Saturday, November 01, 2008

Goin' Public in Central Region

It's official, approved and ready to go public. Some of you know the story of how I found myself on a regional PWOC board. God is hilarious. He nudged me. I resisted. I agreed to help out with some internet things - not knowing it was a board position. ::snort::

AnyHOW - this is the project that I've been working on last week. I've been told I can go public. I wrestled with the Central project. I was going to look "professional" and thus was trying to make a header. I was building a blog with blogspot that had tabs etc. I also built one on Word Press to see which worked easiest for our needs. *I*, however, wanted to break out of the box. Debbie pointed me to The Cutest Blog....and I busted out of the box! The ladies liked it....Ye'HAW! There's not a lot on it yet, as I've been waiting to ask for info until I could go public with why we wanted it. LOL If you wonder about the "look" it ties in with our International Conference which will be in Dallas, TX.

I also gave the Goodfellow Blog a face lift....but I shared that link earlier.

Now you know the rest of the story and WHY I was itching to change MY blog too. LOL


©2008 D.R.G.

Giving Thanks ~ Day 1!

We try to cultivate thankful hearts year round. However, years ago, in response to the growing commericialism of October and the race to Christmas decor etc in the stores, we decided to begin setting aside Oct/Nov for a special emphasis on Thanksgiving.

We always put up a thankful tree. This year we are making one. I'll write about it when we get it done (no power tools will be used in the construction of this holiday project.)

Last year I participated in 30 Days of Thanksgiving, at Two Little Vikings. The digest versian of the challenge was to send a thank you card a day to someone who had blessed you for the 30 days leading up to Thanksgiving. I appreciated the challenge, though I didn't succeed.

This year, since I can't find an official challenge, I'm simply going to modify that challene and be sure I write one Thankful post a day throughout the month of November.

Today - 1 November - I am thankful for friends in the local area. Moving here was a hard adjustment for our family. I'm not sure why. We've moved often. We usually have friends within 3 - 6 months. This time it took months and months to feel like we belonged. I'm sure it had something to do with the girls not living here WITH us.

Today I am thankful for Deja and family. They've blessed us is so many ways: big and small. Deja reminded me about a week ago to "keep putting the big rocks first". Don't you love a friend who quotes you to yourself when you need it? (Did you follow THAT sentence). She was right. I'm feeling much less overwhelmed and I'm actually finding time to blog again. Our children love to play with their children. Doug's enthusiasm for pools ended up in our family having a pool this summer...a true mixed blessing. ::snort:: Doug coaches Jared in basketball. Deja loaned me her grinder today so I could get some loaves of bread in the freezer.

Yep, today we are thankful for the A family (especially Zander who was begging for me to make "real bread".)

Update: Yes, feel free to join me. I'd love to read lots of daily posts of things for which we can be thankful. Unfortunately, I will not be creating a blog badge. I suppose the "big rock" for me is giving thanks...not creating a badge in this season. LOL

©2008 D.R.G.

Any Tool Can Be the Right Tool!

In 2006 I shared my pumpkin carving odyssey. We don't "do" Halloween. Never have. I'd never carved pumpkins.....an activity that is simply not on the top 10 list of fall activities in Liberia or Bislig. Year after year I watched my online friend Emily carve wonderful pumpkins and tell the story of how Christians are like pumpkins. In 2006 Mike was deployed. We were trying to keep old traditions and tweak things a bit too; it helped with our lonliness. We carved our first Jesus pumpkin, I read the poem that is sent around this time of the year. We loved it. A new tradition was born.

In 2007 we fine tuned the object lesson and had a great time with our new fall carving tradition. Mike did shock us all by cutting the tops off our pumpkins with a reciporcating saw.

Here we are in 2008. I thought we'd fine tuned the lesson, learned how to carve pumpkins....in other words established a tradition. We waited for an afternoon when all that live here would be home and could participate.

Someone got a bit carried away with bringing in pumpkins ::snort::

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Then we scooped out the insides. Mike disappeared.

Poor Zander had about as much as he could handle with his sensory issues on this one. The insides for some reason made him throw up, then the noise drove him over the top. Oops.
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Yuck - sin can be sticky and messy too.
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The kids began carving. I went to find Mike. He was in the garage mumbling about router bits. Huh? Oh well...guess he doesn't want to participate. He must have a pressing project.
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Jared offers helpful advice to Jamin - the master carver.
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WHY do I hear the Air Compressor? Jared's face was priceless.....
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as Mike entered the room with an air compressor and a router bit thingy.
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Did I mention noise earlier?
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Jamin comments, "Then what? God takes a buzz saw to you?"
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I laughed until I cried when Nolan said, "Dad is this how YOU carved pumpkins when you were a boy?" ::snort:: They KNOW *I* didn't carve pumpkins when I was young. I guess he wondered if Mom had really messed up the past two years.
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We did make memories. ::snort:: ::gasp::
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While Mike cleaned up the power tools, I let the younger ones carve the last pumpkin the "old fashioned" way.
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None of the photos show the pumpkin flinging around the room and covering Nolan and Mike's pants. It certainly wasn't the afternoon I imagined....cool weather outside, cider and cookies inside, children and parents visiting and carving a Jesus pumpkin. It was more like Waltons meet Nightmare on Elm Street.... We had fun. It certainly is uniquely us. I love our pumpkins with the name of Jesus shining brightly in the dark. LOVE IT!

A fun addition this year (besides the growing list of power tools) was looking through the blog at photos from years' past. WOW - the children have sure grown since the first time we did this. Josiah had graduated, moved into his own apartment and is 1/2 way through his Sophomore year of College. Jamin is a Senior and making plans for next year. Jared has made the most drastic changes; well Stacia probably has that one. It was fun to look back via the blog....though it does bring up that age-old, "how do you back up the blog" question. Hmmm....I better put that on my "to do" list....for after PWOC Conference.

We ended the evening playing Apples to Apples and watching a Bob Hope movie.

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©2008 D.R.G.

BUSSSS-TED

THIS is the cupboard above the fridge. I had never explored this cupboard. I was 39 weeks pregnant when we moved in and the girls put these things up there....but wait...what is THAT...contraband WHOPPERS.

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Now, I wonder who in this house LOVES WHOPPERS and is tall enough to reach this cupboard without a step-ladder. That man is so busted. ::snort::


©2008 D.R.G.

I Did It!

Twelve hours later....one dead grain mill...one dear friend - with a new grain mill....and I got 8 loaves of Seven Grain Bread baked.
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A funny from the day: I had to keep jumping up and running to shuttle children around. The younger three had to run with me. At about 5:30 p.m. Zander looked at me and said, "Can't a boy play a game around here without having to jump up and run all the time?" ::snort::

My goal was to clean out cupboard while bread rose....and I got about 1/2 the cupboards in the kitchen done. UGH. I found quite a few Black Widows.....but those cupboards are clean, clean, clean.

Bre is on the phone. I better pay attention. ::snort::


©2008 D.R.G.

ACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!

I called Deja to get friend sympathy but she's running my son and several of her children to Nutcracker Practice. So....I will vent here! ::snort::

Thursdays are "Puzzle Piece Days." This means that the schedule fits like a puzzle...and each piece needs to stay in its assigned spot.

TODAY is also a Puzzle Piece Day. Here was the day's plan, with adjustments in ().

6:00 - Tryst

7:30 - leave to take Jamin to SAT at 7:45

8:00 - 9:00 workout at gym (um....the teachers were late at SAT and this didn't work out).

9:00 - 9:30 Get Nolan ready for Nutcracker

9:45 - take Nolan to practice

10:00 - 11:45 Bake 4 loaves of bread (um.....OK now the grain grinder not only froze up but began to spew black smoke. This was AFTER I had to replenish yeast and honey. Mike blew it out and it did it again! It's finally DEAD!!!! I'm ordering a new one as soon as I calm down. Meanwhile, I found critters in my wheat and had to dump the end of that bucket and wash the bucket. I also decided to clean one cupboard out during each "rest" time in my bread baking so I had stuff everywhere while I tried to figure out what to do with the grain mill.)

11:45 - RUSH out of the house to pick up Jamin at noon, hoping the yeast stays put until we get back....I was SO THANKFUL that Nolan was going home with Deja's son for lunch and run around time before the afternoon practice. I would not have made it to pick up both he and Jamin.

12:30 discover that they've changed the test time and that they won't be done until 1:30.

FINALLY back home and guess what? The grain mill froze and began to spew black smoke again. I called Mike and he said it's time to buy a new one. I don't have time to do a lot of research. I think I'll get the same one. I bought it used for $50 ten years ago. It's served us well. I'd like to give the business to Marilyn Moll at the Urban Homemaker. Her late husband won my business when he sent me a free new blender for the Bosch because Mike was deployed and mine needed fixed. I didn't even PURCHASE it from them in the first place but had needed someone to give me the "straight talk" as I was getting some run around from the company who makes them. ::snort:: Wow - free shipping and all.

Of course...given that the baking and cooking are down the tubes....I've decided that what I need is a new blog look. This has been growing since I've been working on two other blogs this week.....I thought that would take care of my "itch". Obviously, it hasn't. LOL Thank-you, Debbie, for pointing me to The Cutest Blog on the Block ! This saved me HOURS this week as I attempted to build a blog with "zing" and "character". You can find CUTE, FREE templates that work in a snap (unlike my experience with Pyzam). I like change. Cindy, you love me anyway - don't you? ::snort::

Now....since I'm committed I best figure out what to do about my signature...maybe.

The rest of the day is also full of puzzle pieces....I've got to get Jamin to work, Nolan picked up, Jared picked up and there's a ball tonight.....Marine, I think.
©2008 D.R.G.

WINNERS!!!

I will contact both winners today. You have until next Saturday to send me your address.

Winners this week were chosen by Arielle and Nolan. They simply picked two numbers between 1 - 17. LOL The winners are Becky M at One little.... and Lis in New York....neither of which have public blogs listed in their profiles - sorry, ladies, no links. LOL

Remember, you do NOT have to have a blog to participate in the giveaways...you only have to leave a comment and make sure I can contact you - simply email me with your address.

Click to see my review of Bon Appetit.


©2008 D.R.G.