Exciting Real Life Account of How I Am Surviving a Messy House

Today I ran 3 miles for the first time since Jr. High. I am quite elated with that accomplishment. I also kept careful tabs on the position of my head. The house is, as expected, a terrible disaster, but I had come to anticipate that. It occurred to me after my upset on Sunday, that the house being in a state of disarray DOES NOT constitute my going to pieces. In time, it will be cleaned up again. What DOES bother me is when I get all grouchy about it. I can't make people do chores and upkeep when I'm gone, but I can maintain an inner peace in the midst of a messy house. This is my true goal. Here's an excerpt from last Sunday :
"On Sunday Morning, I was close to my melting point. Dishes marched onto the counters from all directions. I was frantically trying to get some muffins made for the church pot luck, along with some for my family to take on a visit. People were wanting breakfast. Moonbeam was clinging to my legs "knotting" as my sister says. The house was still a disaster from me being gone working a few days before. I could hear some voice in the background telling me I should have gotten up earlier, but I had gotten up early. It had been months since I'd done the missions report and I knew my turn to do it was long overdue. I'd gotten up early, prayed and compiled some data together to share for the report. As I felt myself melting down, I asked one of the kids who was wandering around wearing a costume he'd been working on to make the breakfast. He didn't want to. I was so frustrated. I said nothing. I put my head down. "Don't people understand how busy I am?!" Self pity came over me and then I sulked."
It goes on to tell you that he did make breakfast, but rather than clean off the highchair, he put Moonbeam's scrambled eggs on the front of a dining room chair (no plate). It also tells you about how my guarder belt broke after I had finally assembled it with some stockings. It was an "Every thing goes wrong morning".
"So here we are on the way to church. We've just picked up the neighbor girl. We're supposed to be this wonderful Christian family and I'm grouchier than all get out! Then the neighbor girl tells us she won "Grand Champion" prize with the her demonstration on smoothies. This is the demonstration that I gave her my extra blender for, donated some frozen fruit for, and also gave her my own smoothie tips about. I couldn't help but smile a little."
Things were going to improve a lot that day. This was just the beginning. The Missionary Report also went really well. As a matter of fact, my biggest regret that day was my bad attitude. I am thinking that I can learn from the past here and show some Good Attitude in the midst of a tumultuous mess.
"Probably, the messy house and dishes will eventually get cleaned up. Conveying peace in the storm to my children would have been a better prize to strive after."

Above photo : The Sock Fashion Expert Reading a Louis L'Amour

An Outhouse Fit For A King

Nothing all that terrible or funny has happened to me lately. This presented me with a ghastly dilemma - what on earth to blog about? I must admit, on Sunday, I had a terrible morning, and I wrote a long story about it. It sounded too much like feeling sorry for myself and I deemed it "non edible", so I never published it.
The hospital had called me every day for 4 or 5 days in a row, and by Wednesday, I knew I had better make an appearance. I was finally getting "on top of my game" with house work and home school, though it was short lived.
Thursday was The Sock Fashion Expert's Birthday. I sent her a bizarre 1960's ecard. I brought her home donuts and flowers, and fish (that's what she wanted for dinner). She got some cd's too. The store didn't have any big packs of fish and it would have been very expensive to buy little packs of it for all of us, so I bought us some lousy fish sticks, and her the good fish. I slept on the couch most of the day and had her 12 year old brother bake the cake for me. By the time I got up the house was trashed and the neighbor girl wanted to join the party. After some contemplation, I allowed the neighbor girl to enter the disaster zone. In the end, the neighbor girl and misc. kids helped me do the dishes and clean up a little. Art Dog's cake turned out pretty good. Even the lousy fish sticks were alright. For entertainment, Moonbeam showed us her latest dance moves wearing nothing but her diaper while we all applauded. I guess you could say, she had a pretty good birthday.
Today was our accountability girls group. It was at the neighbors, so I was thankful I didn't have to drive. Morning had come way too early. We had a really good meeting. We laughed, we cried and we ate good. Sejkay, my kayak partner was there, and now will be called "The Cowgirl". The neighbor who hosted our group has erected an interesting facility attached to thier home. It is an inner door to a connected outhouse. One must climb steps to sit on a raised seat. It reminds me of a wooden throne. The people who live there are substantially taller than I am, so that not only did I have to climb several feet up, but when I sat on it, my feet dangled in the air. It is also open and facing another neighbors property. One must hope that nobody walks by, or that the neighbor doesn't happen to walk by. It is quite an interesting and conversational monument, and I'm quite sure none of you have ever seen one quite like this one. This is why I thought you may enjoy reading about such an interesting conversation piece.
I'm feeling a little self pity being here at work tonight. I would like to be snuggled up in my bed next to my warm husband. Perhaps this is why I am blogging about my neighbors facility. Well, I suppose I cannot think of anything else I am allowed to blog about. There are things i'd like to say, but i will have to wait. Alas, you must be content with reading about the Outhouse Fit For A King.

Home School Impromptu Ear Cleaners and More

Something struck me. No, it wasn't an intimate object, nor was it of intention, but it was a direct hit none the less. For days, this women's magazine plagued my living room. Every time I picked it up, I scoffed at it and refused to read. You see, some of its doctrines are a bit offensive to me. Every time I pick it up, I get all huffy. This nice church lady keeps giving me copies, and then I feel obligated to read them. Well, after picking it up for the 5th time, I decided that there had to be something I could get out of it. Sure enough, I did.
Though there is plenty in the magazine I don't agree with, the woman who writes for it is a gifted writer. She writes with conviction and wisdom. Despite our doctrinal differences, she said some things that impacted me. Namely, as Christians, we are preparing our children to go out "as sheep among wolves". She said that people would readily tear apart our kids. This is true. When our kids enter the world, they should know what they believe and be prepared to communicate their beliefs effectively. The woman went on to give the example of having kids do impromptu speeches on certain subjects or scriptures. I liked that idea.
So today, we decided to apply this to our morning devotions. Each kid was given a verse. Then each one was given 3 minutes to give a speech/discussion on it. As each kid took turns standing up, I was proud at how confident they were. I was proud at how well they read. Of all the things I've probably done wrong home schooling, I'm proud I've taught them all to read well. Oh there were things they could improve on. One practiced ear cleaning techniques, and all of them did something a little bit distracting, but over all, they did a good job. I think I'm going to start integrating this practice on a weekly basis during our Devotions time.
Whoever you are, whatever you may believe, this woman is absolutely right. We do need to teach our children to articulate well. They should be prepared to intelligently defend what they believe. Simple communication skills like eye contact, a strong hand shake and a smile, and other body language can set our children up for success in whatever they chose to pursue.
I found as I read through the magazine, I agreed with a lot more than I disagreed with. Had I chose not to read it, I would have missed out on a great way to enrich my home school practices.

Adventures of a Bobble Headed Woman

On Sunday after Church, the family all headed over to "The Mountain Man"'s house to visit. He got them acquainted with his horses and they all rode bare back around his corral. It was a fun day for them. They love spending time with him, and had many tales to tell. I stayed home with Moonbeam so she could nap and I could get stuff done.
On Monday, after a marathon bake off in the kitchen and doing school with the kids, I ran with the Dolphin Goddess. Wow did she put me through a good work out! We ran her route, which I'd never done before. It seemed really tough, even though we only ended up running 2 1/2 miles all told. We walked the last half mile. I think she figured I'd huffed and puffed enough. Since she came from an athletic family, she advised me on some running tips. Namely, to try and stop wobbling my head to and fro. I don't have much form to begin with, but apparently my head begins bobbling when I near exhaustion. I got this terrible image of trying to run a 5K with her and Mist. In my imagination, I am almost to the finish line, and people are pointing and marveling at the strange bobble headed woman. When I returned to reality, I thanked her, and made a mental note to work on keeping my head on straight. Really, silliness aside, I loved running with my Dolphin Friend. I felt challenged, which I always appreciate.
On Tuesday, after school with the kids, and getting Moonbeam down for her nap, I met SejKay out in her Kayak on the river. Last week, we'd tried to make it to "the old abandoned bridge", but didn't get that far. Today, with her dog, Sug, running along the banks, we made it to our destination. A bunch of cows mooed at us, and we we saw lots of ducks and Canadian Honkers along the way. I brought her one of my power cookies and we snacked on them along the way back. It's been a pretty good week so far.

Disembowelment of the Pizza Gremlin

Deep within the bowels of the hospital, I could hear it calling my name. It beckoned to me, whispered to me, tormented my thoughts…...... Busy with patients, I’d made the mistake of hurrying over the copy machine. There it found me. My co-worker was eating a frozen microwave pizza. The aroma was delicious, enticing, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to share. “Oh I want a little pizza” I said wishfully, as I made the quick copy. When I returned to my post, nothing but pizza haunted my thoughts. To make matters worse, it (the pizza) reminded me that there were other little pizzas at the vending machine in the basement cafeteria. It’s kind of like that movie “Gremlins” where one gets wet and they multiply. Whatever you do, don’t feed me after midnight, because my hips and belly turn monstrously large! Once one little pizza gets out, it’s only a matter of time before they take over the hospital and then….. the world.
I was resisting, but a little annoyance and stress set me off and I found myself telling somebody I was heading to the basement. I had to go down there anyway, and after all, it was on my way. Armed with my purse, a two way radio and some other stuff, I made my way into the depths of its bowels. It was creepy, but I tried to be brave. After my errands, I was compelled toward the cafeteria, by an unknown force. I kept thinking about how good that pizza upstairs smelled. As I neared the vending machine, I felt remorseful. I knew I’d already eaten my dinner. The word “recreational eating” flashed in my mind. I pushed the thought out, and dug into my purse finding a $5 bill. As I got closer to the vending machine, I felt more remorse. I knew I would hate myself for it later. Part of me said “I don’t care”. The other part said “yes you do.” Suddenly I knew what I had to do. I put the $5 bill in my purse and I walked away from the machine. Suddenly, I felt really really good. I’d walked away, and not let that lust rule over me anymore.
It’s kind of amusing, my dark battle with food, but it got me to thinking. The pull for something we want is real. No pizzas don’t talk or multiply like Gremlins, but “the lust of the flesh” is real in all of us. Pretty much everyone I know is directly affected by someone with an alcohol, food or drug addiction. Unfaithfulness runs rampantly, as do other deviant vices. Everybody has some crutch, and if you think you don’t then you’re probably lying to yourself. The Apostle Paul said “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And I am often grieved, wondering if some addicts I know will ever make that decision to “step away”. I know, without a shadow of a doubt that the strength to overcome can be found in God. How to always convey that to people, well I don’t know.
The Entire Chapter of Romans 7 talks about how we are slaves to our sin and lusts. The Entire Chapter of Romans 8 tells us how we can be free.
It ends with this comfort :
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Working Mom Blues and the Case of The Loopy Leprechaun's Loitering

I was disappointed when my yogurt looked as if it had been exhaled with force out of a great white hippopotamus. That is, I ended up with 6 ½ cups of white slime. The stuff LITERALLY has the texture and consistency of albino snot. The other stuff I made last month, I managed to farm out into bread making so it wouldn’t go to waste. I just can’t get beyond this batches texture. I think I’m gonna have to feed it to the cat, or I’m gonna hurl.
Today I would classify as “less than organized”. My ducks were quacking in every direction and I began shooting for abstract “duck art” rather than the traditional “row” approach. I had scheduled a theme day with the kids. We packed toys into boxes for orphans in India. You may think that’s a great idea, what you don’t know is that the toys were donated last August!! It’s true. Somebody at church approached me a few weeks back asking me if I still had the shipping check. I hadn’t even opened the envelope with the check dated August 14th on it. Yes, this was a terrible ball dropping on my part. I knew it would never happen unless I made it into a school day. We looked up verses about giving. The children wrote letters to the orphans. We prayed the boxes would make it safely. Toys and candy peppered the living room with Moonbeam right in the middle of the action, unpacking as fast as the kids packed. In the end, getting the boxes ready to ship was a tremendous relief, though the ordeal seemed stressful at the time. Thanks to everybody who supports “Helping Hands”. The check for shipping was $41.40 and Helping Hands will supply the other 60 some dollars.
In the midst of trying to get my husband out the door this morning, I made the mistake of giving Moonbeam a punch cup with smoothie. I know better than to do that, but I was too lazy or maybe in too much a hurry to wash the high chair tray off, and it was the only thing that would fit on the special “snack” surface. Of course, she threw the cup on the floor and it shattered all over. Of course, I later stepped in glass and had to pull it out of my foot with tweezers. This is just one of the examples of my scattered day. I would give you many more stories, but you would quite possibly jump out a window from reading, and I wouldn’t want that on my conscience.
At any rate, many “catastrophes” befell me prior to my upcoming shift. One ray of hope in my day happened when I was lying down with the Moon Muffin. I heard the sound of reading coming from the kitchen. It was Super Catman’s day to do dishes and he was sizing up a bumper crop. The seven year old plugged away slowly at them, as seven year olds do. Any mum would get the fuzzy feeling of “the good life” when she beheld this act of kindness. In an attempt to distract Super Catman from his mountains of doom, Art Dog and Sock Fashion expert were taking turns reading to him from a Louis L’amore. The kids are working on the “Reading is the Ticket” program, that gives each kid a free amusement park ticket for reading or being read to for 10 hours. Super Catman’s been having some trouble getting his hours in, though he’s made many valiant attempts. Today, thanks to the kindness of his brother and sister, He got in an hour for his theme park ticket and a distraction while getting his dishes done. Yes, there is still good in the world today even if a loopy leprechaun was loitering around.

The Suspicious Strangers Strange Screamy Sounds and Slimy Soup

Two Strange Men have taken up residence at the top of our drive. Though there is no "camping spot" there, they've parked a truck, built a camp fire and placed misc camping gear around. The truck is very old, and the 40ish men, scruffy and unshaven. Each time we drive or walk by, they put their heads down and cover their faces. Sometimes they hide in the truck or tent. They won't acknowledge you're there, or say "hi" back.
Last year they were there. They did the same thing. They actually threw watermelon rinds on the drive. Why anybody would pick a spot to camp right next to our drive is beyond me. We and the neighbors all drive by there daily. They obviously don't want to see people. Its just bizarre.
Today it got even more bizarre. Our son was out on a hike through the woods, and was near by where the men were. He said a man was yelling strange garbled high pitched nasal sounds. Like he was sneezing and talking or something, though none of it was intelligible. The strangers presence is a bit eerie and leaves me to my imagination. Today I made my own trail through the woods to avoid going by him, so I could run on the main road.
Everybody knows everybody here. We have a lot of strange people around, but we're used to their oddities. They're used to ours. Though people do peculiar things, they're harmless. Probably this guys strange uttering and inability to look at anyone and maybe even his odd camping spot is harmless. Its just different. I can hear the Veggie Tales song "I can be your friend" resonating in my head, so I suppose I should stop elaborating.
Contrary to what you may be thinking about the cookie pics, I've actually been cooking quite healthy lately. Today I made home made half wheat tortillas, with ground venison burger, sprouts I sprouted and some other toppings. I had some farm milk I needed to use up, so I made home made ice cream - OK not so healthy. I also braved my hand again at yogurt. I tried a new method I am hoping works better than the crockpot one. In this method, after heating the milk and adding in the culture, you wrap the pan well with a towel and place it next to the wood stove. You know its the right temperature if you can put your finger in it for 10 seconds, no longer. Yes, it sounds a bit primitive, but it was a tip given by a missionary. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I'm desperate (or more like determined) to get this figured out :-)
Every morning, I've been making smoothies with our huge reserve of frozen peaches, pluots, huckleberries, cherries and the remaining fresh grapefruit. I'm pleased the kids have decided my smoothies aren't disgusting any more, and most of the family eats one daily. Especially Moonbeam.
Finally, I made an ultra healthy soup yesterday, using 8 different vegetables. Most of them were pureed, so they couldn't be detected. The only thing you could see was the chicken, pasta and corn. I thought it was great, but the children (and especially my husband) were not at all impressed with the green hue in the broth. Hmm... maybe I should see if our bushy campers are hungry LOL.