First Week

It's been a week since we've been sleeping in the garage (since the Martinson's moved in with us)....and all is well.

This week's highlights:

• Dave installed a fan to pull the hot air out of the furnace room which makes the garage cooler.
• Maddy spent a night with us in the garage.
• I've been able to do a few more things alone, because Jami is here and graciously takes care of Grandpa.
• Jami and I take turns cooking so I don't have to cook every night. I love that!!!!!
• The same applies to cleaning the house.....I don't have to clean it ALL.
• Andrew and Kaiden are so helpful. I have them doing all sorts of chores.
• We helped Geoff celebrate his 34th birthday. We took Oasis cheeseburgers and dined in his office.
• Geoff shared a story* with me from Runner's World about a runner while struggling to care for his ailing and unruly father finds an escape in his daily runs. His four mile runs eventually turned into a marathon. I'm not a runner, but this article did encourage me to find "my escape". (*Mark Levine, "Slipping Away")[-
• It's been a hot week, so I've enjoyed lots of "outside" time in my new favorite chair the kids gave me for Mother's Day. The hammock is taking 2nd place to the chair right now.
• I've planted flowers and a few things in the garden. I still have to get some cabbage plants (my cabbage seedlings didn't make it) and a few more flowers for my 3-tier planter out front. So far, I haven't found the right plant that will flourish in the 3-tier planter.
• Enjoyed lunch on the deck at Pike's with Sandy & Marcia.
• Attended the monthly Beth Moore video class (Breaking Free) at LifePoint. I just learned that Beth Moore is a guest speaker at Catalyst in Atlanta in October.
• God, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, help me to live in harmony with others, be sympathetic, love as a brother or sister, be compassionate and humble. (1 Pet 3:8)

Moving Day

Jami, our daughter, and her family are building a house this summer and are now homeless because they've sold their house where they've lived for seven or eight years. We've worked it out and they will be moving in with us - tomorrow.....five additional people. I'm sure it won't be long before they say, "What were we thinking"?

Dave & I have converted the garage into our bedroom. Wayne & Karen loaned us a piece of carpet, Mike and Ashley loaned us a bed frame.....we're about set to move in. We'll have a small desk, table and lamp, a TV. The only thing we won't have is a window, but watch out if someone hits the button for the garage door. :) Note: The garage door will be disconnected and locked. We'll move Grandpa's TV & recliner out of the den into his room, so Andrew and Kaiden can have the den for their bedroom. Matt, Jami & Izzy will occupy the downstairs, with a mattress on the floor for Izzy.

Fortunately we have three levels where we can all spread out, and I'm hoping for a nice sunny summer so we can eat lots of meals outside. Jami & I are trying to figure out how to trade-off with the cooking duties.......every other day or weekly??

I told Grandpa Covey what was going to happen and he just nodded. I hope he understands.

Geoff, Nicole & Maddy live less than a mile from us. I'm sure we'll end up on their doorstep, when any of us need a break. We appreciate their offer to help and I'm sure we'll be taking them up on it in various ways this summer and fall.

This will be a busy, crazy summer, but I'm hoping it will be one full of good memories.

The Senior Center

I take my Dad to the Senior Center once a week for lunch. Today we had spaghetti, green beans (too tough to eat), garlic bread and a big piece of chocolate cake. I take Dad so he can be around people his own age. He seems to enjoy going, but he's usually very quiet and I'm the one who winds up talking to everyone. I enjoy hearing bits and pieces of people's history, and I have learned that big gaps of silence in the conversation is perfectly acceptable and it's becoming more comfortable for me.

Some never say a word, others enjoy seeing their friends and have lots to say.

Many are stooped over and move very carefully and slowly.

Walkers and canes are visible at most tables.

Eighty-three year old Mary is still very spry, speaks her mind and is still full of life.

Donna (in her 80's) may tell the same stories over and over, but she still loves to help others get their food and clean off the tables.

You can see the light of life in some of their eyes, while others have a blank stare.

When someone doesn't show up for a couple weeks, you fear the worst.

I look at the variety of people in the room every week and wonder....

What careers did they have?

Where are their families?

What goals did they pursue?

What have they contributed to society?

What passions still burn in their hearts and minds?

Do they still feel useful and needed?

Even though I'm usually the youngest one in the room, I realize it won't always be that way. One of these days I'll be the one with the cane, I'll be moving slowly and my words won't come out correctly (that's happening now!!!!). I pray that age will not.....

steal my zest for life.

kill my purpose and passions in life

devour my abilities to love and serve others

leave me lifeless and bored

deceive me into thinking I'm no longer needed and useful

Oh to be like Caleb.... "So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day....but, the LORD HELPING ME, I will drive them out just as he said." Josh 14:10-12

Grandparent's

I enjoyed Mother's Day yesterday with my children, their spouses and the grandchildren. I'm so blessed to have them all close by. I missed having my Mom here yesterday. I miss her presence, her love for God, life and family, her creative ways of doing normal things. She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and even though she's only be gone 2-1/2 years, I wish she could see the kids.....how they've changed and grown. There's so many of her positive influences that I hope I can carry on.

Today, I'm thinking about my maternal grandparents. They were both born in Austria, Hungary (1882 and 1886), came to America in 1904 and 1906 and were married in Bay City, Michigan on January 8, 1911. They moved to Akron, Ohio where they had eight children. They later moved out west to Long Beach, California. I never knew my grandfather - he died before I was born. His citizenship papers arrived in the mail the day he died. I remember my grandmother, but I only saw her 2 or 3 times. All I know about them is what my Mom passed down to me verbally and in a pamphlet she wrote about her family, which I'm very thankful for that much information. That reminds me.....I need to have good information to pass on to my grandchildren.

I wish I had known them. My parents never packed me up and sent me to spend a week at their house during the summers, I never wrote them a letter, they never read me a book or told me stories (which my Grandfather was famous for). Today I feel a little cheated and I feel they were a little cheated too because they never knew me.

My Grandmother was a terrific cook. She loved to knit and she did make me several sweaters. She also had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. In a shadow box on my piano, I have her old church hymnal that's very worn and used and a picture of her and I at a picnic in California. I'll cherish that always!

I hope my grandchildren will have good memories of me. Memories of doing things together, laughing together, playing together, doing crazy, fun stuff that they wouldn't do at their parents house, memories of having my full attention, memories of unconditional love. Memories that won't fit into a shadow box......

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is always more fun when done with friends, which I did tonight with Sandy & Marcia. With friends it's so much more than scrapbooking. It's checking out any new products and materials that one of us has purchased, it's looking at one another's pictures and hearing the stories behind them, it's hearing the ups and downs in each other's lives since the last time we were together, it's sharing ideas, it's laughter, it's friendship! And sometimes I actually get some scrapbooking done.

Applesauce

When I couldn't get all the applesauce out of the jar, I turned it upside down and set it on it's lid. A few minutes later I took the lid off and, plop, more applesauce came out of the jar. Unfortunately about that time I dropped the plastic jar on the floor....lid off, of course! Grrrr....applesauce all over the floor. I got a sponge to wipe up the applesauce from the floor and discovered it had also gotten on the dinning room carpet and all over a magazine rack. Now I'm really NOT HAPPY! Once I started cleaning up the applesauce I found much more dirt and dust and wound up cleaning more than I started out to clean. I only started out to put the applesauce in a smaller container and ended up with a clean floor and magazine rack.

That happens to me in other areas. The lid comes off and I spew applesauce everywhere. In trying to clean up my mess, I discover other issues that haven't been dealt with (i.e. resentment, selfishness, pride). More cleaning to do, more forgiveness to be received, more grace to be used.

Today, my floor and magazine rack are clean, but there'll be more applesauce jars to open.....