We had an exciting weekend. (The post is a little late because I was waiting on pictures.) In honor of Craig’s Justice Walking theme this week, which is fasting from the artificial and feasting on the natural, we went to Barataria Preserve to “hike”. We did the two-mile board walk through the swamp, which was really cool. There were tons of very large spiders, lizards, small snakes, dragon flies, and we saw an owl in the top of one of the trees. Lucy walked almost the whole way by herself, which was nice. Samantha got to ride with Dad.
Category Archives: Domum
Pirate Prayer
Ah, it’s been a while. Things have been slightly crazy. Dad had his third chemo treatment, and that is still going as well as can be expected. He’s tired and sick, but still in good spirits.
Craig’s mom needs prayers now, too. She had a biopsy done Tuesday and will find out September 9 if is it something they will have to treat. In the meantime, she’s recovering from the biopsy and the anesthesia, and trying not to worry too much about what the test results will be. When it rains around here, it pours!
Another Year
Craig has started teacher orientation again. This summer flew by, especially since we were out of town most of the month of July. His return to work, and my non-return, have raised a number of questions for me again. ”Can we really afford to live on one income? Why did we get such a nice car so now we have those payments to keep up with? Where can I spend a few less dollars? Can I really handle two little girls all day?”
Holy Housework
I had been wondering where the burst of cleaning and ordering energy that I’ve had for the last couple of weeks had come from, and I now have a couple of theories. (For two pregnancies I looked forward to the “nesting” phase when I would actually want to clean – it never came. Maybe this is what it feels like!) Freedom from the requirements of a job has certainly helped, since I have hours back in my days with no commute, no papers to grade or lessons to plan, not to mention the time I actually spent teaching.
Silence
“Those who love God should attempt to preserve or create an atmosphere in which He can be found. Christians should have quiet homes. Throw out television, if necessary — not everybody, but those who take this sort of thing seriously. Radios useless. Stay away from the movies — I was going to say ‘as a penance’ but it would seem to me to be rather a pleasure than a penance, to stay away from the movies. Maybe even form small agrarian communities in the country where there would be no radios, etc.
Ahh, kids
Lucy woke up last night (after she had come to our bed) saying, “I need my coffee!” I told her to go back to sleep, but she got up, went to the living room (where Craig was still on the computer) and got her sippy-cup of chocolate milk with a splash of coffee and brought it back to the bedroom. The she got up again and announced that she wanted water. Before Craig could get it, she was saying very loudly, “No, I going to sleep!” but she had closed the bedroom door on her way out and couldn’t open it again. All this woke up Samantha, and thus ended my half-hour or so of comfortable sleeping.
Strawberries
This post made my day. Craig’s dad is growing strawberries, and we have been the beneficiaries of his bounty for the last month or so. We are exploring new and exciting ways to use them all, but Lucy still likes to eat them plain, preferably daily or twice daily. Craig’s dad has beautiful, neat, raised, mulched rows for his plants, but neglected strawberries for ground cover, now there’s an idea! The book list at the end of the post is great, too. I’m going to have to head to the library for a copy of Jamberry. That was one of my favorites growing up.
This week’s news
We are experimenting to see how long we can survive without air conditioning. I’m shooting for Memorial Day. (We will get a respite on Mother’s Day, since Craig’s parents are coming over and I’m not going to impose this penance on anyone else!) We didn’t use it last month, and our electric bill was less than 1/3 of what it had been. We’ve been spending lots of time outside (in the shade mostly!) and leaving the house open for the breeze. It’s not terrible, just a little uncomfortable, and I have a new appreciation for those little breaths of cool air!
Goats?!?
There are goats living down the street from us. Not on the end by the freeway, fortunately for them, but on the other end by the convenience store. There are two of them, and they wear collars. I’m not sure who the belong to, but I saw them a few days ago on one side of the street grazing in an empty lot, and this morning on the way to school I had to wait for them to cross the road. It was a little surreal. I was wanting to move to a farm, and it seems that the farm has come to me! (We also have a chicken next door, whose purpose is termite removal.) More details on goat sightings as they become available.
Pictures take way too long to load…
…but here they are. You might wonder what I’ve been doing with myself lately, since I clearly have not been posting here. (Besides telling my Latin students that the preceding sentence is an example of an indirect question, and would require and accusative-infinitive construction in Latin. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean anything to my students either.) Here are a few pictures to help you imagine what we have all been up to. I’m a little embarrassed by the blurriness, but I’m still figuring out these digital thingys.
