The Needle in a Haystack

Virginia Tech

Corner of My Home

I finally finished my ripple afghan..I so love it!  Next I need to work on shams... the effect so far is great!

Joshie is home!

It was so good to see my knee baby after a month of life @ Camp Shelby MS.  He spent the majority of the time in readiness combat training  and CLS ( combat life saving skills)... He was glad to be home with his girl friend and family once again... He gifted me with an awesome jacket and his dad a thermos both bought at the PX... he had many funny stories to tell and some great accomplishments....Can you imagine 4 guys sleeping in this little humvee???? Apparently it happened by some air field in Ga. when the convoy stopped for the evening..  He has video footage of him shooting his new fav toy a 50 caliber and a scar on his face from hand to hand combat ( which he won top honors in).... He was pleased...

.. two things I noticed... he has been dating Jessica for almost a year now, he has taken things slow... but together they have a deep respect an a very comfortable seriousness about their relationship that Chris and I both took notice of... Josh has been in some real tumultuous relationships that have brought heartache not only to him, but us as well.   To be honest we really haven't put Jess on our radar  screens ..she is a bit of a wall flower ( not in looks) but is very shy, Josh forever dominates a room, but she is a compliment to him.. encouraging..gentle... we both vowed to get to know her a bit better in the coming months.. she might be around to stay!

..The second is that no matter how logically my child and husband try to convince me that the war in Iraq is a good thing... I can't buy it... Call me un patriotic... a chicken... selfish... I don't care so much... I'm not willing to sacrifice my child or any other mother's child  for a nation I am not endeared to ( Iraq)... I refuse to believe that I spent the last 21 years of my life pouring life and praying over a child to be placed in harms way.... and I have searched the New Testament scriptures and can't find one place where Jesus, who is to be my example, says to draw guns and kick butt with the biggest weapons ya got... nope... he told them to put away swords.... to use righteousness, truth and the Word as weapons... that I have equipped my child with....
.....2 years ago last Feb I wrote a journal entry that has since been published in the UK and is making its way to the US in a book entitled Skydiving for Parents you can currently order the book here  Let me give you an excerpt of what I wrote:
Today I became a member of a club I didn't ask to join..........

. a club probably as old as any club around.... it's members are woman from all over the world who send their children off to the military...

In less then 12 hours the van to take my child to basic will arrive and he and his duffle bag will drive off ... and he won't be my baby any more...

He has promised to protect and defend our country and our freedoms... He has promised to die if need be for you and me.. and folks he doesn't even know...

.. but he's not a soldier...

He plays and collects video games... he watches the Simpsons... he loves lasagna and garlic toast... he is a neat freak... he loves histroy...he bites his finger nails when he is nervous...his favorite Bible verse is in Mark....He's great at sports... he likes to impress girls... he works out.. drinks awful tasting protein shakes..... and loves his Mama...

He has never played with guns.... he is a very compassionate person...

 

He is not a soldier.......

Yet when he arrives at Ft Leonard Wood Mo tomorrow... they are going to strip him of everything he is and put a gun in his hand...

He's from a small town in the middle of no where... his dad and I moved to the country to teach our children the love of the outdoors and the peace and quiet and gentleness away from the city...

He doesn't sleep in the desert.. the security we have instilled in him wasn't to be torn down by a man on a power trip whose goal it is to " break" my child...

The gov might say they own my child... but they don't really .. his soul belongs to Jesus... and his heart is mine... and the forces of Iraq and Iran will seem nothing compared to the forces of this mother if one hair on his head is harmed....

My child is still asleep in his room... I peeked in on him asleep under his comforter... this is the last day to sleep in... perhaps his drill instructor needs to know that he is grumpy when he wakes up... and he gets cranky when he's tired...

Perhaps the mess hall needs to know he doesn't like sausage... or pepper on his eggs...

He uses 4 ply not 2 ply.... and his skin breaks out in bumps on his tummy when it's cold...

He hates tags on his clothes.... and loves Dr. Pepper...

and soft pillows....and he has a weak stomach...

Should I write a list?~ I'm sure they have their own lists~

My baby leaves..... he's going to be a soldier...

.....and so.. teach your children the right lessons... kiss and love them hard... pray for those around hte world serving our country.... and sleep tight.... don't let the bed bugs bite....

Tin Ear

..having an ear that doesn't work and coping with this brain fog that goes along with it really makes me appreciate my hearing... not just my hearing.. but my voice... and the ability to burst out in song through out the day... Now my voice rattles in my head or my thoughts are so cloudy I don't think about singing... and I miss it... I miss feeling better..when I do get my hearing back and the ringing stops I thinking I'll  do a 100 countdown and give the squirrels and birds a top favorites marathon complete with the whole 15 minutes of Alice's Restaurant!....

...I used one of the lines from Alices Restaurant the other day... trying to keep Josh from being deployed " What ever you do sweetie, DON"T jump up and down on the desk screaming " Kill Kill".... they love that stuff~ sigh~

...Christopher finished his last day of class work for Driver's Ed today... 2 weeks from now is the riding part.... I think he'll be as cautious as Jamie about it... Jeremy is a very very good driver.. and Josh, well, he Armour-alls his dashboard while driving 60 miles an hour down a country road ( and they trust him with a hummer~ go figure~)

The fatigue is really getting to me so we ate out... the whole family is getting increasingly sick of eating out.. if nothing else I need to rally up the energy to cook more...that is one area of our life that has totally gotten out of hand.... I use to make everything from scratch ..now, not so much...

..I did manage to work on the ripple...7 more rows until its done....then I'm thinking a lapghan for my godmother who was just put in a nursing home... my heart aches for her and her husband... he was my first pastor( in utero) and kept the same pulpit for 50 years before he retired.. he still gives a sermonette before Marvin preaches on Sun mornings... as long as I have known this man.. the many hugs and talks while sitting on his lap, goodness he baptized me in the Monongahela River, I didn't know until last year he sports a huge tattoo of an anchor on his left leg... he did it while he was in the navy... go figure!  You think you know a person~ humpf~

.. Having a wonderfully relaxing evening resting in my chair and watching the History Channel with my sweetums...sipping a bit of caramel chocolate hot chocolate  and catching up on blog buddies...

So... appreciate your gifts...and have a fine day..all day long!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Blessings
1. My salvation]
2.Chris
3. Jamie
4. Jeremy
5.Heather
6. Josh
7. Christopher
8. My MIL
9. all the other wonderful folks in our family
10.  All of our many freinds
11. Our beautiful land
12. My cats
13.  My internet buddies...

...Now, if you have gotten this  far let me tell you about a really really neat phone conversation I had this afternoon. with my old buddy Jamie Ellis ( who by the way is married for 31 years now to my old friend Bonnie) anyhow, in 1974/75 Jamie wrote a contemporary rock opera called soft Rains  a lovely lovely play( musical) about Noah and the flood.  I was a junior in highschool and took the lead of Noah's wife in the play....Our scripts were nothing more then the songs and we created our parts as we went and the results were outstanding... it is truly one of the greatest things I have done..we went on to preform it at several other venues... but Jamie and Bonnie moved to LA... I went to NC... Steve went .... well you get the picture..Jamie collaborated on "Rains" with our then drama teacher Ray Ross.  Ray recently passed away so in his memory Jamie is reviving Soft Rains...and it will run at at the American Legion Theater in St Charles, Il   I really would like to see the remake and see how someone else interprets what Jamie agrees will always be my part......Jamie and Bonnie... if I can't make it to Chicago in July then know my heart will so be with you.....

......Soft Rains
..When soft rains fall,
There is a hope of a new beginning
There are promises of a bright new day for all
I believe the promise that our God has made.
I can see it when the wind blows
I can see it in the rainbow in God's sky above....
                Jamie Ellis 1975

Tuesday already~

This is a totally random picture for the post... whenever I go to upload pics to my lap top it shuts it down... so I realized I had not shared this one of my Easter goodies...
..The bowl is a Duncan Miller in the wheat pattern... a pressie from my aunt who I do believes loves plates , bowls and china a bit more then me...My Grams worked at the Duncan Miller factory as a secretary when she was in college so the piece  has a special meaning..

.. I'm feeling a bit better but still have a touch of clogged ear and can't hear very well from my right ear... At least my energy is coming back to normal..tomorrow will be a real test...

..Besides driving Christopher back and forth to Raleigh for Drivers Ed, I haven't done too much of anything except crochet... 11 more rows until the King Size ripple is finished and I love it more then when I first started... it will take days to weave in all the ends but will look so pretty on my bed....next will be pillow shams

...Toying with the idea of having an open basket weaving day in May at the Park..I've had some interest but didn't even want to think about it!

...So.. finish what you start... and have a fine day... all day long!

Hey Mom, were you a hippie

So Christopher and I were watching the American Experience on PBS and he asked if I was a hippie.... short answer no... with a but...
...In the summer of love I was only 11... much too young to be involved in sex, drugs and rock and roll.... BUT... I grew up in what was probably a spin off of the hippie movement... somewhat...
... My mom has never been a risk taker so much... but my dad was a dreamer... and I was a product... walks in the woods identifying plants and ferns, listening to various types of music... staying up until Walter signed us off on election night to track state votes for Johnson/ Goldwater... being taught the negatives of segregation at age 6....feeding the poor at age 8... self expression very much encouraged through arts, music dress writing...but through all this my folks were staunch Christian Republicans... and to raise a child to be a thinker and a doer and to question and explore led to a rock y  teen time...It was Ok to be a free thinker and march to the beat of my own drum... if it beat like theirs... very confusing... so I explored and asked questions myself.. hung out with the other free thinkers... read lots of authors and listened to lots of music... felt free to dance barefoot in the park and eat wild hickory nuts and buttered tiger lilies... I sang in rock and roll bands... and attended peace rallies...I found my answers ( or they found me)....
...so no my dear child... I was not a hippie... a free spirit..yes... a free thinker yes....
......so in the words of Jerry Rubin...Just Do It...and have a fine day ..all day long...

P.S.  The ear thing is still there working on day 3 of antibiotics ... hoping and praying it feels better tomorrow..

Ears

Well, after spending all day Sat. in bed huddled under gobs of blankets and having the world spin around me, dh took me to the doctor.... Apparently I have a rip roaring ear infection ..the ear was so bad off he couldn't get the little thingy in my ear to look at the ear drum so he irrigated it and sent me on my merry way with antibiotics and pills to balance out the vertigo..I am on my feet this a.m. but moving slow and I still can't hear out of my right ear... he did mention scar tissue damage on my ear drum that was a bit of a bummer... It takes awhile for the swelling to go down...and last night I didn't have the anxiety I had been feeling all week long from having a racked ear.  I haven't been sick like this in awhile... I do have migraines and an occasional RA flair up but things seem to be getting back to normal... My blood pressure has dropped back down from the 135/11o it was in the ER...sitting pretty at 118/72 which is still abit high for me but liveable...
Enough of my medical history....
.....Both Cs opted out of church today as I really think they are pitching in on the housework so I can save my strength for a home cooked meal....they have been eating TV dinners since Friday  ( not the cooking type)

... One the hook.... an attempt at some doll clothes... My Canadian buddy Darlene happens to be a very talented ( in my book) designer of cuteness when it comes to crochet... She does clothes for Cabbage Patch kids...AG dolls and Dora the Explorer dolls... Well, I really wanted to try the outfits but alas no Dora doll... So I ordered one...actually I ordered 2.  I figured God would send someone int he future for me to give the second one to and I would have double the fun making the clothes.... you can find her here  I thought 14.99 was cheap amusement for me!  Darlene has put all of her patterns in a file at    duds for Dora  you have to sign up but its all free and worth the look see into her patterns... so many cute one! 
...I haven't forgotten the ripple either... I have maybe 10 more rows to completion and then the ends...

I finished another book in the Susan W. Albert series...Rosemary Remembered   I can't wait to start the next one...
...tonight we're all snuggling in to watch Sherman's March on the  History Channel pop a bit of corn, drink a soda, watch a bit of destruction... all in a relaxing evening at home...
..On a serious note folks... I am so ready for a normal week...no tragedies, no illness, so stress and worries... a week filled with joy and peace....
...My prayers are that for everyone... so have a fine week... all week long!~

Welcome Little one!!

A Big Huge Shout Out to my friend Laura and hubby Jay on the latest addition to their family..Laura is one of those mums who loves playing with her kiddos... He's beautiful Laura.. You can read about all their fun here   I was so sure she was going to have a girl I'm going to have to unpack the lavender blanket I made and replace it with the multi -colored one...

..Tomorrow I'm going to break down and go to the doctor if I'm not feeling better... really leaning towards an inner ear infection at this point...

..spent the day rippling and snoozing....

So, celebrate new life... and have a fine day... all day long

What did you say????

The day was so pretty I had to wander out in the back and cut down a few dogwood branches to put in a mason jar on the front porch....one of htose smsall things that make me smile when I come through the door..

Christopher is plugging away at his EOG's this week and being the mommy proctor the ripple is rippling away.  It is more then half done at this point and I pretty much have shelved any other projects to work on this... I really can't way to get it done and put on the bed... I am in love it with!

The ear is still a bit irritating but if your like the menfolk your probably tired of hearing me whine about it... so consider this line the only complaint...

Christopher opted out of Networks tonight which means my drive to Cary won't have to happen... I'll probably just rest and ripple... I have a new China Bayles mystery to dig into and a cuppa tea will make a nice compliment...

..Enjoy the spring... and have a fine day...all day long