What a crazy day this last Friday was.

It had been two weeks since our last bible study and my house was messy. There had been so much activity in those past two weeks that I had just let the house tend to itself. The house doesn't do such a good job of keeping itself clean.

Someone had come up with the idea that for the woman's Christmas party we should all make homemade gifts. (I know who that person is and I will get my revenge.) Anyway, I had the added mess from my efforts at making this gift.

Plus, since the before mentioned Christmas party is to be held at my home I wanted to have it decorated in time. So with the help of some special little helpers, there has been some lugging up boxes full of decorations, sorting through those boxes, deciding which decorations to use and which not to, popcorn stringing, a holiday village to set up, and of course hot chocolate drinking. (I'm exhausted just remembering.)

The Blizzard added to our pile of activities and chores. Shoveling, shoveling, and yes, more shoveling. Wet soggy boots line up at the door while gloves and coats seem to find any chair or spot on the floor to rest.

My son attends bible study at the Pastor's house. Earlier in the week he was informed that there would be a potluck on Friday. Bible study starts at 6:30 pm. At 3:30 my precious son whom I love dearly, informs me that he is taking salmon rolls and wants to know if I will help him make them. Knowing that there are none of the ingredients in the house and that he must go out and look for them, I sigh, then agree.

Two hours later, half an hour before people start showing up at our house for bible study, that precious son of mine calls to tell me that he can not find any Leftsa. So he heads home with tortilla shells and I make the salmon rolls while he cleans up the downstairs. And I wonder, Why did I pick today to change and wash all the bedding?

Friday was a crazy day for me, but how many more times will my son ask for my help? How many more days until the day comes when he moves out, into his own life? How many more, until there are no mores?

Friday was a wonderful day, my son asked me for help and I was able to.

I do not like to take a shower or bath when I am home alone.
I feel vunerable.
So I try to avoid it.


Sometimes I do manage to overcome my fear. But the problem is...

The dog must feel vunerable too because he will bark at the slightest noise, real or imaginary. Then he will barge into the bathroom barking at me as if he is alerting me to an impending danger. Then he turns as if he is going to leave me to my solitude. But... oh no, he makes it clear that I MUST follow him to secure the perimeter.

Coward!

Today the UPS guy came and dropped a package at the front door. BOOM!

I guess I'll finish my shower and wash my now wet dredlocked hair after Aaron gets home from school.

So here it is.
Winter has arrived.
I always love the
change of seasons.
So pretty, so new.

I am trying to
stay positive
and not think about
the slick roads
that my family and friends
need to be out on today.



So back to how lovely the fresh fallen snow looks.

Thinking... .. .. . . . .

Ok that is all I have that is positive about the snow. It sure is pretty.

Ever have one of those days where everything comes together to bring you to your knees,
and where the tears flow without control?
Today was one of those days.


But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Psalm 59:16

We started the process to refinance our house this last August. All the paperwork was in, but the underwriter was just sitting on it.

September came and went and we used up our savings to make the house payment.

October came and went and we decided that we could no longer afford to make the payment, so we didn't.

November came and we still could not afford to make the payment so we didn't.

November 4th, the phone rings.

Bank: We are ready to close on your refinance.
Me: Oh?
Bank: You sound confused.
Me: I am because we are behind on our mortgage.
Bank: Yes, I show that you haven't made your October payment.
Me: So you can understand my confusion.

So the bottom line is; we signed papers on the 5th and we don't have to make a payment until December 1st.

With the money we were able to save by not being able to make a payment we will be able to pay off a couple of bills. Which in turn will allow us to stay in this house.

We will have to be frugal, but we can stay.

People say "For the love of Pete" and "For Pete's sake". So the question is: Who is Pete?

Pete is a spider. He has been living above my coat closet for about 3 or 4 weeks. He has only gotten to stay because I am terrified that if I try to squish the little creeper that he will fall on me.

So after the first week of his intrusion, I decided that I could at least keep my eyes on him and not be afraid that he was going to crawl into my clothes or my bed and bite me or worse, crawl into my ear and .... oh that is just to horrible to think about. Well, then I thought that if he was going to hang around awhile that he needed a name. So Pete he became.

Now I have this friend who has a preying mantis. It just so happens that Jessie, the name of her bug, is hungry. So this friend says, just put Pete in a jar and bring him over. Hummmm...I love that idea. One problem. How on earth do I convince Pete to get into the jar. I certainly am NOT going to touch the creepy crawly thing. Well, I decide to lean on my much braver husband for this task. Even if he will make fun of me when I tell him of the dilemma.

After weeks of hanging out in the same spot without so much as moving an inch; imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and Pete was not there.

I feel the terror rising up within me.

Where is he?

UGH!

Well I found Pete. He has found a new location in which to do his hibernating. It just happens to be in the access to the attic. Right above my bedroom door. I have to walk under him in order to get into my bedroom. Well, he certainly can't stay there! Until my hubby gets home I will just have to enter my bedroom via the bathroom.

Spiders like to fall as soon as you are under them!

My husband has worked in trusses for about 20 YEARS. He started out pushing a broom and worked his way up to a design manager. He has worked very hard and has been a dedicated employee. His employers have always recognized and rewarded him for his successes.

Then one company he worked for sold out to a big corporation and to make a long story short...that company no longer exists. So he took a DROP IN PAY to take a new job; he never complained.

Now this company too has sold out to a big corporation. He sees them moving in the same direction. Alot of work has been OUTSOURCED TO INDIA. Who outsources trusses?! In order to save 10 minutes worth of time, they add 15 minutes of paperwork. They have found creative ways to cut costs. Like taking away the ability to use your vehicle to go to job sites and paying mileage. That used to supply enough money to pay for gas all year long. Now they have taken him off salary and put him on hourly using some CREATIVE ACCOUNTING. But at the end of the month our bank account is short $600. Plus the loss of gas money which was over $100 a month.

Ok, so you are probably thinking... the economy. Companies are just trying to survive. I would naturally have thought that too, but this plant is MAKING MONEY.

Consequences: We can't keep our house. FORECLOSURE! In the last 4 years my husband's annual salary has dropped nearly $20,000. We couldn't keep our house now even if we wanted to.

Yes, I said "wanted to". Our plan was to stay in this house for only a couple of years. Then sell it and move to a "permanent home" that fit our needs better. Since the housing market is barely breathing our house VALUE HAS DROPPED $40,000. So selling is not an option. We know, we looked into it.

I have CRIED. No one wants to be put into this situation. Things weren't suppose to happen this way!!! I am angry!!!

Acceptance: I am not there yet, but I will be. My husband and I want so much to have GOD be the focus of our lives. We want to do HIS WILL not ours. Maybe this will allow us to be free in order to serve Him better.

This house and neighborhood causes us so MUCH STRESS. It will be nice to get away from it. I didn't want it to happen this way. To start over at our age is disheartening BUT...

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

I know something good must be going to happen.

During our visit to Montana
this summer I got to go
4 wheeling for a bit.

Behind my parents house is a old fire access road that runs somewhat beside the railroad tracks.

My brother and I decided to ride along this road.

When I was younger I rode horses up on this road, it was a nice smooth road then.

Although I keep calling it a road, it really is more of a trail.

Well anyway, someone got the bright idea to grade this road, unearthing more rocks the size of cantaloupe then one could imagine.

That made for quite a bumpy ride.

But I was still glad for the opportunity
to go.

Last night the family and I sat on the back porch to watch the fireworks. It is quite the experience that we only discovered last year.

Behind our house is a road, then the open space of the golf course surrounded by trees. This makes for an adventure that takes ones imagination off to the time of the Revolutionary War.

As the sun begins to drop down from the sky the sights, sounds, and smells begin. First, we begin to hear the pops echoing from the trees followed by the puffs of smoke rising into the air. It is not difficult to envision revolutionary soldiers within those trees.

As the darkness grows so does the spectacle. Before we know it, we are surrounded on all sides by a sky filled with "bombs bursting in air". Reds, golds, and blues all raining down around us.

A smoky mist begins to encircle us and our breath fills with the aroma of the blasting powder.

The "cannon fire" echoes from one edge of our line of sight and back from the other. Our windows shudder from the encompassing "Boom".

The chill in the air and our sleepy eyes bring us back to 2010. So off to bed we go falling asleep to the now muted sounds of the Fourth of July.

Heritage Baptist Church wins Best Float Entry

Aaron passing

out tracts.

Kirk jumps
in to help
pass out
tracts.

Pastor is passing

out tracts in

the background.

High School

Cheer Squad

and Band

Kirk and
niece Jordan
wait for the
parade to
start.

Karen, her daughter

Emma, and Brandi, with

her daughters Hannah,

and Abby watch

as the parade

goes by.

Kirk and I recently got the opportunity to spend some time with the children of some very good friends. Thank you for blessing us with your little blessings.

Hannah putting sauce on her pizza.

Timothy finishing up with the pepperoni.



Canadian Bacon and Pineapple was Hannah's pizza of choice. She was cracking me up when it came time to put the pineapple on the pizza. She would put a few pieces on the pizza then eat one and say "Just one more" in her little 3 year old voice. This went on until there were no more 'just one more's'.

Timothy made pepperoni pizza. Aaron was standing by to offer his help, but he didn't need to help much. Timothy did a very good job. He even put the pizza in the oven and took it out. Of course, Aaron was there to help with the oven.

I did it! Turns out it is pretty easy once the pan is the right temperature.









My stack of abelskiver.
(Danish Pancakes)









Kirk being my guinea pig.
I think he likes it.

I was so excited when the box arrived from Lehmans. The box was heavy with the cast iron pan inside. I carefully opened the box and threw aside the paper packaging material. There it was my new pan all wrapped in bubble wrap. Wrapped very well with bubble wrap. With a little effort and help from my teeth I finally got it freed. Darn too busy today to make the aebleskiver. Next day I was too sick. So finally the day came.


I would like to say that all my expectations were met, but nope. I did learn a few things though. The pan must be the perfect temperature before you put the batter in to cook. Not hot enough and the inside cooks before the aebleskiver can be turned. Too hot and obviously they burn. Oh and regular sized toothpicks do not make good turners. I need to get some of those skewer things.


So in my quest for new recipes to incorporate into our boring diet it would appear that I failed with this one. I would like to say instead that it was a learning experience and I will win this battle.

So today is my first opportunity to sleep in for the 6 months or so and what do I do. I get up at 5 a.m.

Why is this?

Yesterday, was such a difficult day. Saskia and her mother returned home to Germany. The airport was a nightmare. After getting their confirmations for there flight before going to bed the night before, we arrive at the airport only to find that Saskia's flight had been canceled. It took 3 hours of tears and stress and a missed flight, but in the end, things finally worked out. The staff of United airlines were fantastic. They worked non-stop trying to get them on a flight for the entire 3 hours.

To make a long story short. I think that God used this as another opportunity to show me that he really does answer prayers.

Then I come home and head over to Brandi's to cry. Well I thought I was going to cry, but I guess since the situation got resolved that I didn't need to cry anymore. I was sad to see Saskia go home but also happy. She was still so ill and needed to be in her own environment.

Ok then I run some errands with Aaron. Almost get in two accidents! I think people forget that there are rules on the road for a reason.

After yesterday I have decided that I am going NOWHERE today. I am just going to sleep in and ...WHAT!

I so want to sleep in. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

My head is spinning! How can this happen? How did that thing grow there? I saw the CAT scan, a big bright white mass right in the middle of her brain with fingers spreading out and into the tissue.

Lord, please give me strength. I had to make the most difficult phone call I have ever had to make. Fortunately, God delivered the strength that I needed. I was a basket case and couldn't have made the call without him.

Met the neurosurgeon. He took me out into the hall to tell me that it's location was "as bad as it gets". I think I need some oxygen!

She just had a headache and some vision problems. We thought it was a migraine. The tumor is growing and pushing on her optical nerve. Now she needs brain surgery!

Sunday Morning:

As we sat in the preop room, Saskia prayed for salvation and a tear rolled down her face as she said "amen".

The clock has never moved so slowly. Brandi and I lay on the couches in the waiting room. It's been a long night of which I don't even remember. What happened to Saturday night? There were people in and out: Pastor, Brandi, my husband, Audrey and her family. They were all there before the surgery at some point.

Hours pass. The surgeon came to talk to us. He said that when he got in there the tumor was dead. It was like an abscess. He said it was "bizarre". They removed it, but had to take some of the pituitary. There could be complications.

So here is a new one to me, coyote hunting. I decided to go along. Can't say you don't like something if you have never tried it. Saskia, our foreign exchange student from Germany, has even agreed to give it a try. Saskia and I just laid in the grass and watched. (Ok, we really laid on a blanket) What are we watching? Well, nothing really. Unfortunatley, we laid in the grass for about an hour and a half and saw nothing but a bunch of birds flying around. Heard nothing but more of those turkeys that I mentioned before, cows, and some crazy bird. I decided to call it a mocking bird. Towards the end of our evening this bird started making this echoing eerie laughing sound as it went from one edge of the tree line to the other. Back and forth and around and around that thing went.

When we got back to the cars we could hear the coyotes come out singing their song as if they were relieved that we finally left the field.

I will say that is was a better way to spend the evening then watching tv. Saskia said that hunting is just like fishing. Sitting around and waiting, then nothing happens.
After hunting we went to Dan Jones' grandma's house for dinner. She is a lovely woman. I was so thankful that she made dinner for everyone. ~jacky

Our friends, Dan and Brandi Jones, invited us out to their property for a hot dog roast. It is out by Lake Cocolalla. Since it is quite a distance from town, we were reminded how dark the night sky can be.

Hannah and Timothy sitting by the fire

While there, we could hear the sounds of the frogs and wild turkeys echoing from beyond the trees. It was nice to lean back in my chair and stare at the stars. There are so many stars out in the country. ~jacky

Kirk and Aaron pose by the fire

I always have something to say. Then I decided to start blogging and sure enough, my mind decided to go blank. I found this clip art on poster.4teachers.org and thought it really showed what state of mind I was in. It is kind of refreshing really. Imagine going through life without any stresses; just kind of meandering through. I shall treasure this moment for as long as I can before life comes comes rushing back in and sending me back to a state of reality. ~jacky