Thursday

I'm going to smack him, I truly am. I spent a good half hour sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor this morning, even going so far as to move the chairs and table out of the way so I could get all the junk that accumulates under the table legs. I don't mop as often as I should and that is actually one reason that I wanted a dark floor - so my poor housekeeping wouldn't be so obvious! But I did it today and just now I found Sam crushing cheetos in his booster seat and throwing them on the floor. Argh - toddlers!



While I was cleaning the kitchen, Sam was following me around. He loves, loves, loves my swivel sweeper. I am less than enamored with it even though it proclaimed in red letters on the box "As Seen on TV!" It doesn't do what I hoped it would, which was to make cleaning more effortless and to be an improvement over using a regular broom. But anyway, I think Sam likes the noise the sweeper makes - typical boy. But then, he grabbed the sweeper and started singing into the top of it, pretending it was a microphone! It was SO cute. I really wonder where he got that idea - tv? Maybe he'll be a musical genius...the wheels are already turning in my head. Actually, just having a child that enjoys singing would be nice.



It's been a hot week here. Paul has been working almost non-stop since last Thursday. He's on call this week. And that's nice that it worked out that way. He'll very nearly kill himself, but the paycheck in a couple of weeks will make it worth it. In this business the first cold and the first hot weeks of the year are always the busiest because that is when customers discover that their furnace or air conditioner, that worked just fine last season, has given up the ghost, and they need service NOW! Even Paul's boss was remembering this week to Paul that he had happened to be on call last December when we had our first bitter weather of the season. I see that as God's provision. I'm not so sure Paul sees it that way, though!



Paul did get a break Tuesday. We had severe weather roll in. In less than an hour, the temperature plummeted from 96 degrees to 69. It was unreal! Ben and I were out in West Des Moines and as I walked into Best Buy, I looked at the sky and thought "tornado weather." I wanted to get home to the other boys but I really did need to go to Walmart still. As we walked in, the wind was really getting strong and it was whipping around the decorative chip pieces that the Jordan Creek Walmart uses in their parking lot. They were hitting my ankles and legs and that hurt! When we emerged less than a half hour later the rain was just beginning to pour down. We went ahead and ran for the van and became absolutely soaked in the process. I had to take off my sandals and run barefoot because they were so slick from the rain they wouldn't stay on my feet! We were both just soaked to our underwear. As I was driving home, Paul called and said that his bosses had cancelled all the evening appointments, even though they had call after call. You can't do outside AC work in the rain. Apparently one customer was so upset by this she volunteered to go outside in the rain and hold an umbrella over the technician if Loziers would still send someone to her house! They didn't. So he did get Tuesday night off. But he worked all through yesterday and will again today, I'm sure. I won't complain. Work has been so slow for Paul this spring and summer that these extra hours are a real blessing.



I took the boys to the pool for the first time this year on Monday. I lasted 3 hours, which is pretty good for me. David could have stayed all day, I'm sure! He's been a little fish since he was a baby. I think Sam is following in his footsteps. Last year when we went he'd spend the first hour whimpering into my chest before relaxing and enjoying the water. But this year he was off as soon as he spied the water! He absolutely loved it! He even lost his balance a few times and went under and it never upset him - no tears and he just sneezed the extra water out! Ben has never been a big fan of swimming and will frequently spend his time at the pool just sitting on the towels. But this time he discovered the water slide and went down over and over and over. I was glad he found something to do. Will will be gone July 4 - 18 on a missions trip and then camp, so maybe I can take the younger boys to the pool again one of those days that he's gone.



Tomorrow we are leaving in the afternoon to go up to Waterloo so we can go to my 20 year high school reunion. How am I this old? That should be nice. Although, the school recently changed its name, dropping the church affiliation, the "Baptist" part of it and the "Academy" part of it. What's left? That whole thing disturbs me on a number of levels. At the same time, I recognize that the hey-day years of private Christian schools (the 70s and 80s) are probably over and many are struggling today and resorting to whatever means they can in order stay open.



We'll drive back here Saturday evening and then Sunday after church we are going to head out to Council Bluffs. Paul's sister needs a new central air unit badly and Paul wants to see if he can get her unit working enough until he can find her a new one. Plus, the annual Heywood picnic is that day and he thought it would be nice to stop by. I had other thoughts on the subject, but since he is going with me to my high school reunion, I guess I have to go with him to his family picnic! Then we'll drive back here that night. Both Waterloo and Council Bluffs are two hours away from us so that's going to be a lot of driving this weekend. We'll be taking our Lumina because it has a working air conditioner, unlike our new Venture. I hope it doesn't pick this weekend to die, since it has 200,000+ miles on it!



One thing I think I'll work on during all those road hours is a new essay post for my blog. I have not written one of those since March 31 and am way overdue to bless you all with my thoughts on a specific subject! :) I have a subject in mind, so I'll just jot down some thoughts and then I can flesh it out and get it up here next week sometime.



Paul talked with our realtor this week and the realtor is guessing we could sell our house for $30,000 more than what we paid for it. I was kind of shocked to hear that. If he's right, that would be wonderful. But he hasn't actually been out here since we bought the place in '04, so we want him to come out, walk around, and then give us a realistic estimate after seeing it. So, we're still trying to figure out what to do - refinance, sell, re-do the bathroom, add a laundry room and then sell, or put a basement under here and stay forever. All I know is that I am tired of living with drywall dust and I do not want to move to another fixer-upper! I think Paul wants to move, though. I kind of like Swan, so I am less crazy about the idea. We'll see what happens!



Before I give the computer back to Ben, a couple of things: I have gotten a lot of responses from my last post, about how God used my boys up at camp. All I can say is - to God be the glory! One thing God has been teaching me over and over throughout the past 13 years is that He will use simple things in an big way if we let Him. He can take our biggest hurts and turn them into instruments for His glory.



Also, yesterday my brother Matt was laid off from his job that he moved to Iowa for a little over a year ago. He and Kirsti are scared and disappointed, of course. They just bought a house last month and have another baby on the way. The timing seems pretty bad, all things considered. So please pray for them. I am confident that God will take care of them, as are they, but I know the terror that can accompany a job loss and my heart aches for them. And if you know anybody needing someone with an engineering degree and experience, let me know!



These are strange and uncertain times we live in, are they not? Praise God for the One who never changes and meets our every need!