The flowers are blooming, the grass is greening, it must be SPRING!!

Christian had some tree work to do close by, so I suggested Christy and the kids come down with him and hang out at our house all day. Then I also invited Amy and Dawn to join us for afternoon socializing and dinner together last Saturday. So it was a fun day. The weather was cool and sunny which contributed to lots of play time outside.The dinner was delicious. I marinated salmon and chicken which Andy grilled. I also made a batch of rolls - 2 dozen - all of which were completely devoured with requests for more. Chrisy made a taboulleh salad, Amy made green bean wraps (wrapped in bacon!) and Dawn made an apple cake with cream cheese frosting. Everything tasted so good.

Sunday was a busy day, too. Around mid-morning, Dawn called me to ask if I could pick her up. She had gone to a grocery store to buy pizzas to feed her children's choir who were rehearsing in the afternoon. However, when she got back out to her car, she couldn't get it started. So I drove over, we put Kira in my car and I drove her to church, while Dawn waited for the tow truck to take her away.

I did manage to attend the 11:00 service, then home for a quick lunch, then back to church to attend a baby shower. I had to leave that before all the presents were unwrapped because we were hosting a singles Bible study at our house at 5:30 and I needed to get the refreshments ready and coffee made.

Monday was a work day...then Tuesday. I was kind of tired and moving in slow motion. Dawn came over with Kira who stayed with me while Dawn and Andy went to Home Depot to pick up windows for Dawn & Tommy's house. Having Kira here is a real ego booster. She loves to be here and almost always cries when it's time to go. She loves me to hold her and is very eager to give hugs. It is getting harder to pick her up, though, because she currently weighs 26 pounds.

Also on Tuesday, Amy called and told me she really wanted me to come up on Thursday and go with her to the Lancaster Flower Show. I didn't know if I could get off work, but the more I thought about it, I decided I would go for it. It was a beautiful day today and I'm so glad I did something fun with Amy and her kids. The flower show was small, but nice. We probably wandered around the show for over an hour, then enjoyed the outdoors while the kids played on the swing set that was set up outside.I bought a really nice garden ornament for a hanging basket. I couldn't resist taking pictures of the trees that are flowering, even though I already have these same pictures (from last year). The sky was so blue today which makes the colors of the flowers so much more distinctive.I love this magnolia tree. It was barely as tall as me when we planted it, now it's taller than the house. And when it blooms, it outdoes itself!

Fearful and Wonderful

It seems like Andy and I have lately been consumed with the physical, spending a lot of time, attention and money on these perishable bodies. I am still dealing with the after effects of my bout with poison ivy. The prednasone and antibiotic helped, but several weeks ago I developed numbness in the ends of my 2 fingers (pointer & tall man) on my right hand. They are also discolored and look purplish like they are bruised. In my research on poison ivy, I've discovered that the reaction can include numbness. I'm never quite sure about calling the doctor. If I call, am I being a hypocondiac? If I don't call, will it get worse until it's harder to treat? So I called and made an appointment. My appointment was this morning and the doctor was fascinated by my condition, but didn't seem to offer any suggestions on how to improve my situation. He ordered lab work done and said to let him know if I haven't improved in a week.

On the other hand, my back has been feeling better. So was that as a result of the back exercises I'm doing? Or did the prednasone help? Or was it the hyaluronic acid with chondroitin sulfate that Christy told me to start taking? Or maybe all things combined are giving me relief. Whatever - I'm grateful.

When I first came down with the poison ivy reaction, Andy developed a severe cold, with lots of congestion and coughing. He finally had to go to the doctor because it just wasn't going away. It seemed to last longer than most colds do. Then because prednasone suppresses the immune system, I was vulnerable and caught the cold, too. It was a doozy! I'm finally feeling better from that, but still coughing now and then.

This past weekend, Andy woke up in the middle of Friday night throwing up and that lasted till morning. He was pretty weak and spent the day cloistered in the bedroom. On Sunday morning, he was still feeling nauseous and because he hadn't eaten in a while, felt he needed to go the Emergency Room to get some medical help. It's a good thing he did, because there were several things going on. They first told him there was internal bleeding, although not sure where that was coming from or what they meant by that. A CT scan was done, as well as a few other tests. He was given some fluids, and anti-nausea medication as well. Fortunately, he didn't have to be admitted, but the diagnosis was a urinary tract infection. There were probably some other things going on including: after effects from the colonoscopy he had on Wednesday and possibly a stomach virus, too. Poor guy!

All these physical issues reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:4: For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

In spite of not feeling so well, we still had things going on. Two weekends ago, on March 25-27, I went to Lancaster County for our church's women's retreat. The speaker was excellent and we had a good time, but it really wasn't the best time for me to be away. My cold was at its worst right then and I was still itching from the poison ivy, making it hard to sleep. I really needed more sleep than usual that weekend, but didn't get it. We got a lot of free time on Saturday afternoon, so after lunch, I drove over to see Amy, Ricky and kids. I held Katy most of the time I was there and enjoyed seeing everyone and visiting with them.

On April 1, Christy and Christian were scheduled to go to a George Winston concert, leaving all 4 kids with us overnight and into Saturday. I told Dawn she could bring Kira over on Saturday morning because she loves being with all the kids. I left work early on Friday afternoon, the kids arrived around 2:45. We were able to play a little, then when Andy got home from work, I made barbeque chicken pizza and Caesar's salad for dinner. Everyone was happy with that meal and ate well. After dinner we watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie, then had some ice cream, then watched another episode of Little House, before getting ready for bed. Bed time was a lot of fun. We fixed up the room upstairs for the kids.

Grace & Aiden slept on the queen size futon and Naomi and Asher slept in sleeping bags on the floor. I read some Uncle Remus stories to the kids to get them in the sleepy mode (which didn't really work because they kept asking for one more story...). Then Andy took over and started making up stories but was so silly, the kids were giggling and laughing so hard - forget the sleepy mode!
I slept upstairs in the other room so that I could be near the kids. When I came downstairs in the morning, I discovered Andy had been up nearly all night throwing up. That was disappointing for him, as well as the kids. The first thing they asked when they got up was, "Where's Poppop?" How sad that they couldn't even see him, let alone play and wrestle with him.

I fixed blueberry pancakes for breakfast with Grace's help. She is a joy to have around. I would have been happy to do everything myself, but she just anticipated what I needed and jumped right in to help. She set the table without my telling her to, she helped mix up the batter, and she also turned the pancakes on the grill.

Kira arrived around 8:30 and then I didn't see much of the kids anymore. They played outside quite a bit. The weather was cool but quite nice.Then Christian and Christy came - a lot earlier than expected. We had originally said they would be back after lunch, but Christian hurt his knee on Friday night and was in a good deal of pain. So they thought they should get him home so he could visit the ER. When they got here, the kids were playing so well, we took some time to visit and just relax together.

But I still got to have Kira until about 12:00 noon. We filled up the bird feeders, took a letter to the mailbox and read some books together.

So it's been pretty eventful recently. Never a dull moment!

I've been amazed at the way our bodies are made. Even though we suffer at times and life can seem fragile, we are pretty resilient, too. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. His works are wonderful, I know that full well! (Psalm 139:14)

Relationships & Politics

Most of what I blog about is time spent with family. I don't seem to be much interested in hobbies or projects, other than a little gardening perhaps. I do a crochet or sewing project here and there or find new recipes, but for the most part, I'm spending time with family, or at least, plotting how we can get together.

Last Saturday, I babysat Kira while Dawn and Tommy went to a family party. I got to their house around 1:00 pm and Kira was already in bed. She wasn't sleeping, but was "talking" and playing in her crib. But she soon went to sleep and didn't wake up till 4:00. So that whole time, I sat in the house reading a book I had brought with me. Of course, when she woke up, I was happy to hold her and cuddle with her. She was very happy to see me which was satisfying for me - she's so expressive. I didn't get to stay very long after she woke up, because when Dawn & Tommy got home, I needed to leave almost right away.

Andy and I then rode over to Christy & Christian's church to watch their whole family (except Asher) in a musical play. It was really fun and brought back many memories of when our own children were young and participating in church plays, as well as their own productions at home. Grace, Aiden & Naomi were in the children's choir. Grace had a solo and did very well - what a pretty voice she has - I was very proud of her continuing the family musical tradition! Christy also had a solo. She played the part of Sweetie, a helpless female (not typecast!). It was very entertaining.We got to meet some of their friends, and after the "show," Andy and I took them all out for ice cream. We ended up at "Basket of Robbers" because it was still so early in the season and the only ice cream place that was open.
One thing that has never interested me is politics. I think I stay away from it because it could be very depressing with the way our country is going. It seems to me like politics is just a game people play for their own ends, not really for the good of the country.

So last night I was pleasantly surprised. Andy and I attended a dinner put on by a local crisis pregnancy center. The main speaker was Rick Santorum. I really didn't know anything about him before, but he is definitely, undeniably pro-life, pro-family, has 7 children and even homeschools those children. Wow! I didn't know there were politicians with such attributes. He was a great speaker and after listening to him, I'm encouraged to believe that God always has his remnant. An interesting tidbit that Mr. Santorum shared in his speech is how he began attending a Bible study after he moved to Washington D.C. taught by Lloyd Ogilvie and that was where he really started to grow spiritually. Isn't God creative and ingenious in how he speaks to people! There is a God - and He reigns!

What Jesus HAD to do

Last Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper at church and I've been pondering the message all week. Pastor preached from Matthew 16:21 where Jesus said he MUST do 3 things; they were non-negotiables: 1. suffer; 2. be killed and 3. rise again. I don't know that I ever thought about the suffering part before in the way Pastor presented it. I knew he had to die and rise again, but why suffer - and so horribly?

Jesus' sufferings served a purpose:
1. They were the ultimate test of his obedience. In our sufferings, we usually ask: "How can I get out of this?" Or, "How long will this go on?" But Jesus stayed the course, He chose to obey. He knew how bad it would be and did not back down, whine, beg for a way out or give up. He really could have called 10,000 angels, but he chose not to.

2. They perfected him in obedience. He fulfilled all righteousness.

His obedience qualified him to be the perfect sacrifice and substitute for me. Because not only were my sins laid to his account, but now his righteousness is also laid to my account. The 2 sides of the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God provided a complete remedy for my complete ruin.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

I thought I had a fun weekend planned but it turned out quite differently than anticipated. On Friday afternoon, I was on my way to get my Mother to spend the weekend with me. But while driving I was talking to Dawn on my phone. (I know, I know - you're not supposed to talk on the phone while driving.) The conversation centered on how I was feeling with my poison ivy. I really wasn't feeling very well at all, the rash was spreading, had turned purple, was oozing, and my whole arm was swelling up with a red line leading up toward my shoulder. Dawn convinced me I should call the doctor and see if he would prescribe a steroid pack. So I called, but office hours were already closed. I called their emergency number but wasn't getting good reception in the car, so I called Andy and asked him to make the call for me. When he called me back, he said they wouldn't prescribe over the phone, but I had an appointment to go see the doctor on Saturday morning at 8:30. By that time, I decided it would be better to turn around and go back home because neither Mother nor I would enjoy the visit in my condition.

So Saturday morning was spent at the doctor and getting my prescriptions filled. I did get prednisone, but also an antibiotic because he didn't like the look of the red streak going up my arm. I was so tired and feeling poorly that I even took a nap in the afternoon. I had to keep my arm bandaged up all the time because of the constant oozing and seeping. Andy was very helpful - he makes such a good caretaker (much better than I do).

I had planned to have chicken on the grill with my Mother here (on Saturday) and had already invited Dawn, Tommy and Kira to join us. Since the chicken was thawing, I marinated it all day, and told T and D to come on over anyway. So that was nice to have their company. Kira is so fun. She calls me Teeta. I don't know how she gets that from Grammy, but it's obvious she means me when she says Teeta. It's very satisfying to greet her at the door when she comes. She runs up and with great enthusiasm says: "Teeta."

Sunday I was starting to feel a little better, and every day since then, until today I finally left my arm unwrapped. It's not even itching any more, but still looks pretty awful.

Today was a beautiful day - perfect for working outside. We hired a couple of teens to help Andy distribute 5 yards of mulch to all our gardens. They worked so hard they got it all done in 4 hours. I was really impressed and very pleased. Dawn had a doctor's appointment this morning and I watched Kira. She enjoyed being outside walking around and talking to PopPop, Joe & Keri. She's so entertaining and talks constantly. When I had her in the house, she would wander from window to window looking out and saying: "Where's Joe?" or "Where's Keri?" or "Where's PopPop?"having a little snack

After Kira left, I managed to get my house cleaned, laundry done and a batch of rolls made. And soon Andy's taking me out to dinner.

So what makes a good day in my book? Seeing the grandkid(s), getting work done, and going out to eat!

Last Saturday was Grace's birthday, so after lunch, Andy and I headed on over to the Lindsays' to celebrate. Of course we had a wonderful time with everyone. Grace had picked the meal she wanted to have and her other Grammy and I helped contribute items for the feast. I can't believe she is 10 years old already. She has always been a dear, sweet girl, but she continues to grow sweeter as she grows older.

As it happened we also saw the Lindsay family on Sunday because Christian had a few tree estimates to make in Jersey. So the whole family came to church with us, then home for lunch, stayed all afternoon and had dinner with us, too. I also invited Dawn, Tommy & Kira over for dinner. Only Amy and her family were missing.

Naomi and Kira are buddies.
The guys being guys!Aiden likes my vibrator cushion.

And Asher - what a dear!

It was a nice day on Tuesday, chilly but sunny - a perfect day for doing yard work. So Andy and I went out to a patch that needed tending. It was one of the last places on our property that still had poison ivy and other weedy vines growing up and around the trees. My obsessive-compulsiveness has been just itching (pun intended) to get out there and tackle that mess. I was careful to warn Andy about which vines were poisonous and thankfully, he didn't break out in any rashes. However, I sure did. I am in agony because there was a patch of skin that was exposed between my gardening gloves and jacket sleeve. Fortunately, more of my skin wasn't exposed, but what did break out is worse than I've ever had, I think. (or maybe I just don't remember) I didn't have the camera with me to take a picture of what we did. I was going to go out there today when I got home from work, but it's raining, so the picture will have to wait for another blog - if I ever finish the area. I do intend to finish it, because I can't stand the idea of there being poison ivy anywhere on MY land. I hate it as much as it hates me.I'm sorry if this picture grosses you out, but at least I included the pretty flowers.

Last night we had another Ladies Night Out at the church. Our theme for this one was Reaching out to the Hungry. We asked everyone who came to bring food to stock our food pantry. As it turned out, 88 women attended and so much food was brought that three-quarters of it had to be taken to someone's home because there was no more room in the cupboards we keep at the church. Our people are so generous.

I work with such talented and creative women. Because our theme for the evening was food and hungry, we played the Price is Right game. The tables were set up and decorated as aisles in a grocery store. One of our ladies had borrowed 6 shopping carts from a local grocery store, then we used them as part of the decorations and to store all the food that people brought with them.
Our speaker was a young lady who joins other young people (in their 20's) to go to Camden once a month to feed the hungry. What a blessing to see young people with a heart for God and the poor.

It was noted that I didn't include a picture of my new stove/oven in my last blog. So I'm including it here. It looks like a stove, doesn't it?!
Andy had to cut part of the window sill away to fit the stove in because it has a back to it, where our other one didn't. This will lead into another project - replacing the windows. They needed to be replaced anyway, and the new ones have been ordered. They are a little smaller than the current ones so some cosmetic construction work will need to be done. Along with ordering new windows for us, Andy also ordered new windows for Tommy & Dawn's basement. They will be replacing 2 of their windows in their effort to fix up their basement.

It's going to be a busy weekend. But more on that later.

TTFN

It's March, the month of spring

I know I had a few posts where I mentioned how much I love snow. But we're on to the next season and now it's "I love Spring!" Yesterday was only March 1 but it was such a lovely day, still a little chilly, but a brightly shining sun. I had arranged for a young teen boy to come over for the morning and help us clean up the yard and gardens. He was happy for some spending money and we were happy for the help. He was such a good hard worker and he and Andy got a lot done. They raked many bags of leaves out of the gardens and picked up enough sticks and limbs from the yard to fill 4 trash cans and 2 construction garbage bags. Then they started edging the gardens to get ready for mulching next week. I did a little helping - I just couldn't stay inside on such a gorgeous day.

I was surprised, but happy, to note that there were some buds beginning to pop and some green shoots poking up out of the brown earth. It's fun to explore and discover how things made it through the winter. I had to rip out one Japonica bush - it was definitely dead, but probably because of the extremely dry summer. I was expecting to have to tear out one of my knock out rose bushes, too, because I had transplanted it in the fall to avoid overcrowding. (I know, those of you who told me I planted them too close - you were right!) I hadn't been very careful in my transplanting and thought the bush wasn't going to make it because it shriveled up and looked very sad several weeks afterwards. So I was going to dig it out and throw it away yesterday, but when I went to do the job, I noticed new growth on it. Yeah! What a delightful surprise.

And another delight - the pansies are bravely blooming in spite of being frozen and covered with mounds of snow all winter.A couple of Saturdays ago, Amy was getting ready to sell another litter of puppies so Andy & I went up to give the puppies their shots. It was a crazy evening with people coming and going. I think there must have been 3 parties that came that night while we were there to look and buy a puppy. At the same time, we were trying to play with the kids and take care of them so Amy could concentrate on "public relations." I was happy to hold Katy. Andy had bought a little jumper in Guatemala and we took it along and tried it on Katy. Here she is modeling it.
What a happy baby Katy is.

Andy and I have been working at providing direction and leadership to a new ministry at church - for singles in their 30's and 40's. There is a lot going on right now for young adults (college age and 20's) and young marrieds and there is also a very active seniors ministry. So the in-betweeners were feeling left out. We know 4 of them very well and enjoy being with them, so had a couple meetings with them to see if we could get something started. We decided to start by advertising a game night for this age group. Well, Sunday, Feb. 27th was the date. We had no idea how many people would show up and were pleasantly surprised when we had a houseful with 15 (not counting Andy and me). Everyone had a good time, there was lots of laughter with good munchies and friendships were established.

One of the above mentioned singles that was part of our planning team had mentioned that she was unemployed. Andy and I were feeling the need for additional help in the office, so we approached her about joining the staff on a trial and part time basis. I feel like it's an answer to my prayer and so far, she's working out great. One of my biggest concerns was wondering who would do my work when I needed to take time off. But I am confident that this young woman will be able to learn my job quickly and be very efficient, so that I can take my vacations with a minimum of stress. What a relief!

I am also experiencing some relief from my back pain. Dr. Christy to the rescue! In talking with her a couple of weeks ago, she suggested I get the book, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life. So I thought what do I have to lose? A $15 book is cheaper than a spine doctor and physical therapy and drugs. I bought the book and have been doing the exercises the book recommends. I hope it's not too soon to tell, but I'm feeling a lot better - in just a few short days and after being in excruciating pain for over a year. The exercises are not at all difficult and they only take about 5 minutes several times a day. I know it's hard to believe and I am reluctant to speak too highly of it too soon. But for now, I'm grateful to be able to get a good night's sleep without waking up in pain after 4-5 hours and being able to get out of bed in the morning feeling no pain. It's amazing.

While Andy was in Guatemala my oven stopped working. It was frustrating because it wasn't that old. I think we bought it new about 6 years ago, but in the time since, we've had to have it repaired several times. So this time was the last straw! We ordered a new stove and it was delivered on Monday afternoon. We bought a simple Kenmore - they are highly rated by consumers and I already like it. I don't care for a lot of bells and whistles, I think the more you have, the more chance there is that something can go wrong. I was without an oven for over 2 weeks, but thankfully, Mom and Dad live here so I borrowed their oven a couple of times. I've used the stove top several times and it's easier to use and more my size! The other stove had grills on top of the stove that sat up really high. It always seemed too high for little me.

So that's the news from here for now. It's going to be an eventful month with something planned each weekend.