First World Problems

I love having "first world" problems.  Deciding which cereal to eat.  Having so many clothes that I'm constantly doing laundry.  Waiting in a long line at Target to buy a birthday present.  You know, problems that aren't really problems because we're so rich and spoiled in America.  But sometimes we have first world problems that aren't as much fun.  Awful and terrible problems, but first world, none the less.  For our family, the next couple of days are filled with those problems.

Today, I'm taking Jason to do something that I never thought we'd be doing in our 30s, much less 40s or 50s.  I'm taking him to get chemotherapy.  If this is a major shocker, I'm sorry.  Here's the back story and I'm sure you'll understand why it's not exactly FB post worthy:

(Right before Jason's mission trip to "insert undisclosed high risk for Christians country here", he had multiple shots, physicals, etc..  During those check-ups, they found a lump in his testicle.  The doctor said he could go ahead and go on his mission trip, but as soon as he got back it would have to be removed.  He came back from the mission trip and had outpatient surgery to have the lump removed.  We left the next day for our preplanned trip home to TN.  While at the beach with our family, Jason's doctor called and said the lump was cancerous.  They felt confident that it was small, contained, and completely removed, but just as precaution, he should have more treatment.  After several more doctors visits and consultations, we decided on one dose of chemotherapy.  Which leads us to today.)

We are going to a cancer treatment center in nearby Everett and should be done before lunch.  He will have to drink lots of fluids, rest, stay away from germs and the sun for about 10 days to 2 weeks.  Stay out of the sun, you say?  No problem!  We live in Seattle.  See, first world problems.

Now on to me.  I've been having off-and-on pains on my right side for a several months.  Nothing consistent, but still not going away.  Two weeks ago, I started having the pain most of the time, every day.  I went to the walk-in clinic, got tested for several things, and had an ultrasound scheduled.  That ultrasound found that I had a kidney stone which lead to the scheduling of a CT scan.  I had the CT scan and meeting with an urologist on Friday.  Normally, drs will let you pass a kidney stone up to 5mm.  Mine measured 19mm. Awesome!  So...tomorrow afternoon, I'm having outpatient surgery to try and blast and laser the stone to itty-bitty pieces.

Thankfully, the cavalry (in the form of my mother) arrives tomorrow.  And thankfully, we have awesome church family, neighbors, and homeschool friends that are taking care of the boys, feeding us, etc.

And this, my friends, is what I will be thinking of while undergoing and recovering from my first world surgery...

From our recent trip to Orange Beach

A rant

Earlier this week, someone in my world posted the following as his Facebook status:

 "There is a gay football player?  Is he a good player?  He is?  Great!  I like good football players!  Move along."  

I couldn't agree more.  It blows my mind how the media can make things that aren't an issue, an issue.  I don't think this college football player's personal life has anything to do with his NFL draft dreams.  Just like I don't think this Olympian's prior photo shoot has anything to do with her ability to ski ( Lebanese skier).  We all know that is just how the media monster rolls.

 However, I was LIVID when I read what his friend put as a follow-up comment:

  "I know dude.  This horse died many, many, many moons ago.  Such a tired topic.  Some folks are light years behind.  It's alarming how indisputably dumb some humans are."

Since no good comes from getting into a dispute with someone with differing opinions on Facebook, I brought my grievances here.  If you don't agree with me, no problem.  You can go rant on your own blog about me.  But this one is mine, and since America mostly still allows free speech, I get to write what I want here.

Now, I could assume that this friend was referencing the media for their handling of the story, but I'm pretty sure that's not who he was insulting.  I'm pretty sure he was insulting me and other evangelical Christians like me.  I believe the Bible is true.  I believe that God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman.  And apparently, I am "indisputably dumb" for believing so.

Let me expand on a few of my other beliefs.  I also believe that God didn't want women to be topless dancers.  Or me to use the "f" word or the "n" word or any other offensive word in my daily vocabulary.  I believe that God did not intend for us to watch pornography.  Or gamble our money away on lottery tickets.  And if, tomorrow, the government makes it legal to kick little old ladies crossing the street, I will teach my children that doing so is wrong, also.  But nobody cares that I believe those things; it's just my belief in solely heterosexual marriages that suddenly turns me into a hateful, homophobic bigot.

I dare this friend or anyone to find a time when I have said an ugly word to a gay person.  Or shunned neighbors that held different views from me.  Or told my boys that we don't talk to "those kind" of people.  I believe that the Bible teaches us to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14) and not to "speak evil against one another" (James 4:11).  And that is what our family tries to do each day.

So if literally believing that all of the Bible is true and being kind to others that believe differently than you is "indisputably dumb", then I guess get my dunce cap ready.

(image from Google search)

2014

Happy New Year! Does anyone else love the idea of a "fresh start" even though there's not really anything different from yesterday? I just read this post which has me all excited about the new year. I'm not sure what my "one word" will be yet, but I'm excited about the process.

We had a good, yet different, Christmas.  This was our first Christmas season not to be in Tennessee. It was my first Christmas without my maternal grandparents. BUT, Jason's mom came and spent Christmas with us, so we weren't all alone. We actually had some sun on Christmas Day, so the boys got to go out and enjoy the new bikes that their Nana had bought them.

I'm taking the tree and decorations down today, which I hate, but I also realize that my husband might leave me if I tried to convince him that decorations up all year long is a good idea.  I refuse to give up my Christmas music, though.  I can listen to it when I'm alone & no one is the wiser!

(Our family at our church's Christmas Eve service)

ANOTHER new chapter

Last Monday, I started something that Jason & I have been talking about for years.  I. Started. Homeschooling. The. Boys.  Yep.  Just when I was supposed to be sending Luke off to 2nd grade, Jonah to Kindergarten & Gideon to preschool, we decided to keep them all at home.  With me.  All the time.  Am I crazy or the best mom ever?  Hopefully, somewhere in the middle.  Honestly, right now, I'm still in the "This is awesome!!" mixed with the "What have I gotten myself into?!?" stage.

We are homeschooling through the national program called Classical Conversations (www.classicalconversations.com ).  I have actually only known about CC for about a year and only started considering it for our family since the spring.  This program takes a classical approach to learning (studying & memorizing the subjects that stand the test of time) with a Christian worldview.  Perfect for us, right?

Our journey to this point, has had the hand of God all over it.  Let me give a few examples:

1. I first really learned about CC from a college friend's blog (www.suzanneshares.com) and one of my best girlfriends from Brownsville.  What a blessing to have the knowledge of these 2 ladies to help me my first year!
2. While talking to my friend on the phone about this one night, I said, "Lisa, God's just going to have to make $500 fall out of the sky to pay for Luke's tuition."  The NEXT DAY, someone gave us $500 for no reason.  When we decided to homeschool Jonah, too, $500 more fell from the sky.
3. When we decided to go with CC, I wasn't sure if there would be a local group in the Pac NW, much less in our area.  Long story short, our chapter meets in OUR church.  Yep, as in 1 mile from our house.  Awesome!
4. Thus far, all our homeschool expenses have been taken care of.  Whether it was a check from my mom, a resource mailed from Lisa, a gift card from Jennie, a borrowed laminator from Theresa or discovering that the library lets you print out 70 pages from the computer per week for free (Yea, baby!), we have not had many out of pocket expenses.

As my blogging record shows, I am not sure how often I will update you with our homeschool progress, but I did want to let you know what is going on with our family as we start yet another new chapter.  Thanks for all the prayers!

(sorry mom, having problems uploading pics, will try again later)

A Camping We Will Go...

I have fond memories of camping with my family as a child.  We had a "pop-top" camper that we took to many a state park.  We thought we were living the high life with the fold-up dining room table and air conditioner that our camper had.  And nothing, I mean nothing, was better than the individual sized cereal boxes that we had for breakfast on those camping trips.

Mmmm.  Can't you just taste those s'mores?

This week, Luke attended Boy Scout Day Camp at Flowing Lake Park in Snohomish (about 15 miles from our house).  The director was using 3 campsites for activities during the day, but, of course, didn't need them at night.  So we were able to camp there for free!  Here's what I learned from our week of camping:

1.  I am a diva/baby.  I know this will not come as a shock to my husband or father, but I like my mattress, my dishwasher, my hot & cold running water, my 2-ply toilet paper.  A lot.  When I don't have these "necessities", I can get cranky.
2.  I miss birds.  I've mentioned before that we basically have 2 kinds of birds where we live; crows & seagulls.  So hearing wrens and larks and woodpeckers this week was sheer joy.
3.  I L.O.V.E. trail mix.  I could seriously eat it for every meal.  Why don't we eat it for every meal?!?  I'm not sure anyone else in my family got more than a few handfuls of that crack-a-licious goodness.
4.  I may never camp more than 15 miles away again.  Every morning, the little boys & I would leave camp and come home.  I would bathe them and myself and do laundry.  We could eat as civilized people at our dining room table and watch cartoons.  Then, in the afternoon, we would drive back to camp to spend the evening with Jason & Luke.  Seriously, it was a perfect camping set-up.
5.  I am thankful that we don't live in a dump, near a dump or on top of a dump.  Our campsite was next to the camp's huge garbage bin.  Any time the wind changed, it reeked of trash.  The first night I even dreamt of garbage men chasing me.  Since the campsite was free, we had nothing to complain about, but it reminded how thankful I am for our wealthy living.
6.  I will not use a port-a-potty.  I just can't do it.  I try to convince myself that it's no big deal, but I can't.  Point in case:  Last night 2 toddlers across the road woke up at 2 a.m. screaming bloody murder.  Not just a few yells or whimpers, but 10 straight minutes of loud decibel screams.  Needless to say, I couldn't go back to sleep & couldn't stop thinking about needing to, um, powder my nose.  So up I got and went to the port-a-potty that was 50 yards away, right?  Nope.  I walked for 5 minutes to the closest restrooms.  Mind you, I was cursing my roommates the entire way for making me watch all those horror movies in college.  But, I decided, being murdered by a serial killer hidden in the camp was a better option than using the port-a-potty.  Can you blame me?

Luke, reading to his brothers, around the campfire

Free is never, well you know, free

I'm such a wonderful mother.  I had great (FREE) plans for the boys & I to do today.  I saw an ad months ago for "Free Friday Playdate" at the Seattle Children's Playgarden on June 28th.  It looked interesting, new & most importantly, free.  Free parking even!  I found a park nearby the SCP that had a new spray water feature & had it all planned out.  So when the weather girl promised a hot & beautiful day today, we were off.

(Pre-catastrophe; notice the bunny riding the bike!)

The SCP really was a neat experience.  There were spots for the boys to dig with shovels & hoes, a nice little playground, water feature, bunnies & ducks, and flowers & plants blooming everywhere.

We grabbed lunch & had a picnic at the aforementioned neighborhood park.  The boys changed into their swimsuits and were off to the spray features.  It was sooo hot (80°) and the boys loved the cool water.  There is a playground right beside the spray park, so after they tired of it, we went to play on the playground. 

Luke & Jonah were chasing each other & Luke jumped off the top of the twirly slide, like he's done a hundred times before.  (Now, unless you have multiple boys, it's going to be hard to understand.  The phrase "boys will be boys" is just so true.  They just want to climb, jump, throw, and kick everything that comes their way.  I'm not even going to begin to tell you about the tree that they climb up 2 stories high at one park...ooops.)

Anyway, I think his slippery Crocs messed up his take off from the slide & made him land awkwardly.  He cried pretty significantly & I helped him up.  He wasn't bleeding and no bones were sticking out, so like the good mother I am, I made him go back to the spray park and wash all the wood chips off.  (What?!?  You would have made him do the same thing!)  He was still crying, which is not normal for him, and I knew something was wrong.  Jason met us at the dr & had the hard job of watching Luke get the painful x-ray & usual probing.  He'll get a cast next week and yes, will most likely not get to swim the majority of the summer.

So my wonderful free plans will most likely end up costly us hundreds of dollars.  Like I said, aren't I a wonderful mother?

(What Luke is doing right now; after Jonah's incident, he couldn't wait for his turn to stay up late & eat ice cream)

TGIT (Thank Goodness it's Thursday)

Thursdays are "date night" for Jason & I.  We don't get to go out every week, but most weeks we do.  We started having regular date night a little over a year ago.  We had been in Seattle around 9 months, and we knew something had to change.  We were getting burnt out & needed some time to be alone, just the two of us. 

Since we don't have family here & no one that we could regularly dump the boys with, the search for the babysitter began.  That is a story in itself, but we ended up finding Maxine.  She is definitely a godsend and so good with the boys.  We are so thankful to have her!

Our dates are usually to whatever restaurant we have a gift certificate or Groupon to, but the weather dictated our adventure tonight.  The weather has been so wonderful this week, that we decided to go bike riding.  Jason found a bike trail that's about 10 miles away.  What a find!



http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/trails/regionaltrailssystem/burkegilman.aspx


The Burke-Gilman (bike) trail is my new favorite.  The paved path curves around the northwest shore of Lake Washington.  While Jason watched the trail and other bikers, I gawked at all the lake houses we passed.  Not to mention the views of Mt. Rainier!  We passed, I mean were passed, by dozens and dozens of bikers.  It reminded me of why people move to Seattle; why we put up with rain 9 months of the year; why the NW is so wonderful.  Like I said, my new favorite. :-)

Me in my awesome helmet & sick, tricked-out ride