Background info... i'm not into a lot of the more upbeat kinds of music ~ i don't mind some of it, and from time to time i enjoy a bit of it, but i almost have to be "in the mood" for it. Jonathan (and the kids ~ especially the boys) enjoy it.
More background info... i enjoy some classical music from time to time, and the kids (especially the boys) think it's pretty awful. Although i have taught them that classical music encourages learning and intelligence ~ but they still usually groan if i play classical. I don't think Jonathan enjoys it a whole lot either.
So, i've been fighting a headache all day ~ meaning also "i'm not in the mood for loud upbeat music" ~ and Jonathan was listening to a new Newsboys CD.
Darwin noticed how miserable i was feeling ~ on the couch (hey, i did pretty good by not requesting the music to be turned way down or off)... and all of a sudden i saw him in the CD's but it didn't register until he walked over to the stereo with a CD (already had it out of the case) and turned off the Newsboys and put in a classical CD ~ Mozart! He made some comment about me telling them that classical music making him smart... but i am sure he was moved with compassion and it just really BLESSED me! I am so in AWE at God's work in our family ~ when i think of where Darwin & I used to be and how far God has brought both of us... it's not always harmonious, but it's SO much better than it used to be! And to see the character that God is growing in this boy (or maybe i should be calling him a young man since he'll be 13 in a few more days)... very encouraging!
Anyway, just had to share...
Monday, January 14, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I had a better sleep last night ~ that's good ~ but my neck and head were still tight this morning and through most of the day.
Yesterday Jonathan & I went to the city to pick up our lab results (for our homestudy/dossier) and do a bit of shopping. We ended up going to Saba's for supper ~ African cuisine that we'd heard about ~ and really enjoyed that. I'm looking forward to trying to make some of these kinds of dishes at home ~ especially the injera.
The rough draft of our homestudy report is finally done too (over a week later than we anticipated, but whatever)... so we're going through that to check for anything that needs to be changed. It's fairly intense (10 pages) for someone like me who's a bit of a perfectionist ~ lol ~ but I'm nearly done, and hopefully Jonathan will find a few minutes to "help" with the rest.
Anyway, it's late enough...
good night :-)
Yesterday Jonathan & I went to the city to pick up our lab results (for our homestudy/dossier) and do a bit of shopping. We ended up going to Saba's for supper ~ African cuisine that we'd heard about ~ and really enjoyed that. I'm looking forward to trying to make some of these kinds of dishes at home ~ especially the injera.
The rough draft of our homestudy report is finally done too (over a week later than we anticipated, but whatever)... so we're going through that to check for anything that needs to be changed. It's fairly intense (10 pages) for someone like me who's a bit of a perfectionist ~ lol ~ but I'm nearly done, and hopefully Jonathan will find a few minutes to "help" with the rest.
Anyway, it's late enough...
good night :-)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Feeling grumpy
Nah! Really??
I guess some of this is just "life" but it doesn't make it any more pleasant to know that (altho maybe a bit more tolerable?).
I'm gonna blame the bed though... we bought a new bed after Christmas and finally brought it home on Saturday. My first reaction was "it's too high" ~ but i guess that's the reality of most beds ~ at least the "nice" ones ~ nowadays. It looks silly with our headboard and short night stands now, and i really would've preferred something that i didn't literally have to "climb" into... we got the low profile box spring to bring the overall height down some, but i wondered if we should've just done the regular boxspring and forget the bed frame (just set it directly on the floor) ~ but there would've been issues with that too. And then it didn't feel nearly as soft as the one we tried in the store (i think putting the sheets and stuff on it firm it up, but maybe it just needs to be broken in). I didn't sleep great the first 2 nights... and i was really dealing with my attitude about it all the first couple of days. Now i'm finally feeling a bit more "comfortable" in it, and i think i'm getting used to the height, but i'm not sure about the quality of sleep. My neck and head feel yucky today! Still waking up tired ~ after 10 hours of "sleep."
It's nasty how an "off" day can make everything else look gloomy too ~ like my kids having breakfast at 10:30 or 11:30, one who will read books from sun-up (or "son-up" since they certainly aren't getting up with the sun) til well past sun-down if given the chance. one who tells me she's "tidying" her bedroom (which would be a GREAT thing if it was actually getting done, but when it involves playing for an hour with each item that is getting "tidied"... ya...), and one who bribes me into giving him something to do instead of "school" (and because he's doing well in school, i fell for giving him a simple extra chore instead... but then he takes advantage of it... long story).
Anyway, i guess i need to sit back and take another look ~ put things back into perspective. And a nap (on the couch!) might not be a bad idea today.
Oh, btw, Jonathan has next week off. I guess they don't really need him at the welding shop (they haven't been welding all week ~ just doing other stuff in the shop like rearranging, remodelling, etc.). He might see if the farm needs help for a few days, but otherwise, he'll be home! Yipee!
Ok, off to see how the kids are doing with their school (at least Brenden is working on it...)
I guess some of this is just "life" but it doesn't make it any more pleasant to know that (altho maybe a bit more tolerable?).
I'm gonna blame the bed though... we bought a new bed after Christmas and finally brought it home on Saturday. My first reaction was "it's too high" ~ but i guess that's the reality of most beds ~ at least the "nice" ones ~ nowadays. It looks silly with our headboard and short night stands now, and i really would've preferred something that i didn't literally have to "climb" into... we got the low profile box spring to bring the overall height down some, but i wondered if we should've just done the regular boxspring and forget the bed frame (just set it directly on the floor) ~ but there would've been issues with that too. And then it didn't feel nearly as soft as the one we tried in the store (i think putting the sheets and stuff on it firm it up, but maybe it just needs to be broken in). I didn't sleep great the first 2 nights... and i was really dealing with my attitude about it all the first couple of days. Now i'm finally feeling a bit more "comfortable" in it, and i think i'm getting used to the height, but i'm not sure about the quality of sleep. My neck and head feel yucky today! Still waking up tired ~ after 10 hours of "sleep."
It's nasty how an "off" day can make everything else look gloomy too ~ like my kids having breakfast at 10:30 or 11:30, one who will read books from sun-up (or "son-up" since they certainly aren't getting up with the sun) til well past sun-down if given the chance. one who tells me she's "tidying" her bedroom (which would be a GREAT thing if it was actually getting done, but when it involves playing for an hour with each item that is getting "tidied"... ya...), and one who bribes me into giving him something to do instead of "school" (and because he's doing well in school, i fell for giving him a simple extra chore instead... but then he takes advantage of it... long story).
Anyway, i guess i need to sit back and take another look ~ put things back into perspective. And a nap (on the couch!) might not be a bad idea today.
Oh, btw, Jonathan has next week off. I guess they don't really need him at the welding shop (they haven't been welding all week ~ just doing other stuff in the shop like rearranging, remodelling, etc.). He might see if the farm needs help for a few days, but otherwise, he'll be home! Yipee!
Ok, off to see how the kids are doing with their school (at least Brenden is working on it...)
Friday, January 4, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Before i even get "caught up" on all the other stuff that's been going on, here's another new twist...
A while ago (September?) i saw an ad in the paper for a service technician job... to install and service dairy parlours, including robotic milkers. Computer skills, welding, and farming background all assets. These are the 3 things Jonathan MOST enjoys in the line of work. The welding and/or farming has been a difficult decision and he said he wished he could keep doing both! When i saw this ad, i thought it might be a perfect fit for him... so i showed it to him, and he applied. But he didn't follow up or pursue it further...
NOW, this afternoon, they finally call for an interview!
We've agonized about the decision to leave the farm ~ especially after the way it worked out with the other guy giving his notice too, and after we find out the farm is willing to pay better wages to keep him (why did they wait til now??). Still, feeling bad about leaving them in a predicament... that wasn't our intention.
And we were kind of feeling bad about keeping the new welding job waiting (although they've been awesome about it all)... while finishing up the farm job. But also been looking forward to being there full-time ~ the people are great and the shifts are good. Sounds like they like Jonathan too.
So Jonathan's initial response to this latest possibility was, "I've taken a new job starting full-time on Jan. 2."
UGH!
After talking about it, he called back to see if they could give an idea what wages are... and even with no experience they would start him at a significantly better wage than what he's getting now.
Umm, he's taking the interview on Wednesday! (an interview isn't a committment... but could help make that decision).
Is this God's plan for us?
We have a few questions... who pays travel expenses? what kinds of hours? benefits? holidays? etc.
Please pray! We really need God's direction ~ again!
It would be really hard to tell the new bosses he's not staying after all the waiting...
A while ago (September?) i saw an ad in the paper for a service technician job... to install and service dairy parlours, including robotic milkers. Computer skills, welding, and farming background all assets. These are the 3 things Jonathan MOST enjoys in the line of work. The welding and/or farming has been a difficult decision and he said he wished he could keep doing both! When i saw this ad, i thought it might be a perfect fit for him... so i showed it to him, and he applied. But he didn't follow up or pursue it further...
NOW, this afternoon, they finally call for an interview!
We've agonized about the decision to leave the farm ~ especially after the way it worked out with the other guy giving his notice too, and after we find out the farm is willing to pay better wages to keep him (why did they wait til now??). Still, feeling bad about leaving them in a predicament... that wasn't our intention.
And we were kind of feeling bad about keeping the new welding job waiting (although they've been awesome about it all)... while finishing up the farm job. But also been looking forward to being there full-time ~ the people are great and the shifts are good. Sounds like they like Jonathan too.
So Jonathan's initial response to this latest possibility was, "I've taken a new job starting full-time on Jan. 2."
UGH!
After talking about it, he called back to see if they could give an idea what wages are... and even with no experience they would start him at a significantly better wage than what he's getting now.
Umm, he's taking the interview on Wednesday! (an interview isn't a committment... but could help make that decision).
Is this God's plan for us?
We have a few questions... who pays travel expenses? what kinds of hours? benefits? holidays? etc.
Please pray! We really need God's direction ~ again!
It would be really hard to tell the new bosses he's not staying after all the waiting...
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Sorry it's been so long since i've updated here... i started a blog more specific to our adoption journey, and i guess i have just not blogged a lot lately. The website for the other blog is
http://harderfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/
I hope you've all had a great Christmas. Ours has been pretty good.
Jonathan was officially (or unofficially?) done his job at the farm on the 25th (well, the night milking, so technically that would've brought him to the early am of the 26th ~ lol)... and his new job doesn't start until Jan. 2, so we had he's had a few days off which has been WONDERFUL! He did a night shift at the farm on the 28th, and he's agreed to doing a few Friday or Saturday nights in January... not sure how long that will go on, but I think it'll be ok.
The whole job thing has left us (or me anyway) with some mixed emotions. Since giving his notice at the farm, they clarified that they had given him a raise the previous month, and offered him (i think have given him for December), another raise (to encourage him to stay??). Why did it take so long? Truth is, at this point, his new job will now be a cut in pay. However, we anticipate a raise at the new job fairly quickly too, so we are confident it'll all work out. And we ARE looking forward to the regular day-shift hours with ... um, weekends off?? Lol... eventually. Jonathan hasn't agreed to Sundays though, so if he's only doing one day or shift/week at the farm, it's not bad.
Christmas eve, the kids wanted to open the gifts they had bought for each other. We don't emphasize Christmas gifts, and we don't buy them for the kids... but it's fun to see them thinking of and buying gifts for each other. They had a few gifts for Jonathan & I too. In particular, one of their gifts just blew me away... they collected cash (probably Darwin's idea, and he contributed the most) and did up a note saying the money was for our adoption fund. It's a significant amount of cash for our children (they don't get much from us), but Darwin gave generously from his hard-earned work money. It blessed me SO much! Does that tell what they think about adoption? It's almost hard to accept money from my children... but how can you say no? And really, I don't want to rob them of the blessing God wants to give them for their thoughtfulness and generousity.
Christmas day i didn't feel great in the morning ~ woke with a headache and my tummy was a bit yucky. So I didn't go to church. We kind of left it up to the kids if they wanted to go with Jonathan or not, and they all stayed home. That felt different... normally if there's church, they would've just gone. But for some reason, i felt like Christmas morning often has too much emphasis on the gifts everyone got, and it was just easier to let them decide rather than try and have them get ready on time. My headache lingered until late afternoon/evening when i was helping Darwin make dinner. (He wanted to make Christmas dinner, but it was a bit much for him to do alone). When Jonathan got home, we had a lovely meal together. Then we watched The Sound of Music on tv. Jonathan had to leave again for work by 9 or 9:30, and the boys ended up trying out a new computer game (Oregon Trail), but Janique & I watched the movie to the end. I love that movie every time I see it.
On the 26th, Jonathan & I went shopping. We had been waiting for this day to hopefully buy a bed at a great price. It was a long day, and by the time we came home, we had actually "bought" two beds... we ended up cancelling the first one because the second one was a better deal. That's an interesting story too... when we went back the next day to cancel the one from "store 1," i was curious what their Sealy beds were selling for ~ just to compare with the deal we got at the other store ~ so we went to look. The sales rep saw Jonathan holding our bill/sale (which we were about to cancel) and was curious... when we told him about the deal we got, he said that was such a good deal he wouldn't be looking anywhere else. Basically "unheard of." (But being a sales rep here, in his words, "i didn't tell you that.") The cool thing was, i was able to tell him "we prayed about it before we went shopping for a bed, and God must have led us to the store (store 2) at just the right time. We thought we were done shopping, but happened to be in the area of "store 2" and remembered that store had crossed our minds earlier... so we thought we'd just check it out. We were there right about 5pm, and they just happened to be having a one hour sale ~ half price on all their clearance items in the back ~ from 4-5pm. Then when the bed we decided on seemed to be sold (no longer available in their computer), she offered us the same bed, but a "new" mattress for just $100 more." It was so neat to be able to tell this guy how God had directed us... he said "God bless you."
Hmm, it's getting very late... lol... why i don't blog often ~ i'm too slow at it because i spend so much time thinking through what to say and how to say it. I have more to share, but it'll have to wait...
good night.
http://harderfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/
I hope you've all had a great Christmas. Ours has been pretty good.
Jonathan was officially (or unofficially?) done his job at the farm on the 25th (well, the night milking, so technically that would've brought him to the early am of the 26th ~ lol)... and his new job doesn't start until Jan. 2, so we had he's had a few days off which has been WONDERFUL! He did a night shift at the farm on the 28th, and he's agreed to doing a few Friday or Saturday nights in January... not sure how long that will go on, but I think it'll be ok.
The whole job thing has left us (or me anyway) with some mixed emotions. Since giving his notice at the farm, they clarified that they had given him a raise the previous month, and offered him (i think have given him for December), another raise (to encourage him to stay??). Why did it take so long? Truth is, at this point, his new job will now be a cut in pay. However, we anticipate a raise at the new job fairly quickly too, so we are confident it'll all work out. And we ARE looking forward to the regular day-shift hours with ... um, weekends off?? Lol... eventually. Jonathan hasn't agreed to Sundays though, so if he's only doing one day or shift/week at the farm, it's not bad.
Christmas eve, the kids wanted to open the gifts they had bought for each other. We don't emphasize Christmas gifts, and we don't buy them for the kids... but it's fun to see them thinking of and buying gifts for each other. They had a few gifts for Jonathan & I too. In particular, one of their gifts just blew me away... they collected cash (probably Darwin's idea, and he contributed the most) and did up a note saying the money was for our adoption fund. It's a significant amount of cash for our children (they don't get much from us), but Darwin gave generously from his hard-earned work money. It blessed me SO much! Does that tell what they think about adoption? It's almost hard to accept money from my children... but how can you say no? And really, I don't want to rob them of the blessing God wants to give them for their thoughtfulness and generousity.
Christmas day i didn't feel great in the morning ~ woke with a headache and my tummy was a bit yucky. So I didn't go to church. We kind of left it up to the kids if they wanted to go with Jonathan or not, and they all stayed home. That felt different... normally if there's church, they would've just gone. But for some reason, i felt like Christmas morning often has too much emphasis on the gifts everyone got, and it was just easier to let them decide rather than try and have them get ready on time. My headache lingered until late afternoon/evening when i was helping Darwin make dinner. (He wanted to make Christmas dinner, but it was a bit much for him to do alone). When Jonathan got home, we had a lovely meal together. Then we watched The Sound of Music on tv. Jonathan had to leave again for work by 9 or 9:30, and the boys ended up trying out a new computer game (Oregon Trail), but Janique & I watched the movie to the end. I love that movie every time I see it.
On the 26th, Jonathan & I went shopping. We had been waiting for this day to hopefully buy a bed at a great price. It was a long day, and by the time we came home, we had actually "bought" two beds... we ended up cancelling the first one because the second one was a better deal. That's an interesting story too... when we went back the next day to cancel the one from "store 1," i was curious what their Sealy beds were selling for ~ just to compare with the deal we got at the other store ~ so we went to look. The sales rep saw Jonathan holding our bill/sale (which we were about to cancel) and was curious... when we told him about the deal we got, he said that was such a good deal he wouldn't be looking anywhere else. Basically "unheard of." (But being a sales rep here, in his words, "i didn't tell you that.") The cool thing was, i was able to tell him "we prayed about it before we went shopping for a bed, and God must have led us to the store (store 2) at just the right time. We thought we were done shopping, but happened to be in the area of "store 2" and remembered that store had crossed our minds earlier... so we thought we'd just check it out. We were there right about 5pm, and they just happened to be having a one hour sale ~ half price on all their clearance items in the back ~ from 4-5pm. Then when the bed we decided on seemed to be sold (no longer available in their computer), she offered us the same bed, but a "new" mattress for just $100 more." It was so neat to be able to tell this guy how God had directed us... he said "God bless you."
Hmm, it's getting very late... lol... why i don't blog often ~ i'm too slow at it because i spend so much time thinking through what to say and how to say it. I have more to share, but it'll have to wait...
good night.
Friday, December 7, 2007
We had our second homestudy meeting on Monday, and it went fine... but for some reason (maybe because we talked about my post partum breakdown in '99), i felt myself feeling a bit inadequate to adopt. Actually, i was building quite an inferiority complex during the week. After hearing (on Wednesday) that the proposed timelines have been extended, on top of everything else i was feeling, the thought crossed my mind to give up.
However, in my gloom yesterday, i prayed about it, asking God to show me something to clarify/confirm if we should continue ~ and I vaguely thought the Orphan's Hope grant would be concrete enough confirmation ~ maybe because i thought it was such a far shot ~ but what would be the likelihood of that? We had only applied in October or so, with no guarantee that we'd ever get anything.
Later that afternoon when I went to the mail, there was registered mail... from Orphan's Hope!
I don't think i can do justice trying to tell you how much this means to me! I felt such an enormous outpouring of God's love on me! I was in tears before i even opened the envelope (i did make it out of the post office and into the van though before the tears started ~ lol). It really humbled me too ~ that God would speak so clearly (with the one "confirmation" that i had considered), and with such a huge financial blessing too ~ ok, i just REALLY felt like He dumped buckets of love on me! And such patience with me!
So here's the writing on the wall for me... "God has qualified you!"
However, in my gloom yesterday, i prayed about it, asking God to show me something to clarify/confirm if we should continue ~ and I vaguely thought the Orphan's Hope grant would be concrete enough confirmation ~ maybe because i thought it was such a far shot ~ but what would be the likelihood of that? We had only applied in October or so, with no guarantee that we'd ever get anything.
Later that afternoon when I went to the mail, there was registered mail... from Orphan's Hope!
I don't think i can do justice trying to tell you how much this means to me! I felt such an enormous outpouring of God's love on me! I was in tears before i even opened the envelope (i did make it out of the post office and into the van though before the tears started ~ lol). It really humbled me too ~ that God would speak so clearly (with the one "confirmation" that i had considered), and with such a huge financial blessing too ~ ok, i just REALLY felt like He dumped buckets of love on me! And such patience with me!
So here's the writing on the wall for me... "God has qualified you!"
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