Hormones and Tears and Bears, oh my!

Apparently there are bears in my area. Well, at least one bear. I didn't see it or anything. When I got on facebook this morning a friend had shared the news story.  The bear was seen 'in Moore, off highway 221'. Which is where I live... and also pretty much where all of Moore is, so that's not really descriptive. And I think they got the bear. The story didn't actually say, it just said the police and the Department of Natural Resources were called in. I'm assuming if he got away, they'd have mentioned it.

So today I'm going to Dan and Ginny's wedding! I'm excited. I'll definitely tell you about it tomorrow. I'm sure I'll cry. I apparently cry at weddings.

At my sister Beth's wedding I was a bridesmaid and I bawled.  I had no idea I would. Before it started a woman working for the church gave us each a tissue to keep under our bouquets in case we needed them and I totally thought she was being silly. But for some reason I just couldn't keep it together. Luckily, neither could my brother-in-law's sister, another bridesmaid, so we gave each other understanding smiles as the tears streamed down.

I'm not sure if I cried at Tabitha or Grace's weddings.  I just don't remember.  But I probably did get teary eyed. EVERYTHING makes me teary eyed.  Especially lately.  I have a hormone disorder and I think it makes me quick to cry. 

A few weeks ago I was telling Ryan a story and said something made me cry and he said "Really?"

"Yeah," I laughed like it's no big deal (and it wasn't), "but I cry over everything."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Like EVERYTHING. I probably cry at least four times a day."

"What?!"

And it's true. I have no idea why but I do.  I'm not talking about sobbing here, that's rare. But four or five times a day I get tears in my eyes. And probably at least one of those times a tear or two makes it out of my eye.  That's why I say it's got to be hormones.  And it's SO embarrassing, but when I'm talking about something even slightly emotional, like kids without dads or a news story about war or not having seen a good friend in a while, sometimes my voice will just crack.  And it's annoying because I'll be calmly saying one sentence-- not feeling emotional or sentimental at all-- and suddenly my voice cracks and I have to struggle REALLY hard to make the next sentence come out right.  Usually if people ignore me, I get it together fast. But if they go 'What's wrong? You sound so emotional" my very embarrassment makes it hard to gain control.

So you can see, when I say it's my hormone disorder, I really think it must be. I think when I tell people that if they're trying to make a big deal out of a couple tears they assume I'm using it as an excuse.  But it FEELS like hormones you know? I remember being a teenager, completely out of my mind and with no good judgment.  And I remember how it felt, when I was like 20 or so and those crazy hormones were out of my system and I was like 'wow. Was that insane girl from my memories really me? I can think again!'

I don't think it's as bad as teenage hormones at all. But I think it's a bit like pregnancy hormones. I've never been pregnant, so I don't know, but I read my friends on facebook having babies (and there are dozens) commiserating about how they've got baby brain, cry over things, etc and I relate to every single bit of it. None of the physical stuff of course. But all the emotional, hormonal nonsense?  Yeah, that's me. And I don't even get a baby out of it.

So if you see me at the wedding and I'm crying, just ignore me. :)

Ryanese

My Ryan!

Ryan is, of course, Indian. English is his first language, but as happens with English-speaking people from different countries the world over... sometimes things mean different stuff to us and he says phrases or things that make me go "What?!"  Some of these are commonly Indian, some are regional, and some might be just plain Ryan.

So I thought it'd be fun to share a few:

• Whenever Ryan's going to work he says 'I'm going to office' instead of 'I'm going to the office.' This one is totally commonly used all over India.

Ryan "at office"

• Apparently what we call undergraduate education is called graduate and what we call graduate school is called postgraduate. 

• In the same vein 'I'm doing my graduation' means 'I'm going back to college.'

• "Homely" means something like 'pleasantly domestic, cozy, reminds one of home'.  So Ryan calls me homely sometimes and I have to remember he doesn't mean ugly. :-P

This is just funny.

• Whenever something isn't right, Ryan calls it 'jacked up'. (that makes me secretly giggle because it sounds like ghetto slang or something, and Ryan just totally isn't like that.)

• "Stark" means "complete". So like today, Ryan told me my beauty was 'stunning and stark'... to which I, of course, replied 'stark'?

A little Ryan time

I didn't have Bible Study last night.  It's been canceled a few times recently, due to busyness in people's lives.  I didn't really do anything special with the Friday night free though. It always seems like when someone invites me to do something on Fridays, I have Bible Study, which to me comes first. Then when Bible Study is canceled, there's nothing to do... just one of those things. :)

But Ryan actually isn't working this Saturday. A lot of Saturdays, which are Friday nights and Saturday mornings here due to the time difference. So we're spending the time together. I came online while he goees takes a quick shower, but we've been on the phone for hours and will be again when he gets out. Truth is, right now I'm basically on India time, because I stay up all night talking to him, then go to bed in the early afternoon.  I'll force myself to either stay up or wake up early if I have plans, but well, I don't.  So India time it is.

We've been discussing India today. And my hopefully upcoming visit.  We were looking at flights to just price them. We don't know when all the paperwork will be done, and I'll have my passport and visa, so we can't actually plan yet. But we can prepare, which is what God likes better anyway.

We've also been dreaming a little, and talking about all the things we could do... but we know that we don't have all the money in the world, so we won't actually get to do it all.  But for now, we're in a dreaming, not a planning stage.

Ryan wants me to come and stay. He's semi-teasing. Like looking at tickets with my departure date there months after my arrival... or one way.  Part of me wishes I could just move there! But not yet. Everything in its own time, right? I'd kind of like him to meet my family before we get married. Maybe I'm picky like that. Oh, and yeah, I'd like them to attend my wedding. Outrageously demanding, aren't I?

But he knows that and wants it for me and is just kidding. And it makes me feel special that he teases me like that. Because I know he really means it, in a way, and would welcome me into his life forever... how loved that makes me feel! And I do love him so! Everyday I love him more!

I am very sure he is my partner in life, my companion whose hand I'll hold as we run towards God.  My dear friend Ryan, my love...

Okay, this probably getting too mushy.

Sophie!

My Sophie dog is cuddling me. She is so delightful. She's leaning against me and falling to sleep, snuggling as close as she can.  There is something so incredibly moving when a living being trusts you so amazingly. And when that creature is adorable, small, and adoring and can't get close enough to you.

Ah, the love!

Er... Yesterday wasn't Tuesday?

Sorry!! I just realize the post I just made wasn't about yesterday. It was about two days ago.

That's what happens when your sleep is all crazy. See, after being so emotional yesterday (er, Tuesday! I did it again!!), I couldn't sleep.  I also couldn't blog because I didn't have internet access. I did get to talk to Ryan though, which was good. But I stayed up all night. I just couldn't settle my mind down.

I fell asleep at around 5:30 am... and I didn't wake up until 7:30pm. That day I just posted about just wiped me out. 14 hours of sleep! So right now I've been up for about 12 hours, and it's 7:39 am.

So to me, yesterday was Tuesday. Oh well.  Such is life with a sleeping disorder combined with unemployment. Days blur together and yet, I survive. God give me grace!

You Know Murphy's Law?

God gave me peace yesterday morning probably because He knew the day would be emotionally draining.

The job interview? Well, there wasn't one. They'd already filled the positions so they just had me fill out an application and will contact me (maybe) if a position becomes available.

I mentioned before that I was trying to do the paperwork to get my passport and stuff to go to India, right? Well! I have to tell you the whole story, because it definitely affected yesterday.

Two weeks ago I went onto vitalchek.com which, unfortunately, is the only way to get your birth certificate aside from going to the vital statistics office in person. And I was born in New Jersey, so going in person wasn't an option.  I need my birth certificate because a) the one I have is in HORRIBLE condition, literally falling into pieces and b) the one I have doesn't have my parents names on it, which was recently required by law for applying for your passport.

Before I started, I warned Ryan, "You know Murphy's Law?"

"You don't believe in that, do you?" he said, with a 'is she really that superstitious?' tone.

"Honey, when it comes to me and paperwork, it definitely applies. Just warning you!"  It also has always applied to me and electronics. It's a family joke.  For me, things break or come with missing pieces or SOMETHING.

I went through the whole process, on a very annoying website (it took three tries because the website kept timing out for no good reason) and got to the payment and assumed that, like in all normal online transactions, that was the last step.  I thought 'that was pretty painless'. WRONG! It took my information (really, Ryan's, because he offered to pay for it) and THEN tells me 'okay now you have to print this out, sign and fax it with documentation.' It never mentioned this previous. I kept expecting it to tell me I needed documentation but it only mentioned it AFTER it took my payment information. GRRR!

Well I didn't have access to a printer or fax machine. Or even printer paper. And when I opened the pdf, well it wanted me to have a current state photo id or license...

Well I don't. Mine is expired. Why? Because the DMV told me that my birth certificate was too falling apart and next time I had to have a new copy.

The irony.

So the other option is you had to have two of this other list of documents.  I only had two that weren't expired, so okay, I was good right? I had my social security card and a falling apart birth certificate...

Except, apparently, one of them had to have my address on it.

So I really didn't know what to do.  I tried to get everything together. I got out our printer, which we do own but see, my Mom refuses to install it on her computer, which she got for Christmas, because she says it makes the computer slow. And I can't install it on mine, because I'd need to use its CD... and I have a netbook. so there is no CD drive. My dad's desktop is broken. So I got out the old desktop from 2002 and tried to hook up the printer...

And found I couldn't find the cord.

Then I found the cord, finally. And I hooked it all up. But I still didn't know what to do. I thought I'd fax my SSN and my birth certificate and maybe my expired permit and fishing license? (Fishing license was on the list of 'one of these', but I only had one from last year.) But I know bureaucracy and I didn't really think that would cut it.

I found some stationary that had flowers on one side but was white on the other. So I could print it on that, I hoped... but I still was torn. Also, I'd have to fax this, and I didn't have a fax machine.

Then Mom said the printer has a fax machine in it!

THEN it occurs to me that I can probably renew my fishing license pretty easily! I realized this a week ago... but I didn't have a chance to do it until yesterday. Which made me nervous because yesterday it was two weeks since when I'd gone to vitalchek.com, and I knew eventually they'd charge us for nothing and cancel the process. But when you don't own a car or have any money... and the horrible website doesn't warn you what you need before they take your payment information so you can leave and come back when you're prepared!!

Anyway.

So, after the not job interview, I went to Dick Sporting Goods to renew my fishing license. I asked the employees standing by the door where to go. They directed me to 'the Lodge'... I went in there, and found the counter where there were signs about getting your fishing or hunting license.  But no one was manning it. So I waited.

After a few minutes, I looked around to see if I saw anyone. I left 'the Lodge' (which is a separate part of the store) and looked around the immediate outside. I went back. I searched for a way to page. Nothing. I waited.

So I went back and told the employees by the door that no one was there. They said they'd page someone.

I went back to wait. I could hear a beeping I assume was the page... but no one appeared.

Finally, like three minutes later a guy, who I think was one of the employees by the door came and helped me. It was no big deal and I bought a two week temporary license. Because it's the cheapest, plus I only really needed it for this documentation, right?

So then Mom and I go to the library, then go home... where we get into a fight over a misunderstanding. She screams at me and is furious because she misunderstood something and when I tried to explain she refused to listen and storm off. I HATE when that kind of stuff happens. So I was just too upset to try paperwork then. (I have anxiety when it comes to paperwork. It really takes a lot out of me and I just couldn't face it right then.)

However, later that evening I tried.  I scanned my fishing license into the computer, then my social security card...

And the computer starts acting weird. It's freezing, but not your normal freezing like it's trying to do too much, but like it just broke down. I tried Ctrl Alt Delete. Nothing. So I reboot. And it works for like a minute. I try rebooting again. It breaks down in the middle of rebooting. I try again. It loads and works for about ten seconds.  Then it dies. I try to turn it back on.. and it's like when you try to start a car and it makes a noise, but the engine doesn't turn over? After the fourth time I hit it, it came on... but dies before I can print my form...

Then the computer dies for good. And won't turn on again. At all. Nothing.

People, this computer has been working for nine and a half years.  And it chose to die when I was about five minutes away from getting this paperwork nightmare done.

GRRRRR!!!!

THEN a few hours later, I talk to Ryan... and he tells me that he's been charged cancellation fees.

Even though I hate that he's charged wasted money, in a way it was good, because I feel free for a few days. BUT I still only have two weeks from yesterday to redo it all, because then my fishing license expires. But this time I can make sure I have everything gathered and finish the whole process in one go...

As soon as I can gain access to a printer, copier/scanner, and fax machine again.

If you want to pray for me, I'd appreciate it. The Lord knows how much I hate paperwork, so of course He's stretching me. And He knows I lack and have been praying for patience. So He's giving me opportunities to practice.  All good things. All very annoying. :-P

Errands Hijack Evening, Blogger Hides My Blog

The past day, Wednesday, has been very interesting.

I woke up because Ryan was calling my cell phone, so I didn't get that much sleep.

When I drug myself from bed (not irritated at Ryan at all) I sleepily got a bowl of cereal and talked to Ryan. I also had texted Tabitha because we'd talked about possibly seeing each other since she'd be relatively 'in the neighborhood' anyway.

After I finished eating the cereal I remembered Mom didn't like me eating that cereal, because she's recently developed an intolerance for a lot of foods and this is one of the few things she could eat. There really wasn't much I could do about it then.

Mom woke up and she and I hung out during the morning. Then at lunch time she went to get cereal and when she realized I'd eaten it she blew up at me. And we fought.

Unfortunately, we fight a lot lately. I really don't want to, but there's a lot of tension and stuff. Sometimes I feel like it's like I'm nearing my expiration date for living here. But honestly, what can I do? I don't really have another option. I love my parents and I don't want my living here to be detrimental to us having a healthy, happy relationship.

Tabitha never got back to me (she's got a newborn, she's forgiven) and the other friend who said we might hang out today, Shilo, said maybe later in the day. (On Tuesday I felt like I HAD TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE so I tried to see if any friends wanted to hang out, but none did, but Tabby and Shilo said maybe the next day).

Shilo does come and picked me up around five. We stopped at a strawberry farm, all ready for a nice, slow visit of just talking and rediscovering each other as friends. We recently hung out for the first time in years, this was only our second visit. Shilo's phone rings. We have to go do an errand, picking up her fiance and bringing him to his mother, because she doesn't feel well enough to drive her own car home.

So we have to drive from Moore to Campobello. Then, when we get there, her fiance says first we're driving to the middle of a field and searching for a giant pipe. After this forty-five minute and fruitless detour (though somewhat amusing) we head out. Shilo and I had planned on dropping her fiance off, then hitting Walmart and buying the makings of spaghetti and then heading back to her house and just chilling.

Instead, her fiance is set on dinner in a restaurant. I can't really afford it, so Shilo ends up paying for me, which makes me feel very guilty (I paid for the tip), especially since Shilo picked up the tab the last time we hung out too.

Then, we want to just go pick up dinner for her future mother-in-law and drop the dinner and her fiance off... but on the way we get a call from her fiance's aunt. Her car won't start.

So we drop off the dinner, then go to the aunt's house. Shi's fiance tries to fix the car, but it won't work. She needs a new battery. So we go to the auto supply store, buy a battery, go back to her house, and it's probably another forty-five minutes installing it.

At this point, almost nothing in Spartanburg is open and Shilo and I still haven't really gotten any one on one friend time.

Finally, her fiance finishes, we take him to drop him off with his mother, and head towards downtown Spartanburg, with no idea what we can find open. We decide on Krispy Kreme, since it's open all night, and are able to get a good talk in over coffee (her) and hot chocolate (me).

We had a lovely time, catching up on our lives (it's been five years since we were more than facebook friends, so there's a lot to talk about), talk about spiritual beliefs, men, school, babies and psychology. And much more.

Then we still sort of want to hang out, but don't have any idea what we could do at 11pm on a Wednesday in Spartanburg, so we start heading towards my home. We're almost there when we remember I wanted to get my mom cereal. So we head to Walmart! I am able to buy Mom the cereal (having to borrow a nickel from Shi-- so I officially have no money now) and Shilo buys a few things she needed too.

Then we head home and after a little chatting in the driveway she drives home to a worried fiance (she doesn't usually stay out that late) and I come in to a happy rat terrier.

After being home a few minutes, I get online and, among other things, want to blog. So I go to blogger and it says they'll be doing updates and whatnot for the next hour. So I leave it and do other things.

A little over an hour later I come back. I go to blogger and... it signs me in and says 'You are not an author on any blogs yet, create one now to start posting!'

Freaked out, I try just going to my blog's url. It has a long error message!

So now I'm crying and telling Ryan 'Baby!!! My blog disappeared!!!'

He goes to my blog and it's there. Sure enough, I reload and it's back. I reload my dashboard and there it is! I start to relax and try to go into my blog to post a new one... and it does it again.

It took at least half an hour for me to get to this write a new post screen! I have no confidence this will actually publish when I hit 'publish post'... but that's why I'll copy this before I do!

Then, when I'm looking at my blog, I see something awesome! Apparently somebody from India found my blog from a search for "what thing in human being make him alive". Which, while random, is awesome. And then they gave me five page views... which means they were reading my blog! So, person, if you're out there, welcome to my blog. And I hope you found that it is Jesus which makes human beings come alive!

All and all, it's been an interesting day. Not a bad day. But it has tested my patience for sure. But I've been praying for patience, so I suppose I should have expected that... I'm glad the events happened and I praise God for them, for friendship, and for humor.

Humor is so essential.

Peace Y'all

I feel refreshed.  I needed yesterday. It was a mental health day.  I spent the morning talking to Ryan, then I got to hang out with best friend Tabitha, whom I've not seen in a few weeks.

I just went to her house, but it was really nice.While her grandmother watched her son, we went walking for at least a mile and a half, and talked and caught up. Then we just spent time with each other for many hours. I talked Tabitha's ear off about Ryan and our hopes and dreams and tentative plans.  She relished getting a chance to just sit because, as she said, she's not really gotten to do that much since Jordan was born. He has already grown so much (he's seven weeks old) and is just quite obviously one of the most beautiful babies in the world (not that I'm biased or anything.)

For dinner, we just went and got a Little Caeser's pizza. Y'all, it was amazing! (yes, it calls for a 'y'all') I have eaten many Little Caeser's pizzas in my life, because I'm poor, but this one was actually yummy! :-P We got it fresh out of the oven (we had to actually wait for it) and we were so hungry we just starting eating it within a minute of it coming out of the oven. Tabby and I, again being poor, have eaten Little Caeser's pizzas together before but never have we actually finished off the entire pizza in one go. I was astounded it was actually so good! Obviously, because I've already written a sizable paragraph about a food that's normally just edible.

Then I came home and watched a little television with my mom, talked with Ryan as he woke up (oh timezones,what strange things you are), read the Bible and went to bed. All in all it was just a nice simple day. I've already told you I like those, and it remains true. 

Peace is flowing through me, that glorious peace that defies understanding, and I am grateful. It is my hope to go for a job interview today and getting some much  needed paperwork done.  So pray for me, if you think of it, and I just said a prayer for you.

A Country Girl

I spent most of my life in the country now. I was born in New Jersey, in the suburbs of NYC, but it still was a small town atmosphere and I always had nature and room to move. I am a country girl.  I have at times bemoaned it. I don't like the isolation. I adored living in town during college and being able to walk places (the nearest store is five miles away from where I live now.) And with Ryan and I talking about our future, and India, and his city of two million people...it's making me contemplate what God's given me, being raised here.



I don't really feel like a country girl on a daily basis anymore.  I think probably since our goats died. But I really am.  Nature is an essential part of me. Even in New Jersey, we had the water and a garden, always.  When I visited my aunt in San Diego for two weeks when I was fifteen, she lived in an apartment complex that was all cement and mulch. There were a couple of bushes in the mulch, but there was also a playground, which was much bigger.  There was no green, no nature.. and after two weeks something in me felt like screaming. I'd had a terrific visit overall, but it was a subconscious thing. Then I went to stay with my aunt who lives in San Pedro... and who has a back yard. And I went out in it, and I felt the grass beneath my feet, and closed my eyes... and I was good again. I need nature.

I am not a farm girl, I didn't spend my childhood doing hard labor on a daily basis... But one summer my mom and another neighborhood mom got together and our two families did a massive family garden (probably a 25 by 15 foot plot of land? I'm just estimating from memory) and we worked on it. A lot. A lot of weeding and harvesting on hot summer days. At the time, I thought I hated it. But I look back on the memory fondly now and am glad we did it.  That's the summer I learned one of the most delicious things is eating raw green beans fresh from the vine! Soo much better than the overly stewed green beans most people serve at their dinner table!


And I've hauled wood my dad chopped for the fire place to heat our home (though, we later found out, I'm incredibly allergic to cedar and the fatigue I got doing this wasn't me trying to psychologically get out of chores, but instead me being sick! Oops.) And we've had adventures, like the time an escaped bull showed up in the yard!

We had a tree house in the woods when we were kids. I remember lying on my belly reading in it, and feeling move beneath me as the tree swayed with the wind, like a boat deck on calm waves, and I ached for New Jersey... but that's another post.

The woods. We've got three acres, and an acre and a half of them are woods. We've got a creek back there. It's a great wild woods, with brush and such, much more than our neighbors. I learned in my botany class that that's because apparently it's younger woods than the woods surrounding it, and it's an earlier stage of succession. But it seemed magical, to gaze from the tree house and see that the sea of green beneath me seemed to end at our property line, and beyond that it was brown dead leaves and tree trunks.

I'd fly through the woods, dashing over briars and rocks, down and up hills. We'd catch crayfish and salamanders in the river.

And I'd worship.

God and I got close in those woods. I'd set up a little chapel, and I would worship him. I also had a 'secret place, a little clearing surrounded by brambles on three sides, invisible from the trail or the house. And I brought a old bathmat and put it on the ground there, and I'd lie in my secret spot, just four feet away from the 'chapel' and read. Sometimes books, sometimes the Bible. It didn't matter, I drew close to God through both. I remember once sitting on the bank of the creek, reading (I was always, always reading as a kid, and not much has changed) and I looked up to see a bird in the creek, bathing. It was a gift from God, that beautiful creature.  The woods were a holy place.

Then the next door neighbor tore down the very edge of woods that went on their property, the trees that served as a buffer between our woods and their backyard, and suddenly I'd be worshipping and I'd hear "Hi Pam!" and turn to see a neighbor barbequing with a curious look on their face, wondering what I was doing.

We never really had livestock. We did have pet goats, but we didn't get anything but enjoyment out of them. The closest thing to livestock we had were guinea pigs, which we bred. But we only sold a few to pet stores, and gave some more away. But they were a joy. At one point we had over 30.  Guinea pigs are herd animals, and we'd take them outside and let them graze. Anastasia was the lead female (and the lead female bosses the lead male, who was Garth) and she'd tentatively leave the box we brought them out in... Garth would come too.. and then when they checked it was safe, they'd look at the rest of the herd and they'd all come out. It was so much fun to watch their social interactions. We also had to keep alert for hawks or other prey animals, but we never had trouble. I'm not sure what we'd have done if they tried to carry one of our pets away, except probably launch ourselves at them and punch them. But we were kids then (the last guinea pig died when I was in eighth or ninth grade, I think) and talons are sharp. So it's good it never happened.

And, like I said, we had goats. No, we didn't milk or eat them. They were cashmere goats, so they produced fur, and there were only two of them and we were too lazy to shear and card them. They were our pets. They were great fun. Henry and Blake. We got them when I was in high school, and they were basically just like outdoor dogs. Just outdoor dogs who weighed 250 pounds a piece and had very large horns.  Blake loved to get his nose scratched. They were twin brothers, and has such different personalities. I miss them.

But I have a distinct memory, shortly after I moved back in from college, of going out one morning in bare feet and hearing the morning country noises. Song birds and our neighbor's roosters (which actually sound nice and happy) and the bleating of our goats.  And I remember closing my eyes, feeling the soft rising sunshine, and drinking in the dewy morning smell, of green and flowers and fresh, fresh air.  And thanking God for the countryside, and that I got the privilege of being raised a country girl.

Home Farming

So the other day I saw a Triscuit commercial for a home farming movement or something.Well, we basically have a home farm. Like yesterday we had homegrown lettuce in our pitas, with chicken seasoned with home grown rosemary and thyme (anyone hearing Simon & Garfunkel in your head?). Earlier in the week we had home grown peas. Like that.

So I went to the website mentioned on the site (www.homefarming.com) today and looked at it. It looks cool... for a gardener.  So I showed my mom. She thinks it looks fun.

She's the gardener of the family, for sure. She's actually a South Carolina Master Gardener. She grows all sorts of flowers, especially roses. That's her main thing. The vegetables and herbs are more a side thing.

Besides what I've already mentioned she grows cucumbers, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, parsley, green beans, basil, peppermint, lemon balm, catnip (you can make tea out of it), blueberries... there's probably more but that's what I think of... plus we get wild blackberries. Oh, I think she mentioned she's growing watermelon?

I love fresh food! Thanks for that, God!

In fact the fresh loaf of bread I just made will be done in a few hours... but no, we didn't grow the wheat or grind it. :)

I do know someone who grinds their own flour.... amazingly tastey!! I also know people who make their own soy milk, carrot juice, grow delicious fresh sprouts, all sorts of things.

I'm allergic to pretty much anything with feathers so I can't see myself ever having a pet bird indoors. But I've thought that maybe a some point in my life I'll have a few pet chickens and get fresh eggs. I've had fresh chicken eggs (and duck eggs too!) and they're much better than store bought! (Duck eggs taste more egg-y than chicken eggs, somehow.) Actually I've always wanted to raise a fowl from a chick, and thought someday when I have kids I'll give them chicks for Easter and we'll raise them as a family... depending on where we live, of course.

Okay, now I have the topic of my next blog post in mind...

Cultivating a Grateful Heart, Week 2

Last week I decided to start an exercise in having a grateful heart.  The 'rules' for this can be found in the original post. So here goes this week!

Lord, thank you for…

Saturday, May 14, 2011

1.       My blog

2.       Ryan

3.       Mom

4.       Dad

5.       A roof over my head

Sunday, May 15, 2011

1.       Dan and Ginny

2.       Ryan and Mallory

3.       Cheesecake

4.       Books

5.       Friends

Monday, May 16, 2011

1.       Satisfaction from work

2.       Obedience

3.       Guidance

4.       Sleep

5.       Joy

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

1.       Tabitha

2.       Hope

3.       Entertainment

4.       The DVR

5.       My Converse Years and how they still effect me

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

1.       Corwin

2.       The internet

3.       Cool weather

4.       Megabus connecting the east and Midwest!

5.       The Bible

Thursday, May 19, 2011

1.       Being helpful.

2.       Garden fresh food.

3.       Water

4.       Etsy

5.       Teasing (with love)

Friday, May 20, 2011

1.       Cookies

2.       Jane and Ed

3.       Jane, Darryl, and David

4.       Bible Study

5.       animals

Saturday, May 21, 2011

1.       air conditioning

2.       imagination

3.       humor

4.       Solitaire

5.       My cell phone