I Know I've Made It Now

I am now the proud female companion of a cabana boy- because we don't have a pool. He is much younger, has piercing blue eyes,a furry chest, and a wee behind from years of soccer. He makes a killer White Russian - or a Margarita if the occasion warrants.

He has dropped off kids at school, picked up another kid, done dishes, washed the bed linens and fed all the animals, allowing me a 15 minute shower this morning.

I have been pampered for two whole days.

Unfortunatly all this luxurious living was at the expees of Justin's job - where he was working his butt off and got let go anyway.

Okay honey, that's enough pampering. You can find another job now - you are WAY over qulified to be a cabana boy...

Thought for Today ( or why I have goats)

Football Post

My girl YoJ, is a hockey fan, but it is football season ( hockey season just started) so I thought I'd post a picture of a couple of real quarterbacks for her.

Peyton Manning - Indpls Colts in the picture he is talking to Tom Brady of the Patriots - I think they have won a couple of Superbowls ( ha ha ha)
Michael Vick - Atlanta Falcons
and ever my favorite Brett Favre - Green Bay Packers

I loved watching Kyle Orton play for Purdue - even at the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando when he got smooshed the first half by UGA. He is a guy wit a lot of heart - and much to my excitement, he is a Bear! Burb, I hope you get to see him play - I'd drive up to see him - I like him that much.

Incorrigable

It's true, there is no end to the number of little guys I'd like to have.....

hedgehogs


















Baby hogs




a minature horse...



and lucky for us - we already have a Lil'bit - this is a picture of a look alike - baby goat!

Sassenach No More

I officially became a resident today - registering to vote, registering to donate my organs ( what the heck am I going to do with them when I am DEAD), and officially changing my ID to Justin's last name. Social security was step one - work ID step two and now I have a driver's license, so I am official.

Next stop - the bank - so that my debit card matches my license - and the nice Oriental man at the liquor store can check my ID before I use the card.

The lady taking pictures at the DMV was just charming. Bear and I went together, I went first because I had to be her proof of residence. As I was standing in line to get my picture she saw Bear. "Are you waiting for a picture, honey? she said, making the hand motions like she was taking a picture. Of course I thought it was charming, Bear thought the hand motions were a bit - well - she whispered to me that she is blonde, not stupid. Bear smiled at her said yes, but they hadn't called her number. "Oh, no problem sweetie, just get in line by your mom" She smiled at people and made conversation.

In ironic payback, Bear scrunched her shoulders right as her picture was being taken - giving her the first ever BAD driver's license picture of her young life. We decided she will lose the license in a couple of weeks and get a new picture - you know you'd do it too!

The guy in front of us needed a new license picture because he had gastric bypass and was now unrecognizable on his license. Made me laugh - my license still said I weighted 145 - the weight I was at 16. Last year when I got my Indiana license back in my maiden name, I changed the weight. I was afraid the police would be at an accident scene trying to figure out who I was and where the 145 pound girl was.

Sassenach is a Celtic term - Scottish as I understand it - meaning outsider - indicating a person who does not belong to the locals. I learned it from Diana Gabaldon, my favorite author. She is a biologist who decided to write some books - and she's really good at it. She is coming out with her last in the Outlander series of books about a family during the time of Culloden and the American Revolution - check it out if you want an adventure...I have preordered it and cannot wait.

Living in Mississippi today

Here is a link to a story about helping - truth is - we aren't doing enough and we are givign money to the WRONG people. Do you think that all the advertising the Red Cross does is free - did people forget the acusations after 9/11? Cannot understand why they get money adn stories like this happen....

Alone in the Morning

I am not used to sleeping alone. When I was a single mom there was always at least one child in my bed, sometimes two or all three. Now that I'm married, I find that I dislike sleeping alone even more than I did when I was single. The bed is too big and there is no warm furry man to scrunch into if I am cold or if I wake up and can't get back to sleep.

Weird things happen when he is traveling - and I don't know whether it is sleep deprivation or if the weird things are actually happening.

Last night about 11 I heard a cell phone ring - only it wasn't any of the ringtones I knew from the ones we have at the house. Might have been an alarm from one of the old ones. I looked around but never did find it and it only rang once. But then again I was way past tired and I was trying to watch the Chargers and Giants game while drifting off - so who knows.

Then about 6 this morning, (after the Katrina refugee hound dogs next door barked until 2am) there was a loud crash and what sounded like a feed pan. I got up, checked the house - then checked the yard. Never did find out what it was - though now that I have had some coffee, I think it might have been something at one of the neighboring houses or a branch hitting the roof when the rain started.

I went out on my normal rounds, this morning I should have audioposted - the goats were in rare form. Seems the barking dogs kept them awake last night too - and they had eaten every last bit of the grass in their little pen. I was not moving fast enough for them and they let me know it. They got a new sister over the weekend - hopefully Justin will post about it - but suffice it to say that she was likely to be on the menu at a Cuban family dinner - so now she is in our yard.

The dogs were barking again, and I could smell the musky scent of the fox outside the fence. I'm pretty sure he lives in a den down by the creek, and I hope to get a better handle on exactly where that is when we start clearing the fallen trees and make a path through the woods. ( I learned this year that you have to wait until it is under 50 degrees before you start moving trees or you will have the unwelcome surprise of venomous snakes - so we have about 20 trees in various states of falling in our acreage).

As I walked about this morning, the sun was coming up making hte sky pink- our spotlights were still on in the yard, illuminating the branches in the woods, I thought about winter projects - making a walking path, building a mini-barn for the animals, extending the pens, maybe even adding a deck to our French doors which open to a two story drop. I am excited about all the timber we will have to build with - anxious to make some of those stump stools that we used to have at the lake house - anxious to clear where the garden will go in the spring, I miss my garden. There is so much potential here, and I cannot wait to make it into even more of a retreat.

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

Yesterday sucked - not just bad day - but exceptionally frustrating want to rip my hair out kind of bad day.

The hospital is full - so over capacity with evacuees that we are setting up beds in places we don't normally have beds. And my beeper is ringing constantly. Why people don't understand that chatting with someone about their diabetes is not a reason to hold up sending them home is entirely beyond my realm of comprehension. I didn't even leave for lunch until 1:30. This topping a two week period where I am frequently here until after 5.

Then the real fun began - to spare my kids I will say that if you are lost you are supposed to go back to the last place you saw your family - or come to where your mom works and sit - or go to the football field where you practice. I spent more than 3 hours yesterday driving around, panicking, looking for kids - two kids, two incidents. I came home at 8pm and made a ginormous fuzzy navel with diet orange drink- I needed a drink that badly. Dinner was good - though I am not sure how much of that was the fuzzy navel.

So a couple other things to share:

While watching the North Carolina game, one of my kids was marveling at the blue and black designs in the grass and asked: How do they get the grass to grow that color?

Me: Why didn't they hire you, it seemed like it went well?
J: I don't know why the hell they didn't hire me!
Me: Well, perhaps it was the profanity.
J2: Oh no, it was the racial slurs
J:Yea, I said " Oh no cracker please, I don't need this job, my momma's making me get a job, shooooot"
White suburban kids and their ghetto talk - who knows what they are saying.

When asked about his girlfriend, Jake told me: Well, I think we broke up - I can't tell exactly, but now she doesn't send me notes, so I think that must be the end.

Morning on the Ridge

Just Stuff

Now that I live in the South, it seems that I am doing a lot of my teaching using my hands - and people actually LOOK at them. So I am compelled to keep my nails polished - since I work outside whenever I can and even scrubbing won't hide the stains on my nails.This morning, I polished my nails at my desk and committed the ultimate sin- I didn't put the lid back on tightly - so now my office smells like acetone - or a crack factory - I don't know - and there is a lovely sunset pink stripe down the center of my desk. But I missed coating my white lab jacket - so it could have been much worse. And my nails look much better.

We are going to the county fair tonight - I am so cheating on you Mr Atkins - an Elephant ear is in my future.

Justin found good herbal fly repellent for my baby goats, so I will be able to avoid the fate of the last two days - washing away fly babies from in between the goats toes and off their fur. Pretty much the most disgusting task ever. I won't accost you with the details - though I am sending Summer an e-mail to get some muchneeded help.

I forgot to record the goats this morning (thanks to YoJ for directing me to audiopost)- so I will try to remember it at lunch time

Bear met someone - outside her normal group of friends - only to find he went to high school with her group of friends. We'll see - he is meeting us at the fair.

The boys are doing well this morning - both alarms went off and they made it to school.

And last but not least - Tammy loaned us her husband last night and he worked some magic on our poor old home PC - thanks, man, I know you probably wanted to get home, but you helped us out anyway. Maybe I'll be able to post some pictures in the near future!

Where Were We a Year Ago...

Well, today's the day - we have been here for a year now.

(It's a long post -so I hope it won't bore you to tears)

Wednesday, I talked to Lora - she in turn talked to my parents - I had been praying for guidance. Things were getting worse and worse - and Dan was getting bolder in his statements and his actions - I just didn't want to overreact. So Lora and my folks fasted and prayed that I would get clarity - I was praying the same thing, but neither of us knew it.

Friday morning, I signed the divorce papers - then came the call from the women's shelter - warning me to get out. Though I have family/friends who still act as though I took it too far - there was no doubt in my mind that the woman at the shelter thought there was a problem!
Dan the Ogre had evil plans for us, so I called all three schools, asked the principals to sequester my kids, told my boss I was going to have to go, cleaned out my desk at work and then went to get the kids. On the way I stopped at the house, even though I wasn't supposed to, and picked up a change of clothes for all of us. I picked up the kids sent Bear in the car to the lake with the boys. I calle dthe police to see if they were investigating the report that the Ogre meant to harm us - apparently in Tippecanoe County you actually have to kill your wife before the police believe you are a threat to her and no contact orders don't mean much. I checked on the dogs, hated to leave them, but didn't see any other choice, so I made sure they were secure in the yard.

When I got to the lake, my dad was oiling his shotgun - here is my father, former CFO and football star, oiling his rifle. It was awful - we hid the van in the garage so that if the Ogre came looking for us, it was hidden. When the van was moved, I realized that I had put my family at risk and there was no longer a choice - I had to go. Friday night I didn't sleep at all - I talked to Justin - but what do you say - hi there, I am thinking of thrusting my entire life on you?

Saturday, we went to the house early, my folks manned the yard with a shotgun, a couple of our friends came over to help pack up after I had gotten a storage space. I remember vividly talking to the lady at the storage area - and it pained me to have to sign his last name .

Sunday was more of the same, it was hot, there were a lot of boxes, lots of things we just couldn't keep. How in the hell do you pack up your whole life in two days? We moved what we could into storage and I left a lot of things at the house - sure that they would never be seen again. At dusk, I sent the kids home with my folks and loaded all my ducks in a trailer. THe summer before I had mae a portable pen to portect them while they were little - now it was full of 18 loud ducks unhappy about being loaded into a trailer. I drove out to Attica - about 45 minutes - to my friend Beth's house and dropped off the ducks. Her dad had a pond and at least I liked him and knew he wouldn't eat them- I hated to give them up but there really wasn't much choice. Came back and picked up my dogs to take them to board in the morning.

Sunday afternoon I had a flat on the van - so we had to get it fixed. Just another joy in the move. Monday morning came early - I had decided to take the pups with me, but wasn't' sure how I would get Bear and Scout and Rosie ... but for now we had to get safe and away. Bear drove one car, I drove the other, packed with whatever we thought we would need for the next couple of weeks. We lived out of those suitcases for the next six months. When we were close, I called Justin for directions to his house, but he had made arrangements for us to stay at a motel suite for a couple of weeks.

When we got there, we felt safe - the room was clean and he had paid for the first week. The relief at seeing him again was overwhelming - he was happy we were there - he didn't look like someone who was unhappy about having his life change dramatically. Here we felt safe. I was happy and sad all at once - happy to be safe - and sad that it had to be at the expense of what was becoming a great relationship. It had only been a month since he said he loved me - and that isn't very long.

The next few days were a blur- feeling scared and shocked that we had actually pulled up roots and moved out entire lives - no more football season, no more Catholic School, no more West Lafayette - it was sad - we were sad, and yet the sun kept coming up each morning and we could finally get some sleep at night. I went to Mass and saw Father Patty - the same priest who blessed our house a couple of weeks ago. Each day things have become a little more normal.

It has been a year - and I miss home - I miss Purdue games - and small town football, and going to church with my folks on Sunday in Logansport, and seeing all my cousins and aunts and uncles, I miss Uncle Herman and Aunt Angele and the funny sandwiches they bring to family parties, and Indiana Beach and floating down the river and seeing my friends and a dozen other things about Indiana. It is nice here, people are kind here, we have spent the last year starting over - my life is good and I hope that eventually it will be home for me - but today, in the midst of being thankful I'm homesick. But more importantly, I am healing - I am not enraged anymore, I am not scared (mostly) anymore and my life has been restored in a fashion that rivals the Trials of Job.

When Tuesday is a Monday

Had the day off yesterday because I had to teach class on Saturday.
Today is an important day - and I have a post for later, but I'm keeping it as a draft for a bit.

I got to the Social Security office at 8:40 - sat for three hours - then the nice lady gave me a receipt - and I now bear my husband's last name. No sense rushing things - it's only been FIVE months.

Found out that the license branch and tag office is closed on Mondays - so I did not get my license - no problem I am only 11 months late getting it done! I'm sure the nice officer will understand.

Justin took my car to run an errand for me on Sunday - and a 16 year old girl t-boned the car - making this another Prizm tragedy. I am starting to wonder about this car, no one has gotten hurt, but it seems to draw trouble:
March '05 Jerra hits a curb and dents the rim
April '05 car gets a new engine because the pistons are locked up on the old one
May '05 Tire blows out on interstate - car hits embankment - car is totalled
July '05 car is repaired and ready to go
September '05 Justin is driving this time - car gets passenger side squished in

I am going to try an audiopost tomorrow morning so that you can hear the baby goats - our computer at home has decided to keep the downloaded pictures - so I will just have to let you hear them instead. They are named now: Bubba, Norbert, Little Bit - all together I bet they don't weigh 20 pounds - but the are just darling - and they are eating all the poison ivy - so they are earning their keep.

Jake and I put in a 4X4 post near the pecan tree - so finally there is a hammock in the back yard - it looks great and he is the king of the post-hole digger!

Rhythm of Life

It is funny to me when people don't believe in God. Not funny as in humorous, funny as in odd. I can understand thinking He isn't paying attention - or isn't doing what I might want right this minute, but to doubt the very existence escapes me.

I teach people about diabetes, talking about the intricate balance in the body between estrogen, insulin, seratonin, glucagon, amylin, carbohydrates, testosterone - it is not a simple system. Because the body is such an intricate system, there are lots of places where the disease or imbalances can be addressed.

I can see a difference in the health of someone who practices stress reduction by paying attention to their breathing - watching the rhythm. I can see clearly the diseases that take place when a person allows stress or food intolerances to interfere with their healthy immune system as they come in with every inflammatory process under the sun: asthma, arthritis, back pain, lupus, chronic fatigue and even diabetes and hypertension.

It astounds me how we as people think we know more than our Creator and we have taken what is healthy - like oats from the field and fruit from the trees - and changed it in a lab to taste better, but have less nutritional value. We fix things that aren't broken. If half my patients would get off crackers and frozen dinners and back to some fresh fruit, they would feel a lot better. Sorry - I digress.

When I worked ER, there was no question in my mind that nights of a full moon were different - maybe not busier in terms of numbers- but weird things happened inevitably.

Babies are born during a full moon - many women give birth during the full moon and will continue to menstruate years later at the time of the full moon.

Geese and moose and birds and caribou - they all know when to migrate. Salmon swim back to the place they were born - without a map.

I was just sitting here thinking that I cannot imagine how all these things could be accidental - especially when I see the things that we as humans create -randomness doesn't make much sense.

Take Deep Breaths...think good thoughts

post script:
see, I told you Justin had all the secrets to this silly picture thing--- i thought there would be a lovely picture of us at the lake house in Sweden - instead, you get a silly header that makes no sense!

Uh What the Heck is MOLY???

YOU ARE MOLY

What herb are you?
brought to you by

The Waiting game

I was a little put out that even though I keep volunteering to foster some animals, there have been no calls. Well, today Justin sends me this little gem - they are hesitant to let animals out of town for fostering - trying to either keep them in LA or shoot them. Hello - do these people have an operational brain cell between them? Look at these posts - they are pathetic - people are desperate for help - desperate for solutions and they are getting resistance. It has been two weeks now and there are still animals to be rescued - shame on the authorities for making it more difficult than it should be. Those pets should have been shipped out last week - to shelters and foster homes that are waiting with open arms. We would happily reunite animals with their owners -lots of people didn't make it - why take the chance that some beloved famliy pet will grow old in a shelter - this is just really ticks me off. No excuse for this bad behavior - if I had any more vacation time left I would go myself...

On the post from the 12th I think there is a contact name - I'm going back to get it and then I'll post it. Any one wanna rent a van and go rescue some puppies???

Martha Stewart's New Calling

Put Martha in charge of clean up and restoration. I saw this article about having Martha Stewart put in charge of clean up and - frankly, it's not a bad idea. At least you know that things would look nice. Maybe they should get all those folks from the home makeover shows, put them together in teams and let the work begin.

I have Martha-envy having not been borne with the genetics required to tell if the room or even my clothes match. I know that wood matches wood with the same stain color - that's about it. I cannot tell that things look cluttered. Drives me crazy. I read a lot of Good Housekeeping and Organic Style and Martha Stewart Living...and I take ideas from there to put things together in my house. Seriously, I cut out the picture, find the paint or furniture that is in the picture and try to put the room together.

Someday when I figure out how to download pictures from the digital camera I will post some pictures of my house - you can see for yourself.

Since I mentioned my arse in the previous post

This post has an interesting study done about women's bottom sizes.

Letter from Open Your Home

E-Bulletin
From OpenYourHome.com
September 13, 2005
Fayetteville, AR
This E-Bulletin is directed toward the thousands of hurricane victims who have left messages on the OpenYourHome web site and to all the generous hosts across the United States and Canada who have opened their homes to strangers in need. We have your messages! We have been a bit overwhelmed by the response—almost 300,000 hits on the website in less than two weeks—but we have already matched more than 2,000 evacuated families, and with a remarkable new team of volunteers our goals are to increase the number of placements every day and to complete 2,000 matches a day by September 15.
When we initiated this project, we thought we would help a few families find temporary housing while they waited for news about their homes and jobs. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine this many people would respond—at all—and certainly not within two weeks! OpenYourHome.com was one of the first web sites to offer people assistance with the second phase of relocation—moving from shelters to longer-term housing. Those victims who responded needed homes—places with an address that can be put on job applications and given to schools—places with privacy and an accessible phone line.
Since August 31, more than 25,000 people have offered this type of housing. Offers have come from people with extensive resources and from people who have limited resources but are willing to share what they have. They are offering space in their homes, vacant houses, apartments and mobile homes—for weeks, months, even as long as a year. The outpouring of support has also included donated air miles and transportation to get people to jobs, school and medical appointments. And people who are unable to offer their homes are assisting host families by providing meals, clothing and other necessities to help evacuees feel welcome and get settled in.
We have recruited a remarkable team of volunteers to build and maintain a database, respond to messages, and match evacuees with host families. Open Your Home, Inc. is now incorporated, and we have a Federal Tax Identification Number and have applied for tax exempt (non-profit) status. The City of Fayetteville has provided office space and work stations, and we have assigned coordinators in nine other states to help find hosts and to generate support services such as transportation and help with accessing services available locally. Other non-profit agencies such as the American Red Cross, the United Way, Convoy of Hope, the Arkansas Department of Human Services, and numerous church and community shelters are directing victims and contributors to the web site.
Host families as well as evacuees can still register at openyourhome.com.
To maintain confidentiality and protect the privacy of both groups, the Open Your Home database will not be released.
Our pledge to you is twofold: We will remain online until every victim has a home. We’re in this for the long haul! And we will get to you just as soon as we can. Check the web site often to note progress and to identify volunteer opportunities.
Serena Howard, Director
Open Your Home, Inc.

25,000 volunteers - 600,000 people displaced. You know you want to help.
Here is the link: http://openyourhome.com/

You just never know

This weekend it will be a year since we fled Indiana to the relative safety of a place the Ogre didn't know to look for us.

Though looking at my blogs from then, I knew I was in love with Justin - truth be told, I've been in love before and it didn't pan out well. Little did I know what was really going on - and how, it seems, God had everything well in hand to get us together - and let us be happy.

I feel like sometimes I gush - but the amazement at how things turned out just overwhelms me at times. Truth is, both Justin and I were sure that by moving into the same house our relationship would be over. Funny how you see your own shortcomings so clearly - and how it can convince you that no one would ever want to put up with _____ (insert shortcoming here). I worried that the instant three-child famly would be too much for him - or that he would begin to see my broad behind as I do - he worried that his bachelor habits would be to weird - or that I would get tired of how fast his brain goes in ten different directions. There were other things, too, but the upshot is that we both thought we were doomed to failure.

Girlfriends are easier to manage long distance - and neither of us thought we were in a place where we were ready to committ - thus the 6 months spent in the same house even though we weren't discussing marriage. But Justin was my friend's friend before I ever met him, she told me I could trust him with my children and my life - and I did. I didn't have anyplace else that the Ogre wouldn't have known about , so this was the logical choice. I decided to sacrifice my budding romance for the safety of my famliy - and amazingly enough it worked out.

There was this turning point - for me it was around Thanksgiving when we went to see my friends in Tsaile and Albuquerque. When all of a sudden things just started to click and we were a family. It was when my friend Jim Davis was talking to Justin - we were outside of his house, surrounded by the dogs and pine trees and the wind was blowing... he said " I don't know what you have done to her, but she looks better than I have ever seen her" When I started to change back into my real self, it showed on the outside - my buddy picked that up - of course he did, he's pretty remarkable.

All the stories of refugees from Katrina have kept me reflecting on how difficult it is to leave everything you know and start over - at least our things were in storage - but there were lots of things that I left because there just wasn't time to pack it all up. But they are just things, and what was most important made it here.... and nearly a year later, my life has been blessed -everything that the Ogre tried to take from me has been restored - a good husband, happy kids, flock of ducks, pack of dogs and land with lots of trees. You just never know what God will do - or what He is working on hidden from what we see.

Just another day

Here is yesterday's schedule:
6:45 wake up, get Jake up,
go outside- turn of security lights
feed ducks, water ducks, let them out of pen
feed and water goats, let them out of pen
7:00 reckeck Jake to make sure he is out of bed and making breakfast
wake Jerra
get Jake's medicine
feed and water dogs, let them outside and into their pen
( usually throw in a load of laundry here - lucked out today)
7:15 kiss Justin goodbye,
help Jake gather things in his backpack
recheck his hair and his clothes
wash dishes
7:20 jake is out the door
give Jerra 10 minute warning
rush to bathroom for fast shower
Reset Jake's alarm for tomorrow
735 out of shower, wet hair, dressed to go
Wake Josh
Sign anything else he needed for school
8:00 drop off Jerra, get to work
1230 pick up Jerra, take her home - use up my lunch half hour, check the mail
1:10 back to work, talk to the kids about ten times before I leave at 4:30
430 leave for home
4:45 stop off at Wal Mart for milk and butter
5:30 get home, help kids find football gear
change into shorts
see what we have for supper
water goats and bunnies
6:10 leave for football practice - drop off kid 1, wait at field until practice starts, then off to home.
7:00 get gas, pick up kid 2,
7:15 practice field is switched, so we drive another 10 minutes to get to practice
8:00 home - start dinner, sweep the kitchen floor, pick up laundry
8:30 Justin gets home with kid 1, we start eating about 10 minutes later
then dishes, check homework check animals
9:10 go get kid 2 - practice started late, so it won't be over until 9:30
940 - home finally, but kid 2 has a project to work on.
945 let the dogs in , tuck in kid 1
1025 watch the Falcon's game while looking for cars with minerals ( i kid you not)
1040 sneak in Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough icecream while trying ot wind down - no luck there
11:30 afterworking on school project, locating scotch tape, markers and poster board, then polishing my nails, I watch the fourth quarter in bed - but fall asleep instead.

Reciprocity

I am not sure what compels me to feel lik it is my responsibility to visit my friends and family, but I have made this my task over the last few years. In the past year I have been to:
Overland Park, Kansas
Tsaile Arizona
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Gulf Shores, Alabama
Crossville, Tennessee
Lafayette, Indiana
Mann, West Virginia
Indianapolis, Indiana
Buffalo, Indiana
South Carolina, though I cannot remember the name of the town.

With the exception of one friend and her husband who came for the wedding and my uncle who lives in town who also came for the wedding, no one has been to my house. This weekend, we will have been here for a year, and the message I am receiving loud and clear is that I am obligated to visit and make sure the kids visit, but no one is obligated to visit me. ( Lora you are exempt here - I know why you can't come) I am so tired of hearing that I am not communicating enough - that I am not making the kids accessible enough - you know what - if you want to see us that badly, make a trip down and stop tying up my lines of communication complaining. I will not pick up the phone if I know that 10 minutes of each conversation will be about how inadequately I have nmet your needs - they are your needs and your responsibilty, not mine. Call on the phone and talk to the kids after school, call in the evening - if you want to talk to us, call and if I have to get off the phone don't be angry, be understanding. I am doing this with three kids and a full time job - no maid, no part time job at home - I am genuinely busy and that busy-ness is not because I am trying to avoid talking to my friends and family - or keep the kids away from thier non-custodial parent, I am busy. The loner way is to see a problem and fix it - stop complaining and find a solution. I am no longer going to justify how I spend my time to the people who are complaining - I have a family to raise and a full time job - that is the reality here.

Spinning Round and Round

Peyton Manning - just a joy to behold someone play football well. It was worth it to stay up late, and fold laundry while watching you work your magic. Thanks for that.

Two weeks in a row Josh's team just blew their opponents out of the water - having to stop scoring after the half to show good sportsmanship and not humiliate the opposing team. He is rotating as one of several pairs of receivers - each play is good and he had a couple of good hits. He is really becoming a solid player.

Jacob's team finally won - but the coach has demoted him from starter to three plays a game. All last week Jake was his focus - getting pushed harder than the other kids each time trying to help him hit harder - or so I thought until he got a measly three plays that game. Not thrilled with this - mamma is going to have to have a talk with the coach tonight. In a great blessing - Jake is so happy they won that he didn't even notice that most of his game was seen from the sidelines.

The baby goats are amazing - and hopefully I will be able to figure out that camera and the picture downloading so that I can post a real picture of them.

Bear is signed up for the SATs and finally it looks like college is looming in our future.

There is a distinct possibility that the bunnies are not both girls. Hopefully I am wrong - but if not we've decided what to donate to the white elephant sale.... no one needs that many rabbits.

We watched our friends' sons this weekend - I miss having little bitty kids - it was a lot of fun. I learned that to be someone's friend you have to bring them donuts....makes sense to me.

Funny thing about having Father over to your house - when you go to church, he knows who you are and pays attention to what your teenagers are doing - so all through Mass I was worried that he would see them conversing .... I hate that. When we left church, he didn't excommunicate us, so I guess he missed it when we all started laughing - well our shoulders were shaking uncontrollably- because ONE of us moved and let out a little squeaky fart accidentally. Sorry, it was just funny.

The ducks have now decided we are frightening - they used to come up to us - now they run away - even when I bring food - as though roast duck were on the menu. Not sure what brought this on - but I'll be glad when it stops.

My old flame

I feel like I am having a torrid affair with football. All the signs are there - inattention to my mate, long weir hours, buying things on my credit card that aren't for him... you know mouthpieces, knee pads, school spirit shirts.... Every evening, it keeps me out until after 9, my car smells like - teenaged boys and locker room stuff and there are times I feel like i am trading husband time for football time. I am willing to stay up and fold laundry until well passed bed time as long as I can watch Peyton - or Micheal Vick - or Brett Farve. Last week I even watched the first half of the UGA game, risking being late to my son's game. I stayed up late to watch Florida beat Miami - though the end of the fourth quarter was pretty foggy, it was a great game.

Honey, I'll be yours again in November - well , right after the Superbowl!

Whatever problems we have pale in comparison

My daughter worked at the Salvation Army yesterday. They are seeing about 60 people, not including kids, per hour while they are open. A diabetic woman came through and she helped her find low car pasta, low carb sauce and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I couldn't have been more proud to hear her relay this bit. She started off on the "pasta table" and was soon moved to her real talent - the hygiene table.

A weird thing happens when people help out of obligation instead of love ( and it is about the love isn't it Dale!) they start tossing in whatever into the bags. Bear realized this and started matching the strawberry shampoo with the strawberry conditioner. She relayed to me that she told a coworker - you just can't give someone freesia shampoo and strawberry conditioner. That is the difference between doing a job and trying to help a person - seeing those coming through as people - not refugees in a line.

( KLEENEX ALERT) During her break, she had a young man named Matt, who was talking to her about his rescue and his trip here. Matt is about 25 and works construction. Seems the day before the storms, the news was reporting that the hurricane would miss New Orleans, so he went into work anyway. About midmorning, it became clear that the storms would be pretty bad, so he arranged for his wife and two daughters, 3 and 6 months, to leave home, take the car and meet him where it was safe.
His wife's friend was to follow them out to safety.

The levee broke, the wall of water came rushing through town

He was trapped in his office building, only being rescued two days ago. When he got to the shelter, he met his wife's friend. She relayed that she had followed them for a while, but the water came and they didn't make it.

He was flown here the next day, standing in line at the Salvation Army. His parents gone and now his wife and babies are as well. He talked to Bear, and didn't want to talk to counselors. He didn't want to hear that he will get over it. Said he isn't going back to New Orleans and that he is staying in a hotel for awhile.

Matt, we cried over your story in the car, and again over dinner as we retold it. We are hoping to find you and give you a home while the terrible work of healing your heart takes place.

Added links

I stole this from Chris's website - pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen - these are baby hedgehogs - though they kind of look like mice inside a buckeye... Ever on the quest for new and exciting animals to ad to the farm, these guys might just need to come over!


I added a couple of links this morning, will hopefully add more today if all goes well. I updated Ian, since there is both a website and bid for the Papacy, I'll include those links seperately. Also added today is Jacob's stories - where I put most of Jake's antics. The beauty in having a son who has had so much excitement with his brain is that there are lots of stories. Hope you take a moment and peruse them, he has brought me a lot of joy.

In other news, I am going to try to scan the boys' football pictures, Joshua, the Earwax boy, no longer looks like a boy... and I knew this day was coming, but it is really wierd when the picture resembles someone's boyfriend, not your little son anymore.

Hope your holiday was restful...

Helping the Salvation Army

My sister-in-law has been blessed to be a stay at home mother - though lately there is not much staying at home going on. Below you will find her note about her experience working at the Salvation Army last week - thought I'd pass it along today as we commemorate the American worker.... Help in any way you can.

After spending 10 hours at Salvation Army today, I can give you more specifics on how people can help. We processed about 1500-2000 people through the center today, and this is the tip of the ice berg, as many are just now leaving New Orleans and will arrive this week. We assembled 500 boxes of food today. The amazing thing was we ran out of boxes at 3 p.m., and just like the Biblical story of the loaves and fishes, God kept providing as we redistributed items to free up boxes, and we had 30 extra boxes assembled to begin with in the morning!
Clothing - take to the nearest thrift store (Salvation Army store is easiest, but any thrift store will do, as they are all joining in this effort) - tell them it's for hurricane relief, and it will be kept separate from the clothes that are for sale. When disaster victims come to Sal. Army, they are then given vouchers to take to the thrift stores to get free clothing.
Volunteers - will be needed for weeks and weeks to come. Even if people can only give a couple of hours at a time, the help is desperately needed. Volunteer hours are 7 days a week, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. We have jobs for people who like to stand still and organize, those who like to run around and distribute things, those who like to handle phone calls, etc. Working alongside all of the volunteers will bless your socks off, and taking time to eat lunch with disaster victims will put the magnitude of the devastation in perspective - you can't come away from this experience without being a changed person.
Items needed: Even though the tables of food were overflowing this morning, we had several empty tables by the end of the day. Below is a list of what we seem to run out of the most:
CAN OPENERS!!!!! (Dollar Tree has them) powdered milk/evaporated milk
SCHOOL SUPPLIES/BACKPACKS (many kids start school immediately)
canned carrots, potatoes, beets, mixed veggies, spinach, sweet potatoes canned beans - pinto, chili, blackeye peas, lima, northern
CHILI canned meat
PASTA & SAUCE (NO mac & cheese - Kroger donated oodles of boxes)
CEREAL baby spoons (Wal-Mart has 16 plastic ones for $2.50) juices rice (no huge bags please) LAUNDRY DETERGENT (regular sized boxes - not huge ones)
CLEANING SUPPLIES (again, not huge ones) 12-16 oz.
COFFEE (the freeze dried blocks or single serve packs) medium sized corrugated boxes
Those are the biggies - any and all help is so appreciated. Many other items (baby supplies, green beans, corn, ravioli - are pouring in at a steady pace, so those needs aren't as urgent as the aforementioned ones).
Working alongside the Salvation Army employees has been such a privilege - they are so gifted at getting people through stressful times like these. If you know of any people you can network with by sending this information along (food co-ops, churches, scout troops, homeowners' associations), please feel free.

HELP NEEDED

If you live in the South or Southwest and have room in your home, please sign up at the following link. http://www.openyourhome.com/index.html#next . We just did.

Also, the Red Cross is taking blood donations and the Salvation Army needs food, bottled water and hygiene products desperately ( think about not having a shower for the last five days in sweltering heat - yea, I want deodorant too.) Donate during the telethons. Gather all those things you are saving for a garage sale like linens and old clothes and toys and bring them to
If you cannot get items to these places, do the most important thing - pray. Pray that the people ravaged by the storm will have strength, will show good character, will find hope and blessings in those who have reached out to them. Then pray in thanksgiving that you are able to read this on your computer - that it didn't happen to you - and that the problems of dialy life look pretty easy compared to the millions of folks who survived this storm and lost everything.

not my normal fare - but interested in your opinion

A South African inventor has finally come up with a device to turn the tables, and anti-rape female condom. Here is the article. As a survivor of domestic violence - and a mother who fears for her daughter in the culture where life has little value, I think it is about time that a woman has an option other than a gun or mace. This would get the attacker where it really hurts and hopefully render him incapacitated - like a swift kick in the private parts. The logistics are a bit complicated, but if you knew that you had a violent man who continued to threaten to hurt you in this way, this would offer some protection - or at least the knowledge that you would have a chance to escape.

For my part, I hope the device finds a market - especially in places where rape is common and women are treated with less care than the family dog.

Reasons Why this morning just Rocks my Socks

1. I stopped off for gas this morning - because I am a chicken and avoided the mess at the gas pumps last night. Premium was 2.98 a gallon - and I filled it up. No drama, no line, took 10 minutes including the wait for the little old lady with bright red lipstick in front of me.

2. Father Patty came and blessed the house. I think it is a Catholic thing, but my home feels safe again. As he was sprinkling water on every room with my pastry brush - I felt a calm come over me at last.

3. During dinner (which included some excellent Mesquite Brisket) Father recieved a call from Peter... and then said Peter calls him all the time. Justin and I started laughting - we can sure pick them, we choose the one priest who has a direct line to Saint Peter and can allow his calls to go to voice mail!!

4. I got to listen to him talk about Dublin and Viking villages and coming to America and salad cream and a dozen other things that are just afscinating. I cannot wait to have him come back - he was SO much fun and I am a sucker for that Irish accent. Maybe it is something in my genetics--the irresistability of the Gaelic burr...who knows. I could have listened to him read the dictionary all night.

5. I fell asleep with a VO and Coke Zero in my hand, while my husband worked on the computer...pretty excellent way to fall asleep.

6. This morning it was FINALLY in the 60s when I got up. Feels like decent weather for the first time in ages - the air was cool, birds were singing .....and the neighbor whose family is here from Mississippi had a yard full of howling hunting dogs who were not my responsibility to quiet.

7. Jacob has a girlfriend...there is a little girl in his class who sends him " I love you " notes - and for once he knows for sure that he has a friend in class. AHHHH fifth grade love.

8. They accidentally schedule both nurses to teach a class this morning - only one is needed so I have four hours at work to catch up - after I finish this post naturally.

9. I had Chik-Fil-a for breakfast....and a Diet Dr. Pepper to complete a nearly perfect morning.

10. I got to kiss all three kids and my husband good bye this morning - and I am a lucky woman.