I've had a hard time getting motivated to write this new post. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, but that I've been fighting the winter blues. I'm actually thankful for the return to school because of the sense of normalcy it brings back to life. John was laid off from Costco this past Saturday, which hasn't helped. It will be a year in February since we learned that John would be losing his job and I think the duration of this trial is wearing on both of us. We know and believe in our hearts that God is good and his timing is perfect - that He has a plan for John's calling - but it's easy to become impatient and to want this to be over. Please pray for our spirits and that we would continue to glorify God in the midst of these uncertain circumstances by praising and thanking Him for all we do have.
Man has it been COLD around here! I feel like I'm back in Muncie with these single-digit days and nights. We've been using our woodburning stove to help keep things toasty, which reminds me of my childhood when that was our only source of heat. There's something especially comforting about the scent and warmth of a wood fire. We actually had a snow day today, which both the kids and I get excited about. They spent some time outside sledding with a neighbor, but coudn't stay out for too long because of the low temps and bitter wind chill. When they came inside, however, it wasn't empty handed. They managed to come across a mole struggling in the snow and set about rescuing it from the cold. They thought it was a baby, but I wasn't so sure. It seemed pretty streetwise for a newcomer. They put it in a shoebox and tried to feed it warm milk which wasn't a very successful endeavor. After they had it sufficiently warmed, they let it go in the neighbor's woodpile. It will probably dig up one of our yards this spring. Oh well. They haven't put that much spirit into a project for a long time!
Christmas was bittersweet. The kids and I got to stay at Mom and Dad's for five days, but John had to leave after two because of work. The kids did get to spend a lot of time with their cousins, and I got a lot of reading in, which was nice. We were all back home together by the 27th and on New Year's Eve I threw a surprise 40th birthday party at our house for a friend. It was a lot of fun. I bought champagne for a toast, but since we'd never bought bubbly before, we didn't know how to open it. You should have seen us trying to find the directions. Not cool. Anyway, John finally popped the cork, everyone cheered, and now we know how to open champagne! We celebrated the East Coast's New Year so we could go to bed an hour earlier. Again, not cool, but, hey, we're getting old. Then when the real "St. Louis" new year arrived, we got to wake up to the whole neighborhood setting off fireworks. You can never accuse the residents in our neighborhood of skimping on their fireworks.
So that's a little bit of what's been happening in our lives. I'm hoping that by next time I'll be writing about John's new job. We will see . . .
Man has it been COLD around here! I feel like I'm back in Muncie with these single-digit days and nights. We've been using our woodburning stove to help keep things toasty, which reminds me of my childhood when that was our only source of heat. There's something especially comforting about the scent and warmth of a wood fire. We actually had a snow day today, which both the kids and I get excited about. They spent some time outside sledding with a neighbor, but coudn't stay out for too long because of the low temps and bitter wind chill. When they came inside, however, it wasn't empty handed. They managed to come across a mole struggling in the snow and set about rescuing it from the cold. They thought it was a baby, but I wasn't so sure. It seemed pretty streetwise for a newcomer. They put it in a shoebox and tried to feed it warm milk which wasn't a very successful endeavor. After they had it sufficiently warmed, they let it go in the neighbor's woodpile. It will probably dig up one of our yards this spring. Oh well. They haven't put that much spirit into a project for a long time!
Christmas was bittersweet. The kids and I got to stay at Mom and Dad's for five days, but John had to leave after two because of work. The kids did get to spend a lot of time with their cousins, and I got a lot of reading in, which was nice. We were all back home together by the 27th and on New Year's Eve I threw a surprise 40th birthday party at our house for a friend. It was a lot of fun. I bought champagne for a toast, but since we'd never bought bubbly before, we didn't know how to open it. You should have seen us trying to find the directions. Not cool. Anyway, John finally popped the cork, everyone cheered, and now we know how to open champagne! We celebrated the East Coast's New Year so we could go to bed an hour earlier. Again, not cool, but, hey, we're getting old. Then when the real "St. Louis" new year arrived, we got to wake up to the whole neighborhood setting off fireworks. You can never accuse the residents in our neighborhood of skimping on their fireworks.
So that's a little bit of what's been happening in our lives. I'm hoping that by next time I'll be writing about John's new job. We will see . . .
