Richness

I’ve been replaying memories in my head again of late. Thinking back hard on those growing up years, the early ones. It was apparent we were poor but at the same time there was always something to do so one really didn’t feel it all that strongly unless it was those horrible schoolyard comparisons that seemed to be so inevitable. Then I never measured up. At the time it bothered me. Today….not at all. We were a family just trying to survive. Hey, and we made it.

Some of the ways we had to go about making it weren’t things you went to talking about with others. It was just another way of drawing the lines of comparisons. But I do remember my parents receiving "commodities". I remember the cheese, peanut butter and karo syrup the most. The last two came in containers that looked like paint cans. The former was a huge block of crumbly cheddar. After the commodities there was a spell with food stamps. Oh how horrid that felt.

When I think back I can actually remember the articles of clothing I owned that were bought new. Otherwise the bulk of what we wore was all hand me downs from relatives and other families. I remember going all through first grade wearing boys dress shoes because that is what we had and they fit. Christmas was when we received new items of needed items. There would usually be one toy per kid to round off the Santa experience. Show-n-tell after Christmas break was always brutal. I’d see all these amazing toys that other kids got and would be scolded from the teacher for not bringing in my show-n-tell. I would take having her think I was just a forgetful child instead of telling her there really wasn’t anything to show. I never owned a Barbie, slinky, etch-a-sketch, magic 8 ball or any of those much sought after items of the time. It did kind of make me an outcast come play time. Maybe that is why I went so heavily into sports and tom-boy ways.

We heated with oil in the house in the earlier years and that particular house was drafty. Winters in northern Wisconsin can be brutal. The oil was used sparingly. I remember the winds picking up so bad you could see the linoleum lift up a bit on the floors because of the draft. During particularly harsh cold snaps my parents would heap atop our blankets in bed, all the winter coats and have we kids all in one bed to keep us warm at night.

Mom used to take in ironing. Weird to think someone could make extra coin doing that isn’t it? She had a few ladies from town who worked outside the home and had no time for ironing. So they would bring multiple baskets that she would pain stakingly make crisp and perfect. She tended to clothes we could only dream we owned. Our own laundry was always line dried because we didn’t own a dryer. Mom used to make sure to buy the laundry soap that had the free items in the box. I can’t remember the name of the brand, it was something like Oxydol or Duz. But the promotions would run items such as dishes, glasses or towels. We managed to acquire those items this way. Otherwise we were big users of jelly jars and such for our drinking glasses.

We had a HUGE garden every summer. I remember many hours out there weeding the thing. Dad had an OCD about weeds. He never even liked there to be foot tracks between the rows once the weeding was complete. The dirt was raked so perfect it looked like dark velvet. Come harvest time mom spent many hours canning up the goods so we would have the larder full to brimming for winter. We knew two families who had dairy cows and my folks bought raw milk from them cheap or would do a chore trade for it.

We ate well. No, we did not have any of those fun foods everyone else had such as the newly introduced convenience foods that were starting to make their way on store shelves, but mom was a good cook and made filling meals. Healthy? No. But filling. I especially liked baking day. Lots of cookies and breads and oh my did I love it when she made doughnuts. Our dinners were many soups and casseroles and made up, thrown together items that became favorite comfort foods. We used to even have butter and milk macaroni that was then fried up crunchy in butter. Sounds weird but it was good. That was an end of the month kind of meal when the pickin’s were getting slim before the next paycheck. Boxed cereals? Only as a rare treat. Otherwise it was oatmeal, cream of wheat or corn meal mush. I still like those items today.

We didn’t make much garbage back in those days. Everything, even packaging, found multiple uses. And we had a cobbler in town so even when dads shoes were wearing thin on the soles he would bring them in for fresh soles. Old man Ness. I remember his shop well and I loved the smell of it.

My folks didn’t own a car until I was probably close to 10 years old. Dad’s job was even within walking distance of home. Mom tells of how when I was born they had to borrow a car so she could get to the hospital in the middle of a snow storm. I’ve always liked my entrances to be memorable. LOL Mom never has had a drivers license.

We never took a family vacation. We would play in the snow in the winter and walk to the lake to swim in the summer. We would get the occasional treat of a cone at the local A&W and we visited with family who lived nearby. We had a book mobile that came to town and I used to devour that. And we just had the blessing of growing up in the prettiest country God placed down on earth. Lakes, rivers and streams were many and so many woods a body could easily step into them and within 5 minutes of walking not hear anything but nature. I had my collections that gave me pleasure in the looking at of them. Things like marbles so pure and true in their color they shined like jewels. Empty spools from thread, the kinds that were wood instead of todays plastic. They always sparked my imagination enough to create things from them. I made a whole family once with those and some scraps of yarn and fabrics. I had an empty ink bottle I had dug up out of the yard. Who knows how old it was. For me it came from a magical time. There was my worry stone. A beautiful round piece of sandstone I used to rub my thumb across when I was fretting about something and used it so often that it had a scoop to it from the rubbing. I had beads and trinkets found along the way. I really loved that old cigar box.

We had a television that got three channels on a clear day. Sometimes it took some aluminum foil around the rabbit ears and some tricky arranging of them there ears to get the channel in and if that didn’t quite get it sometimes the trick of turning the dial to the in between spot of the channels clinched it. Not a lot of time was spent at the tv.

I think back on all this and now I smile. Oh those conditions could have contributed to the anger often felt in the house at the time but I give my parents credit for raising four kids through it. Dad had a fourth grade education and was illiterate and mom got as far as eighth grade. Except for the ironing mom never worked outside the home. And dad had held two different jobs in all the time I knew him. He didn’t make much but it got us through.

As the years went by "things" started coming into the home. By then I was nearly out of the house and that dreaded beast the credit card came into being. When dad passed away he only left behind debt. Even his house went back to the bank. We divided up a few items from the house. I took a set of china we kids had bought my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary that my eldest daughter now has. And I took an old run down rocker that had belonged to my great-aunt that no one wanted. A few years ago Bob and Perry took that run down rocker and gave it a face lift. In fixing and restaining it Bob found the original tag on it. It was made in Superior Wisconsin in 1903. You should see how beautiful that chair is now. I consider it one of my treasures.

I feel bad for what my parents went through in the hardships but I am grateful and thankful to and for them also. Many of those experiences have shaped the kind of person I am today. It also prepared me for further hardships I would live in trying to raise my own kids in similar conditions of want. I have learned to not make the want my focus but instead the blessings that God pours out every day. I helped teach my kids about laughter. For all my shortcomings I know I gave them that gift. With that, bad times don’t have to be so bad and our poverty will only be in the possessions not of the soul. And, with that I plan on not leaving this planet in debt to creditors. I do plan on investing in my relationships.

Financially we are good. Great? No…but we settle for good just fine thank you. I think largely that is because we remember when. And we now have a sense of why. Not yesterdays whys…but todays and how that effects our tomrrows. That is not a bad place to be.

"Live simply so others may simply live"~Gandhi

Making a choice

When did I get old? It just kind of snuck up and blasted me. We got to looking at Bob’s and my wedding pictures the other day. Kelsey even made the comment of "Wow Mom you had great legs." "Had" being the key word to look at in that statement. When it came time for the garter toss I wasn’t shy about showing some thigh. I had it, I flaunted it. Now there is not enough yard goods to cover them up. I go through whole summers without wearing shorts in public and I pass up every opportunity to get into a pool. Between the knee surgeries, weight gain and arthritis….it ain’t pretty. I would not unleash this to an unsuspecting public.

Ok, so my legs have gone south in looks but they also just plain don’t want to function proper. That first step onto the floor in the morning is a painful one. It takes a few minutes before I actually start resembling a walk. Otherwise it looks like……well….you know when your kids have their GI Joes and Barbies how the dolls look as the kids grab them from the waist and pretend they are walking about? That’s me…all stiff legged and waddling.

Then there is the symphonic sounds of the daily body popping and cracking. These are always paired up with a low rumbling groan. First the ankles and knees do their pops and it slowly builds up into the back. Those have a higher pitch and tone until the almost cymbal quality of the neck. And remember those groans. It is quite the melody. All this just to reach my first cup of coffee for the day. There is an encore once I’ve mastered to not drop the coffeepot with my stiff, gnarly hands as I walk to my recliner and plop down there.

Then there is my hair. When I made the choice to not color my hair any longer instead letting my natural color and yes, grey come through, little did I know the grey would accelerate to the degree which it has. The only thing that keeps me from running to Clairol is the hubby and the kids claim to LOVE my grey. I believe them too which is the problem. I’m trying to hold out knowing I am going through this dreadful time of growing out a short haircut and am looking forward to the day I have long hair again. Long white tresses may be romanticized in my mind but I am willing to find out if it ends up being to my liking. Letting the hair grow out has been far more difficult then looking at the grey really. I keep envisioning Tyne Daly in her role on Judging Amy before she cut her gorgeous hair. It was long and grey and I thought it the prettiest thing I ever saw. There have been numerous other ladies, both on tv and off, who I’ve spotted with long grey hair and I think I shall enjoy it. Lets hope.

Should we start in on the wrinkles? Where the heck did they come from? Back when I was 60 pounds lighter they weren’t there. With all this extra weight shouldn’t they have actually not been able to happen given the "fill in" factor of the bulk? And I KNOW I used to have a singular chin once upon a time. Back in 2000 I went to a family reunion where relatives I had not seen in eons thought I was the youngest of the siblings. We were all present and they picked me as the youngest? For those unknowing ones out there….I am the oldest. This did not please my sisters let me tell you. When my daughter went into the service and her peers saw pictures of me they were impressed with how young I was. HAH! Gone are those days of youthful appearance. Gone are the days of feeling youthful too.

Ya know, I don’t mind getting old. It is better than the alternative, what I miss is physical strength. I was never much to look at so that isn’t something lost but I was one physically strong person. Strong like bull like most bohemian women. It gnaws on my pride when I have to have things like jar openers and now looking at getting an electric can opener because my hands won’t do the task any longer. Although I imagine I am largely to blame for the rapid deterioration of my hands given that back in my younger, wilder days I used to punch posts to show how tough I was. Tough? No. Stupid and numbed up from tequila? Yes.

The legs? A lot of time spent playing various sports and numerous bike accidents could be to blame for that. I was never a girlie-girl. I was as physical and tough as they came. I should have asked for a Barbie instead of a baseball mitt I guess.

I can blame genetics too. It is a long history of blood pressure issues in my family as to why I am on meds for that and the same with the cholesterol levels and why my blood should technically be considered a solid. I’ve never had a heart attack but the doctor has me on low dose aspirin because of my risk factors for stroke and heart attack. Is that a warm fuzzy or what?
But you know what? My dad died when he was 53. In five years I’ll be that age God willing. He grumbled and complained about his aches and pains too. He had a few heart attacks before that final one got him. I’m not sure he ever enjoyed himself. Now my mom on the other hand, she just turned 72. She has lived a hard life, has had a heart attack and cancer. Her needlework hobby has been taken from her because she has developed severe tremors and her mind drifts on occasion and financially she is getting-by and is inspiring in how she manages. But a happier woman cannot be found. She doesn’t let anything hold her down. Oh there was a time in her life where she was horribly oppressed but once she found freedom from that she never went back. When she loses one thing she ventures out and finds something else to replace it. THIS is what I want, the spirit and strength that she has. It is all about choice. I think I want to be like my Mama. I think I will start today.

Philippians 4:11

Fashion vs. Smart Sense

Another point for media and their dumbing down of America. I just got a glance of a news story about the Obama vs. McCain First Lady fashion sense. OY!! We should always weigh our voting leverage on what they are wearing huh folks?

Yes, I plan on voting, I always do, but I am going to be SO glad when this election is over!! I have nothing against either candidate. I already know who gets my vote. What I am so fired up sick about is the way the media continues to cover the darn thing. Am I the only one that misses Walter Cronkite? Is it possible to get unbiased reporting any more? How about the endless, scripted, manipulated, probably paid for volleying between the opponents of the news stations so as to get best coverage and ratings? Has nothing been learned from Dan Rathers fiasco?

Please news people, and I use that term loosely, start reporting facts that are pertinent. Stay out of their closets and bedrooms and what they did on their prom night 30 years ago. I don’t care and neither should you. We the people are intelligent enough to want the core issues, I wish you were.

Okay, enough of my little rant.

Still attempting to streamline around here. We have SO MUCH STUFF!!!!! Thankfully we haven’t been adding to it. This is a good. Well, unless you count the two extra puters in the house but those were charter school issued. It did mean coming up with another desk though. Instead of buying one we did manage to utilize what we had here. Kelsey painted and old door we had and placed it on two equipment racks with shelves and ended up with a better looking and more functional desk than the two previously purchased ones we have. I’m actually considering stealing it from her.

Still need to get fall/winter clothes out of storage. Why so soon? Because that is where my Packer wear is and I need it for the game in a few weeks. Hello!?!?

Had our frugal group last night. We viewed "Escape From Affluenza". I must admit it is my favorite of the two shows. There is so much to consider for alternatives to what we are used to doing. The norm just isn’t healthy. They even touched on how our current consumption rate isn’t even biblical. I like that.

Grumble, grumble, spit….time to get back to task. Everyone have a blessed and be a blessing day!!!!

Speaking

Well my dear daughter and son-in-law discovered by accident yesterday that there will be a Green Bay Packer and Denver Bronco pre-season game on the day I arrive in Colorado. I get a call from them asking me how tired I think I might be from my trip. They are wondering if I might be up to go see the game. Talk about a shot of adrenaline to my veins. Oh like I’d be too tired to see my boys play. Please! This is going to be totally awesome. We are even in the 12th row Packer side. Woohoo!!!

I see where blogspot now has zillions of gadgets I can add to my blog. I tried a couple but they have kind of a tacky quality to them so I got rid of most of them. I did of course save three…..one for my Packers, a daily bible verse and world clocks. The world clocks are set for three different areas. Number one clock is for Iraq, where my baby is going to be in a few weeks, number two is for Colorado, where my dear son-in-law is and the third is for Pennsylvania, where we are at. There is a 7 hour time difference between here and there. I’ll always be thinking around that while she is gone.

Oh there is a lot going on in my heart today. So much so that the head just can’t keep up with it. If I could wrap my head around it I’m not sure I would be able to share it here anyway. Some things are only between heart and Spirit. It is the Spirit that is the only one that can translate the language of the heart. For me to try to verbalize that core of my being and what it is feeling would be pointless. I’m not able to. But I can close my eyes, allow my heart to open, know the Spirit hears it and I can wait for the Spirit to speak to me. The tears I shed are part of the surrender. Even speaking of Spirit in my limited language is not adequate. Spirit isn’t a ‘the’ Spirit is who. But I’m probably getting more confusing as I type so I think I shall just close my eyes some more and let my heart speak.

May God’s rich blessings be poured out on you all.

True Wealth

The kids and I got to jawing on a few morsels about the condition of our existence of late. I have been fretting about and getting all worked up about our present financial situation. Now don’t get me wrong. We are ok….but we are in a state that neither Bob nor I like. We are currently carrying a balance on a credit card and it…well…it pisses us off. We haven’t paid a cent in interest yet but we know next month we will since I only paid off half the balance this month. Grrrr. Now I won’t go into all the happenings that brought about this condition because I know everyone out there knows that poop happens. We just hit our first outhouse of events.

Anyway….the kids and I got to talking how since we reached this point we have been reverting back to more creative practices in entertaining ourselves. I wouldn’t say ‘creative’….just common sense, more basic, simple. The very best kind, such as the picnic for Bob’s birthday. We are not running to movies or out to restaurants or to amusement parks. Instead we are planning outings that don’t cost a dime but have thought and interaction going on. We are playing catch again, games, story telling. Wonderful bits of simple joy. Stuff we, the kids and I, did when we were too poor to think anything beyond picnics. Now we can look back and see just how rich we were.

I am GRATEFUL…..yes grateful that we found ourselves in this little snaggle. I’m not going to fret about it anymore instead choosing to see it as the blessing it truly is. All five of us have had our eyes opened again to what is really important. We’ve always been close but we have allowed ourselves to complacently be dragged along into the world of ‘entertainment’ instead of recreation and DEEP relationship. I know I dabbled in writing about this very sort of thing once before only I was blind to how ensnared we had become. Isn’t God good to have given us this gift?

Even cooking is fun again. I’m planning out menus again, taking inventory of our shelves and freezer and coming up with simple meals. Ok…cheap meals. But they are belly fillers. And I’m baking bread again on a regular basis. Even Zoe has mastered bread baking and she is loving it. I’m looking into what craft things I can get started on again. Also sorting through in my mind what sort of bedcovers I can make instead of buy. I am using my mind and hands again instead of the internet catalog of choices. Talk about feel good.

I pray we never lose this treasure again.

Bob's Birthday

Okay...I have had a few attempts on posting pics to the blog today of Bob's birthday. I am NOT techie smart. I nearly started tossing around expletives. Anyway....I FINALLY got a slideshow to work. Taa-daa!!! That can be found on the left and these are pics of the picnic we had this afternoon. A three hour window of time where all five of us could be together.

That wasn't, of course, the only time we spent celebrating Bob's birthday. But it was the most complete time.

It was a blessed and wonderful day! Happy 53rd Birthday my Love!!!!

Promises

Last night was a gift. After having had a horrible day, not because of anything happening you understand, but purely my state of mind, the ending of the day was a cleansing. We were about to set out to "task" once again when for some reason I was drawn to the patio. Usually I spend a great deal of time on the deck but this season I haven’t even done that. And typically I also spend a lot of time on the patio but as I sat on the glider it dawned on me that this was the first time this season I had done that. What has kept me from this? As I was seated the air temp was cooling off. I even had a thermometer there to confirm it. Just as I was asking myself why I was wasting valuable time sitting out there a hummingbird appeared. I couldn’t help but smile and I thanked God right then and there. The hummingbird proceeded to do its little cha-cha dance at the feeder. Upon looking just past him I saw where Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal were at the feeders beyond along with some finches. Below those were some morning doves. I could feel myself relaxing in the moment.

Listening to the bird sounds and the whisper of leaves in the breeze I became aware of another low sound, distant thunder. I walked around to the west side of the house and sure enough there were dark clouds approaching. I stood there as it approached feeling the wind picking up and pushing on me. It was heavenly. The clouds hadn’t even released a drop of rain yet but the temperature change was enough to make the grass moist beneath my feet. I watched the boil of the clouds and then closed my eyes as the front had finally penetrated through. When I felt my first drop of rain I decided to go back into the house to watch the storm. It was a gentle storm, more than a mere rain but less than an assault. It maybe lasted 20 minutes when along the west edge you could see clearing and the sun reemerge. I knew full well it was time to run to the east side of the house and sure enough….a rainbow. As the sun grew stronger so did that rainbow. Zoe said we should go look for the pot of gold but I told her I was more than happy to settle for God’s promise. It was then I became aware that my tension, anger and frustration I had been carrying with me throughout the day was gone. Once again I thanked God.

So, this morning I feel calm and fit to be seen in the world. I see now where I have been fretting and worrying so much about certain things that I haven’t taken time to see the blessings and promises all around me. All that fretting is just me holding on too tight to things a body has no right to hold on to. It is time to trust the Giver of those gifts and the plan He has.

Screaming Out

Call me a cynic but sitting here today I got to thinking about communication. Or the lack of rather. Maybe lack is a bad word. Perhaps we haven’t the talent to communicate anymore. We have umpteen different mediums in which to "communicate" but we are not hearing one another or sharing the heart. We have the good old telephone and now the cell version which travels with us wherever we go. There is the internet with email and IM~ing and a whole new cyber language to go with it. It is all shortened up and lacking substance. Gone are the old fashion longhand written letters of yesteryear. These were treasures that had been deemed worthy of saving and we even find some in museums and added to books. Starting in the 90’s on forward everything has pretty much been deleted so future generations won’t have that to ponder over and get insight to who we were.

Does this hurried, self-absorbed way we have found ourselves in also cross over in the kinds of face to face conversations we have? In many of my experiences it has. Church seems to be the only place I have found lately that is conducive to deep communicating. Outside of that we still seem to be ruled by the psychologies and philosophies of this present world. Most of which is brought to us not by Plato or even that lost rascal Freud, but now we get our personal make-up from what is fed to us from that soul sucking medium television. Do we really want future generations to weigh us based on the Jerry Springers and Paris Hiltons of today? Scary thought isn’t it?

Ok, now lets narrow that vision down into something more defined. Our homes. How are we communicating with our spouses, our children? Do we bring the media influences into our responses? Do we also bring in the cutthroat, competitive professional world into it? When we stand back objectively to look at that can we honestly say it translates well into the home?
I know my husband admits to having trouble turning off his business ear when he and I communicate. He is a black and white get to the facts sort of person at work and he sometimes brings that home. That is not a good relationship tool. It is great if one thrives in conflict. He admits to having a delete button in his head. What he deems as unimportant gets deleted and he will not recall it no matter how much you try to reboot that program. We all can identify with that analogy I’m sure. That screaming at the monitor pounding your head into the keyboard frustration.

How do you feel media exposure has influenced the way our kids communicate with us and visa versa? You just winced didn’t you?

I’m sitting here doing what I’m professing to not liking. I’m hurrying through this entry because I have so many other things I need to get to. As a result I am not communicating effectively what it is I’m trying to convey. This happened last night between Bob and me. I started sharing with him the pain I have been feeling lately and instead of taking each other by the hand and going for a walk to talk, we ended up getting busy with task because "these things HAVE to get done." So, what happens? The feelings get pushed down, stuffed in deep to fester. What could have been used as a time for closeness and healing instead made distance and resentment for both of us.

Why am I so frank in saying that? Because we need to, all of us, recognize what it is we are doing to ourselves and one another when we let the world become more important than the relationship we have with one another and God. We need to get honest with ourselves about these sorts of things. The society as a whole tends to flow on a certain tide for so long it is marked as acceptable and normal. Never mind that that flow is swirling us down a drain.


Hey, it’s election year. If that isn’t a poster child for communication dysfunction I don’t know what is.

Gratitude

I have a wonderful husband. He is great in those acts of love areas. He knew I was feeling overwhelmed with everything I have to get done around here and how the yard has suffered greatly this summer with neglect. So what did the dear do? While I was at a meeting for a few hours he took it upon himself to nearly complete the weeding around the house. When I saw that upon returning it actually untied one of the knots sitting in my stomach and melted my heart. This is a man who HATES gardening in any shape or form. Tell me that wasn’t a biggy.

The sound of rain. Oh how I love it. I know many people hate to see it raining but I have always enjoyed rain. It is so peaceful. I look outside right now and everything looks freshened up by the drink it is receiving. Ok, so the usual morning crowd of birds and bunnies have not arrived at the feeders but I’m sure they will be along once the rain stops.

The hubby and I decided to not buy a camera for me at this time. Thus ends that search. I have yet to decide if I will bring one of the kids cameras or actually attempt Bob’s digital SLR. You know…the one that launches shuttles. He says I should be fine as long as I use the auto and the add-on flash. This is the same flash that when used at Erin’s rank up ceremony, as the first picture was taken it went nuclear. We are talking an arena that seats 500 that that went silent when this sucker went off and the base nearly launched a counter attack. Upon viewing the picture being taken at the time the subject looked like the aliens without disguise from Cocoon. Remember those lit up dudes? Yep….that’s what we got. If I do take that one I might as well bring along the telephoto lens as well. Maybe with a bit of zoom action and a flash I can light up a mountain goat. Roast that bad boy.

I do need to start planning what I need to pack for my trip to Colorado. I also have to remember to take the pocket knife out of my purse. You know, those red cross pocket knives that have a gazillion attachments? I don’t need to have security hassles and end up in a strip search. Although at my age that could be flattering with a wink and a nod attached. All that without dinner and a movie????

Today I have to do some concentration in those two hardest areas of ones life….frugality and budgeting. Pat and I lead a frugal group for a reason. We need inspiration and motivation. Recently this household has picked up a few extra expenditures and now I have to factor this into our budget AFTER the fact. This is NOT a recommended way of handling finances. Regardless it happened and now we need to make adjustments. It should be interesting to see what the spreadsheet ends up looking like. I need to go revisit some of the frugal sites I have listed on this blog for a jump start. Maybe even peruse through some of my frugal books. It also helps to read scripture that covers this area. Proverbs 21:20 comes to mind. "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all that he has."

It has stopped raining and the bunnies and birds have arrived. I think I shall go enjoy my morning cup of coffee with them.

Doing

I am just a morning person by nature I guess. I love mornings. Is it because I tend to be the only one up and about and the confusion of the day has yet to set in? Could be. Mostly I think it is because I love to watch nature start its day. As I turn my head to the left I am looking out my patio door straight to the birdfeeders out by the shed. There are probably 10 smaller birds, I think they are wrens, vying for the feeder along with a gorgeous, yet intimidating in it’s splendor, cardinal. Below the feeder are some more of the little guys along with a morning dove and a rabbit all happily munching away on the seed that falls to the ground. Fun to watch how they have all worked out to their advantage the opportunity and condition presented to them. And they do it with willingness. I wonder if they ever have idle time.

Grandma comes to mind when I think about “idle time”. In her life there was no such thing. I think I may have mentioned before that this dear lady always wore an apron at the house. The moment she came through the door upon returning from an outing, the apron was grabbed from the hook and put on. It was like donning the armor of the Lord or something. And while that apron was on she was always doing. Even when you would stop by for a visit that visit involved us doing something whether it be snapping beans together, working bread dough, tending plants or any other million other things to do around the house. It NEVER felt like work. Not once. The conversation would flow so effortlessly while the hands just went into autopilot to the task. That’s probably the secret to why she never became overwhelmed by her life. It had been a hard one.

Do housewives do that anymore? Do we make sure there is no idleness? We will harp on how there just isn’t enough time in the day but is it really because we have so much to do or is it because we don’t take the opportunity that is there for us such as snapping beans while visiting? We have all these modern day conveniences but no more joy and satisfaction in the doing. Is it because we never stay home long enough anymore to tend to the home? We all seem to be running, running, running and seeing no finish line in sight. What exactly is it we are running to? Why do we over schedule and over burden ourselves? It is as if we think if we could just run fast enough we would catch up and find some time to be at home. What a strange circle we find ourselves in.

Do we look back fondly at times aware of what it is we see in our memories eye? When we really think about it can we all pretty much say that part of the appeal of the past was the simplicity and the basics of that life? Those kinds of conditions were fertile ground for one then to build relationships with one another. Remember knowing your neighbor? Why is it then we have made our lives so complicated? What is the lure and what do we see as the payoff?

I see where another rabbit has joined the group for breakfast. They are all happily, hungrily chatting about. I guess they are all acting neighborly regardless of their differences. Time for us all to learn something from the critters.

Oriental Slaw Recipe

I went to a WONDERFUL picnic on Saturday hosted by my daughters employer. I ended up with more than a few requests for the recipe to the salad I had brought and I thought maybe I might share it here as well. It is disgustingly easy and something that travels well and doesn't go nasty at a picnic like a mayo based salad might.

Enjoy!!

Oriental Slaw

Make the day before….

1 pkg. oriental ramen noodles broken up(do not cook) keep seasoning separate
1 pkg. chicken ramen noodles broken up(do not cook) keep seasoning separate
1 pkg. broccoli slaw

Mix together in a bowl and then mix in separate bowl….

½ cup sugar
¾ cup oil
1/3 cup vinegar
And both seasoning packets from the ramen noodles

Pour this over the noodle slaw mixture. Let this sit for a day stirring periodically.

About an hour before you want to serve add about 1 cup almonds or to taste.

Choices

The state of the economy tends to make things happen that aren’t too pleasant. Ok, like I am blaming the economy as to why we now have to lock our shed. Scratching your head huh? Let me explain. We used to have a 10 gallon gas tank for the mowers and such around the house. Note I said “used to”. It has turned up missing. (Isn’t that an odd expression?) There are not too many places one can misplace a 10 gallon gas container. You have your shed and your garage. That’s it. Ours has fallen into the great abyss.

Are we going to replace the container? No. We can stick to the 3 gallon variety without much concern. I just feel really bad for whoever felt led to do that. I truly hope it was a need and not some foolishness. But yet I wish who did it also knew us well enough that if they did have a need….we would have gladly given them the gas. They did not need to place this burden on themselves on top of everything else. I pray that God brings blessings to this person.

Something wonderful is happening tonight. My son actually gets to be home with us instead of at school or work. Because of this I have chosen to not go to my Cel meeting opting instead to make my boys favorite meal for him and having his lady love join us and just enjoying the time together. Life truly does go by in the flick of an eye. My kids are growing so fast and their paths are forking off from my own. As much as I’ll ache missing each of them I am also so proud of and excited for each of them. I will find contentment in stealing whatever moments with them that I can.

I got a good start to getting the house back in order. Still have a ways to go before it passes my standards but we are getting there. I’m trying to do that along with numerous other things and I am but one person. I have to remind myself of that at times. I am beginning to do lists again. It does help sort out what one wants to tackle first and also helps ensure things don’t fall through the cracks. I hate that. Best to not be overwhelmed and make bad choices. Hmmm….that statement probably fits for the person that took the gas container. Again….praying.

Stuff

Last night felt like the kind of night you get at the start of summer wind down. The air had cooled and dried off with just a tickle of a breeze and the night critter sounds were at their best. I didn’t crawl between the sheets until after 11:00 and then instead of drifting off as I should have, I laid there just listening to the sounds and enjoying the breeze entering through the open window. At that time of night our neighborhood has quieted down enough where there are not even any cars zooming by to disturb the magic of the moment. It was a nice way to end a very nice day.

Church was great as always. I did allow myself to admit to some fears and have prayer regarding that. I have the hardest time admitting to fear. It always feels like such a huge lack of faith but it is what it is too. Anyway, admitting to and receiving prayer was helpful. Am I without fear now? No. But I don’t feel alone with it anymore either which helps. God is always here for us.

The girls decided they did not want to go to softball but instead wanted to spend time with their old mom and dad. It was fun. It was especially satisfying that I kicked everyones butts in Wii bowling. I may be arthritic, on meds for everything known to man and just this side of broken…but this woman can still be a challenge. Arrr…arrr….arr. Although everyone laughed uncontrollably when upon throwing my Wii bowling bowl a loud pop could be heard coming from my thrown hip. They may have eased up on the competition just to try and avoid an ER visit.

Today I start trying to get the house back in shape. The bedrooms are done with the floors and now all that has been displaced needs to find a home. We had been sorting through various items already and have some boxes of books that go to our favorite store in the world “Gently Used Books” for book credit trade, other boxes that are designated for Ebay that I have to begin photographing, some items for Freecycle, some items to be shipped to my mother and the rest to our local landfill. Thankfully that last item is the smallest.

I’m really glad we get to mail my mom some stuff. This is a lady who lives on….get this….9K a year in social security. That is right…9 and three zero’s. Somehow she makes it work. She should write a book on how to make it stretch. She of course isn’t bogged down by all the “got to have” items that the rest of the country feels are necessities. But, of course, we are sending her one item we want her to have….an answering machine. Part of what makes her life so rich is her network of friends and activities. The lady is never home. (Thus the answering machine) She has one friend who is in a wheelchair whom she loves to “visit”. She is assisting this lady but never would say she is. It is more of the “Well while I was there……” She always speaks of what her friend is to her instead. I love that quality in my mom. Other friends she just hangs with at each others apartments and doing dinners for each other. These are also the friends that keep in touch with me to let me know how moms “condition” is. They are God sends.

Lets see, what else are we sending her. Oh yes….she is concerned because even though she doesn’t watch much television she will no longer have her three antenna channels once the digital takes over. So……my brother had bought her a DVD player for Christmas and we have just thinned out our DVD collection. So we are sending her maybe 40 movies. We figure that should get her through the winter before we need to send more.

Anyway…what is my point? Like many other people we know, we have become accumulators. We have “STUFF”. Stuff that is weighing us down. It has us not wanting to acquire anymore stuff just for the sake of stuff. Bad stewardship. But we are finding homes for our stuff. It is important to try to find homes for our stuff instead of filling those ever burdened landfills with our neglect and ignorance. And with that in mind it is important to start the reconditioning process in our minds and behaviors of how and why we acquired in the first place. What voids do we try to fill when we go shopping but that are left empty? It certainly isn’t our garages. They tend to be bursting the doors with our overflow. It tends to be matters of our hearts. Time to turn our hearts to that which can fill us. We all know who that is.

Time

Hey, the hubby is home. But…..he is laboring. Yep….he is putting that wood floor in the girls room. He started on it last night and got nearly half done. Perry was at school and the girls and I sat watching “Roots” while eating homemade pudding I made for the occasion. Yep, we females have it rough around here.

Spoke to Erin yesterday. They have begun the medical process of sending her over. Her arm felt like it was going to fall off from all the inoculations she was given. She started talking about some of the ailments that they end up with over there from things such as bug bites. Nasty business. And I am forever freaked out about the stories of camel spiders.

Still need to find a camera and STILL need to research the best kind of webcam to get. I’m hoping to get a smidge of time to visit with her in this way. Of course whatever time she is given for that sort of thing Jerry has to come first. I’ll settle for whatever scraps we can get. Maybe that is why I am also starting to get more disciplined about the blog. It is just another way for the two of us to stay in touch given the serious time difference we will be in.

It still runs through my mind how she will be over in Iraq for her birthday, Thanksgiving, her wedding anniversary, Christmas and New Years and who knows how long into the year. Funny how we sort things out by the calendar like that isn’t it?

Well, I have errands to run. By the time I get back I’ll have to lend a hand putting furniture back in a room I’m sure. My man is handy and efficient. Not one to dally about.