Good News

We just returned from a great weekend visiting BOTH kids at the SAME school. It was so good to see them.

More on the weekend later.

But the Really Good News is we stayed in the same hotel we did in August. Thankfully I had NO trouble with the elevator like last time.

Okay, our room was on the ground floor this time. :)

On Letting Go

Been thinking on this whole letting-go-of-my-kids-thing.

Some days I feel like I got fired from a job I loved and even got decent performance reviews. But at the same time I really understand how this is all a process and that God is working through it.

I have exchanged some emails with a sweet friend of mine. She talked about how mothers start letting go of their children from the time of birth.

That made me remember how much I missed feeling my babies move inside me after they were born. I SO LOVED feeling the wiggles, kicks and hiccups. Then they were born, and I was never to feel that again.

But it was a good thing that they were born.

That was part of God's plan. And it is good. And I got to experience the wonderfulness of the baby. They snuggles, giggles, laughs, smiles and not to mention all those "firsts" in their little lives. So, if I had kept that baby inside me so I could feel it move, I would have missed out on SO much.

I understand how my kids growing up and leaving home and someday marrying is part of God's good plan. Like the thought of keeping that baby inside me, if my kids don't leave home, I would miss out on the wonderfulness that they are and who God is growing them into being.

The process is painful, like giving birth, but it is necessary.

Oh so necessary.

If the baby was never born, that would not be healthy. If my kids don't launch into the world and I try to keep them tied to me physically, emotionally or financially, that is not healthy and would keep them from becoming the people that God intends for them to be.

(Some of the following are inspired by my sweet friend and new mommy, Rachel.)

I see my purpose right now as trying to give them a good start -- just like when they were conceived and then born into my arms. My children are a gift entrusted to me by God. Their dad and I have a part in their existence, but God gave them spirit and life. They are ultimately God's -- just as we all are.

My kids will follow God, leave us and do things that scare us, worry us, hurt us, and confuse us. But they are God's kids and they have to follow His path for them.

So while this process sucks sometimes right now, I want for them to be adults who serve God with their whole hearts and are WHOLLY devoted to their spouse and children. An unhealthy connection to me or their dad would so totally hinder that.

(Thanks Rachel for the thought and inspiration. I hope this makes some sense.)

The Weekend Happenings

Friday-

• Made plans to visit friends who have a brand new baby.
• Headed to Target to find cute, tiny clothes for The Brand New Baby.
• That trip was filled with remarks from me that mostly contained the words, Oh How Cute!
• After the grueling shopping trip for adorable baby clothes, we refueled with scrumptious frozen custard. Oreo Overload? Oh so yummy and not really an overload because it really is impossible to overload on Oreos.

Saturday-

• Quiet morning at home.
• Lunch of leftover casserole. (excuse me -- Hotdish here in the North Country)
• Worked on putting together a hooded towel for Brand New Baby. (It took all of 15 minutes)
• Headed into the Big City
• Enjoyed an extremely good Chinese meal.
• We knew this was a good Chinese restaurant from two quick observations. 1. The ducks and chickens hanging right inside the door 2. The fact that there were far more Asian people eating at the restaurant than Caucasians. We'll take the kids to experience this place for sure!
  
• We had a fantastic visit with the new mommy and daddy and Baby Titus.
  
• I loved holding a Brand New Baby. So tiny. So sweet. (Even when he filled his diaper while I was holding him...)
  

Sunday --

• Went to church.
• Hugs from sweet friends.
• Had wonderful worship.
• Heard an amazing sermon on Philipians 1:12-26. Title How To Avoid "Hobby" Christianity.
• Gotta love a preacher who isn't afraid to preach The Truth.
• Lunch at a pizza place where we joined (okay invited ourselves) two other couples from church. Fun.
• Evening with a young couple from church where we talked about marriage.
• Trying to help them learn to work as a team.
• Thanked God for His powerful work in our marraige.
• Indulged in ice cream with homemade Hot Fudge. YUM!

Good Weekend With My Best Friend.

Happy Birthday Zach!

Is it okay that I'm a day late with this? Hope you had a great birthday!

A List -- Just For Fun! (sorry Megan)

Copy and paste the list, then bold the things you have done. Like so:


01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain (LOVE the view from the top.)

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula (Are you kidding? I was at a friend's house where they had one, but I wouldn't even go look at it!)

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (May I add that we are married?)

08. Said “I love you” and meant it (Many, many times. And I won't stop!)

09. Hugged a tree (but am not an environmentalist)

10. Bungee jumped (oh, no. no. no. no. and no.)

11. Visited Paris (So much fun!)

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I’ve seen one from an airplane!)

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights (Beautiful!)

15. Gone to a huge sports game (Does Major League Baseball count? I’ve been to three different Major League ballparks)

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper (more than I can count...)

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon (on my list of things I’d love to do!)

22. Watched a meteor shower (Only in season of course…)

23. Gotten tipsy on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (does front row of my in-laws’ church count as a “worst possible moment?”)

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight (Hello... I grew up in Iowa!)

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can (Used to do it in college quite often to release stress)

32. Held a lamb (I've touched one...)

33. Seen a total eclipse of both the sun and moon

34. Ridden a roller coaster (been a long time, though…)

35. Hit a home run (ummm.. I'd have to actually hit the ball with the bat, right?)

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment (most moments)

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states (I've been to about 34)

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had/Have amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (does a teenager -- when I was one -- in Canada count?)

44. Watched whales (Off of Cape Cod and New Zealand. New Zealand was amazing!!!)

45. Stolen a sign (In high school. We moved For Sale signs and put a bunch of them in someone’s yard.)

46. Backpacked in Europe (I wore a backpack in Europe...)

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing (Nope, but I’ve been repelling)

49. Midnight walk on the beach (Does just night-time count?)

50. Gone sky diving (I am not crazy)

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (more than once)

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them (Bennihanna’s and in Asia and on a cruise ship)

54. Visited Japan (Does being at the Tokyo airport countless times – even spending the night at an airport hotel count?)

55. Milked a cow (Megan did in New Zealand!)

56. Alphabetized your cds (And my spices. It's a gift. And a curse.)

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Played touch football (I don’t exactly remember… but I’m pretty sure I did in PE in Jr. High or High School)

61. Gone scuba diving (I got certified in high school)

62. Kissed in the rain (I'm married...remember? I'll kiss him anywhere!)

63. Played in the mud (I even made mud pies when I was little!)

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (See #72)

69. Toured ancient sites (castles and cathedrals in Switzerland.)

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married (Best thing I ever did!)

73. Been in a movie (Does a “movie” made in Spanish class in high school count? It was so bad and so cheesy)

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch (Is there any other way? I finally found a recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.)

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice (do the boats at the Riverwalk in San Antonio count?)

80. Gotten a tattoo (Three. Okay, they were just temporary henna tattoos. I got them in Bali.)

81. Rafted a river

82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” (In Missouri. We were at a new park in town. I was the expert Mom.)

83. Gotten flowers for no reason (I have the bestest husband!)

84. Performed on stage (In Choir??)

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music (Does the choir director recording the Christmas concerts and making an LP record count? I still have it.)

87. Eaten shark (Shark Fin Soup in Singapore)

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house (Only 2 in 24 years of marriage)

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship (Around the islands of Hawaii over Christmas)

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show (I avoided seeing this even though my boyfriend in high school really wanted to.)

96. Raised children (The two most amazing kids ever!)

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold (I’ve fainted twice.)

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (Driven across it)

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking (all the time)

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived (I was in a head-on collision when I was three months old. I was in a basket on the front seat between my parents. I rolled on the floor, but wasn’t hurt at all. My dad broke his arm and my mom got a bad cut on her head and shattered her kneecap and was in the hospital for three months.)

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a TV game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (Once when I was about 14, and then just a couple of months ago!)

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery (Two C-Sections)

120. Had a snake as a pet (Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck!)

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (looked at it from the rim and from a helicopter)

122. Slept 30 hours in a 48 hour time frame

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (I’ve been to about 11 countries)

124. Visited all 7 continents (I’ve been to 4!)

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat (My husband has.)

127. Eaten sushi (don't wanna, ain't gonna)

128. Had your picture in the newspaper (When I was about 3 my siblings and I were in the paper dressed in our Halloween costumes. I was a ghost. The costume was a sheet over my head with holes cut out for my eyes. All you can see are a couple of big brown eyes peaking out. Then I was again when I was about four. I think that had something to do with the county fair.)

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach (I have stomped on many. Living in the tropics and all…)

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read “The Iliad”

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (I prefer my meat resting on a Styrofoam tray covered in plastic wrap.)

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (The owner of our house in Singapore was Chinese educated and knew very little English. That made for interesting conversations.)

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head (My son has. **SIGH**)

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

The Perfect Day for a Date

Pete and I decided to go see what there was to offer at the Arts & Crafts Festival today. The rain wasn't letting up so I just put on a hooded jacket and Pete took a huge umbrella.

Once we got downtown, it just rained harder. We managed to share a turkey sandwich and some cheese curds. In the rain.

I did find the one thing I wanted. It's a gift, so I can't say what it was. Sorry. But it's cool.

We wandered around in the heavy rain and looked at a few things. I like looking at the quilts to get ideas. I hardly ever spend money at the Arts & Crafts Festival, but it's fun to look.

It was a fun, wet, chilly date with my husband!

Since it's dreary and rainy out today, I decided to post a picture of something sunny.

Psalm 91:1

He who dwells in the shelter
of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the
Almighty.

NEVER FORGET
September 11, 2001

That Sleeping Thing? It Makes Me Tired.

A couple of nights ago I had one of those dreams that left me exhausted when I woke up.

I dreamed that Pete, Caleb and Megan and I were getting ready to fly to Singapore. I remember thinking in my dream that I was crazy to agree to go there again.

On the way to the airport we stopped at Target. Caleb and I got out to get a book and something else for the flight. Pete told us we had seven minutes to be in the store.

Here's where it gets crazy. We couldn't find what we were looking for, and the Target store was only books and coffee. I decided to get a book for Caleb but couldn't remember where it was. We kept looking and looking and before we knew it, it was two hours later. I decided I wanted something else, but couldn't find it there because, you know, that Target only had books and coffee. So we went to the other location.

I think this was the point that I woke up to go to the bathroom. I managed to fall back asleep and continue the dream. Ugh.

But when we got to the other Target location, I couldn't figure out how to get in the store and Pete was calling me and wanted to get to the airport. So I was trying to tell him how to find us. Which, in keeping with the theme of the dream, took a long time.

Finally he picked us up and I was upset that we would be late for the flight. Pete kept assuring me we were okay because the flight didn't leave until 6:50. It was 6 and we still had plenty of time.

Yeah right, 50 minutes to get to the airport, park the car, check-in for an international flight, get through security, find the gate, and board the plane.

We continued to try to get to the airport, but never really got there before I woke up.

I actually forced myself to wake up because I was so exhausted.

Here's a goofy thing. (Yeah as if that dream wasn't goofy...)

When I got up, I was still bothered by the time of the flight, so I got on my computer to check on what time the actual flight to Singapore is.

It's NOT at 6:50. (which I was confused about in my dream because I didn't think it was). It's actually at 3. So I did have reason to be upset about being late....

Oh my. I'm tired. I think I need a nap.

We Left Our Mark

This is the first house we owned.

When my husband paints a house -- it sticks. Pretty sure this is the same paint job he did 16 years ago! I did see a tiny bit of peeling paint.


I left my mark in this house too. This is the counter-top from the kitchen. See the worn-out spots on either side of the sink? From me. Been there 10-plus years.

I wonder if Megan's name is still on the wall inside the front closet.

:)

Amen

Last weekend we watched the movie Amazing Grace again. I was struck again with the following quote from John Newton, the man who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace:

At 82, Newton said,
"My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."

The Weekend

We had a pretty good first just-the-two-of-us holiday weekend. For which I am greatly thankful. I even missed my hubby today after being around him for three days straight.

It really started with Thursday night dinner. We had our friend Zach over for supper. (You could go to his blog... maybe it will encourage him to write more often. What do you think?) We always enjoy his company and he's fun to cook for.

Friday night our sweet friends, Mike & Jen invited us over for a bonfire. What a great way to start the weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves cozying up to the fire and talking. Oh yeah and munching on s'mores. We usually find things around the house to burn in the fire. You know, those ugly knick-knacks, old crafts and of course, stuffed squirrels. ;)

Saturday we did a few things around the house and then took off to The Cities to hear a free concert downtown. We got to hear a fabulous choir and some quite awesome Spanish guitarists and dancers . The weather was so beautiful and it was so much fun to do that spontaneously. Not to mention the whole hanging out with my favorite person in the world thing. You know, my husband.

Sunday was a wonderful morning at church complete with a terrific sermon on Psalm 23. What amazing word pictures that Psalm has!

Sunday night we invited over Derek & Naomi, a young couple from church. We had a great time eating appetizers and talking with them. We watched Amazing Grace. Have you seen it? You should. It is a powerful movie.

Monday Pete and I spent the day cleaning Megan's room. It so nice and clean now! We did find some interesting things like, 22 bobby-pins, 2 hairbands, earrings in every drawer, music and a book from the high school, (I think we'll need to return those...) and the most interesting item: an Old Lady's Wig. Can you explain that Megan?

The weekend was topped off with a supper of ribs and a visit from Zach! Hmm... he started and ended the weekend with us. What fun!