Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Feeling the weather?!

First of all, hey there KarenB! Nice to "meet" ya~ I was born in Kalamazoo, so I actually know where Galesburg is. Do you know where Lawton is? I went to school there from 4th-7th grade and loved that little town. We lived on a lil' lake.....ahhh, the memories....


Next, I have a raging headache. And I believe it's a "barometric pressure" headache. Anyone ever heard of this before?? Here's a site I found:


This seems to be exactly what I'm going through. I'm thinking of taping a piece of paper up inside one of my kitchen cabinets and making a "headache journal" to see if there's any correlation. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see....

I've got a good, reasonable, FLEXIBLE schedule for our home posted on our cork board. We are SLOWLY working our way into following it. We started our homeschooling up again yesterday, including lil' Talitha in preschool (she's so excited!). We are just doing phonics, copywork, & math this week, then we'll add on the other stuff after my surgery.

Oh wait, you didn't know about the surgery, huh? Yup, I'm gonna have this silly stone-filled gall bladder taken out next Thursday - HURRAY!! It appears that I have *many* stones and they have been trying to "escape" (i.e. they work their way into the duct, which is VERY painful and could cause other problems with my liver & pancreas). This has been those horrid painful episodes, one of which sent me to the emergency room.

My doc said once they start going into the ducts, they are just gonna keep on doing that. She also said the hormones from pregnancy can increase these problems, so we just need to get it out NOW! Praise the Lord that this is happening when I am NOT preggo, so we can get it taken care of. I do not get my cycles back until I am completely done nursing (at least, so has been the pattern thus far), even after the baby is sleeping through the night (which he is!). Once the baby is completely weaned, my cycle usually comes back the next month or so. Hopefully, this pattern will hold up and I can get this surgery done, my hand surgery done, and my ulcer healed before dealing with another pregnancy again.

Oh, and we are also dealing with a junk van! We were waiting for more money to get the struts and shocks redone, but two days ago our transmission freaked out on us - great.

Add to that the non-working electronic locks,
the completely busted driver-side back door (it has blue tape on it, you can't open it at all - or I think it would fall off!),
the non-working radio/cd player,
the messed up VHS player, the severly cracked windshield (it's not making it through another MI winter)
PLUS the extremely gross interior (think many happy meals worth of food and many spilled drinks) and
the hail-dented body work (we bought it like that though)......

and I'm thinking this vehicle is DYING a slow, agonizing death here!


Soooo....what to do? It is our only vehicle at this time. We are thinking of getting a used family vehicle, as cheaply as we can for one that runs well and can fit us all! Then we'll either try to use our vehicle as a "rough trade-in" (um, *very* rough) or keep it and have Dean use it as a "work" vehicle once we could afford a used-transmission (and a new windshield before winter!). I like that idea, since I would like a vehicle here with the kiddos while Dean is at work. It's kind of difficult when it comes to appointments and meetings and things at church, since Dean has to drive 30miles both ways just to come pick us all up. A lot of times, that's just not possible! So what a blessing 2 cars would be~

And that's about it, I guess. Now I really need to get off the computer and get some schooling done. Plus, it's Wednesday ~ so today I need to clean the master bedroom and organize the desk area. Gotta stick to the plan....;)

Have a GREAT day, my friends~

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Lori!

Our van is giving out on us as well, and in November we'll have out grown it anyway. But, you should look into the gov. program of "cash for clunkers" They'll give you something like 4500 bucks for your car when you get one with better gas milage. Not all cars/ vans/ trucks qualify but it's worth taking a look. Our van isn't worth that much, so it'd be a deal for us. Just google it, I read about on a gov site that listed all the vehicles and years that they take.

Hope you're well and that the surgery is a BIG success! Post pictures of that family laundry room when you get a chance, I'd love to see it! :)

Anna

Sarah said...

Wow! Sending prayers your way that everything goes smoothly in surgery. I know how you feel about the van... my vehicle is on it's last leg. PTL I don't have to drive it much! I hope you get a new vehicle soon!

Sarah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Henley said...

I love your blog, I really do. I read it daily. I think you are a wonderful family. I also couldn't help but comment (respectfully) on your last post. I just do not understand why you would entertain having more children if you can't afford transportation! It seems as though you are just compounding your financial issues. I do not believe that God is going to magically drop $20K into your bank account after the birth of your next child. I DO, however, believe God meets our needs but I do believe we have to be SENSIBLE about what our needs are. If I go out and charge 5 grand to feed the homeless yet can't pay my
mortgage, do I believe because I'm doing God's work, that he will bless me with my mortgage payment? NO! God expect us to be sensible! I just do not understand your thought process on bringing more children into this world when you can't afford basic things such as transportation. Sorry, I just do not get it. And as long as you don't expect the taxpayers to support them, so be it - I wish you well.

Unknown said...

Hello Henley,

Great to "meet" ya! I must admit that at first my defenses were up. Then I thought about it and realized this was an opportunity for me to re-evaluate what we believe, about God, about children, about His love. And yes, even about how we handle tough times, living on a tight budget and the pressures of the world to do things "normal".

So I really want to respond, but we are about to head out to visit a new (to us) Mennonite Farm store and run some errands (in our vehicle. yes, we can in fact afford basic transportation - it's just not always the newest, nicest or best running, but it's there). Later today, or tomorrow, I will attempt to write up a response as a new post.


For now, I just want it known that my husband has a great job! He loves it!! He is a great provider for our family. He would never allow his family to suffer or to go hungry. We are not "poor". We just bought a great home and we are happy.

BUT, that's really not the point. I'll get to that later...

If anyone else wants to weigh in on this matter, feel free. Just keep it respectful of others, and in a spirit of love.

Later~
Lori

Anonymous said...

Ok, you aren't poor, but you have LOTS of things wrong w/your van. Cracked windshield, which i would think would be a HIGH priority of getting repaired. Not being able to open doors is HUGE deal.

But yet you go and buy a new home. Seems the priorities are messed up too.

I just don't see your thinking on this at all. Truth be told, if my neighbor had a beautiful home, and had a beat up junker in their driveway I'd be upset. Their trash is bringing the value of MY home down.

Unknown said...

It appears that you are determined to not agree with me, and that's okay. It is not my responsibility to make sure you are happy about our decisions.

There are many reasons we choose to buy a home, at this particular time, that you know nothing about. This is precisely why I am learning NOT to judge others based simply on the few facts I see at face value. I do not KNOW what is going on in their lives, therefore I refuse to judge, nor make assumptions on their lives.

I will discuss having more children in my next post, yet I do so NOT to change your mind (I feel you have that *quite* made up) but rather to perhaps encourage another family who is struggling financially. Perhaps they will be reminded about what is of *real* value in this world and how that differs from what the world calls important.

I pray you are happy and blessed. I know I am~
In His love,
Lori

Anonymous said...

Not to mention that homes typically appreciate in value, while cars drastically depreciate. Comparing a house and vehicles are not a fair comparison (apples to apples, etc.).

Anonymous said...

Lori,
You can't reason with crazy people with no children and 8 or more cats!

Henley said...

Anon, sorry you think I'm crazy. Too bad you think cat rescue qualifies as making a person crazy. My two cars are paid for, both are in excellent condition, and I live in a nice home, have a job that supports our family (along with my husband's job) and we live in our dream home at the beach. Just because we chose to rescue cats rather than children, hardly makes us crazy. Our passions are all different and MY God loves all creatures, animals included:))))

KarenB said...

Our Lord is Creator of all the earth, all that is in the seas, in the air and on the land. And we, mankind, have been instructed to be it's caretaker. This is something we do well at times and not so well other times. One is gifted with care and concern for God's creatures, others with His children(all ages). It's ok. Animals are not equal to humans, nor are they above them. We have the sense to see their value to us, to the earth and to other animals. I haven't read all comments on all posts, so I'm unaware of Henley's history and/or if anonymous was, or if anonymous was making a blanket statement and in no way intended to slight Henley. Henley's family is living the life they feel God has directed them to, and fostering cats provides great learning opportunities for the family, especially the kids. However, let's admit, there are "crazy cat ladies" whose house is over-run and it's become more of an obsession/addiction. Thus, we all need to be patient and respectful of one another...it is not wrong to leave the size of ones family to the Lord especially in a conscious, informed way: meaning taking into consideration the mother's health, realizing He gave us the intelligence to make tough decisions and He's allowed the progress of medical science to include the ability to "control" when to have children. We all know there are a multitude of reasons for that. And so, it is also not wrong to go this route and take some control of creating a family based on many reasonable factors and situations. The key here is to agree to disagree respectfully and to also try to see things from the other person's point of view. The only reason a family of four or more kids seems large is because it is no longer the norm. And I agree that for many it is a difference in priorities. We must be very careful not to judge those priorities. Big families were not the norm for me until I married my husband, whose sister-in-law was pregnant with their 5th (really 6th as their 5th died less than month after birth). I'm now "used" to it, they have 8 and are done as far as they know. I no longer look at families of 4 or more as abnormal. I started in a family of 2 kids. How fun it would've been to have more siblings at a younger age - I do have one more sister. Sorry I've gone on, just wanted to diffuse the situation and help us all understand one another better.

DeanB said...

Thanks KarenB for providing some "conflict resolution" to this comment thread. One thought on what you said here:

"He's allowed the progress of medical science to include the ability to "control" when to have children."

Well, you take that logic a little bit further and one could say that since God has allowed the progress of medical science to allow us to clone animals (and possibly humans soon), we should allow that too. And not only allow it, but be OK with it!! There are advances in science (and other forms of knowledge and enlightenment) that are not necessarily OK with God and therefore should not be OK with us as His followers.

Thanks for leaving a comment on my wife's blog (she loves getting them).

Anonymous said...

Dean it's called FREE WILL! not everyone is CALLED to have 50 kids. Some of us would rather have 2 or 3 and be ok w/that. And who are YOU to say what God told us? Some of us pray and ask what our family size should be. And not be so ignorant and just keep on having kids just because we can. Without ANY regard to if you can afford more or not.

And since you are literal w/the Bible, what is your take on gluttony?

DeanB said...

Anon~Real nice! What's your take on being judgmental? Next time, perhaps you will have the courage to actually reveal who you are.

But honestly, we could banter back and forth on the sins everyone deals with, some being more obvious than others. (BTW, Yes I am fat, but I am hardly a glutton! If you knew me, you would know that.)

It is not an issue of free will. I was bringing up a point of fact that KarenB's logical conclusion would lead one to simply saying that all medical advances are OK with God.

I will no longer continue this debate as it will get us nowhere.

Unknown said...

Goodness Anon, you kinda took that to a bit of jr. high level there, didn't ya?!

My husband was not disagreeing with KarenB, just playing 'devil's advocate' if you will, and reminding us that not ALL medical advancements are approved by God, simply because He has allowed them to progress that way.

No where did he say "everyone is CALLED to have 50 kids, regardless of income, regardless of health". We fully agree that some women should NOT be having many children. Yes, we have very strong views about birth control, especially chemical/hormone-based bc, but that's our business, eh?!

Let's see, you called us legalistic, ignorant, poor & fat. I'm guessing you don't really like us that much. So my advice to you would be to go. somewhere. else. There's plenty of places you can go online and be rude. My blog does not have to be one of them.

~L.

p.s. I actually *like* jr. high kiddos, but there's always someone causing a bunch of immature drama....no offense intended to those sweet jr. high kids I know and love (like yours, Jeni & Leanne)

Unknown said...

Anna,
Hi! Not sure how I overlooked your comment. I believe my dh *did* take a look at the "cash for clunkers" site, but I don't think it would work for us. Not exactly sure why though....I don't think they had anything we would really need in our next vehicle, or something like that.

As to the laundry room, SURE I will posts some pics. I'm just waiting on a trip to IKEA to finish up a few storage solutions (i.e. a large shelf, a set of wire basket/drawers, maybe some bins to go on top of one of the dressers, etc.). When I get those things, I'll snap some pics.

Maybe I'll even decorate a bit. A nice window treatment would be good. Even a picture or something on the walls here or there would be pleasant. I really like that room, so I'll keep my eyes open for just the right things....
~Lori

Dean B. said...

I've got some of those pics on Facebook if anyone is interested in seeing them.

Dean