Snowy Fun

The last week has been snowy but fairly warm. Nice enough to even get me motivated to get the kids up and outside. It also helped that Grandma Marilyn got Xander new snowpants and boots on Monday and brought them up Monday night. Maia & I went out and found a pair of "Cinderella" colored boots for her Monday afternoon, so they're pretty well set.

Maia & I went out on Tuesday and she played with a sand shovel in the backyard while I scooped a little snow off the driveway and sidewalk. That kept her entertained for a long time.
On Friday after school, we went and picked up Xander and then headed out to church because they not only have sleds we can use, but a nice hill to use them on. Maia fell asleep on the way there, so Xander played by himself on the hill for a while until she got up about an hour later.

I was sitting in the car warming up and keeping a sleeping Maia company while I watched Xander play. He laid down in the snow- probably to rest- quite a few times. Once after a particularly nice wipe out, he flopped down in the snow and made a snow angel. At least, that's what he was trying to make. What do you think?

I'm thinking it's more of a snow octopus?

After Maia woke up, I bundled her up and we took the other sled down the hill together a few times. Xander wanted to see if it would work to get all three of us on one sled, which we then did until little Maia was just shivering and it was time to pack it up.

I didn't get any pictures of Maia on the sled because I was always with her. I got the honor of carrying her back up the hill every time too! Got a good cardio workout, huh?

Here we are back in the "warming house" (AKA church) after all the fun.
Today, the wind changed, and we have a high of 15, which we reached by 9 am, then it's just supposed to get colder for the rest of the weekend. All of next week looks pretty cold too, so I'm glad we got out when we did.

Highlights

This week was better. I'm glad. I was so bummed for a while there.

Highlights from this week include a big one, Matt got a promotion at work. If you read my blog, then you probably read his, but the story is there.

He was so happy when he came home from work last night. He told me he didn't know how much he really wanted it until he thought they were going to offer it to someone else (he had himself pretty well convinced by the time they called him up to the office to talk to him). I thought it was a lot like a pregnancy test, but he didn't get the connection.

Xander only had 3 days of school this week, thanks to Martin Luther King on Monday (NOT replaced by a Native American holiday in SD this time), and teacher inservice on Tuesday. One of his friends called and invited him to the indoor ice skating rink on Monday and Tuesday. We couldn't make it on Monday, but we went on Tuesday and had a lot of fun. Xander's never been ice skating before, so I figured it would be a day of a lot of falling down and frustration and anger for him. I tried to warn him ahead of time, but then they had these cool "walkers" there, which are just what they sound like: an iron construction with a wide base that slides along on the ice in front of the skater, helping them get comfortable (and stay upright) on the ice. I had rented skates for myself in an effort to help Xander learn the ropes, but he hardly needed me at all. I probably went around the rink 3 or 4 times total, and once or twice to help him up when he collided with his friend (who is a very aggressive skater who plays hockey and takes no notice of the fact that he's only half Xander's height). He had a great time, and I even remembered to take my camera, but alas! The batteries were dead. So, no pictures.

On a less interesting front, got the paperwork rolling to get our house in Marion refinanced. It is currently on a 15-year loan, so the payments are ridiculously high for such an inexpensive house, but we're working on getting it stretched out to a 30-year loan so that we can save about $150 a month. Oh, and of course, be saddled with the house for 30 years in the event that it never sells.

We got our Aztek back this week after about a week's worth of repairs at the body shop. It looks and runs as good as new, though the "Change Engine Oil" light is on about 2 1/2 months prematurely. Have to check into that and hope it's nothing more than an oil change.

I started 2 new students in my home studio in the last couple of weeks. They're both going to be fun to work with. I'm up to 12 students at home, and either 10 or 11 at USF (classes start in 2 weeks- they had a January-term) so I'm pleased about those numbers. And enjoying teaching. I really only dread one or two lessons a week. That's way better than dreading all of them!

My new job at Good Shepherd (see previous post) started last weekend. I was warmly welcomed by all 23 people there, and they were very appreciative of someone up front singing the hymns into the microphone. I was told that my speaking needs to slow down. SURPRISE! This week I get to play piano and lead, so I've been practicing my hymn playing and attempting to sing all the right verses at the right times. I woke up this morning with "Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing" stuck in my head. Can't say that's happened to me very often! I've spent a little time organizing my thoughts and getting things figured out, then we'll start visioning for direction with Pastor Shel and making modifications in the service to make it better. It's an interesting challenge, because I know how to do the "contemporary" worship service thing, but the traditional service is a little different, and I want to do it justice.

This is not interesting, but our toilet broke this week, and it was fixed within 48 hours. I like that part of not being a homeowner. Actually, I like a lot of parts about not being a homeowner so far. Especially things like not having to scoop snow or mow the lawn or pay for repairs. Nice.

We're just going to have a lazy Saturday here with the kids. Probably try to get out of the house at some point, but the 3 of us are still in pj's at 9:30, while Matt took the Aztek in for the final part to get replaced (it was a slightly wrong color). We had praise team practice Thursday night, which meant 4 late nights in a row for the kids. We need a lazy day.

Oh! Today is my Grandma Leigh Anne's 90th birthday! She's not having the party until August because she figures that's a better time to travel in SD. I'd worry about her optimism if she wasn't so spunky! Happy birthday, Grandma Leigh Anne!

Another New Job

Am I getting in over my head here?

Yesterday I was offered and accepted another job (this makes five paid jobs if you're counting- a lot for a stay-at-home mom).

I am now going to be the music pastor for Good Shepherd Community Church. This is not as conflicting as you might think.

Good Shepherd is the church that owns the building where Mercy Church meets. They have a small, older congregation, who prefer a traditional worship style. GS lost their pastor last month, so our pastor, Shel Boese, is currently serving as their pastor. He's interested in revitalization, not just doing life support, so the goal is to get this little church brought back to life, while maintaining a fairly traditional service style.

When the musicians from Good Shepherd were asked what they thought needed improvement, one of the first things that came to light was that they need a song leader for Sunday mornings. The other thing that seemed obvious is that these 3 pianists/ organists do not want to choose the music, just to be told what to do.

So my job is to pick the hymns each week and lead them on Sunday morning. SO FAR...

If I understand right, some members of the congregation have approached Shel about the service being more "blended" in style. We'll see what comes of that. The thought being of course, attracting young people. But if our buidling is going to attract "young people" with more modern music, they're going to come to Mercy. My thought is that we should do traditional well. There are a lot of people who are attracted to that. Even some young ones! :)

So, we'll see what comes of all this. It really doesn't mean much more time commitment for me- just have to get to church an hour earlier on Sundays (and frankly, getting the family out the door by 10:00 every Sunday feels so LAZY after so many years of 7:30 am!) and work with a few more people. And get to know ANOTHER new congregation. But I think it'll be OK. AND it's a little extra pay. Can't complain about that. We'll see how I feel about it in a few months.

Mystery Solved

OK, so a couple of months ago, we found out that our Marion house had been broken into. The back door had a pane of glass broken out of it, then "they" reached through and unlocked it and walked right in.

We sent a friend over to investigate and see if he could see anything that had been damaged, he said everything looked fine. We sent someone else over to board up the window and sweep up the glass, and that's where we stood until today.

Well, today another friend went over to winterize the pipes (which should have been done last year) so that we wouldn't have to keep the furnace running and pay ridiculous gas prices so that the pipes wouldn't freeze. He went to do that, and realized that someone had stolen all our copper pipes.

WHAT?!?

Who does that? Apparently, these thieves have figured out that these older abandoned homes are a gold mine - rather a copper mine- because copper is selling for -I don't know, a lot per pound.

So, it may not be as easy to move someone in as we thought. This same friend, a real live plumber- will be happy to do the repairs for us, and replace the pipes with a kind that won't get stolen. The nice part is, they ruined the water heater when they did this because they emptied it without shutting it off, thus destroying the elements inside. Nice. And it's a rented water heater.

I'm really sick of this house.

OK, So the House

There's the latest on the Marion house:

I quit making payments. I have now missed two. This means that the bank will surely foreclose on me before long, right? I don't like the idea of foreclosure, it seems irresponsible, plus it will really mess up our credit for a while, but I am starting to run out of options.

So the other day, I get an email from our friends Adam & Ronda. They are faced with a horrible situation there in Marion. They have intentionally chosen to live in a very rough part of town in order to minister to the people there. They do a fantastic job at it, and the fruit of their labors, while sometimes hard to see, is so worthwhile.

A few years back, a community organization built a home for Adam and Ronda that was such a blessing to them! They got to live in a brand-new house- even if it is a bit on the small side- and I don't know all the financial details but I know they got a really good deal on the place.

Unfortunately, that really good deal is going really bad. The walls in their house are cracking and it looks like their foundation was poured incorrectly and the house will soon be unlivable.

And here's the stinker: the community organization that built this home for them no longer exists. It dissolved a few years ago, so there is no one to hold to their workmanship.

Marion is rallying around Adam & Ronda, and several people have approached them about applying for an Extreme Home Makeover, but some wonderful friends came up with the idea that if they were able to get one thousand people to give $50 each, they could give Adam & Ronda a pretty nice house to live in. You know, kind of do our own Extreme Home Makeover. (By the way, if you're reading this and want to contribute, send checks to Hanfield United Methodist Church with "Community Housing" in the memo line. In this link, Ronda is the singer in the top left corner!)

So in the meanwhile (this was in November), I said to myself, "Hey, we've got a house in Marion that no one is living in. Why not at least offer it?" I wrote to them an offered our place as a refuge for them while they're waiting for a new house to be built. The biggest problem with our house is that it's not in their neighborhood, so they lose out on the ministry they do.

Well, Ronda emailed me Monday night and said things are starting to get out of hand at their house, and wondered about taking us up on our offer. I told her where to get a key and they went and looked at the place this week. She said it's not in too bad of shape for being empty for a year and a half. (She MUST be desperate!)

They are going to try to get things straightened out at their place- they feel like they can't leave until enough money is raised to demolish the current house and begin work on the new one, so that they don't have to lose out on more ministry time than is necessary. But they could be moving in as early as this month, and at the most in the next couple of months.

I told her I totally understand the "living in a state of limbo" thing, and whenever they can get in, the place will be ready for them.

So, now I have to catch up on two months of house payments that I've missed. Plus pay the deductible on the car (see previous post) AND January is the month that USF is on J-term, so I don't teach there this month, which means no paycheck from there this month, which will be a significant dent in the ol' income.

The good news is: and I mentioned this in the previous post as well, we got a couple of nice gifts that were unexpected this week, and that will help pay for the car at least. I've got the utilities all up-to-date and have a request in to the bank to help us get our monthly payments reduced by refinancing the house out to a 30-year loan instead of the 15-year one that it's currently on.

BUT everyone is healthy, and God is good. Things could be a lot worse! :)

What a Week!

Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day, 2007 (Monday), I hit a deer with my new car. I've been told that now I'm a member of the "deer-killers club" I think that distinction should stay with those who intentionally kill deer, like my brother (by the way, what happened to the little kid who used to faint at the sight of blood and threw up in the theatre when Luke Skywalker's hand got cut off? Now he's skinning deer? Eeech.)

Back to my topic

I had gone down to my mom's for the day in Yankton because, frankly, the kids were driving me nuts, and I needed to go to a place where they are loved, otherwise I would go insane. We didn't decide to go visit until about lunchtime, and it takes an hour and a half to get there. The kids played, watched TV that they can't watch at our house, and entertained Gramma Marilyn and "Gramma Jim" with their... energy. After supper, we were packed up to come home, and only 3 miles away from their house, a stinkin' deer suddenly appears in front of me. APPARENTLY it's mating season, which makes them do stupid things (I could go on a tangent here...notice my restraint).

So, I pulled over and checked, and the right front headlight is all smashed and hanging by wires, the grill cover broken to bits and there's a dent in the hood and front quarter-panel. THANKFULLY, no window damage, the airbag didn't deploy and the engine is not damaged at all.

After a scare like that, I didn't feel like I was in any condition to drive the rest of the way home, so I called Mom & told her I'd be coming back to spend the night. Incidentally, I saw 4 more deer cross the road before I made it back to their house. I was tempted to hit them just for spite at that point, but opted not to. I'm not a nature lover right now.

Spending the night without packing for it was fine for everyone except Maia. Mom ran out an got a package of diapers at a gas station, but the poor baby didn't have her blanket (codename: "geep." I don't know why. That's what she started calling it a long time ago and it stuck). The thing that's important about Maia's blanket is that it's fleece with a satin binding all around it. She sucks on the satin as a comfort measure while she sleeps.

We tried giving her a fleece blanket and a satin coverlet, but all of them were wrong because they weren't pink. Finally, Mom found a 2'x2' leftover scrap of fleece from one of Maia's little blankets, which Maia reluctantly accepted as an alternative to the real thing. Well, she was sleeping in just a shirt and a diaper, because I hadn't packed pajamas, so I was trying to cover her up with another blanket along with the little pink one.

That stinker! She insisted on "my bwanket pink!" repeatedly. I thought I had things under control when I shut off the lights and we started to say our prayers and I subtly covered her with the green fleece blanket. I forgot, however, that for some reason, Maia associates Baby Jesus with the lightbulb in the ceiling. So when I said the part of her prayers, "I love You, Jesus," she says, "Where's Baby Jesus?" I go over and turn on the light, when she immediately notices that she's not covered with only "Bwanket pink" and goes into another round.... and these are not quiet protests this child makes. If you've ever been around her for long, you'll know that about her.

She even woke up once in the night to complain about "bwanket pink" which I tucked back around her before she went back to sleep.

I didn't get much rest that night. I was really tired, and fell asleep OK, then woke up and decided to start worrying about my insurance rates going up, and the classic: our Marion house. If ever I don't want to sleep well, start worrying about the Marion house, which has been empty for a year and a half now. (this issue is a whole 'nother post) I tried my best to cast my burdens on Jesus- heck I hurled them at him! Take them!!!

Anyway, the engine of the car was not damaged at all, so Jim cut the wire holding the headlight in and sent us on our merry way. When I got to Sioux Falls, I called Progressive, and I have to say, I've had a pretty good experience with them so far (haven't seen a rate change yet. I'll be sure to mention it when I do). They were quick to say that their first priority is to get me back on my feet (or wheels, I guess) again as soon as possible. They have a network of auto shops that work with them, so I picked one and a representative met me there the next morning. They did the estimate at the same time as the body shop- saves a lot of time- and have been in contact with me about how long this will take.

The damage estimate is $3800. My deductible is $500, so I guess I should count myself lucky. I was not sure where this magical $500 was going to come from, but here's the GOD PART:

God has provided an additional $380 this week. Gifts from His people. I guess if you complain loud enough, people will try to help.

Thank you, God's people, for helping us!

You, know, one thing that I've tried to stay consistent on during this last year and a half of limbo and turmoil, is tithing. I remember very clearly the maxim, "If you think you can't afford to tithe, you can't afford NOT to tithe." (~Pastor Tim)

God is faithful. We haven't seen direct monetary provision like this from him every time, but sometimes.

OH, and this is too amazing to pass up. Matt got rear-ended in the Neon on his way home from work on Tuesday night. Luckily, it's no big deal, just bent the license plate up a little, but we found it interesting.

Hold loosely to the things of this world. That's our lesson for the week. There's more to this story, but this is already too long of a post, especially with no pictures. I'll write about the house more later.