Hmmm, a little dusty in here...

So, I've been unfaithful to my blog with Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr (though I ended that crazy thing with MySpace years ago).  I've been reflecting on social media platforms, and their place in my life, and I do think it's time to come back here for more long-form musings.  I enjoy the challenge of condensing a thought to 140 characters, and Tumblr is great for sharing little gems I find along my internet wanderings.  Facebook has been a slick tool for reconnecting with folks.   I have some things perking in my brain, though, and some events to document.
Wayyyyyy back when the internetz were new, I had fantasies of my kids finding my blog like grandma's diary in an attic, and learning about me.  As I reflect on what I've posted all over the ether, I'm not ashamed of what they'd find, but it certainly doesn't plumb too deep. I do hope, however, that they won't need the internet to know who I am.

Insert your favorite cliche about the swift passage of time here.

Holy cow.  Almost February.  We have several milestones here.  The first semester of the 2010-11 school year is over, here in the frozen tundra where the legie says we can't start until after Labor Day.  In that time we crammed in a long weekend in the Black Hills, a ski trip in Mankato for the teens while Mom and Dad went to meetings, and the normal Thanksmas and Christmas mayhem.  That means my eldest is half done with her senior year.  The first semester spreads over 5 moths with the various holidays and breaks, but the last is crammed into four, and will fly by.  I have to plan a graduation party.  Memorial Weekend, Saturday.  Bring a salad and stop by :)
It's also time for our first half-year exchange student to return home, which no-one is happy about.  We liked her so much we took on another half-year, a He-wi to replace our She-wi, currently staying with a welcome family until she departs.  Silly state department, not letting us have more than two in the house (we have a full year German with us as well.)  Shameless plug:  we've been hosting for nearly 10 years, we love it.  You should try it.  Go to effoundation.org to check it out!
The first of the foot dragging daughters finally got her driver's license, and had her first accident (minor) within eight days.  Nothing hurt but pride, and a dented door.  And a side-effect of a mother wistful for the days of toddling and tricycles.
So, we gather up to launch into the new month, new semester, and new family dynamic.  I'll send a postcard now and then.

Hey, Mr. Peabody...

Guess the reference and win...I dunno, something I dig out of the basement storeroom.

For those who can pin down the reference, you will have prior knowledge of a device called the wayback machine. On the internet, the Wayback Machine does indeed exist to archive web content. I have bemoaned the lost website here on occasion, from the stupid domain host that dropped us like a hot potato out of the blue one day for "too much traffic." I think that may still be lost to the ether, but iPastor was playing around the other day and remembered the wayback machine, and pulled up some archived versions of the Firestorm site. Back then, the ol' bloggaroo was tagged on the back of that site. Here are some treats for your viewing pleasure. Count the Things for an idea of how old these tidbits are. Some of the pictures load, some do not, I don't know why, because they would have all been hosted the same. Oh well.

This was a fun little trip.

So was this.
And finally, some ranting, complete with potty mouth.
Go visit and dig around archive.org a bit. Almost as much fun as googling yourself, and doesn't sound as dirty...

Happy Birthday Thing 1

I'm aging as we speak. My first thing was born 15 years ago today. Pull up a chair and I'll tell you about it. Guys are allowed to zone out or glaze over, childbirth stories are a woman thing, to be sure.
At that time, iPastor was actually mayor of Montevideo, and was settling in for a particularly grueling fiscal meeting of some sort. He joked as he left, "Feel free to go into labor and get me out of this meeting." Ever an obliging and agreeable wife, I started having contractions. I called him home, and settled in to wait. The contractions were sporadic, so I headed for bed. When I woke in the morning, the contractions were becoming stronger and closer, so we headed to the hospital, where I got all checked in and settled into a room. By then the contractions were three minutes apart and getting hard. I foolishly had the thought that this was textbook, and proceeding like clockwork. That's when the doc came in and burst my bubble. Contractions were three minutes apart, but I was only dilated to two. No pushing a baby through that. He started a pitocin drip, and drove me to the edge of insanity. Periodically, a nurse would come in and rip my loins asunder to see if I'd dilated any further. The news was never very hopeful for me, so they'd pat my hand, help me to the bathroom, or fetch me a basin in which to puke. The doctor had made some brief mention of pain medication, but he wasn't a real proponent of it, feeling it slowed delivery. Six hours after the drip started, I had finally decided that I. NEEDED. DRUGS. NOW. when the nurse chirped "Oh, you're at 10, I'll get the doctor and you can push." With the end in sight, I could do without meds. Once they fetched the doctor from the clinic we got down to business and in 10 minutes I had a purple, squirming, eight and a half pound daughter.
Apparently I was a bit noisy, because the nurse told me a couple of times not to grunt, to concentrate on pushing the baby out. Not the way to my good side. In the aftermath, while they were stitching and cleaning me up, it came out in conversation(between her and the doctor, don't mind the groggy chick that you're sewing back together over here)that her kids were adopted. Adoptive parents are awesome, but don't be telling me how to force eight and a half pounds of grapefruit through a 10cm window if you've never done it yourself. Sheesh.
For all that, I got this:

She was a little smaller back then, but only slightly more cranky. 15-year-old girls just have a different set of needs to meet and different tears to dry. On a good day, she's funny, smiley and full of life. We'll stick with good days for now. Happy Birthday Thing 1. Love my girl, I do, I do.

Sick days

Heard at a friend's house, for the "C" file:

"Nice booger."

***

Actually got a fair bit done yesterday around the house while managing to laze around a bit for recuperative purposes and take in Grad party #1 of the weekend. The general ache has subsided somewhat, but I still wasn't up to hanging around outside in the wind and bluster at a campground. After church today, we stopped by the Evil*Empire to pick up various accoutrement and a card for Grad #2. We arrived at their home to find it empty, but there was a young lady there looking just as perplexed. We tracked them down on the cell phone at their church instead of home (well, their kid that graduated last year had his party at home; I didn't bother looking that closely at the invitation.) The young lady and we took great comfort in each other making the same mistake, and were told that someone else had called from the wrong church, so it must have just been a confusing day.
We returned home in time for coffee time and King's Kids at church, then came home, baked a cake and had a fire in the pit and good conversation around it. I should stay home sick more often. The flu-like yuck has been replaced with a more cold-like yuck. I am losing my voice and the family is secretly rejoicing.
I did manage to croak through a song at church today. I had arranged a replacement to take my turn at special, but it didn't pan out so it was fortuitous that I stayed home. Nina's still doing OK, but her grandma is having health issues now. It's just one thing after another for them. The song I chose for today was, not entirely by coincidence, a song by Casting Crowns about ministering to others in difficult times. Sometimes events transpire that we as people of faith have a hard time understanding. The trite "bad things to good people" scenario doesn't even begin to cover it sometimes. In his lyrics, Mark Hall reminds us that we do not have to explain why things happen, we just have to love people and take care of them. I wasted a bit of time off looking for a legal music widget to play this for you, but instead, you just get the lyrics.

Love them Like Jesus

The love of her life is drifting away
They’re losing the fight for another day
The life that she’s known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child’s broken heart

You’re holding her hand, you’re straining for words
You trying to make - sense of it all
She’s desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She’s looking to you

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
Love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus

The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
Little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to grey
As the little one slips away

You’re holding their hand, you’re straining for words
You’re trying to make sense of it all
They’re desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They’re looking to you

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus

Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus

Chirp Chirp

The snow melted, and the temps have been decidedly more spring-like, so I've been spending a fair amount of time outside and not at the computer. Today is a pretty day, but the breeze makes it a bit too cool for a weenie like me to want to spend any real time out there, so I'm back to grace you all with my presence.

Yesterday was Thing 3's spring concert for school. They gave a little program about a bullfrog who bullied all the animals in the swamp. When they needed someone to sing for the swamp concert, they asked the bully-frog because they heard him sing in the shower, then he was friendly. Moral: if you want the lead in the show, bully everyone until you get it. Seems to work in real life...

I have been working since Easter with no full days off. I will work until April 27, when I go to women's retreat. I'll need it. Dang those bills, anyway.

I should now go feed the Things. You all have a delightful day!

Winter, Round 2

Last Monday it was 77 degrees and sunny out. Yesterday it snowed. Today is windy and cold with intermittent patches of snow and sun. Springtime in Minnesota, as per usual.

Had a day off from both jobs. Thing 4 had preschool screening, in which all the teachers and nurses made me feel SO much better by saying things like "I can't believe he's grown up this much already!" and "I remember when he was just a baby." So do I.

I followed this up with a trip to the dentist, where I confirmed what I already was pretty sure of; I'll soon have two teeth pulled and one fixed. Blech. I topped that off with a deep cleaning under the gums, so a good time was had by all.

iPastor treated us to lunch and we came home to watch "Thank You for Smoking." Wicked funny.

I had many ideas of depth and candor to share with you all today, and I can't think of a blessed thing now that I am seated at the computer. So I guess I will go work on making my home a lovely and comfortable place for the family, or at least scrape the top layer of scuzz off and see to it they have clean underwear.

A Monday morning funny

My inbox this morning contained the following anecdote of uncredited origin. It came via my wickedly witty friend Ann who needs to post on her blog more frequently for my enjoyment.

****

I was in Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina for my dog Lola and was in line to checkout.

A woman behind me asked if I had a dog........Duh!

I was feeling a bit crabby so on impulse, I told her no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I had awakened in an intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV's in both arms.

Her eyes about bugged out of her head.

I went on and on with the bogus diet story and she was totally buying it.

I told her that it was an easy, inexpensive diet and that the way it works is to load your pockets or purse with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry.

The package said the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.
I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy behind her.

Horrified, she asked if something in the dog food had poisoned me and was that why I ended up in the hospital.

I said no ..... I'd been sitting in the street licking my butt when a car hit me.

I thought the tall guy was going to have to be carried out the door.

****

With that, I return to the everyday ramble. Have a good one.

And there was great rejoicing among the snowmobilers

A couple inches of good snowball snow is commencing to cover the brown drear outside. The kids have all packed off to go sledding or simply stomp around in it. I, on the other hand, am planning a snowy day nap.
I sometimes feel pretty lightweight about the day-to-day prattle I post here, but I am often reluctant to delve much deeper into some things.
I let drop pretty lightly the "poverty level" issue a couple posts back. It's entirely true. I am both blessed and stressed. We live in a community in an area of the country where even at below poverty level, we keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I get very frustrated with the situation at times, however. We have household repairs and non-life threatening medical issues that are constantly put off instead of addressed. Any little bump in the road (like running out of propane last week) can knock us off track and set us behind. We qualify for certain kinds of assistance, but the bureaucracy involved with obtaining and keeping those programs intact in our home is often paralyzing. Yet when I feel oppressed by these issues, I also feel extremely guilty. For as much as I struggle some days, there are families out there that would be so grateful for what we have. Poverty in America is swept under the rug. In our land of plenty, we try not to think of want. If we extend our view outside the borders of the USA, it's even more shaming. There is absolutely no reason that a nation with the resources and wherewithal of the United States could not provide adequate food, water and shelter to the entire world if it simply WANTED to. I have heard it said that our nation's surplus could feed the world if someone would just pay the shipping and distribution bill. Are we responsible for the rest of the worlds' needs? No. Shouldn't our sense of decency or justice or some indwelling human compulsion drive us to want to help anyway? So perhaps I'm a sentimental git, the kid who cried for lost puppies and bought groceries for the homeless people upstairs. I can't say that's a bad git to be. It also helps me keep swimming.

Progress report...

The new year is off with a bang on more than one front.
Danny B. is recovering as expected. He's got a bit of discomfort due to bits of his abdomen rearranging themselves to accommodate the now-functioning bladder. All systems are go and just need to heal at this point, and guard for rejection. He should be out of the hospital within a week, but remaining in the Twin Cities with family for six weeks to monitor progress. Thanks for the prayers so far, and please keep 'em coming as he recovers.
The dogs are becoming more comfortable with each passing day. Having both of them has made the process of kenneling so much easier because we have no barking or scratching to get out. They're content to snuggle up and keep each other company. After potties, they have the run of the house for a couple hours, but usually choose to put themselves back before I would.
I have been really concentrating on getting stuff done around the house. All of the retired DJ equipment got dumped in the storeroom with the Christmas stuff, making it nearly impossible to get out. Yesterday I gutted that room, put the DJ equipment in order, then got the Halloween deco put away with plenty of room left for the Christmas stuff, which will come down over the next few days. I got rid of some stuff through Freecycle(tm), girlfriends and the thrift store. I'm am concentrating very hard on not biting off more than I can chew, and taking babysteps with the projects. So far, so good.
Meanwhile, as I putter around the basement, iPastor has been going gangbusters in the studio on the third floor. He's making some cosmetic alterations to set up for more active video production, and getting some more ministry-focused media ready for the site. We have plenty of industrials and family video projects, but he wants to get the other stuff out there in circulation soon. The all-around challenge is going to be living up to the great start this year!

***

I'm sure I posted this on the old blog, but it's great, and I am jealous of everyone else's Christmas memories. We still have a couple of days before epiphany, so neener on you if you think it's too late for Christmas posting.

Last year, Thing 4 was just getting the hang of talking, and would chatter almost incessantly. As we were sitting for Christmas dinner, he was jabbering away, very insistent about something. I said to him, rather offhandedly, that I wished he would slow down and speak more clearly so I could understand him. Meanwhile, one of his sisters told me from the other side tht she thought he was asking for chocolate in his milk. I turned to look at him; he looked at me very seriously and quite slowly and deliberately said, "Cawk-wit."

***

With that, I am off to keep up the momentum. Hope your day is filled with cawkwit.

All over the map, today

We all have those moments, right? Can't remember where we put the car keys, the gloves, the checkbook. I was making myself a little fake cappucino. Digression: as a lover of both coffee-flavored ice cream and cappucino, I find that a scoop or two of ice cream in my morning java makes a nice frothy head of fake foam and tastes lovely, end digression. As I am scooping, the dogs wander up, fresh form their morning walk. This is a big deal, as they are still pretty spooky. So I stop the scooping and kneel down to give them a dose of love and positive reinforcement. I clean up after myself, put the ice cream in the freezer, and realize that I have absolutely no idea where I put my coffee cup. I check the counters. Nope. Make a quick lap around the main floor, even though I don't remember leaving the room. No joy. After I spend about ten minutes searching for that cup, I give up, resigned to the fact that as soon as I fix a new cup of coffee, I'll find the old one. Well, almost this time. I open the container to see my tidy little round scoop of ice cream still in the bottom of the tub. Solved that mystery, with only a few minutes of my life wasted in the process.
***
My brother T and I have an unofficial war in progress. It started when Thing 1 was about two years old. For Christmas, T got her a Jibba Jabba:

This thing was the spawn of Satan. It was a modified squak tube that was posessed. If you shook its wee little head it sounded like it was shrieking "Help me!" It was annoying as heck. T said he heard a lady at the toy store say how annoying it was, and that was exactly why he bought it. I waited five years for T to breed, eagerly anticipating the day when I could wreak vengeance upon him. T's firstborn has gotten computerized beep boxes and drums for Christmas from his loving auntie. This year, T's daughter was old enough to join the fun, and I found this for the opening volley in this year's battle. Little did I know how it would backfire. While opening presents, Thing 4 fell in love with his cousin's new toy. He pitched a screaming fit. iPastor, seeing how much he had enjoyed it, suggested it to his dad for a gift when he had Christmas there. Since Monday, I have endured little bursts of music, five different styles, all too short to be a complete musical thought, but long enough to get stuck in the eternal feedback loop of my brain for hours on end. This on top of the toy Skil saw and the singing Spiderman doll. Surely noisy toy karma is coming back to me in spades.
***
I can just about guess what the Thirteen lists will look like today, but allow me to jump the badwagon anyway and post:



Thirteen New Years resolutions I will most likely break



1. Exercise more (walking the dogs might actually help with this one...)
2. Read the Bible through in one year or less.
3. Set consistent time for prayer and devotions, not just toss it in when I remember.
4. Spend more time with my kids.
5. Establish healthy eating habits.
6. Drink two quarts of water daily.
7. Start juicing.
8. Cut down on the time I waste on the internet (blogging is therapeutic, not wasteful...)
9. Finish the damn degree, already!!!!
10. Be less sarcastic (oh the pain...)
11. Jump in where I am instead of waiting for circumstances to be "just so."
12. Laugh more on purpose.
13. Finish painting the hall.






The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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With that, I leave you to get a head start on #8! Excelsior!