Okay ... here's the skinny ... I love Gilmore Girls. I completely blame Caryn for this. Tyler blames me for getting him hooked. Regardless of blame ... the season premier is upon us.
Gilmore Girls' season premier is on the new CW on Tuesday, September 26th at 8 pm. So, to honor the 7th season, we're having a party! It will be Gilmore all the way (minus the martinis ... those are pricey and we're poor :P). We'll start at 8 with a showing of Partings (the season finale from season 6) and then follow with a commercial free showing of The Long Morrow (season 7 premier).
We're going adult only on this soiree. Gilmore Girls is hardly appropriate for kids ... and we're probably going to have "adult beverages" of some kind. (BYOAB ... and make it Gilmore appropriate :P) There will be plenty of coffee! :)
It's open to all ... just let us know if you're joining us for the festivities here. Some food will be provided, but more is always welcome (again, Gilmore is the theme). We'll get you directions if you don't know how to get here. :)
(A note here ... I'm feeling compelled to mention that we don't typically have or publicize parties with "adult beverages" ... but this is a special occaison ... and it goes with the theme.)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
A Few Noteworthy Notes
just some randomness tonight ... some things are new ... some I meant to put in a misc. section at the end of my last one ...
First and foremost: something very very very exciting ... I am linked on someone's blog :) (and yes dear, you do count ... but I expect to be linked on your blog :P)
Second: We've had friends over twice this weekend (if you count Monday night, which we do ... football is on ... that counts for part of the weekend). It's been really nice to have people over. I enjoy entertaining, even just casually, and even just for friends who we've known for what seems like forever.
Third: Apparently, my seamstress work for friends is beginning to pay off. I had someone just call me out of the blue, apparently just from a referral, and she is coming over tomorrow morning. That's some income.
Fourth: I've had an offer to work as a babysitter for the church's Children's Director's youngest boy. Dave needs someone to watch Henry during the staff meetings and Sunday night stuff. It's like 3.5 hours/week. But again, it's income.
Fifth: My tooshie still hurts. It's getting better ... but still sore ...
Sixth: All laundry and ironing is finished! That makes me happy. I hate ironing.
Seventh: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arr ...
Eighth: I seem to have more notes than I originally thought ... sorry I'm so unexpectedly long tonight ...
and finally...
Nineth: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. (It's a grammatically valid sentence. Don't believe me? Here.)
First and foremost: something very very very exciting ... I am linked on someone's blog :) (and yes dear, you do count ... but I expect to be linked on your blog :P)
Second: We've had friends over twice this weekend (if you count Monday night, which we do ... football is on ... that counts for part of the weekend). It's been really nice to have people over. I enjoy entertaining, even just casually, and even just for friends who we've known for what seems like forever.
Third: Apparently, my seamstress work for friends is beginning to pay off. I had someone just call me out of the blue, apparently just from a referral, and she is coming over tomorrow morning. That's some income.
Fourth: I've had an offer to work as a babysitter for the church's Children's Director's youngest boy. Dave needs someone to watch Henry during the staff meetings and Sunday night stuff. It's like 3.5 hours/week. But again, it's income.
Fifth: My tooshie still hurts. It's getting better ... but still sore ...
Sixth: All laundry and ironing is finished! That makes me happy. I hate ironing.
Seventh: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arr ...
Eighth: I seem to have more notes than I originally thought ... sorry I'm so unexpectedly long tonight ...
and finally...
Nineth: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. (It's a grammatically valid sentence. Don't believe me? Here.)
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Hallowed
"... hallowed be Thy name."
That's kind of a loaded line if you ask me. Yet it was the topic of tonight's five02 gathering. So the meat of the talking? ... "hallowed". What's that mean to you? When posed that question I immediately went to "holy, pure, clean" ... those signs (as in sign language) are all very similar. As a matter of fact, they are the same motion and hand position, just different letters being formed with one hand. We played the song from the City On A Hill cd ... Jennifer Knapp, her version of the Lord's Prayer ... she repeats 'hallowed' between most lines of the prayer ... very fitting.
So Ryan made a statement that really got me thinking and hit home with a lot of what's been going on in my world recently. He said that we know God's will and action on earth and in others because we know what it looks and feels like in our own hearts. It's like we know God's fingerprints because we have them on us, so we can identify them on others and in situations. So when someone is unaware of God's fingerprints on himself, does that make him unable to feel and see God at work in something? Is there some sort of responsibility we have to him, as Christians and ones who see God's fingerprints all over the place, to show him that God is there? Are we to just pray? Is there something DOable? Is that our job? Is that God's job? Please, let me know what you think. I've been pondering this for a while now ... not sure how my answers are sitting with me ...
That's kind of a loaded line if you ask me. Yet it was the topic of tonight's five02 gathering. So the meat of the talking? ... "hallowed". What's that mean to you? When posed that question I immediately went to "holy, pure, clean" ... those signs (as in sign language) are all very similar. As a matter of fact, they are the same motion and hand position, just different letters being formed with one hand. We played the song from the City On A Hill cd ... Jennifer Knapp, her version of the Lord's Prayer ... she repeats 'hallowed' between most lines of the prayer ... very fitting.
So Ryan made a statement that really got me thinking and hit home with a lot of what's been going on in my world recently. He said that we know God's will and action on earth and in others because we know what it looks and feels like in our own hearts. It's like we know God's fingerprints because we have them on us, so we can identify them on others and in situations. So when someone is unaware of God's fingerprints on himself, does that make him unable to feel and see God at work in something? Is there some sort of responsibility we have to him, as Christians and ones who see God's fingerprints all over the place, to show him that God is there? Are we to just pray? Is there something DOable? Is that our job? Is that God's job? Please, let me know what you think. I've been pondering this for a while now ... not sure how my answers are sitting with me ...
Thursday, September 14, 2006
yep ... still hurts ...
That's pretty much it ... It was really hard to sleep last night. My right hip (the one that I didn't hit on the way down) kept getting sore. I couldn't lay on my back or my left hip without seriously intense pain. I think I was able to sleep for about 3 hours ... most of that on my tummy ... which, frankly, is more suited to napping - not acctually sleeping ...
ah well ... I guess that's what I get for falling down the stairs ... :P
ah well ... I guess that's what I get for falling down the stairs ... :P
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
My Tooshie Hurts
So I was at an interview this afternoon (that didn't go so hot ... well ... at least I wouldn't want to work for the company ... no more on that) and, as I was leaving, my shoe got caught in my pants leg and so my foot didn't come down properly. The result? ... I fell down the stairs. Only about 5 steps ... but I'm sore. I'm okay - but the aches keep developping ... ahh well ... guess that's what comes from being a clumsy idiot. Dufus me sometimes ...
Now, a thought that I've been developping since I left the interview today - Why is it that people seem to hold these ridiculous views of Christians? ... See, where I was today is a place with a lot of truckers. The person interviewing me said something to the effect of, "I see you're all into religion and religious stuff. People around here swear and cuss. People around here aren't always calm and nice. So if that's going to be a problem for you and that religious stuff ..." What is that? ... Christians can't be around people who swear now? Does that not completely eliminate everything we were commissioned to do? How is it that, if we're not able to be around bad language, we're able to love on the people who need it the most? Okay, I lied. I've been toying with this since Five02 on Saturday.
The current discussion series is on the Our Father. Last week was the "Our Father" part of the prayer. Here's the thing ... "Our" means everyone. Not just the people in our circle. Not just the Christians. Not just the people who look like us. ... Everyone. The gang people, the bikers, the hate-mongers, the terrorists. ... Everyone. Yeah ... chew on that one for a while. That's been a hard pill for me to swallow - don't know that it's all the way down yet. It's easy to love on people who look, think, and act like you ... but not always simple with those who don't. However, that's not really what I was going to chat about ...
Okay ... chatting isn't my thing right now ... my tooshie hurts too much.
Please keep up your prayers for us. We can feel them.
Now, a thought that I've been developping since I left the interview today - Why is it that people seem to hold these ridiculous views of Christians? ... See, where I was today is a place with a lot of truckers. The person interviewing me said something to the effect of, "I see you're all into religion and religious stuff. People around here swear and cuss. People around here aren't always calm and nice. So if that's going to be a problem for you and that religious stuff ..." What is that? ... Christians can't be around people who swear now? Does that not completely eliminate everything we were commissioned to do? How is it that, if we're not able to be around bad language, we're able to love on the people who need it the most? Okay, I lied. I've been toying with this since Five02 on Saturday.
The current discussion series is on the Our Father. Last week was the "Our Father" part of the prayer. Here's the thing ... "Our" means everyone. Not just the people in our circle. Not just the Christians. Not just the people who look like us. ... Everyone. The gang people, the bikers, the hate-mongers, the terrorists. ... Everyone. Yeah ... chew on that one for a while. That's been a hard pill for me to swallow - don't know that it's all the way down yet. It's easy to love on people who look, think, and act like you ... but not always simple with those who don't. However, that's not really what I was going to chat about ...
Okay ... chatting isn't my thing right now ... my tooshie hurts too much.
Please keep up your prayers for us. We can feel them.
Monday, September 11, 2006
and so it rained ...
So Tyler and I have been without work for a while now ... (I don't remember if this is all on my blog or not, so here's your recap.) He finished school in May. I was working from about the end of June till August 18th. Then the bill collectors caught up with that business ... suffice it to say - I was suddenly without work. Tyler and I have been trying and trying and trying to find work ... but God has not provided us with jobs yet ... even menial work seems to escape us. We have become accustomed to hearing the words "overqualified" and/or "underexperienced." It has really been frustrating on some levels - however not on all ...
You see - God has never abandoned us ... and we know that people are praying for us ... we can feel that. It has been one of the coolest experiences in my life to sit back and watch God provide. There was a stretch of time, 10 days to be exact, during which someone fed us a meal each day. For a week and a half we didn't have to come up with food for all of our meals. There was also an occaision where a friend gave us $50 and told us to go grocery shopping. It seemed like everything we needed was on sale that day. We got all of our "needs" and most of our "wants" for $47.95. And so we went ... living a blessed life ... and loving it. I'd like to say that I was able to just blindly trust that everything would be cared for ... but that was soooooooo hard for me. Through all of this, EVERY time we made money for work, we tithed on it. That was also hard for me sometimes. There were Sundays I thought, "we could be paying a bill with this" ... and yet we faithfully put the check into the offering plate ...
Just a couple of weeks ago I realized how far behind we were on some things ... We have credit card debt - because we need gas in our cars to get to interviews and because (for a while - until about 6 weeks ago) we'd been charging our groceries (then we pretty much stopped grocery shopping). Again, in my normal pattern, I began to worry and doubt that God would provide. Wednesday we were at friends' house and we were sharing our situation. I said that there were times I felt like praying for money to rain down from the sky. There were times I couldn't see any other way to solve our financial state. We took all of the money that we had (including several anniversary gift checks) and payed rent and 2 other very small bills that were due by the 5th of the month. We had $5 left - and I was sick at the fact that it was just one more week till more bills were due. The only income we knew about was $63 coming from my "Nanny Rachel" gig. This was Thursday.
Tyler and I spent Thursday running off and mailing resumes and cover letters for anything for which we thought we were remotely qualified. We also spent a good 3 and a half hours driving around town (and Carey) filling out applications. We didn't eat all day. (Later I learned that Tyler had some fake cheese-its while I was at work. We split a bag of popcorn when I got home at about 6pm.) I had to be at school to pick up Sophie at 2:30. I just made it. I did get paid and that was a relief, and a reminder that it wasn't enough to cover everything. I called my mom on my way home from work to ask her to help me with some sign language. (I was signing at church on Saturday - reflections on that in a later post this week.) I asked if I could call her later that evening (around 9) for reminders on the couple of signs I couldn't remember. I ended up not talking to her that night ... group went till about 10. It was nice. We had a meal (and boy were Tyler and I hungry!) and sat on the porch and chatted. The guys went inside around 8:30 for kickoff and the women sat outside ... well ... that's all in an earlier post ...
Friday, my mom called. I was worried becuase it was the middle of the day ... my mom's a teacher ... she doesn't call during the day ... she's busy. I answered the phone with something to the effect of, "It's the middle of the day. Are you okay? ... Is everything else okay?" She was fine. She called to see if we were free that night. She had some business to deal with in the area and wondered if she could sleep at our place. She's always welcome ... so she said she'd leave after school. Knowing my mom ... the "business" probably included a trip to Elder-Beerman for shoes, our local lighting store to oogle that chandelier she wants for her bedroom, a visit with her mom in Lima, taking us to dinner, and maybe to Wal-Mart for groceries. I mentioned something about it to Tyler and he agreed with me on her probable list ... So mom got to Findlay around 7 ... not bad for not leaving school till almost 5 ... We went to Olive Garden. Tyler and I were so thrilled. We saw that it was pasta bowl month and figured that we'd miss out completely on it this time around ... :) ... yummy ... (note here - sun-dried tomato parmesan sauce good ... spinach alfredo sauce not so much ...) At dinner we chatted and had a really good time (even though the kitchen was SUPER slow). Mom suddenly announced that we were on to the business portion of the evening. She offered to pay our bills for the rest of the month, fill our cupboards, fill our gas tanks, change our cars' oil, and do whatever else she could to help out - knowing how stressful and hard it is to not know when the next income is coming. Tyler and I were silent for a moment ... he spoke first saying that would be great and much appreciated. I turned to Tyler and asked him if this was as close as it was going to get to money raining down from the sky. After dinner we ran home to make a real grocery list (something other than "everything"). It took us 2 carts to get all of our groceries out to the car. Our cupboards and fridge are full. We have fresh fruit and veggies. We have bread, eggs, and milk again.
Saturday we went to brunch at Golden Corral. We took both of our cars and filled them with gas. (Which they both despirately needed.) We took Tyler's car for an oil change (mine is yet to come). Mom had to head home around 2 ... she had a ton yet to do at home last weekend. Aside from the help, it was good to see mom again. We see her a lot ... but for some reason, family is always a pick-me-up when I've been down.
Remember ... God always answers prayers. He NEVER abandons His people. Satan would like us to believe that God doesn't care, but Satan is a liar. And just for some recent proof ... Friday in a little appartmet in Findlay, Ohio, blessings (and a little money) rained down from the sky. It poured.
You see - God has never abandoned us ... and we know that people are praying for us ... we can feel that. It has been one of the coolest experiences in my life to sit back and watch God provide. There was a stretch of time, 10 days to be exact, during which someone fed us a meal each day. For a week and a half we didn't have to come up with food for all of our meals. There was also an occaision where a friend gave us $50 and told us to go grocery shopping. It seemed like everything we needed was on sale that day. We got all of our "needs" and most of our "wants" for $47.95. And so we went ... living a blessed life ... and loving it. I'd like to say that I was able to just blindly trust that everything would be cared for ... but that was soooooooo hard for me. Through all of this, EVERY time we made money for work, we tithed on it. That was also hard for me sometimes. There were Sundays I thought, "we could be paying a bill with this" ... and yet we faithfully put the check into the offering plate ...
Just a couple of weeks ago I realized how far behind we were on some things ... We have credit card debt - because we need gas in our cars to get to interviews and because (for a while - until about 6 weeks ago) we'd been charging our groceries (then we pretty much stopped grocery shopping). Again, in my normal pattern, I began to worry and doubt that God would provide. Wednesday we were at friends' house and we were sharing our situation. I said that there were times I felt like praying for money to rain down from the sky. There were times I couldn't see any other way to solve our financial state. We took all of the money that we had (including several anniversary gift checks) and payed rent and 2 other very small bills that were due by the 5th of the month. We had $5 left - and I was sick at the fact that it was just one more week till more bills were due. The only income we knew about was $63 coming from my "Nanny Rachel" gig. This was Thursday.
Tyler and I spent Thursday running off and mailing resumes and cover letters for anything for which we thought we were remotely qualified. We also spent a good 3 and a half hours driving around town (and Carey) filling out applications. We didn't eat all day. (Later I learned that Tyler had some fake cheese-its while I was at work. We split a bag of popcorn when I got home at about 6pm.) I had to be at school to pick up Sophie at 2:30. I just made it. I did get paid and that was a relief, and a reminder that it wasn't enough to cover everything. I called my mom on my way home from work to ask her to help me with some sign language. (I was signing at church on Saturday - reflections on that in a later post this week.) I asked if I could call her later that evening (around 9) for reminders on the couple of signs I couldn't remember. I ended up not talking to her that night ... group went till about 10. It was nice. We had a meal (and boy were Tyler and I hungry!) and sat on the porch and chatted. The guys went inside around 8:30 for kickoff and the women sat outside ... well ... that's all in an earlier post ...
Friday, my mom called. I was worried becuase it was the middle of the day ... my mom's a teacher ... she doesn't call during the day ... she's busy. I answered the phone with something to the effect of, "It's the middle of the day. Are you okay? ... Is everything else okay?" She was fine. She called to see if we were free that night. She had some business to deal with in the area and wondered if she could sleep at our place. She's always welcome ... so she said she'd leave after school. Knowing my mom ... the "business" probably included a trip to Elder-Beerman for shoes, our local lighting store to oogle that chandelier she wants for her bedroom, a visit with her mom in Lima, taking us to dinner, and maybe to Wal-Mart for groceries. I mentioned something about it to Tyler and he agreed with me on her probable list ... So mom got to Findlay around 7 ... not bad for not leaving school till almost 5 ... We went to Olive Garden. Tyler and I were so thrilled. We saw that it was pasta bowl month and figured that we'd miss out completely on it this time around ... :) ... yummy ... (note here - sun-dried tomato parmesan sauce good ... spinach alfredo sauce not so much ...) At dinner we chatted and had a really good time (even though the kitchen was SUPER slow). Mom suddenly announced that we were on to the business portion of the evening. She offered to pay our bills for the rest of the month, fill our cupboards, fill our gas tanks, change our cars' oil, and do whatever else she could to help out - knowing how stressful and hard it is to not know when the next income is coming. Tyler and I were silent for a moment ... he spoke first saying that would be great and much appreciated. I turned to Tyler and asked him if this was as close as it was going to get to money raining down from the sky. After dinner we ran home to make a real grocery list (something other than "everything"). It took us 2 carts to get all of our groceries out to the car. Our cupboards and fridge are full. We have fresh fruit and veggies. We have bread, eggs, and milk again.
Saturday we went to brunch at Golden Corral. We took both of our cars and filled them with gas. (Which they both despirately needed.) We took Tyler's car for an oil change (mine is yet to come). Mom had to head home around 2 ... she had a ton yet to do at home last weekend. Aside from the help, it was good to see mom again. We see her a lot ... but for some reason, family is always a pick-me-up when I've been down.
Remember ... God always answers prayers. He NEVER abandons His people. Satan would like us to believe that God doesn't care, but Satan is a liar. And just for some recent proof ... Friday in a little appartmet in Findlay, Ohio, blessings (and a little money) rained down from the sky. It poured.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Girl Talk
Every Thursday (except for the 2nd of the month) Tyler and I go to our small group. We're in a group with all couples who are older than we are ... and we love it ... it's great ...
So last night we went over to the Bookmyer's house. Now, normally we start at 7 ... however last night both Bookmyer kids had soccer till 7, so we met at 7:30 - and we met with food ... Praise God! Tyler and I hadn't eaten yesterday (well ... he had some fake cheese-its and we had some popcorn ...) and we were starving! So we all sat on their front porch (us, the Bookmyers, and the Browns ... 2 couples were missing) and ate and chatted ... and it was really good. However - it was short. At 8:30 the guys all went in to watch the Steelers game. Kim, Karen, and I chilled out on the porch and chatted ...
I so needed that girl talk time. We covered soooooooo much ... and I really felt useful to them. Not that I don't feel useful ... but sometimes it doesn't hurt to get an extra dose. :) Karen has been concerned about her daughters and was looking for some reading material and music for her girls with a positive message. I recommended a bunch of stuff and even said that I'd go shopping with her sometime ... It was good.
*Other random updates here*
- We put out a ton of resumes and applications yesterday. I did get one call back already today. I have an interview on Tuesday morning ...
- Nanny Rachel is going well. I'm really enjoying it and I know it's helping them. I also know that I've hit it off with the kids.
So last night we went over to the Bookmyer's house. Now, normally we start at 7 ... however last night both Bookmyer kids had soccer till 7, so we met at 7:30 - and we met with food ... Praise God! Tyler and I hadn't eaten yesterday (well ... he had some fake cheese-its and we had some popcorn ...) and we were starving! So we all sat on their front porch (us, the Bookmyers, and the Browns ... 2 couples were missing) and ate and chatted ... and it was really good. However - it was short. At 8:30 the guys all went in to watch the Steelers game. Kim, Karen, and I chilled out on the porch and chatted ...
I so needed that girl talk time. We covered soooooooo much ... and I really felt useful to them. Not that I don't feel useful ... but sometimes it doesn't hurt to get an extra dose. :) Karen has been concerned about her daughters and was looking for some reading material and music for her girls with a positive message. I recommended a bunch of stuff and even said that I'd go shopping with her sometime ... It was good.
*Other random updates here*
- We put out a ton of resumes and applications yesterday. I did get one call back already today. I have an interview on Tuesday morning ...
- Nanny Rachel is going well. I'm really enjoying it and I know it's helping them. I also know that I've hit it off with the kids.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
The Wanderers
(Warning ... as I was looking at my finished entry I realized how long this is ... so ... here's your warning ... it's really long ...)
Have you ever felt like you really don't have a home ... or that you'll never see your home or sleep in your own bed again? ... I have ... and even though, as I write this, I know - without a doubt - that I will be sleeping in my own bed tonight and that our wandering is almost over ...
Friday, Tyler and I spent most of our day not doing what we knew we needed to be doing to get ready to be gone all weekend. Oh well ... I did get the 45 cards finished and packaged for the order that I promised to deliver by Labor Day. Tyler did get some of his prep for Monday's locale done too ... What we did not get done was the packing, running the dishwasher, cleaning up the kitchen, changing the oil in the car, running a load of laundry, Tyler's haircut, picking up the appartment, and all of the prep for our Monday destination (more to come on that later).
Saturday, we got up late. We were shooting for getting up at 7 and being out of the house by 10. Unfortunately, we didn't get to bed till almost 2, so the 7 a.m. alarm didn't go over well ... we got up around 9. So, right off the bat - not gonna leave at 10. Fortunately, we decided that we were just going to set general goals and we weren't going to run around and make ourselves crazy all weekend trying to get somewhere. The only real deadline and time-table that wasn't our own wasn't till Monday anyways ... So, Tyler got himself ready and laid out his stuff to pack and took off to pick up somethings, clean out the car, and get the oil changed. Two of the three wasn't bad ... the line was uber long at the oil place. While he was doing that, I straightened up the apartment, cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, did a load of laundry, packed for the two of us, and got myself ready to go. So, we left a little bit before noon. That's not so bad ... we were impressed with how much we were able to accomplish in just about 3 hours. At about 2, we got to Gammy's house (my dad's mom). We sat and talked with her for a while. She sent us to the store for some milk, oj, and bread. The Buckeyes were about to kick off when we got back from the store. We stayed and watched the first 3 possessions ... already up 21 ... So, around 4 we headed for my dad's house. I called when we were on our way because he had told us he was getting off of work around 2 and we had originally thought that we'd be able to be there about the same time ... alas - not so much ... but, as usual, all works for good and dad hadn't gotten off work till around 4 anyways. So we got to dad's around 5 and proceeded to head out for dinner. We thought that we were going to get grilled food ... but we got better. Amish Der Dutchman buffet. Monday was my step-mom, Sylvia's, birthday, so dad decided to take everyone out to eat. The food was killer ... mmm ... Syl's youngest daughter, Jessica (who's my age), came too and brought my nieces with her. Amber is 6 and going to start 1st grade today and Kaylee is just a bit more than 1 and impossible to keep up with. (Might I say here that I miss seeing my nieces as often as I was able to when I lived closer ...) It was really great to see them all again. We hung out with Dad and Syl for a bit after dinner ... and were there much later than we had expected. We didn't leave till 11. So we finally hit my mom's house around 11:30 - and we still had a ton of work to do to prep for Monday. so it was about 1:30 when we headed to bed. Now, our bed at my mom's house is my bed from high school ... so it's a full. We're both tall and overweight - we have a queen at home ... it's always a squeeze at mom's ... So we fell asleep and set the alarm.
Which went off at 7 a.m. on Sunday. And we hit the ground running again ... We were cleaned up, packed, and out the door at 9. Destination? Tyler's family reunion - Dodoridge County Park, West Union, WV. Because of our school schedules, Tyler hasn't been able to attend regularly since high school. His mom and aunt did all of the work on it this year ... it turned out wonderfully! We pulled up to the shelter house just a bit after noon. The three hour drive went smoothly and felt quicker than expected. The food was good. The desserts were better. The time with family that we don't get to see as much as we'd like was best. :) We were there till 6 and helped finish the clean up. We headed back to Tyler's aunt's house to help her unload and put stuff away. She made us dinner and we talked and worked on the last of the prep for Monday. We went back to Donna's (Tyler's mom) home and stayed there. It was probably about 11 when we got there and we were up talking for quite a while ... it was probably 1:30 when we finally fell asleep.
Monday's alarm was at 7 a.m. again. But again, we were soooooooooo tired that we ignored it. And instead, we got up and ready around 9. Donna took us to breakfast (where we've never eaten so much food at once in our lives ... or at least it felt that way ... :P) and we sat with her and talked till about 11. We headed out for destination 5 for the weekend - Freshman Activities Fair, Ohio University, Athens, OH. So all day we had thought that the directions said it would take us about 2 hours. We knew we had to be there around 1 ... so we thought we were good. I looked at the directions again - we were wrong - 2 hours 40 minutes ... grr ... So we headed off into uncharted territory and hoped that we'd still make it on time. Luckily, the directions were wrong as to the time we needed. It took us just about 2 hours to get there, find the spot, and park. We set up our table and waited on Westy. The thing went well ... we got 16 names and made some other contacts (who are on campus, like the KP president) to try and help the fraternity re-start the chapter there. Tyler and I feel like all went well ... So we cleaned up the table and headed out at 6 p.m. Destination? Mom's house. We got to mom's around 7:30 ... took MUCH less time than we thought it might. As we pulled in, mom looked at me and said, "You look tired." My response, "Mom, we left our home in Findlay Saturday morning, since then we've put 540 miles on the car ... what do you expect?" So we had pizza, stayed up to watch the season finale of The Closer, and spent some time with my mom (since, although we stayed at her house on Saturday, she wasn't home). Mom went to bed around 10, I followed abuot 10:30 ... Tyler came up around 2:30. (One of these things is not like the other ... one of these things just doesn't belong ... :P) Again ... we set our alarm.
Which I don't know if it ever went off. I heard mom in the shower and got up around 7:45. I got to spend some time with her before she headed off for a dr's appt at 9. Tyler got up around 9:30. We're still at mom's ... it's just about 10 ... I wanted to be home by noon today ... eh - oh well ... I have to be at work at 2:30 today. I start my "Nanny Rachel" job today because the kids go back to school. I have to pick Sophie up at 2:30 ... my car REALLY needs cleaned out first ...
So that's been our weekend ... I know, it's nothing compared to our friends who moved states or continents recently ... but it sure was long and tiring for us ...
I really should get off of here and get ready to go ... we're almost home ...
Have you ever felt like you really don't have a home ... or that you'll never see your home or sleep in your own bed again? ... I have ... and even though, as I write this, I know - without a doubt - that I will be sleeping in my own bed tonight and that our wandering is almost over ...
Friday, Tyler and I spent most of our day not doing what we knew we needed to be doing to get ready to be gone all weekend. Oh well ... I did get the 45 cards finished and packaged for the order that I promised to deliver by Labor Day. Tyler did get some of his prep for Monday's locale done too ... What we did not get done was the packing, running the dishwasher, cleaning up the kitchen, changing the oil in the car, running a load of laundry, Tyler's haircut, picking up the appartment, and all of the prep for our Monday destination (more to come on that later).
Saturday, we got up late. We were shooting for getting up at 7 and being out of the house by 10. Unfortunately, we didn't get to bed till almost 2, so the 7 a.m. alarm didn't go over well ... we got up around 9. So, right off the bat - not gonna leave at 10. Fortunately, we decided that we were just going to set general goals and we weren't going to run around and make ourselves crazy all weekend trying to get somewhere. The only real deadline and time-table that wasn't our own wasn't till Monday anyways ... So, Tyler got himself ready and laid out his stuff to pack and took off to pick up somethings, clean out the car, and get the oil changed. Two of the three wasn't bad ... the line was uber long at the oil place. While he was doing that, I straightened up the apartment, cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, did a load of laundry, packed for the two of us, and got myself ready to go. So, we left a little bit before noon. That's not so bad ... we were impressed with how much we were able to accomplish in just about 3 hours. At about 2, we got to Gammy's house (my dad's mom). We sat and talked with her for a while. She sent us to the store for some milk, oj, and bread. The Buckeyes were about to kick off when we got back from the store. We stayed and watched the first 3 possessions ... already up 21 ... So, around 4 we headed for my dad's house. I called when we were on our way because he had told us he was getting off of work around 2 and we had originally thought that we'd be able to be there about the same time ... alas - not so much ... but, as usual, all works for good and dad hadn't gotten off work till around 4 anyways. So we got to dad's around 5 and proceeded to head out for dinner. We thought that we were going to get grilled food ... but we got better. Amish Der Dutchman buffet. Monday was my step-mom, Sylvia's, birthday, so dad decided to take everyone out to eat. The food was killer ... mmm ... Syl's youngest daughter, Jessica (who's my age), came too and brought my nieces with her. Amber is 6 and going to start 1st grade today and Kaylee is just a bit more than 1 and impossible to keep up with. (Might I say here that I miss seeing my nieces as often as I was able to when I lived closer ...) It was really great to see them all again. We hung out with Dad and Syl for a bit after dinner ... and were there much later than we had expected. We didn't leave till 11. So we finally hit my mom's house around 11:30 - and we still had a ton of work to do to prep for Monday. so it was about 1:30 when we headed to bed. Now, our bed at my mom's house is my bed from high school ... so it's a full. We're both tall and overweight - we have a queen at home ... it's always a squeeze at mom's ... So we fell asleep and set the alarm.
Which went off at 7 a.m. on Sunday. And we hit the ground running again ... We were cleaned up, packed, and out the door at 9. Destination? Tyler's family reunion - Dodoridge County Park, West Union, WV. Because of our school schedules, Tyler hasn't been able to attend regularly since high school. His mom and aunt did all of the work on it this year ... it turned out wonderfully! We pulled up to the shelter house just a bit after noon. The three hour drive went smoothly and felt quicker than expected. The food was good. The desserts were better. The time with family that we don't get to see as much as we'd like was best. :) We were there till 6 and helped finish the clean up. We headed back to Tyler's aunt's house to help her unload and put stuff away. She made us dinner and we talked and worked on the last of the prep for Monday. We went back to Donna's (Tyler's mom) home and stayed there. It was probably about 11 when we got there and we were up talking for quite a while ... it was probably 1:30 when we finally fell asleep.
Monday's alarm was at 7 a.m. again. But again, we were soooooooooo tired that we ignored it. And instead, we got up and ready around 9. Donna took us to breakfast (where we've never eaten so much food at once in our lives ... or at least it felt that way ... :P) and we sat with her and talked till about 11. We headed out for destination 5 for the weekend - Freshman Activities Fair, Ohio University, Athens, OH. So all day we had thought that the directions said it would take us about 2 hours. We knew we had to be there around 1 ... so we thought we were good. I looked at the directions again - we were wrong - 2 hours 40 minutes ... grr ... So we headed off into uncharted territory and hoped that we'd still make it on time. Luckily, the directions were wrong as to the time we needed. It took us just about 2 hours to get there, find the spot, and park. We set up our table and waited on Westy. The thing went well ... we got 16 names and made some other contacts (who are on campus, like the KP president) to try and help the fraternity re-start the chapter there. Tyler and I feel like all went well ... So we cleaned up the table and headed out at 6 p.m. Destination? Mom's house. We got to mom's around 7:30 ... took MUCH less time than we thought it might. As we pulled in, mom looked at me and said, "You look tired." My response, "Mom, we left our home in Findlay Saturday morning, since then we've put 540 miles on the car ... what do you expect?" So we had pizza, stayed up to watch the season finale of The Closer, and spent some time with my mom (since, although we stayed at her house on Saturday, she wasn't home). Mom went to bed around 10, I followed abuot 10:30 ... Tyler came up around 2:30. (One of these things is not like the other ... one of these things just doesn't belong ... :P) Again ... we set our alarm.
Which I don't know if it ever went off. I heard mom in the shower and got up around 7:45. I got to spend some time with her before she headed off for a dr's appt at 9. Tyler got up around 9:30. We're still at mom's ... it's just about 10 ... I wanted to be home by noon today ... eh - oh well ... I have to be at work at 2:30 today. I start my "Nanny Rachel" job today because the kids go back to school. I have to pick Sophie up at 2:30 ... my car REALLY needs cleaned out first ...
So that's been our weekend ... I know, it's nothing compared to our friends who moved states or continents recently ... but it sure was long and tiring for us ...
I really should get off of here and get ready to go ... we're almost home ...
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