Day 13,696

I am pensive this morning. I just finished reading up on many other bloggers out there, and I am amazed at the extremes. I read about missionaries and their travels, friends finding a dream home, watched the Rachel adoption video (quite a tear-jerker), and even read about a teenager dealing with serious health issues. As I read through the poems and pictures, I felt as though my day is quite uneventful. That can be a good thing, really. And I'm not depressed, just feeling small, I guess. This world is huge and there are so many people out there, some experiencing sheer delight while others deal with pain. I have been in both places and somehow, it makes me thankful for my ho-hum day of buying groceries, planning my calender, picking up my kids from school, and going to choir practice tonight. Funny thing is, I know that it's all in God's care. The mammoth events as well is my kids homework. I am reminded, though, that each day is a gift, it's also a number, too. If, Lord willing, I have 27,300 days to live (75 years), then I am currently somewhere around 13,696. So, whatever I do with my day now, I should do it well. I should set my goals and work hard to reach them. I should run that 1/2 marqathon this year, I should finish college (someday). Because, at best I have only 13,604 days left, Lord willing. :-)


So, this is what my day holds...

Meeting Shannon at "Social Supper's" to book a date and try out a meal, more on that later...

Getting a space heater for Nathan's room becasue it is so cold in there.

Watching over Greg and a friend tackle the double oak tree that collasped on our fence and let 4 cows and a bull out onto our front lawn last night. They even made it to our front porch!

Kids home from school, homework, dinner, church, and finally bedtime.

It may be ordinary, but it's my day, and I will love it.


By the way, a huge CONGRATS to the Burch's. What a JOY to bring that baby home!!!

Happy 10th Birthday, Nathan!

Disclaimer

After that backlash of comments on my most recent post... ahem... I thought I should clarify something. My perspective on the Great Ice Storm of 2007 was very "cushioned," you might say. I know that and was not trying to take away from the sufferings of so many other people in our area. Many of you are still without power and I have offered a warm place to sleep for as long as you like. Some are dealing with the loss of trees, and major damage claims. To that I do not turn a blind eye. For that is my husband's main job right now, handling all that who have business with his company. He is, in my eyes, up for sainthood after last week. My heart goes out to all of you who have shivered in the dark for 10+ days. It is quite creepy to drive by certain neighborhoods of Springfield after dark. I so wish I could help them rewire and be normal again.

So for those of you who happened to read my last post, [and I know you have because I have the counter ( thank you Hillen)], I was just trying to show how much fun we had in the middle of a trial! Really people, let it go! Know that I am the eternal optimist and I try to look for the party in the midst of disaster. By the goodness of kind hearted friends and family, we found some fun!
My Dad always said, and I think this is from Ronald Reagan, too... "If you enter a room filled with manure, start diggin'. Why? Because with all that manure, there's gotta be a pony somewhere!"
So that brings up a question for you, my readers for whatever reason: what blessing did you find? Did you see character blossom, or recieve help from others? did you find a good meal or a hot shower because someone else was nice to you? let me know what you think, if you dare to find the good, if you dare to comment... :-)

Ice Storm 2007: How we passed the time

Oh, I'm so glad everyone I know is still alive! How we have suffered! We lost power for 6 whole days, but are now up and running at full capacity. This is what happened in memo form:

*Pre-ice storm... Our precious Duke got kicked by Cheri, the overprotective Mom of Presley the calf and broke his leg clean in two! Well actually it wasn't so clean, more like 6 chards of bone. This is now Greg's main sidekick, next to me, of course, so Duke had a 2 hour surgery to repair the leg. He will soon be able to do amazing things.... being bionic and all.

*Big breakfast with the card guys who stayed over, that was fun, cooking on my gas stove, I felt so pioneering.

*"When the going gets tough, the tough go to the CHATEAU!" Yep, we really did. And a big THANKS to HelterShelter, I loved it and I am not embarassed to say so!!! You see, we thought this whole power outage scam was about a 2 night deal, so we thought we'd have fun with it, there's stuff for the kids to do AND they allow dogs! It was a white dog convention everywhere. But don't worry, my dogs were the ones NOT wearing sweaters.

* Day 3, out to the Rodery's in Roygersville - fun, games, and my first try at sleeping on a water bed. very sloshy, but so warm!

*Days 4 and 5, back down to Branson, this time we were at Big Cedar! Another shout out to the Lennards for providing this fun, warm, place to sleep, complete with an empty your freezer protein feast one night, a new dressing called "Power Outage Viniagrette," and endless hours of swimming for the kids. I haven't laughed that hard during a game of Taboo in a very long time.

*Day 6, Dinner with the Reynolds, TACOS, yum. But I'm sorry we ate so much! :-) The kids had so much fun there, it just feels like home. I stayed with Greg's Mom while Greg babysat the generators and eventually got to unhook them! Yeah!!

So, Friday we were back up and running, Saturday Nathan had his awesome 10th birthday party, 10 boys, 10 light sabors flashing everywhere. Sunday we went to Nakato to celebrate again!!!

There you have it, our ice storm woes. I have learned to say "yes, thank you," when someone offers me a blessing and I am eager to return the favor any chance I get. I just wish I could do even more...

Finally, my first post of the new year! Some of you consistant bloggers are way ahead of me. However, I personally had a bit of a rough start to 2007.
Here you see a picture of my kids in snow gear - yes, we went skiing the first week of Jan!! A huge shout out to our friends, the Lennard's, for taking us to their place in Beaver Creek, CO. It was a tight fit for traveling with all 11 of us (equalling approx. 15 suitcases) but everyone had a blast. What an awesome place! It's beautiful, so much to do, lots of people from all over the globe, fantastic dining, healthy, more natural lifestyles... I'm wondering if the Lord needs my family's help in starting a church there... Ha.
I could show you many pictures of happy smiling kids, friends, mountains, etc., but the truth is, I didn't take but a few. So all the shots I have are courtesy of Miss Suzanne who happily hosted my week. She cooked all the meals, gave me medicine, picked up a sick Nathan from ski school one day, and flat out took care of all of us. I now call her "Mother." It's hard to be so sick when on vacation, I only stepped outside the condo into that fresh mountain air 2 times in 5 days. I regretted both times. Bronchitis set in deep with a fever and quickly the highlight of my day came when I could take another dose of Tylenol. I traded in my lift ticket and all my gear for a nice visit with a Resort Doctor who came to my room with the much needed antibiotics, and left with my right arm. ($$$)

Ahh, but it's Colorado, and how can you go wrong there??? Although I was sick, I still think the entire trip was well worth it. The kids went to ski school for 3 days, Lauren only 2 days. And here is my quick thought on that: it may be expensive, but WOW, it was worth the investment. All 3 had a great time, loved their instructor, and now can enjoy it anytime we want to go. They each have the basics down and will just build on the skill level every chance they get.

Greg's highlight - skiing all of day 3 with his 12 year old daughter who not only kept up with him, but even beat him down the mountain a few times! Green slopes no more, they were hitting the Blues!! and Lauren with NO POLES!

"Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; O Lord, thou PRESERVEST man and beast." Psalm 36:6 I'm not sure who the beast was last week, but we all were preserved and made it home safe!!

So we're all home now and settling into this new year, a new schedule, new challenges, goals, and dreams. Rough starts can be just that, a rough start and ONLY a rough start. There were just too many other great things that happened to our family to think of it as a bad sign. Here it is, Jan 10th, and I am resolve not to make any resolutions, but I will set goals. I may even share some of those with you here in my online journal... But for now, let's just get started.

Have a great day!!