Homeschool Fahion

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Tucked-In

Ahhh...Homeschool Humor!

The Sound of Sunshine

I wake up in the morning and it's 6 a clock.
They say there may be rain, but the sun is hot.
I wish I had some just to kill today,
And I wish I had a dime for every bill I had to pay.

Some days you lose you win and the waters as high as the times you're in.
So I jump back into where I learned to swim.
Try to keep my head above it as best I can.
That's why;

Here I am,
Just waiting on this storm to pass me by.
And that's the sound of sunshine coming down
and that's the sound of sunshine coming down...


I saw my friend Bobby he said, "What's up man?"
You gotta little work or a twenty to lend?
I opened up my hand
He said I'm glad to see, they can take away my job but not my friends, you see.
And here I am just waiting for this storm to pass me by.

And that's the sound of sunshine coming down
And that's the sound of sunshine coming down

I want to go where the sun will never end
With my guitar on the beach there with all my friend.
The sun so hot and the waves in motion and everything smells like suntan lotion, the ocean, and [friends] so sweet
So kick of your shoes and relax your feet
They say that miracles are never ceasin', and every single soul needs a little realeasin'
the stereo bumpin till the sun goes down, and I only want to hear that sound...

And that's the sound of sunshine coming down
And that's the sound of sunshine coming down...

- Michael Franti

Yes...there is a hint of irony to my posting this song...

Shabby Apple

This website makes me covet horribly - I just sit and gaze at the computer screen and drool a little bit. I think if I dressed this way every day I would automatically become more feminine. See - these are some simple dresses that wouldn't look too out of place in a BBQ restaurant...I mean, if I just threw an apron on them...and left off some jewelry. But not the heels...heels are absolutely necessary for femininity. I love showing off my femininity in this man cave. Until I look in the mirror...

Right?

*sigh*

I think if I was rich I would buy and wear almost every dress from Shabby Apple...hickory smoke and everything.

No, wait! Oh, yeah...if I was rich I would build a ridiculously huge orphanage in Haiti.

Oh, well.

Thoughts from a long Saturday afternoon....

"And God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that having ALL contentment, in ALL things at ALL times, you may abound in every good work." II Corinthians 9:8



And the Wall Came Tumbling Down...

This is Adam's Rib old dining room.

(With Larry & Daddy)

Note the wall in the back.

And this, after my brother and Dad tore the wall down...(well, half of it.)

Tom, of the Tom & Rick duo (and the mastermind of the remake) varnishing the wood.

And..."voila"...as they say. The new dining room. (Well, part of it.) Badly documented, I know...But the wall used to be where the wood ends and the painted wall begins.

Here's the story: At some point in time over the past five years of being open, (exactly when is impossible  to say) two guys started coming into the restaurant. Their names were Tom & Rick. They drove a delivery truck for a big store in the nearest big city over in Indiana. They only did that on the side though -in their real jobs they were firemen and paramedics. They were fellow believers and hard-working, intelligent, and good adapters. As they came more frequently, and stayed longer, we had a lot of opportunities to sit down, talk and get to know each other.

Tom is a visionary. He has many great ideas, that Rick good-naturedly goes along with. (Like becoming delivery guys!) Tom is a quasi-modern-day Jimmy Stewart. Laid-back in his discussions of his schemes, but high-strung in the execution. He's done a lot over his years, and even went to Port-de-Paix, Haiti, when he was in college. Rick, is laid-back no matter what the situation. Always the same, he can stay humorous in any situation, but because he is ex-Army and fought in Desert Storm Operation, he has a serous "get-'er-done" work ethic. He likes to "spread the Love, man." Rick has even worked with me in the restaurant on two occasions, one scheduled and one impromptu. He is an excellent front-of-house-man. While he was working on the electrical re-wiring, during the remodeling project, I was left alone in the kitchen and got slammed with five customers. When the phone range, Rick calmly put down his tools and wandered in with a smile and a "Need help?" and answered it for me, as I frantically run around. "Hey, fellas! What can I get you?" He good-naturedly took charge of the cash register, so I could make the orders.

Inspired by my dad, Tom & Rick are opening their own restaurant, in which my dad will become an equal third partner when opening comes. Artistic and detailed, they have been remodeling and reconverting an old firehouse building into an authentic, barbecue restaurant for about a year now. Opening will probably be sometime this spring. But in the mean time...they wanted to help out my dad - whose restaurant desperately needed a 'face-lift.' So, they did an extreme "dining-room makeover" and thanks to their server's hearts and hard-work we now have a new dining room!

Now we need to get them in our ghetto kitchen and fix that...I'm getting tired of crawling around on the floor to turn the hot water on...

From customers...to friends...to business partners. You  never know what can happen.

Thanks Tom & Rick!!

I love this place. Really. I do.

"Grobot"

If you've ever find it worth your while to scroll the music I have annoyingly blaring from my playlist below, you might have discovered that I slipped some Josh Groban in there.

OK - so he's not really a classical artist, but his music is painfully beautiful, and for all other's opinions, he really does have a glorious voice.

Poor Josh.

I hardly ever hear much about him anymore...in fact, he's one of the few celebrities I have never, ever seen or heard any news about. No drug arrests, no illicit affairs, no D.U.I, no restraining orders...just fundraisers for African orphanages and various international concerts. He seems to be one of the few celebrities who is...normal. I remember back in about six years ago, when the "Josh Groban craze" hit the small and sheltered group of teenagers from church, who were the only people I hung around with. To be a Josh Groban fan, was then to me, daring and intense. Groups of guys even tried to imitate his style while singing at church, earning the nickname my dad dubbed them: "Grobots." Get it? Mindless, mechanized followers of Josh Groban? (Darn! I used an alliteration. I'm not fond of them. They are too overused. In fact in most instances, I find alliterations cheap, cheesy, and chintzy.)

Anyway, I don't hear much about Josh Groban from the mainstream media, nor from any of that group of people. I guess he's just not cool, or hip to young people anymore. I mean, who wants to listen to Josh Groban, when there's Lady Gaga?

Well, I still like him. His songs, to me, bring back streams of fragrant nostalgia. He came out with a new album just two months ago...I need to listen to it. Because I think he's still retained his talent. :)

Here's an old video...awww...this song was from his first album. (2001)

Don't  you love music? I can't imagine a life without it! Only the God of sunsets and waterfalls could have created music...thank Him that He did!



Happy Birthday, Anna!

So one of the beeeest thing every new year brings, is my precious, beautiful sister's birthday. And this year was special because she reached double-digits. Ten years old!

Sometimes I wonder what my life was like before my two youngest siblings were born.

They both bring quite a lot of joy and...interest to my life. Anna, especially, amazes me almost everyday.

She is a typical little girl in that she adores everything beautiful - clothes, make-up and fingernail polish. She loves to try on our clothes, comment on our clothes, and watch us put our make-up on, and comment on our make-up. Because she shares a bedroom with two older sisters, she has an amazing quickness of tongue and can hold her own in an argument even if her logic is flawed. She loves to laugh and make people laugh, and it a natural comedienne. And sometimes she says things that she doesn't even mean to be funny. The other day, she came stomping upstairs, upset about the teasing she had just gotten from her older brother...

"WHY did God make Adam?" She huffed. "WHY didn't he make them ALL Eves? I don't like MEN...the only man I like is Jesus...(silence)...and Daddy...(silence)...and Grandpa...and all the other men - but not the rest of them!"

Another winner...

"Living is hard."

But for all her drama...Anna has a very tender heart. She hates to see anyone or anything suffer. She can't even listen to sad music because it makes her cry. She loves people and animals. She is mercy, and it is a gift from God that He is going to use greatly through her. She loves to serve, and will often make our beds, pick-up our clothes, wash dishes and do anything that needs to be done, because it makes her feel "grown-up".  She is wildly artistic...she loves to draw, play piano, sing, knit - even write books! Anything that involves creating, she can do it.

I love my little (now getting bigger) sissy, and I pray all the time that God would make me a better sister. I can't wait to see how God uses her!!

I love you Anna!

Merry Christmas!

HaPpY

Things that make me happy:

- The beautiful moon we have had the past several nights.

- Busy, busy lunch rushes

- The perfect shade of lipstick

- Children singing Christmas songs

- My younger sister Anna, playing her original composition on the piano

- Hot coffee

- CLEP tests. (Well, the tests themselves don't make me happy, but the idea makes me happy. Especially Introductory Psychology....yuck)

- Cute kitties

- Christmas lights...(even though they are a pathetic waste of electricity...but, that's my Grinch-like alter-ego trying to get out...)

- A good night's sleep

- Warm fires

- Laughing

- Ibuprofen...

:)

Grateful Too

I remembered several hours after my blog post on gratitude that yes, I forget to say how grateful I am for BSF - and the impact it is making on my study of the Bible! And, apparently, it was an obvious mistake.

A second thing I am extremely thankful for this year is that Chris, my younger brother, is now bigger than me, taller than me, and stronger than me - which means he is now the one to carry the 40 pound bags of salt down into the cellar...YES!!

One more thing - after last night I am grateful for my warm bed...icy cold winds blowing 40 mph, blowing into the cracks in my window (ahh...winter is here) puts a whole new perspective on God's blessings. I know God is preparing me for something - I have begged on my knees - "God, please don't send me to Iceland, or Mongolia, or Antarctica...I love the Eskimos too...but, please send someone more qualified." So far, I have not felt that calling. And I tell people that being a missionary on a Caribbean island is really...convenient.

This weekend has been "awesomelly" happy too - starting with Thanksgiving on Thursday, shopping and football on Friday, a friend's wedding later this evening, my sister and I are planning to visit a friend's church tomorrow morning and fellowship with her on Sunday, and then BSF Monday night!

Blessings!

Grateful

I find myself thinking constantly in my mind like I was writing...and I would love to write about my life; anecdotes and stories to practice incorporating humor into my writing. But somehow the temptation is too strong when I sit down to write, and out of the deepest part of me - the part that shrinks back and often refuses exposure - is what gets put down into words.

I could write about my town - one day, promise myself, I will write a book about this place. But it might bore you  now. I mean - why would you care that Lisa Ludy went off her rocker again from a chemical in balance and robbed the Village Pantry late Sunday night? She acted like a clerk and even told Mark, who was in there to buy ginger ale for his wife after closing up the Bar & Grill, that Jesus was coming back on His birthday. She finally called the police on herself.

That was just one night.

I'm telling you, you can't make up the small-town gossip that happens in this town. I love my strange life.
One day, I know I'll miss it.


Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I'm doing some thinking, and I know I have so much to be thankful for. Developing a heart of gratitude is something that the Lord is teaching me. Complaining comes so easily, and though it's been said so many times, it is often still so taken for granted - we, Americans, have so much to be thankful for! We don't know.

We don't know.

I am tempted, sitting here now in sleety, icy weather, to complain about the cold - but I am thankful that I am not living in a tent, terrified that I or my children might contract cholera. So I am grateful for the $400+ worth of fuel for our stoves that the Lord provided us with last week, which will last us well into the winter. I'm grateful for my warm bed and warm clothes. I am grateful for the food that goes into my mouth.

I am grateful for my family - for the contribution, joy, friendship and investment that each member, my mom and dad, brothers and sister, have put into my life. If what we have is suffering, then I am happy to be suffering with them. :) I am grateful for the continued good health and protection that God has blessed me, my family, and all of those I love.

I am grateful for my dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ - His glorious body - that He has blessed we with all over this world.  I am grateful for each and every one who has blessed and invested in my life in a personal way this year.

I am grateful for people, like my friend Cody Lee, who leaves for Basic Training next week...and the thousands like him who are willing to sign up to defend this country, our freedoms and what we stand for.

I am grateful for every lesson, blessing and opportunity that has come my way this year. I am thankful for my Father's deep mercy.

I am thankful for Love. For the Love of the Father - and for my Lover, Jesus, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

We have so much to be thankful for - wherever we live, and whatever our path. I am not one of those disgusting, Candide type of optimistic personality -but perspective make a great difference in the way you choose to live each day. I like to get in the habit, during life's little frustrations and sometimes great disappointments, to say, 'It could always be worse.' Because it always could.

There is an old hymn that says, "Count your blessings, name then one by one; Count your blessings see what God has done..."

Would you join me in counting your blessings, and expressing gratitude to our Maker, this week and all of out lives?

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgives all thine iniquities and heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns thee with loving-kindess and tender mercies; who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles." Psalm 103:2-4

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Philippians 1:3

Of Caves and Yokels

Since I am faced with the depressing reality that my old blog is gone forever and everything I ever wrote on it is lost in cyberspace as well, I do have the exhilarating ambition to do this blog "differently." I suppose when I say differently I mean - more honest. Social websites are the perfect place to put on a mask and hide behind words. It is easy to fall into the trap. Not that my day to day life is exactly - effervescent with interest. Still, there are exciting things to find in this town and secrets to uncover. And what better place to expose secrets then on the internet, right?

I like secrets.

Well, I like discovering secrets. Other people's secrets. Yes, I am nosy. But dead people don't care, right?

OK, I will explain my cryptic post. Ever since I returned from my recent trip to Haiti, I have gotten a renewed sense of belonging here in my hometown. It was almost as if I always got pulled back and ended up here in this funny little town, full of interesting people, rich history and it's own very definite and distinctive culture. So, I decided to settle down mentally for a while and see what happens. When I told God that, I was referring to starting relationships with people, finding more opportunities witnessing for Him, helping build up our family business etc...What I did not expect was to be dragged into a historic mystery spurred on by local legend and my own morbid curiosity.

Have you ever been in a cave? I haven't, but I am going to. Not one that is already found and is open to the public - that is far too boring. I am going to find it first. Behind old cemeteries and historic statues are perfect places for secret tunnel entrances and I am also going to get to the bottom of the mystery on why it was sealed up in the first place and forgotten about. (And how do cave owners end up getting kidnapped in South America?) And - if my original hunch was right, and the information I have received from a "local yokel",there is a big, missing "track" of the Underground Railroad, right underneath our dinky little town. So, it doesn't surprise me when I saw the paragraph about the K.K.K. in that 1922 newspaper article in the library archives.

Yeah, you're interested now - aren't you? Well, when I find out more, and put together more hunches,  I will be sure to write about it.

I can't disappoint my large audience, now can I?