Brrrrr.....

Me being the outstanding mother and wife that I am, I decided to wait until Friday to go to the grocery store for our major haul. Yes, this past Friday, the night of our snow storm. And staying with the outstanding mother and wife mantra I thought it would be a great adventure if we all went! Oh what fun!

Actually we did have a good time. As we were driving home the streets were empty, the snow was falling and spectacular, and there was not a sound to be heard outside. I love going out when the snow is falling like that. I feel like the outdoors has been shrunk down or like I have just stepped in to a quiet cozy room, all the noise is absorbed.

Needless to say the desire to get home and put on a pair of running shoes, ipod, and warm clothes and go out running rushed over me! So here's my problem....I don't think my tank top and running shorts will cut it. I need some warm running clothes.....any suggestions on what to wear while running outside in the winter?

Good Byes.

Last week my daughter Evelyn wondered if we could stop by the grave site of my grandmother, her namesake. I was pleased to oblige her so straight to the store for cheap colorful carnations.
At the gravestone for Leo Llyod and Evelyn Mae Van De Walker Cole put his bright blue flowers down, Evy's pink carnations we gently place over Grandma Evelyn's name, Nora laid her yellow ones down, and Jesse threw his green flowers on the grave. We then stood quietly for awhile when I started to cry and Evy asked me if I was sad. I said yes and that I missed my grandparents very very much. She said she was sad too. We stayed for a few short moments then packed up in the van and went home.
There has been much loss in my life over the years. Loss of children, loss of grandparents, loss of friends, and loss of relationships. With each loss I suffered in varying degrees.
Some were sad, but I expected it to happen, like with my grandparents.
Others were unexpected and terribly tragic and I felt sorrow like never before. I actually felt part of me die, as in the loss of my children.
Then there were losses that were inevitable. I realized someone was moving or that a relationship wasn't going to work. However, inevitability of the end doesn't make the end any easier. There have been times when a relationship has ended and I thought I would never get out of bed and the depth of the sorrow was almost debilitating. The everyday missing of the person with everyday habits and gifts and memories that seem relentlessly never ending.
But with each loss grief is kind in that it has a pattern. The grief cloud WILL eventually give way to a glimpse of sun. The Lord may seem silent, but He has always taken me safely through.
All this to say, for those of you fearful for the holidays and the sorrow and sadness it brings. I will be praying for you.

Sometimes the spark of faith is slight
And does not make the darkness bright.
But keep it lit and you will find:
Far better this than being blind.
One little flame when all is night,
Proves there is such a thing as Light.
Remember now the place and price
Where Jesus promised paradise.
One answered prayer when all is gone,
Will give you hope to wait for dawn.

'Misery of Job and the Mercy of God' by John Piper

What?

I am almost 40. I have one grey hair that I have finally decided to stop pulling out and let it grow. My hands are wrinkled and my skin isn't as elastic as it once was. I have crows feet, a deep set wrinkle between my eyes, bags under my eyes, dry cracking skin and the list grows.


But there is something interesting that I have noticed over the last few weeks. Let me tell you HOW I noticed it first.


I have a 'new to me' phone. It has a camera and unlimited data and texts....oh what fun. So of course I have been taking pictures of myself (get your minds out of the gutter!!!) and sending them to my lover. And as I take picture after picture after picture to get just the skinny beautiful perfect no double chin stringy hair right one I have noticed that my NOSE IS GETTING BIGGER!!!! Seriously! I have noticed it in several pictures. I can take the crows feet, the grey hair, the cracked hands the droopy skin.....but my nose? Growing?! This is making me rethink the whole nosering thing....why would I draw unnecessary attention to the schnoz!

Signed......pinocchio!

Lipstick

My grandmother, who just turned 87, was in the hospital a few weeks ago with chest pain and trouble breathing. Test after test after test finally showed she had some blockage in her heart and she needed a few stints put in.

This past Thursday she was feeling terrible and her chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath. The doctor told my mom to take her to the ER.

As my mom rushed around getting Nanny's things together, Nan called to me.

"Julay (Nan is from Alabama and has a very thick southern accent), will you get my little green bag off my table please?"

so I say sure and go get what is her makeup bag. Here she is, my 87 year old grandmother with a pulseox of 90 just had two stints put in a few days earlier and she needs me to get her lipstick so she can look presentable to go to the ER.

Nora

8:30pm: Evy comes down to inform me that Nora stuck her tongue out and Evy asked her not to and she did it again.

8:31pm: Nora comes down and says.....I stuck my tongue out on askident (lisping her 's').

8:32pm: Papa delivers the spanking....

MIA

Oh, please don't fret....all of my children are present and accounted for, no one is missing in action. I am referencing the Minneapolis Institute of Art in my title. (oh my goodness!!! I did it! I put a link on my page. yes, i know it's not rocket science, but yippie! I've never done that before.)

For months I have wanted to take my mini herd to MIA. We were almost there once, my courage was high, getting everyone dressed and ready. All in the van, ready to go, things start going downhill......(anyone with children knows what the '......' means here) soon everyone was crying, including me, so everyone out of the van, back inside. I didn't think it would have been a wise choice to go. I know, my discernment is remarkable.

So this past Saturday, dreary and wet and Sean was hunting, I said 'Today is the day." I wanted to get out of the house and MIA is free so the planning began. Snacks, diapers, water, stroller, duct tape...no, just kidding, we didn't bring any water. A few minutes before we left Sean called and said he was on his way home and I told him what we were doing, and since I was pretty sure going to an Art Museum wasn't on his list of the top 10,00o (according to him) things he wants to do after sitting in a deer stand for 4 hours I gave him the option of coming or staying home and thankfully he said he would go.

Successfully all in the van, driving to our destination, the questions start:

'Is this the museum with the boat you can drive?' 'No.'

'Is this the museum with the dinosaurs?' 'No.'

'Is this the museum with the big things to climb on?' 'No.'

'Is this the museum with the musical stairs?' 'N0.'

'Is this the museum where Jake had his birthday? I love that museum.' 'No.'

'Is this the museum where we can dress up and pretend we......?'

'No. No. No. No. We are not going to either museum of which you are speaking. As a matter of fact at our museum today we just walk around and look at stuff and you can't touch anything!!!'

'oh...yes mom.'

I am please to say that we ALL had a marvelous time! For the first time in an Art Museum I was very pleased with the way the kids acted. And surprisingly we only had two snickers from Evy because Mr. Winky was present on some of the sculptures and one 'Hey Mom, look at his buns!' from my quiet little flower Nora (which of course the sculpture was in a room with a vaulted ceiling and marble everything and it echoed like crazy).

The kids loved it and I can't wait to take them back!

235 out of 243!

Saturday I ran my very first 10K.
As some of you may recall I ran my first 5K a little over 3 months ago. So with no training, me and all my logic decided it would be a good idea to do this 10K (which is twice as long as a 5K for those of you who weren't homeschooled).
At 9am in a huge group of people, there I was FREEZING, with a touch of nausea, ready to embark on 6 miles of a little road running and a little trail running, which I've never done before. It was beautiful! The first 1.5 miles on the road was a perfect start. The corn fields had been harvested and the black dirt was plowed up and the dried corn stalks were mixed in with all that blackness. There was one part of the field that looked like big black rolling waves and I was running so I was able to pass by slowly and take it in. It was gorgeous. Once in the woods I was surrounded by lots of trees (I know, there is my public education 'creative writing class' coming through). Most of the leaves had fallen, but I still thought it to be just brilliant. The sun was shining against the blue sky then the browns and golds were varied with every once in awhile RED! It was maybe red sumac or red berries that hadn't been eaten yet or just a red leaf on the ground. Trail running is awesome as there was just so much to see as well as so much to think about. Most of my running has been on the treadmill so having to look for rocks, mud, branches, or roots was a great distraction! I ran with a friend of mine, who was the instigator of all this 10K stuff. She was kind enough to 'trot' through the course with me and walked when I needed to and talked with me to help keep my mind off how much my knee was killing me!
Overall I was tremendously pleased with how I did. The first three miles were great and I didn't think I would have too much trouble there. Mile number 4 was a little tough, my knee started to hurt, which was a surprise and disappointment so I walked a little. Mile 5 was tougher and I walked a little more. Last mile sucked! (sorry public school coming through again) I walked/ran the first 1/2 of the last mile and gave myself a pep talk about how many children I have birthed into this world without pain meds and then ran the last 1/2 mile across the finish line....never knew my legs could be so heavy until last Saturday.
So I was 235 out of 243 runners. A few days before the race Bug was terribly concerned and asked me if I was going to win. After I regained my composure I said I didn't want to win, but I didn't want to be the last one. Well, I wasn't!
Thanks Marty! I hope you will want to do this again next year, it was fantastic!