Cold, Wet Noses

Sleeping comfortably in my own bed again I was awakened by the wet coldness of the dog's nose nudging my arm. The rain was just starting to sound on the metal roof. Kelly doesn't like the noise that the rain makes, and she often enters our room to be comforted. But it was 4 a.m. and I was tired from the recent travelling; I patted her and rolled over.
She was not to be ignored. She put her feet up on the side rail of the bed and nudged me again. A lack of response on my part sent her to the other side of the bed. Perhaps she would have more luck there.
As the rain became more intense and the thunder and lightning began she came back to my side of the bed. She needed to be near me in the midst of the storm. She pushed herself harder against the bedside and shook uncontrollably as I patted her side and head.
When the storm finally passed she went to the foot of the bed and plopped down under the fan thoroughly exhausted from all of the excitement. Sleep didn't come back to my tired eyes though. I began thinking about this silly dog afraid of rain.
I become frightened of the storms of life that I don't understand. God could try to explain the situation to me, but it would be like explaininng rain to a dog, incomprehensible. When the rain starts I draw nearer to Him, asking for comfort and reassurance. The louder the storm, the closer I snuggle, yearning to feel His hand on my shoulder.
Sometimes my dog finds herself in a brewing storm when I am not at home. She wanders into the neighborhood looking for an open garage or safe looking porch. When she finds one she ducks in and accepts the shelter she finds.
Many people behave the same way. The farther they are from God the more likely they are to seek some other refuge when they discover the storm is raging. But I dare say all people are like my dog after the storm. We all put a little distance between ourselves and God, find a comfortable spot under the fan, and return to normal.
Please, God, let me always be found in your bedroom nudging your arm with my frightened, wet nose. And thanks for not rolling over away from this dog.

Good-bye Grandma

Saturday was the last day of pain and suffering for Grandma S. My father-in-law's mother left for home that afternoon. She now sees more clearly, understands more deeply, and remembers more clearly. Home is a good place. That doesn't mean that she won't be missed here in the temporary home, but we know she is happier and healthier now than she has been in  a long, long time.

We will be traveling to WV tomorrow evening to attend the funeral. We have rearranged as much as we can and cancelled a few things as well. What was important a few days ago is but a whisper in the wind today.

Shopping with a Boy (Girl?)

I took #1 yesterday to pick up his suit. He and his father went last week to order it at a special shop here in town. He had to special order the suit since he is so tall and thin. It was my pleasure and privilege to go get the suit and have it fitted.
The owner that worked with us was very good about offering advice and hints. #1 has a 14 1/2 inch neck, but needs a 36 sleeve. They don't make those. Period. So instead of trying to special order a shirt, he suggested we get the right neck size and roll up the sleeves. #1 didn't like that idea. So we got a 15 1/2 neck and a 35 sleeve. He picked out a bright red shirt at my suggestion to try some color instead of a white shirt with the solid black suit.
Then he needed a tie. "I have a tie at home." It is a red tie; you can't wear a red tie with a red shirt.
He chose a bright white tie and a matching bow tie. He was unsure which kind he would like to wear.
I thought we were done. Then..."I'd like a hat." What !? Yes, he wants a felt fedora to go with the suit. Where is this coming from? This is the kid who wears t-shirts to everything! He spent his school days bare foot!! And now he wants a hat?! I accused him of being a girl.
So we drove all over town looking for the right hat that would A. look good and B. actually fit the super-sized head. We finally decided he will have to order one online.
When we got home he ran upstairs to show his brother what he had gotten. That was the solid, certain, no doubt about it sign that he was pleased with his outfit. Whoo hoo, it feels good!
Later in the evening he even asked if he could hang the suit in his closet instead of in the guest closet where we hang suits and coats. I guess he is growing up.

Mustard Seeds

Today is the National Day of Prayer. I have been searching for answers in my own prayers lately. I was asked last week to be on the board for the local childrens' community theater. I would like to be on the board, but I also know that this year of sort-of-high school has been taxing on me. Our family is already commited to so many things that take a lot of my time. We also need to bump up some of those commitments in the coming year, so the thought of adding another thing is slightly stressful.
I emailed some friends who are currently on the board and who also homeschool and asked them what the time committment is. The answer didn't look much worse than what I already do when #1 is involved in one of the plays, so my thought was yes I will go ahead and do it.
But I wanted to spend another day in prayer about it. Then I looked at my email this morning and saw that today is the National Day of Prayer. "Great. God will be too busy listening to all of those important prayers and won't be able to handle mine." Honestly that was my first thought.
I certainly know that my God is bigger than that, but it truly was my first thought. How can I possibly expect great things from God when I can't even expect little things? I hope I have the faith of a mustard seed.

Contentment

Day 11 and the cold mostly seems to be gone. Hip Hip Hooray!

Sunday's sermon was the last in  a series on money. This one was on being content. Contentment means different things to different people. For some, contentment is being happy with what you have, for others it is being happy with where you are. Our assignment for the week was to make a list of all of the things that we want and then burn the list. We were to think about all of the things that we don't have and compare them to all of the things that we do have. Then in the comparison we would realize that our lists needed to be burned.

We invited members to join us last night for a list burning party. We had a campfire in the pit and hot cider to quench the thirst. There were 8 of us that met to talk and share and then to burn the lists.

There were only 2 things on my list. I fall into the second category: those who aren't happy where they are. I am happy here in this town with these people, but I am always trying to prepare for the next thing. I always wonder what will be and when will it be. I have lost a lot of present time because I live in the future.

So my list was Answers and Time. I need to give those up to the fire. I need to be thankful for the time and place that I have right now, because as I have learned way too many times (maybe noticed would be better than learned) I lose precious memories by trying to plan ahead.

I guess I will go put those books for next year away now.

18!

One of our friends turned 18 yesterday. I saw her at SAMS with her mother. "Happy Birthday! So how does it feel to be 18?"
"I was just telling Mom all of the things I can do now that I am 18. I can call 800 numbers, be in a porn movie or pose for Playboy. Not that I would! But I can."
So last night we were over at her house to celebrate with some cake. "Tell your preacher friend here what you can do now that you are 18."
"I can buy a monkey, call 800 numbers, be sent to prison, walk into a club, get a tattoo..."
"Now tell him what you told me today!"
Isn't it funny that a preacher holds such a position in people's minds that you can't say some things to them that you say to other people? Preachers joke around, have fun, and enjoy being with other people too, but there is an aura that hangs around them in the minds of "lay people" whether the preacher put it there or not.
I think some people imagine God that way too. They can't tell God how they really feel about something because He wouldn't be able to take it. They can't speak to God because there is an aura around Him that keeps the "normal person" at arm's length.
What a shame. Just as a preacher wants to be friends with others and enjoy the same close friendship that others enjoy, so God wants a close relationship with His people. Try talking to Him today and see if He doesn't turn out to be your BFF.

When Average Is OK

Envirothon went really well. The weather was great, the kids well-behaved, and my judging experience beneficial. Besides that we came in tenth place in the state! AND we won first place in two of the categories!!! We placed first in Wildlife and Aquatics out of the whole state. That is amazing! I am very proud of my team.

When I got back home I checked my email and discovered #1's ACT results were in. He did very well. I had no idea what to expect; upon his return from the test he said he hoped he at least got a ten. He did well enough to get into many colleges, and is only a few points from getting into most colleges! He was pleased with his results, but assured me he isn't ready to leave for college just yet.

So in a family of above average kids, when is average ok? I'll tell you.

I was telling #2 that my cold will be gone in two more days. He asked how I know.
"The average cold lasts ten days and since mine started last Sunday it should be gone by then."
"But Mom," he replied, "you're above average, so you won't have an average cold!"
When it comes to colds I will take average...and lots of sleep.

A Week Gone By

I don't know how it happened but another week has gone by. Monday I took #2 to the doctor to get Prednisone for his horrible case of poison ivy. My extra kids were with us all day Monday and every afternoon afterward. We had testing in the mornings, so they couldn't be with us the entire day.

Testing went well. I had sixth grade to proctor and they were a nice bunch of kids. They took their medicine and enjoyed the snack breaks in between. #2 told me he was always done first, but that he was doing his best and it was just that easy. I hope so for his sake!

We have had some extreme weather lately. I am scheduled to help with dinner tomorrow night at the shelter, but as I will be out of town and so will everyone else that could possibly have helped, I took dinner this evening. I had to go between storms, but dinner arrived safely and I did as well.

The Prednisone has not "set well" with #2 and he spent a couple of nights vomiting. I came down with a cold this week that keeps choking me and making me lose my breath. Tomorrow we leave for Envirothon competition. I hope we are all feeling better by then! Wish us luck!!

Parents' Visit

We had a nice visit with my parents. Thursday they went to see the boys' art show and science fair. It was a culmination event of the school year. They really did a lot of neat art projects during the year, and it was great to see everyone's efforts. The science fair was good too. #1 chose to do his experiment on the myth that talking to your palnts actually helps them to grow. He decided that it was the CO2 that makes them grow when you talk to them, so he had one plant listen to the radio, and he breathed on the second plant but didn't talk. The results were what he predicted, though it wasn't a great difference in growth.
Friday we burned brush all day. The trees that have fallen over the last two years needed to be burned, and the weather was perfect for it. I was afraid that we were going to end up with snakes if we waited any longer, but the real problem turned out to be bees. A carpenter bee was laying eggs in some of the wood, but we burned it before the eggs hatched, so we were lucky. I started burning at 8 a.m. and at lunch time was still burning, so we had a weenie roast for lunch!
In the afternoon Dad and I butchered 4 roosters. They were tough old birds. I think I will have to be quicker to butcher this summer so that the meat isn't so tough. The egg laying business is still going well for #2, but now we only have to feed one rooster. That has to help some.
Speaking of #2...Poison Ivy!!!! Yep, he managed to get into it again. He spends most of the year with some poison breakout, but this is an exceptional case. He has it all over his feet and there are really big blisters and boils from it between his toes. I tried to take him to the doc yesterday but on Easter that was a vain attempt. So I took him this morning, and he has started his Prednisone. I keep wondering how such a good Envirothon student can get poison ivy so often.
Hubby is at the courthouse. He had to report for jury selection. Everywhere we have lived he has had to report. I don't know how he gets so lucky! I just finished up grades for my paying students, now I need to work on my non-paying students' grades.
Testing starts tomorrow and after competition over the weekend we will be done with school. YeeHaw!!!

An Ode to Summer

The boys had dentist visits yesterday and all is well. Then last evening #2 lost another tooth. He is a very slow tooth loser, as I have explained before, and so it is a glorious event when he loses one.

This is the last week of classes for me, and I just finished my last presentation. We have been studying poetry for 5 weeks now in Middle School. Tomorrow we will discuss the use of poetry in politics. I know that sounds strange, but poetry has been used for centuries to portray political beliefs.

Remember Ring Around the Rosy? It's about the Black Plague. Rock-a-Bye Baby? King John of England. The Lorax? Environmental Education. Yertle the Turtle? Hitler.

It should be a good class. And hopefully it will be a good summer too!

Blessings On Your Head

God is stunning. There is no way around that. No matter what happens He jumps in and takes care of things. Thank you to those who have been His Blessing Givers recently.

I enjoyed a day at home with my family yesterday. Those days are few and far between now. I know, I know. We homeschool, and I am a stay-at-home mom....BUT we rarely have a day that allows us to be home and uninterrupted. Actually yesterday wasn't quite that. I was a Call Girl for a while.

I had a chiropractor appointment and then planned to go to the store afterward. It has been weeks since I have gone to the market and the cupboards were getting bare. While I was at the store though I would have to call home and ask questions. What did we ever do before cell  phones? Anyway, after I got back we had movie night as a family and finished off the day in style.

Lunch was probably my favorite part of the day. The boys and I ate together. I was telling #1 that his grandparents asked if he wanted his suit for Easter Sunday. He laughed as hard as I did at that one! No he just needs it for prom. That brought #2 into the conversation.

"When I go to prom I think I will wear a dress. You know I look good in anything."

"I think you will change your mind when you are old enough to actually go to prom," I replied.

"Yeah. I'll probably wear a kilt. Show a little of my heritage."

"How did I get boys like you?"

"I didn't want a brother. I wanted a monkey," #1 declared.

"Well you got that! He certainly is a little monkey!"

"At least he doesn't throw his poop," said #1.

My parents have left for their Spring Break. They will be here in a few days. I have wanted so badly to get to WV and visit this semester, but with classes every Thursday, Envirothon every Friday, work on Wednesdays, and volunteer commitments at other times it just hasn't been feasible. It will be good to see them.
Classes end this Thursday with a science fair and art show. The Composition kids have a final, and I have one more poetry presentation to make for my middle schoolers. The following week is standardized testing and the Envirothon competition. Then school is OUT! Whoo Hoo!!
Would you believe with all of that excitement I have been working on next year's classes the past two weeks? It won't end for 5 more years.

I don't understand why I can't get paragraphs to show on my posts. It is very frustrating to this English teacher!

More FaceBook Drama

It's a stormy day here, or at least has the possibility of being stormy. We are watching tornado coverage right now, though none are in our county just yet. It has been stormy at the house anyway. The boys spent the night with a friend, and I FaceBooked #1 to say while you are over there, get the kids to help you change your FB profile picture. It was seconded by several other people. I have asked him several times to change the picture, but he hasn't appeared to do anything about it. The picture isn't horrible, but it also isn't great. It is dark and he has a hoodie pulled up. A friend a couple of years older than he posted a while back that he needs to change it because it gives the wrong impression. Still he didn't change it. So today when I went to pick him up I took his scrapbook. I asked the kids to look at it and choose a picture from his preschool days to post as his profile. Lo and behold he suddenly knew how to change the picture and had one in mind! Coming home he was very angry with me. He thought that was terribly mean and that no other parent would ever be that mean. He is sooooo naive. However, I am a happy, mean parent, because the picture is changed.

FaceBook Tells All

The comment that I should check FaceBook is correct. I actually found his blatant cookie eating on FB a couple of days ago. He knows I don't look at FB very often, so I guess he figured he was safe. Now I know what to do when I am gone. Yesterday was a bitter-sweet day here. I loved on #1 with lots of hugs and comments of how glad I am he is alive. It was one year ago that he had his bike wreck. Last night as I walked with my friend, we passed the area where the accident happened. It sent shivers down my spine to think what could have been. The Lord has blessed us greatly. #1 commented on FB yesterday that it was a year ago that day that he broke his head. A friend told me she saw his post. Maybe I better check more than Hubby's FB page.

I Was Right

For many years I have said that my husband must marry again if I die. My reason is that he will only eat meat and cookies and completely ignore healthy foods. After we had children, it became even more important to me that he remarry, because he will feed the children the same as himself. The day before I left last week, I bought some Little Debbie cakes for my high schoolers to celebrate the end of research papers. There was one Fudge Round left, and I brought it home for Hubby. When I returned from my trip, there was still the fudge round in the pantry. I was amazed by the self-control that lived in my house. Until! Later in the week #2 asked if he could have part of my oatmeal pie. I shared half of it with him while #1 broke out the fudge round. #2 looked at it longingly and said it would be nice to have a bite since he only had one out of the whole box. Whoa! Hold the train!! How could he have had one out of the box when he wasn't in the celebratory class and there was only one left? The grins were hard to hide, and they had to admit that their father had taken them to the store and let them pick out what they wanted. #2 had chosen salt and vinegar chips, while #1 had chosen a box of fudge rounds. But it doesn't end there. Oh NO! #1 tells me later, in the presence of his father no less, that his dad had said they had to eat the whole thing before I came home in order to cover their tracks! I might not be the one who dies first.

One Week Later

The dog has missed me. I was gone 5 days last week, and yesterday with so many things going on I was gone from 8 AM to 10:30 PM. So now she is following me from room to room making sure I don't get too far away. If the kids come to talk with me, she gets between us and tries to climb in my lap. She wants to know she is more important to me than they are. Tough luck, Old Girl. #1 takes the ACT tomorrow for the first time. I don't care much about his scores, my nervousness is from the fact that he has to go to the University to take it. He has actually been on campus many times, but for some reason this has me anxious. I guess it is the involvement of parking, identification, proper behaviors, etc. He has quite a few friends taking the exam as well, so hopefully he can find someone to pair up with and be a little more comfortable. Part of our running around yesterday was for #2. He was asked to gather some friends to help babysit for a couponing class. The mothers would donate money to him and he will use it for Heifer International. He raised $36 and decided that he has a new business plan: Babysitting! Yeah, I wouldn't leave kids alone with him. He had some good helpers or else I would have stayed by his side the whole night. We are having some house repairs made this week. One major repair wasn't actually the house, but the shed. The roof has been leaking and the floor rotted. So it has been fixed now, and Hubby and I went out to look at it. The worker had the radio on and a slow song came on. We danced through the whole song on the new floor. It was wonderful. I love my husband! And the floor held up, too!

A Widowed Drake

I drove to Panera this evening for dinner. I spent the whole afternoon locked in my hotel room trying to complete work for school, and I thought I would get out a bit for a bowl of soup and a sandwich. It took me quite a while to get to the restaurant, that on my return trip I discovered was only 2 minutes away. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw a mound of something in the roadway. I continued pulling forward and realized it was a Mallard drake standing next to the body of a hen. A car must have backed over his mate, and he stood sentry, waiting for her to join him on their evening walk. Some people stopped and tried to help the new widower, but he didn't move from her side. It was sad. This trip that I am on is a yearly excursion. Last year when I returned, Hubby had already left for WV to attend a conference. When I returned home I took the boys on a bike ride. Yeah. That bike ride. It's been nearly a year...April 11, 2010...I feel for that drake standing guard over his love. It is a sickening, gut-wrenching fear. Time forever told by the hands of one clock.

Animals?

I am sitting in the hotel room listening to kids run through the hallway. It sounds like they are heading to the pool on the first floor. They sound so happy and excited, like a pack of river otters heading off to the slippery bank. I was reminded on Friday of how closely humans resemble animals. Their behaviors are the same as ours; they are just trying to feed and care for their young, doing their best to survive. They bare their teeth and threaten us, but only to protect the things they hold dear...family, food, water, habitat. Just as many thousands of people have discovered recently in Japan, when life boils down to the necessities, you will do what you need to to make sure you survive. There are some things that humans need that not all animals need: love, acceptance. However, there is one thing that animals do not need, that all humans do, forgiveness. Sometimes it is hard to forgive when those basic needs have been messed with. We blame others, we blame the world, we blame God. But blaming God makes it difficult to accept the ultimate gift- forgiveness. The needs of this world are not the needs of the eternal home, and that is hard to remember as we bare our teeth and charge.

Judging

I am halfway through my time of project book judging. So far I have helped with the 9-10 year old, 11-12 year old, and 13-15 year old Citizenship and Community Service. Tomorrow we will complete it with the 16-18 year old category. Some of these kids are amazing. Last night I didn't have any free time. Tonight I have a few hours. Tomorrow hopefully I will have several hours. Tonight I am working on school work...gotta make a test for my Composition students. Tomorrow I plan to do some writing. Hopefully it will be more interesting than this post! I did get to go walking in the arboretum today during the lunch break. A bride was getting her portraits made. She was beautiful, but she had to have been cold in the dress. Later I saw she was barefoot. That weather is coming Monday. WooHoo!

Sun or Rain?

The rain is falling in torrents broken only by momentary pauses for a regrouping of raindrops. I attended a workshop today about amphibians. Who knew there was so much to learn about the little critters! It was an interesting presentation. Afterward we were to attempt identifying species in different life stages. Live animals were present for this vain exercise. I managed about half of them. Since I had a lot to do at home, and will be gone four days this week, I returned home a little early. As I sat upstairs helping #1 with his research paper (AAGGGHHHH!), I listened to the storm outside. I was glad I returned early. The afternoon was to be spent in the field looking for critters and identifying conservation techniques. I attended a meeting yesterday about school classes for next year. We plan to have a co-op like we do this year, but it will be a little bigger. Yesterday we came up with the classes and set the calendar for the school year. Right now all I care about is that WE ARE NOT DOING RESEARCH PAPERS IN ENGLISH NEXT YEAR!!!! It might as well be raining words around here. I need a good dose of word free sunshine.