Merry Christmas

Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas. The weather cooperated enough that Noah made it home for my birthday. He surprised me with a Kindle! I didn't quite know how to respond. It is an awesome gift, but way too much for him to spend as a college student with expenses and loans. But it is rude and disappointing to make someone feel like they shouldn't have done something, so I tried to walk that fine line. I probably did it wrong, as I seem to do most things wrong with him nowdays. We had another argument a few days before he came home, and he was obviously still angry about it because after breakfast on Christmas morning, he picked a fight with me again. And he didn't just drag up what he was angry about this time. He drug up what he was angry with me about this summer, and something he was still angry with me from 5 years ago. Apparently the message has been sent loud and clear around here that anger is justified and it is ok to vent it all upon me. I'm struggling with depression because I feel like all the years I poured into raising my boys have been in vain. Example is more powerful than words. I thought I could make a difference, but that is not what I see with my eyes. I know, I need to keep looking up in faith, believing in that which I cannot see. It is not the end of their story. God is not through with them yet. It is just difficult right now. I can't wait for my prayer group to get going again.

We had another blizzard over Christmas. This time was worse than the last. We are having problems with ice dams and a faucet on the back of the house burst. My back is still giving me problems from shoveling last time and there is so much to shovel still. Thankfully we were together. We had a nice Christmas morning. The boys really seemed pleased with their gifts, so I did good even though they hadn't given me any ideas. We had a break in the storm, so we went to see the movie, Avatar. I wanted to see Nine, but didn't get any takers.... Avatar was much better than I expected, but we probably should have stayed home. When we got out of the movie, the storm had picked up again and it was a little tense getting home. The storm was still raging on Saturday. Noah and I were supposed to work. Thankfully, they closed our businesses. He wound up going home Monday morning. Also thankful that we had power the entire time! Still, Jim kept the wood stove stoked, which made things extra toasty.

Jim gave me permission for a puppy for my birthday. She was actually born on my birthday! Now we just have to wait until spring to bring her home. She is a Maltese/Shitzau mix. Smaller dog this time, non shedding. Sometimes I think-What am I doing? And other times, I am just so excited. I think I need her right now. Something to mother and love and something that will look back at me with loving adoring eyes. We are also getting ready to start our kitchen remodel, so I am trying to get all my Christmas stuff put away. I will need to move EVERYTHING out of my kitchen for the duration. Oh my, what a mess that will be! I don't even know exactly what I want to do yet!

Well that is all for now. I have to go and get ready for work. Drop me a note and let me know how your Christmas went and what is new in your life!

Christmas is coming

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas! Down to the last week and the busiest time of the year. Last night we celebrated our 22nd anniversary. We went to Village Point shopping center and took a carriage ride. It was very romantic, the lights, the sound of the jingle bells on the horse's harness, snuggling under the blankets with hot cocoa. In reality though, it was freezing cold! So cold it hurt! Ah, but that's what you get when you marry in December. Then we went to dinner at the Melting Pot-a fondue restaurant. I reserved a private booth with curtains-again very romantic. Fondue takes awhile, so we spent over two hours enjoying our four course meal together. The dessert fondue was definitely my favorite course. I asked Jim if he could have chose a month in which to get married, which month would he choose? He said September. I would choose October-fall must be our favorite time of the year. Looking ahead this week to my birthday; Noah will be traveling home that evening. The weather is supposed to be bad, so that is a concern. Have to plan ahead for our traditional Christmas Eve meal and Christmas morning brunch. Then of course we will spend New Years Eve with friends karaoking and celebrate Jim's birthday before all is said and done. Afterwards, I have to quickly put everything away and get ready to start our kitchen remodel. I am overwhelmed with it all, but am trying to focus on the real reason for our celebrations this time of year. Jesus!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Teachers aren't the only ones to get snow days. Sometimes, librarians get lucky too! I was surprised though. The heavy snow wasn't supposed to start until later this afternoon and into the evening. I expect I will be off tomorrow too as we are anticipating 10 inches of snow and 40 mph winds. Blizzard conditions they are saying. I thought I could get out before the heavy snow and pick up some extra milk & bread. After shoveling for an hour more snow than I expected at this point, it was just too slick so I came right back home. Hope Jim can make it home from work tonight.

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. I did get much of it done ahead of time and the boys helped me throw together a few dishes at the end. We ate around 2 pm, without Jim. Nate left to take his girlfriend to the Holiday Lights Festival. Noah and I watched tv and slept. That turkey is powerful stuff! Jim made it home around 7 and we sat down and had some more food with him before taking Noah back to Lincoln. Nate had gone down to fetch him home because his car was acting up. I would have liked to spend more time with Noah, but he had to work the next morning.

I spent the four day weekend cleaning up Thanksgiving mess and putting up Christmas decorations. Got everything up before heading back to work on Monday! I love Christmas. I love pulling out the decorations and the memories that come flooding back. I love the smells and the music. This year I made four dozen Froebel stars to hang on my tree. I also didn't put as many ornaments on the tree-just the most special ones. Beautiful! Then I hit a wall. I had no ideas for Christmas gifts. I wasn't even excited to buy the boys anything. I think this is normal for their stage in life, but I just don't have the warm fuzzies as their mother anymore-which makes spending money and trying to find things to please them draining. I wish they thought about giving more instead of just receiving. Thankfully, the Lord provided inspiration and worked out some great deals too. I think it is going to be a Merry Christmas after all!

My bathroom sink continues to leak, which is a source of frustration to my contractor and an inconvenience for me. Friday, we are having a wood burning insert put in. That should really warm up our super cold basement. Jim is in charge of getting a cord of wood. Looking forward to toasty evenings together in our recliners! I have been practicing my clarinet quite a bit lately in preparation for a holiday performance-TOMORROW! Since we will be under a blizzard warning, I don't think I will be performing after all. Still, I can finally play for a fair amount of time without my chops giving out. I need to continue daily practice.

Noah has finals next week. He will be home a few days at Christmas, but once again has to go back early for work. Nate hasn't been working much at all, and is running out of money again. He didn't sign up for school and I don't know what he is going to do. He has been smoking. Besides the obvious health concerns, it can cause attacks of his Raynauds disease, so I have been trying to give him information to persuade him to quit. Jim is still busy working the outage.

Well I'd better sign off and go shovel again.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Bye Bye October

I didn't even get one posting last month! The contractor finished up our bathroom remodels and I have been busy putting things back together. You think it shouldn't take a month, but one thing leads to another.... For example, I had stacking bins under the sink in my bathroom, but they were difficult to get into and really weren't working for me. So I bought new bins, but the stacking bins were fairly new, so I was trying to figure out another use for them. I decided they would be perfect in my office closet, but I had to unload boxes of pictures so I had a place to put them. Then what to do with the pictures? You get the picture! This keeps happening over and over, but I am almost done. I have been clearing stuff out and taking it to the Goodwill too. Today was beautiful, so we began the process of putting the garage back together. We had moved everything over to one side so the contractor could fix a leak in the ceiling and have a place to work. Made good progress today and should be parking in the garage soon. The bathrooms look beautiful. For not having any idea what I wanted to do, I am pleased with how nice they turned out. We have enough left over to do the kitchen, but aren't going to start that mess until after the holidays. In the meantime, I have begun the process of picking out flooring, counter tops, etc...... Again, don't have a clue! We also have begun the process of getting a new wood burning insert in our fireplace. The television (and cable) is in the basement now, and it is COLD down there in the winter. The $1500 tax credit was an incentive to do it now.

We had hoped to camp in October, but it was a lousy month for weather. It got so cold and snowed about 4 inches on Oct. 10th. Most of the month was dreary, gray, cold, rainy. We had to winterize the camper instead. That was a first for us, but it really wasn't hard. Jim winterized the boat (he finally fixed the seat, but too late in the season for us to use it) and took it for storage last weekend. We took the camper for storage this weekend. We also had to rake this year for the first time! We only have one original tree on the property-a pine tree. All the rest were diseased or just plain ugly (cedars). So we have planted, but never had enough leaves to worry about. We had to bag up 15 bags of leaves this year. Still that is nothing compared to my neighbor who has filled at least 45 bags from his front yard alone!

Jim started working the outage last week. He is working five 12 hour days right now. It makes him tired and crabby, but the money sure helps! Nate hasn't been working much the past couple of weeks. Surprisingly, people don't want ice cream as much when the weather turns cool! This week he is supposed to start with the early morning coffee crew. He should get more hours, because he is the only one available, but he is NOT a morning person.....He is considering school next semester, so we may have to hustle to get him signed up in time. Noah is doing good. He turned 21 last week. We went down last night and went out for dinner to celebrate. He ordered a beer (which was a little weird). We went back to the house for dessert, but cut it short because I had to use the bathroom. Their bathroom is never what I would consider clean, but for the first time it was too yucky for me to use. Wanted to get a family picture for our Christmas card, but no one cooperated. Jim wanted to wear a Mossy Oak shirt, Noah hadn't shaved in several days, Nate was casual. I looked great though with my black dress and new Christmas scarf! Work continues to keep me busy, and I'm trying to be better about cooking. Tried 4 new recipes last week. Thinking ahead to Thanksgiving. I'm going to have to do things a little different because Noah can only make it home for the day and Jim has to work until 6pm. I don't want to spend the whole day cooking, and miss out on spending time with Noah and I don't know how to carve the turkey....

Well I think I'll sign off and make some paper stars for my Christmas tree. Love everyone!

Fall is Upon Us

What fantastic weather we have had this year. We are usually still sweating this time of year, but it has been beautiful. We went camping last week and not only didn't use the air conditioner, but had to pull out extra blankets at night. We've used the camper a couple of times and are getting more comfortable with it. It sure makes camping more fun!

The big news is that after being terminated two times in the past month; I still have my job. The wonderful citizens of this city donated money to cover the cuts, and the budget passed for next year, so I am still working at the library! Thanks to everyone for any part they played; donating, praying, contacting city council members. Most of all, I thank God! I love my job and the people of my community and am very grateful to be able to continue to serve them.

The bathroom remodel continues, though we are getting close to being done. I keep waiting for it to be complete to take pictures, but I am very pleased with how it is turning out. I bought towels and rugs for my master bath tonight. Now I just need to find new accessories-soap dispenser, toothbrush holder, cup....

I am going to a prayer group once a week that focuses on my adult children. It has been so helpful to me, because I feel like I don't have any say over their lives anymore (and I'm grieved about many of the choices they are making for themselves). It is very empowering to pray about it-because that IS something I can do. I already see answers to my prayers and have more peace about things because I have released them into God's hands and He knows how to best deal with them.

I got a great deal on a GPS unit. I want to use it to go geocaching. Geocaching uses the GPS coordinates to locate a cache. I'm still learning how to use the GPS unit right now, so it will be awhile before I hunt for treasure!

Good news-Nate got a job. He is working at an ice cream shop. It is early, but things are going good so far and he is happier. Bad news-Nate hit a deer with his car last night. Thankfully, he only clipped its bottom with the headlight on the passenger side. Unfortunately the headlight pushed far enough back that it clipped the radiator causing over $500.oo in damages. Nate and his girlfriend, Carly, are back together. She is very nice-hope he can hold onto her this time!

Noah seems to be doing fine in school so far. He finished up his online summer courses this week. I have concerns because he doesn't seem to have a passion for Business like he did for Science. He's just going through the motions. I'll just keep praying about that. He called last week and we had a nice long conversation. Maybe I just need to sit back and let them come to me more often.

Well, I am going to sign off and get to bed early. I haven't felt well all week and I'm very tired.

Finally some news....

Well much has been going on, but not much time to sit and write about it.

First of all, the last few weeks of work were very tough. My co-workers were trying to go on as normal, because if they thought about it they would cry. The news really didn't focus much on the staff terminations, so the public was carrying on like normal too. I felt very isolated. I began to tell a few patrons goodbye, and they got very upset, which upset their kids, which was upsetting to me. One lady said I ruined her day (though she was glad I told her). This left me feeling uncertain if it was better to say something or just stay silent. My last day of work was on Thurs the 27th of Aug. We left Friday the 28th for California. While I was gone, money was raised to cover the budget cuts made this year. I could go on and on with the boring details, but there is still much uncertainty about my future. I do have a job for another two weeks though. Two more difficult weeks I'm sure....and then we'll see.

The other big thing in my life is that I have bathroom remodels going on. I am so thankful we were able to refinance and hire someone to do the job. That being said, it is still a lot of work. Decisions, decisions, decisions.... I hadn't thought much about what I wanted. I don't like to look or dream about such things anymore, so I was clueless. I don't make quick decisions normally, so this was tough having to make decision after decision, night after night. I know WAAHHH. The contractor worked with us to save some money which meant we had to run to the hardware store and pick up supplies. I'm getting to know the people at Lowe's real well! All that being said, my main bath is nearly done-just a few minor things left. I LOVE it. It was a complete remodel-everything new except the vanity (though it does have new doors and drawers). He has started on my master bath. We are putting tile in the shower there, but sticking with many of the same features used in the other bath (easier that way). I was hoping to have enough money left over to do my kitchen too, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until the job situation is a little more settled.

Nate was bit by a dog at a friend's house and required 19 stitches. The bite near his mouth was the worst and they called the plastic surgeon in to repair that. She did an excellent job and he is healing up nicely. I don't know anything to report about Noah right now. He doesn't seem to want to talk lately.

The last thing I wanted to tell you about is my trip to CA. We had a very early morning flight and pulled a "Home Alone" morning. The alarm is on Jim's side and he says he poked me, but I never heard or felt a thing. We made it to the gate just as they began loading the plane. We flew with our friends Scott & Julie, which made the 3 hour layover in Phoenix bearable. We landed in San Louis Obispo and drove to Dave & Mary's home. Scott & Julie got a Sebring convertible. We wound up with a Nissan Sentra. So not fair! We all piled in the convertible and took a tour of the area. It was my first encounter with the Pacific Ocean. My impression-it is COLD and has lots of kelp. I don't know if the kelp has the distinct odor I smelled or if it was something else, but it doesn't smell salty like the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico. We all stayed with Dave & Mary for two days. During our stay we went to the Farmer's Market at the Avilia Pier, Did some wine tasting, drove on Avilia Pier and got up close and personal with the sunning seals, hung out at the beach, grilled Tri Tip (big in CA), watched a movie in Dave & Mary's own personal home theater. It was great to be all together again. Some things I noticed while there-cigars are very popular with the fellas, the fruit and veggies are not only plentiful but fantastically flavorful, the weather is perfect (Dave & Mary don't even have air conditioning), no bugs (in fact both of our hotel rooms didn't even have screens on the patio doors-just didn't need them), it is dry and brown in the mountains, the towns of the Central Coast are not very big (I always thought people were stacked on top of each other in CA), the people were so friendly, dogs were everywhere....on the beach, in the shops, at the restaurants. On Sunday, Scott & Julie packed up and drove that convertible down to San Diego for business. Jim and I checked into the Cliffs Resort nearby. We began his business trip with a fancy dinner meeting. So fancy, several of us didn't know what the items on the menu ever were! The host chose several excellent local wines. I'm sure it was a very pricey meal! Our stay at the Cliffs Resort was so wonderful. For the first time in my life, I slept well every night there. The bed was so comfortable and the hotel quiet. The best part was the view. It was on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There was a path down to the beach below which also had small tidal pools. I would sit and watch seals and pelicans and dolphins. Mary didn't have to be to work until noon, so we would do things together in the morning. The best thing was our oriental pressure point massage. We got worked over like never before for $40! She did my whole body for an hour. I felt so good that day and slept like a rock that night. In the afternoon I would often lay by the pool and read or explore the beach and tide pools. One afternoon I went to Hearst Castle and took a tour. WOW, was that awesome. I was wary because Biltmore left me a little disappointed last year, but I felt much more satisfied with my tour of Hearst Castle. First of all, there are several different tours to chose from and the price is more reasonable. Secondly, we had an actual tour guide and she was excellent. She couldn't answer one question, so her assistant immediately got on the phone and called the librarian who researched it and called right back. How impressive-maybe that is just because I am a librarian. Third, it seemed like Hearst was the real deal when it came to collecting and Vanderbilt a wanna be. He had a zoo back in the day, but only a few animals remain, including a zebra herd which I saw on my way home. The rest of the time was spent shopping, exploring, and trying new food. Jim had to have turkey nuts. We tried something called linguica, which is a Portuguese sausage and is common there. We went to In and Out, a burger joint, and ordered off the "secret menu". It was really hard to leave the Cliffs Resort-I couldn't imagine a more perfect place! We drove north to a beach where elephant seals hang out. They are big, especially the males! We checked into our room at the Inn at Morro Bay. Another beautiful place. This time we got a bay view room with a private hot tub on the deck. We packed up and went to Montana de Oro State Park to hike and see the tide pools. We heard they were fantastic. We did see some great tide pools, but I'm not sure we saw the best ones. It was a very undeveloped and huge state park. The visitor center wasn't even marked and we arrived moments after it closed (at 3 pm), so we were kind of on our own. The signs at the trail heads warned of mountain lions and rattlesnakes. One trail head sign had a picture of a deer ripped to shreds by a mountain lion on that very trail-happy hiking! We did see and touch starfish, crabs, and all sorts of sea creatures in the pools. It is such a thrill to be on rocks that are just barely above the ocean waves that jut out into the open ocean. We ate dinner and made it back to our hotel room in time to enjoy a glass of wine on our deck as we watched the sun set near Morro rock. The bay offers protection to sea life so there were cormorants and cranes, seals, sea otters, and I'm pretty sure we spotted a little whale. We were eating dinner down by the water when the tail came up right by the restaurant. I got so excited and Jim turned around just in time to see the tail come up a second time. Then it showed it's head and was gone.... Whales are in the area, but not usually in the bay, so the locals were sceptical, but we know what we saw couldn't be anything else. It was so hard to fly out the next day. I would love to live in CA-maybe I wouldn't feel the same after surviving an earthquake! There is a very relaxed and friendly attitude and the conditions are as near to perfect as we are going to get on this earth. This is the best vacation I have ever taken though-chock full of new experiences and good memories.

Well it is getting late and I'm messed up from the travel and time difference. I'm posting my favorite picture of the trip. Not the best mind you (my others are posted on Facebook), but my favorite. It is Cinderella shopping for shoes. Maybe she was looking for a new glass slipper? Only in CA would you see that!

Out of the Blue

I was fired yesterday. This was rather unexpected. Our city is in dire financial trouble and has been taking steps to balance the budget. That is why my hours got cut recently. The management told us that if they were asked to make further cuts, full time people would lose their jobs. Instead, 50 some part time employees were fired yesterday, and not one full time person was let go. So this was unexpected..... I've learned a lesson the hard way about trust. I've been what feels like kicked in the gut three times now, and feel so devalued and disillusioned. I didn't used to feel that way about my job, only since the annexation. They are hoping the budget for next year passes so they can hire us all back, but I don't think I want to do it anymore. So I'm trusting that God has something different in mind for me, something even better. So please pray for me to find a new job and soon. Noah starts school in a week, which is why I emphasize soon! The hardest part will be telling the people I've served for 11 years goodbye. I love them and love the connection I have to them through my work. That is what makes me cry......I have a couple of weeks before I have to go and they are going to be tough ones. Pray for me.

Time Flies

Hello all! It is nearly the end of the month already. I'm thankful for that because the summer reading program is done at the end of the month, and then we take August off from programs to recover. Things should be returning to normal soon-it has been a super busy summer at work. Speaking of work, my hours did get cut 16 hours a month. I have also signed up to go through the process of getting my name on a full time specialist hiring list. I have to take a test and based on the score they will hire. I hate that; it feels like I'm in high school competing for a higher chair in band again. Still this opportunity doesn't come around very often, so I need to take advantage of it. It is just bad timing for me, as you will see below.

We bought a camper! I'm so excited to be moving up from our pop up. After this last trip, and getting practically no sleep, we decided it was time. We searched and searched, until we found a camper with everything we were looking for. Then we got lucky; there was a 3 year old model that said it was in excellent shape available. So we drove an hour away to look at it, and found out someone had purchased it that morning. I was so disappointed. He took my name and number, in case the financing fell through. Well it did, so I rushed down again and gave it a better look over and bought it. We pick it up tomorrow. We have so much to learn-emptying tanks, new type fridge, using a battery, backing up (always an issue). I'll post a picture next time. We should be more comfortable now.

The other big news is we are getting ready to start our bathrooms-next week! I finally made a decision on tile and counter tops. Now I have to find a shower curtain (so I can pick out colors), and pick out fixtures. This weekend we have to start moving everything out of the bathroom, including the washer and dryer. That is going to be the hard part-one finding a place to put them and two going without them during the remodel. I hate going to the laundromat! It will be worth it to wind up with a fresh, updated, fully functional bathroom though! When the dust all settles, I'm hoping to have enough money to update the kitchen also.

In other news, Nate's job isn't working out. For whatever reason, his boss hasn't called his crew to work in a month. He also has Nate's paycheck, and Nate won't ask for it (that's rude). So he's flat broke again. I see in his eyes that he really wants to work, but all his actions say otherwise. So typical Nathan, complicated. He has been doing some chores outside for me and I'm paying him (enough for gas). Still I pray something comes along for him soon. I had an exciting moment yesterday. I stepped on the scale and saw a number I never have seen before, and now I can say I've lost 80 lbs! I love the cooler weather we have been having this summer, it is good for walking! Jim is going to the surgeon that did his original surgery today to get another opinion about his hernia. He is not symptomatic so our family physician said we don't need to do anything, but other things he has read disagree. Keep you updated. Noah is taking a couple of online classes right now. His computer broke right before he started, so I hope it is working out for him to borrow a friends, while his is getting repaired (warranty work we hope). He is having a tough summer and hasn't been real pleasant. At least he is going to church and bible study and seeking a change. I'm very thankful for that!

That's about all for now. I need to go throw some laundry in, while I can!

Summer is here

June flew by, mostly because we were on vacation for half of it! Went back to work today, which was hard after being off for so long.

Our vacation was great. We left straight from work and drove to Galena, IL. We camped right outside of town. Our first morning we had to weather a severe thunderstorm in our pop up! Thankfully it didn't last long (or cause any damage to us). We spent the day exploring shops downtown and took a tour of Linmar Gardens. It rained a little bit, but stopped early enough that we were able to take in a balloon glow that evening. The next day we toured President Grant's home and Belvedere Mansion. We also stopped in to Galena Cellars and did a wine tasting and went to dinner at the DeSoto Hotel (Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and Grant all spoke from the balcony there). What I liked about Galena was the history and it was a nice size. We were able to park the car downtown and walk anywhere we wanted to go. It was also nice because we would run into people that we knew from previous tours as we wandered around town. There are so many neat things you can do in Galena-maybe next time we will stay in a B&B and have the spa treatment!

From Galena we drove to South Bend, IN. Jim had a conference there. I went to the same conference last year in Charlotte, NC. It was so much better than South Bend. Our first night, we were approached by a hustler in the parking lot and someone broke into our camper. There wasn't much to see or do in downtown South Bend, so I went to the laundry mat and grocery store. My sisters came down and we did spend one day at the Amish flea market in Shipshewana. Haven't done that in years! We were so excited when we arrived and got parking three rows from the front gate. Mom would have been so proud!! We quickly realized why we got such good parking-it was sweltering hot. The temps were in the high 90's with the heat index well into the 100's. For the first time, we didn't make it to all the booths. We actually only did about half the booths. Still, it was good to be together and we did find some bargains.

From South Bend we drove to Silver Lake State Park in Michigan. That is where we had our family camping trip. My mom only had one sister-she had 4 kids, and we had 4 kids. Everyone was there except 4 of our kids that had to work. We occupied 9 campsites and spent our time going from site to site, visiting & eating and laughing. Jim's mom and stepfather were also able to camp with us and his sister's family came to visit for the day. It is so great to be surrounded by family. The weather was very comfortable in MI. We biked, swam, fished, and rode the dunes. Our brother in law, Dom, has a souped up dune machine and took us on some thrilling rides. Some interesting things happened at Silver Lake. Many of us broke out in a case of swimmers itch. Not fun! One evening, it looked like storms were rolling in. I looked behind our camper, and saw a young man setting up his gear in a clearing. I told him to finish up, storms were on the way. He said he was done-which confused me because all I saw was a tarp on the ground. He explained that he had biked in and that was his sleeping gear. I invited him to put his stuff under my camper and come join our family. We were having a big chili feed that night and had WAY MORE than enough to share. His name was Joel and he explained that he was biking from South Bend, IN up to Traverse City, MI and was on his way back to South Bend. Impressive! It didn't rain long, so Kim asked him if he wanted to go on a dune ride. His eyes got so big-did he ever! He came back with a huge smile on his face and couldn't wait to take a picture so he could tell everyone back home. The rain came later that night, and I invited him under my awning and even into the camper (I wouldn't have slept, but I couldn't leave someone out there laying on the ground in a tarp in a storm). He did come sleep under the end of the camper, where he had stashed his bike. Thankfully it didn't rain hard or long and in the morning he was on his way! We were able to stay a few extra days in Silver Lake, but had to move our camper to the site next door. I thought it would be a pain, but it wasn't too bad.

We left Silver Lake and started back towards home. We had hoped to do some more camping, but the weather was quite cool and rain was forecast everyday. Instead, we stopped at Starved Rock State Park in IL and treated ourselves to a night in the lodge. Always wanted to do that! There was a country music talent competition on the patio that night, so we had fun listening while we ate our dinner. Wish we could have stayed longer......

We came home to grass that was as high as the corn, and some mess, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Spent the next day cleaning up the camper mess-and we had to really clean it due to the sap from the trees at Silver Lake. Spent the rest of the weekend getting caught up and enjoying the 4th with both of our boys. Glad we had the time to do those things and get caught up on sleep too!

Now it is back to reality. I have an adult program tomorrow night, which I haven't had enough time to prepare for. The city budget crunch continues to be a source of stress. No good news there. Started the process of looking for tile-overwhelming.....need to get a friend to help. Still the boys are healthy, we are both working, and we are thankful for everything the Lord has seen fit to bless us with. Life is good.

Beautiful June

Hello! We are into June and all week it is supposed to be in the 70's. We have had a few hot days, but mostly cooler weather, which this northern girl really enjoys. I think the temperature in heaven will be in the 70's!

The big news is about work. The summer reading program started this week, so it has been like working at Chuck E Cheese. Loud, chaotic, busy...... It is exhausting. It is also frustrating. I have noticed a shift in parenting. Moms no longer correct their kids or even tell them no. I had a mom bring her toddler to an adult program I did this week. He was not happy to be there and kept voicing that rather loudly. I kept waiting for mom to realize it wasn't going to work and take him out, but she wouldn't. It was obviously bothering the rest of the people in attendance, so I finally had to say something. When the movie was done, I invited her back in for dessert and discussion. She got that child a full piece of very expensive cheesecake, and didn't say a word as he just squished it to oblivion with his hands. It scares me to think about the kind of adults they will become when they are spoiled, indulged, never told no, and nothing is off limits. I recently heard a talk and the woman said withholding creates gratitude. How can a child ever be grateful if all their desires are totally met? It is better to not give them everything, so they learn to be grateful for what they have, and grateful when they receive something they desired and had to wait for. A word of advice for moms-it's ok to tell your child NO, it is ok to correct bad behavior, it is ok if the child cries and even pitches a fit, it is ok if your child says he doesn't like you. You need to be a parent, not their friend. Get it right now, because the teenage years will be here before you know it. Teens are like toddlers on steroids!

The other news about work is that I am probably getting my hours cut. I'm really not happy about that. First of all, I have a child in college and need all the hours I can get. Secondly, the way I was told was insensitive. It popped into my bosses head as I was on my way out the door and she just blurted it out and then gave me the look that says "I know I can count on you to understand and not give me a hard time about this". Third, it isn't fair. She is cutting my hours and one other part time person because we are the part timers that make the most money. I understand it has the least impact on the staffing if she cuts us. So two people have to bear the brunt of a bad economy and others bad decisions, while 8 people carry on normally. I've also been given new "job expectations". These were extra things I was expected to do that will affect my performance evaluation. I barely have time to get my regular work done, and now I'm expected to do extra with less time. It just isn't sitting very well with me still.

More about work-Nathan has a job!! He is working for a seeding company. It pays decent and they work him hard. The only disadvantage is he doesn't have a regular schedule. He got his first paycheck the other day-YEAH!

Jim went to work on his boat three weeks ago and something broke in the motor. He is taking it in this week for repairs. Still, he could be putting that seat back together and cleaning the boat up in that time so it would be ready for use when the motor gets fixed! We cleaned a bunch of stuff up and tried to have a garage sale last week. Unfortunately, my schedule was wacky and I needed too much help to man it, so we cancelled. Took most of the stuff to Goodwill this week instead. Played my clarinet at the opening of the summer reading program. It was a two hour event and they scheduled us to play the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes! At least it was a nice day. We are playing again at a library event next week. This is all volunteer ya know! Had someone come and refinish my decks. They look better! Had some more contractors come and look at stuff to finish up bids. I have a leak from my laundry, I think, so I need to get a plumber out next week sometime. It is always something. I went to the doctor and he said my thyroid level was low and had to up my dose. I also had him look at my joints and run some blood work. He said my joints looked good and the blood work came back fine, so he thinks the pain is more from the connective tissue, which is again probably fibromyalgia. I'm starting to accept that is what the problem is. He gave me an anti-inflamatory and a low level antidepressant which acts like a muscle relaxant. I do feel much more comfortable, but it makes me so tired. I am surprised with as low as the level is that I can be so exhausted. I also remember this was the problem with antidepressants in the past and it was so debilitating, that I just wound up going off them. I'll give it more time before I decide.

Well I'd better go and hop in the shower. See you all soon!

It Has Been Awhile

Hello All!

Nearly a month has passed since I last updated you. It has been very busy preparing for graduation, and time has gone by more quickly than I realized.

First of all, I did paint Noah's room. It turned out to be a bigger job than I had planned on. I wasn't going to paint the ceiling, but just touch up some bad spots. I used this ceiling spray that was fine on my other ceiling, but it was very yellow on Noah's ceiling.....so I bought a power sprayer and painted it. Then I decided to just prime all the walls because there was so much patchwork and grubbiness. I had heard about tinted primer that you could get the same color as your paint. It acts as the first coat, thus saving time and effort. When I went to purchase the blue, they said I needed a grey primer due to the dark color of the paint. I don't know much about these things, so I went with that. When I went back to get the golden color, I was told I could get a lighter primer or grey. I asked for more information, since I was obviously misinformed about tinted primer, and again got a hazy explanation about the deep color. Since I had plenty of grey, I just used that. Neither the blue or gold covered the first time, so I actually wound up painting the walls 3 times! I am pretty happy with the results though. The gold is a little on the orange side, but it goes well with the furniture and compliments the bedspread. Had just enough time to clean up the room before my mother-in-law and her husband came to stay for graduation.

Graduation-yes there was a graduation! Nate pushed it to the last day before we found out. English was the problem. He had a 68%. He got an 85% on his final exam which brought his grade up to 71%. One percentage point to spare! We were told he would not be allowed to go through the ceremony unless he passed, which made us nervous with Grandma & Grandpa coming all the way from MI just for that. The ceremony was good. Tip to all you with future grads-go early, take a blanket, and lay it on the bleachers to save your spot. It fills up fast. We had a nice family celebration afterwards-smoked turkey, pasta salad, cake.....Nate got a kick out of his card that said "What Fun......You're Done" and played the Hallelujah Chorus when opened up. He was a little crabby-felt like a giant tomato in his gown, and the hat was too small (which prompted him to say "I'm about 10 shades of pissed off right now" to me during the part of the ceremony where they give their parents a rose-memories......). Noah was even more crabby-don't know why, but was glad when he headed back home!

We had a good weekend with Darlene and Gary. Sat on the deck and had cheese, wine, and dessert while trying to enjoy a fire in our fire pit. It was a little windy and the fire a little smokey. We took several walks, Jim's mom and I went to see Wicked, and we tried Warren Buffett's favorite steak house (I was not impressed). I learned some things about my mother-in-law that I didn't know before, and it caused my respect for her to increase all the more. I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

In other news, I had to have a couple of mammograms and an ultrasound this month. I was getting nervous when we moved to the ultrasound, but I'm thankful to report that it is just a cyst. I did have the contractors come and look at the bathrooms. They are getting back to me with the ideas/bids and then we'll get that started. Noah is staying at college this summer, working at the bank and trying to take a couple of online classes from the local community college. He is behind since he decided to switch his major to business. He is living with a bunch of girls right now-but some are coming and going and he is also lonely. Nathan is still looking for work. Jim is enjoying his new recliner and cable tv. At least it keeps him out of my hair.

Well, that is all I can think to tell you right now. Please stay in touch-I'm lonely too!

A Few More Things

I forgot to update you on my band experience. Rehearsals went well. Most people are not as rusty as I am, so it challenged me beyond my limits just to keep up. The good thing about that is you see improvement quickly. We are playing at library staff day this week. My only problem is (well beside needing more group rehearsals) that he really won't pin down which songs we will be playing, and I find myself constantly sight reading. I'm practicing other songs he said to have prepared! Oh well, it is what it is (my frequent saying lately). Nate helped me move the tv and stand to the basement today and hook everything up again. We are getting cable later this week (he is so geeked). Then Jim and I went shopping and bought two rocker/recliners for the basement. Brought them home and assembled them. Waiting for Nate to get home from small group to help me maneuver them into place. Hopefully I can talk him into helping me move the furniture in Noah's room as well, so I can really get started tomorrow. I called several repair/remodel contractors to come out this week and give me bids too. Nate got a lift today when he was asked to be part of a landscape crew. He thinks it went well and he'll be asked again. Unfortunately, it isn't something regular, the foreman will call when he needs help. It helps that the foreman is his friend though. So that is about all I know for now. I need to go and plan a casserole for TBH tomorrow night. Keep in touch.

Beautiful

Hello family and friends. The beautiful spring weather is FINALLY here! Now if I could just get out more and enjoy it. Today I am stuck inside cleaning out Noah's room. I hope to prep and paint next week, as I have been given three days off work (unpaid of course). They are also going to paint the library. Noah isn't going to come home this summer, so I think it is time for him to take some more of his stuff. That will open up room for me to store some of my stuff in his room! I hope to have a big garage sale in May, and clear out even more stuff. How did we get so much stuff??

Noah is trying to work some things out in his personal life, which is hard for his momma to sit by and watch. He did switch his major to business and that puts him a year (or more) behind. He is sweet on a girl and texted over his limit by $130 (again) trying to establish something more with her (at least I'm pretty sure that is what is going on-he doesn't talk about these things ya know. If he did I'd tell him to TALK to her, that is what she wants!). He's not real happy with how he's been living his life right now, but by choosing to stay in that environment, he's having a hard time making changes. Nate isn't doing great either. I talked with his doctor about some of my concerns, and he is going to be furious when he finds out next week. He just wants to go in and get out as quickly as possible. He is still trying to get a part time job. He has decided not to go to college, so he really needs a full time job with benefits! Jim is another one that is having trouble making some changes. I am very concerned about his health. He has no energy, is very overweight, and was having a tight chest when we tried to walk the other night. He continues to sneak food (maybe it isn't sneaking if I know about it), and eat things he shouldn't, and snack all night. I hate sitting around just waiting for something bad to happen to him, because I've done all I can do right now. So that's the news about the men in my life.

We have one more night of TBH next week. I finished my bible study last night, so that should free up my schedule for the summer. I met my new neighbors, two women from New Jersey. Need to start planning for graduation. Nate hasn't even taken a picture......maybe I'll try again. Jim picked up the boat-boy does he have a lot of work to do after last summer's fiasco. He put the plug in and forgot to take it out, so it sat and collected water all summer. It is moldy, a battery is ruined, and I'm not sure if he ruined some wiring??? Plus he still needs to put the bench seat back together (which is why we haven't used it the past two years!). I've threatened to sell it this year if he doesn't get it done. It is ridiculous to own something you don't maintain or use because it isn't maintained. I want him to build me a new raised bed for my garden, but I'm not sure if I can get him moving on that either.

Well I've taken a long enough break and need to get back to clearing stuff out. Stay in touch!

March News

Hello all! Trying to recover after a rough couple of weeks now. Last week was just very busy, as I was gone every night. I very much enjoyed the color analysis I had done. I found out that I am a summer (but I so wanted to be a winter!). We had a great night at TBH. We did a different activity with the adults where they painted a glass votive making a "memory candle". They were laughing and sharing stories....it really opened up opportunities to talk with them. I also had a great night at bible study. Upon closing, someone asked for prayer. Normally, if you need prayer you stay after and a small group will pray with you, but we all stayed and prayed over these two requests. The gal that initiated is someone that I have only recently met, so I don't know much about her, but she does intrigue me. She is a little charismatic and so open to God. After praying for the requests, she started praying for Michelle. I was thinking, Michelle who??? Is she praying about me??? Is there another Michelle in our group??? It must be me right??? By the time I stopped all these questions rolling around in my mind, I heard her lift up two requests and prophesy a little. One, that I would draw close to God-he was calling me into the holy of holies to be with Him. Two, that he had a ministry planned just for me and he was calling me into it. Wow! I was blown away. God was speaking to me through this woman who barely knows me! She could never know that the deep cry of my heart was just that-to be deeply intimate with my Lord. I went home in tears pondering this prayer. I prayed and felt led to read my favorite devotional, Come Away my Beloved. When I did, the Lord gave me confirmation that He was calling to me and that we would share that intimacy which I so desire. Wow! I so needed to hear that. Since then, He is working on some issues with me, and I am a slow learner, but I'm starting to feel alive inside again. These past 4 years since my mom's death, I have felt so stagnant and alone. It is an exciting time for me! Noah surprised us over the weekend with a visit. He is still struggling this semester and is going to drop his organic chemistry class after failing a second test. He has lost all desire to be a doctor, or even be in the science field! He is thinking about switching to business as his major-he likes working at the bank. I have so many concerns floating around in my head-but what can I do? I have talked and talked to him, but he has to find his own way. Unfortunately, it appears he is going to learn it the hard way....which is hard for me as his parent to stand by and watch. And Nate, he is going to have to learn the hard, hard, hard, way! This week, I got sick. I missed a day of work and was in bed all day in agony. Each day, I have felt stronger, but I'm still not completely over it. I have been working with my clarinet. I thought the fingerings would be easy, and I would struggle with the rhythm, but it turns out both are a challenge. I have to look up most notes and when I play it is so awkward, trying to get the notes on the right beat. Aarrgghhh. We have our first group rehearsal this week! Tomorrow, we are having a party for our co-worker. Yesterday was her last day with us. We picked up a beautiful necklace (for a great price). She is a bundle of nerves, so I hope she can enjoy the party tomorrow. My eyes are getting pretty bad, so I have scheduled an eye exam for next week. I'm pretty sure I'll need glasses. Wonder if I can handle contacts? Well that is enough for now. I had to work today, my back is killing me, and I'm exhausted, so I think I'm off to bed, even though it is kind of early.

A Weekend Alone

Hello again! We are without children this weekend as Nathan went down to visit Noah. In a way it is very peaceful. I can get on my computer and look at things. No thumping music at night. No grumpy attitude to deal with. But in a way, it is a preview of things to come and that is scary. No kids to distract you from real issues. No youthful vitality to stretch you to try new things. No one else to talk to/spend time with. I am scared heading into middle age, and terrified of menopause. What if we don't survive? What if years of neglect have taken an irreversible tole on our relationship?

We are still working on our taxes. I want to much to have it done and cleaned up. The last of the paperwork, then I can move on to the house issues. I have been walking or using the elliptical most days and I can already feel the difference. I need to add some strength training and stretching soon. We have had a couple of nice days, so going outside for a walk has been a real treat. Today is not one of those days-gray & gloomy, cold & rainy.

The news at work is rather gloomy as well. My co-worker is teary most days with her impending departure. I am trying to keep an open mind and be positive about her replacement, but.....the news I am hearing seems to confirm my fears. Still, everyone deserves a chance, and I will give that to her. This week I am taking a fun little class at the community college-color analysis. I'll let you know how that goes later. I also have begun practicing my clarinet in preparation for our first rehearsal at the end of the month. I hope to receive the actual music soon. I may have to ask someone for help! Picked up some tickets to the musical Wicked this week. We are going close to Nate's graduation, so Jim's mom can go with me.

Noah called this week, distraught. He had another bad test grade. He did poorly on one organic chemistry test, and now one genetics test. He was frustrated and felt like a failure. We had some good conversation about persevering and not finding your worth in your performance, but he said he felt so lost. He's not even sure he is in the right major anymore. Remember him in your prayers.

Got to go and get some dinner going!

It doesn't look like March!

We got another snowstorm, so everything is all white and pretty today. The problem is that we keep getting 50 degree weather in between, so it all melts and it feels fresh like spring, and then BAM-the next storm rolls through. I am ready for spring. Earlier this week, on one of those 50 degree days, I took a walk at the park. It was so refreshing to breathe the air and feel the sunshine on my face.

We went to see Anita Renfroe for Valentine's Day. I don't know how much Jim enjoyed her humor, as it is targeted towards women. It did seem to help him understand me a little more. He acts like I am some alien woman- like I am the only one that thinks/acts this way or deals with this "woman" stuff. As he watched all the women around me laughing and shaking their heads yes in agreement, I think he realized that I'm not such an alien after all!

I picked up my elliptical and Nate helped me put it together. I have been using it most days (unless it is one of those beautiful ones where I want to be outside) and it is already helping to tone things up. I need to add some strength training and stretching this week.

I had lunch with a new friend this week. We talked for 4 hours! I needed some girl time so bad!!

Work has been busy and I have been having trouble keeping up with all my tasks. We found out on Friday that they are going to move my co-worker to another branch and bring in someone new. We were not happy about that. I'm afraid we are going to get someone that will not be nearly as good, and the quality of service at our branch will again suffer, not to mention the morale.

Noah will probably not be coming home for the summer. He has a good job as a bank teller that he wants to keep while he is in school, and they found a new place to live. Since he has to sign a year lease, he is planning on staying there and working. I'm fine with that. We actually told him that he should seriously consider that since he was being so difficult with us at home. What I really wanted was for him to just be more considerate and helpful and to stop fighting with us over stupid stuff. After he realized we were serious about him not coming home, he shaped up. Now that he has things worked out for the summer, he is back to being difficult. How disappointing. Noah was home last weekend. Two days after going back, he called and said he thought he needed new brakes, they were grinding when he stopped. He tried to say everything was fine when he was home for the weekend, but when we drove the car it was downright dangerous. When we spoke about what was needed to fix the car, I tried to talk to him about how he needs to pay closer attention. That started it! He started arguing. I finally said what I was looking for was an I'm sorry I wasn't paying close attention to my car and I'll try to do better in the future. He said he would try to do better in the future but he wouldn't apologize for not paying attention to his car because he has never had good brakes so how would he know when things are going bad. No humility, after we spent $500 to fix his car! While I had the car, I also noticed a big dent and scrape on his front bumper. When I asked about that he told me he was driving in the parking garage and was juggling four things in his hands, one of which was not the steering wheel. He ran into the wall of the parking garage! Now that's what I call paying attention! Today he is not happy with us because he wanted us to co-sign his lease for next year and we told him we weren't inclined to do that, but would talk it over. An hour and a half later, they had another parent co-sign, so we didn't have to, but he was still grumpy with us for not jumping at the opportunity.

Nate has also been grumpy. He lost it last weekend when I tried to clamp down on him because of a failing math grade. He threw his car keys and the battery of his cell phone at me and said he was leaving and I wouldn't be able to find him. He eventually came home because it was too cold, but unless he changes, one day he won't come home (or if he does, he'll find a suitcase of his stuff out front and he'll know he isn't welcome to come back home). He cut his hair a couple of weeks ago. He was bored and tired of long hair. It looks terrible, and he knows it, but he won't let me take him to get it fixed. He still doesn't have a job. He changed his mind about college and is not going anymore. His big goal is to get a job at Walmart when he turns 18.

We have been doing our taxes. It is not working so well this year. Turbo Tax is not figuring something correctly, so we have to figure a way to make the program do what we want it to do. We must have moved up a tax bracket (and lost child tax credits for the boys), so we are not getting much of a refund this year. Ouch, that hurts!

Well that is about all for today. Better get some dinner on and keep the laundry rolling!

What happened?

After a week or so of beautiful weather all the snow melted and, even though you know you shouldn't, you start believing spring may have just come early this year. And then you get slammed with reality! Today we are under a winter storm warning with predictions ranging from 4-12 inches. The weatherman had settled on 4-6 last night, but then the snow started 3 hours earlier than he thought, so who knows what we will actually wind up with. It is really coming down. So much for my lunch date with a friend. They canceled school today, so Nate is home with me too. Supposed to get more snow another 3 times over the next week as well.

Not much new is happening around here. I had some gift certificates and some extra money came my way that I wasn't expecting, so I bought an elliptical machine yesterday. I was doing so well keeping up on my exercise over the summer.... Now that I lost weight, I'm cold and it is hard to get motivated to go out and walk when I'm already cold in my home! I've joined a gym a couple of times, but it's not for me. I think I will do better having something I can do at home. It will even get used in the summer-on rainy days or super hot ones. I pick it up next week. Maybe I'll look decent when I walk the beach in CA this summer! Then I stopped at Kohl's to exchange a shirt, and I found a white wool dress coat on clearance. It was 60% off but still more than I would usually pay and I know it is impractical for ME to have a WHITE coat, but it looked so fabulous on! I've never had a wool dress coat, and decided that if I got down to a healthy weight I would finally purchase one. Still I feel a little guilty, especially in this economy. I've been taking advantage of all the great deals (you know how I love a deal), and doing my part by spending. Two ladies shared last night at bible study about some severe financial trials they are going through and how God is meeting their needs-and I felt ashamed to have spent money on such frivolous things. Still when economic times are good and the deals fewer, I have done without for LONG periods because it is hard to justify spending so much when there are more practical needs to be filled first.

Jim and I had a date night this week. We went to a tapas restaurant. Tapas is Spanish and it is a little bite, like an appetizer. You order 2-3 per person and share. It was hard to decide since they had about 50 things to choose from, some cold and some hot. Jim checked out their website and had some ideas before we went, so that helped. We had an imported cheese plate with figs-apples-and some kind of fruit spread, toasted bread topped with Serrano ham and sausage, roasted lamb, a slice of something similar to quiche that had potatoes and veggies in it, medallions of pork and sausage with a spicy sauce for dipping, and endive filled with mandarin oranges-nuts-and goat cheese. Nice experience and atmosphere, but it was rather pricey. I had given Jim $50 dollars in gift certificates (that I paid half price for) at Christmas, so that helped. For Valentine's Day, we are going to see Anita Renfroe, christian comedian. You probably know her as the woman who sings the Momsense song. She is a hoot, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Well, that is about all for today. Think I'll get my son up out of bed and get started on some of these chores!

Illness strikes

The winter bug is going around and it is hitting hard. Jim came home early from work sick, so it probably won't be a pleasant weekend around here! This is only the second time he has been ill enough to "toss his cookies" since his hiatal hernia surgery. It is always worrisome because the doctor said he might have to go to the hospital and have his stomach pumped, or there is the possibility he might rip apart the work the doctor did to repair the hernia. So I will have to watch him closely. I guess my girl's night out isn't going to happen after all. We were going to watch Mamma Mia and soak in the hot tub. Bummer! Several of my coworkers had the same bug also, so we were shorthanded and that made for a long and tiring week of work. Being gone 3 nights a week is also getting to me. It will be better soon when TBH gets back to the every other week schedule (we have been going every week to make up for the weather cancellation on the first night). By the time bible study rolls around on Thurs. night, I'm fighting to stay awake. In fact, last night I was really struggling. I prayed that the leader would call on me to read so I wouldn't start dozing off-and immediately she did. It was a full page of reading. That did the trick!

Nate hasn't done anything to get himself going on the college stuff, so I'm not sure how serious he is. He has some missing assignments in math, and is dragging his feet to get it done. I'm not so sure I want to pour money into his education if he doesn't take it seriously. Noah is doing well. Likes his job as a bank teller and they seem to like him. Is acting more responsible since getting that job too. Keeps saying it is good for him and he'd probably be wasting time if he didn't have the job.

We did close on the house and need to start working on finding a contractor to fix up bathrooms/kitchen. Need to find the time to find a contractor..... I'm barely keeping up these days.

Well that is about all for now. I'd better go and keep the laundry going so I feel like I accomplished something productive today!

End of another month

Time sure flies by-even when you're not having much fun! Boring month full of cleaning out and getting organized and now it is gone.....

Our TBH group was canceled the first session due to a storm, so we finally got started last week. Lovely group of people once again, and I am looking forward to the journey we are going to take over the next few months. It is such a privilege to serve them and pray for them and I hope that they are able to take something away that is helpful and healing. Bible study is also going well. The study is about ministering unto the Lord and uses the tabernacle as a blueprint. Very interesting stuff. We signed the papers and refinanced the house and now need to find a good contractor to remodel the bathrooms. We have also been cleaning up Nate's room and I'm ready to get painting the boys bedrooms before the nice weather comes along. Need to sit down and get our tax papers around this week also. Still waiting on a few things and then we can sit down and do taxes and FAFSA (my FAVORITE chores of the year). Nate told me a week ago that he wants to go go college. We had a good talk and decided on the community college. Lots to do to get him ready there too! He hasn't taken any placement tests, need to visit with someone and apply, need to look for scholarships. I'm glad he has got to this point of decision, but I'm not sure he is ready for the next level. I tried putting a new hem in my black pants last weekend and wound up very frustrated. Don't know what I was doing wrong to keep missing areas and had to keep ripping it out and starting over. Then I broke the needle! I bought new needles yesterday and am going to try one more time before I give up. I took a little craft class at the local Scandinavian shop and learned how to make German paper stars. It was fun, but there are lots of steps, so I wondered how I would do once I got home. Well I'm pleased to say I completed my first star all by myself. The instructor said that the man that invented them was named Froebel and he founded kindergarten. He used the star folding as an activity for kindergartners-unbelievable to me! I want to make a bunch for my Christmas tree, so I better get some supplies and keep going. Well, I'd better sign off now. It is a beautiful day-nearly 50 degrees-and I need to get the Christmas lights down and the ice off my driveway.

Another gloomy day

What happened to my sunshine? It was so nice earlier-I was out shoveling the slush that was melting on the driveway. I even took a nice long walk, but now it is gloomy. That really affects my mood! Not much is new around here.

Noah got a job as a bank teller. He will be working 20 hours a week, which he will soon find out is not as easy as he thinks it will be with school. He needed nice clothes for work though, so we went down and took him shopping. Found a couple pairs of pants and later several dress shirts and ties. Not easy to find at a bargain price as he is so huge! All in all, his job has cost me $160 to clothe him. I'm glad for him though, he needs the experience and cash. Unfortunately, instead of thinking about things like covering his expenses and saving for future expenses, he keeps thinking about getting a dog. He has no idea how expensive that is or what all that entails as far as responsibility or commitment, but I can't say much to him about it without setting him off. Nate finished the semester with all passing grades, which he seems to be very proud of. His class schedule is light this year. He doesn't seem to feel the pressure he has in years past and is better able to keep up. He is still not really looking for a job. I just don't think he has the skills to find one in time. And of course, he won't listen to me or accept any help. Nate missed two days of school last week due to a stomach virus. He gave it to me, but it didn't go full blown (trying to be delicate here) and I was just lightheaded, tired, and had stomach cramps.

I worked to get the Christmas stuff put away and now we are refinancing our house. We are trying to add a home equity loan and use it to remodel our bathrooms (which badly need it). Detail stuff keeps coming up, that my non-detail husband didn't catch when he visited with the banker and it is driving me nuts! I just don't need this dumped into my lap right now. Of course, I am feeling pressured to get my tax stuff organized. You need to do that quickly with a college student so you have the information for the FAFSA. I am leading a TBH group again this winter session. I asked to lead a children's group, but I was placed with adults again. What made me nervous is that my co-leader didn't show up for the required information session, and didn't respond to my follow up e-mail. Thankfully the director of TBH made an executive decision and replaced him with a very experienced leader, so I am feeling much better. I am continuing to go to the Prism group. The leader and I are on continuance, and it is a mutually encouraging thing for us to have each other. We have enough new members that we split in two and I am leading a discussion group. I am also going to a bible study this winter. I have done several studies with this same awesome teacher, so it is exciting to have a new one with her. It does make for a busy week though since I am gone three evenings. While I was sick, I watched the old Carey Grant movie, "An Affair to Remember". I ordered it after catching Sleepless in Seattle on tv a few weeks ago. All the women in the movie were crying when they were talking about/watching that movie, and I had never seen it. I must have lived with men too long because-NOTHING. No tears, no choking up, not even a tug at my heart-and I have PMS! What is wrong with me?

Looking forward to some fun things in the next few months, but I'll write more about that later! Hope you are all healthy and warm!

Happy New Year

This holiday season has been a blur, so I can't believe it is already the start of a new year! I haven't thought much about resolutions or things like that, but I do know I want to read through the bible again this year. I started that a few years ago, and then Mom died and I got all off track. It was like the wind went out of my sails, and I have been rather stagnant spiritually these past few years. I also have got off track with my healthy living over the holidays and even though my weight didn't change, I know I need to get back to the plan there. I really want to be a consistent exerciser this year. I was doing that over the summer and I felt (and looked) much better. My last goal, would be to visit old friends. Time has passed quickly raising my boys and it is finally time for me to renew my relationships with my friends. So even though I haven't thought much about these things, I do have these goals in mind as I begin the new year. I hope you have a blessed 2009 and that you take the time to review your life and set new goals for yourself too!