The yard was screaming for attention today, and with rain in the forecast we had to do it or else....
Nelson wanted to finish chopping up the fallen tree (it's the job that keeps on giving!). I really really really wanted this ugly shrub removed near the driveway as it impedes my view when backing out into the street.
My inlaws aren't afraid of a little physical labor- plus I reminded them they had to earn their keep.....
We put them to work on hauling a few branches, and oila! The yard is vastly improved. They deserve a round of applause <clap clap clap>.
One of my neighbor's walked her dog as we were working in the yard, and we chatted briefly. She's a very sweet lady that watches out for an elderly neighbor, so I know her heart is full. Not long after we'd retired from the work, she came over with a plate of cookies, saying we'd worked so hard, she thought we'd like some goodies.
Really? People are still this good? Every neighbor we've met thus far, has commented on what a great street this is. YES! I love that the people here love this place, and take care of each other. That's exactly the kind of neighborhood we desire. That's thing 16- neighbors loving on neighbors.
Now...what shall I do to return the favor????
Monday, September 5, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Thing 15
I drove my car into a ditch. There, I said it. Completely my fault, although I'd like to say the ditch just jumped out and grabbed my car. But I'm a better woman than that- I can take my lumps.
You don't need the details- or do you? Let me set the scene for you....I was on my way to pick up the inlaws and Charlie, who were hiking not too far from our house. I went to make a u-turn in the road, and thought I could clear the turn with the grass in front of me. Turns out I was wrong. Very wrong. Under the grass was a huge ditch, and a concrete block in front of my tires. Forwards or in reverse, the car wasn't budging. Neither Audrey or I was hurt, but we were blocking traffic, and at 5pm, that's not so good.
A nice older man asked if I needed help. In between making calls on my cell phone, I was able to answer him. He was kind enough to call the police. Within minutes, I had a Doctor in scrubs stop and ask me the same thing, then a guy on his motorcycle walked up and asked if we were all right. Wow. Luckily I had the ability to answer clearly in between trying to keep my cool.
Before long the police arrived. Turns out, he's a neighbor. Guess I better behave on the block from now on, right? He called the tow truck and within 15 minutes they had my car out of the ditch and my pride partly back in place. Not exactly how I wanted to meet my local law enforcement officers, but I'm thankful they were there to help.
It's been a wild ride these past 10 days. Now that I've taken one or two for the team, I think we'll be good for a bit.
Thing #15 that I love about this move.....friendly helpful people, in time of need. With 9/11 right around the corner, it's a true testament to the spirit of this country. All those people could easily have kept driving, laughing at my ridiculous mistake. Instead, they chose to pause and see if anything was needed. It was proof that people are still good and kind. May I be so blessed to return the favor.
You don't need the details- or do you? Let me set the scene for you....I was on my way to pick up the inlaws and Charlie, who were hiking not too far from our house. I went to make a u-turn in the road, and thought I could clear the turn with the grass in front of me. Turns out I was wrong. Very wrong. Under the grass was a huge ditch, and a concrete block in front of my tires. Forwards or in reverse, the car wasn't budging. Neither Audrey or I was hurt, but we were blocking traffic, and at 5pm, that's not so good.
A nice older man asked if I needed help. In between making calls on my cell phone, I was able to answer him. He was kind enough to call the police. Within minutes, I had a Doctor in scrubs stop and ask me the same thing, then a guy on his motorcycle walked up and asked if we were all right. Wow. Luckily I had the ability to answer clearly in between trying to keep my cool.
Before long the police arrived. Turns out, he's a neighbor. Guess I better behave on the block from now on, right? He called the tow truck and within 15 minutes they had my car out of the ditch and my pride partly back in place. Not exactly how I wanted to meet my local law enforcement officers, but I'm thankful they were there to help.
It's been a wild ride these past 10 days. Now that I've taken one or two for the team, I think we'll be good for a bit.
Thing #15 that I love about this move.....friendly helpful people, in time of need. With 9/11 right around the corner, it's a true testament to the spirit of this country. All those people could easily have kept driving, laughing at my ridiculous mistake. Instead, they chose to pause and see if anything was needed. It was proof that people are still good and kind. May I be so blessed to return the favor.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
For my hubby
Last night, Nelson mentioned that it was time for me to write another post because he was needing one to uplift him. "You manage to put a positive spin on negative things" he said so sweetly. It was going on day 4 of no electricity, so you can understand his pain (and mine).
Four days and 108 hours of no electricity. Makes you wonder how people in the "old days" did without it.
I could bore you with all the things you should have on hand if a hurricane ever comes your way, but I won't. The only thing I'm going to tell you is this : get a generator. If you do nothing else, buy one.
We could have had it WAAAAYYYYY worse, trust me. All around us, rivers were flooding, roads collapsing and people evacuated. My home and family were in tact, which we can only attribute to God's grace.
It would be easy to tell you all the awful things about going through this. Truthfully, there weren't that many- they were inconveniences if anything. There were so many positives that came about thanks to Irene, and I'd like to share them with you:
- Our home is situated on the top of a hill (albeit a small one), which protected it from much of the basement flooding fears we had. Our neighbors across the street had the town firetruck in on Sunday, and they spent over 7 hours pumping out their basement.
- Two large branches/trees fell in our yard. Neither hit the house or garages. Can you say LUCKY?!!
- A co-worker loaned Nelson a chainsaw to chop the tree, and all four of us bonded while stacking the wood. Charlie, ever the optimist mentions "one good thing about this hurricane- free firewood!" Love this kid.
- The same day, our neighbor loaned us a generator. <cue the Hallelujah chorus> Now the frig could be hooked up to keep our food safe, and so could the coffee maker for morning survival. The neighbors are owed big time (gift idea suggestions?).
- The kids were supposed to begin school on Monday. Two days of postponements and they finally made the call to start next Tuesday. Secretly, I was thrilled to have a bit more of summer, even though I was mentally geared for getting back to routine.
- School being cancelled meant the kids had to come with me to a Dr. appointment. It was a mere ten minutes away, but we saw the congestion on the opposite side of the road, en route, and knew we wouldn't be coming home that way. Charlie is a phenomenal map reader, and thanks to his skills, he was able to navigate us home with no less than 5 detours. Over two hours of trying to get home and we did. On a normal school day, I'd have had to navigate that treacherous experience alone- I'm so thankful I didn't have to!
- Running water. We had it. It was cold, but I'll take it.
- My tendency to save stuff, saved me. For some reason, I held onto a portable propane burner. This wonderful little contraption allowed us to have food and hot water, when needed.
- Dishes by candlelight. This is by no means something I would choose to do nightly, but in this case, it was soothing, in a weird, mindless, kind of way.
- Not having to cook. I mean really cook, as in needing a recipe. It was simply enough to look in the cupboard and try to be creative. No one complained. Now that it's over, does this mean I can't cry foul?
- All of the emails, calls and messages from friends and family, wondering how we are in this circumstance. We are so blessed to have so many praying and pulling for us.
We move on from here, forever remembering our first week in this house- what a memory!
Four days and 108 hours of no electricity. Makes you wonder how people in the "old days" did without it.
I could bore you with all the things you should have on hand if a hurricane ever comes your way, but I won't. The only thing I'm going to tell you is this : get a generator. If you do nothing else, buy one.
We could have had it WAAAAYYYYY worse, trust me. All around us, rivers were flooding, roads collapsing and people evacuated. My home and family were in tact, which we can only attribute to God's grace.
It would be easy to tell you all the awful things about going through this. Truthfully, there weren't that many- they were inconveniences if anything. There were so many positives that came about thanks to Irene, and I'd like to share them with you:
- Our home is situated on the top of a hill (albeit a small one), which protected it from much of the basement flooding fears we had. Our neighbors across the street had the town firetruck in on Sunday, and they spent over 7 hours pumping out their basement.
- Two large branches/trees fell in our yard. Neither hit the house or garages. Can you say LUCKY?!!
- A co-worker loaned Nelson a chainsaw to chop the tree, and all four of us bonded while stacking the wood. Charlie, ever the optimist mentions "one good thing about this hurricane- free firewood!" Love this kid.
- The same day, our neighbor loaned us a generator. <cue the Hallelujah chorus> Now the frig could be hooked up to keep our food safe, and so could the coffee maker for morning survival. The neighbors are owed big time (gift idea suggestions?).
- The kids were supposed to begin school on Monday. Two days of postponements and they finally made the call to start next Tuesday. Secretly, I was thrilled to have a bit more of summer, even though I was mentally geared for getting back to routine.
- School being cancelled meant the kids had to come with me to a Dr. appointment. It was a mere ten minutes away, but we saw the congestion on the opposite side of the road, en route, and knew we wouldn't be coming home that way. Charlie is a phenomenal map reader, and thanks to his skills, he was able to navigate us home with no less than 5 detours. Over two hours of trying to get home and we did. On a normal school day, I'd have had to navigate that treacherous experience alone- I'm so thankful I didn't have to!
- Running water. We had it. It was cold, but I'll take it.
- My tendency to save stuff, saved me. For some reason, I held onto a portable propane burner. This wonderful little contraption allowed us to have food and hot water, when needed.
- Dishes by candlelight. This is by no means something I would choose to do nightly, but in this case, it was soothing, in a weird, mindless, kind of way.
- Not having to cook. I mean really cook, as in needing a recipe. It was simply enough to look in the cupboard and try to be creative. No one complained. Now that it's over, does this mean I can't cry foul?
- All of the emails, calls and messages from friends and family, wondering how we are in this circumstance. We are so blessed to have so many praying and pulling for us.
We move on from here, forever remembering our first week in this house- what a memory!
I love electricity
Today is Wednesday.
We lost power on Saturday night.
There's a lot of things in life I could do without. Electricity isn't one of them.
We lost power on Saturday night.
There's a lot of things in life I could do without. Electricity isn't one of them.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Say what?!
I'm a California girl. That's where I spent the first 24 years of my life. We lived with earthquakes.
Then I moved to Maine. Snowstorms became a usual occurrence, and I quite enjoyed them. A pot of soup on the stove and a good book with which to curl up, and I was set.
But hurricanes? HELLO- I don't know a thing about dealing with those!
Here we are, the first week in our house and in between unpacking boxes, I'm supposed to think about getting batteries (because of course, any I may have, are in a box somewhere!) and gallons of water and plenty of food. WHAT?!
This is me yesterday- off to Walmart to be prudent as my smart hubby suggested. Thought I was ahead of the game, but apparently hundreds of locals had the same idea. Walmart was cleared out of D batteries. The kids and I weren't leaving the store until we'd covered every corner, making sure every display of batteries was checked. Sure enough, in the toy aisle, there were a few packs of D's left- BINGO. Mills family score: 1
Today, I had to return some things to Lowes, and figured we try to get more batteries (I hear my father's voice in my head telling me to have plenty on hand). Surprise! They were all sold out of batteries and flashlights. You wouldn't believe the number of people buying generators.....Mills family score: 0
We've got an ample stash of candles, a battery operated radio (boom box anyone?) and board games to combat the boredom that will arise should we lose power. This is a head's up that I might be off the grid for a few days....
The kids are well prepared, and we're trying to keep them calm in what could otherwise be a very frightening scenario. It's better to plan for the worst, we keep telling them. That doesn't mean it will happen. There's lots of prayer happening here too; praying for those getting hit first, and prayer for us as we try to deal with a unique "adventure". The kids are supposed to start school on Monday, but that may not happen given the extenuating circumstances. That's one way to avoid making those dreaded school lunches!
I love having visitors. But I don't know any Irene and she has plans to drop in soon.....
Keep praying. Everyone along the east coast could sure use it right now.
Then I moved to Maine. Snowstorms became a usual occurrence, and I quite enjoyed them. A pot of soup on the stove and a good book with which to curl up, and I was set.
But hurricanes? HELLO- I don't know a thing about dealing with those!
Here we are, the first week in our house and in between unpacking boxes, I'm supposed to think about getting batteries (because of course, any I may have, are in a box somewhere!) and gallons of water and plenty of food. WHAT?!
This is me yesterday- off to Walmart to be prudent as my smart hubby suggested. Thought I was ahead of the game, but apparently hundreds of locals had the same idea. Walmart was cleared out of D batteries. The kids and I weren't leaving the store until we'd covered every corner, making sure every display of batteries was checked. Sure enough, in the toy aisle, there were a few packs of D's left- BINGO. Mills family score: 1
Today, I had to return some things to Lowes, and figured we try to get more batteries (I hear my father's voice in my head telling me to have plenty on hand). Surprise! They were all sold out of batteries and flashlights. You wouldn't believe the number of people buying generators.....Mills family score: 0
We've got an ample stash of candles, a battery operated radio (boom box anyone?) and board games to combat the boredom that will arise should we lose power. This is a head's up that I might be off the grid for a few days....
The kids are well prepared, and we're trying to keep them calm in what could otherwise be a very frightening scenario. It's better to plan for the worst, we keep telling them. That doesn't mean it will happen. There's lots of prayer happening here too; praying for those getting hit first, and prayer for us as we try to deal with a unique "adventure". The kids are supposed to start school on Monday, but that may not happen given the extenuating circumstances. That's one way to avoid making those dreaded school lunches!
I love having visitors. But I don't know any Irene and she has plans to drop in soon.....
Keep praying. Everyone along the east coast could sure use it right now.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Thing 14
It might be a little thing for some of you, but for me this thing is a BIGGIE.
I have windows in my laundry area. Did you catch that? Windows- plural.
Are you envisioning me doing a happy dance? Because I am! Almost fourteen years of marriage and all of that time spent doing laundry in dark, dank, depressing spaces.
That time is over. My walls are a nice bright, HAPPY color, and there's a window in front of me and behind me as I launder.
This is one super happy housewife.
Bring on the dirty clothes I say!
I have windows in my laundry area. Did you catch that? Windows- plural.
Are you envisioning me doing a happy dance? Because I am! Almost fourteen years of marriage and all of that time spent doing laundry in dark, dank, depressing spaces.
That time is over. My walls are a nice bright, HAPPY color, and there's a window in front of me and behind me as I launder.
This is one super happy housewife.
Bring on the dirty clothes I say!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Baker's Dozen
My mind and feet need a serious break from all the unpacking. I LOVE to organize, but moving forces you to do it, and where's the fun in that? Plus, it's the ENTIRE house that needs organizing, not just one closet or cabinet. So here I am, trying to forget about what needs to be done, knowing it will all wait for me.
Since we're up to thing 12, I thought I'd give you a "twofer", a baker's dozen if you will and add in an extra thing we're loving.....
Yesterday, the moving truck announced to the neighborhood that we were here. We had 3 neighbors come by at different intervals to say welcome. It was a relief to take a break from the work and enjoy a few minutes of conversation in the sunshine. Every family that stopped by was friendly and each one stated what a great street this is. There are more kids on the block than we realized, which is wonderful news for C and A. Thing 12 is that God put us smack in the middle of another awesome neighborhood. All those little things that led us to THIS house on THIS street were not coincidence. We'd been telling the kids all along that God already knew which house would be ours, and who our friends would be, but we just had to be patient in waiting for Him to reveal it to us. I LOVE the revealing of things that he'd promised us. God is good!
Thing 13 is this: we enjoy listening to contemporary Christian music on the radio. In this region we are blessed to have 2 stations that provide such music, one being KLOVE (a national station). Driving in the car is a pleasure when you have great music to sing along to! My kids are accustomed to it now, and the bigger blessing is listening to Audrey sing along to the music in the car. Sometimes at home, I even catch her singing the songs to herself. Talk about a positive impact. I love that our daily time in the car includes praising our creator.
Time to head back to those boxes. Hopefully I won't be underwater for too much longer.....! :)
Since we're up to thing 12, I thought I'd give you a "twofer", a baker's dozen if you will and add in an extra thing we're loving.....
Yesterday, the moving truck announced to the neighborhood that we were here. We had 3 neighbors come by at different intervals to say welcome. It was a relief to take a break from the work and enjoy a few minutes of conversation in the sunshine. Every family that stopped by was friendly and each one stated what a great street this is. There are more kids on the block than we realized, which is wonderful news for C and A. Thing 12 is that God put us smack in the middle of another awesome neighborhood. All those little things that led us to THIS house on THIS street were not coincidence. We'd been telling the kids all along that God already knew which house would be ours, and who our friends would be, but we just had to be patient in waiting for Him to reveal it to us. I LOVE the revealing of things that he'd promised us. God is good!
Thing 13 is this: we enjoy listening to contemporary Christian music on the radio. In this region we are blessed to have 2 stations that provide such music, one being KLOVE (a national station). Driving in the car is a pleasure when you have great music to sing along to! My kids are accustomed to it now, and the bigger blessing is listening to Audrey sing along to the music in the car. Sometimes at home, I even catch her singing the songs to herself. Talk about a positive impact. I love that our daily time in the car includes praising our creator.
Time to head back to those boxes. Hopefully I won't be underwater for too much longer.....! :)
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