Hertzler Doings-May 23-29, 2011

Mon.-First real day of summer vacation. So exhausted. Janelle presented her whatchamacallit at EMU and finished up 6 years of study and has another master's after her name. One year and two months after Johnny died, she went back to school and it changed her in many ways. Now she has a website, which was actually her whatchamacallit, and now gets 900 hits a day. http://www.journeythroughgrief.com/
We kept Buddy for her and after she picked up Micah, they came here and relaxed a bit. Micah said we should have a 'Congraduation Party' for her and watch a movie and eat popcorn. Sounds good to me.
I did a few things today. Some wash, face booking, blogging, exercising, eating right, made roasts for supper, and watched 'Gone with the Wind.' The whole thing. I've read the book a number of times but never saw the complete movie. Too tired to do anything else so Susan and I rested and watched. I sound like I'm defending my actions. I guess I feel a little guilty for spending several hours watching a movie.///I am thankful for rest. I am thankful for the smell of moss and damp dirt as I walk out the lane. I am thankful that in my childhood, we had a cabin at Greenwood Furnace that we rented and the outdoors smelled the same way. I am thankful that I married a man who was part of a hunting gang that owned a cabin in the woods. And I am thankful that I don't feel the need to go away to a cabin, because I like it here, and I have woods, moss, rippling brooks in my back yard. Last week, Phil saw a bear on our property too.

Tues.-Day two of eating healthier. I seem to have to start over again and again. I love to cook too much to just eat raw foods but I am working on it. Typed up minutes for Women's Ministry, fb-ed, e-mailed pig roast invitations, unpacked the boxes from school that were plopped in the back room, rested and read 'The Cross and the Switchblade', and took Susan out to Wendy's to help raise money for the NY missions trip. She will be serving along with others who are going and will receive a percentage of what Wendy's makes from 5-8.

Met with Lindsay to plan menu for the Premiere party coming up for the women at church and then we walked and talked on the Longwood Campus where God's Spirit hovers.///I am thankful to discover that classical music helps me work better. It's not just good for the mind. I am thankful that Susan did not get too badly hurt when the barn swallow who has it's nest under the front porch roof literally attacked her head and followed her as she ran to the old house. I am thankful that Phil is getting some help for his back pain which stems from having his back wrenched in the four wheeling accident he had two years ago.

Wed.-Went to chiro. She told me that I think too much-that my scalp is like a vice grip. Said I am always processing and my brain is overworked even when I sleep. I do often go to bed with something that needs to be worked out and wake up with a solution. So, I am trying to simplify that part of my life as well, since simplify seems to be the new word for me. It's really an old new word but it's come around again. Obedience...Humility...Simplicity...Sounds like Christ. Holy Spirit, take what is Christ's and reveal it to me. Went out to school and sorted and organized all my papers and brought home two more boxes of my own stuff. And that's it. Some of the teacher's children kept saying, "I'm going to miss you." I told them I will stop in to see them whenever I can and that I will miss them too. Doreen brought us lunch which was so sweet. Then I took Graham and Susan grocery shopping and we came home. Phil took them out to church when he went to help Freeman cut pork. They were having a Luau at church for the youth and Freeman roasted a pig out there after they killed it here in the morning. They named him Clarence and I've been seeing his head on face book. He has an apple in his mouth. Naomi and I talked in the eve. until it was time for me to go out and get them. We're planning an extra shore trip every year. We've gone in the winter after a storm, just the two of us. Once I saw a news story about the storm in Ocean City and called her up and screamed, "Let's go." And we did. That's when I lived up there. The City was basically shut down because they didn't have snow removal equipment. We bundled up and walked all alone on the boardwalk, skirting piles of snow. Once I stepped into a big pile of snow on the road and freezing water got in over the top of my boot and I had to walk for awhile with that cold sloshing going on and gradually it became warm from the heat of my body. My dad would take us in the winter as well, and I remember seeing icy waves.///I am thankful for Naomi's dream about me loving our land and the peace that gave her. I am thankful for the baby birds finding refuge in my old shoe on the back porch. I am thankful that Sheriff stayed by my right side the whole way out the lane and back. He's getting used to a leash and collar. When we'd stop, he'd sit and look at me. I looked down at him, close enough for a puppy kiss and saw my reflection in his eye. I thought how I am the apple of his eye-the reflection in his eye, and that the only way to really be the apple of Anyone's eye is to be always before Them and to have Them be the apple of our eye as well.

Thurs.-Day at home. Hung wash up on our Amish Clothesline. It dried quickly on this hot windy day. Cleaned the fridge/freezer on the old house porch and wiped off the silver tables. Rested several hours in the afternoon. Hot and muggy. Susan mowed. Philip shared some of his Chinese food from last night's supper. The guys worked around the farm. Philip took Susan fishing in the eve. and Phil and I took a drive over to Crewe to pick up a tractor part. ///I am thankful that the puppies are figuring out who their owners are. Phil's dog, Princess, is dark, feisty, and little. He put a red collar on her and she looks sharp. Philip's dog, Isaac, is sleeping in Philip's room with him. He has what I would call 'bedroom eyes'-kind of dreamy and lovey looking. But Sheriff's eyes are my favorite. He has wise eyes. Knowing eyes. And he's beautifully silver coated with sharp black markings on his tail. I am thankful for a drive with Phil and time to catch up. I am thankful for meadow tea. I am thankful for the nice conversation with Michael on the phone. I am thankful that I miss him so.

Fri.-Got four hours of sleep last night due to puppy training. Sheriff slept on the floor beside me and I held the leash in my hand, looping it through my wrist and later my ankle, so I would know when and if he'd get up to do something he shouldn't. Finally put him out after 12:30 and got some sleep after that. Princess, Phil's dog, was sleeping on the floor on his side and she was passing some mighty puppy gas. It was asphyxiating. Phil was snoring louder than usual and well, it was a rough night, and I felt emotionally unstable for awhile this morning. I felt as if I had just had a baby and wasn't getting any sleep. Major accomplishment today? Cleaning the front flower beds of weeds. I am not going to plant any flowers in them this year due to puppies. Walked out to mailbox with Susan, Alli, and Sheriff. Alli had to go get groceries at Walmart and she was just about as thrilled as I am when I have to do the same. Sheriff fell in love with me today for sure. I took him on a gator ride down to the river and he sat up and let the wind blow through his ears and then he laid down on the seat. We almost ran into a black bear just as we were getting ready to go down the slope to the river. It poked its head out of the bushes and quickly turned back. Angel thought about chasing after him but then she thought better of it. I couldn't have been 7 feet away from him. Probably less because he was basically right beside me as I drove by him. That was nice. Had phone meeting with the insurance company counselor and discovered that my BMI is fine and just have to bring my waistline down another 1/2 inch and my cholesterol level down one more point and for that we are being charged an extra $60 a month until I shape up and trim down. If only I had known that the goal wasn't that far away, I would have been more careful those weeks before I was tested. I had given up because I thought I was so far away from their goals. (But their requirements had lightened up quite a bit unbeknownst to me. ) There is a sermon in here somewhere and I'll think of it some day when I am back to thinking again. Right now my brain is on vacation. I find myself starting to think as I walk the lane and I pull my brain back to just enjoy the little butterflies flitting about and the bluebirds who swoop along beside me from post to post and the gold finches showing off in the meadow and the musky fragrance of moss and I let each thing be its own moment of simple joy instead of thinking things beyond it. Went over to Dianna's around 4 and we talked inside her screened in porch while it rained and ate almonds and raisins and drank ice water and then we went over to Nanette's on the pretense of dropping something off on our way into town. Meanwhile, I saw Missi's vehicle pull in followed by others and when Nanette asked me if I wanted a tour of the house, I said, "Yes!" and off we went to tour the upstairs, giving a chance for many of her friends to come in the door and hide around the corner. Someone asked us to come down and they yelled, "Surprise!" and so she was. She got many beautiful and fun gifts and we shared some food, tears, laughter, and prayers with each other. ///I am thankful for friends. I am thankful to God for giving wisdom when we ask for it. I am thankful for Nanette and the gift she is to so many of us. I am thankful that Philip took Susan and a friend fishing while I was out partying and Phil was working the fields.

Sat.-Took Sheriff for a walk out the lane. Freeman and Alli came as I was puffing up the last few yards of the hill. Tom was here and we talked about a dream and its meaning. He's been sick this week with some sort of bronchial junkitis. Phil's fighting it now. I wonder if spraying corn bothered Phil's lungs. Freeman did some work outside and Alli helped me clean the house. She cleaned and shined all the fans and made a new lawn chair from an old one out of duct tape. I wanted her to sign her name on the top with black marker but she said, "No, because if it breaks, they'll all know who made it." We washed the curtains and the windows too. After she left, I dusted, vacuumed, and washed all of the floors and Susan cleaned her bedroom and the bathroom and did some other odd jobs. We were tired mid afternoon so we'd watch 1/2 hour of "Miss Congeniality-2" and then work real fast for 1/2 an hour. Back and forth. I got sick in my stomach after most of our work was done and just made it out the back door in time. The floors were wet and I couldn't run to the bathroom. Susan took care of me, getting me ginger ale, and doing the things I wanted to finish up, and so I rested and read Joni Earickson Tada's book about her life. It's after 7 and I am still queasy. Hoping I got sick on a vitamin instead of having some sort of virus. Philip was helping around the farm this morning and in the afternoon went to a softball tournament. Michael's in Winchester hopefully having the time of his life. His car broke down earlier this week and he had to rely on others around him for a ride back and forth to work while his car was at the garage.///I am thankful that the clothes line held my heavy dripping wet towels since they didn't wring out in the washer for some reason. I am thankful for Phil's happy face when he comes in from working in the fields. I am thankful that he gets time to think and pray when he's driving the tractor. I am thankful for the reminder again today of our personal priorities-Family-Farm-Church, and how they help us make decisions every day. I am thankful that when Sheriff bit through Phil's alarm clock cord that only sparks flew and breakers blew instead of anything worse happening. I am also thankful that Phil didn't get bent out of shape when Sheriff peed on the blueprints he had spread out on the floor.

Sun.-After church we came home and started to put a late lunch together. Several people were chopping vegetables. I browned some sausage and Philip made his terrific chili over a fire while homemade mac and cheese baked in the oven. Chase, Travis, Jordan, and Erin were here for lunch and Bantons came a bit later. The young people played volleyball in the pond and I drove Emma and Adi over to see them on the 'gatorade' as Adi calls it. When they came back, Gil joined them for a game of soccer in the back yard while Lindsay and I talked on the porch and took a ride back over to the pond to retrieve Susan's camera. I had a fun time painting with the girls on the kitchen table. Made popcorn and watched part of a late movie with those who remained. Took Sheriff in our bedroom and was awakened every hour until 2 and I gave up and took him outside. ///I am thankful for the sweet Spirit at church today. I am thankful for how much Phil is enjoying a large book written by a hunter in South Africa. He's been reading us excerpts from it. I am thankful for family ties with friends.