Miracle of Christmas

Still makes me cry...

Steven's new video blog

Steven has posted his first video blog since losing precious Maria.

I kind of like the facial hair. It seems... significant...

Keep praying.

One week vacation in AZ

I'm heading to Arizona for a week -- Josh's sister's wedding is on October 18th, and while I hadn't previously planned to go, we were discussing it a few nights ago and, after checking out some flights, decided that I should go for it. ;-) (Flying out on the 17th, returning on the 24th)

Now I just have to find something wear. Ugh. I hate shopping for dressy clothes. Ick.

Aside from the shopping... I am so excited!!! :-D

She's (finally) coming home... ;-)

Chantelle has booked her flight home from NZ. I think it is with very mixed feelings, but the time has finally come. She is flying into Winnipeg so that she can visit with her best friend Megan for a few days, and then she flies to Saskatoon on November 1. Yay! :-D

Sold the house

Yup... put the for sale sign up on Saturday, sold it today. Accepted less than what we were asking, but still within the limit I was willing to accept. I'm relieved, and will be glad when it's all finished. By the end of the month.

Still... a bit of sadness today... lived in that house for almost 19 years. I've spent months sorting out stuff, and letting go -- of physical stuff, and emotional stuff. It's been draining, and this was the final letting go.

Steven on The Early Show

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Today I'm thankful for...

♥ The summer heat. It will be fall all too soon and then before you know it I'll be complaining about the snow, so I'm going to enjoy the warm (even hot!) days while they last. ;-)
♥ Air conditioning... lol. (yes, I know that I am contradicting myself, but I can enjoy the hot days while I am outside and still appreciate that I can work in air conditioned comfort and go home to a reasonably cool apartment :-) )
♥ My new place -- I am enjoying it very much. New place, a positive energy. Good stuff.
♥ School starts next Wednesday -- I don't have kids in school anymore, but the library will sure be a lot quieter. ;-)
♥ Watching TV series on DVD.
♥ The anticipation of reading the final book in the Twilight series -- it finally arrived, and I plan to start it tonight. :-)
♥ Chantelle plans to come home from New Zealand in November. :-)
♥ Waiting for a gift from Josh to arrive. He won't tell me what it is. :-P
♥ Big Brother. It hasn't been the most exciting season, but I still enjoy watching it.
♥ French vanilla coffee.
♥ An upcoming road trip with my dad.

Moved in

I took last week off work -- I still had some vacation time to use up -- and finished up the packing. Ugh... not fun. My dad came down on Friday morning and we moved boxes over to the apartment. Rob was working nights and therefore sleeping, but he got up around 2:00, Vanessa came down as well, and we moved all the rest of the stuff over. It turned out to be one of the hottest days in weeks, and we were just dying. (And of course, the next day was considerably cooler.) But we got it all done, and I'm mostly unpacked in the new place.

Rob is still in the house for a few more weeks, then he's moving to Saskatoon. He's going for a job interview today. I have to go back to the house over the next couple of weeks to get things sorted and ready for a yard sale, to clean up, etc. It would have been nice if I'd been done everything when I moved, but no such luck. I'll be glad when it's all finished.

It's kind of exciting to be in a new place. And it's kind of odd -- because I'm 45 years old, and this is the first time I've lived alone. I got married two months after I finished high school, with a 3 month old baby, so I didn't have the "typical" young adult experiences. Within the last 6 years Chantelle graduated and moved away (and then farther away!), I divorced, and Sheldon graduated and moved to the city. Rob was still home, though, so I was never really by myself. Now I am living by myself, in a place that (for now at least) is solely mine. It's different. But it's also good. :-)

I talked to my girl last night -- the first time since she went to work back on the mountain back at the beginning of June. She got a great phone card and we talked for about 2 hours! :-D It looks like she'll be coming home at the beginning of November. The job finishes up sometime toward the end of October, Terry will go back to England and Chantelle will come home. Terry will try to get a working holiday visa and hopefully come to Canada in February.

Sheldon was able to find an apartment to share with a friend in Saskatoon, and he moved in on Saturday. I'm relieved, because I was quite worried about him finding a place.

Possibility of Josh moving here... depending on getting a work permit... So many things happening, and so many changes. Life is always interesting... ;-)

Moving...

... only to an apartment, not out of town. ;-)

Part of the divorce agreement was selling the house. I've been really worried about not finding a place to rent if/when it sells, since there's been -- quite literally -- nothing available in town recently. An apartment came open earlier this month, but was taken right away. I found out that there were a couple coming open at the end of the month, so I called, had a look, and decided to take it. (The community college is running a paramedic course and a plumbing course from October - March, bringing about 30 people into town who will ALL be looking for a place to rent. I figured if I didn't act now, I'd be toast until spring.)

I can move in August 1st, but probably won't get moved in until the next weekend, because that's the long weekend and the help I need already have commitments that weekend. I still have some vacation time, so will likely take some time off to pack/move/unpack. Oh joy! lol

I'm still a bit nervous about it, but in the end I think I made the right choice and feel some relief from the stress I've been under lately.

Now if only my boy could find another place to live in the city! That's probably an even bigger problem...

First show for Steven and the boys

Steven, Caleb and Will are playing tonight in Wisconsin... Steven's first show since the accident. Please keep them in your prayers this weekend, and especially tonight. Remember Mary Beth, at home with the girls, too.

Prayers welcome ;-)

I need to make some important decisions regarding my housing situation. The way seems to be being laid out before me, I need to have confidence in making the right decision.

I hate being afraid.

Oh wow...

The good stuff...

I've had a lot on my mind lately, things I'm worried about, decisions to make (and I hate making major decisions!), various and assorted stuff. Today, I'm going to focus on good things, on things that I enjoy, that make me smile, that I feel good about, that I am grateful for...

♥ reading great (500+ page) books until the wee hours of the morning and being able to sleep in the next day
♥ not feeling guilty for missing church on the rare occasion after staying up till all hours reading great books
♥ the beautiful summer weather we've had the last few days
♥ air conditioning at work
♥ thunderstorms at night
♥ watching movies with Josh
♥ unlimited long distance plan that makes watching movies with Josh possible ;-) ; hours-long, late night chats
♥ emails and youtube video from my girl in New Zealand
♥ completing my class and getting 100% (well, it was 98.5% plus some bonus marks) -- and enjoying that class very much!
♥ the sponsorship that has paid for the above class as well as the previous and future ones
♥ visits with my dad
♥ being asked to help moderate the library teen summer reading club discussion board and book reviews (Canada-wide website). Who knew that so many teens actually enjoy discussing books!
♥ playing Scrabulous on Facebook
♥ setting up a blog for the library
♥ Josh's birthday coming up and buying gifts for him
♥ ordering new books for the library, and buying some new books for me :-D
♥ the quick chat on the phone with Josh's mom and dad a couple of days ago... and being grateful that they love me and accept me
♥ my fellow pirates, who are very dear to me
♥ my fellow long-distance-relationship gals who understand it all
♥ anticipating the summer season of Big Brother (it's my summer indulgence, what can I say... haha)
♥ Rob Bell podcasts (when I remember to listen)
♥ low fat cappuccino frozen yogurt
♥ buying a few new clothes on clearance and having them come up at an even lower price on checkout
♥ Sheldon's quick visit recently. EDIT: and his unexpected visit this afternoon! :-)
♥ anticipating the release of Breaking Dawn, book 4 in the Twilight Saga, on August 2nd

That's a start at least... ;-)

I still cry every time I read one of Jim Houser's blog entries...

"I Think We're Gonna Make It"

Keep praying...

Summer Reading

I have a stack of books out from the library... as usual. Some are nonfiction and I read them in bits and pieces. A lot of them are children, juvenile and young adult books that I've been reading for my class -- which is almost done. A few are adult fiction that I've been trying to find time for... without too much success. :-P

Between the class I'm taking and searching for new YA books to buy for the library, I've been looking at and reviewing a great number of books. I finally decided that I'd read the first of the immensely popular Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyers, Twilight. Okay... I'm hooked. It was 498 pages, I read it in about 3 nights, staying up till all hours. Then I wanted the next one (New Moon), like right now! Unfortunately, there's a waiting list and despite that fact that I'm the librarian, our local branch copy hasn't been processed for circulation yet and I can't bump myself up the list... haha.

So, I decided today that I would buy it for myself. I'll get it faster. ;-) (Eventually I plan to own them all.) The third book, Eclipse, is already on it's way to me on interlibrary loan, and the final one, Breaking Dawn, isn't out until August. So I have time to get caught up. Also on today's Amazon order was Meyer's new sci-fi novel, The Host (hey, it was half price!), and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. That should keep me going for a bit. :-D

Now, if only I didn't have to work..... ;-)

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Currently reading: Hawkes Harbor by S. E. Hinton (hopefully will finish it before my order arrives!)
Currently playing: August Rush soundtrack

This moment...

You know, those days after Maria's death weighed heavy on me. I was so sad, and cried many times -- every time I read an article or blog or watched a video or listened to certain songs. It truly is amazing how much a person can hurt for people who are "strangers"... but feel, in some way, like family. I know that many of you understand... I continue to keep the Chapmans, and especially dear Will, in my prayers.

(Just this minute, as I finished typing that paragraph, the song "Miracle of the Moment" came on my media player... interesting, as I was listening to something else...)

I went to a funeral today. A former assistant librarian, for almost 20 years, passed away this past week after a year-long battle with cancer. Her funeral was very nice. Her grandchildren shared memories -- through laughter and tears -- and the minister talked about her, things that the family had shared with her. Janet was an outspoken, adventurous, full-of-life woman. For many years her and her husband were members of the ReTreads motorcycle club and traveled all over, until he became sick with cancer and died 8 years ago. At 71, she went zip-lining and para-sailing in Mexico. She was on an Alaskan cruise with a friend last year just before she was diagnosed with cancer. She lived her life to the fullest, and it sounded like she loved to the fullest.

As I sat there, I thought about those I love. (Oh man, now "Cinderella" is playing... ). I thought about how much I miss those who aren't near me. And I thought about how short life is, no matter how much time we get. How we need to treasure every moment, and especially those moments with our loved ones. To make sure we tell them, often, that we love them. Enjoy our time together, not let little "unimportant" things get in the way, have fun and LAUGH! :-) Live fully. Love fully.

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• Tomorrow is Rob's birthday. 28 years old. Wow... Vanessa's coming down to celebrate with him. She's bringing cheesecake. Yum... :-)
• Chantelle is overjoyed that Terry is back in New Zealand, and he brought a friend back with him. They are all going to work back at the mountain where they were last year. So she won't be home until at least the end of October... could be later. Some day... haha.
• Sheldon has had a bit of a difficult time lately... I hope he is okay. He doesn't tell me much. I miss him...
• I'm almost done my Children's and YA Literature course. Only a couple of weeks left. It's been fun and I've learned alot. I have a couple of months off, and start the next class in late August.
• I have so many things I need get to get done and I need the motivation to do them. I find it hard to stay focussed, I'm so easily distracted. And some days I'm so tired of having to do so much by myself. I need to concentrate on the goal and just keep taking the steps to get there. One thing at a time...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As I finish this post...
Currently playing: You Are Being Loved ~ Steven Curtis Chapman :-)

So sad...

My heart breaks for the Chapman family, who lost their youngest daughter, 5 year old Maria, today. She was struck by a car driven by her brother, in the family's driveway, and died at the hospital. So incredibly sad... *cries*.

It seems like I don't get here much anymore. Mostly laziness, I must admit. ;-)

It's been a busy week, work seems to be nuts lately. I used to be able to count on Thursdays being quiet and a time to get caught up on stuff, but not since we've moved to the new place. Now it's rare to have a really quiet day. Which is good on the one hand, but I did appreciate those days. Yesterday was insanely busy and I didn't get done all I'd hoped to. I rushed home from work to make supper and then had a 3 hour class. I still needed to plan something for Story Time at the library, because our regular person is away. I'd been feeling rather stressed, but it all got done in the end, and Story Time went really well today. In fact, I got a call later from a caregiver (she brings her daycare kids) thanking me! She said the kids enjoyed it so much, and talked about it all the way back to her house... lol. That was good of her to call. It's always nice to be appreciated. :-)

I only have about a month left on the Children's and Young Adult Literature course. It's been really interesting, but I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! I'll get a break, and then start the next course in late August I believe. Business Communication... yuck... lol.

Sheldon will be home this weekend, to attend his cousin's grad (as well as other friends'). I hardly see the boy, so it will be good to have him here for a bit, even though he'll likely spend most of his time with friends. :-P

Chantelle's STILL in New Zealand... haha. I don't know if that girl is ever coming home! She had extended her work permit until the end of June, but now she might extend it longer. Terry had to go back to England for awhile to take care of some business (he owns some rental property) but will back in NZ soon, with a friend. So it looks like they might be staying there for awhile yet.

Rob & Vanessa are heading out to Nova Scotia in about a month -- he gets to meet the family. ;-) After that, he'll be moving to Saskatoon. A lot of changes happening...

I've been sorting/packing/tossing stuff in my house. It's amazing the amount of junk a person collects when staying in one house for 18 years. I'm intending to have a yard sale, and was going to put the books I've cleaned out in the sale. But I'm tired of having boxes everywhere with no where to store them. The library is having a used book sale next week, so I decided I'd take them there instead, just to get them out of my house. I hauled about 10 boxes down there!!! And I still have lots of my own books that I'll either be keeping, or will part with some day, but not yet. ;-)

I bought a new washing machine recently. I wasn't thrilled to spend the money, but my old one -- 20+ years and numerous repairs later -- was no longer worth fixing, so I made the plunge. I did get it on sale! I got a front loading energy efficient one. I like it. It's funny, cuz my sister bought one a couple of weeks before I did, and after I'd ordered mine I mentioned to her that I was kind of excited about getting it... hey, it's been 28 years since I had a new washing machine! She laughed and said she'd been excited, too. You know you are getting old when you're excited over a new washing machine. :-P

*Yawn*

I'm tired...

Three-day library conference... very interesting, lots of great stuff, but definite brain overload. Amazing how tired one can get sitting around all day, eating great food, not having to do any work whatsoever.... haha.

I've been gone since late Wednesday afternoon. I had a great visit with my aunt that night, and I left for the conference EARLY Thursday morning. I got home tonight. I need to read over a bunch of stuff to prepare for church tomorrow, but so far all I've been doing is catching up on email messages, Facebook (hey, I've been good, I haven't touched Scrabulous yet!), putting new ink in my printer, and other various and assorted time-wasters. :-P

Tomorrow I have to get an assignment done. Must.be.disciplined.

Okay, I've got my cup of tea, it's time to get to the necessary reading before it gets any later.

P.S. Belated Happy Birthday, Alan!
P.P.S. Congratulations Amy & Dillon! :-D

I guess it's been awhile...

Sorry about that. I haven't been back to post since I was in Arizona.

I had a GREAT vacation. :-D The weather was terrific, the company even better. ;-) We took it pretty easy, no big trips or anything. We had a family gathering at Josh's parents' the Sunday after I got there, visited his grandparents one afternoon, and also had Easter dinner at Josh's sister's. We spent a day at Castles 'n Coasters (again!), went bowling, to a movie, and to see Frank Caliendo at The Improv. Aside from that, we mostly just hung out. Josh had to work a few days, and I took the opportunity to sit outside in the sun for awhile and relax with a good book. :-)

Two weeks went by waaaay too quickly. I was so not ready to come home. :-( I got home to snow still on the ground and cold temperatures. Not impressed, not at all. Oh well, such is life. I had the rest of the week off, and went back to work the following Tuesday. The bad thing about going on vacation is having to catch up on so much stuff once you get back to work! Ugh!

I have a few pictures from my vacation on my Facebook:
Facebook Album

Not much else to post about... I had a library workshop out of town today, and I have a 3-day library conference coming up at the beginning of May. My supervisor asked me to attend that one, all expenses are paid, plus I get paid for the hours I was scheduled to work. Sweet!

That's about it for now...

Counting down the days...

6 days, and I'll be in Arizona. :-D

For two glorious weeks... :-)

Since you asked...

I've slacked off terribly, haven't I? I even got a nudge the other day... still didn't motivate me... (sorry Susanna!) :-P

I'll give it a shot tonight... As usual, quite random.

Christmas was good. Sheldon got home for just a couple of days. I wish it would have been longer, but he had to work. It had been months since I'd seen him, so I was very happy to have him home. :-) Rob's girlfriend Vanessa spent almost a week with us, and that was very nice. Having someone else around helped with the Christmas spirit. We went to my aunt & uncle's on Christmas Day, had a great time. The highway was icy so that was not fun... it was a little stressful.

Chantelle called on Christmas Eve and we all got a chance to talk with her. It was Christmas Day there, and her and Terry spent it with a friend and her family. The family even loaned them (and Terry's mom who was visiting from England) their beach house for a few days. Nice! There is a chance she may be home in a few months, but I'm not getting too optimistic just yet... ;-)

I didn't do a thing for New Year's Eve, but then I never do. :-P I did enjoy having a few days off over Christmas and New Year's.

I finished up this one course I've been taking, I wrote my final tonight. I'm pleased with how I did. I get my final grade for the course next week. I have a one-week break, and then start the next one. That one will involve more reading and assignments, so I need to be more disciplined. I am such a procrastinator!!!

I'm taking two weeks vacation in March -- I'm off to Arizona again. :-D Originally we were looking at February, and I had even found a great seat sale (I got an email notice one afternoon). By the time I checked again a few hours later, it was gone. I was quite bummed. For various reasons, we decided that March would work out better and in the end I got an even better price on my tickets than the earlier ones I'd looked at. Sweet! :-)

We lost an elderly man in our church this week. He had been in declining health for quite some time, and he was ready to go. We knew it was coming, we knew he was ready, but of course it's still sad. I will miss his wisdom, his caring ways, his sharp wit. Sam was a good man, a wonderful example of a husband and father. He is home now. (Another elderly man in the community died on the same day as well. They were friends, and Sam's family smilingly said that they were accompanying one another on their final journey... )

Sheldon's 19th birthday is coming up in just a couple of weeks... I don't have clue what to get him. The older they get, the harder they are to buy for it seems.

I'm addicted to Heroes. Yes, I'm a bit slow, but I didn't see it from the beginning the first season. I saw an episode part way into the series, and didn't want to start watching it then since I wouldn't have known what was happening. Chantelle kept telling me "You have to watch it!!!" So I waited, got the first season on DVD for Christmas, and had a Heroes-watching marathon. Then I watched the first 11 episodes of season 2 online. I'm all caught up. Now if only the writer's strike would end!!!

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Currently playing: Beautiful Life ~ Gui Borrato
Currently reading: The Dying Hour ~ Rick Mofina