Getting involved

When we moved here it was a hard thing. Not just to leave family and my church but also moving to the unknown. Yes, we have visited here for years and had the condo for over 20 years but it is simply not the same as being here 24/7. So much I dont know and so much is different.

What I prayed for was that He would lead me ...to do what He wanted, to become a part of the Body of Christ here. And He is faithful in answering prayer. He also seems to have a good sense of humor.

It is pretty well known how I feel about ironing. I do it well but realllllly would rather not. So ( you know where this is going, right?) I volunteer to do whatever needs to be done. Ahem. Guess what I got asked to do? Uh huh.....ironing.

The altar cloths ( basically big tablecloths ) have been being taken care of for over 2 years by the same sweet lady and she asked would I...how could I say no. Tons 'o fun. They are large and by the time you iron all the way around the side drape, the first part you ironed is wrinkled again. Also, Loki decided when I was almost finished with the last one (there are three big ones and one HUGE one) to claim it as his own. Yes. Peachy.....rather, pissy. Sigh.

Maybe I should have been more specific when praying but honestly I find it ironic that the one chore I thought I left behind is the very one that followed me here. Kinda makes me shake my head but it makes me smile too. Thank you Lord that I can serve and that it was not toilet scrubbing you chose for me.

The flue.....who knew

After my initial trial and error fire, I have avoided the fireplace. I figured I had enough excitement and would just use the house heating system to stay warm. Or try to stay warm. No matter what I set the thermostat on the heat level never changed, meaning I have been trudging around the house in long sleeve shirt over sweatshirt, sweat pants, socks, slippers....everything short of mittens and ear muffs. Quite the fashion statement, I know, but in the interest of not turning into a solid block of ice, I haven't really cared.

I have considered sleeping in the bathroom where we have a small space heater that actually warms the room. It has not been pleasant. To understand this one must realize I have always been the type of person who sleeps with the window open, no matter how cold it is. I dont like heavy covers on the bed and generally am too warm, no matter what. Ha.

Guess what? After said fire, I never shut the flue. All the heat was getting sucked up and out of the house, via the chimney. Duh. Now that it is closed the house is a balmy 72....which doesnt sound all that warm but compared to being in the 60's, its positively a hothouse.

I dont know whether its been the cold or some stray germ but this morning at 3am I woke up with a sore throat and swollen glands ....now I look like a bundled frog. It could have been a reaction to shoveling several inches of partly cloudy off the deck and front porch in the middle of the night ( it gets dark here at about 4 in the afternoon so "middle of the night" might be a bit of an exaggeration...) but the drippy nose and red eyes dont add much to the look I sport.

Hot tea and a good book sounds pretty exciting right now, when I can get up the energy to put water on to boil. Does that count as cooking?

Fire and Ice

Living here has definately increased my learning curve. All my life I have cooked with electric stoves but was excited about using gas since its so much more immediate...faster heat, faster cooling once its off. What I learned yesterday is that its a good idea to check to see if the flame is actually lit. There is a little clicking sound that means the starter is working, so I set a pan on the stove, clicked it, not checking for flame, and put my sandwhich in to toast. After a few minutes I wondered why it was not heating....clicked the thingy off and back on and WOOSH, I got a gas ball of flame about two feet high. Wow. Good thing I had leaned back to see underneath the pan...otherwise about now I would have no eyelashes or brows. It was definately exciting. I have to wonder if I almost blew up the house.....Live and learn, right??

Later in the day I decided to start a fire in the fireplace....better than one in the kitchen and how hard could it be ? It too has a gas starter....oh joy. Stacked the wood just so, put some paper underneath so the gas would have something to catch easily, struck the match and voila...fire. Also smoke...lots and lots of smoke. Thinks me to myself "this probably isnt right" and sure enough, the flue was shut. Fortunately I found the little ring thing that opens it and by this morning the house is a bit less pungent than it was last night. Still learning.....

The ice part was not nearly as exciting. A few posts back I extolled the virtues of cold poo. As a mother who has dealt with bodily excretions most of her life I am excited by the little things like ease of dealing with said poo. However I have found that if you actually step in it and squish it onto a surface, it becomes super glue. You cannot scrape it off no matter what. Ok, so I will spray it off with the hose.

Let me take a short break to explain something I did not know about hoses when it is below freezing. Although I had disconnected it from the house, I had not drained it. What you end up with is 20ft of frozen water inside the hose. Not knowing this, when I hooked the lil' sucker back up (no easy feat when hands and hose are both frozen) and turned on the water, what I got was sprayed in the face by the hookup and not a drop out of the hose. Several hours later, after hanging it off the deck, it did drain and I got to repeat the hook up fun and games. Then the real fun started. It was above freezing ( mostly ) so I sprayed the super-glued-poo off and did the rest of the deck for good measure. It immediately turned into an ice skating rink...and I admit it is rather amusing to see all the dogs legs heading in different directions. I also learned that when wearing slippers with leather bottoms my legs head in different directions too. Not nearly as amusing.

One of my daughters has suggested that I need adult supervision. It is a distinct possibility that she is correct but it wouldnt be nearly as entertaining.

Veteran's Day....God bless them all

A veteran is defined as someone who served...in the Armed Services. Someone who served. Me, my children , they were willing to lay down their life for us. Who deserves a gift like that? What have I ever done to deserve that?

The truth is that nothing I have done or could ever do would be worth that kind of gift.

This is not an impersonal "thank you" ...for my country or for us, a collective. This is a thank you from my heart because it IS personal. This gift was given, first by God for His Son and for his blessing in being born in this country but also for those others who gave their lives for me. That I could live in freedom, here , now.

May He bless those who have come home and especially those who did not....they paid a price that can only be repaid by God.

May He bless them and their families.....

Some of us will never forget.

Extremely random thoughts....

Some things about living here in Angel Fire alone are very cool....also cold and dry.

For example....when dogs crap here, if you wait a few hours, the poo is so dry and maybe also cold, that it does not stick to whatever surface it has been deposited upon. This is great...beyond great : ) For those of you who do not understand this, oh well.

When you are the only one living in a house you do not ever need to turn on the bathroom fan. No explanations necessary.

Cooking is optional. Another example...I boiled eggs today for eggsalad and consider that "cooking" while John is gone.

I can answer the door in sweat pants at 3pm and I do not get a strange look from the UPS guy.

Mail does not get delivered here....which means if I really want bills, I have to go pick them up at the Post Office.

I have learned that I cannot shower in the bathroom without the blinds pulled, never mind that the only thing that could possibly see me naked is a bird perched 30 feet in the air, in the middle of the night....Thank you Sister Mary Emma!!!

Also, no matter what the temp is, I cannot, for the life of me go to " church" (even though there isn't one here in Angel Fire and no matter that mass is held in a community center with basketball hoops) in anything but a dress with hose and heels. See above.

I have become an avid bird watcher...how can I not be when there are so many on my deck??
I have identified Stellar's Jay and Clark's Nutcracker..both of which are amazing birds and are frequent visitors. There are smaller ones who visit more often and in greater numbers that I have not identified ...but will in time.

I am blessed to finally be here. Although Hawaii is a wonderful place to visit...I am SO VERY GRATEFUL to not live there anymore. I hated it. Maybe someday I will want to visit again....but I rather doubt it...at least not in the near future (20 years might do it...maybe)

It is quiet here. I got sick to death of the constant sirens in Hawaii. Who knows, maybe there are just more people dying in Hawaii but I got sick of the constant drama of sirens. The dogs loved it....howllllllllllllll, howllllllllllll etc,ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Now, and only if I listen, can I hear the soft step of whatever is in the woods. Mostly, I prefer not to know.

While I know I am blessed to be here, I can not wait for my love to return. Even though I am grumpy and grouchy and not anything near perfect....I hope he knows I am a better, more whole person when he is here. I miss you my love....and wait for your return.

Silence may be golden....but it is lead too

Another month started alone. Ok, not alone but certainly lonely. The house is too quiet, even with all these yappy dogs. The wildlife is abundant....two days ago I saw the "girl" mule deer. Two mama deer and three babys. All of them look well fed and healthy. Then yesterday the "boys" came through. Four males...one young one with 4 points, two 6 pointers and an 8. The eldest came last...meandering his way through the woods. Absolutely gorgeous. And I heard rifle shots, here in the Village. Makes me crazy....they are supposed to be safe here but ovbviously they are not.

The sky today matches my mood.....gray, gray, gray and cold. It feels like snow outside and inside my heart is frozen solid. I know I can do this....having survived the first month on my own I know I can do it again. That is a blessing. But the knowledge alone doesnt ease the sorrow. Knowing there are years of this yet to come makes it harder.

Maybe later I will start a fire...and pray I dont burn the house down.

A little of everything....

This past week has been unusual...at least for me. It is entirely possible that its totally normal for this part of the country at this time of year but since I havent seen fall in 40 years its not like I would know.

On Tuesday we woke to near darkness....clouds roiling and boiling, wind whipping with gusts up to 50mph and the temp near 40. Felt much colder than that and as the day progressed the temp started dropping. Then came the rain...which turned into hail...which turned into snow. For the next day or so the mountains were hidden...only the foothills visible.

It stayed cold for the next two days then presto chango....warming weather, melting snow ( just love slush, dont you??) and yesterday I nearly fell off the deck from suprise. What should float by but a monarch butterfly. Not that I am up on monarch breeding but I am pretty sure freezing weather isnt one of their favorites.

Now all that is left are patches of ice where the sun doesnt reach and mud where it does. I dont know what tomorrow will bring but it is never boring.