The J6 Journey: Year 5, October 2nd-4th, 2020: Socialized Out and Recovery

Phew! I had a big day yesterday, and the kids had a big day today. Last night was an outdoor concert for me. Today, the kids had Grandpa Bible class in the morning, and then park day. And then I visited with friends during park day and then we had dinner with Gary and Leah and the two other families that have a spouse that work at e2, the Clodfelters and the Poers. Nothing to worry about in either place trying to impress them. Although I read in my Bible study this morning about how I am accepted by God, then strengthened by that fact, which gives me a sense of significance and then I can achieve the things God has called me to do. So I don't need to feel the pressure to please anymore. So, that helps for sure. It was hard getting everybody going but I managed to finish the concert blog in less than 24 hrs. The playlist needs a bit of editing, but that's easy since I took way less photos and videos this time! I met two new to homeschooling families today. Abishai skinned his knee and leg a little bit on the sand. It was pretty chilly at the park, too. Caiden came but not Eli. Abishai did play with other kids most of the time while Justin and Caiden went looking for Pokemon GO characters. Then we came home for screen time, rest, and I typed up the main portion of the concert blog. I didn't get any real chores done and no school, but we'll use tomorrow to catch up.

Dinner was yummy with picnic type foods. Everybody contributed so we brought chips and dip. I had no problem following the conversation because I've know both of the other families for 15 or more years. But those two families have no clue about each other. I think Gary was just trying to get some team building going through general fellowship. And I had drank my third cup of caffeine so I could pay attention. Now it's wearing off. Abishai ran showing off. "Miss Ellen! Miss Ellen! Look at me!" He's always the center of attention and when he's not, he makes that known. I'm all peopled out so it's relax and play my game time going to bed on a happy note. Well, I know it doesn't affect me, but I had no clue that Abishai would be over at Ethan's for most of the weekend. He even took Saturday off so he could spent more time with Ethan. Say what?! What about your family, dude? Whatever, it's the way of college age students, eh? I don't text him to ask how's he doing, and he doesn't text me. Probably not a good thing. I need to initiate the conversation.

Come play with me, Mom! I missed you! He was almost in tears last night when I left for the concert. So, I told him I would wake him up when I got home to say good night. And I did. And I think he slept more peacefully after that.

Can't catch me!

By the way, he's wearing day clothes over his pjs again. Goof!

"Watch me climb the rock wall!" as he "jumps" from ledge to ledge.

Dude, those are pretty far spaced out. Careful!

Spinning.

Reminds me of the bridge over the stream near the Beech Grove playground. Just lovely!

Ducks!

Be careful not to fall in!

Justin's writing curriculum came today! Yeah! So I have to study it a bit before I get him started. Hopefully I will get to that this weekend.

Justin learned how to play pyramid solitaire like my Gramma Koski did. And she loved puzzles, and Keturah loves puzzles! It's a win win!

And the men enjoying some conversation.

It was another "tie up lose ends" kind of Saturday for me. I COULD have tackled the fall clothing switch. BUT I also needed to rest and had forgotten to add it to my list. I'll gear up and do that next weekend before our little mini vacation at the end of October. I had a lot of little things, but it wasn't too stressful. I dropped these things off to some friends and had some good chats. The kids puttered. Jared worked on the treehouse. Tomorrow will be church, lunch with Benaiah, and then same thing, rest, not much to do. I even get to finish the Hobbit films tonight, watch a behind the scenes video of Poldark, and get all those off my desk, too. Wahoo for clear desks! And not many photos to process! Wahoo!

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I'm sure it's not Nascar but how cool is that! Must be a big fan or someone who wanted Crist to sponsor their car or maybe he asked, who knows. He's getting back into the swing of things, slowly but surely. It's good to see someone actually make a comeback, especially in the Christian culture, from some very serious mistakes. Reconciliation between people does happen! It's just not televised. And loyal fans know how to forgive. Not forget, but because we all can be saved by the grace of Jesus and come back to Him, even those who do very awful things, we can be restored and move on with our lives. And that's what's important. Not just kicking someone out of the church because of their sin or they can't lead anymore because their marriage fell apart or they had an affair. For a time, yes, they need to leave, but it's time to rejoice when the healing process is far enough long that they can come back and be restored. THAT'S what we need. And we need to pray for President Trump and his wife Melania. They have contracted Covid-19. He's not invincible. But the awful awful people saying they hope he dies from it? That's uncalled for. He's a person. Have a heart. Whether it be mild or really awful, I hope he recovers. He's a father and grandfather, too. No one deserves to be sick or rot in jail. Punished, sure. Rehabbed. Yes. But to wish evil on someone is just pure evil in and of itself. All are created by God in His image. We are all God's children, regardless of whether or not we accept that as fact. We all can be forgiven by God and accepted by Him no matter what. From John Crist to President Trump to even Hitler, God wants ALL to be saved and He loves them ALL. Have a heart.

Sunday went well. I was in a good mood for church for once. Even volunteering in the nursery was great. We only had one baby and someone else held him. I mean, I want to do my job, but sometimes just sitting there for the hour is refreshing. I get to talk with Joanna Henry again, just like in the old days when I would do nursery with Nellie Simmons. I've missed that. I'm missing my 4:30 nursery crew, but that's ok. What was fun this morning was when they sang the chorus to "Agnus Dei." I always have to chuckle to myself because no one has a clue that a) Michael W. Smith wrote it b) and he wrote it for a CHRISTMAS album back in 1987 and c) a boys' choir sang it and d) he started singing it again when he started doing his worship albums in the early 2000's. Then Third Day covered it on one of their albums and Mac Powell sings it often. And we just sang the whole version on Thursday night with Mac, Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael. So, when I hear the song, I already have 3 different versions in my head, lol! It was one of my mom's favorite songs, too. Anyway, fun times with that.

Meanwhile, Jared took the kids home and made lunch for us. Benaiah came over, too. Fish, rice and veggies. I was able to ask Benaiah some more questions about this accounting degree thing and he's done all his research and just repeating back to me everything I thought about 20 years ago. I'm trying to hold my tongue, but it's hard sometimes. I did let him know my concern about not experiencing a Christian college campus and he said he definitely had thought through that as well and is sad about it. He's got a solid plan, he knows how to apply, he knows the classes he needs to take, etc. Mama doesn't need to step in. Just be patient. Who knows. Maybe he'll get his CPA license and eventually work for a church or non profit on the side. I'm sure he would make a great leader and Christian influence anywhere he goes. He's got his spiritual life in order, too. I just need to let go. And Joanna Henry is one wise woman. I know what she's been through with a couple of her kids. She doesn't talk about it specifically, but when she speaks, she's speaking out of experience. That's why I surround myself with moms that are at least a few years ahead of me. Like Maria Houpt, whom I invited to tea on Friday when she's in town. She was my very first MOPS leader and has always been full of wisdom, telling it to me straight. And as I'm trying to work on my hospitality skills, and people skills, I just keep asking and trying to invite people over. She said yes! But sometimes, it's ok if they say no, lol.

Speaking of people time: zoo on Wednesday, all hands on deck on Thursday for e2 conference set up, Maria tea time, park day, and then Jared and Justin do the e2 conference with Gary. The conference is through Saturday morning, and then we have a couples' dinner Saturday night. Then church, then hanging out watching football at Mahurins on Sunday. No Crave/small group this week or next because of fall break. But we'll be busy! And then two weeks until our romantic getaway! Jared cringes every time I say it, so I say it more! I told him, I'm working on my bucket list. I'm tired of sitting on my butt not doing what I see other couples' doing or what I want to do. I think secretly, well hopefully, it pleases Jared in the long run and yes, I think he does acknowledge that it's my way of saying, "You are worth spending money on and time on." Even if he doesn't initiate it. I'll initiate I guess, I just need his slight approval or at least a neutral one. Lol. I'm pretty giddy about it. Drives him crazy, and I don't care.

Ok, back to today though. Lunch, first fire in the fireplace, Abishai got to roast his marshmallows. Benaiah had stayed home for church because he wasn't volunteering and then he went back to G'parents to do whatever. He'll be over at Strunks until Tuesday though for Ethan's sake. I did ask/tell him why don't we take the Vibe on Christmas vacation since it has a roof rack? Jared wants to get an attachment for the van to hold luggage because he doesn't think we will fit in the van. I think we will. It's a bummer that we've had two vans but not luggage racks on them. What's the deal? Do people not fill up their vans with people? Or like how Aaron and Shauna have a van but they are only a family of four. We'll have Christmas gifts to bring home from vacation so we have to think about that as well. Benaiah said, "It's my car and I say no." Well, it's in the name of OUR trust, buddy. So, I think that means it's OUR car. I was just surprised at how quickly he said no. I just thought we Johnsons share everything. Law mowers, vehicles, trimmers, bicycles, washing machines, etc. etc. But Jared said Benaiah said no so quickly because it's something he can control and that's part of Benaiah's personality. Ok, I get that. But I'm going to sign or laugh or something if Grandpa suggests it and convinces Benaiah we should use the Vibe. Grandpa has that power for sure. Lol.

After Benaiah went home, it was nap time. I had a glorious short nap on the couch in the fireside room as the fire died out. I listened to the Poldark book for probably an hour, a little bit before my nap and some afterwards. Do you know how hard it is to read a book OR listen to an audio book with a house full of kids and lots to do? The books is 10 1/2 hrs. You'd think I'd be able to polish that off quickly. Nope! I'm listening to it because I wasn't having much luck reading it and someone else at the library wanted it. So I'm borrowing the audiobook from the library instead. I'm getting much more into the audio books and streaming services from the library. It's quite nice. Oh, and putting things on my "for later" shelf as well. I'm about to receive series 2 of a series I was watching and went ahead and ordered series 3 because it takes awhile for them to come in. Usually I have a week to watch them. So, we'll see.

After naptime was chores, so I cleaned up the baking soda/vinegar mixture I made to help the dog throw up on the sunroom's rug. We moved toys around. And did a general clean up. I was trying to keep track of my calories today but overate at breakfast apparently, and now I'm starving. I'll have to balance it all out better tomorrow. Jared doesn't understand that my body hasn't been trained to eat like his and my blood sugars are hard to control. Then the kids went outside for walks and trampoline. Jared has them watching a movie called "42" about a black baseball player so I think they finished that while I cleaned out one of my desk drawers. I just had some packaging to throw away. I typically keep packaging for things for a few months just in case it breaks. I went through a bit of paperwork from that drawer as well. And fixed all the cords and batteries and USB/SD card digital memory storage. AND I found the rest of my Michael W. Smith cd's. Yeah! I wasn't going to buy new ones because I can find other ways to listen them, but it was nice to find what I did have. Just some from 2010-2017 or so. So that was good.

And now I'm freezing because Jared is home and refused to keep the thermostat where I want it. The new heater I bought doesn't seem to have the best output or something. I don't know. It was the $15 version instead of the $25-40 version I really wanted. Maybe next time. I know Ollie's carries them all winter. It's going to warm up this week and be pretty warm, maybe even 79 degrees on Wednesday when we go to the zoo! But tonight, we have a frost warning. Brr! And I need to do the fall clothing switch. Maybe next weekend. We'll see.

Time to finish up and try to go to bed at midnight again. I've been better the past few nights. So, here goes!

First fire of the season on this cold, dreary day! One of the selling points on this house was this fireplace. Real fire, not gas. Real gorgeous stonework. Built in bookshelves. My favorite room in the whole house.

All four cars we own are in the driveway for just a little bit! Still crazy that we own 4 cars! All paid for, by the way. All are older than 10 years old. But 3 out of 4 of them are in very decent condition. Teenage drivers!