This boy…

…just might be my hero.  To date this week he has picked up 3 dead moles (one that made it into the house, one that made it almost into the house…nasty little Floyd sneaks them in…and one that stayed where it belonged in the yard) and fished one dead opossum out of the pool.  I don’t like doing these things.  I admit it freely.  I think it’s disgusting and I want nothing to do with it.  He does it for me (even got out of bed to get the one that was very near decapitation).  He doesn’t taunt me with them.  He doesn’t complain.  All I have to say is, “Alden, there is a dead ____” and he gets up and takes care of business.  Heroic to a momma that doesn’t like dong such things and has a husband who works a lot.

You might not…

…want to read this if you are hyper-sensitive; just a warning because I wouldn’t want to offend.

Yesterday Tim and I went to the oncologist.  It isn’t a stressful visit typically because we are at complete peace with the fact that he is well and will continue to be so.  I would say the only anticipation comes from the emotional memory of SO many visits we’ve made over the past 12 years.  If you’re holding your breath, don’t.  He continues to be well and this year marks the year he is well an even amount of years he was sick.  6 1/2 years of leukemia and now six years of healed!

OK, so here is where some might say we are being insensitive because we made a funny about cancer.  We cracked ourselves up.  We think we have earned the right to poke fun at the whole thing.  After all we fought the dang disease for so long and it wasn’t just with Tim.  I walk around with one lung, my mom almost lost her colon and don’t think we never met anyone else sitting in that chemo room day after day.  We would never poke fun at someone who just had a heart attack or suffered from some ailment we knew nothing about.  But we’ll poke fun at ourselves.

Here is how it started.  This was a new cancer center for us so we didn’t know what we were doing at first.  After scouring the very teeny parking lot it was clear we needed to use the garage.  Most cancer centers we’ve been to have valet parking because they realize their patients are SICK and they can’t walk far.  Well, it went something like this:

Me:  Oh, look down there.  There’s a parking garage.

We drive the block to the garage and pull in.  Big sign that says they appreciate their nurses (good) and that parking is free. 

Me:  I’m glad they appreciate their nurses.  How about appreciating their sick patients too and offering a better parking situation for them?  I mean, how are some of them supposed to walk this far?

Tim:  Yeah, but you can park for free!

Me:  Why don’t you make up a song about it?  You know, like Free Credit Report dot com?

Tim:  You think?  Give me just a second.  I’m thinking.

I patiently waited.  As we drove the entire 7 levels of the parking garage with not a spot to be had, I waited.

Tim:  How’s this?  (sung to a rock tune)  You can park for free!  During your chemotherapy!

Jill:  It’s good, but you can do better.  We can do better let’s see.  How about:  You can park for free!  During your chemotherapy!  You’ll have to walk for a mile!  But don’t let that steal your smile!  After all you still have hair!  And if you like you can take the stairs!

We burst into fits of laughter.  We were tickled pink with ourselves.  Again, I realize to some this may be offensive but to us it was funny.   Now when we walked into the office we didn’t know what to expect.  Our experience is that you have one of two situations in an oncologist’s waiting area.  Either everyone looks as scared and sad as they’ve ever been and they just STARE at you or it’s lighthearted and people are just looking for things to lighten the mood.   I personally think this has a lot to do with how talented the office staff is at handling their positions with grace and humor and true care.  We got the latter yesterday.  We were glad.

We tumbled into the office still giggling and marveling at how Diane Warren/David Foster-ish we were and the receptionist immediately asked, “What has the two of you laughing?”

Me:  Uh…nothing.  We just made up a little song.  We’ll behave, I promise.

Receptionist:  Can I hear it?

Me:  Uh….no.  (The room was pretty full)

Patient #1:  Come on, sing it. 

Tim and I look at each other.

Patient #2: If I can wear this wig in public surely you can sing.

I liked these people.

Me:  Well, it’s about cancer.  We….well, it’s about cancer.

A unanimous “sing it!”

So we did.  (Yes, I’m still a bit horrified that I sang in public and I’m sure Tricia is as well.  She’s asked me not to I think.)  They all concurred that it was crazy that people with cancer were walking so far to the center.  They all laughed.  The favorite line by far was the first because somehow, there is humor in the belief that if you let people park for free, they won’t care that they’re going into chemo.

You are looking at…

…a Champion Goalie.

Think championship game for the local soccer league.  Think a 2:2 tie at the end of the hour.  Think 5 penalty kicks per team.  Think this little guy with all the pressure on him to catch all 5 of the balls the other team tries to barrel into the net.  Think throwing yourself on the ground, sacraficing your body over and over again.  The pressure is on you repeatedly.  Think staying calm as a cucumber and later stating that with each kick you were asking God to guide your body where it needed to be.  Think going into sudden death.  Think the other team’s goalie let’s one in.  Think you don’t.  Now think that the crowd goes nuts and your coach runs out, picks you up and lifts you in the air shouting, “You did it!  You did it!  We won the game!  We’re the league champions!”

A night he’ll always remember.  I’m sure of it.

I have to…

…share this with you.  It is a new blog I have found but the best part is…it’s a friend’s blog.  Tracey and I were roommates right after college for a year.  She has always been one of the sweetest, most genuine people I’ve ever known but now she adds another label to that description….INSPIRATION.  Oh my gosh….her photography and her stories/perspective are WONDERFUL.  You have to check it out because you won’t be sorry.  Make sure you check out the story she did on tool boxes…  hee!

It’s that time…

…of year again.  The time when I go into high gear for about 3 days planning, calendaring and preparing the summer for me and the kids.  I love it.  I love the organization and I love the anticipation of all that is coming.  This summer we’re having the Fischer kids over again on Tuesdays.  Love that.  Two boys and a girl and they’re the same ages as my guys.  Last summer Tuesdays were always fun and the best part was, no one argued all summer long.  Love those kids.  I’m also planning some art projects for Kati-cat and what life skills I want the 3 of them to learn this summer.  Last summer it was baking cookies (we made 12 different varieties), separating laundry and weeding the garden (an everyday chore around here).  This summer it will be planning and preparing dinner once a week (with help of course), tending to the vegetable garden and taking their laundry routine one step further…this summer they’ll learn how to run the machines.

Summer is always a bit easier on me.  There is less laundry since the layers of winter disappear and the kids live in their swimsuits.  With the extra bodies around the house there is definitely more kitchen clean-up and preparation of meals but there is also more help with dusting, vacuuming, etc.  This summer my mantra is absolutely to BREATHE.  I’m embarking on a creative, embrace the slow pace of summer adventure.  I’ll still have to work but I’m going to pepper in more time to relax with my kids.  We already agreed that for one hour everyday we’d all gather around the hammock/pool or in my bedroom to read our books.  Any good book suggestions?  I’m not much of a non-fiction reader so good fiction titles, please. 

Yep, I’m definitely in the mode right now.  I am realizing that all too soon Powell will be in high school, driving and unwilling to stay home as much as he is now so I’m soaking it in.  I am also realizing as each day goes on that we are in our long goodbye with Keturah.  She is not hurting or suffering at all but she sleeps most of the time and can no longer join us for walks that are longer than 20 minutes or so.  I’m not sure she’ll be around next summer so I intend to love on her as much as I can. 

I think I’m going to start my summer with a layout that quotes a song I can’t get out of my head.  We sing it at church and it is my truest heart’s desire; the place I believe you reach when you accomplish simplicity in your life:

I want to sit at Your feet,

Drink from the cup in Your hand,

Lay back against You and breathe,

Feel Your heartbeat.

I want to be a sitter, a person who isn’t afraid to be still and live in the quiet.  We all want to hear from God and yet are so unwilling to just sit and be in His presence and wait for Him to break the silence.  Really, I don’t think anything else in my walk is more important than this.  

So there you have it.  My plans/goals for summer.  What are you looking forward to?

They’re a…

…month old yesterday, the Bible Chicks.  I’m sure they’re older than that seeing as they had already hatched when we got them but as far as we’re concerned, yesterday marked their one-month birthday.  They have gone from this:

to this:

The picture above is them in their new enclosure.  Tim finished it yesterday and while it still needs a few more things, I must say he did a fabulous job.  I don’t think he thought he could do it.  Well, I know he didn’t because he said so.  But he did a great job and the chicks are so happy to be pecking around at will, safe from dogs and other critters like foxes and opossums and raccoons.  It has rained here for what seems like EVER so it’s a little muddy but nothing some straw won’t take care of.  Meanwhile, they started to do this last week:

And they continue to make my children happy week:

…after week (I wonder if the boys have a “Thursday Shirt” because there seems to be some repetition going on):

 

And we also learn interesting things.  Like, did you know a chicken can have green eyes?

Hmmm…who would have thought that?  Not us, that’s for sure.  So, life continues in our little corner of the world and I must say, with summer break starting in just 12 days things are looking pretty good.  I have been doing a lot of scrappin’, sewin’, etc. lately but I just haven’t taken the time to photograph anything.  I’ll try to make that a goal. 

In the meantime I’ll leave you with this, just because I think it’s funny (at first glance you notice Kati-cat but then stop, look at that chicken…hysterical).