Time Warp Tuesday

The picture on top is from the first time we went skiing in Germany. This is when we were leaving to go home - train to Munich, then flight to Sicily. The bottom picture is out the window of our cabin we stayed in at the military resort. We managed to get the same cabin two years in a row. My kids are so much taller now - and so much fun, even now. 

We miss, miss, miss going to this place every year. It was our post Christmas tradition - my husband could never get leave over Christmas, so we'd take it the week after, and go skiing for a week. We'd stay in these cabins, not in the hotel, because it was much cozier - and far less people. We didn't go a gazillion places when we lived overseas, but I think we wrote a good story when we allowed this tradition to develop for the kids, and for us. It let us get to know a place a little bit deeper. 

Time Warp Tuesday

My Dh and I were talking yesterday morning about how we really, down the road, want to buy a large amount of land out in the country and have horses, etc... That was what we really wanted when we moved here but it just wasn't going to happen - between the bank, available properties and reality of three teens or almost teens...
I've always loved horseback riding. Started when I was quite young at a friends "gentleman's farm" in Virginia when I was about 6. They put me on a horse and about 4 hours later I reluctantly got off. This picture looks like it was taken when I was about 7 or so, and had been riding Dolly (the horse) for awhile. Dolly was an older horse, very gentle, and who only occasionally stood me in the cow pond for ten minutes at a time.
Riding horses taught me so many things, not the least of which was a love of riding. Because it was a farm, with lots of open space, as soon as Mr. T said I was ready, he taught me how to gallop. There is nothing like that feeling in all the world. I can close my eyes, see the empty cow pasture ahead of me and remember that feeling. I wish I could recapture that feeling.

The farm also had chickens ( I Loved collecting eggs), and a fabulous old farmhouse (used as a guesthouse - people built their houses on plots of land up on the surrounding hills/mountains and shared the farm land communally). The farmhouse had been two houses actually and connected by some former owner. So you had this huge barn like room inbetween that was HUGE. And it had a great little farm kitchen, and a little room they used as a library - read Wuthering Heights there for the first time. And there was always a little scuttering of mouse feet when you turned on the lights in the kitchen! Heady stuff for a suburban girlie like me. I loved it. Still do, even though our friends are gone and I haven't been there in probably 20 years. Still, we  drive by it on our way up to see my family (I'd see the town name on a sign) and think I'd love to go and just see. But sometimes memories are sweeter than reality.
Thanks to Jenn at Juggling Life for Time Warp Tuesday! Next week, I think I'll do some kiddo ones :)

Cough, Cough, Sneeze

So now 3/5 of us have some version of a cold. Blech. And the weather is being terribly indecisive. Pick one. Warm or Cold. I'm good with either, although I prefer cold.
Tree up and almost done. Still have to add snowflakes. Tree generally looks like this:

Snowflakes made by my Grandmother - a tree is not complete without them. The Angel needs some work before I can put her up there this year. And this is the year I need to restarch some snowflakes. But still. Now to figure out what I still need to buy. 

And to send out cards. Because I get to say my oldest son is going to college! I'm so excited! 

Time Warp Tuesday

Okay, thank you over to Jenn at Juggling Life I am reminded that it is Tuesday and time to look back for a bit.  The last week of November/First week of December is a tricky one. Dad's birthday, Parent's Anniversary, and Dad's death all cluster around this. He died in 1991, a few months after I got married. This is my Dad, probably in the 70's - the anti smoking literature in the front, and the lovely tape recorder he is holding. He worked for a medical association, and did a lot of special projects. I remember being paid 25 cents a survey to tally a survey of Physicians on breast cancer. Learned how to do mean, median and mode, let me tell you.

This is one of his medals from WW2. He enlisted in the Navy and then went through Officer training to become an officer during WW2. He went to college on the GI bill. His people were poorer than church mice. 

We giggled when we found this in his papers. My DH's folder of this type looks EXACTLY the same. 

And here's his youngest daughter (me) starting college at his alma mater. I think he was pretty thrilled that I chose to go there. I think he was even more thrilled that I graduated in 4 years !!! This was taken in the summer/fall of 86. Where the HECK have those legs gone?????

Service Members and the Holidays

So here's the deal. If you send a card to Any Recovering Soldier, it will never, ever, get where it would do some good. Please don't fall for that hoax.
Instead, send them here:
Holiday Mail for Heroes by the Red Cross

OR perhaps you'd like to donate funds - there are lots of good places to donate funds, but since the title is Service Members, here are three related to that...
Fisher House - Kind of like Ronald McDonald houses, but for military families
and
Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society
And
The USO - they do more than you think!

If you have links to Army/Air Force/ Coast Guard relief societies, please let me know.

Now, off to figure out where the tree is going this year....

Time Warp Tuesday

So This is my Mom and Dad. They aren't holding me - or any of my siblings- but my cousin. My mother had such killer legs! This is fairly soon after they were married. They did not marry young. My father had a birthday, got a PHD and got married all in the same week. They had me, the last of their kids, when my mother was 40, so my siblings are all older than I am by a good many years. Still, we had a good time growing up, and having slightly older parents meant that I had a little different perspective of things. Like hearing about the Great Depression, World War 2, etc. from my Parents, not my Grandparents. My father passed away about 3 months after I was married. My mother died in 2011.  I love this picture because they look so YOUNG!!! 

Thank you to Jenn at Juggling Life for inspiring me this morning! 

Thanksgiving, already?

I can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Not that we do anything major - we don't usually travel, just because of the hassle, but if TG is almost here, that means Advent is close behind. And I love the Advent season. Even the obscure advent hymns...well, not all of them.

I have been asked to lead a one hour training seminar on Children's Ministry for a district training for my denomination (sounds fancier than it is, really) in January. I'm both thrilled and terrified. I also found a conference I want to attend on Christian Education.

In some catalog we received (because it is THAT season again) there is a sweatshirt that says something along the lines of 'Agenda for the day: Let dog in, let dog out, let dog in, let dog out". I am seriously tempted. When I am home, the dogs are worse than cats - or children- in the door, out the door, in the door, out the door.

It is cold here, all of the sudden cold. I love cold, sunny days. Not a big fan of cold, drizzly days like yesterday - just rain all at once, would ya?

And if you are in the south, and not easily offended by a few curse words (nothing too awful) this video is hysterical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUFL2GT1-2g&feature=youtu.be

I really don't want to go to work today. Everyone I work with will feel the opposite way I do about the election, and I don't really want to hear about it. But I will keep my mouth shut and just do my job...because I'm not going to change their minds, and they sure as all aren't going to change mine.

Here are the Halloween Pumpkins - carved by me with a minimum of slicing of the fingers....

The Tardis

 The Tardis unlit

A Good Picture of the TARDIS 

PIKACHU!!! 

In which I ramble theologically

So, one of the lectionary verses this week is Mark 10 46-52. The last line says "Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way." (from Vanderbilt http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=225#hebrew_reading) 

What struck me was the "followed him on the way". He took the healing and he followed the one who healed. I've been healed so  many times, of so many things, but often I trail off on my own little way, not simply following. Not trusting. 



I'm having a rough time of it lately. I am floundering and flaling and walking through a grief road I thought I had already traveled. Psalm 34 is another part of the readings this week, and verse 6 was so appropriate this morning I laughed out loud. "This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble."  I don't think this is saying I won't have any trouble in life, or that if I believe in God that all manner of good fortune will descend upon me. I think it means that when a soul cries out in anguish, often of our own making or imagination, that even then God will not desert that soul - that soul will be saved. Not always in the way we think ought to happen, but always in the way God sees as best. That peace, and soemtimes joy, can creep in when we think we have just cried out our last tear. 

Enough theological rambling for one morning. Of course, your interpretations may vary. And mine proabably will in another day or two when I'm a bit out of this valley. Because of course, valleys look different looking down into them then looking out from the bottom. 

Socks, staying up till midnight, sunshine

Wow. Alliteration. I must be tired.
Socks - got aggravated and started over. It's not bad, because I need the practice in all the pattern stitches. The second try looked much better than the first, so the third? Will be awesomesauce as my kids say. And they are just sample ones, made on worsted weight yarn, so it isn't like anyone is *waiting* on them!

Staying up till Midnight was NOT the socks. It was the Senior (look! Another S) who was struggling, struggling with a paper. We worked on it for about 5 hours together - I was scribe, editor, and thesaurus all rolled into one.
Midnight - or shortly thereafter - it was done, and then he realized he had not annotated the bibliography. I was getting his brother up early anyway so I just dragged him out of the bed as well. His brother had been struggling with an art project that needed more work. Today he gets to work on projects - 4 of them - that he had neglected to tell us about.

It is sunny today, and lovely fall weather. I had stuff to do in the morning but then came home and took the dogs for a walk. It was so wonderful - the sky is that amazing blue it becomes in the fall.

Now I am watching the clock because I have to take middle kid to therapist today. Mostly I want to go to bed.

Socks

Update on the socks. I do fine until I finish the heel flap and get ready to start the legs. I somehow got all turned around and inside out and now my socks are not going as designed.
I just couldn't get the whole pick up a stich and knit them together thing....I somehow didn't do it right. I am dreading it, but I think i have to start over.

HIPAA

Just finished designing presentation for work about HIPAA. That's the privacy act stuff. It's very interesting and kind of terrifying all at the same time.

For doctor offices it is seen as a burden - BUT the presenter I went to made a good point - we may not all be doctors, but we are ALL patients.

A few nuggets - your doctor's office owns your record, but you have a right to that record. They cannot prevent your obtaining a copy even if you owe them money, but they can charge you a reasonable fee for copying. Oh, and you can amend your record - they don't have to agree with you, but you can insert a document saying you disagree with doctor if you want to.

Both parents, unless court ordered, have a right to medical records of minor children no matter who has primary custody.


Thus endeth the lesson.

It's cloudy, cool and drizzly today. A perfect day to sit home and knit. I actually am starting on socks. Toe up ( thank you SC), two at a time. Doing the sample socks at the moment (for the second time - had to totally rip out first try) and finished the heel of one of them last night. AND IT LOOKS LIKE A REAL SOCK. I am so pleased.

I also have a scarf to finish, two small backpacks to make, and dishcloths to do.

But no, now I have to go to work. Ugh. And the college fair is tonight. But oldest has big paper to do - don't know if we will go or not.

Fall

So, knock wood, I think I am over the trifecta of bronchitis, sinus ick and ear infection.
Although I still would like to crawl in the bed for about a week.

Have actually finished two, count em' TWO, knitting projects in less than a month. Am now working on my third. Actually the fourth one I started, only the dogs got ahold of one (not the first time) and while they didn't ruin it directly, they did break the knitting needles (acrylic - cute as all get out but a pain in the nevermind to knit with) into more than two pieces. So that one is demanding a restart. I actually logged into my ravelry account, and even posted pictures. The world, it may end soon.

Work is busy. and boring. and busy.

Oldest is in the throes of college applying and all that. Took the ACT again but only went up one point. He was so upset.

It's fall, I want to go apple picking but have no idea when I could actually find the TIME. Sigh. I also am in the mood to bake, to knit, to do anything but go to work. Gotta fix that somehow :)

Mermaids

The beach...love the beach.
We just got back from a quick trip to the beach. I love the beach, and think that if I don't stick my foot in the ocean once a year I don't feel...right.
It was wonderful.
Part of my struggle lately - I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing...both in work and in church. I'm letting go of a ministry area that I've been in for 20 years. And work went from same old same old to a brand new project that will be very challenging for me.
Very first world...and very minor compared to some of the struggles others are facing.
But, you know, a struggle all the same.

In which I am Singin in the Rain and outwitted by my own blog

So, My wonderful DH took me to see "Singin in the Rain". On the BIG screen. Now, I have watched this musical for as long as I can remember. But never on the big screen. It was wonderful. Absolutely gobsmacking wonderful. Gene Kelley and Donald OConnor dancing, Cyd Cherise's legs (holy moly, do they ever END?) and all the wonderful lines. There is something to be said for watching a movie in a *packed* movie theater where everyone is laughing. And you're never embarassed because of what you see. Just pure enjoyment. We wished we had brought the boys.
Is it any wonder that my first crushes were Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire? How I longed to go back in time....that grace, that style, that sexuality without being overtly sexual. After all, suggestion is far more powerful than the physical act. After all, there are only so many variations to that...and really, watching them is not all that sexy. But the suggestion of that attraction, the tension between Cyd Cherise and Gene Kelly. Oh my. Fifty shades of nothing - give me that scene any day of the week. Or even the initial romantic scene between Kelly and Reynolds...holding back so that something else could blossom.
Le Sigh.
And on another note, you know its been awhile since you've posted when you can't figure out where the post button is. I they redesigned the site, again.

June

We knew, going into it, that June was going to be a very busy and complicated month. People going here and there, no getting around it.
We are coming into the home stretch. Little guy goes to camp next week.
My tomatoes are doing well, but I'd probably get more use out of the cherry tomatoes if I didn't eat them right off the vine.
Next year I've got to remember to plant sugar snap peas.

Nothing really exciting to tell. Sometimes life is like that. Currently on a geneology kick, frustrated by great grandparents who changed names, birthdates, etc like I change my clothes.

Summer

School is over. I am beyond thrilled.

I think that since my mom died, I am not as much fun anymore. I also think I don't have the friends around here that keep my brain as sharp as some other friends in different places.

Also, I am tired. And can't wait for my massage tomorrow.

Sunday, Sunday

So...Last night we went out with the people from my office (okay, I only work with three other people!) to a local beer garden. Got to meet the boss's new girlfriend.
 Side note, what is a better term for that? The man is not a teenager, and while the lady is younger than he is, she's not a teenager either.

 Anyway, she's fun, sassy, and charming, pretty and open. I hope they make each other happy for a long time. Me, I had a beer. First one I've had ina LOOONG time. And the most incrediable rueben sliders. WOW.

 This morning its cheerios with Almond milk. What a let down.

 Older two have major projects due Monday/Tuesday. Youngest one spent all day at an amusement park/band competition. It's been a busy weekend.

I'm done with my online classes for a few weeks, and hoping the next one isn't as hard to get through as the youth one. It's not that the youth one was hard, really, it was just not that interesting to me. So it felt like dragging myself through six inches of mud.

 It is a beautiful day outside, windy, warm but not hot, and clear as a bell. Makes me wish we had an outside table!! We do have a really neat deck, but not a table out there yet. I have several cherry tomatoes starting and a few Roma ones have begun as well. Something is eating the zucchini plant - or is it the cuke plant? and the Lettuce is doing really well. Now, if I could get rid of the Grackles, that would be good, but I got to see a young cardinal hoping around my deck this morning. Very cute. We also have some chickadees, tufted timouse, and red headed woodpeckers that favor us with their company. And more Robins than I've ever seen. The dogs are still chasing the squirrels and chipmunks like they are Satan incarnate. It is both funny and annoying at the same time - because they are really LOUD (the dogs, not the critters!) Have a great week!

Spring Fever

My kids has it.
Oh, to be honest, so do I. I am tired of laundry, of cooking, of meal and life planning. I'm especially tired of the "Oh. We're having (fill in the blank) for dinner? huh. I had that for lunch OR "I don't really like that". And this is from the HUSBAND. Who should know better.
Spring break is next week. Of course, I don't have the whole week off, because psychiatrists can't really just take a week off. But we are taking a few days, each of us in the office.
I'm also, and apologies to anyone out there who feels differently, tired of the pressure that I have to worry about the 6th grader's class schedule in light of COLLEGE. Last I looked, it was a few years till he graduates. And really. I don't care if he's not in the hardest possible classes in middle school. Yes, in high school, we will make sure he is in upper levels, but really. Why, all of the sudden, does EVERYONE have to be in AP EVERYTHING in order to make it in to college? OR perhaps, those around me are more selective in their college choices. Or you could substitute snobby for selective but that wouldn't be kind. I just want my kids to go to college where they will learn, grow, and find their passion. Oh, and not rack up a gazillion dollars in debt. Now, the 8th grader? We are making sure he is in the college prep courses he needs for 9th grade, but I'm not worrying about the 6th grader yet. I refuse.
And the rising senior? Not taking AP. Not ready for it. Hopefully we haven't screwed it up, but from what the colleges say, not the people in my local area, that's okay. It's the overall picture they want. Now, one of them may not be real, but if he's not ready for AP, why in the world would I force him into it? It's not my life, it is HIS. and if that means a year or two at a local college with small classes, I'm good with that.
Personally, I have three more classes to take with eChristian ed to finish paraprofessional certification. What I'm supposed to do with that, I have no idea. I figure God lead me to it, God will show me what I'm supposed to do next. Even if that is to just tuck it away for a year or two. I'm not called to seminary. I'm not called to ordination. Got that message loud and clear. But the rest of it is a bit fuzzy....
The trees and flowers are blooming their little heads off. So beautiful, so cheerful, so full of POLLEN. Trying to appreciate it and breathe at the same time. This fall? I am so planting daffodills and tulips.
I feel the need to do something creative again, but finding the time is a little tricky.
Had middle kid's 504 meeting yesterday - went really well. The guidance counselor said something along the lines of "How are you doing all this (homework support, appointments, etc) and working too?" I replied that I had no idea. But I do. I don't sleep a lot, I don't usually waste a lot of time (ignore this week please) and I dont' take a lot of time for creative expression. And I am feeeling the effects now.
My mother's birthday is coming up. I so miss her. We will get a double whammy too. Well, maybe even a triple some years. She died on Good Friday, so there's that reminder. Then the actual date of her death. And then her birthday which this year, falls right before the start of Holy Week. I guess it is no wonder that tears lurk just beneath.
Okay, can't end on that note. Report cards came out this week. Oldest child managed NOT to fail anything, to our pleasant suprise. Middle child was all B's and C's - YEAH!!!!! and Youngest child was all A's and B's!!!!!
And I spent a few minutes last night reading our dictionary. Okay, it is one of those wonking HUGE ones that has to be 8 inches thick. It has maps, and foreign language dictionaries, and list of world events, and every word around in 1967. And great little line drawing illustrations...I'm such a geek :)

Girls who read

Thank you to Mrs. G over at Derfwad Manor for the link...

Confrontation and attitudes

So, I don't like confrontation. Direct confrontation. I'd rather do it via letter or email. Mostly because when I get really mad about something, I cry. Then, I get even more angry because I'm crying, so I ....cry more!
Because nothing says "take me seriously" like tears, right? As DH was saying yesterday, "Don't get so emotional!" I looked at him, and said "where the heck have you been for 20 some years? I'm emotional. Always have been!"
The confrontation is not with him, by the way. It's with a member of my church's staff who is pushing an agenda that I think is wrong both on a theological and practical level. And he's a condescending person who has the attitude of males outrank females somehow....doesn't sit well with me.
So, because yesterday I had neither time, place or opportunity to finish the issue with him, I have to find time this week to do it. DH thinks I need to do it face to face. He's probably right, but finding the time to do so may be a little tricky, methinks.
I just don't like attitudes of "I'm better than you because I'm male". or the reverse, too. We're all in this together. My attitude of someone's abilities is pretty much based on their actions and their attitudes, and this guy is failing both.

Huh

Apparently WHOOPING COUGH is going around the elementary schools here....
Pneumonia is hitting people hard as well. Co worker out sick, husband and two kids of hers have pneumonia and maybe something else as well?

I'm going to fumigate the whole city with Lysol.
Bleh.

Not the world's most exciting post

I figure I may as well be honest about it :)
Middle kid is finishing up a project on Rene Magritte. The guy who painted the people with apples in their faces, but also the businessmen falling from the sky like rain...that I SWEAR some band used on some album...but maybe I'm imagining things.
Oldest kid is finishing up a project on Shelley, the poet. He did really badly on the paper, so he's hoping to do better on the presentation. I'm going to Sylvan today to look into their writing programs. He really needs some help there.
Youngest Kid? Just made 2nd class scout, elected patrol leader, and is developing the teen reluctance to do homework. I keep having to remind him that attitude is not an option when you ASK your mother for help.
I actually left work early yesterday - I swear I felt like I was coming down with the flu. But i'm better today.
I think the dogs are trying to tell me something. One is laying on the apple power cord thingy - it's a box that you attach the extension cord onto- and it always is very warm. Maybe they are  a bit cold. I've decided the boys can walk them later...it's cold, gray, and I'm still a bit eh.
OH! Forgot to say that I actually won a contest from a blog.  I'm amazed. And one of my favorite (and one I've read the longest) blogs too - www.notesfromthetrenches.com You should go and read here there, and over at AlphaMom. Oh, but don't read her if all you want is sunshine and perfect children. She is delightfully real.

This and that

Not much blogging lately as not much to blog ABOUT. Not that ever stopped me before. Oldest got his DL over Christmas break, but hasn't been doing much driving - just not a lot of opportunity for him TO drive before 6pm. When he turns 17, he'll be unrestricted, which will be nice.
Father in Law starts chemo next week, so prayers are always welcomed.
I have to give a two hour seminar on children's ministries for our district lay leadership training on Sunday. Guess what I'm planning today???
I know the bare bones but have to get it all organized.
Oldest is not doing as well as he should in English. Going to try Sylvan or something.
Went and visited a college last Friday with him, he had a good time and liked the one we went to see.

I'm a little off kilter these days, trying to figure out why.