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Monday
Jan072013

BOOM Goes the Dynamite! (Or the Transformer) (Not the Robot Kind...But How Cool Would That Be?!)

Today was my official first day of the new year. We had been in Florida on vacation, and then when we arrived home, it was the weekend. So, I've been sleeping in, and not cooking, and generally being a slacker. 

But this morning, I took Christian to school, came home and started a load of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and folded some clean clothes. Before 9:30.

I know. I'll wait for you to get up off the floor. 

I was determined to get off to a good start. I spent a portion of the weekend picking up the back room, which is where we spend most of the day doing schoolwork, and which looked like a tornado had blown through. Before we could really start school today, I needed to clear the table which Michaela works at, because not only did it house whatever mess she had made there before we left on our trip, it also had annexed a great deal of the articles that had been residing elsewhere in the room (mainly on the floor, which I had picked up in order to vacuum). 

Just as I was about to begin that project, I jumped at a loud BOOM which was immediately followed by a POP. Simultaneously, the lights went out, the heat shut off, and Eliana and Michaela came running down the stairs exclaiming,"What was that noise?!" Not too long after that, several things in the house began beeping (And when I say beeping, I mean beeping in a way that would make you want to pluck your hair out one piece at a time while spinning on one toe and yodeling...it was enough to make me crazy. CRAZY.) so I tried to figure out how to silence at least one device (I believe I was successful). I didn't know what to do about the other beeping, and it literally drove me upstairs (if not insane), as did the cooler temperature that slowly crept throughout the downstairs of the house. 

I had told Michaela and Eliana to get back in bed since it was noticeably colder without the heat on (it was in the 30s this morning), and when I went upstairs, a warm bed was all too inviting. I put myself in it! As soon as I did that, though, Eliana told me she had to use the bathroom. So, I helped her take care of that, and then cozied up again. The power was off for about an hour (maybe less), and as soon as it came back on, I was very good and got out of bed again. (It's amazing how much I take having heat for granted.) 

I busied myself at (with? on?) the table downstairs and finished clearing it for Michaela to do her work. She ate a little something, Eliana read a book to me, and after eating, Michaela did some book work at the table. We all kind of petered out after that. Tomorrow is the day we go to our class, so that will get us up and out early. I now have two relatively clean flat surfaces, as well as a pretty decent looking kitchen.

BABY STEPS! 

I'm not quite unpacked from our trip, and our entryway needs some help in a major way, but I do feel like it's a start. Now to load up the dishwasher, and maybe read some...I'm tired! What a novelty!

Sunday
Jan062013

Some More Moments...

When I think back on our trip to Florida, all I can remember are parties! But, we really did just hang out while we were there, too, in between the Christmas parties, New Year's party, and birthday celebrations.

You better believe that the kids love to crank the jukebox up as loud as they can we let them and run around and dance to awesome gems like "Freeze Frame" and "Hotel California." 

There were toys to play with, both new and old.

The kids enjoyed getting into some of the things they got for Christmas, but also had fun digging out some of the older toys that have been in the house since the Walker kids (Mike and his siblings) were young. I mean, younger! 

Because the weather is so nice there, the kids spent a lot of time outside. The girls played with Eliana...she was doted on profusely. Coming home to much less attention and constant entertainment is always an adjustment! (I have to confess, it's not just an adustment for her.)

Sometimes it was just a few of the kids outside, 

but sometimes it was all six of them (when I say kids, I mean the younger cousins...there are four older cousins too, but the younger ones were together every day).

Wendy and I gave them more freedom outside than they have ever had (yes, I did have panic attacks about alligators...but, you have to let go sometime) and they took full advantage. 

There were forts, and spying, and darting, and sneaking.

And doesn't every spy need to take a break to eliminate tadpoles from their grandma's pond? Of course.

Scooters had been banned on the hilly driveway until Wendy brought over helmets.

Oh the joy once the helmets arrived! 

And not just joy, but also yelling. Christian at his cousin, myself at the boys...a lot of yelling. (Namely: SLOW DOWN!)

This was a trip that garnered a ton of memories, and now that the kids are the ages that they are, I know they will not forget so much of this time. They all made it to midnight (Eliana was just getting out of the shower by then...but she did make it!). 

Cousins that are friends? What could be better than that?! 

I'll tell you...ringing in the New Year with them!! 

Saturday
Jan052013

On the Heavy Side

I was thinking a little today about something that has on-and-off haunted me for several weeks now.

I saw my mom and dad on Skype this afternoon (Michaela opened her birthday present from them...Skype is such a great thing!), and my parents and I were talking after Michaela was finished unwrapping. Mom laughingly (and lovingly) mentioned how I had written about (oh my goodness...I am having a hard time even typing about it at all) the CT shooting, and how, in that post, I had said so many things don't matter, including the fact that we were getting new phones. But last night I had written about how I was excited about the new phone that I finally got. I agreed with her...one day I write something that is so weighty (or rather, about something that is so weighty), and the next (or a little later at any rate) I'm writing about new cell phones, yippee!

(By the way, my mom wasn't laughing at the post I had written, nor about the shooting, so I hope it didn't come across like that at all...it was the disconnect, the radically different nature of my posts that was the issue. Just to clarify.)

That disconnect? It doesn't sit well. And yet, what is a person to do? For days after the tragedy in Newtown, I struggled with what to write. Should I write anything? Should it be about what happened there? Should I write about what is going on here? Does that matter? What's it all for anyway? Who cares?

I did keep writing. I wrote some about what happened, because I couldn't not. It was on my mind, in my heart; as a person, as a parent, I felt the horror in every fiber of my being. Thoughts of the parents, those who had been at the school, those first-responders, pressed out almost everything else. However, as the days have passed, the awful events have become less in the very forefront of my mind. They are still there, shadows and remembrances that suddenly break my heart all over again at the lines from a song, or the laughter of my own kids, or the messes that were all over the house after Christmas.

What I have been surprised about is what else is there. There are other images, there are other heartbreaking stories, and there are other terrors that are keeping company with those Newtown shadows. In every part of the world, we can find injustice, oppression, degradations, indignities...the things that make your stomach turn and heave and sink, the things that make your heart literally feel like it's cracking in two. What I keep thinking is this: Why were these other things not already in the forefront of my mind? Why am I so upset by what happened in a quiet, sleepy little town a couple thousand miles away from where I live?

Maybe it's because the news was so available, so instantly, from Facebook to the online news sites (and on TV as well, but I didn't turn the TV on). It was in my face no matter where I turned, digitally speaking. And then, when I did turn away from the screen of my computer, I saw Eliana. Eliana, who might have been in a classroom like that and been taken away in an instant. I saw Michaela, and thought of all the other kids in the school, and the sounds that they heard, and even what they may have seen. It's too much. It's too much for anyone to have experienced.

And this is true in all of those circumstances. It's true for all of those in this world who are hungry, so hungry that they are dying and the gnawing never stops, until their bodies simply can't take it anymore. It's true for those in this world who are in bondage, slaves in ways that we cannot even fathom for the horror of it. It's true for those who see brutality while on front lines, fighting for freedom and yet living out nightmares.

And here I sit, in a cozy house, with healthy kids and a full tummy and more clothes than I have room for.

And what do I write?

The conclusion that I have come to, at least in part, as I'm sure it's a work in progress, is that I must write what I know, and what I love, and what I think, and what I feel, and how we live, and my hope is that in my writing about our life, I am honoring those whose lives have been cut short, as well as those who are heartbroken and missing those who are gone. I hope that in our living, we are remembering. If I were to write about how awful the world is, or about how sad I am about what happened, every day, what purpose would that serve? Or if I were to quit writing about the mundane and sometimes meaningless stuff in our lives, because what good does that do, then what would that accomplish?

The main things that would happen if I stopped writing or only wrote about sadness are that Satan would feel victorious, and I would be unfaithful. Satan isn't victorious. But after something like the Newtown tragedy, it's easy to think he's gaining ground. The truth is that he's a busy devil, and he's always up to no good. But God is busier, almighty even, and in fact he is all and only good. I return to what my pastor said Sunday after that terrible Friday; when we are in God's hands, we are never not safe, no matter what it looks like from the world's perspective. And this makes no sense unless we truly believe that this is not our only and final destination. I don't have an answer for the question why do such awful things happen in the world if God is all powerful and all good? I don't have one that will satisfy a lot of people anyway. This world is broken, and crying out for redemption...every single part of it. And God has promised that one day he will redeem in full what he has partly redeemed, even since the beginning of time. And on a Sunday after another, and ultimately most terrible, Friday, God's definitive victorious shout was heard loud and clear at an empty tomb when the angels cried out,"He is not here. He is risen!"

If I stopped writing about our lives and about our mundanity, or about the silly things that make me happy and the funny things that the kids say, then I would be giving up. I would not be being faithful. God made me like to write. Writing brings me joy a lot of the time, and peace sometimes too. God made me like words. I can order words like a boss. (Toot toot!) (That's me tooting my own horn.) (If only laundry were so manageable with words!) (Or my children!) (Children manageable with words...not laundry manageable with children...although...) In the face of trials, mine or someone else's, I don't want to give up! In fact, I want to figure out how I can do what I love to do in a way that honors and glorifies God, as well as honors those who are truly disenfranchised, those who are oppressed, those who are left behind, those who are suffering, those who are hungry, and thirsty, and waiting for help!

Right now, at this very moment, I don't know where I'll go with that (or where he'll go with that). But, I do want to head somewhere (literally, figuratively, I don't know). For now, I'm going to keep writing. It helps me pay attention better each day. It helps me sort things out sometimes. Hopefully it makes someone else laugh every now and then. It will likely be random. I can't promise coherence all the time. But I will write and write and write! Maybe one day I'll figure out how to write and make a difference too...

Saturday
Jan052013

Clearly, I Should Not Be Awake

It is entirely too late for me to be awake and writing, but I am anyway. Also? Now I'm hungry. I had pizza and protein bars today, each one twice. I feel loopy. And hungry.

We traveled. We traveled for many hours. Sometimes I think that driving would be better than flying. I know, I know...that's crazy talk. But...airports and airplanes? Do you know what they do to me?! 

*shudder*

The kids all showered as soon as we got home, and I actually think that is quite a task considering it was 60 degrees in the house. SO COLD. And poor Christian...by the time he was done with his shower, he was so cold he was standing in there crying,"It's freezing!!" Michaela came charging up the hallway (I can't really remember, but her lips might have been blue) exclaiming,"Christian took all the hot water!" I pointed to him as he shivered in the other bathroom, and told her, nope...they had been equally disenfranchised.

I'm pretty sure that's not the right word at all, but it's the first one that came to mind, and I can't think of another one, and I'm not about to open a new tab on the computer to come up with one that means just what I'm trying to say. 

I'm debating whether or not to get something to eat before I go to sleep, but that would require going back downstairs. As I typed that, I realized that I really do need to go back downstairs, because my contacts case is down there. 

*shakes fist at two-story house*

I am excited to get out a can of Super Whoop Whoop (Yes, that second Whoop is replacing another word...family friendly!) (Most of the time?) tomorrow, and I am also excited because Mike and I finally got new phones, and my new one is DREAMY. 

As my mom sometimes says, I feel like my eyeballs are twirling around in my head (at least, I think she says that...or something like that...Mom, what do you say?), and I really do feel loopy. A little giddy. A lot tired. And my fingers are cold. 

So...for now I must say goodnight. I am glad to be home, and I'm glad tomorrow is Saturday. 

Yesterday it was the exclamation points! Today it's the run-on sentences. Ironically, I'm ending with short ones. Goodnight!

 

Thursday
Jan032013

On The Eve of My Departure...

Well, it is really our departure, but "my" sounds so much more dramatic!

As I walked through the house, trying to clean up as I went, picking up things that belong to us and that need to make it onto the plane in our bags, I took note of the little reminders that we have been here. A hairbow on the table, a picture that Michaela's cousin had drawn for her, a party hat from the birthday celebration, Michaela's new books lying about in the various places she has been reading...there were these small scenes, mini-messes, that tell short stories about our time here. 

The disaster downstairs tells a story all right. A story that seemed to contain explosions and tornadoes. 

Leaving is always hard, from the packing everything up to the saying goodbyes. It's true here. It's true when we visit my parents. But we have managed to cram a lot into this trip (so much so that there were a couple of things that didn't get done, like visiting with a blog friend, so we're saving that meeting for our next trip here), and we've laughed and eaten until we were about to burst (from both!). I've enjoyed kitchen time, meal time, Wendy time, and even laundry time (I didn't have to go grocery shopping! Laundry is awesome!), as well as sitting by the tree on my own and writing each night. The kids have played well, we had the kids' portraits made (so cute!!), and we have made memories as well as messes.

Speaking of which...Wendy took the big kids for me tonight (Yes! She is an amazing sister-in-law!) (I hate saying goodbye to her!) (Now I'm going to cry!) (Yes! I need hormone therapy!) so that I could clean up what I could and get our stuff packed. So I am off to gather and cram. Ha! We are going to have to get rid of (!!) some stuff when we get home! Do you post-Christmas purge?! Maybe that can be (one of!) my new year's resolutions!

There are a lot of exclamation points...sorry! Maybe I had too much Coke today?! Another resolution! Less Coke! But I love exclamation points! So you may be stuck with them, regardless of my soda intake! 

!!!