Memorial Day

We're tenting tonight on the old Campground.
Give us a song to cheer
Our weary hearts, a song of home,
And friends we love so dear.

Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,
Wishing for the war to cease;
Many are the hearts looking for the right
To see the dawn of peace.
Tenting tonight,
Tenting tonight,
Tenting on the old Campground.

It was a long, busy, and full weekend. And I loved it. Friday I made some strawberry jam and relaxed. The jars must not have gotten wiped off enough, because I had to wash the outsides with soapy water again to keep the ants away... ick. Nasty creatures.

Saturday morning I headed to Champaign to help Gab and Brian paint their new old house. It's so cute... I loved it. Why can't there be houses like that in Tremont?? Gorgeous wood floors, open staircase, lots of windows, great trim work... *sigh* I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous. Hehe. Anyway. It was a lot of fun. It was good to spend time with them and help out. Yay for painting. Gab was being a stickler and wouldn't let me get up on a ladder... and we used low VOC paint. *eyeroll* Hehe. (You know I love you, Nurse Gab!) And then I went and ate supper with Amber and Sarah and Sydney. Always good times at the Dojo.

We went to Washington for church Sunday... Rita's family was here... and we of course had to join the crowd of people who wanted to meet Tyler. Poor guy. Hehe, he has no idea what he's getting himself into. The weather got really nasty that afternoon and they decided it would be a good day to do a tornado drill. Never a dull moment over there. :) We stopped at the farm to drop off the latest KS shipment and then we went home for a little bit before we went to Bob's parent's for supper.

Monday I slept in... I don't think I could have made it to any Memorial Day festivities if I tried, I was so tired. We were home being bums all day. It was so nice, and I even got to sit out in the sun for a little bit! I read my new book.... Gustav Stickley's 'Craftsman Homes and Bungalows'... I know I shouldn't feed my addiction but, but, they're just so cool. *sigh* I get it honest, Dad usually has a few house plan magazines laying around. And it doesn't help that we live right next to a beautiful two story bungalow that's in great shape. Anyway. I grilled steak for supper for the sake of being an American. And put a first coat of paint on the new dresser. Good times.

Blessings.

Projects

It's been a quiet week. Last night I went to Suzanne's baby shower... fun times. Otherwise, not much going on. I'm excited for the long weekend!!

So this is how I've been occupying myself in the evenings... this is also what happens when I freak out about having nothing to wear.... please ignore my aversion to ironing.

I fell in love with this fabric.


Basic black. And I kind of made up the pattern sooo... it's a wonder it turned out.


I already redid the hem on the khaki one once.... it looks better now.

Basic white. And I didn't realize how straight the pattern was. I'm really more of an A-line kinda girl.

I love this color blue. And I must confess it's a pretty good copy of a skirt of Gab's that I've coveted forever... hehe.


And my favorite. Shelly and I used to have blue and red skirts like this that we made from skorts. Now they sell the fabric and it's tons easier....



And then one night, Bob asked why I wasn't "knitting baby booties or something" sooo.... I crocheted a hat and booties. It took me a while to remember how to crochet.

Now I just need to repaint a dresser, finish my quilt club quilt from last year, and work on the one I got fabric for today.

Blessings.

Seafood and Hail

I'm always so tired after the weekends...

Friday Bob decided we should go to Red Lobster for supper, which was great. I was excited to discover that they now have lobster bisque on their menu... plus cheddar biscuits... yum. We don't get out much. :D

Our new water heater got hooked up Saturday morning! It was very exciting and it's really nice to actually have to mix some cold water in with the hot water in the shower. Good riddance to the boiler. I went to quilt club and stopped at the car wash and swept out my car for the first time in a very long time. (There were still pine needles in the trunk from hauling our Christmas tree home.) And then I spent the rest of the afternoon weeding the patio and mulching my flower beds.

Saturday evening I went to Wendi-with-an-i's testimony. Three skirts later and barely making it on time, it was a blessing. I got to meet Ellie's fiancee... they're so cute.

We were getting ready to brave the rain and run out to our car on Sunday after church... and it started hailing. So we spent a little bit longer at church watching it come down. Bob picked some up in our yard after church- they're good size!


I don't think it hurt my garden, the trees took the brunt of it. Obviously, since my nice clean patio and flower beds are now full of leaves.

Green growing things... I love spring.

Oooooooo, and the big news in our family- Abby's getting married!! Yay! Hooray for cousins and weddings and getting to marry old friends! I'm excited to 'officially' meet Tyler...

The Ants Go Marching

All over my kitchen. ick. The ground needs to dry out, and fast.

The question is: do I squish every single one that I see, or do I leave them alive so they can find the ant bait and take it back and destroy their entire families? mwahahaha. It is slightly more satisfying to squish them and mutter something like, 'go back to the shadow...'

*grin*

Blessings.

Oh we ain't got a barrel of money...

*grin* Nothing like plugging numbers into formulas and online calculators to depress a girl...

Anyways, we've been busy the last few days. Friday evening I went to Gab's personal shower and Bob went to Brian's bachelor party/cookout/ smoke out (they grilled inside a cabin and he came home smelling like a chimney). I was about to walk out the door when the deluge started, and I had such a fun time driving in it, or something. Once I got there it was all good and I had a lot of fun. Fabulous food, fun decorations, and I got to see a lot of girls that I just never see anymore. And the infamous lacy pink shorts from 709 days have a new home... hehe.

Saturday morning I got up and started making bread for potluck and then we went to look at a house... this is the first one we've been through that the owners are still living there. Which was a little weird and I felt like such a snoop opening kitchen cabinets, closet doors, and checking out pictures on the fridge... Jakey came over for a little bit in the afternoon and played games with Bob. And then we went to potluck, which was great fun as always.

Young Matt graduated on Sunday so we went from church to the graduation, picked up cupcakes, and then out to his graduation party. Long day. Graduation was short, sweet, and thankfully not hot! I don't think I've ever had to bring a coat to graduation before. I had fun listening to the band... the clarinets were having issues (as clarinets always do) until the trumpets saved the day during Pomp and Circumstance. *grin* I don't have any residual bias. The speeches weren't anything special, but then, nothing can quite compare to Nick's Styx speech, or Ned's sermonette on Corinthians 13. I was so tired after the party...

Blessings.

very warm for may...

It's May, we're not supposed to need the air conditioning yet.... mur. And the birds should be done trying to build nests in our windows! *sigh* It's been a busy week. :)

I've gotten a few seeds planted outside. And I took a walk one evening up to Joann's and came home with a sack full of rhubarb. I haven't had time to make anything with it yet...

Dang came for supper Tuesday. I used the grill for the first time this year! It still works and it's critter free, which is good. And I made strawberry shortcakes, which is pretty much second only to ice cream on a hot night.

I got lost trying to get to Heidi's from work... well, only sort of lost. Farmdale is not well marked between EP and M-ton and so I made a big circle. Ah well. I made it eventually.

Bob got all new tires last week... and then one of them was flat on Monday. um... what!? Can't say I'm all that impressed with the Honda service department....

*Grin* And Bonsai-San got his yearly shower. He's all clean and dust free now. And we've decided that anthropomorphizing house plants can be slightly awkward. But fun.

Blessings.

Muttertag

So apparently we had a very boring week, since nothing at all happened that was deemed blog worthy... which I love. *grin*

Yeah, so Friday evening we took supper to Greg and Mary and kids, which was really fun. I realized when we got there that it was a very monochromatic meal... oops. Aren't you supposed to avoid that? Or is that just something I'm weird about? O well, it all tasted ok, which is the important part. It was so nice out! We got to play with Max and Nora outside... I was a little jealous that they got to stomp in mud puddles.

Saturday I slept until I woke up... which was fabulous, and I won't tell you how late it was. :D And then I kept busy all day cleaning and weeding and other random things that I've been putting off. Hooray for lovely days.

And then Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day plus a wedding at church. It was packed. I'm not overly fond of crowds, even though there were lots of people I know visiting. The yg served lunch... and I waited a table second shift... it was crazy busy. My parents stopped by on their way to the reception. I was showing mom the dresser we got that still needs painting and a large spider ran across it. Aaaaaaa so scary. It was a very close call and I almost died, but thankfully Bob killed it and life was good again. And then I got the Sevin out and sprayed the threshold and around the windows. We went to Howard and Janice's for hamburgers that evening, yay for cookouts!

Blessings.

Spring Bliss

We had a good weekend.

Friday night we made a slightly spur of the moment trip to Champaign for supper. We had a gift certificate to The Ribeye from our wedding. Two years ago. Yeah... So we decided it was high time we used it. I love the drive to C-U and I'm not sure why. There isn't really anything interesting to look at. Maybe it's just the wide open spaces... or the destination. Anyway, the steaks were great and we even got chocolate and peanut butter pie. So good. (Thanks BDY and JNell!)

It was a lovely night. I don't think any campus can compare to U of I in the spring. We didn't want to stay super late since Bob had to be up early Saturday morning, but we did wander up to Grainger to see Jakey for a few minutes. ("You drove to Champaign just for supper?" hehe)

Bob went and helped with a roofing project Saturday and I went to the garage sales. Sort of. I didn't buy anything, it was mostly just an excuse to wander all over town on a beautiful day and check out people's houses up close. :) Then I went home and mowed, and pulled weeds, and re-potted some plants, and spent as much time outside as possible.

And then Sunday afternoon we went mushroom hunting. So wonderful. We went with Ben and Dale south of the Mackinaw. It was a little bit chilly, but still really nice out. And the woods were full of wild flowers. There's a small creek that runs through the woods at the bottom of a steep ravine. Bob and Dale and I were on one side and we wanted to go to the other side... yeah. I got about halfway down on my feet and slid the rest of the way. So much for not wanting to wash jeans this week! O well, I was just glad that Dale was at the bottom to stop me from going into the creek. Wet shoes would not have been a fun time. We didn't find very many mushrooms, only about a dozen between all of us, but we can't really eat that many anyway so I was happy. Our take:

I sauteed half in plain in butter and breaded and fried the rest. So.Good. And we had chicken crepes since I made way too many German pancakes for breakfast... happy accident. :D

Pretty sure I could handle a whole year of spring weekends....

And I hear my friend Ellie's getting married. Aaawwwww. *grin*

Blessings.

Anniversaries and Randomness

Two years on the 26th... craziness. Bob got me a big bunch of gerbera daisies. (awww!) And we met for lunch. Otherwise, it was a quiet day.

And, proving my dear Dad wrong, the 27th marks three years of working at the lab. Therefore, my retirement is vested and I get 6hrs of annual leave per pay period. Ha! He didn't think I'd make it. *grin*

Dale and Meg and Maria came for supper Wednesday night before church. I have been sadly remiss in attempts at hospitality lately, so I was glad they could come.

Do bent pages in the hymn books and bibles at church bother anybody else? I always fix them.

Tolstoy is awesome.

Blessings.

Easter

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!

It was a busy weekend... I worked Friday, and then we went to Good Friday services... and I begged for Pinkies on the way home. Bob is so nice. hehe.

Saturday I cleaned the house, and did laundry, and made food, and planted a few seeds, and was very productive in general. I'm ready for it to dry out a little bit so I can plant the rest of my garden box and maybe even get some flowers! I have a few tulips and bluebells but they look rather bedraggled. That evening we went to the cabin with all the Beutels for Easter.

I honestly can't remember the last time we were in W-ton on a Sunday. It's been a loooong time. Pathetic, I know, but stuff just kept coming up! It was great to see the W-ton girls, we were all home for Easter. And my most favoritest thing about W-ton; everybody standing up to sing 'Christ the Lord is Risen Today' at the end of the service. So it was good to be there, although, I got really tired of people asking how I'm feeling. Um. I don't have a disease, I'm not ill, and I'm not sure why you need to know that. *sigh* I'm afraid that one of these days I'm going to reach my limit and say something really impolite and disrespectful. (I was complaining later that afternoon and my mother has already informed me that people just want me to know that they care and it's not all about me. But, but, I don't see people asking you odd questions and commenting about your figure! *grin*)

We spent the afternoon checking out the baby chicks and picking flowers and shooting things. The chicks are starting to get a few wing feathers so we were just in time before they get ugly. You know that awkward adolescent stage... chickens have a bad one... hehe. The boys were wandering around shooting at birds and any thing else that moved. I got to try out Dad's euthanasia plan on an already dead bird so I for sure wouldn't miss. I'm such a risk taker.

The whole family came out for supper... much good food. And amusing conversation. And over sharing. Certain of my aunts (who shall remain nameless) were discussing hot flashes in the kitchen... and Bob made a crack about it.... which sent Shelly and I into peals, yea, even gales of laughter. Good times. One of Clayton's friends joined us for the evening, not sure what he thought of us all! (Although, I think G and G approved of him, watch out MKW, KRL, and ALK! hahahaha) Hooray for Easter, and Grandma's ham, and Pearline's bread, and Freida Buns, and leftovers!

Blessings.

When I see the blood

I will pass, I will pass over you.

We celebrated Passover last night. Sort of. Not exactly a Seder, but I made passoverish foods and set the table with candles and china... and Bob read Exodus 12. This year I broiled the cute little lamb chops with herbs and spices and they were much better than last year. And the potato and leek casserole was good. We had deviled eggs and saltines (they're kosher and I can't find matzah at Kroger) and watermelon and romaine lettuce and grape juice. It was good, and I'm excited about eating the leftovers for lunch. Even though you're not supposed to have leftovers or carry them out of your house. Eh, o well, we're under the new covenant right? hehe.

Maybe someday we'll do the full Seder. I think it would be cool. I read a great article on Christians celebrating passover here. And a Messianic Passover Seder here, and how the passover is all about Christ here. But I maybe wouldn't serve lamb to more than just us two, it's expensive!

After supper we ventured into the great outdoors to mow the lawn. Hooray for living in town where people care what your grass looks like. My job was picking up sticks. And providing moral support and paper towels while Bob changed the oil and tried to get the mower started for the first time this year. Kerry took a break from working on a leaky drain next door and cleaned the spark plug and fiddled with it for a while. (He said it was more fun than plumbing...) They got it working and Bob got the front yard mowed before it got dark and started raining... nobody sees the back yard and it's mostly weeds that thrive in the shade anyway....hehe. Can't say I'm too sad- we have so many violets and I hate mowing them while they're blooming.

Have a blessed Good Friday!

Elevensies

Pretty sure I'm turning into a Hobbit. I eat breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, afternoon snack, after work snack, supper, bedtime snack....

Haven't taken up pipe-weed yet.

Blessings.

Easter Eggs

So I love dying Easter eggs. It's so much fun. And they're so pretty. Bob humored me last year and helped... but... this year we went over to Rustin and Sharon's to dye them with Grace. She was much more enthusiastic about it. *grin*

Maybe not quite as coordinated.... that is green dye all over the table.... hehe.

Bob kept Eden entertained. He did put one egg in the dye, just for the picture. *grin*

And the finished product.... so springy. Sadly, I already used half of them to make breakfast casserole. Which was/is good, but not nearly so pretty.

Saturday I finally got the house all clean. It feels so nice... it's crazy how fast it gets dusty. And then we went to Communion.

We also spent the weekend trying to discourage some robins from building a nest on our window AC. Um... that would not be a good place for your eggs, Mrs. Robin. We knocked it down 3 or 4 times, and they kept coming back. Bob finally made a pyramid thing out of cardboard to set out on top of it so there is no place for them to even land. Hopefully they'll be done with nest building by the time we actually need to use it! I would prefer not to smell birds when it's 90 degrees outside...

Blessings.

I got better

I've been trying to lay low though. It's hard when my house is so dirty. And it's so nice outside and I want to go out and plant things. I'm hoping it doesn't get cold again... :)

We went for a walk last night. It was lovely out. I love spring. And I love not feeling sick.

Otherwise, pretty quiet, which I love. Blessings.

Oh, the flu, it mkes me so blue

Going on day three... ick.

*sigh* so much for never getting sick.

Monday was a good day.... I went over to Meg's to sew for the evening. It was good for my soul.

And then I started coughing Tuesday night and woke up with the full blown fever/cough/stuffy nose flu on Wednesday. Hooray. So I've been spending most of my time in bed or on the couch. Poor Bob. He's been so great, from bringing home supper on Wednesday, to taking off early today and bringing me ice cream and 'Tangled' (which is really cute). Hopefully he stays healthy.

Tylenol cold is my new best friend. Don't worry, I did call the Doc this morning....

Hopefully I'll get better this weekend so I don't have to miss more work.... although... if they don't make the midnight deadline to pass a budget.... Latest word is they could push it back three days. Do they leave their brains at home when they go to Washington?

I've very much appreciated all the encouragement and empathy- it's nice to know I'm not the only crazy one who has ever dealt with these feelings. *grin* And I'm feeling ten times better about everything just from writing it down...

Blessings.

Sooo...

According to Great Grandma Metzger, I currently have one foot in the grave.

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

Bob's excited. Me, well, excited is not exactly the word I would use. It's good, it's right, it's not at all a surprise. But, I'm not excited. More like vacillating between sheer terror and resignation.

I'm not naive about what this will require of me physically, spiritually, emotionally.

I don't even like babies... and yet, I'm less worried about that than other things. That will come.

Change is very stressful for me. New things are very stressful for me. Will I actually be able to handle it?

I like my privacy. And boundaries. And that's pretty much out the window... church was rather awful on Sunday (as much as I love and appreciate everybody who congratulated and encouraged me!). I still felt like I had to play a part and act like everyone expects me to. Put on a mask. I kind of just wanted to hide in the bathroom and cry and wish that no one knew and I could be left alone. I know I can't live under a rock, but oh, I wanted to Sunday.

I dread hearing the same crass, rude, and tasteless comments directed at me that make me cringe when they're said about others. 'Wow, she looks ready to pop.' 'She's really gotten huge.' (For the record, I will say something equally nasty back. or just cry. hm, yeah, probably just cry. :P ) I don't like people touching me. I'm told I have that to look forward to also.

I'm not planning on going back to work. It's been a while since I've been wholly dependant on somebody else. Bob has even said that I don't really need him... I have a good job... I can take care of myself. I don't think my identity is tied up in my job. I don't think, but how will I feel when it's gone? It's going to be an adjustment, and not an easy one.

I mourned college life, I mourned singleness, I'm mourning being a newlywed. I don't want to go back, but I've loved every stage and it will never be the same again.

I can't deal with gushing... and when people say they're soooo excited, I just kinda don't understand. What are you excited about? That I have to deal with all this? I know they're just thinking about the good, about how they'll get to hold a baby once in a while. But I have to deal with both the bad and the good, work through everything before and after, every day. And that's not really exciting or pleasant to think about.

Anyways, and in light of all that.... I'd rather have your prayers than your congratulations or excitement... much more useful. :) Don't worry, I'm really not unhappy. I'm quite content and peaceful. Just realistic. And I think too much.

And I don't want to hear any birthing stories! Spare me please! *grin*

When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2

Happy Birthday

to Bob. Last Friday... he's so old now. :P

We didn't do anything super exciting. Thursday night we went out for pre-birthday pizza at Firehouse. Just because we like Firehouse and it never disappoints.

Friday was a quiet day. Ha! The carpet layers showed up at 6am to lay carpet next door. O.my.goodness. I was under the impression that carpet laying was rather passive... I was not aware that it involved hammering and loud thumps and banging and dropping of heavy objects and the shaking of floors and walls. Now I know. We only had one picture fall off the wall and it didn't break. :)

We took the day off with the idea that we could go do something fun with a long weekend... yeah... Bob couldn't really think of anything and it was his birthday so I didn't want to make him do something I wanted to do. So we didn't go anywhere. Oh well, I needed a day off since the next federal holiday isn't until Memorial day. *grin*

I picked up a whole freezer full of meat from the farm. Hooray! My freezer is full of raw flesh! They got a side of beef and a pig to split so it took awhile to haul it all in from the van and then sort it out. And Dan showed up in the middle of it all with fresh liver sausage. Which, I love and which thing Bob hates. tsk. So sad. No appreciation for the finer things in life.

And then I came home and cooked up a storm. Cake and frosting for Bob and an attempt at Chicken Lo Mein and Crab Rangoon. They were both good, but they didn't taste quite like at a restaurant. It was kind of fun to try it once, I don't like Chinese at all enough to try very often...

Saturday we went out to Bob's parent's and took a walk through the woods before supper. It was so pretty out. Bob wants to live in the woods someday... I prefer the prairie. I need to see the horizon or I feel claustrophobic... and I don't like ticks and bugs all the creatures that come with the woods. Anyway. It can be spring now, please.

Sunday... well... I'm not ready to talk about Sunday... And today it's back to work... huzzah. Blessings.

Book Fair

My favorite part of school... that and the Scholastic book orders. :)

I ate lunch with Dalaysia yesterday and they had the book fair all set up. It was fun to wander through and look at all the books. There were parents in charge, and one of their kids came through wanting to buy a book. So funny. The kid wanted to get a "Captain Underpants" book, the dad said he could only spend his money on a 'real' book. I shouldn't have laughed, but it amused me... It was pretty tempting to buy a book, but, alas, I refrained.

Dalaysia turned 10! She was excited about the cupcakes she brought to school, and the cake she got at home. And she like the singing card I got her. :)

Good times. I'm kind of sad that we can't be lunch buddies next year when she goes to middle school.

Blessings.

Busy Busy

So last week was fairly busy. I even skipped out on one thing because I didn't want to be gone 5 nights in a row. Thursday night I went to Gab and Brian's shower... hooray for showers. :P It was good to see them. And Natalie was there, which was exciting since I never see her anymore. And then I went home and got to do something fun- help fish wires! Kerry was working on putting our new water heater in and was getting really tired of going up and down through the 1'x2' crawlspace access. So I got to help feed the wires down through the wall, and managed to not electrocute myself.

Our potluck ate out at One World on Friday night. Such good food. I didn't try anything new or adventurous this time... and Bob wouldn't try any humus. *tsk* boys. It's been awhile since everybody could come to potluck, so that was great fun. And then we had to go home and break into our house because we locked ourselves out. It's a little bit scary how easy it is to do...

Saturday was pretty quiet. I cleaned. And tried to rid our upstairs of the musty smell that's been hanging around since we had the plumbing access panel open. Ugh. And then we went over to Mike and Katie's for supper with Trent and Heather and Ryan and Brittany. We played catch phrase and apples to apples... fun times.

My second cousin Amber got married in Congerville on Sunday, so we went there at noon. I haven't been there in ages. And Bob said he had never been there. (What? Seriously, sometimes, ok, all the time, I think Tremont is such a bubble! *grin*) It was good to be there again and see some of my old friends and classmates... and the wedding was nice too. And then we went home and crashed for the rest of the evening. Hooray for being lazy!

Blessings.

I love the smell of paint in the morning

Or not the smell of paint- we used no VOC, deodorizing paint. That stuff's pretty amazing; we could barely smell it!

Saturday morning I got up bright and early and went next door to help them paint. It's looking ten times better over there already. I love painting, and it was twice as fun because there was no furniture to move and no carpet to drip on. Glorious. Yes, I know I'm weird. I get it honest though... ask Mom what she did when Dad went to Haiti for a week... hehe. The girls that are moving in picked some really cool colors... made me want to repaint something, so it's probably a good thing that I got it out of my system.

Sprout was helping lay new wood laminate flooring in the kitchen- so pretty, and so easy! Bob is not convinced that we should try it on our side. :) Someday.

I was using a roller most of the day (and was covered with white spots from the ceiling and brown from the walls...) and woke up Sunday with very, very sore legs. It hurt so bad to sit down and to stand and to kneel in church. Woe is me. It is a good excuse to use the elevator at work though... hmm...

Otherwise it was a pretty quiet weekend. They're going to be installing a new water heater in the closet under our stairs so I had to clean that out. And find new places to put things. Yikes. I found some wedding gifts that I had forgotten about, which was exciting, but they might have to go away. Since I haven't used them in two years, they clearly aren't necessary for life and I have no where to put them. And I have no idea where to put our luggage which fit perfectly all the way at the back under the bottom steps. *sigh* How can our house be so full already!?

Anyway. Fun times.
Blessings.