The first week can be summed up as follows: when we weren't throwing up, we were doing school, checking out playgrounds and swimming in the swimming pool at our apartment. So far, the stomach flu has claimed John, Eric, and Elizabeth as it's victims. Kyle threw up on Saturday evening, but that might have been sympathy puking (or is it synchronized puking?) with Eric as he never had a fever and never had a repeat. As my SIL, KT says in her blog (http://justkt.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/poop-pee-and-puke-or-the-3-ps-of-primary-parenting/), great times, great times. I have been working hard to keep the germs at bay by cleaning sheets from beds after the victims have recovered, cleaning bathrooms after episodes, and sleeping on the sofa while Eric was feverish. Here are some other random thoughts as we have been discovering our new home:
* Ninety degrees feels better in Arizona than it does in Chicago. It may have been the fact that we were in the pool, or that we are getting really nice breezes. It may also have something to do with the heat index of Chicago, in which makes 90 degrees feel hotter. Of course, as one woman at a park commented, "This isn't really hot, honey."
* The three bedroom apartment is pretty nice unless you have a sick child which requires the other children to stay in the apartment all day while the sick child sleeps because there is no play area other than the pool. The cooking equipment stinks and I am missing a bunch of spices that I usually use. I didn't pack them because the van couldn't "take na more, captain!"
* Gymnastics places here don't have open gym times due to liability issues. This was one of the activities I was hoping to do as a way of checking out gym facilities.
* It is really nice to be able to make a local call without having to dial the area code (only those of you who live or have lived in the Chicago area will appreciate this.)
* I love mountains. Even small, cute ones like those we have surrounding the Phoenix area.
* I really hate the sound of retching. Dry heave retching is the worst! The only thing worse than the sound of retching is cleaning up the after effects.
* I am looking forward to camping in the Payson area. It is absolutely beautiful. And ten to twenty degrees cooler than Phoenix.
* I am missing the ability to use a library to check out books. We won't have that ability until we move into our new house and can prove residency. :-(.
* Between the stomach flu and random spills, the carpeting has been "anointed" many times. great times, great times.
* I cannot call any old friends or my family after dinner anymore without the threat of disturbing their sleep :-(.
* I have been able to get together with family from whom I have been long separated since I always lived in the Midwest and they always lived in Arizona. :-). This will be the first time the girl cousins on my mom's side will be in the same area ever!
I do have to keep reminding myself through all of this that God IS blessing us and we WILL make new friends (but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold) and we WILL find a church that feels like home again. And the greatest blessing is that Eric has a job that he enjoys. Thank you, God!
May 5, 2009
April 21, 2009
The journey
The packing is done, the movers are gone, the old house is as clean as Eric and I can possibly make it and all the good-byes have been said. Though moving is incredibly stressful, there are a lot of good things that come out of it:
* A clearer perspective on what is truly valuable. It took us two months making several trips to Goodwill, gifting things to friends, Freecycle and 1-800-Got Junk, not to mention six weeks in a row of overfull garbage and recycling bins.
* An incentive to get much needed house projects done. Thanks, Eric!
* An incredibly clean house, that is totally devoid of objects on the floor that will hurt your feet when you step on them in the middle of the night.
In the end, the house was much prettier, but also more unlivable and less homelike than what it was.
Now we are on our journey to our new home and our new life. This is much better. Yes, it does involve a lot of driving, some of which is in a vehicle where the odor of guinea pigs and their output is very strong. However, the kids have been good so far, especially considering that they have been up late most of the weekend. However, this is also a period of ambiguity. We don't have a permenant address and we haven't finalized the deal on the new house yet (hopefully in a few days we will know) due to inspection findings. In a way, it is totally freeing (as freeing as it can be with four kids). In another way, I feel totally unanchored, like a boat out on the ocean with no sail, no rudder and no oars. At least I DO have an anchor:
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last. (hymn written by Charles Wesley)
If you want to know the details of the trip, go to my husband's blog which you will find link on my blog site.
Blessings!
* A clearer perspective on what is truly valuable. It took us two months making several trips to Goodwill, gifting things to friends, Freecycle and 1-800-Got Junk, not to mention six weeks in a row of overfull garbage and recycling bins.
* An incentive to get much needed house projects done. Thanks, Eric!
* An incredibly clean house, that is totally devoid of objects on the floor that will hurt your feet when you step on them in the middle of the night.
In the end, the house was much prettier, but also more unlivable and less homelike than what it was.
Now we are on our journey to our new home and our new life. This is much better. Yes, it does involve a lot of driving, some of which is in a vehicle where the odor of guinea pigs and their output is very strong. However, the kids have been good so far, especially considering that they have been up late most of the weekend. However, this is also a period of ambiguity. We don't have a permenant address and we haven't finalized the deal on the new house yet (hopefully in a few days we will know) due to inspection findings. In a way, it is totally freeing (as freeing as it can be with four kids). In another way, I feel totally unanchored, like a boat out on the ocean with no sail, no rudder and no oars. At least I DO have an anchor:
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last. (hymn written by Charles Wesley)
If you want to know the details of the trip, go to my husband's blog which you will find link on my blog site.
Blessings!
April 4, 2009
The Importance of proper perspective
About thirty years ago, Canon had an ad campaign with the slogan "Image is everything" with some current tennis star as their spokesperson. It was a creative campaign that managed to send two messages at once--"our camera takes the best images" and "how you look is most important". The second message, can be contrasted by what the Bible says in Isaiah 16:7 and in Matthew 15:18, in which God says that what is in our hearts matter most.
God has been revealing a certain uncleanness in my own heart one morning while Eric and I were hiking up the Echo Summit Trail on Camelback mountain. The trail description said that this trail was for "experienced hikers" only, which definitely does not describe me. At this point in time, I am not in shape at all. However, we reasoned that we could always turn around before we reached the peak. As we walked up the "steep" incline from the street to the start of the trail, I was already huffing a little bit and thinking "Wow, we aren't even on the trail and this is steep." The beginning of the trail was very steep series of steps made to discourage erosion and "help" people walk up. After a very brief level section, the trail turned and become extremely steep. Throughout it all, I managed to make it up each section. Then came the "Holy Moses!" section of the trail, which was divided into two parts. These two sections required you to use a handrail to get up because it was so steep and there were very few toe holds/hand holds to help propel you up. By the way, I gave these sections the name "Holy Moses!" because that is what you said (or some other variation) when you saw them. After mastering these two sections, we walked a brief gently rolling section until we came to the "Wall of Boulders" that seemed like a slightly smaller version of the "Cliffs of Insanity" that Wesley scaled in "The Princess Bride" (okay, I am exaggerating here a little bit). When I reached the top of the boulders, my legs informed me that they were getting REALLY tired and that if I wanted to return (alive) to the car, I should turn around without delay. As in NOW.
So, after a brief rest, Eric and I turned around and climbed down the small hill of boulders, down the two steep handrail hills, down the pretty steep section and the fairly steep steps down to the gentle incline to our car. Did you notice the change in description? Well, my atitude definitely was different on the way down than on the way up, and it wasn't because going down steep hills are any easier than going up them. My legs shook from the exertion because they were so tired already and had to work hard to stay in a controlled descent. However, I had managed to get through each section, so it wasn't as daunting the second time. My perspective had been altered. At this point, God started talking to me about the move and how I have been reacting to it. He showed me how I have been so focused on all the work that has to be done to get ready for the move and all the friends that I have to leave behind that I have forgotten that He is taking me from a place of blessing to a place of blessing and that He is coming with me and my family. I know that God is okay with my grief at having to leave my friends and family and move away from a home I have grown to love. However, it's not as if I have to purge my friends in Illinos (and Indiana, Kentucky, etc.) when I move to Phoenix. I am still grieving because I am still going through the process of saying "good-bye" to people. However, I am trying to train my thoughts so that I remember what a great place we will have in Phoenix and look forward to all the new "hellos" that I will be saying in a short time.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1:3
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. " 2 Corinthians 10:5
God has been revealing a certain uncleanness in my own heart one morning while Eric and I were hiking up the Echo Summit Trail on Camelback mountain. The trail description said that this trail was for "experienced hikers" only, which definitely does not describe me. At this point in time, I am not in shape at all. However, we reasoned that we could always turn around before we reached the peak. As we walked up the "steep" incline from the street to the start of the trail, I was already huffing a little bit and thinking "Wow, we aren't even on the trail and this is steep." The beginning of the trail was very steep series of steps made to discourage erosion and "help" people walk up. After a very brief level section, the trail turned and become extremely steep. Throughout it all, I managed to make it up each section. Then came the "Holy Moses!" section of the trail, which was divided into two parts. These two sections required you to use a handrail to get up because it was so steep and there were very few toe holds/hand holds to help propel you up. By the way, I gave these sections the name "Holy Moses!" because that is what you said (or some other variation) when you saw them. After mastering these two sections, we walked a brief gently rolling section until we came to the "Wall of Boulders" that seemed like a slightly smaller version of the "Cliffs of Insanity" that Wesley scaled in "The Princess Bride" (okay, I am exaggerating here a little bit). When I reached the top of the boulders, my legs informed me that they were getting REALLY tired and that if I wanted to return (alive) to the car, I should turn around without delay. As in NOW.
So, after a brief rest, Eric and I turned around and climbed down the small hill of boulders, down the two steep handrail hills, down the pretty steep section and the fairly steep steps down to the gentle incline to our car. Did you notice the change in description? Well, my atitude definitely was different on the way down than on the way up, and it wasn't because going down steep hills are any easier than going up them. My legs shook from the exertion because they were so tired already and had to work hard to stay in a controlled descent. However, I had managed to get through each section, so it wasn't as daunting the second time. My perspective had been altered. At this point, God started talking to me about the move and how I have been reacting to it. He showed me how I have been so focused on all the work that has to be done to get ready for the move and all the friends that I have to leave behind that I have forgotten that He is taking me from a place of blessing to a place of blessing and that He is coming with me and my family. I know that God is okay with my grief at having to leave my friends and family and move away from a home I have grown to love. However, it's not as if I have to purge my friends in Illinos (and Indiana, Kentucky, etc.) when I move to Phoenix. I am still grieving because I am still going through the process of saying "good-bye" to people. However, I am trying to train my thoughts so that I remember what a great place we will have in Phoenix and look forward to all the new "hellos" that I will be saying in a short time.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Corinthians 1:3
"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. " 2 Corinthians 10:5
March 23, 2009
Dedicated to the memory of Julie Kloos
Today, Granny Kloos passed to the other side of the Jordan and was re-united with her husband, where I know they will be forever very happy.
I look forward to seeing them both again.
March 21, 2009
Death and Moving
Doesn't that sound like a great title for a really bad horror flick with a Freddie Krueger-type persona terrorizing all the hosts on the HGTV home decorating shows as well as Martha Stewart? However, both of these things are imminent in my life right now.
My Granny Kloos is entering the final stages of life. She is no longer eating and her lungs are filling up with fluid. After living as a widow for over twenty years, living with fibromyalgia and other worries, she is finally starting to let go of this world. I visited her on Wednesday, right before seeing my brother, and my heart broke because she looked like someone entirely different from the feisty go-getter that I remember. I can only pray that God takes her quickly so that her suffering is minimal. I would like to spend a lot more time at her side so that she isn't alone much in her last days. She has two daughters and a grandson nearby who can be with her, too, but only for limited times. The rest of her grandkids and her two sons live far away and can't necessarily come. I have one huge obstacle preventing me from fulfilling my desire: the fact that we need to be in the Phoenix area before April 27th, when my husband starts his new job.
That's right, we have only a month to get the house ready for sale, find a new house in the Phoenix area, figure out what we need to pack until we move into our new house and say good bye to all of our friends and family. It is a little overwhelming. Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband who is doing most of the painting, finalizing other home repair projects and dealing with my emotions, which are a little unstable now (no comments from the peanut gallery about the overall stability of my emotions, please!). Also, I have a great God, who tells me to take one day at a time, helps me figure out what needs to be done and helps take away any guilty feelings I have for (simultaneously) neglecting my grandmother/friends/kids/husband/house and reminding me that this job and this move are truly a blessing from Him and that, even though there is some heartache in moving away from one set of family and friends, we are moving closer to another set of family and will develop a new set of friends. He also reminds me that even when no one person is with Granny Kloos, He is there, comforting her and helping her make the journey to Him in heaven, where He can "wipe every tear from (her) eyes" and "where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." (Revelation 21:4). Below is a hymn we learned in January that I have learned to love, in spite of the rather depressing title: Come, Ye Disconsolate.
Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts,
here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.
Joy of the desolate,
light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent,
fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter,
tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure.”
Here see the Bread of Life,
see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God,
pure from above.
Come to the feast of love;
come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.
My Granny Kloos is entering the final stages of life. She is no longer eating and her lungs are filling up with fluid. After living as a widow for over twenty years, living with fibromyalgia and other worries, she is finally starting to let go of this world. I visited her on Wednesday, right before seeing my brother, and my heart broke because she looked like someone entirely different from the feisty go-getter that I remember. I can only pray that God takes her quickly so that her suffering is minimal. I would like to spend a lot more time at her side so that she isn't alone much in her last days. She has two daughters and a grandson nearby who can be with her, too, but only for limited times. The rest of her grandkids and her two sons live far away and can't necessarily come. I have one huge obstacle preventing me from fulfilling my desire: the fact that we need to be in the Phoenix area before April 27th, when my husband starts his new job.
That's right, we have only a month to get the house ready for sale, find a new house in the Phoenix area, figure out what we need to pack until we move into our new house and say good bye to all of our friends and family. It is a little overwhelming. Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband who is doing most of the painting, finalizing other home repair projects and dealing with my emotions, which are a little unstable now (no comments from the peanut gallery about the overall stability of my emotions, please!). Also, I have a great God, who tells me to take one day at a time, helps me figure out what needs to be done and helps take away any guilty feelings I have for (simultaneously) neglecting my grandmother/friends/kids/husband/house and reminding me that this job and this move are truly a blessing from Him and that, even though there is some heartache in moving away from one set of family and friends, we are moving closer to another set of family and will develop a new set of friends. He also reminds me that even when no one person is with Granny Kloos, He is there, comforting her and helping her make the journey to Him in heaven, where He can "wipe every tear from (her) eyes" and "where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." (Revelation 21:4). Below is a hymn we learned in January that I have learned to love, in spite of the rather depressing title: Come, Ye Disconsolate.
Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts,
here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.
Joy of the desolate,
light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent,
fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter,
tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure.”
Here see the Bread of Life,
see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God,
pure from above.
Come to the feast of love;
come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.
March 10, 2009
Kitchen update
In the middle of painting the upper part of the wall, Eric and I decided that the green I had originally picked is too dark, especially with the potential moving issue. I went out and got a lighter shade of the color. We are currently trying to figure out whether or not to re-paint the wall above the cabinets to be the same color as the wall below the cabinets and we would like your input. I am including two pictures of the kitchen--one with a flash and one in natural light. We are setting up the polls to be run Illinois style so you can vote early and vote often. At stake is Eric having to move the refrigerator to paint behind it again. BTW, would anyone like a gallon of herb green paint?
March 3, 2009
My husband's work
My husband, like his father and grandfather, doesn't like to sit around much. He has to be doing something. Fortunately, he has a long list of "home improvement" projects that require his attention. He is definitely working hard. He is in the final stages of painting the cabinets in the kitchen. By next week, the cabinets will be done and the kitchen painted. Below are some pictures from the kitchen. Please ignore the clutter. The first picture shows the last little bit he has to do. Now that we have the cabinets painted, the faux butcher block countertop doesn't look quite as bad. Next week, we will have pictures of what the kitchen looks like with a new coat of paint.
Eric started on what we thought would be a quick, "clean up" job of re-cauking the shower. It turned into more work than he expected when he encountered black stuff behind the tile. Today was demolition day, where the sounds of his hammer and chisel could be heard most of the day throughout the house. Below are pictures during the demolition. We filled eight bags total with moldy tile and dry wall. The irony is that I spent a couple hours one day scraping soap scum off of the base so that our shower would "look" new. That seems like time well spent now that we will be replacing it. We will probably be replacing the floor tile, too, which means that I can carry the blue of the bedroom into the bathroom. Woo Hoo! Only the sink will bring back memories of the 70's now.
Here is Eric after a hard day's work. Advil will be coming next!
Lowe's may get stimulated by our family in a couple of days when we buy a new shower surround and base, along with the accoutrements needed to install it.
Lowe's may get stimulated by our family in a couple of days when we buy a new shower surround and base, along with the accoutrements needed to install it.We hope you have enjoyed this segment of "Home Improvement"
For those of you who are wondering, Eric is also finding time to look for a job in between house projects. No offer has been made as of yet, nor has he been called for any interviews.
Have fun everyone!
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