I Can't Live Without You

My facebook status today read:

"What one thing can't you live without (and don't say food or air!)?"

Top runners were Jesus, God, freedom to worship, family, friends, love, books, the church....

Initially the answer to my own question was that I just can't live without a really good paring knife.  My sanity, and therefore safety, is also dependant on a pen and notepad - though any scrap piece of paper will do.

I'm reminded of a show I watched where the wife and husband are trying to reconnect by having a deep talk.  She says, "Let's talk about our fears.  Sometimes I get so afraid that we're drifting apart, and that we'll run out of things to say to each other.  My deepest fear is that we'll grow old and grow apart and that you'll look at me and wonder why we're still together, and that secretly you'll resent me for taking the best years of your life.  I couldn't bear that, I'm so scared of losing you.  What are you most afraid of?"

And he says, "Sharks."

It was interesting to see who cherished what, though.  I can't say that I was all that surprised by the answers.  After all, we live what we love.

I really do like paring knives and gel pens, but I'll give it some deeper thought.  I'm thinking my answer might change a bit once I do.

Arthur

Hurricane Arthur hurled into the maritimes a couple months ago.

The rain poured from the skies, although in all honesty it could very well

have come from the next town over as it blew in horizontally most of the day.

Trees were uprooted, power knocked out for over a week in some spots, and

businesses closed.  Grocery stores lost produce and meats, and 

many families had to cut their losses with refrigerated foods.

And my neighbours held a yard sale.

You can't tell but it was raining really, really hard.

And so, 33 new to me #3 - attending a yard sale in a hurricane.

Family Vacay

We missed Caton's Island last summer because of Richard's health.

It was so nice to be there again.  The weather was the best so far, 

especially considering that we were so used to having it pour at least

one day of the weekend.

What a difference this year!  The kids have grown a lot in the last 2 years,

and they were much more independent.  It was kind of nice not

to have to watch them every second of the day.  Of course, 

Gen is not nearly to that point.  She still needs constant 

supervision.  That may be her personality  more than her age.

The other kids felt pretty confident, and rode their bikes on the trails, 

hung out with friends, and participated in the activities.

Whereas two years ago the kids weren't really big enough for the ropes course or rock climbing,

this year they were able and willing.  Here's some snapshots:

Eva on the ropes course.

Graedon climbing the wall...and maybe cheating on the side a bit.

Zip-lining Maddie.

Maxin' and relaxin'.

Me on the rock wall.  I made it to the top!

Wild and wooly beach hair.

Maddie and Gen on the sand bar.

Freezing!!

Roasting hot dogs.

Moms Gone Wild

Every spring there is a homeschool conference.  I love to go.  It's a time to be 

encouraged, reenergized, and to remember why we've committed to homeschool

in the first place.  Educating one's own children is a hard job, one that requires some sacrifice,

and that absolutely tests a mother's patience and (sometimes) sanity.  But it is an important job, and

immensely rewarding.  Encouragement is not only beneficial, but necessary.

Most times I go to the conference with Rich.  This time I went with my friend, Emily.  It was raining.

We could feel the car lift and slosh from the puddles, so Emily was driving below the speed limit.  

Suddenly, in what seems like the blink of an eye and incredibly slow all at once, we fish-tailed

along the highway, did a 360 degrees and smashed front first into the guardrail.  The guardrail

post snapped off, we skidded to a stop facing the wrong way and just sat for a second.

We were fine.  Not a scratch.  No whiplash.  Baby (Emily's pregnant) seemed good.  I was still

holding my apple in my hand.

Considering the car, it's a miracle we walked away absolutely unharmed.

We only sat there for a few seconds before a nice lady came to the window and dialed 911 for help.

A DOT truck was just going by, and parked his car with arrow flashing to divert traffic.

The lady's husband directed cars away from us, and the RCMP was there in no time.  The officer was 

very sweet, shared her gum with us, had us sit in the back of the cruiser, and later drove us to the 

rental car place.

We pressed on to the conference since there really was no reason to go home.  Emily got a door prize

for having wrecked her car!  Good things from bad, right?

This brings me to my first 33 New to Me:

Riding in the back of a police car!

Help!  We're locked in here!

The next day was beautiful, sunny, and hot.  

We stuffed ourselves at the restaurant, prepared to go home, and...

locked the keys in the trunk of the car!!

This was not our weekend.

Our "Are you kidding me?!" faces

I am so thankful that we weren't harmed.  I'm convinced that God played a hand in that one, undoubtedly.

We should have been hurt.  There could have been another car involved.  We could have skidded to

a stop in the middle of the highway instead of safely on the shoulder.  It could have been night

and we could have rolled the car into the ditch to stay undiscovered 'til morning.

But we didn't.  Our husbands still have their wives, and our children are not motherless.

Thank you, Lord.

This gives me another chance to update my life insurance.

33 New to Me

I couldn't resist.  I had to make a bucket list of 33 things to do before I turn 33 in 2015.  

But then I got tired, and I couldn't think of anything interesting or worthwhile to strive for

that was also realistic and not shallow.

Therefore, behold!  I switched it up and came up with

33 New to Me...before I'm 33.

I'm going to discover 33 new things.  They might be food, activities, places, information, who knows?  

I think it's a pretty good compromise.  No skydiving or body building contests, but tsokay.

There will be food.  There will be fun.  There will be new.

Don't Flush Your Drugs

Our town is having a prescription drug collection day.  If you're done with a prescription and have some leftover pills, they want you to bring them in to the pharmacies.  That way your teens won't be selling and getting fixes from your pain meds, and our water supplies won't be tainted with chemicals from flushing pills down the pipes.

So, here I am filtering the ginger tincture I've had macerating over the last 14 days...fully intending to compost the leftovers.  And I guess that's the difference.

Journey to 30

I stumbled across another woman's blogpost today.  It was entitled Journey to 30, and was a list of 30 things she wanted to accomplish by the time she turned 30 later that year.  I thought, 'Cool!  I should do that!' except that 30 is past already, and my list would have to be called Journey to 33.  It doesn't have the same ring to it, and considering it is only 3 weeks to my birthday, it would be totally unrealistic to get 33 things done, even normal things, before May 9th.

And, then, I realized I am not turning 33 this year.  It's 2014, so I should be turning 32.  Well, that's one less thing and a little pressure off.

1.  Remember what year it is, at all times.

I was big into bucket lists as a teen.  I had lists upon lists of things I needed to do before I croaked.  There were the normal things - get a tattoo (done), sky dive (check), learn a new language (si?  Me hables un poco de espagnol.), go on a plane (underrated), sing in public (nearly wet myself) and all that.  Then there were the other things that I think were sort of foolish like live in a house with 10 plus rooms (oh my gracious, the cleaning involved!), earn more than $20 per hour (why?  so I can spend it on gas getting to work?) and other stuff.

So, what now?  Do I really want to make another bucket list?  The pressure!  The stress of trying to tick extra things off the list when getting through the day is already a big success.  And, what if the time runs out and there are still things to do?  Is that a failure?  Am I?  What happens to the really important things that just aren't that important in a couple months (see living in 10 rooms)?

Foolish.  Or, at least that's what the dreamer-turned-realist-tired-of-being-disappointed-mature-adult in me says.

But why not?  Let's throw a few things out there and see where it gets us.

2. Be happy with what I have and gentle with myself when I don't meet my own expectations.

Done.