And the Saga Continues (not starwars )

I took the car and dropped it off yesterday at the repair shop after the fuse blew again Sunday morning. It was to be looked at this afternoon and hopefully repaired. Instead I got a call telling me I can come pick it up - they would like me to drive it to see if it goes out again. (The tech has done some creative wiring so the systoms that are on the fuse that keeps blowing all have their own individual fuses. The hope is to isolate for certain which system is causing the problem) So since I'm in town I arrange for someone to follow me home in the borrowed vehicle I'm driving and then they would bring me back into town in my car. That's all accomplished with no trouble and I head off to pick up Son1 at the laundromat where he's finishing up getting the bedding all washed and dried. We leave the laundromat and head to fast food then start to head home - and a fuse blows again. It's not the one that controls the daytime running lights - that's the one that the repair shop people think that it is - I know because suddenly the car is not wanting to shift properly and I've lost my speedometer and odometer. So...I call the repair shop again and tell them a fuse has blown and what I've lost this time. The car is scheduled to go back in tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime my "check engine" light is on, the car is "roaring" and does not want to go above 30 mp if that. I'm really hoping I can physically get it to the repair shop tomorrow. And I'm scared to know how much it will cost me to get it fixed.

Thankfully I still have the borrowed car and I've figured out how to adjust the seat on that one. That's a small thing but it does make it more comfortable to drive - it's a Oldsmobile and was probably top of the line when it was new.

Mental Therapy

I spent about an hour outside tonight - pulling weeds in one of my flower beds. This is one that I've never had any poison ivy in before - it's down the hill away from the house. The poison ivy seems to come from the woods behind our house mainly so I'm hoping it's ok. Anyway...I've decided I can't live inside scared of getting the rash again. Pulling weeds is very theraputic for me - I love to be out in the evening - hearing the birds singing, watching cars go by, looking for deer and pulling weeds and otherwise playing in the dirt until I'm more than a little sweaty and muddy. Tonight the dirt was nice and soft - we've had rain recently so the soil was easier to work with and I feel like I got quite abit cleaned up among my irises and daylilies. The grass will need mowing soon - probably should be started tomorrow - that will depend on if I get any calls to do deliveries. And on that note I really should head to bed - eventually I will write about my mental image of what I want my home and property to be.

Saturday Progress

I'm tired tonight but it's still too hot to try to sleep I think. I don't feel like I accomplished overly much today - ran two runs, did laundry, sorted and shredded papers and sorted through some more books. I didn't eliminate as many from my collection this time but did put a few in the give-away pile. I now have two paper grocery bags full of books to give away. I also have a full paper recycling bin from the sorting I did earlier.

Son2 spent most of his day alone today - playing video games and watching Star Trek. He used to hate Star Trek - his dad loved it and his brother still does. It's been very interesting to watch him get into the program - right now they are working their way through all 7 seasons of Next Generation - episode by episode. Son1 got to go fishing today with a friend from church. I really didn't expect him to be gone as long as he was - he left around 9:30 this morning and didn't get back until after 3:00. However he had fun - guess they were successful as they had fried fish for lunch. He brought home fresh picked green beans - those were delicious with dinner tonight.

Well I've probably rambled on long enough - it's late and morning comes early. Depression is still trying to be an issue but I think I'm doing abit better at fighting it then I was earlier this week.

Thankful Friday!

My last two posts have been such downers that I'm going to post some things I'm thankful for tonight - in no particular order but rather just how they come to mind.

I am thankful that I've sorted through a shelf full of books and have whittled it down to half what it was before. I am thankful that I'm blessed with the ability to read and an abundance of reading material (some of it is higher quality than the rest of it but it's the fact that it's available to be read). I am thankful that both my boys now enjoy reading to some extent at least. I am thankful for the freedom to read and study Scripture in this country.

I am thankful for healthy strong boys who love each other.

I am thankful for the blackberries and black raspberries that grow wild in the woods behind my house. I am thankful for the flowers - purple coneflowers, black-eyed susans, white coneflowers, daylilies, roses - that grow around my house. I am thankful for the fruit trees and the shade trees that help to keep the house cooler. I am thankful for the beauty that God has put around me in this natural world - sunsets, deer, flowers, streams, butterflies...that list could go on.

I am thankful that God loved me enough to send His Son to die on the cross to save me from my sins. I am thankful that He has a plan for my life - even though I don't necessarily understand it.

I am thankful for a comfortable bed in a nice house in a safe location.

And I think I am going to head towards that bed now. I know there's many other things to be thankful for but for now that's enough to list.

Car, Poison Ivy & other stuff

I typed out a longish post earlier but don't think i'm going to post it all. I'm not quite as discouraged as I was when I typed it out. I ended up going in to see the doctor this evening - since the prednisone wasn't appearing to work on the poison ivy. He did confirm that my "self-diagnosis" was correct. What we've done is upped the dosage of prednisone and increased the tapering period. Hopefully that will clear up my case. If it doesn't or if I break out again I'm really not sure what my options are.

The car is still an issue...I had it into the shop this morning - spent 2 hours sitting there. The tech ended up calling a tech line to get more info as he couldn't get it to act up. Eventually the decision was made to cut 3 wires and install separate fuses to each system that was controlled by the one fuse that was blowing. That will hopefully allow the problem system to be isolated and repaired. However over the last 2 weeks I've sunk almost $500.00 into the car so it's rather discouraging to know that I might have to take it back and have more work done on it. Additionally it completely quit on me on the way home - the tech and another guy actually had to drive out and get it running again. Apparently there was a loose connection that caused everything to quit.

Son1 is being challenging at the moment. His school counsellor who invested alot of time and energy into getting him to space camp is trying to get in touch with him to find out how it went. However some of the times she's called I've not been home and he won't pick up the phone. At least one other time he was too exhausted and emotional to talk. Right now he's refusing to call her back because he "doesn't like talking on the phone". I don't care much for it either (talking on the phone) but sometimes it has to be done. However when I suggest it he just gets upset and emotional. I'm at a loss.

If I don't watch it this post will be at least as long as the one I'd typed out earlier. I am feeling abit better though there's still other issues causing stress. I need to get off the computer, go have some quiet time and get some sleep. A large part of my frustration is that I haven't been having regular quiet times...I know that affects things as does lack of sleep and being too busy.

Things to be thankful for: the rain we've had this week - it's muchly needed.
: the fact that a meeting I was very nervous about yesterday went fantastic - the other person involved and I were able to talk things out - she's feeling alot better about my friendship with her daughter.

Random Notes

Ok...it's late again tonight...boys are not in bed yet but will be soon. I'm exhausted - my phone started ringing about 7:00 am this morning with calls to go pick up the father of the Amish baby I took to the hospital yesterday. Baby's bilurbin #'s had dropped some this morning but they are still too high for him to go home. Please pray that the #'s go down and stay down - also for the parents as this is very stressful for them. They have 4 other little ones at home.

Saturday was Pete's funeral - it was beautiful and very "large" for lack of a better term. The funeral home was packed - they had to keep bringing in chairs. I went by myself - Son2 is not at the age where he can handle a funeral yet. Son1 probably could have handled it but I left him home with L and family. The sheer volume of those who came was rather overwhelming especially since I was alone. However I'm really glad I went - and I'm equally glad I went to the graveside service. The procession for that had to be at least a mile long if not longer - I very much doubt I'd personally seen one that long before. (I don't share that to be irreverent - it's just something that stood out to me) Pete was well loved and respected. Through her life I'm motivated to work on some areas in my life that need it.

Time to head to bed. More another time. Oh yes...I did call the doctor today - talked to one of his nurses that knows me and was able to get something for the poison ivy prescribed without having to go in. That's a huge praise - I didn't have time today nor energy.

County Fairs & Demo Derbys

Ok...it's late and I really should be going to bed (when don't I type when it's late though?). L, M and K left this morning - we went out to breakfast first then they got on the road and I ended up doing two runs. They chose to stay over so they could go to the county fair with us to see the bus demolition derby that was on last night. It took absolutely forever to start...first they had dancing lawnmowers - that was the most boring thing I've ever tried to watch. Next was the first two elimination heats for the demo car derby - that was alot of fun. Noisy, muddy but fun. We had an intermission followed by an egg toss followed by the "feature" - consisting of all the cars that could still run from the first two heats. I think there were 21 cars that could still run...it was amazing to watch them. Probably what amazed me most was seeing cars with steam, smoke and sometimes fire shooting out of them still able to reverse, run and crash into others. When flames got too major things were stopped so they could allow the drivers to get out and off the track. The very last event was the bus derby. There were only 3 school buses (painted blue, black and red) with windows removed, doors and half the seats removed. The buses tried to make sure they only hit in the back so they would get some distance then reverse at speed. The blue bus was hit severely enough multiple times that its frame shifted forward and eventually collapsed in the middle. The red bus lost its ability to reverse and I'm not sure what happened to the black one. It was actually rather encouraging to me as a bus driver to see just how sturdy our school buses are. Sure they dented easily enough but it took alot to actually stop them. Of course the only person in them was the driver - no one else to get injured or anything like that.

One really funny thing about the fair is the question that M (11) asked as we were walking between the animal barns to get our tickets to the derby. We passed a brown "pile" on the ground...M says "eew what's that?" My response was to lean down and whisper near his ear "that's cow poo*" at which point he said "eeewww that's gross!" Both L and I laughed so hard we wiped tears from our eyes. They are openly admitted "city slickers" - they enjoy visits to the country but can't imagine actually living out here.

I have poison ivy rash again. This time it's on my face - much worse than last time. I'm probably going to have to break down and figure out how to get to the dr. tomorrow.

Pete

My friend Pete (her nickname) passed away this afternoon leaving behind a young son - a year younger than my Son2, 2 grown children, some grandchildren and her husband in addition to numerous other family members. I was at her home for a brief time just before she died. She had been fighting cancer since just before I got to know her and had just recently gone on hospice care. I'm grieving. She left a husband who loved her deeply and a young son. She fought so hard - it seemed like she was doing better 6 weeks ago. I know that she is in heaven - healed perfectly - free from pain and that we will see her again. The hurt is still there - for myself and more importantly for her family.

The K Manuever

Ok...I typed this all out last night and couldn't get it to post. So here goes again.

The other night we were all outside (except Son1 who was still away at camp) setting off fireworks that L had brought with her from the fireworks stand. We set off some minor ones - fountains, spinners, etc then L gave myself, K and herself a good sized roman candle to set off. She lit hers, I lit mine and K lit hers. Just as L turned around to warn us that these were particularly powerful, K dropped hers due to the power involved. (These had 5 shots each in them). It spun around then set off its last 3 shots under both cars and towards the house. Of course all of us shrieked...then just laughed until we were done for the night. I could just imagine trying to explain this to the insurance agent..."Now what happened that caused both cars to explode? Well sir....K dropped her roman candle - it spun around on the ground letting off its last shots under the cars. And since the one had a full tank of gas..."

Last night when we set off fireworks we parked both cars over beside the barn - that way they were abit further away. And Son2 insisted on making sure that the hose was within easy reach also - just in case.

I'll write more another time about Shipshewana, Sauder Village and some of the other stuff we've done. Son1 is safely home from camp - he had a great time.

Away in class

Ok I'm exhausted tonight - mainly due to not enough sleep last night and getting up very early this morning. I'm checked into my hotel for the night - very strange to be here without the kids. Class today went well I guess. The morning was pretty boring due to the fact that the instructor was doing driving safety tests with some of the drivers. I will do mine later this week locally. Once we finally started class we discussed haz mat stuff - I'm not legal to carry any at this point - that's ok with me. I will still take the test in the morning to see how I do. There's really a lot to learn - I'm rather glad that I drive school buses "fulltime" rather than truck driving. However this should be interesting for a change of pace. And thankfully the instructor is definitely interesting - it's impossible to take good notes but he gives good examples and good reasons for different things.

I did work some on my Bible study homework that I'm involved in. We are studying different psalms. This weeks theme is "Give Thanks". One of the points that sticks out to me is the importance of passing down our stories to our children. Ps. 78 talks about Israel's history and the fact that they are to tell their children and their children's children of God's merciful and mighty acts towards them. It's equally important that I pass down the stories of God's blessings in my life to my children and grandchildren (that I will hopefully have in the future). But it's not enough to simply pass down the stories - we also have to pass down the central meaning - both in our lives and when we are sharing the Bible stories. If we don't pass the meaning down it's like passing down dried up cornhusks rather than the golden corn inside. The same thing is true of our pictures - without the stories behind them the pictures have no lasting meaning and value.

Ok...I'm heading to bed - it's early but I'm so tired tonight. I will probably read for awhile before I actually go to sleep.

It's 10:00pm and I should be heading to bed. Son1 left for space camp about 6:15 tonight - he's spending the night in Detroit before he catches a flight early tomorrow morning. (He's with a school friend and his dad) It should definitely be interesting - and a huge learning experience for him. I know that he will be sleeping in a mock-up of a shuttle so bedding is provided. Beyond that I really don't know what he's going to experience. The house seemed exceedingly quiet once he left - both Son2 and I felt a little lost I think. I spent a few minutes outside weeding - we desparately need rain - the ground is like a rock in places. I also puttered around inside abit. Tomorrow - in addition to church, Son2 and I have to finish getting the house ready for company - my best friend from OK and her two children are arriving sometime tomorrow evening. Since the focus today was on getting Son1 ready to go, tomorrow will be finishing up what needs done. Monday morning early I leave for a 2 day orientation course - the timing is lousy except that I didn't have to find someone to look after Son2. Wednesday we will get to really begin our visit.

Having Son1 gone - and gone so far - makes me realize how quickly he's growing up. In just over 4 years he will be graduating high school. In 2 years he's eligible to get his driver's license and will be able to get a job - though the job will need to come first. I'm really not ready for this at all.

Hitting the Wall

Well I hit my wall today...we went to Bible study and I went to buy animal food. That was all that happened today - unless you count getting one load of laundry run and the dishwasher loaded and run. The house feels majorly messy - I care but have no energy to get it cleaned. There's been no Amish runs today for which I'm very thankful - I know there's a wedding in the community north of here so most are out there. I did water my plants outside and run the lawnmower for about 15 minutes after dinner tonight - those are somewhat relaxing activities for me thankfully. Tomorrow will be a different day - Son2 has TaeKwonDo, Son1 may or may not have activities besides his running. Saturday evening he leaves for space camp - he's excited but a little nervous about it also.

Yesterday I did two runs - one long and one very short. After that we went to a friend's house to celebrate the 4th. There were "organized games" for the kids - a scavenger hunt and some different kinds of races. Including my two there were 13 children ranging in age from 14 to 18months. (That doesn't include the Amish family who dropped in later - they had 4 young children) There was also swimming in the pond for anyone who cared to. At one point I was tasked with keeping an eye on Jess (18 mo. baby girl) who desparately wanted to go swimming - something I was definitely not dressed for. I thought "well how far in can she go?" - certainly I'd be able to follow her without getting too wet - just rolling my capris up. She had a ball - running down the dock, jumping off, walking into and out of the water. She took a header once - underwater - and didn't seem to mind it at all. (Of course I was right there to grab her and pull her up) However the other children thought it was a ball to splash me with pond water as they went by. Eventually my boys and one of the adults ganged up on me to get me completely soaked - head to toe - and covered in pond mud! It was fun even though I had to borrow a complete change of clothes. Later we visited with an Amish family that had been invited to come - and some fishing was done - in the same pond we'd been swimming in earlier. We finished the evening up with a round of "Hand & Foot" for the adults followed by fireworks done off the pier.

I need to get my exhausted, sunburnt (from Bible study today) self off to bed. More another time.

Overwhelmed

I feel abit overwhelmed this morning - like I've got more on my schedule than I can handle. I didn't realize how fast this week would fill up and how much I needed to get done. Son1 leaves for Space Camp Saturday night - he will spend the night in Detroit before flying to AB Sunday morning. He will be back the following Friday. Before he goes, he's got several activities with the youth group at church that he needs driven to - in addition to his running. Son2 has his normal TaeKwonDo class this afternoon and Friday morning - there is no class tomorrow morning due to the holiday. Instead I've taken an Amish run - leaving at 6:15 in the morning! But it should be short - just taking one person and 4 buggy wheels up north and dropping them off. I should be back by 8:30 or so. Later we are going to a friend's for a cookout - I've got 3 batches of brownies I need to make for that today. Son1 has gone to a neighbors to buy eggs so I can do that. (Farm fresh eggs are the best!) This afternoon I go to visit with Pete and give her regular care-giver a chance to get out. Thursday I have Bible study in the afternoon. Sometime I have to get both boys haircuts, do grocery shopping, get Son1 a state issued id...My best friend from OK is coming in on Sunday for a visit and Monday I have to be in South Bend for orientation - that's 2 days away. Thankfully Son2 and her son will be able to play together and keep each other occupied. After that it's what's left of the two weeks visit "playing" - we'll go to a water park and do some sightseeing and just enjoy spending time together. Then it's back to a regular summer schedule and work. School will be starting again shortly after that.