The Promised Pictures

Top picture: The birthday party that Connie brought along. It really is just grape juice and Keith really isn't sloshed.

Middle: At the Ethiopian Restaurant. I don't think the guys really knew what they were eating. Sheldon will correct me if I'm wrong.

Bottom: Pretty obvious, I guess.

Here's a little van update. Our "new" used window arrived today and Keith put it in this afternoon. Yay!! It's so nice to be able to see. Here's the fun part though. Keith also asked them about a radio when he got the window and they threw in a radio/cassette player for nothing. (Our cassete player doesn't work, and it's a bummer when the kids can't listen to stories when we're traveling!) Also, our rear defrost didn't work, which is also rather unsafe up here in the north. So tonight when I drove, I turned it on, and wouldn't you know, it works. I'm so excited about that! I guess that's the silver lining in our little cloud.

Old Fogies in the City

Well, the big trip was here gone. But the good memories linger. Do you want me to share them with you? If not, then don't read on, I guess. Otherwise, you're in for a play-by-play...

We arrived in the city shortly before 6:00 on Thursday evening. We didn't make great time on account of construction, getting behind a funeral procession, my, um pregnant bladder situation, etc. But we made it. We stopped at one store quickly, then went to Olive Garden where we were meeting the others at 6:30. We thought maybe we could get our names in early and not have to wait so long. But, they had the same idea and were there and waiting. They only waited about 15 minutes and we got in soon after we got there. They, of course, felt a need to make a big deal of my age, etc. There was a balloon bouquet and a goofy pin that said I am 40 and "old, old, old" which they expected me to wear during dinner. We had a great dinner and good time starting to get caught up. We wondered if we might get kicked out for being so loud. :-)

During dinner, Sheldon brought us all up to speed on our plans for eating the next day. It was a revelation to me that a recent interest of his is finding little one-of-a-kind and ethnic restaurants rather than big, "boring" chains. Well, there went my hopes of eating at Perkins. Which really was fine because we had way more fun this way. Anyway, at Olive Garden they were telling us how he had pages of info printed off the internet about all of these restaurants and spreadsheets for all of us to vote on where we wanted to eat. Oh, and he had the ladies opinions weighted higher than the men's and mine weighted even a little higher. I guess there are some advantages to being the birthday girl. We all had some good laughs at/with Sheldon, but it really was fun.

After dinner we headed for Value Village. (We are high-class, big spenders, after all!!) I was tickled to find a bunch of clothes for Caleb and Josiah and a few things for Keith and me - all for $40. :-) The others found some bargains too, and of course, that made us all happy. (We are a bunch of tight-wads, for sure!) :-) Then Keith and I headed to "Eddie Wal-Mart" to knock some necessities off of my long list and the others headed back to the hotel. When we got back there around 10:00 or so, they had a table set with goblets, sparkling grape juice, candles, chocolate and presents. So, we had a little party and, would you believe it, Connie made me an apron!!! I hadn't even told her I wanted one. So now I am sufficiently aproned for years to come!! We stayed up late talking, laughing, and voting on Friday's supper destination.

Our room was quite warm and I didn't sleep the greatest. Maybe because I'm old now, I'll have more trouble sleeping in new places. (I slept great the second night, though!!) We were up and at 'em relatively early because Keith had booked a tour of the Mint for us at 9:00(!?!) We had coffee and muffins in our room and thought that should get us through the tour and then we'd get some real food. :-) When we got to the Mint we found out that our tour was actually at 10:00. Hahaha. But they had one at 9:15 so that was okay. It was very interesting, of course, to see how our coins are made. If Keith were blogging, he'd write a whole essay about it. But since it's me, I'll just say it was pretty amazing. After the tour was over we ladies sat on a bench and had some serious "lady talk" while the guys wandered around and looked at guy things. Finally our stomachs urged us to hit the road.

Sheldon had picked out a Danish restaurant for lunch so we headed that way and made a couple of "quick" stops at stores that we saw along the way - some supplements for me and a Mac store to drop off Keith's computer to get the CD/DVD drive fixed. (Good news, it's under warranty!) We finally arrived at the little cafe and it didn't disappoint us! The highlights were the fresh crusty bread, and the cream puff we all shared for dessert. A bunch of us had veal or chicken schnitzel and it was good! Connie was very impressed with her soup and Keith's sweet and sour cabbage was very good too! It was like a mild and sweet sauerkraut.

By this time it was mid-afternoon and we tossed around going to the Forks or something like that. I finally piped up and wondered if I could just go back to the hotel and have a little nap. I am pregnant, after all! Turns out all of us women were in favour of a rest and the guys rested a little and/or went shopping and walking around the city centre. I had a wonderful nap!!! Then it was time to get dressed up and head out for dinner. I guess the theme of the weekend was good eating. :-) The voting for dinner headed us to an Ethiopian/Middle Eastern Restaurant. It was unique and very interesting. The falafels were very good except they mis-communicated and put the hot sauce on them. Connie and I had to order milk. :-) It didn't seem to bother Darla much. She's a tough one, I guess. :-) The guys all had more Ethiopian dishes. No one was raving about how delicious it was, but it was good and interesting. The owners were really neat people and very friendly. When we were done, they brought us tea "on the house". I think it was black tea with cloves or something like that. It really was good.

After that we scurried off to the symphony. Wow, what fun that was! It was an open dress rehearsal for the "real" performance on Sat. night. So, it was less formal and the conductor talked to us in between pieces. We got to hear him give directions to the orchestra and hear them practice things a bit. We had quite good seats, so that was really fun too. The conductor was funny and Michael thought maybe his parents had wondered if they should put him on Ritalin when he was young. :-) It was really amazing to hear Beethoven's Fifth live. I was only familiar with the first movement, but the last one was really good too. I'd like to get a recording of the whole thing, and also Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony which was the first one they played.

After all that we really had to head to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. Mmmmmm. Good! Then back to the hotel. Of course, we couldn't go to bed since it wasn’t midnight yet, so we hung out in Mike and Connie’s room. Sheldon treated us to some crazy songs and other songs from his computer and transferred pictures from his computer to our flash drive. The others had a time of prayer for Keith and me (how did we get so privileged?) before we headed to our rooms for the night.

Sat. morning we had to pick up Merv T. at the airport at 9:15 (he’s a counselor from Edmonton who’s here at Stormer Lake for several weeks). The Minnesotans thought they should sleep in since they didn’t have any such deadlines. So, we packed up and when Keith went to load the van, he discovered that ours and Sheldon’s vans were both broken into during the night. Sigh. Our rear window was broken and Sheldon’s driver’s side window. Sheldon’s Oakley sunglasses were taken, and we had various small things gone – my jacket, my bag from Value Village L, a few Wal-Mart purchases. So, that kinda put a damper on the morning. We zipped over to the airport with our “air conditioning” and found that Merv’s flight was delayed a bit. We were early anyway, so we headed out to look for cardboard. After a few unhelpful stops, we went to Lee Valley (they’re such a great place, surely they’d help us, right?). When we stopped there, Keith looked across the road and there was a dumpster with a bunch of cardboard in it. So we went and helped ourselves. Thank the Lord Keith’s Leatherman wasn’t stolen or the tool bag with the duct tape in it. We cut and taped and then ran out of tape, so Keith ran back to Lee Valley to get more. They were very sympathetic and helpful and offered to let us use their shop vac. Yay! So we headed back over to their loading dock and vacuumed and swept up the glass. The guy even gave us some heavy plastic in case we needed it. It was sure a blessing to experience some human kindness after being violated like that!

We got to the airport just in time to get Merv and then spent the rest of the morning finishing up our shopping. I hadn’t noticed yet that my Value Village stuff was gone, or we could have gone to a different one to look for more stuff. Oh well! We headed out of the city by 1:00 or so, and as we were cruisin’ down the TransCanada, suddenly a van full of waving, smiling people passed us. It was Sheldons and Michaels! We all pulled over at the next road and had a little chat. They already had their window fixed and had eaten at a cool little Italian bakery. :-) So we had a nice chat and then headed for home.

All in all, it was a really good trip. I guess it’s not so bad to have a “major birthday” if you can have a fun trip like that! I’m glad the break-ins didn’t happen the first night, since that could have messed up our day on the town. I think Keith and I are over our anger and frustration. (There was some forgiving and accepting to do there!) Now, I’m just wondering what God has in mind for a coat for me to wear this fall/winter. The one that was stolen was the outer shell that a fleece zips into. And it’s about the time of year to start wearing them together. The good news is that Keith found a used window from a place in T. Bay and it should be arriving here tomorrow. He thinks he and his Dad can install it themselves. I’ll be really grateful for a window, since it’s rather scary driving without being able to see behind you!!

Well, if you’re still with me, you are now definitely informed!! I’ll post pictures as soon as Sheldon sends me the one of all of us together. (No pressure, Sheldon!) That's all for now!!

Happy 40th to Me!

Top picture: just so those of you far away can really believe that I'm pregnant.

Middle: pancakes in our pajamas.

Bottom: Helen and me with our cake. The 40 is for me and the extra 8 candles are for her. You can do the math. :-)

Well, it's officially here and (almost) gone. I'm really 40 and I just can't seem to wrap my mind around that. It just seems sort of impossible or surreal. Old people are 40, you know. And I don't feel old. Just tired. :-) So, now I need to adjust my brain to this new reality and it might take a little while. I was reading an essay about turning 40 the other day and it changed my perspective a little. It's our worldly culture around us that hates to get old. But there are a lot of things to look forward to: wisdom, maturity, more to offer other people, a deeper, closer relationship with my heavenly Father, etc, etc. And getting older is sure a lot better than not!

The other day I read about a bumper sticker that said, "I'd rather be 40 than pregnant!" Somehow I didn't find that too amusing. :-/ How would you like to be both?? When we were married 9 years ago, I really hoped I'd be done having children by the time I was 40. Well, I guess we didn't quite make it. So, here I am 40 and pregnant! And it really doesn't seem any different than yesterday when I was 39 and pregnant. :-)

Thanks to family and friends, my birthday was celebrated in fine style. Kendra hosted a birthday party for me last night at her house. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. There were 10 or 11 of us ladies there and lots of yummy food. I got really cool presents too. I got two aprons!! I've really been wanting one, since I'm such a sloppy cook, and Lisa knew that, so she made me one! Elise didn't know I wanted one, and she didn't even seem to know that the package of hot pads she gave me included an apron. But there it was and it was really a nice one too. So now there's no excuse for grease spots, etc. on my clothes!

This morning I slep in a little. At a little after 8:00, Keith was making pancakes and I was showing him my presents. Suddenly I heard singing outside and there at the door were Wendy and her kids in their pajamas with flowers, balloons, and cards! Wow! Of couse they all stayed for breakfast and we had a great time. Then Keith left to cut firewood and took Caleb, and Wendy took Logan and Josiah with her for the rest of the morning. So, I had a quiet, refreshing morning. You can hardly get a better birthday present than that!

Tonight my family was here for Thanksgiving dinner. Dru made a cake for me and for Helen whose birthday is in a week. My boys gave me a good can opener (yes!) and Keith gave me a new Philips, Craig, and Dean CD (yes! yes!!). So, I feel well-celebrated and I still get to go to the city later this week. Okay, maybe I'm a little bit spoiled - or very much blessed!

Home Improvement

It’s always fun to do a few little (or big) improvements around the house. I just thought I’d share a few with you. We recently had the top of our table refinished. Let me just say it pays to hire a professional sometimes. I wish I had taken a before picture, but those of you who have been at our house might remember what bad shape it was in. It was embarrassing! Now it’s so nice. I think the finish is better than the original because you can see the grain and color of the wood better. I’m really enjoying it!

Then I hung some plates above the doorway in the kitchen that I’ve had for years. They were a gift from my Grandma M. Thanks to Iris for the idea of where to put them. And, yay ebay, for the plate rack!

I just took a little trip down memory lane when I was looking at the picture of the plates. Way back when, my cousin Sue and I had some rivalry going on for whatever reasons. Well, when Grandma picked out plates for us (we are the two oldest granddaughters), I was jealous of hers. She got four (!) plates and I only got two. (Insert childish whine.) Hers had pink flowers as I recall, and mine were orange, yellow, and black, of all things. At that point in time, pink would definitely have been my pick over orange and yellow. If I remember correctly (and I might not) she liked mine - maybe because of the cool, octogan shape. We were pathetic. So now, many years later, I'm finally hanging my plate up and I'm so glad I have the orange and yellow ones! I've actually developed an affinity for yellow and orange - in the right places and amounts. Pink wouldn't look nearly as nice in my kitchen and two plates is just right for that space. And I love the octogan shape. There should be a moral to this story, right? I guess it's that we need to trust God to give us what's best because He see the end when we're only at the beginning.

And lastly, I finally made a curtain for the “pantry/misc. storage” shelves in my entryway. I always felt like they were an eyesore. That’s what you can see when you look into the entryway from the kitchen. So, now it looks much better, I think!

The Fans are Clamoring

Well, actually, Iris was just wondering if I'm stuck in the freezer. So, instead of doing my before-bed routine, I'll type out a little morsel here. I've had things in mind to post, but no time. Can anyone else relate to that??

Homeschooling is proving to be quite an adjustment. It seems like it takes so much of our day. I think part of it is that I'm also now responsible for Logan's piano practice as well as Caleb's (Keith did it last year). Caleb is more independent with it, but I have to sit with Logan for most of it and help him. Add to that some discipline/relationship issues between Logan and me, and it can mean a stressful, long practice. Gotta pray more about that one!! Also, we sort of mix our chores right in with school and piano, so by the time we get all of that done, it can seem like the whole day is gone. So, we continue to work at it and I'm praying about my attitudes and parenting style, and we plug along!

As my dear sister has pointed out in the comments on the previous post, next week is a big milestone for me. Rhonda had asked me what it was going to take to numb the pain, or something like that. Well, this is what it will take: a trip to the city! Next week, Keith and I are meeting my brother Sheldon and his wife Darla, and our mutual friends Michael and Connie (who also hit the big 4-0 a little while ago) and we're going to just have some fun in the city! I'm looking forward to a little shopping (the men don't want to do much!), a nice hotel, a tour of the mint, Olive Garden and Perkins (hopefully) and the Symphony on Friday night. Yay!

Wendy and her kids are going to be at Stormer Lake for a couple days (Jeff is working up there somewhere) so tomorrow we're heading up there for the day. We asked Marvin to have a little "field trip" for the kids - show them how the generator works, or something. And we're going to make soft pretzels. And hopefully relax and just hang out with Yvonne for awhile. That should be fun!

I've really been enjoying the CD "Let the Worshippers Arise" by Philips, Craig and Dean!! Their lyrics and music are both so powerful!

And in the "things-you-really-must-know-or-your-life-will-never-be-complete" department:

-It seems like for the last month or more, every time I do laundry, it rains so I can't hang it out to dry. But inevitably, it seems, the day before or after is beautiful and sunny. Why??? I'm a cheapskate and it bugs me to have to dry it all in the dryer. Grrrr.

-We tried on snow pants, coats, and boots today to see what we need for the winter. So, of course the boys had to go all-out and dress to the teeth. They tried to play outside that way, but it didn't last long. It was beautiful outside!

-Josiah has had gooey eyes for the better part of a week. His eyeballs aren't red, but underneath his eyes it's red and swollen. Should I take him to the doctor? The others had a milder case of the same thing and they've all had runny noses...

-I got a little extra spending money so I bid on a place setting of my china on ebay. I got it for $20.50 which is really cheap for Old Country Roses. Then I got the invoice and the shipping is $22.54!! Huh! It's still a good price over-all, but it kinda makes me disgusted that the shipping is more than the price! And I'm sure that's more than the actual shipping will be. Oh well!

-I also bought Logan a dress shirt and tie on ebay. He often begs to wear a tie on Sunday (!?!) and he doesn't have anything that works right now. So I got him something. It might be a Christmas present. Not sure yet. We'll see how much of a problem Sunday mornings are for awhile! :-)

-I'm going to post soon about the on-line course I'm doing now about food addiction. It's been really good! I'm telling you this now so that I have to actually post about it.

-On Monday I'm going to be 40. That's just crazy. How did that happen??

Okay, I'm going to go now before you're all bored to tears!! Night-night!