Tuesday, January 22

Outside my window...

The world is frozen. An Arctic blast moved in and blew cold winds over us for hours. It pulled the heat right out of the house although the fire did wonders at fighting back. The ground is still white with snow. 

The pond is freezing enough that the boys are excited about skating. They would really like to go visit cousins in Maine this time of the year. They think that would mean lots of ice skating.

If the animals have extra fat they can surely use it now!

I am thinking…

Oh my! Do you want to know all my thoughts? Ha ha. Probably not.

We were to a seminar at Penn Valley a little over a week ago where we received encouragement in caring for parents. 

One of the speakers said how his mother-in-law is so lonely. People don't come visit her. Then he said she is very negative, very opinionated and has her own stories to tell. This just kind of shuts anyone up who comes to visit.

I've experienced people like that. Then I fear I'll become that way myself. I think a good way to combat that is to stay interested in others. 

A young man from our church is getting help for personal problems at Pure Life Ministries. We're told they emphasize working on pride and selfishness in one's life.

Two exercises one can do- 

1. Look for two people you can help in some way today.

2. Find five people you can pray for today.

In other words get the focus off yourself. So there are some of my thoughts.

I am thankful for…

...machines- dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer, wood furnace, cook stove and oven, slow cooker and waffle iron. So many time saving devices. That way I can sit down and write. Oh, I'm thankful for a computer too!

From the learning rooms…

Thomas, Austin and Matthew continue to learn the door trade. This past week there have been some learning curves and slides that involved trucks and trailers in snow and ice. I'm thankful no one was hurt and they were able to dig themselves out of their predicaments.

Melvin is reading and reading, every spare minute he has. It's like he's making up for lost time. It blesses my soul to watch him. He and Christopher are also working on preparing for a Bible Fair with the church school. They care for the animals, help me with meal prep, house cleaning and laundry.

One of their obsessions the last few days is paper airplanes. From zippy little ones that do loops to big cargo planes that lumber across the room. They have used lots of Scotch tape.

Thomas and I were gone two weekends in a row. The boys got into games while we were gone- Monopoly, Ticket to Ride, Score Four.

Thomas & Christopher in a Score Four match while Melvin looks on. Christopher looks beat.

Christopher has taken an interest in art with oil pastels. He also completed a couple of color by sticker projects. 

We dream of gardening as we sit on our couches with seed magazines. How could anyone think of hot summer days at the present?

From the kitchen…

I've done it. The Eat at Home meal plans were on sale and I bit. Bought a yearly subscription. This gives me four years worth of menus actually because there are four different types of plans I have access to.

This is only the main meal of the day but it is helpful. Sometimes I get to feeling like I'm in a rut and this helps me out. We really like the recipes and they're quite common. Not a lot of exotic ingredients.

I am wearing…

Blue sweatshirt. Pale blue dress. Shoes and socks. Head covering.

I am creating…

Hmmm. I guess I'm just not being very creative the last while. I cleaned out some closets and bins and sent a whole bunch of clothing to CAM. It feels good to have that stuff out of the house! Hopefully it will help someone somewhere.

I am going…

Oh wow. I'm done going for a bit Lord willing. It wears me out to go places.

I am reading…

The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille. And oh yes, thinking about thinking, I think about education a lot and how broken our way of education is. Don't get me started!

I am hoping… 

...and praying for relief for my friends who suffer- in their marriages, with law suits, with health issues, with losses.

I am hearing…

...the dryer running. I picked up some dryer balls at Walmart last week. I'm pleased with their performance. I hear them plunking around and the zippers and metal buttons of the jeans hitting the sides

Around the house…

Melvin put up curtain rods for me in the "crazy room". Now we have a shield from the morning sun. He also put some lights above the one set of doors. I had gotten them, thinking I could replace some others we have, but they didn't work for that purpose.

Melvin and Christopher replaced light bulbs on the patio, giving us light again where darkness had reigned for too long. 

Melvin also got the dishwasher repaired when it broke down recently. He is such a handy person to have around!

One of my favorite things…

I still really enjoy snail mail. Of special interest are circle letters and yearly letters with photos.

A few plans for the rest of the week…

The men folk are all planning to be gone this evening. Work has begun on another Kid's Club building in Romney. They sold out from under us last year. Thomas is overseeing the building of rooms in another building. They started last week and got a good many walls framed up. 

I'm working on getting the last of the family photos mailed out. If you don't get one and want one, send me your address at t (dot) rie (dot) n (dot) sons at gmail.com. 

Thomas and a couple of the boys plan to go repair some plumbing on his mom's house in southern WV. There are potential buyers but repairs need to be done before the sale can happen. Poor Thomas is stretched almost beyond what he can manage.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing….

Pacific coast

Life

When writing is what one does in one's head daily and with one's hand quite a lot less, sitting down to do it with one's hand is like pricking a squishy balloon. All you hear is a long sigh....

What to write first? 

So I will write about my day and make the doldrums as interesting as I can.

I awoke this morning to the same throbbing head that gave me a less than desirable Sunday and a very restless night. It doesn't help the throbbing any to know that these men of mine need breakfast and a packed lunch.

A pack of waffles in the freezer is available for just such a time as this. Saturday was spent getting some easy freezer breakfast meals done. So they toasted waffles to be eaten with butter or peanut butter (the first choice of most), maple syrup and peaches or fried eggs, if they so desired. 

Leftover chicken tortilla soup, some cheese slices and apples made lunch for the men- Thomas, Austin and Matthew. They all took care of themselves while I sat huddled on the couch with my feet tucked up under my skirt (because I did manage to get dressed as far as that).

I had nothing to eat since lunch yesterday and food still repulsed me. I slowly drank two glasses of water. That helped me feel a bit better. So I downed some calcium with a small glass of milk, hoping that would take care of that aching head.

After resting awhile longer with no relief, I decided to take a couple more Ibuprofen to add to the hundreds my body has dealt with over the last few decades, including the two I consumed yesterday. Then I worry about damaging my liver. And I eat a couple of waffles and drink a small cup of coffee, wondering if that might also damage my liver.

Why do I "worry" about my liver? Well, there IS a glob-by feel in the right side of my abdomen. It just never quite goes away. So I speculate many times about what it is. Sometimes it seems like an internal hernia. 

I don't really worry but my brain tells me maybe I should research how to do a liver cleanse and see if I think it seems doable. Instead I just rest and let the drug and caffeine take my headache away.

Then I read awhile and decide it is really high time to do some writing. It really can't take second seat any longer. The windows will be dirty one more day. The apples must wait. The laundry, oh we'll still get some of it done. Besides I feel like a whipped puppy. 

To be honest I don't know exactly how that feels. The feeling comes from drugs. You know, that Ibuprofen I spoke of earlier. It leaves one feeling lethargic but painless. Alive enough to write but hardly able to do laundry.

Yesterday I wasn't sure if I was getting the flu bug or a migraine. Today I'm concluding it was a migraine. Because of the cold hands and feet, hot head and nausea.

Enough about me. 

Stephen is in Honduras with my brother Paul's family. He left here Saturday a week ago at 1:30 AM. The group he went with flew out of Dulles at 6:20 AM. Nine energetic people from our church went down to conduct a Bible school in the town of Cuyamel.

Only one of the group could speak Spanish. My brother's family met them at the airport and stayed with them for the week to help with interpreting. Most of the group came back Saturday and they report a hectic, enjoyable week with lots of children (80-200) and lots of rain (washing away roads and causing landslides).

On Saturday Stephen, and my niece Sylvia who also went with the group, headed back with Pauls to their home in the mountains, 8-9 hours away. We hear nothing from them so we assume no news is good news. They plan to return home on the 13th.

Thomas, Austin and Matthew are working on a drywall finishing job today. Something that Thomas and Austin enjoy and Matthew does not. He says, "HOW can someone enjoy mudding?!" It is interesting to see the boys' talents and interests develop. 

Thomas has been working a lot for a garage door installer. It is the kind of work he enjoys, repetitive and yet needing a certain amount of precision. Matthew enjoys it also but it isn't creative enough for Austin's nature.

Thomas says everyone on the door job hates one certain thing that needs to be done at the end, though, except for Austin. He just jumps in there, does it with excellence and enjoys it.

Melvin and Christopher cleaned up the kitchen around 11 AM, eating a bit more as they did so. Then they created with LEGO's for a few hours. After spending some time reading, they headed out to work on their log cabin in the woods. 

It is now 3:30 and none of us have eaten lunch. We will probably snack a little if we need something before supper. My nephews and niece are coming for supper and the evening. Sixteen yr old boy, three yr old boy and six year old girl.

Chicken chili is on the menu and they are bringing a few eats also. There are corn muffins in the freezer if we need more food.

There now. It helps to write about it. To be continued....

Today I am thankful for...
...Ibuprofen (of course!).
...smart phones (with Kindle books).
...eggs (from our very own chickens!).

Here's the book I am currently reading on Kindle.