What's new and exciting?

Okay, it's been almost a month again since I posted. I'm resisting the urge to rush here whenever I feel down, so that I don't make this a kvetching blog.

We still aren't in our bedroom. GH will probably move in there tonight, but he took our king size bed apart and had to trash the box spring, since it was broken. He wants to build a base for the two air mattresses that make up our bed. So, the couch is still my bed.

The Princess had her play a few weekends ago. It went okay, but we were a little disappointed that the sound wasn't very good, and the play was THREE HOURS LONG! GH has decided that she should take a break from the theater group, much to her chagrin. He wants the kids to start contributing more to the household, and doing less away from home. He also feels that The Princess has a "princess" complex, and is bound and determined to rid her of it. Yikes, it's gonna get crazy here, I think. I, unfortunately, have the same "princess" complex, so he's working on curing us both.

Have I mentioned that The Prince is musically talented? We got a keyboard given to us by some friends, and he just picked it up and started playing, by ear. He now takes keyboard class, and loves it. I really want him to learn to read music, and as his musical Grandpa says, "If you can read music, you can play anything!" GH and I are not musical (except that we like music), so we're thinking it skipped a generation. :-)

We've been dealing with a multitude of internet problems, and have changed providers. Hopefully, this new one will be more reliable, although the past few days we've had it, we're having some issues, so we'll see.

I'm not feeling very chatty today, so I'll just try to get back here sooner to post.

I hate titles

The bedroom still isn't done. GH is painting it at this very moment, so very soon!

In other news, The Princess and I both have stuffy noses, and she has a cough. The Prince and GH have yet to get the bug, so maybe we've dodged that bullet.

The Princess is involved in a theater group, but has never tried out for a part since the first play she performed in, which was "Annie." If I never hear "Hard Knock Life," or "Tomorrow" again, I'll be perfectly content, by the way. Anyway, she was OFFERED a part last week, and so we'll get to see more of her at the performance in October! We're so excited! With said part, another fee for a second costume was due, so my generous and wonderful parents paid for it. What would I do without my parents?

About those parents: We had quite the scare a week or so ago. My dad, being a Korean War Vet, has always wanted to return to Korea to see what our (meaning the U.S.) efforts did for South Korea. The opportunity arose, and they took it. The Korean government actually hosts American veterans in a show of appreciation for their service! How cool is that?! I wonder if Iraq will do that someday...

Anyway, Mom and Dad extended their trip for a full six days to go to China. I didn't like that idea, but I understood. Sort of. They were able to call one time, when they arrived in China. It was 12:30 a.m., and they woke me from a dead sleep, but I was so very happy to hear from them that I didn't care. They sounded good, and were looking forward to exploring China (as much as China will let you explore).

My brother and I had noted that their itinerary from the airline said they'd be returning on the 20th; however, Mom kept talking about returning on the 21st. Well, we figured she could have been mistaken, and that they were really returning on the 20th SINCE THAT'S WHAT THE ITINERARY SAID. So, The Princess and I headed the 40 miles or so to our major airport, and waited for them to arrive. And waited, and waited, and waited, and waited...for three hours. They did not arrive, and I had a meltdown, right there, in front of the international terminal. I called my brother, sobbing "Mom and Dad weren't on the plane! I don't know what to do!! Call me back, please!!!!!" The Princess, who is mature beyond her years, calmly called her father, GH, and told him I may not be able to drive home.

I calmed down, called the airline and asked if my parents were booked on the 9/20 flight from Seoul, South Korea. They said they couldn't tell me; that's confidential information. *sigh* So, while The Princess and I headed home in rush hour traffic from the airport, GH went to my folks' home, and started calling all the hotels listed on their paperwork. Hotels in South Korea and China. Major language barriers ensued, yet GH kept his cool, and finally got some information from a complete (American) stranger in the room they had just vacated in China! Then, we were able to contact the tour company, and were assured they were at that very moment boarding a plane to return home. God bless my GH. He spent over an hour on the phone talking to all kinds of non-English speaking people, just to find his crazy in-laws.

I headed out to the airport AGAIN the next day, and picked them up. I felt kinda bad that I wasn't happier to see them - I mean, I was happy to see them, but I was so frazzled from the day before that it took a little while for it to sink in that they were finally home. Then, when it did sink in, I cried.

Now, for confession time. God has been working on my heart in the area of anxiety and worry. Oh, yes, those two stumbling blocks of many Christian women. I had listened to a fantastic sermon online, and felt God breaking my heart. It felt horrible and blissful at the same time. I gave Him my worry about work, about my kids, my marriage.

And then, my parents didn't arrive when I thought they were going to - and I broke down in front of God and everyone at a major international hub. And you know what God did? Even in my disobedience, even when I was basically saying "I don't believe You are who you say You are," He provided someone to pray for me, right then, right there, in the airport.

I had gone to an information booth, where a lone woman was available to help find flights and other such stuff. I kept going back to her, and she was the only one who actually helped us find out what the problem was. Anyway, before we left the airport, I went back to her, told her we knew they weren't on that flight, and asked her if she prayed. She said, "YES" and grabbed both my hands in hers, and prayed out loud, in the middle of the airport.

Thank you, Lord, for loving me despite my lack of faith. Thank you for forgiving me of my sin, and even providing comfort in the midst of my disobedience. What an awesome God we serve!!!!

Construction and finance blues

I'm feeling pretty blue today. Work has slowed to crawl, which translates into one of two things. Either GH has to start getting a lot of side work, or I have to get a "real" job. Thing is, the money I make doing the work I do is really, really good...when I'm working. If I got a full time job, I probably couldn't make what I do working very part-time. I'm praying on all this. I sure don't want GH to be working all the time, but I've lived the full-time work fantasy with kids, and I just can't imagine God wants me to do that again. We shall see.

Construction update: The bedroom is getting wallboard placed as we speak, but GH just came in and told me he needs something from Home Depot, so he's off. It's 11 p.m., by the way. He took a good long nap this afternoon, so I 'spose he's pretty rested. I, on the other hand, am exhausted. I didn't get a nap. So, I decided to come put an addition on my blog that isn't after a full month of nothing.

In other news, the Princess has been taking about dyeing her hair for awhile now. She said she wanted it to be pinkish. I figured, she's a good kid, she can't get in trouble at school since she's homeschooled, and it sounds like fun to me! So, we went and looked at hair colors. I noticed she kept looking at the light blonde colors. And as time went on, the blonde got lighter, and lighter and lighter, until we're looking at platinum blonde bleach kits! We brought it home, and she couldn't wait to get it on her head. I had to do it, since it's not really something you want to do on yourself the first time.

Well, I hate it. She has beautiful hair, but now it's a really, really unnatural blonde. I don't think anyone likes it but her, which is fine. It's just hard to get used to. At least it'll grow out.

The Prince is building a clubhouse in our backyard. He really spent alot of time nailing 2X4s together, and he actually has kind of a neat looking shelter started. We'll see how that progresses. He always has big ideas that are kind of hard to carry out, but I'm proud of how he is persevering on this project.

This blog, and where it's going

Had our first park day with our homeschool co-op today. It was really nice. I had seen most everyone over the summer, but not all together! We have a number of new families, so the kids have more kids to commiserate with. They both seemed happy to be there.

I noticed something. I re-read my first post, and I said I'd probably be talking about weight loss and finance. As far as I can tell, I've posted little if anything about either of those! Oh, well, this is (so far) only for my reading pleasure, so I guess it doesn't matter.

The Princess is sitting just behind me, reading every word. She keeps laughing at what I write. Just wait 'til she leaves the room... (She's laughing again).

I have a friend who thinks I should send her the link to this blog. Her blog is so well-written, and she really inspires me with her lifestyle and faith. And here I blog about...my broken toe. *sigh* And then my injured knee *double sigh.* Oh, and let's not forget adventures in home improvement *groan.* I think I'll send her the link just so she can get it out of her system. :-)

What else is going on? Oh, the bedroom project is still in progress. All three windows are replaced, and the stucco is almost done (the color coat needs to go on). GH is putting in a radiant barrier to hopefully make the room cooler in summer, warmer in winter. It's all taking a long time, but I think it will be worth it.

Oh, I had my birthday in the past week! I got a wonderful digital camera! My daddy found it for me, and my in-laws, brother and GH pitched in. They also got me a charger for re-chargeable batteries. I am soooo excited! I love The Pioneer Woman and I really want to learn about taking pics with the digital on her site. Of course, I don't live in the same kind of setting that she does, but I can find beauty here, really, I can! I will learn how to post pics here. Just give me a little time.

Another month, another dollar....

Oh, well. Not keeping up with this blog thing. I love reading others' blogs, but writing my own is a challenge.

Knee update: Seems I tore the MCL, the ligament that runs on the inside of your knee, and dislocated the patella (kneecap). No MRI needed (Amen, since I'm claustrophobic, and don't like MRIs). I was fitted for a turbo brace in metallic red, which I will pick up tomorrow...nearly two months after I injured my knee. Gotta love those HMOs. I'll wear the brace when I need the support, like while I walk. Yes, I get to start walking again. The old hound will be mighty glad to get out there and smell the roses.

Summer has been lazy, somewhat. While the kids were at camp a few weeks ago, the Gearhead and I (well, mostly he) painted our family room. It came out beautifully. We used brown, taupe and a wheat yellow, with a creamy white trim, and a darker brown trim around the brown. GH also rolled a faux finish onto the two brown walls. Hard to describe, but everyone who has seen it thinks it's lovely. We're going for an Americana look. My mom quilted a beautiful wall hanging depicting "America, the Beautiful," and that's our color pallet and theme inspiration. Someday, when I become tech savvy, you will have pictures of all this to view. Until then, please try to imagine it.

Now, we are on to our bedroom. Yikes. The last time that room got any attention was 14 years ago when we moved here, and all we did was paint and put in carpet. GH was going to just bust out the wall where my closet is and make double doors so I could get into the entire thing, but it turned into gutting the whole room! The bedroom stuff has been moved into the newly painted family room, and the bedroom is under major construction. It will have new windows, wall board and closet.

He also gutted the hall "linen closet." I put that in quotations because it was a few shelves stuffed with sheets and stuff, and three drawers stuffed with...stuff. Now, it's all emptied of shelves and drawers. It's going to be a utility closet, which is awesome, since I'm very tired of having the mop, vacuum cleaner and broom sitting out for everyone's view displeasure.

As far as the rest of the summer (which is fading fast), since I will have my whiz-bang knee brace, I.AM.GOING.TO.THE.BEACH. And that is final. The doctor said I couldn't walk on any uneven surfaces with my knee in the condition it was in. Well, it feels better, and I will wear the brace while walking on the sand. So, there.

A month's gone by

Since I haven't told anyone about this blog yet, I guess it doesn't matter that I haven't posted in a month, but I really want to make this a regular thing.

Let's see, a month's worth of material. Well, The Prince and I spent an entire week visiting good friends in TX. They have twins, a boy and girl, and the girl was in Europe for two weeks. Long story short, they wanted The Prince to come visit their son while their daughter was in Europe...that turned into The Prince and *me* going to TX. We had a marvelous time there.

The Prince and I left VERY EARLY on a Monday morning. While waiting for our flight, we heard that they were asking for volunteers to take the next flight (an hour later) since they had overbooked the flight we were on. I volunteered, since the reward was another set of plane tickets! They didn't take us up on the offer after all, but the lady at the counter bumped us up to First Class!! I had never flown First Class, and it wasn't the kind of First Class you get on a fancier plane, but we had lots of leg room, and a full breakfast if we wanted it. I knew it was going to be a great trip. I had downloaded some praise music onto my MP3, and I jammed most of the way to TX with it blaring in my ears. I felt so incredibly blessed, since The Prince has horrible motion sickness, and feels claustrophobic on planes; well, with all the extra room (and a window seat, thanks to a kindly old man, and a bit of Dramamine), he had a stress-free flight....

Until we got close to DFW airport. The pilot said a massive storm was headed for the airport, and we'd have to circle for up to an hour until the storm passed! Yuck!!!! Well, the storm decided to head a different direction, so we were only about 20 minutes delayed after all. Then, after we landed, the pilot said we'd be on the tarmack for awhile, since there had been a lightning strike at one end of the airport, and for the safety of the workers, we'd wait for awhile to make sure there were no more lightning strikes! The Prince sounded a bit anxious about both delays, but I assured him that this was just routine stuff when storms were around. I didn't let on that I was a bit nervous about it, too.

Our friends greeted us at the baggage claim, and our adventure in TX began. "N" and I planned to give the boys alot of down time to just play, since they are both homebodies, and prefer to just hang out. We did go to Medieval Times, Mrs. Baird's Bakery, an Independence Day parade, a pharmacy/soda shop, and to see "Transformers." N and I saw "Live Free or Die Hard" and went to Hobby Lobby and an awesome scrapbooking store. We also watched a ridiculous amount of tv, especially after I hurt my knee. We don't have cable here at home, or regular t.v. for that matter, so it's kinda like a kid in a candy store when t.v. is available.

Oh, yeah, my knee. Despite having a great time in TX, I sustained ANOTHER injury, this time to my left knee; it was my left toe a week before we left. I was stepping off a porch onto a very muddy area (it had rained for three weeks by the time we left TX). My right foot slipped, and my left was up on the porch. My leg just kinda buckled, and my friend, who was several yards away, said she heard a "pop." I couldn't tell if the pop was my knee or my behind hitting the mud, but the pain was excrutiating. I couldn't talk for a few minutes. Fortunately, my friend got ice immediately and I could walk on it...but it felt wobbly, for lack of a better word.

I didn't want to go to the doctor while in TX, so I bought a knee brace, and limped along for the rest of our trip. I got an x-ray when I got home, which showed no bone damage. Now, I have an appointment on the 31st to see an orthopedic surgeon, and maybe get an MRI. Meanwhile, my chiropractor is doing physical therapy three times a week to help get the fluid out of the knee. It feels great after she works on it, but at night it hurts pretty badly.

While we were in TX, The Princess was in another state with a group from church. They went to a ranch and rode horses, river rafted, swam, and in addition, worked the ranch. She learned how to do siding on a house, and to fix a fence. She desperately wants to spend the whole summer there working next summer. Now, I can see how that would be a great experience for her, but I couldn't talk to her for a full 7 days this time (no cell reception), and it was really hard for me. I assume if she works there, they have land lines for her to keep in touch, but it's a long ways away. We shall see.

Since we've been back, we haven't done a whole lot. We usually spend alot of time at the beach in the summer, but I can't walk on the sand with this knee, so we've been home. I didn't have work for the entire week after we got back (thus losing TWO weeks of income), but it seems to be picking up again.

The Gearhead and I talk alot about moving to TX. We live in a very congested (and getting moreso all the time) area. We've both lived here our whole lives, and the quality of life just keeps getting chipped away. The biggest thing that keeps us here is our parents. Both sets live within a few miles of us, and they are all aging. The Gearhead is the only child now, and I am the only daughter, so we feel obligated to stay. However, I would not have to work if we moved there, and in fact, we could sell our house here and buy a house outright there...and a much nicer house at that. The Princess has informed us that we can let her know our address when we get there, since she won't leave here. Silly girl.

Pulled a "Claire" yesterday. Running up some stairs at church, foot slipped on step, big toe jammed into concrete step. Yep, it hurts. It might be broken, but I just refuse to go to the doctor, so I'll never know. Does it really matter? It hurts, and it's black and dark blue...and it hurts.

So, I actually went to work today in flip flops. Had to explain to the man "I'm so sorry I'm wearing flip flops. This isn't my usual work attire." Then I flashed the black and blue toe, and got sympathy! Hey, maybe I'll invest in some black and blue grease paint for future use. Naw, not worth it. Now the flip flops are starting to hurt the toe, so tomorrow will be interesting. Just call me the Barefoot Contessa....or more appropriately, the Barefoot Clutz.

Had the kids "graduation" last night at our church. Way, way, way long but it was fun to see the talent displayed by the kids, and a "real" graduation of our one senior. Just five more years 'til The Princess graduates...if she ever gets any school work done! Then, I may never see her again! She's so motivated to own a restaurant and move to New York...well, I guess it's the other way around. Of course, she wants to attend chef school first, and become a Le Cordon Bleu Chef. Oh, and she told me tonight that she wants to be a dance teacher for little kids in her spare time. Oh, and don't forget, she must perform in musical theater, as well. Her goals exhaust me! :-)

The Prince, on the other hand, says he will be content to live in a trailer and make the least amount of money possible, which is funny, 'cuz he LOVES money. The child has more money at times than in is my checking account! Sad but true! He saves, he tithes and he spends frugally. What's really sweet is that he likes to treat me to a coffee or something now and then. I have a hard time accepting his generosity, but I do let him now and then.

The Princess blows every penny she gets. However, she, too, is generous...she usually blows her money on me or someone else. She spent all her money on a Mother's Day gift for me when she was only about 7 or 8. Last month, she took me out to lunch because "no one ever treats you to lunch, Mommy." What a sweet girl, eh?

On another subject: I've been reading a book about spiritual gifts. Seems I haven't spent much time thinking or praying about it, but my biggest concern right now is determining my kids' gifts. The Princess is almost 100% an administrator, which makes sense. She makes lists, wants things done in an orderly fashion...and is a slob. No time for trivial stuff like cleaning.

The Prince is almost 100% compassion. Very, very sensitive, feels other people's feelings, sometimes very negative. There's lots more to both gifts, but I've only just started reading the book. :-)

I'd like to know what The Gearhead's gift(s) are, too. May be service, since he's the guy to call when you're in trouble with a car, or home repair, or just about any disaster - he can fix it. We shall see...