Wings As Eagles: August 2009

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Saturday, August 22, 2009

My list for today

Today I decided it was time to get out of my sewing room/office for the majority of the day. I've spent countless hours and late nights getting class files and student files ready for my new class starting in September and I need a short break from it before I dive into class lessons next week. Plus I have a list of other things that need to be done.

Here's my list:

-- chicken noodles & mashed potatoes for lunch
-- prepare minutes steak & sauce for lunch tomorrow
-- chop up & freeze wal-nuts
-- chop up & freeze onions
-- bake sugar cookies for Sunday School tomorrow
-- cook chicken for next week

And then, depending on how my days goes, I may start taking down all the 4th of July decorations and put up some fall stuff. First I'm off to tackle a few emails this morning and then get started on my list...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

This time it wasn't me that called home...

It was about 4:00 this afternoon when the phone rang and I picked it up seeing it was Dad calling...

Me: Hey, Dad!

Dad: Hey...I'm spraying Max's (one of our neighbors) field and I need you to come get me. (This isn't too uncommon since he usually asks me to come get him to move machinery or move to another field.)

Me: Ok...where are you at?

Dad: Well, I'm out in the middle of the field, but I'll walk up to the road so you'll know where I'm at. I hit a mud hole and I need the shovel in the back of my pickup.

Me: You mean you're stuck?

Dad: Uh...yeah, I'll have to dig out my sprayer. They must have gotten more rain here than we did.

Me: laughing, laughing, laughing


That's the first time that Dad has called home, saying he was stuck and needed someone to come get him. Usually it's one of us girls (although he's not driving to Kentucky or Oklahoma if Jena or Krissa call him now.) :)


Yep, the sprayer is out there in the middle of the field...stuck! See it way out there?

Dad headed back out with a shovel to start digging!

Lady had to come with me; anytime she spots Dad's black pickup, she's begging to jump in for a ride!


Monday, August 17, 2009

Just "nothing" and then a whole lot of something in one day!

I can't say I'm a fan of doing nothing, but it seems as though that is the only thing I've gotten accomplished this month. After the hustle and bustle of July, it seems as though my body is taking its own sweet time in recovering. My list of things to do hasn't decreased (although the first couple of weeks of August did slow down a little), but my energy level for doing it just disappeared. However, I'm optimistic - this is a new week! :)

Last Thursday I spent the day in Newton and Wichita. I met with Deb Gilmore, one of the ladies in my online quilt class to discuss fabric, quilts, etc. It was fun to get together and chat. We are planning some fun and new satin and fairy frost quilt blocks (with machine embroidery!), so I'm looking forward to inventing some new ideas.

Then I dropped by to see Sharon Regier and her family. Oh, what a time we had! Lauren, Clara, Luke and Nehemiah were so thrilled to see me; I'm not quite sure why - I just spent two weeks of camp with them in July! ;) We had a blast checking out how tall we were, riding bikes, playing games, eating lunch, planting soybeans and chatting so fast I could hardly tell what they were saying!

One of things I've laughed and laughed at is Luke! When I got there, he told me that every time he thinks about Clara going to school, he has a conniption (def: a fit of rage, hysteria, or alarm)! And any of you who've been to camp with 3 1/2 yr. old Luke would know exactly how he pronounces each word with his facial and hand expressions.

Apparently he's not too thrilled about his older sister, Clara, starting school this year. I'm not quite sure he even knows what the word means, but he sure can say it (if you listen close, you can understand what he's saying as well!) Fun times!!

Then I went on to Wichita to do some shopping and of course, I didn't have enough time to go everywhere I wanted to, but had a fun time shopping around. I did have several specific stores in mind to go to like Office Depot and Office Max looking for a letter file for my desk. Still have yet to find what I want.

I did manage to find a silver pair of dress shoes which I had been on the lookout for. And they were even on sale! Plus, I admit, I did find a pink pair as well which wasn't quite as much as a need, but....I have lots of pink clothes, so I'll put them to good use.

And then I went to Hancock Fabrics looking for several things. I started browsing the decorator fabrics looking for a gold/tan piece to blend with something I already have. And what did I immediately see? The perfect and most beautiful fabric for something that I didn't even have on my list to shop for! Of course! I did get 8 yards of it, but I haven't firmly planted in my mind what exactly I'm going to do with it, but I'm thinking about it....I know, like I need more fabric!

As far as the gold/tan piece...I found just what I needed except they did not have enough of it. So I was told to go to the west store and they would probably have the yardage I needed. Sure, I thought to myself, I can do that; it will be on my way out of town anyway. So I asked for the address and plugged that into my gps.

Uh...yeah...I spent the next hour driving around all over Wichita because that gps did not know where that store was. Really! Seriously!! It initially started taking me east, which I thought wasn't right, but trusted it. Umm...nope, that was the wrong thing to do! I never did find it, but after the three hour drive home thinking about it, I'm fairly sure I know where it is. And that was without the help of my gps. What did I buy that thing for anyway?? lol!!

The really sad part of that driving around for an hour happened on the way home. Right outside of Wichita, I stopped to get something to drink (that's the best place to stop for dt. mt. dew!) and looked at my gas tank. No problem; I knew I'd have enough gas to get home. I can always get to Wichita and back on only one tank of gas.

So I started on my journey, thinking about where that fabric store was, what I was going to use that new fabric I bought for, when I could come back since I still had things I needed, etc. I was talking to Krissa on the phone when I heard that familiar ring of an empty gas tank. Yeah, it's 10pm, I just passed the last town with a gas station, realized that I missed the turnoff for the shortcut home and just lost Krissa on the phone because my phone now said, "No Service".

Believe me, I turned everything off in my car that even might possibly use any gas - gps, radio, computer, air conditioner. Not only would I dread calling Dad to come get me for the fact that I ran out of gas, but not having the ability to do that at the touch of my fingertips, was not something I wanted to happen.

Thankfully I did make it to Dodge, filled up my car with gas and then when I called Krissa back, do you know what she did? She just laughed! All I told her was how would she like to be without gas, no cell phone, no computer, no gps, in the dark, at 10pm at night, on the side of the road? I wonder what really happens when your car runs out of gas? I'm not sure I want to know...

I made it home, unloaded my car, told Dad I still needed to go back to Wichita again, checked my email and went to bed. Next time, I think I might fill up with gas before I leave Wichita, just to be on the safe side! :)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

"Normal" feels so nice!

Ahhh...what can I say? I think the return to a normal week is happening! As much as I loved everything I did in July, I must say having the beginning of a normal week is just so wonderful. Two weeks of CEF camp, one week of Vacation Bible School and then this last week of returning to work and getting caught up on classes, emails, orders, sewing, paperwork and taping made for a very full and exhausting month! But I'm not sure I would have changed one bit of it!

As I was cooking several things for one of our neighbors who passed away last Friday, I kept thinking to myself, "I am so ready for a normal week. Normal week as in my schedule of work, cooking, cleaning, laundry and such...back to normal."

And how wonderful it felt to actually be working in the kitchen again! Thankfully, as was my plan, I had plenty of food for the two weeks I was at camp, the week of vbs and my catch-up week of business work. I haven't done any cooking for a month! Well, unless you call fixing hamburger helper or baking a frozen pizza (I didn't even bake my homemade one...desperate times call for desperate measures!) or warming up leftovers "cooking".

Over the weekend I was able to fully unpack from camp and put away things from teaching at camp and vbs, which felt so wonderful! And Sunday as I was planning out my week, I thought to myself, "I think I can actually go to bed before midnight this week." How wonderful! Now...just getting my body to adjust to that! :)

Normal is wonderful! Oh...and my two cats agree with me! :)