Window woes

Ready for some humor?

Several weeks ago, someone drove through my husband's pharmacy window. The entire front of the store, which is in a large building full of medical services, doctors, lawyers, and accountants, is made of glass. This poor elderly gentleman, who is a customer of Graeme's, hit the gas instead of the brake when pulling into the parking stall. Smashed the window. Thankfully he had security film installed last time this happened - it kept the shattered glass held together, much like a broken windshield would be. The building wouldn't allow Graeme to put up any sort of blockade, like those nice yellow parking stall blocks you see everywhere - they said it wasn't aesthetically pleasing. So, Graeme gets another smashed window. (The building has now authorized and ordered large cement planters to be put in front of Graeme's store on the sidewalk it's a wide sidewalk and there's lots of room).

So anyway, since the frame was bent in addition to the windows being broken, it was a more intensive repair. Rebuilding the frame took weeks. So Graeme and his poor staff have been holed up in this 450 square foot DARK business (no more daylight) with the windows boarded up.

Last week, the frame and windows were finally ready to be installed. Being that the store is small, and being that Graeme had to disassemble all the fixtures and such at the front of the store to allow access for the workers to repair the window, you can imagine that the entire store was in complete disarray.

In walks this gentleman. He comes through the window with such authority, walks through the swing door into the front area of the pharmacy. Everyone thought he was a supervisor or something. He's just standing there for a while, so Graeme (who is freezing, by the way, from the cold air coming in the front of the store and is consequently bundled up in two sweaters and is NOT looking like a pharmacist) asks if he can help the gentleman. The man hands Graeme a prescription. Graeme says, "We're actually closed today."

"Why?" says the man? Like, did he not realize that he walked through a 9' x 27' opening, over top of broken glass, and through the back of the pharmacy? Did he not see the fixtures all over the front of the store? It's obvious that the store is in no way functionable in its state. Graeme just looked at him. Dumbfounded.

The man then gets his prescription (Graeme was there to fill emergency stuff for patients), and proceeds to walk out the big window AGAIN! (I think it was the same man - could have been a different one, though.) The workers tell the man that it's dangerous and he should really have gone out the door. In a thick Ukranian accent, he declares, "I go to church every Sunday, I pray, I be just fine!"

Another man yells to Graeme from outside, "Are you open?!?" Graeme says "Not really, but if you need something, I can take care of it for you." The man responds, "Should I come in through the window or through the door??!!!"

A lady walks in. Through the door. Oh, yes, it bears mentioning that there's a sign on the door that says something to the effect of "We're closed due to major window repairs. However, if you need something urgently, we can serve you." She walks in and asks Graeme if she can transfer her prescriptions out. "Why?" "Because you're closed." "Well, I can fill it if you really need it." "You mean you'd do that?" I ask the question, do people not read????

Graeme also fielded several phone calls from patients - he only had access to one phone, so many people were leaving messages on voice mail. You wouldn't believe the number of people who requested a transfer out because Graeme was closed!! I mean, his phone message specifically said he would be there to fill things if patients needed them!

What a lesson in observation...

I know I'm missing some anecdotes. But that's the general idea...

Must run - Dustin's up!

Hormones affect us all??

I was reading my friend Paige's blog - she always finds the most amazing articles and I love reading what she comes up with. The things she posts aren't always pretty, but they are good food for thought.

She recently wrote a post concerning birth control pills, citing an article from Environet Daily. I was totally shocked!

ENVIRONETDAILY
Birth-control pills poison everyone?
Environmentalists silent on threat from water tainted with estrogen
Posted: July 12, 2007 1:00 a.m.
Eastern© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
While environmentalists are usually vocal about perceived threats ranging from pesticides to global warming, there is a silence when it comes to one threat already harming the water supply: hormones from birth-control pills. (to keep reading click here).

My first thoughts were of horror & shock - and wonder at how much this has caused problems for both men and women alike in their struggles with infertility? Could this be partially to blame? How many reproductive diseases are linked to this?

God help us...

Erranding...

Today I had 4 hours OFF! Four hours to run errands, kid-free. Four hours to totally blow and waste, if I wanted to. I chose to run errands.

In this order:

1. The Bank (deposit, thankfully!)
2. The Pharmacy (pick up a couple things)
3. Water Warehouse (duh - water!)
4. Home Sense (look around - we had a gift card - I didn't buy anything)
5. Future Shop (information gathering)
6. Ikea (a few things, misc)
7. Michael's (duh!)
8. Home Depot (pick out paint colors for Joshua's room)
9. Chapters (crossword puzzle book)
10. Save-On (groceries)
11. Registries (I had to change my drivers' license address)
12. Panago (for dinner!)

Okay, so it was really fun! And the best part is this: I only spent $155.93 ! :) When is the last time I ran 12 errands in one day and only spent that much money? Like, NEVER!

Yup, I'm pretty satisfied. It's *date night*, so we're going to settle in and watch a movie-o now. Our babysitter was at a funeral today, so obviously we let her off the hook.

It's been a good day. A horrid sleep last night, but a good day today. We took the kids to Millenium Place to play in their indoor park. They had a ball! Then lunch, then erranding time! :)

G'night!

I must be crazy...

Good grief. I feel horrid today.

It can't be because I didn't get enough sleep - Graeme let me sleep in this morning.

It can't be because I'm not eating - I'm eating a well-balanced diet right now...

It can't be because I'm bored and don't have anything to do - believe me, there's plenty to do around here.

It's likely not from my sick Dustin - he's a bit more of a handful, and it's a bit draining, but not that draining.

Hmm. I think it might be because of the absolute craziest workout ever that I did last night! Good grief! I'm not sure what I was thinking.

The other night (so, Monday night), I got on the rower, felt great, and proceeded to absolutely smash my personal best for 10K, within my one-hour workout, during which I posted a personal best distance by a respectable amount. I thought last night, that since I have an option to "re-row" a workout and use a paceboat based on my previous workout, that I should try and "keep up" to that workout from Monday night.

Usually I wait at least 3 days between the really heavy workouts like this. I mean, an hour of rowing is a lot of rowing, but when it's an hour of hard-core blood & guts rowing, it's a bit more of a challenge. So normally I wouldn't have re-rowed until Thursday. I would have opted for a lighter or shorter workout instead.

Well, I got a little ambitious. I re-rowed last night instead. I was doing great - keeping pace - until the last 7 minutes, at which point I hit a wall, and my second wind never came. I did finish within about 60 metres of my Monday's distance, which is still good, but let me tell you, the workout just didn't feel as good. It'll be a couple days before I row again. I'm exhausted!!

Must run - er - walk - er - lay down - ... :)

Good day!

What I love about Dustin

So, where do I start with my Dustin? My baby, my baby-sweets, my Dustinator, my crazy goose, my bugaboo, my little rascal...we called him an urchin before we discovered that "urchin" actually means "mischievous child"...and that pretty much pegs him perfectly!

Dustin is so many things wrapped up into one fabulous little package. I love Dustin because he is SO different from what I ever expected we'd have in a child - especially since Joshua has always been so calm...so cautious...hee hee...I can hear you laughing already! *They* tell you that you can wonder how two children who came from the same parents can be SO incredibly different, but you don't believe it until you live it yourself. When we were expecting Dustin, we told ourselves that if we ended up with another Joshua, that would be so neat - because we love Joshua sooooo much. But, it was soon apparent - as in, three or four months before he was even born - that Dustin was going to be a different ballgame altogether. And - surprise! - we love him JUST as much as Joshua.

I love Dustin because he is a nutcase. He is crazy, free-spirited, fabulously in love with life and exploration. I love Dustin because he is anything but predictable, and brings so much color into our lives - don't get me wrong, Joshua brings color, too, but Dustin's rainbow is in a completely different color palette!

Dustin loves to fling himself backwards out of arms or chairs - falling backwards and laughing his head off in the process. Or he likes to play "Blow Me Down" - something he and Joshua saw on The Wiggles one day, and so Dustin climbs onto Joshua's bed and blows himself down - falling over and laughing himself silly. He loves to climb. He loves to pet unsuspecting kitties. "Frogs and snails and puppy dog's tails, that's what little boys are made of." Yes, our Dustin is indeed a little boy. To the core.

Dustin constantly tries to do the things his big brother does. Climb/jump on the couch. Play his recorder. Make funny fish-faces. Make rude noises. They're quite the duo, those two.

I love Dustin because he's a go-getter. A little too much of a go-getter at times, but he has a zest for life that I dare not quench. I must learn, under God's wisdom and guidance, to direct Dustin's vigor for life into something productive and positive. This is where the rubber will meet the road -Dustin's intensity may be a challenge, but God is faithful and will have to do a good work in both of us to bring Dustin to a positive place in life. I have little doubt that Dustin will do great things. Completely different things from Joshua, but great all the same. Just as honorable.

I love Dustin because he is never boring. He has always been quick to smile & laugh, but he is also quick to be silly to make others laugh, too. His favorite pre-nap game right now is to run around to the other side of his crib (we have a space between his crib and the wall lest he bangs the wall incessantly and wakes Joshua) and give us that urchin grin. Then when we move to get him, he squeals and runs to the other side again. It's either that, or he crawls under his crib, lays on his back, and then LIFTS the crib off the floor with his incredible leg power. Once he's accomplished this minor feat, he then will go to Joshua's room and move furniture - push it 20 feet down the hall to Mommy's & Daddy's room - furniture that is four times his size! Now you know why we call him The Dustinator.

I love Dustin because he is 100% pure BOY! He loves to go down the slide on his tummy and then stand up, clap, and say "Goo dob!" meaning, you guessed it, good job! When he gets outside to play, his first mission is to find the biggest pile of dirt and dive in with his whole body. He doesn't mind getting dirty. He loves it, in fact. Give the kid a pile of dirt and he'll be happy for hours. Who needs toys? DIRT!

I love Dustin because he is 100% pure BOY! I know I already said that, but it bears repeating... the boys love to go frog-hunting. Joshua is more sucessful at catching frogs than Dustin is, thankfully, and you'll find out why in a moment... One day after some frog-hunting exploits, Joshua caught 3 little frogs and put them in his little red sand pail, then put the pail on the deck. He turned around to play with something else, leaving poor little Kermie and his friends unattended. Next thing we know, Dustin has the red sandpail in his grubby little hands, and is - *shudder* - lifting the pail up to his face as if to drink! Yes, he was trying to eat the frogs. We caught him just in time. Literally. Could you imagine? Oh, I also learned the other day that Dustin likes cat food - we were checking on the Skrettings' cats and next thing I know, Dustin's chewing on something that smells suspiciously like catfood! Yup - I asked him how it was, and he goes "MMMMMMM!" - just like he does when he has ice cream or chocolate milk or some other delightful treat.

I love Dustin because he teaches us about life. About taking risks. About not being afraid to try something new, because there will always be Someone to watch out for us. About not being afraid to make mistakes. About exploring and not being afraid to get a little beat up along the way. He teaches me that my Heavenly Father delights in me when I'm passionate about life, the same way I delight in Dustin and his passion for life. He teaches me to laugh. Did you know God likes to sing over us? I love it when my children sing with me. How much moreso does our Heavenly Father delight when we sing to Him, our Creator?

Paige reminded me that my *sigh* at the end of my post about Joshua should have read *contented sigh*. How true, and it applies to Dustin as well. When I think of Dustin, my heart melts. He drives me batty sometimes, but I love him with my whole heart and he's my bestest little buddy. He's precious. Wonderful. Nutsy. Beautiful!!

*contented sigh*

I sure love Dustin. God gave us a pretty special little boy when He gave us Dustin!

What I love about Joshua

Been reflecting today - and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I've gotten to spend quite a bit of unique bonding time with each of my boys lately, aside from regular stay-at-home-mama responsibilities. It's been neat. Today I'll share about Joshua - this might be a long post, which is why I'm only writing about one of my boys at a time. :)

I love Joshua because he's my bestest big buddy (not to be confused with our bestest little buddy, Dustin). He loves to laugh, and he loves to have deep conversations. Lots of "why, Mommy?" questions pop out of his mouth throughout each day. Sometimes it can bet a little annoying, but then I remember that he is a sponge. Every question from a child is a teachable moment. Will I take the time to teach him that his curiosities are valid? Will I take the time to give him the knowledge he craves? Or will I teach him that he is simply an annoyance and a hindrance to my "Mom-duties"? Joshua is a very bright child and keen to know everything about everything!!

I love Joshua because he likes to read. I recently bought him a Little Critter compilation book - a book with 7 Little Critter stories inside. He has the whole thing memorized - all 50-something pages of it - and "read" about half of it to his Auntie Carly the other weekend. His recall is amazing. I sometimes get annoyed that he wants to have me read to him so much, but then I remember that his little brain is wired this way and that I need to nurture him. Yes, there is a time and a place where I simply can't read to him and that he needs to understand that, but my first and foremost "Mom-duty" is to teach and instruct him. Whether this be stories, or taking him outside to chase frogs or grasshoppers, or teach him how to use a hammer and nails - he is my little man and he wants to learn.

I love Joshua because he is so forgiving. We can have a really rotten day together, and at the end of the day he'll still crawl up into our laps and snuggle and together we can wash away the negatives of the day. He teaches me about God our Father in this way - as His children, we mess up, too, but as we crawl into his lap at the end of the day for a snuggle, He washes away all the hurts of the day, too - wipes them clean and still loves us deeply. Unconditionally. No matter how much Joshua upsets me, disobeys me, or frustrates me, I will still love him unconditionally.

I love Joshua because he is funny. I think (as do many other parents) that God made kids cute so that they would survive their toddler years. :) We can be in the middle of trying to reprimand him for something, and out of his mouth comes the funniest reply - and we're melted into a pitiful puddle and our "reprimand" is completely lost, or so it seems. We carry on with our day and we never have another trouble similar to the one we had before "the reprimand".

I love Joshua because of his incredible memory. I mentioned before about reading books - well, he recalls things from months and months and months ago that we'd even forgotten - things from spending time at Gramma & Grampa's house, things from Canada Day, even things from our old house from last summer and things from when Dustin was first born that we haven't talked about in ages. He amazes me. Yesterday I was looking for my brown extension cord so we could make cookies together, and after I'd spent a few minutes looking, Joshua asked me what I was looking for and then promptly told me where I'd put it. Duh! Of course. He truly amazes me.

I love Joshua because he is *usually* so honest. He tells it like it is. He generally isn't afraid to rat himself out on something. Of course, he has learned that if he does something bad, he will get into trouble...but even more recently he has learned that if he does something bad and lies about it, he will get into even more trouble. I love Joshua because he makes funny faces, says "excuse me" when he burps or toots, has good manners, and cleans his plate (except at dinnertime, which is an entirely separate matter). I love Joshua because he is usually a good big brother, except for tonight when he swiped a towel out from under Dustin's feet, causing Dustin to be completely up-ended and get very upset. He likes to take Dustin by the hand and teach him. The very first thing that Joshua tried to teach Dustin, when Dustin was but a day old, was that the round thing ticking on the wall is called a clock. Funny kid. So eager to learn (check out the pictures - he wants to print already, and is doing very well!). So eager to teach. So eager to share with strangers about his love for frog-hunting at our new home in the country.

*sigh*

I love Joshua. God sure gave us a pretty special little boy.

More "doing" stuff :)

I had a responder to my last blog post, which feeds into my facebook account (where the responder, umm, responded - duh!). Here is Dreena's response, worth noting:

People can't model what they have not been shown or given themselves. I guess the other part of that problem would be the assumptions that we ourselves make about the other person when we perceive that we have been treated unfairly. It's a crazy crazy thing - dealing with emotions!

My response was somewhat along these lines: I know that what she's saying about us perceiving things wrongly in some situations...but sometimes the offence pretty blatant and there really isn't any room for doubt...those are the times I'm referring to!

Sadly, the people often causing the offense usually have no clue that they're being so rude, and if you gently address them on it, then the situation only gets worse. Some people just can never be wrong about anything, right? *sigh* This is where decisions have to be made - keep the relationship superficial - don't let them "in" - or just completely walk away. The trouble here is that if it involves family, as it often does, then you still have to make a bit of a compromise somewhere - it's SOOOOO complex! What to do, what to do...

Graeme has a day off today, so we'll be doing some yardwork around kids' naps and such.

I had a good workout last night - totally KICKED my previous 35-minute time on the rower!! (I just couldn't do a full hour last night - I had some things to take care of, still, and I also knew my energy wouldn't last a full hour. So I settled for a hard 35-minute row.) Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. Just when I think I can't push anymore, my body and "second wind" kicks in and gives me just that little bit extra. The other night I totally kicked my previous 10K time, too, so yeah, I'm stoked.

I've been spending more time rowing lately because I'm desperately trying to find music that "fits" a rowing rhythm, which you can't do until you're actually rowing to the music! Out of 5 CD's, I think I've got about 7 songs so far. Then, once that project is finished, I'll be able to just enjoy the music and not think so much about the rowing - which should yet improve things. Yippee!

Okalee dokalee - Dustin is sleeping, so I need to make hay while the sun shines *and the frost is melting*!! :)

Blessings on yer day!

Doing right the wrong way?

So, I've been reflecting lately.

People can be so harsh and rude sometimes. Then you walk away feeling like garbage because of how they treated you.

Case in point: the other day I was doing something and I was reprimanded by someone for not doing it correctly.

Okay, so I don't mind being told if I'm doing something wrong. Or if I need to be corrected. But I much prefer to be corrected in a non-*stupid* manner - i.e. I don't like to be made to feel like I'm an imbecile. Nobody does. You'll get farther with me if you treat me like an adult.

So here's the deal - A scripture came to me as I was drifting off to nap this afternoon. I can't remember the reference (I need to seriously brush up!), but the scripture says "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (I think it must be in Proverbs.)

Similarly, I wonder that if we, as a human race, chose to treat each other differently when it came to correcting each other - be it a boss correcting an employee, a parent correcting a child (even sometimes grown children), or a child correcting another child - that we could perhaps have a more harmonious existence. Can we then paraphrase the scripture to say, "A gentle rebuke/correction turns away wrath, but a harsh rebuke/correction stirs up anger"??

Okay, so I suppose that if someone doesn't really care about their relationships with the people they've just corrected, then they may feel free to continue harshly rebuking. However, if we actually cared about one another, and desired to carry our relationships farther than a simple superficial level, then perhaps we need to re-evaluate how we treat each other and in what tone of voice we speak in our challenges and suggestions.

So, there you have it. My rant for the day. Take it lovingly. :)

Trusting...

When all else fails...

when circumstances around you are unstable...
when people frustrate you to no end...
when unforeseen problems arise...
when situations are out of your control...

Whom do you trust?

I've just had a recurring thought this week - a thought that's always in the back of my mind, and one that I live by daily - and it's this:
When circumstances around me are unstable,
when people frustrate me to no end,
when unforeseen problems arise,
and when situations are out of my control,
I trust in the unfailing love of God my Savior.

I see people - even Christians - around me, fretting about this and that, worrying about how someone else's child is going to turn out, wanting to control everyone else's every move, and worrying about money when they've got loads in the bank, and I think to myself, "I'm SO glad I can rest in the love of God my Savior!" Sure, people frustrate me, and situations arise that have the potential to be all-consuming and sleep-depriving, BUT I am comforted by my all-knowing, ever-present Heavenly Father.

Therefore, I will not fear. I will not become restless. I will not become frustrated or anxious. God's timing, His strength, His wisdom, and His care are ever with me. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that God is sovereign and will meet my every need - physical, emotional, financial, relational.

I encourage you to do the same. Surrender. Simply rest.

Counting again

I've decided that when I'm feeling glum, I should start counting. I'm feeling kinda Eeyore-ish - mostly exhausted - so here we go again. In addition to the previous post's blessings, here are some more recent ones (i.e. the last day or two):

My blessings:

1. Little boys who get up from their naps for the third time in half an hour - he should be sleeping, but at least it means he's potty-trained (because a lot of 3-year-old boys aren't).
2. Being exhausted from being woken up twice by Dustin last night - because it means he's teething and he's developing normally.
3. Being up late tonight baking muffins for the nursery at church tomorrow (J&D are in the nursery while I volunteer at the elementary VBS), because it means my kids will have a healthy snack for tomorrow instead of the sugar-laden alternatives.
4. Baking muffins for the nursery (yeah, I know, I already said this one) - because it means I have a kitchen and a working oven and the money to buy the ingredients to make the muffins.
5. Long volunteer forms - because they make me ponder the past and reflect on how God has worked in me and through me, bringing me encouragement for the day.
6. A baby who isn't napping - when I give him some reeeeally diluted juice for the first time (like 10% juice & 90% water) to fill his tummy and hopefully encourage his nap, he makes a sweet face and says, "Mmmmm....." every 10 seconds - he makes me laugh, and laughter feeds the soul. And I get to have a moment alone with my littlest one.
7. A floor full of books that haven't been put away - because it means my boys are interested in stories and books and reading.
8. An office full of still-unpacked boxes, because it means I have an office!
9. Jesus Christ - who reminds me on days like today that service brings joy, and makes me wonder why I've been hiding all this time!
10. My hands and feet - I can walk and serve - and my pastor can't right now because he's in hospital waiting on his miracle from the God he serves and loves. And I'm reminded to pray for him.
11. A busy week of VBS ahead - because it means that my boys will get lots of non-Mommy interaction, and it will prepare Joshua for his own VBS program next week and hopefully prepare him for being in a different room for Sunday School next year.

Have you counted your blessings today?

Counting my blessings...

Here's the scoop -

I so often get sidetracked by the negatives in life. A messy basement. Friends who drop off the face of the planet. Bad relationships that I've done everything I can to restore, but the other party won't work in the reconciliation process. Sickness. Etc, etc, etc.

So, I'm going to make a goal of counting my blessings. As a well-known hymn says, "Count your blessings, name them one by one...Count your many blessings, See what God has done." When we count our blessings, the miseries and discouragements fall by the wayside. So, in an effort to counteract all the negatives flying my way, I'm going to tell the world about some of my blessings!

Here we go.

1. Graeme
2. Joshua
3. Dustin
4. My home - a roof over my head.
5. This acreage - room for the boys to run around, fresh air, and privacy.
6. Frogs to catch. Tonight, we all went outside (Curtis & Darcy, Charis, Jordan & Carly, Graeme & me, and Joshua) to catch frogs after birthday dinner.
7. Little boys who love to sing themselves to sleep.
8. Poopy bums who sing at the top of their lungs after bedtime in order to let the world know they need to be changed! (Dustin)
9. A messy kitchen - it means I've been able to host family for a birthday party.
10. Our fire pit - to relax outside after a lont day.
11. My voice - I can sing and praise God.
12. My eyes - I can see the wonder and majesty of His creation.
13. My ears - I can hear my boys giggle, and the birds sing.
14. Sorrowful boys who call for their Mommy & Daddy - because it means they love us. When Graeme and I were outside enjoying our fire tonight, we heard Joshua calling us around 10:00. Graeme went into the house and asked "Where are you, Joshua?" - and he was standing on the front porch. He had turned on every single light in the house, looking for us (even though we'd told him we'd be out by the fire pit). We ended up bringing him outside to snuggle with us and watch the fire with us.
15. My office - I have a place to craft.
16. Friends - those who reach my heart - encourage me, uplift me, pray for me, and love me in spite of myself.
17. God - His love is higher and farther-reaching than anything else in this world.
18. Music - an outlet for my soul, an outlet to worship God with.
19. Owls - I'd never seen an own SO close - he was less than 10 feet from my head tonight! Wow!! I got a picture - I'll post it once I download it from our camera.
20. The rain - it means our lawn will be watered.
21. Bats - they eat mosquitos at a rate of up to 600 per hour!

That's all for tonight - it's late and I must get some sleep. I have to be up earlier than normal for church - we have a new worship pastor and he wants the vocalists there at 9:00 instead of the usual 9:30.

Good night!

Ups & Downs

So, here I am again. Since my last post, we've already had over $1500 in expenses to fix the previous owners' messes, with another $1500-$2000 before it's all said and done and fixed. And then the carpet goes in after that.

Our house is still a disaster. I desperately want to be unpacked!

Yesterday was Graeme's birthday. I surprised him in town and took him to Montana's with the kids for dinner. We got out of there with about 3 minutes to spare before one of the kids melted down. You just know when you're about to reach *critical mass*. We got Graeme a hammock for his birthday - he and I set it up last night after the littles were in bed - we had a fabulous time!! It's a double hammock - for two people, but I have to lose about 30 pounds before our combined weight makes us "legal" for the weight restrictions of the hammock. :) BUT, it's a very cool hammock. Something totally out of left field - something we could never use in town - something just PERFECT for relaxing outside on our acreage!

I just found out a friend has a blind baby - could be genetic, not sure yet. They will find out at the end of the month. Matthew may never see.

Graeme's grandfather had a heart attack, followed by an angiogram where they couldn't do the angioplasty so they had to do triple-bypass surgery. Recovery has not been smooth, and it seems like Graeme's parents have to be "on" the nurses & doctors constantly to diagnose this symptom or that.

Our pastor had a heart attack on Sunday. He had an angioplasty done on Sunday night/Monday morning. Was recovering nicely. Then - wham - a stroke hit him early this morning. It's pretty severe - it affected the side of the brain that controls movement and speech, etc. The next 72 hours are critical. He's only 48 (or thereabouts - definitely younger than 50) years old.

I guess my "house woes" are small in comparison to these things. God, may You put things into perspective for me once again. Your hand is bigger than my basement. Your hand is bigger than Pastor Rick's stroke. Your love is bigger than my insufficiencies. Your strength is stronger than a broken heart. Your grace will be sufficient for this day - for Your love is better than all this life has to offer. Bless...protect...heal...God, You are still in the miracle business...may Your will be done....

Moved in...sort of

The "big move" happened on Saturday. We all slept here on Saturday night. The house is still an absolute disaster zone, although with help from Karen, Peter, Matthew, Melissa, Ryan, and Sharon, we had a kitchen that was set up, beds that were made, and tummies that were filled. All of our bedrooms are about 90% in order, and the kitchen is about 99% in order. Yippee!! We had our first home-cooked meal the other night - chicken breast, pasta, and sauteed zucchini. Wow. Yum. Deeee-lish!

We had some surprises, sadly. Graeme spent about 8 hours cleaning up the JUNK the previous owners left behind. It cost us $450 to have it hauled away. Then, when the carpet-layers came on the 2nd (the day after we took possession, and two days before we had the 'big move'), they pulled up the carpet and found some fairly major wet spots with some mold on the baseboards. Can you say, ****ARGH****! We were SO miffed - our inspection showed no water damage or anything, and no moisture readings, so this was obviously a problem that had happened since the time we bought the place to the time we took possession. I.e., the previous owners didn't disclose everything to us. Meaning that we now have a much bigger problem than unpacked boxes.

So, we had to have someone in to rip out all the drywall in those two areas (one was overflow from the foundation, but thankfully no cracks, and the other was a sump pump failure that we weren't told about). They had to determine the cause of the leakage and moisture, and take care of the mold. Now we have to pay someone to re-build our basement walls. Then we get to have the carpet put in at the end of August. THEN we can move into our basement.

The previous owners also let the yard go to pot. It was beautifully mowed and trimmed when we bought the place, but there are weeds upwards of 4 feet high in spots. It's very frustrating - this is not the condition we bought the place in, and as a result, we are having to do days and days of work just to get it back to square one! (Not to mention the in-house cleaning besides the junk hauling - it was quite dirty.)

So, all in all, it's been a really rocky start here. We are hoping for some sort of compensation for all of this, but the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. So, we'll be a few thousand dollars out of pocket...money we don't really have. So, feel free to donate to the "save the LaRue's basement fund". :) Ha ha, just kidding (almost). :)

In a more positive light, Joshua has already caught a frog. I'm not too keen on showing Dustin the frogs - I'm afraid he'll eat one. The kids have been sleeping relatively well here so far, and we've been doing not too badly, either. Graeme has enjoyed mowing his lawn, and we are building our office. A neighbor lady stopped by today to introduce herself and bring by some muffins she'd just made. YUMMY!

My friend Paige is expecting another baby - I'm so excited for you, dear lady! Woo hooo!! Another friend, Jen, is expecting her first baby - exciting times! And friends left, right, and centre are getting engaged! Such fun.

Graeme's grandpa is having open-heart triple-bypass surgery today. He's 83, and healthy as a horse otherwise, but has three 90% blockages from what I've been told. He should be out of surgery by now, or close to it, at least.

I'll post some pix of the house as soon as it's picture-worthy...and I'm on dial-up now, so it could take positively forever to upload pix. So I might burn them to disk and take them somewhere where it will only take half of forever to load onto here!

Cheerio - enjoy your day!

Today's the beginning...

I know I haven't blogged much lately. I suppose that packing and getting ready to move have just taken up too much of my time...oh yes, I neglected to mention the plethora of online scrabble games that are also taking just a touch of my time, too. Nah, it's not so bad, but you know how it goes. Soon enough we'll be on dial-up and e-mail and other such online endeavors will take up but a smidgen of my time.

So, today is the beginning of a dream Graeme and I have had for years and years. Today, we take possession of our new home "in the cunchwee" as Joshua says. We begin acreage life. Peace and quiet will begin. Busy-ness of traffic will cease when we're sleeping. Campfires, lawn-mowing, outdoor games, and open spaces for the children to run (without having to drive to get there).

It's exciting, but surreal. I know I'm going to love it. I'm going to miss this house we're in now - so many memories - both boys learned to walk here. Dustin's first home. Lots of birthday parties and other gatherings. I suspect I'm going to be a bit emotional leaving this house, but I am constantly reminded that we are still taking our home with us. Praise God for His faithfulness and supply!

I will try to post a few pictures once we've settled a bit. The big move happens on Saturday, and we have to be out of our current house by Tuesday. It will be a busy few days!!

How much longer?

So, this past week, the kids were sick. First Joshua, with a fever, and complaining of a sore throat. His fever lasted about 36 hours. Just when his broke, Dustin came down with a fever, and wouldn't eat much, cried a lot, wouldn't nurse. Poor guy. His fever lasted about 24 hours, but he was still grumpy for another day.

Well, then it was my turn. Let me tell you, those kids are little troupers, if they had anything like what I'm going through. The fever, aches, headache, dizziness, and sore throat were quite the little 'sickness'! Everything has gone except my sore throat. Since Joshua and Dustin seem to have returned to normal, but mine is just getting worse, I decided to go see my doctor today.

Well, it's *just* a virus. An appetite-sucking, canker-inducing virus!! Now, I never NEVER get canker sores. I thought I was just getting little red bumps in the back of my throat. Then I started getting them in the sides of my cheeks. I have about 7 or 8 that I can actually see, but I can feel more irritation farther down the back of my throat. I can hardly swallow, eating is incredibly painful, and drinking something cool and soothing provides but a moment's relief.

I know I'm complaining. But I never get cankers. The ones in the sides of my cheeks, I could probably tolerate, but seriously, these ones in the back of my throat are just HORRID! It burns...

Anyway, yeah. Probably the second biggest annoyance (second to the irritation) is that this virus wiped the kids and I out for several days...meaning that I lost several days' worth of packing time. So, now I'm in crunch mode again. Good grief. *sigh*

I must head to bed. I'm exhausted. Busy day tomorrow. Good night!

Quick update

....it's hot. 32 yesterday, 32 today (both days, 36 with humidex)...and 34 tomorrow. i have a heat headache.

....dustin does not like the heat. poor guy does not do well with it. grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.

....joshua is loving running around half-naked. he couldn't quite understand why he and daddy and dustin could run around without shirts on, but mommy had to wear hers.

....packing, packing, packing...i'm currently working on the stuff in storage - purging, repacking, etc. "storage" is the crawl space. my back is killing me, but at least it's cool down there. :)

....we have a new phone number for the acreage. if ya want it, ya gotta ask, 'cuz i'm not posting it here!!

....our house had conditions removed on it on wednesday night - so it's officially, completely, and totally sold!! yay!

....dustin is waking up - gotta give him his milkies. the kid loves his milkies. sadly, i have to quit nursing...some meds i'm taking are messing with the nursing in a very big way. i'm sad. but i know that i have to...i just don't want to....

....i lost my first online scrabble game to sharon. :( i don't lose well when it comes to scrabble. i'm fixin' to whup her good next time, but it's not looking too promising right now. what are you supposed to do when you have 4 e's on your rack?

....we went to the lake with all our 'groupies' last weekend. here's a long exerpt from the e-mail i sent to some friends:

Arrived at "camp" in Mulhurst around 6:00 p.m. on Friday night. Burgers for dinner. Wonderful campfire at night. We'd set up the tent for Graeme and I, and had the kids sleep in a teeny 6 x 10 trailer. The kids finally fell asleep around 9:00 or so, and we had our bonfire after that. My allergies were going NUTS even before
the fire began. Having a bit of trouble breathing - again, even before the fire was started. We ended the campfire around 11:30 or midnight.

Fast forward to Saturday around 1:45 a.m. Woke to thunder and lightning. Suddenly, a downpour. After a few minutes, Graeme went to check on the kids. Yup, they were up. As Graeme is out of the tent, I feel a wonderfully refreshing drip, drip, drip on my head. Blast!! The tent was leaking. So, we ALL are suddenly
piled into this teeny tiny 6 x 10 trailer - Graeme and Josh on the double bed, me on the 2' wide single (praying desperately that the 'bunk' above me, suspended merely by non-permanent poles, wouldn't collapse under the weight of the suitcase and other such items). Dustin's playpen is now on the floor between the single and double-beds, barely fits there. Dustin now knows that Mommy's face is less than two feet away, even in the pitch-darkness. He continually sings and calls, jumps up, falls down, jumps up, falls down, jumps up, bellyflops down. Repeat for at least 2 hours. The rest of us are getting a little cranky. Children finally fall asleep again.
(It should bear mentioning that there was no room in the house for us, which is why we were outside.) Graeme also falls asleep. Just for variety in the night, Melissa starts in on an asthma attack (I can't even remember the last time I had a full-blown asthma attack). Finds her inhaler, takes two deep puffs, and waits for the medication to kick in. The medication kicks in, but also causes Melissa's heart to race and body to kind of get shaky. Melissa finally falls asleep around 5 a.m.,
just in time to grab a quick hour or so of sleep before Dustin wakes to nurse. Melissa is CRABBY!!!!! Graeme takes the kids out ('cuz by now Joshua is awake as well - or maybe he slept a little longer - I'm not sure). Melissa then sleeps till 12:30. Asthma attack combined with no sleep make for one very tired, groggy, confused, crabby, and therefore dangerous woman. Graeme was a smart man to let me sleep.

Melissa gets up in time for pre-lunch breakfast.
Graeme had lovingly saved me a plate.

Melissa goes back to bed for nap around 2:30. Woke around 4:45, feeling like a new woman. Just in time to help get dinner ready. :) Yes, we ate a lot.

The rest of the weekend was actually quite uneventful!! The kids slept great - last night we did SOOOO much better! No storm, which helped. Graeme tented with Joshua. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we had to de-flood the tent on Saturday morning. Everything was SOAKED. Pools of water. I guess the tent has exceeded its lifespan for dealing with rain, even with the use of a fly and other such accessories. Anyway, Joshua went to sleep on his own in the tent, and Graeme followed around midnight. I slept with Dustin in the trailer. It was a much more successful night. I even got away without a nap today. :)

Don & Shari bought this huge Banzai racing waterslide thingy - yeah. Scared the life out of Joshua and Dustin. But Don and most of the adults loved it, and most of us took a few turns down it. The water was a little frigid, though. I was the only one
who didn't go down - this was Saturday when I was still not feeling human. The last thing I needed was ice-cold water to trigger another asthma attack.

We also did some sprinkler stuff, some hang-out stuff, played some croquet and some cards, a bit of frisbee...but mostly we ate. And ate. I can't believe how much we ate. But it was relaxing for the most part, and it was nice to be away even with the "kink" in the plans in the middle of the night the first night.

So, there you have it. The recent past, recapped. :)

Good day. My baby needs me. :)

Canada Day Festivities

Happy Canada Day! These are some pictures from the big day.














Joshua got to go on a pirate ship float for the parade - his Auntie Carly's dad built it and they put it into parades. And Sid/Carly/Jordan asked if Joshua would like to be on it! So he was - he was quite into yelling "Ahoy Matey!" at people. And his Daddy was yelling "Arrrrrgh!" at loads of people - many of which were his customers! It was fun. Joshua got to have a pirate sword and a hook, and Graeme had a hat and a sword. It was a good time!















We also went to the pancake breakfast, and the church service that was held at noon at the park. It was - umm - interesting. Let's just say that it's OK that it didn't work out for me to sing in the service after all.



















I'm a little crispy-fried from the sunshine, but I feel OK. I'm still sluggish and foggy and not sleeping well, though, which is NOT good. But overall it was a very good day, lots of fun, and the boys enjoyed themselves immensely!

Good night!

....Tired....

Another round of bloodwork. Another cup to pee into. I took the boys with me this morning to the lab, and they were quite the little entertainers. Joshua was quite enthralled that I got a needle and didn't cry!

So, I think I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I'd been asked to sing for the Canada Day service - well, that has now fallen through. The organizers didn't tell Dan (our worship guy) how many singers they needed from our church, so when he told them that he had a soprano (that would be me) and an alto (Melanie), they told him that they no longer needed another soprano. He was disappointed, as am I. I was looking forward to it. But you know what....God knows anyway. God can see what will happen this Sunday, and for some reason, I'm not supposed to be up there. It's all good. I can spend the morning at the pancake breakfast with my family, then. I'm OK with that. I love family time. I love my boys. They make this mama proud.

I must run - time for lunch (almost) for Joshua. Dustin is napping. I am desperately trying to round up some energy for the rest of the day. *sigh* I hope this ends soon.

Labels

I did something to my blog last night and this morning - I went through all my posts and added labels to them. Then I added the labels to the sidebar. SOOOO, if you're looking for something specific (contemplation, for example), you can scroll down and you'll find a list of all the labels on the right hand side of the screen. Click on 'contemplation', and up should come a whole list of blog entries where I've thought about something! :)

Of course, this info is for the non-techy amongst you... and completely elementary for the rest of you...

Thanks for bearing with me!

I'm kinda sick today again - almost flu-ish - I don't know what's going on. Graeme actually came home for about an hour so I could get some rest. Thankfully the boys have been pretty good. A little nap helped, and after Graeme left, I gave the boys haircuts and baths. I still have to clean up from that. So far, there are no showings today, so the cleanup might just have to wait till Graeme comes home in a couple of hours. At any rate, I'm going to lay down again now. The boys should sleep till around 3:30 or 4:00, and then maybe the world will look a tad less green!

Time for an update

Much has happened recently, but I've just not been in a blogging mood. Not even much in a facebooking mood, either. What's wrong with me? Actually, I think I've just been so busy and pre-occupied with the house sale, constantly cleaning and shining things up after the kids have gone through *just in case* someone comes to look when I least expect it, and catching up on laundry and other things after our Victoria Vacation.


Our family - day of the wedding:




















I finally have two sisters!!
















Anyway, uploading pix to Facebook is SO much faster than doing it here. This is not to say that I won't still post a few pictures on here, but for BIG projects, I'll just give a link so you can go see the album at your leisure. You also get to see way more pictures for the time it takes me, if you just go to the link! As promised, here are some pix from Jordan & Carly's wedding. There are lots of people you probably won't know, but there are tons of cute pix of my own darlings, too! So, as before, click on the link, click on the first picture (it will bring up a larger version), and then click "next" at the top of the picture to view the next in order! Easy as pie!!

Jordan & Carly Wedding Rehearsal

Jordan & Carly - Wedding DAY!!



My Cool Dudes:
















Joshua got to go to a Teddy Bear Picnic three days after we got back from Victoria. There was face-painting, all sorts of crafts, a big inflatable jumpy thing -and tons of other things! It was such fun - and I didn't bring my camera as I had a thousand other things to take care of that day. But I did take a pic of his face after we got home, and he's holding his sweet little "Blue" -that's his favorite "teddy" that he brought with him for the picnic.


Josh, his paw prints, and his bear-ears (doesn't he look MEAN??)




















I've also included a picture from Joshua's birthday party. Unfortunately, I was so busy making pizza that night (Joshua wanted pizza for his birthday, and I LOVED making it for him!) that I relied on others to take pictures of the special event for me. However, I've not received copies of the pictures from anyone yet!! So, here's a picture of Joshua's cake, and I'll proceed to hound everyone who took pics that night to burn me a CD of J's birthday party pix!


J's birthday cake:























So, other than that, it's business as usual. Constantly cleaning house. There were about 3 or 4 showings today, and a couple of really promising ones. And two showings booked for tomorrow. I pray that this home sells by the end of the week, so I can get on with my life - the kids are getting frustated with me always cleaning!! I love a clean house, BUT cleaning to to this calibre every time I want to leave the house gets to be a bit much. Once a day is fine, but three times a day is just OCD under normal circumstances. :)


I packed 8 or 9 boxes of books tonight - books are easy and it makes it look like I've accomplished something. :) I'll get Graeme to bring them downstairs before he leaves for church in the morning.


Speaking of church - I've been asked to sing on the worship team for our community-wide church service that we're having on Canada Day! Eek! How humbling, and what an honor! Three big churches here (the Alliance Church, a couple thousand people; our church, about 500 people; and another Alliance church, about another 1000 people) are collaborating to put on a celebration service in the middle of the 'hamlet' for Canada Day - at noon. There are a few musicians from each church being asked to participate (which I didn't know till the other night), and I can't believe that I've been asked! Maybe it's just because no-one else was available...heh heh...Keep me humble, Lord!