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August 29 Sleepovers. With tweens, teens, and other such creatures.The next time your child, who participates in a sport/activity/other organized event, is invited to a sleepover with said team/group, I challenge you--his or her parent--to volunteer to stay. Be one of those adults who hangs out with the little angels, follows them throughout all of their adventures, and "sleeps" with them. Or doesn't sleep. And I promise...you mostly won't. The first activities of the evening generally go so well. The little people begin the process excited, sweet, and relatively organized. As the evening wears on...things become less...hmm...pleasant. Meltdowns occur. Tempers flare. Craziness ensues...as some of them amp up their energy in an effort not to fall asleep. Little people decide they're not thrilled with other little people who, 30 minutes prior, were their best friends. Mothers lose their patience...coaches who do so well in organized activity don't necessarily deal well with children who have no real goal in mind other than "fun"...the kids who smile their way through push-ups and v-ups can't handle staying awake past 9:30. When it's 1:30 in the morning, the last movie is over, the last snack is consumed, the directions to "find a place to sleep" have been given...all those excited, sweet, organized children/tweens/teens turn into something else. Some of them drop right off. Some of them fell asleep during the movie...thank God. Some of them are quietly (until the grown-ups finally pass out) having a contest to see who can stay up the latest. Somebody snores. Somebody can't fall alseep without her teddy bear (which she left at home). Somebody has to go to the bathroom one more time. Some of the moms konk out immediately (which is so wise)... ...I'm so not one of those moms. Some of us lay awake until we hear no other activity. Some of us worry the whole night that one of the more rebelious teens (or two, or three...with encouragement from that one) is going to attempt to either sneak out or sneak someone in. Or get into some other kind of trouble. Not really knowing any of the older girls well...you just don't know what they may actually attempt. Some of us wake up every time one of the 10-year-olds rolls over. Every time the door creaks open because a parent has to leave for work. Every time the rain comes down so hard the teenagers upstairs can't sleep through it (as if they were sleeping anyway). Before you know it, it's time for the kids to wake up...because parents are coming sometime around 8...and there are donuts to be eaten. Some of the girls wake up when that first parent walks through the door (after her full night of sleep in her own bed, mind you) half an hour early and announces to the comatose participants in the sleepover that it is time to wake up...in her most cheerful, chipper, "I am taking great pleasure in waking all of you people who were stupid enough to sleep in this building after bowling, eating, and movie-watching until all hours of the morning, and I will now make sure you all know I think that just with my general tone and presence." Some of the girls will literally sleep until their parents come in and drag them out...maybe still in their sleeping bags. Some of the girls will grump and complain and trudge, snapping at their friends, their parents, their coaches and anyone else who dares cross their paths...and others...will still bounce...finding things off which to jump, putting their sleep-deprived lives in further danger than that which comes from aforementioned grumpy friends. Somebody's mom doesn't show up until an hour after she's supposed to arrive...and all the moms who stayed all night feel obligated to make sure everyone leaves with the correct parent...the gym returns to it's original, pre-sleepover condition...and no one dies from general over-active, underslept stupidity while waiting for parents to show up. In October, Laine will be invited to another sleepover at her gym. It will involve dressing up in creative costumes, playing games galore, and, I'm guessing, even less sleep as a result of the consumption of altogether too much candy... Yeah. I'll be there. What can I say? I love my kid. I have to admit, though...everybody else's kids??? Hmm. That's a toss-up. August 26 EllipsesOutside my window...cooler air...and apparently pollen. sinuses running amok. I am thinking...that this weekend....will likely cause further insanity for me. four trips to Williamsport in four days...thank God for a car that gets good gas mileage. (and it's clean!!!) I am thankful for...impending routines. because there will be some. and they will be...wonderful. From the learning rooms...it's a learning box. and it looks good. From the kitchen...chocolate pudding layered with mocha chocolate mousse...and a complimentary raspberry jello and strawberry mousse...everyone was happy tonight. I am wearing...a black tailored t, brown shorts, and a barrette in my hair. I am creating...dreams for decoration...complete with furniture and paint colors and bespreads and window treatments and wall hangings and candles. I am going...somewhere close to crazy. I am reading...curriculum. English from the Roots Up, Celebrating Biblical Feasts, Creation to the Greeks' Teacher's Guide...etc. school time. I am hoping...that the homeowners we've been dealing with do the right thing. just this once. I am hearing...Hannity. sigh. what are we going to do with our country?? Around the house...dogs who were just agitated by the presence of a skunk, too much food i would normally avoid, laundry left in the washer too long...general signs that routine has been absent for too long. One of my favorite things...being this close to my mom again. oh, how i've missed her. A few plans for the rest of the week: setting up a network connection between my computer and the printer at our church, Reasa's horse lesson, Laine's gymnastics practice(s), karate, worship rehearsal, a sleepover for Lainie and me at the gym, a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn birthday party with dear friends...church...another rehearsal...and a final walk-through/closing/moving date!!! August 22 Disappointment (everything is fine with the house...) A week ago, I joked with someone that after the craziness of the move, I would spend the next two weeks living a life of leisure. In my mind, living with my parents for a couple of weeks meant no real responsibilities, no housekeeping hanging over my head, being away from real-life, the opportunity to sit on the couch, crocheting, watching movies, and listening to the kids gleefully playing with one another...with a couple of trips to Williamsport slapped in there to keep us active throughout that time. What I forgot was that things don't really change that much despite a complete change of locations. Since we're not living in a hotel, the house still gets messed up--and it's my parents' house. I know how mom likes things. The kids still need food. Everyone still wears clothes. Spending the entire day in Williamsport on Tuesday meant figuring out what to have Reasa and Bryson do during Lainie's practice, filling up their time while waiting for the horse lesson that didn't happen, packing snacks so that we weren't buying those at the last minute along with the two meals we would buy during that one day, figuring out what to do while waiting for karate, trying to keep things straight with Seth during the day, waiting an extremely long time for dinner to come, and having thoroughly exhausted children who couldn't fall asleep in the car and driving through a torrential downpour all the way home at 10pm. After a second day of that--and Thursday, honestly, was much more complicated than Tuesday--and getting home even later because the parade Lainie was in didn't get over until 9, and my rehearsal was done at 9:20, and the kids hadn't had dinner...putting us back in Corning at 11:30... A life of leisure?? What is that? Truthfully, I wouldn't do well living a life of leisure. In the time we have stayed at "home" this week, I have designed a couple of wedding cakes using a new program I haven't quite figured out yet, hammered out a few songs for worship team, crammed the schedule full of visiting with friends we don't get to see, run around, planned next week's schedule, actually talked on the phone with a friend with whom I haven't spoken in months, got caught up on my reading for our 90-days-through-the-New-Testament venture this summer, planned and shopped for my niece and nephew's birthday and cake...I don't do well with sitting still. Sitting here writing a blog post is about all the sitting I can handle. And today...sitting isn't a good idea anyway. Working through a serious charley horse in my right calf...not sure if it's injury-related from karate on Thursday, or dehydration/lack-of-nutrition-related from the past week of eating out so much. Zero nutrituional value in Diet Coke, unfortunately. Doesn't do much for your water intake levels, either. And let's not talk about the 1/3 pound angus burgers smothered in mayo, american cheese and mushrooms, all on a thick, fluffy, carb-laden bun. So, anyway. Charley horse. Apparently, standing up helps. So far, I have found this to be the case. Every time I sit down, it tightens back up. What I've realized in this week of leisure-turned-madness, however, is that I don't deal well with disappointing people...whether those people are my children, my parents, my husband, my friends, my kids' friends, the worship team, coaches and parents at my kids' sports...in the past 2 days, I had to cancel or reschedule four of the different plans we had made either because the kids were going to lose it, or I wasn't going to accomplish something that actually needed to be done--responsibility, rather than fun. I found myself so stressed out at the thought of making that decision...putting it off until after I really should have done it...and probably disappointing people even more as a result of my avoidance. Interestingly, everyone completely understood--which, other than my kids, I was pretty confident would be the case. I want to give everyone everything, if at all possible. I may make myself completely insane doing it, but I want to do it. I have said before that I thrive on stress...and that is true...but sometimes I know I take that too far. Having seven different activities planned for one day, on opposite sides of town (or in a different state) might push the boundaries of the stress I can handle...it did this week. I could have saved myself at least one sleepless night, and probably another worrisome day if I had just called people when I realized I had overbooked myself, rather than waiting until after bedtime and after I had worried it through 47 times, trying to figure out how I could juggle it. And let's not talk about the fact that every time I left the house for what I knew would be hours, I worried about the condition in which I left it...my parents have full lives. They don't need to clean up after us. Sigh. In nine more days, my life of leisure will come to an end. I'm not complainin'. August 18 Let's go to NowherelandThere is something about the time before 7am which turns my children into ferocious beasts. And I don't mean the kind resembling that adorable, giant yellow creature with big red (sometimes removable) spots on Noggin. I mean the actual scary kind. The ones who breathe fire and stomp loudly and moan with vicious rumblings, screeching their way through every movement, threatening potential captors with bodily harm. At 6:42 this morning, upon entering their bedrooms...three of those beasts confronted me. They're still sticking around. Actually, the middle one, the one who currently swings on the high bar above the foam pit, muscling her way through her skin-the-cat conditioning exercises...she transforms back into that adorable, sweet child pretty quickly. But then, she's been doing this 8:30-in-the-morning-practice-three-days-a-week thing all summer long. And we had to leave at 7 this morning and drive the hour and 15 minutes for her sake. Makes it a little more bearable for her. The other two...the dread of sitting through her three-hour practice and too many out-of-the-ordinary circumstances (we had a bat in the house at 8:45 last night, for pete's sake) just got the better of them I'm afraid. Can we please go to Nowhereland instead? I'm pretty sure that cute little redheaded Maggie would silly their grumpies right out of them (and yes, silly is now a verb). And Beast's obliviousness and naivete would help them forget their displeasure about an entire day with "nothing to do." (And I don't know about you, but I wish when I was their age and had to sit through my brother's ball games, I had a laptop with internet capability, a nintendo ds with 20 games, coloring books, crayons, paper, and scissors at my immediate disposal.) Sigh. This afternoon, there's bowling (which I haven't told them yet) with friends, a horse lesson, karate, then dinner with Daddy. We close on our house on August 31 at 9am, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Part of me thinks I shouldn't actually type that here...like I might jinx it. Because I believe in jinxes and all. We shall see. In the meantime, this is day one of our drive-to-Williamsport-three-days-a-week-for-sports-and-rehearsals-and church. Off to lunch. August 14 We Did It. Somewhere in the southern-most part of Cogan Station, Pennsylvania...sits a very empty, very clean house. A house I will never, ever enter again. Thank God. It's over. Well at least the packing and cleaning and moving-out-of-it is over. As for anything else that could be coming down the road for our dealings with the owners of that house...who knows. Honestly, we have complete confidence that something will come up...that they will attempt to keep the money that we put on deposit when we originally made the offer on the house...that they will accuse us of ridiculous things regarding the condition of the property...that this process may drag itself out much farther than we would like to see it go...but then, nothing has actually happened well with this house. We have no reason to believe that will change now that we don't live in it. Or have any contractual obligations to it. Sigh. You know that whole "sometimes you're the windshield....sometimes you're the bug..." idea? We seem to have a knack for being the bug. In the meantime, we now live with my parents. We will travel back "home" three times a week for sports and church...but we live here. Until we close on the house. Probably on the 31st. We will, once again, move in the middle of a week, because we can't just wait until the freaking weekend to do it when other people can help us. And I have a birthday cake on Thursday, and a wedding cake on Saturday of that week in Corning...so...you know...whatever. Some themes just don't change. Especially when they're involved with my life. But today, I'm going to do nothing. I plan to sit on the couch, fully absorbed in the act of nothingness. I plan to dream up a menu for the next week and eventually go grocery shopping...I need hair color after all ;) ...but...that and making dinner will be my big accomplishments for the day. And tomorrow, I get to meet my nephew, Kaden, for the first time!! You know, that sounds busier than I wanted to be. Ah, well. I don't have to pack an entire house in 3 days. Anything that isn't that is liesurely. August 12 Change. Today, I am completely overwhelmed by it. At different stages in my life, under various circumstances, I have thrived on the change I have lived through. Sometimes I have chosen the change...college, taking jobs, summer singing/counseling tours, quitting jobs, relationships, marriage, honeymoons, having children, choosing to homeschool...because I chose them, I loved them. They became a challenge. Something to figure out. Adventure. Sometimes the change has come by way of someone else's decision...my dad leaving his ceramic engineering job to go into the ministry, requiring two years of undergraduate studies in a city 3 hours away from "home," taking his first job as a youth pastor, moving in the middle of school years, break-ups, miscarriage, Seth changing jobs or working seasonally...because they were thrust upon me, these changes posed different kinds of challenges. Something to wade through. The feeling was different. Not so much an adventure as a trial. Each time, I have wound up on the other side of the situation, glad I made it through. Through the struggle, the fight...I have come away knowing I became a better person/mother/friend/wife/servant through surviving it. I find myself in a very different place right now. Somewhere between choosing the situation for myself and having it thrown at me. Somewhere between finding it to be an adventure, and knowing that it's something I just have to live through. Last summer, we knew we needed to be in Pennsylvania with Seth. As much as we hated the reality of it, living in Corning was just not a practical option for us if we intended to have him as a part of our family. And, umm, yeah. That's kind of the point, isn't it? We truly expected transition when we moved. A couple of months, maybe. We figured we would find a church, make friends, settle into a routine, find a house, and life would continue much as it had prior to the move. We did not expect to rent for seven months. We did not expect to wait six months to close on the house we wanted. We didn't expect to have to house hunt again in the middle of those six months. Or to move three times (well, kind of four, if you count moving into and out of a storage unit and my parents' house) in a 10-month stretch. Whether God is trying to stretch us, or test our perserverance, or see what we're made of...here we are. We chose to move...the rest of it was not a choice. Maybe that's why I find myself in this quandary. It doesn't feel like an adventure this time. It feels like...I'm being tarred, feathered, stretched, drawn, quartered, and burned at the stake. Melodramatic? Probably. Reality? Well, here we are. I have gone through the pity parties. The ranting-and-raving. The fuming. The shaking-my-fists-at-the-heavens. They crying-in-the-middle-of-my-floor. The eating-everything-in-sight. The forgetting-to-eat. The screaming-at-my-kids. The absolute-denial-of-everything-that's-actually-going-on-around-me. The filling-up-my-time-with-whatever-else-I-can-think-of. The quiet-prayer-and-mourning. If you can feel it, I've felt it. If you can deal with it, I've dealt with it. We are not through it yet. I feel that too. In the midst of all of it, I keep finding myself reaching toward that place where I can decide that I'm a better person. A stronger person. More equipped to deal with what lies ahead. Able to strengthen someone else facing the same circumstances. I know that God uses these situations. I am so not there yet. In all of it, I have confidence in God's plan. I shake my head at it, but only because with my severely limited vision, I can't see the big picture that He can see. I hate what we have been through...I hate how I have dealt with much of it...but I know He has a reason. Tomorrow, we move to my parents' house for a couple of weeks. And we wait. And we watch His plan continue to unfold. I pray that I have the fortitude to sit quietly while He works. Though I have done poorly over the past several months...here I am. Waiting. August 10 EllipsesOutside my window...the air presses against the glass. it's so heavy, i can almost see it. . I am thinking...about everything that needs to happen tomorrow. sigh. these days are so full... I am thankful for...my new-found expertise in packing my house. this will be a mindy record. From the learning rooms...well...it's completely empty. i'm totally not kidding. but new curriculum was ordered last night!! yay! From the kitchen...merlot! right now, that's all that matters. I am wearing...khaki shorts and a very worn black v-neck tank...very, very sweaty and in need of a good washing. I am creating...an alternate reality for myself and my kids for the next three weeks. I am going...to take a shower, then sit in front of the tv and hope to catch a couple of friends on facebook. I am reading...my bible. Hebrews, James, I and II Peter this week. I am hoping...a miracle happens and we can close earlier than expected. I am hearing...crickets. persistent, consistent, and very loud. Around the house...a feeling of transition. maybe because there's very little left around the house to make it feel like a home. One of my favorite things...needing a shower before bed...reminds me that i accomplished something today...and that the temperature was over 75. hooray for summer!! A few plans for the rest of the week: packing up the kids' rooms, packing up the kitchen, cleaning out this place we won't be sad to leave, moving in with my parents, visiting my college/life friend and meeting my nephew for the first time! K. Thanks. But nevermind.Owners of our house can't get out of it until the 31st. Thank God for my gracious parents. You can still pray for a miracle if you want... ...I won't argue with you over it. Broken RecordSeems like we've spent about the past 7 months asking for prayer when it comes to our housing situation...why stop now?? Here's the long and short of it. We have a lease agreement with the people who own the house in which we currently live. It is "up" as of Thursday, Aug. 13. We need to have all of our crap out of here by then, despite the fact that we have not closed on our new house, nor do we have a place in which to store our belongings or technically live. We have a plan at the moment to shove all of our stuff into a storage unit we hope to procure today, pack enough clothes and crap to get us through the next two weeks and live with my parents (aren't they lucky???), and wait it out, commuting back and forth to take Lainie to gymnastics lessons, Bryson to his karate, and Reasa to horse lessons (hopefully in the same two days) each week...but this situation is, obviously, less than ideal. So...here's what I'm begging of you: Please pray that we can close this week. I know it sounds ridiculous...we have no indication from the bank that this is even a possibility...but, all of the paperwork is in, the appraisal is done, all of the inspections came back fine, and the people have another house. To this point in our Pennsylvania adventure, absolutely nothing has gone remotely right. As a matter of fact, if it could go wrong...hey...it has. This could go right. I know it could. (And yes...I do realize that it may not be God's plan. I realize he has spent the past 10 months trying to stretch me or grow me or check out my perserverance or something, and he may not be done yet. But...I'm praying, none-the-less.) I'm praying for a miracle. A phone call in the next two days...that we can close and move right into our house. Stranger things have happened! If you are one of my praying friends, I'm begging you to pray with me. I know I have done this in the past...and I know that you have...and though God hasn't answered in the way that we have thought he should in the past...he has excellent reasons, and my family's best interests at heart... I want to be hopeful. Really. So, I'm hoping from my knees. Will you hope with me? August 08 Chemung County FairWe headed to Corning on Thursday night...right after karate...which makes for an interesting evening. It seems we just can't seem to get children to bed on time any more. Bedtime?? What is that?? (and with that said, routine returns this week...school approacheth) Cake baking began pretty much upon arrival at my parents, meaning a pretty late night for me, but then, that's what I do. Late nights. And cakes. Friday morning, the monkeys slept in, and I had a little time to get started on frosting, cutting cake boards, and fillings...I officially made the simplest wedding cake of my life on Friday, and got to hang out with one of my favorite people in the process. Definitely a good day. So glad Lauren could visit me during my cake-making. She and Reasa even covered an extra layer in raspberry buttercream and fondant--their first fondant-covering experience. I think I may have converted her into a fondant fan in the process. :) After delivering the cake on Friday evening, we knew we had to head to Horseheads for the Chemung County Fair...Reasa would be showing a horse on Saturday morning...a horse she had never ridden before Friday night...and we needed her to have a lesson on that horse before she jumped on Saturday morning and expected to accomplish anything. Wow...the lesson did not go well. She decided after the 15 minutes she spent on Molly's back that she wouldn't ride in the show. We encouraged her (and knew she would do it...like she'd miss a chance to show)...and she came around...but it was a rough couple of hours. Another late night...and a crying brother and sister who didn't want to get up early to get to the show...sigh...we headed to the fair... ...where my girl placed 3rd in two categories in which she competed against 9 women, some twice her age (or more!) and experience...with a horse she'd basically never ridden before... She rocks. That's just all there is to it. The kid can ride a horse. :) We spent a few hours after she finished her categories walking around the fair, spending stupid money, eating horrid food, checking out ridiculous side shows (world's smallest 66-year-old woman, who Lainie just had to meet, and world's smallest full-grown horse)(oy), and getting incredibly dirty feet...we even got to watch pig races. Well, of course we did. All in all, we had a pretty good time. Even came home with a couple of goldfish (duh). But the kids...so tired. We had planned to head home tonight...and decided that by 8:00 when we hadn't left...we should probably leave in the morning. The plan is to be out of here by 8. We shall see. My poor parents. We've been here three weekends in a row. We could be moving in next weekend. Sigh. Can't think about it. In the meantime, my kid rocks. Just wanted you to know that. August 07 Too fast.She's killing me. I'm going to post a picture. And I'm not going to go into any detail. She'd absolutely never speak to me again if I did. But she's killing me.
She's just not allowed to grow up any more. Plain and simple.
 August 04 Botfly Larvae In case you haven't caught my most recent Facebook status update, tonight we popped a botfly larvae out of Chani's belly. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, it was repulsive, vomit-inducing, grotesque, and disgusting. If your dog (or your kid, or your husband, or your cat, or whatever) has a bump anywhere on its skin that looks infected (red, swollen, irritated), has a hole in the middle, and occasionally something appears to pop out of the middle of it in kind of a breathing sort-of-way...there is great likelihood that a botfly has laid an egg on it, it has hatched and burrowed into the skin, and is growing into a large fly larvae inside it's "host." They, apparently, are true parasites--when they have reached a point where they must "cocoon" or whatever to achieve their next stage of development, they come out of the skin and drop to the ground where this process continues. We stopped this process for Chani's parasite...when it popped out of her skin (and we took the required picture of it), we smashed it to smithereens inside a paper towel. OK, seriously. Do things like this happen to other people??? (I mean, they do. They definitely do. There are videos of it all over the internet--people who have pulled them out of their backs, their kids' feet, their scalps--more than one, and much bigger than the 1/4 inch one on Chani's belly. But come on.) My friend Heather commented tonight that when she feels like her life is getting out of control, she knows just what to do: come and check out my facebook status or read my blog. Then things feel much less stressful for her. Nice. :) But really. Botfly larvae?? This has to be some sort of cosmic joke. I'm going to bed now. But first, I think I'll check myself for ticks. Or giant wolf spiders. Or 10 or 12 field mice. Or bears. Or six-inch moths. Or an indoor chipmunk. Or maybe a botfly larvae or two. When do I get to move out of here?? August 03 EllipsesOutside my window...crickets. and "Bryson's frog" chirping in the tadpole pond. cool, damp air. August at it's best. I am thinking...that starting something new and different can be much more difficult and frustrating than on originally anticipates. From the learning rooms...boxes. Lots of boxes.
20,001On the top of my "statistics" page just now:
Total page views: 20001 Page views today: 9 Page views this week: 43 Page views within the last hour: 1 :) Thanks friends. You made my day. July 29 Bryson Things he's said today: 1. "Can you hold this?" In his hand? A coin wrapper (you know...for $2 worth of nickels) and a ping pong paddle. When I held it between my two hands, he smacked it out of my hands, karate-chop style. I saw "broken fingers" written all over this...just a half-second too late. Lucky for me he has good aim. 2. "Can I have my own bowling alley?" Seriously?? 3. "BOO!" His favorite thing? Scaring me. Especially when I'm in the shower rinsing soap out of my eyes. Because not only can I not see him enter the bathroom, but I jump and inhale sharply...with my face still under the running water...and sputter and choke...causing much laughter and glee on his end of the deal...because not only did he scare me out of my mind, but he also caused me to sputter. I hate to admit I started this. Scaring him was fun...but maybe not worth dying in the shower. 4. "Can I put tartar sauce on my pizza?" Sure, buddy. But you have to eat it if you do. "Mom, what is tartar sauce?" 5. "Oh my gosh!! IT'S ON FIRE!!" This is what comes of asking your husband to start dinner on a Tuesday, and he does so in the toaster oven (remember...broken conventional oven)...and your son makes his lunch in the toaster oven Wednesday. Very burnt mini pizzas follow. 6. "Can we have a meatball fight?" My children are currently obsessed with coming up with material for a web show. This is the third kind of fight they have suggested...the first being popcorn. I caught this one mid-fight. Second one...styrofoam. Thank you iCarly. 7. "WHEN are we leaving???" If he asks me this one more time... 8. "I'm a horrible flower-maker!" Asked to draw five flowers in his math book. Mean mommy that I am, I told him to do it anyway. This is the kid who can draw Captain Underpants with his eyes closed (and make it look realistic). Whatever. 9. "They won't let me have imagination." In response to the fact that his sisters kept shooting down all of his ideas for playing...which seems to be a common occurence lately. However, in their defense, he usually wants something pretty extraordinary to happen during their now-very-realistic make-believe...you know, like inanimate objects coming to life and wreaking havoc. Poor guy. Sucks to be two years younger. And the only boy. And really, mommy stepping in and saying, "Girls, you will let Bryson use his imagination while you play...really, is a living fly swatter going to hurt anything in your game?"...I mean...really... 10. "Is it time to pay the toll?" Lately, I've been charging my kids for their everyday conveniences from me...making meals, picking up things I've already asked them to take care of, doing chores they know they're supposed to do, walking past me in the kitchen...you know...the stuff kids should have to pay for. Paying in kisses is pretty cheap for them...but priceless for me. And tonight, after dinner, I forgot. He reminded me. I made them all pay double. July 26 EllipsesOutside my window...a hummingbird feeder presently crawling with bumblebees...but often times, a hummingbird and his mate. 'specially first thing in the morning. . I am thinking...that sitting on the couch watching a kid movie with my monkeys is the best place i could possibly be today. I am thankful for...the end of...part of...the insanity. From the learning rooms...ugh...it's an absolute disaster right now...trying to sort and pack and figure out what we're doing this year for school. From the kitchen...the remaining cake scraps and buttercream from yesterday's delivery, and a train wreck from taking all of the suplies and tools to my mom's to make it. I am wearing...comfy capris and a short-sleeved hoodie. I deserve to wear jammies today...but this is the next best thing. I am creating...a repertoire of contemporary worship songs...and the opportunity to serve. I am going...to sit right here...on this couch...until the battery on my computer dies. eventually i'm going to unpack the kitchen. but not yet. I am reading...The Shack. again. and this week, ephesians, phillipians, colossians, and 1 thessalonians. I am hoping...for the appraisal to go well this week, and to hear that we have a closing date sometime before Aug. 13. I am hearing...seth talking to chelsea in his "talking-to-the-dog" voice. lainie playing with the whammy bar on the guitar hero guitar. Around the house...sigh...let's not talk about it. but at least the lawn is mowed. One of my favorite things...thunderstorms. like the one happening outside the sliding glass door right now. A few plans for the rest of the week: purchase curriculum, pack a whole bunch, design and mock up the next cake. July 17 Lemon Meringue and Boston CremePeople frequently shake their heads at me. I have grown accustomed to this display. Accepted it. Embraced it, even. Because even though they don't understand me, I'm coming to understand myself just a little bit better despite their opinion of my relative insanity. I love walking toward my kitchen and being met by the aroma of something fresh-baked. The scent of dark chocolate cake wafts through my house, and I close my eyes and intentionally take deeper breaths. I don't think there is anything that screams "good morning!!" to me like buttermilk pancakes and bacon and brewing coffee. If I've had a long day, the most relaxing place I can think to be is in front of my oven...waiting to pull out something delicious, complicated, and preferably sweet. Baking brings me joy. Destroying my kitchen is an unfortunate but expected part of the process: the longer it takes me to put it back together, the more accomplished and satisfied I feel. I usually think to start baking after cleaning up from dinner...the later it gets, the more messy it becomes. Something about the arrival of 9:00 just calls for turning on the oven. And that is where some of the head-shaking comes in. Today I labored through gumpaste daisies for a wedding cake I'm working on...the daughter of a friend asked for gerbera daisies on her beautiful cake, and I have loved the process of designing the perfect cake for her over the past couple of months. Cakes always present a challenge, but none quite so great as the ones which involve gumpaste flowers. They are not something I love yet...with time and practice, I can see myself enjoying them more...but for now, I will labor through them. As I cut and molded and stuck and modeled...in the back of my mind I looked forward to two things I knew I still had to do tonight: Boston Creme Pie and Lemon Meringue Pie. Our family picnic tomorrow requires dessert. I had researched recipes, gathered ingredients, and finally let the daisies sit for a while...baking? Baking...I love. Two hours later, with my first ever Lemon Meringue Pie cooling on the counter, and the chocolate glaze dribbling down the sides of the Boston Creme Pie...I remember. This is the part I live for. The beaters and spatulas licked and washed, the clean kitchen behind me, the finished treats to be sampled tomorrow...ahhh. Tonight, I will rest well. Tomorrow may be long and hot and complicated...but tonight...it doesn't get much better. July 14 The Housethat one...down there in those pictures...minus the furniture... ...is going to be my house. July 13 More Pics of The HouseJuly 12 Tomorrow... ...we're going to see six houses, starting at 9:30am. This is my favorite:  I know you can't see much of the house because of all of the (ahem) gorgeous landscaping, but...it's beautiful. We looked at this house and put a verbal offer on it right before we made arrangements to move in here. I loved it then...I still love it. This is one of the many reasons why I love it:  And the water actually is that color. Not green. Imagine that. Oh, and I could move into that house just enjoy the space right off the bat. No major changes necessary at all. We shall see. I'll keep you posted. |
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