Year 6, March 19th-21st, 2020: Gary's 65th Birthday Weekend!!!!!!

 Vertigo from clogged sinuses day #2! So I took another dramamine. I haven't had time to take a nap today. I've been way too busy and on my feet getting things done. Not because I really had energy, but because I didn't want to fall asleep and I had to make some deadlines. 

First deadline was my endocrinology appointment at noon. I had to eat breakfast and take a shower, as well as do email and all that normal morning stuff. And I had to prod the older kids along in their schoolwork. I can't correct homework and officially be on spring break if their work isn't done. Sigh.

Endocrinology was ok. The doctor was nice enough and asked the right questions. But she didn't see anything wrong that we should pursue. I'll do a lab draw for Cortisol and a few vitamins. But I don't have signs of Cushing's disease, diabetes, or menopause, so there's nothing more they would pursue. Blasted protocols and chaotic healthcare system! They never look at the whole person! So, that's pretty much a dead end, as I suspect it might be. She said my weight gain is probably based on my genes. Sigh. And diet and exercise is the only thing that does anything. And she gave the usual speech of "fat turns to muscle, that's why you didn't see a difference on the scale." If that were true, then why do all these gimmicks and ads say that you lose it in 10 weeks or whatever?! Good grief. It's time to look up the osteopaths/naturopaths on the list I have from several posts I've done. Sigh. Try, try, again. And keep working on diet and exercise I guess.

Jared also had his appointment with Dr. Cole today, the spine surgeon. Jared wished I was there, but I couldn't be because of the vertigo and I needed to be ready for my online appointment. The results of that appointment were that since the steroid shot did work, that they'll do another shot in the next couple of weeks. Sigh. Ok, Fine. Whatever. I can't argue anymore. I have my own things to worry about. Just as long as Jared is in less pain and whines less and isn't barking at everybody, I'm happy.

After my appointment, it was time for lunch and nag the middles again on their homework. I finally got their IEW (writing) and math checked and rechecked, so that's a big weight off my head. Now I don't have to nag them next week about it. I'll have them try to read the literature book we are doing so we can get ahead, but that's it. I didn't do school with Abishai though. I plan to do that next week as I can. Then it was time to send them one by one to Grandpa's class for Bible class. As we rotated through them, the boys rotated on their screens. Then I dropped Abishai off and went to the library.

I had over 100 books and DVD's to scan! Wow!!!!!! It's a good thing I brought my book cart. Those poor librarians! But we made it through with hardly any trouble. I will organize the books next week when I make my major switch between the Civil War and the end of the 1800's/beginning of the 1900's. That's going to be a load of fun, right? Actually, probably, maybe, I hope!

Benaiah was still home when I dropped Abishai off and I was going to ask him to take Justin to the retreat since he was going but he left before I got back from the library. I thought he was leaving at 3, which would have been too early for Justin, but leaving at 4:30 wouldn't have been so bad. So now Jared had to spent 90 minutes of his time and gas to take Justin. Sigh. I just wish that Benaiah would look beyond his own needs. Because then Jared could have taken Abishai to karate instead of me and I could rest. Grrrrr,.........

With Justin gone until Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa wanted Abishai and Keturah to spend the night. Tomorrow is Gary's 65th birthday! Some people will take him and Leah out tomorrow night and then we will do his family celebration on Sunday. Woot! Woot! And this means, that Jared and I have an unexpected date night tonight! Woot! Woot! I also had a Mom's Night Out I could have gone to if Benaiah had taken Justin, but whatever. So, I'm writing up the blog now and then I can spend time with Jared later.

Instead of a large timeline, I had the kids come up with project boards. Justin did the South/Confederates/Rebels and Keturah did the North/Union/Yankees.

Keturah copied some paper dolls from a book and then cut them out to add to her information.

Grogu needs to learn that Jesus is the ultimate power source!!! These Resurrection Eggs have lasted over 15 years! Abishai had messed them up, so I had to resort them. Easter is two weeks away! Ah!

Jared and I had a lovely date night IN last night, with a late supper for him and then we talked a little. We watched the first episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" TV series. It was, well, Marvel. It was good, standard action with lots of CGI. Not my cup of tea anymore, but oh well. There were some funny moments, too. I had to think back to the movies to figure out where we were in the timeline because I couldn't remember where we left each character. I've watched way too many other storylines in the last couple of years. It was decent though. Jared didn't realize that a) only 1 episode comes out at a time and b) it's only 6 episodes long. Yup, most of these series now for streaming TV have short seasons, but sometimes the episodes run for 90 minutes like the one I'm watching now. Gone are the days of 26 episode seasons. Even the CW doesn't do that, although I thought I saw that there are new episodes of the Flash and such coming out now. I lost interest in that after the Green Arrow died. Actually, I lost interest in a bunch of that when they went all timey wimey. Life moves on, eh?

We went to bed early, but I woke up at around 5:30am because my body is used to sleeping a 6 hr stretch. Sigh. I kept stretching and tossing and turning and finally went to the couch. I turned on an audiobook for the kids' school and got so caught up in it that I didn't fall asleep to it! I had to turn it off and finally went to sleep an hour later. I woke up in time to hobble my way back to our bed to wake Jared up. I woke up with vertigo for the third day in a row. Ugh! It's super frustrating but we had nothing urgent today. We just took it one step at a time.

Jared cut wood for most of the day and Keturah and Abishai are outside with him finishing putting it away. It's still light out even at 8pm because of Daily Stupid Time. But, they are outside. It's fine. They've been outside a bunch today after they got home from Grandma and Grandpa's. The kids ended up watching Rogue One over there because Grandma didn't feel good. Both she and Grandpa got their Covid-19 shots yesterday and she's in bed now not feeling well. So, guess who gets to make his own birthday dinner? Grandpa! Keturah took the dog over there this afternoon though and helped him prep salads and the cake. I wish Grandma would have waited until a better time to get her shot because she didn't know how she would have reacted. They always think things are going to be fine and I'm on the opposite end thinking about the worst things that could happen. Someday we might meet in the middle. But for now, planning for margin in your life is best. Always and foremost. Then it doesn't leave the rest of us scrambling, and some of us don't do well with that kind of scrambling.

Meanwhile, I prepped chili slowly but surely and finished 3 days worth of Bible study. Because I know I'm having issues with my eyes because of the vertigo and reading and computer work in general, I hadn't done my Bible study this week. Thursday I felt ill and Friday I was just so busy. So, in the quiet of all three kids being gone and Jared being outside, I chipped away at it. So, I would prepare the beans, and then do Bible study, then I would cook the meat, and then do Bible study. I did lay down for awhile, too, to sleep off the dramimine. I made more roast vegetables (Jared seems to like them!) and some gluten free corn muffins, a mix by that company called Bob's Red Mill. They could have cooked a tad longer. Whoops.I was only going to make half a batch but kept following the directions on the back of the package and used the amounts for the whole package. Whoops. So, we'll see. Abishai liked them. So now I feel super full from dinner. Blech. I was trying to go easier on the carbs today. I probably won't eat any chocolate tonight. So, I spent my day going from standing up in the kitchen, to sitting at Jared's spot at the kitchen table to to my Bible study, to sitting/laying on the couch in the fireside room. I feel lethargic and blech, but I don't feel good enough to sit and ride the bike either. I just want to sleep, go to the eye doctor and fix that problem, and take my vitamins and fix my sinuses/earache problem. Sigh. One thing at a time.

I do feel "up to date" again. I've taken a look at how/when we will pay off the extra bills (I did that yesterday). I'm caught up with Bible study. We don't have any schoolwork hanging over our heads except for some reading. I just need to feel better so I can tackle the books for the last quarter of school and put away this quarter's books. I was hoping to get to the spring clothes, but I might not get that done and I'm ok with it. It's still cool out and I can do that on another Saturday. I do have some lectures to watch though, so I'll work on that tonight since I can close my eyes and just listen. We didn't go grocery shopping, but we have enough food until Monday. The moneys are in the bank now. We'll either watch the rest of Gettysburg tomorrow or I'll go to the Q and A at church or both. 

So, as it stands, Jared and I will get Justin from the retreat and Keturah will help Grandpa get dinner ready. Grandma isn't going anywhere or doing anything. Abishai will go with us. Then we will celebrate Gary's birthday. And for now, I'm going to go nurse my headache and learn me something else for the day.

Yup.

I know they are really trying to revitalize downtown, but even before Covid-19, we were losing some of that "scene" to the suburbs. I hope this helps to turn it around! They are going to update the NCAA Tournament bracket on the outside of this hotel as it progresses. Yes, seriously, they are going to go out every few days, way up high and put more letters on! I think that's so cool! I need to go down there and see it when we get closer to the championship. I haven't had a chance to look up to see if UNC Chapel Hill is in it this year. My dad would have loved this!

Jared had to buy three more cars for his "grocery tax" so he combined them with the three he's had in the van for awhile and arranged them on top of Abishai's garage to see if he notices them. Spoiler, he did!

These two did end up going outside a lot today. But Keturah had her phone with her for a good chunk of it. They pulled some stuff from the back of the shed to add to the treehouse though, so I'm impressed by that. If I felt better, I might have gone out to take a photo. It was barely 50 degrees out though and my head was still spinning even with the dramimine so I stayed close to the seats in side.

Lots of beautiful wood finally cut and stacked.

In one of his happy places. My handsome lumberjack.

He found them pretty easily! We are telling you that he notices the littlest details and KNOWS his cars. I can't get rid of any of them, although I might send most of them to his house someday for his kids, unless we are living with him, lol. He said, "I didn't know Daddy was so kind to me!" Awww, yes, kid, he spoils you most of all!

Time to get out his police station again. Poor Grogu didn't help him much.

I guess when Gary created the FB account for him to update the Effective Elders page, he put in his birthday. It's obviously not that old of an organization, lol. Maybe Jared set this account up, I don't know. I think you have to include a birth date in your account info but you don't have to publish it. I'll let the guys know about it so they can change it.

P.S. Although I'm going to tell Gary and Leah I'm not going to Israel, I did get my passport today! Yeah! Now I can drive back to Canada! Unless their Covid-19 quarantine and testing rules are ridiculous and then, well, we'll see. It feels good to have that choice back though. Actually, my passport didn't fully expire until next month. But it's off my chest for now. If one of the other kids takes my place to go to Israel, I'll have to get their passports renewed ASAP. We'll see. I wanted to wait until Justin turned 16, but that means I might have to pay a lot extra for a quick turnaround come September. Mine took 6 weeks and I don't think I did it on the quickest speed, so that's good.

Also, Jared made spruce needle tea and wow, I can taste the spruce! I looked up the properties of it and it's good for Vitamin C, Vitamin A, antioxidants, and awesome for coughs and colds. So, give me some of that! I need it for my earaches and sinuses! He put the branches with the needles still on this time. Perfect! Just a bit of flavor and not bitter. Yummy! God made nature to nourish us! I love it!

It was a gorgeous day on Sunday. 65, clear blue skies, a great day for a Sunday drive. We watched church online so we could finish breakfast and then get right on the road by 10am. Keturah spent the morning at Grandpa's house because there was no middle school worship for her at church and we needed her seat in the van to pick up Justin from Camp Allendale. It really was a nice drive down there. I took a dramimine just in case and had Abishai take one, too. I knew we were going to go down the windy back roads which is fine. I listened to more of the kids' audio book on the way down, Rifles for Wattie. It's a great book with a lot of different scenarios as it follows Jeff, the main character, as he is first in the Union infantry, and then the cavalry, and then special missions like trying to capture enemy soldiers as prisoners so they can be questioned. I hope the kids are getting as much out of it as I am. I can't remember every scene perfectly because I get interrupted but that's ok. That's what teacher notes are for! Anyway, I didn't get sick, so that's good.

We didn't have to wait long for Justin to be done and out, so that was good. We haven't been to Camp Allendale for 10 years. I know that because Benaiah went there for a full week the year before we left for Canada. We gave him a little bit of the "talk" on the way down. Jared doesn't remember this. I remember Keturah and Justin playing on the playground when we picked him up I think. Anyway, yup, it's been that long. Abishai went with us and we were able to give him a tiny peak into what the camp looks like for when he goes down for his day long camp in June. At least he didn't object too much to that thought when I brought it up. He doesn't want to be away from Daddy and Mommy though. So, we'll see. I think he's going to have a blast.

Justin was very tired and grumpy and needed his space. I wanted to chat him up instead. I tried to restrain myself. He had a great time but was sore from climbing up and down the hills for the capture the flag game last night. He got a cool new hoodie, too! Then we stopped at McDonald's so I could use the restroom and Jared bought a McChicken. Well, Abishai hadn't had his 2nd breakfast yet, so we gave the sandwich to him and he ate 85% of it. Then an hour later Abishai ate a great lunch and ice cream! He's growing like a weed! Later in the day, when we walked to the Smith's, Abishai was hangry but it didn't occur to me until we got there. Poor guy.

We dropped Justin's stuff off at home and then went to Gary and Leah's for lunch. Leah was on the couch, still sick as a dog from her Covid-19 shot. She said she almost threw up on Friday night. Good grief. Gary said all he got was a headache. Well, he's healthier than the rest of us, so there's that. Benaiah was in bed sleeping from his busy week and weekend and we didn't even get to see him at all. Sigh. Not fair. Not fair at all. He makes zero effort to be with us and it's very, very upsetting. I try to brush it off, but man, it hurts like hell. We never did that to our parents, any of them. We were around, we helped out, we still led at church, etc. etc. We still called. I don't know. I wish now I had done more, but I wasn't sure how at the time. Benaiah deliberately has separated himself from us and hasn't looked back. Anyway, I wasn't happy.

We had lunch of pork roast and cabbage and potatoes and carrots, salad, fruit salad, and they had chocolate cherry cake. We didn't even get out candles. As far as birthdays go, it was very bleh. Benaiah didn't sign the card we gave to Gary. Benaiah didn't even give Grandma information to put in the infograph thing you'll see in the photos. Grandma only got up off the couch for the presents. Oh well. I guess 65 isn't that big of a deal. Oh wait, my parents didn't live to see 65 years old, ok?!! And I am sick too and couldn't contribute much. Party poopers. I didn't even get hat many responses online. Bummers. Out of sight, out of mind. Too much information to care I guess. And then Gary had a funeral to do, and some other consulting thing, and then they had their small group tonight. Hopefully the small group did something for him. Yesterday was his birthday, and I said, did you work on your birthday, too?  Well, I got a response similar to: some people don't mind working on their birthdays and doing for others. Ok, I get it, Mr. Humble. I'm selfish and demanding. Got it. I didn't have energy to bring up anything else. We did talk briefly about the payroll service and that it was a change in personnel and that it's a chain etc. I still expect better service in the future. It's out of Gary's hands now I guess. Moving on.

Then we came home and kids had screen time, Jared took a nap and I was sleepy enough for a nap, but drank coffee and listened to the first week of Biblical Citizenship class by Rick Green and friends. Oh might oh wow. Oh wow! I want to lead this class so badly! There was too much floof before and after the actual lecture part, but if you keep it to the lecture, I think it was 30-60 minutes. I can't wait to go through it and then approach the staff about it. Eek! I quickly texted the link to the family and to friends and to Facebook just a few minutes into the class but the whole class didn't disappoint! I was nodding my head furiously the whole time! Ah! Eek!

And then we had the 90 minutes Q and A live from Indian Creek that we watched with the Smiths and Mahurins. Chad Ragsdale, who did the teaching for the high schoolers this weekend, and then did the sermon this morning, also helped out with the Q and A. The questions had been sent in ahead of time and Laura Dingman and Dan Hamel had time to prepare. There were some great ones that were very helpful to the some in our audience. And Dan revealed that they were going to do a sermon series on sexuality questions in the fall, but decided to wait because of Covid. Don't be surprised if that sermon series shows up soon. Yes!!! Ooooooo, I can't wait! Let's go! So I'm waiting for that. Biding my time. Like Elijah. Getting my relationship with God back on track and ready to tackle this Mt. Carmel soon.  Oh boy, oh boy! Buckle up, let's go!

But that's not tomorrow. I have to work through the class myself, beg Jared to go through it, and then present it to a staff member and get some feedback to see if I can lead it at church. It would be better if Jared led it, but I have to get him on board first. And he's no where near that. No one in my family takes me seriously. But maybe I can be a Heidi St. John and be the talker of the family. I don't know. They don't want women in those roles at our church and they even said it again tonight. They didn't even cite their Scripture basis for it. Just that "we've always done it that way, the church has always believed that, so that's what we are sticking with." "Men and women are equal, but, in these two roles, we don't allow women. We allow them to talk to us and we ask them for their opinions but we make the final decisions because only men can be the main teaching pastor or an elder." Ok fine whatever. I still disagree. And Laura's answer of, "God said to stop worrying about the two roles in front of me and look behind me at all the other role I could play," was like a resigning to something else because the elders wouldn't change their minds about it. So, I don't know if they would let me lead a class through this or not. Or if only women would show up. Maybe I have to find someone who is just as strongly opinionated about this, a guy, who can co lead or something. But the church won't like that either if a male and female co lead without being related, so I don't know. I guess I could just ask when the time comes.

Anyway, all is quiet now. We'll see how the week goes. I feel like I've been highly intellectually stimulated but over in my own world and not really having a chance to talk to someone else about it. I don't know if I can watch anything else educational tonight or find something completely different. I finished my TV series last night, so I don't know what to watch next. Hm,.....

Jared's spruce needle tea! Yummy!

Why, yes, I downloaded the NCAA Championship app and filled out a bracket! I just picked names I recognized that were good or in the states I like. But there's no UNC-Chapel Hill, and all the Indiana teams are gone, there's not Kentucky U., good grief! I don't recognize a bunch of these names!

Can't wait for this to come across the sea to our Amazon Prime or whatever.

Absolutely.

Another still from the Leonardo Da Vinci TV show.

Spring flowers!

Pretty!

Awww, look at those two go!

Lakeview Lodge at Camp Allendale where Justin has his high school retreat.

Daddy got Abishai to write his whole name in Grandpa's birthday card!

I guess you don't have to put someone's name on it if they are the only one getting gifts.

Abishai was on the floor trying to sneak up on Grandma!

"I've never gotten a Lego set before!" No joke. The one who has bought the most Lego sets has never had his own. So now, he does, and he needs his grandkids to help him!

"Now Grandpa, for my birthday, I want this set, you know, the one with this and this."

I guess Bart Heldman had been done in NOLA and brought this back from J4 for Gary.

The Gathering had gotten a bunch of these granola bars and when Gary was done there the last time, Gary said he really liked them, so there ya go, eat 'em up!

A book about lifeboat rescues.

It took Grandma a month to gather all the responses and type it up and get it printed, but these are some great words from loads of friends directly to Gary from all over the world. She had to take out all the names to make it fit, so she left the notes intact on another sheet of paper. So sweet!

Abishai is getting so big!

Yeah, Daddy can carry big guy for just a few more times!

Look at all that split wood! Yeah! Ready for next year!

Abishai was hangry and didn't want to walk to the Smiths after his screen time, so he almost leapt over the bikes to get out his old stroller and then maneuvered his way back to the front with it in tow.

Such a determined kid.

Beautiful midwest sunsets.

The End