Bits and Pieces

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I find myself in such a slump--not only with blogging, but also in most areas of life. Probably the best two areas right now are my devotional life and my relationship with Jeff...and those are the most important...but why does everything else feel so blah? I'm tired. Even this morning, after a pretty good night's sleep, I was so sleepy that after reading some school stuff to Josiah and David, I had to tell them that they could have a break (oh, they love that) and I was going to sleep on the couch for 15 minutes. Well, the 15 minutes stretched into 45...they didn't seem to mind. :) But more than physical fatigue, I simply find myself unmotivated--not happy with how household things are going right now, but not finding the time or energy or motivation to change them. And I really don't want anyone else coming in to "fix" it for me. I want to get back to my old self so that I can do it...or even more, I want to grow and become a new self who can do it even better--myself! Sigh...

Anyway, a few huge topics (the NYC trip, for example) are hovering around my head that I don't want to let get away before I capture them through blogging. For now, however, all I can do is jot down bits and pieces of recent events.

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Yesterday, a very mysterious thing occurred around here. I had gotten two pounds of hamburger (in two separate packages...that's important in the story) out of the freezer to thaw for supper. I had put them in the draining rack in the sink; but while I was with Josiah at his swimming lesson, my mother realized that they wouldn't be thawed in time for supper so she moved them out to the picnic table so they could get the sun and breeze on them--a very reasonable thing to do. When she checked on them later, however, there was only one package left. Hmmmm...where could the other one be?

Option A: she moved it and forgot about it.
~ I don't think so. None of us could find it anywhere we looked, and besides, why would she just move one of the packages?

Option B: a person came by and took it.
~ Not likely at all. Nobody just "walks by" our house, and again, why would they just take one package?

Option C: a hawk swooped down and carried it off.
~ Maybe.

Option D: an animal climbed up on the picnic table and grabbed it.
~ We're thinking this is the most likely scenario, particularly since just the evening before, I had seen an opossum in the yard when I was taking some scraps out to the compost pile after dark. I wasn't sure an opossum could get up on the picnic table, but Jeff assured me one could...and he thinks it's highly probable that it was our culprit.

So, Jeff set a live trap to see if he could catch the critter. When I looked out on the patio this morning, we had indeed caught something--Smoky, our neighbor's cat.

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About a week and a half ago, our community was saddened by the tragic death of a man who was using his tractor to clear a path and prepare an outdoor campfire for a retreat to be held that evening on top of Mole Hill. Jeff and I did not know Lowell personally, but he was one of my dad's patients, and a number of people that we know knew him. Farming accidents seem to have a particular punch-to-the-gut effect in this community.

On Sunday afternoon, as we were driving home, Jeff looked up at Mole Hill and asked me if I had ever been to the top. "No," I said. He asked, "Why not?" Ummm...maybe because I never thought about going? Why would anyone want to climb Mole Hill anyway? :) Jeff, being a man who likes to climb things just because they're there--that's why I married him ;), decided to set off that very afternoon with Josiah to enjoy the lovely early fall weather and conquer a "mountain" that he's always wanted to climb. So off they went...

They didn't really know how to get to the top, so they parked the Jeep off Mole Hill Road and started climbing. Sure enough, they reached the "summit" and then they found the fire ring with the wood stacked neatly, ready for the campfire retreat that never happened. They discovered a number of people from the community, particularly Old Order Mennonites, who had come to, in a way, pay their respects to Lowell. Jeff spontaneously asked the group if he could read a psalm; of course, they agreed, so he read Psalm 42, then led in a silent prayer. Even though I've never had an overwhelming urge to climb Mole Hill, I do wish I had been there for that.

From that point, Jeff and Josiah discovered the trail running down the other side of the "mount," so they followed it and passed by the site of the accident, with the tractor still lying haphazardly on its side where it had rolled. At the bottom of the trail which emptied on the opposite side of the hill from where they parked, they were fortunate enough to get a ride back to the Jeep from someone who knows Jeff from the barbershop (and who has known my family for years). It turned out to be a great father/son outing, and a moving experience all at the same time.

~ "land that I love" - as they begin the ascent, the beautiful rolling farmlands of this part of the county stretch out behind Josiah
~ with no trail on the way up, the going was a little tough...not too bad though for my wild man Josiah :)

~ the tractor: a sobering reminder of the fragility of life...in an instant, everything can be changed
~ ah, a path for the way down! :)

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On a more upbeat note, Jeff and I had the opportunity to go out to see a late movie while his mom was visiting. She was willing to stay with the boys who were all in bed, and we went to a 10:00 movie. I can't remember the last time I went to a movie that late. :)

We saw Fireproof, and I can't recommend it highly enough! It was the perfect date night movie.

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Nothing good lasts forever, especially when the item in question is a sleeper passed down through three sons. Here is Tobin this morning...such a happy face...

...but look! What's peeking out of his sleeper? My goodness, it's his toe! That's not supposed to happen!
I remembered that my brother David and his wife Lori had given that sleeper to us when Josiah was a baby, and of course, I had to dig out a photo of Josiah wearing it. The picture below shows Josiah and I in late 2002 when the sleeper was new.
I guess maybe it's time to retire it. :)

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While reading Blessed by Baseballs and Bows recently, I saw this post about a boy in China who desperately needs a family. Jeanette, the author of the post, asked for others to please pass on his story so that prayers will reach heaven on his behalf and maybe--just maybe--his forever family will find him before he becomes unavailable for adoption because of his age. If you have a moment, click over to her blog and see his picture and read his story.

Linking to her post is the least I can do...I only wish I could do so much more.