Please Stop Time!

Life seems like a whirlwind most of the time, passing at warp speed, heedless to my cry to slow down.  Our trip to Myrtle Beach last week was just such a whirlwind.  We made good time on our way down but hit traffic complicated by a minor car accident which, coupled with our choice to go one way rather than another into Myrtle Beach, had us arrive at our friends' house 45 minutes later than planned.  After a scrumptious dinner, we headed off to the Gaither concert, which ran for 4 hours, closing at 11 p.m.  By the time we got out of there and home and after having dessert - yummy lemon pudding cake with vanilla ice cream - and showered and into bed, it was after 1 a.m.  We were up and back at the convention center for the 10 a.m. session, which lasted for 2 hours, so breakfast was rather hurried.  After that session, we changed clothes and drove to the pier where John and Donna, our friends, have a large fishing boat moored, and they took us out for a brief ride on the ocean.  It was amazing to see John maneuver that 38' boat out of the dock and through the inlet to the open ocean, where he opened up the two 450 hp diesel engines, which he'd just had overhauled.  The day couldn't have been more gorgeous!  The temperature was up near 70 degrees inland, so a few degrees cooler at the shore, but the sun was shining brilliantly and there was hardly a puff of wind.  Our trip was all too brief.
We returned to their house where we had another wonderful meal, and it was off again to the final session of music, which ran from 6 to 10 p.m.  Back at the house, we pretty much fell into bed and rose early in order to attend an 8:30 a.m. church service, after which Bob and I headed back to North Carolina.  Before coming home, we stopped by and saw Bob's mother and one of his daughters in Raleigh, and it was back to work as usual Monday morning.
Today, Saturday, I cleaned house while Bob pulled the tender plants from outside to inside as we are expecting near freezing temperatures tonight.  Then we headed to Raleigh where we took some sodas to Bob's mother, purchased bird seed, and went to my son's house to watch the three little boys so they could go out and eat a peaceful dinner.  As soon as they left, little Julian, now 6 months old with 2 new teeth, started crying, and he cried and cried.  I took him to the big room over the garage, and Niland, 4 years old, came up a few minutes later and said, "Nana, put him in here and he'll be quiet."  "In here" was a swinging cradle that played soft music and had a rotating mobile and lights.  Niland found the cord to plug it in and helped me get the cradle going.  Immediately Julian stopped crying.  I was so thankful to Niland for helping me.  However, Julian's crying resumed about 15 minutes later, so Bob tried to comfort him while I grabbed some dinner, and then I took over again.  This time Julian fell asleep on my lap.  After a few minutes I lifted him into my arms and held him close.  His little body kept heaving from his extended crying spell as I held him, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.  His tiny nose was perfect, his eyelashes dark and curled, his face angelic, and his little body so perfect.  I started crying as I thanked God for my grandchildren as my heart cried out that I did not want to get old.  I want to be a grandparent, but not an old grandparent!  Why can't time stop?!  Why do I have to get old, wanting to do things that I can no longer do!?  Life is moving too quickly!  I want it to slow down!
As we were going to my son's house, I realized that their oldest son, Niland, will start kindergarten next fall.  It doesn't seem possible.  Even as I see my oldest grandson Luke, it doesn't seem possible that he's 5'8" tall and weighs 145 pounds at 13 years of age!  He was a baby such a short time ago! 
Time is a commodity over which we have no control other than how we spend it.  It slips through our fingers; we're powerless to stop it.  The phrase, "Stop the world; I want to get off" - came to mind today.  That's how I feel sometimes, and it's at those times that the brevity of life grips me like a vise, yet I'm constantly reminded that we are eternal beings and life on this earth is but a vapor, a puff of air.  May God help me use my time on this earth wisely.

Road Trip

My husband and I are taking a much-needed "road trip" to South Carolina to attend a Southern Gospel Music event.  We'll be staying at the house of some friends who live in Myrtle Beach, and they will be attending the event, which runs Friday night through Saturday evening, with us.  Then we'll attend church with them on Sunday before we return home.  We'll stop in Raleigh and visit my mother-in-law, whose assisted living place has been under quarantine due to an outbreak of a stomach virus, the one she shared with us.  The quarantine was lifted yesterday, I believe, unless there's been another person who's become ill, so it will be good to see her.  Her 89th birthday was last Tuesday, and we haven't had a proper celebration.
The weather is a little cool for this time of year, but the sun is shining brightly and the sky is clear.  We are so looking forward to this short break!  I think we deserve it!  Our cats will be tended to by our tenant and our neighbor, so all will be well on the home-front.
Breaks from the work and routine of everyday life are needed; even Jesus got away from the crowds and from his ministry to get in touch with his Father, and attending this Southern Gospel Music event will surely touch our souls as we seek restoration from our Father, too. 
Have a blessed weekend! 

Exhausted!

What a whirlwind of activity the last 2 weeks have been.  A person doesn't know how much stuff can be accumulated until you have to go through it. 
I took last Thursday and Friday off to finish up our 'purging' so our tenant could move into the front bedroom.  We originally had a meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, but that cancelled at the last minute, for which I was very grateful, but my Thursday was still very busy.  I first went to Target to purchase a gift and then headed off to do my weekly grocery shopping.  Once that was done, I set about taking down the sheer fabric that had been tacked to the curved window above the 2 windows in the front bedroom.  I searched at length through my stash of fabric for a certain blue fabric but didn't find it, concluding that I had given it away when I gave a friend a box of fabric last spring, so I opted instead for a calico blue that matched the comforter that I had made years ago and which was now on the bed (my apologies for such a long sentence!).  I needed the fabric to make a new window covering, which I made and hung later that evening.  I spent a good part of the day reorganizing things in both the front and middle bedrooms, as well as separating items for our 'tag sale' on Saturday. 
Friday morning, after my husband put up the old table we keep in the garage, I moved the items for the 'tag sale' onto the table or into the garage and put prices with little sticky yellow dots or red tags on almost everything.  I refolded yards of fabric and placed items in a 'FREE' box.  I made neat stacks of old children's games and craft items; patterns were placed in a container, as well as about 60 CD's, several of which were still sealed.  I placed an ad on Craig's List, itemzing almost everything we had for sale -- surely we'd have a crowd!  After lunch, I went to my daughter's house and got my granddaughter so she could spend the night.  Her brother Luke was celebrating his 13th birthday that evening with a bunch of other boys of similar age, and the party included going out to eat, so hanging out with Nana was better than being stuck in a car with a bunch of sweaty teenage (or almost) boys!  I took a break from all the work, and we went down the road a ways and played a game of miniature golf.  When we returned home, I cut out and wrote our 'tag sale' signs for the road, and Cami colored them in for me with brightly-colored markers.  She was so much help!  Dinner made in the slow cooker took the trouble of cooking from me; it's great to plan ahead.  After dinner, we cleared the last of the boxes, and I vacuumed the entire house!
Saturday morning, we diligently pulled the table out to the end of the driveway and set up our 'tag sale,' fully anticipating a crowd.  Our first customer was a drive-by at 9:30 a.m.; our sale ran from 9 a.m. to noon.  Cami jumped rope, and I taught her how to use a Nifty Knitter that I was hoping to sell but decided to give to her since she was interested in learning how to use it.  I read.  Our tenant arrived, and Bob, Cami, and I helped her unload the boxes into the front bedroom.  She left for another load.  We had 4 customers during our 'tag sale' and netted a profit of $15 -- certainly not worth all the time I spent preparing for it!
Our tenant returned.  We helped her unload again.  Then we dragged all the 'stuff' back into the garage, where it still sits, keeping our car in the driveway rather than in the garage.  Now we have to post all the 'sellable' articles on Craig's List and haul all the clothes and games off to goodwill.  And it must be done by Friday of this week.
The rest of Saturday was family time.  We had planned to go on a hike at Umstead State Park in Raleigh, but due to illness of some family members earlier in the week and either sick or cranky grandkids, it didn't materialize.  I was too exhausted to go anyway.  Cami and I put up a tent in the back yard; I had originally planned to take the grandkids camping for 2 nights, but God had other plans when our tenant needed a place to stay, so the tent was for the kids to enjoy and play in when they came for dinner that evening.  We had 9 adults, 2 13-year-olds boys (big as adults), 4 other children, and a 5-month-old baby who was teething, come for dinner, which was grilled and eaten outdoors for the 'camping' feeling.  The kids painted small pumpkins.  We had a fire in the firepit, and I've come to the realization that I need to teach my dear husband how to lay out a fire!  Later, I made 'pie irons' for dessert.  Don't ask me to explain; it will take too long!  Finally, I read stories to the little grandkids in the tent by flashlight.  The sun was setting, the temperature was dropping, the fire was down to coals, the baby was screaming, and everyone was gone by 7:30 -- exhausting but fun!  Just writing this has exhausted me again!

More Sharing

I don't believe my husband or I shared our little virus that we caught from my husband's mother; we eventually recovered, but it took us three days before we could eat normally; however, we are going to be sharing something else -- our home.
We've always believed that our house is a gift from God.  By most of the world's standards, we live in a castle; by US standards, not so.  Our home is around 2000 square feet, all on one level, with three bedrooms and two full baths.  High ceilings run throughout, with the entryway having a height of about 16 feet and the living/dining area reaching about 12 feet high.  Side-by-side windows allow the light to pour into the house, which is very welcome when the sun is lower in the sky in the winter months.  After we were married five years ago, we looked for a house for about two months before we found this one; it was actually found on-line by my daughter.  Once we saw it, we immediately knew this was the one that was for us.  All of the other houses we'd looked at had something major that we'd have to change, or something that we decided we could 'live with', or had no yard or too much yard -- always something that didn't make us want to make an offer on it.  But this house, with it's adequate outdoor space that was beautifully landscaped and a large deck that wrapped around the entire back of the house, as well as the fact that it was a single-story home -- ended our search.  Even though someone else had made an offer on the house, we were able to get it because our offer didn't hinge on us first selling my husband's Raleigh house.
This coming weekend, we're going to be having a 'tenant', a young lady that attends our church and has been placed in need due to her roommates' having changes in their lives, move in with us.  We were contacted and asked if we could open our home to her; we met her, she looked at the space, we talked, and she decided that it would work for her. 
Since that decision last Monday, we've been cleaning out the front bedroom, which has been the grandkids' room, holding a twin trundle bed, toys, books, games and stuffed animals.  The closet was crammed with crafting supplies that I had brought with me when I relocated from Connecticut (what was I thinking?).  The middle bedroom, which served as an office for the first owners of the house and has French doors opening into it, holds a futon, my sewing machine, and an old school desk where I make jewelry, along with boxes of Bob's old 33 1/3 records (no kidding!).  Its closet has been stuffed with boxes that he brought from his Raleigh house and which have been sitting on the shelves for 4.5 years!  The past week has been a massive effort to sort and toss, and we've been rather successful, also making a huge pile of stuff to sell this Saturday in what is called a "tag sale".  Up North, we called such sales "garage sales," although one never was selling the garage, but rather all the stuff for sale in the garage or outside it.  So tag sales refer to the tags on the stuff that's for sale either outside or inside one's garage here in the South. 
The front bedroom needs only to be cleaned now and it's ready for our tenant, who will really become more like a daughter as she is 31 years old.  The room looks really nice, more 'grown-up' definitely.  We purchased a storage unit to hold the toys in brightly colored cloth baskets, and it now stores all of the toys that were tossed in a huge plastic bin; we also bought a small shelving unit to hold all of the kids' videos and books, which are now more accessible to them.  After rearranging the furniture in the middle bedroom and cleaning out the unnecessary clutter, it also looks really nice.
With a stack of stuff in the entryway awaiting the tag sale on Saturday and a garbage can full of junk hauled away this morning, we feel a bit relieved to finally be rid of stuff that had no meaning or usefulness in our lives.  I'm not going to regret parting with it in the least.
We're looking forward to having youth in our home again, and it will challenge us, I'm sure, in many ways.  But what is life without challenges?  Only through challenges do we grow, and I imagine we're going to be stretched a bit, but I'm glad for the stretching!  I can celebrate because I'm alive to feel it!  Are you being stretched? 

Sometimes Sharing Isn't a Good Thing

We're all taught to share -- share our toys, share our clothes, share our food, share our time, share our love -- but somtimes it's best NOT to share. 
Bob's mother will be 89 years old on October 18, and she lives in Raleigh at an assisted living facility where she has her own small apartment.  She gets meals provided and the extra help she needs, especially with her medications, and she also has social interaction.  She didn't feel good Monday night into early Tuesday morning and called us several times, telling us how awful she felt; she was vomiting, but the nurses on staff were attending to her.  However, around 6 AM, the staff called and told us that Mom was insisting on going to the hospital, and they needed Bob's permission to send her there since it wasn't a life-threatening event.  She was taken by ambulance to the ER, and we later joined her shortly after 9:30 AM.  She was being monitored and hydrated and tests had been performed and labs run to see if there was an underlying serious cause for her vomiting, which stopped once she arrived at the ER.  She was extremely grateful for our company, almost crying when we showed up.  The doctor told her everything looked normal and that she probably picked up an intestinal virus; she was given water (and she drank a lot of it) and a few crackers, which stayed down, and she was released at 12:15 PM into Bob's care.  We put her in our car and took her back to her apartment and got her settled and comfortable before leaving, both of us to go to work.  Needless to say, we were both exhausted.
Yesterday while at work, I started having diarrhea in the morning.  I had no other issues other than that, but it was pretty severe.  When I got off work, I called Bob, and he sounded awful and said he felt awful -- rumbling painful stomach -- and that he was heading home immediately.  He got there before I did, and the rest of the evening, he sat and moaned in pain when he wasn't sitting on the toilet.  He also felt nauseous.  I had some soup and crackers for dinner and munched on some sunflower seeds before going to bed; Bob ate nothing.  My diarrhea had slowed down, so I thought I was through with whatever I had.  WRONG!  Around 2:20 AM, I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep; I didn't feel bad, so I didn't understand why I couldn't return to sleep.  Then my stomach started churning, my mouth started watering, and I knew I was going to vomit.  It took two false alarms before I actually did, and those sunflower seeds came up with a lot of green bile -- NASTY! 
I'm sorry if I'm offending you, but this is life! 
After my first false alarm, I dressed in sweats and cuddled on the sofa with my cats.  After the second false alarm, I sat in a recliner, my extra-large red plastic bowl close at hand.  After my first up-chuck, I laid down on the twin bed in the front room, right around the corner from the other bathroom, and the cats joined me.  During this entire time, my Restless Leg Syndrome flared, and my legs were twitching, burning and cramping.  What a fun night I had!  Oh, and the diarrhea returned, so I was often sitting on the porcelin throne while holding my big red bowl under my chin.  I've vomited once more since starting this post, and I can honestly tell you that it's been over 20 years since I've been sick enough to vomit.
Mom still wasn't feeling well yesterday; we'll be calling shortly to see how she's doing.  Regardless of how much I love her, I wish she hadn't shared her sickness with us.  Those little germs aren't visible and can take a ride on whomever they please; I just wish it hadn't been me!