Nov. 11, 2009 - So Glad to be Home...
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After a long day in Emergency with my youngest. We were finally able to get him his H1N1 flu shot last night, an essential for a kid who's asthmatic. However, he didn't respond well to the shot and ended up coming down with flu symptoms that resulted in a full-blown asthma attack. He was up all through the night dealing with different symptoms, and when the asthmatic coughing started increasing his doses of ventolin.
By about 11:30am I realized that I needed to take him to the ER. His asthma meds just weren't doing their job and his breathing was really labored. Fortunately, they take breathing issues seriously and we were whisked in right away to start on the nebulizer. After a dose of prednisone and more doses of ventolin in the nebulizer he finally started sounding better. Only...because he had a low grade fever, the doctor wanted to have a chest xray done to check for pneumonia. I was worried that we'd end up having to stay in overnight, but thankfully we were given the okay to go at around 4:30. Yeah!
So now...we have follow-up meds to administer for the next five days, have to keep a close watch on his breathing. He won't be able to fly around the house for awhile but hopefully by the weekend he'll be feeling completely over this episode.
I am so glad to be home as I didn't have a chance to eat all day and I was beginning to feel rather faint. Now after a meal and a hot drink I'm about ready to have a quick bath and crawl into bed. |
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Nov. 10, 2009 - *sniff* Goodbye to presenting...
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I think I last blogged nine days ago. Sad, I know. However, it can’t be helped. *sigh* When one is usually busy, it’s hard to find time to do something not justifiably “productive.”
Let’s see. Last Sunday was the day that the MT came home! Oh, joy of joys. It was wonderful to see Courtney and Emily again. We spent all night talking. Quite a relief to have all the SALT girls back as well, although it’s going to be a bit difficult to adjust to no longer being the sole “girl authority.” I think a lot of the parents still look at me that way, though, so I’m going to have to set them straight.
In other news… I got a laptop for my birthday!!! Well, it’s also my graduation gift, Dad says. It’s a Dell, running Windows 7. We also bought a copy of Microsoft Office because we decided it was finally time for me to graduate from using Office 97 – no, I’m not kidding. It was quite the shock, because I’d been planning on buying part or all of it myself. It came in the mail a week ago and I’ve been disciplining myself not to work on it ‘cause it’s not my birthday yet. However, I think I’ll be breaking into it pretty soon. I’m eager to get it set up!
Thursday was our first practice with the mission trip back. As expected, it was chaotic – but not as chaotic as I thought it would be, despite our lack of a SALTeam meeting. We spent our SALTeam meeting over at the Mansion setting up flags for the Veterans’ Week opening ceremonies. While we were there Tess held an impromptu SALTeam meeting in which she briefed us on the schedule, but that was about it.
It’s been very confusing recently who has been presenting what songs when. We have the Branson team, the MT team, the Response Team, and the various combinations of the three. Definitely a headache but glad we didn’t attempt to teach the Branson team all the songs we did today at the Red Roof – would have been way more of a headache!
Yesterday the older response team minus Jo and I – see, what did I tell you? – presented at a Women Veterans’ thing at the Starlite Theater. That would have been – Jarek, Josh, Alex, Charleton, Emily V, Courtney, Emily B… gosh, not very many people! But then most of our team is under 14, and everyone that went had to be 14 or over. I heard it went really well. Apparently they had a theater full of very enthusiastic veterans who cheered loudly and gave them several standing ovations, so I’m sure that was super fun!
Today was pretty fun too. The entire team was in for a presentation in the “day room” at the Red Roof – apparently the band we usually open for was replaced or couldn’t make it or something, and the new band didn’t want/need us to open for them, so we were inside before the band started. We presented America the Beautiful (RT), Honor (RT), Soldier (Branson), In God We Still Trust (Branson), America Again (RT), and God Bless (all). It happened that Jo and I were in every song (as we are on both the Branson team and the Response Team), which was nice. I sure enjoyed it, seeing as it was my last official presentation… *tear*
Yes, it has finally happened… I have decided to step down from presenting. Tragic, but the right thing to do, I think. There are plenty of girls who can do my parts – who should learn my parts – it’ll be easier to critique songs, and a good way to start working me out of things for when I leave.
It definitely causes one to reminisce. I’ve been presenting for four and a half years (since February 2005). In that time I’ve gone on five mission trips – two with ACTION, three to China. When I started we had about forty people on the team – thirty on two older kids teams, and then on the younger team. We modulated to a team of sixteen and no younger team, then to a team of eight, and now we have twenty-two presenting members. I think. Let’s see:
Jo, Josh, Jarek, John, Caleb, Kyle, Alex and Charleton
Courtney, Emily B, Emily V, Emily D, Sadie, Maria, Rachel, Amber, Madison, Moriah, Britney, Jessica C, Amanda, and Makayla
Nope! Twenty-one. Emily D just does sound and whatnot and I’m no longer presenting, so 21.
I guess stepping out of presenting is kind of reminding me that in about six months I’ll be saying goodbye to AIM, maybe forever. It’s definitely a sobering thought. So I’d better enjoy the time I have and make sure the team can run smoothly without me (that’s not meant to sound like it does).
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Nov. 3, 2009 - My Thumb
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On Sunday night I slammed the car door on my thumb. I stood there in shock for a moment before managing to extricate it and then caught up with my husband and friends who had gone ahead into the restaurant, not realizing my distress. They could tell by my face that something was wrong, and I'm surprised in hindsight that I was so quiet about the whole episode. No screaming or tears. I simply held my breath and waited without success for the wave of pain to pass.
I spent the meal in hazy distraction with my thumb immersed in an icy-cold glass of water. A couple of Advil also helped to mute the throbbing. Still, by the end of dinner I was happy to be heading home until everyone suggested that I get it checked out at Emergency. Unfortunately we were too late to stop by a clinic which in my opinion would have been the lest dramatic of my options. After several hours, avoiding patients who seemed to be smitten with flu and drenching our hands in anti-bacterial wash, the doctor announced that there was nothing broken. However, he did puncture the nail to allow the blood that was pooling underneath to have a way out. Lovely. Truly.
So, for the last couple of nights I've been sleeping with my hand carefully laid on the pillow and trying to avoid bumping it on anything when I turn over. During the day I've discovered a renewed respect for this particular digit as I didn't realize, until it was incapacitated, just how much my thumb is involved in most everything I do. Although the pain has significantly reduced, it still remains bruised and swollen and I'm unable to put pressure on it. Just another reminder to slow down and do less during the strange season of learning to live life differently. |
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Nov. 1, 2009 - Finishing The Started
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(Written 10/31/09)
Well, gotta finish that presentation ‘cause we have another one tonight and then they’ll all run together. The lineup – which, incredibly, we had a few weeks beforehand and which everyone was to have memorized – was There is a God, End, Via, Courtroom, Heal Our Land. For There is a God it was just Jo, Alex, Charleton, Maria, Emily V, Moriah and John. Same for Via except plus me.
So they presented There is while Sadie and I tried to keep the rest of the team quiet “backstage.” Kyle knocked something off a desk, which made a big racket, and Jorge came out and gave him the eyebrow. Then we went on for End.
Tess placed me as a second stewardess in End because we needed someone to set the aisle, so I stand center stage and direct people to their seats and also set the aisle. In theory. It didn’t work real well at the presentation, though. Other than that and staging issues (we were too closed to the audience, not to mention too close to the audience) that song went well.
Via was weird and intense. I don’t think I’ve ever put that much into the Mary part, and Jo and Charleton had whipping issues ‘cause everyone was at tables and they were going to whip up but Charleton tied him down and then Jo swung the wrong way… it was kind of a mess. And we were too close to the audience. But no major catastrophes.
The jury had staging issues in Courtroom and we had signing issues but otherwise it was good. MAJOR signing issues in Heal Our Land… most of the newer kids were pretty clueless, and they didn’t see Tess in the back mirroring the sign language, so we need to work on that. Accordingly, we pulled more songs from the entire team’s repertoire so we can focus down on the few songs we have. They’ll learn more songs at the Christmas training.
All in all it was a very good presentation and very well received. Everyone there was excited to have us come back on Halloween night, which we did last night, which I’ll write more about… later. :) But when I do write about it, I’ll have pictures, thanks to Ms. Sharon!
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Oct. 29, 2009 - Crazy Days vs. Quieter Ones
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The past two days have been crazy busy. The whirlwind sometimes seems to blow through our lives that way and I'm still not practiced at averting the kinds of situations that add up to feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
On Tuesday, the kids were exhuding nervous energy all over the place as they talk about and eagerly anticipated the chance to dress up in costumes for Youth. At the same time, our door-repair people finally showed up to fix the door and actually removed it and took it to their shop. So, for about five hours the arctic-like air breezed merrily through the middle floor of our house. We shut doors and worked in areas that could be heated by the gas fireplace. On the way out with the door, the guys bumped the wall and knocked a chunk of paint out. I didn't feel pleased. Meanwhile, both my on-line girls were struggling with challenges that their not-so-helpful English teacher presented them. They were both quite anxious and looking for direction which I felt too impatient to try and figure out. In the evening, my husband arrived home early and we all ate dinner standing at the counter so we could, literally, head in opposite directions for the evening. I was very very glad to climb into bed when I got home at 10:30.
On Wednesday, I spent the majority of my day out and about. The girls had to be at the church for 9:00. Then, one of them had to be picked up at 11:00 while the other two babysat extra long at the church. I didn't get them home until 3:00. Less than an hour later we were back on the road to go to sewing and dance classes. By the time we returned home at 6:15 I had to race to make supper and we didn't sit down to eat until after 7:00. Alas, not much was accomplished in the way of bookwork. These are the kinds of days that you revert to survival mode.
Thankfully, today -so far- has been much calmer. I appreciate that we're all focussed on work. There is much less chatter. Projects seem to be progressing and nobody is upset. I'm hearing positive comments and we're flying through the seatwork. Isn't it strange how one day can be so much different than the next? |
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Oct. 29, 2009 - Seasons of Change
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I have been blogging here for over 2 years. Actually, longer than that. I used to have another blog that some of you may remember called Angelstar.
This past June I graduated my last child from homeschooling so my season of homeschooling is now over. I have continued to keep up this blog with what's happening in my life because I've made so many wonderful friends here and it's been a way to keep in touch. I actually have had 2 other blogs that I've maintained as well as this one.
I've decided that it is taking too much of my time to try and maintain three different blogs, so I've consolidated down to one and I'm hoping that you'll continue to follow me on More of Him-Less of Me. I know it's not always easy to jump from one blog to another, but I do hope that you'll come and visit me.
Also, remember that I have a website that has a lot of encouraging homeschool articles for you to read. I also will soon be offering my organizer I've created for sale as well as other things for homeschool Moms. I will have some of my creations that I've made for sale. Be watching for all these new things and while you're visiting my website, be sure and sign my guest book letting me know you've dropped by.
God bless you - Julie |
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Oct. 27, 2009 - A Great Way To Start
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It was a great first presentation!
Not, of course, that it was my first. However, it was the first for FIVE of the kids on our team, so it was pretty exciting! We presented in Kimberling City, at First Baptist’s “Young at Heart” event. We did it last year but apparently I didn’t write anything about it; I just posted a couple of pictures. Well, didn’t take any pictures this year (been kind of lax in that department lately) but have lots of memories so I’ll write those. They’re better than pictures. I think.
So when we got to the church the only people there were Alex and Maria, and they quickly left because they said Charleton was waiting over at a McDonald’s in Branson West (I guess he lives up that way) and they didn’t want him to be sitting there for an hour by himself. So they went over there to accompany him. We had brought John and Moriah with us so we stood around and looked at each other until the Voths and Duncans got there. Emily D wanted me to twist her hair and I’d gotten down to the bun before I realized there was no point my twisting it because she wasn’t presenting and I wasn’t that good anyway so I just took it out. Go figure. She had Tess do it later at the presentation place. Tess can do anybody’s hair and make it look good. So can Jenny. I can’t.
So when we realized we had a while to wait till Tess got there with the white van (yes, our old standby friend), we went through There is a God ‘cause John and Moriah were taking Sadie and Ellie’s parts in that song. That went fine but glad we went over it. Sadie and I grabbed props – which were the same ones that they used on Saturday and still stunk – and when Tess got there we loaded up and left relatively quickly.
Gabriel and I had the most interesting conversations on the way to Kimberling City. It was about forty-five minutes total travel time so we had a lot of time to talk. He was telling me about dinosaurs and that he played baseball. Lily was ducking down every time a car drove past because she didn’t want them to see her and eventually Nicky joined in (there was nothing else to do). She and Gabriel also took to calling me a “jumpamen” – Gabriel’s version of “gentleman.” Kyle was sitting in the back with the amp on his lap. He named her Abigail. Beware of Abigail the amp. That’s all I’ll say.
We picked up Maria, Alex and Charleton at the McDonalds, drove past our destination on accident just like last year, turned around in the same parking lot, and arrived only seven minutes late (not bad at all, considering all the issues Tess had with the van before she got there). Tess went off to figure out what was going on as always and directed me to start twisting hair. I recruited Emily V’s help and we tackled the four girls’ hair. The moms watched closely and caught on pretty fast! I was really impressed. I just love Amanda’s hair, by the way. So beautiful… so easy to twist. =)
After everyone was twisted we got some food – just a little ‘cause they weren’t expecting so many of us – scarfed it, and then crammed into the bathrooms to put on makeup. You should have seen the girls’ bathroom with ten girls in it trying to put their makeup on and three or four other people standing around watching or helping. It was a zoo. I felt bad for the few women who ventured in there to use the restroom for its intended purpose. I think we made it pretty difficult.
I only helped other people put makeup on instead of doing my face, because Jo and I were supposed to teach some technique to the audience. The lady who booked us wanted us to teach some technique-y things the attendees could learn sitting down and then show to their grandchildren or something, as a conversation starter for witnessing or something. So Jo and I were going to teach that but we ended up not doing it because Tess knew how to do it and we didn’t. So she taught and held the microphone and Jo and I demonstrated. It was fun. She taught toc, leaf, butterfly, ball, and balloon. I killed my butterfly and they all thought that was funny. Jo pitched a ball at me (we were playing catch) and I ducked and they all thought that was funny. They thought most of what we did was funny and definitely made it fun to teach.
Then Jo and I tore out of there and banged open the doors to the bathrooms and smeared on our makeup. The team was watching as we rushed in. I’m sure they were laughing at us… oh well. I wasn’t keeping time but I’d say three minutes is a pretty accurate estimation for how long it took. (to be continued... man, I've written a page and a half and haven't gotten to the actual presentation yet)
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Oct. 27, 2009 - The Purpose
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This blog has been in the back of my mind for a long time. We’ll see how far I get on it now.
I think I can safely say that the past five weeks have been the toughest of my days as a SALTeam member. I guess I’ve been SALT for about two and a half years. So much has changed since I started… there’ve been a lot of tough times. But this has been the toughest.
All the other times, when mission trips went out, they’d take a couple of our SALT members, and one time they took three – Amber, Ben, and Kristina – but I wasn’t on the SALTeam then and even if I had been, I would have had Katie. When Katie went on mission trips there was always Melissa. When Courtney was gone on the CAMT Melissa was still there.
When Courtney, Amber and Madison go on the ECMT, Melissa is gone working and Katie is in college, guess who’s still there? NOBODY.
You may or may not recall the struggles I was going through about a year ago when the first wave of new people hit our team. We’d been basically the same team – Jarek, Madison, John, Melissa, Jacob, me and Jo – for over a year, with a few additions at different times (Jonathan, Missy and Simone). We’d all been anticipating what it would be like to open up and accept new members. It was really rough. We knew it’d be rough. We knew we had to open up. We knew all that… but it was still rough.
In those months I often longed for “the old days…” way back when, when a presentation consisted of eight people who knew the songs and each other like the back of their hand. Way back when, when our Bible studies were deep and challenging and intimate. I often felt guilty about these reminisces because I knew I was supposed to be content with where I was at. However, I couldn’t help looking back at those months with longing.
It was only a couple weeks ago that God showed me: there WAS a purpose to those months, and there WAS a purpose to now – to being here relatively alone with a lot of responsibilities.
What was it that I missed so much about those months? It was the intimacy of the team. We knew each other. We weren’t afraid to share our struggles and challenges with each other. Many tears were shed in the Bible studies… ‘cause it didn’t matter. We could be vulnerable with each other.
It was the depth of the team. One summer we wrote a Bible study. Just the five of us girls wrote a… I don’t know, ten page Bible study on “Stand!” The Bible studies were relevant and challenging. Tess pushed us. We didn’t talk in makeup – it just didn’t happen. We toced. We practiced. We had passion contests. Our presentations were sharp. Why? Not because we on our own were great, but because we as a team were great.
It was the ability of the team. I’ll never get over the thrill of Response Team presentations thrown together on the spur of the moment with no practice. I remember one time we presented One Time Show at Branson Fest and Tess had to take all of Jacob’s parts because he was gone. She couldn’t find Katie, our audience plant. It was wild, but it was awesome.
It was the hard times we went through together and how we came out stronger and closer. One spring I sprained my ankle at a service project the day before a long presentation in Springfield. Tess took my parts but the ankle didn’t fully heal till a month later (‘cause we had a bunch of presentations). We presented at YCW two weeks after the sprain and I hobbled through Silver Dollar City to get to the Saloon, leaning on Melissa. One time we presented in the rain… and I don’t mean just drizzle. DRENCHING rain. That was one of our best presentations ever. One time we presented in a parking lot with an audience of about seven to try to draw people to a fundraiser for an African ministry. In Spirit, Jacob couldn’t get the crown and the boa apart so he gave them both to Jarek. It was a catastrophic presentation! Hence, we grew closer and learned from it.
One of the hardest times was in summer ’07 – half of the team dropped out. Suddenly. Those of us that remained were left looking at each other… but we didn’t stay there. We picked up the pieces and moved on.
Innumerable memories. Birthday parties. Golfing with Melissa and the team at one of the most pathetic courses in Branson. Sneaking away at the end of practice across slippery roads to Melissa’s church to practice the song we were putting together as a Christmas present for the Rolfs and Madrigals. Celebratin’ Jesus in the Adoration Parade. Those blankety-blank present costumes and trying to move in them. Covering them with contact paper before the parade. Jorge running back to the church to get yet another prop I’d forgotten. Girls’ night at my house with Tess’ Bible study and oatmeal illustration with too much salt that she made us taste.
It was good. It was a good time. But it’s over now. So a couple of weeks ago I was talking with God about all that time and how much easier things were then and how much I liked it then, blah blah blah. And He basically stopped me and said, “that time is over.” And I basically looked at him and said, “duh, God. I know.” And He told me that I didn’t know as much as I thought I did and if I really knew I wouldn’t be griping to Him.
To be continued...
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About Me
Well, I'm a Mom, a Medical Assistant, a knitter, kite flyer, nature lover...Around here we have special needs, ( Asperger's, ADHD, Bi-polar) a few animal pals, some tattoos and a homeschool. It's our 6th year. This is my 16th year of marriage to a Mr. Visionary who happens to be a walking miracle.
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