the moment you know, we just forget to look for him. I recommend it highly.
I have not done as well as I had hoped in the Bible reading department. That is always a goal of mine. I want to do better.

I know there is a lot more to update, but this will have to do for tonight. I can’t catch up the last 2 months all in one shot. So, hang on for more to come. Some pictures will come as well.

You should probably inhale now. Take your time.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Don't hold your breath...

I am returning to blogdom. Do not under any circumstances though hold your breath between posts...
More later