I'm Back in the Saddle!

I got a call several weeks ago from our friend in the Bahamas.  She was shocked when I answered the phone.  She said, “Well Mickey, I thought you’d done died and gone to heaven.  There hasn’t been anything new on your blog for so long I was sure you were dead so I was calling up to give my condolences to Kory and to tell him I got a whole line up of women down here ready to take him on.”  I couldn’t have laughed harder.  That woman is a total crack up.  When I asked her how she was doing, her response was, “Well fine, now that I know you aren’t DEAD.”  So I guess I'd better be more diligent in keeping my blog going or she’ll be on the lookout for a new wife for Kory!

It’s easy to get out of a habit that takes so much time to maintain.  I’ve been terrible about blogging lately because of all the exceptional activities that have gone on the past few months, but for the first time in over a year, our life is finally back to “normal” and our weekly routines will be nothing BUT routine!  It could be a good thing or a bad thing, but it does allow me a little time to myself here and there so I can write once again.  Hallelujah!

I guess I left off in August somewhere – after we got home from Mexico.  The only big event that followed that amazing trip were a few quick camping trips (photos above and below - that's Kaleb kayaking above!) to round out the summer.

Since most of Kaleb’s time with friends involves electronics, we decided to make a few new and unique memories for him with friends so we took our RV to Larrabee State Park in Bellingham for two days.  We invited Malik and Spencer to come along and it was a good mix with the three guys hanging at the beach, challenging each other on to physical stunts and running around the campground.  We had a wonderful time in the sunshine and even “discovered” a sand dollar bed at low tide so we collected a lot of dead ones, but there were thousands of ones still alive.  I’ve never seen such a thing so it was a big thrill for us all.  The boys could have stayed at the beach all day but we opted to go to Bellingham and walk the boardwalk there, having cool drinks at Woods Coffee and eating dinner out, so I didn’t have to cook.  We felt so blessed to have the weather cooperate the whole time and the boys got along so well.  Made me glad we bought our RV, as it’s such an easy way to travel and with Kory’s dietary restrictions, it’s the only way to go – having the frig and microwave at the ready.

Each day following that trip, Kaleb and Kory were busy on the outdoor pizza oven (above).  Kaleb had big plans for our social life when that thing got done, and so far, it’s holding out to be true, as we’ve had several pizza parties since then that were a big hit.  I just hope he masters the baking in it as well as he certainly mastered the art of making of it.  It was impressive to see him lay brick, cut the stone with a tile saw and chip away the old mortar from the bricks we had lying around.  He’s becoming quite the craftsman, in spite of himself.

Our final summer hoorah was a trip to Family Camp with the Covenant church down in Yelm for Labor Day Weekend.  We’ve gone several times before and always had a good time, so we squeezed it in before school started this year.  A few of Kaleb’s friends from church were there too, so he had some kids to hang out with, and our youth pastor was the main speaker so that was a big draw for him as well.  He loves that guy.

The weather couldn’t have been more agreeable and the atmosphere and activities were just what we needed for our big last breath before all the school routines start.  This year I’m giving Kaleb more ownership than ever with his schoolwork – letting him parcel out his homework and figure out when and how everything needs to be done.  I had much angst about how heavy a load he’s carrying, but on the other hand, he needs big challenges or his brain just wastes away in comic books or on “funniest photo” websites.  So far, he’s holding his own and carrying an A- or A average in all his classes, which consist of Honors Pre-Calculus with Trig, US History, English & Theology, Chemistry, Spanish and Piano.  He’s also still in scouts and goes to youth group.

Because these next few years really “count” toward college admission and obtaining scholarships, he started doing more intentional volunteer work so he’s tutoring younger kids two hours a week and he’s working his apprenticeship job as a research physicist four hours a week (below).  He’s had to do homework a few times in the evening and on weekends, which is new for him, but he’s not falling behind so I’m thankful for that.

The outdoor wood oven has been my new favorite “toy” in the last few months.  Just days after it was completed, there “happened” to be a conference just down the street, which included classes on how to bake in a wood fired oven!  A friend of ours got me in for free on a “press pass” (saving me the $300 entrance fee), so I wrote a story about the conference for our local paper -  win/win all the way around.  I was just sad Kaleb didn’t get to learn all that I did, but at least now we know we can bake more than pizza in it as it makes the best darn roasted chicken on the planet.  I even gave up being a vegan for a little bite of that delicacy.  It sure makes it easy to know what to cook when company comes over!  Yum yum.

Mexico Missions Trip

22 August 13

Well, God surely showed up in many ways on our recent trip to Mexico.  Being the leader of a group of 19 from two different churches was much easier the second time around.  I had a huge learning curve in April, the last time we went, but all I learned, I put to good use this time and everyone was well prepared for the journey.  Leadership is so important on trips like these because expectations are a big part of people’s experience and not knowing what to expect makes for some pretty crabby volunteers, otherwise.  I’ve seen it in other groups that are there at the same time, so I’m thankful I can finally use my “bossy pants” skills for good, and not evil.

We had four different family groups and four individual women on this trip.  The families all wrapped the trip to San Diego around a vacation, but the rest of us beat feet home when our tour of duty was complete.  All seven of us had the same flight there and back so we shared a ride to the airport.  In fact, three of the ladies spent the night at our house so they were sure not to oversleep the 2am wake up call Sunday morning as we had to be at the airport by 4am.

The first God Thing was that everyone made it to San Diego without a hitch.  When the shuttle van pulled up to the car rental place and I saw all our “peeps” standing around waiting for our arrival, I couldn’t help but shout HALLELUJAH!  I’ve yet to figure out Plan B if someone doesn’t make it, but I’m sure thankful I haven’t had to deal with that.

We rented two 15 passenger vans and loaded up our suitcases, which were mostly full of things to leave at the orphanage.  We had a bit of room leftover so we stopped at a storage unit just north of the border and loaded the vans up as much as we could with suitcases prepacked with used clothing.  Ever since NAFTA came into play, getting used clothes across the border has become impossible, so the orphanage counts on work groups helping out as they journey south.  We were happy to be a bit crowded on the way down as we were all pumped to suffer a bit for Jesus’ sake, but it really wasn’t too bad.

We made it to the orphanage with just one pit stop and we arrived before dark – both God Things, if you ask me.  We made a group dinner for ourselves in the lounge and had time to take a breath before starting working on Monday.

Monday morning includes a three-hour tour of the mission base and since Kory, Kaleb and I had just taken the tour in April, we opted to take a work shift, instead.  I went to the soup kitchen (below) where they feed the hungry the leftovers from the cafeteria.  It made me cry to see so many people needing help.  Kory and Kaleb used that time to paint an apartment, which took them two days to complete.

The whole week went by without a hitch, really, as everyone on our team was mightily impressed with the place and how much they do for the needy.  Everyone had a great attitude and no one complained about a thing.   The only hitch was that one boy had the flu on Monday and by Friday, half our group was puking, so that was the only real damper on the week, but otherwise, it went very well.

We babysat the “orphans” on Monday night and some people brought crafts for them to do with the kids.  One family brought some strong parachute chord and they were going to show the boys how to make survival bracelets they learned how to do in scouts, but the only problem was, they forgot how to make them.  And then Kaleb found his reason for going – he remembered how to make the bracelets and was able to show everyone what to do.  He felt pretty good about that, too, and I was thankful he had a purpose.

Two evenings we did outreaches, one to a camp and another to a neighborhood.  The camp we went to was wild – the kids were numerous and out of control.  I guess last year they let the air out of the van tires and stole the grill and radio antenna.  We had guys posted around the vans this year and we all took off our jewelry and the guys didn’t bring wallets because the kids are terrible thieves, too.  Some volunteers were scared and just stood back and watched, but I was proud of Kaleb, he got right in the midst of them and started twirling kids around (below).  I did the same and there wasn’t a better feeling than when the kids would tilt their head up and give me a big smile.  I’ll always remember that smile.

The second outreach we did was in a neighborhood, so we had to invite people to come.  We did crafts with them and interacted in a calmer fashion, since we were allowed to bring things with us.  The first camp we went to we only brought a jump rope and it was grabbed immediately and torn to pieces.  This second outreach, the folks were very polite and patient and even said thank you for everything.

Emma, the daughter of a preacher who came with his family, brought yarn with her (below).  She’d asked for it for her birthday – to take to Mexico.  I asked her what she was going to do with it and she had no idea, so I showed her how to crochet a bracelet without using a hook – just her fingers.  She loved it, and so did all the others at the outreach – everyone wanted to learn how to make those bracelets.  Emma and I had quite the production team going, making them as fast as we could.  She also found her purpose that night and was all smiles with her skeins of yarn close at hand.

Gwen brought a few crafts, string and some beads, but the necklaces she was making involved more beads than she had, so she was careful to parcel them out a few per person.  People were taking more than she was comfortable with but we had a real miracle of loaves and fishes and the beads never ran out!  Everyone there got a beaded necklace and the last bead was used when the last person in line got their necklace.  It was such a cool thing to experience as we all looked around and wondered just where all those beads came from!  Several people that night raised their hand, saying they wanted to make Jesus their Lord and Savior.  Hallelujah!

Rhonda is a muralist, and another God Thing was that she was able to paint a mural outside a bedroom window as the window just looks out onto a concrete wall.  The bedroom wall wasn’t there the week before we came – it had just been built – and next week the window goes in – so this week was the only week it could have been painted, and that’s when Rhonda showed up.  She was thrilled (below).

Tasks I did during the week included sorting macadamia nuts in the Nut House, stuffing newsletters in the print shop, washing dishes in the soup kitchen, trimming bushes, pulling weeds and raking in the prayer garden, cleaning the Learning Center and mowing several lawns.  Kory and Kaleb painted, worked in the prayer garden and cleaned the visitor’s center, which included sweeping and scrubbing toilets – such practical jobs.  There were so many different jobs all week for the group that I don’t even know what all everyone did.  We were going to have a Friday night pow-wow and talk about the week, but by then half our group was sick so that never happened.

Fortunately, no one got ill before we had our afternoon at the beach (above), so that was nice that we all got some sunshine and R&R before we left.  And we were so worried about Saturday’s drive back to San Diego with people needing toilets so frequently, but with a little prayer and a lot of faith, we made the trip without one emergency bathroom break needed.  Only one person threw up and she did it in a bag, which we immediately disposed of, so all-in-all, it wasn’t a bad trip back.

I was so pleased with how this trip went I was thinking I could do this for any church group that wanted to take a trip down there – I have the routine down pat now and know the ins and outs of such an event.  I’m looking forward to the next trip in June 2014, but I kinda hope I get to go before then.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone.

When we got back in San Diego we dropped everyone off at the airport, but we had a few hours to kill so we took one of the older ladies to visit her grandson who is stationed there and we went to Balboa Park – a place I’ve never been!  We needed lunch, but just found museums so we walked around for a few hours and Kaleb got into a debate with a guy at an Atheist booth, which made us proud.  He was challenging the guys “faith” by giving him lots of logical questions about intelligent design that the guy couldn’t refute, so in our opinion, Kaleb won.  It was good he was able to use his arguing skills for good and not evil, too.

It’s taken me a few days to recover as I was exhausted by the time we got home at 1am on Sunday morning.  There’s no down time at the orphanage as we are busy non stop for five days, so it’s been rather pleasant to just sit in the sunshine and watch the grass die.  I guess I need to water it.

I caught up on my emails and was pleased to see that I won an award for my column in the LaConner paper for the third year in a row.  I don’t know which column won or what place I’m in until October, but still, that was pretty cool news.  

And my good friend, Paula, came from Colorado for a few days this past week so all my “to-do”s got postponed yet again as we hung out together, caught up on things, went shopping and got pedicures together.  I needed a little girl time, and God knew that, so this week has been a real joy.

Kaleb has started making his outdoor pizza oven so he and Kory have been laying brick, mixing cement and working on their plans as they go.  Can’t wait to have that project done, as Kaleb has mastered the art of brick laying, and once he masters the art of pizza making, my days might get even sweeter.

Busy Busy Busy

My missionary friend, “Louise,” who lives in the Bahamas, called me up the other day.  When I answered the phone, this is how it went:

“Well Mickey, I thought you’d died and gone to heaven!  You haven’t posted anything on your blog for so long, I was sure you were dead.  I was calling up to give my condolences to Kory and to tell him I have a long line up of friends down here that would be happy to take him on.”

After I stopped laughing, I had to apologize for not keeping the blog up, but I’ve been kinda busy, I told her.  I asked how she was doing and she replied with, “Well, I’m fine, now that I know you’re not DEAD!”

I’m not dead, but at the end of some days, I’ve felt that way.  We’ve been home from Norway for a little over a month now and each and every day has been non-stop motion for me.  First it was unpacking the 400 pounds of “treasures” I brought home, then it was tackling the spider webs that invaded both inside and outside the house while we were gone.

I hadn’t washed windows in a few years and we had Norwegians coming to visit just weeks after we got home, so there was more than a little housekeeping to attend to.  Fortunately, I have a friend who loves to bless people and she came several times while we were away and weeded our flower beds (above), otherwise I might be dead.  The housecleaning alone was enough to do me in.

Since we haven’t been home for the bulk of this past year, there were several house maintenance items that also needed doing.  I pressure washed the house, the garage, the outbuildings, the trampoline, the deck, the patio and summer kitchen.  Kory put a sealant on the deck and patio and concrete slabs here and there.  He also sanded and put a new surface on our dining room table as it was looking shabbier than anything in our house.  I bought flowers for the pots on the deck and planted them, I trimmed bushes and raked up cedar droppings.  I was poetry in motion for nearly three weeks straight.  The week Kory and Kaleb went to scout camp, I didn’t even eat a thing from Sunday to Friday, as I didn’t want to stop and make food or clean up the mess afterwards.  The day they came home from camp, the Norwegians were here waiting for them.

Kory’s mom’s first cousin, his wife, son and two grandchildren (above) came for their first ever trip to America.  Their first week here they spent with Kory’s brothers, as Kory wasn’t home to help translate (their Norwegian is of a dialect I’m not too familiar with).  Once Kory got home, the party started.  We took them water skiing, they went for a scenic flight, we had a BBQ with some relatives that flew up from Mexico to meet them, Kory took them to Canada to meet other relatives, we went shopping and to the beach and we took them on a four day RV trip around Washington State (most photos here are from that).  It was a whirlwind trip for them, and by the end, I needed a nap.  They just left last Sunday so I’ve been restoring the house to it’s original “upright and locked position” as they say on the airplanes.  

Kaleb’s been away on a mission trip this week and we are heading out Sunday on another one to Mexico for a week.  So there, that’s my excuse.  Recovering from one trip - and preparing for another.  Life will certainly slow down one of these days, I’m just not sure when.  My friend Dani called and when I told her what I’d been up to she just said, “Well you know why the rest of us are a bit lazy?  Cuz God gave YOU all the energy.”  Ha ha.

I’ve spent time this week getting Kaleb’s school schedule ready for fall and realize just how routine our lives will become, as every Monday will look the same, every Tuesday has it’s locked in activities and on it goes throughout the week.  I’m not looking forward to that so I’m trying to grab all the special and unique moments I can, while I can. Getting out my two articles every week for the local paper is about all I’m good for in terms of writing anything, but my brain is going gang busters all the time with ideas – just no time to jot them down. I even hobbled around with a sliver in my foot for two weeks because I didn’t have time to sit and have someone pull it out.  Uff da.

So far this summer has been great though – lots of sunshine and outdoor activities, but now that we finally got a little rain today, I realized just how much time it saves me, as God is doing the watering for me so I have time to update my blog.  Hallelujah.  It’s good to be home.