The King

When I asked Thing One what he wanted to be for Halloween, he thought for a moment then replied, "a queen." After pausing to collect my thoughts and compose myself, I simply explained that a king and a queen are the same thing, except a king is a boy and a queen is a girl. A few moments later, I asked him again, "What do you want to be for Halloween?". He replied, "a qu- a king." Okay. Last night we went to a very kid-friendly Halloween party. I was going to dress Thing Two as a pumpkin, but her feet were came to the knees of the outfit. So we moved on to plan B. Turns out okay, me thinks.

Photo "tag"

This is the 6th picture from my 6th photo file. It is a picture of the first house we lived in. On 700 acres of property. Which we did not own.

I only have to think for about 3 seconds to remember the feel of the air and the smell of the air on days like this - a mixture of crisp pine and snow blended with the earthy smell of leaves & dirt and a occasional waft of farm. The air would feel dry, fresh, clean and cool. Inside the house had a musty, earthy, mildew-ey smell combined with bleach and whatever candles I happened to be burning.

There have been many days in the past year that I have acutely missed this place. Solitude. Beauty. Rock formations. Clean, fresh air. Little Scrubgrass Creek. Trail-running. Simplicity. This week I don't miss it at all. Because if we were there, I'd be raking. All week and most of next week, too.

I think one of the main reasons I miss this place is because I think I wasted an opportunity to be truly content and trust in God to supply my needs. I am thankful that even in uncertain times now, politically, economically, family-y, I have the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and to be at peace with where God has placed me in this moment.

Ouch!

My parents both have an inner ear disease that effects their balance and hearing. My dad's symptoms have been worsening over the past few months and he is undergoing a new treatment, the first was today. He basically got a cortizone shot in his ear drum & beyond. If you want details, look up intratympanic steroid treatment. For strong stomachs only! He did say it was painful and stung a lot. But the pain was short-lived. So the results remain to be seen. There are three more shots scheduled. Some research suggests that this disease may be genetically linked in some way; after seeing what my parents have been through, I must admit I'm a little concerned for my future. Based on everything I've learned though, I have at least 5 more years before I'd notice any symptoms. So until then...

Together

I love watching this video after a less "loving" day. You know, the days where there is more yelling, biting, shoving than laughing, hugging, cooperating.

Which comes First?

How do you prioritize when your family is sick? My answer depends completely on the situation.

For example, if your loving 2 1/2 year old says, "Mommy, I need a hug," climbs onto your lap then pukes all down your shirt (yes, inside, too), what is the first thing you do?

a) tell child you love him and your sorry he feels yucky?
b) call husband?
c) calmly assess the situation and devise a plan for action
d) puke on the child?

Yup, that's a toughie. I decided to go with a then c which resulted in b.

OR... You are just not sure what order to do things:
List: get dehydrated hubby some liquid, change poopy diaper, provide tummy-safe snack for hunger-cranky child, pee, feed dog.
This situation definitely gets resolved by addressing most annoying issues first:
Snack, liquid, dog, diaper, pee (if no one else needs anything - btw, maybe this is why women are prone to bladder and urinary tract infections?).

but alas, I still have time to sit here and blog as everyone in the house is asleep and I already did my Clorox wipe-down of the day. Now, here is a question to which I have no good answer: what do you feed your sick family and yourself for supper? Be careful, now. I don't want to eat anything major until I am sure I'm not going to see it again. But I can't live on crackers for a week, either. Help!