Joinin in the Hodgepodge

1. I included this quote (attributed to William H. Danforth) in my blog post yesterday... "The best cure for a sluggish mind is to disturb it's routine." When was the last time you 'disturbed your routine' and how'd you do it?

My routine has been disturbed all summer, but the mind-challenging activities have included organizing props and costume closets at church, learning new quilting techniques and designing my own curriculum for a home design and decorating course I will be teaching in the fall. (And you wondered why you haven't seen me in bloggy world much!)

2. What's your favorite fried food indulgence?

I usually don't indulge in much fried food, but within the past few weeks I've had TWO funnel cakes (one at Six Flags and one at the county fair).  That should hold me over for a few more years.

3. Did you have an allowance as a kid? What did you do with it? Do you give your own kids an allowance?

I did have a small allowance and some of that had to be tithed and saved.  I spent what I could as fast as I could...on what I can't remember.

Mark and I chose to pay our kids for their chores. They understand that we do chores because we're all apart of the family, but I wanted them to enjoy earning money. We have weekly chore charts that we faithfully follow and they get paid for each chore they accomplish.  We encourage giving and saving and they have hopefully learned a lot.

4. What's something you wish you knew more about?

Computer programs/software. I would like to have a great working knowledge, in general.

5. Is there anything you feel too old to do anymore? If so, what?

I am too old to ride roller coasters. I call that wisdom.  Adrenaline rush? No thanks!

6. What's a song you think has a great first line?

I have heard so many songs,
listened to a thousand tongues,
but there is one that sounds above them all.

The Father's song, the Father's love,
You sung it over me and for eternity it's written on my heart.

(The Father's Song by Matt Redman)
This first line of the song immediately brings peace to my mind and body. I have often cried through this song.

7. Who are you writing to/for when you create a blog post? In other words...as you write, who is the audience in your head?

At the beginning of Angie's Ad Lib, I began writing for myself. It was a way to remember the ordinary days, the devotional thoughts, the funny moments; a journal of sorts. However, if I were just doing it for myself, I would have quit long ago. Now the audience in my head is often my sister-in-law or my married daughter. They both live too far away!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I recently read a post from a widely read blogger who takes time off every once in a while. She said she just has times where she doesn't have anything to write about and/or doesn't have the motivation to write everyday. She's accepted this about herself and graciously lets her readers know when she will be taking a break. She doesn't set a length of time, she just dismisses herself and unplugs for awhile.

I identified with her and admired her honesty. If you've been a faithful follower of mine for any length of time, you know I fall off the blogging bandwagon every now and then. Life gets busy and I just have no motivation to sit and share it in a post. However, I go and "live" a little and then come back ready to share what's been happening, hoping to connect with my friends and family who are blessed by my Ad Lib ponderings. Thanks to all who stick with me!

If you'd like to join the Hodgepodge,
 join us over at Joyce's From This Side of the Pond.

Blue is the Color for July

So Scrappy hosts a linky party each Saturday where quilters can share their latest creations that pertain to the color of the month. July's color is blue so I've included a picture of two mug rugs I made for Susan, a fellow blogger who won them during May. I forgot to take a picture before sending them off to her (I was a little excited!), but Susan took this picture and posted it on her blog. I borrowed the picture so you could see my blue creations!

I tried 4 new blocks and I love how they turned out, especially the tea cup. I used patterns from 130 Mini Quilt Blocks by Susan Briscoe, which I had borrowed from the library. I enjoy the book so much, I ordered myself a copy on Amazon.

Now that things have settled down for a couple of weeks, and the electricity is back on, I'm hoping to get a lot of quilting done this month! There should be more blue posts to come!

New Experience/Old Movie

Have you ever watched an old movie for the umptieth time and responded to it in a new way?

That happened to me last night as I watched

Barefoot in the Park is a great '60's film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.  Last night I was strolling through the new releases on Netflix and came across this old classic. I've seen this movie many times, most often identifying with the different character traits of both husband and wife depending on the circumstances.  However, last night I identified with a new character, the mother of the bride. 

You see, my oldest daughter left Pennsylvania on Thursday towing a UHaul with all her and her husband's belongings and are trekking across the country to settle in Colorado so they can attend seminary. 

She's moving away.

I've had moments of sadness and tears, but they been coupled with joy, knowing that my children are following the Lord's leading and embarking on their new life together in a new place.

As I watched Jane Fonda's character so desperately want the approval of their new apartment from her mother, a stinky little place with no room for a real bed, a hole in the ceiling that allows the snow to fall into the living room and the 6 flights of stairs, I got teary and said aloud, "That's Ashley on Saturday!"

My daughter and son-in-law will have their first real apartment today and I know they will love it! I loved mine and it was a hole-in-the-wall. Their first apartment is sure to be much better.  They have texted details along their journey and arrived safely, but I wish I could be like the mom in Barefoot in the Park, there in person to gush my approval and be an encouragement.  In time we will visit, but for now I wish them well!

It's funny how we can experience a movie or a song differently when our circumstances change. I enjoy the evolution, but it certainly makes me feel old. If you haven't seen Barefoot in the Park, I highly recommend it!

O' Pioneers! (Weathering the Storm!)

How did the pioneers do it?

Back story: on Thursday, we had family arrive from MN for the graduation of my son, the baptisms of my younger daughters and a week's vacation. We enjoyed each other's company eating and relaxing together on Thursday night; Friday was a workday for both me and my husband so our extended family went to DC to see friends.

On Friday evening we went to the church and all pitched in to make Rhett's homeschool graduation a success. He graduated alone, but we had about 40 family members and friends who celebrated with us. At the conclusion, we tore everything down, packed up the mini-van/truck and headed West for home...right into the strangest storm in which I've ever driven.

There wasn't a lot of water, not like the walls of water we have encountered in other VA storms, but the wind gusts topped 90 miles an hour, we later learned. The rain came at our car in waves, like I was driving into a shallow sea. We couldn't see much but crept along the freeways at 25 miles an hour, until the storm had passed. By the time we reached the last paved road before our own street, we were down to one curvy lane, dodging trees, branches and dead animals.

We turned into our street to see several cars lined up along one side. We had trees down blocking the way home. We drove up to the barrier and the boys started coming up with a plan. TJ, our son-in-law, climbed over so he could go back to the farm and get his jeep and straps to pull the trees out of the way. Mark had his truck on the entrance side and they tossed the straps back and forth until they could get a pass for the four young girls to be handed over. Ashley, my oldest, climbed over (rock climber that she is, in a dress, no less) and ferried the girls back to the farm so they could get to bed. We were, of course, out of power, so she got the candles all set up around the house so that when the other 6 adults got back, everything would be in order. That was about 11:30pm. My sister-in-law and I tried resting in the car while the men worked on moving the debris until they made a pass-through for the cars. We made it home, sat and chatted for a few minutes and fell into bed, exhausted about 1:45am.

The next morning we awoke and Mark ran to find some water and ice. While out, he heard that over 1 million people were out of power in our area. On the IPhone we saw the map from our local power company and realized we were probably in for a long outage.

We had planned to have the girls' baptism in our pool and share in a potluck around noon on Saturday. The phone providers were out and we could not get through to most of our friends to tell them not to come. Out of 12 families, I only reached and turned away 4. The other 8 came on out! We tried calling back the other 4 to invite them to come anyway, but again, we could not reach anyone. We had NO ELECTRICITY and NO WATER (since we're on a well), but hosted a party with 28 in attendance. We used pool water to flush when necessary and grilled burgers. I LOVE friends who can go with the flow and party, despite adverse circumstances. The girls were baptised by their uncle and the day is sure to be etched in their minds. We ate, chatted on the breezy porch and the kids swam in the pool for the afternoon. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday night we suffered through the heat and slept at home. I went to work on Sunday morning and got ready at church. The rest of the gang (9 of them) went to the neighbor's house who had a generator and got showers. I was surprised by how devastating the storm had been once people came into church telling their stories. Most of the staff in our children's department did not have power. I was amazed by the dedication of the staff and volunteers who came to serve.

Sunday afternoon/early evening we spent at my parent's house for dinner. Mark, his brother and Ashley made a big German dinner which was a treat for all. My parents had company so we headed back to the farm to endure another night of sleeping in the heat and humidity. We dragged mattresses down to the main level and slept camp-style, because the heat upstairs was unbearable.

On Monday we ended up at IHOP for brunch and then packed our bags to go back to my parents. Their company had left and we descended upon them. The air conditioning and running water are daily conveniences we certainly take for granted! We ended up spending part of the days and nights camping out at their house through Wednesday afternoon, with either Mark or I sleeping at the farm to take care of all the animals. We were watching our neighbors animals and house, as well, so it was necessary for someone to be around for the evening and morning chores.

The electricity came back on at the farm on Wednesday at 2pm! Hallelujah!! I got the animals taken care of, then headed to my folk's house for one last dinner together. Mark took our extended family down to DC for the fireworks and Rhett and I came back to the farm with everyone's belongings, the remnants of my fridge/freezer and our laundry. We got the house put back in order and then collapsed into bed.

flushable toilets, running water, lights at the flip of a switch or computer technology, but that doesn't diminish the stuff they were made of! Way to go, pioneers!

I'm so thankful that we weathered the storm and I continue praying for the workers trying to restore power and for those folks who are still without power. May everyone be safe and back up soon!

PicMonkey Rocks

Just a quick note to you ladies who said to try out PicMonkey! It rocks and so do you!! I'll be back with pictures soon! Yay!

P365-Weeks 16, 17 & 18

I haven't done well keeping up with posting my 365 pictures now that Picnik has closed down. It was so easy to edit photos using that site and I haven't found anything that fills in the gap. However, I promised myself that I would do my best to catch up, not only for myself, but for my sis-in-law who keeps up with our life by reading my blog.

So, I've spent considerable time this afternoon putting together the rest of April and the beginning of May. I hope to catch up by next weekend so I can participate in Sarah's next linky party.

Week # 16:

Sunday, April 15 -

The pool cover came off today. Nasty. Ready to be serviced!

Monday, April 16 -

I got out my English mug rug and had tea and lemon cookies!

Tuesday, April 17 -

wrote about People Colors in a separate blog post

Wednesday, April 18 -

a wounded bird Mark packed up

and took to the local wildlife rescue center

Thursday, April 19 -

 German candy from a new friend

Friday, April 20 -

 We showed Tara the tiles that Ashley & Rhett

made for the floor of the local Nordstoms many years ago.

Saturday, April 21 -  

Happy Birthday to Tara - lunch out to Red Robin, her favorite!

(love the fashion glasses!)

Week 17:

Sunday, April 22 -  

Katie's birthday present to Tara - a Big Sister/Little Sister Necklace

(ok, it was the night before, but they wore the necklaces to church the next day!)

Monday, April 23 -

Mail to go to the post office

Tuesday, April 24 -  

Charms getting cut for a quilt swap

Wednesday, April 25 -  

Tara was in a play entitled, "We're the best."

She was a lady bug. Aww.

Thursday, April 26 -

Caramel Apple Cake.

Extra decadent because I made it with twice the amount of caramel that it called for. Oops!

Friday, April 27 -  

 600 charms packed and ready to go.

Saturday, April 28 -

Oops! Missed this one!

Week 18:

Sunday, April 29 -

I found this orange-soaked pound cake on the back of a Betty Crocker pound cake box and gave it a try. So yummy!

Monday, April 30 -

Oops! Missed another one.

Tuesday, May 1 -   

My kids were gone for a few days so Mark and I

cleaned the LR furniture! So romantic.

Wednesday, May 2 -  

 Spring rain. No time to close the barn door.

Thursday, May 3 -

First dip in the arctic pool! Brrr.

Friday, May 4 -  

A good wind before another rain

Saturday, May 5 -  

Rhett played Mr. Valentine in the play Twelfth Night

with his Shakespearean Youth Acting Troupe.

He also wrote or arranged all the music for the show.

Good job, son!

Update

Sometimes life is too funny! I whine about being busy and then announce a goal with the hopes of keeping on task. Then...

my computer crashes.

Blue screen.

Beeping.

My husband emptys the poor thing and reinstalls a fresh Windows and I'm still getting a blue screen every once in a while.

Diagnosis: a new hard drive next. Sigh.

So if I can get on, I'll be sure to do so. If not, I'll be back.

BTW, have you all seen We bought a Zoo? (movie on DVD) We just watched it tonight and I highly recommend it. 

Makes me want to go have an adventure!

Have a blessed Sunday, everyone!

Goal for June

I don't have much time today, but after posting only 3 times in May on this blog, I I feel lazy. Would it help if you knew I was super busy and will have photos to show you once I get them off the camera? Nope? Didn't think so. Just like I tell the kids, good intentions don't account for much.

I've set a goal to post to one of my two blogs each weekday in June, beginning today. Hopefully, you'll see more of me around here. I figure if I tell you now I will be more likely to keep my word. Thanks for being there for me. : )

If you have a party with kids in attendance be sure to check out the tricky summer treat on my cooking blog (link in the sidebar.) It's a fun one they will enjoy making and eating.

Until tomorrow,

Aunt Epp

I have a page on my blog where I record the books I've read during the year (see above). I keep this list mainly for me, but when I come across something interesting, I share it here on my home page.

I recently finished:

Aunt Epp's Guide for Life by Elspeth Marr

The subtitle of the book is Miscellaneous Musings of a Victorian Lady, which is an accurate description! My daughter, Ashley, picked up this book and thought it was entertaining so she decided to share it with me. The book is broken down into an alphabetical list of categories that Aunt Epp writes about, everything from Apples to War. She has many home remedies that make you glad you live in modern times. :)

This book gave me a new perspective on the Victorian lady, one that shows how transitory intellectualism was during her lifetime. Aunt Epp can be conservative through one entry and quite open-minded (Darwin) the next. I certainly didn't always agree with her, but I felt I got a fresh view of the changes that occurred between the 19th and 20th centuries.

Aunt Epp was a writer, a journaler. I can imagine she would have been a blogger had she lived in our time, despensing knowledge and sharing opinions about everyday topics to a worldwide audience. (Don't you marvel at how cool it is that we get to share our thoughts with people we would have never met, if we didn't live in the computer age.)

My favorite excerpt from the book:

Diaries

Maintain a diary all your days.  A diary is a doorway to a second life, running parallel to the one you live, and produces even a third life, for by recording the day's events, you preserve the days like berries. You may return to that day, taste it, and live it over again, but without that act of preservation the day has gone; it is nothing.  More than this, by preserving your days, you will allow others to live that day for themselves, that hour, that afternoon, should they read your record, a day culled from the past, perhaps even hundreds of years from now; and this indeed is the aim and enjoyment of all writing, however humble, to seize the day, and to store it away on a secret shelf, out of reach of the Reaper and his swinging scythe.

An original poem by Aunt Epp:

WEEPERS AND SWEEPERS

Wars are made by busy men
Just an hour or more,
Women do the clearing up -
Loss a longer chore.

When your boy has done his bit
And lies on foreign plain,
Sit out your life on window seats -
Watch the falling rain.

If the broken bits they brought
Lie under yonder leaf,
Fit with your heart, cross-stitch the grass,
Take time to mend your grief.

Leaders have no time for us,
Heroes do as must -
We are the sweepers-up
Of centuries of dust.

Crazy May!

I'm so thankful the A-Z Challenge was not in the month of May! Good thinking, folks! Anyone else feeling the pressure of the end-of-school activities?

Writing everyday for the challenge was enjoyable and I thought I would just naturally continue writing more often than once or twice a week. Then life happened. :) You know the one!

We just wrapped up our Awana program and one of my girls, Katie, was working feverishly down to the end to get two books completed this year. If she knew the word ogre I think she would have called me that. She had set the goal for two books herself, but lost motivation just two weeks before the finish line. What? I pushed, pulled, prodded, cajoled, maybe yelled, threatened and all the other nice things mommies do. Two days before the final meeting she was barely talking to me. She was next to tears with anxiety, but I knew she had the last sections that she needed memorized. She was good to go, but didn't believe in herself. It's sad when that happens to your child. Anyway, she pushed through it and when she finished on Sunday night she came to me beaming with pride wanting a high-five and a big hug! I'm so proud that she hung in there and got it done! We might have taken her to IHOP that night for a small celebration! :)

Speaking of celebrations, I have two college graduates this weekend! My daughter Ashley will be graduating with a Youth Ministries major and my husband will be finishing up his Bachelors in Business Admin. They will get to walk together! I will be a crying mess, for sure! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share with you.

Ashley and her husband plan on moving to the Denver area to attend seminary in the fall and Mark will continue on towards his MBA. Super proud, can you tell?!

Other plans for May: out-of-state family visiting during the month, Mother's Day with both our mothers and daughter, our end-of-year concert (my handbell group and children's choir will perform), finishing up our own homeschool year and taking achievement tests, a year-end party at our farm for my volunteers that serve with me at church (22 families), a year-end picnic for our CoOp, and the regular chores of running a farm: lots of mowing, chicken herding, weeding, and swimming. :)

I'm exhausted just reading the list! Today I did what any self-respecting procrastinator would do, I took a nap. Ha! Really. Sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do, right? Anyway, it gave me the energy to share with you all that's on my plate. I have high hopes of blogging every day on one of my two blogs. I figured if I set a high goal, you might see me at least a couple times a week. :)

Feeling like...

How about you?



* Participating in the Pinterest Post Party on my cooking blog (see link in sidebar.)