It's Been a Week

I don't have many pictures of the past week, but a lot has happened. Buck and I both had perfectly healthy well checks at the swarming with illin' people doctor's office--and then both caught similar versions of the same head cold within a day of each other. This meant that all our fun plans for his first "natural" weekend off of work in, IDK--decades, were reduced to grabbing drive through chicken strips in our pajamas. But his truck flipped 111,111 miles on the way, so that was exciting! :)

We watched a lot of football and home renovation shows. The boys weren't here much, and we were pretty sneezy. Buck took two Covid tests--because we have like seven boxes of them--but they were both negative. Our streak holds!

In the past several days, the world began to melt, and Olive is thrilled to be outside as much as she possibly can be. She buries her ball in the snow, then digs it up and pounces on it--over and over again, each time delighted to find it is still there, lol :) We also had this cute little bunch of birds using the cover of Buck's grill as a splashy hot tub yesterday. It was fun to watch them spiff up for the approaching springlike weather!

At Christmas, we tried to get our fireplace up and running. We shut it down a couple of summers ago when our gas bill was astronomical and I realized we'd let the pilot light run for like eight years straight. Well, our energy bill has dropped dramatically recently (in fact, I think they owe us at least a few months' worth of payments) and I found a fireplace fixing company online. They were out within just a few days. The technician discovered two gas leaks (eek!) and did a full mechanical replacement of the internal ignition workings (they were 25 years old), plus he cleaned the logs and the glass. Now the fire dances up at the flip of a switch (just like the good old days), and most importantly it is safe! Not that we'll want a fire when it's nearing 50 degrees outside, but it is nice to have it working again. We even have embers, oooh! I don't remember embers!

It appears my time as a happy hermit is coming to a close. I've got several social engagements on the calendar, starting tomorrow. I also had my friend S and her baby over a few days ago while her older daughter was at preschool. Olive kindly brought the baby her boot. When Daisy was here yesterday with Caelan and Noah, she brought me my boot, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with Retrievers :)

In other family news, we are beginning our second semester of school today--nearly completing a couple of classes and adding a couple more onto the schedule. We're also looking at graduation party dates for Brennen and moving dates for the first round of newlyweds who discovered--after nearly two years of waiting--they will have student housing this summer!

In the meantime, Caelan started working with our Czar, at a non-profit, helping with office work, project support, and her specialty--event planning. She's found the experience such a welcome example of teamwork, kindness, and respect, that she put in her two weeks' notice at the arts center where's she's managed for more than a year. She said if the excellent pay and quality people at her new job wouldn't have done it--nearly getting trapped in an elevator and facilitating a challenging wedding reception at the venue would have locked in her decision anyway. 

Brennen ended his time with the sporting goods store right before he left for the Texas trip (on his one-year anniversary). He is now Dashing (well, he always has been ;), but is giving independent work of this nature a try. Chase and Gabby Dash on the side, and Noah has done it as well, so B has some good resources for his delivery strategies. 

Graysen grabbed an opportunity to talk to a businessman/hobby farmer at church a Sunday ago and asked if he had any jobs available. He sure did! Graysen started--he anticipates full-time!--the very next day. He's currently a farmhand, helping with the horses, chickens, pigs, dogs, cows, and splitting wood. He may have an opportunity to get onto one of the boss's utility crews in the spring, laying pipe for a waterworks project. He's grateful to be working, dreaming of buying his own car, and pretty excited that he made more than half of what he brought in during his year at the grocery store in just one week at his new job :)

So, there's my week in review! I might even take Olive for a walk once the trash trucks are gone. We'll see--I technically still have a couple days of hermit month left on the calendar ;)

Snow Nose?

Apparently, it's a thing! Olive has been acting weird ever since the world turned the color of her fur . . . but her nose turning white, too? What is going on?! Snow nose.

She still loves a good jog through the snow--it's like she has to convince herself to come in the house. She'll run toward the door, then she flips around and jumps off the deck, then runs at the door, then flips around and jumps off the deck again. Crazy sauce! Here's a wider loop earlier today, up on Manor Mountain where she almost made it close enough to help me with the chickens :)

And this . . . well, IDK what this is . . . lololol!

She does it a lot--contained crazy, maybe :)

Snow, It Came Back

As promised, with barely a break, we watched the sky darken as another winter burst headed our way. Interestingly, this one brought with it a national weather service alert across all of our cell phones! A "snow squall" they called it--which must have been when the quickly falling snow got whipped into white-out madness by the swirly, twirly winds. Instead of it looking like a snow globe outside, it felt like we were inside the snow globe and some enthusiastic kid was shaking the flakes vigorously, lol!

School was again delayed, let out early, and canceled for the children of the public, because nobody wanted to be out there driving or walking--they probably couldn't even if they wanted to! So, what did we do during the snow squall?

I finished the honeymoon puzzle :)

Brennen told me all about the mission trip, and we looked at photos and videos. Buck had the day off and took his picture with Olive :)

The boys joined us for a board game--how they all remember the various aspects of these games, IDK. I ended up accidentally dumping Graysen into a whirlpool after his brother fed him to shark and Buck crashed my boat with a whale. I'm still not sure what all happened during Survive, but I do know that Buck's prepper skills apparently translate to board games, because he won :)

After the snow, another arctic blast settled over the land. The boys dug out the cars and joined their friends and bro-in-law for life outside of the Manor :) There were a lot of scrapers and salt trucks for this round, so the normal cars made it in and out of the 'hood! 

In the -22 degree sparkle of a sunlit snow world, Olive tried to help me with the chickens, but her paws get too cold too quickly. I discovered one of our hens, the one with the SUPER puffy feet, was all alone in the dog coop. I'm not sure if the snow hurt her swollen toes or what caused her to be left behind, but (after shoveling out the door, the drift around the food, and the path to the coop) I crawled into the former doghouse and carried her out. I put her through the small door to where I'd refilled the water and dumped meal worms for the flock to munch (since they weren't making the snow trek to the feeder boxes). I reversed my own trek through the deep snow to the Viking coop side and watched her eat, until my glasses were frozen over. I lifted her into the Viking lodgings with all the other birds, so hopefully she is happier and warmer with all the other feathered ladies.

It looks like I won't be sitting in my reading swing for a while! :)

It's hard to show the scope of the snow, but there's more than we're used to, that's for sure! 

Let's see, it's been a couple of days, since I started this . . . I made cookies from scratch (what??!), finished a Brennan Manning book, and found this page a good ponder . . .

None of us will ever be as we "should" be--that's because we live in a broken, fallen, imperfect world. I also think he's asking rhetorically if we think Jesus can be disappointed in us; I feel like the whole scope of this book and thoughts on God's love for us speak the opposite. But maybe the point Manning is attempting to make is that God's forgiveness is so big, He wants us to grasp it fully; I could see how there would be a lingering sadness when this truth isn't fully realized yet in our lives. I like the positive side of the message; Jesus is grateful and appreciative of our efforts to be like Him and represent Him. Even when we fail, He knows the desire of our hearts is to do better, sincerely and joyfully.

Well, I've been doing a lot of reading, so I'll stop rewriting what the author already said :) Jesus loves you! Amen :)

Just F.Y.I. the first definition that comes up for hermit is "a person living in solitude as a religious discipline." I've been telling everyone that I'm a happy hermit all month, so I guess the spiritual recharge is an inevitable, and welcome, part of the hermit package :)

Texas Mission Trip 2024

I'm so very thankful that God opened the way for Brennen and Graysen to go on their first mission trip, with their cousins, and a great group of college students! My sister made the mention, and God filled in the rest. The boys were able to fundraise everything they needed from friends, family, and even Olive's other people :) 

For nearly two weeks, they worked hard, built homes, roofed homes, painted homes, prayed over homes, and served the local community by distributing food, helping at local ministries, offering a carnival for the local children (Brennen said there were hundreds), and pursuing whatever God asked them to do. There were times of worship, Bible study, games, meals, fun, compassion, silliness, joy, and some new friendships. 

The group had an online folder they all could contribute trip photos and videos to (which is where most of these came from :) Brennen sat with me (while it snowed) and showed me all the things and told me stories about the people and events pictured. What an amazing experience, serving God and growing in His goodness!

I'm not entirely sure I have these pictures in the correct order, but the boys rode 18+ hours straight to the border of Mexico. They made several stops along the way for gas, to switch drivers, to get food, and to take group photos . . .

Upon arrival in Texas, to keep everyone awake and active (kind of like combatting bus jetlag), they took two groups--either to a bird sanctuary (Graysen's choice) or to a massive clothing depot (Brennen's choice) where kids could climb mountains of clothing and buy anything they liked for less than a dollar a pound. Brennen did not end up with this stylish attire, but the guy behind him in the bikini went for it, lol!

The next day, the teams worked on framing walls and adding them to the foundations the lead team (my nephews) got going a week earlier. This was only a half day of work, because it was also beach day! The (very exhausted) teams loaded onto buses (and promptly fell asleep) for the drive to South Padre Island. Ocean, sand, beach volleyball, and some sunshine--amazing!

The next morning was church! The boys said the team would sing a worship song first in Spanish, then in English, then switch back and forth verse by verse. The college crew also did skits (my nephew seemed to be in most of them :) and were surround by children (again, nephews are much loved by the littles!)

After church was the carnival . . . Graysen helped distribute food and then helped with the games. Brennen said they kind of set up their own games; I think Graysen helped with limbo, and Brennen held the dolls (I'm not sure if these were prizes or ones the kiddos brought with them from home). They did another skit about sheep and shepherds (I think my nephew was usually the "bad guy," but it is hard to tell from snippets :) It looked very well-attended from the photos, and I know the gospel was presented in both English and Spanish to those who gathered!

When Monday rolled around, the boys began their 6 or 7 a.m. to past 11 p.m. daily schedule. Generally, they worked on the houses (there were three) for around 8 hours a day. Brennen taught some of the mission trippers who hadn't worked with power tools, how to. Graysen at some point got to ride in the back of a truck, "It's legal there, Mom!" and while doing so, intentionally joined in a massive police and helicopter chase until roadblocks barred their adventure's progress. Interesting.

The college has been running this trip annually for 14 years (I think the boys said), so they have got a system in place that works! One of the homes, the largest they've ever built, will house three families. Another, the family has waited two years for--and to show their gratitude, they'd often cook meals for the volunteers on the worksite. Brennen approved of this practice! :) 

I learned that my boys already knew how to hang drywall using one of the big machines pictured below. They also built on their chicken coop roofing knowledge, expanding to roofing entire homes (and apparently only one cousin was *slightly* injured by a rogue nail gun fire during this learning experience :) Brennen said he got to cut a window hole in the wall, because someone else's first try wasn't quite where it was supposed to be. The boys felt like they already knew how to do most of this stuff, but I was surprised by just how much of the building they all did--under the guidance of a professional contractor and his family and several "old timers" who took care of the electrical and maybe (?) plumbing. 

I loved seeing the videos of Brennen leading worship on guitar! And the photos of the students praying for each other and the homeowners and the leaders. Also during these times of fellowship, they played a game called "Signs" that apparently took up at least a couple hours of each day :) My understanding of the game is: everyone makes up a signature sign, and then a guy or gal (like Monkey in the Middle) tries to catch someone making their sign, so they don't have to be in the middle anymore. Distractions via song or other means were allowed. Simple, but clearly extremely entertaining :)

Wow, what a lot of work they did! When their portion of the houses were complete (another team from another state is scheduled to come in and do the finishing work, like mud, tape, and trim), the students crowded into the freshly built homes. They presented the homeowners with quilts and keys. The leaders spoke a blessing over the family and the home, and then all the kids and crew went outside, inside, wherever they could find a space, and they prayed for the home and the family--or families--it would shelter. Pretty awesome!

As you know, their return was delayed by all the crazy sauce weather across most of the United States. We are thankful they made it home safely! But we are also thankful that they willingly gave this time to Jesus, they shared the skills and knowledge they've gained over the years to serve others, and they got to connect with their cousins to accomplish a mission they will never forget. Love, love, love!

Snow, Are We Done Yet?

Whew! We are SNOW close! Actually, we're not . . . there's more coming, but I thought I'd wrap up the first round of Snowpacolypse blog posts as this is the first day that children have returned to school for a full day's education! Not my children, of course. They are at the sporting goods store with their friends, but I'm sure we'll educate tomorrow :)

Rewinding to The Day After The Last Day I Wrote About . . . Monday, Snowpacolypse Day 8? We determined me getting out of the neighborhood and back in was still an impossibility. Buck attempted to switch the sluggish battery in his truck, but discovered it was frozen in place. That project remains on hold.

Still lots of snow on the ground, still not able to go pick up the boys. I'll write a bit about their trip, soon. Their route home was delayed by the weather, and then strategically staged to avoid bursts of ice rain, etc., which led to a 24-hour long return drive--straight through! They enjoyed a bonus day on campus with the students from their trip (who had a college snow day), and then made their way to my sister's house with their cousin A.

Meanwhile, Caelan and Daisy arrived to do laundry and spark joy in Olive :) We talked through a bunch of things we've been texting about--vacation plans, college plans, work stuff--and then decided we should watch a movie. Our Barbie rental had expired, so we settled on My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which I haven't seen since it came out. It was better than the third, but not as good as the first :) Noah arrived back (in four-wheel drive) at the house from his lunch meeting with the pastor who married them last summer, and decided he'd just hang out upstairs until the movie was over. The dogs were bonkers the whole time! You already saw the sweater show, so here are a couple other furry moments.

Finally, we arrive at what I will call the final day of this snowstorm and its week plus of complications, isolations, and excellent excuses to continue to happily hermit at home :) We started out in the morning to pick up the boys at my sister's house. While our neighborhood was still slippery, we made it out in the truck. We attempted to get gas, and did, but nearly all the pumps were out of service and those running ran verrrrrrry slooooooowly. The roads outside of town were fine, but we didn't know that Buck's truck's heating system no longer worked for our feet. More than two hours of zero floor heat left us both with frosty toes--in fact, on the way home, I had a bottle of water sitting in the cupholder on the door next to me and there were ice chunks in it by the time we arrived back at the fort! My sister provided a bunch of hand warmies that we shoved in our socks and shoes and that helped keep our toes from doing the same :)

It was a good time of visiting, well, after we found her house--so much has built up around her formerly rural location that it took a couple of tries to find the right turn. Crazy sauce! The boys looked tired, but good. It was nice to get a three-part rundown of the experience, and lots of details from my nephew A. He also broke out a bunch of his college work from high school to help explain his plans for his future education. His enthusiasm and already accumulated knowledge speaks volumes for his hopes and goals. It is fun, and it will continue to be fun, to see this generation discover the plans and intentions God designed each of them to fulfill. Such a great group of teens and twenties, brimming with potential! I'm thankful the boys got to spend solid, quality time getting to know their cousins better as young men. Cousins are forever :)

We also stopped for BBQ on the way home, because sometimes when you're close to a good restaurant and you don't get there very often, you just embrace the opportunity. The boys approved!

And so . . . back at the Manor. . . laundry going, Olive delighted to have her boys home . . . the mail was delivered for the first time in nearly a week, the trash guy made the rounds a day late, but not bad; the city scooped up our snow castle while we were on our all-day adventure; I saw a salt truck (hindered by a Prime truck) creep through our neighborhood, and the boys are out with their friends--I'd say things are nearly normal--just really cold. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

It's That Time Again . . .

 . . . for *Who Wore it Best?!* This time featuring Daisy Baby (a.k.a. Fern) 7 Months Old

Here's a look at past contestants . . . Olive Garden at 2 Years Old

Muriel (a.k.a. Bella) at 7 Months Old

Newton (a.k.a. Rootin' Tootin' Newton von Newton) at 8 Months Old

Sweet Little Linus at 6 Months Old

The OG dOG Chauncey Dodge at like 7 Years Old

We missed Sunny Bunny Foo Foo, and forgot to enter Scarlet as a competitor the last time she was here, so we'll have to catch her on her next prison break . . . but there you have it, our posh pooches sporting the sweater that fits everyone (mostly)! :)