When God was Busy Weaving

This is what happens when God starts spinning and weaving a woman's life so fast that she has no time to think or breathe, much less blog about the blurry visions surrounding her. She goes months without updating but has more than a mouthful of life-changing updates!

Indeed, God has been hard at work in my life, and I am seeing just how long he has been threading this yarn around and across my days and years. It has been an incredible summer of learning to truly trust God with what matters most and finding out how delightful are His gifts.

Allow me to indulge in a whirlwind, categorized update with few details because that is how the last several months have felt to me. Life has come so fast and so wily that it has taken all I have to keep up with processing these events in heart and mind.

Event: Heath's brush with cancer
Details: I am most happy to report that we found out in April that Heath does NOT have skin cancer after all. It was an abnormal growth but not cancerous. So thankful that was not in our script.
Lessons Learned: Our family unit is precious and the relationship between Heath and I is the most important one we have on Earth. We need each other desperately, and we need to keep the communication lines open and time spent together as a priority.

Event: Non-stop car problems
Details: Our silver Jeep Liberty has had no end of issues over the last several months. Friends have come to help here and there, we have taken it to professionals, and yet the car still limps along on its last leg. Currently, it can't drive for more than 10 minutes without overheating.
Lessons Learned: We can actually survive with just one car, and it does, in fact, make it easier for Heath and I to connect--even if just for 10-15 minutes as we drive each other to various things.

Event: Elraen's arrival

Details: Round about the beginning of June, Elraen, one of my dear friends from CleanPlace, rolled into town in her car to live with us for the summer and possibly longer. She had just graduated from college and was entering into a stage of transition before the next big life adventure.

Lessons Learned: Elraen needed rest, and somehow, in the midst of our family chaos, she could find it here. She is kindred spirit going through a lot of soul stretching that coincides with what my heart is stretching through too. Through day to day observation of her steadfast commitment to God, my own relationship with Him has deepened as we both actively practice listening to and obeying Him. We have really needed each other this summer.

Event: The mountains caught on fire
Details: The Waldo Canyon fire started at the beginning of June and continued for days, destroying homes, neighborhoods, and landmarks that have stood for decades. Whole sections of the city were evacuated, families displaced, as the flames ravaged the landscape. Our mountains are not the same today, and so many lives have been shaken.
Lessons Learned: Even through evil, God shines brighter than any flame on this earth. A young family at our church lost their home, but God has cared for them in ways no one could imagine. Today, they are closer to Him and each other than ever before. Their testimony of God's care and compassion wrenches my heart with gratitude of all that God can do.

Event: Cousins reunited
Details: My cousin Kristi and her family just happened to be coming through town at the end of June. We were able to meet up with her and see her kids, most of whom did not exist last time I saw Kristi.
Lessons Learned: Family ties cannot be broken with time. There was no weirdness or awkwardness between us, and we talked as though we had been in touch all the time over the last decade, though I haven't seen her since 2001. Not only that, but all of our kids got along famously!

Event: The sun sets on Pulpit Rock
Details: At the beginning of the summer, I received the news that, due to the economic state of the church, Pulpit Rock would need to reduce my position in such a way that I would really no longer be able to work there. The new salary would not be able to support our financial needs.

Though I broke down and cried over the loss of a job I had held for 12 years, I knew that God had something in store for me--something big. He always does when life does a dropkick. I had until the end of the summer to find a new job before the changes went into effect, so I began looking in earnest, trusting that God would do something amazing.

However, it wasn't until I actually gave official notice that my last day would be August 15, completely blind as to what the future held, that God provided an opportunity to apply for a position at Got Questions Ministries, an organization that provides biblical, applicable, and timely answers to spiritually-related questions online.

To make a long story short, I went through a multi-step application process (which began June 18), experienced my farewell luncheon at Pulpit Rock (August 6), and was then offered the job at Got Questions (August 10). Talk about cutting it close! But God doesn't waste a minute at all. His timing was flawless.

Lessons Learned: Wow. God is awesome. XD I am floored by how He has brought me to this point in my life. I couldn't have planned a more perfect place for me to be. This is a job that combines everything I am passionate about: writing, webmastery, art, and working with teens. Honestly, does God know how to take care of a girl or what?

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Coming up in the next blog post: A bulleted list of various little goings-on that have been happening around here, complete with pictures. :-)

A Big Day for Everest

Wednesday, February 15, was a HUGE day for Everest because it is the day he invited Jesus into his heart! We were driving home together and passed by a cemetery. We have passed this cemetery before, and the kids have asked questions, so I wasn't surprised when Everest asked again, "What are all those flowers for?"

This led to a conversation about what happens to the body and the soul when a person dies, and of course led to the question of Heaven and Hell. My explanation to him: "If you accept Jesus into your heart to clean out all your sin--the bad things that you do or will do, then Jesus will always be with you to help you and you'll get to see Him in Heaven when you die."

We talked about what Heaven might be like and what it really means to have our sins forgiven. Then he asked, "How do you accept Jesus into your heart?"

We were just a few minutes away from home, so I told him that all you have to do is pray and that we could do so when we got home. He was quiet for awhile before suddenly saying, "Can I just pray to Jesus right now?" I was so thrilled that we just pulled right over into a parking lot, and I helped him pray right there in the car.

He hugged me tight after his prayer, and we had a long talk about what it means now that he has Jesus in his heart. We talked about who God is and how it will be to live in Heaven and how the Holy Spirit helps us make the right choices and much more.

Everest was more than elated. He wanted to immediately tell everybody what had happened. He said he wanted to tell people about Jesus--people who had never heard of Him before. He was amazed at God's power and how he was God's close, personal friend now, so close he was His adopted son. "That's so cool!" he said.

After we picked up Julie, we celebrated at Rizutos with ice cream cones. It was interesting because when I told Julie why we were celebrating, she said, "Accepting Jesus isn't that big of a deal." She invited Jesus into her heart at the age of 3 or 4, but I'm not sure it really meant anything to her at the time. This was a wonderful teaching moment for us.

"Oh, it's a huge deal!" I told her. "It's a very, very big deal. It determines where we go when we die and how we live our lives--God's way or our way." This got her quiet and thinking for awhile, which is a good thing for sure.

It's an interesting experience, being Christian parents who were not raised in Christian homes. It's hard to know what to do because we have no frame of personal reference. Even though our stories were God's plan for us, I don't want our kids to have to go through what we did, hit rock bottom, then find Jesus in their adulthood. And surely that can't be God's plan for them either, because He has put them in our care after He saved us from ourselves.

At the ice cream shop, the kids wanted to do a photo shoot. I'll never forget that afternoon, and we have the pictures to remind us of celebrating that day.

Musings on Music plus Cookies

Sunday morning started out nice and slow. The kids were awake early but played together instead of waking us up. Though I did have to tell them to quiet down, at least they were getting along really well.

Church was interesting--a great message. Since I explained it to Midget via IM earlier tonight, I'll repeat it here. :o) The pastor was talking about how spiritual warfare happens primarily in our minds--it's Satan whispering his lies to us. The battle is fought when we choose not to listen to his lies, but rather to God's truth. But if we listen, then Satan wins, and we take that lie into our lives.

Then there was this part about how worship (primarily focusing on song for today) is one of our most powerful weapons against spiritual warfare. The Biblical connection was in 2 Chronicles 20--the story of Jehoshaphat facing an invasion. After asking God about it, the king decides to put the worship singers on the front line!

As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

I have a Pandora station that has a lot of Nicole Nordeman, Jennifer Knapp, Chris Rice, and other Christian artists, and I have been putting that on in the mornings when I am home alone, and also when I'm making dinner. Oddly soothing and calming, even if I'm not listening to every word. Just hearing snatches of phrases that remind me about God helps keep Him at the forefront of my mind. So the message made sense and reinforced that keeping musical worship as a part of my daily routine should remain a priority.

After church, Heath went to the school to work on a project, and the kids played outside while I made sandwiches and cut strawberries for lunch. We ate together, then got started on making a BUNCH of cookies for Halloween.

Once we again, we are doing the same thing as last year and making "treat bags" to give to the people who answer the doors to give away candy on Halloween. The kids had a grand time helping with the cookies. Julie is old enough now that she is truly helpful!





The kids rested a little while while the cookies baked, then Marla came by to take Julie to AWANA with her daughters as a guest. Julie had a fantastic time! She's done AWANA Clubs before, but the day and time that they have it at our church just isn't conducive to the early bedtime our kids need.

Everest and I hung out for about 45 minutes, then Heath picked him up to take him to the park. I did some work on the church magazine for awhile because I'm taking Tuesday off for the first day of NaNoWriMo. :oD I got a lot done and should be on track to print by Wednesday evening.

We had dinner together--homemade chili (probably the best I have ever made!) in breadbowls (just hollowed out rolls) with corn on the side. Delicious! We're doing so much better about eating at home. Heath took care of cleaning up the kitchen for me while I got the kids showered and ready for bed. Folded all the kids clothes in the process too. Wahoo!

Tonight, Heath has continued working (he's got a big project going on), and I did some final production stuff for the last Inkaholics book. We now have a completed cover as well as a skeleton for the interior book design. Midget is doing a second editing run for me, then I'll be ready to lay that out and get those books ordered. Can't wait!

Well, it just hit midnight, and tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Got to assemble those treat bags and buy cider for after trick-or-treating, as well as drop off due-materials at the library. I had better get me some sleep while I still can.

Lovely, Lovely Snow Day

They said it would happen, and Tuesday night, it started snowing. Yes, after Everest wearing shorts all week, and a high of 80 on Monday. We got snow. Not a ton over Tuesday night, but on Wednesday, we had steady snowfall all day. Thankfully the roads were fine during the day, but tonight, it's probably starting to ice up.

I ended up only leaving the house twice--once to get Everest from school, once to get Julie from the bus stop. But that was fine by me really. I got lots of work done and stayed warm while watching the snow falling through the window in front of my desk. Such a pretty day.



Everest had a fun time playing in the snow periodically. He shoveled a lot, using Flynn's little shovel that he bought for his car while he was here last winter (and left with us by accident). He sure loves the snow, and the cold doesn't seem to phase him much.

We had lunch and played a game of Uno, then I tried to get him to take a nap. He would have nothing to do with sleep this afternoon, so I gave up, letting him watch a couple shows while I finished up some work stuff.

Heath took Julie to go rock climbing for a few hours after school, leaving me and Everest to hang out in the evening. We had dinner together, just the two of us, and actually had an interesting conversation about drugs. It's Red Ribbon Week at school, and the teachers are having the kids say, "I choose be drug free!" and he wanted to know what it was all about.

It was quite a good conversation actually, and he got some bonus information about what jail is like. He decided that doing drugs didn't make much sense and that jail sounded like a place to be avoided. He decided that he would not do drugs and that he would obey the law. Who knew an almost 5-year old could have such a clear discussion about such matters?

Tonight, I've got some writing to do, and Heath and I will be watching a show later on before bed. Such a relaxing yet productive day. It has been quite enjoyable. Maybe all that lovely snow has a calming effect on us.

Parting Shot

A New Average Week

Monday, we started in earnest with following our new family schedule to help us spend more time with each other and on things that need to get done.

Mondays and Wednesdays, Heath will take the kids to school and head to the school to work. I'll work at home until it's time to get Everest. Then it's lunchtime together and naptime by 1:00 for Everest. (Preschool has really been wearing him out, which is a great thing.) His nap affords me a little more time to make up hours in the afternoon.

This week, Everest and I had lunch at Nana's store a couple times. Always a fun visit, and always delicious food too of course.



Once Julie's home on Mondays and Wednesdays, it's homework time and playtime. Heath gets home just before dinner, and we actually get to eat together. Imagine that! We've been tag-teaming on bedtime as much as possible to make it go quickly and smoothly.

On those evenings, we do have some work hours scheduled where Heath can catch up on emails and whatnot, and I can do freelance stuff. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to squeeze in a workout somewhere in there. We agreed to be done with work by 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest so we can actually spend time together those two nights.

Speaking of working out, I've been doing so much better lately, especially with food. I've gotten back into eating salads again, which is great. I do love salads, but I would always seem to complicate things by spending so much time cutting up ingredients. Simplifying things and having pre-cut veggies makes it much easier and faster.



Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll take the kids to school, then go straight to the church to work until about 12:30. Heath can leave at that point go workout in the afternoon and be ready to teach his class that evening.

The kids and I get to hang out, get homework done, do dinner together, and sometimes run other errands or go do stuff; it's pretty flexible. Those nights after bedtime, I focus on getting freelance or household stuff done since Heath is gone.

We only deviated from the schedule a couple times this week. On Wednesday, Heath took the kids rock climbing, and I went to Starbucks to do some editing. Puella joined me there, and we ended up driving to Palmer Park to chat since it's been awhile since we've done so. It was lovely to spend some time with her!

So far, the family schedule has worked really well! I feel like everyone is happier and getting along so much better. The kids aren't fighting nearly as much, and Heath and I are talking more and more. Sometimes it's good to have a full-on breakdown like I did last Friday, just to get the ball rolling on getting things fixed.

Our weekends and Fridays are little more loosely scheduled, but we are definitely sticking with having Sundays be family days with dates for the kids. That has been the highlight of my last couple weekends--and for the rest of the family too, I would imagine!

In Memoriam: 9/11/01

September 11.

I was driving to work that morning, listening to my mix CDs as usual. Stalled in traffic, I realized that everyone was tuned into NPR. Strange, I thought, but didn't give it another consideration.

Heath called me just as I was walking in to the church. He said, "An airplane just crashed into the World Trade Center." It didn't register at first. I saw Paul, one of the pastors, coming out of the office and smiled at him. He seemed so solemn and in a hurry to get somewhere.

"What did you say?" I asked Heath.

"Turn on the radio. This is unreal."

So I did. And I sat in my office in shock and awe at what I was hearing. One of the office ladies told me that the staff was gathering in room 200. I went. The TV was on, and I saw the images. The second tower had just been hit. I couldn't believe what was happening. One of the girls had family in New York City, and she was beside herself with worry.

We prayed and prayed and prayed. I was told to put a notice on the website about a prayer meeting that evening, then everyone was to go home. So I did. And I picked up my lunch and purse, which had barely been set down, and drove home in a daze, now listening to NPR as well--just like everyone else that day.

On this, the 10th anniversary, I wanted to remember September 11 by looking back on the journal entry that I vividly remember writing on that day in 2001. I was sitting on the couch, listening to the radio broadcast because I couldn't bear to watch the news footage. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I wrote this.



9-11-01 (Another date that will "live in infamy"?)

I just want to go to sleep and pretend none of this ever happened. Today, the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed due to the hijacking of two planes. A Boeing 767 and 757 (I think) each crashed into the sides of the towers within 15 minutes of each other.

Forty minutes later, another plane deliberately crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington DC. The Pentagon! A symbol of our nation! I am still in shock by it. The whole of Manhattan seems to be in rubble. Just a little while ago, the building next to the south tower collapsed because when the others went down, they pretty much landed on top of it.

It's like a nightmare. Things like this aren't supposed to happen. At least they aren't supposed to happen in America. I don't even want to go on with the descriptions I've heard on the radio.

One thing that sticks in my mind is when I turned on AM 740 this morning right after Heath said to turn on the news, a report came on from someone that after the planes hit, there were people jumping from high-story windows. They were on fire or getting away from smoke or just trying to end it sooner. I can't imagine what those people must have been going through.

I don't have the energy or desire to write about this right now. I think I may still be in shock. I want to run and hide from it, but I can't. This thing is so far away, yet I feel a responsibility to care. How could anyone not care? There is a community prayer time at church tonight. Maybe some rest can be put into my heart there.

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To quote Thomas from his message this morning: "When evil raises its voice, God always has the final word." Instead of disunity, 9/11 brought us together as a nation. People were loving on each other, being kinder, sharing in communal grief in the wake of a national tragedy that united us--if only for a time.

Lest We Forget, part 2

JULY 2011
* Went up to Gunnison to check out my alma mater with Legolas. She plans to attend for second semester in January. I am so excited for her!

(Click this if you don't see the slideshow above.)

I'd really like to make a special note about this picture in the slideshow. The next morning, after breakfast, we went up to the cemetery to find the gravemarker of the man who led me to Christ. He never knew of the far-reaching impact created by the chance he took on talking to me about Jesus.



Without this man, I would have never found my way to the church where I met Donita, who revitalized my love of writing, which led to working with teen writers, which led to creating CleanPlace, which started a chain reaction of live impact that fans out farther than I could have ever asked or imagined.

The life-changing relationships that have been forged through a simple teen writers forum called CleanPlace can be directly linked to the moment Ed followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and gave in to God's will. He went ahead and tried to evangelize a college girl who he was sure would never bend her knee to Christ until the day of Judgment. And now, here we are. :o)

* Our friend Marla got married to her friend Joe in their backyard. It was wonderfully cozy and perfectly romantic. Joe said some special vows to Marla's daughters which absolutely had me all misty-eyed.


* The kids had more playdates with their friends M & A.


* We had a family day at the Denver Museum and saw the pirate exhibit. Argh, matey!


* The Inkaholics IV Young Writers Collaborative Novella Group met--fantastic fun! The book is called "Watch for Magic" and should be finalized this week.


* Julie got new glasses!

Sick Day, take 2 + more musing

When Julie was sleeping hard and still feeling hot to the touch on Monday morning, we decided to let her stay at home for one more day of recovery. Both the kids were up at 9:00, however they just snuggled up in bed together quietly. I let them play some games on my iPod for about 30 minutes while I folded the last basket of laundry. They actually did a really good job sharing. (Yes, it really is that dark in their room even at 9:00 a.m. They have a blackout curtain.)



I gave Julie's some fever reducer, then we went downstairs to make raspberry waffles. Everyone seemed to perk up after the nice hot breakfast. The kids watched some shows after that, just relaxing, and around noon, we went to the school to pick up Julie's homework papers.



When we got home, we had lunch while Julie started in on her worksheets. She made some good progress, but she got eventually got too tired to concentrate. Both kids went down for a nap. I talked to my mom on the phone for awhile, did some freelance work, and got dinner started.

The kids were up around 4:00 and chilled out for about 40 minutes until Heath was home and dinner was done. We sat together and had chicken with apricot sauce, bread stuffing, and salad. It was quite tasty if I may say so!

Heath took over with the kids and dishes while I started in on some website stuff for Donita and the Monday night chat. I'm about to continue on with webmastery for the rest of the night, but I wanted to get these blog posts down.

Though blogging may seem like frivolity of time to some, I really find that writing down the days' events and sharing them publicly is an excellent way for me to process life, remind myself of what I have accomplished, and connect with people.

Connecting with people is so important to me, and as a work-at-home mom I must do whatever is necessary to stay in contact with friends and family. Thanks for reading and being a soul who cares. :o)

An off day

Sunday was bad. That's really all I can say without going into all the nitty gritty details. In the end, I came to the conclusion that we haven't been spending enough time together as a whole family or individually as family members. (Dates with the kids and between us parents has been nonexistent lately.)

Heath and I talked about it, and unfortunately, this is just a rough period of life right now. He's overwhelmed with work because they're losing instructors, so he's working more hours. I'm still trying to find the balance between church work, freelancing, and family (not to mention other commitments). Julie's busy with school. Everest is in limbo because he didn't get into preschool last fall.

The question is: What is more important? Work or family? School or family? The answer seems obvious, but everything still needs to be done in order to survive financially, do well in school, and attain emotional familial stability. We need to work harder on finding this balance.

Heath took the day to get caught up on work-related tasks. The kids and I got the laundry done and picked up the house a little. Julie did some reading, and the kids both watched some more of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We ran a few errands, then stopped by a park so the kids could run some energy off. It really was a beautiful day for the park--warm and windy.





We hit up the grocery store afterward. My theory was that they would be so tired from the park that they would behave at the store. Well, between Julie still teetering on the edge of illness recovery, Everest being extremely tired at that point, and both of them feeling hungry, the trip to the store was a rollercoaster. They would be good for a few minutes, then one or both of them would start complaining, whining, or throwing a random tantrum.



When we finally got out of there, I picked up dinner because I was so cranky at that point, and it was getting past bedtime. They ate, and I put them to bed quickly. Thankfully, they fell asleep without complaint.

For the rest of the evening, I did a little freelance work, then watched CSI and ate cookies. Yeah, probably not the best idea for coping with a bad day, but that's how it goes sometimes.

List of Grievances (blah blah blah)

I'm afraid I have been holding out in reporting some bad news. I wanted to make sure that everything was finished toppling before even mentioning it, and now Lord willing, it is done. So here we go.

[grievances]

Last week on Wednesday night, after I left for Idaho, Heath parked the Jeep in the parking lot by the gym while he was there with his students. The car was broken into and everything of value was stolen--his backpack (including school books, students' homework, his cell phone, etc.), the GPS device my parents gave us (which we hadn't even used yet), and who knows what else. At least they left the car seats. Heath filed a police report, but there was little chance of finding what we had lost. He then planned to get a new phone over the weekend.

The next morning, as Heath was driving Julie to school, he saw noticed something about our truck, which has been out of commission and parked on a side street. It was vandalized--the driver-side window totally smashed in. Nothing was stolen; it was merely random vandalism. But it still stunk. Heath covered the window with plastic.

The following day was Friday. Heath had arranged for someone to come and check a mysterious leak in our crawlspace that afternoon. As it turned out, the entire water heater (along with various plumbing accouterments) needed to be replaced immediately.

Yeah.

Thankfully, my parents came by on Saturday to watch the kids and our friend Joey drove down to help Heath clear out the crawlspace of all the wet carpet remnants, plastic, boxes, and other stuff. There was little damage to our personal belongings, which was definitely something to be grateful for.

Monday, the truck had a notice on it that the vehicle would be towed for being "abandoned" on the street. I'm sure it did look pretty abandoned by that point, totally cleaned out, with plastic covering one window. We actually had it towed away today for a mere pittance compared to what it was worth.

Heath handled it all really well on his own though. That man works best under pressure, and this was an incredible burden of strain on him while I was gone. I felt awful that I couldn't be there to support him, but every time we talked on the phone, he told me not to worry and that I shouldn't let any of it ruin my time with Midget. Man, I got lucky with this one!

Int he end, we still have our two Jeeps to drive. Heath was able to get a free cell phone by renewing our contract. The new water heater works great. The dirt is drying out in the crawlspace thanks to a fan Heath set up. And God is generally taking extremely good care of us.

There isn't much to complain about really. It all happened so fast, but now it's over. Thank You, Jesus, for not drawing it out and for sparing us from further craziness! Any prayers for our sanity and the continued calm of household would be most appreciated.

[/end grievances]

Today was a normal day of productivity. After Julie got home, I made hot chocolate for everyone while she finished her homework.



Meanwhile, Everest got a hold of my camera again and proceeded to shoot anything he could find in the living room.



We went out to run errands--Heath's school, library, my parents', bank, Target, and ended with Chick-fil-A for dinner. The kids did fine eating and getting ready for bed. The rest of the night was spent working, working, working.

I have an early meeting in the morning, however, and I must retire or end up staying awake all night, worrying about getting to Starbucks on time. Eep. Goodnight.

All work and no play makes momma go a little cuckoo

Right after dropping Julie off at school, I went up to the church to work. The first part of the day was spent either in a meeting or working like a madwoman. Got all the bulletin printing done too. By the time I got home, I was absolutely exhausted. I didn't want to open my computer for the rest of the night.

Everest was already up, so I made a light lunch, and we hung out together until it was time for the bus stop. We walked up there and back (without incident this time), and Julie got started on her homework while Everest watched Kipper.

Homework took awhile, and we got a note from her teacher that Julie was missing a couple of homework sheets. Eep! I looked through the trash and sure enough, there was one of them, now a lovely coffee brown color--at least on part of it. The other sheet must have disappeared into last week's trash pickup. Hopefully one sheet won't make a difference on her grades.

I had it in my mind to run several errands this evening, so once homework was done, we took off. We stopped by the Salvation Army to see if they had any outdoor tables. No such luck, but the kids had fun sitting on EVERY couch they walked past.



We then went to Payless Shoes to see if I could find a pair of sandals better than my black flip flops (which I despise wearing as everyday shoes). Apparently, it's getting to be boot season, so Payless was fresh out of sandals. Since Target was nearby, we stopped there next.

The kids tried on shoes too for fun while I was looking, with the promise to be good so they could spend some of their allowance before we left the store. Unfortunately, Target was experiencing the same lack of decent sandals.



In the end, we went to the section of cheap stuff, and I let the kids pick out up to $5 worth of stuff, for which they paid all by themselves, using their own money. How, I ask you, do we go to three stores to find something I need, and the only ones who came away with anything were the kids?




Everest got a foam pirate sword and three pairs of socks. Julie found a purple wig and a couple other things that I can't remember.



We were all pretty hungry by time we got out of Target. I got my allowance today too (don't you just love payday?), so we stopped by the Thai restaurant to get some massaman curry. YUM! The kids opted for McDonalds, but we got it all to go and ate at home together at the table.



Dinner went well and so did bedtime. I spent the rest of the evening doing absolutely nothing important, though I think I needed the downtime. The rest of the week, weekend, and all of next week are going to be busy, but hopefully tonight was a refreshing retreat that will help prepare me for the days ahead.

A dearth of photos

I actually do have one photo for today, but my camera is downstairs, and I am having just that kind of evening. I don't want to move. :oP

In the mornings, I have been spending about an hour of one-on-one time with Everest. We have a little breakfast together, then lay on the couch and read books. It's been a lot of fun and helps me stay connected to him--not to mention that it increases his love of books!

We also found a spider on the wall, which we examined for a bit under the protection of a glass. Everest found it pretty fascinating.

After our time together, I packed up my stuff and headed into the office. It's sometimes easier to get things done there because it's quiet and I have access to printers and people.

I feel as though I've been working non-stop all day. First at the office, then when when I came home, I helped Heath by formatting a document for him. Then I worked some more on the church website redesign while the kids watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Julie had an all-day field trip to the zoo today, so she was pretty tired, and Everest woke up early from his nap.

Among all the working, in the meantime, I had to feed the kids and get them washed and into bed. Directly after closing their door, I logged onto the computer for my first official meeting with a writing student I will be meeting with online on a weekly basis.

It was a great first meeting, though it was a little intense. I talked and talked and talked. I hope the girl didn't get too overwhelmed with the information I was sharing.

I answered work emails for awhile after that, then took a shower before settling down to watch a movie with Midget. We're taking a short break at the moment, so I thought I would write this up.

I also realized that I completely forgot to continue my Top 10 Positive Things for the Day lists! I am compelled to start on Sunday rather than begin today because that's the way things work in my head.

This blog post may have been a bit rambly, and for that I do apologize. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more to report than just work, work, work.

Frazzled Cat

No other pictures today because today it felt like one more thing I had to do. However, I shall avoid a woe-is-me post by not rambling too much. XD

I went into the office again today (three days in a row is probably a record for me in the last few years). It was necessary though because they were doing a big mailing and needed a few pieces from me. I also wanted to get the bulletin done and printed so that I don't have to go in this weekend.

Everything that needed to get done for the mailing and the printing got done. Huzzah! I came home just in time to get Julie from the bus stop. I oscillated between going to work out or not because the schedule was really tight with homework, dinner, having quality time, and the necessity of giving the kids a chance to run off their energy.

Not to mention that I HAD to get the kids in bed by 7:00 tonight because they have stayed up too late for the last few nights. We ended up staying home and focusing on spending time together, running around outside with friends, cleaning up the dishes, and getting everybody clean and in bed by 6:45. That meant that I was closing their door at 7:00--goal met. Wahoo!

Now I have had 30 minutes to straighten up the house and get settled here with some music on. I've got a big project ahead of me for the church, and I have GOT to get it done before the end of the weekend, if not before. It's just a matter of focusing on it, and it should end up being a lot of fun. But it's the kind of project that I can't do in bits and pieces. It must have dedicated chunks of time put in. That's what tonight is for, and possibly tomorrow night as well. (I'm sure I will share when it's done.)

I'm off and running on a total redesign of the church website!

UPDATE: Just checked in on the kids at 7:40, and they are both sleeping soundly. YES!

Change of Seasons: Winter to Spring

Understandably, I've been thinking a lot about what God has in store for the time He is giving me, beginning December 15. Strange as it sounds, I am still feeling an overwhelming excitement! God is moving me toward something that is even better and more fulfilling. Who could complain or worry about that?

Complacency can be just as, if not more, dangerous as going the wrong direction. I've been complacent and overly content where I am career-wise for many years now. God's doing something amazing with my life, and I can't wait to see how it plays out.

God is dropping hints all over the place as to what He wants me to do. Just this week, I was presented with three opportunities to do freelance work. If that isn't a sure sign of God's will, I don't know what is. It is so thrilling to see God shaping my life in this way.

With much nudging from the Holy Spirit, I'm going to focus on developing my freelance graphic design, webmaster, and writing services. I worked up a shiny new graphic to put on my creative blog and will use it as my business website. (But I'll still be posting creative stuff on there--don't worry!)

[shameless plug] If you happen to know of anyone who is interested in hiring a creative person, please pass on my name and contact info. I would love to get in touch with them. [/shameless plug]

Thrown for a Loop

Tuesday started out like most Tuesdays. I had my work meeting and planned to stay for a little while afterward to work in the relative quiet of my cubicle. My supervisor called me in for a quick meeting after our 9:00 one, and I got the news: my hours are being cut in December. We're talking a rather substantial cut here.

Well, then.

It wasn't personal. It wasn't performance-based. It was simply that the budget can no longer afford it. I'm one of many others to which this happened.

I got teary-eyed, I admit. Who wouldn't? But you know what? Honestly, there's a huge part of me that's excited for a change. I've been at the same place for 10 years, been doing the same thing. There are a lot of other things I have had on the back burner as potential career changes or alternate avenues of income, but I haven't had the time.

Come December, I'll be getting more time.

This is all still new to me, and I'm processing it and trying to imagine what might be in store next year. God is up to something big through this. He knows what's best for my life and family, and He's getting my excuses out of the way.

Some opportunities have already come forth for potential income generators. In fact, merely minutes after I got back to my desk after hearing the news, a dear friend of mine called to see if I was interested in a side job that I could do from home--related to writing!

Oh, thank You, Jesus, for confirmation of Your divine plans!

I hold no ill feelings toward the church or those who had to make the decision. I know the church is struggling--so is every other church in America. I don't hold my circumstance against anyone. I love our church family and am in wonder at the direction we are going as a church.

This is rightly God's doing, and that in itself is enough to give me goosebumps of elation. We are here to stay and will be blessed by whatever God grants us. [Job 1:21]

Parting Shot:
Julie wrote this for school and brought it home on Tuesday. Words are below if you can't read it.

The Great Summer

My summer was stupendous. At first I went to see my cousin. My cousin and I went to the park. Next I went swimming. I like the floaty donut. To sum it up, we went to Starbucks. I got banana bread. It was a great summer.

The Purge, part 1

After church this morning, we went in search of boxes for a massive clutter-purge I have been planning. The grocery store was out, so we went by a liquor store next door. (They always have good, sturdy boxes.) I had an interesting conversation with Julie as we were walking across the parking lot. She asked me, "What exactly does alcohol do?"

I had to really think about how to describe its effects. At last, I settled on, "Alcohol makes it hard to think quickly."

"Why would anybody want to do that?" she asked.

"Some people think it's fun."

"Doesn't sound fun to me." Smart girl. "Alcohol is bad!"

Good start, but I didn't want her to attach that judgment to a product. My reply was, "Drinking alcohol isn't bad. Drinking too much alcohol is what's bad. Just like anything else--having too much is not healthy."

Alcohol is not inherently evil. After all, Jesus' first miracle was to provide wine (very good wine in fact) for a bride and groom and their wedding guests. There is nothing wrong with wine. It's the abuse of wine that is the problem.

She seemed to understand that concept very well. The same is true for ice cream; some ice cream is fine, but too much ice cream will make you sick. And isn't that true of so many things in life as well?

The very sweet lady at the liquor store carried the boxes out to our car, and we headed home on a mission to purge. I've been feeling ready to let go of a lot lately. I occasionally go through a section of the house for Goodwill donations, but I haven't yet done a deep down purge. That is, we haven't really looked hard at the stuff that has been sitting around for ages, broken or untouched, and considered getting rid of it.

It's not like we buy a lot of things, but we used to. So there's junk all over the place, and as it accumulates (even slowly), the potential living space gets crowded over.

Heath tackled the outside storage closet (which was an utter disaster), while the kids took on their toy areas downstairs, and I went through the storage in the kitchen, the kitchen itself, and most of the living room. When he was done with the outdoor closet, Heath came in and dug into the coat closet.




It was amazing the amount of junk we found--both salvageable enough for Goodwill and that which could only be trashed. I went through everything. Every cupboard, every plastic box, every basket, even the fireplace mantel and the decor on top of the armoire. We filled both of outside trash cans and then some. We filled several boxes and bags, absolutely filling our trunk.

Though it was a huge leap of faith in my future self to not allow clutter in, I donated several containers of varying types that we have used for storing junk. The theory is that without the containers, we won't be tempted to fill them.

In the end, we consolidated a lot of space and ended up with open areas where there had previously been piles of stuff. The section of living room in the picture below may not look fully cleared out, but it is certainly a LOT better compared to what it was before. (I should have taken a picture, but it was too scary.) Notice the couple places of empty shelf space!



I still want to go through all the CDs, the stereo cabinet, and the area around the stereo cabinet, but that will have to wait for another day. We had reached our work limit, and honestly, there wasn't a lot of space left in the car for more. I also plan on going through the upstairs with a fine-toothed comb and really clear out as much as possible. We have drawers full of stuff that we never touch. It must go!



We packed everything up, unloaded at Goodwill, then swung by KFC for dinner. We'd originally planned to take our food to a park for a picnic, but they'd forgotten to give us eating utensils, so we ended up back at home. It didn't matter though because we were together, and that was the point. We haven't had a meal together in quite awhile, or so it feels that way.

Heath put Everest to bed while Julie and I read The Dragon & the Turtle for her daily reading and report for school. It was a fun way to end the day. By time we got upstairs, both the boys had fallen asleep. Julie and I laid in her bed, chatting in whispers for a long time.

When Heath woke up, he went to give snuggles to Julie for awhile, but it seems he's fallen asleep in her bed too! I don't blame him though--he DID just hike 20+ miles of mountainous terrain over the last few days.

As for me, I did end up going to bed early last night, and I plan to do the same this evening as well. Looks like I'm on a roll. :o)