Yesterday was my sister's birthday. She and my parents came over for dessert. My parents gave her a beach chair, a beach towel, sandals, a drink, some candy, a puzzle book, and a beach bucket. I had it all set up on our deck for her to find. We gave her clues using definitions on where to find her present - Balderdash, which I sat on the beach chair. I thought it a rather clever method of present giving.

We of course then played her game, while eating mixed berry crisp.

We are buying a house on one of my husband's favorite streets. It has most everything we wanted: a fireplace, a basement, a walk up attic, an eat-in kitchen, a yard, a garage.

Now we have to finish getting our house ready to sell.

I sit here very tired and a bit sore. After two days of painting and all that entails, my husband, my friend, and I are very sore and exhausted. And even with all that we did and staying up till after two in the morning for two nights, we still have to paint two ceilings and do some touch up work.

The bane of my husband's existence is almost finished. The bathroom that looks great, but was soooo much hard work just needs some touch up work to be complete. My husband is looking forward to it being done.

My friend and I oiled an old wood bookcase and brought it back to life. It looks fantastic. It's a changed piece of furniture.

And after all our hard work yesterday, we had to take baths instead of showers. As my husband was putting the bathroom back together, the shower curtain rod broke. So, baths it was.

Today, we didn't do any work on the house. We napped and relaxed. And visited family.

I should say mostly relaxed. I did have to clean the bathtub. Our child thought it a good idea to do her diaper business after we took off her diaper and put her in the tub.

Did I mention I am tired and drained of energy?

My very good friend is here. We are at this moment playing scrabble. I am typing in between plays. She is winning right now, but it is still anyone's game.

I WON!!!!!

Maybe I should be more gracious and give my friend a victory, since she is here to help us paint.

We went to look at a house on Saturday. I thought it was the house. Then on Sunday, we went to an open house of acquaintances of ours.

I was wrong. I think this is the house. The main difference is the location. It is a better neighborhood. It is in a residential area, and there is an elementary school just down the block. The first house was in a more business area.

There is some work we would do, but it is in good living condition.

I was a very busy girl yesterday.

I vacuumed upstairs and downstairs, including the stairs. I mopped the kitchen and dining room. I cleaned the bathroom. I did five loads of laundry, folding only two. I watched a movie. I am not really sure how I fit it all in.

I wasn't even that tired at the end of the day.

But as a reward I am relaxing all day today.

Today I had an enlightenment. Did you know that there is a right and a wrong pitch with which to talk? That's right. And if you talk in the wrong pitch for too long, it damages your vocal cords. Rest assurd, though, that most people talk in the right pitch. I also found that singing is the same way. If you sing in the wrong pitch, you can damage your vocal cords.

I went to a Choral Celebration today at Philadelphia Biblical University. I attended two workshops addressing singing techniqiues. Here is where I learned this valuable information. I have been singing tenor. But now I wonder if I should sing alto. I don't want to hurt my vocal cords. I dared not ask the instructor during the workshop, for fear of standing up in front of everyone and having to sing.

I thought that I would seek out my choir director and ask her opinion. She said I would make a great alto. So, next time I'm at choir, I'll give it a try.

I also heard an applicable lecture on Realizing Unity and Reconciliation in Worship by a man from Wheaton College.

He encouraged us to consider the question: Who inspires you? He talked of the kind of people who were reconcilers; people of courage, people or zeal, people of humility.

Soren Kierkegaard was quoted on worship:
True worship quite simply consists in doing God’s will. But that kind of worship was never to people’s liking. What occupies people in every age . . . is to arrange another kind of worship that consists of doing their own will, but in such a way that God’s name, calling upon God, is connected with it, whereby people think themselves protected against being ungodly—alas, although precisely this is the most definite kind of ungodliness. ~The Moment and Late Writings

He quoted Paul in Ephesians 5:21 "Submit to one another in reverence for Christ." He challenged us to think about if we do this in our congregations. Do we allow for our differences in worship, because we reverence Christ? Do we reverence Christ?

He quoted Jesus in John 17:20-26. Specifically verse 21, "that all of them may be one," verse 22b "that they may be one as we are one," and verse 23 "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me." Jesus is praying for us, that my church be one.

He said that worship is an act of love and devotion to God. It isn't about us and how we feel. It's all about God. Edification and annunciation are byproducts of worship. God is the audience, the congregants are the performers, and the pastors and leaders are the prompters. ~Kierkegaard

We also sang "The Servant Song" by Richard Gillard. http://www.audiblefaith.com/pages/sg852958

There was a time for question, and another attendee brought up corporate sanctification. Do we come to church to sanctify only ourselves or our brothers and sisters in Christ as well? Shouldn't individual sanctification be the means to corporate sanctification?

I have a lot to consider.

My husband's company still has not joined with the new one, yet. We are anticipating when it does, for the pay increase it will bring.

I want to try to do my shopping monthly instead of weekly, except for produce and milk. I also need to get back to planning my meals in advance. I do not like the task of thinking up dinner ideas on the day we are to eat it. I like looking at my meal calendar, seeing what's for dinner, going to the frig and finding all the ingredients. I don't like staring in the freezer and shuffling food around for ten minutes racking my brain about what's in there that we could eat. Especially when I start at 4:00, hoping to eat by 5:00. It just doesn't work for me, and I don't like the pressure. Yet, I find myself doing it way to often.

Therefore, I need to fill out my meal calendar.

Well, our prayers were answered. It wasn't the house for us. Almost all the things we were hoping for were met with a resounding "No!"

Is it really that much to ask to be included in the choice of paint color of the house or for a sidewalk from the driveway to the house? Or a lamp post? And we even offered to pay more money. I feel that they are being a little selfish and overly controlling.

Well, all that doesn't even matter anyway, because the taxes for this house we really like are way to high for us. For some ridiculous reason a 100 year old house is considered new construction, just because it is part of a new subdivision. This house is also assessed at a much higher price than it's worth. So, the taxes are twice what they should be. Did I mention the house now only has a 15th of the land that it originally had? The rest was subdivided off. But yet, the taxes remain the same. But I should be okay with it, right? We asked God to show us His will. He did a good job. Not this house.

Of course, now I anticipate the even better house He has planned for us.

I spent all day reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I think the book was great. He stated his reasons for writing, his thoughts on love, the five main ways people want to be loved, and thoughts on what to do about what you've just read.

I like to think that I need all five. Quality time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. But he says we have one main love language. We might like them all, but one stands out. He did say that some of us could be bilingual.

I highly recommend this book. Learn how to love others in a way they understand.

My husband loved me by taking our daughter with him today, so that I could have the day to myself. I read up on how to love him better.

How much thought have you put forth thinking about your skin and the amazing organ that it is?

You take things for granted when they are fine. I cut two fingers the other day. Just small little slivers of skin missing, but it hurts as though the entire end of both fingers are gone. They throbbed all the time when I first cut them. Now, only when I bump them. Typing presses on one of them.

Skin is the largest organ in our body. It covers us up. Holds us together. Helps us keep warm and cool down. Here is a nice little picture.

Isn't it beautiful? Our body constantly amazes me. How God made us and planned everything so perfectly. Our body systems work together to do their jobs.

Our eyelashes and nose hairs help keep dirt out. Our lungs take up a small space compared to the amount of surface area available for oxygen absorption. Our eyes see images upside down, and it's our brains' job to turn the images around.

When I was pregnant, I often thought about the developing my daughter was doing each day, and what a miracle she was. She continues to baffle me in what she can do at only 18 months.

We are all miracles, and even though our bodies don't always do what they are suppose to do, we are perfect.

God planned it all and beautifully executes it in each one of us.

My cuts still hurt though.

There goes that time again. Every time I turn around, it's gone.

Valentine's Day was nice and simple. My husband made me dinner. He brought me tulips and chocolate. I snuck a heart cookie into his lunch, with a note. He got more cookies when he came home.

Valentine's Day is a good time to remember God's love for us, and the love He has rained down upon us. The reason we love is because He first loved us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Time.
Elusive, slipping.
Ticking away, unreachable.
Hard to keep up, always going.
Never waiting, pushing.
Cannot find, hurry.
Time.

We finally made it to the cabin this weekend. I much enjoy this break from the everyday. I packed and got our car ready by 9:10 am. I was quite proud of myself. We usually run over by at least an hour. We have been trying to get up there for a month. The weekends always had something else.

I had to have it done early, since we were going to look at the house again, this time documenting it on video. My parents had a looksee, too. Our plan was to head up after looking at the house, stopping at the bank, and getting gas. We left at a favorable hour and arrived before dinner time.

The heating bill for the cabin is ridiculous, especially since no one lives there. So, to help not run up the propane bill, we used the fireplace to heat the cabin. This is all well and good when you can build a fire and keep one burning. Our Friday night attempt left us a little cold. Our Saturday attempt was nice and toasty. Our Sunday attempt was in between the two. It also helps immensely to have dry firewood and kindling and enough newspaper. I highly recommend dry wood.

Our daughter had a grand time exploring. This was her first trip up since learning to walk. She was everywhere checking out everything, including the inside of a trash can. Gratefully, the cabin is fairly childproof. We only had to move a few things.

She did however find the knobs on the gas stove rather interesting. She liked to turn them, succeeding once in turning a burner on. I knew something was amiss when I didn't hear her anymore.

We also did well in our timing for coming home. We were not unreasonably late getting home. Did I say I always enjoy a weekend at the cabin?

Have you ever heard of the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day?

Well, yesterday could equal it for me.

I am over my birthday selfishness.

My birthday is today. And I am ungrateful. Instead of being joyful for my wonderful gifts, I am bemoaning that which I did not receive. And in the course of my pity party, I have caused my husband to feel that he did something wrong. He did not. His poor wife is the problem.

He wished me Happy Birthday before I even got up. My husband made me a carmel apple crisp. He took me to dinner Friday night. He bought me thoughtful gifts. He changed all of our daughter's diapers. What more could a wife and mother want?

I am trying to be thankful.

My husband was very excited. He is liking conversing with our daughter. She is starting to understand and communicate more.

He was telling me of a night when he put her to bed. Our daughter was picking out the books to read. She handed one to my husband, but when he sat her on his lap, she gave a look that it wasn't really the book she wanted. So, he asked her if it was. She shook her head no. He asked her if she wanted another book. She nodded yes. He put her down, and she picked out another book. The right one.

It still amazes me when she does what I ask. Not so much that she obeys me (not that that isn't nice,) but that she knows what I am asking her. I asked her if she wanted to color. She said she did, so I got paper ready for her. I looked over at her, and she was holding her crayons. She knew what coloring was, that it involved crayons, where they were kept, and that she should get them.

As my friend says, she's brilliant.

When I turn on our kitchen faucet, I usually end up nearly burning myself, once the hot water comes through. We have the style where one lever runs both hot and cold. When it is right in middle, the water is too hot to put my hands under. I think this should not be. I have to tilt it significantly to the right for the water to be balanced. It has been this way for far too long, and it irritates me immensely. My solution has been to turn the hot water valve to nearly shut. I turned it more tonight. I think I have finally accomplished a balance in my water temperatures.

Last night we had a thunderstorm. My husband and I were in the bathroom brushing teeth, when our lights went out. I thought he did it on purpose as a joke or something. I was about to say "Hey, what are you doing?" when he informed me that we lost power. It was very dark. Our bathroom has no windows, not that they would have helped since there was no light outside. We realized this when my husband tried to shed some light on our darkness by opening our bedroom blinds to let the post light in. As the slats turned, we were still engulfed in darkness. It was a little scary, having the darkness surround me, even though I knew exactly were I was, and that my husband was with me.

Makes me think of my sin that surrounds me in darkness. And Jesus is my light that shines through. Depend on Him and there will always be a light for the darkness that tries to seep in.

Titan 5 . . . the car seat from the other place.

Since switching the car seat to forward facing, we have been using it incorrectly. Apparently, we were using the wrong shoulder slots. We were using the lower ones, but if those are used forward-facing, "the harness may not properly restrain the child in the event of a crash." Fortunately, we have not had to test that warning.

To remedy the mistake, we create the problem. The problem lies with the straps themselves. First, the straps have two toddler positions. When in the lower position, they are too tight. When in the higher position, they are too loose. And to top it all off, the seat has a strap to "easily" tighten the straps once fastened around my child. Well let me tell you, it would only be easily for the Hulk, perhaps. All I accomplish when I pull on that strap is to pull the seat out of position, hurt my hand and arm, and get rather angry with the seat. The strap stays just as loose as it was. I have to reach behind the seat, a feat in itself, and pull down on the plate that hooks the shoulder straps to the pull tight strap. This method is no where in the manual, though I have found it the only effect method. But another problem lies in that when the shoulder strap is in the higher position, I can't really reach the plate, effectively negating my method.

This may be confusing, but just know that it is a royal pain.

I am trying to call Evenflo but haven't gotten through yet.

We bought a CD tower. We opened it. A shelf was split. We returned it.

We bought a different CD tower. We opened it. A shelf was broken, and it was missing instructions. We returned it.

We bought another CD tower. We opened it. It was missing the screws to put it together. We returned it.

We searched through three boxes at the store and found a CD tower with all its parts, that were also not broken and had instructions. We didn't open it at home yet.

What might we find when we do? Oooh, the suspense. I might have to make yet another trip to Wal-Mart.


~~The subjects in this story were not actors, but real people. This story took place over a period of one week. Stay reading for the thrilling conclusion of . . . "The CD Tower."~~

Be still and know....
Be still and know....
Be still and know....

Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song called "Be Still and Know." My mom and I heard it on the radio on our way to choir practice. It is also one of our choir's anthems. It is a beautiful song.

....that He is God.
....that He is faithful.
....that he's our Father.

In our busy lives and schedules, we must be still and know God, hear God, see His works. We must still our restless souls.

"Stand in awe and be amazed."

Be still . . . .

Yesterday, I discovered that when warning labels on prescription bottles say to take the medication with copious amounts of water (copious is my word - the label actually said "plenty," but copious adds a little something,) they mean it. I neglected to adhere to that little warning, but my stomach was quite aware and rid itself of the offending intruder.

Consequently, my stomach felt poorly all day. Though, I didn't take the full dosage, but that was a different oversight on my part. I somehow missed the part where the label says to take 1 dose twice a day. I was thinking 1 dose once a day. Oops. Oopses with medication shouldn't really occur. I get an extra day now to take my medicine. AND, even if I read it correctly, after my morning experience and my still poor stomach, I am not so sure I would have attempted taking the medication again so soon.

But alas, after a meal and with a large drink, I ventured a swallow today. Nothing was forthcoming. I took my medication with no ill will on my stomach's part. But, I did not realize the twice part until it was too late to take the second dose today. I will remedy that tomorrow.

My grandmother had us over for lunch today. When we bring her home from church, she sometimes has us up for lunch. We had the ole standby of grilled cheese and chili (it's usually soup, but we thought we'd try chili for a change.) It was tasty. She also had made an applesauce of sorts, and she added raisin. It was tasty, too. My daughter fell asleep on the way over, and slept right through lunch. She ate when we got home. Guess what she had. You're right - grilled cheese.

Again already my morning is askew. Being up very early, my daughter fell asleep by 10:30. I guess it's hit or miss with her and her morning naps.

I will take the opportunity to read my Bible now.

Today I accomplished my laundry and had most of it folded before I went to sleep. Getting all the clean laundry folded and put away the same day I wash it is a challenge for me.

For example, to have full advantage of the use of my laundry baskets today, I had to put towels washed last Wednesday away first.

I have not read my Bible yet this week. I am trying to read through I Corinthians. And would you believe that the book makes more sense when you read it all the way through, instead of a verse here and a section there? Imagine that! I suppose it would than make sense to read II Corinthians next.

I was feeling very very poorly this morning and than slightly poorly all the rest of the day. I accomplished close to nothing. Didn't make it to my Bible Study.

Today I had a doctor's appointment at 8:30. Got my food shopping mostly done. My daughter fell asleep on the way home. Lunch was late. Afternoon nap was later.

Yesterday was spend moving furniture. We acquired some of my husband's grandfather's furniture. His apartment needed to be emptied by this weekend. So, now our already full house has some new furniture. We need to move some things around and get rid of some things.

Of course the Christmas tree is sitting in the way right now. We will be spending the week rearranging and deciding on what goes where and what goes to the thrift store.

Today was suppose to be the day we started moving and deciding. But after our daughter was down for her nap, it seemed like a good idea for us. My husband fell asleep straight away, but I lay on my side of the bed in my cozy soft warmness (flannel sheets,) reading my friend's manuscript. After cold arms and many pages later, I joined my husband in slumber.

For over two hours we napped. We both felt refreshed. We did not accomplish our task of furniture arranging, but the sleep was needed.

Our sleep had been shorten last night, due to "King Kong." The movie was apparently three hours long. I wouldn't have known that, except for the time it was when we got out. My sister treated us to a movie. "King Kong" was good. The movie was well done with effects, and Kong looked like a real gorilla. He was very lifelike, with breathing and emotions. There were times that we shrunk into our seats, for all the intensity and suspense. I felt myself having to relax after some scenes. I would see it again.

Did I say how much I enjoy my flannel sheets? I have to go slip between their cozy softness again. I think all things should be made of flannel.

Jim is 16, Jerry is 4.
___________________

My plan worked today. I was able to read my Bible. Go meet my husband for lunch. Get my daughter down for a nap, clean the bathroom and vacuum the living room(a leftover from yesterday,) and prepare dinner.

I am quite pleased with my accomplishments.

I will now go rest between my soft, warm, cozy flannel sheets. Did I mention I like them?

Jim is four times as old as Jerry. In four years, Jerry will be half as old as Jim is now. Two years ago, Jim was seven times as old as Jerry.

How old are they now?

This is the puzzle of the day for yesterday on my desk calendar my husband gave me for Christmas. I am not sure what he was thinking giving me math puzzles. I have trouble doing simple addition. But to his defense it is an all inclusive puzzle calendar. There are also word puzzles.
I much prefer word puzzles. Much prefer them.

_________________________________________________

I got my floor vacuumed and mopped. I am glad for that. Like I said, it really needed it.

I have a plan. I am hoping it will help me be more productive. Here it is.
Get up before my daughter.
Read my Bible.
Get ready if my daughter is still sleeping. If not, get her ready and eat breakfast, than get myself ready.
Do errands.
Eat lunch.
Put my daughter down for a nap.
Do house chores.
If there's time, relax.
Get my daughter up from her nap.
Prepare dinner.

I am still liking my sheets, though my husband has informed me that he is sweating.

Laundry, laundry everywhere.

I have been doing laundry nearly everyday it seems for two weeks now. I finally, finally caught up today. Before, I'd think I'd get caught up, but no, we would go and wear more clothes again. And let me tell you, it seemed like we would wear twice as many clothes in half the time.

I am thankful however, that I didn't have to deal with many stains. We were fairly clean people these past two weeks.

Our rather clean dirty clothes aside, we were however not so lucky with our floors. Specifically, the three foot diameter circle that my daughter's highchair sits in when she eats, and the kitchen floor near the stove and sink. Actually, my daughter has been very good lately at not dropping her unwanted food on the floor. I guess my husband and I have been the messy ones.

I must vacuum and mop tomorrow. The floors are desperately calling out to be cleaned. The carpet is a breeze. Just vacuum the dark brown hue, and it's good to go. It's quite the workhorse of a carpet.

Unfortunately, the dark brown isn't so pleasing to my eyes. I much prefer a different color. If anyone wants to contribute to the replace-the-living-room-carpet fund, let me know. We are taking donations, sorry no tax deductions. We are a for-profit family.

The sheets are just as I had hoped. Warm and cozy.

I bought flannel sheets today. I have been wanting them. I returned some pillows and saw the snowman set of sheets. I look forward to resting my head on the cozy softness.

My husband has been looking forward to his Christmas vacation for months. He was glad he could spend an entire week home with his wife and daughter. He also hoped to work on a house project that has been put on hold.

That's what he planned. But don't you know that plans always get changed?

He needed to cut molding for the bathroom ceiling. But could he find the pieces that needed cutting? No. After we looked throughout the house, they were finally found. But the opportunity for cutting them was gone. The molding did not get finished.

He wanted some quality family time. He didn't feel well on and off all week, and after acquiring a fever of 101, he slept from Thursday afternoon until late Friday morning. He felt better Saturday and even more on Sunday, with occasional bouts of felling rather ill.

It's no fun being sick for your vacation, but it's also no fun being sick and having to work.

Went to bed way too late last night. Had to get up way to early this morning.

Our dinner of pork and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes was as good as I had hoped it would be. The pork was so tender a knife was not needed. The potatoes were whipped to deliciousness. And we had green beans. I only tolerate them, so I have nothing more to say about them. Oh, yes. You have to put vinegar on it all, too. Well, not the green beans. Vinegar gives it a bite. Yummy!

My daughter missed out on her first chance at the traditional German fare for New Year's Day. Oh, she had the chance. It was all there in front of her. But lately she has been usurping her independence and not eating things she likes. She usually gobbles down mashed potatoes. But not this night. No sir.
Last year table food was not part of her food palette yet.

Well, we were busy. Everything went smoothly. We saw most everyone and had a nice Christmas.

Christmas day was the busiest. We got up and opened stocking stuffers, but didn't have time for other gifts, because I had to be at church early to practice with the bell choir. We played three pieces Christmas morning. And for only three practices we did fairly well.

We didn't get to finish up our gift opening until after dinner. Our daughter took the longest to get her things unwrapped. Being only 1, she got distracted a lot. I think it was Wednesday before her last gift was opened and even then, I opened it.

Off to our first Christmas dinner. We are going to my husband's dad's house for dinner and gift exchange. Then to church for the Christmas Eve serivce, where we, the choir, will be performing "One Incredible Moment," this year's Christmas cantata.

Tomorrow is our little family's Christmas and present opening, then church, than Christmas with my parents and sister at our house, than Christmas dinner at my cousin's, than back to our house to finish up with my parents.

Then on Monday we are off to my husband's mother's house for Christmas with them.

Yes, a busy weekend. But we decided one family a day. We didn't get to my husband's family Christmas dinner. We just couldn't do two in one evening. It will be their turn next year. We also should see my husband's mother on Christmas day next year. They rarely see us on the actual holiday.

We are finished decorating. It was hard this year. My husband was not into it like past years. His grandfather's death is weighing on him.

Our daughter helped in the decorating. She put up a few ornaments, with mama and daddy helping. Though, she did get one on the tree all by herself. She has also helped in the undecorating, though she is unaware that doesn't happen for a while yet. She is all too glad to move things and rearrange them.

We are also a little behind on the present wrapping. In fact, I think none are wrapped. I'll get to it sometime, I suppose.

Last night was the final rehearsal for our Christmas Cantata. I very much enjoy singing in choir.

Another favorite Christmas song of mine is "One Quiet Moment," by Glad.

It talks about a woman and man, who accept their part in God's plan. It talks of the joy and pain of their lives.

"He almost had left her, but then chose to remain
Close by the woman he had not even kissed
Who would bear him a son that would never be his."

"And some days the fingers that had fashioned the stars
Would reach out to hold them when the walk was too far."

"They wrestled with knowing that his life would bring change
Their friends would grow distant and shun them as strange."

"Their baby was destined to die for the world."

In one quiet moment, how do I choose to be part of God's plan?

One of my favorite Christmas songs is "Mary, Did You Know?" by Mark Lowry. As an aside, I find it quite interesting that he wrote this song, since he is a comedian. The song is rather reflective and contemplative.

I can not even imagine what Mary went through. Not as a pregnant women, who must tell her betrothed of this impending birth and convince him that it is a miracle and not unfaithfulness. Not as a very expectant mother traveling on a donkey to an unfamiliar place with her husband, the only person she knows. Not as a new mother holding her baby, who is God. Not as a young mother teaching her son about a world he made. Not as a mother witnessing the miracles her son is doing. Not as a grieving mother holding the body of her son, who has now delivered her.

Mary, the favored one of God. Did you know?

We got our tree up. No lights or ornaments yet, though. We have it on a platform, because my husband has his lego trains. Last year we set up our little lego town, but our daughter is not ready for that yet. So, it's just the train this year.

She will be getting a legos quattro bucket for Christmas. They are four times as big a regular legos. We have to start her early.

Today my husband was up at 3:00 to take his aunt and uncle to the airport. The weather wasn't the best, so they were allocating plenty of time. As it turns out, the roads were fine and they made it in plenty of time.

My husband was able to come back home before leaving for work. The past week and a half have been quite draining for him emotionally. This Christmas will be different for him.

The service was very nice. We sang songs, which was a joy for his grandfather. Several people shared touching memories of how his life met theirs. Two of his children shared their love for their father through childhood stories and lessons learned. We heard stories about his grandfather we did not know. We saw a video of his grandfather talking about his time in the navy during WW II. It was good to "see" him again and here him tell some of his experiences. My own grandfather was in the war, but he could not talk about.

It was a hard day. My eyes where filled many times. Touching moments were when taps was played, his flag was folded, and then family members could put flowers on his casket.

It was also a very cold day. The temperature was near its lowest that week. We had to dress warmly for the interment. The cemetery had metal chairs, but they had covers on them (which was somewhat amusing to see.) We also had to be careful walking through the packed snow.

But hearts were warmed by the generosity of church members and family that helped with the busy work. My husband's mother was very helpful in watching our daughter, so that we could give full attention to the service. She also gave of herself to help my husband's family.

We got our Christmas tree today. We'd like to set it up soon, but probably won't get to it for a little while. Christmas decorating is on hold.

The service for my husband's grandfather is this Wednesday. I am making cookies for the meal afterwards. My husband's aunt and uncle are flying in and his cousins are driving up on Tuesday. They all live in South Carolina.

It is nice ot see his southern family, but we would prefer other circumstances.

My husband's grandfather died today. It was sudden. And although there is sadness, there is no despair. We know where he is. He has met his Lord Jesus, and is having a great time. Kicking up gold dust, as the pastor says.

I used my stand mixer tonight to make mashed potatoes. What fine mashed potatoes they were, too.

Using whole milk instead of skim doesn't hurt, either.

Stand mixer.

That's all I have to say.

My husband and I drove to dog and bird sit while my best friend was at her grandmother's funeral. We were driving along in our automobile obviously not paying attention to what exit we were suppose to take. About thirty miles down the road, we realized we had made a mistake. So, off we went across Delaware to get back on track. We took at least an extra half hour on that trip.

Kashi was very glad to see us, though. He is always glad to see us. He wags himself over sometimes.

The birdies . . . I don't know what they feel.

My friend did not have a very good visit. Her family does not appreciate her. They are really missing out.

She likes scrapple. She willingly puts it in her mouth. She likes it plain. No applebutter. She is offended by the presence of applebutter on her scrapple. The next plain piece she receives is scrutinized on both sides before being placed in her mouth.

She likes mashed potatoes. She willingly puts it in her mouth. She likes them untainted. She spits out the pea hidden in a spoonful of the fluffy pile. She scrutinizes the next spoonful searching for a hint of green before allowing it in her mouth.

I am writing of my daughter and dinnertime.

Another Thanksgiving with my father's family. There were 20 of us. The table has grown to accommodate us all. My daughter wanted mama or daddy at first, but by the end of the night she was tooling around not worried about the whereabouts of her parents.

My cousin's husband is a developer and recently bought some land with lake. He mentioned selling off some of it to specific people. Two being us. But sometimes you can't take him seriously. So, we won't hold our breath. Thought it would be great if he did offer us a parcel, not that we could afford it.

The dinner was wonderful, many yummy dishes. The stuffing was tasty, with almonds. My grandmother made her tangy cranberry holiday salad. My cousin made her apple and pumpkin pies. Everyone went on and on about my husband's pumpkin bread. They thought it delicious. He thought when he tried the first bite that it was a flop. I made sure everyone knew he made the goodies. He even got requests for the recipe. He spiced it up a bit. He likes to do that to recipes.

We went home with full bellies and happy hearts.

Preparations for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Thursday - bread. My husband made two loaves of delectable pumpkin bread, one of which we tested. I am making two loaves of white bread using my ever trusty bread machine.

Friday - pies. One apple, two pumpkin. And pie crust from Pillsbury, a great invention.

Saturday - turkey, stuffing, gravy. A turkey breast, boxed stuffing, homemade gravy.

A boat load of family for which I am thankful.

Yesterday, my family went for a little walk. Though, for our daughter, it could be a rather long walk. She likes to make it longer by stopping to discover whatever there is to discover - a small leaflet, a twig, a step to go up, a sound to which she must listen. Sometimes we end up carrying her. We let her discover some things.

We went to get our mail. In that 50 yard walk, we must have seen over 100 geese, comprising over 12 different gaggles.

Our walk went something like this: We'd hear them and look up pointing them out to our daughter. Keep walking. We'd hear them and look up pointing them out to our daughter. Keep walking. We'd hear them and look up pointing them out to our daughter. Keep walking. We'd hear them and look up pointing them out to our daughter. Sometimes several gaggles would fly by at once. And they all were flying in the same direction - west. We wondered about the direction, and I suggested maybe they needed to hook up with some other geese, before they headed south. I know when my aunt drives home, she goes west before turning south. As we neared our front door, some gaggles flew by without honking, and to my amazement we could hear their wings as they flapped. It was short whooshing sounds.

Creation never ceases to amaze me.

My daughter likes her pacifier. We are slowly trying to weaning her off of it. She still gets it at bedtime and cartime, but is without it most other times. Unless of course she's tired, then anything goes. (Not really but to keep our sanity, sometimes we would like "anything goes" to be true.)

We left the house today with a binkie, thinking there was not one in the car, but there was. My daughter will gladly suck on one while holding one. And then for variety, she'll switch, taking the one out and putting the other in. Well, today she had two with her. As I was driving, I heard a strange sucking sound coming from behind me. I look in my rearview mirror, and there she is - two binkies in her mouth. I was cracking up and wishing for a camera.

Back to food shopping, laundry, ironing, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom. All my main tasks for the week.

I have gotten quite good at removing stains. Mostly trial and error. I don't like the error part. Just this past week I successfully got an Italian olive oil stain out of a shirt that had been washed and dried twice. Secret: Dawn, it takes grease out of your way (overnight.) I still have a stain on my jeans that I am still working on. Three or four times now.

While I was away, my daughter learned to walk all on her own. I missed it. I'm sad about that. But what a precious sight she is. Toddling about. Still not completely sure on her feet. Her face and shins attest to that.

In fact the day after I got back, she fell on her face and got a nose bleed and some cuts on her nose. Looked like rudolph.

She is a smart cookie that girl. On Monday (I know exactly which day, because I have my meal planning chart to consult) we were eating scrapple. My husband likes apple butter on his meat and thought maybe our girl would to. She handed that piece right back to him. The next piece she was offered, apple butter free, she inspected carefully on both sides before putting in her mouth. She also had to inspect a spoonful of potatoes before eating it, when the previous bite had an offending pea.

She is quite a girl.

I guess you could say I am back into my Mommy role.

I missed my girl and husband very much when I was in Italy. Though I had a good time, it was hard to not be with them.

Rome was full of history, architecture, and columns. Florence had an art flare. Venice had water.

Rome - colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Forum, Pompeii, metro

Florence - art museum (David), duomo, many steps, bus

Venice - island tour, Doge's Palace, bridges, water bus

Does that sum it up? Not really, but can I say it all?

Ah yes, one more piece of advice about Italy. Beware of crossing streets in Rome. It could be hazardous to your health. Even our guide book warned us. You cannot assume "walk" signs will give you the right or way, you must walk out confidently, glaring at drivers. They will stop or at least swerve. Now Florence was much better with the right to walk when the walk signs were green. And Venice, well . . . remember, it's a carless city. Here you just need to remember to cross a canal where there are bridges, and you'll be fine.

We put in a lot of walking today. We did a 2 hour walking tour in about 7 hours. Maybe a little less. But we saw lots of fun things. We were walking down the via (road) and there it was - a really cool building, columns and all. We saw the Pantheon. I don't remember all the scenes in the movie "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn, but I think we may have seen at least one today.

We also dawdled at one of the piazzas (squares) where many vendors sat with their wares. We ate dinner at a ristorante on one side of the piazza. Oh yeah, guess what I got? Nope. Nope. No. I'll tell you. A tattoo.

It's a henna tattoo and will last 20-25 days. It is the Chinese symbol for patience, and it's on the base of my neck. My friend got a groovy design around her wrist.

Can I just say we did an awful lot of walking today? A whole lot. Tomorrow is The Vatican Museum and the Catacombs. Then Wednesday, it's off to Florence.

I would like to wash my pants. We have not investigated any laundry facilities, and my pants selection grows dirty. We may have to wait until Florence, where if I read correctly our hotel has a laundry service.

I vowed to be in bed before midnight, so I am off to bed. Bellanotte.

We are here, my best friend and I. Rome is not what I expected, but still a nice city. For a review of our first day in Rome go to www.merelymusing.com My friend has given quite a good rendition of the oh-so-fun day.

And she did write about today too.

I enjoyed my pizza today. In fact I want to get more, it was so tasty. The crust was crisp. The sauce and cheese was hmm-hmm good.

Tonight we will be playing games until we fall over asleep. She brought with us Rummikub, Scrabble, Skip-bo, Quiddler, Uno, Phase Ten, Phase Ten Dice, and a deck of cards. She would like to play several rounds of all games. I hope she doesn't think that is happening tonight.

For the rest of our stay we are planning to visit the Catacombs, St. Peter's Basillica, The Vatican Museum, Trevi fountain, and Pompeii. She has other fountains and sights in mind, but I am not sure we will get to them.

Much better second day.

We fly to Italy today! We leave in a half hour for the airport. It was hard to leave my husband and daughter yesterday to take the train to my friend's house. I cried at the train station. I cried last night. I cried Tuesday night putting my daughter to bed. I cried this morning. I'll cry or get teary eyed every time I think of them. I love them and miss them dearly.

This weekend was very nice. I saw my friends from college, we bought pumpkins, and went to the cabin. They day on Saturday was beautiful, with blue skies, a fall breeze. Autumn is in the air. I also had a surprise visit from my very good friend. She also changed my girl's stinky diaper. Anyone who is willing to do that is okay in my book.

We relaxed at the cabin. We had a fire. I needed to relocate three spider egg sacks, because mama spider thought the fireplace was a good spot for them. I used a leaf blower for the first time, and let me tell you, I could do it again. It was quite fun to watch those leaves blow around. My daughter rode on my back and helped sweep leaves off the porch and gather firewood. I think next time we go to the cabin, she should be able to explore on her own. She is nearly walking all be herself.

After church on Sunday, we headed to the apple orchard and bought cider, apple cider doughnuts, and eating and baking apples. Everything was delicious - we of course had a doughnut in the car and drank some cider with lunch.

My husband took off this morning, so we could stay over last night. I also had us pose for our picture on the rock. I think we be doing that yearly. I always enjoy staying at the cabin. Such great memories.

Today my girl and I went for a walk. She is still learning to walk on her own. She does rather well holding on to something and can go 5 feet or so all by herself. This afternoon she used her walker - a toy she can push while walking. It also has a place to put things.

On our walk she found some leaves and a stick. The stick came home with us, though she discarded once at our front door. She did very well with her walking. The only times being carried were across a drive isle and when she insisted on going up someone else's steps. She has learned to steer her walker, so when she ran into the grass, she was usually able to get back on the sidewalk.

The walk around our court, which would take a me about 10 minutes, took my daughter and me 45 minutes. She walks slow, finds distractions, and does not walk in a straight line.
But we had a good time, mother and daughter.

Thank you God for another day. Thank you Lord for the lessons I learn. May I apply them to my life. May I be a disciple who makes welcoming others, the common mission of Christians, mercy, and Christ's call my priorities. *See Luke 9:46-62* May I not listen to my pastor's sermon and go away the same person I was. I need to change.

Do I practice what I believe? Do I see people the way God does? Not always. Am I getting better at following Christ? Am I maturing as a Christian? Sometimes I think so, and sometimes I feel like a dismal failure.

Satan tells me lies. God shows me truth. Satan shows me failures. God shows me blessings. Satan beats me up. God drenches me in grace and mercy. Satan leads me to sin's door. God leads me to Christ. Satan hates. God loves.

I choose God. Who do you choose?

We are finally getting the rain we have needed for awhile. And since it has been so long, we are getting quite a bit. So far, it's been raining for over 24 hours. It is a bit wet out.

It also has messed up the plans my family had for today. We were going to go to Merrymead, a local dairy farm, to pick out pumpkins, get lost in the corn maze, maybe get ice cream. Do the fall fest things. But it is a soggy boggy day, so we are staying home. Next week we have a full weekend planned. First, Friday night is dinner with friends we haven't seen in over three months, then Saturday morning driving to Messiah College for Homecoming to see friends we haven't seen in a year, then driving to my grandparents' cabin in the Poconos to hopefully see some fall foliage and relax. My husband may take off work Monday morning, so we can stay over two nights. I love staying at the cabin (see my first entry.)

We finally made it to the beach by 1:00 pm on Saturday. My husband finished working around 8:00 am and we were on the road several hours later. I drove, he slept. Not that I got much sleep that night either. I found things that "needed" to be done. Like rearranging my jewelry box, from when our wonderfully behaved cat knocked it off my dresser. I also thought it the perfect time to put the new pulls on our ceiling fan chains, or at least try to. I wasn't successful.

All this after I told my friend I couldn't play scrabble anymore and needed to go to bed. It was a beautiful weekend. Sun shiny days. There was also a nice breeze blowing in from the ocean. The water temp. was 78 degrees. 78 feels colder than it is when you first stick your toes in. It warms up as you stand around introducing your daughter to the ocean. She liked it. She wasn't overjoyed, but she also wasn’t clinging to my neck in terror, either. We also sat her in the surf, to which she didn't object. She did enjoy playing in the sand. We foolishly sat her in the sand to play while her little bottom was still rather wet. You can imagine how covered in sand her little bottom half was. Added to that, is the cute little cover-up she had on that was also wet and then drug through the sand in the efforts of playing.

Once dried, the cover-up and her bottom-half lost some sand. But alas, my child felt the need to coat her insides with sand as she did her outside. We gave her some crackers, but some fell in the sand. So we put them in her bucket to throw out when we reached the trash can. However, while we were packing up, she found them and started munching. Apparently, the grit did not bother her. We enjoyed our walks on the board walk as well. Mack and Mango pizza, savory loop fries, would be fresh squeezed lemonade, gourmet coffee, fresh roasted peanuts, chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie dough. Not all eaten on the same visit. We also found this nifty store where all merchandise changes color in the sunlight. We made a few purchases.

But alas our time was over and we headed home. The drive is not too long, just 1 hour and 40 minutes. We listened to our book on tape that we hadn’t finished from our trip south. Unfortunately it was an abridgment of Tom Clancy’s The Teeth of the Tiger. By the end, we could tell a lot was missing. I actually went looking for more CDs. It seemed like there should have been more.

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

Well, maybe not stormy, but it is dark. It is actually tomorrow, since the hand went past the 12. I got home from a Phillies game (our last one at the ballpark for this season, the Phillies won 12-5) shortly before the clock struck 12, but since my friend talks about not playing enough scrabble, I thought I could play some games with her instead of going to sleep and instead of packing. (I am in the process of winning two out of three games.)

Ah yes, and my husband . . . where is he you might ask? He has a project due on Monday and needs to get it done before we leave. So, presently he is at work. I dropped him off there after the game. He will be there overnight.

We each won two games of scrabble. I am going to bed. I still don't think we ever discussed Hu being a shortened name for Hugh. It was Stu.

We are home from our jaunt down south and are loving our own house and our own bed.

Though, I have still not unpacked everything, I did get my daughter's pack n' play put away. And I thought to myself, what a good mom am I. Then I remembered that we would need it for this weekend. So, I made more work for myself in my effort to clean up.

Yes, we are going away this weekend to Ocean City, NJ. Yes, after we just got back from a two week vacation. It was the only weekend available for the house where we are staying. It is free. My mom's cousin lets family stay for free.

Lastly, we are in Alexandria, VA.

We made it here around 7:00 pm. We had a nice leisurely day at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house. We joined a tour of the house, which got interrupted, for me, by a squirmy-wormy daughter, a short time after we were slightly embarrassed by the musical toy that my daughter pressed to play its little ditty in the middle of the tour. This seemingly quiet sound in the car, turned very loud in a reverberating room. It also brought forth a scowl on the tour guide's face and a curt "Could you turn that off?" With red faces and quickly as we could that thing was away from her little hands. After the official tour was complete, our tour guide gave me a personal tour of what I missed. She was as nice as could be.

We also joined the plantation tour, which was actually just a walk down a lane while a lady talked about the plantation. I assumed (silly me) that we would be walking around more of the plantation. We took our time and walked around ourselves after the "tour."

We headed out for Alexandria at about the time we were hoping. We leisurely made our way north. I had told my friend that we wouldn't be there until tomorrow. We surprised her and showed up tonight. Unfortunately, my dear friend was working late on a project that others were suppose to have finished long ago, and she wasn't home yet. I called her and ended up telling her we were here. Very gladly, she wrapped up things at work and came home.

Thinking that her house was too unclean for us to be in, she came in the door cleaning and continued for a good hour. My friend scrubbed, vacuumed, dusted, and fussed forever. She nearly wore herself out. What would happen to our visit then?

Sometime after dinner last night, my aunt's boyfriend was on the phone with his daughter. She told him there was a tornado warning for his area. They went into emergency mode: lighting candles, filling jugs and the tub with water, making waffles. (I don't get the waffle thing.) But alas, no tornado. We just had the hurricane. Wind and rain whipped around all night and into today. Of course today was our chosen day to leave. My husband packed the car with the pelting rain and the wind whipping at him. As we left we saw leaves and branches strewn about.

But we were on our way. Of course the nasty weather was not done with us, oh no. Our chosen route was to take the Blue Ridge Parkway into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Let's see. Oh yeah, we couldn't. There was fog and mist on the Parkway. Not much of a view. Well, there were some places where we could see out across the mountains and valleys. Then, we reached a high point, atop a mountain. No view. Not even across the parking lot of the visitor center. We decided to eat lunch here. Almost two hours later, we were back on the road. The other side of the mountain was clear and even a little sunny. The complete opposite. Although we could now see the beautiful views, the wind was still very strong.

We made it to Great Smoky Mountains NP. But guess what? Those strong winds knocked down trees and branches on the very road we wanted to take. Yep, the only road through the park was closed. So, back to the maps we go. This is only the hundredth time we have consulted the maps. We ended up taking state routes to I-81. We did drive into the park a short way and checked out a campground, so we could be in the park.

The rest of our drive was rather uneventful.

Franklin, NC. Our forth destination. Another aunt's house.

We relaxed after our late arrival. But today we went sightseeing. There are many a waterfall in this area. We looked at least five of them. Unfortunately, the roads to all these beautiful sights were windy and hilly. My stomach had a hard time with that. (I am getting a little queasy thinking of it.) Sitting in the back seat was also not helpful. One of the waterfalls you could walk behind. The power of two little hydrogen atoms and one little oxygen atom strung together with trillions of other little H2Os is amazing. The spray from the water hitting the rocks was very wetting. All my little hair wispies got curlier.

Finally we were back on solid ground that didn't go up or down or twist or turn. My stomach wasn't sure if it should believe that or not. It took awhile for me to feel better.

We had a yummy dinner at a Thai restaurant. While I was looking for a peanut sauce meal, I found a cashew sauce meal. It was yummy. Previous to going out to eat, we fed our daughter. Trying to feed her at restaurants is more taxing than feeding her at home. Besides, it would have been too late to wait to feed her at the restaurant. As an aside, the food she willingly ate for dinner was the same food she adamantly refused to eat at lunch.

Sometime after dinner my aunt's boyfriend was on the phone with his daughter, who told him there was a tornado warning for our area. They went into emergency mode; lighting candles, filling jugs and the tub with water, making waffles. (I don't get the waffle thing.) But alas, not tornado. We just had the hurricane. Wind and rain whipped around all night and into the next day. Of course "the next day" was our chosen day to leave. My husband packed the car with the pelting rain and the wind whipping at him. As we left we saw leaves and branches strewn about.

But we were on our way. But the nasty weather was not done with us, oh no. Our chosen course was to take the Blue Ridge Parkway into the Great Smokie Mountain National Park.

My husband's cousin is getting married tonight. It will be a wonderful event. Weddings always are.

I've told my husband that I want to wear a wedding dress again, so he needs to ask me to marry him again. He hasn't asked. I could just put it on for fun. I haven't had it cleaned yet. I should so that it doesn't turn yellow.

Back to the traveling. We leave after church on Sunday for my aunt's in Franklin, NC. Then we are driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway. My husband has his heart set on seeing Monticello. We will be stopping, I don't mind seeing it. He'd be happy as a lark to stay there three days. We won't be staying that long. Than we are off to my friend's house. Where games and pizza abide.

Augusta, SC.

We are staying in my husband's cousin's little house. It is very nice. It will be the first home of the newly married couple. They are on their honeymoon, so we are staying there.

We have the rehearsal dinner Thursday night, the wedding Friday night, relaxing and visiting on Saturday, and church, a big lunch with family, packing and leaving on Sunday. Of course, with all the family down here, we have a lot of rounds to make.

Being patient. That is what dial-up is all about.
My aunt has a computer with internet connection. A dial-up connection. So, I sit and wait while the page I desire loads. Than I sit and wait while the next page loads, and so on. Meanwhile, I age 3 years. Since getting DSL at my house, I cannot imagine going back to dial-up. Perish the thought. I'd rather give up my spending money, I think. Everything is faster with DSL. I can actually send pictures, and not have to go do a task around the house while waiting for it to send. I can use the phone while using the internet. There really are no minuses with DSL that I can think of. Unless you consider the cost factor, but let me tell you: IT IS WORTH IT!

Alright. Now, let's see. My girl has another tooth. Or did I not mention she had a first tooth? Well regardless, she now has two front bottom teeth. Barely poking their little selves out. Now we have to remember to brush them.

It is 6:45 pm and no dinner yet. My daughter ate, though. That's alright since we had a late breakfast and lunch. The plan is a chicken casserole, which takes an hour, but I wouldn't mind pizza. Unfortunately, my aunt isn't into pizza like I am. My husband said no one is into pizza like I am. I quickly replied that there is one person. My best friend. Whom no doubt would always eat pizza with me. You can never have too much pizza, I always say. However, you can have too much of a brand of pizza. It is important to switch around.

Albemarle, NC.

Well, we had a nice but short visit with my husband's cousin in Virginia Beach. We left much later than we wanted and pulled in at 11:30 pm Saturday night. Though really late, we stayed up and talked some. My daughter did not want to settle down after being woken. But when we were ready for bed, she finally did settle. She usually isn't up that late. It threw her off. It happened again last night, because we got in to my aunt's house late. Not as late but still way past her bedtime.

Speaking of bedtime, my husband has her ready tonight, and the computer is in the room where she is sleeping.

Good night my sweet child.

I am home, but I am off again.

My little family and I are off to visit family and friends in North and South Carolina and Virginia. We will be gone another two weeks. We get to see family we don't see very often, and some new additions we haven't met yet. We will be witnessing the marriage of one of my husband's cousins. We will be relaxing and reading. We will be together. I am very much looking forward to our vacation.

I will however miss the Scrabble playing with my friend, although her house is the last stop of our voyage. She will be expecting us to catch up on all our missed games of Scrabble and Phase Ten. I will have to beat her. Badly. No mercy.

Bye. Again.

Here I sit at my own computer. In my own house.

I slept in my own bed. I showered in my own shower, where I didn't have to pay (in Telluride, if you wanted a warm shower you had to pay $2:00 for 5 minutes.)

I got to put my daughter down for a nap in her own crib. I also got to take a nap.

An aside . . . that wonderful cargo bag . . . got a rip in it on the way home. I took it back today.

I guess I should be more specific on our travels. The state of Colorado is beautiful.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is very deep, and it is steep. There are streaks of color in the rock. The power of water.
And the sunrise at our campsite was magnificent.

Next was our stop at rainy Telluride. Although it rained most of the time we were here, the town was beautiful. We also rode the gondola up the mountain. The view, when the clouds were parted, was spectacular.

Next stop . . . Durango. We camped in a great spot. There was grass on which the kids to play, the train went by right next to our campsites, and we went to visit Mesa Verde NP.

Then we ended our tour of Colorado at The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Here we fought winds, more rain, and flash flooding to get to the visitor center. After the storm blew through, there was a freshness about the park. And in the morning we went and played in the sand.

That is our trip, except for the exciting three-day drive out and back. I cannot fully explain the beauty I saw, or the fabulous time I had with my family, but beauty was all around me, and I shared it with my family.

Yeah!!!!

I am home (actually my parents' house.) I am in a house. No tents. No Sleeping bags. No getting wet in the rain.

Well, we finally made it back to my brother's house.

We had a great time. We went to Almont, The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Telluride, Durango, Mesa Verde National Park, and The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

We drove and camped, drove and camped, and drove and camped some more. Through sun and rain. Though it seemed like more rain at times. And get this . . . my sister and I used a cargo bag on the roof of my car. That is all fine and good. But since there is no roof rack, we cinched it to the roof with straps. The fun thing about that is, that when it rained, which was often, the straps wicked the water right into the car, creating four small waterfalls. But having the brilliant mind that I have, I came up with a brilliant plan. Use diapers. Yes, my sister and I wrapped diapers around the four straps. And get this . . . it worked. For the most part. We saw evidence on our vacation that water is rather persistent, so the water did try to find a way in anyway. We got out more diapers. I was most embarrassed when I had to stop at a toll booth and the diaper is hanging there in my face. I can just imagine what the lady was thinking.

And although we are back now, we are leaving tomorrow to head on home. Home. I like the sound of that. Not that I like the sound of three days of driving. But I am missing my husband.

And even before we get to bed, we have repacking to do, and shopping to do. We want to be ready, since we are aiming to leave by 7:00 am, or is it 6:00 am. Regardless, it's early. My sister and I are trying to make our stops on the way home short, save the one for lunch for my daughter. She needs time to crawl around. We took entirely tooooo long on our stops coming out here. We'll see how well we do going east.

After feverishly getting everything ready, I think the car is packed. Except for the pack and play, for the child is still in it. My daughter is very tired from her trek west. Her schedule is skewed. She was up at 5:15 this morning and yesterday. She needs the rest. And besides, I was free to pack. No crying girl at my feet. She has been a bit clingy lately.

Well, must still help my brother and sister-in-law pack.

We'll be back in a week.

We made it. We are in Fort Collins, CO. We pulled in around 7:00 pm last night. But let me tell you. I don't need to be getting in a car anytime soon. My daughter has the same thoughts. In fact she was done traveling each day around 5:00 pm. Which was unfortunate for her, since we didn't get to our destinations each night until at least 10:00. We did take some long breaks for her, which helped, but fussing occurred a lot.

Yeah, although we had maybe 8 hours of driving, the whole traveling thing took much, much longer. With stops it took us probably 10-12 hours. That makes for an unhappy baby. But this coming week will go better, because we won't be doing more than 4 hours at a time.

We still have to get home, though.

We leave today. We will be driving to Norwalk, OH, about an eight hour drive. then on to somewhere in Iowa. Then Thursday, Fort Collins, CO, where my brother lives.

We hope to get off by 9:00 am.

Today my girl turns ONE!

It is hard to believe it has been a year. So much has happened, but it doesn't seem like enough time has gone by.

I think back to the day she was born and get all teary-eyed. I miss my newborn, but enjoy my almost toddler. I miss her smallness, but enjoy seeing her grow. I miss our time together nursing, but enjoy seeing her try new foods. I love her sounds and her attempts to copy what I say. I love hearing "mama" and "dada." I crack up at her growling, wondering how it doesn't hurt her throat. Her want for independence is evident, along with her stubbornness when she doesn't get her way.

There is so much to remember. All the things she can do now. And all that she still has to learn. Of course, she will never stop learning.

What will the next year hold?

Oh boy.

Today was my daughter's 1st birthday party. We had a grand time. She received all sorts of fun gifts. We went swimming, spent time with family, had yummy cake. I made two cakes, because it was also a birthday party for my cousins two girls. We had carrot cake in the shape of a bunny, and the other was a banana layer cake. They were both very tasty.

My husband made the pork barbecue. He likes to tweak recipes.

My daughter had a taste of her cake. She liked it very much. We got pictures. She is still in the midst of her "I'm not eating much" stage, but she had no problem getting that cake to her mouth. We leave in three days to drive to Colorado, and I hope the food thing goes well.

Today was the last day of VBS. The kids had a great time, they learned all about God, they learned to make Him a part of their lives, they learned some fun songs to help them remember.

Tomorrow is a birthday party.

We are having a wild time, here at Serengeti Trek. We are also learning how too live what we are learning. When we go home at night, we need to share what we learned with someone. We can teach how great God is.

I am excited to see how excited the kids get about God.

This week is vacation Bible school at my church. The theme is Serengeti Trek, where kids are WILD about God. I will be leading kids around from site to site, helping them remember the Bible points: know God, talk to God, tell about God, love God, and work for God.

There is an animal from the serengeti for each point. A zebra, lion, crowned crane, giraffe, and elephant. We have many fun songs to learn, too. And motions. It is a wild time. We will also learn about Gideon, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Paul and Silas.

And we have fun Bible snacks, that go with our Bible story for the day. We also play fun games, too. Some with water.

It will be a wild week.

Yes, she did it again. Not only did she eat her meal, she just kept right on going. My dad said that if she kept opening her mouth, he was going to keep putting food in it.

Tonight we went to the Phillies game. It was close. They went into extra innings. But the fightin' Phils prevailed in the end. Chase Utley hit a two run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to win the game.

My very good friend drove up for the weekend and met us at the ball park. She had traffic, but since the game went into extra innings, she got there right before Chase was up to bat. She brought her doggie. He and our cat should get along splendidly.

Now starts a weekend filled with games, food, and movies. What else could you ask for?

Yes, my daughter ate her meals again today! Might I hope for a third day?

There is talk that my friend will be coming this weekend. Somehow, someway she is going to try to come. It is hard for her to be in a car driving for so long. But she wants to see us. I think it is mostly my daughter she wants to see, for my girl is very adorable.

I wonder . . . .

Does anyone have notes on a Thursday?

I have a comment on a Wednesday!

MY DAUGHTER ATE TODAY!!!!!
She ate all her breakfast, she ate all her lunch, and she ate all her dinner. There was no arms flailing, no tongues sticking out, no food being spit out, and almost no food dropping to the floor.

Can I hope for another food day like that tomorrow?

A friend.

A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.

That is how dictionary.com defines a friend. But I have a few more. Loves you, your husband and daughter. Plays you in scrabble. Compliments you. Reads you stories. Listens to Frog and Toad stories (requests them, actually.) Sings with you. Makes you laugh. Laughs at your jokes. Understands you and your problems. Shares her joys and troubles. Heeds your advice. Gives you advice. Gifts things upon you. Memorizes Bible verses with you. Shares with you from her abundance. Watches movies upon movies with you. Plays card games with you. Is working on being a better loser with you. Cuts your hair. Will change stinky diapers and soothe a cranky baby. Cooks the most delicious food. Is willing to eat pizza with you at every meal. Is a sister to me.

I have a friend like that.

My daughter will hardly eat.

We went to the cabin this weekend. Gary accomplished much on the stone wall. In fact it is finished. The driveway is cleared. The two flowerbeds, void of flowers lest it become a deer buffet, are quite beautifully bedecked with ferns and moss.

My daughter still chose to eat a portion of her normal amount. I think the most frustrating part is that she sometimes won't even open her mouth to find out what is coming.

We picked blueberries. Watched some movies. We were going to go swimming in the lake, but there was a high E. coli count, and the beach was closed.

I like swimming in the lake. There is no squishy bottom, just smooth rocks. I also like taking the boat out. But there is no boat in the water. It is slowly rotting, sitting unused since my grandfather got too sick to care for it. No one else is able to take care of it.

Maybe I will take care of it. Somehow.

My daughter will hardly eat.

At a restaurant, no less. We went our for my grandmother's 86th birthday. My two cousins and their children, my aunt, my mother, my sister, my daughter, and I gathered to wish grandmom "Happy Birthday!"

My child would not eat the Cheerios , or the toast, or the Italian wedding soup. Neither did she want much of her bottle. She did eat a few (a few mind you) of the carrots from the soup and some pasta from a pasta salad. She also ate some applesauce.

All the food she consumed amounted to only a fraction of the normal amount that she eats. She usually sucks down her bottle and cries fiercely if it is taken away, even when it's empty.
But not this week.

Her mother is very frustrated. I am trying to nourish my child. She sticks her tongue out, turns her head away, flaps her arms at the spoon, dumps the food on the floor. Her mother is very, very tired of this little practice.

Maybe it's her teeth coming, for she has none.

My daughter will hardly eat.

My daughter will hardly eat.

What have I learned from the Women of the Bible?

Eve - God shows grace in the face of my sin.
Sarah - I need to wait for the Lord.
Hagar - The Lord shows me mercy.
Lot's Wife - Follow the Lord's directions.
Rebekah - The Lord is faithful.
Rachel - God will always remember me.

I very much enjoy reading about different women of the Bible. I have read about these women countless times, but each time I learn something new. That's the way God's Word is. Living. Breathing. Unchanging. Changing me.

My nose tells me the smell is gone. My brain tells me not to be so sure. It may be back.

We are slowly working on getting the dining room back into order. I think it will be a while. The spackling has to be finished. Then the room will be painted (which we still have to buy.) Some of the molding is painted. Some of it still needs to be cut.

My husband has been doing most of the work, and he doesn't have a lot of time to work on it. Just some evenings and some weekends (we seem to be rather busy.) I've begun to help with painting the molding. But since we have a ways before we need that, I haven't been working too hard. But it should look splendid when we are done. Until then, we live in disarray.

Understanding each other is difficult. It will always be, because God made us unique. But you work at it, you do not give up and resign that you must be a knucklehead.

My husband and I are forever miscommunicating. We don't love each other less for it. It helps to learn more about each other. Although it is very tiring at times to have my words interpreted much differently than what I had planned, I am glad we are talking.

It has also caused me to really think about how I say my thoughts, and if I should always say them. Could the tone of my voice be saying one thing and my words another? I know that is the case sometimes, much more than I want to admit. That is something on which I need to work.

I think back over a conversation and realize that my mouth would have done far better to have been stuffed with cotton. And I am learning to listen to my tone, speak only what will be edifying, and carry cotton at all times. My getting-better-progression is shown by the length of time it takes me to realize I should not have said something. The time is getting shorter.

My husband and I went to a zoo of sorts several weeks ago. I thought I was going to see farm animals. We did. We also saw animals that do not belong inside a fence.

The saddest sight was the bison.
I lived in Yellowstone National Park for a summer and hiked throughout the park. The bison ranged on thousands of acres. On one hike we were very near a large herd of bison. There were apparently scouts in the herd. They slowly walked us away from the rest of the herd.

At this zoo, the bison's jail was very small. I equate it with me living in my bathroom. We both need more room. He needs his herd.

If you want to see a bison, then go to Yellowstone.

Happy Birthday America!

America, the beautiful. What does that mean?

If you ask Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote the lyrics to America the Beautiful, she might say, as she looks upon our country from the top of Pike's Peak, that America is beautiful, with its purple mountains and fruited plains. I've been on Pike's Peak, and the view is breath-taking. God's creative hand is obvious.

She also wrote of a country with unselfish heroes and patriot dreams. She wrote of a country with pilgrims willing to cross unknown wilderness. She wrote of a country where God is present and gives grace. She wrote of a country that is beautiful.

My friend brought this song to mind. It was sung at her church on Sunday. She couldn't sing it. She saw the dark portions of our history, which cannot be separated from the good.

We don't know what was in Katherine's mind when she wrote this song. Maybe she saw the good and beauty in our country. Maybe she ignored the bad. But she did want the grace that God gives us.

But what of the horrendous past? What about the suffering caused by the pilgrim's feet across the wilderness? Can we call something in our country beautiful, knowing that it came with a bloody price?

I think the answer is yes and no, depending on what it is.

The words from a Nichole Nordeman song come to mind (she is referring to God):
But you called me beautiful
When you saw my shame
And you placed me on the wall
Anyway

I have not yet decided how these words apply to our country, if they do at all.

I like to listen to books on tape. I like the freedom it gives my hands. I can "read" a book while still doing things around the house and while driving. I think my favorite is John Grishom.

I am actually reading a book right now, though. Even though while listening to a book on tape I can still do things, there is nothing like reading a book for yourself. I can stop and reread a confusing part or a fantastic part. When I read I am in that court room; my stomach has knots with the young woman about to be married; my tears flow because of his sorrow. I am in the story. The experiences happen to me, too. And I love it.

I find it fascinating to be able to understand those markings on the pages. I simply cannot fathom how small and grey my world would be without the ability to read or write. It is incomprehensible to me that people make it through twelve years of schooling and cannot read or write their own name. How could a teacher let that happen? How could someone not notice?

To be able to write what is on my heart and on my mind is a wonderful gift. I thank God for all my abilities. And for His Word, which I can read and know to be true.

Yesterday, my daughter did something new.

I put her in her crib so I could wash my hands. Her pants were decidedly on. When I came back to get her two minutes later, her pants were decidedly off.

And to top it off, she had them dangling outside the crib and dropped them right as I came into the room.