It's amazing how many things in daily life require water. There are the obvious things like going to the bathroom, taking a shower, washing dishes, and doing laundry. Then there are the things we, or at least I, never really give much thought like moping the floor or cleaning the bathroom.

When I was much younger, my sisters and I spent the summers in Pennsylvania with our dad. For the first few summers we stayed in the "Big House" which had no pluming. In the mornings my dad would walk down to the stream in front of the house and fill a wash tub with water which we would use to brush our teeth and wash our faces. During the day we would go to my grandma and grandpa's house to use the bathroom and take showers. At night, there was an out house and when we were too scared to venture out into the pitch black country night there was a white pail. More often than not, we used the white pail. ( I just realised who emptied that pail. My dad is even more of a hero than I thought!) All in all, it wasn't such a hard life and the existence or nonexistence of running water didn't seem to bother us too much. We were kids and didn't have to worry about laundry, dishes, floor moping or bathroom cleaning.

This week our water is out due to a serious sewage issue. The pipe connecting us to the main line was accidentally dug up several months ago when neighbors built another line to connect them to the city line. It's taken this long for the pipe to back up enough for anyone to notice there was a problem. The plumbers and city workers have spent the last 3 days trying to decide how to fix the problem. Option A would include reconnecting our line to the neighbors which connects to the city. This was apparently the agreement that was made between the two owners 20 years ago. It may or may not be an option now depending on city regulations. Option B requires about $34,000, the closure of two lanes of traffic on the street beside us, and a minimum of a week with no water so that another main line can be built from the city to us. I don't really care which option is chosen as long as the end result is running water.

In the mean time we're staying at one of those Inn & Suite places that have a nice little kitchen along with a bed or two. It's very exciting for Erin who loves any excuse to stay anywhere other than our house. It's a little less exciting for David and I who have to worry about the dogs and cats as well as making sure we have everything from this place that we may need at the other place. Luckily it's a short drive and something forgotten is easily gotten. I tried to convince my boss that a condo in Hawaii is a viable option, but had no luck. I'm grateful this stay is on the companies dime and not ours.

I like to think of each of us as infant souls. Growing, changing, stretching into the framework of the adult souls we will one day become. It's easy to look at someone and expect them to be wise based on the age spots and wrinkles they wear, but underneath that sun worn, gravity pulled skin may lie a baby soul. When I look at others and myself in this light I am able to be more forgiving and gracious. It becomes easier to let go of hurt and pain and see each and every moment as an opportunity to grow and expand. This line of thinking requires hope by the bucket full, hope that one day each of us will grow into the person we are meant to be.

When I created this blog template using the quote above, I never imagined how much that one line would come to mean to me. "Hope is the dream of a soul awake." It rolled around in my head for several weeks before I used it here. It smashed into things and broke old ideas. It ripped and tore at my thoughts until I was left with a fresh, raw image of hope. Hope is not easy. Hope is hard work. Hope requires us to hang on when we'd rather let go.

Home Sweet Home

We are home, safe and sound. As expected, our trip had it's ups and downs. It's a difficult situation to begin with and my family is completely crazy, a combination that spells disaster. Erin handled it very well. She was emotional, which is perfectly normal.
I think both of us are glad to be home and on neutral turf.
We did managed to have a lot of fun durring our visit. We visted the Tulsa Zoon where I took this picture of a polar bear.

We played at the park near my sister's house where I had the entire group pretend like they were airplanes so I could snap these photos.

My neice Amarah.

My nephew Paxton.

Erin, my older sister Charity, Amarah, & Paxton

My mom, Paxton, Erin, & Amarah

We visited Aola and her family. Her place is lovely and it was comforting to be able to take a break in the middle of our trip to sit on her couch and chat with a friend for a while. Her kids have all grown up to be amazing, like I knew they would, and she and her husband are just as welcoming and down to earth as I've always known them to be. They are an amazing family. I wish I would have pulled out the camera, but I was too busy talking.
All in all, it was a good trip. Despite some emotional turbulance, it was a good trip. I loved getting to know my neice and nephew who, I have to say, are two of the most adorable kids EVER! It was also good to sit down and talk with my grandparents and go midnight shopping with my twin sister in her monster truck. (Yeah, it's Oklahoma.)

My twin sister, Brandy, her husband Jason, Paxton & Amarah

Seriously cute stuff!

Erin, Me, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom with Maggie, Charity, Candice

Paxton on his bike.

Amarah huggin the tree!

If you haven't had enough cuteness, you can see more here.

With a docotrs apointment this morning, school, and trying to pack for our week in OK, it was a busy morning.
That didn't stop us from having fun. We visited our favorite park where she rode her bike and I took some pictures. We leave for the airport very early in the morning. I'm not sure why I never remember that I hate waking up early when I buy plane tickets. We are both excited to see everyone. I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell when we get back. Until then, take care.

Blog Re-design and other (oh-so-fun) things

I had a bit of a creative vibe tonight so I spent a little time revamping the place. Hope you like it. I found the quote on my banner several weeks ago and it's been playing in my head ever since.

I've been busy creating a few other things too, but I'll have to update you tomorrow as I've just realised that it is well past my bed time.

If I were not such a lame friend, the birthday cards for Aola and Jenn P. would be happily soaking up attention at their final destinations. Instead they are here, on my counter waiting to be sent. I'm sorry!

Happy Birthday Jenn!

You are an amazing friend who both encourages and challenges me. We started out playing pin the tail on the donkey 20 + years ago. Who could have imagined we'd be e-mailing one another at the speed of light and that you would traverse the 2000+ miles to experience life on a different coast! I hope your birthday finds you enjoying a new job and life!

Happy Birthday Aola,

The lines of spiritual mother and friend become blurred when I think of our relationship because you have been/continue to be both. You've taught me so much about life and my relationship with God and more importantly you've encouraged me to find my own path and not to be afraid of what's in my heart.

Cheers to you both! I promise, your cards will be sent tomorrow. :)

Today in the middle of a history lesson about how the modern day calender came to be (which Erin insisted on reading out loud to me) she clears her throat and in her best Spanish accent says "Hoolius Sayzar". I had been pondering things work-related when the odd combination of Rome related information and a thick Spanish name jolted my attention back to her. I glanced at her book and said " I believe it's pronounced Julius Caesar, honey." To which she responded, "Mom, I went to school with a boy named Julio and one named Caesar. I'm pretty sure I know how to say it." I have a feeling there will be many more of these stories to share.
Did I mention that she's tricky? You've got to keep an eye on her. She's learned to skip ahead to the question section and then skim the text she is supposed to read for the parts that relate to the question in order to find the answers quickly. Luckily I caught on to her ways. I took the book away and then asked the questions. It was funny to hear her try and make up answers. Hopefully she's learned her lesson.

Both Erin and I survived our first day of home schooling. It was a little rocky getting into the new routine and an entirely new version of school. I think we both adapted very well. She has two math lessons a day along with history, language arts, science, art, and music theory. The lessons today were mostly review and an overview of the online program. The K12 program we are using provides so much additional information and resources that it's easy to get side tracked. For now, we will stick with the basics and once we have a routine down I'll allow Erin to explore.
I was so excited today as we were going over her math lesson which covered writing numbers in expanded form and using decimals. She did her assessments at the end of each lesson and didn't miss a single problem. I thought to myself "Oh my gosh! I just taught her something!". I know it seems silly, but from the moment we started on this path I've worried that I would be enough, and that I would be able to teach her. Knowing something is one thing, being able to teach someone else that same thing is very different. I know it will get more difficult as we go along and that as she learns new concepts it will be harder and take longer for her to understand, but for now this small battle was enough to give me the faith I needed to move forward.
I'm seriously considering taking a sewing class. I took a few in high school, but never really took the time to learn sewing very well. Besides, it's not like I have a full plate or anything. :)
We (David, Erin, & I) are all off this weekend and are trying to think of something fun to do. There is a small little camping just over the hills that sounds like just the thing, but we are also considering driving up the coast and staying at a little hotel somewhere along the way. What do you think? I really want to grab a tube, find a river, and float our cares away for a weekend, but I've had no luck finding anything like that close by.