a is for alone July 29, 2007

It sure is weird to be alone.  It hardly ever happens to me, and certainly not for this many days in a row.  Except that I miss people, I don’t really mind it.  I have not been very constructive with my time, although today I did spring into action and get some cleaning and laundry done.

Yesterday was the first day with Chris back, and he seemed content to rest and catch up with friends.  I went out and ran some errands. I had some success.  I was looking for a new laundry sorter.  Check.  Affordable king size sheets.  Check.  New undies.  Check.  Southern CA travel book.  Check.  I also picked up a few groceries for Chris and me.  Later in the day I met Sarah at the movies and we enjoyed “No Reservations.”  Although it was sadder than I expected, it was very enjoyable.  The characters/actors were good; I loved the food part, too.  And it was pretty much clean as a whistle.   Afterwards I went to Pages and found a Savannah guide book I was hunting for.

This morning Kate called while I was out on my walk.  I called her back and found out she is kind of sick.  A fever, headache, chills.  Most likely the flu, but unsettling with her far away and alone.  I guess I will always be her mom and want to take care of her.  It took me a while to remember that she is not alone, and to pray for her comfort and healing.  I do not like my delayed reaction – and am determined to do better.  Chris also woke up under the weather.  Fortunately, there was no Sunday School.  So when he arrived at church to fulfill his obligation to teach, he was able to turn around and go home.  It was mission Sunday and we had lots of multimedia presentations from various mission teams.    I returned home to find Chris in better shape.  So he went off to work and I enjoyed an afternoon of reading, prepping for work, and cleaning up the house.

It sounds like much fun in FLL.  Yesterday included wave runners (topped 42 mph!!!) and parasailing.  Today was fixing things at the house (surprise – isn’t there something always to be fixed there?!) and relaxing.  They’ll be home tomorrow.  Yeah.

And so tomorrow at PYLi we will talk about the creative leadership process and decision making and hopefully relieve some of the pressure the students are feeling regarding their community service project.  Five days down; five to go and this week should be amazing.

h is for home July 28, 2007

Chis is home.

Yesterday was a rainy day. We got soaked getting the drinks out of my car for PYLi. Ruthie and Gabriela were real troopers. By afternoon it had cleared off but then rained again in the evening. I picked CP up at church at 6 PM. He greeted me with a big hug. I was glad to see him. The trip went well. We waited a few moments as the kids cleaned out the vans and gathered their belongings. All were in good shape and I guess the trip was good. Everyone got along, there were some good messages, the food was awful, and the music was not nearly as painful as last year. Many were wearing their big stuf shirts bearing the name of the conference this year, “rhythm.” I still haven’t figured out what that means.

Chris and I then went out for a nice pizza at Monical’s and he told me about the trip. He got a sunburn, dug a sand pit at the beach, bought and read Harry Potter, and mostly enjoyed the conference. We stopped by his workplace and found he doesn’t have to work until Sunday. Actually he was upset about this because he never works on Sunday. In the entire year he’s worked there he’s only worked one Sunday and that was because he switched with someone.

We came home and Chris did some catching up on line and then crashed in front of the TV. Likewise, I watched some TV, read and went to bed pretty early.

The word from FLL is good. Sounds like they are having a blast.

l is for long week July 27, 2007

While there have been some victorious moments, it’s been a hard week.  But we made some progress today and enjoyed some real victories.  Today after a really hard struggle with a game called traffic jam, cheers went out when the group figured it out together.  They are experiencing some very real frustrations; it’s a good time for the weekend.

So, again I’m fatigued by this type of schedule.  It is definitely depleting and not invigorating to me.  Need to be cautious in scheduling.

The news is good from Florida.  T managed to get up on the board surfing today.  After about 10 minutes, he was standing.  I guess a thunderstorm broke out at that point, but he knows the technique now.  They went up to Jupiter for the class as the waves were better, but then the weather.   Tonight they are watching movies and eating dinner at Il Mulino.

I am eager to pick up Chris in a couple of hours and hope to take him out to dinner and hear about his week.  For me, it is the end of a long week and time for some regrouping and restorative activities!!

e is for exhausted July 26, 2007

Okay, all I did today was work.  9 hours is apparently all I have in me because I got home and did basically could do nothing.  It was a good day at PYLi with our community panel and field trip.  Then back to the office to catch up and attend the board meeting.  Since I got home, I am  not kidding; I have done nothing.  Okay I have been eating.

The report on the secret trip is great.  Thomas did not figure it out until he woke up at 1 AM and saw they were at an airport.  Even then he did not figure out the destination until he was on the plane.   When they got to the airport, John surprised Thomas by renting a Jeep Wrangler for their transportation.  Thomas did not waste much time getting in the pool and they both sounded tired, but happy and relaxed.  Thomas is eager for his surfing lesson tomorrow.

Chris gets home tomorrow.  Good.  I don’t think I like living alone.

Okay – other stuff I did includes updating calendars, reading the paper, going through my newsfeed, emails, picked up junk.  Not a total slug.

m is for midweek July 26, 2007

This week is both exhausting and exhilarating.  We are in the middle of our first PYLi week.  The students are great and it’s going really well.  But the responsibility and preparation are consuming.  After this first institute, it will be so much easier – just working out the first time out bugs in the system.

J and T are on a plane this morning.  I spoke with them briefly at 5 AM and Thomas said he woke up at 1 AM and said “An airport?” and so the adventure begins.  Our last 13th birthday trip!  They will be in FLL by earlier afternoon.  What a blast.

Joined my church small group for coffee last and night – great to catch up with everyone.   Then I bought a few groceries – doesn’t take much for one person!  And headed home to crash.  Early day today!

q is for quiet July 22, 2007

It’s been a quiet weekend. Filled with laundry and catching up. Good. Saturday morning we dropped C off early at the church for his trip to Big Stuf in Panama City. There were 5 coaches and 14 students and lots of luggage. All cell phones were confiscated. Only two students had managed to secure the new HP book before the trip. Chris tried, but at 1:20 AM in line at the bookstore he was told “only 50 more minutes” and wisely gave up his place to get home and get some sleep.

After we dropped him off and prayed with the students and parents, we headed to the new Atlanta Bread for breakfast. Not too impressive, very Panera-esque it its menu, but the atmosphere is a nice change of pace. We then headed for home and John remembered my massage therapy appt. just in the nick of time. Hard to believe I’d forget a pleasant thing like that. Actually M.T. is not that pleasant, not like a relaxation massage, but it does seem effective. We had lunch, did some chores, T & J ran an errand. J and I went out for dinner with Randy and Sarah – very enjoyable. After dinner at 7 Saints, we headed to the U of I gardens for a walk. The weather is picture perfect right now. We finished up with coffee and dessert at Moonstruck. We arrived home to find that Thomas and Brandon had survived on their own. Must have been some kind of major nerf gun war, however.

Today after church, where Mike Mac preached on engaging and influencing culture, Thomas and I baked our version of McDonalds cinnamon melts: take refrigerator biscuits (the cheap kind – two cans) and cut each biscuit in half. Dip in melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place in shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 Tablespoons of milk. Drizzle over the top of hot biscuits. Quite enjoyable! Later in the day we headed out to find a couple of movies I need for PYLi this week: Sister Act and the MLKJr. I have a dream speech. Success. The former at Blockbuster and the later at the library. We then headed over to Noodles & Co. for a light lunch and home for naps. Sweet.

We are trying to arrange our schedules so that Sarah and I can accompany R and J to the Willow Creek leaders conference in August. And working on tracking down our wireless password. T has much Wii business to take care of, but must go wireless to do so.

I am looking ahead to PYLi each day this week. I feel a little intimidated and nervous. But we have prepared well and it will be a great growing experience. A challenge to tackle. And in the end our 14 students will find themselves ready to tackle big problems. All good.

v is for visitors July 19, 2007

We are very much enjoying our visitors from the south!

Tuesday began with some concern over the train accident featuring large quantities of phosphorous that occurred just outside the city where Kate is living.  After a conversation with the US State Department and the consulate in Kiev, I became convinced that Kate was more on top of things than the media or either government.  Once things settled down where she was and she became confident that the situation in the city was not dire, I relaxed a little.

Meanwhile John and Chris headed to BMI to pick up Dave and Ellen.  This was to rescue them from a trip to Galesburg that their parents needed to make.  The Galesburg excursion turned out to be a great experience for T&N, but all agreed D&E were better off here.  In the middle of all this, Thomas called from the pool and needed to be picked up because a storm had blown in.  I’ll say.  On my way from work to the pool it rained so hard I could hardly see.  It was black as night and as I sat at the corner of Springfield and Mattis, dark clouds swirled around me and I pondered my fate.  I made it safely to the pool and as Thomas ran the short distance to the van, the horizontal rain stung his bare skin.  On our way from the pool to home, lightning struck more closely to our van than I have ever seen it.  We could feel it in our bones.  Soon after we made it into the garage, the storm let up and I headed back to work.  By the time I got home, D&E were here with C&T.  We waited for John and then all headed to Za’s for dinner.  D&C went to the mall, John to elders and E,T& I watched TV, read magazines, etc.    Tom and Nancy arrived about midnight.  We chatted a bit then all went to sleep.

Wednesday morning, we rose slowly to a rainy day.  After spending the morning around the house, we then headed out to a delicious Mexican lunch at Dos Reales.  Then off to the University campus.  We had a walking tour that included the union, the quad, bookstore, undergrad library and engineering campus.  Chris was not with us as he had to work.  When we got home, N& I headed out on a brief Target run and returned home to start dinner.  J, T & E had taken T to cross country practice.  We had a delicious meal of fresh fruit, grilled chicken, hot dogs and sausage, salad and fresh sweet corn, picked on Saturday by my brother.  After dinner, Tom and Nancy ran out for a quick visit with supporters and we got the chocolate fountain ready.  Oh my.  Suffice to say my taste for chocolate has been satisfied for about the next six months.  It was an excellent treat and I loved the dipped bananas and rice krispies treats the best.  After dinner we watched a video of a comedian that T&N brought, quite funny.

Today – more rain.  T&J got up early and went off to breakfast and a meeting.  N& I headed to Panera and through a series of miscommunication eventually caught up with the girls at a place called Atlanta bread. Fun to visit and Kel is going to help N with a project.  We went on to the tea shop and 10,000 villages.  I picked up back-to-school earrings for Ellen.  It’s weird to not be able to buy stuff for Kate and send it to her.  Miss that.  Miss her.

Tonight we think dinner downtown – maybe an ice cream outing or something.   Its fun to have them here and share this time.  They leave in the morning and we will miss the fellowship!

w is for wet paint July 15, 2007

After staying up late yesterday to finish painting the foyer, laundry room and small bath, it was tough getting going today. But it was a bright and beautiful morning and fresh coffee was waiting for me. The morning light showed that one coat of paint was enough and that was good news. We enjoyed our oatmeal before heading to church. It was great to see Kati back from her trip to turkey and the sermon on Eccl. 11-12 was good. Certainty in the face of uncertainty.

After church we stopped by the store to pick up some ice to make the homemade ice cream for Uncle Dean’s 85th birthday party. We went right home and got it going in the freezer. We packed it in a cooler of ice and headed up to Rantoul. Chris and Thomas decided not to join us. There was a huge crowd there – very good turn out to celebrate. Tons of little kids and it was fun to see everyone.

On the way home we stopped at a couple stores looking for new accessories for the bathroom and ended up finding all we needed at Target. Why do I ever go anywhere else? They always have what I need at Target! So we picked up a new rug and towels. I’m heading to hobby lobby tomorrow to buy a picture for the wall. I saw it there last week. It’s a big canvas of a bright red poppy on a green background. I like poppies – they remind me of Ukraine which reminds me of Kate.

After a short nap, we did some cleaning around here and put the house back together after the painting project. We are all spiffed up now. Thomas has been enjoying his new wii – pulled together enough cash following his birthday and John took him out yesterday to get it. Some of the games look really fun; reminds me a lot of the itoy. Tonight Chris is over at at Liz’s house – kids from church went over there to watch movies.

c is for celebrate July 14, 2007

Happy 13th birthday, T!  It was a fun day of celebration, starting with a wake up call with Kate from a Ukrainian festival.  After a delicious breakfast of french toast with syrup and butter, bacon, juice and milk, it was time to open presents which included a shuffle, a flash drive and a little cash for good measure.  After loading the shuffle with his favorite tunes, it was time to head to the farm.  We picked up Monical’s on the way and enjoyed lunch with Ma, Pa, Uncle John and Lucas.  There was time to play with the monsters aka dogs and to ride the ATV.  A near upset occurred but T was able to keep it up right, applied the brake, hopped off and turned off the key, averting disaster.  He handled it well – just took a turn a little too tight.  Before we headed for home, John loaded our trunk with fresh picked sweet corn (we had some for supper – yum!) and Ma unloaded her used magazines.  Sweet.

With generous gifts from Ma and Pa and UJ and Lucas, Thomas was able to accumulate enough to make his most desired purchase, a wii game system.  He and Chris are enjoying it immensely right now.  We decided on every man for himself for dinner tonight and I got started painting the laundry room and foyer.  It went pretty fast so after a break I think I will continue with the small bath.

Last night we picked T up from camp and he reported having a great time except for eating and sleeping.  I guess he didn’t really care for the food and the dorm was too hot and noisy to be comfortable for sleeping.  But he had some great stories, met some fun friends and we got glowing reports on what a great kid he his.  So thankful it was a good experience.  God spoke to T in a very real way through the experience.

After we gathered T and his belongings, John recommended we head to Decatur to dinner as it was only about 20 minutes down the road.  We had great cheeseburgers, fries, grilled cheese, cheese fries, chocolate shakes and custard.  On the way home we stopped at Bill Brady’s – where we bought the van – and checked out a CR-V.  They have just the one I want:  EX-L with leather, moonroof, 4WD but no gadgets like dvd or navigation and in my favorite color of glacier blue.  The salesman confirmed that they are very much in demand and so are not discounted at all and hard to come by.  Maybe when the 2008’s come out they will become more affordable.

My break’s about over – time to resume the painting.  Tomorrow is Uncle Dean’s birthday, so more celebrating ahead!!

b is for beautiful July 12, 2007

This is my absolutely favorite kind of day.  It is why we live in the midwest, I guess, because we get two or three days a year like this!  Currently 61 degrees with low humidity.  I’m enjoying catching up with Kate through googlechat, reading my RSS feed, and typing an entry on my blog – all very high tech!

I am going in late to work today because I need to stay until 5 PM.  We are hosting a “Doing Good Bus Tour” today from 3-5 PM.  It’s a tour of local agencies that helps volunteers and donors, today in particular the Emerging Community Leaders group, get an idea of day to day operations in non profits.  A good thing.

I’ll go hang out at Panera for awhile this morning and catch up with the girls.  John is headed to BMI to pick up Chris.  He has been enjoying his trip.  He likes Florida – still on the college short list.  Also he and his best buddy both ate one pound burgers  at a cheeseburger restaurant and earned the right to be photographed.  One pound of ground beef.  Can you imagine?

And guess what.  Now my brother lives near cows.  Cool.  Cows are cool.