thoughts from the deep recesses

The kids and I carved pumpkins last night. We never got around to it last year, and this year, since they're all so much more grown up, they all decided that they didn't want any help with the actual carving process. Thank goodness for those new fangled pumpkin carving tools that eliminate the worry of someone cutting off a finger. When I was a kid it was regular sharp knives or nothin'. I'm surprised any of us made it to adulthood with all our digits intact. Anywho, they chose their own designs, did their own cutting, and I think they did a great job. Can't wait to light them up tonight... Love me some Jack-O'-Lanterns.

It's frosty cold this morning. There were predictions of snow, but it did not come. That's okay with me. I don't want to see snow until November, as a rule. And I especially don't want to be trudging around the block tomorrow night Trick-or-Treating with the kids in it. Although I do love to sit inside with my cup of coffee and watch the flakes fall... makes me really want to put Christmas music on. We had a great weekend. I taught a class most of the day Saturday - an Album in a Day. We completed forty layouts. Phew! It was a great class though - great ladies, and lots accomplished. Church yesterday was perfect for the things I've been pondering about time... the words spoken were totally related to how we spend our time. Funny how God orchestrates those kinds of things. Worship was great. Asia and I met with another couple after church regarding our role in mentoring young couples in the marriage ministry... good stuff. We had taken an assessment test similar to ...

I've been thinking a lot lately about time. My time, specifically. I had expected, all those years I was raising preschoolers, that once I got all three kids in school, I would have oodles and oodles of time to use however I pleased. Time to finally chase all those pursuits I'd had to put on hold. Time to practice my photography. Time to take classes. Time to turn up the radio and clean my house like a mad woman, totally uniterrupted by little fingers poking my leg. Time to scrapbook. Time to have lunch with friends... My kids are gone for six and a half hours, five days a week. That's a lot of time. And yet, I feel busier than ever. Where does the time go? I'm not sure. But I'm determined to work it out. Determined to put in place a purposeful and thoughtful plan for my days. I knew it would take me awhile to find my groove after they were all back in school. The thing I didn't know, is that I would have to create the groove. I don't want to spend my days ...

The little counter at the bottom of the page tells me I have had over 20,000 visits to this blog. I made a big deal out of 10,000, and that feels like it was just yesterday. How in the world did I get to 20,000? Maybe I should stop coming to look at my own blog 50 times a day. We had a very busy, very fun weekend. I actually got to take a class at the store - a class on carving your own rubber stamps. Fun stuff. It's so relaxing to take that carving tool and just work away at the rubber. Loved it. I can see myself spending more time playing in this medium... We went to Green Bluff yesterday with the kids. This is our local farm area - with fall-ish festivities everywhere you look. We did hay mazes and corn mazes and got pumpkins and apples. I think I'm going to make applesauce today. Yum. I took tons of pictures, but haven't gotten them off the memory card yet - maybe I'll post some later. My niece Aubrianne is here - I picked her up at the airport yesterday and took h...

At my kids' school, they offer lots of great extra-curricular activities. Things like sign language, cooking, reading clubs, drumming circle and sports. Each quarter, I offer my kids a chance to choose one. They bring home the list and we read through it together, and they tell me what they want. S. chose French. E. chose cooking. And K.? He chose knitting. My eleven (almost twelve) year old son. Knitting. Now, I should not have been surprised. This is the boy who wanted to play flute. (Asia wouldn't let him. He plays trombone.) It's not that he's weird, it's just that he doesn't care what people think about him. I asked him, "Don't you think the other boys will tease you if you take knitting?" "I don't care," he said. I tried another angle... "Why exactly do you want to take knitting?" "Well," he began. "If I get cold, I can make myself a sweater. And I can make scarves for Christmas presents. And besides, Mo...

Home. I love a road trip. Especially when it's to visit friends. And old friends are best. My time with Corey was super. First of all, she lives in the most beautiful place in the world, I think. Secondly, she owns a beautiful Bed and Breakfast and bought french pastries for us to share on her birthday. Third, I got to see Charlie and give him a hug and revel in his alive-ness. Hot tub. Sauna. Shopping. Great restaurants. Lots of conversation and laughter. Music. And the wildlife... goodness. I saw bears and moose and birds and chipmunks and bunnies. Seriously. Now I have piles and piles and piles of laundry. But I'm refreshed and ready. I don't know if I accomplished what I set out to do with this trip - but I hope I was a blessing - I know that I was blessed. It's not a small thing to have a friend you've known for 33 years. It's a huge part of who I am that I have experienced that kind of loyalty. Love you, Corey. (Thanks for sharing her with me, Paul.)

I'm off tomorrow morning to beautiful Canmore, Alberta, Canada. I'm going to go hang out with Corey and be available to her family in whatever way I'm needed. We will probably go up to her folks' house on Monday to check in on them and see if there's anything we can do to help Kaye manage. Charlie went home a couple of days ago and is trying to settle in to his post-heart-attack self. It's hard. Maybe we can encourage them - pray that we can. Tuesday is Corey's birthday. We haven't been together on either of our birthdays for years and years and years. It will be good to see her. Good to talk. Good to renew. I'll be back late Wednesday. I'm driving. So if you think of me, say a prayer for safe travel and clear roads - I've gotta cross the Canadian Rockies... Could you think of a better time of year to drive through the Rockies? I can't. Oh - and pray for Asia and the kids. They manage just fine without me, but it never hurts to pray. I...

1984. It was a good year. I was in the throes of first love. Reagan won the presidential election against Mondale in a landslide. McEnroe defeated Jimmy Conners at Wimbledon. The Cosby show debuted. Michael Jackson was still cute and released "Thriller." Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America. We all started asking "Where's the beef?" Apple Computer unveiled its Macintosh personal computer. Cyndi Lauper sang "Time After Time." Carl Lewis won four gold medals at the summer games. "Miami Vice" began its terrible influence on men's fashion. And this man, whom I would marry 8 years later, was working at McDonalds. Love you, honey...

I was never good at sports. I tried a lot of different sports growing up, mostly because I went to a small country school and it just seemed like everyone was playing something... So I played softball (and played pitcher - which to this day terrifies me - my coach must have been either very nice or very stupid.) I played volleyball, coached by the very skinny Ms. Twitty , who made us lunge across the gym for two hours one afternoon. To this day, I've never had such sore legs. My stint with volleyball was when I really learned how to pray. I had to pray every time it was my turn to serve, "Lord, please help it go over the net." I played basketball. I was the Center, because I was tall. That was my only basketball talent. Being tall. It didn't help me out that much. I do remember that I had a rival of sorts. Terrie House, who went to Olney (a school smaller than ours) was their Center and I remember having heard terrible things about her... so I was determined to beat...

Why, oh why do I list things on ebay? Because that means I have to go to the post office. I hate the post office. *whine* Here it is, almost a year after we finished our kitchen remodel and I still love EVERYTHING about it. Especially my fridge. I didn't know I could love an appliance, but I do. As I was digging through the freezer this morning looking for an ice pack for E's lunch I though "I love my fridge." Silly. My new favorite CD? Edwin McCain - Messenger . Wow. What a voice. Gracie has claimed our Larry Boy plush toy as her own. Poor Larry's eyes are chewed beyond belief. I wonder if there is a home for the blind in Veggie Tale Land. The weather? 29 degrees this morning. Brrrr! I made chili and corn muffins for dinner last night. Does anyone remember Kenny Roger's Roasters restaurants? I have their corn muffin recipe and it's TO DIE FOR! I could eat ten. But I didn't. I ate one. Gracie got a new collar the other day. She had outgrown her last on...

I want to be back. Really, I do. But my brain isn't functioning well today. We'll give this a go and see how lucid I can be... bear with me. My week without blogging was nice - a great time to reflect and pray and rejuvenate - several times I found myself wanting to blog about something and had to remind myself that reflecting alone is good for me sometimes. I may still share some stories, because there are some good ones, but for now I will hold onto some things until I get my blogging groove back. Thanks to those of you who are praying for Corey and her family. I am surprised at the amount of stress and concern this has caused me - since these people are far removed from my daily life. However, what they lack in daily (or even monthly or yearly) contact, they make up in the sheer amount of cumulative influence they have had in my life. These are such dear people to my heart and I have spent more time in tears this past few days than I have in years and years - probably since ...

If you are still visiting my very inactive and quiet blog and you are the praying type, would you please pray for my dear friend Corey and her family? Her Dad had a serious heart attack a few days ago. He is still in the hospital and may be for awhile. I'd appreciate it. Her Dad's name is Charlie. He was my pastor growing up and officiated at our wedding. He was like a second father to me for many years. Please pray for healing. Thanks.

I'm feeling a bit pressured lately - lots on my mind and in my heart and also an underlying loneliness... it may be the change of seasons or the realization that my kids are growing up too too quickly or a depression trying to push it's way up and out. Whatever it is, I'm taking a break. I'll be back to blog in a week or two. I just need to be quiet for awhile. "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

My new purse is making me happy. I love the colors and the dangly bead thingy that hangs off one of the handles and that I can easily reach in to grab my phone when it rings. I also like that while it is open on top, it has a zippered pocket inside in which I can store my wallet. I love yourmusic.com. LOVE that I can stock up on CDs that I always thought would be cool to own but never wanted to pay $18.00 for. My latest shipment? The Cars: Complete Greatest Hits. I LOVE The Cars. "Drive" always reminds me of my first love. "Who's gonna drive you home...." Ahhhh. Great stuff. Feeling better after two days on the couch was great yesterday... I still find myself tiring quickly, but was able to get laundry done and the kitchen mopped and some groceries bought. I can only handle letting my house go for a couple of days and then something has to be done. The weather has been spectacular... cool nights and warm days and not a cloud in sight. The trees are just beginn...

1. I know people say things like this all the time, but can you even believe that September is almost over? Crazy. 2. Still sick. I spent most of last night with Kleenex stuffed up my nose. I've got the unpredictable faucet thing going on... you know, when you nose turns on like a faucet and stuff starts running out with no warning? Blech. 3. I went to water aerobics yesterday, even though I was sick. Felt great in the pool while I was working out. But geez. That took every last bit of energy out of me. I could barely drive home. Still, I LOVE water aerobics. LOVE it. It's the perfect combination of aerobic and resistance training. I can just feel the fat melting off my body when I do it. 4. I've decided that cinnamon is my favorite flavor. Of course, not just plain cinnamon (which is impossible to swallow - did you know that?) But cinnamon with sugar and ooey gooey bread of some sort? Yum. I'd choose that any day over chocolate, and I LOVE chocolate. 5. Asia and I are ...

All week last week I kept noticing people sniffling. And coughing. And losing their voices. Asia came home from Yakima on Thursday with the bug. He still hasn't kissed me yet... And I still caught it. So my voice hurts whenever I talk. And my throat burns. And I'm achy. Makes me just want to crawl in bed. Thank goodness for Nyquil. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I'll be okay in a few days, I suppose... sniffle cough

Made these delicious Ginger Cookies yesterday. Is there anything that says "fall" more than the smell of cookies baking? I let myself have one. Yum. It was a crazy busy day - from water aerobics, to errands, to PTG meetings, to preparing for classes, to playdates and soccer practice, then Bible Study and working in my studio until midnight. I got lots done. And there's lots to do today... two classes to teach, open house at the school, more prep work for a class on Saturday, cleaning the house, making dinner... and Asia comes home today! I think next week may slow down a bit. Maybe. Life is a wild ride, eh? Smooches, friends!

First of all, I took pictures to share with this post. And they won't upload. Can we all just sigh heavily together in frustration? As much as I like the free-ness of blogger, sometimes the picture issues drive me crazy. There. Vent over. Now I feel a little better. We had an injured Jack in the front yard this morning. (Remember, Jack is the name of every neighborhood squirrel - it was E's genious idea to name them all Jack so we don't get confused...) Poor thing had a broken back leg. Gracie, of course, wanted outside so she could have it for breakfast, and the kids all wanted me to rescue it and take it to the vet. I can hardly get Asia to pay the dog's vet bills - I know he'd freak if I took a squirrel to the vet. We watched it carefully, and it somehow managed to get up a tree with it's three good legs. It was gone when I got home from taking the kids to school. Poor thing. I doubt it can survive long. I'm just glad I didn't have to touch it, or b...

Monday, as you may know, is my favorite day of the week. It's the day I recover my house from the effects of the weekend, when things are left out and the general sense of peace and calm is ravaged by lots of little bodies roaming in and through and on top of everything. It's the day I pick up, breathe a sigh of contentment and think through the details of the week ahead. And today, it was to be the day I started my new workout routine... I'm going back to water aerobics. I LOVE water aerobics. Just me and all the 80 year old grannies whose knees can't handle other forms of exercise... No, seriously. It's a great workout - and it gets my body in shape faster and more effectively than any other exercise I've ever done. I love the combination of cardio and resistance you get from plunging through deep water. And the lack of sweat is a bonus... all in all, it's my favorite way to exercise. But this morning, K. woke up with a tummy ache. Said he felt like throwi...