Because Hugging is Important

Three days ago, Jesse was cleaning up at the shop and managed to get a corrosive substance on his face and in one of his eyes. He immediately went to the bathroom and proceeded to wash it off. Amazingly, he didn't even have redness in the white of his eye, let alone any trouble with his vision. We are so thankful. Every time I see him, hug him, kiss him, I think it again. I am grateful that this incident was simply that: an incident.

Hug your people today. 

On Adulthood, Responsibilities and Kittens

You may be wondering at the lack of posts. So have I. Each time I open my blog to write, there is nothing in my head to write about. That does not mean that nothing is happening. Everything is happening. Lol. Life kicked into gear and is taking us on what feels like a roller coaster ride. It feels good to work, even if I don't want to get up in the morning. Knowing that I've helped put food on the table or, that extra is being put away for renovations or trips, feels really good. And to have a husband who has the strength and character to maintain a steady job is a real God-send.

Life has been a bit bumpy for us the last couple of months. One thing after another. Bills, bills upon more bills. Not much income coming in for a month or so. God provided for us, though. And, we are happy. We have grown closer together; love being a sweet, sweet thing. I am so thankful.

Among the hiccups have been some amusing moments. For instance: we live on the Whitebear Resort, which is lovely. We have to get our water hauled in. Most of us resort people have big water tanks which are filled by a water hauler once a month, or as often as needed. As you well know, my sister Lydia came to live with us in June. Since then, our water consumption has been more. Which means that our tank empties at a faster rate. However, we never seem to calculate this. The past three months, we've ran out of water. Each time, there has been some reason we can't get water for approximately three days. That's an interesting state of affairs. That means having to use the outhouse or the great outdoors/thick underbrush repeatedly for 72  hours. (Please tell me there aren't any rabid skunks in the neighborhood!) Also, this means we have to run over to Jesse's parents house for water to drink. Thankfully, the previous owners of the house left a nice 7 gallon water container for such emergencies. (Jesse  likes to haul this around full so I can see his muscles pop out.) (I love his muscles.) You may be asking why this situation proves so amusing to me. 5 words: Three months in a row.

We took part in the play put on by Cornerstone Theatre. On Friday, my father-in-law and a friend were trying to bring an elderly patron upstairs via the elevator. It promptly broke, of course, and since there were several other waiting riders, they had to fix it. After they had been gone for awhile, my husband went to see if how the repairs were progressing ... and found them locked in the elevator. Through the glass, they tried to give Jesse instructions. Doug said, "You need to find the emergency key for the elevator..."  At that moment, my father-in-law held up something and remarked, "I think it's in here with us." Doug actually banged his head against the wall. Then he remembered there was a second one... Jesse had them out before five minutes had passed. Lol. They were the tech crew for the play, too. Invaluable to the production. Kinda scary when you think about it. Haha!

Then there's teaching; 17 students. Christmas planning. Jesse's birthday planning. Trying to not get the cold that Lydia is getting over and Jesse is coming down with.

On top of it all is Mr. Fox. 

\
Jesse's cousin discovered a very miserable kitten hanging around their porch last week. She thought it was a she. And she thought she should bring this wee, adorable feline over to my inlaws' place. My mil and sil in turn thought of Lydia, who had mentioned wanting a cat. Long story short, "she" turned into a "he" and his name is "Mr. Fox". He is cute, small, about 6 weeks old, has no horrible diseases and Snow is even starting to like him. ;-)

So, life in all it's wonderful busy-ness... Love it. Hate it. Revel in it. I'm living every day with my love and life is goodness. :-) 

Michelangelo

If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master.

My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be 
 through Earth's loveliness.

Life & Caramel Apples

This morning is all about getting ready for the afternoon. You get up, get dressed, clean the house, practice the piano, research, study, run errands... For breakfast, I ate some apple pie leftover from Thanksgiving: the top is still crackly with sugar and cinnamon. I adore apple pie. If I were Snow White, the wicked step-mother of the fairy tale would have to slightly change her methods of poisoning. "Here, love. Have a slice of pie." "Is it apple?" "Yes, my dear, certainly is." "Is it poisoned?" "Yes, love, it is."

Who cares about little details like that when apple pie is involved? :-)

I am officially into my second week of teaching. The students arrive in good humor and less shy than they were last week. Yesterday, they were all trudging up the driveway through the mud and landed on our doorstep two inches taller in ruined shoes. Poor peoples! Megan made me laugh when she left... she kicked her shoe and mud flew everywhere. Some of it hit the house... some of it landed high in the trees... some of it ended up on her mother. (Which is why I stopped laughing as soon as I could.) 

This has to be the start of my favorite season. I know why they have so many holidays in the winter: we need a reason to celebrate. The cold here can be simply unbearable and dull.. I so enjoy having a reason to bake and cook and buy gifts for people. On Sunday, we had Thanksgiving dinner with Jesse's extended family. We had chicken. Chicken is definitely my favorite fowl. It's moist and has that lovely chicken taste that (despite the rumors) nothing else in the world has. 

Next along is Jesse's birthday, Halloween, Christmas, New Years... 

I bought cream today so I could make caramel apples. Any friend care to join us? :-)

You know, when I began teaching I never thought I would be pushed so hard and so far out of my comfort zone. No one person is the same. I prefer folk, hymns, celtic... music I consider gentle and beautiful. And yet, I am endeavoring to each musicals, rock, country. If I am to teach these genres, I must find something to appreciate in them. I must learn to love something in them. Thank goodness that there are elements in every genre that I am already comfortable with. It does not matter what type of music it is, there are certain qualities that are always the same in good music. The fundamentals, the love and passion the artists express into the songs/tunes, talent, effort/hard work... and we all need to understand these qualities before we can understand any type of music. 

Back to the subject! I love being pushed far beyond my limits. I love getting advice from my husband and other musicians. I love it when I have to wrack my brain in the middle of a lesson to find the best worded answer. I love hearing parents tell how much they like the motivation their children are expressing. And yes, before each lesson, I am scared. I pray and search my heart (soul) and mind (intelligence/knowledge) for the best means possible of teaching this individual who has come to me to learn. 

Without teaching or performing (or some other form of musical expression) it is very easy to let what you have sit and mold in the corner. Because of my job, I am forced to grow in ways I never would on my own. In this way alone, teaching is a life changer. 

And now, I shall get off my apple box and get on with my day. If there are any students or their parents reading, thanks for helping me become a better person.

I am wishing you all the best of Wednesdays. May you find some joy today!

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. -- Thomas Jefferson

A Little Nonsense

They say when you have nothing to say, you shouldn't say it. But I'm going to anyhow. ;-)

1: I am enjoying being lazy today.

2: I am also enjoying Natural Bakery Canadian Rye Bread. I think it's the best bread ever. Soooo delicious.

3: Michele whisked the rest of my cookies out of the house this afternoon to give to people. It's a good thing too because I had cravings for chocolate this morning and to be alone in the house with *it* sitting on the counter is not wise.

4: This morning, I found out what I needed to begin the process for acquiring my driver's license.

5: I spelled "acquired" correctly first try. So happy. :-)

6: I watched 3 Hayao Miyazaki films this afternoon: My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Porco Rosso. Courtesy of my friend Jesse. So thankful to have had a chance to encounter these tales and learn from them. For those of you who are interested in the details of story making, watch this man's films. These are great stories.

7: I should go eat supper.

8: I had a blueberry smoothie with my ham sandwich at dinner. It settled wonderfully.

9: I feel good right now.

10: I am anxious to get completely better so I can dig into the Nutella in the cupboard. ;-)

11: I am fulfilled at this moment. There is Someone who can satisfy all your longings and overflow your heart with joy.

12: I love making lists... especially ones that are partly serious and partly nonsensical!

Life has been interesting.... :-) We got a new strain of the cold we had just gotten over, so some of us have been fighting it again. Thankfully today I woke up feeling much better!

It's good to realize that one can indeed live without a computer but I must say, I really miss writing. I will be so glad to have my laptop working again!

Sara is starting to talk. The other day, she wanted something and I told her that she needed to say "Please" so she did. :-) Then, yesterday, I spotted her and waved, saying, "hello!" and she responded by saying the same thing back to me. It's so cute! I can't get over how fast she's maturing. Ruth didn't start talking until she was over 2 years old. :-) I'm sure Sara will be walking before too long, as well.

Hi!

Greetings to all! Right now, I am sitting in the Wal-mart parking lot, hoping that I'll get another internet connection before we leave town. :-)

Life has been going along smoothly and happily for us. :-) Well, mostly. Except for the normal scratches and bruises and arguments that seem to punctuate our existence, things are just fine.
The family has been going to look for land a couple times or more a week. I happened to go with them once earlier last week... we found some beautiful land up by Duck Mountain. It was almost mountainous, with creeks running through it at the bottom. There were many trees... birch, poplar, evergreen, etc. It was perfect ranch country. :-) The R.M. Map showed that the land in that area all belonged to one family. 5 brothers who were all older, if names can be any indication of age. :-)

Dad called one of the brothers... although they aren't ready to sell right now, he was very friendly and gave Dad several names of people in the area who might be interested in selling their property. Nothing has come up of that yet, however.

Sara is growing like a flower in summer weather with just the right fertilizer, sunshine and rain. She's really starting to smile a lot... especially just after she's just woken up.

Well, I have a connection so should post this. :-) Thanks for all the comments on my last post. I do appreciate them! :-) And Samantha, I am 5'3". :-) Shorter than you. You could reach the top shelf in the kitchen cupboards. LOL! :-D

Life... isn't it exciting? :-)

After all the excitement of moving and Sara's birth, life has slowed down a bit. Dad has not pursued looking at much property while Mom is recovering (and can't exactly go along), but on Sunday (the 29th), they went and looked at two pieces. The first one being an old train depot that had been turned into a house. The owners are unique in their way of life... for instance, they hold to a Russian tradition of throwing their empty glasses at a wall when they are finished with their drink. Glass shards littered the floor in one corner of the living room. To get the house in a livable/workable condition for us, it would take an immense amount of work. It's too bad because living in a retired train depot would have been a lot of fun. :-)

But the trip was not all wasted. A friend of ours went along for the ride and directed them to another piece of property which they liked very much. The only thing about this one is that no one is sure it's for sale (the owner had to abandon it because he was too old and feeble to take care of it and himself)... so we're doing our best to contact the owner.
Cilla (7) informed me today that Sara is tall for her age. :-)

Speaking of age... on April 1st, Sara will be two weeks old! How quickly time flies. Before we know it, she'll be a month old. :-) She is growing and changing a lot. Hannah took some pictures today that I will (hopefully) be posting for your pleasure. :-)

A bit of an update on my health: I have been dealing with fatigue and lack of energy since we moved. I had two and a half good days, today being the last day. I am not sure what is causing it. I am trying to be careful and obeying all of my rules. :-) We are trying to locate a dr. who can do the vitamin C drips for me as I need one or two more to make sure I have kicked what I had totally. Sometimes homeopathic/natural drs are very difficult to see in Canada (not due to eyesight problems, btw :-P) as in some cases one must schedule an appointment 6-9 months beforehand. If it appears it's going to take that long to get a drip, I am not sure what will be happening. Your prayers for God's will to be done are appreciated. :-)

Lately, I have been struggling a lot with fear and worry. I was saying all the right things with my mouth ... “God is in control.” “Isn't God good?” “He has orchestrated my life just fine so far... I can trust Him in this, too!” but I forgot to let my heart know about all of that. This afternoon, I was having a bit of devotions and talking with my Lord when He suddenly opened my eyes to what I was doing. I feel ashamed and so very grateful. :-) Ashamed that it took so long for me to realize how worry and fear were taking the place of my joy and peace. Grateful that God took the time to show me and help me make amends. :-)
I am still thinking the same thoughts but catching a glimpse of what I am actually saying... “Isn't God good?” He is. He's loving, kind... just, wrathful... patient, friend to the friendless... yet pitiless in some instances.... and many other things that I don't take the time to think about often enough. I am trying serve God... and He is awe inspiring.
And yet, what does it all come down to?
“...we love him because he first loved us...”
Get your definition of love right and that verse will knock your socks off. ;-)