We almost had a fabulous weekend.  Almost.  If you leave out the parts where Eaglewood hurt his hip and missed most of a day of work, and Tech sprained his wrist while working on the lawn mower, and I came down with laryngitis, it was great!

Lilly and I spent most of the day Saturday garage saling and attending the local church craft bazaar.  I do believe that this year’s bazaar might have been their best one yet!  We found several brand new (with tags) items at the garage sales, too, all priced at between fifty cents and a dollar.  That’s always a plus.

I’ve also been working on sewing some curtains for our living room.  We haven’t had any since we moved in.  I only finished two of the three that we need before I ran out of thread, though.  I guess I will have to get some more thread today so that I can finish the rest. 

In case you happen to be keeping tabs…  I have a broken thumb, Tech has a sprained wrist, and Eaglewood did something to his hip.  We admit to being somewhat puny.  Feel free to laugh with us!

My Daddy (Yes, I still call him “Daddy”.  I’m just really Southern that way.) had surgery to replace both of his knees.  He has had some complications and problems with his recovery.  My step-mother also has some health problems and is an amputee.  The two of them could really use some prayer.

Meanwhile, here on the homefront…. Eaglewood has been offered an opportunity to join the board of directors for a ministry that he has been rather excited about for a few years now.  Please be praying for him as well as we all seek G-d’s will in this. 

Thanks a bunch, my friends!

On Friday morning I packed up my children and played hooky.  At the invitation of a homeschooled friend of my daughter, we ventured out to a park in a nearby town to spend some time playing and visiting with some other homeschoolers.  I am happy to report that everyone had a wonderful time.  In fact, we had so much fun that we may just have to go back!  All of the children we encountered over the age of two were polite and well-mannered.  Everyone took turns and showed respect for one another.  Parents were addressed with respect and obeyed.  It was an utterly delightful experience. 

For all those who persist in  worrying themselves about my children’s ability to make friends without the help and intervention of our local public school, I would like to reassure you that we are still doing just fine.  We still don’t live in a trailer park.  My children have never had a pork rind.  They don’t eat snack cakes, either.  No one in my acquaintance watches soap operas, Oprah, or whatever else may be showing on daytime television these days.  Our children are bright and happy and they DO have friends (homeschooled and public schooled alike) and are even capable of carrying on a conversation.  Thanks for your concern, but I think we may just be okay. 

Milehimama tagged me for this meme!  She was also thoughtful enough to modify it slightly for adoptive parents.

1. Were you married at the time? Of course!

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant/approved? Excitement, joy, disbelief

3. How old were you?  21

4. How did you find out you were pregnant/on the waiting list?
I did a home pregnancy test on Thanksgiving morning.

5. Who did you tell first? Eaglewood, but he was pretty sure already.

6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes

7. Due date/Expected arrival date: Tech was a very large baby and the doctor changed my due date several times.

8. Did you deliver/meet your child early or late? He ignored all of the doctor’s due dates and decided to wait and come two weeks late.

9. Did you have morning sickness/anxiety? YES!

10. What did you crave? Mexican food, watermelon and ice cream.

11. Who irritated you the most? A coworker who was always giving me rather rude and meddlesome advice.

12. What was your first child’s sex? male

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy/while munching Fritos as you waited for The Call?
I don’t know.  I initially lost quite a bit of weight from the morning sickness, but I did finally start gaining.  I just don’t remember how much.

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy/complications with Red Tape? The pregnancy itself was pretty uneventful except for some work-related health problems/injuries.  Tech was in some pretty serious distress when he finally decided to make his big entrance, though.

16. How many hours were you in labor/between The Call and holding your new child? I don’t remember.  I was really worried about Tech and the fact that he was struggling so much.  His heart rate kept dropping and/or stopping and that pretty much occupied my thoughts.

17. Who drove you to the hospital/airport/office? Eaglewood.  We had just gotten home from what we expected to be our last date before our baby arrived and my doctor called to say that he wanted me to go ahead and head over to the hospital for a non-stress test.  Since Tech was indeed in distress, they induced labor that night and eventually ended up performing a c-section the next day to save his life.

18. Who watched/went with you? Eaglewood.  Various other family members showed up later.

19. Was it vaginal or c-section (no adoption alternative here. Sorry)? c-section

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain/self medicate to calm your nerves? I had an epidural.

21. How much did your child weigh? 9lbs 11 oz.

22. What did you name him/her? Tech is named after his father who was in turn named after a couple of family friends.

23. How old is your first child today? 17

I really don’t know who to tag…  How about Lawanda, Heidi,  Maggie,  Kasi, and  anyone else who might be a parent and/or interested in playing along.

Do you remember when I wrote about feeling as if I was sleep-walking through my life?  I should probably let you know that I am slowly, very slowly, awakening from that spiritual sleep.  There are areas of my life where I needed to repent and other things that needed to be dealt with, and they have been. 

I suppose the very human response at this point in time would be to announce that in response to that the flowers are now blooming, the birds have burst into song and an angelic chorus follows me everywhere as I go skipping gleefully through my life.  Not only would that be insanely arrogant of me, but I’m afraid that it wouldn’t be true either.  In reality, things have gone quite differently: our house was broken into (although we apparently surprised that person who left quickly taking nothing), our dog was sprayed in the face by a skunk and the aroma was tracked through our house, our van was out of commission for a couple of days due to a dead battery while Eaglewood was out of town leaving us stranded, and other lesser problems persist in our lives. 

Me?  I laugh.  I cannot help it.  We humans and so self-centered and so vain by nature that it is a wonder that our Heavenly Father doesn’t get sick of us and just walk away and leave us to our own devices.  I am so grateful that He doesn’t.  I am so thankful that He continues to stir my heart and work in my life.  I love to see all of the places where He has obviously been working in our lives even as we complain like little children wanting to know why He didn’t spare us from even more.  I sometimes wonder if He gets tempted to laugh at us too. It would certainly serve ME right if He did.