Month: February 2012

Posted in Uncategorized

7 Things I Won’t Miss and 6 I Will

Posted on by Lori

I won’t miss:

1. Driving painfully slow behind some kind of large farm equipment.

2. Watching local news story about reporter driving large farm equipment for the first time. (It was on last night’s news) 

3. Winter although this winter has pretty much been a piece of cake. 

4. Ice skating on sidewalks.

5. Only having 3 grocery stores to choose from. There were 5 when we moved here 20 years ago. 

6. Lack of dining options, especially when it comes to ethnic foods.

7. Dodging deer on the road.

Things I’ll Miss

1. The lack of traffic at rush hour or any hour really. Except during fair week.

2. Experiencing the true four seasons in a year. As much as I have hated the cold and the humidity, the change of seasons have always been amazing.

3. Catching up with friends at Wal-Mart. There’s been lots of great impromptu conversations in those aisles.

4. The bunny family that has lived under our deck for the last dozen years or so. It’s always so much fun to see the new batch of babies as they learn how to fend in their bunny world.

5. Having the UPS guy ask if I want the package he has for me dropped off at home or work. 

6. Discounted medical care from my many doctor friends who have made being uninsured much more manageable.

 

 

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Posted in Personal Observations

Fixer Upper

Posted on by Lori

Starting today we are in full swing getting the house ready to put on the market. We’ve gotten estimates and the workmen are at the house. Our first news of the day was that it will take $200 to fix the ice maker on the fridge, the fridge we will leave behind. The good news is that it is going to be in the fifties today so hooray for global warming. Our good friend Derek will start on replacing the eaves this afternoon, a miracle in February for sure!

All of this inspection and repair got me thinking this morning about my spirit. I realize that I need to take the light of the Word and look around. Are there cracks in my foundation? Do I have any old boxes in my head that have bad ideas in them that I need to get rid of? (I certainly know there are cobwebs up there!) I am sure my outlook could use a washing down.

Moving to a new place is a spiritual as well as a physical process, even if you are just moving around town. There are decision to be made, new people to meet, different routes to work or school which require a change in routine. It can certainly be overwhelming and stressful if we let it. So while I am inspecting my main focus will not be the details of the move, but the details of God and his peace.

Now if you will excuse me I have some work to do!

Posted in Religion, The Move

The Floodgates

Posted on by Lori

It’s funny how fast life can change sometimes. Sometimes the change is hard or scary or sad. As a family we have certainly experienced our share. During the last four years we have lived through long term unemployment (Harold for 14 months). There was life threatening illness (Evan’s 6 hip surgeries & subsequent staph infection that very nearly cost his life). My contribution to the stress pile was being diagnosed with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia which is at this time not curable. Whew! Time for some relief don’t ya think?

Let me be the first to say that sometimes we must live years with difficult circumstances. As a Christian mom of a child with special needs, I have become a bit of an expert at calling for more grace and Father God has never disappointed me. That doesn’t mean everything was instantly better. Patience is a learned virtue. And learn I did.

Then last week happened. And we saw the floodgates opened wide. We were given a blessing that enabled us to pay off all of our debt, save our mortgage. We had enough left to finish the repairs on our home and cover moving expenses. Oh, did I mention that Harold was given a wonderful car?

So for the first time in our 29 year marriage, absolutely all our needs are met and beyond! It is such a weird feeling. We look at each other in wonder, in awe of how God has everything wrapped up for us before we move. This has been truly more than we ever dreamed of and to say we are thankful does not begin to express what is in our hearts at this moment.

I encourage you to not lose hope, no matter your circumstances. As a preacher once said, the “now” of God will arrive in time.

Posted in Uncategorized

Tiny Funny Stories

Posted on by Lori

You probably know the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt from the amazing movie Inception as well as his role in 3rd Rock from the Sun among other things. Not only can he act but he appears to be a sort of Renaissance man. He founded an open collaborative production company named  hitRECord. Members contribute music, videos, texts and drawing to ongoing projects.

Out of this interesting work comes the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. Sixty collaborations were picked from the 8,569 submissions to the project. HitRECord sent me a (tiny) copy to review. I must say this book took me by surprise. I didn’t exactly know what to expect. A quick flip through revealed short sentences paired with pictures.

Since I get a lot of (free!) books for review I have to kind of pick and choose what I want to read. I am glad that itBooks sent this to me. I put this one at the top of my reading list. I love its quirkiness and sometime wise writings. One of my favorites is : “A man touched me, his hand…my thigh. I touched him too. My fist…his jaw.” Now that’s something I can totally enjoy!

Tiny Book actually made me laugh out loud at times, which is always a plus. Because of the books size you could devour it all at once but it is better savored in small bites. It sits on my reading table next to my side of the couch for easy access.

If you would like more info on Mr. Gordon-Levitt’s collaborative projects and see what other artists are doing visit http://www.hitrecord.org. You can also follow Gordon-Levitt on Twitter at hitRECordjoe.

Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on by Lori

I find I am (sub)consciously keeping myself from thinking deeply about what moving away from here really means. I think about the practical details of it: training my replacement, winnowing down our personal stuff, wrapping up Evan’s details, etc.

Keeping my thoughts focused on the more inanimate details is a form of protections. It’s a type of blindness that prevents me from seeing all the amazing friends I have here.

Which is better? Should I save the inevitable pain and sadness for the very end or should I start feeling that pain now, six months before we leave?

I’ve written here in earlier posts about how there are small sadnesses in daily events. That still happens but it seems my emotions only really get me when I am having my semi-weekly lunch with my best friend Patty. I found myself crying on the way to lunch a couple of weeks ago, thinking about how much I am going to miss our lunches.

As I was writing this my friend Roger came by my office to tell me how the reality of our move is really hitting him. (He and my husband are very close.) We talked about the sad-now-or-later thing. He said he was sad now.

So, dear reader, what is you preference in the now-or-later debate going on in my head? Any and all advice is welcome.