Pieces of Flair!

I've been cleaning my folders/storage stuff lately. Took all my files out of husbands office space so that he can have "free" reign there to do his master's study stuff. So, all my files/storage will now go into my sewing area (small area by laundry area!!). I had this massive pile to sort through and can't believe all the junk!!!

Anyway, within this pile is some of my "antique" stuff. One item in particular is the pencil case I made in highschool out of blue jean material and velcro at the top (also a pocket on the front for notes from friends!!). It's really of no use anymore but I just enjoy seeing it every now and then. Well, during high school I enjoyed collecting pins and putting them on this pencil case. It was a way to show Identity!!! My teenage daughter saw it and asked about it (especially the pins) so I explained it's origin and then dug out some other pins that I had in my jewelry box. She got such a kick out of it! Then my oldest came in and exclaimed....hey, that's like Pieces of Flair! I thought to myself....cool, I have the original Flair!

Still makes me smile.....have an awesome day!

Various thoughts

I'm so excited about our tax refund!!! It is better that it has been in years because husband is no longer "self-employed" (pastoring). We are looking at appliance updates since most of ours are "found" ones given to us by family members or work friends. Our list includes microwave, dishwasher (adding this new because there is not one in the house...at least the automatic variety :-) !!), chest freezer (our side-by-side freezer section is just way too small for a family of 6!!), washer/dryer, and a flat screen TV. Our larger size one frizzled out and we are now watching TV on a 19" TV that we got from Vickie (thanks Vickie!). Husband is certainly hesitant about all those items so for now we are looking at just the kitchen things. Those items will greatly improve our meals and operations in the kitchen. Now we just need to find a handy friend to help up rearrange our lower cabinets and change our countertop so the dishwasher can fit. This all very exciting stuff.

This last week, I attended 2 meetings at church. One was to work on a summer youth intern. We had a candidate who we were ready to go with and then he back out last weekend. So, we ended up putting the whole thing on hold. We are hoping to find 6 interested people/couples to tag-team work with our youth over the next year (each taking a month at a time). We'll see. The person that is doing it now really doesn't offer anything of substance and challenge. So hopefully this will be a better option. The second meeting was our board of elders. This is a fun group, however, we are facing some declining attendance and shortages in funds for the budget. So there was much talk on how to approach members who are not attending regularly. Many of those are young families. I think that our family is pretty much the exception at church. We are always there for just about everything. Many (actually most) just don't do it. We are really seeing this struggle between the older generation and their style and the younger set. The service is pretty traditional (really lacks charisma but the preaching is good). They even increased the amount of Sundays with organ accompaniment from 1 per month to 2. This just about drives husband nuts!!! We are really seeing ourselves as "missionaries" at this point. I think if it wasn't for the pastor....we wouldn't be going there.

The last thing that is on my mind is that today....the Iowa courts overturned a previous ban on gay marriages. So for now, we are the 3rd state to allow this. Can you believe it?!!! I just never imagined that Iowa would be that liberal!!! Anyway, been thinking about Christian school again and possible home-schooling. I just don't want some of that thought going into my kid's young minds.

Have a blessed weekend....Mary

Spring Break recovery

I feel like I just survived some sort of marathon. Last week was spring break for the kids. They had the whole week off. This is an incredible amount of time when there is no holiday nearby, no funds (or time off) for a vacation, or no fun outdoor activity to go do (like the pool or the park...too yucky of weather). At other schools they usually pair spring break with Easter which works very well with our work schedules and usually allows us to travel to visit family. So, we ended up taking a night away after work last Thursday and then back home by Friday morning. We rented a nice suite at a motel in Pella (about 20 miles away). Then we went out to eat, swam at the pool and watched cable T.V. The hot tub was out of order and the in-room jacuzzi had yucky stuff in the jets when it was turned on, so the girls just played in the big tub while we watched TV. It was a good break but we all were extremely out of sync the next day!

Then there was a huge wedding at the church over last weekend which I had to work my cleaning schedule around (challenging!!) and husband had a "gig" at a church for Saturday night and Sunday morning (he did come home for the night however). That made the weekend somewhat stressful!

So we ended up wrapping up our "spring break" with a girl day yesterday with some friends (mom and her daughter who is friends with Lydia). We went shopping to Target, JC Penneys and Herberger's .....some great sales!!! And Elias went to their house and had a boy day with his friends and played Rock Band on the Wii. We all ended the day watching Celebrity Apprentice last night. We enjoy the business lessons that get portrayed by those on the show. It also gives some good life lessons to the kids. We also made a wish list for items needed at the house (as well as some repairs). We are expecting our tax refund soon and the final closure of my mom's estate. After blessing our church and putting away a chunk for an emergency fund (something that I have always wanted to do!!!) we are going to get at some appliances that need replacing and some other things....EXCITING!!

Blessings to you all.....Mary