A LampPost Flickering

We just got back from a week in Appomattox County. We, uh, camped. It actually felt like camping for the first time since we starting . . . camping. Maybe because there was no wifi. Roughing. It. I'm not sure how long into this adventure I will feel like I have another answer to the casual questions from friends and family, like, "So, what did you do last week?" Went camping. Maybe I can change it up to, "Oh, we pulled out the kids beds, then put them back again in the morning. I squeezed four and a half days worth of food into a small refrigerator and planned a week's worth of crockpot meals. Oh, yeah, I also noticed on Thursday that the black tank was on F, so I emptied it and sprayed it out. We're good now." I'm selling this like a boss. I'm mostly being sarcastic, because I really like this living, this season of togetherness. I don't like the days when it's time to pack up and hook up. I don't like the stress of driving...

Oh, it was a hot one yesterday with the mercury climbing up to 98 degrees. If anyone actually still has a mercury thermometer, that's what it would have climbed up to. The next few days here are slated to be in the upper 90's again. Mercy. That kind of heat is like a snow day for us. We just don't want to go anywhere, and Rosy is pretty much stuck underneath an a/c vent. I mean, we are able to bounce from one indoor spot to another, and there is no shoveling of driveways and sidewalks, be we are still a little more stuck than normal. Friday evening it cooled a bit, and we ran down to the beach for an hour or so, then swung by DQ for stunningly over-priced ice cream, so I hope all that good fun stretched over into yesterday when we did nothing. I mean, we put the no in nothing. No. Thing.  I didn't even change out of pajammies until it was time to make lunch, which was whatever leftovers could be gathered onto a [paper] plate. The kids played on all the electronic de...

We've officially been living in our RV for over a month.  I have to say that we are all loving it. I feel happier here than I did the entire time we lived in our rental for a year. I don't miss all our stuff, and I truly love being with all these people. I wanted to share a few tidbits that we have learned so far along the way. ::Always keep a can of air freshener in the little bathroom that sits right next to the dinette where you eat food. Always. ::If you want to warm up your coffee in the microwave and the air conditioner is running, turn off the hot water heater so that you don't pop the circuit. Again. ::Don't forget to turn the hot water heater back on. ::Take the batteries out of the smoke detector if you are going to fry anything. Just do it, and don't be a worry-wart, but don't forget to put them back in right when you're done. ::Your slow-cooker is your bff. ::Stop shopping and cooking like you have all the room in the world to stor...

Because Rob and I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. And because everyone loves (and needs!) a good love story. I share this with you today to honor this man of great character and integrity that I am blessed to call my husband: Our very first meeting. Bethel College cafeteria. I sat shyly across from an old friend of his from Ohio, Janet Seeker. She was a resident director in a dorm that I hadn't even been placed in, but she was trying her best to make all us wide-eyed freshmen feel at home and connected. He came up to our table to say hi to her. I looked up to find a  pair of warm, intelligent brown eyes, a mischievous grin, and a friendly nose marked by a huge, angry red gash right between his eyes. "Hi" to Janet. "Hi" to me.  "What happened to you, Rob?" Janet wasn't about to let something like a head wound slide.  "An iron fell out of my closet."  I didn't laugh, but I may have smiled really big. And ...

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is being in control our family's pace and schedule. School does not come before family; it's just part of our family life with very few lines of demarcation. When we found out that we had six days to move, we closed up our books and took an unplanned spring break that lasted for two weeks. Hello, spring. I see you, daffodils, as I carry this 300th box of books to the moving truck.Spring cleaning? Why, yes, I think we will, because we want our deposit on our rental back. We just cracked those books back open today. It felt like the first normal thing we've done for days and days, and I was grateful. I would venture to say more grateful about it than my little students. We will be figuring out this RV schooling gig together. So when Rob and I looked at travel trailers for hours and hours--how did people do this before the invention of the internet?--we knew that we would need something that would do more than just provide ...

You know those movie scenes where the camera is focused on a dazed and often wide-eyed character while the world zooms past in an unrecognizable blur? Or just imagine standing on the beach in springtime while chilly waves furl and curl and drag the sand right out from under your feet. That is a completely accurate description of my life this last month. I'm almost dizzy, close to fragile, barely comprehending the blur on either side of my head, toes gripping like mad to maintain balance. Sing with me, "On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand." Yes. Second week of March : the kids and I travel to Indiana to be with my mom as she goes through surgery for cancer. Though the week was emotionally and physically exhausting, God worked out great things in her life. The tumor was contained, removed, declared stage one, no further treatment needed. Our family feels like we can exhale for the first time since her diag...

The doctors found cancer in my mom. Endometrial or uterine cancer to be specific. It stinks, bites, sucks, rots. All that. Chasing fear away is hard work. It lingers like a sulfur-belching dragon just outside the window. The moment I think it's safe to breathe, its shadow slithers by, and I'm left clutching promises that I hope are meant for me and for her. We have every hope that a surgery to remove the offending part will send her on the path to full health. She is meeting with the oncologist next Tuesday to discuss options and to schedule her big surgery. It's been a month of doctor appointments and phone calls, including a diagnostic surgery, all taking place up north where she can be close to my sister and brothers and their families and have support and care, as my dad's job takes him away for days at a time. Also northern IN has far greater cancer care facilities and specialists available to her. So she has been separated from Dad, which makes the enduran...