Advent Begins!

Sorry I missed last week! Not much was going on during the week, and then my step-mom was here over the weekend so I totally forgot to write anything. It happens.



This week has been both sweet and sour. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving time with our “chosen” family (good friends) and we feel abundantly blessed in all areas of our lives, so that’s the sweet news. The sour news is that both Kory and I had a doctor’s appointment this week and neither one of them contributed in any way to solving the problems. Ugh.


Kory’s lab work from a few weeks ago showed he had something going on that needed the attention of a urologist. Turns out he has some food allergies (yet to be determined exactly what) and possibly some kidney stones. He hates being the human pincushion while they try to determine the cause of it all so for now he’s decided to do nothing but try to pinpoint the cause of the allergic reactions. I don’t blame him. I on the other hand saw a naturopath for my constant wheezing cough and she too said I need an inhaler, chest x-rays, lab work, etc. If I were going to spend two thousand dollars on something, it sure wouldn’t be to get rid of a cough, so I opted for quick stop at Super Supplements to try and resolve the problem naturally without contributing financially to the medical profession. (I have a five thousand dollar deductible each year so insurance won’t cover a thing.) I do believe God made our bodies to heal naturally, so the farther I stay away from doctors, the better I’m sure I’ll feel. Besides, I know God works miracles and healing my lungs of whatever ails them is not out of His reach.


I’ve also been a bit distracted this week with preparing for my sermon TODAY. It’s hard to believe our pastor asked me to preach, but he did, and I did, and I think it went pretty well. I had to give the same sermon at both services so I stuck to the script so as not to leave anything out. Based on the feedback I got after both services, it seems the Holy Spirit was at work in people’s lives as what I said touched many. Hallelujah! I’m just thankful my gift of gab can be used for good, and not evil, as I’ve done my share of damage over the years with the words I’ve spoken. But God is my Redeemer and He sure made some inroads today.


I’m feeling a bit stressed I haven’t gotten the Christmas newsletter written, nor do we have lights up or a single Christmas decoration hanging, but we did get the tree on Friday. Good thing too as the snow level was so low we barely made it out of the woods and it snowed up there yesterday so we would have been without a tree this year if we'd waited. We went up to the Mount Baker National Forest to cut our tree as we do every year and this year we headed for our usual spot, but got stuck in the snow. I was quite nervous and could only think of the Lee family that got stuck a few years ago on a snowy road down in Oregon. I started praying after Kory had made several attempts to get unstuck, and couldn’t. And wouldn’t you know, we got our own little miracle when three big rigs came barreling up the otherwise abandoned road we were on and helped to shovel us out of the mess we were in. It was no coincidence, it was a total answer to prayer. Hallelujah!


So perhaps tomorrow we’ll be hanging the mistletoe, but today, we are all taking a breather. Kaleb practiced hard this week both for his upcoming piano recital and for the play he’ll be in next Sunday. We have another busy week ahead of us but today is the first day of Advent and we want to spend time just waiting in the presence of God. I don’t want to rush a single thing this year as time goes by quickly enough as it is.

A Little Off

We were all a little off “normal” this week, but then, that just might be the norm around here. Kory started off the week with a visit to the ear doctor. Every time I tell him I think he’s losing his hearing, he responds with, “Huh?” He was there for an hour and a half and yes, they said, he needs a hearing aid. His response to that was, “And if I took my car to a mechanic, of course they would tell me I need something fixed.” He thinks they only want to make a sale. I told him I’d go in as a spy to see if they tell me the same thing, but even if they told me my hearing was perfect, I’m pretty sure he isn’t getting a hearing aid anytime soon. He’s trying to keep the phrase “stubborn Norwegian” alive and well. At least he did agree to go back to Chelation therapy – mostly to complete the mercury detox he was doing before we left for Norway. In my quest to discover “why” he has hardening of the arteries, I came across some literature that said mercury could contribute to it. When he got his mercury test results back, the scale went from 0-3, with 3 representing very dangerous levels of mercury in the blood. His level was 27. He got all his amalgam fillings taken out and went through some detoxing to get his level down to 9, but he still has a way to go to get it under 3. The worst fear about mercury toxicity is what it’s known to do to the brain. I hope we aren’t too late. Some days I wonder.



I actually went to a doctor this week for the first time since Kaleb’s been born. My friend Dani told me my cough was “annoying” and she told me I need to do something about it. I just assumed it was from dairy allergies, but even when I stayed off dairy, I still coughed, so I bit the bullet and went in. The doctor ordered a bunch of tests, which I’ve yet to schedule because I really don’t want to spend money on such things, but her best guess is that I have bronchial pneumonia, asthma and allergies. Lovely. She’s not sure if the pneumonia is brought on by allergies or an infection and that’s why she wants all the tests. I’m giving prayer and naturopathic means a shot before I even have any tests because I’m against taking any kind of prescription drugs and I like to give God the first shot at healing me anyway - there’s never any side effects with Him.



Kaleb and I went to see the “Bodies” exhibit in downtown Seattle this week. Truly, our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made. My first impression of all those cadavers, somehow preserved to show us all the inner workings of our earthly form, was that, “It looks a lot like chicken.” Really – it reminded me of all the times I’ve chewed on a chicken leg – as our muscles wrapped around the bone don’t look much differently. And the other thing it reminded me of is the first time I went snorkeling. Once I saw all those incredible creatures under the surface of the water, I never looked out at the ocean with the same eyes. That’s how it is with our bodies… previously I just saw skin, now I can visualize all that’s under there. Interesting stuff. Kaleb and I also attended a play at the Children’s Theatre that day, which was beyond awesome. I love live theatre.



My two biggest time consumers this week were the dogs we are dog sitting, and preparing for Christmas (wrapping gifts, etc.). Those dogs have somehow decided I’m the coolest person on the planet and they only want to be with me. They won’t go for a walk with either Kory or Kaleb, unless I come along (they return to the house every time, waiting for me.) They won’t even chase after the ball if Kaleb throws it – I have to be the one. They only come to me for all their love and affection and they are constantly competing for a little face time. It would be great if I weren’t trying to get so many things done, but if I sit at the computer, they push their nose up under my arm to dislodge my hand from the keyboard. When I’m in the kitchen, they lie in front of the stove or sink so I’m having to cook meals while contorting my body around so as not to step on them. They are going home Tuesday - just in time - because I’ll still love them by then. (Kory just about lost them this week while Kaleb and I were in Seattle. He let them outside while he was working on a project, and they took off. He didn’t notice they were gone right away and it took him a while to find them. They were off running in a neighbor’s field, so all’s well that end’s well, but he was in a panic there for a while.)



Kaleb was all set to run in a two mile race this morning but he stepped on a nail in our driveway (he was just wearing Crocs). His foot hurt just enough when he put his running shoes on that we thought it wise to bag out of the race. He didn’t complain, as he spent the day on the couch reading books until a friend came over to play. He’s done so well in school this week I know he needs some down time. He’s been pushing it hard in his web design class as he’s actually at the point where he’s designing the real website for his Weekly Puppy newspaper, so he’s very excited, but he also gets frustrated to tears when something doesn’t work right. It’s all so detailed, I’m surprised he likes it so well, but the reward of it going live is just around the corner. He’s also doing quite well with his music lessons. When he came in the door after practice this week Kory asked how he did and his response was, “Unfortunately, very well.” His teacher skipped him a year’s worth of books and put him up to where her second year students are. She said he has a “knack” for music so she’s pushing him hard. I love it.



We had our home fellowship meeting tonight and had another great time together. We are so blessed to be part of such a fantastic group of people. Every meeting I start us off with a “getting to know you” kind of question (even though this is our third year). Tonight’s question was about our bravest moment. It was so interesting to see the clear line drawn between the male and female responses. The bulk of the women talked about a time they fought some injustice or worked with the mentally ill, while all the men (but one) said their bravest moments were around something to do with public speaking. Pretty funny. My response was, the day I became a mother, because motherhood isn’t for sissies. Every day, I feel like a hero if we all manage to stay alive.



(The photo today is of Kaleb with Penny and Luna, the dogs we are watching, in the Anacortes off-leash dog park. Kaleb is standing next to the section of fence “dedicated” to him for his work done on The Weekly Puppy. The green plaque has his name on it.)

Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace

I didn’t yell at anyone even once this week. I consider that a major improvement. The time in California was very good for me – mostly because I had four days where I didn’t have to look at my to-do list, nor look around my house and see a dozen things more that need to be added to it. It’s amazing what a little R&R can do. I think the margaritas helped a lot, but also just the non-stop chatter with my friend Dani was just what I needed. Kory and Kaleb did fine without me. I’m not even sure I was missed (I left food in the freezer – otherwise, I might have been). Kory asked if I wanted to stay longer – I’m sure he needed the break from me more than I needed a break from life. Peace has finally returned to our household now, so Hallelujah!

While I was gone, two yellow labs came to live at our house. Now that I think of it, that might be something that’s contributed to the peace – they are the most adorable dogs I’ve ever been around. A woman from our church is on a cruise and she asked Kaleb to dog sit. The word is out that he loves dogs and he dog-sits for cheap. Before we moved to Norway he was dog-sitting for a dollar a day. Most kennels charge around $25 a day, so we always had dogs around. One time we had four here at a time. This is my clever way of meeting his “dog needs” without actually owning one. The first time he watched a dog, when the owner came to pick it up and asked how much she owed him, Kaleb said, “Well, I charge a dollar a day and she’s been here four days, so four dollars – but really – I should pay you.” He was so happy to have a dog – even if just temporarily.

Kaleb’s made a little money dog sitting in the past, as people often pay more than he charges, but while we were in Norway he decided to up his fee to two dollars a day for returning customers and five dollars a day for new customers. The two labs are new to us so he’s got dollar signs in his eyes because they will be with us for nearly three weeks. I told him he gets a dollar a day to feed and water them, a dollar to scoop poop, a dollar to walk them, a dollar to play with them, and a dollar to clean up the messes they make in the house. If he fails to do any one of those things on any one day – I get to keep the dollar because it always falls back on me to take care of them. I think I might have made as much this past week as he did as the dog hair I’ve had to clean up has been enough to stuff a pillow. But other than the shedding, we are all in love with those dogs. My friend Dani would call them “Velcro dogs” because they just stick around us wherever we go but they don’t do anything obnoxious or destructive. I forgot how good it is to get sloppy kisses every now and then. It makes me miss the two basset hounds I had many years ago, but we are SO not getting a dog of our own. Our needs have been met in other ways – and in ways that pay!

Kory has finally begun to work on our summer kitchen – a little building that’s been an eye-sore for as long as we’ve lived in our house. We’ve had plans to restore it since we bought this place in 1997 and now is the time. I think the year in Norway was good for lighting a fire under him as he had nothing to work on there, and redoing the summer kitchen is going to be a big project that he’s finally ready to tackle. It needs a new roof, which will be replaced with a grass roof like they have in Norway, and the tall concrete foundation will be covered with river rock so it looks a bit more like a “cottage.” We still haven’t worked out the details for the inside, but he pulled out the old smoker and chimney this week and is figuring out how to remove the well pump so we can replace it and have access to the well water to water the lawn in the summertime. I’d like a little “tea house” feel on the inside but I’m not sure that lines up with Kory’s plans. One step at a time. I’m just glad he has a focus.

Kaleb is playing the piano so well already I can hardly believe my ears. He’s practicing his piece for the Christmas recital and I think he secretly loves the challenge. He complains about having to practice, but he’s said a few things that make me think he really loves learning to play. The other day he said, “Now I can read four languages – English, Norwegian, HTML and music!” (HTML is the programming language he’s learning in order to create websites.) He’s spent an incredible amount of time this week working on his web design class. He was in tears on many occasions, but they were all teachable moments so once he made it over the hump, he really progressed in his understanding of how it all works. He’s a year younger than Johns Hopkins recommends for taking the course, but he swore he could do the work. The age difference comes in to play more with his study habits and ability to follow through on things more than his ability to just learn the code, so I’ve had to spend way too much of my time keeping him focused as his mind tends to wander – especially when there are two dogs in the house. Life is good.