She's Gone

My friend died on Sunday.  The cancer moved so fast.  She only found out in November.

Her death brings out the human in me. I'm angry that she's gone. Tears come at awkward times. I want to know why.  Why her?  Why now? Her children need their mother.  Her husband needs his wife.  Her mother needs her daughter. She did everything right.  She ate clean and exercised.  She served the Lord diligently with her time and talents.  She was young and healthy. 

I believe there is a reason, though it is not mine to know.  I believe, no I KNOW, that she is in the arms of her Redeemer. She will not suffer anymore. And I will see her again.

I will pray for her family, especially the children.  Their sorrow is unimaginable.  I will hold my loved ones a little closer and a little tighter. Tomorrow is promised to no one.

Death has been swallowed up in victory!  I Cor 15:54

January is a Busy Month

January is our busiest month.  We started off the new year with the Historian's family Christmas.  We were supposed to leave the next day for our annual trip to Myrtle Beach, but the hotel's pool was closed for maintenance.  I am grateful that they contacted us.  We ended up going the next week. 

The Historian decided that we needed to join a co-op.  (I am not sure that co-op should be hyphenated, but whenever I see coop, I think chickens.)  He scrambled to get the paperwork in on time only to discover that the church where it meets is 25 minutes further away that he thought.  The word Chapel instead of church makes all the difference.  I wanted to just pull out and let the fees count as a donation.  I do not want to drive an hour for an early morning activity.  He wants to make it work.  We shall see.

I am only teaching one chemistry lab this semester.  The college isn't offering organic chemistry this semester because of lack of interest.  (Where is a shocked, open-mouthed smiley when I need it?)  Canceling organic left 6 open classroom hours for full time faculty, so I'm teaching less.  We'll miss the money.

We finally made it to Myrtle Beach the second week of January--just ahead of the great southern ice storm.  We didn't leave the hotel the entire time we were there.  An indoor heated pool provided hours of entertainment.  When we left there was ice in the palmettos.

The Crafter's CYT (Christian Youth Theater) practices started full force when we got back from out trip.  The final two weeks of rehearsals are grueling.  We are in the midst of them now.  The director always says to not judge CYT by the final two weeks.  CYT is worth it.  It is a wonderful ministry.  The play is next week.  If you are in the Raleigh area, click here for information.

Now my blog is officially updated. 

Wordless Wednesday--Birthday Boy

Wild Thing is seven!

Wordless Wednesday--Dancing in the Kitchen

We baked cookies last night.  So, how do you pass the time while the cookies are baking?  Dance of course!

Start the music then scroll down and watch the slideshow.

Life--So Fragile

There were four of us.  Couples that is.  We were part of a small group from our church.  We were all married about the same time.  Several of us were finishing degrees.  We were just starting out.  We shared so much together.  We helped each other move, sometimes more than once.  We ate together.  We prayed together.  We studied the Bible and sought God's will for our lives.  We bought homes.  We all wanted to start families.  We all suffered from infertility to some degree.  We rejoiced as God gave each of us a child during the following years.

After all of this, it came time for us to go our separate ways.  The Historian and I were led to a church much closer to home.  The other couples moved on as well.  We drifted apart despite promises to keep in touch.  Life and distance have a way of doing that.

As I type this there are tears pouring down my face.  I just received an email from my friend.  She is in her early 40s.  Her son is 6 months younger than the Crafter and her daughter is 6 months younger than Wild Thing.  She has cancer.  She had no symptoms other than some abdominal pain and bloating.  When she had a CT scan, there were masses on her liver and colon.  She's had an ileostomy .  She's having chemotherapy.  Her oncologist's name is Hope.  She's asked for prayer.

Dear God please spare your daughter.  Heal her body.  Encourage her spirit.  Hold her in Your arms.  Comfort her husband and children.  You are able.  Amen.

I need to hug my babies now.

How to Convert from HSB to Blogger

Sally at Diamonds in the Rough has found a great resource to convert HSB blogs to Blogger.  I was able to move almost all of my entries.  I did lose several comments and many of my pictures needed to be resized, but I am pleased with the results. It's a three step process.

1.  Export the HSB blog and save to your computer.

2.  Convert that file using http://wordpress2blogger.appspot.com/ and save that file to your computer.

3.  Import the file from step 2 to Blogger.

The entries show up on the Edit Posts page.  You can publish them individually or all at once.  Thank you Sally for easing the pain of the transition.

More Detailed Instructions:

Go to HSB dashboard.

Left side--Tools--Click on Export

Select date ranges etc. I left the defaults to export the whole blog.

Click Download Export File

You should get a window that asks you to save file. It will have wordpress in the name and be a .xml

Click OK

Wait for it.

Then go to the page with the wordpress to blogger tool

Step 6 has a Browse button. Click that and select the file you just downloaded.

Click convert. Save that file. It will be another .xml and say blogger export.

Now go to your blogger dashboard.

Click the settings tab.

Blog tools will be at the top. Beside that will be Import Blog in blue. Click that.

Browse and find the blogger export file and upload it.

When it finishes, you should find all of your entries on the edit posts page. From there it's a matter of selecting and publishing. I had to resize a lot of my pictures and some YouTubes didn't transfer. Almost all of my comments survived.

Sometimes You Don't Want to Know

Wild Thing walked into the kitchen one night looking like this.

Then he fell down. 

The Crafter and Princess Pink propped him back up.

What's wrong you ask?  He's stuffed.

Why you ask?  I'm don't know and I'm not sure I want to.

But he had so much fun that Princess Pink felt she should get stuffed too.

Trying Out Blogger

HSB has been down for a couple of days, so I thought I would try out this format for a while. 

Tired

I've been tired for years.  It seems strange to write that, but it's the truth.  I haven't blogged about it before.  I don't know why.  Maybe I didn't want to put my weaknesses "out there" for all to see.

Whenever I mentioned being tired, I was patted on the hand and told "Of course you are tired.  You have a baby or you have a toddler or you are homeschooling or you are have so much going on."  Take your pick.  But it was more than regular tired.  This was weary tired.  This was you get up because you have no choice tired.  I was also having more trouble during that time of the month.

About three and half years ago, I first mentioned my symptoms to a doctor.  I was told that I was getting older.  Hmm, I was 34.  I knew 70 year olds that had more get up and go.  Maybe I should put the kids in school so I could rest.  Here's a prescription for antidepressants.  By the way, your blood work was normal.

I really didn't feel depressed.  I felt tired.  But I tried the antidepressants anyway, and they made me more tired.  I quit taking them.  Then two years ago I saw a different doctor.   He said that I was getting older and suggested yoga and B6 and if that didn't work he would give me a prescription for different antidepressants.

Time marched on.  I did what needed to be done--just barely.  Sometimes I would be in tears because I couldn't do the things I wanted to do because I was just too tired.  I was hating the thought of spending my children's growing up years too tired to enjoy them.   I had become short tempered and sometimes down right mean.  My life was about survival.

I was disillusioned with asking another doctor for help, but my friend suggested that I see her boss.  She had recently started working for a nurse practitioner at an Osteopath's office.  This was a big change for me.  First you filled out 9 pages of questions about medical history, symptoms, sleep habits, and monthly issues.   Then the appointment was to take 40 minutes.  She asked questions and listened and made notes about what I said.  She gave me the usual uncomfortable exam.  Then she said she was ordering some detailed blood work.  Turns out that I'm low on Vitamin D, progesterone, and my iron stores aren't what they should be.

I now have a long list of supplements including fish oil and molasses.  I also have a prescription for progesterone.   I feel guilty for the expense.  Nothing that I am taking will even go towards our insurance deductible.  I am hopeful that this is the beginning of feeling better.

Things Homeschoolers Hear

This is our seventh year of homeschooling.  I have been blessed to have the acceptance of most of our immediate and extended families.  There are a few older relatives that don't grasp the concept, but at least they don't criticize.

Our dealings with the public have generally been good as well.   Most of the time we go unnoticed.  There are a lot of year round schools in the area, so seeing a child out on a school day is normal.   Once in a while someone asks about school, and when they hear that we homeschool, they usually say good for you.

Then there are the comments from the ignorant.  I usually can come up with a wise crack comment--two days later.  Here are some of my favorites.

Setting: Grocery store line, late August 2004.  Baby Wild Thing is gnawing his foot.  The Crafter is by my side.

Person in line to the Crafter: It's too bad you weren't old enough to go to school this year.  I bet you'll be glad to be in kindergarten next year.

Me: Well, she's already doing kindergarten work.  We're homeschooling.

Person in line: Oh, I heard about homeschooling.  There were some people in Texas that homeschooled and beat their children.

Two days later response: Yes, and there was a third grader assaulted on the bus last week in this town.


Setting: Walmart line, midsummer

Me: I'll be glad when the school supplies go on sale.

Casual Acquaintance: Why?  Don't you homeschool?

Me: Uh, well we still need school supplies.

Two days later response: Well, I decided that it was time to try pencils and paper instead of writing with a stick in the dirt.

Setting: The college where I teach a math class.  The Crafter was with me because we intended to shop for birthday party supplies.

College Student to the Crafter: Oh, are you out of school today?

The Crafter: I'm homeschooled.  I'm going to do my math while Mama teaches her class.  Then we're going shopping for my birthday party.


College Student: How can you have any friends if you don't go to school?

The Crafter: Um...I go to church and a theater class.

Two days later response by the Chemist: None.  Some statements are just too stupid for a reply.