Changes…. letting go.

Shan decided to make a change in her life and let something go.

She decided to cut her hair and donate to Locks of Love.

Her reasons for cutting her hair weren’t completely altruistic.

Her hair was so long that when she rolled over at night it would get stuck under her arm. And it would get stuck in the seatbelt feeder in the car.

She decided it was time. 🙂

And she looks so cute with her hair short.

She wasn’t the only one doing a little bit of letting go…

Last night we went to a Hawk Nelson/Building 429 concert. It was held in McCook – which was shocking because we really aren’t a large venue.

Hubby and I are in the very top left of this photo standing by the spotlight in what hubby said was the ‘Geritol’ section. (No, we don’t consider ourselves part of the Geritol crowd, he just likes to watch from high locations and I get very claustrophobic in a crowd.) The kids are right up front on the floor.

After the concert, the kids had passes to the backstage party. We didn’t. Besides, after 10:00 p.m. I turn into a pumpkin. Or is it 8:00 p.m.? 😀

Anyway, I found the kids and gave them my car keys. I had taken a separate car and came a few minutes late due to other obligations. I told them where I was parked, told them to try to be home before mid-night, and hubby and I went home.  It was a little bit of letting go. We’ve never just handed the keys to the kids and said, “Try to be home by midnight.”

I think I understand my mother better.

It’s not that I don’t trust my kids. I do! Joel is an incredibly safe driver, and both of the kids are responsible. However, there are other people who are out on the road who are not as trustworthy.

But then I realized that ‘letting go’ wasn’t really me letting them go.

It was just like Shan cutting her hair. Instead of just letting it go and fall to the floor to let whatever may happen, she is placing it in someone else’s hands to take care of and be used for a good purpose.

Likewise, rather than just letting my kids go and let whatever may happen, I am placing them in God’s hands and trusting Him to take care of them.

Which is something that hubby and I (and two grandmothers I know 😉 ) will need to remember this week while we are in Iowa and our kids are here at home. Don’t worry,  they also have a ‘surrogate mom’ here two doors down to check in with. 🙂

School Pictures

Yesterday the kids and I finally made it out and about to take school pictures.

For some of the pictures we went to my ‘Oasis in the Desert’ called Island Thyme.

This is where I go to get massage therapy. It’s also where I go to sit and drink herbal tea and have ‘friend therapy’. 🙂

I asked my dear friend if she would mind if we took some school pictures at her shop, and she agreed.

There are so many cute pictures that I can’t decide on my favorites.  And I need to take a few more of Joel, so I won’t show the final products just yet.

But I will show a few out-takes.  We have so much fun doing this!

I think I took just as many ‘out-takes’ as I did serious shots. So far I have 161 photos to sort through.

When I finish with Joel and get all of the pictures organized, I will share the final selections.  Then just let me know which ones you would like in what sizes. 🙂

Gardening has begun.

Shan and I went over to the parsonage this afternoon to start preparing the garden.  We really should have been over there before now getting things ready, but we have been rather busy. So, we do what we can when we have time.

The sad thing is that we had mapped out where we were going to put everything, and we have misplaced our list. 😦

I did find something, though…

Some of the lettuce from last year re-seeded itself. 🙂  I found several little patches.

While we were there, we worked on one of our favorite projects. (And, no, I’m not being sarcastic.)

We were breaking up our  yak poo  fertilizer.

Seriously, it was beautiful. I think at one point I called it luxurious, but then I realized I’m probably the only person that would run my hands through composted manure and call it luxurious. 😀

After Shan broke it down, I spread it over the garden space.

By this time the sun was going down and it was starting to get a bit chilly, so I didn’t get it worked in.

But we did find something else…

The gift I was giving to my sister and her husband two Christmases ago.

Oops. Tim found it in the basement.

Sister, I will send it with Mom and Dad in July. 🙂

 

Headed to Iowa

Next Monday morning hubby and I will be headed to Iowa for North Central Regional Minister’s Retreat.

A pastor’s wife and I are going to be leading a conference for pastor’s spouses. To prepare for this conference, I asked a group of pastor’s spouses – most of whom I don’t know personally – What are the top 10 issues you deal with in which you would like encouragement, ideas, or ways to handle difficulties?
There were quite a few, but here are the top 8 that we will be dealing with.

1. Loneliness

2. Protecting marriage & family

3. Discouragement

4. Expectations – those that people in the congregation place, those that our ‘pastor’ spouse may place on us, and those we place on ourselves.

5. Attitudes

6. Dealing with hurt – when people in the church gossip about you, or say and do things to hurt you or your spouse.

7. Burnout

8. Feelings of inadequacy

I am dealing with four of these, and my cohort in pastor’s wifedom is dealing with four.  I will be taking protecting marriage and family (this one is my passion), expectations, burnout, and feelings of inadequacy. Please pray for us. Our conference is Wednesday morning at 10:00.

 

 

Today…

Today is our ‘official’ day off (not that I really ever get a day off.  I don’t think mothers and wives have that luxury), and I really want to take it off.

I mean really.

Hmmmm, after thinking about it for a second, it’s not that I just want to take the day off, I want to be a hermit for the day.

I’m thinking maybe that’s sad. But today I don’t want to go anywhere or see anyone.

I don’t want to go into town. I don’t want to go to the store. I don’t even want to window shop.

I don’t want to see anyone I know. I don’t want to see anyone I don’t know.

I don’t want to have to talk to people.

Think I can get by with it? Nah, me neither.

I think I’m just really  hormonal tired.  So tired that I could just sit down and cry for no reason.

Ever have a day like that?

So, what would my dream day look like? It might surprise you.

I would lovingly send everyone to town for the whole day.

I would open all the windows and turn on some praise music.

I would bake bread. (Okay, so I’m in the middle of that one 😉 )

I would scrub down the kitchen and bathrooms.

I would take a nap.

I would vacuum the entire house and get all of the laundry done.

I would take another nap.

I would get a massage.

I would read a book for fun.

I would take another nap.

I would play in dirt.

Did I mention I would take a nap? 😀

Okay, so laundry and cleaning really doesn’t sound like taking a day off, but they are things that desperately need done. We have been so busy lately that household chores have been scooted a bit to the back-burner. And I really do enjoy cleaning when no one else is home to distract me from what I’m doing.

However, my day may not look like that. I have already played in dirt. I planted lettuce, spinach, and arugula.

Tickles decided to get sick in my recliner, so it has been cleaned and needs to dry for a while.

We really do need to get to the store. The church needs more copier paper, we need dish soap, milk, and a few other necessities which I cannot remember at the moment.

Someone from the church is coming over this morning to pick up something, and tonight I have a phone conference which was rescheduled from yesterday due to a death. Which means I have to talk to people. And I have to think about the subject matter of the conference call.

Okay, you know what I really want?

This:

🙂

 

 

 

The weekly green report.

This week I have been doing quite a bit of transplanting.

This morning I transplanted all of the herbs into their planters, but first I needed to wash the planters.

So, like anyone in their right, plant-lovin’ mind, I took them to the tub and washed them in a mild bleach solution to make sure there were no lingering diseases.

The tub should be fun to clean later… 😛

Here are the herbs I transplanted this morning.

Anise hyssop:

:

Cilantro:

Lavender:

And in the two long planters there is basil, chives, dill, and oregano:

I will be planting lettuce and spinach in the other long planters.  Hopefully I can get to that this afternoon.

The tomatoes are growing quite nicely.

I have had to add another table and light.  And I still don’t have enough room for all of the tomatoes and peppers.

I could probably use one more light.

I do have owners for my surplus plants, though. There is a woman in our church who is taking care of her ailing parents. With that and her full-time job, she hasn’t had time to get anything started. I know they will be going to a good ‘home’.   🙂

Shhh, I’m learning.

I have to tell you that I am so impressed with the curriculum that I purchased for the kids.

I think I may have shared that Shan and I are doing ‘Home Ec’ together so we can both learn how to sew. (I pretty much have every other Home Ec topic covered. 😉 )  However, this course goes into detail about different fabrics, yarns, and fibers, and what each of their characteristics are, what their purpose is, and how they are made. It is very thorough, and I’m learning quite a bit!

Then, I started reading through their Bible curriculum. I am so impressed!  I decided to take that ‘class’ as well. In all of my Bible classes at college, not one covered the inter-Testamental period. I have learned so much about what happened during that 400 years, how some of the Jewish traditions were born, and why the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees behaved they way they did. It all makes so much more sense now.

To top all this wonderful curriculum off, Shan did some research the other day and found a free, online ASL ‘university’ that we are able to take – and I will be able to give her high school credit. I had been told that ASL is not a ‘living language’ and one could not receive credit for it as a ‘foreign’ language. However, a friend of my daughter just received credit for it at a local Christian school, so I’m going to go with it. How it cannot be considered a ‘living language’ is beyond my comprehension.

I have also ‘learned’ a new exercise routine.  It’s called HIIT, or high intensity interval training.  It is supposed to boost metabolism greatly.  We’ll see. What this routine requires is only 4 minutes of exercise 2-3 times per week.  This is what I do: after I warm up, I do an intense exercise for 30 seconds, then rest for 90 seconds, and then intense exercise for 30 more seconds. I do this for a total of 8 times.  I thought this would be relatively easy, and it is, but it is also very intense. If you do this, you will sweat, you will get your heart rate up significantly, and you will be a bit sore for the next few days (okay maybe this only if you are completely out of shape like I am. 😀 ).

Well, I must go. I have quite a few tomato plants to transplant into something larger.  Something else I’m learning… I tend to get a bit carried away when I plant seeds (I know, you’re shocked!) and I am running out of room in my ‘seed room’.  The green report should be coming up soon. 🙂

The best laid plans…

This morning, Shan and I were going to go over to the parsonage and plant peas and radishes, pick up all of our containers for our container garden, and plant lettuce and spinach.

However, yesterday we received a bit of a snow storm.

And the snow did not miraculously melt overnight.

So there will be no outside gardening today.

I am not, however, disappointed.

1. It’s moisture – and we are extremely short on that in our area.

2. Snow is pretty.

3. Even though it was in the 80’s two days ago, I kind of enjoy the bipolarity of the weather; it keeps life interesting. 🙂

 

 

The Weekly Green Report

This week I have realized that I desperately need to get my tomatoes into larger containers. They have really grown fast!

I’m hoping that the roots haven’t grown together too much.

Here is some sweet basil.  I have learned a lesson about seed quality.  I had purchased some of the herb seed from Baker Creek Seed, and also had some seed that I purchased at Wal-Mart from Burpee. I have to be honest and tell you that the Burpee seed isn’t doing very well at all. The germination rate isn’t very impressive and the seedlings that have grown either look anemic or have shriveled and died. 😦  So, I guess I will be making another order from Baker Creek. Very soon. 🙂

The peppers are looking very good as well. I don’t think I’ve ever had seedlings look this good. I’m sure it’s because I have them under grow lights this year.

I should have planted peas, lettuce, radishes, and cabbage by this point, but I haven’t had the chance.  More on that later…

 

I have convinced 😉 my sweet man to take me out on a date…. and even wear nice clothes. So, he decided that we should go out next Friday night. Yay!  However, a few minutes later I realized that next Friday is Good Friday, and we are showing a video at church. I reminded him, and his response was, “Oh, yeah. I forgot what week that was. Well, I guess I’ll be taking you to a move.”   Um, no. That’s not a date. 😛   So, I don’t know when we will be going out, but at least I did convinced him. 😉

Running out of gas

Yesterday (Wednesday) Joel and Shan had to work, but were home in time for Joel and I to get to the church to give our music lessons. Joel gives drum lessons and I give fiddle lessons before our Wednesday night children’s program starts. Our neighbor wanted to talk to my son about watching his dogs while he is gone for a while, so I went ahead and walked to the church so I wouldn’t be late for fiddle. I let Joel’s little drummer in and let him know he might be a few minutes…

He was more than a few. Why? He ran my car out of gas.

After our lessons were over, I really gave my son a rough way to go about running out of gas. However, before he took Tim’s truck up to Trails (gas station) to fill the gas can, I kind of chuckled and let him know about another 16-year-old many years ago…

… and how I met my father-in-law. 😀

When I was sixteen, and a junior in high school, I was in a program called ‘Action Learning’, where for the first 2 hours of the day I worked in one of the elementary schools as a ‘student teacher’.  One morning I was on my way back to the high school when my car ran out of gas.  My gas gauge was broken, so I never really knew how much I had in it. I knew my parents weren’t available, so I called Tim’s house in hopes of reaching his mom. At that time, Tim and I were just becoming a little more than friends.  Well, Tim’s mom was at work, but his dad was home. He came and picked me up, took me to school, and then took my car and filled it up. I was so nervous! I hadn’t met him before and I didn’t know if he was going to be mad or think I was an air head or what.  He wasn’t mad. 🙂 I found out later that my gas was being siphoned. By the time I got to the high school, the only place to park was in the alley, so it was an easy mark. Over the next two years he bailed me out of several more empty gas tank situations. He enjoyed giving me a rough way to go about it – that and driving barefoot. 😉

I wish he could have met his grandchildren. I think he would have enjoyed giving them a rough way to go as well.