I'm in a Funk

I don't know whether it's the weather

(grey everything, sick of the cold...)

or because we're fighting a bit of a flu,

or because there is some emotional chaos in my life right now.

Could be a combination.

Probably is a combination.

'

But I really don't want to do anything.

And I'm TIRED all the time.

And I really would like to stay under my blankets in my bed all day long.

Would LOVE that.

However.

I can't.

Things to do, kids to keep alive.....

It's just one of those times, ya know?

There is an ebb and tide to life,

and this too shall pass.

Soon, I hope.

I know this.




Have to just ride out the storm,

and trust that God is directing my steps.

Ecc. 3:1-8

¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,

   a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,

   a time to tear down and a time to build,

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,

   a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,

   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,

   a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,

   a time for war and a time for peace.

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Shicaw!

Anyone else remember that song?

No?

Just me?

Okay then.

It pretty much sums up my day.

Spent almost four hours at the Arena,

boys played back to back games,

and I did the door for both...

which means I had to be there early for the first game.

They both won,

one had 2 assists

(and plays defense)

and one had a goal and a beeyootiful assist.

So, good hockey night.

The other part of the "ICE" theme was the roads.

Like a skating rink, baby.

First son to play forgot his stick,

so I had to drive ALL the way back home to get it.

On the ice rink roads.

Yes, I took pictures while driving.

Yes, there's warning lights on.

One's an airbag warning light,

the other is a "GET YOUR DARN SEATBELT ON" light.

But that's not the point.

The point is,

Do you see a road,

with any pavement?

Or just ice?

I see ice, ice, baby.

The reason I had my camera out in the first place,

is on the way back home I spotted some things.

Very cute things.

And I hoped they would still be there on my way back to town.

Guess what?

They were.

Can you see them?

Yearlings,

I think.

That one on the right is going to live a long time.

He never took his eyes off me.

Ever.

I fear for the others...

This little glimpse made my heart sing.

And that's it.

Slid past every road I tried to turn at,

and watched two very good hockey games.

My life is boring.

And now I'm going to bed.

But first,

the song.

'Cause it's in my head.

Enjoy.

I was HACKED!!

Seriously.

Worms, Backdoors, Trojans,

all things I don't understand but know are bad.

22 items, most listed as critical.

Uh-oh.

So, I took my computer, like immediately,

to my Dad.

'Cause he's a computer guru.

And, he fixed it.

Took him longer than I wanted,

'cause I have zero patience for waiting and like things done yesterday,

but he did it.

And my computer is now my own again.

I couldn't help but laugh at the hacker though...

as a Mark I'm pretty pathetic.

Nothing in my inbox but hockey e-mails,

articles on self sufficient farming and homesteading,

daily devotionals,

horse magazine articles,

animal rescues updates,

and family group e-mails.

Nothing at all exciting.

And though I do have internet banking,

I have one account and as soon as money goes in there it heads back out.

So, basically, I'm very boring.

Not really worth the trouble....

It was kinda violating though....

However, it's fixed.

Yay!

In other news....

got some 3 dollar shirts at Walmart.

Question about this one:

Is this too young for a 30, uhhhh how old am I?

Hang on, gotta think.....

32 year old?

It's kinda teenage girl, a little bit.

But, I liked it.  And it was 3 dollars.

On another note,

what's with all the faces on shirts now?

I have to say that 90% of the shirts I looked at had a face,

or features of  a face,

on them.

I have a face.

I don't need a second one on my chest.

Just sayin'.

In other other news....

This guy

Has to have surgery.

He has a problem with testicular torsion,

and yes, it is what it sounds like.

His testicles twist up like a pretzel.

Excruciatingly painful.

It has happened to him 4 times,

twice he's gone to the emerg.

The problem with this condition,

besides the painful part,

is there is a 5 hour window from when the torsion happens to when he has to be under the knife in surgery.

If no surgery, testicle dies,

and that brings it's own set of problems.

So, it's pretty serious.

It happened again last weekend,

and he had a hockey game.

As soon as he told me,

I stuck him in a hot bath,

'cause a couple of times that has helped.

It didn't this time.

He got out of the bath and sat in the chair by the fire,

legs curled up to his chest,

and a few tears squeezing out.

(Side note: he is the toughest kid I have. Best kid when he's sick, no complaining.)

I sat at his feet and rubbed them,

after giving him an Advil.

I was kinda waiting,

seeing if it would get better.

'Cause when it untwists it's like a miracle cure,

he's better right away, like nothing ever happened.

But, it didn't,

so I packed up everybody and after dropping the other kids off at their Dad's,

headed for the Hospital.

We got in pretty fast,

same as the last time.

(No fooling with this condition.)

On the way in Nathan had started feeling better,

but I wasn't sure whether that was just the Advil finally kicking in or not.

When the Doctor came in,

after asking questions and examining poor Nate,

I was in trouble.

First of all,

he chastised me for waiting.

I should have headed for the hospital immediately.

I told him it had happened a couple times before,

and had resolved itself at home,

and he gave me an eyebrow.

And said,

"Five hours.  Five.  To be in surgery."

Second,

I went to the hometown hospital,

and that was wrong.

Should have gone to the city hospital,

which is only 15 minutes farther away from me.

'Cause he said if it hadn't untwisted,

(which it had)

they would have stuck him on an ambulance to the big hospital anyway.

I said,

"Are you sure it's untwisted?  I gave him an extra strength Advil."

He says," Advil doesn't touch the pain."

Ouch.

So, he explained that because this has happened now a few times,

it's time to get the surgery.

Because, if I am away,

like at hockey,

or camping

and it happens,

it's going to be hard to get him into surgery in time.

So.

To the specialist we go.

Until then,

every night during bedtime prayers,

Nate reminds me,

"Pray for my balls, Mom."

So, I do.

Chicken were out today...

nosing in on Pax's lunch.

Goodnight!

More Outside Fun

Well, today was gorgeous.

The sky was actually blue.

(For so long everything has been grey.  Sky, ground, trees... everything.)

And the sun was shining, and it was warm.

And I could almost imagine that it was Spring.

But the air didn't smell right.

You know how Spring smells?

Like dirt, I guess.

It smells like Spring.

But it didn't today.

But it looked and felt like it!!

We took advantage of the warm weather and melting snow and spent the early part of the day 

bringing wood in to the house.

You see, we don't have a woodshed.

The wood was just stacked outside beside the house.

And as the wood pile got lower, the snow got deeper.

And we have had to dig out wood for the past month and a half.

But today, the snow had all melted, and there was our wood,

dwindled down quite a bit.

So we brought it all in.

And got a load of nice dry wood from my FIL as well.

So carried that wood in.

And you know what you get when snow melts?

Mud.

And you know what happens when you make 50,000 trips in and out of the house?

A mud wallow worthy of the pickiest swine.

So, after taking care of the heating of my house for a while,

I scrubbed my floors for an hour.

I didn't take a picture,

'cause it was too depressing.

But, my floors are clean.

I even had to wash walls.....

and all the mats.....

After that was done I went out and cleaned the barn.

Brushed my horse,

and got big slobbery horse kisses,

and my ear nibbled on.

I came in,

covered in woodchips,

mud,

horse poop,

and horse slobber,

and was extremely happy.

Best morning in a while.

The sunshine just really energizes me.

We tidied up the house a bit,

and went off to co-op school!!

We actually did school with the kids this time...

and it was fun.

And of course we visited, laughed, and drank copious amounts of tea.

Didn't take any pictures today,

'cause I was just enjoying the day.

Not that taking pictures isn't enjoyable to me,

it is.

But, somehow,

I just wanted to be present.

Involved, more than observing.

I don't know.

That make any sense?

I do have pics though.

These were taken the same day as the sledding with the horse.

After sledding they decided to build a snowman.

There was teamwork.

Freddy really would like someone to throw his piece of ice.

His head is at his feet:)

"Ava, what are you doing?"

"Building a SNOWMAN!"

"We need free snowballs.  And a cawot for he's nose."

"What's that you have in your hands?"

"Dis is for he's eyeballs, and dis is for he's awms."

"AVA! Don't lick the ice!!"

Just keepin' it real.

Me in my sexy insulated coveralls.

And the work continues.

"Ava, what are you doing?"

No answer,

but there's some intense concentration going on.

"Throw a snowball at you!"

A glimpse of the man he's about to be.

And then my camera battery died.

And by the time it was re-charged,

(and I remembered)

it was dark.

And the next day he was melted.

So, no ending to this story.

Kids and a horse

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Good news....

my head did not explode.

I'm figuring out this whole "Photobucket" thing.

It worked tonight.

(Wildly cheering.)

So, here's some pics from yesterday.

It was mild out,

and I sent the kids outside to work off some energy.

I went out to do chores,

and took my camera with me to snap some shots.

I ended up staying out there with them for 1 1/2 hours.

And here's the stupid thing.

I felt guilty about it....

Why?

'Cause I had SO much to DO!!

But, I reminded myself eventually,

that all too soon they will be grown and gone,

and they won't want pushes down the hill,

or want to push me down the hill.

So I chillaxed, 

as best I could,

and just enjoyed my kids.

And it was awesome.

Here's Quin:

"Can you give us a push?"

And here is where they are sledding.

In the horse pasture.

Like, right next to the horse.

Ava loves Pax.

And Pax finds Ava interesting, and kind of odd.

This is how she would get herself going.

Run and JUMP!!

Emma pouting.

It wasn't her turn with a sled.

And yes, that's electric wire under her arms.

It was off, in case you were wondering.

Nathan, when I told him to give Emma a turn.

"Can I just slide down once more?"

Emma got her turn,

and then she hung out with Pax.

He finds her amusing.

Here's another interesting self portrait.

Can you see me?

Ava had a turn snowboarding...

With Quin beside her the whole way.

He's an excellent big brother.

Ava's "See what I did?" face.

Ava's dejected face,

when it's her brothers turn.

Quin rocks the snowboarding.

When Ava didn't have a sled or snowboard,

she did this.

At bed time she told me,

"Sliding on our bellies doesn't wort."

She prefers sleds.

Horse nose.

Dog with no nose.

And that's it for now!

The pics were kind of jumbled around, sorry.

Still figuring this out.

It takes longer...

but I guess when I put the pics on the computer,

I could upload them right then onto photobucket, right?

Then the actual blogging process won't take too long.

Sorry.

Totally thinking out loud there.

I was reminded of this poem as I was outside feeling guilty.

There's another one I'm thinking of too, with the same gist,

but can't remember it.

This I want to put into practice a little more.

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Grrrrrrrr

I have been trying to blog for 2 hours.

I have a bunch of pictures to share, to illustrate our day,

and blogger says I have run out of storage space.

Huh?

So, I tried a bunch of different things,

and none of them worked.

So, I clicked on "yes" to purchase more space.

Except....

I don't have a credit card.

Don't like them.

So, no more pictures for me.

Unless one of you smart people out there can tell me what to do.

Please tell me what to do...

my head is about to explode.

And that would be messy.

On the way to hockey...

This happened.

So I sat in the van, outside of this....

And fooled around with my camera.

I thought it turned out kinda cool.

Wordle

Is very cool.

You type in a bunch of text,

or the URL of your blog,

and it makes up a word cloud.

The words you use most are larger....

Here's mine:

Glad to see I use the word LOVE a lot.

It looks fuzzy here,

so here's the link to see it on the site:


http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3158263/RyanJTG


And here you can make your own.

http://www.wordle.net/




Fun!!