Another week of summer has flown by...

I must admit I'm getting tired of the endless heat...this is one of the hottest summers we've had in a while. Right now, we are getting a new geothermal heating and cooling system installed and the A/C is off. It's not hot in here yet...I turned the thermostat down to 68 degrees this morning and it was about 70 degrees when they arrived so I'm hoping that it will stay cool for a good part of the day. If not, the fans are on standby...

I'm thinking about the beginning of the school year...Michael's last year at home and only two more for my Johnny. Where has the time gone? It's hard for me to believe my homeschooling years will soon be behind me. I was looking at a homeschooling website and I was getting sad thinking about the early years and how I almost wish I could go back and have all the options they have now and that I could do a few things over. Hindsight...

We are going on vacation next month... the last half of September...to Texas. The boys, especially Michael, have always wanted to visit Texas and it's not a place to go to in the middle of the summer; though I imagine it may be pretty hot there in September too! We're looking forward to watching the Reds play the Astros in Houston, the beach at Galveston (hopefully no hurricanes!), the Alamo and Riverwalk in San Antonio, and Lake Travis near Austin where I'm hoping we will also get to visit with Will's sister and her family. Then we're moving on to Kansas City to meet the Gordon BOPs in person! I'm looking forward to that too though I'm always afraid that when I meet an online friend in person, that they won't like me...

After Kansas City, we're moving on to visit Will in Omaha. Last summer, he was out there visiting friends and he met the younger sister of someone he went to the Josephinum with. He started talking to her and visiting when he could this past year. He got laid off from his teaching job here at the end of the school year so he decided to move to Omaha. I must admit I've had mixed feelings! I'm happy for him because I know this is where his heart is leading him but I do miss getting to see him. Angela is a sweet young lady (I've had the privilege of talking to her twice) and I'm looking forward to getting to know her a little better when we visit there. It will be nice to see the town where Will is living...and him, of course!

I guess I should get off here and do something useful.

A blessed, peaceful day to you all....may you be ever mindful of His endless love....

32 Years of Wedded Bliss

Mark and I are celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary today....what a joy!!!

I can't believe how quickly the years have gone....I look back at pictures from our wedding day and we look like such babies at the age of 20! I was trying to remember things about that day and it's amazing how much of a blur it all is. It was a cool, rainy day; very unlike the weather we're having this year. I remember packing up the last of my clothes that I would need and my brothers dismantling my bed and taking it to our new apartment. I remember well my brothers helping me out to the car and I had to lift up my wedding dress and walk over boards in the front yard because my parents had work being done on the foundation of the house and everything was a mess. One brother was holding my arm and the other was carrying an umbrella over my head and we were all laughing....

I remember being slightly dismayed because the bridesmaids' bouquets were not what I had ordered and I didn't like them, but it wasn't too serious.

I remember the huge smile on Mark's face as I came up the aisle; he was a very relaxed bridegroom. His best man was the one who was a nervous wreck! I do wish I had a video of our wedding; that wasn't available in those days. I would love to be able to hear Monsignor's homily again...I can't remember a word he said.

After Mass, we went to visit Mark's grandparents who were in poor health and couldn't come. We had planned on having pictures taken in their yard and Mark's sisters had spent hours making it beautiful, but unfortunately the rain kept that from happening. But they loved seeing us...

I hardly had time to eat at the reception so by 10 o'clock, I had a headache and Mark went around trying to find if anyone had some aspirin I could take! That helped though I do remember feeling very tired by the time midnight rolled around. After the reception, we realized that the car we had had brought there for us to drive off in was almost empty of gas. (Poor planning on our part...hehe!) There were no all-night gas stations around, so we went to my grandmother's farmhouse and Mark put gas in the car from the gas tank we had there for farm equipment and I sat in the farmhouse in my wedding gown with my grandmother and great-aunt to wait...they loved getting to have me all to themselves for a few minutes!

It was definitely a happy, exciting day.

And since we have been blessed with our joys and our sorrows but I know He is with us through them all....blessing our love, blessing our faithfulness to each other, showering us with His gifts of faith, hope, and love...

God is good, indeed!

I love helping at the Bible Institute but it does run a body ragged. As a result, I'm now running a fever and have a nasty cold. But on the bright side, it's a good excuse to take it easy for a few days! Hopefully, it won't last too long...

I'm enjoying catching up on my email, paying the bills, and doing the type of things that don't take much energy. I was actually able to do my normal morning prayer time today though I must admit I stayed in bed a bit longer today.

I'm also enjoying looking out the windows at our flower beds. Goldfinches are eating our coneflower seeds, hummingbirds are at our cannas, and all types of butterflies are enjoying our butterfly bushes...absolutely beautiful! I can't believe it's August already though I must admit I am looking forward to it becoming a bit cooler...the endless heat is getting old.

A blessed, peaceful Monday to all....

I am always struck by the irony of the fact that when we're working at the Bible Institute every year, my prayer life suffers horribly that week. I find myself doing my morning prayer as Mark and I drive there. We do go to Mass there everyday, but by the end of the day, I am so exhausted that I don't have the energy for more than a simple prayer of "Thank you, dear Lord, for getting me through this day".
Last night we didn't stay for the evening session....I was out of clean clothes and needed to do laundry and John had been home alone most of the day. I came home and threw a load of laundry in and sat in the quiet of my room and prayed a rosary....heavenly.
Only two days to go until it is over for another year.
A blessed Friday to all....

Happy Birthday to our Michael!!!!

18 years old today....

I'm back again....

Suffering through my normal summer blues...driving me crazy some days but I know it will get better in a few weeks...and not every day is bad.

Bible Institute begins tonight and I'm hoping that it won't be as stressful as I think it's going to be. The youth group had the opening night of their play "Tobit"(based on the book of Tobit) last night and both of my darlin' sons were in it. John had several nonspeaking roles (and did a great job!) and Michael had one of the lead roles.... Sarah's father, Raguel. He was the comic relief of the play and I received many compliments last night on his performance, which is always fun! They do it again on Monday night and then the weeks of practice and all the fun it entails will be over....

Michael turns 18 next week and it absolutely boggles my mind. In 14 months, all of my children will be legally adults...how did that happen???!!!!

"I don't remember growing older; when did they?"

But seriously...I am going to try to get back to blogging again. I think I need the outlet of it. Life has changed quite a bit these last few months...one big joyful thing; others sad and stressful. Not many people read this any more, especially people I know IRL, so it will probably be a good place for me to write. If it wasn't for me darlin' husband I would be feeling terribly lonely these days. It feels as if the dear Lord is stripping me of so many of the people who I thought were my support and showing me that I need to rely on Him alone...

Off to take a shower and finish some laundry then head up to Xavier University with my Johnny to help people move into the dorms for Bible Institute. It promises to be a hot one...they're saying 97 degrees...yikes!

A blessed, peaceful Friday to all...

Hello Again

I have really lost my interest in updating. I'm not sure why but I have. I have kept reading everyone's updates on my subscription list though I must admit I haven't commented frequently.
Life has changed so much these last few months. I took Michael out of his high school co-op at Christmastime and so I'm much busier teaching him and John, but I am much happier homeschooling this way. I have my peace back. I was not enjoying the co-op experience at all this year so I'm so glad that I decided to do this and our dear Lord has blessed this decision.
Michael also started a job six weeks ago. He works at a local Catholic elementary school cleaning everyday for 3 hours in the late afternoon. It's really a perfect job for him.
Beth is busy working and decorating her new condo and she also broke off with her boyfriend of 7 years. She started talking to me about the possibility after Christmas and I have spent many hours talking to her these last few months. She is doing well with it all though she surely shocked a lot of people! The only problem is all the guys who are asking her out and she's not interested and she has to nicely tell them no.
It is so different than what I expected to be happening now...for a long time we thought we would be planning a wedding for 2011 and now there's definitely not a possibility of that! The only thing that makes me sad is that I was really looking forward to being a grandma in about two or three years...hehe....
The dear Lord made me wait a long time to become a mama and I guess now He's going to make me wait a long time to be a grandma. As Mark always told me back in our waiting days..."Good things come to those who wait."
I just sit and watch my friends who are my age and younger becoming grandmas just like I had to sit and watch everyone else becoming a mother first but God has a wonderful plan in everything!

So I'm busy but happy and content....these last six months have been some of the happiest I have ever felt. There are many ways which the dear Lord has healed me emotionally these last few months and I am eternally grateful. As long as we live, we grow and mature. God is good, indeed....always.

I hope and pray that all of you are well....
A blessed day to all...