This parade only had wagons, people or horses. No motor vehicles. There were also marching bands from different schools in the area. After awhile the aroma got a little strong, but we saw a lot of very pretty horses.
After the parade I cannot remember what I did until I went to work cleaning houses. At 1:00 I stopped by the elderly lady that I help to see if I could come a little late. I gave her 2 zucchini that I got from our friend. She told me she was going to make a squash soup. Then I put a load of laundry in her washer and left for the other job. At that job, I cleaned 2 hours, then I returned to the other house and finished up her laundry and vacuumed. Her granddaughter came over with her husband and 2 kids. I'm sure they could help her with the laundry I didn't get done, as she had a lot.
We had just plain rice for supper, as I was too tired to cook. I didn't have any though, and just ate watermelon.
Susannah and Clemy spent a lot of their day with our friends. Clemy went on some rides and felt sick on the last one.
The 3 older kids ushered again. Tomorrow is their last day.
Tomorrow we clean the bank and the insurance offices tomorrow. If we all work together it won't take long.
Greg wants to go downtown to listen to some music with me, so I better go. Until tomorrow... Hasta Luego!
Despues... (after that) we went to do the "bank" job - cleaning job I mean. All 6 of us worked and we got out in an hour. Some of us worked less and waited for the others' to finish. After that I took Greg back to our van so he could finish working on it. Then, 4 of us went to clean the insurance offices. We got it done in 35 minutes. That's a record, but if you counted all our time separately, it's not as good as when Gideon and I clean by ourselves.
Now we are home. I'm doing laundry and going to REST.It worked out really well having both sets of friends over at the same time. The 2 husbands knew each other from playing basketball together a couple of years ago. Their seemed to be enough in common with everyone for a good visit for all. There were 10 kids here altogether, and 6 adults.
I get Mondays off if I work on Thursday morning, then come back Thursday evening at the doctors' offices (cleaning). I like Monday off!
We are starting home school tomorrow. I have charts for the kids and we'll have a little meeting in the morning of our goals.... I got a really good Algebra 1 curriculum that will be coming in the mail soon. It was made for home schoolers and comes with a CD teaching and text book. If we really like it, I hope to get the same curriculum for Susannah and Clemy. That will have to come later though.
I gave everyone their charts. The boys went downstairs to do their schoolwork. I gave Clemy and Susannah some placement tests in Math. Clemy did her schoolwork on my bed and Susannah on the kitchen table.
I spent a lot of my morning sorting through school books and "stuff", trying to find places for everything. We only have 1 bookshelf and it is very full. I put some books under my bed also. After we get some remodeling done, we can put another bookshelf downstairs.
My brother stopped by to visit. While we were visiting Gideon offered to make spaghetti for supper. I really appreciated that because then I could visit with my brother. It turned out good. I did stop by the store and got some more spaghetti sauce and bought garlic bread. I forgot the salad, so we had broccoli with it.
The girls and Levi walked to the library, then I went to pick them up.
We are all going to bed early.When I got home, I checked our garden. All the plants had succumbed to frost. The fruit was fine, only the plants dead. So we picked all the green tomatoes, jalepenos and squash.
I spent a great part of the day cutting up green tomatoes and jalepenos to put on the food dryer. I also took the food dryer apart and cleaned it out as it hasn't been used for 10 years. I let it dry in the sun before using it. It still works great.
Homeschooling went fairly well, considering that I was busy with other things a lot. Susannah has forgotten a lot of her math she learned last year so she is going to have to review some. The new Algebra 1 textbooks and CD's haven't arrived yet. Clementina got a lot of library books, so when she gets her schoolwork done she likes to read.
Greg took Gideon to work with him. He is framing a house about 20 miles away. The boys will probably work with Greg 1 or 2 days a week still.
For supper I made fried green tomatoes with onions, eggplant and bacon. I also made cookies earlier. My healthy ones wouldn't hold together very well. They were chocolate chip with sesame seeds and wheat germ.
We haven't eaten yet and Greg just brought Susannah back from gymnastics so I have to go now.
We went to church tonight. Upstairs in one room was the kids. In another room adults and the missionary challenge class. Downstairs the youth.
In the missionary challenge class he taught about how to write a personal testimony. This class is for Christians, so the writing would be about 1. Before I met Christ - what my life was like. 2. How I met Christ - what happened and 3. How my Christian life is going and what I have learned. We each spent 10 minutes writing an outline and then different people shared their testimonies. The pastor encouraged people to write a more detailed and then share it - perhaps with family, friends. He even suggested you-tube. I thought of my blogs.
I do believe as a Christian I need to share my faith. I try to share in a more natural way and intertwine what I say with every day life. But I don't think I have as much courage as some do at times, knowing others will disagree or find fault. I do want to be true to God in what I share and not worry about what people think of me. In some ways I think we should be concerned with how we share and try not to offend as much as possible. But sometimes that is inevitable.
Tonight, after church, there was a lady outside that came up to Greg and told him her story. Her 14 year old son got in trouble for what she said were minor things. They were going to send him to a group home, or a place for teens. A guy in a blue car that she didn't know showed up and told her son he would hide him and took off with him. That is so scary. She asked us to pray for him. His name is Stephan if you want to pray with me. I am really concerned for this kid. Who knows what kind of person took him away. Unless God intervenes she may never see her son again.
In the morning I went to the Chevron gas station and had coffee with Greg inside. There was a policeman just leaving and Greg talked to him about the boy that I had wrote about last night. He was getting into trouble and was supposed to go to a boys home, according to his mom. She also told us that he got into a car of a man she did not know. I was really concerned. The police told Greg that about every 2 days she reports her son missing. He said she was "not all there". I feel bad for her. I wonder how people like her get to be like they are now. Was she always that way or did something happen to her?
It's getting difficult to write at night sometimes. That's when I like to write, but it's also family time.Today has gone pretty well so far. I still got to work later than I should have, but working fast I got it all done in time.
I did the 1st Algebra 1 lesson with the boys. It comes with a 10-15 minute lecture on CD first. Gideon didn't want to do it, as it was too easy, but I told him we were all going to anyway. He missed 2, so I guess unless he gets 100 % he can't say anymore. It is a fun program with pictures.
I am utilizing the different subjects I have on the computer. We don't have one set "curriculum", so I mix and match different things. It's way more interesting that way. I am hoping to get some friends who have skills in different areas and ask them if they will teach a class.
Levi is a genius. He was able to connect all our computers together so I can use files off of the other ones and vise versa. He still has some bugs to work out, but now I can use the printer from my laptop, as long as the other computer is on. Levi said what he did was actually pretty simple, but it sounds quite complicated to me.
I am also using the "break timer" that gomedome made available when he was doing his blog.
I found a really basic Bible study online. It's free, and if you want you can send in the answers to the quiz at the end. Here's the link for it. It has different levels and looks fun.
Greg has been working long hours doing construction. His shoulder was hurting yesterday. I'm not sure construction is doing his body any good. Janitorial is less demanding I think. If we were able to get enough janitorial jobs then he would quit doing construction. But if I know him, he probably will keep doing it, because he likes it and if the job is there he will take it. I don't want to get more cleaning jobs than I can do on my own, or I'll be in trouble. We are not in the position to hire employees yet.
I need to go check on all the children.
Levi's finger is getting better. It's still sore, but healing.
A week or so ago I paid a bill with Bill Pay with our bank. But, the problem was that the default account was my eldest sons' and had been closed for awhile. The bill was reversed and they suspended my ability to use Bill Pay. I called them today and almost got it straightened out, but got cut off. Finally, in the afternoon I went to our bank and "Tim" helped me get it fixed.
I cleaned one house in the afternoon for 2 hours. The other one I worked for 1 1/2 hours, helping an elderly lady with her laundry, vacuuming, mopping and visiting.
Susannah cleaned the fridge and made cookies when I was gone today. That is one job I do not like to do, and it is so nice when she helps with it.
When I was done I ended up getting U-Bake pizza, as I didn't have time to make supper. Then, the kids and I drove to our friends' (10 minutes late) to baby sit for their 3 kids. The parents had a date night with another couple we know. The other couple are the doctors where I clean offices. They had fun and a much needed date.
While we were at our friends', I left for awhile to take the clothes out of the elderly ladies' washer and hang them up. I hate leaving wet clothes in her washer, as she can't go down the stairs and has to call her son to help her. Or, worse, she will try to go down. She can hardly walk and I don't want her to get work. The other house I work at is a few blocks away, so I stopped by to get my check. I told her $25, when I actually was supposed to get $45. I was tired and wasn't thinking straight. So, tomorrow I have to go back and get another check. I don't want to let it go for a whole week.
I am very thankful for all the fresh veggies and fruits we were able to eat this summer. I wanted to go to the Farmers' Market tonight, but didn't have any time, so I missed out. They will still have at least 2 or 3 more before they close down for the winter. I hope next week I can go and get something good to eat!
Well, I need to get to bed. I will try to catch up on reading blogs tomorrow. It is getting difficult to find time to be on blogit. I am busy all day and then Greg doesn't want me to stay up late. So that leaves no time. But, it will all work out.
Susannah cleaned the fridge out for me today and also made chocolate chip cookies. Susannah cleaned the fridge out for me today and also made chocolate chip cookies.I was very glad when we got the 2nd cleaning job done, as I didn't really want to clean today.
I felt a little down. I think I started getting in the wrong frame of mind, saying things like, "I don't have any friends here." Then I remembered Velda, but thought she was so busy all the time.
After that, Greg said he would take me out for coffee. Right about that time, Velda and Richard showed up and they ended up going with us. We had a very nice visit. God knew I needed them to come when they did.
They had some sad news to share though. One of the nice "kids" that worked at the coffee shop died about a week ago. I'm not sure how, but it could have been a drug overdose. There was one this last week with a guy about the same age - 23 -
About a week or so ago I was thinking about him and thought of praying for him. He seemed to be on my heart. Why he died, I do not know. Why I felt to pray for him, (as I don't even know him), I don't know. But God knows why.
I just got off the phone with my daughter in Mexico. She is doing good and I miss her.
I called the lady I worked for yesterday and told her I had said the wrong amount for my check. She's going to pay me the difference next week.
It is still quite warm in the day here, but at night it could get cold. I bring all my house plants in at night. I dug up my flowering cactus and hope to keep it alive all winter indoors. We might buy a grow light to keep our plants healthy.
I drove out to the ranch this afternoon to get some canning jars and my canner that has been in storage. After I had driven a mile down the road, Clemy popped her head up. I didn't know she had wanted to come. Susannah stayed home with the boys, as they had to usher again tonight. It was Susannah's idea. It reminded me of the time our dog "Sarah" came to church with us. We had gotten half way to town when she popped her head up. It was almost as if she was saying, "I wanted to go too!" At that time we were meeting in a home fellowship, so that day our dog came too!
Anyway, I got my canning jars and then we ended up eating supper with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. After visiting awhile I drove back into town, giving my nephew a ride to his apartment.
When Clemy and I got home, the "hidden" house key had been moved and I couldn't find it. So, we tried to get in the window, but the stupid storm windows kept falling shut on me. Finally, we went through a bedroom window, climbing up the fire escape stairs.
I was talking with my nephew on the way to town about how many people had a hide-a-key under their car or a "hidden" key under a rock or the mat of their house. We lost a key in Mexico that way. Some things had gotten stolen from the rental house, and the "hidden" key was missing. I thought I knew who did it, so I told her about how someone had broken into our house to see if she reacted. That happened another time in Mexico, when a cinch for a saddle had gotten stolen out of our horse trailer. I suspected one boy, so when I saw him, I asked him if he could keep a look out for it. He told me he would. I found out later from the neighbor boy, that he indeed had stolen it, but couldn't get it back because he had sold it for $5.
Now I'm home. My stomach has been feeling sick. I'm wondering if I still have the flu bug or if it's something else. I need to get going on the canning. I have 1 box of peaches to do, which really isn't very many. Susannah suggested just eating them, which might not be a bad idea. I'll see how many are left after I freeze a bag or 2.
We are all going to meet Greg for lunch at a park, near where he is working. The weather has been nice. Yesterday it was about 80 degrees I think. I am watching the Cook's 3 kids until Randy off work. They may stay later if everyone is getting along well. Yesterday they had a lot of fun. The boys are making a tree house and the girls played under it for along time, sweeping and making a pretend kitchen... In Mexico we had a tree house and that was Clemy's favorite place to play. She misses it a lot I know.
If I work in the morning tomorrow, then I'll get Monday off again. My friend who works at the doctors' offices is going to come in so I can clean. I like Mondays off. (There are 3 offices I can only clean when someone is there because of the patients' files)
It might be getting crazy in our town, as the Rodeo starts Wednesday. The last time I went to any of the Rodeo or town events was when I was 23 and worked for the Newspaper. I worked in the darkroom, and they used me as an extra photographer, until the main guy came. It was a great job. I really miss working in the darkroom, but with digital photography, it will only happen again if I do it as a hobby.
Greg worked all day doing construction. Today the boys worked with him. When he got off, we walked downtown to all the sights, sounds, and smells on main street. It was busy, with booths cooking Thai food, Chinese food, BBQ, hot dogs, caramel corn,... Booths that sold western wear, western purses, jewelry, Musicians with sound system. Musicians with only a guitar and a hat for donations. There was one musician that was singing Creedence Clearwater Revival music. It sounded original. It made me wonder if he was part of the band he was so good, but I knew he wasn't.
There was a booth with gospel tracts asking the 2 question test, "If you died do you know you would go to heaven?"
The second question was, "If yes, why?"
My 4th son wrote something on his blog the other day about how the sense of smell can trigger memories like no other sense. It worked quite well with me, remembering all the times I had gone to the Fair, carnival and the people I had been with. I also think music triggers memories as well.
Gideon made whole wheat french bread today. I should have helped him a little more, as there were a couple of things he could have done to make it better. But, it's still quite good. Making bread takes practice.
In the afternoon, our family walked around on main street to see the sights. I took a lot of photos for fun with my camera phone. I can't find our other camera, but it's around somewhere.
The 3 older children are ushering again. I suggested to them to say "sir" and "ma'am" to show respect and also they may get more tips. I don't know if they'll take me up on the suggestion or not.
Tomorrow is my housecleaning day. I only have 2 houses, but I am quite tired in the evening, so end up doing the 2 office jobs on Saturday with the family. If I ever have to do them on Friday I can, but I usually don't want to. I will have another housecleaning job soon, for the doctor where I clean the offices. She and her husband don't have time to clean their house. I've cleaned for them once. They live out of town and their home is very cool. It's very lived-in, but has rock floors and a "greenhouse" room that is between another room. It will probably be once a week. Another good thing about that job is that I'll be able to take the girls with me and they can do their school work while I'm cleaning. The boys could come also if they wanted to.
The weather is about perfect right now. It's between 80-90 in the day and cools down at night. I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. The area in Mexico, where we were has perfect weather from November to April. After that it gets hot. I will miss it again this winter.
My food co-op order came in yesterday. I got pinto beans, rice, licorice tea, chamomile tea, Pau de Arco bark, Slippery elm, black walnut hull tincture, rice milk and pearl barley.
Before we went to the main street events, I cut Greg's hair. It was getting pretty long and he at least needed a trim. The haircut started out great. It would have been the best I'd ever done. But... I got OCD about it and tried to make it perfect. So, he got the shortest haircut he's had in years. I felt really bad. He wore his hat tonight. Susannah said that it would probably grow out before Judah's wedding. I hope so.
To end a fruitful day I got a call from my daughter in Mexico. She was sick yesterday, but today is much better. I am so thankful that I was able to have a heart to heart with her.
I wrote this post on September 10th, so I'm a bit behind. I will try to get caught up soon!We live in this funny, old, crooked house. It has a lot of little rooms. Downstairs there is a room by the furnace room that we are using for storage. But in the furnace room is a small space I might make into an office. I would need to clean it up and put some good lighting in there. Maybe I can use it for a writing/art studio. It is very small, but I like small and it would be fun to have a space there. The only problem is that it will get really cold in the winter, unless we do some improvements.
The 3 older children at home are getting jobs ushering for the big "Round-up" that starts in a little over a week. It is the biggest deal in this town. It is one of the largest rodeos in the USA and Canada. Most of the fast food businesses and restaurants raise their prices for that week. If I had it together more, I would think of some little business to make extra money. I have thought about it, but decided that I just don't want to.
Many of the locals leave town or just stay at home. I haven't lived here since I was young, so I don't know if it's as busy as it was then. If so, then it will be crazy for awhile.
There's going to be a church meeting in the park with about 5 churches participating. There will be an "all you can eat" breakfast in a park one day. I figured that our family could buy a lot of food for the $49 it would cost all of us to go, so I think we'll stay home. Anyway I can make good biscuits and gravy if Greg wants some.
I don't have to get up early tomorrow, but I might still. Tomorrow will be an exceedingly busy day if I choose to clean the insurance office and bank in the evening. The good part is that I can do it on Saturday if I'm too tired.
The coolest thing that happened tonight was that when I was going out the downstairs back door, a little opossum was peering at me from under our picnic table. I took a picture with my phone camera. I was afraid to get too close for fear that it might attack me or something. It was probably a baby though. Later on, after it had gotten dark, Clementina was walking down the stairs and ran up saying, "There's an animal on the stairs!" By the time I went out there, it was gone again.
I woke Sunday morning feeling a little sick in my stomach. It lasted pretty much all day, then on Monday too. I think it was a bug I picked up from my sister a few days before. Thankfully it was not too bad. (most of the time)
One of the themes during the festival was to be connected to Jesus the way that He was connected to His father. Also, another theme I remember was to listen to what God says to me and then do it. One of the speakers was an ordinary guy, 68 years old. He had recently been to Africa and told about his friend who traveled with him to different villages. One of the stories was about how they were going to a village because his friend Pee Wee, (his nick name), said God had told him to go to a certain village. The older Canadian man started doubting because the car wasn't running well, it was hot... and everything seemed to be going wrong. The African, said to "Wayne", you wait and see, because I know God spoke to me about going there." Finally after they got there, they shared the gospel and everyone in the village believed. The village wanted them to come back in a few days, which they did.
Wayne also shared about another African man that was healed from some stomach ulcer that had hurt him for 3 years. Wayne videoed it, and the man kept rubbing his stomach and saying, "It doesn't hurt any more."
On Friday and Saturday night it rained very hard and the wind blew. I was so happy that our tent did not leak very much. It only leaked on the edges and a towel took care of that. Our children stayed with friends or under the big tent so they stayed dry too.
A lot of people did get wet though, but everyone seemed to be happy and deal with it in a good way.
Judah, (son #3) and his fiance' were there. Son # 4 was there also. I was able to talk to my "adopted" Mexican son's (old) girlfriend, and found out her side of the story. It sure makes a difference to hear both sides. I cannot give him any hope for their relationship. Now I need wisdom to share this with him in the right way.
My eldest daughter is gone now, :( and I am going to miss her a lot, but I know she is in a good place.
My 4th son bought a car, an old Datsun. It looks like a little sports car. He has his license now, but has to save money for the insurance and to fix a few things on it. When we stopped by the house he lives in, I picked all the ripe tomatoes as they were not being harvested. He said to pick them all. His garden is much better than ours. It is probably the soil.
Our family stayed at some friends' on Monday night. They made a really nice dinner for us. I picked green beans and we also had corn from their garden. Unfortunately by evening I wasn't feeling good again. I started getting a migraine and my stomach was upset again. By Tuesday morning I was OK. We
On our drive back to our desert(ed) town, we stopped in another town and the boys went to the skate park. I called a friend that I haven't seen for 5 years who lives there. We exchanged e-mails and want to get back in touch. In the next town we all bought shoes on sale at big 5. That was good, because where we live there is only Wal.mart and JC Penny's for shoes, not really a good choice. We can drive 1 hour away for shoes, but it was nice to get them on the way home.
It is hard for me to write about a lot of things when I miss a few days. Hopefully I will be able to write every day now.
I went grocery shopping today, and am going to make a meal plan. I am also doing inventory so I will remember what I have on hand. I just found out how to order from a food co-op, and will order on Monday. They are called Azure Standard and deliver in many places in the US now. They have health food and whole grains, herbs.... at good prices.
Well, I am back in the home routine. I went to bed by 9:30 and got up at 6:00 (or so). I want to try to shoot for 9:00 bedtime, even though it will probably be more like 10:00.
Greg just started a construction job working for a friend. That job is supposed to last 3 months.
Levi is making a bunk bed for his sisters'.
