Potluck Ponderings

Emily's riding a two-wheeler...fast and furiously! Nate got a haircut and looks like a big boy no lookers at our house yet...keeping it straight for any potential looker is definitely a challenge got a hankering to go to Tennessee, homesickness creeps in occasionally...gotta make a plan, especially with these gas prices, it will wipe out the savings! barn wrens are back...those birds are trying to build another nest on the front porch "rock". The babies had flown the nest, so I knocked it down and cleaned up the mess...thinking they were done. Who knew? All of next school year's Homeschool curriculum should begin arriving any day now, I'm so excited! We'll start latin! Joe's been on a business trip to the Damascus, VA facility Kayla's getting promoted from the eighth grade to HIGH SCHOOL all kinds of stuff going on this weekend Sunday will be our friends, the Holland's, last time attending church as North Carolina residents... Keep being drawn ...

It is a melancholy day...don't think I really want to list all the reasons why. Ran errands this morning and on the way to the post office...was listening to Casting Crowns "As Far as the East is from the West" and just starting crying. There's a few reasons to cry these days, and it's NOT PMS...at least not today. Emily asked "what's the singer mean when he says, I'm one mistake away from you leaving me this way?" So, in the minivan, driving 55 miles--make that 35, (oops, we were in the speed trap in Whispering Pines) miles per hour...I shared with her why some days we just feel the weight of our sins no matter if they are forgiven or not, the weight of God's disappointment with us, days when it's so hard to believe He doesn't see our sins anymore when we can remember so vividly ...the thought that one more sin will be the straw that breaks the camels back and He will want no more to do with us...even when all this thinking is not ...

There's one in my front yard... there's one in the yard behind us, down the street from us, around the corner from us... there's two in yards across town whose occupants are actively packing... one I know of now says "sold"...another nearby says "under contract". Houses are for sale everywhere it seems... hours of feverish painting, refreshing, cleaning, pressure washing, updating, and de -cluttering have been accomplished. Staging and How to sell your house websites have been consulted along with watching numerous episodes of "Designed to Sell" type shows on HGTV . There were definitely some times recently I felt like I was in a HGTV episode. We've successfully removed any personal items and rearranged furniture so it looks more spacious. We have it ready for the buyers to be able to visualize their stuff in this space. One friend said, "It looks like a motel, I want to come stay" Mission accomplished. For ten years we have ma...

I got an email this morning from a friend who "runs" our moppets program that is the childrens portion of our Mothers of Preschoolers program. Yesterday morning we had a steering committee breakfast to celebrate our year-end in MOPS. We left the children at the church with wonderful caregivers while we went for a child-free meal and fellowship! While eating my carefree breakfast, Nate got hold of someone else's snack...and wouldn't you know, it "could contain traces of peanuts" This scared the workers...but Nate was unscathed with no reaction whatsoever. The following is my reply to Robin's email of concern and asking for advice about how to go forward with kids with allergies in mind for moppets next year. Robin also has been in charge of the children's portion of our local CBS (community Bible study) and she shared with me that it's CBS's national policy to only serve crackers (saltines or graham) with water to kids attending CBS. ...