This morning at breakfast, my husband revealed that he dreamt about God. My husband dreaming of God is interesting on so many levels:
1. He has questioned God existence for so long and only within the last few years has been taking steps toward uniting with God. His feeling of being close to God in the dream haunted him when he awoke. It was very touching. He was not sure what to do with the feeling.
2. God came in the form of Sean Connery in the dream, which of course made me think of The Shack. I told him that according to The Shack, God comes in the form that He feels you would accept. I personally thought Sean Connery was a much better choice for my husband than the big African woman named Poppa that is found in The Shack. Especially, when DH knows how much I looooovvvveeee Sean Connery.
3. When I asked what he felt the message was, he hesitated and was / is unsure but came away feeling that he was being told to do God’s work, but didn’t feel clear exactly what said work was.
He thought the dream was especially interesting since he didn’t just remember it when he woke up, but instead dreamt throughout the night waking up several times and then receding back into the same dream. While certainly, he does not believe this dream is Moses’ burning bush; we both believe that God talks to us if only we will listen (certainly we never expected in such a direct way, but God does what needs to be done). I will be interested to see how this dream impacts him long term and what DH will do with this message.
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
1 Kings 19:11-13 (New International Version)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Getting Rid of Asian Lady Beetles
Agggghhhhh! I've never seen such a thing. Yesterday afternoon, DD and I noticed a couple lady bug like insects by the front door. We grabbed the vacuum and sucked them up. A few minutes passed, there were more. Uh, oh. We sucked those up, but as we were sucking them up in the vacuuming more were coming in. I fled to the internet what were these things and how did I stop this onslaught.
I learned that they are not lady bugs at all but Asian Lady Beetles who were inspired by fall to find a place to hibernate for the winter. I learned that they are attracted by light colors (i.e. our house). I also learned not to squish them as they leave a slimy residue and stink. I furthermore learned that the best way to stop them from getting into your house is to have a sealed tight house. I took a breath - oh, no upstairs- air conditioners - vents in the attic. I ran upstairs and opened my bedroom door, there was probably 25-30 in my room. I screamed for DD to grab the screwdriver so we could get the a/c out of my window - a clear entry for the little critters. DD and I got it out and thanked goodness that I took the kids a/c's out last week, but DH likes to have his in year round (apparently that will not happen here). But as we took the a/c out, I could see there were not a few of these beetles but 100's maybe 1,000 swarming outside the house. That was another thing that I learned - Asian Lady Beetles swarm.
DD found two homeopathic recipes, one that is supposed to attract and kill the beetles and one that is supposed to repel the buggers. The attractor is a combination of a bright colored container, water, sugar, dish soap. the repeller is bay leaves. We'll have to let you know what happens from here. The tide was stemmed yesterday, but who knows what today will bring. DD informs me that her research online states that there will be two difficult times - fall and spring. Fall when they are looking for a place to hibernate. Spring when they have found a place to hibernate in your house despite your best efforst and are now looking to get out.
I did get a chance later in the day to talk to some locals to find out how they deal with the issue. Apparently, they just leave them alone and when they go into hibernation mode is when they finally vacuum them up (I'm not sure that that will work for me). I hear they also don't like shade. I think it is time to plant some trees. Otherwise, I'm sure when we repaint the house, I'll be edging toward the darker colors.
I know, I know . . ." All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small,All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all." Except Ants and Lady Beetles. I'll even acknowledge that there wonderful too, just not IN my house.
I learned that they are not lady bugs at all but Asian Lady Beetles who were inspired by fall to find a place to hibernate for the winter. I learned that they are attracted by light colors (i.e. our house). I also learned not to squish them as they leave a slimy residue and stink. I furthermore learned that the best way to stop them from getting into your house is to have a sealed tight house. I took a breath - oh, no upstairs- air conditioners - vents in the attic. I ran upstairs and opened my bedroom door, there was probably 25-30 in my room. I screamed for DD to grab the screwdriver so we could get the a/c out of my window - a clear entry for the little critters. DD and I got it out and thanked goodness that I took the kids a/c's out last week, but DH likes to have his in year round (apparently that will not happen here). But as we took the a/c out, I could see there were not a few of these beetles but 100's maybe 1,000 swarming outside the house. That was another thing that I learned - Asian Lady Beetles swarm.
DD found two homeopathic recipes, one that is supposed to attract and kill the beetles and one that is supposed to repel the buggers. The attractor is a combination of a bright colored container, water, sugar, dish soap. the repeller is bay leaves. We'll have to let you know what happens from here. The tide was stemmed yesterday, but who knows what today will bring. DD informs me that her research online states that there will be two difficult times - fall and spring. Fall when they are looking for a place to hibernate. Spring when they have found a place to hibernate in your house despite your best efforst and are now looking to get out.
I did get a chance later in the day to talk to some locals to find out how they deal with the issue. Apparently, they just leave them alone and when they go into hibernation mode is when they finally vacuum them up (I'm not sure that that will work for me). I hear they also don't like shade. I think it is time to plant some trees. Otherwise, I'm sure when we repaint the house, I'll be edging toward the darker colors.
I know, I know . . ." All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small,All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all." Except Ants and Lady Beetles. I'll even acknowledge that there wonderful too, just not IN my house.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Planning for Christmas
I know it seems early to think about it, but Christmas is just around the corner. This is especially true if you wish to participate in Operation Christmas Child. It is time to order your materials and plan your collection. Here is a song to get you in the mood.
As I plan to the bring this project to our new church and got the ok to do so today, I will keep you informed of our plans. Let me know if you do anything unique or interesting with you own OCC collection.
As I plan to the bring this project to our new church and got the ok to do so today, I will keep you informed of our plans. Let me know if you do anything unique or interesting with you own OCC collection.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
When are you most productive?
Oddly, I am most productive when my husband is not home. I don't know if is because I'm bored, because I have less to do, or because I'm free to do whatever I want; but, it is definitely true. When my husband travels:
My poor husband would wonder if he would recognize his house when he came home sometimes. In our new home, there is not so much a need to paint. Today, I opted to clean out the garage and ready it for winter. It is not so dramatic as repainting a room, but it surely will be more useful.
I had gone out to the garage to exercise on the bike, but as I rode and read (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society), I looked around and like lightening hitting a rod. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I still want to find an old set of cabinets to put against the back wall, but for now I put up the 8' table and two saw horses with a piece of plywood. I rearranged the exercise equipment (this way I could be sure that it would be accessible). I put things away that were not in correct home. Finally, I swept it all out and stood back to admire my work. I better be careful though, perhaps DH will start planning trips to see what I can accomplish.
- I have been known to pull up on concrete walk and replace it with a stone walk
- Repaint my living room, bathroom, bedroom and other various places
- Pull down chair rail
My poor husband would wonder if he would recognize his house when he came home sometimes. In our new home, there is not so much a need to paint. Today, I opted to clean out the garage and ready it for winter. It is not so dramatic as repainting a room, but it surely will be more useful.
I had gone out to the garage to exercise on the bike, but as I rode and read (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society), I looked around and like lightening hitting a rod. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I still want to find an old set of cabinets to put against the back wall, but for now I put up the 8' table and two saw horses with a piece of plywood. I rearranged the exercise equipment (this way I could be sure that it would be accessible). I put things away that were not in correct home. Finally, I swept it all out and stood back to admire my work. I better be careful though, perhaps DH will start planning trips to see what I can accomplish.
Friday, October 2, 2009
We found it - Geocaching
As dinner was cooking tonight, we decided to take an excursion. I had looked up some local geocaches (it is amazing how many there are) and we plugged one into the GPS. While dinner boiled and roasted, DS, DH, and myself headed out. DD stayed home to supervise the cooking (and I think play on the computer a bit). DD is not a fan of hiking, not that you can call what we did hiking. That is one of the unique things of geocaching is that not all of them do require hiking. Some are planted in very public, very highly traveled areas. This one was kind of in between. Most of the walk was on pavement with only a few hundred feet in the woods. I'm glad that it wasn't a micro-cache as I don't think we would have found it. The GPS was less than perfectly accurate. But we did find it:
And her are my co-conspirators:
They claim taking this picture made them blind, so they backed up a bit for a better shot:
Can you tell my poor diabetic husband hasn't eaten yet. I did take him home to a delicious dinner of corned beef and roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions. I encourage you to go find caches in your area to leave your mark.
And her are my co-conspirators:
They claim taking this picture made them blind, so they backed up a bit for a better shot:
Can you tell my poor diabetic husband hasn't eaten yet. I did take him home to a delicious dinner of corned beef and roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions. I encourage you to go find caches in your area to leave your mark.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Science Curriculum
You that homeschool that homeschool will find this humorous. DD was coming to the end of her Science books and so last night I went on Christian Book and ordered her a new set of Science and Social Studies (she is almost done with those). So this morning, she decided that if she really pushed, she could finish her Science book and then have a few days with no science since her books were not scheduled to arrive for 3-5 days. So as she promised she finished her Science books at about 11:00am this morning.
Now you may think that that is my tale today and appreciate that we all find our inspiration in different ways, but this is actually a humerous tale and one with a cautionary message. At a little after noon, the UPS truck pulled up to our house with her new Science books.
Moral: Do count your chickens before they hatch OR don't count on being free from Science before the UPS truck comes.
Now you may think that that is my tale today and appreciate that we all find our inspiration in different ways, but this is actually a humerous tale and one with a cautionary message. At a little after noon, the UPS truck pulled up to our house with her new Science books.
Moral: Do count your chickens before they hatch OR don't count on being free from Science before the UPS truck comes.
Designer Grocery Bags
What is wrong with us! Designer Grocery Bags! Unless these people are giving 95% of their proceeds to charity, these are crazy. Ok, I'll admit they can be cute, but they are GROCERY BAGS. 
How after spending between $15-$960 for a grocery bag can we still wonder why we have no money? My new idea will be to design a really cute reuseable grocery bag and sell it for $1.99+the cost of a year of groceries for a family in need. Then at least the obscene excess will go toward something good.
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