July 30, 2006
Farewell, Sweet Friend
There will never be another day that I walk into the chapel and am greeted by your embrace. There will never be another day when the girls and I poke our heads into your office for a quick hug and smile. There will never be another day that you encourage me, squeeze my arm, offer a prayer... You will never again raise your hand to me, showing off the tribute bracelet I made for you.
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My dear, sweet friend, I am sorry the end of your time here was filled with illness. But I find hope in knowing you are joined with your Father. I pray one day I will see you again, and until then, I will try to live by your faithful example.
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Godspeed, Mimi Rita. Heaven has gained a beautiful soul in our loss.
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We love you and rejoice that your fight has finally been won! And though we are filled with happiness at your gain, we will certainly miss you.
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[A dear family friend finally won her battle against breast cancer late last week. It wasn't the victory we had selfishly wanted, but it was the ultimate victory, as we know she is with the angels and saints in Heaven. She will be missed by more people than one can imagine, as she touched so many in a special way. She wasn't a relative, but she was part of our family. And her example will live on in many lives and her memory will radiate from many hearts.
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I won't be around this week, as we are traveling to Florida for her funeral. Please pray that everyone who is traveling to bid our friend goodbye would have safe travels and that their hearts be filled with peace and love.]
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God Bless You.
July 24, 2006
Renaming my children
For two years, I've referred on my blog to my children and spouse by their first initials. A month or so ago, I changed A to Husband. I liked having a name that flowed in a sentence, even if it wasn't his name.
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I wanted to rename the girls from initial to something, so I picked their favorite D*sney characters. And then after I'd posted, I realized I'm going to get a lot of unwitting girls directed to my blog, as they searched for their favorite characters.
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So, I've changed their names, yet again. I picked names that I've begun calling them, that relate to their personalities (at least in general). One is a book title that we love and the other, well, the other is just something I've been calling my bright girl who reads at a level equal to children twice her age - and loves it.
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Hence, from this day forward, "V" shall be Bookworm Betty (sometimes Betty for short, I think); and "Little A" shall be referred to as Silly Sally (and Sally for short).
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Back to our irregularly scheduled programming.
July 21, 2006
Thankfulness
Thankfulness, thankfulness... is what I long for.... Thankfulness is what I neeed. Thankfulness, thankfulness is what You want from meee.....
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I have to admit that things are going really well. Our transition is nearing completion, with a few straggling boxes in the garage and laundry room, oh and in the closet of the guest room. But, we've been living life mostly the past week or so - Bookworm Betty (older daughter) has been going to an arts daycamp for the past two weeks, today being her last day. She's enjoyed her time with the other kids and the teachers continue to praise her and tell us how smart she is. It's nice that she thrives in any type of situation. Silly Sally (younger daughter) has really blossomed in the past two weeks, having so much time with mommy has done us some good. We've been playing games and running errands and I took her to a free movie last week and one this week. She's following the rules and wants to be helpful. She still has moments, but they are a couple times in the last two weeks instead of a couple times a day.
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Monday, we met a group of local homeschoolers. We're happy to make their acquaintance so early in our residence here, particularly since they have a co-op which starts in just a week and half. They are a very active group and we look forward to all the opportunities being part of a group will present. We're hoping that the science class works out, since it will certainly be a blessing for Bookworm Betty to have this opportunity. They all share the same christian faith and it will be wonderful to be around so many loving children. And for me to witness the examples these mothers are. While I don't strive to have a multitude of children, these women have far more patience and grace than I could even imagine.
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As for the house, I have some painting left to do, but the family room is almost complete (thanks to the hard work of the owner's sister). We're debating still on sofa-back-pillow-color, since the wall color is a bit warmer for the color we'd decided on. I hope the rug I bought last week works now that the walls are painted. The color looks different on the walls than the paint chip looked in the store.... Beautiful, but it doesn't really match what we'd decided for the furniture. Oops. The next big project will be the breakfast room/kitchen.
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We're happy. Things are coming together for Husband's job - he let go a couple managers (his least favorite part of the job) and has quickly found replacements, internal promotions, which I think is starting to give the rest of the employees confidence that he's not coming in to clean the whole house. He also eliminated a position (vacated by one of the internal promotions) and created a new position, which he's hired one of his recent employees in FL to fill. They work well together and she will prosper here and get the growth she was looking for and he will have the right-hand-woman that will allow him to focus on the main clean-up of the property (and spend a reasonable amount of time with his family). I was there last week for a fundraiser and the employees that were involved seemed to respond well and the HR person told me that employees respect him already and see that he's willing to work hard right next to them as long as it takes. And the other comment she made was that it is obvious he CARES about the employees. It's important. You treat them well, they want to work hard with you. But it's good to hear he's getting good feedback already. And once these new managers are fully in place and properly trained, we'll see more of Husband.
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We are really looking forward to our trip to Atlanta next week. It will be great to have some family time in the evenings and squeeze some visits in with friends. I'm even thinking of trying to make it to a homeschool conference while we are there.
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And in the meantime, we are settling in nicely. Silly Sally is playing with a friend who stayed overnight last night. I'm going to pick the brain of my friend's dad about what kind of plants I should plant in the beds out front and the side garden. And I want to drive around and try to find a statue or birdbath to fill the space left by a dead tree in a bed in front of the garage. I'm not sure what I want there, but I figure something that's not alive is a good starting point (I have a black thumb).
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Anyway, I better go fix some lunch for Silly Sally and her friend.
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I am so thankful that things have worked out so well in our move here. I couldn't have asked for anything else (except maybe that the owner of the house didn't have this foofy wallpaper in the kitchen) and I know that God had planned this move for years - how else do you explain my insta-friendship with Cara? [And subsequent friendships from blog-world?] He knew I'd need Cara and her family (parents included) when I moved here and He plainly set Cara into my life, a short two years ago (it feels so much longer!). Even Husband liked her that first time we met (and he isn't very complimentary with new people). :) But it's been fantastic. And I know that God had this grand plan and places friends in my life for a reason. And I never imagined that part of the reason for my friendship with Cara (and Sandi, too!) was because we were going to live HERE. This was never a possibility on our map. So, I just trust. And give THANKS. Because that's all I can do. And well, it makes my life feel so much happier.
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Until next time, God Bless you!
July 13, 2006
Quickie
I'm back online! Whew! Almost 3 weeks....
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I have to admit something, though... Aside from missing out on checking on my blog-buddies, I haven't missed the internet or cable tv at all. As a matter of fact, I have a feeling our belated connectivity pushed us to spend our time unpacking rather than chillin' on the couch enjoying each other's company after a couple weeks' separation.
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We are nearly done unpacking (with the exception of the boxes in the garage, which is all stuff that wasn't unpacked in Florida anyway - things I have to go through and either get rid of or find a spot in our current house). Sure, the guest bedroom has a closet full of boxes of my scrapping stuff and other various craft things and assorted miscellany, but who's counting that stuff when we've been in the house 12 days?
I do have a few things left to unpack and put away: one box in my bedroom closet that has winter clothes in it; two boxes of clothes in the girls' closet that have yet to be unpacked and put away since we got rid of a dresser in their room; two boxes in the living room of books, since we got rid of two bookshelves that were hand-me-downs over 10 years ago and we are trying to figure out how to conjure up a beautiful piece of furniture without breaking the bank; and 4 boxes of school cabinet stuff that needs to be organized and put back into the cabinet, which is now housed in our overly spacious laundry room.
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The house is fantastic! If you can look past the crappy lawn (which I am promised will be taken care of next week), the house is incredible. There is a lot that we want to do: remove the wallpaper in the breakfast room and paint it, along with painting the hallway and family room; paint the outside trim around the windows of the doors (currently, it is a bright turquoise color - not exactly complimentary of the beautiful brick home surrounding those doors); paint some of the trim in the main living area; purchase furniture for the dining room (we're debating a pool table over a dining set); spiff up the back patio, which is currently a boring plain concrete slab behind the house.
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We are planning a brief trip to Atlanta in a couple weeks since Husband has training there for his new position. Husband also just called today to let me know we'll be heading to Florida for a couple days at the beach next month for another conference that he needs to attend, ironically we'll be staying at the place we really wanted to move to.
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We've been settling quickly here, more out of necessity than anything else - the quicker we're unpacked and have our projects done, the sooner we fall into a routine here and get back to "life". It's been a great transition so far, with playdates with Cara's kids (and Cara's great help in painting the girls' bedroom, among other things), we had dinner with Sandi's family last weekend (thanks again, Sandi, for a nice and welcoming evening), and tonight, we actually have arranged for a sitter and Husband and I are going to go see Superm*n.
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So, maybe one of these days, I'll get around to catching up on the hundreds of emails I have in my inbox, I spent a good chunk of time this afternoon trying to catch up on some blogreading.... And I hope to take some pictures of the house for the family, so if you're patient, you might even get to see our new digs.
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Until next time, God Bless You.
