Flies? Not A Problem

I do not remember as a child finding many flies in our home.

My parents had built their home about a year after they were married. Being a new home, there didn't seem to be a problem with those pesky houseflies gathering in the windows and congregating on the sills. Even to this day, over four decades later, the windows still seem to be free of the tiny flying creatures.

Jon and I built our own home almost two decades ago, a couple of years after we were married, yet we seem to have always had a problem with houseflies. I am wondering if the difference is that our home has vinyl-siding and my parents' home is brick. I was told by someone years ago that flies LOVE to get in behind vinyl-siding. (If they like vinyl-siding, then why are they hanging out in my windows?)

The sound of their buzzing can drive me crazy, but it's more the dirt they leave behind on the windows that sets me around the bend. And then after they've buzzed around for a time, realizing they can't get through the glass, they just lay down and die, or some of them even seem to just get stuck and die right there, hanging on the glass!

And THEN what do we do? Suck them up with the vacuum, or take the little broom to them and dispose of them in the garbage.

Well, I was reading an email that was sent to me (Thanks, Uncle Kenny) about what you could do if you were bored......... And if you're bored in a house that has houseflies havin' a little insect-party-hoe-down in your windows, then THIS is just the blog post you need to read.

Simply follow these simple directions:

1. Kill a few flies.
2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.
3. Once they are dry, pick a pencil and paper... Let your imagination flow.
Here are a few examples...

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Good way to keep the kids entertained and get your windows bug-free at the same time!

Yah.... I know......... I'm warped.

Note - Just to clarify, I did NOT do these pictures; they're from an email I received. I WISH I had this kind of imagination!

Baby Bird Report

Chatted earlier this evening with my 1st baby bird and after one week of college life, the vote is in and.........

He LOVES it.

I figured he would, but it was still a relief to hear him say it.... or rather, to see him type it.



We just had a live chat online via typing, since I don't have a web cam yet; and when I asked him how he's enjoying things now that he's been there a whole week, he said he's "LOVING IT".



Blake said one of his colleagues cut his hair for him..... kinda scares me because it brings back memories of that whole "Marie" thing! However, THIS time Blake gave his consent and I'm anxious to find out from my sisters, who have web cams, to hear their views on what he looks like.



He seems to be ahead on his assignments already, so that makes me happy. I'm glad he's not leaving things to the last minute, like his Momma always does.



It's really difficult to not be part of his whole life now. From the time our kids are born, we are part of everything they do in school, at church, music lessons, sports, everything! Blake said they had a church service Sunday evening with only the students attending, and he gave his testimony. (Apparently, he jokingly told them he had a contagious disease.... hahhaha... comedian). It's disappointing that I couldn't be there to hear it.



I am always proud to hear and watch our boys perform music and play sports and cut wood and help load freight and master video games and...... you get the idea. So when I can't be there to be a part of it.... it just kinda feels like my balloon has been deflated.



Yes, I know, it's a part of life. It's part of the baby bird leaving the nest. And yes, Momma bird will get used to it.... but it doesn't mean I have to like it.



I guess I'm just happy that things are going well there for him, that he's enjoying the school, the students, the teachers, the staff.....



Now the food? Well, that's another story. Some of the foods, or something used in the foods, seem to be bothering him a little bit. However, there is another student with some food concerns, so he took Blake to meet the Chef to work out a meal plan for Blake. This thrilled me! The Chef simply wants a list of what Blake can and cannot eat and will be able to accommodate Blake's needs. Wahoo!



We are also nearing the date for a Remicade infusion, but we have not received the go-ahead from the government regarding the Section 8. Hopefully we'll receive positive news this week.



Anyways, that's about it for now. Just wanted to share with all of you that Blake is very happy in his new home. Please continue to pray for Blake's health and for the Section 8 approval.



Thank you, Lord, for watching over my baby.

Prayer (How To Avoid Life Crashes)

I love it when something happens or is discussed and then you're in a different place and that particular subject is touched on again, and you think, "Hey God, are you trying to tell me somethin'?"

In my last post, I touched on the subject of attitude.

Then, today's sermon in church was about Prayer, and it included the subject of "attitude".

That's pretty cool when that happens.

After church we were in Sunday School and were discussing the sermon.

One of the points that we discussed about prayer was busy schedules, being able to slow down our schedules to concentrate on prayer.

Then, this afternoon I'm reading a favourite blog that I enjoy following, and, not surprisingly, I read the very subject that we discussed in Sunday School this morning.

Click on over to A Holy Experience and read Ann's post entitled, How To Avoid Life Crashes.

I just love it when these "God moments" happen!

What Ya See Is What Ya Get

Sometimes ME = BAD

Well, I really shouldn't say "ME", but rather "MY MOUTH".

Or maybe rather "MY ATTITUDE".

The other evening I was with a group of ladies and we were commenting about people's bad attitudes in the arena... some parents.... some coaches.....

(Let me tell ya.... some folks in the hockey category can get "PRIT-ty FEIST-y"!)

Anyways, one lady mentioned a situation where a coach was literally screaming and yelling at one of his OWN players during a game (and the player would have been a young boy, maybe 12 or 13 yrs old). The Ref ended up throwing the coach out of the game for his behaviour (which, in my opinion, was a WONDERFUL thing to do! In fact, I'd have banned him from coaching any future games..... again, MY opinion!)

So that got us on the topic of how mean people can be and I started ranting to them about this young arrogant-silver-spoon-fed/-mommy-and-daddy-buy-me-anything-I-want/-oh-everybody-look-at-me-I'm-so-cool-and-beautiful/-Miss-Head-of-the-cheerleading-squad teenaged whippertick girl that I saw in the McDonald's restaurant last week.

I literally stood there with my mouth hanging open watching her. She was SO completely rude to one of the young teenaged boys who was simply just trying to see if she had yet been waited on. He was most polite and courteous, and SHE was MOST.... MOST..... oh I can't even type the adjective that I'm thinking of, lest my blog be categorized under RESTRICTED!

Honestly folks, it was all I could do to not turn and say to her, "And just WHO do YOU think YOU ARE, Miss Goody Two-Shoes!" Without a word of a lie, it took ALL I could muster to not reach over and slap her Maybelline-dressed face! I honestly had a whole conversation happenin' right there in my head, trying to decide WHAT on EARTH I could say to this girl in a Christ-like manner, and LET ME TELL YOU THAT THERE WERE NO CHRIST-LIKE THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD AT THAT MOMENT.

If THAT had've been my daughter, I can tell you RIGHT now that her hiney would've been about four shades darker than her Cover-Girl lipstick!!!!

You can just tell when some kids have that "It's All About Me" attitude, and THIS girl had it.

I was SO angry! (Can you tell?)

That was over a week ago and I'm STILL on fire about it.

Well, I was spouting off to this group of ladies about this young girl, and this particular group of ladies has never seen me get all riled up about anything. But they knew I was cheesed.

However.... and this is the point of this post..... when I got back home, I had to think to myself, (or perhaps the Holy Spirit was gently nudging me), "Did you act in a Christ-like manner in front of those women?"

Ahhh, Lord...... come ONnnnnnnnn...... I was defending that poor little boy behind the McDonald's counter who was just simply trying to do his job.

And then I hear the Holy Spirit say that despite what this young girl said and despite how she acted, it does not give me a license to go around and speak meanly about her.

(Dagnabbit!)

So I confessed to the Lord that my attitude was not proper and that I likely didn't leave a good impression of The Lord in the eyes of these women, despite that the young girl should've been slapped upside the head. I still shouldn't have been complaining or gossiping or chewing nails and spitting rust.

I decided I would watch my mouth from now on and not act the way I did that evening in front of those ladies.

Fast forward four days.

Me and my big mouth.

I did it again.

Different story.

Different people.

But same scenario.

A woman who has just simply got under my skin regarding the whole issue of Blake's health and the paperwork and yada-yada-yada. This woman has a REAL problem with communication skills and phone-side manners!

(Again, who am "I" to judge and act as God.......)

But since I "think" I have some type of authority to chew about people behind their back, I once again start discussing this other scenario with a couple of ladies today. As I drive back home, I think, "For CRYING OUT LOUD, I JUST did it AGAIN!"

Sorry, Lord.

Me and my big mouth.




So I thought about this and decided that it's really not my mouth that's leading me into trouble..... it's my attitude. If my ATTITUDE were in it's proper place, then my mouth would follow.

It's not hard to have a good attitude when all is fine with the world; however, it IS VERY hard to have a good attitude when people hurt you, or they hurt someone you love, or when you see them hurt someone you don't even know, like the McDonald's boy.

And God forbid anyone hurt our children! Mothers are pitbulls with lipstick!





I don't like to be hurt.

I don't like to see others get hurt.

I don't like to see people who are nice to your face but hurtful behind your back.

I don't like phoney-baloneys. (And, yes, I know it's spelled "bologna", but then it wouldn't have rhymed properly).

I think that I am pretty much a "What-ya-see-is-what-ya-get" kind of woman. I'm not perfect, although at one time I might have thought I was. I'm not the kind of person to go out and hurt anyone. I'm not one to have to "be-in-the-know"... in fact, I'd really rather you NOT gossip with me or give me details because I only have a limited number of brain cells left anyways and I'd rather use them up with concentrating on my own family's business and not everyone else's!

I know people who would NEVER say a word about anyone else, yet they are VERY sneaky at probing for information because they feel they need to know what's going on in everyone else's life, other families' lives, the folks they work with, the people they go to church with..... yes, that's right.... church people. Surprisingly, SOME "Christians" are the WORST regarding this!

Anyways, I don't want to get back on the complaining band wagon; I guess I just wanted you to know that I'm not perfect..... that what you see is what you get. I'm a work in progress. Joyce Meyer always says, "Little by little". We aren't going to reach that "taming of the tongue" overnight, but little by little we get closer to the goal.

If I replay the McDonald's situation over in my head again, I guess I COULD have approached the smart-mouthed young lady and simply said, "Excuse me, but that young man is just simply doing his job by asking if he could take your order. Please don't be rude to him."

And as for the other scenario, I COULD have just told the woman on the phone "I'm sorry, this is our first time in dealing with a chronic disease and what we need to do with regards to ensuring the paperwork is completed properly so our son can receive the medicine to save his life. I would appreciate you being patient with me."

My first reaction is simply to bite their heads off. However, I need to remember to "dress" myself. Just as I get up each day and put on my pants and a sweater, I also need to put on some clothes of kindness and gentleness. Colossians 3:12 says, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

So, even though I think people can pretty much read me like a book and know what I'm like and know where I stand on things and know that "what ya see is what ya get", I'd like to think that "what ya see is slowly changing into a better person".

There's no time-warp machine to get me there quicker.... it's certainly a process.... but little by little, I think I'm gettin' there.

I'm BAAAAA-aaaaaack!

Hello friends!

I AM BACK!

I am back from New Brunswick.

I am back to the blog world (thanks to my friend who helped to fix our computers from some nasty viruses as well as a bunch of nonsense stuff on the computers that were slowing them down. Now I can blog again.... yeee-haaawww).

I am back mentally and physically (well.... jury's still out on that one) as I am slowly getting caught up on some housework. The laundry is now caught up for the first time in months.... maybe since October or November??? (How completely sad is THAT????) I got the floors swept for the first time in days weeks months..... months???..... well, ok, maybe not MONTHS, but it sure has been a looooong time. So THAT alone has helped me mentally (you know... a sense of accomplishment!). haha

I'll get things updated over the next few days (although we have five or six hockey games in a matter of five days, two of which are not quite two hours drive one-way). I want to give you some updates on Blake at school. (Hint - He's having a great time!)

I am anxious to get back to my blogging. I have not kept up to date on the blogs that I follow, and I feel as though I'm missing a connection with some great folks, even though I've never even met some of them personally! Hopefully by next week, I will have gotten into my "new routine" and the blogging will get back on track.

Next week I will be involved in a new Bible Study series at our church. We'll be doing a Beth Moore study (wa-hooooo!) and I am anxious to get into The Word with other women on a regular basis.

Lots coming your way, folks. And, yes, I will soon be downloading some photos from my camera (which I haven't done in months!) and we'll take a look at the life and times of the Found Family. hahaha I also need to spend time finishing up our Thank You's and preparing a huge Thank You to put in the local newspaper. Lots and lots and lots and lots of folks to thank!

OK, my flannel-covered pillow is beckoning me. I can hear it calling my name.

Meet up with me again soon.... right here at Fiddlers Found! Stay tuned!

Blake's Health Update 2010/01/07

This is going to be a rather quick post.... I really need some beauty catch-up sleep because we head for New Brunswick VERY early on Saturday morning.

I just wanted everyone to know that Blake's health has been very good lately. The medicine, Remicade, has proven to be extremely effective in Blake's healing process. I know that your prayers have been extremely effective as well. Thank you for praying for our boy.

And, since we're on the topic of "prayer".... I am wondering if I could bother you to pray that the "Section 8" is approved in the next few days. We have been accepted by Trillium, who will pay for any drugs that Blake needs, not including his yearly deductible (which is, thankfully, quite low). However, Trillium will only pay for the actual Remicade IF a Section 8 is granted. THAT is what we're waiting for now. Once that is granted, we will be able to ship Blake's Remicade doses to him from Ontario to New Brunswick where he will receive the infusions at a clinic, hopefully not too far from his college. Blake's Remicade is covered under Trillium ONLY if it's shipped from Ontario.

Honestly, folks, all the paperwork and phone calls has been more exhausting and frustrating than the actual disease itself!!!!! I wouldn't wish this upon anyone. Two women have been extremely instrumental in assisting me with this whole process...... Simona and Edel.

[applause, cheers, more applause....]

Ladies, please take a bow.

I appreciate their efforts and their professionalism and their extreme kindness to us as we've tackled this monster! They've helped to make a difficult situation a little easier to bear.

Simona tells me this morning that "once the Section 8 is approved, it's a no-brainer". Wa-hooooo! I LOVE NO-BRAINERS since I'm only functioning with part of a brain lately!

So, back to Blake.

Blake has been in New Jersey since Monday afternoon with his Brazilian girlfriend, Anelyse. Anelyse spent Christmas and New Year's holidays here with us, and can I just tell you that I love her and want to keep her here. But Damaris, her Momma, wouldn't let me. She said I must return her. I did. But I wasn't happy about it. Not one little bit.

Anelyse was a delight and maybe, just maybe....... OK, A REALLY BIG MAYBE, I just might be ready for a daughter-in-law..... IF it's Anelyse. Then I'll be ready. Blake's not ready for a wife yet, but I'm ready for the daughter-in-law. Guess I'll have to wait and see what happens. For now, Any returns to Brazil on Saturday to return to her dentistry, and Blake travels to New Brunswick to begin his new life as a college kid. Jon and I will meet Blake Saturday evening at the airport in Moncton (we'll be driving out with all his belongings) and at that point, I will begin the agonizing adjustment of being Momma Bird with one less bird in the nest.

Tissues, please.

More, please.

Still more.

I haven't cried YET, but I know it's coming.

I have my THIRD cold in a matter of six weeks, so I'll just tell people I'm not crying, I'm just fighting a head cold.

Blasted eye-watering cold.

That's what it will be is.... an eye cold.

THAT way, I can cry the whole time.

I'll bet every Momma there will have an eye cold.

Every single Momma on that campus is gonna have the dreaded eye cold.

And every Daddy will have that lump in his throat tickle in his throat.

[a-hem, a-HEM]

Kids won't understand until they have to do it themselves.

That'll be our glory moment, eh? hahha

Anyways, Blake seems to be doing very well. No pain in the tummy. No loose bowel movements. No blood. It's been wonderful!

There has been the ODD occasion where he has eaten something and then felt a little uncomfortable; however, it's not too long and he's back on track. That will help him to know what he can eat and what he should avoid.

(Sorry, Grandma, but that piece of pumpkin pie didn't seem to sit well. However, the cherry pie that Dean, Jake, and I ate off the floor seemed to sit REAL well. You should drop pies more often!)

Well, I've gone and done it again. I said "a quick post" and, sure 'nuf, it ain't.

Once next week rolls around, I need to finish up our Thank You's and then get the write-up done for the newspaper. We have so many people to thank! We have been loved by so many generous folks. There really will not be the right words to say...... I'll probably re-write it all a few dozen times, trying to make it perfect.

Drat! It's after 11pm already.

QUICK post.

QUICK post.

When will I ever learn? !!!!!!!!!

G'night, folks.

And just a quick reminder to pray that the Section 8 is quickly approved. And could you pray for safe travels for Jon and me (and another college student who will be travelling with us) as we travel to New Brunswick. Weather conditions sound like they will be ok.... just wanna make sure our VEHICLE will be ok!!!! Thanks for praying for us.

What Do These Photos Have In Common?

Here are some photos.
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What do they have in common?
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The first photo would be an image I pulled off the internet that looks very much like the very yummy chocolate marble cake which was made for Jacob for his birthday. (No, I personally did not make the cake, so I assure you it was safe to eat!)

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We received this cake on Sunday at church and have been nibbling away at it Sunday afternoon and evening and again today.

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You can see the beautiful marble in the cake in Photo #2. Again, this is an internet photo, but I can guarantee you that the original cake was even more appetizing than this photo suggests.

'

Jared and I were watching a bit of TV in the rec-room when we heard a suspicious noise. When we investigated, we came across a scenario much like Photo #3.

'

And now, moving to Photo #4, if you will cast your eyes upon the character on the right, you will see a dog who got his nose rapped and got a good "talkin'-to".

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He laid on the floor with his eyes giving himself away. He was guilty.

'

Mr. Duke wolfed down the last half of that cake!!!!!

'

He had jumped up and pulled it off the countertop.

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I, myself, didn't even get a full piece. I cut a tiny sliver whilst chatting with my Mom on the phone later this afternoon, but I never got a full piece.

'

And now, I won't get that opportunity..... because it's gone.

'

Duke..... I know that cats are said to have nine lives.... I don't know about dogs, but I do know that you are getting very close to your ninth life!

'

Just so you know, Mr. Puppy Dog, I'm watching you!

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18 Years Ago Today.......

Eighteen years ago today.......

A twinge of pain

anticipation

nervousness

excitement

increasing "discomfort"

a pain becoming more regular, more timed

Machines for monitoring a heartbeat

sterilized utensils

a cold room

deep relaxing cleansing breaths

louder sounds on the monitor

tha-thump.... tha-thump.... tha-thump....

"Breathe deep! Push! Push! Good girl!"

"Pant! Hee-hee-hoooo.... hee-hee-hoooo...."

"OK push again!"

Chubby

pink

eyes closed

tiny hands

little feet

a pudgy little nose

eentsy-weentsy perfect lips

roll upon roll upon roll upon roll

a Butterball, just like his Momma

And the smell.....

that newborn smell......

you can't describe it......

the sweetest smell on earth......

The doctor tends to Momma

providing loving tender care to a torn body

a body made by The Creator

made as an incubator for another tiny babe

And a proud Daddy.... again

running down the hall

with a newborn babe in his arms

only mere minutes old

shouting, "It's a Jacob! It's a Jacob!"

Big brother, already 19 months old, excited

his "Jaybo" finally arrived

Grandma with tears in her eyes

Daddy rushing back to the delivery room before nurses notice he's "stolen" a newborn

The Creator giving another example of His unending miracles

a 9lb.1oz. miracle

And eighteen years later

the miracle

still pink

but chubbiness turned to muscles

the rolls turned slim

the short Butterball turned 6ft.1in.

But still my baby

always my baby

my middle baby

my little Jaybo

Thank you, Lord.

For my baby

always my baby

Always

.....always.......

Happy 18th Birthday, Jaybobby!