I'm back

Hello, so I think I needed some time to evaluate what I was doing here, and I guess I have been busy, too. Here are some updates. My Uncle Elbert passed away right after Thanksgiving, and hubby and I went to the funeral. It was my first funeral. I got to see some family that I had just seen at a cousin's wedding, and it reminded me of that old saying about weddings and funerals. My friend with the 5 kids is expecting number 6. She's still fecund, I guess not while she is pregnant, though. We got rid of the convertible! :) That toe, it did not get better for a while, and I got really sick because of it. I am better now. Hubby and I went to Scotland! It was fun to be alone together. We did not go on a tour, we just had our own schedule, and I got to see where some of my ancestors may have walked. Oh, and that dress, the hem came out at the dry cleaners. I guess I might tape it again, unless I can find someone to "blind" hem it for me.

So I guess what I want to do is maybe help anyone out there who has some troubles like me, or maybe get some help from some people who have been through this. Marriage is difficult sometimes. I don't mean give up difficult, although I have felt that way, I just mean, the two of us are not peas in a pod. We don't think a like; we don't always want the same things. We have three kids, so you have to throw that in the mix, too. We have friends and obligations. It's hard to get it all done and do it right. In the last week, I have had two reminders of the best way to take care of these things. Actually, the theory was the same, it just came from 2 different sources. How should we prioritize things? God is first, then husband, then kids. Wow! It sounds simple, but it isn't all that easy, especially when the kids need you. They need you to get breakfast in the morning. They need you to take them places. They need you to read to them; help with schoolwork. They need your attention, but so does your husband. He needs my attention. He needs to feel special, and it's hard when there are three others vying for number one.

What about the one that is supposed to come first? How easy is that? I read my Bible and pray first thing in the morning, but I don't think that really counts as putting God first. I think it might be a good start, but I am not sure that it is all God wants. My mom used to do this demonstration with walnuts in the shell, rice and 2 Tang jars. If you put the rice (the little things) in the jar first, you could not fit the walnuts in, but if you put the walnuts (God) in first, then pour the rice over it, it fit perfectly. That's what I want. The fitting perfectly. Any ideas?

Just and update. Uncle Elbert is doing fine, my friend with the liver condition and her baby are fine, but my toe is not better. Still need prayers.

Is it ok to complain some more?

Is it ok? Actually, I complained and then erased it all. My kids have been really good lately. Maybe a few tiffs with each other, but I am pleased at the moment. I don't think you can ever let your guard down. There is always a new challenge lurking around the corner. The older two went to VBS at a different church last week. They seemed to do ok. Since we home-school, I was curious how easily they could make friends. I guess I can tell you that they do have friends, home-schooled and not home-schooled, and they have played on sports teams that were just random groups of kids and they got along with everyone. My oldest son has a "best" friend who goes to public school and is a year older. The friend will be going into middle school this year, so I am curious to see if he will still be friends with my son, the 5th grader. My youngest has a good home-school friend and a public school (or preschool) friend right now, and he does well with both of them. My middle son has yet to really connect with anyone. We know more girls his age than boys, and he plays with whomever and gets along with them, but he tends to hang around the moms when we are having park time, but so does one of the girls his age. They are both the second child, and I wonder if family order has something to do with it, more than character. Or maybe they are all wrapped up with each other. I thought since some of you know me I might ask you to pray for some things if you read this soon. My Uncle Elbert broke his hip last week, and he will have surgery today, but the cardiologist wasn't sure how he would hold up under anesthesia. My friend Kathy is pregnant and near her due-date but has a liver condition which might cause complications. I have an infection in my toe (yuck). And I would like you to pray for wisdom for my husband and I when it comes to child-rearing and finances and all that stuff that comes with a marriage. Thanks!

The aftermath

I know it was the car that was broken into, not the house. No one was hurt, but I guess I still felt a little violated. I got worried about a door that I couldn't lock. I thought people might have been watching the house and knew when we would be gone or notice if both cars weren't in the driveway. That was earlier in the week. Later, there was another storm. I woke up, then went to look out all the windows to make sure no one was lurking nearby to crash a window while thunder roared. My poor husband woke up and went to try to cover the hole in the roof of his car, which hadn't been fixed yet. (He is still in shock when it rains after 3 years of drought.) The power went out during the storm, so I got up yet again to check to see if someone was waiting to attack. Nothing happened. Just a night with very little sleep. And you know, in June, in Texas, when the power goes out, even at night, it's hot.

Domestically, I will let you know what I have been up to. On Tuesday I made a double batch of spaghetti sauce. One for our dinner and the other to take to the lady with five kids. I made a pumpkin cheesecake (I know it's June, but it's tasty), pumpkin muffins and blueberry muffins. I hope she likes all the stuff. I took pasta and garlic bread, too.

I also scrap-booked today. Three sets of pictures from different trips are now on pretty paper. If they get labeled and put into a book any time soon that would sure be nice.

Theft too close to home, literally

So here's another little view into my life. On Wednesday, I decided to run 3 errands before heading to church for dinner. They were quick, but necessary, and I had to take the boys with me. I didn't want to have waste gas by making another trip on a day I could leave the boys at home. But, I was low on gas. I decided to get it on the way home from church because it would be a little more convenient and cooler. I ran the errands, turned out alright, but the third one was to a small grocery store with great produce and wine prices. The cashier commented that he could see why I was buying the wind as my children ran back and forth in the front of the store, trying to change direction in mid-air as they jumped. I didn't get too upset because they had done pretty well through most of the trip. We went to church, had dinner, and during prayer meeting the sky grew dark, and the wind began to howl. Lightening crashed, rain poured, and it was time to leave. Hubby was staying late for band practice, but he did drive the car under the portico for me. Well, not long after leaving the church, the gas light came on. There are about 31 miles left in the tank, but as we approach home, we hit traffic. Lightening is still crashing, and we are at a standstill as the tank range diminishes. I am worried about getting struck by lightening while pumping gas, but I don't know if I will make it home with the traffic the way it is. I made a break for it, went to the gas station I normally go to. Got everyone out of the car, just in case because there is not a large cover over the pumps. I go stand under the store's porch with the kids while the gas is pumping. We did make it home fine, and it was just a mild inconvenience, but that is not what this blog is about. The next morning, hubby calls me and says that his convertible top was slashed and his sunglasses were stolen. This happened in front of our house; he had parked in the street, not the lit driveway. Why? I don't know. Why does he have a convertible? Why did he leave it locked? Why did he have expensive sunglasses in the car? He usually brings them inside. He usually leaves the car unlocked with nothing valuable inside, and he usually parks in the driveway. Why were all of these things amiss that night? Someone around the corner had their truck window smashed and toolbox stolen. The thieves worked during the thunderstorm. It was also the last night of school. Maybe it was just revelry gone a little too far, but it is an expensive joke for us, if the top cannot be patched. It's rid0nculous.

3 days of foam sleeping

I think we are okay. I have not been hallucinating, nor do I have any other neurological complaints. It is interesting to sleep on the foam. It sinks, so it reminds me of a water bed, but there is no sea-sick feeling. The hem did stay in for church service. We will see how it looks the next time I wear it. Good news for now. One of my friends just had her 5th baby in a little more than 5 years. She is fecund. I borrowed a book from her because I am trying not to get pregnant. The book is called Taking Charge of Your Fertility. So you take your temperature everyday, and you are supposed to check your cervical fluid and the position of your cervix to tell whether you are fertile or not. Taking temp, easy, the other two, not so much. After reading the book, though, I have found out that my body is pretty normal. Some things it was doing, I was worried a little about, but it turns out, it's supposed to do those things. No one ever tells you that. I think I missed the "movie" in fifth grade because of an appointment or something, but I am not sure there was too much info given in that. It sounds like it was more of a marketing tool for feminine hygiene. Anyway, we have the word "fecund" which means fertile, and the other new word of the day is mittelshmerz, which is German for middle pain. That is the crampy feeling you might get between your cycles. It's perfectly normal, too. The reason I know "fecund" is because my husband in his public health/fertility research has often brought up, "post-partum infecundibility". That means if a woman is solely breastfeeding a new baby, she should have reduced if not zero fertility. I had that. I didn't even had a period while I was breastfeeding, but the kicker is, you will ovulate before you have a period. That's why you are having a period, because there is no baby for the endometrium to hold, so your body gets rid of it. But, if you ovulate before you have a period, and you are not really paying attention to your body, you could get pregnant while breastfeeding, and never have a period between babies. So, in a time when nutrition was harder to come by, and people worked physically harder than they do now, and there was no baby formula, this infecundibility provided a woman's body with rest between gestation, and gave a nice spacing between kids. So my friend with 5 kids, does not have post-partum infecundiblity, and you may not as well. Next bit of interesting information: you should eat fruit on an empty stomach. Apparently the acid in fruit, when it comes in contact with the food that is in your stomach, can cause digestive problems, like gas and bloating. I am going to give this empty stomach fruit thing a try. I am also teaching my boys Russian, just to let you know what is going on in the schoolroom. That's it for now.

First Time to Blog

It takes me a while to get on the band wagon. I don't really like to do what everyone else is doing, but I remember another new blogger stating this was a way for her to get back to writing. Honestly, I haven't written much in a while. I was a lit. major in undergrad and grad school. I wrote a lot. I also liked to write poems and short stories while I was growing up, but sometimes life has a way of changing your plans, altering what you thought the future was going to hold. Last summer I had plans on writing a comparative lit paper, just for me, maybe seeing if anyone else cared, but that just didn't work out. No time. Maybe this summer... So today we had two problems to fix in our life. First, I had an Ann Taylor dress hanging in my closet all winter, and when I went to put it on, half of the hem had come out. How does that happen in the closet? So the best solution seemed to be Stitch Witchery. I bought hem tape, asked the lady if that was what I should use, she said yes. Get home, no instructions in the package. I've never used it before, so we went to the net. We followed the ironing directions of the net, but the tape was only one sided. I started to think the saleswoman didn't really hear my problem. So we ironed the tape on the hem, and it looks the way scotch tape looks on a wrapped present. It won't be noticeable, but I needed a more interested and knowledgeable sales associate. I don't think I purchased what I really needed. The second problem of the day is our old mattress. We aren't quite ready to buy a new one, but our backs are not happy, so we got the memory foam mattress pad from the warehouse store. Hubby reads the web reviews and says we need to air the pad out for a week because of the fumes from the foam. Well, I didn't buy that so I could wait a week to sleep well. Not everyone said we should air it out that long. The instructions do not say we need to worry about the odor; it's harmless according to them. We have it open in our playroom with the windows open. We do plan on using it tonight. I'll let you know if there is any brain damage due to the toxic fumes...