Brain Drivel

Greetings, O Patient Ones! I have returned.

I think.

Even as I type this I am twitching because my free Saturday is only half free.

Remember how I was filling in as a sub for one of the janitors at our church? She was supposed to be back to work this week, but Monday she slipped on the treacherous ice and fell right on the incision from her carpal tunnel surgery, so I was on for one more week.

I never want to see a public toilet again - at least not to CLEAN it.

I was going to clean the youth building on Friday so as to all of my Saturday free, but it was not possible. All the teens spent Friday night there for a part of their 30 Hour Famine and aren't planning to clear out of the building until 1pm. That's when my mom and I will swoop in to scrub and polish and mop and vacuum and restock and play ping-pong.

I have actually enjoyed my stint as church janitor in some ways, but more than anything I have been reminded how very blessed I am to be able to NOT work. I love being a SAHM. I do NOT love working outside my home.

Not even for money.

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I get a new fridge Tuesday. Whoo-Hoo!!!!! The old one is a 1999 Frigidaire and it is unequivocally the worst loser of a fridge I've ever had the misfortune to rot food in. I will do the dance of joy when it is gone!!!

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I always do our taxes myself and we have already received both our Federal and State tax returns while most of you have not even filed yet. Bwa-hah-hah-hah!

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My Mom is next in line to move into Senior Housing. This is a wonderful thing because the apartment she is currently in is less than stellar (to put it mildly). This is stressful because it means ANOTHER move! Of course it won't be anywhere near as difficult as the last one. I hope.

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I just bought a Diva Cup. (not that you really wanted to know that.) I'm sick of spending good money on paper "products" that just end up in the landfill. So there.

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Other than my asthma (which is comparatively mild) none of us have been sick all winter long. (so far...yet) Praise the Lord!

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Tis snowing
and blowing
cold and wintry

I long for Spring!
with robins
and flowers
and bike rides (mud splayed up my back!)

For now I have to settle
for more daylight and
occasional days of melting,
dripping eaves and
teasing warm winds
Followed by a deep freeze

O for some Maine-al Warming!

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Just this morning I figured out how to PERMANENTLY make the font bigger on all my internet browser screens. O my happy (old and not so groovy) eyeballs!

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Oh look, ANOTHER MEME! However, this one is very cool. It was designed by my dear internetty friend Heather (who is not Hannah). It's called:

Look at This Stuff. Isn't it Neat?

Here's the low-down according to Heather:

The "Look At This Stuff. Isn't It Neat?" Meme rules:

Find five things around your house that say something about the person you are and snap a picture of them.

Tell us about them.

Link back to me in your post so I can be all nosy.

Tag five (or more...or less...I'm easy like Sunday morning, my loves) folks via their comments and tell us who you tagged.

OK. It was hard to limit it to five, but here we go:



First I present you with my Bible. it says everything we need to know about God and His plan for mankind and frankly, it says quite a bit about moi as well.

In addition to the the obvious (I'm a sinner in need of a Savior), it also reveals many of my defining characteristics. First of all I am a visual learner. See all those colors? They tell you that I need things to be marked and underscored and highlighted and annotated in order to remember it. Couple that with my Biblical version of choice - New American Standard - and you will discern that I am a stickler for accuracy (the NAS is one of the more literal translations) and that I am one who likes to really dig in and study my Bible as opposed to just reading it.

I despise paraphrases and "modern" versions. To my mind they are nothing more than pap.



Aha, what could this be? Why it's my wonderful iMac on a lovely rolltop desk. And gee, what's that on the computer screen? Ooooohhhhh. It's Groovy's Ruminations!

I am a Mac lover and proud of it. See that monitor? That's my whole, entire, complete computer. No cumbersome towers, no monster size monitor that takes up all your desk space, just sweet, glorious, virus proof simplicity - and my iMac weighs less than most laptops!

Then there's the whole blogging thing. Groovy really digs blogging when she's not scrubbing church toilets!



Blue Phrogs: I collect 'em. You can read more about that and see more pics HERE.



I am a musician. I play percussion, sing, and play my Fender shortscale Mustang Bass. it's the perfect guitar for gals with little hands!



Then of course, Groovy loves to cook. I've been making wedding and party cakes for about a million years or so. I love to host big dinner parties and do oodles of baking and experiments in my great big, monstrously huge kitchen. It truly is a dream kitchen, in spite of its lack of state of the art equipment. I am very thankful to have it. The only thing I'm not crazy about is having to clean the floor!

Alrighty. Here's the place where I'm s'posed to tag five people. But folks, I'm too tired to run today, especially considering all that work I have to do this afternoon, so you all take this meme and run with it, K? I won't be able to catch anyone until my asthma simmers down and the snow melts a bit so I can ride my bike.

Speaking of bikes (I'da posted a pic of mine for the meme, but that woulda broke the rules because it would have been SIX pics) and asthma, Mulletman and I are in training to ride in the Trek Across Maine this June. We're raising money for the American Lung Association of Maine.

I'll be making a more extensive post on the subject Monday or Tuesday (God willing), but if you want to get a headstart on sending in your support or learning more about the Trek, you can find some great links in my sidebar.

The Effects of Stress and the Blessings of God

I can't believe that I forgot to mention a very important occurance when I related my previous tale of woe.

So, I flew into Charlotte, NC on a late evening flight. Mom had to pick me up and then we'd drive the 40 minutes back to Rock Hill where she lived. She had just had her van serviced. Her intent was just to have her oil change and the tires checked, but the kind and thoughtful men at CarMax who were just looking out for her best interest (of course), talked her into the extra special, your-car-will-run-happily-forever-$400-service-job-of-doom.

According to Mom, all the way to the airport, the car acted "funny". All the way back from the airport she and I were both frantically praying for NO RED LIGHTS! because the engine was threatening to die every time we had to stop.

We made it back to her home, but she really needed to take it back to CarMax in the morning because the work was guaranteed and because there ain't no CarMaxes in backwoods Maine.

She left at 6:30am the day we were supposed to load the truck - the truck which we had not yet picked up. She didn't get back until 11:30!

All that time I was cleaning and packing a sweating and praying that everything was OK and starting to get a bit frantic that we wouldn't be able to get the truck there before our loading help arrived at NOON.

Well, it turns out that CarMax (bless their hearts) didn't want to hold her up overly long on that initial visit, so when they didn't have the recommended spark plugs for her van, they substituted some others; Others that were misfiring and threatening to destroy the electrical system of the entire van and kill us all!!!

(I can say that authoritatively because A. No auto mechanics read my blog, so they can't correct my misstatements and B. it sounds wonderfully dramatic!)

BUT, we did get the truck on time, the car IS all fixed, planets did not collide, and all's well as ends well.

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The Physical effects of All This Stress

Just thought you might be interested to know how all this anticipation and planning and fun and excitement has impacted my health...Not that you're REALLY interested, but I want to remember this so I can tell my great grandchildren impressive stories of how I almost died whilst helping Gramma move up to Maine.

I do love drama...

Anorexia. Diarrhea. Canker sores. Chronic insomnia. Racing heart. Numb brain. Itchy scalp. TMJ/ headaches. Bronchitis. Nervous meltdowns where I, who rarely cry, cried and cried and cried and cried. 10 years worth of aging. Exhaustion.

Fortunately, now that the worst of the stress is over, my body is starting to settle down too. My appetite is returning (darn!), I'm sleeping WAY better, the sores in my mouth are almost completely gone, my heart is too tired to race, my brain is starting to defog, and my jaw is beginning to relax.

I'm still dealing with mild bronchitis and an itchy head (curse you, foul vermin!) and some digestive difficulties.

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And now, the best part of all: The Blessings of God. In spite of and in the midst of all the difficulties, God's Hand has been VERY evident!

1.) Mm and I received a financial boon that lifted any stress over all the money we were spending on traveling hither and yon.

2.) Mulletman and Scout had a wonderful trip together without any relational tension. Trust me, that's a BIG deal!

3.) My Mom can be overbearing, obnoxious and/or annoying. I can be callous and self-centered and easily irritated - especially when I have no privacy. In spite of these potential leanings, we got along beautifully. I truly enjoyed her company and we worked well together as a team. We had loads of stress, but none of it was from being with each other! :-)

4.) Notcon4med and JessieU. Nuff said!

5.) I DID find an apartment that was affordable and fairly large, in a safe and convenient part of town.

6.) The landlord fixed everything that I tearfully brought to his attention. (Whew!)

7.) The truck ran GREAT!

8.) The cats survived the trip and are now happy and well adjusted to their new home.

9.) My husband is being very kind and helpful and supportive in getting Mom settled.

10.) The weather was absolutely perfect for the trip - cool and sunny. If it had been hot out, the health of the kitties would have been a very serious concern!

11.) My church came through and so many people volunteered to help with the move that I had to turn people down!

12.) Dawna and family for their help, for supper, for the welcome basket and for the bed.

13.) Mr. Tom being willing to come to my rescue at 6am before a full day of work!

14.) Mom's van wasn't hurt by my unloading faux pas.

15.) The truck came readily out of the muddy yard.

16.) It wasn't Mom and I who were in the horrible accident. (and may God have mercy on the families of those who were...)

17.) The second hotel was SO nice, and Mom got a good deal on the room/breakfast.

18.) A very nice man (albeit a little "rough" looking) rescued us when I pulled the truck and trailer too close to the gas pump and couldn't figure out how to maneuver the rig away from disaster.

19.) Only one item got damaged in the move and it's repairable.

20.) Mom is almost completely unpacked now and will be able to look for a job in this next week.

21.) We were able to get the truck picked up in time after the CarMax fiasco.

22.) Budget DID hook up the trailer and load the van onto it even after they told they wouldn't due to insurance restrictions.

23.) The van never shifted on the trailer.

24.) Grampy didn't fall or get sick while we were gone. (He and Grammy were watching the girls.)

25.) Grammy didn't get lice from the girls!

26.) I cleaned my house before the trip, so it wasn't a pit when I came home.

27.) Mm hates being the center of attention, so he didn't mind having a birthday celebration that was less than stellar.

28.) The girls have suffered absolutely NO negative effects from all this insanity. In fact, they have flourished!

29.) With all the physical problems I've had, I have NOT lost my voice, so I can sing on the Worship Team at church and I can sing at the women's conference with Cherie Adams on November 3rd.

30.) I KNOW that many folks who couldn't physically help us were actively praying for us.

31.) Mom and I never got lost (even though we FELT lost looking for the hotel after the traffic jam) or missed a turn-off.

32.) Now that I'm back I can finally get my new glasses. Bifocals, here I come!

33.) My sneakers are finally broken in.

34.) Oh, oh, oh! I almost forgot. Notcon4med brought her laptop full of tunes with her when we loading the truck. I was grooving to "He took the shackles off my feet so I can dance..." while loading the truck. ;-) That praise music did much to keep our spirits lifted!

35.) I actually feel ready to start school today.


Speaking of school, I guess I'd better get going. The giries and I have some catching up to do!

Thanks to all of you for the hugs and huggles and kind words and prayers!

May He richly bless you all!

Crawling Out From Under...

OK, I'm still feeling pretty whipped, but I figured I'd better post today or ya'll will think I died under my rock.

Lesse...Why don't we start with...

The Stressers

1. lice, Lice, LICE. We've made tremendous progress. Our extremely thorough nitpicking is now netting only 1 or 2 nits a day on the girls, none on me, and only 1 or 2 on Mulletman. Nonetheless, my head itches constantly and I am on the verge of total paranoia. A simple piece of lint is enough to make me run for the mayonaise and the tea-tree oil! It is absolutely unbelievable how all consuming an infestation can be. As you read the following, keep in mind that through ALL of this I was nit picking my own hair twice a day and worrying whether MM was doing his own head as he traveled and whether Grammy was doing a good enough job on the girls' heads.

2. Scout is gone now - all alone in his new world at Ft. Hood. He and Mm had a good trip together, but we still worry about him. We're praying for him to be wise financially, to work things out one way or another with his wife and children, and for God to raise up Godly men and/or families to take him under their wings.

3. The Big Move. I never, EVER want to do that again!

First was (were?) all the semantics of where Mom would live - I had to find her an apartment. Could she afford it? Would she like the one I picked? Was the landlord reliable? Was the neighborhood safe?

I found an apartment and went in the day before I was flying out to clean it up a bit and put in some housewarming gifts. I ended up working there for over 6 hours and finding SEVERAL things wrong with the place. It was so much dirtier than it had appeared at first and many things were not working properly. I was SO upset!

Then there was some marital discord as Mulletman struggled with being "tied down" even more than before (He REALLY wants to sell our house and go somewhere and DO something...but now his folks AND my mom are here and all of them need assistance.)

Then there were the ever changing plans: Who was flying where and driving where and doing what with whom and when and how and no, let's reaarange it all and pay more money for tickets and...ugh!

Four different men volunteered to help my mom load her truck. Only one showed up and that was after it was 95% done. Notcon4med, JessieU and I did ALL the loading. The next morning there were still quite a few odds and ends to clean and pack up, so Mom and I didn't even get on the road until noon. We had a fully loaded 16' truck and a full trailer with a van on it.

The kitties were so upset and stressed that they were hyperventilating and foaming at the mouth. Naturally this had a rather negative effect on us as well!

We only managed 5 hours the first day because there were SO many hills. The truck could only go 40-45 mph up the hills and we had to brake alot going down the hills so the trailer didn't go caty-wampus on us. We ate supper at the coveted Cracker Barrel, but both of us had upset stomachs and couldn't really enjoy our food.

We stayed that first night at a very mediocre Days Inn. We SNUCK the kitties in and then neither of us could sleep because we felt so guilty and because we still had so far to go and because we were so strung out and because the cats were stressed and kept fighting with one another.

We woke up after our fitful night and I had a complete meltdown. I had been trying so hard to be strong for my mom, but I was at the end of my reserves. I cried and cried and cried and cried!

After lots of hugs and reassurances, we smuggled the cats back out to the car (they were riding in their carriers in the back of the van) and went back in for the hot breakfast buffet waiting for us in the hotel restaurant.

It. was. awful.

Lumpy, lukewarm grits, hard biscuits, cold eggy casseroles, greasy potato whatever-it-was. The only edible food was the mixed fruit - and that was all canned! All this bounty was ours - all we could choke down -for only $9.95 EACH!!

Mom drove the whole second day. Our plan was to get past Hartford so we'd be past cities and traffic jams before we got another hotel. We decided to let the kitties be and just get as far as we could before dark. (They only seemed to get more upset when we went back to check on them, and they wouldn't eat or drink or use the litter box. They just hissed and growled and cried.) It was a great plan.

Unfortunately, Nothing ever goes as planned!.

We were right on target and looking forward to finding a hotel in the next 30 minutes. My mom had been driving the whole day and she was doing great. Then we hit the traffic-jam-from-Hell between Danbury and Waterbury, CT.

3 hours on a Sunday evening of either barely moving or sitting completely still. Mom and I were both already exhausted, but we worked hard to encourage each other. We sang songs, we prayed together, we told jokes. We prayed again in case it was an accident - that God would minister to all those involved.

Finally, around 9:30 at night things started moving again. We tried one exit that promised a hotel. Nothing.

We tried the next exit and after more stress and difficulty than I could ever manage to relate (picture an overwhelmed, exhausted old lady with cataracts driving 15 mph up and down poorly lit roads with steep hills searching, searching, searching...), we finally ended up at an extremely nice Microtel around 11pm. This time Mom was up front about the cats and we got a great price and the FREE continental breakfast was among the best I've ever had.

We had both been extremely worried about the cats. They'd been in the back of the car without food, water, or a litter pan for 16 hours! I actually had visions of opening the back and finding one or both of them dead. But they were both just fine. In fact they seemed happy as could be! They explored and played and ate and drank and didn't fight at all. Mom and I just collapsed.

In the morning, Mom had a meltdown. She cried and cried and cried and cried. Now it was my turn to hug and reassure her!

We didn't get out until after 9am. We needed the extra rest and we figured there was no use in leaving until rush hour was past. We found out that one person had died and that two people were in critical condition from the horrific accident that had caused the traffic jam...

Now we were in MY territory, so I drove. The hills weren't as severe, so I picked up the pace and in some places I actually went the speed limit! While pulling a trailer! With crosswinds! While my mom held onto the truck dashboard with white knuckles!

I didn't want to stop at all. I just wanted to GET TO MAINE!! I could smell the pine trees, but Mom wanted to stop somewhere to eat. We had a lovely meal at Ninety-Nine's -although I couldn't eat much of it and then pressed on.

We finally made it into Mom's new town around 5:30pm. We unloaded just enough stuff so that she and the kitties could sleep and have some food and then headed over to my house.

Now we faced an interesting conundrum; Where could we park the truck and trailer? I had the brilliant idea to drive it across my lawn and then pull it facing outward in my driveway.

Nothing ever goes as planned!

It had rained quite a bit while I was gone and the truck sank in the mud in the yard.

We. were. stuck.

OooooooKaaaaaay.

Fine.

I can deal with this.

The van is heavy. If I just unload the van from the trailer, then the truck will rally and work its way out of the mud and everything will be dandy. After all, how hard could it be? I had watched the guy hook it up and load it...

Nothing ever goes as planned!

It was dark, I was beyond exhausted and I forgot one very necessary step for unloading the car ie. Jacking up the front of the trailer. Sooooooo, I got the car body STUCK on the frame of the trailer.

I cried and cried and cried and cried.

Then I called Mr. Tom, our very good friend and asked him to HELP ME PLEASE! because Mulletman wasn't back from his trip to Texas yet and I was a damsel in distress. Mr. Tom said he'd come frist thing in the morning.

In the meantime I took Mom back to her apartment and dumped her dropped her off. The I spent a sleepless night worrying about lice and really big tow trucks and ruining my mom's van and the fact that no one - not one single person - had contacted me to say they'd help unload the truck etc., etc., etc.

Mr. Tom was here before sunrise. I could see his flashlight bobbing in the front yard and I could here him laughing out loud.

Jerk.

He jacked up the trailer, unloaded the car (which, Praise God, was not damaged at all), and coached me as I rocked the truck out of the mud and up onto the driveway. We had it all taken care of in less than 15 minutes.

NICE jerk!

Then I put out a whiny, tearful plea on our church's prayer chain and within 2 hours time I had eight volunteers ready to meet us at Mom's at 3pm to unload. Mulletman returned from his visit to the holy land (ie. Texas) and helped too. I kissed him everytime he got to the top of the stairs :-) Those sweet folks had the truck completely empty in less than an hour!

My sweet friend, Dawna (http://blue-mysterious-crayon.blogspot.com/) brought my mom a sweet little welcome basket full of fruit and chocolate. She's expecting a new little bambino soon, so instead of hauling boxes, she stayed upstairs and chatted with Mom and put shelf paper on the shelves. Then, once the truck was empty, her husband, Matthew, "borrowed" the truck and came back with a surprise for my mom; A new bed! Mom's been sleeping on an air matress on the floor. The matress is comfy, but the floor is a tough place for someone who isn't as limber as she used to be. He carried all the pieces in and assembled the bed. We were especially touched when we learned that the bed had been Matt's late mother's.

Mom cried and cried and cried and cried!

After all the work and insanity, Matt and Dawna had all of us over to their house (just around the block!) for homemade pizza. It was a nice end to a rough trip and a tough day.

Now we're on the downside of all the stress. Mom's place is still a mess, but it's beginning to shape up and she's beginning to unwind a little.

Scout has been safely delivered to his new post and the lice are almost comletely irradicated.

We'll start school again on Monday...

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Speaking of Monday, check back then for my post: The Effects of Stress and the Blessings of God where I will wind up this tale of extreme insanity. Maybe by then I'll even be funny again...

Moving is NOT Groovy

We're back.

We're alive.

I am sick and completely exhausted.

If you need me, I'll be under a rock sleeping.