The Dreaded Enemy

Today I was thinking about the mountain of laundry needing to be done and was tempted to complain. Instead, I decided to repost this blog entry. My poor blog needs some attention.

Laundry. The dreaded enemy. The never ending pile of dirty clothes. Laundry and I may never be best friends but I do consider myself to be blessed. After all, I have an automatic washer and dryer in the same little laundry room. My washing machine is hooked up to both the cold and hot water faucets. I can wash and dry a lot of laundry in just one day if I need or want to. This wasn't always the case.

Twelve years ago, we lived in Brasov, Romania. I considered myself fortunate to have an American washing machine. Never mind the fact that there was only cold water to wash in. It did the job well enough. In the winter, the water was really, really cold. And we only had powdered detergent. After a couple of loads that ended up covered with the undissolved powder, I learned to microwave a bowl full of water, stir in some detergent and put that in the washer. I had to hang the clothes to dry inside the house for most of the year. We had a little clothesline above the bathtub and a dryer rack usually sat near our huge terra cotta heater. No, it wasn't the most convenient arrangement. But it was better than it was when we first moved into that house. It was a small house and certainly not made for a large American washing machine. It took John a few weeks to figure out how and where to install it. Meanwhile, we did laundry in the bathtub and wrung it out by hand. I say "we" because John helped immensely. I was 2 months pregnant and very ill.

The first few months in that house were difficult in many ways. But it was a relief from what we had just been through during our first two months in Romania. Much of it is a nightmare that I try to forget but since laundry is the topic of the day, I will address that aspect. We lived in one room of a Romanian family's house for our first few weeks. They had a small washer but it was usually broken. When it worked, it was constantly in use by them. So I washed clothes in the tub. But there was nowhere to dry them. The family had a clothesline but it was always filled with clothes, wet clothes. It rained almost every day that we were there. So I washed socks, underwear and anything else that just couldn't be worn one more time and hung them on the radiator, backs of chairs and bedposts, hoping they would dry in the damp weather.

Laundry is still an almost daily affair here in our house in the States. We generally do a load or two 6 days a week (and several on the weekends when John returns from the State Police academy). This time the "we" includes the kids. It's not my favorite chore. I don't mind washing and drying so much and I actually enjoy hanging clothes on the line outside. It's the folding that I don't really enjoy. So, sometimes I forget how blessed I really am. Sometimes I complain, sigh, procrastinate. But then I remember the days when a simple thing like clean, dry socks was an enormous challenge and I thank God for all that He has blessed me with.

Hello Blog.

Homeschool Books For Sale!

All books are gently used and in very good condition. Covers and spirals show shelf wear. Prices include postage and books will be sent via media mail. US addresses only. I prefer PayPal but will accept personal checks.

BJU 4th Grade Reading I Met You in a Story TE - $35















BJU 5th Grade Reading Pages in My Head Hardcover Student Text - $20 SOLD!!!















BJU 5th Grade Reading Pages in My Head TE - $35 SOLD!!!













BJU 4th Grade Science Hardcover Student Text (second edition) - $15














My Fun with Reading Set - $15
Book 1 - Stories About Animals
Book 2 - Stories About Plants
Book 3 - Stories About World Cultures
Book 4 -Stories About Careers
Book 5 - Stories About Space and Earth Science
Parents and Teachers Guide

Welcome to the Woodward Hospital

Wednesday was the dreaded wisdom teeth removal day. It was scheduled for 2 PM. John took the day off. I had forgotten to tell Hannah to take the day off as well so that she could stay home with Holly. I suppose that I could have stayed home and let John take Gabriel but I felt like I needed to be there and sit in the waiting room. Don't ask why, that's just the way I am. That hour went by rather quickly as Holly and I watched HGTV. Then we went back to where Gabriel was in recovery. They told us to try and wake him up. Well, little did they know that when Gabriel is asleep, he is ASLEEP. Even a tornado wouldn't wake him up. (That happened once but that's a story for another day.) So there he was sedated and they expected us to awaken him. Right. We did eventually get him awake enough to walk out to the car.

He woke up Wednesday around 6 PM and except for a bit of pain seemed to his normal self - cracking jokes (with gauze still in his mouth), getting too easily irritated at Holly, and asking for food. We had decided that John would stay home with Gabriel while the girls and I went to church. John is a much better nurse than I am, at least when it comes to the gross stuff. We were getting ready to go when Holly twisted her ankle. She was wearing a pair of shoes that someone had given her- kind of a platform shoe I guess. So she stayed home with John and Gabriel and kept ice on it. The swelling has gone down some and now it's a nice shade of blue. She's hobbling around OK so I'm guessing it's not broken. There would be much more pain with that.

Gabriel hasn't had any difficulty. A little pain. The pain medicine makes him a bit dizzy but he's up and about - He's watched movies, we've played Risk, and he's always asking what can he eat. (Soft foods just can't fill up a teen age boy). We are approaching the 48 hour mark and he doesn't seem to have a lot of swelling or bruising. He is very impatient with the healing process. While he loves movies and video games, he's no couch potato and he's ready to get back to his normal life.

During all of this, Hannah has also had a busy schedule with work and a movie night at a friend's house. That leaves me without all my household helpers. I feel like I've got toddlers again - feed them, clean up after them, entertain them . . . and I'm doing all the housework. I am ready to get back to our "normal" life too!

My Life in a List - Brief Highlights of the Last 25 Years

1984 - Finished college at Liberty Baptist College

1985 - Hired to teach 3rd and 4th grade at a small Christian school in Richmond, VA
- Gradation ceremony at Liberty in May

1986 - Still at Christian school
- Summer job as a DJ at a Christian radio station - Most favorite job ever - should have majored in broadcasting
- Met John in August - we were engaged the following month

1987 - Married in April

1988 - John was hired by Virginia State Police

1989 - We moved to Oilville, VA - lived in a small rented farmhouse

1990 - Bought our first home in Goochland, VA

1991 - Our first child and only son, Gabriel was born

1992 - John is called into the ministry
- We moved to a house in Richmond
- Hannah was born
- John resigned from Virginia State Police

1993 - Moved to Alabama
- John began working on a degree in Biblical Studies

1994 - Bought a house in Decatur, AL

1996 - John graduated from Louisiana Baptist University
- John and I took a survey trip to Romania

1997 - Moved to Brasov, Romania as missionaries

1998 - Holly was born (in Alabama)

1999 - Returned to Alabama

2000- Began considering a ministry in Constanta, Romania

2002- Moved to Constanta, Romania as missionaries

2007 - Returned to States in March and sought God's direction for the next step
-Moved to Virginia in June for John to be rehired by Virginia State Police
- I began substitute teaching

2008 - John was finally hired by the State Police in December

2009 - Waiting to hear where John will be stationed

50 Years Ago

Today was my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. We were blessed to be able to go to their celebration with many friends and family. My older brother took their photo album and made this video. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. May God richly bless you with many more.

The Intention to Deceive

This week I have been guilty of telling some half-truths. According to dictionary.com a half truth is "a statement that is only partly true, esp. one intended to deceive, evade blame, or the like." My intention was not actually to deceive but to surprise, and that caused me to avoid telling the whole truth. So what was so important that would cause me to stoop to such a level? Tomorrow is my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. My older brother and his wife (mainly his wife, I'm sure) planned a party to celebrate. At first, I didn't know how we could make the 680 mile trip and rearrange a full calendar. So I told my younger brother that we wouldn't come. But John encouraged me to go and I was able to rearrange our schedule. He was able to work an earlier shift on Thursday and we (John, Holly and I) departed at 3 PM. Our surprise was a success and my parents were thrilled to see us, even if we did wake them up at 2 AM central time. Gabriel and Hannah, who have already asked off work for two weeks this summer, didn't want to take more time off so we left them there. They have plans to go to a friend's house and won't be alone for the entire weekend. I am looking forward to tomorrow and seeing more family and friends.