"String too short to use"

10) I now understand the value of washing my hair in the kitchen sink and taking a little spit-bath right there in the kitchen. It enables me to get clean (relatively) and keep half an eye on my three-year-old Destruct-O-Boy. See, Mom was smarter than I ever gave her credit for.

9) Moms are women who, among other things, trade eye liner for dark-circles, salon haircuts for pony tails, long showers for quick showers, late nights for early mornings and designer bags for diaper bags. As a mom I can tell you, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

8) Speaking of diaper bags, Liam is done with them! He got the hang of the whole potty thing in four days over Thanksgiving. Smart boy. The first two days of it were a disaster and I thought we were barking up the wrong tree, but by the end of the fourth day he was telling CJE and I, “Sit down, I do it myself,” and just going voluntarily whenever he needed to. YEA!

7) I am looking over my Christmas card list. Every year at this time I look at this list of 70+ people and think: I really should cut out about half of these folks. I ponder and muse for several days and then end up sending all of them after all, plus a few more new ones we’ve gathered in the past year. I do keep trying, but so far it hasn’t worked. I guess I still think all of you are worth a 44-cent stamp, a newsy letter and a photo of the squid.

6) The jammies are done! The jammies are done! Seven little nieces and nephews will have “Aunt Janie-made” Christmas jammies this year. I got them all shipped away and most likely they are already at their destination.

5) Had a great Thursday last week! Sue and I finally made our trip to the new Hobby Lobby in Kennewick. Gotta love Hobby Lobby. The store is quite new and obviously they don’t have all their stock yet, but still . . . very nice to have them in the neighborhood. Besides, we had a great trip; a little shopping, dinner and great company!

4) A couple weeks ago Liam’s threw a toy through a window at daycare. As my insurance company representative explained to me, because Liam is only 3½ and she is paid to care for him, we have no liability in this situation. Yeah, OK, but that doesn’t exactly work. She is his daycare provider, but she is also the daughter-in-law of a good friend. How do I keep the peace and tell her she should have been watching him closer and she is actually liable for her own window? Not a chance. In point of fact, to “keep the peace,” my insurance company is going to cover the damages. Thank God.

3) OK. People, calm down. X is actually one of the symbols for Christ. It was used, and may still be, by Christians who face(d) persecution for their beliefs. It really isn't Xing out the Lord.

2) Why can’t it be simple? Because it is real, and real things are not simple. - C.S. Lewis

1) Buy fancier, more expensive chocolate. This time of year, you spend money like water anyway, so you won’t miss it.

Lessons in Liamese

When Liam was first starting to talk he told me one day he didn’t want “gox on his beets (socks on his feet).”

When we got ready to leave the house one day last week it was raining. Liam informed me: “Mom, it’s raining, we need a willa (umbrella).” Which is funny enough, but the fact that I have a sister named Willa makes it hysterical.

Breakfast is the meal Liam is most likely to eat all of. His favorite breakfast is “lala bean.” Believe it or not this translates to: a banana and lime (green) yogurt.

For whatever reason when Liam came along, CJE and I started using the term nappy to refer to diapers. Liam has difficulty with Ns followed by As, so when asked if he needs his nappy changed his response is almost always: “No, it’s a good happy.”

Liam has taken to dawdling interminably over meals lately and when encouraged to eat his response is invariably, “I have a buffalo (mouthful).”

Liam loves movies. He calls “Avatar” the “blue kitties” and has asked to watch it every day for the past month.

Last time Liam was taking a tubby he played in the water an inordinate amount of time. When he finally agreed to get out, in some distress he showed me his hands. I said, “Your hands are all wrinkly and pruney.” He said, “Yes, like BaamMa (Grandma).”

Liam tracked me down in the bathroom a few days ago and informed me: “Mom, I have feet!” I said, “Yes, you do have feet. You have two of them. Where did you get those feet?” He thought for just a quick second and said, “Mal-Mart.” I’m going to let you figure that one out for yourself.

Life's gotten in the way

"String too short to use"

10) I have plans to go on a girl’s day out shopping excursion in a couple weeks. My friend, Sue, and I are going to trip over to Yakima to the nearest Hancock Fabrics on October 16. It’s a couple hours drive and then we’ll lose ourselves among the bolts and find a place for lunch and meander our way back home. Can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to this. I am always looking for someone to shop with who loves fabric as much as I do. Someone who will tolerate my standing mesmerized, staring at the same length of fabric imagining what it could be, and then not buying it. It should be a fun day.

9) The “Willow Tree Saga” continues. Another tree service came last Thursday and had a look. I liked what he had to say and liked his price even better than the first two. He is supposed to be here this Thursday to give the willow its haircut. I’ll let you know how it comes out.

8) CJE put his back out last Friday and our chiropractor was on vacation until yesterday. He spent the weekend alternately sitting against the heating pad and groaning and lumbering about the house hanging onto furniture. It was like living with Lurch from the Addams Family. His back seemed to feel best when he would go for a walk . . . and so did I.

7) It is fall! I am celebrating. I may have said this before, but this is my favorite time of year. Gardens are being put to bed for the winter. The last of the vegetables, fruits and herbs are ready for harvest. The air is cool in the mornings and crispness is coming soon. Even when the days are warm, there is an underlying coolness to the air. Trees are starting to put on their autumnal robes and the harsh summer sun has mellowed into a softer gentler glow. The NFL gives me the perfect excuse to accomplish absolutely nothing on any given Sunday. What is not to like?

6) I tried the most unusual but delicious sandwich this week. I found the recipe (for lack of a better term) in a magazine and was intrigued. So here it is: Rye bread spread with raspberry jam filled with slices of liver sausage and dill pickle. I know it sounds VERY strange. I thought CJE was going to gag when I put the thing together, but it is an interesting and yummy combination of flavors. You should try it.

5) I sent a little chart to my sister-in-law recently so she could tabulate measurements of her four children for me. Every year for the past several I have made pajamas for them and this year I had no opportunity to measure them myself. She got herself a measuring tape and promptly did the deed and sent it back! I am so excited! Now I can proceed with Christmas projects without delay. Yea!

4) I recently imagined and created a Halloween table runner. I miscalculated slightly and ended up with enough fabric for two. So I made two. I remembered one of my aunts back in North Dakota goes crazy decorating her house at Halloween, so I decided to send the extra one to her. Unfortunately, as usual, I didn’t take a picture of the darn thing before I sent it. I am now kicking myself. I am so bad about taking pictures of my creations, and I don’t know why. Maybe because I am usually so anxious to send things off so the recipients can have them as soon as possible. Here, however, is a picture of the one I kept.

3) Our garage has reached maximum density. It was on tap for this past weekend, but CJE’s back prevented it from happening. On October 9th you will find us there. Recycling bins will be cleared. Those things which look as though their last placement was an “open the door and chuck it” sort of thing will actually be put where they belong. The cushions from the deck chairs will be put up for the winter. The floor will get swept and a general spider patrol will occur. Annual flower pots will get emptied and put away. At this point there is still space enough for both vehicles, but if the fall cleaning doesn’t happen, there soon won’t be. It will happen.

2) I started a new book this week. Like I have time to read. But I did it anyway. “Green City in the Sun” by Barbara Wood. She is one of my favorite authors, although I can’t say I like everything she has written. This one has started out promising, but only time will tell. At least it will help to fill all those spare hours I have.

1) If you could have one person you have lost touch with call you up tonight and invite you to dinner, who would you want it to be?

Ch-Ch-Changes

Twenty-two years ago my first husband and I divorced. Like most divorces, there was a myriad of reasons for it. As I look back today, however, the biggest and most constant reason was the man’s overwhelming neediness. When I left him and thought about it, I swore I would never again saddle myself with someone who needed me that much.

He was incapable of accomplishing basic household tasks. He was incapable of making simple or complex life decisions. He could not manage on his own for any length of time. He had no comprehension of how to be without me.

It drove me crazy. Being indispensable sucks. You have no freedom to be your own person, and you have no space to be that person and sometimes it is hard to even remember who that person might be.

I swore I would never saddle myself with someone who smothered me that much. Never again would I tolerate anyone’s dependence on me for their every need. The feeling of losing my identity into a role I was forced to play was not for me.

And now . . . I have a three-year old.

The Saga of the Willow Tree

Argh! This is me pulling my hair out.

We have a huge upright willow tree in our backyard. We planted it 12 years ago when it was about as big around as my calf. Now, I am well aware I have larger than average calves, but this dang tree is now at least 40 feet high and much, MUCH bigger around than I am. It’s outer limbs are also crashing into our house and two of our neighbors' houses.

In short, it has outgrown its available space.

So, being the responsible homeowner I am, I contacted a tree service to come and look at the tree, tell me what was needed and how much it might cost me.

My primary concern is for the health of the tree and the surrounding houses. It truly has sprawled this year and no longer looks like a healthy tree.

A guy from a tree service showed up during the last week of August. Allan was very pleasant and had the most charming Scottish accent. He told me the tree needed drastically cut back and reshaped. His company would bring a truck in and take care of it, clean up the mess and systemic the tree for a mere $1200. Gulp! After I pulled my jaw up off the ground, I told him I would have to talk to my husband and we would get back to him.

I thought about it afterward and wondered if I had told him we had planted the tree nine years ago would the bill have been $900? Or, God forbid, what if we had planted it 24 years ago? Yike!

At any rate, after CJE and I talked it over, we just didn’t see an alternative. Something must be done with this tree. The company agreed to take half down and let us make payments for the remainder. They scheduled us for last Friday, September 17. Turns out I had a coupon, so the bill would be only $1150. Whew!

Friday came. About midway through the day I called the guy’s cell phone. Turns out he went on vacation and didn’t share my phone number with anybody else. The man who answered the phone when I called company headquarters said they had an emergency in Connell and couldn’t get here. He had no number to call and let me know. I asked him if he wanted to reschedule. He said he would call me the first of the week.

On Monday I called Allan’s cell phone again. I left him a voice mail saying: “We need to talk.”

I then proceeded to look in the yellow pages for additional tree services in our area. I must tell you I had no idea tree services were such fly-by-night operators. The one who had the most beautiful full-color ad in the yellow pages answered the phone “hello.” When I told him what I wanted he told me it was his son’s business and he would have him call me as soon as he could find him. The only other one took three days to get back to me after I had left two messages on his voicemail.

One of them did finally come and look at the tree. He will do the job for half the price of the first company, but recommends we wait until the tree goes dormant this fall. He says it will be better for the tree that way. I don’t necessarily have a problem with waiting a couple months, and I definitely liked his price a lot better, but this does mean the saga of the willow tree trimming operation will drag on. I wonder what’s next?

Allan did finally returned my call. I told him since they had missed their appointment, I had contacted some other services who were willing to do the job for considerably less. I asked if he was willing to negotiate price and he hung up on me. Ah well, it seems there is very little integrity and no imagination in business today.

Rockin' babies

I spent some time around 2:30 this morning rocking a little boy back to sleep.

Apparently Liam had a bad dream. This first time, CJE picked him up off the floor and put him back to bed.

Then it was my turn. As I was tucking him back under his covers he says, in this little quivery voice, “I want to sleep with you.” Knowing if I let him neither CJE nor I would get any more sleep I told him no, he had to sleep in his own bed.

Third time’s a charm. When he showed up bedside still sniffly, I decided some rocking action was going to have to happen or he wasn’t ever going to stay in his bed or get back to sleep. So we rocked.

There is something immense about rocking a sleepy child in the middle of the night when the house is all quiet and still and dark. The feeling of unconditional love and trust from this small one plucks my heartstrings every time. He obediently closed his eyes and was asleep within moments, but still we rocked. I just wasn’t ready to let go of the overwhelming closeness. In the light of his night light I watched his little face while he slept. So peaceful. A couple of times he smiled in his sleep and sighed. Sweet.

So this morning, even though I am short a couple hours of sleep, I am feeling humbled and at peace. Humbled that God has trusted me with this little life, and in awe at the peace He can make me feel.