Monday again?!

That's exactly how I feel after a long weekend of fun! Tired, enthralled, a little overwhelmed with the piles of laundry to do...and I have a list on a post-it of things to accomplish in the next 11 days before we go on VACATION! We are seriously in need of it this year. We are going to San Diego (LEGOLAND of course) and then to San Felipe, Mexico to lounge on the beach and do nothing. High yesterday was 99, low 82. Eeeks! Thank God our house has air conditioning. I don't even care that it'll be hot. I'm looking forward to a change of scenery and some fun with family and friends.

We had a great weekend. Saturday was filled with a great visit from the Kempers who we realize we just don't see often enough, and the Eberles who we love seeing as often as possible. Then we had a date in the city that night with Jason's co-worker and his wife. THEN, as if that were not fun enough, Christina's birthday at PF Chang's closed out the weekend with fun and girlfriends. I have had my fill of good food, I am ok with being back to the regular stuff for a bit. I am so thankful to have friends that love to talk about everything, I love that we help each other and can laugh and go through good and bad times together. Jason is out of town tonight so I'll get to catch up on all my shows and fold laundry until I'm too tired to notice that I'm scared to be alone at night.

What an exciting life we lead! This has got to be the boringest blog ever. Oh well, it's our life, and I like it. Till next time...ta ta!

Thoughts from a quiet house

Do you ever feel opposed from all sides? Misunderstood? Thoroughly fried?

And at the same time, like you can take special joy in the small miracles, the tiny moments of goodness that stand out in what sometimes seems like a sea of struggles?

That's me lately. Many people have told me that the thirties are "the lean years." "The labor intensive times". "A blur". I agree with all these in a way I never could have imagined. I had a vision of my life that is so different from the reality. I think about Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life" often...I relate to him sometimes. And that movie helps me because it reminds me that there is a reason things turn out the way they do, that people get helped, blessed, and even saved by the decisions we make that seem trivial at the time.

2008 has been a tough year. So far it has included death, departure, failures too many to count, and moments of conflict from without and within. When I think about it, it gets overwhelming.

But on the other hand, there have been amazing friendships built. Renewal. Smiles and jokes and really, really good cups of coffee. Fresh air mornings and the feeling of strength. So many lessons learned, so many new words and phrases. New recipes. New routines. A feeling of home. Knowing I wouldn't want to trade my life for anyone else's, no matter how hard this one may turn out to be.

We are now in the fourth quarter. My favorite time of the year. I mean, the fun starts now and just doesn't stop till 2009 arrives. I know I'm not in the clear yet. I'm going to need to be humble, to forgive, to be kind and patient when I don't feel like it, to clean up more messes. To apologize for yelling...again. But with my God I can scale a wall, right? Aren't these the times that give us such wisdom and character when we are old?

I certainly hope so!

Were still here

I know you haven't seen any new posts. However, we are still here. Just been workin in the mines and not been able to come up for air, so to speak;

So Sick

No entries for 9 days - sorry, brutal virus from the underworld attacked me and that was it. For those of you that have migranes I apologize that I haven't had more sympathy. I got a headache on Friday and thought it was over. We had about 2 weeks of fever cycling through everyone in the house. Oh, and it was 90+ degrees in the house. Nice combo.

Will catch up soon.

Sick Week

I feel like I just lost another week of my life. We had a busy weekend at our church Expo last weekend, and Sunday evening Nathan came down with a 102 fever. He was down for a couple of days. Then Thomas got it on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. Thursday afternoon Wesley said, "I feel hot". So here we are on Friday, still doing the sick kid thing. It's been SUPERHOT the past few days too, so this week seems like a blur of temperature taking, being up at night, Scooby-Doo and "too hot to cook". Jason told me this morning he is not feeling so good. Do I dare think I can escape?