1. I sing to myself - loudly. Now those who know me can stop laughing now. After all no one else enjoys my out of tune crooning with words from somewhere deep in my head. If I run out of songs I just make noise.
2.I don't like the way coffee tastes most of the time. I only like the way it smells. Then I hold my breath and swallow. I drink it black - like a true coffee lover. That's cause I don't want the calories of sugar or cream when I am drinking something I don't like. Even if I like it better with sugar or cream. it makes perfect sense to me.
3. I dropped my cat off on a dark road one night just to get rid of it. That's awful - I know - but at least it wasn't a dog! Two days later our neighbor brought the cat back to me. He was covered in soot from being in the neighbor’s chimney for two days. The darn thing almost found his way home. My three little kids praised the Lord that He answered their prayers. Considering the neighbors had a fire the night before – I thought the kids were probably right. So I kept it.
4. I don’t like to make the restaurant choice when we go out. Everyone thinks I do. I don’t. I can never complain if I make the choice. I would like to choose where NOT to go…which is very different than where to go. My husband always picks where I do NOT want to go. Okay – so I like to play a game about picking the restaurant when we go out to eat.
5. When I am alone I hurry hurry hurry through the house to get everything done so I can sit on the couch and say, ” I’m so bored – I have nothing to do.” Then I wander from room to room and try to work up a cry. Once in a while I am successful – but if I am not crying within – say 75 seconds – I just give up.
6. I am not fair with my kids and their spouses. I mean I cheat. I treat some better than others. Okay – I admit it. The boys get left out – I give the girls a whole lot more. I love to buy things for them – real things – little things – or just be with them. I have the world’s best daughter and two daughters-in-law that I secretly love as my own.
7. I dream I live in a truck…. Or a camper…. Or a little mobile home. I get rid of all my stuff. I have very expensive – but very few items. I am unencumbered – no job, no debts – no health problems. Maybe I move to New Zealand and leave behind about 15 years when I go… I make elaborate plans in my head about my little life. Of course – all my kids and my husband somehow are always there – especially my grandkids. Then I usually look around me and say - "Wow, I don't even remember driving here!" Scarey, huh?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Jesus People Adventure
COEUR d'ALENE, IDAHO
It's not about change. Change is linear. It's about returning - God calls us to return...that's cyclical. That’s what I heard in Idaho. I also heard that God hates self sufficiency. So now I come home with those two nuggets. There was a lot more said but that is what I have come home with.
Bill and I took an amazing trip to Coeur d’Alene Idaho. Chuck Missler is the Bible teacher and father of this ministry- Koininia House. He is as genuine as he appears to be through his teachings. He has had a profound impact and Bill’s life and mine. It reminds me of returning to the Jesus movement of the 70’s when hippie-dom and king-dom joined hands and turned around……returning to the Lord of mercies, the Lord of grace, the Lord of holiness, the Lord of miracles, the Lord of sacrifice, the Lord of judgment, the Lord of power…. Only this time we return with heart and mind.
I remember when everything in me could think of nothing but who Jesus was, what He was doing right now and how I was in the middle of it. I saw Him everywhere, in everything, with the passion of young love. My heart was smitten. This Jesus movement caused folks to go mad for Jesus. It rejected the stale absent, allegorical God of our denominations for the experience of His presence.
As we grew up, and learned lessons of maturing, the fervor eluded us. Today so many are still trying to find it under every miracle-preaching, Bible-thumping somebody who’s been “saved by the power of the Holy Spirit! – Amen? – Amen!” We simply need to return to the Lord our God – with heart and mind. We are mature now. It is time to given him not just our heart but our intellect.
So I am refreshed and ready. How great it is. Look at this beautiful place. I will have to post pictures later. .
Bill and I took an amazing trip to Coeur d’Alene Idaho. Chuck Missler is the Bible teacher and father of this ministry- Koininia House. He is as genuine as he appears to be through his teachings. He has had a profound impact and Bill’s life and mine. It reminds me of returning to the Jesus movement of the 70’s when hippie-dom and king-dom joined hands and turned around……returning to the Lord of mercies, the Lord of grace, the Lord of holiness, the Lord of miracles, the Lord of sacrifice, the Lord of judgment, the Lord of power…. Only this time we return with heart and mind.
I remember when everything in me could think of nothing but who Jesus was, what He was doing right now and how I was in the middle of it. I saw Him everywhere, in everything, with the passion of young love. My heart was smitten. This Jesus movement caused folks to go mad for Jesus. It rejected the stale absent, allegorical God of our denominations for the experience of His presence.
As we grew up, and learned lessons of maturing, the fervor eluded us. Today so many are still trying to find it under every miracle-preaching, Bible-thumping somebody who’s been “saved by the power of the Holy Spirit! – Amen? – Amen!” We simply need to return to the Lord our God – with heart and mind. We are mature now. It is time to given him not just our heart but our intellect.
So I am refreshed and ready. How great it is. Look at this beautiful place. I will have to post pictures later. .
The Lake
Chuck Missler - a true Man of God
Beautiful Sunday afternoon!
Beautiful Sunday afternoon!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Date Night
I love date nights! Almost as much as I did when I was 30 and my hubby took me out. These date nights are definitely not with my hubby. Actually he goes – but – to be honest, we invite another couple. A couple of kids. Grandkids. Once a month. Tonight we decided to have a pizza tasting contest for supper. We bought four different kinds of pizzas and carefully laid them out on plates. Emma made score cards so we could rate them – a task she enthusiastically took on. Celeste cheese pizza is pretty awful.
We put the bed together for Andrew – Emma now has her own bed at Grandma’s. She loves the idea of it. She wanted to hang out in her own room and watch the food channel. Now we have recipes to try - they are not from the food channel as Emma concocts them being inspired by the food channel.
Sometimes we do fantastic things, sometimes ordinary things. We have gone to monster truck pulls and Lipizzaner shows, and other exciting places. The movies are always a favorite around here too….as long as it includes eating out.
Here are some photos: Life is good.
We put the bed together for Andrew – Emma now has her own bed at Grandma’s. She loves the idea of it. She wanted to hang out in her own room and watch the food channel. Now we have recipes to try - they are not from the food channel as Emma concocts them being inspired by the food channel.
Sometimes we do fantastic things, sometimes ordinary things. We have gone to monster truck pulls and Lipizzaner shows, and other exciting places. The movies are always a favorite around here too….as long as it includes eating out.
Here are some photos: Life is good.
Delicioso!
11 and acting it
Pizza options
Score cards here! Pens and Pencils here!
White Chocolate Bear-Pops for the taste team.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Sarah Palin Fan
Okay so I am definitely a Sarah Palin fan. She says "ya" instead of you. She says "gonna" and she winks cause she KNOWS what we average American working persons think of political nonsense. I noticed in the garbage reading rack at the grocery store that every bad article was about Sarah Palin or John McCain. So I am now on a personal mission to find a mainstream magazine or newspaper that writes a large negative headline about Obama. "Obama, Secret Lovers Tell All.... And Their Wives Are Shocked!", "Barak came Back! His Missing Year on an Alien spaceship." or how about this one, "Barak Screams Obamanation: Macy's Day Parade Hastens Global Warming."
How about news - ABC, CBS, NBC and all their affiliates who make no apologies. No need to whisper with your hand over the mike. They out right and boldly lie, decieve and herd the American people toward the cliff of socialisim, eroding their faith in any thing that is even slightly true, right or noble. How is what they do different than Iranian TV with all its censorship and politically powered control? It is free reign censorship of integrity and truth. Grrrrrrr.
That's it. I am done. Did I say yet that I am a Sarah Palin fan?
How about news - ABC, CBS, NBC and all their affiliates who make no apologies. No need to whisper with your hand over the mike. They out right and boldly lie, decieve and herd the American people toward the cliff of socialisim, eroding their faith in any thing that is even slightly true, right or noble. How is what they do different than Iranian TV with all its censorship and politically powered control? It is free reign censorship of integrity and truth. Grrrrrrr.
That's it. I am done. Did I say yet that I am a Sarah Palin fan?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Heart-Tuned Friends
Maybe twice in a lifetime – three times if you are lucky – somebody or somebodies come along and make an unforgettable mark in your life. Used to be, these heart-tuned friends became embroidered into your life as part of your yesterdays, today, and tomorrows; an unbroken chain of life. Like Charles Ingals and Isaiah Edwards, the stories of life always included them until the last one of you stands soberly at the gravesite of the other feeling unthreaded and bare.
Now –a-days it is less like embroidery and more like a patch. We wear the patches of our friendships like honor badges and then one day we finally put the patch away because we have others…maybe not as indelible, but at least in our todays instead of yesterdays. We don’t stay in one town, we don’t stay in one job, we don’t even stay in one church or neighborhood – so those somebodies who were the important stuff of our every spare moment, somehow drift out of sight.
Dean and Joann loved to just hang out. We ate together a lot. We spent time talking about the Lord and conjecturing His plan for our lives. I think Bill and Dean rode bikes. I still have a mint brownie and casserole recipes from JoAnn. We shared values, we dreamed about building homes next to each other, moving together to the north Wisconsin woods, hiking and vacationing together. We sacrificed for each other – we went through rough times, we cried together, we grieved together. They stood with us when our first son was born, his godparents by proxy.
I don’t know what happened that we lost touch. We moved, they moved. We moved again, they moved again. There were no emails or cell phones. Bill and I have often thought of them. They have often thought of us. We have always known if ever we found them it would be a day for rejoicing.
Now –a-days it is less like embroidery and more like a patch. We wear the patches of our friendships like honor badges and then one day we finally put the patch away because we have others…maybe not as indelible, but at least in our todays instead of yesterdays. We don’t stay in one town, we don’t stay in one job, we don’t even stay in one church or neighborhood – so those somebodies who were the important stuff of our every spare moment, somehow drift out of sight.
Dean and Joann loved to just hang out. We ate together a lot. We spent time talking about the Lord and conjecturing His plan for our lives. I think Bill and Dean rode bikes. I still have a mint brownie and casserole recipes from JoAnn. We shared values, we dreamed about building homes next to each other, moving together to the north Wisconsin woods, hiking and vacationing together. We sacrificed for each other – we went through rough times, we cried together, we grieved together. They stood with us when our first son was born, his godparents by proxy.
I don’t know what happened that we lost touch. We moved, they moved. We moved again, they moved again. There were no emails or cell phones. Bill and I have often thought of them. They have often thought of us. We have always known if ever we found them it would be a day for rejoicing.
Jon's big day. Great photo of JoAnn. Dean?!?!?!??
So JoAnn and Dean, welcome to our tomorrows! We rejoice that your lives have been good. Glad you found me . I want to know more of you. Hope to see you in Wisconsin next time we head that way!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Bye-Bye Birdies
I loved putting up my birdie wallpaper. I even took in a piece and had the paint perfectly matched to the paper and my entire house is painted with birdie backdrop color. They are robins sitting on little nests, sparrows on tree branches. So cute.
But today I am not putting them up, I am taking them down. Not fun! Two hours it took for a portion of one small wall. Clean up took almost as much time. I distinctly remember making a decision - I now regret. Bill said, " Do you want to paint on a layer of ???? before putting up that wallpaper." In my ever impatience with doing things the right way I emphatically said no - I want to put wallpaper up right now!
Who would have thought the nomadic Bucklew hippies would actually live somewhere long enough to RE-remodel?
I did not know how valuable ???? was until today. You paint your walls with ???? THEN put up the wallpaper. Ten years later when you are ready to peel it down, it comes down in long big satisfying sheets rather than micro-specks of paper mache mess collecting at your feet and all over your clothes as you pick, and peel little tiny pieces.
But the birdies must go Bye-Bye. The paper is peeling and looks old....ten hard years of kitchen life. I have no idea what I will put up next... By the time I get the wallpaper down....we probably will be moving on.
But today I am not putting them up, I am taking them down. Not fun! Two hours it took for a portion of one small wall. Clean up took almost as much time. I distinctly remember making a decision - I now regret. Bill said, " Do you want to paint on a layer of ???? before putting up that wallpaper." In my ever impatience with doing things the right way I emphatically said no - I want to put wallpaper up right now!
Who would have thought the nomadic Bucklew hippies would actually live somewhere long enough to RE-remodel?
I did not know how valuable ???? was until today. You paint your walls with ???? THEN put up the wallpaper. Ten years later when you are ready to peel it down, it comes down in long big satisfying sheets rather than micro-specks of paper mache mess collecting at your feet and all over your clothes as you pick, and peel little tiny pieces.
But the birdies must go Bye-Bye. The paper is peeling and looks old....ten hard years of kitchen life. I have no idea what I will put up next... By the time I get the wallpaper down....we probably will be moving on.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Going Solar
Hurricane season is upon us. I spent money on preparations. When you have spent money on all other things in life, like new decorations, a change in curtains, tupperware, clothes to die for, nice car, diamond jewelry, shoes and more shoes, replacing them is not so exciting...so I think you hang on to them longer....at least longer than you would have if you were - say 20 years younger.
So you look for new thrills in the purchase arena. Unchartered untried untested oddities that
make your kids go, “HUH???!!???” I found one.
It presses lots of my buttons all at the same time. It's a solar cooker. If we ever have to go without electricity I can now cook. I can bake a cake, cook beans and rice (everyone eats beans and rice after a hurricane, ya' know). It supposedly cooks food healthier - a hot button of mine. All the enzymes stay fresh and alive. Vegetables are perfect without water or salt. I can also heat water for a sponge bath. I can boil anything dirty. It uses only the strong natural free sunshine to induce heat. It’s great for camping. Of course, I don’t camp and have no intention of ever doing so….but if someone wrangled me down and threw me in a camper, I could cook.
It is a bit of a novelty. I ordered it from India where it is just another appliance. It can get up to 375 degrees! Pretty amazing. Today it is cooking at 200. (Slightly overcast.)
Tonight my family will be the first to taste test solar cooked green beans and wild rice. But just in case it is NOT what it is supposed to be, I have the back up food in the fridge – ready to throw on the electric stove.
What’s next? Water! How do you get clean water? I wonder if you can buy a rain catcher? A portable water purifier? Maybe a portable well driller….That would be cool.
Final thought. I bet I could have made these and sold them to the wagon trains in 1869!
So you look for new thrills in the purchase arena. Unchartered untried untested oddities that
make your kids go, “HUH???!!???” I found one.
It presses lots of my buttons all at the same time. It's a solar cooker. If we ever have to go without electricity I can now cook. I can bake a cake, cook beans and rice (everyone eats beans and rice after a hurricane, ya' know). It supposedly cooks food healthier - a hot button of mine. All the enzymes stay fresh and alive. Vegetables are perfect without water or salt. I can also heat water for a sponge bath. I can boil anything dirty. It uses only the strong natural free sunshine to induce heat. It’s great for camping. Of course, I don’t camp and have no intention of ever doing so….but if someone wrangled me down and threw me in a camper, I could cook.
It is a bit of a novelty. I ordered it from India where it is just another appliance. It can get up to 375 degrees! Pretty amazing. Today it is cooking at 200. (Slightly overcast.)
Tonight my family will be the first to taste test solar cooked green beans and wild rice. But just in case it is NOT what it is supposed to be, I have the back up food in the fridge – ready to throw on the electric stove.
What’s next? Water! How do you get clean water? I wonder if you can buy a rain catcher? A portable water purifier? Maybe a portable well driller….That would be cool.
Final thought. I bet I could have made these and sold them to the wagon trains in 1869!
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