Awesome/Not Awesome

Awesome: the weather wasn't killingly hot today.
Not Awesome: the days are getting shorter and winter is creeping our way. :(

Awesome: we had a superfun weekend with my sister-in-law!
Not Awesome: it's a two-hour drive away and the weekend is over.

Awesome: Ian had a good day today in his InService.
Not Awesome: School is starting, and that is a grind.

Awesome: I submitted about 10 job applications today.
Not Awesome: I need to be working (and getting paid) now.

Awesome: Job applications can be submitted online (thus less gas burned).
Not Awesome: Spending all day on the computer is hard on a recluse like me.

Awesome: I have all this time! I can visit friends, hang out and read, blog all day,...
Not Awesome: I can't afford to drive anywhere unnecessary or buy anything non-vital.

Awesome: Deeper, truer knowledge that God Provides.
Not Awesome: The painful side of sanctification.

Out of Town

We're going to Atlanta this weekend. My sister-in-law lives there. It's been a while since we've seen her. So off we go.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Post-Camping Thoughts (these are the deep ones)

So, we went camping last night. It was very fun! I enjoyed it so much...except that I didn't sleep all that well. Oh well, I've got a real bed tonight, right?

Anyway, here are some thoughts I thought as we camped:

:::We camped lakeside. Our campsite was waterfront, and it was beautiful. I sat and watched the lake and listened to the little waves splash and thought about what I learned in high school physics about wave motion. I thought more than I will say...but I'll at least say that the water may look turbulent when it's moving up and down, but the water molecules themselves are still in comparison to each other. That's how I should be, right, with waves and turbulence looking like they're ruffling my surface, but actually at peace.

:::There was a duck family that lived in our little bay. They swam around and around the inlet, getting handouts from all the campers. Fortunately, I had some extra graham crackers (from the s'mores, of course), and I fed them. I tried to feed them all equally, but they fought each other and snapped at each other to get each bite I threw them, even though I had so many crackers and was feeding each one a fair amount. How many times to I fuss and whine because I think that God, my provider, is being unfair and feeding others more than he feeds me? He himself is the perfect provider, so I should trust his feeding hand...but I'm just like a stupid duck, panicking and fighting because I want more.

:::It's really nice to get away. I haven't been myself lately, and it's nice to be able to be away and relax, even just for an overnight.

:::Water, and trees, and ducks, and all that while camping are beautiful. It's really, really beautiful in the world. God is a wonderful creator.

Sunday's Coming

I want to meditate on a passage to move my heart towards the Lord. His day is important, and his table is important. May my heart be filled with love for him, instead of with...self-centeredness and apathy! And so, I have chosen Isaiah 12, a passage that has a history with me (or I have a history with it):

You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

"Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation."

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day:

"Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

"Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

Living Space

Here's a thought for all you Soviet-way-of-life Buffs. Did you know that (at least in Latvia) a person's living-space allowance was 9 square meters? So a family of, say, 5 would get 45 square meters. That's equivalent to about 484 square feet, or a room 22 feet by 22 feet.

Crowded homes in which children have little privacy and control over their experience pose developmental and behavioral risks, including decreased well-being, poor academic performance, social withdrawal, and aggressiveness. Crammed into a small apartment with too many other people, perhaps able only to claim a drawer or two and a portion of a closet, a small child can learn to see the world as an overwhelming place in which he or she has little influence. At home, this child may react by turning inward for relief, becoming secretive and avoidant.

What does that overcrowding do for all the people who grew up in that environment? Can you picture an entire culture whose elders are shaped by this sort of overcrowding?

Gallagher, Winifred. House Thinking: A Room-by-room Look at How We Live. New York: Harper, 2006. Page 186.

(Hopefully) Meal Planning Success

After 3+ years of working and trying and getting frustrated over a (darn!) meal planning system, I believe I've finally hit upon a system that (hopefully) will work:

Google Calendar.

I've got this week planned, shopped for, and scheduled. I've got next week planned and scheduled. Woo hoo.

First Room on Checklist? Done!

So that's done. It's not the best mopping job I've ever done, but at least it's done, right? Next room:

Bathroom:
-shower
-mirrors
-counter/sink
-toilet

But I'm not starting it for another 10 minutes, due to my 30 minutes on, 10 minutes off housework policy. (That is, it's the policy today.)

Back to Reality to do List

We got home (from that mysterious place called "away") just 7 days ago. I was tired, my body had had too much changing and fast pace and rich food and lake/boat/dock time. I got a cold for the first time in 5 weeks (if you have to have a cold when you're traveling, be sure to get one on the very last day).

I'm finally feeling better, and so I'm going to hit my house hard and whip it into shape. Here's my clean-but-not-deep-clean-because-I'm-trying-to-do-the-entire-house-today house to do list:

Kitchen
-stovetop
-sweep
-mop
Bathroom
-shower
-mirrors
-counter/sink
-toilet
Bedroom
-make bed
-pick up floor
Dining Room
-clean off table
-dust
Living Room
-clear clutter away
-dust
-water plants

Wish me luck! I'm going to play my housecleaning music, too. That will help, I'm sure.

Linky-Link Sidebars Updated

...and there are lots of them. Whew! I'm going to figure something else out. In the meantime, get your scrolling finger in shape!!

Grocery Sack Recycle Updade

I was given a Chico Bag just a few weeks ago. I signed up for an online giveaway and received another reusable grocery tote in the mail while we were gone.

With those factors, and the renewal of committments that comes with being away for a while, I've not used a new sack at the Wal-Market since we've been back!

All three times I've been to said store, I've asked the checker just to stack the groceries on top of the turntable-o-bags they have there. I load the items into my cart, pay the bill, bag the stuff into the bags I brought, and keep the receipt out in case I need to prove I didn't steal the groceries. It's worked great, and I intend to keep it going.

Oh, by the way...

...I'm updating my linky-link sidebars. I use GoogleReader to read my daily blogs, and I change it so often that it's hard to sync the two. Give me a day or two and you'll be able to see from my blog what I partake of on a regular basis.

'Re-Entry'

Whew! I have been out of commission for a long time! Where have I been? Well...here and there, traveling and relaxing, but mostly hanging out with my family.

I miss them a lot when I am not with them. My life is here in Chattanooga, so I sometimes even miss them when I am with them...because their lives are away from Chattanooga.

We've hit the ground running as far as our 're-entry' into Normal Life. Except that I didn't bring a dish to the Sunday Potluck at church.

My main project has been to (as seems to be the case for me) find a job. This time I'm looking everywhere but retail because I'm DONE with retail. My ideal job would be a middle school Language Arts classroom somewhere in the area, and that is what we have been hoping and praying for...but it's hard to maintain the level of faith it requires to pray boldly and with faith.

Good thing my faith was a gift to begin with and comes with maintenance guaranteed. Seriously, if maintaining my faith was solely up to me, I'd be sunk.

Sirens

In this small town, the way they've always done it is the way they still do it. Even though most people work indoors where there are clocks, the sirens still blow at noon (that's the Noon Siren) and at 6pm (that's the Evening Siren).

So as we were packing up for Prayer Meeting, I heard a siren and it didn't register that the time was not 6pm.

It was 7:23 pm.

When a siren blows and it's not the Noon Siren or the Evening Siren...it's a tornado warning. So, instead of going to the Prayer Meeting, we all trooped down to the basement to wait out the warning. The hail came (some stones were really big, about ping-pong size), so s-i-l A and f-i-l S moved A's car to the garage, then stayed in because the hail was so big.

Ian and I stayed in the basement, watched the local tv stations for updates, and realized that the worst of the storm had already passed us by. We breathed a sigh of relief.

Days in Kansas so far: 7
Tornado Warnings experienced so far: 2
Tornadoes spotted: 0

Sister-in-Law

We drove to Wichita with my sil A, and once we made it to Wichita, we met up with my mother-in-law J, Ian's brother D, D's wife S, and their baby C. We all went to the airport to pick up Ian's youngest brother P.

It's been a good time, at my husband's childhood home, with all his siblings here (finally) and able to spend time together without my wedding keeping us busy, D and S's wedding keeping us busy, or A's graduation keeping us busy. We're just frittering time away!

I'm getting to know their personalities, some communication styles, some likes and dislikes, the different senses of humor...all that stuff that makes an individual an individual.

*sil S has an ironic sense of humor, is talkative and expressive, and is a good mommy to baby C.
*bil D, so far as I've seen, is quieter than S, but is kind and caring of both her and baby C.
*baby C might be a lefty, she likes to dance and jump, and she's starting to recognize me!
*bil P is an engineer with a strong linear thought process, but told me about his art class from last semester and how it helped him grow.
*I already know sil A, but I'm also learning that she is very good with little children and babies and takes good care of baby C.
*Ian, sil A, and I all live near each other and have rapport that only time can build. We all went to the same college; that's where Ian and I met!
*bil D, sil S, and bil P all live near each other and have the same rapport. They all went to the same college; that's where bil D and his wife S met!

In any case, it's been a rare treat to be able to spend such long stretches of time together all under the same roof. You who live in the same city as your family (or even the same state), don't take it for granted that you have the benefit of sheer time to know and learn more about your loved ones.

Hit the Road

We're Wichita bound.

I'm excited to be gone. It'll be good to have a change of pace and location.

Keep in touch, y'all.