yeah, I'm still alive....

Although I do have to remind my sister of my password so she can let you all know if and when I do expire. What?! There is a 100% chance it will happen someday!

Anyway, on to more acceptable thoughts, happier subjects! This fine morning, I took Little Miss Sunshine on a walk. She isn't terrible on a leash, but she needs more training. I stopped walking everytime she pulled, so we were really stop and go for a stretch, but she also has a hang-up about going too far down the road, I think she smells the scary cows. She just stops in the road and sits down. So I tell her she wins, and we turn around.

So many things always going on around here, but I don't want to bore you with the details...so I will just write a random list, which you can skim or not:)

1. Paul did not go to India on Friday. His flight out kept getting delayed, until the connecting flights became impossible, and then the whole domino effect of him not getting there unless all plans changed...so he had to cancel the trip.

2. Emily and I did the shopping for the wedding...the food came out excellent, our friend Christine from Ottowa was the chef, the meal was one Mirielle had made for a youth gathering...grilled chicken breast served with jasmine rice which is cooked in coconut water and coconut milk, topped with a pineapple and red pepper salsa. The salad before the meal was fresh beets and pears, with spring mix and crumbled goat cheese. The dessert was soft ice cream with a whole slew of topping choices, which I did not partake of, for all the good it does me, I am just not losing...but that's a whole 'nother story.

3. The wedding was SO nice. I didn't sleep but three hours the night before, Duke woke me up, I let them out, an animal had gotten into the garbage, so they thought it was a buffet...long story short, I was WIDE awake, and couldn't get back to sleep. So I headed to the wedding with a major migraine coming on...it was really starting to steamroll me by the time we got there, really bad...but then I got out of the car, and noticed...it was gone. It totally disappeared. I took that as a huge gift from God. (it has never happened like that before, they usually get worse and worse, then take a few days to recover from)

4. Paul left with Kathryn this morning to drive to New York City, five hours away, to the Norwegian Embassy to get Kathryn's visa for her year in Norway. She is leaving in July. I was supposed to go, but since Paul's trip to India got cancelled, he volunteered.

5. Our refrigerator continues to give us trouble, the repairman has ordered a new "board", which I assume will magically fix it.

6. Margaret and Adrian invited the three younger kids to their place for the night when they thought I was the one going to NYC with Kathryn, but now that I'm not, they said the kids could still stay there. The kids opted to do that, of course.

7. On Friday, Charlotte Claire and Camille and I made 295 cookies for the wedding. 220 of them had to be packaged in cute little individual wraps, to be wedding favors. The rest were for rehearsal dinner/ect. I brought home a few of the rejects to the kids here. Those littlest girls of mine are amazing, they helped measure and cracked the eggs, and really helped make the cookies on the trays. We made three triple batches, and they helped until we were finished, with no complaints.

8. This morning I am drinking the yummy coffee that Samuel brought me from San Francisco....it has hints of berry and chocolate, but only subtle hints, it's so good.

9. I have so many things to do. The little details of life, the late library book and the bills and the end of the year testing and reports for homeschool, vet appointments, dentist appointments, three vehicles that need inspections this week...and Sonja has an MRI of her knee this week.

10. Yesterday afternoon, Samuel and Jonathan invited the boys from their youth group over, to hang out, and for dinner. It was a rainy day, so they were in the house, which seemed to shrink when they all piled in. Sonja and I headed out to the grocery store to get some stuff to make taco salad. We went to Target first, just a quick stop, because it was just Sonja and I...and she needed some shorts. A few other teenage daughters were surprised and dismayed that we went to Target without them.

11. After the taco salad, we served brownies and ice cream to the boys, and our own kids of course. By the time I got the last dishes done, it was after eight o'clock, and I was tired. But Evelyn and I stayed up and watched, "Dark Angel" on PBS.

12. My sister is having a good week, all seven of her daughters are in town, including Claire, who now lives in Australia with her husband and son.

But here's the thing...in all these things, all the details and busy stuff that goes on, I get to choose my attitude. I truly do. I cannot change my kids, or my husband, or other drivers or decisions that are made about things. I can just get all frustrated and bitter and miserable and feel misunderstood and look at life all dismally...or I can trust that God will give me victory over the sin that wants to weigh me down. This past week, I had some trials. And some tears. Life isn't always smooth sailing, but it is always good when I turn to God...and let HIM run the show. It's such a burden lifted when that happens. I pray for wisdom and patience and goodness, I am obedient to what I hear from Him, and then the other things fall into place.

My house needs cleaning, the clothes in the washer need to go in the dryer, I am supposed to make a dessert for something tomorrow, but the dogs are snoring and the house is quiet...it's a dark and cozy morning, my mother-in-law is back from Florida and I am going to visit her this afternoon. Life is good.