Well, when stress mounts, Mama's emotions go on a roller coaster. I tried to hit the ground walking quickly (no running for me!), but forgot that others like to take their Saturdays at an easier pace. I'm starting to feel the crush of the impending move (where and when is still to be determined). The property manager of the condo would like us to prepare the condo for showing by May 1st. We can still extend the lease month by month, but he would still like to show it in the meantime. That means that packing has begun! Now, we can still pack without having a firm place to go because it's got to be packed up at some point regardless right? I'm so glad that I didn't unpack everything. I kept a lot of stuff in their original boxes, dug through the box if I needed something, and then put it back. I also kept most of the labeled boxes I knew we would need again this year. That being said, it is still difficult to know what to start with. We decided to start with the DVD's we aren't using and Keturah did most of that herself! She's very motivated to help with the moving process because a) I offered a little bit of money if she and Justin would help me without arguing and whining about it a little bit every day and b) she can't wait to move and have her own room! Plus, she's my little organizer. I'm excited she's so excited to help! And Justin was strong enough to carry boxes to the garage as well!
But that was all this afternoon and evening, before and after church. This morning I combed through the taxes again because I noticed when I entered something for the Canadian taxes, it drastically cut our refund to less than $10. Boo! There is a feature I think on both sides of TurboTax where you can talk to a live person for an extra fee when you are ready to finalize everything. I think I might take advantage of that because it's still cheaper than going to another accountant. I messed around with the US side again, making sure I had all the Canadian income entered correctly. We don't have to pay taxes on Canadian income because of the treaty between the two countries, but we do have to pay self employment tax on the little bit that Jared did earn last year. Self employment tax is not reduced by deductions and credits. You have to pay it even if you owe no other tax. It totally makes sense. So, I'm pretty much ready to hit the send button on that one, as well as estimated taxes for the first quarter of this year. I'll be so happy when everything is sent in. Then I can really focus on packing and finishing up homeschooling, etc.
So, I was pretty mad after spending several hours on the taxes and not really doing much with them. And feeling the pressure of needing to pack, it sent me into a bad mood, of which I'm sorry. I did my best to talk myself out of it, and one thing that brought a smile to my face was the fact that there is a ton of interest in the homeschool support group I started with another friend this week. Some of my spiritual gifts include teaching, encouraging, and administration, and this group will give me the opportunities to do all those things. And as I was reflecting on that, I got to thinking. Maybe being away for 4 years on PEI was like going away to college to get a 4 yr degree. My degree would be in learning about the different homeschooling styles and methods, different curricula, and different type of people that homeschooling. Maybe Jared and I both added to our business degrees a major in leadership development and how to handle it when things go wrong. I think I also minored in Canadian culture and history. So, basically, it's like studying abroad. And now, we are bringing back what we learned and applying to our current situations, Jared in the e2 Ministry that equips elders and I in starting this homeschool support group that apparently is a very needed thing in my circle of friends. We've also thought long and hard about this house we've put an offer on and how we can use it for ministry as well. I still believe that ministry can happen in small homes as well as a little bit bigger homes, but, it's nice when people can spread out a bit. We want to heal. We want to take what we learned, apply it, and move on. We want to start this new chapter of our life, hopefully a chapter that will last a long time because I dislike moving so much! I dislike moving because I don't like how much time it takes to do it when I'd rather spend it on educating my kids and encouraging others. But, it's also part of life, and I'll live through it once again. I'm just glad it's a local move and I don't have to make sure everything is perfectly tight or fits into one moving truck, etc.
And church was great as well. They picked some great "preparing for Easter" songs about victory and resurrection and the cross, etc. And Mr. Father in Law delivered another great sermon on the battles and war waging in the spiritual realms. That hit home as we go through these next couple of months and how there will probably be numerous attempts from the devil and his minions to make me bitter and angry and anxious and fearful. We need to be on our guard and sit back and see what God will do. I fully expect to have moved by July 1st. Why? Because we've always moved around then, lol. Plus, I would love for it to happen before that time because I think the men are gone that last week of June and/or first week of July. Point is, go listen to the message this week!
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| The bleached kool aid water finally turned a different color a couple of hours later! This is what bleached cherry kool aid looks like! Kids, do NOT try this at home and do NOT drink it! |
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| Abishai's word for "Barbie" sounds close to "Bible" which is his word for "book." BUT, yes, he found all these Barbies in Keturah's room and laid them all down in a neat row to tuck them in under the covers. |
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| Preacher man had a fancy new piece of equipment tonight. Instead of his usual marker and paper pad, he's got a touch screen TV with his Scriptures and bullet points. I don't think he'll have the Scriptures up there every week but this week, he used 22 Scriptures and was making certain points about certain words in each one. Cool! Oh, and he spoke to Matt in the catwalk to illustrate the point that there's a war going on in the heavenly realms. Matt was miked, and Gary had Matt throw down some balloons to prove he was up there. Actually, Benaiah was up there on the catwalk too! He's been shadowing Matt for a few weeks now. My little boy was 30 feet up in the air on a catwalk! Ah! |
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| Daddy let Abishai out of his carseat when we stopped for gas and showed him the gas pump nozzle. Thankfully, Abishai thought it was scary and tried to get away from it. I really don't need my baby smelling like gas thank you. |
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| Don't take my picture, Mom! |
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| Awww, I think this one is a great pic of us! I think he looks a lot like me. Most people think Keturah is my mini me, but that's because she wears glasses, has straight hair, and is a girl. She's more like Grandma Leah. Justin has my personality and my eye color. He and I get along the best. |
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| Wow what a difference 1 year makes! Look at Justin carry that big heavy box of DVD's! |
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| Daddy wrote Benaiah's and Justin's names wrong on purpose. |
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| Then he wrote a conglomerate of their names, "Behjustrahshai." It's always been a joke for when I don't know whose name I won't to call so it comes out sounding like "Behjustrah" but now we needed to add "shai" for Abishai. |
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| "I see the moon and the moon sees me!" - a poem from a kids treasury of poems |
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| Sunset! |
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| Lots of "bice" riding. He loves for us to walk with him. Beautiful evening. We were cleaning up the garage a bit to prepare it to receive all those boxes we're going to pack and to pull out the empty boxes we'll use. I now feel ready to attack the project for a good 1 hr a day with the kids' help. Onward towards our next transition! |
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