Tagged I'm it *6 Qurkey things about me"

"Heart of the Prairie"
Has tagged me for 6 quirky things about me? Thank you for showing interest.

1. I like my bed sheets to be really clean and never polluted by kid dirt or pet hair. I have asthma so I will get all stuffed up and cough if the kids get the dog hair or dust on my pillow. I thrill with 300 thread count (or higher) cotton linens. The texture is so soft and wonderful. Like sleeping in a cloud.
2. I have had the same hair style for 28 years. With the exception of a wave or two, and bangs or not. My hair is baby fine and straight. It does not curl. I just started to use a hair coloring a shade lighter than my own less than a year ago other than that I never colored it. I have worn it long. It is my Beloveds' delight.
3. I am a collector of fabric, beads and anything like art supplies, books and kitchen tools. I love to be surrounded with good tools and supplies so when the mood strikes me I have what I need (usually I hit the clearance racks and just find those types of things cheep) After years of doing this however I have an excess!
4. In all my artistic vigor I would rather give my creations than to sell them. Selling is very odd for me. I have sold a lot of jewelry and crafts in shows, but I think I like just giving it to people so much better. Same with crafts and created things. It is just so full of fun and joy to give.
5. I can communicate with wild things. It used to be that on those long walks I would take that wild birds would land on me and butterfly's and such. I can tell a fly to go to the door and I'll let them out or they die, and they would go to the door. This has been witnessed by many people who know me. I really miss nature.
6. I absolutely soak up beauty like a sponge. I feel it absorb into me. I see it everywhere. The love of color and texture, the sounds of beautiful music envelop me. I can see it in things that are not so to some. I can see the beauty hidden in even the most unlovely things and people. Sorta like being ultra optimistic. I usually can see beauty evolve like a vision and then I try to gently coax or force it open like a rose bud teasing open the peddles.


I forgot the rules part so I am to do the following...

~Link to the person that tagged you
~Post the rules on your blog
~Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
~Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
~Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website

The people that I am specifically tagging for this meme are:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Thankful Thursdays *Making decissions*

Talked with a Realtor last night. Then a long distance phone call came in ... then Beloved had a Mens meeting to go to and had to leave shortly after that. We never really got a chance to talk. This morning we spoke very little before he had to be off for work. This evening we are going to get together to crunch numbers to gain data and then do our pro/con work sheet.
We have many variables.

This is how Mr Uncommon and I make difficult choices.

After we have prayed about it we then to a pro con sheet with all the data collected and varied counsel. Counsel will always come with a bias. (ie the Realtor wants in your pocket too.) Everyone wants in your pocket bear that in mind. Although a workman is worthy of a wage just remember that some will be trickier and greedier than others.
The seller will always say "it is good" and the buyer will always say "it is worth less". There is even a proverb about this.
We have data to collect and will use a mortgage calculator to do so. We will determine some of the Pros and Cons that is costs and gains.
We will then list three options. A column for Pro and one for Cons (costs and gains). We will print out the data and collect a varied counsel. There is wisdom in a multitude of counsel. Varied by bias, knowing what the bias of your counsel is will help you to seek motive if any.
For every decision to make there will always be benefits and costs.
But are the benefits worth the costs, what are you willing to give to gain? That is the place where free will comes in. When choices are made in this fashion the Cons are the loss that one is willing to sacrifice and when it gets hard you know why you chose what you chose. Your YES can be YES and you NO can be NO. You remove the double mindedness.
We have found out some disturbing news and have to look at that. We will have to take out a small mortgage to afford a starter house and the amount has an enforced minimum higher than what we wanted to do. (mortgages must be no lower than 60k, and with that the interest rate is above prime. If you take out a Home Equity line of credit then you have a much higher interest rate. ) If you want prime interest rates you have to borrow 100k or more that make 30 years of high payments even if you pay it off sooner the payment remains high just for a shorter time frame.
Con for us is that with a higher payment even though we would pay it off much faster we would not have the $ to fix it up or to do the travel that we desired to do while the kids are young. Tricky stuff!
Then as the final determining factor we... "let the peace of Christ be the final determining factor in what so ever we say or do." That is an agreed upon peace where we each will go before God and do nothing unless we agree or at worst I will defer as spouse and trust in Gods covering. Not fewer than once in our 25+ year marriage I have witnessed Gods intervention even at this point. Visa versa as well if I have felt VERY strongly "The MR." has deferred, and if I was wrong God intervened too. Sometimes Gods intervention was in way of a hard lesson but one that needed to be learned.
You know,... I learned the Pro/Con process form Mr Uncommon a few years into our marriage because I would just lock up or like most people do "toss a coin" (so to speak) or look for signs and then think "I must not of heard from God" or if it went well think "I must of heard from God" (Pride or opposite,... still pride). Well I think when I was a babe there was a lot of grace but now as I am no longer a babe mature methods must be used. They are a lot less spooky too :)

Wordless Wedensday

Good Morning!

Wow what a strange night.
I slept very little .
I found myself up throughout the night with full on board celebratory exuberant excited full of anticipation joy!
The idea of being debt free! Or much closer to it.
The idea of still even in a total life change ,a socio economic free fall into a lesser home a more humble neighborhood there is a freedom. I am so relieved the thought of the loss of stress over every dime and making ends meet every month. What freedom awaits me. It is funny really we worked our whole lives gaining more raising up in home ownership, accomplishing such luxury only to see the very great cost it takes to do so. Oh how much I have waisted!

When we lost our high end job 5 yrs ago we went down in wage 2/3's yet we have managed to stay and now to choose to let it go to have that free choice!
We do not have to leave because we could stay and live here scraping by and all.
We have a choice, many do not.
I am so relieved to think of the freedom to do things with and for our children and for others.
To once again have extra to share... I am so excited.
I know that all will unfold in HIS perfect timing.

Well Dash is wanting me to build Lego's gotta run.
What freedom there is in JOY!

This is an excerpt from a devotional that Short Bear sent me this morning...
Because joy is a deeply-rooted confidence that God is in control, it only stands to reason that the highest joy will come through the greatest pain. But that only happens when we choose the right attitude toward pain. Here it is!

James 1:2-3 Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. (NLT)

When was the last time you threw a party to celebrate the trials and storms in your life? God’s ways are higher than our ways and most human reactions are in direct opposition to the paradoxical ways of God. Honestly, there are times when what He has asked me to do simply does not make sense – to me. And there we find the problem. Faith is a matter of blind obedience, not human logic. At the heart of every storm is victory – waiting to be claimed!

What storm is raging in your life today? What step do you need to take in order to experience His strength for that storm? Your Father stands ready to meet you in your darkest hour. He longs to wrap His arms around you until the winds die down and the waves are stilled. Right now – surrender. Celebrate the storm that dashed your battered life on the shores of His unyielding love.

That was pretty rich.

Dash made a Lego Captain Under pants...

Captain Underpants by Dove

Young at Heart and Blessing Awards

Care O' Lynn over at "Talk to Grams" gave a hug and a smile today with this set of awards.
Thank you so much for these awards!
Here are the rules:
The blessing is as follows:The idea…it’s a game of tag with a difference, rather than looking inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for 3 blog friends. By participating in this endeavor we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to. If you receive a bloggin’ blessin’ please leave a comment on this thread here so that we can rejoice in just how many blessings have been sent around the world.

This is the Young at Heart award
I look forward to passing them on this evening after my days work.
Thank You Carolynn.

It is official!

We meet with the Realtor tomorrow!EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have so much to do to ready this place. My laundry is so undone and the dog poop needs to be scooped and , and and ....
Oh I am so excited I love that I am excited for this new adventure. Making it official today is a real help. I have had good referrals and went with a lady who is with Realty Executives. We used that group last time with good results. My sister referred me to a real go getter who sold and help purchase for her more than once. I spoke with the woman and she is full of positive news. With the rates so low were in a good market for a high end home to sell. This is so powerfully charges with energy I am trusting all will wash out beautifully. One step in front of the other. I must walk courageous in this new adventure. I want to be debt free too. This has never really seamed like "home" to me it always felt temporary. We lived in the other home 14 years that was a "home". I know that there is a place that is my "home" to raise the children and rest in around the corner. I know that it is now a time of full on diligence and hard work. Oh Man I am excited and ...and ...everything two times!

Tackle It Tuesday

Good Morning!

This is my first tackle after getting the other one to school.
This little fellow can not go to school today. Pink eye treatment and 24 hours off contact with others.

This has been the most difficult challenge, putting eye drops into the eyes of a child who is afraid and non compliant!
Nothing to relieve the fears, however he let me do it last night when daddy man was holding him he was such a grown up trooper...Not this mornig!

So He is now medicated and the emotions of this Mom worn...
Man that is hard to do eye drops when a kid is bent on you not doing it. At least he did respect me enough not to run away and refuse like yesterday. He just is really afraid of it.
I think it was harder on me :)

So It is Star Wars and Lego's this morning for Dash Hawk and school at mid day is he is up to it.
I am not sure if I will take him or not. He is doing much better his ear is already feeling much better too.

Tax time again!
In the bag is all the medical from last year! Can you imagine....
I need to dead file the former years properly
And to refile the safe with the necessities.

I need to file all of this big mess!
The dead filing must get done so the other can fit into the file drawers. This is so undone and embarrassing! What a mess! When you have two special needs kids the paperwork alone is a nightmare! I must get a handle on it.
Taxes also need preparation work. At least the medical is accomplished.

Good Evening!
Sorry for the side ways shot it would not rotate right. So Now it looks like this.
The file drawer is now 2008.
2007 is boxed and ready for the tax info to be removed,and itemized.
It is a lot closer to finished.

However my table still looks like this...All the tax stuff is in one box however .
The stuff for the safe is together ready to be organized.
Beloved is working overtime tonight so I might get a bite taken out of this too.

I did get my corner swept and dusted.
I have so many tasks to do I must get the sewing center packed up so I'll need to complete half done tasks that matter.
I packed up a bin of fabric, leaving out the Easter prints.
Karen W.
The eye drop trick worked great!
Thank you!

Happy Day!

Dash to the Doctor first thing thinking he had a ruptured ear drum....Rejoice with me! It was ear wax not blood that was seaping out the ear. It is infected but it did not rupture. Got the medications for the ear and for the eye infections. We had a nice movie together "Teribithia". What a sweet son I have. If I could just get him to keep his hands off everything. He is contagious and I don't wany it to get passed around.

Passing on the awards

I have in my heart to offer all of you such a kindness as I have received recently. For those of you here listed have swam upon my heart in the tides of this day. Rain drizzling life into my world. You are all a gift too me. May I offer you these awards as a token of gratitude...

"Gabi's World"

"Fruit in Season"

"An Island Life"

"Little red hearts from God"

"Scamps Place"

"Shorty Bear"

"Miles to go before I sleep"

"In the Life of a child"

"Three peas in a Pod"

"Just a Mom and that's more than enough"

"Laughing through the tears"

"Living and loving every minute of it"

"Just a Mom"

"yesu garden"

"Unlicensed Mommy"

"Life in the midst of writing"

"Photo Daughter of the King"

"Pieces from Me"

Beautiful rainy day!

Wow it is splendid here! We all spent a good hour or two out in the yard on this wet day! It is so fantastic to all be together in our yard playing/working in the rain. The children donned their slickers and played in the puddles while Mr Uncommon fixed our gutters . They were clogged and coming off the side of the roof. I went over to the side of the property to feed the birds to find the gutters on the east side being pulled off by the weight of the rain. In the desert you don't think to clean out the rain gutters there is so little to clear (mostly just accumulated dust).
The neighbor lady gave my hubby a new drill for screwing her gutters back up. He was very awkward about receiving it, but I told him that perhaps that "is" Gods provision. He would rather the invisible reward. Here we needed it the drill today. I helped him clean the dirt and leaves out and he fixed both sides of the house. He had screwed the west side tight last year to find they had worked themselves loose. So now they are good and secure. I weeded the front gravel while enjoying the children in the rain.
Dash has Pink Eye bummer so he will need to get some help tomorrow. Last time they told us that it is best to run its course. so I'll have him home next week.

Sunday Smiles

Last night Mr Uncommon came up to me and just held me. Tenderly he shared that while he was in the shower he was praying. He then said..."You are so beautiful!" and held me melting in his arms. The children sitting on the sofa behind me were jabbering and Mr Uncommon smiled at them with such relief in his face. His burden lifted in the thought of a move out from under this mortgage.

Then this fine morning Mr Uncommon came into the kitchen and greeted me with such a peaceful glee and tender delight, a sweet smile of relief upon his face. Girls I think I am going to be moving.

My Sweet Dove gave Rena (the golden retriever) some chicken broth on her kibbles. She has such a caring heart.
Dash came in again this morning to make his own eggs. Yesterday he all but made mine for me.

He is so capable and so proud of himself.

My beloved has an upper respitory infection and Dash has Pink eye. Oh Life!
You know it is a strange thing but I have always felt that this is a temporary home for us. I have really enjoyed this building I always felt like I was living in a resort house. I sorta feel excited too. There is so much to do. The market and all of that feels of little consequence for if indeed this is the path we are set upon I just know it is all well with my soul. I have seen so many wonders in my few years upon this earth. I think that it is going to be a real good thing. I have grown so wherry of listening too the anguish in Mr Uncommon s voice and the depression on his face. I really just look forward to being free of all of that. I want my Beloved back. He is an uncommon man. I know he is a man that loves God. Thats what I prayed for some 25+ years ago. Well we will be having too down size too. When I think of the labor and the sell out of property that feels a little overwhelming. I think it will be good to rent a storage shed. Funny how the very first thing the economy...well that does not seem to concern me near as much as the just getting ready to sell. Think of if little to no debt. Wow. we are older now 46 and 51 with children the age of our pears grand kids. We will be in such a better place for his retirement. This place is such a palace with so many amenities. I have been spoiled with all of it so long. I hope my flesh does not give me too big a fits :)

Bren here is my Color palate You asked for...

I love the blues and purples together or the yellow and greens.
The Kitchen has the burgundy, browns, yellow and greens.
Really all the colors are represented around the house.
The walls of the Main living room/dining room are the pale greens.
My kitchen walls are the dusty pale beige browns.

I hope that answers your questions. I am so excited about the pay it forwards. I need to finish my last one and get them mailed. I'll be here today if you would like to call.

Pounderings

My husband and I have been talking about and investigating different options we have for our lives together. What give and take is there for the considerations. We are reviewing our present financial and future Prognosis. So The big question before us is do we sell out this house and buy down maybe even buy way down and be free and clear of debt. Not just a little stressful, but at the same time sorta thrilling to think we could be able to do things with our children that our present mortgage prohibits us from. We long to be debt free and we researched all of the costs we have and have found no way to really cut cost much farther. We live at our means. So we just may sell the house. If we can find a house that we could move into and live comfortable down sizing property we just may do it. I trust that if it is Gods will for us it will all work out. Our last home sold in two weeks at tax time (unheard of). A man who spoke fluent Russian bought it and signed at the curb. He asked me if I spoke Russian and I told him we were hoping to return to Russia for a second child. So I know that if it is to happen that our lives are sheltered under the wing...
Refinancing is still a debt that lasts a long time. I think we are going to talk to a Realtor.
We prayed together tonight to try to understand His will for us . We just keep dancing around the same pole. As tired of this as my readers must get imagine how tired I am off it:)
We have had some benefit though we are getting a few things accomplished. Beloved did the master bedroom threshold. It has been a year and a month in the cue. Ya! its done. We will have a lot of down sizing and sorting to do. It is all a step by step job. Wonder what the future holds, not doubt it is the best thing for us. I sure have had a privilege to live in this house so long. I hope the next one will fit us well. It is a good thing I'm getting help for the stress in my neck....Ha!

My My awards galore :)

Thank you Denise for all the cuteness! How fun. You warm my heart with these and gave me a smile.

Aloha Friday

What do you like best about WHO you are?

Everyday Kindness

Jaye over at "just a Mom" sent me this... KINDNESS AWARD I give this to,,,,,
Donetta , now Donetta gives out so much sweet kind things on her blog.

Thank you very much Jaye I'll have long lists to pass this one on to. So many many of you have offered me kindness.

Thank God no disc involvement.
MRI on my neck is normal.
Thats what working too hard and being too stressed out did for me.
I strained it.

Thursday Thirteen *time out*

I took a time out this week. I did not do my meal plan menu, nor did I do a tackle on Tuesday. I set a side the Wordless Wednesday and just fled back to my youth for a "time out".
Thirteen things I discovered...

1. I really needed a break from meme's
2. I have been driving myself with the meme's instead of them just being prompts.
3. I had a nice day and got a lot accomplished in a very relaxed way.
4. I let meme's be my motivator (human doing verses human being) instead of following the goose ( Holy Spirit).
5. My numbers dropped and that was a challenge for me. I have aloud myself to be driven by the number of hits. I have been motivated by the number of hits to the blog.
6. I desire my compassion for others to be my motivator.
7. I want to have this blog compliment my life and not find my self hood in it.
8. There are several of you who genuinely love and care about me.
9. I do not have to perform or post exceptional post every day. It is too exhaustive to do tutorials every day. I need to slow down.
10. I can share my knowledge without exhausting myself. I can simply be me.
11. I was becoming addicted to blogging it was flooding my every thought.
12. Balance is beautiful. My focus became skewed, I want to share my experience strength and hope. My weaknesses are a part of that, I do not have to always be strong. Even if the numbers drop I can still be real.
13. Although I care about each of you, my readers, there are several of you who I have come to know and love personally. I care deeply about you all as individuals.

Sound Advice

Perfect devotional for me today, Thank you Denise.

Sound Advice

Read Exodus 16:1 through 18:27

Kathryn complains, “I feel like I’m always rushing around, always stressed. With family, work, church—my life is so busy! And I can’t seem to say ‘no!’” In some circles, stress has almost become a status symbol. However, there are times that it is necessary to “cut back” on one’s responsibilities to maintain health and peace of mind.

Moses once faced a similar problem. As God’s appointed leader, the newly-freed Israelites came to him to seek God’s will. Whenever they had a dispute, Moses would act as a judge to settle the issue. His father-in-law, Jethro, was concerned.

Moses father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone” (Exodus 18:17–18).

Jethro offered some sound advice. He suggested a plan to appoint capable men to assist Moses in the work. The work load was evaluated, and distributed among responsible men. Moses was able to handle his responsibilities.

Challenge for Today: Feeling stressed out? Evaluate your work load and set priorities. If necessary, cut back!

Quicklook:Exodus 18:17–23

Yep this one must have been written just for me!

Thankful Thursday

The mountain air is pure and clear and I wish to my soul that I could always be there...but
There is a reason for living way down in the valley that only the mountain knows....

I have been in a valley for a while grieving I think. Coming to terms with the thing I last wrote about on my other blog. Sometimes in life messages run deeply as the river down in the valley. Some rivers run to the sea. It is my hope that soon this one will run into the sea. Lies forge deep cliffs and the edges are steep as a gorge cut through. Flushing out the lies and exposing them the river runs wild and awash with rapids. I know in my head that the events were not my fault by a lie runs as the rapids do, treacherously cutting and scaring the topography. I am cut deep.
It is in the great forge that I traverse many stones and sharp edges of time. Hiking through to the other side. Climbing steep ravines.
These hikes make one strong yet week in the knowledge that I must be week to gain HIS strength. It has been in my own strength that I stumbled upon the stones that are scattered across my daily path. Some stones need to be picked up and tossed aside and other to be stepped around and avoided. Having the wisdom to know the difference ...ahh it is the lesson of the valley. I am grateful and humbled by the valley. For it in itself gives cause to gaze up at the mountain.

Good night sleep tight.

I rested most of the day. After I went to therapy I just did the dishes and some laundry and just took it easy. My sweet husband checked on me and brought me the heating pad a few times. He is so loving and kind. He is watching a movie in his office.
I need to go to CRS (children's rehab) on Friday. I'll do the financial and it will be finished. I look forward to that not hanging over me. I'll miss my beloved because he will start up the overtime again. He is so wonderful in his presence. A lot of men pursue wealth at the loss of their families my beloved works everyday never tardy or absent frivolously. He is such a generous provider. I love how he has his family the priority not the dollar. I know that God is our provider. I think I have taken a lot upon myself that I need to trust God more for. It is that balance of responsibility. The thing over the jacket really took so m of my steam away. I worked on it and it was not acceptable due to the culture. I do miss home schooling my kids a lot. I think my days are sorta lonely. That makes me think of the gift of loneliness is reaching out. I need to get myself into the Word more and find fellowship in the loving manual of my days.
We received a nice invitation for a Valentines evening out. I am looking forward to it. We also will be doing some hockey lessons that I found out about for free. There is another party (a going away party) for a young couple that I have known the wife from her infancy. They are leaving to spend a year in Germany.
My neck is sore and so sitting here at the computer is uncomfortable. The doctors office has not received any news on the MRI. That could be a good thing?
My sweet children found me asleep on the sofa at 7:30 p.m.. I got loving hugs and cuddles. Daddy man did story time. I spent my evening watching (flipping channels in boredom) T.V. Wow I do not miss T.V. We do not have cable so I just watch whatever is on. The shows are so bad and dark of murders and lies and just yuck! That was the first evening I watched in a very long time.
My head hurts so I'll close for now.
I hope all of you have a wonderful nights sleep.
~Donetta

A New Day

Today is a new day.
Full of promise and full of life
When I see my husbands eye in few moments
When I hand him his lunch...
I will remember...
This is a NEW DAY.

When I see my Son walking in with his blanket
I will remember this is a new day.
As I crack his eggs
and pack his lunch...
As my Daughter enters and shares her morning hugs
This is a NEW DAY.

Today as I see all that is undone
as my hands tend to dirty dishes
as I turn the knob on the washing machine...
as I pass by the mirror it shows me my face
I will smile and remember
This is a New Day.

I will remember my needs are met
My skills are useful
but that is not who I am.
I will remember I am so much more than the skill I employ.
It is in the inner beauty that I am adorned.
Within my heart relationship is born.

It is not in all that I have known
nor in all that I might need to do...
It is not in those numbers or that tossed aside pattern
I've sewn.Or in that meal plan to practice
It is not in that tackle that my worth might be found...
Today I will remember who I am.

A Day

Well good evening...

I hope all of you had a good day and full of all the beauty around you. I had some things occur today that were interesting (at least to me). The therapist that I worked with last time, quit on 12-21 He was working with me in the last days of being there. I am wondering about his heart and if he is well. I think back now at the atmosphere of the place being so oppressive to the others when the boss guy is there. He is so somber and introverted. I think that they may have had a falling out. He just quit and left that day after 11 years of working there just short of being partner.
So today I prayed for the boss guy for his soul. It was a little stressful being there.
My car needed emission's testing so I got that done and went to do the MRI. It went well just sore and tired from it.
Hubby is over at a neighbors fixing her rain gutter. It had fallen off. She is a Sister in Christ and a elder single woman. Beloved is happy , really happy to do it for her.

The Kids played out front, so I went out to keep an eye on them

Dash was playing on his skate board

Dove on the roller skates (she did not fall here)
Daddy man threw out the safety gear when he cleaned the bedrooms.
It is so hard to keep up on all the things for the kids and to get them to put it away properly. Sometimes it is frustrating trying to just supply their needs and manage the "stuff". I really do not like seeing them without the elbow and knee pads. I should of had them put their helmets on.
Trisha over at "Photo Daughter of the King" told me about a free program to get the kids 4 hockey lessons. I was able to get them registered. They have it at several rinks in the city.
The Kids are very excited about it.

MILove is out of the hospital. She is still pretty ill though so I would appreciate your prayers.

Good Morning

Moon lit Morn here
I captured the day with prayer.
As I awoke to the electric ocean wave, he hit the snooze button.
My dream flashed memory of an old friend Lynn
Captured her essence as I spoke to him
His presence...
I have not spoken to Lynn sense Dash was first home 6 years ago or a bit more,
but I felt her.
I asked him to hold her.
Last night while in the shower
He entered the room and he spoke...
"the sandwich...Hun that you make me ...I really appreciate it "...He said
"I really look forward to it each day and the bag of chips go so perfectly with it."

So I awake knowing that it matters
All that I do,
and who I am.
Moon lit morning as I step outside to feed the dog.
That utter thrill as he excitedly waits for the chime of the bowl as his kibbles hit steel.
Paused as I looked up to see that moonlit morning before me.
I pull all of the morning haul of of cold storage
Place it upon the counter top towel and begin to prepare those lunches.

Returning after breakfasts have been served
Safety pin in the pants that fall off the waist.
5 minutes to count down and so I close
To school for the children
To Physical therapy for me
Bye..........

Hello My Friends

I guess I have not been very wordy for a few days...
You ever have times when you just think that you reveled too much? When I shared about my dead friend I opened and exposed an event that was so very tender and now well...I feel tender.
My usual upbeat mood has been somewhat somber for this last week or so. I am struggling with the idea that you all just must think I am so crazy (that is the lie that the enemy of my heart keeps telling me). I am not however, I am a woman of clay (so to speak) yet I feel sorta cracked. It took me a long time to ever open up about what I went through all those many years ago. I opened up to strangers and exposed a very challenging time in the struggle known as my life.

The big thing was that I linked the blogs.
I got all a jitter over it.

Now I might really be judged!
Instead of reaching out, I just sorta pulled away.

The week was very busy and they just fly past the days like a blur. The kids had the day off today. So we had a play date at a friends house. It was so peaceful and a delight to be with her, Trisha is over at "Photo Daughter of the King". Our kids are matched where her two are almost two years separated she has a 12 and a 5, I have a 10 and a 6 3/4. The girls are the older and our boys the younger. They all played so wonderfully together. It was so nice just to sit and rest over a cup of tea with her. We each prayed our sons into our homes. Her and I both had a desire for a son. My friend sent us home with a big box of clothing for Dove. That was so sweet of her. She seemed thrilled to get rid of another box, she has been unpacking her new home they recently moved into.
I am have an MRI in the afternoon tomorrow for my neck. It really is paining me. Finding it a niusence I am just getting by with it for now. I have tried ignoring (thinking it is just stress) it for several weeks to no avail. I hate having pain it is such an annoyance to me. Slows me down and that is just not OK with me. Any way Mrs. Stubborn (me) got an appointment for it and the process begins to have some investigation into it. I think I must sound like a bleeding heart. So I did not want to post about it. There goes my days 3x's a week now for therapy on it. I am very grateful to be able to get the help with it yet it is just one thing after another. I guess I have more to learn on this circle.
You know the old "don't assume" thing because it makes an *** out of you and me. :)
Some times I falter and assume things with expectations for rejection. I pull away first so then it wont hurt so much if I am rejected. Old ways die hard.

My MILove is inpatient at a hospital. I am concerned about her health.

I did not get the meal plan up last night. I still need to get it accomplished. The muscle relaxers the doctor gave me cause me to fall asleep on the spot if I rest my head a moment.
Things are looking up around here. I am relieved of the heavy pressure to get clothing made in a hurry. I know that God was now telling me "too much" I have just been trying to do too much! "Do not do so much" His message to me. I was requiring way more out of myself than I needed too.
A line from an old song rings in my mind.

"The leader of the band is old, and his eyes are growing dim...
but his blood runs through my instrument.
It took me years to understand..."

Words.....a cool E-mail I recieved

DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters: BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the letters: MOON STARER

DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS: When you rearrange the letters: LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS: When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE



Yep! Someone with waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands!

He Had a Dream

Good Morning!

A new week begins with a holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.

Biography

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastoral of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

Car is back in the garage

I got my garage back!!!
Happily sung to the tune of na na na na na na :)
January 20th the Christmas decorations are back up in the attic!

Sunday Smiles

Our weekend has been full of dance, we purchased the High School Musical #1 for Dove.

So she performed her dance with her Daddy Man

Then we had the "dogie scuffle" while Dash showed us submarine (box) battle

We Had the breathing treatments that are followed by the mania that the medications induce. Little man Dash was just speeding all day!

We all attacked the house. The kids need training on home management and chores. It is easier in many ways just to do it myself, but I must equip them for the future. That is my big task.

The Daddy Man decided to take on the training task with the bedrooms on Saturday. He and Dash worked on Dash's room. It was so amazing how Daddy Man hung in there. I was busy with the house hold chores and just resting a bit.

Dove wanted to do her room by herself, with no help. She is growing up.
I took a long nap.
I had to go to the doctors on Friday because of this terrible pain in my neck. I am on some muscle relaxers and anti inflammatory. I'll be starting therapy on Monday. This thing in my neck has been going on for months and I just could not stand the pain of it any more. I have just been trying to ignore it. I assume it is just stress.The doctor is concerned of my spinal involvement and has ordered an MRI on my neck to make sure it is not a disc. It is probably just stress thats why I have just been assuming thats all it is.

Dad and Dove finished their "Battleship " game from the night before.

Beloved and I loosened up the budget and we had Chinese food take out last night.
He just did not want me cooking. That is so sweet of him.
Yes of course we watched another two episodes of the Walton's. :)
Dove and I cuddled on the couch.
Beloved and I stayed up very late talking about some things that have been on my mind. We slept in very late and the kids had tended their needs well.

I am hemming pants for Dove (every pair is at least three inches to long. We were able to get her some nice pants Friday night. I was so frustrated that three of the pair I made her shrunk up, my own fault I should of washed the fabric first.
I am trying to get used to my new glasses they prove to be a challenge. Tipping my head back and forth to see to type and to read the screen, and that with a sore neck.
Mother in love is very ill, she has pneumonia. Please keep her in your prayers.

Dove decided to be "Sponge Bob" for the day

We are putting in that new door that we got off the curb last month. It is just like new. I will need to paint it to match the house.
My Husband has been doing a lot around the house this weekend. It is so nice to see some things accomplished. He has no overtime for another week to do the CRS financial qualifications.

The new door was 1/4 inch to wide so we stripped the hinges and kick plate and knobs off of it. We can not make use of the new door itself...bummer

The kids have been earning money for chores all week.

We use the tally on the big board to do simple math and keep charge of the earnings. They have been very highly motivated all week. The toys up on the refriderator had a real drawing effect

They did it!
Dash earned his Lego kit

And Dove earned her fusible bead kit. She needed white, yellow and black.
It came with a great idea book too.

We had a hot dog for them lunch rice and beans for me.
Watched two Walton's episodes and now we are all of doing our own things.
I am hemming Doves pants, Hubby is working on the door hardware.
Dove is on the computer and Dash is free play with Lego's.
I finally got the photo's all down loaded and I need to go put the orniments away. We are hoping a guy friend might come to help Beloved put the bins back up in the attic.

Photo Hunt *important*

Teaching kids how...to do chores.

Letting go and letting out, taking up and taking it all in

We have always had the good fortune to receive beautiful hand me downs for the kids.
Coming home from Russia, I will always remember a woman who had heard of Dash's adoption and had collected clothing from her friends and brought them to me at church one day.
I did not even know the woman. When we adopted Dash God Told me to trust him for his needs. We had been laid off of our 25 year career when the plant shut down and we were so afraid to bring him into that, we just were not sure how we were going to do it.
I have watched God provide for these kids.
I have been really trying to do all the sewing and clothing creation.
Yesterday after work beloved told me to go ahead and take the money out of savings to go buy the children some new clothing. I have tried so hard to avoid this and make all I can and get all the things I am able to from thrift shops and such. I have always shopped clearance (still do). I did not realize how much pressure I had placed upon myself.
So Dash must have a coat, if I were to go to get the fabric just for him and sew it up there is no way I can meet the need of warm gear for the next days needs. I had to let my self off the hook and go buy clothing. I had so much fun.
Seeing myself at Sears I went there and found several wonderful deals for the kids.
40-70% off. I could not even make it for that.
This was the very first time I have ever taken the children clothing shopping.
I took them one by one, first Dash, so he could have one on one time. We had a meal togeather and just "tied strings of the heart". Then I brought him home.
I left shortly with Dove and had alone time with her, it was a little too rushed though, she made her own choices. I have to go out again to get a coat for her. I want to do it when we are not rushed so I can "tie heart strings" with her too.

I have given them the things I have found while out searching clearance racks , but never before had they gotten to go to the store with me and choose what they wanted.
They were very frugal and thoughtful of their purchases.
Very appreciative too.

Dove got to have a High School Musical set, she was so excited. She has NEVER complained over what I have provided her. She is so happy almost to tears of gratitude. It was so touching to experience her response.
Dove is very petite so I had to cut off the sleeves and pant legs three inches this morning.
She leaned on me and just leaned in close for several moments... She was so moved by it. I found pants for Dove for under $7 pair (tactile will not be a problem) ya!
I am humbled and so very grateful to have made this investment into there hearts. I think if they would of been shopping all along they would not have the grateful hearts they do.
I love the character I am witnessing in them.

I got Dash a light weight jacket for $4. and a Lego star wars shirt too (he loved it!)

A new coat a field jacket on reduced price at Dillard for $30. it is beautiful.
Heavy and warm. I was able to get him new pants at $10. a pair too. He will be able to put them on himself (fine Motor).
He is so happy and is warm! I have a lighter load.
Not stress in the morning of wondering what they will wear and if they will lock frumpy or not.
I am not under all the pressure to get the pants sewn for Dash and the shirts for Dove.
I can sew now for fun for them and not necessity so much.
I do however have pants to cut off and to hem for Dove:)

To late to blog much

Full day

A ladies day here from 10 am to 2:30 Had a great time cillin with a great lady rolling a ball of yarn as she unraveled a sweater she had to repair and made two of my Pay It Forwards

These have a lot of work in them, They still needed a little tweaking.

Went to get the kids at 2:35had an extra (friend of dove's) in tow
Breathing treatments for Dash (who is like a mad man on speed) the medications side effcts also have him Jeckel and Hyde all over the place
Then Hubby walked in said hi and as he was stepping toward me to kiss me the door bell rang (did not get the kiss)
Parent came for kid who did not want to leave for anything!
Parent and kid left
Then said hi to hubs hubs said go take dash and buy him a coat and anything else he needs. I took him to the mall and had some good Mom and Son time to heal his heart. Took him out to supper too.,(Dove stayed to do homework) left at 5 got home at 7:30

walked in the door to request for possible child care at 6 am.
Then walked right out the door with Dove and took her back to the same store at the same mall (got amazing clothing deals for both kids) walked across mall 4X! Left mall at 9pm (huge exception to be out late Dove has never even been out that late in her life)
Then went to Wal-Mart NO COAT to be found.
Got home at 9:45
Returned the call... no childcare in the a.m.? I think but possibility I'll have a kid on my door step at 6am!
it is now 10:30 Woww milked that day for all it was worth.

Good night all