Year 5, November 2nd-5th, 2020: General Election 2020

 It's going to be an interesting week. From rumors of riots no matter what side wins, to rumors of going on lockdown back to stage 1 on Wednesday AFTER the election, to rumors of stores running out of toilet paper and paper towels, oi! Get a grip! We just opened all of our Sunday School rooms this week. I'm not going to stop meeting with people at my house. You can't make me. In fact, I've already invited some friends over on Friday. And I'm going to meet up with a friend for coffee on Thursday. Life is going to continue on. In fact, today, we went to a ninja warriors gym and only a handful of people were wearing masks. The kids weren't required to wear masks. The gym teacher wasn't wearing one either. And I was ok with that. They all washed their hands before they got started. They had to sanitize their hands if they left the gym floor and came back. And then they all washed their hands after class. And they deep clean the equipment frequently. It was kind of weird to see that most people weren't wearing their masks. I'm so used to the strictness at church and in the grocery store. It was kind of nice, actually! But I made sure I wasn't in people's faces and I gave them more space. 

Yes, we went to a gym called Hoosiers Warriors Gym where they do tumbling classes, parkour classes, and ninja warrior classes. The owners were gymnastics coaches for a long time and then their kids got interested in ninja warriors so they decided to combine a few things. It's a small gym but worth the 35 minutes drive to Avon on the way westside of Indy to see the excitement in Abishai's face! He was running around the house this morning saying, "My battery is at 100%, can we go now?" After class he was nearly at 0% he said. When I asked him what does he need to recharge, he said the tablet. I said, no, you need food, and your charging port is your mouth. So on the way home we got McDonald's, which was right next a Chick-Fil-A. Of course they wanted Chick-Fil-A and I said no it's too expensive plus we don't get a discount. We spent $19 instead of $29 or $39. The reason we went all the way to the westside was to maybe meet a few people from that group and make connections. I didn't do a great job, but at least my face was visible. And the boys had a blast!

I mean so much so that I either have to find one on the eastside, or I might sign Abishai up for a class there. He just jumped right in with the older kids and did everything! And when he didn't know what to do, he asked another kid or asked the coach. He was bold and went for it! Right up the climbing wall! A bit up the rope! Jumping over blocks! Determined face on the balance beam! And he did listen to instructions, too. And Justin got to get some tips on how to do the warped wall and also tried the salmon ladder (that Oliver Queen did in the Arrow tv show), but didn't know the bar would be that heavy. The photos and videos say more than I could ever say. Abishai wants to go back. He just tackles these things like crazy! 

When we finally did get home and settled, we managed to get through everyone's school work. Abishai fell on a brick outside and scratched his arm, so we went looking for a long sleeve shirt that would be long enough All his pj shirts and long sleeved shirts are too short, so I dug through the bigger sizes. I said there's some footed pjs in there, and Abishai wanted to wear those to Grandpa's house for Grandpa Bible class. I said, nope! So he went in pj shorts, a long sleeved pj shirt, his brown shoes and socks, a fall jacket and a winter hat. The funny thing is, when Jared texted that supper was ready for the kids, he phrased in such a way that it made Grandpa think they were invited for dinner! Bwahahaha! It's a good thing it was a big pot of chili! And it wasn't too spicy! That was fun, actually, because Grandpa had been out of town. So we shared our day's stories with them. Grandpa's heat went out. Aaron and Shauna finally got power back on at their house after 6 days without it. We told them about the Smith's plight of mold and water damage in the kitchen. And of course the other parts of the day.

The kids do not have their regular TV time because of attitudes and such, but we didn't have time for it today anyway. I did allow Abishai to do game time with Daddy, and Justin had his phone and nightly computer time, and Keturah got nothing. I'll have to remedy it that tomorrow because I needed to curtail Justin's usage as well. Whoops. Tomorrow will be a different story with voting and haircuts. We'll see!

That's pretty cool!

I did this yesterday, but need to do today's. Yesterday was Jared, today will be Socks of course.

Baby girl many moons ago. Abishai still uses that carseat, which is probably not as wise as we think. She and I loved those boots though!

When the coach says not to sit down or stand still but keep moving, you keep moving! He's ready for station 1!

Hoosier Warriors Gym, Avon, IN

Justin started out on the ropes. It took him a few tries and some tips with the coach, but he eventually did it! Actually, I'm pretty grateful that BOTH of the boys asked the coach for help and didn't hesitate like I would have done.

First attempt. And he got rope burn on his thighs.

I barely caught little guy's first attempt at the rock wall!

When you get to the top, you jump down into the pit, but there's a ledge for them to stand on briefly to get their bearings.

Uh, now what?

Lots of fun things to play on.

Little man's first attempt at the rope! Look at him go!

Justin hanging onto the bar for as long as he can.

Abishai scrambled up these boxes quick as a fox.

Justin's turn for the rock wall.

No fear these two have.

Crab walk.

Another attempt after some tips from the coach.

Is he going to make it this time?

Why yes, he did! I think a few people clapped for him, too! It was a sweet atmosphere. I saw no fighting, and most kids obeying the rules.

Bigger rock wall on the back. Those long monkey toes of Justin really come in handy!

One of Justin's attempts at the warped wall before he got the coach's help. Afterwards, I saw him help a girl younger than him, but older than the rest of the kids with the same tips.

The gym had a small blow up jumping thing and most kids did the right thing and jumped on it and then go off for the next kid, including Abishai.

Cutest little beamer in the world!

Ready, set, jump off!

But first, that stance and concentration. Love it!

Swinging on the cheese boards for a minute during free time.

And he got it!

Yeah Justin!

This combo is the best! But it also remind me to pray for the family that used the coffee company as a fundraiser. They fund-raised for their foreign adoption of a 12? 14? year old boy. So I pray for them as I drink my coffee because I'm sure there's a lot of hard mental and emotional work to be done with all the scars that orphan boy might have from being in the home and then the cultural differences and language barrier. The work doesn't stop when the adoption papers are finalized. It has only just begun.

Oh my word, what?! So, I guess I took the class with Laura in November and December of 2016. I vaguely remember a snowstorm the day of the last class and I don't have Week 6's notes. And then in November 2017, she made it into the devotional, and I was a "promoter" and got a preview copy of that first chapter. And now, I'm going through week 1 for the third time! I wish I had more notes from the class, but it will be interesting to compare it all. So apparently I need to hear this words in November/December every year.

Today is November 2nd, 2020. 4 yrs later I'm doing the same study in a way different attitude and a different group of women.

Yup!

Gorgeous sunset on this chilly day.

One of the first pieces of college mail for Justin.

Well, Election Day has come and gone. Jared got up at 5:30am and actually voted at a different church than Indian Creek. He got home around 8. I went at 10:30am to a local high school and had NO wait, and was in and out and done in 7 1/2 minutes. Maybe the lines would have been longer if everyone voted on the same day in their normal precincts. But with 187 polling locations open in Marion County, including Lucus Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse and with a website to tell you the wait times, you would think that people who were whining about standing in line for 3 hrs could have gotten back in their cars and found somewhere else just 15 minutes away from their current location. But no, we are creatures of habit and ignorance. And it frustrates me to no end. And I put that on Facebook and took it down less than an hour later because what does it matter. Actually, I think it matters a lot because fools that whine about it and don't do anything about it are just fools. We need to think creatively and our country can't seem to do that. That why we had fools running for political office. And all of those fool are watching the news waiting for election results. Nothing is going to be decided tonight, folks. The mail in and early voter ballots have yet to be counted. Chill out. And I need to chill out, too. But it's over. And I stayed away from social media as much as I could.

In fact, the boys were able to get their haircuts today and then we ran around a bit doing the minor errands like the library, recycling, Goodwill drop off, clothes dropped off to a friend, GameStop, and CVS in less than 2 hrs. I kept up with email and my game but didn't have time for anything else. I didn't get to much schoolwork with the kids but oh well, tomorrow is a new day. And we have ZERO extra obligations next week! Woot! Woot! That gives me peace of mind that I will get to some things around the house and catch up a bit or something. We'll put in some extra school work, too. But this week, we just have to manage what we got. So Keturah and Abishai are watching the original 1984 version of Ghostbusters because Justin ordered it from the library and we picked it up today. Justin will watch it on his own later. (And they loved it! Not scary at all to them! But so cheesy!) And I'm going to catch up on some computer work and listening to things and reading things. Then we will start afresh with school tomorrow. 

Um, no, you can't declare election results at 8 pm. What about all the mail in and early voters? Did those already get counted? And I'm talking about the main media outlets making declarations. As a political enthusiast all of my life, I've been at the polls from dawn until the votes were counted. It's easily midnight before local races are declared. Stop creating drama you dumb mass media outlets! I love your reporters, especially here in Indiana where there's some really awesome people, but still, just there's not need to create drama where there is none. I will check results in the morning, but even then, I don't think it's going to be finished.

Meanwhile, I've shared coupon codes with others and did my Bible study. Lots more to do so I'll move on. Kitchen is clean, laundry is running. Not sure on dinner tomorrow. Need to declutter a bit before we have guests on Friday. I'm excited for guests! Eek! Just praying we aren't put on lockdown again. I'm not staying home if we are. Normal routine for as long as possible over here.

Anyway, get this, Abishai said he wants to get baptized on Daddy's birthday as a surprise! And only by Daddy! But when questioned further, yes, it's the fact that he wants to take communion. So, we still have a bit of discussion to be had. I did ask him if he believed in Jesus, and he said, oh yes, I do! But I think he has  bit more to go on understanding sin and forgiveness and all of that. But we'll start the conversation. No need to wait! He'll be 6 yrs and 3 mos in May, and Justin was 6 years and 10 months when he was baptized. Benaiah was just over 7 yrs old. Keturah has yet to be baptized despite going through the baptism class. She has no interest in it or following Jesus 100%. She knows though. And that's all we can do. Some teens make that commitment and make our faith their own during events like CIY. That's why I want CIY to come back, or some kind of experience like that. Yes, it's an emotional high, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. I think because of other circumstances, Keturah has some mental and emotional barriers to work through, similar to what I struggle with. All we can do is pray for her. And for the other adults in her life to speak into her life about it. Maybe she'll see her friends make the commitment and finally decide to do it. But, God's the one to help her. We've done what we can for now.

"It's Bud the spud from the bright red mud
Rolling down the highway smiling
The Spuds are big on the back of Bud's rig
They're from Prince Edward Island
They're from Prince Edward Island"

 

Oh how I miss the red mud! This is Justin at the playground that was in the common green space behind our Charlottetown, PEI house. 2012, so Justin was 7 yrs old. It was nice having this climbing structure nearby and I know Abishai would have loved it because he climbs on them all the time here in Indiana! 

He'll always be our baby.

This was on Facebook. These pumpkins represent a woman's dilation when she is in labor and about to deliver a child. Yes, pretty freaky. And to think I've done it 4 times and once without medication. Our human bodies are incredible things!

Abishai actually pulled out this game and played it today.  It's all about balance! Science!

You would have thought we could distribute ourselves more evenly, but no. Nobody wants to go somewhere unknown. I think we need to go back to our regular precincts next time. Sigh.

Justin's "before" photos.

Abishai has the most beautiful natural highlights!

It got pretty warm today!

Leaves that Abishai and Daddy collected on their walk to Grandma's house this past Sunday. They are huge!

Abishai's "after" photo.

Much better length, and you can still see all the natural highlights.

Justin likes it longer, but thinned out so he can keep his dandruff at bay.

Day 1: Jared; Day 2: Socks; Day 3: Anytime Jared and I are snuggling in front of the fire or in bed and NOT saying anything. I feel all cozy, warm, at peace, safe, and protected.

Reposted on Instagram a short video of Billy Graham urging people to vote. Probably in the 1960's or something. Man, was Billy Graham passionate! Crazy!

Well, I checked the election results this morning, and although Indiana declared herself for Trump, Holcomb, and our State Senator and Representative seemed to have won, I still won't have confidence in the final results until the news outlets stop saying "predicted results" which could still take a while. Gary apparently stayed up way too late and another friend stayed up until 4 am. Why? The results won't change. In fact, I didn't see much difference between 8 am and 4 pm when I checked today. The most interesting thing I've seen is just how evenly divided the House and Senate are in Washington. Some sources say, for example, Republicans lost a seat but gained another and that the Senate is 47 Democrats vs. 47 Republicans. No wonder nothing gets done when politics are based on what side of the aisle you are on! There's no overwhelming majority! Indiana is very conservative and so we pretty much stay Republican most of the time, except Indianapolis. They tend to be a bit more liberal. And a county or two near Chicago. So, it definitely wasn't worth staying up for. Silly people.

I went to bed super early but had a very intense weird dream that involved hanging out with Michael W. Smith and some of his grandkids at a pool and then I was brought in for questioning by a mob in Franklin, TN or something for something I said on Facebook. Something political I think. Anyway, I woke up with the worst headache from a dream ever! I clench my jaw during those kinds of dreams, so it's common for me to wake up with one. But it took two doses of Excedrin Migraine, 3 cups of caffeine, a hot shower, lots of drinking water, and 4 applications of Frankincense, CBD oil, Peppermint oil and Copiaba oil to get rid of it. Oh, and Advil Migraine, so straight up special kind of ibuprofen, too. And I picked up extra masks and candy from CVS when I got the medication. But you know, that happens. Bible study was very good, and we still got to sit outside although it got a bit chilly. Maybe 65 degrees? Great conversation, too.

Justin got up late as usual, but we managed to get all our schoolwork done, today. The status quo is solid and our routines keep us moving. Even when I think I'm behind or I can't muster up enough strength through a migraine, we seem to still get it all done. I have leftover things like science experiments or like today, I skipped out on some read alouds because we had done it twice already this week. But the rest is so solid, I never worry about it. We finished up leftovers for dinner, too. Time for something new tomorrow! And I have a coffee date with a friend. 

Abishai's fun moment of the day was playing "garage band." Although I had a headache, he managed to piece together and practice playing a drum set, a guitar, the recorder, and the keyboard. I texted Jared and he said to tell Abishai to take everything to the garage and practice out there, so he did. And then he put on a concert for Daddy. It was so adorable! He even had magazines for Daddy to read while he listened. Just another example of the imagination that Abishai has, or his copy cat ability from watching a lot of YouTube. Which I relented on today. Bryce was on, so I let Justin go on, and Abishai watched only one or two kinds of shows. So, I let Keturah on as long as she promised to stay off the pre teen shows. Oh man, I think I forgot Justin's piano lesson this week! Whoops! Well, it's because I shooed him off from playing the song he WANTS to play and he never went back. to practice what he was supposed to be practicing. 

Other than that, normal day. Oh, Socks did eat some grace and threw up a bunch of phlegm on the living room rug. It's a good thing I have my steam cleaner now! I hadn't given him breakfast because I needed to clean out his dog dish first. But first I needed a shower, so, he didn't get fed until afternoon. Poor guy. Everybody needs mama's attention all at once. Quite annoying. I feel like I say "hold on, one minute" all day long. Oh well. Keep the plates spinning. Jared and I finished the day with our new ritual of the 10 minute Bible hour and he posed a question for me to think on about financial adventures. Great question, too! Hm,....

And that's it!

Gorgeous day outside, I wish I could have spent time out there!

Kiddos had some fun time! Abishai can run up the slide no problem!

Head first like a penguin!

Concert for one, and only one, Daddy. The video is adorable. Abishai's intent look to his final bow. Adorable!

 

 Great day again, great coffee date with a friend, finished school on time, all the things. Abishai went in and out side a dozen times today, which is fine! Except her got a nasty scratch from the plastic coated wire clothesline that helps to hold up the bigger tire swing. Poor thing! All my words and memories of the day just vanished. Maybe because I was just trying to get things done? I don't know. I was scrolling Intagram for the last hour and poof, any focus and clarity I had just vanished. Whoops. I did do a bit of tidying and cleaning for our friends to come over tomorrow. But not much. I spent too much time on my phone, as always, but there was a lot of texts and messages to answer today. I still didn't get phone calls made, Bible study caught up, or other random stuff like that.  Grrrr, next week! No appointments next week! Woot! Woot!

A Canadian friend posted this on her wall. Thank you, my northern friend, and right back to you!

Hey, bud, the one I dreamed about two nights ago, lol. Loking a bit grandfatherly these days. Not like the 37 yr old I was listening to today on his 1995 record. I saw a couple of clips of him singing today in at his home studio (recorded today), and he definitely sounds a bit different when he sings. But that's ok, he's still Smitty. And he still loves America. And he's still praying and so am I.

Baby guy hurt his neck on one of the plastic covered wires on the big tire swing today! Owie! I put some lavender on it, AFTER I put an oil blend called "en-r-gee" that had pepper oil (not peppermint), pepper) and  few other things that I would not suggest using at all on skin like this. Whoops! It had a purple label like lavender does! I quickly wiped it off and found the right bottle. It stung a little bit. And if it had been really bad, you can also rub coconut or almond oil where you've put the essential oils to dilute it. Although the skin does absorb it in 23 seconds or so. Brave boy.

A few hrs later. I put more lavender oil on it, too. And a few hours after that, it wasn't raised up anymore. At least he was outside playing, right?

Borrowed from a post on our Franklin Township page. I'm sure I could do this on Google Earth, too, because Jared has done it that way before. But this is why our school are overcroweded. This is why we need all these roundabouts. While it's awesome people want to leave in the suburbs, putting houses so close together has caused so many issues. From HOA's to small yards to overcrowded streets and schools. This could have been planned better. At least in our older unnamed neighborhood, we have more space in between each home.

2019!!!

Uh, we never put the lights away. The strings of lights just sat on the front windowsill for 6 months. But now that it's dark at 5pm, Mama needs more lights! It's awesome having a tall boy around!

Oooo, the treehouse is nearly done! It's cleaned up and stained. That was such a task because of how much garbage Keturah put on it and it's normal wear and tear. It won't be ready for tomorrow's playdate, but Jared spent about 20 minutes tonight before dark putting it together a bit.

I don't think that it's final resting place, but it's approximately where we want it.

Sorry, Benaiah and Ava, it's been months since I posted a photo from you guys and you are part of our lives still. And yes, Ava, you took an amazing photo of our young man! So handsome!

Yup, I knew it! Actually, I didn't take a photo, but I got my 2nd copy of the new album toady, woot! woot! Normally I don't do this, but they advertised a signed copy 3 days after I purchased a copy of the album, so I bought it again! It's a Christmas album, and those are easy to give away. Well, it is a CD and not many people use cd's anymore. I like just using the CD player in my car and not having to worry about hooking up my phone, which won't be loud enough anyway, or using it's battery power, etc. Both cd's came with a digital copy, so I have the raw files as well and I'll try to (again) figure out iTunes or something because I couldn't get the songs to play on my phone. I want to OWN the songs, not just play them on a streaming service. But they are beautiful signatures from the guys. I don't think I own anything with their signatures. I think I might have their sister's, Rebbeca St. James' signature somewhere. Anyway, now I can finally sit and listen to the whole thing! I usually can do that on YouTube, but they haven't released all their songs yet on there because they want people to buy the album. "Drummer Boy" came out years ago, but it was an EP, not a full album. I love the new version and I'm excited to hear the rest! Bring on the Christmas music! I'm getting ready a little bit at a time.