The Adult Inside

This morning I dropped a glass bowl on the floor-no not on purpose-it broke of course, and while I was cleaning up the shards, I thought about my life. I'm rather pensive these days.

For instance, when Larry and I were first married, I didn't know how to clean nor did I make an attempt to learn. Sad, but altogether true. The incredibly patient Mr. Larry, just waited for my life to catch up with his. It did, finally.

I still don't like to clean, but I make an awful lot more attempts than I ever did. In fact, Louise and Lezlie came over for a movie night and Lousie said how clean the house looked. "It's because I was having company, it forces me to clean up." Again, sad, but altogether true. Why can't I clean up just for myself or for Larry? I am learning though.

When I talk with my dear friends about how far we've come spiritually and especially emotionally, I'm filled with joy because of what Christ has done in and through us. The truth is, I entered adulthood terrified of my grownup status, I would have liked to stay Peter Pan like forever. But marriage and kids and good friendships forced me to do what I would not have done for myself.

I cook, I clean (sometimes), I work, I make better choices, I guess I'm finally that adult I never thought I would be. And I'm happy about it.

Shannon at Work

This week I visited Shannon at Kindercare to read stories to her three-year-old class. It was a blast for me to see her in action at work.

I heard absolutely glowing reports from her bosses about Shannon's work and work ethic. It doesn't get much sweeter than that. Her faith in Christ and her beautiful spirit make me proud to know her as a person.

I got to see her as an individual, with different strenghths and abilities than I possess. I tried to see her for the first time, like an outsider would. She approaches her work with a sense of fun and playfulness, and she's fully engaged with each young life she touches.

Those kids may grow up and one day forget her, but I know she'll remember and cherish each interaction as a gift from their Creator.

The Ultimate Houseguest--Irene, NOT!

Dear Friends,

I've been trapped in my home with Irene Higgenbothom
for two and half weeks! I tried and tried but I just couldn't get free. (Once she's in--she's in, until she decides to move on. She's gone for now, though I suspect she'll return sometime in September.)

Anyway, I'm finally unshackled and am now able to blog my experience without Irene constantly looking over my shoulder. She really is a dear, but look here--she's got issues!

Poor Irene! She desperately wants a man, but the truth is, she wears too much makeup and her lipstick covers everything but her actual lips! And her voice, it's so loud and grating. She scares all (men and women), but the truly brave away.

Now that her vacation is over, she'll go back to being a high crane operator at the construction site. Irene loves looking down from on high and checking out all the men.

I'm sorry, I didn't introduce more of you to Irene while she was visiting, but I think you can understand why. If you really want to meet her, just stop by Grace Place and I'll hook you up. And if you're a single male, she really wants to meet you!

Ratatouille Movie

Larry and I saw Pixar's Ratatouille last night. What a cute movie! I like most G rated kid movies and this one was really amazing. The level of computer animation and sophistication that is standard these days makes me happy to support this area of entertainment. Take your kids or just go yourself, it's worth it.

How Happy I Am

I am happy. I couldn't always say that with confidence.

Many of my hands-on mothering years were done from a place of insecurity and immaturity. But as Shannon and Lee got older, I continued to get healthier in my spirit through counseling and the incredible love and support of close friends.

By the time Larry and I took our second honeymoon trip along the coast of California in 2005, I was in the best place of my life. I enjoy my family now more than I ever did. In fact, earlier this week, Larry and I agreed that this is the best our relationship has ever been. That, in itself, is a true blessing, since I come from a broken home and had no positive role models.

I looked ahead, early in our marriage, to envision where our relationship would be when the kids were out of the house, and it's been delightful to realize how much I love Larry and how much he loves me.

Thanks God. You have seen fit to unify us, knit our hearts and minds and give us a solid future together, no matter what trials may yet come. You are truly a God of blessings.

Geocaching

"Up in smoke, I wonder what that means," I thought to myself. I was staring down intently at my hand held gps trying to get a fix on the exact coordinates. I wasn't concentrating on my surroundings, I knew there was nothing to see except an old stand of trees, everything else was barren. Then I looked up and suddenly I saw it--a crumbling chimney surrounded by that lone stand. I got that surge of adrenaline that always happens when I find a new cache.

Geocaching is a high tech treasure hunt game using a hand held gps device and the internet to download the cache's coordinates. The cache/treasure is usually a container with small trinkets like army men, marbles, costume jewerly, etc. The game isn't really about what's inside the container, it's more about the hunt itself.

Larry and I have been caching since 2006, when he bought me my own gps. After searching for caches in town, we discovered we liked the ones hidden in the woods better. One of the rules of geocaching is stealth. Muggles (nongeocachers) are not supposed to know what you're doing. Finding caches in the woods is more enjoyable for us because of the non-stealth factor.

As we've searched for "treasures", we've been to places that we never would have visited before if it weren't for geocaching. There was a couple of fun caches in the Chiricahua Mnts. near the New Mexico border that we found while camping, and numerous ones in Payson and Prescott.

Geocaching is a fun, family friendly sport, that gets me outdoors and enjoying God's kingdom. I love it!

http://www.geocaching.com/

Poetry

I was talking to a friend the other day and mentioned a poem I remembered memorizing in junior high:

Two Dead Boys

One fine day in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight,
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other,
One was blind and the other couldn't, see
So they chose a dummy for a referee.
A blind man went to see fair play,
A dumb man went to shout "hooray!"
A paralysed donkey passing by,
Kicked the blind man in the eye,
Knocked him through a nine inch wall,
Into a dry ditch and drowned them all,
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to arrest the two dead boys,
If you don't believe this story’s true,
Ask the blind man he saw it too!

How silly I thought to remember such a strange poem all these years later. Then I find out that there is an entire website dedicated to this poem! Obviously, I'm not the only one who remembers it,

http://www.folklore.bc.ca/Onefineday.htm

I wonder, what does this say about me?

Cars

For Lee's 18th birthday in January, Larry and I took him to the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale. We saw some amazing cars and the one that I liked the best was the '57 Chevy Bel Aire. A little before my time, but a great looker.

Still, my favorite car for sentimental reasons wasn't even at the show. I drove a '64 push button transmission Dodge Polara. It was a crazy car, the buttons would often fall off the dashboard and I would have to reattach them before I could even drive! I'm not particularly into cars, but there's something about first cars that stays with you forever.

I guess I've been thinking more about cars lately because we're going to need a different one in the not-to-distant future. It would be so cool to own something retro again, but I think practicality and ability to store all our camping gear will come into play big time.

My brother-in-law owns a brand new Chevy Corvette, he's offered to let me drive it, but I'm too scared something terrible will happen. One sister owns a Jaguar but that not for off-road, and one sister owns a Jeep. Now that's definitely off-road and camping friendly. Still, there was something about owning and driving so different a car as my Polara. However, the reality is when it's time to get our next car, it'll probably be another Toyota.

Books I Love

Several years ago, I kept borrowing and renewing the same book from the library. Eventually, I had to pay the library $25.00 because I lost it somewhere. I never did find it again and I've been on the lookout at used book stores ever since.

Eureka! Yesterday, at Bookman's I found it! Those of you who like to buy used books know the feeling I'm describing. It's such a hit or miss proposition when book hunting or antique shopping, etc. Anyway, the book is Writing the Short Story: A hands-On Program by Jack M. Bickham. If you like to write and want a solid practical book, this is a great read. I wish this fact wasn't true, but I enjoy reading about the process of writing way more than actually composing and trying to publish something.

The other book I purchased is Fran McCullough's The Low-Carb Cookbook because I enjoy preparing new good carb recipes. Here's an amusing story about my switch to the good carb life style.

Several months ago, I was taking out the trash to the alley. There on the top of the pile, completely unspoiled, was a brand new South Beach Diet Cookbook, including the dust jacket! The sun overhead hit the shiny copper letters on the dust jacket just right and the book seemed to glow angelically at me. Not one to ever let a new book be thrown away, I rescued it.

It must be said, that during the first 30 seconds of staring, I resisted the new book temptation because I had previous misconceptions about low carbohydrate diets. In fact, a coworker had lost weight on the diet, and we had a heated discussion because I was so opposed to the whole controlled carbohydrate idea. As I stood there glaring at it, I thought to myself, “How can I even considering rescuing this book from the pile?”

Divine intervention prevailed and I hastily grabbed the dreaded book and stamped back angrily to my house. Ignoring the rest of my chores, I reluctantly began to read. Within the first few paragraphs, I was hooked. I finally realized how much my beloved low fat pretzels and fat free pudding cups were contributing to my waistline. It was my epiphany.

Before beginning on South Beach, I got my first job in fifteen years which required me to do a lot of walking. I lost seventeen pounds immediately, just from the increased activity. Then, during Phase One of the program, I lost another eight pounds. The mantra –diet and exercise together –is certainly true for me. By combining the two, I’ve now lost 44 pounds.

Since South Beach, I’ve discovered that I actually like vegetables. Being from the Southwest, I had never even heard of okra, and growing up, my mother certainly never introduced Swiss chard to our family. Now I include a variety of vegetables into my diet daily. One of my favorite recipes from the cookbook is Baked Portobello Mushroom Caps with Melted Goat Cheese. Who knew?

As I prepare my grocery list for the week, I use my good carb cookbooks to help plan a tasty dinner menu. My family, of course, has its favorite meals from before South Beach and I’ve learned how to substitute ingredients to make a healthier alternative. I slowly add new selections from the cookbook as the months go by. Retraining young palates can be a bit tricky, but eating this way has started to become second nature to them.

“How can I even consider this?” has changed to, “How can I not?”

First Dog Blog

Unimaginatively, Rusty Star is the name of my blog because of our two red dogs.

Originally, Vince, our German Shepherd, was our only pet, but we had to put him down in 2006.We all miss him.

Since then, we acquired Rusty, a three-year-old Retriever and Shepherd mix, who received his tag line after a two-hour family naming session.


And Star, a one-year-old Basenji mix, who kept her nomenclature straight from the pound. This picture is of Star at four months.

Both dogs were recently exposed to sarcoptic mange, (a contagious condition where a mite burrows under the dog's skin and causes intense itching and hair loss). The vet diagnosed Star with a yeast infection but still recommended the dip bath treatment for mange as a precaution.

Fortunately, she has been relieved of her terrible itching and is taking her medication as prescribed.

Or so I thought! Yesterday, she ate the first pill with her food--no problem, but there on the floor sat her other pill, slimy and unswallowed. YUCK! Of course, then I had to give her the pill myself.
I held her collar with one hand, opened her mouth with the other and tried to place the pill far back on her tongue, then I tilted her head back and stroked the front of her throat to entice her to swallow. Wahoo! Success on the first try--oh no, she didn't swallow it after all. I hope I don't have to continue this for the next month until all her pills are gone. Kudos to everyone who has to administer medication to someone else each day, human or pet wise.

Pets are delightful. We have dogs because Larry isn't a cat lover, but I had all kinds of pets growing up and I'm glad our kids had that experience as well.