Better Days

I've had better days - and it's bound to get better again - soon.

Updates: We did have Bible Study last night - it was a blessing. I was fairly nauseated and light headed when I got home. Went to bed. Stayed in bed...until this day began. I should have stayed in bed.

I'm still sick. I did run up to base to get a form I needed to fax to Darshia who is diligently trying to walk the trailer through the DMV up there. Thanks again.

Right before I left to go the base a policeman showed up at my door. Seems a neighbor had called and complained about the trailer. Please folks, if YOU are a neighbor with a complaint - talk to your neighbor first. Goodness. I had no idea there is a city ordinance about trailers parked in residential areas - I see them off and on in our area. The policeman was very nice. He said that folks do park all manners of trailers in the area and they don't follow up on them unless someone complains. Guess it was my lucky day. LOL

He was fairly disgusted when he heard the whole story. He didn't write me a ticket, didn't put a sticker on the trailer and so it won't be towed, and won't log the visit. He said he'd tell them at the office and when the neighbor calls back to see why the police haven't impounded the trailer they'll tell them "it's a gift for her deployed spouse - chill out!" BUT I can't move it until I get current tags and such....it's a catch 22. I had to run to base to see what they would need to let me park it up there....the men there told me to call the dealer and give him "holy h***" and to "go off" on them until they came and moved it. I'd rather get the tags and find a way to move it. I'm really just not good at giving people grief in these situations.

I'm considering going door to door to explain the situation to the neighbors. Maybe I should have earlier, but honestly the trailer is in front of OUR YARD and not on anyone else's property so I didn't think it was a huge deal....no one had said a thing. ::snort:: Maybe I should distribute a flier door to door - it may be the way to meet neighbors that we've been praying for. ::snort:: Maybe not. I'll see what I think when I'm not feverish.

I got home and spent the afternoon in bed. Not a bad thing, really. I got up and took Jared to Albertsons. He ran in for milk and I sat in the van and tried not to do anything indiscreet. I'm now updating the blog because so many of you have been sweet enough to let me know you are praying and there is no way I can sit up long enough to answer each email. I'm heading to bed.

Jamin is feeling a bit iffy and Arielle has vague symptoms....they don't really know exactly what is wrong with them...we'll see if anything develops.

It is certainly not the asparagus! LOL Darshia - the Iditarod issues and posters arrived today. YEAH! Thanks for thinking of the children. They were excited to see the teams and photos and such.

So - I AM choosing joy....a bit weakly...but I'm looking for it. Praying that this is a 48 hour flu....and I've been spending my 10 minutes a day in the sun to cut my flu risks by 50% - what's up with THAT????

PRAYER REQUEST

ugh. I think I'm sick. I thought it was something that would pass.....but I'm feeling worse as the day goes on. One of my young men, is sure it's because I ate "Jr" and that it's a sign that I should abandon this health kick. ::snort::

Anyway - I have Bible Study tonight - not a lot of options with a small group, so I'd appreciate prayers if you see this before tonight.

I'm going to go lay down and see if that helps.

Another week

Chaotic? No, that's not quite it. Hectic? Again, not quite right. "Flexible Structure" - that's what the day was like.

Today is my "Step into Fitness" Step video. It was 11:00 by the time I was done. Several phone calls, young children, older children....lots of flexing needed. ::snort::

Arielle, Stacia and I went shopping. I wanted to find a new bedspread. I thought about a Duvet cover but got hopelessly confused. I'd tried all the department stores and didn't find what I wanted. I finally gave up and went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I found what I wanted. It was more than I expected to pay. Two or three times more than the "look alike" ones I usually buy at Walmart...but then they keep tearing and ripping....so maybe this will last longer than say 9 months????? It had better. I simply couldn't fork over $50 PER PILLOW sham so I didn't buy the matching shams. I'll have to figure out what to do about that.... I'm thinking some sort of coordinating color (navy blue or ivory) from Target or ::gasp:: elsewhere. Our last stop on the outing was Target. I don't know WHY I always think I'll find everything I need there...I don't....but I like it better than the "other store" that likes to kick me out. ::snort::

I am STILL looking for an oral thermometer. We need this for science....and all I can find is digital. Who would have guessed that THIS would be a hard to find science item?

A neighbor came over to join produce co-op. How WONDERFUL to meet a neighbor.

Josiah had the entire day off. What a great boss. He knows Cy has SAT this Saturday and has given him a very light work week and he is off at 1:00 p.m. on Friday....GREAT! He didn't even ask for Friday night off...just asked for Sat a.m. off. I'm so glad Tim thought of this for Cy.

Cy requested tacos. This SHOULD be an easy meal. I burned the tortilla chips I was making TWICE....I wanted them to go with the hummus. I tried to carry on several phone conversations while cooking. Zander and Josiah had a collision on the trampoline - requiring mothering, ice cream, and ice to recover from.....and Sundrops are still being requested....in all it took me TWO HOURS to make dinner. I DID saute red peppers, asparagus, onions, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil, with a splash of lemon and parsley at the end. It was GOOD. Thanks for liking asparagus, Heather. LOL Let's see two new co-op members today. Kim, who belongs to the SAGE co-op as well, is giving me a list of produce and the max SHE would pay for it....this should help me make not only yummy choices but budget conscious choices - at least that's the idea. Frankly, store prices seem great to me after 3 years in Alaska. ::snort:: 25% off is wonderful.....

I'm tracking carbs and protein this week....checking to make sure they are in balance. I eat a LOT now....but mostly produce....it's easy to get lots of carbs with fruit (complex but still carbs).... Dietitian and Curves both say 50 - 100 grams of protein. Debbie, says 50 grams is adequate for a female...but that up to 100 would be o.k. Again, I was SURE I got that much a day. ::snort:: Today I was PUSHING protein down my throat at got 54 grams in. This protein thing is a good thing for dieters but has also showed up in several of my thyroid books as necessary to maintain muscle which is so important for metabolism in a hypothyroid patient.....so I'm hearing the protein thing everywhere.....I'm also trying to up my calorie intake to 1400 this week. It may not work...but we'll see. I think if I focus those calories on lean protein it will be doable to increase 200 more calories. If I didn't try to remember the produce thing it would be easy to reach 1400. LOL A couple Butterfingers, an egg mcmuffin.....french fries..... ::snort::

* A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WW II*

 by Sarah Helm

I was at first intrigued by this book. Then I was bored, very bored...and lost in lists of names, dates and unfamiliar locations....but somewhere along the line I again became very interested in the topic. I'm glad I kept reading.

This book centers around Vera Atkins who "selected and ran the four hundred (British) agents - thirty-nine of them women - who were smuggled into occupied France in World War II." Vera began as secretary at the newly formed SOE (Special Operations Executive) and then became the second in command. The fuddled bureaucracy portrayed in this book was amazing. I'd love to think this has improved over the years; but I fear not. At the time of the formation of SOE women were NOT to be sent to combat locations and yet at least 39 female SOE F agents were sent to France during the Nazi occupation. Since they were not military, they were not afforded the "rights" of prisoners of war when captured. Many died horrific deaths in concentration camps. After the war the female agents tended to fall through the cracks of bureaucracy once again...they had to fight for military benefits etc. Vera was at the center of most of this. Fighting for the rights of the women, fighting to cover the tragic and mistakes of the SOE, fighting for recognition for the SOE (disbanded after the war).....

Vera fought and won the right to track her agents who were missing immediately after the war. She served on war criminal boards.

Vera herself was an "enemy alien" during her time of service in the SOE. She was a Romanian born Jewess. Rosenberg is her family name. Questions still swirl around the memory of Vera...was she a double spy? Was she a Russian spy? A CIA plant? A German spy? Was she cold and heartless or riddled with remorse and having sent so many in the waiting arms of the Nazis?

I plan to read more on this subject....there are biographies out on various SOE F agents, a few movies...not sure where I'll start.

Garbage Saga

We are a big family. We try not to have lots of garbage...but even without packaging there is a LOT of garbage.

I began doing a monthly co-op and thought nothing of leaving the boxes at the curb once a month. They didn't seem to mind.

I didn't make the connection when we began weekly produce co-op. I DID notice our garbage service was getting REALLY bad. I did notice an extra charge for extra cans. We began recycling. The garbage men didn't seem to note that we were trying and our service got worse and worse.....Last week I found our garbage cans TOSSED OVER OUR FENCE.

I instituted "operation suck up". I went to Sam's and bought 4 6 packs of Pepsi. Friday I MADE Jamin run out (this is way beyond his comfort zone but I was still in my robe) and give them 2 6 packs of Pepsi. They smiled. But look how they left our cans. I'm determined to change their image so that we become the "nice house with the soda and cookies" rather than "that house with all the boxes and extra garbage!"

This cracked us up! Not only are the cans NOT thrown in the alley or over the fence....they are in the right spot, but they were obviously nicely placed with handles all pointing out for our ease. ::snort:: We're making progress.

Slice of Family Life - Sunday Afternoon

2:20 p.m. 4 March 2007

Josiah - is at a graduation meeting.

Zander - Caught a family pig????

Stacia loves to play with our produce boxes

Beatrix spends more and more time laying in the sun

Jamin, possibly fearing I would never get around to it, made granola

Some sort of internation competition....Jared is Brittan, Nolan is Scotland, Arielle is Wales, Zander is Ireland...I have no clue but keep hearing things like "It's a Welsh Ball"....

I'm checking nutritional information for Popeye's. That must be the last fast food restaurant in America without healthy options. ARGH. I did take off the skin, I could have had a corn on the cob...but didn't see it....no salads or fruit....fried, fried, fried. Oh well. While at the restaurant Stacia spilled TWO cups of soda on me - one landed on Jamin too.

The Saga of My Lights....

When I went to pick up the boys from paint balling....Marty looked at my fuses. He thought I needed a head light bulb or something too...but found three fuses completely missing from the van. I can only guess that this happened when the shop wired the van for the trailer.....he gave me a list of fuses to buy. I left and did contemplate going to the auto shop. I think it would have made it to the top of the list around Wed. next week. I've gotten used to driving without lights now....the dome lights can be very helpful in such conditions and I really only drive at night about once a week - Tuesday night - which is why it would have been at the top of the list on Wednesday.

I deposited the boys and went to get Arielle. I then dropped Arielle off to play with Ashley and got sucked in by "friendly vibes" and sat a good hour or so talking with Tricia. When I got home I discovered that Marty had dropped of fuses.

Here's the van's fuse box....

Here's De'Etta messing with the van's fuse box...

and I believe I now have lights....