What is it about America that makes other countries cringe?  Are they jealous of our success?  Are they mad about our conflict resolution strategies?  Do they not like how we’ve decided that sinful acts are now sinless?  Could it be our arrogance?

Friday NASA is bombing the moon. 

I’m starting to see it now.  It’s all coming together.  Other countries hate us because we’re stupid.  Maybe hate is a strong word, maybe not.

I told my kids about NASA’s plan.  They don’t believe me.  It’s that ludicrous to them

We’re like that annoying kid. You know the one I’m talking about.  He spends all his money on a few cool gadgets and talks a big game like he knows everything about everything, but he doesn’t so he just sounds like an idiot. 

He’s the US.  We have an answer for every question and we have to be the best at everything.  We’re going to change weather patterns, fix the ozone, bring the Golden Toad back from extinction, create a new life and a make a new planet to put it on, save the earth, and adopt all the homeless foreign children.

Oh yeah, and bomb the moon in search for water.

Hasn’t NASA gotten the memo?  We’ve got our own water here on earth.  Find nearest kitchen, turn faucet, have water.

Congratulations, NASA.  You’ve just made us look like complete morons.

I’m wearing a sweater today.  We live in Florida and it’s only 57 degrees.  It just feels wrong.

At least I like the sweater.

Oh shoe
how thankful I have been
you kept my foot safe
time and time again

I wore you on my left
you surrounded my foot whole
but I’m now in a terrible state
mom saw the rip in your sole

I tried to repair you
with tape of the duct
but temporary it was
now your finally defunct

she says you’re no good now
in the trash you must go
I tried to protest
but she gave a firm, “no”.

he’s still in fine condition
I plead, speaking of your twin
you can’t wear just one shoe, she replied
put them in the trash bin.

so here I sit shoeless
but I won’t shed a tear
I’ll miss you, favorite shoe
but she’s made herself clear

new shoes I will get soon
but none will compare
to the comfort of the way you wore
my foot with such care.

For Gabriel
Love, Mom
I’m sorry we had to throw out your favorite shoes.

…was not what you’d call a good night.  There was crying, coughing, snot, and very little sleep.  Today I’m running on fumes but it’s okay.  Jesse and Ben, my two up-all-nights, are smiling and playing right now. It’s so cute how Jesse’s tired eyes light up at Ben’s silly antics. 

And that almost makes me forget how exhausted I am.

But only for a minute.

I think naps are definitely in order.  At least for me.

Fence.  Think about it.

Dad

I hadn’t realized how much I liked ice until last week.  Last week our ice maker broke.  I thought – no biggy.  I’ve got ice cube trays. 

But I don’t have ice cube trays. 

My husband called the landlord who asked us to replace the part that was broken and we’d be reinbursed through rent discounts.  That was fine only the part was only available online. 

All last week, and most of this week was spent without ice.  We had a big bag of ice in the chest freezer, but it was a solid mass, which meant chissling to get just a little bit of ice. Sometimes it was worth it but most of the time I just did without.

Yesterday the part arrived and Ryan set forth repairing the ice machine for me.  It didn’t work.

He repaired it again.

It didn’t work.

Hmmm.

Finally, this morning he figured it out and we have ice.  I seriously would have never thought of ice as something I would not want to live without.  Hot showers, maybe.  But ice?

Today I am thankful for ice.

The next few days, or weeks, are going to be spent moving all my old posts from the old blog to this new one. I’ve posted more than 700 posts on the blogspot blog in the past 3 years. That’s a lot of moving.

Not all 700 are making the cut though. I’ve been reading some of my old posts and have had many a thought run through my head like, “What was I thinking?” and, “did I really say that?” and, “wow, I never followed through with that one”.

Even though they aren’t all coming over to the new blog I still have to go through all of them, which will be a monumental organizing and cleaning out task. As if I don’t have enough of that to do already.

I’ll publishing them all at their original post dates so you won’t see them up top when you come by to visit. That’s kinda good because some of them are a little, well, you know.

I’ll just say that I’ve changed a lot over the last 3 years.

Although being the head swim coach of our local swim team has put a damper on fun summer camping

vacations I am really glad, now that the season is almost over, that I volunteered for this position. I have learned so much about my ability to lead something – I have never been a leader.
I haven’t cried once although frustration has been my constant companion these last few meets with one particular family giving me grief. I have actually felt more empowered and tough because of it and I have learned that I really can handle a tough situation well.

The swimmers are looking great this year and have really worked hard. After a hard butterfly practice I actually had kids thanking me for pushing them. That says a lot to me about the job I am doing. I have also watched the initial surpised looks my swimmers give me when I give them a certain event to swim turns into thanks – they thank me for pushing them and they are so happy that they accomplished something they didn’t know was in them to complete. I am so proud of them!

Only 3 meets left this year. I will be happy and sad at the same time. I am going to miss them – we transfer in the spring and I won’t be able to coach these kids again.

Good memories.

So, Tuesday Joe, my 8 year old, asked me if our little farming town could catch on fire. I told him that it was possible but not very likely. He asked a number of questions for which I had no answer and I answered him as well as I could. The day went on and everything was normal.

To my surprise, on Wednesday we heard emergency vehicles drive by almost every hour. It was crazy and we could not figure out what was going on. Finally, my husband came home and told us that he had heard on the radio that there was a fast growing wild fire headed toward our little town. If I am remembering correctly there were 15 small town fire departments fighting this blaze and containment was little to none. You see, we live in a farming community where it is harvest time and wheat is dead and dry. We haven’t had but a sprinkling of rain in about 3 months; prime fire feed.

Joe was quite worried. He kept asking if it was getting closer, what was going to happen, and all kinds of questions that had no definite answer. I told him that the fire was still 3 miles off and we were in no danger but that seemed to make him even more concerned. Our town was never under serious threat, we were just careful to listen to the radio (we don’t have TV) and stay aware of developments. I was more concerned for the farm houses in direct path of the fire.

This morning we woke up with quite a bit of smoke in our house. The air looked clear but that campfire smell seemed to permeate every room. I looked out the windows to see a smokey fog blanketing the town. We turned on the radio and waited for news. Nothing bad yet, still only 10% containment but the winds were being kind and our town was safe for the time being. Joe was not at all comfortable with the level of smog that seemed to hover above.

Not long after lunch we heard good news. The fire was 60% contained and it appears that the fire fighters have won. Lost was part of a train track, a small bridge that crosses a river, acres and acres of farm land and trees, and a few freshly filled grain elevators, but not one house or human. What a blessing!

Other notable events- our small town was busting at the scenes with help from local store owners. Fuel was supplied by The Grange, other supplies, like much needed ice, were provided by Rosauers grocery store, which opened it’s doors awful early to help out the fire fighters. Grandmas’ baked and husbands’ took food to the workers. As nice as it would have been to have had no fire at all, it sure was a gift to see all these people coming together, trying to do their part.

As for Joe, he has stopped asking if the flames are coming our way. As soon as the smog started to clear he started to feel better.

There are still fire fighters on the scene and I suppose there will be for at least a few days. Thank the Lord for them, as they may have, indeed, saved the homes of the 2500 residents in our small town. We will never know what the outcome would have been without these brave hero’s, and I am glad because of it.