Year 7, January 3rd-9th, 2022: New Year of Hope

 HOPE

Monday

- It was a GREAT Monday.

- The kids were definitely ready to get back into it. How did I know? Because there wasn't much complaining. A little bit of trying to sleep in, but we didn't fall too far behind our normal falling behind for the day. Even Abishai didn't give me too much grief. 

- I even got Abishai to put on an eye patch for the first time in over a week!

- Benaiah and I were able to located one of his school calculators that he needed for his Finite Math classes. He, too, gets to start his first semester of college this week! Woot! Woot! How exciting!

- I found more papers, colored pencils, drum sticks, and Rubix cubes in Benaiah's old backpack though.

- We studied the dissolution of the USSR and the dissolution of Yugoslavia as we went through the 1990's in history today. Oh how I remember those names from the news well!  I remember reading through these lessons the last time around and really understanding what had happened for the first time, despite living through it. I was just a teen and didn't have direct access to news, although we had dial up internet at the time. We have more connection with the Serbs, Bosnia, and Kosovo, from friends who have been missionaries there, as well as Jared's trip to Kosovo to scope out some mission work in 2004. He said at dinner that he still saw UN tanks and soldiers there at the time. Justin and Keturah had no reaction to his mentioning of that. Guys, this isn't ancient history! We lived through this! It's not even 20 yr old history anymore! There's not even dust on this history yet! Justin, you were about to be conceived, child, in 2004! Our next lesson is on Nelson Mandela, but then next week, our last week is 9/11, the War on Terror, and then the history book ends with Revelation from the Bible. It was printed in 2008 or 2011, somewhere in there, so it's a pretty recent textbook, but of course time marches on. But we, as a family unit, lived through this. This is Jared and I's marital history. Come on, children. Sigh. 

- Abishai claimed he forgot how to write letters and numbers. Thankfully he didn't forget actual reading and math concepts. But it was hilarious to watch him writing his letters because he on purpose made them extra squiggly. He worked so hard to make them look worse that some of them looked like my quick cursive writing! I erased it and made him redo it of course, but he was just working so hard at being so bad and milking it for all it's worth. And I just stood my ground. It's so annoying when he does it, too, because it takes up so much more time. Thankfully, we did have enough time for his foolishness and still read two history lessons before everybody's screen time. But I think it took a total of 3 hrs today. I'll probably put a 2 hr limit on it tomorrow. I'll say something like, "I won't won't a timer on, but I'll be watching the clock. If you take more than two hours to complete your work, I will take some screen time away and you'll have to finish your homework with Daddy instead of having screen time with Daddy." Not that I have a huge amount of other things to do at the moment, but he needs to respect my time as well.

- Finished the day with breakfast for dinner and a big grocery run. We play together, learn together, eat together, grocery shop together. Teamwork makes the dreamwork, baby! And it saved my back by them doing all the packing and all the hauling. I did only the putting away. Sure others might have judged me for not helping my kids and husband pack up the groceries, but they don't know I have back pain. And sure Justin had only a little bit of screen time. Time to grow up mini man. You're a working boy now. He had to help Grandpa take down the outside Christmas lights today for 2 hrs. Whether it's for Grandpa, me, or the Elevator, 20 hrs is 20 hrs. That means a whole less screen time for you. So don't get all huffy at me about it. Life has shifted for you now.

Hilarious! I probably actually said it wrong, but it actually worked! And if you say "nox" it turns it off! The spells and fancy words are kind of fun, I have to admit it. The fanciful world that the author created is like the fanciful world that J.R.R. Tolkein created. They are equal in creativity. It's only because the Bible specifically mentions witches and sorcerers that we don't allow the kids to read the books or watch the movies and stay away from anything like it. I know, I know, there's witches in Narnia, too, but they are portrayed as evil as they should be. In Harry Potter, there's good and bad witches. Anyway, I did enjoy the books as fiction and I would be fine for the kids to read them as such now. Jared is the stickler on them. I'd wait for Abishai to get to be a teen before he could read them. But it's cool but also scary that someone decided to embed our phones to respond to Harry Potter spells. Eek!

When you are the regional rep for an area and need to be on all the groups and they all have an activity on the same day, bwahahahaha. But I don't do outdoor activities in the winter, so I declined going to them all. I'm glad they are still trying to their kids, even the little ones, outside in the winter. Seeing nature in the winter is incredibly different than in the other seasons. And I think you miss out on part of a creature's life cycle if you don't see it at least once in the winter time. I remember seeing the woods in the winter down at the little creek at the back of the neighborhood on PEI and just listening to how different it sounded. And you could look through the trees to the different parts of the wood in the winter time. And how different the stream looked. So I commend these families for keeping up their nature studies! Have fun tomorrow!

That's what it feels like some days.

I kept pulling out different calculators laying around the house to text to Benaiah and they still weren't the right ones he was looking for! We finally found it in a school supply area, but put up and out of the way. We actually have 4 calculators that are scientific aka that have buttons that do the sin/cos/tan thing. We have this graphing calculator and then two others like the one on the left. Then we have our calculators on our phones, too.

As I was looking for the calculators, I found these gems again. These are digital Bibles before iPhones existed! Yes! No joke! Before the Bible app was even a twinkle in someone's eye, Jared had the whole Bible on these devices. The NIV from the 1970's version, and you could still search for words in passages and do all kinds of things.

Yes! These cartridges do remind you of video game cartridges! On the gray one, I think I played a ton of hangman, too! Jared let me have these for a long while, that's why they were in my drawer. Kind of fun for the kids to mess with. I only had batteries for the big one but not the small one.

The batteries were very corroded but I put in new ones and voila! It still works! Search for something!

My guy was always into technology. He bought these when he worked for the Christian bookstore more than 25 years ago!

You eat the food, you help pick out the food. You help bag the food. You help carry the food. You help put away the food.

Gotta love having my helpers back!

Hey, Mr. Smee! Wake up! Hehehe! Ok, Jared cut these red plaid pj pants months ago because they were very ragged on the bottom. I've never tried to hem them, although I easily could. I call them his "pirate pants" and they make me giggle when he wears them. The waist is perfect for when he puts his cold backs on his back at night. Well, he wore his hi-top black shoes today with socks and with the long whiskers/gotee thing going on, and the white tshirt, well, it makes me want to call him my pirate even more! I just was in a good mood when he came home and he can't stand it! It makes him cringe when I'm all flirty and saying silly things like that. He starts to smile and walks away so I can't see him smile. He says, "Stop it." because he doesn't know what to do with me. So, this outfit just cracks me up!

See! I told you he looks a bit like a pirate!

If this is what his midlife crisis looks like, I'm ok with it! Better to spend 100's of dollars than 1000's on the real deals, right? Actually, I think he never stopped liking fast cars. He always liked cars and planes in junior high and high school and through college. Remember all those Motor Trend magazines? And now that Abishai and Benaiah and even Justin like them, it's something for the guys to talk about. I still don't like that he refuses to put photos of his family on his desk, but that will be a point of contention for the rest of his working days, I'm sure. But if he's going to display anything else, why not Legos? And he has no room at our house because my stuff occupies every other potential shelf until he and Justin build floating shelves. So, here's my man's Lego collection. #nevertoooldforlego

Tuesday - Big Milestone Day!

- Justin went to work at his first REAL job! He had his first shift at the Wanamaker Feed & Seed store up at the street in Wanamaker, from 9am to 2pm today. Yes, we live on Wanamaker Dr. as well. It once was it's own little town or municipal before it got swallowed up into Indianapolis. He said it was a good day. He had to carry maybe a dozen bags. His hands were cold, despite having working gloves, so he wants to use another pair of gloves on top of that next time. But otherwise, he seemed very happy. Not too tired or sore. He had done all of his work for today, yesterday, so he didn't have to play catch up, yeah! Way to go, Justin, on completing your first work shift! Oh, and it's not even 1/4 miles up the street. He could walk there. And Uncle Aaron always wanted to work there so he could use the forklift. It's where Gary and Leah always buy their water jugs from. It's open from like 9am-6pm, Monday through Sunday (not sure but I don't think they are open on Sundays) so we have to work out a proper schedule. It's been around for years and years. A mom and pop shop. Easy to work with.

- Meanwhile, back at home, Keturah woke up with a head ache, a stomach ache, and body aches. So, she flip flopped between napping, schooling, phone game playing, and grumping. She didn't eat much at all today. She didn't have a fever though.

- Abishai had some coughing and a little bit of running nose. My ears were still a bit off. And my eyes hurt from my late nights, whoops. So with all the sickness, Kelly and Kya came and got Justin for the rest of the day. They were in town anyways. My little guy is all grown up! He's now working and spending the rest of the day hanging out with a friend who is a girl. And I don't get to see him! Ah! Another one is leaving me! What am I going to do!

- Actually, what am I going to do? It's now officially time to shift the chores! Sort of. Maybe? I literally can't do the vacuuming or dog brushing because it hurts too much. I can wipe sinks and toilets. I can do chores that aren't the daily ones. But even letting the dog in and wiping his paws 10x a day hurts my back. And this summer, oh my, this summer is going to be incredibly taxing when we make Keturah mow the lawn. Ugh. We might have to pay her something for it. I don't know. But Abishai isn't quite ready for some of these chores, yet. Sigh. I'm just exhausted about thinking over this!

- Otherwise, it was a very quiet day with Justin gone and Keturah basically sleeping all day. Abishai and I did his schoolwork in 2 hours. I finished my puzzle and he was on his screen. Dinner was hodge podge again because no one felt like eating a real meal. I made mac and cheese, both gluten and gluten free kinds, and Abishai said it didn't taste right. Keturah, who usually polishes off the pot, couldn't stomach any of it. Jared can't each much of it because of the cheese. So, there was a ton of that left over. Justin doesn't eat mac and cheese and he was gone to Kya's house anyways. So there was no point in making anything new from scratch. I think Keturah ate 2 bananas today. Abishai also said the name brand pop tarts tasted funny. Hm,...Covid? Or just a regular virus stuffing up his nose? Or do they really taste differently than Aldi brand? Who knows.

- Again, I'm not testing the kids for Covid just because they are sick. It doesn't matter what virus they have. The protocol is the same. Keep them home until they are better. Fluids, vitamin C, and rest. Medicate for symptoms if they want it. Isolate them a bit if they can't keep their germs to themselves otherwise. The rest of us go about our lives. Same as we would of two years ago. The CDC has now changed the rules about quarantine from 10 days to 5 days and you can go out as long as you wear a mask if your symptoms have improved I think. Something like that. Well, since I'm not testing us, I'm not adhering to any of that. When we feel comfortable enough that we won't spread whatever germ we have, then we will go back out. It's flu and cold season. Germs abound. Wash your hands. Beef up your own immunity. Stay home if you can't. Same as you have done your whole life. I will operate how I've always operated. We don't go to the doctor for flu, stomach bugs, sore throats, ear infections, coughs, etc. We let them run their course. We move on. We aren't statistics and we won't be part of one. 

- ASL is tomorrow and I won't make any final decisions about who's sick and who isn't until then.

Second born was up and ready to go to work this morning! First day on the job! Jared took him extra extra early just so Jared could talk with the owner for a few minutes. But, unlike Chick Fil A, this mom and pop shop has normal business hours of 9am to 6pm. I'm not sure how that will work will school and all that yet, but Justin won't have to work with crazy morning and late evening hours for now.

Abishai said these name brand Pop Tarts aren't as good as the cheaper Aldi brand Pop Tarts. Go figure.

Rules changed again. Well, what happens if you never get tested and you don't know what virus you have? I guess you follow your own rules without having a guilty conscience of breaking someone else's rules, right? Just like we had before all of this nonsense. I'm totally going to ignore all of this. And so far, it's been working wonderfully.

Yup, we've had some sick kids again. It doesn't matter what virus she is. She doesn't feel good enough to go anywhere anyway. She'll stay home for the next few days, sleep, take her vitamins, eat some citrus fruits, and will be fine, just like in past years. Moving on now, folks. She did finish her homework today, too, just fine. She had the aches - head, tummy, body.

Dude, are you sunbathing in this weather? It's cold!

Seriously?! Hey, Pyreenes Mountain dog! I know it can be noisy inside and a little warm for you, but come back inside before your joints freeze up! I did try to call him and he wouldn't budge. I went back a few minutes later and he finally got up. He does like to sunbathe though.

Socks' favorite daytime spot. Plus he's got to watch over the sick one.

Proud Dad got a "first day at work" pic for me! The Wanamaker Feed and Seed store is literally one of those old time feed and seed stores that has a little of everything for the local farmers. Some tools and hardware, dog food, chicken food, etc., warm peanuts for snacks for humans, and sometimes, even kittens and chicks to buy and raise. Oh, and we got our mulch from them. And Gary and Leah buy their bottled water jugs from them. A little bit of everything.

It took my a little under 5 hrs to complete this 500 piece puzzle. Pretty quick. It's a cheaper puzzle so the pieces wouldn't stay down when I lifted up another piece that was stuck. But overall, not bad, despite poor lighting. Plenty of differences in colors to figure it out and all. The 1,000 piece puzzles are a good challenge to me, but the 500 piece ones are a satisfying ones because I can actually finish them in a weekend. 750 piece would be good, too. Now I have to convince Abishai that I can help him with his. I'll probably send this one off to my sister since it's small and it's of Portsmouth, NH. Leah gifted us a bunch last Christmas and then this Christmas as well, and we really don't need to keep every single one. There's actually several people within our township that like to trade puzzles, too. I have some puzzles from my childhood, and there are some that I would like to keep that she has given us, but there's just some that I'm good with giving away, too. Maybe this would be satisfying for my sister and John to do over a weekend as well.

Wednesday

-Oh no. I woke up sick. Not quite dizzy all the way, but it's coming. Sore throat, sinuses starting to clog, body feeling a tad achy. Here it comes. Only Justin felt well. And then I heard the wind howling outside. I was like, nope, I'm not going out today. So we skipped ASL.

- We took the day kind of slow and steady and eventually got everything done. I was so tired though that I kept falling asleep during the history lesson read aloud and during the movie we were watching for history. You'd think I was torturing the kids by making them watch a modern movie from 2008 about South Africa and Nelson Mandela set in 1995 about the Rugby Team's significance in Aprtheid. With great cast like Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman and even some awards, Invictus is actually quite an incredible movie. A lot of talking and not as much action. But wow does it help you think through the issues of the topic and lined up perfectly with the history lesson. You're welcome kids that a) I'm not making you research this or do a report b) you don't have to read just dry textbooks or listen to dry lectures c) you get to watch a fantastic movie that isn't black or white or made in the 80's. They just don't know how good they have it, I tell ya.

- Keturah didn't wake up until 11am. Justin didn't get out of bed until nearly 10am. They were both very grouchy today. Keturah hadn't showered since Saturday, hadn't changed her shirt since Sunday, and hadn't changed her pants since Monday. (She had changed her undergarments she said). Justin hadn't slept well overnight and was very moody (brooding) all day long. And then his small group leader canceled small group just as he, Jared, and Abishai arrived at McDonald's. How super frustrating!  They both claimed they did their homework, though.

- Abishai was fine but delay fished on homework by bouncing from one place to another. He watched his math lesson DVD for the first time though! He's an official student of Mr. Demme's now! I think he's going to love Mr. Demme. All the kids have been able to understand math from how he teaches it. I understand math better because of Mr. Demme. Once a week (or thereabouts) 10-15 minute video lesson is all it takes to present one math concept in increments that make sense with visuals and explanations as to why 23+35=58 is the same as (20+30)+(3+5)=58 (by using place value notation instead of just saying add the numbers in the ones column and then add the tens in the tens column. He breaks up the numbers to show where the numbers come from. It's brilliant!) Abishai didn't understand the way we do lessons and wanted to watch Lesson 6's video today. I had to disappoint him and say we don't progress that fast in this program. We have to do at least 3 days worth in each lesson. That's how we "speed ahead" or "catch up" when we fall behind. And if we don't finish a book, then we finish it the next year.

- Meanwhile, Keturah completely bombed her math review sheet because she forgot everything she has learned in math to this point. Something like 8 out of 18 questions were right. Sigh. That kid. Math is cumulative. You can't just memorize for a test and forget it! It builds on it itself! You need to know this stuff! Yes, we are still in the concepts that you will actually use. And it's not like she can't look back at previous pages to remind herself of how to do them either. We have an open book policy. Grrr.

-Justin said he did two days worth again today so he can go to work tomorrow and not have to worry about it when he comes home.

-Windchill is brutal and my sunroom is frigid and creaking. The thermomester in the breezeway where Socks' food bowl is says 64 degrees. Our thermostat is set at 73 degrees. It's currently 19 degrees F outside with a windchill down to 4 degrees F. BRRRRRRR I forgot to turn up the big heater today and now both heaters can't catch up. I might have to get up and leave to sit under a blanket. Plus I have damp hair from a shower. Brrr. I think I'm going to move to my green couch to watch some videos or something. Eek!

And the next couple of captions mentioned something about a national snowfight committee and that everyone was encouraged to wear masks and keep their distance from one another. When will it ever end?! First of all, it's cold out, right? You want a scarf on anyway, right? And second, you are running around! How are you going to pick up  germs if you aren't in contact with people? Good grief!

Somebody's watching his first lesson with Mr. Demme! We are technically on book 3, aka Beta, in the Math U See series and each book comes with DVD lessons, but he hasn't been interested in watching the DVD's yet. But he wanted to do it just like big brother Justin, complete with headphones and book in front of him. It's just a short simple lesson that I can explain to him, but I love how Mr. Demme explains things so clearly. That's why we use this math curriculum.

Doing math like big brother. 3rd kid to go through Beta. Benaiah only used Math U See from 5th-8th grade. Justin has now done it exclusively through K-11th grade, and Keturah K-8th. I'm very brand loyal on this math program.

How sad that abortion is still killing more children than all the deaths of Covid. Abortion is a pandemic all by itself.

Well, I guess Socks is now Keturah's official foot warmer. You can just barely see them but Keturah's toes are peeking out right under his belly in the middle.

Uh, someone turns 7 yrs old in 38 days! What?! How can that be?! Time to start planning for it!

Socks! We are trying to watch a movie! "Invictus" with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon about Nelson Mandela, the South African rugby team, and Apartheid. Very, very good movie about the sentiments surrounding all of that in 1995. Went perfect with our history lesson today on that topic. Very blessed kids that we don't read dry history books but rather narrative history books and get to watch movies and interesting documentaries as supplements.

Tomorrow is Grandma Cook's Celebration Service. These are two of the slides that will be included. I only really know just one of the photos. First of all, look how young my kids are. The infant one is Benaiah at literally 3 weeks old. The one with Keturah in it must have been when we were visiting after our first year in Canada maybe?

Oh my word, check out my skinny arms! And that tank top! It's tiny! I looked pretty good at after having Justin because I had worked out during and after his pregnancy. I think I got down to about 115 lbs or so. So that photo is probably from 2006. Benaiah would have been 5. I see some Abishai in Benaiah right there. Abishai is a good combo of both boys.  But yes, this is Mary Ellen Cook, Jared's Grandma Cook. She was short and tiny like me. Grandpa Cook was tall and wide boned just like Benaiah. Oh, the other kid there is Zion, who is a year older than Benaiah. Anyway, Jared and I are not going to Michigan because it's such a long drive for us and the kids and I have been sick. We don't know anyone besides family and we just saw everyone at Thanksgiving. I also have an appointment I can't miss either.  Aaron and his family won't be there. Jared had his moments of closure when he helped Grandma into her car at Thanksgiving. And Aaron had his moments during the week after Christmas. I know Grandma Cook wouldn't have cared because she made comments about not caring about other funeral things like what she was dressed in and where she would be buried (I, on the other hand, do care, I just haven't written any of it down yet). We'll be holding the fort down here in Indy taking care of the great grandchildren. We still have earthly and Kingdom work to do. And we can't do that if our earthly physical bodies are laid up for days because we traveled for 12 hrs in a a day. But these photos are awesome. I'm glad Gary sent them over.

Thursday - 2 hr delay

- We were on a 2 hr delay!

- Let me explain! Jared took Abishai with him to drop Justin off at work. He says he brought Abishai right back but Abishai said they went to the office first to get a piece of paper. Maybe Justin went in to the office at his work first. Anyway, Jared said he brought Abishai back around 8:45. Y'all, I didn't wake up until 9:45am! I heard the boys leave, but I never heard Abishai come back! Abishai was quiet as a mouse and got himself some pop tarts. And then didn't bother me. So oh my-lan-ta, batman. Time to go!

- Keturah didn't get up until 11am either.

- I had a massage appointment at 12:30, so that left me frantic. I told Abishai to start on some schoolwork while I tried to eat some breakfast. He got some math done and one page of language arts. The rest then waited until I got home after the appointment. We did some oral work, but that wasn't until 3pm.

- The massage was fantastic and I feel like a new woman! Wow! I told her I was "crunchy" and she agreed with me about halfway through. I knew I needed those long strokes instead of just those acupressure ones on my points and wow, yes, we got some stuff knocked loose. Now instead of a block of muscle in pain, I can literally feel my muscle rippling or crunching without pain. Now, not completely smooth or completely painless and there's still swelling and knots and all the things, but wow, what a difference. And I fully expect to be super sore tomorrow and pretty tight again soon. But wow, why did I wait so long? Oh yeah, time and money. Well, she recommended that I come back in one month, so that's when I set my next appointment. I could have come back in a week or two weeks. I think I used to do two weeks when I went consistently for 2 hrs at a time. But, I'll take what I can get. And then I'll get back to the chiropractor in the meantime.

- Speaking of the chiropractor, they called today and said I needed reschedule because he wouldn't be available for my appointment on the 17th. What's with these doctors rescheduling even with the dates so far out? Maybe he got Covid. I didn't ask. Anyway, his son is able to take me and we were able to move it up to a week from today, say yeah for me! Meanwhile the dermatologist still hasn't called me back from last week so I guess it wasn't that important to move that appointment.

- When I picked up Justin from his work, a few minutes late, I saw him sitting on the platform in the back looking like he was chatting up an employee. What he really was doing was answering a customer's question after he had clocked out after I told him I would be a few minutes late. Ok, dokey.

- We all had lunch at 2:30/3pm because the kiddos left at home didn't eat. They had permission to be doing homework. And Abishai had permission to play on the PS4 at 1 but Keturah was also on electronics and didn't need to be. So we ate dinner AFTER Jared had Bible study since it was at 6 this week instead of at 7. 

- And it all worked out because as I was leaving for my appointment, a car stopped in front of the house. It was one of the worship guys from church. He said, "Do you live here? Are you Benaiah's mom?" "Uh, yes? (I know your face, but your name isn't coming to mind because I wasn't expecting you)" "He told me to bring this to you because he wouldn't be home." And Zach hands me a PS5. Oh goodness me. Now I'm only going to be a few minutes early to my appointment and not a lot early and I have to get it into the house because I'm not leaving it in my car at the hospital to get stolen and I can't let the other kids see it. But I guess Zach and I have never officially met before. Bwahahahaha. I think I might have messaged him on social media once or twice. I mean, I've probably talked about him on here, too. And I've been back for 5 years and he's been around for that long. But we've never been face to face I guess. Goodness! That's the crazy thing about being part of a large church even when there's somewhat of a connection. 

- So, before Bible study, Jared came home early and Benaiah stopped by, so Benaiah could present the PS5 to our family. That was the big gift Benaiah was gifting us from his bonus money for his work party. Thank you, Benaiah! It was hilarious watching Benaiah and Justin interact after Jared left. Justin asked a simple question about how the DVD went in, which side goes up, and Benaiah answered simply, but then Justin was confused, and Benaiah was trying to get him to think logically, but Justin doesn't think logically, and Justin also didn't take his meds today, and well, Justin did get embarrassed about it because Benaiah was getting mad. And I had stepped away and just watched. Someday, it's just going to be these kids and they will have to really work it out. I know they both were trying to be civil men, I could feel it, but they are both just YOUNG men with hormones, and they are brothers. And I don't get to see them fight anymore. So it was kind of fun, too. In a way. I never thought I would say this, but I miss their fighting?! Or just the interaction I guess.

- But I had the opposite happen earlier on with Keturah and Justin. Justin said, "My co-workers have the humility to treat each other nice. Keturah, you don't have any humility. You are just mean." Only he said it with very similar words to how Benaiah used to say it when he'd come home from work. Yes, when you go outside of the family, your eyes are opened to how it really works, the bad, but often times the good, too. And that's why I get so frustrated with what happens at home. I see the potential we could be and then I'm disappointed that we haven't achieved that. And I'm saddened that the boys have had to witness it like this. Keturah and I both together and separately have to work on some things. Justin is going to want to run away as Benaiah has if we don't. But I'm also glad my boys want to work and get to have experiences. I'm glad Justin is so close and only God worked that out to be perfect. I don't have to drive far and I don't have to drive in the dark. It works with our schedule well. And we are helping out a longtime acquaintance of the family's. It's definitely a blessing.

- Another blessing is that our first paycheck of the year arrived yesterday and Jared got a large raise. But we started to talk about a bill we need to pay and then got into finances and well, I think I just added a new project to my list. It's time to sit down and go line by line on our spending habits, past and present and determine our future. We've spent a lot in 2021 and we don't know where it went and we blame each other without knowing the full truth. I'd say it doesn't matter who did it, but it was done. But knowing myself, I want the full truth, so I'll crunch some numbers. Especially now that Jared has accused me of doing the worst damage. And I probably did, but I don't think he realizes just how much he added to it this time around. And inflation is a nightmare. A total nightmare. I think I just burst his bubble on his salary increase. When in fact, it's just covering inflation and cost of living. And the cost of maintaining our health for one. And our house for another. We've deceived ourselves again for thinking we have the ability to spend when in reality we don't have it. And I say we. WE did it. WE have spending problems. WE don't have a budget. WE don't realize that $50 store trips or Amazon purchases (no matter how legitimate they are) several times in a week add up in a hurry. So, it's time for me to work the magic. And take down Christmas stuff this weekend. Hm,....

- Meanwhile, Grandma Cook's Celebration of Life service was today. Gary found some other gems of photos that I will share below. He shared a photo of the flowers and casket right before the service with us and then it donned on me that none of us had sent grandkid flowers! Oh my word! What incredible selfish/idiotic Gen Xer's we are! So I text Aaron and Shauna to ask if they had done anything thinking that surely Shauna had been wise enough to send something. And nope, she hadn't thought of it either. Phew, I was off the hook then, at less for forgetting. So I texted back that the men, Jared and Aaron, should put their two heads together and send something to their mother tomorrow to at least indicate that they remembered that today was the service. I didn't follow up to see if they got to it or not. I know they can get things done, and I know both of them were working today. But hopefully they will. I couldn't continue the conversation because of my appointment. But when Leah again asked yesterday if we were going today and I didn't hesitate in my reply she said "Bummer." She did say she knew about Jared's back though when she asked. Just let it be known that I don't mean to be callous. I didn't even go to one of my own grandmother's funerals back east because my aunt never told me she had died until months later. And I didn't know about my grandfather either. I wasn't even born for my other grandfather's. I didn't go into the visitation for my other gramma's and I only remember the graveside part for it otherwise. I was there for Jared's Grandmother and Grandfather Johnson's, and Grandpa Cook's. But all of those were years ago and we were both in a lot better health conditions than we are in now. Also, Aaron and Shauna were around for all there of those as well. And they didn't come back for today either. We all know that Grandma Cook wouldn't have cared either way. She pretty much said so herself. 

- We end the day with Justin carrying the extra TV out to the garage so he can play games on the PS4 and try to maybe transfer stuff to the PS5, or so I thought. I threw a fit because I don't want the TV falling over in the garage or Jared hitting it with his tools or kids throwing their bikes into it randomly, but whatever. I wanted it to stay in the boys' room. It's only used for the PS3, and can now have the PS4 hooked up to it. We can use the PS4 and PS5 together to have more players on at the same time like for Minecraft I think and other player vs. player games, maybe Fortnite? I don't know, but the systems do communicate together vs. the PS3 and PS4 that don't. Anyway, there will be some more rearranging and negotiating to do in the next few days/weeks/months because we other projects to work on too with Legos and such.

- We also have Keturah with her phone in her room, answering my text to bring it back claiming she's not on it, but she answered my text. well, she must have gotten it down from the shelf or something. It's supposed to be on my desk. Sneaky child. And Jared is shaving and going to bed early for men's accountability group in the morning. That leaves me to take Justin to work. Just pray I don't oversleep!

- Oh, and Abishai just sneaked past the closed bathroom door to come ask me for, guess what? A COLD PACK! Why? Because Daddy sleeps with three cold packs on his bare back every night to reduce the swelling on his lower back and Abishai wants to copy everything that Daddy does. And Abishai asked me this while I have my hoodie over my head and both little heaters are going full blast and I have my heating pad on my legs and the sunroom hasn't gotten warmer than 66 degrees while the thermostat in the main house is at 73 degrees. The Canadian wants to sleep with a cold pack! Um, no, child, no cold pack for you. Go back to bed! As far as Jared's cold packs go, I'm usually in bed 2 hours after him, so they aren't cold anymore. And if they are, I do my best to turn away from him and his icy back until I'm asleep. Jared is weird. We all knew that. It was the wet towel and heating pad on his back for two hours every single night and he'd take them off when he was half asleep after I wake him up when I got to bed. Now it's the cold packs. He claims it helps. I find his whole get up annoying. But whatever. He's not taking pain killers. And he's able to function. It's just a lot. It's kind of like those who have to sleep with those machines because they have sleep apnea. It's not great for cuddling time. Who wants to touch someone who is cold and iced down? Ewww! Or clammy from wet heat? Ewww!! Anyway, so no, little guy, no sleeping with cold packs. Only weird Daddies do that.

- One more quote from Abishai. When he saw that the jet stream had brought very cold air to Indianapolis but no snow he said, "Mommy, I need alone time." Why? "Because I'm mad at the snow. Just leave me alone. I need alone time." And then he pouted in his couch fort. Bwahahahahaha. First of all, because he knows what alone time is and second of all, that he was mad at the snow for missing us! But it did. The storm system went completely south and under Indianapolis. It hit Kentucky, Tennessee, and southern Indiana, but scooped down around Indianapolis, going through the western part of the state and affecting Illinois and Chicago, and then up through the eastern part of the state into Ohio. But only a few flakes were in the air in Indianapolis. Crazy! It was a perfect crescent shape like the city was cradled in God's hand or something. Gee whiz! Check out the pics below!

All the wind and bitter cold of Canada and the jet stream but no snow. Weather, you are a turd!

#Truth

Situated on the outside wall in the breezeway between the fireside room and the sunroom, near the window, that is above Socks' dog dish, this thermometer isn't lying. It is 66 degrees F (or lower) in the sunroom. It was 64 degrees F last night. The thermostat in the hallway in the warmest part of the house says 73. So when that area gets to 73, it will turn off the heat, regardless of what the sunroom feels like. That's why I have a space heater on at all times. And then I usually turn on a second space heater at my desk when I sit down that is directly blowing at me. The last two days however, I've had to move it up on my desk to keep my face and hands warm instead of my toes because it's just that cold. And tonight, I had my heating pad for my feet, legs and knees. I sit right near a window and I know there's some gaps. I have some weather stripping I can put on it that might help this corner near my desk. I hope to do that tomorrow. The windows are ok. They aren't terribly old. Maybe 20 yrs. But if you don't get them perfectly closed, there's a bit of a draft even when they are locked. It's time to help them a bit, at least the ones I never open. I could get some of those blackout films or winter layer things, too. We did the blackout films in the boys' room and we did the winter thing on PEI. Not sure how much either one helps with keeping heat in. The blackout shade might help to not fade out the book covers as much. Thankfully not many of them are directly in the sun but the tops are right below the windows. We'll see. Something to think about.

The thermometer is part of this thing that has a barometer that seems to work from what I can tell.

Benaiah had his buddy Zach from church informing him when drops were happening, meaning there were PS5's were in stock. Well, Benaiah still missed this morning's drop, but Zach has been able to get them for a lot of other people and snagged one for Benaiah, too. See my whole story above, but here it is! He couldn't wait to get it open for us!

Slick new controller! And Justin claimed it and said even Dad couldn't use it because he noticed Dad likes to eat chips at night and has greasy fingers! Woah! Justin! Way to be bold and talk negative about your Dad! That's a little bit out of character for Justin, actually. But that's ok. That can be used positively. He doesn't have to hold all his negative thoughts in all the time. Just say it with some tact and we're good with it. But yes, the rest of the kids aren't allowed to touch the new stuff. No way. Nope. Nada. Ketuarh is like the reverse Midas. Anything she touches, breaks, so nope. And Abishai, he's gentle, but, he's still got some greasy answers because he's (almost) 7. Justin is the man of the house in the way of technology so he can do all the setting up and transferring of accounts and such. AFTER we agree on the physical placement of equipment.

I have a feeling that these three are done growing heightwise. Although, it's kind of weird to think that it's true. I thought Justin and Keturah would be a little taller. Justin is nearly as tall as Benaiah I guess. Are these really my babies in their final form? My babies? Fun fact: the spa wellness center I went to today was on the first floor of the hospital where these three babies were born. I had to go in the same entrance as the maternity ward. It has changed a bit because they added a heart hospital wing at the same entrance. But, I can sort of tell which rooms/windows were our recovery rooms because they overlook the parking lot I was in. I think it was the 2nd floor at the time. The third floor was the hotel suites when Benaiah was born. I'm sure it's been changed around by now. It was a fairly new hospital when we joined it, maybe 10 years old. But now, it's nearly 30 since Benaiah will turn 20 yrs old in 5 months! Aghast! 20! 20 years ago Gary rushed me to that parking lot to get me in that maternity ward! Now look at this crew! And that child just bought his siblings a brand new $500 gaming system for Christmas. Because deep down he loves them. We did something right in those 20 years.

Oh boy, it's the second born's turn to figure out how to set this whole thing up. We've had the PS4 for nearly 8 or 9 years now. It's still very usable and compatible. And it will work with the PS5, which was out in 2020, so it's a year old, just like the PS4 was when we got it. We've used it every day in multiple ways. The PS5 will get the same kind of treatment. And now we can have two kids on DVD's and/or video games at the same time, i.e. Justin and Abishai. That will help a lot at screen time. I'd rather them be on one video game I've approved of and know who they are playing with than have full access to the internet willy nilly. Even if we put the PS4 in the boys' room, since they sleep together, no one can be on an electronic device all night because they would wake the other one up (you would think).

Justin thinks this is his new man cave. He can have this way for now. But if Jared needs to work on a project this winter or when spring arrives, it's out of here and back to Justin's room. I don't like this set up in the garage anyway. The garage is not Justin's den. It's a storage area. He should just take over Benaiah's desk since we aren't using it like I had hoped for puzzles and projects. Or maybe we can come up with a better solution for the whole living room. But I'm just afraid that one knock into that TV and crash boom it's all over the floor. I'm thinking about a large wood piece or the wrong swing of a tool or someone tossing their bike helmet around and swinging the end of an electrical plug. Not a good idea, Justin. Not a good idea.

We are now proud owners of a PS3, a PS5, and a PS4. Who knew?! They all still work fine, btw. PlayStation does make a great product, that's for sure.

Oh goodness, Gary sent a couple of photos that were part of the collage today for Grandma Cook's celebration service. Oh wow. Any guesses as to how far back this one is from? And who these little boys are? Well, it's Aaron and Jared. I'm guessing 5 yrs old and 8 yrs old? Mid 80's most likely. And now can you tell why our kids take after us and why Aaron's kids take after him? Yup. Jared's hair was amazing! I loved his hair so much! It was thick and wavy just like Benaiah's is. Just like this photo.

Oooo, even younger?! Definitely Waynesville, Illinois?! Gary's first ministry and only ministry before Indian Creek. I'm guessing Aaron was two and Jared was 5? Cuties!

Friday - Gym Day All By Himself

- It did take 2 out of 3 alarms with loud music to get me out of bed in time to get Justin to work, but I was singing the music the rest of the day.

- Since Justin had to work, Abishai got to go to gym day all by himself (with me). He loved having all the big kids to hang out with! 

- Abishai is a good tablet tennis player. He even asked for the paddles and ball by himself.

- The kids facetimed Autmn (from Florida) in for about 1/2 the time so she could be part of gym day! It was the sweetest thing and I could have cried! See the photo below how they even put the iPad on the edge of the circle like she was sitting there amount them. Then they would carry the iPad/her around with them! It was so heartwarming!

- Small group of people, but hopefully we can ramp things up and get more people to come. We think people are afraid to come because we were told to wear masks in a part of the building and to wear gym shoes in the gym and it's all the way over here in Indy vs. Greenfield, so we have some things to work on and clarify.

- We didn't do any school today. Which means Justin has to do a full day of school tomorrow, and I have to do some catch up with Abishai. We did finish the "Invictus" DVD. And I proved to Abishai that Jubal in Genesis 4 helped to create music with the flute and lyre so music is an important part of humanity and the Bible and I can play on my phone if I want to. We listened a group sing in Hebrew Psalm 114 as well. So, that counts as school. Plus Gym day is PE for the week. But we didn't do any bookwork yesterday or today and we are so far behind (I know, I know, not behind, but definitely not where I want to be with concepts). I need to find a way to skip ahead by skipping certain parts of pages or something. Sigh.

- Keturah claims all her work was done. I should check her math. She corrected it on her own this week, and said she still forgot some major concepts. Sigh.

- I am sore from my massage yesterday, but not as bad as I thought. The pain is in weird places and it's getting a little bit annoying. It's down my spine in the middle, and kind of funky over the sides of my shoulders. And then a bit on the bottom of my bum. And now everything is starting to freeze up again. I really wish I could have scheduled to go in in two weeks. Jared said maybe I should try to call them and ask if I could but with a different person. But I don't know if crossing over between massage therapists is wise. I am seeing the chiropractor next week. I don't know. 

- Tomorrow we need to work hard on some things so I hope I feel physically better. My throat is try and I'm tired of talking. My body is sore. I'm done with the day. I didn't really have great conversations at gym day. Jared and I are at odds with money and I'm not looking forward to figuring that out. I don't want to mess with Christmas stuff, and school, and Abishai's Legos tomorrow and I'm not sure which one takes priority because all of it is bothering me and only I can do them. Sigh. Abishai's Legos need to be organized and switched in such a way that they don't all get dumped into one big bucket and lost. I want the sets to stay separate so I don't want anyone else messing with them. But they need to come off of the table. I wanted them on the Lego table in the living room, but then Jim's old Legos went there. Well, those need a home because I didn't want those mixed in with Abishai's firehouse and old Howell Legos yet until we redo the firehouse one more time and set that aside. So I have to play ring around the rosie and use separate boxes for these things and Abishai's creations. But I'm so done with Legos on the table that I have to move over every time we sit down for dinner. Plus he adds to them and then the sets get mixed in and pieces get lost. Grrrr....Anyway......And kids haven't returned my other cookie sheets so I'm done with getting trays out for transferring things. I'm going to find some cardboard boxes for temprorary storage for stage 1. And then stage 2 can be things like making the fire house to put in Justin's city scape. Stage 3 is possibly combine Howell Legos with Jim's legos after we are sure we don't want to sift through them for special pieces for the sets Justin wanted to put together from Jim's stuff. And stage 4, shelving for sets that are made. Stage 5, work underneath the Lego table in the boys' room. And when will this all by accomplished? Maybe the end of summer. Or not. Right now, having Legos on the dining room table, and having the old green tray sticking out and getting kicked around in their room, along with a cookie tray that belongs in the kitchen, need to be all taken care of tomorrow. That's step 1. Then I can see if I can grab a Christmas box or two to put a few things away. Then I'll get on the computer and start printing off some  reports to show Jared our budget problems. Oh yeah, I forgot about school. Sigh. See, there's always something. Best to get to bed at a decent time then.

Appropriate for the last two weeks.

Hey we got a tiny bit of snow!

So, what hurts? And why do you think a cold pack will help it?

Read the second text. Then go look up "Unsung hero" on YouTube. Have the Kleenex ready. I won't spoil it any further. But it is beautiful.

My little reading maniac, although he was actually making up the word this time.

I didn't know little guy was so good at table tennis!

Abishai loved having Justin's (and his) friends all to himself!

Check out who is on the iPad?! It's Autumn! As soon as everybody arrived, Esther got Autumn to join in! Say what?! How darn sweet is that?! If restaurants weren't so noisy, we should have Angie join us moms on Moms' Night Out that way! Lol! They literally parked the iPad in the circle like Autumn was sitting there playing the game.  She's definitely well loved and missed. Molly says she often hears Autumn's voice all day from all the facetiming she does with Molly's kids. Sweet!

To celebrate the end of Justin's first week of work, Jared bought a pizza from Extrodinary pizza up the road. He thinks the owners of that pizza place used to be the owners of the New Bethel Ordinary. Oh, look at the tummy goodness! Not gluten free of course, bummers!

Leah brought over some of the flowers from Grandma Cook's funeral. The pink and green arrangement was park of the big spread that was over the casket. Gary took it apart so it could be shared with everyone. And then the yellow and orange bouquet came from the children's ministry at church. Leah was inundated with flowers so she's enjoyed them for a couple of days and brought them over for us to enjoy as well. Her allergies were probably starting to act up as well. These flowers are very potent!

Yes, you read that right. Justin Tmberlake and Britney Speakers (along with a couple of other boy band members) were on Mickey Mouse club in the 1990's before going off on their music careers. I was singing a song to myself and Ketruah didn't know it, so I brought up YouTube to shower her. And this came up on the sidebar. Um, yes, I knew they both were on the cast, but I didn't remember them. And when I watched the 10 minute video of all the intros, I can see why. I don't remember the intros that Britney and Justin were in. I must have been very busy with other things when those aired. But I did love this show when I was young. The dancing, the colors, oh it was my jam! I wanted a letter jacket because of this show! And I finally got that Change Your World Michael W. Smith one years and year later. But the music video with Britney Speaks. wow! How baby faced those two are! And JT doesn't have his height yet and hadn't dropped his voice tone yet. Phew! Fun time showing the kids all that fun stuff! Then we got serious and finished "Invictus" about the rugby team in South Africa. and Nelson Mandela. Gotta keep things even around here.

Saturday - Project Day

- One of my favorite days of the week! But it was 9:30 when I got up, oops! Let's go!

- Lego switchero - check! Kid showers - check! Laundry put away - check! Gather Christmas decor to fireside room - check! Pull meat for dinner - Check! Put husband's sweaters away he wore for the last two weeks - check!

- Find my 3 decent cookie sheets and wooden tray that were only supposed to be temporarily borrowed by the Lego enthusiasts  - check!

- Freeze my fingers off in the garage because husband didn't like "souvenir trash" aka recycling on top of wheelbarrow that he could have taken to the bins himself - check! Nap so I don't growl at said husband - double check!

- Took my Shower - not check! Did school with Abishai - not check! Put away Christmas decor that I gathered into fireside room - not check! Dust the dining room fan - not check! 

- But did I slay my day?! I think so! Hubby did his part, although he could more. But he did add to my list, too, at least in that he added to his list and now I have to nag him every week until it's done. And I realized I have a lot of paperwork to get done this month, blech. I'd rather work on puzzles, thank you. Or do what Jared did all Christmas break and put together Lego sets. So don't you dare complain about recycling being on your precious wheelbarrow. You have a van. You go to Kroger at least once a week. We go to the grocery store twice a month. You have more opportunities to dump the recycling. Nothing wrong with it sitting in the van like it sits in my car for a week at a time when the bins are full. And sometimes, we have to take it back out to use the car. And you know what I discovered when putting in the recycling? That I have clothes for goodwill that have been there since before Christmas. So, yup, when we got to Goodwill in search of work pants for Justin next week, we'll drop off those bags first. I'll drop off recycling, pick up my prescription, and go to the library after church tomorrow. After I take a shower and then go to church with wet hair and freeze my buns going across the church parking lot. My favorite. So stop complaining about the garage. Dude. I ran circles around you during Christmas break and today. It takes a lot to keep this house decluttered. You don't see it. But if I didn't do what I did every day, our house would look like those hoarding shows. I'm keeping the mess at bay, even if I can't knock out the layers underneath. I keep trying to push back those layers, too. And I can proudly say we are to those layers and I'm ready to keep going. If someone will put together the 1 item I purchased 6 months ago. Ugh. I know what needs to be done. Now do it. Build the Lego shelves, build my bathroom shelves, then we can clean out under the sink, put the laundry basket under the sink, clear up the floor, etc. clear out the box behind my desk of bathroom stuff, etc. He's the hold up, every time. Drives me insane. Insane! Paperwork is the same way. 17 years and we haven't updated our living will. almost 5 years in this house and our cars have the wrong legal address on them b/c of how Jared registered them while in the condo and something to with the living will and we put everything in the trust's name. Procrastination is his favorite game. Or he always finds something else to do. He's going to someday leave me with a big paperwork mess. And financial crisis, too. Thus the other big project didn't get started on because I pooped out and got mad and took a nap. I'll work on the budget tomorrow.

- And that's that. Sometimes, husbands are annoying. And sometimes, daughters, get really, really annoying. And sometimes, trying to transfer mega amounts of data from one PS4 to one PS5 while lots of other devices are running on the same wifi takes way too much time. And sometimes, taking someone home on extremely icy roads takes 2 1/2 hrs! Yikes! Abishai said, "I said such a hard night!" So let's end the weekend better with the Lord's day. Back to regular Sunday School and the first Crave/Middle School worship service and small group session of 2022.

53 hrs? To transfer data? From the PS4 to the PS5? Yup, because our WIFI is decent but not THAT good.

That is mostly true. There are other meetings that can be held on the same building. And we can honor God by taking care of our fellow citizens and rallying together, and sometimes the flag will be in that same building. The rest of the tweet did go as far to say that we shouldn't have services totally devoted to Hallmark type holidays like Mother's Day or things like Veteran's Days, but it's ok to mention them during the service, like praying over them or something. Ok, I get that. It's still hard to separate it all. I think what the person who tweeted this meant was for politicians to be on stage during the Sunday morning worship hour to be the speaker and talk on political things. Unless they are actually preaching on a Biblical text, it's inappropriate to turn the sermon into a time to push your agenda. However, your religion will be part of your worldview and your worldview will directly influence your politics and it will show up when you vote and when you hold office.

I saw a photo on my friend's Facebook page of her digging out her driveway after the snowstorm hit there on PEI because she had to pick up her son from work. I responded, "I kind of miss doing that!" And I'm so serious! I miss those kinds of crazy memories of having to dig out. Instead, we had an icy mist today and the roads were treacherous and it took the boys 2 1/2 to drop Kya back at her house. It usually only takes 1 hr. At least with snow you have something to grip and if there's a snowbank, it will eventually stop your vehicle. With icy, you just slide and slide right into a cornfield. Fun Fact: Bonshaw is about 20 minutes west of where we lived on PEI and it's where Benaiah used to go to do drama class every week.

Speaking of Benaiah, he does remember that Dad taught him to play chess and that when we lived on PEI, Jared took him and Justin over to the University to a chess club a few times. I don't play chess because it's hard for me to remember how all the pieces move and then how the special tricks go so you can actually win. I am good at checkers, though. But I bet Abishai could get really good at it with a little practice. We even have a decent book by Usborne about chess because of Benaiah's interest.

I'm not sure that's an official way chess players sit for chess playing.

This way either.

Abishai got to win. Daddy was easy on him for now.

I mean, doesn't every husband's closet have a Nerf gun in it that's fully loaded?

And a few unopened Lego boxes tucked away for a rainy day? No? Just mine then, eh? He's so weird!

Prove that you are a homeschooler without saying you are a homeschooler.....Justin was pouring out grease outside on the side of the house where Socks won't get to it and it was so cold, that the grease started to harden (not freeze but really slow down). He thought it was cool, and so did I! What are the 4 states of matter, kids? Liquid, gas, solid, plasma! Not quite forming a solid either, but going from a liquid, to a gelatinous state!

Backroads were so icy that iPhone maps couldn't figure out when the boys were going to be home. I was using the phone locator to find Justin's phone and then open the maps app to do the calculation and see where the traffic was. There was a car that slipped off the road here, too, Abishai said. But Jared also said several cars had slid off the road. And there was a major accident on the main highway, too. So nothing was safe or faster. Abishai was not a happy camper about missing out on screen time with Daddy and all the guys needed a restroom. It took them about 45 minutes to get out to Kya's house. Yuck! I always say this but it's really true, I would rather have 2-3 ft of snow than an ice storm. Ice does more damage than snow. Snow compacts, yes, but gives more traction. Ice is ice. Ice builds up on power lines and tree branches and the weight of the ice makes them snap with now warning. Powdery snow falls right off and it can blow off. Give me snow over ice any day of the week!

Sunday - Omnicold?

- I'm done. I'm run done. I just need a rest day. And a shower. So I did both. And Jared spoiled me with a fire and made me coffee when he got home from church and lunch at his mom's. I sorted through Benaiah's old school papers that were from 2016-2019 and found some gems. And I watched videos and napped. That's it.

- Kiddos did their Sunday things. First night of Crave and Small Groups. They brought home their 2nd semester youth group calendars and I realized it's the last middle school calendar I will have for like 5 years! Sad face! And no one is going to Mix this year, just Move! Ah!

- Temperatures are a little higher again, just above freezing, but dipping down at night, so causing black ice. Hopefully the little bit of sun will dry out the roads during the day. No major storms coming up right now, but other places are a mess. The wind I hear through the chimney makes me feel cold, especially when I'm sick and/or I've just taken a shower. I really don't like showers in the winter time where I wash my hair because I let my hair air dry and it makes me colder. Blow drying make my hair frizzy and I'm having a lot of extra static with all this dry heat in the house. We need a humidifier and probably a better space heater for the sunroom. Ollie's should have some, but I promised not to spend much money until I redo the budget with Jared's salary increase.

- My headcold symptoms are headcold symptoms, but that means they are the same symptoms as this Omnicron variant of the covid virus. My upper sinuses are clogged so my nose is runny, ears hurt, throat hurts, cough is dry, eyes are watery, etc. I don't have to go out much, so I'm just keeping it to myself. I don't have to go out until Wednesday, but could/should do errands before then. I've had symptoms for days, but yesterday the watery eyes and runny nose started and made me so grouchy. And I woke up with a wicked headache that went away with medication but would have blown up again with the least bit of tension and noise. So I stayed home and on the down low. Wednesday I'll attempt to go out again.

- School Monday and Tuesday, with Justin at work. Should be interesting trying to finish up the last week of History for forever in Justin's K-12 education. It's just 9/11, War on Terrorism, and Revelation (from the Bible). Easy topics he can read on his own. It's crazy how fast high school ramps up and then ramps down. It's an intense 4 years. And here comes the next one, Keturah, ready to join in, or not so ready because she hates to work. And then a little break before Abishai. Phew! 

Happy birthday, Ava!!! This budding super romantic guy wanted to give Ava (Benaiah's girlfriend) a flower on her birthday today. She volunteers in the Kindergarten class during 1st hour so he knew he would see her. And he picked the biggest flower from the bouquet we had on the table biggest he says he likes her that much! Awwww!!!! Ladies, I'm teaching them young, I promise!

(Taken from Terrible Maps Twitter feed below, so weird!)

I got me a man who finally matured enough to make me a fire and make me a cup of coffee when he got home from church. I stayed home because I don't feel well. I was somewhat teasing and it's usually a 50/50 chance on whether or not he'll come through with my requests. He never pretended he was a romantic from the get go. He's only been this way the last year or two. Maybe his sons are actually rubbing off on him. Either way, I certainly appreciated it today. Then he read a chapter to me from a book on marriage in your mid-life. We started it in early December.

We do have our little iPhone trackers on and it does pinpoint where we are in a building, or at least where the routers are. Justin was first near Daddy's office in the all purpose big room.

And then I switched to satellite view and refreshed everything and he was in the chapel. So he must have been gaga ball first. Keturah's phone wasn't turned on, so I didn't see her. Shauna must have been at their small group because they weren't at home. And Gary's updated from someplace in Cincinnati to their house.

It's a new school semester so new calendars. I think I'm just going to keep layering the calendars on top of each other and then when they are done with high school, take down the whole chunk and put it in their childhood "box" as whole. I don't know.

Then I realized, uh, Keturah doesn't go to CIY MIX this year, but she moves on to 9th grade, and High School, so she goes to CIY MOVE with Justin! This is her last Middle School Ministry calendar. And we won't have one on our wall for 4 years! Wow!

Oh no! Next semester I will only need one calendar for the next two years, just for High School Ministry! Both kids go to CIY MOVE as a freshman and a senior. And then the following year as Sophomore and Graduate! Ah! How on earth can this be?! Time flies!

The End