Reflections From The Canning Jar @farmtails - Tumblr Blog

Dress Drama Continued

In case you missed my last note, I bought a slightly tight dress to wear for Ian’s graduation. It was 65% off at the Marion Carsons, which was going out of business. All sales were final so I threw away my receipt and the bag.

I started logging my calorie intake on My Fitness Pal the day after consuming the last bit of my Lowerys egg. So far I’m down two pounds, yeah me! Saturday morning I tried the dress on again and noticed that the sales clerk had neglected to take off the ink tag. Thus began the panic.

With no receipt, I frantically turned to Brad and demanded the credit card statement. He helpfully said that it didn’t really prove anything since there were no actual items listed, just the total charged to the store. I politely asked him to go get it anyway.

My next move was to Google “ways to remove ink tag from garment”. Wiki how opened with a statement about how they do not condone shoplifting. Fabulous, I now felt both foolish and criminally minded. There were five different options listed for safe removal. I once again consulted Brad, who thought I should the choose the one where you put the garment in the freezer overnight before cracking it open. Ummm, no thank you. We had no freezer space available. I refused to squish my dress alongside quail and squirrel. Also, I didn’t think an overnight stay in the freezer would improve the color or fit of the fabric.

I then proceeded to Google Carsons and the website said they opened at 9:00. At 9:01 Brad and I arrived at the parking lot just as an employee was taking down the signs reading “LAST 10 DAYS!” Oh dear! Brad rolled down the window and she mouthed “we’re closed”. I got out of the car anyway and pounded on the door, waving my credit card statement and the orange Cabelas bag holding my dress. I explained the situation. She took my bag, no questions asked and returned the dress with ink tag removed, apologizing, “I’m so sorry about that ma’am.”

Lessons Learned: 1. Buy something that fits. 2. Always check for the ink tag. 3. Never throw away the receipt until you’ve worn it.

The Lowerys Egg

Every year on Easter Sunday, Mom would wake us up pretty early by yelling down the hallway, “Get up and get ready for church!” It was never a problem for me to roll out of bed while it was still dark on this particular day. I knew my candy was waiting. There would be a large basket filled with treats AND the Lowerys Egg. It consisted of a large, milk chocolate shell, with assorted wrapped chocolates in the center. My favorite has always been the lemon cream. I would poke holes in all the other cream filled chocolates, letting a little leak out to assess the color, until I spied that pale yellow deliciousness. When I was younger I would eat it first.

As a teenager, the lemon cream would usually make it through until Sunday evening. I would sit in front of the TV, watching Charlton Heston portray Moses, and eat that chocolate as slowly as possible, savoring each bite. Every once and a while I would catch a whiff of Easter Lily, and all was right with my world.

At age 16, I demanded a prom dress that was too snug, promising mother I would lose weight and swore it would fit by May. With a little help from Slimfast and my Aunt Minnie, the seamstress, I was able to zip the dress. Unfortunately, my Lowerys Egg had to rest in the freezer for several weeks. I did not tell my siblings and no one found it. Right after prom, dress and shoes still on, armed with a butcher knife (frozen chocolate egg shell required a big knife), I pulled that sucker out of the freezer, cracked it open and gobbled down a massive piece of the shell. I managed to save the lemon cream for the following day.

As an adult, I discovered that Lowerys will sell you lemon creams all by themselves! I really did not need to know this, but Brad, in case you ever run out of gift ideas...

Mom still buys us the big egg. I ate the whole thing in 4 days, dipped the shell in peanut butter, and considered it will power that it was not gone in two. Brad gave me a lily. Life was good, but then I remembered that slightly tight dress I bought last week that I intend to wear for Ian’s graduation. It was 65% off. Who doesn’t love a good deal? There was no freezer space available for my egg. Graduation is not until June 1, but just in case you happen to see me at Eastbrook High School that evening, stuffed into a flowery blue dress, just smile and say hello. Do not say anything to make me laugh, I might rip the seams out.

Always Pack an Atlas

I recently took a road trip to Maryland with my parents, sister, and Mom’s dog, Yoda. When I asked to ride along I had somehow forgotten about the dog. Most of the time he’s a decent companion. He only weighs a few pounds, has never peed in my house, and is not afraid of my stove, which is more than I can say for Harry and Ginny. However, on the day of our departure, I believe that Yoda consumed cat turds for his breakfast. In any other circumstance, this is a minor crime and easily forgotten. But when you place him in the car with four humans, no where to sit but a lap, with the sun shining in, you get panting dog. Cat poopy, dog breath quickly filled the Malibu. This smell was only overcome by my own gaseous omissions. Everyone please take note: DO NOT EAT A GREEK SALAD THE NIGHT BEFORE A LONG CAR TRIP. I don’t care if it’s your anniversary and you really, really love that thing, do not do it. Just have some breadsticks and be happy.

In spite of the smell, we were all pretty pleasant to one another for the first few hours. Purdue was playing that day, so Terrill googled the correct XM station for Mother to turn it to. She turned it, but was not satisfied with 45 minutes of pregame, and proceeded to channel surf. Unfortunately, the hazard lights button is poorly positioned just below the radio and Mom inadvertently turned them on a few times, which in turn irritated Dad. Terrill and I quickly reverted to our childhood days and began passing notes back and forth in the back seat. Terrill tried to text me, but I still own a flip phone and an iPad with no data. She would show me the text, and I would reply with my note app. We arrived at Melissa’s with minimal cursing and had a great time.

On the way home, I regretted not packing the GPS. My thinking was this: Mom and Dad have made this trip over a hundred times, Terrill’s phone has a GPS, and my parents always keep an atlas in the car. I was mistaken. We stopped in Hancock, MD, but misread the exit sign back to I70. Terrill left her phone in Frankton. Her iPad had data, and she did find a map, but it took some time, and we ended up lost in rural Pennsylvania. I asked Mom where the atlas was and she replied, “I didn’t put one in the car.” Forty minutes later with some praying and Terrill’s map, we were back on the interstate. We missed the exit for 68, but Terrill and I gladly paid the toll on the turnpike. Second piece of advise: ALWAYS PACK AN ATLAS OR A GPS. I would recommend both. Sometimes the GPS gets stupid and tries to put you in a lake.

Have a safe and happy Spring break everyone!

A Celebration of Reading

Lessons Learned From Dr. Seuss:

You can always have a change of heart. (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

Try something new, you might like it. (Green Eggs and Ham)

No one is insignificant. (Horton Hears a Who)

Your brain is amazing. (Oh the Thinks you can Think)You cannot run away from your troubles. Eventually, you must face them. (I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew)

Some Good Quotes From My Favorite Books:“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”- Psalm 115:109 KJV

“So I’ve bought a big bat, I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me.”- I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew by Dr. Seuss

“For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary.”- Outlander by Diana Galbadon

“Love is the way back into Eden. It is the way back to life.” - Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?” - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” -To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“He liked the mere act of reading, the magic of turning scratches on a page into words inside his head.” - An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

“ I believe I am becoming pathetic. I'll go further, I believe that I am in love with a flower-growing, wood-carving quarryman/carpenter/pig farmer. In fact, I know I am. Perhaps tomorrow I will become entirely miserable at the thought that he doesn't love me back - may, even, care for Remy- but at this precise moment I am succumbing to euphoria. My head and stomach feel quite odd. ” - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

“There is nothing better than to be headed into the mountains on a clean fresh day with the sun rising through the trees and good company and good talk and the sense of ease that comes from the knowledge that you are in somebody else's car and it is not your transmission that is going to get torn out on a big rock.” - They Shoot Canoes, Don’t They by Patrick McManus

Reluctantly Armed

“A grown man walking in the rain with a sodden bird dog at his heels who can smile at you and say with the kind of conviction that brings the warmth out in the open, “I’d rather be here, doing this, right now, than anything else in the world,” is the man who has discovered that the wealth of the world is not something that is merely bought and sold.”- Gene Hill

Ginny was home for the week. It went something like this: chase a ball, lick Luke, chase a ball, chew on Harry’s ears, pounce on Luke, drag mud into the house, point a robin, chase the ball again. No skeet shooting occurred, because it rained all week and everything is a muddy, swampy mess. However, she is a bird dog. Eventually, when she learns to stop chasing birds, the training will end and she will come back home for keeps. The guns will come out, trips will be made to the preserve. There’s a plan for raising quail in the future, including construction of a flight pen.

However, the thing that’s been in the forefront of my mind this week are those guns. I cannot help it. Every other post on social media is screaming pick a side, right or wrong, armed or not, nothing is balanced.

First, I’d like to just put it out there that I’m not fond of guns, (There’s a story involving my front porch and a sandbox. If you’re curious, I will share it in person only.) but I married a hunter. Brad’s favorite smell is gun oil. His favorite past time is shooting pheasants. (Fortunately, I enjoy eating them.) Ian’s only request for senior pictures was that they involve Harry and his shotgun. Do I worry about safety even though it has been taught to them since a very young age? Of course I do. We have a gun safe. Brad has the key. I still went crazy when I cleaned out the toy box, which was only supposed to be used for coveralls, and found a pouch full of shells. I pray for protection for my family all the time, but more frequently when they are on a hunting excursion, including our own woods.

When it comes right down to the heart of the matter though, and a defense situation was ever required, I feel safer in a house with guns, and three humans who know how to safely discharge them, than a house without. I make myself shoot skeet every couple of years just to practice how to load the shells.

This does NOT mean I’m in favor of any teacher feeling pressured to conceal and carry a weapon at school. That’s craziness. I would never choose to do this. It DOES mean I’m in favor of a teacher, who wanted to conceal and carry, underwent training including how to defend the weapon, exhibited their ability to defend the weapon to law enforcement, and re-certified every year, should be allowed to do so. Here’s the thing I asked myself these past couple of weeks, “If BRAD were a teacher, with a concealed weapon, would I trust him to defend his students from the bad guy?” The answer is absolutely YES!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the majority of teachers fall into the same category as myself, and could be easily disarmed by a seventh-grader, so the only gun we should ever wield at school is a Super-Soaker on field day. However, there are a few that could make a difference between life and death.

GOOD NEWS? BAD NEWS

“They need a giant hook to grab the skater and pull them off the ice when they start to screw up.”- Brad, while watching the Men’s Free Skate competition on Friday Night

GOOD NEWS: It is quite entertaining to watch figure skating with my spouse, a sport he claims is not a real sport, like bass fishing or skeet shooting. I think he was merely bored and did not want to give up his cozy seat by the wood stove. Whatever the case, if a skater fell, I would gasp or say “oh no” and Brad would counter by yelling “Get the Hook!”

BAD NEWS: Four hours of my life were wasted on Thursday night, staying up til midnight, only to see Nathan Chen fall in the short program. My Jr. High students even noticed and commented that I looked tired. I must have looked pretty bad, because the only thing they typically notice is whether or not I have chocolate on my desk. GOOD NEWS: Nathan Chen redeemed himself on Friday and there was no need for Brad to yell “Get the hook!” Brad looked slightly disappointed.

GOOD NEWS: We now have a fully functioning remote control. Ian has the bad habit of squishing the remote into the couch or chair cushions, and for several weeks, we could not use the up button. My strategy was to punch in the number 400, and arrow down from there. I got sick of this and finally called Dish. BAD NEWS: It was $28 for a new remote. GOOD NEWS: Our receiver was deemed “obsolete”, so they would replace it, and two new remotes, at no charge. BAD NEWS: Dish sent the B team, AKA, Lyle. It took him five hours last Saturday, several calls to his supervisor, and a two different receivers to get it working. I was playing nice and gave Lyle a freshly baked brownie. He thanked me and deemed it delicious. Brad helped out by following him around the house and rolling his eyes when Lyle wasn’t looking.

GOOD NEWS: We also have a new internet provider. Goodbye HughesNet! GOOD NEWS: It is the local guy from Upland, and they sent Jerry. Jerry knew what he was doing. If only Jerry was here last Saturday, he could have assisted Lyle. BAD NEWS: We lost the Dish signal last night while Ian was trying to watch the NBA dunk contest. GOOD NEWS: Brad went outside, swept some snow off the dish, came back in and asked, “Who’s the best dad ever?” “That would have taken Lyle two hours.”

Good News/ Bad News

“We refuse to turn off our computers, turn off our phone, log off Facebook, and just sit in silence, because in those moments we might actually have to face up to who we really are.” ― Jefferson Bethke, Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

GOOD NEWS: I turned off my computer, was not on Facebook, and did not text anyone for 10 solid hours. BAD NEWS: This was not by choice. Our satellite dish was on the fritz again. (I only text with my iPad, which I need the internet for.) GOOD NEWS: Brad figured out the mystery, maybe. His theory does make sense. The Hugesnet dish, which is slightly misaligned due to a football incident in early December, had been working great, until last weekend. BAD NEWS: Brad’s theory: The rise in temperatures and sunshine cause the metal to expand just enough to make us lose connection with the satellite. Ken and Josh, let us know what you think. We only lose connection in the middle of a sunny day when the temperatures are above forty. GOOD NEWS: This combination is a rare occurrence in Indiana winters. We might be OK for another couple of months with only spotty loss of service. BAD NEWS: I still do not enjoy winter. BAD NEWS: An upgrade in service from Hughesnet costs more and we would get less data.

GOOD NEWS: Since it was warmish, sunny, and I had no internet, Luke and I took Harry to the park. BAD NEWS: My burning thighs reminded me that I have not walked any significant distance in quite some time. Riding the stationary bike while watching “Say Yes To the Dress” apparently does not give my thighs the same sort of work-out. BAD NEWS: Luke started griping that he’d rather be fishing two minutes into our trek beside the river. GOOD NEWS: We drove the Impala. Brad keeps a fishing pole and small tackle box in the trunk at all times for emergencies such as this. BAD NEWS: The fish were not biting. GOOD NEWS: Luke did not lose any of Brad’s lures.

GOOD NEWS: My new oven is here. BAD NEWS: We had to buy a new oven. GOOD NEWS: I did not burn down my house with the old oven. It was a close call. I put a meatloaf in on “bake”, but smelled it burning 40 minutes later. Since I was watching figure skating, I yelled at Brad to check the meatloaf. He informed me that I had put it on “broil”. I did NOT set the oven on broil. We both tried unsuccessfully to turn off the oven. Brad had to turn it off by flipping the circuit breaker. The cabinets around the stove were hot as well, as the counter-tops. GOOD NEWS: My new oven is self-cleaning, bakes evenly, and shuts off when you press “off”. BAD NEWS: My old oven lasted 14 years. The sales lady at Lowes told us we’d be lucky to get five out of this one. GOOD NEWS: That’s five years of evenly baked pizza and muffins!

Cupcake Conundrum

“Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It's all about the memories.”

- Buddy Valastro

I can bake a cake, no problem. It’s the decorating piece that I find difficult. My mother is not picky, so I needn’t have worried, but I still wanted to try to make it special. As long as Mom has chocolate, she is happy.

I baked her chocolate cupcakes, no problem. I tried to ice them all fancy like at Buddy’s bakery, but the “coupler” for my icing bag was missing, so I used a plastic baggie and snipped off the end. It looked like piles of turds on top of the cupcakes. I garnished with Hershey kisses.

We met at Texas Roadhouse for the birthday celebration, with 14 people, on a Saturday night, in Muncie. We were split up 7/7. I did not get to talk to Mom much, as she was at the other table, but I sent Bryce over with her cupcakes. At the end of the meal I went to give her a hug and she told me to take the leftovers home. I said, “No, I have some more at home, you keep them.” She handed the cupcake container to Dad. The lid was not locked. Eight over- frosted cupcakes spilled out onto the floor of a very crowded Texas Roadhouse. I apologized profusely to the wait staff.

I did not realize that a big glob of frosting had landed on my shoe until I got into the restroom. Fortunately, my shoe was brown.

Sorry Mom, I had good intentions!

38 Minutes

“If we’re followers of Christ, we’re not even hopeless when we stare imminent death right in the scary face.” -Beth Moore, Audacious

I was cozied up by the wood stove, petting the dog, and contemplating nothing deep, only what to fix for lunch. I glanced over at Brad and noticed him squinting. This is not a sign of age, he squints when annoyed. “Did you hear what happened in Hawaii?” he asked with a very frowny squint. “The emergency management agency told people to seek shelter, a ballistic missile was headed towards them, and it’s not a drill. The message went out to everyone’s mobile devices, but it was a mistake. 38 minutes later they sent another message saying it was an error.”

“So, everyone is ok?”, I asked. “Yes, but it caused quite a panic,” he replied. I went on with my day. Whew, false alarm, someone will lose their job for pushing the wrong button, twice, but massive death and destruction was avoided; back to housework.

However, as the day progressed, it started to sink in. For 38 minutes, the majority of adults in Hawaii had to be thinking that death was imminent. Sure, you might find a basement, but most of us are not preppers. We don’t have a bunker in the back yard filled with 3 years supply of emergency rations. The best you could hope for is the bomb blast to take you quick, avoiding a slow death of radiation poisoning. What would you do in those 38 minutes?

Most likely, if Brad and I were home, we would be blissfully unaware. We do not get messages from EMA on our flip phones. If Ian were home, he might tell us. I would gather them all together, dogs included (if Ginny ever comes home), hug them tight, pray, pray, pray, and cry. Ginny would provide comic relief by licking our faces off.

But what if I were in a coffee shop, a hotel lobby, a mall, a bus? Would I drop to my knees, then and there, grab some stranger’s hand, and pray with them, for them? I hope I would, but my natural introvert rebels. Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” Then said, “Feed my sheep.”

Have you fed any sheep lately? Some good shepherds always seem to find me when I need them the most. If you need some pasture grass, come find me. It’s not Spring yet, but there’s hay in the barn. If you step on a thistle, I will pull it out myself. Please don’t ask me to bathe your feet in wine, I’m all out. You’ll have to settle for water and some peroxide.

“Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.”- Hebrews 4:16

A Pukey Christmas

“ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”- Proverbs 22:6

“Mom, my stomach hurts.”- Luke on Christmas Eve, 6:30 p.m. at the beginning of the service

Unfortunately, the sermon was entitled “A Smelly Christmas”. I asked Luke if he needed to go home and he replied, “I’ll make it.” Earlier in the week, Luke was reminiscing about Christmas Eve being his favorite church service of the year. We sing sing carols, listen to a brief sermon, everyone lights a candle, the lights are dimmed and we end with silent night. It is beautiful. But, as Pastor Tim described a story from his days at Asbury that included a gross apartment with an odiferous, mystery item in the back of his refrigerator, ending in his roommate vomiting, I glanced over at Luke again. He said, “This is not helping.”

We made it home, and out of the car, before the nausea overwhelmed him. Brad cleaned up the frozen mess Luke left in our driveway on Christmas morning before the grandparents arrived. Luke spent Christmas on the couch, with a fever. The poor kid could not even muster excitement for his new shotgun, which happened to be bigger than Ian’s. Luke now has a 12 gauge, Ian’s is a 20.

He recovered by Tuesday, but the stomach virus hit the rest of us, all at the same time, leaving Luke as our soul caregiver. He was awesome! Luke managed to keep the wood stove going, do the dishes, fetch cold drinks, and the occasional wet washcloth for our foreheads. Ian would use his cell phone in his bedroom to call Luke on the landline in our living room when he needed something. Any other time, this would make me chuckle, but laughter just made me puke, so I held back.

I felt better by Thursday morning, got up, and asked Luke to go get some more wood. He replied, “No, I did everything yesterday, go get it yourself.” Ah, the uncaring 13 year old returneth. Oh well, he came through when it mattered most. Way to go son, way to go!

Mrs. Gullible

“Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible.” ― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

Thursday I received an email from Brad saying, “For Christmas you can order me these books and we’ll go to Lowes and you can buy me a tool set.” This sounded like a good plan, as I’m terrible at picking out gifts for my spouse.

Saturday morning we headed to Lowes, and as soon as we walked in the front door he said, “There it is,” and pointed to a fairly large box with a price labeled $39.99. I said, “That was easy,”picked up the box, and headed towards the check out. “Brad this is very light,” I muttered. He replied, “Julie, put it down, I’m messing with you.” I looked down at the box and realized there was a cute little boy holding a drill in each hand. It was a toy tool set! Who knew? The packaging was very authentic looking. A clerk made a comment and I felt my face turning red.

Brad then proceeded to find the real tool set, a tad more expensive than the toys. He set off the alarm attached to the box, and tried to muffle the noise by placing his hand over it while we were in line. People were staring, one lady was glaring. The line was really long. The clerk at check-out said to Brad, “Sir, I can go ahead and take that off your hands for you while you’re waiting in line.” I giggled.

Happy shopping everyone!

GOOD NEWS/ BAD NEWS

“December's wintery breath is already clouding the pond, frosting the pane, obscuring summer's memory...” ― John Geddes

GOOD NEWS: The wood stove is going. Those nasty little Ash Boers have assured that this family as well as countless others will have plenty of wood to burn for the next couple of winters. BAD NEWS: There are so many dead trees that some are going to rot before we put them good use. GOOD NEWS: I can use rotted trees in my fire pit.GOOD NEWS: Last Sunday was beautiful and I managed to scrape some lawn chair goo off the fire pit, enjoy my wine, and have a couple of s’mores. BAD NEWS: This Sunday, I’m deriving no enjoyment from the cold, other than watching the Colts fumble around in the Buffalo blizzard. I’m laughing only because the game no longer matters this season.

BAD NEWS: The wood stove dries everything out, including Harry’s skin. I’ve tried to tell him this but he does not listen. Brad was disturbed one evening this week, turned Harry over, (Harry was laying on his back, legs sprawled out, right in front of the stove) and muttered, “Stop that. You’re going to burn off your wiener.” I have to give Harry a fish oil pill every morning to help counteract the dry skin. The pill, of course, must be first coated in peanut butter or he refuses to take it. GOOD NEWS: Harry is so enamored with the stove that he does not sleep in our bedroom when it’s going, ensuring a better night’s rest for Brad and myself, free of dog licking and scratching noises.

BAD NEWS: We had some issues with our satellite dish last weekend and lost internet service for a few hours. Hughesnet sucked away two hours of my life I could have been spending outside that glorious Sunday. They claimed that our satellite was out of alignment, and it would cost $125 for a service person to come and take a look. After begging for a manager who was a native English speaker, they agreed to come take a look for free. Then John calls, claiming to be a Hughesnet owner. I put him on speaker phone. He cut in and out the whole time, informing us that our equipment was too old and we’d have to upgrade. The upgrade cost $349, and $20 more a month for less data. John claimed the speed would be must faster and we would love it. I said it was too expensive and tried to end the call. John then proceeded to try and sell us a phone system to replace our landline. (I assume this is the same phone system that kept cutting in and out on him the entire conversation.) Brad said we would think about it. By this time, the internet came back on and Ian had returned from work. After some questioning, Ian admitted to hitting the dish with a football. Brad called John back on Monday and asked Hughesnet to just come out and realign the dish. John said they no longer had the tools to realign the old dish to the old satellite. What??? I’m now thinking suspicious thoughts, but I’m not a tech person. What special tools are required to realign a dish? Why would a company sell off or throw away those tools when they still have customers receiving service off the older satellite? I don’t know, but it smells like a scam. GOOD NEWS: It has been working fine all week. We are going to keep our cheaper, slower, slightly misaligned service, with more data, until left with no other alternative. GOOD NEWS: The alternative we considered was Verizon’s plan with unlimited data for 4 devices. BAD NEWS: The monthly bill doesn’t look too bad until you add taxes and fees. It then becomes stupidly expensive.

Have a great week! I’m going to bake gingerbread cookies and keep laughing at the game in Buffalo.

GOOD NEWS/ BAD NEWS

“One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.” ― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated

GOOD NEWS: Terrill’s insulation is installed and drywall will be put up tomorrow. BAD NEWS: Since Eastbrook lost the semi-state game, Ian helped install insulation all day Saturday instead of traveling to Lucas Oil for the championship. BAD NEWS: He did not want to attend the Colts game on Sunday and be in the stadium. GOOD NEWS: Although he was not thrilled about it, Brad took Ian’s ticket. The roof was open, and Brad sat very close to me for three solid quarters to keep warm. Strangers might even think we were snuggling.

GOOD NEWS: I spent lots of time with my family over the extended weekend. There was a skeet shoot, fires in the fire pit, stromboli, and our Christmas gift exchange. BAD NEWS: I melted two lawn chairs on the fire pit. The wind tossed them over Friday evening after dark. I discovered this when I went back outside to roast hot dogs. GOOD NEWS: Some of the melted vinyl came off with an ice scraper. BAD NEWS: I was given the task of picking up shotgun wadding out of the bean field while Brad and the boys helped at Terrill’s. After 20 minutes of wandering the field I only found 3 pieces of plastic wadding, BAD NEWS: They shot around 90 rounds. BAD NEWS: I called Luke thinking maybe he had already picked them up. He said, “No, and the 12 gauge ones are hard to find. They blend right in with the bean stubble.” I wandered around for another hour and found a grand total of 30, most of which I just got lucky and stepped on, alerting me the their evil presence in the field.

GOOD NEWS: Mom’s Christmas decorations are up. Melissa did most of the work. BAD NEWS: The decorations are stored in unmarked totes and plastic bags of various shapes and sizes.

GOOD NEWS: I tried a new recipe and made pumpkin dump cake instead of pumpkin pie. It was delicious! BAD NEWS: Luke said, “Now you ruined Thanksgiving! There is supposed to be pumpkin pie.” BAD NEWS: Elaine and I are the only ones who ate any of the cake. Brad suggested the term “dump cake” might be a turn-off.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Please drive safely back home if you are traveling!

Thankful for...(Week 4)

“But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown.” - Charles M. Schulz

Coach praying with his team after the game

Christmas music on the radio

A spouse that does laundry

The smell of fresh cut pine

A spouse that cuts trees, for Christmas and for warmth

Humorous quotes from Luke: “Mom, this little tree you had last year, you know, this fake one that ruined Christmas, it looks LIT now that it’s in here (the game room) and you’ve like doubled the amount of Christmas spirit with two trees.”

Ian, for being mature. The football loss was devastating, but he still got up Saturday morning and went to work.

Pheasants in the freezer

My little pheasant hunter, who shot and cleaned his bird

A spouse that teaches his kids to hunt, clean, and cook their wild game (still working on the cooking part but they’ll get there)

Thankful For...(Week 3)

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”- 1 Timothy 4:4

Breakfast with Mom

Singing “God Bless America” with 60,000 other people and waving little flags

Soldiers rappelling from the rafters at Lucas Oil

Confetti

Ticked off Steelers fans (for the first half of the game)

Another Panther victory

Returning home Friday night to the warm glow of the woodstove

Rabbit fur hat with earflaps

Buckeyes

Electricity

Thankful For...(Week 2)

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”- 1 Chronicles 16:34

Hot cups of tea on Sunday morning

Minion wrapping paper

Warm dog on my lap

Super soft blankets

Thor fight sequence set to Led Zeppelin music

Not losing any digits while operating skeet shooter

Thai food with a friend

Fire in the fire pit

Mums that still have color

Home football game

Thankful For...

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”- Psalm 100:4

Nieces and nephews- smiling or sleeping on my shoulder

Warm bread, with garlic paste

Heat blasting in a car, after a cold Friday night football game

A scoreboard indicating victory

Harry getting a bath

Donuts, from the cider mill

Driving on cloudy days in October

Strings of solar lights

Amazon

Cranberry wine

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Reflections From The Canning Jar