A day in the life...

In just a few short days, I will officially close Southern Eagle Academy forever. The process of final grades, transcripts, diplomas, etc. has been a bit frustrating this week. I knew I would be busy, but I did not expect some of the wrinkles that hiccupped into the process of it all. Ted has another business trip coming up and decided he wanted to spend the day with me. I love that man for oh so many reasons, but most of all for wanting to be with me and knowing when I need some extra special attention. We prioritized my day to accommodate being out of town for a few hours. I love the word "prioritize" it sounds so organized instead of saying "procrastinate". I came home feeling much better and less stressed. Even though we accomplished nearly everything on my list, I did not feel like I had run a marathon to do it.

I have enjoyed the beautiful weather and the vistas of nature just bursting around me. That reminds me, I had a wonderful time reading God's Word last night, God started showing me all sorts of things and halfway through my thoughts and contemplation I thought I should blog about it. I did not want to forget it!! It was almost like I had put a damper on the conversation! God basically told me that although it was definitely food for thought, it was between me and Him. So today as I sit here, I can't even tell you what it was about, but it was just so wonderful to have that one on One time with my Lord and Savior.

Well, I have a few minutes to study the insides of my eyelids before I skip off to church. Have I mentioned I love my church???? Just wanted to make sure y'all remembered that ;) See you there???!!!

'S About Time

Finally, a day "off". I say that with tongue in cheek, because after this post I have to run off to a cleaning job that will take me about 2 hours. Then there have been hints of our typical Saturday afternoon stress relief activity. No, I won't tell you what that is.... but let's just say it's a current family and friend activity that only practice makes better. Then there have been rumblings of planning a Memorial Day cookout, or even going out on a date. Whooohooo!!! If you read my comment under my last post, you will see that James decided to continue his Bible Institute education. Last night instead of going to his graduation service, we went to the commencement exercises and watched him receive a certificate denoting his progress so far in the course. He will continue his Associates in Bible for another year and then graduate. It was good to meet his professors and classmates and to see how they strive to put forth the Word of God earnestly in these last days. Justin's last day of class was yesterday. He had a flurry of extra projects to get some extra credit, but managed to pull that through at the last minute. You can see his senior pictures at this link http://justpictureitklm.blogspot.com/ If you can't spot him front and center then look on the right menu bar for Justin C senior session. He graduates June 3rd. I have to finish up his grades, and diploma and transcripts this week. Well, just repeating all of that reminds me of how tired I am even though I got to sleep in for once. Well, it's time for Cinderella to grab her cleaning buddy and take off. See you another time when I have a moment to breathe!

Say What??

So, if you read my last post it sounded like things were calming down, and I was able to take a breath. I would love to recapture that feeling again! "Chuckle". This is Justin's last week of high school with final exams, James' last night of Bible College is tonight and he graduates Friday evening. Justin takes his SAT's June 2, and will graduate June 3. In the meantime, I am training a new office worker to help me, and doing the regular end of the month projects before the looming deadline. Next week after work I will have to finish tallying up Justin's grades, create his transcript, total his GPA, and design and print his diploma. Fortunately, Ted is whisking me away the weekend after Justin's graduation for a short "minication"(yes, I made up that word) to celebrate the end of home-school!! YEAH!!! I need another stay-cation at home just to do all the projects around the house that are begging to be completed. Sigh, I think I need some Tums and a nap! Anyway, commercial break is over, I am off to design Justin's graduation invitation so that the photographer can get his invitations to the developer sometime before June 3rd! If anyone sees me spinning out of control please feel free to remind me to take a breath and enjoy these "lasts".

Contentment Revisited

Our vacation was a real eye opener for us as a married couple. For years we have extended ourselves to everyone and everything and often felt nearly burned out. I know personally I was getting seriously overwhelmed and stressed, often feeling like I couldn't say "no" to someone who expected me to do something. It seemed so "un-Christian" not to do every last thing that was expected of me by anyone. Stepping back from some of the ministry activities helped, along with the anticipation of Justin finishing home school this year. Learning to discern what God was actually expecting me to be involved in for His glory and not just being a part of everything because it was expected of me was a hard lesson that took way too many years to learn. Taking a week to just enjoy ourselves, strengthen our loving bonds and work together as a family was such a boost to our fragile psyches so to speak. Since then I have learned the importance of not being available to everyone at the "brring" of the phone. I had not realized how that jangled my nerves and heightened my stress levels almost unconsciously every time the phone would sound off. Ted finally learned that lesson as well with his busy work requirements. I am learning to sit and be still and appreciate the beauty of God's creation around me without feeling like I have be on the moment's ready to jump at someone's beck and call. I am actually able to spend more conscious time praying and praising God. The spirit of contentment is starting to seep back into my soul. I am such a simple, country girl at heart and the hustle and bustle and busyness of modern life has always been taxing for me. Sometimes, I have wondered if I was born in the wrong era :). Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I have enjoyed the special things that the menfolk have done for me. The yard is mowed, my car is washed and cleaned, the boys scrubbed their bathroom floor. James helped me make supper tonight after Ted and I spent the day together. We even enjoyed a long nap together. Wow, that hasn't happened in a very long time. Tonight, Ted and I will work together to fix the Mother's Day dinner that he wants to make for me. I am so glad to be the mother of his children even when they leave us scratching our heads in wonder. God has blessed me abundantly with a super loving husband and 2 great sons. We are all far from perfect, but are definitely a family held together by God. James graduates with a 1 year Bible Diploma from Bible college, and Justin will graduate from High School. At the moment, James is working for CTS tree service, and Justin will get a job as soon as he has diploma in hand :). Ted is working hard so that in a couple of months we can again take a mini-vacation. We really love spending time together and have learned just how precious that is to us. Now, we are going to make it a priority to take time to get away. This is a bit more then just the 'date" days we would try to take. Usually, our dates were just local outings that would last a couple of hours, and then it was hurrying to get back to work and responsibilities. With our vacation, we found that we yearn for more then just dinner out once a week or every two weeks. I spent all of this monologue to state how I have just recently regained that feeling of contentment and the alleviation of stress that was overwhelming me. I can be a better child of God, wife of Ted, and mother of James and Justin if I can remember contentment with thanksgiving.

Weird and Wacky Day

Yesterday was Monday on the calendar, but it was a very mild day. Today I woke up and after a series of bizarre events felt like I should have been in a comic strip or at least been able to blame it on a Monday! I had a really hard time waking up, but Ted's alarm clock from the abyss which goes off without being plugged in decided to wake me again. This time I removed the batteries too!! If it goes off tomorrow, I am imprisoning it in my son's tornado alley that he calls a room. Fumbling around in the kitchen, I spied a suspicious arachnid of good proportion slipping into the window frame.

Now just looking this picture up for you has creeped me out, and I am itching all over. I took the pest control spray and drowned the window frame repeatedly. It peeked out once and I blasted it again. Of course, the spray says it does NOT kill black widows or brown recluses... the two spiders you NEED it to kill! Now, I do not know for sure that it was one of these poisonous spiders, but I wasn't going to take the chance. Ted came out and helped me dismantle the whole window even the part of the inner workings of the frame and mechanisms. We did NOT find the spider. I left late for work and put the boys on poison spider watch for the day. Then, as I was pulling into the drive at work something slammed into my leg and dropped to the floor. I came to a quick stop and hunted around for whatever exploded off the under panel of my car. Sure enough there was a good size plastic cover that goes somewhere and used to be glued to something no longer guarding whatever it was meant to shield. I think I am going to keep a basket in the seat of my car and collect all the things that fall off this poor thing and then present the puzzle pieces to someone to put back together. As long as it keeps going I am not complaining.... just thinking that soon I will look like I am driving a dunebuggy instead of a Buick.

A couple of hours into the work day and we had a unexpected large delivery arrive a week early by a driver who supposedly couldn't speak English. He sounded like he came from a former Iron Curtain country. Finally, things calmed down, well at least until we went to vote. My little "booth" could barely stand on it's legs and I had to hold the stand while I voted FOR the marriage ammendment. My sons both voted for the first time in their lives, and Justin nearly took out a whole voting "booth" on his way out the door.

So, sitting here thinking of food,scratching imaginary creepy itches and waiting for my husband to come home leaves me wondering if I should have worn plaid and polka dots today with odd socks????