A Really Nice Day

This morning started with a phone call from Johnny, letting me know that he was up and going, ready to head to his first day of work. He was hired at the end of November and had some training in January, but waiting for the job to begin has required patience–for both of us.

He is a program assistant at the Fox Valley Special Recreation Association, assisting young adults with recreational activities. Today that meant assisting with a Special Olympics Bowling team and then a regular bowling activity. The hours are light for now, but he will likely be able to pick up other activities and hours.

He has a light load at school as well: two regular classes and a 1-hour observation class. He needs to spend 30 hours observing programs for people with special needs. He can use some of his work time for the class and is also volunteering twice a week at Penguin Players, an on-campus theater production/group for young adult with special needs. He really enjoys this as well.

The next part of my day was a Refresh Retreat at Laura’s house. From 9-1, I participated in a Yoga retreat in the living room of her lovely home. During the solo quiet time, I was able to finally snuggle into an easy chair tucked into a corner of the entryway, right next to a grill hiding the biggest radiator in the house. When I first visited the house a year ago I could picture it as a cozy warm spot in winter–and that’s just what I experienced today. It was also such a pleasure watching Laura and Brandi lead a small group of women in retreat and listening to her heart to share their home with others, particularly as a place for quiet retreat.

I returned home to more rest and Johnny’s happy reports of his first day at work. He also opened several cards and notes from family helping him celebrate a year of sobriety. One year. He has also been smoke-free for a month and almost two weeks of settling into regularly staying at his apartment! Woohoo!

Lizi went out for the evening with her good friend, Siobhan, who drives from Elmhurst about once a month for dinner and a movie. Johnny headed downtown to see friends and we actually had an empty nest for a few hours!

We spent some of that time having a long, leisurely conversation with Annie in New Zealand. We watched Theo run-walking. He took his first real steps a day or so ago and is definitely on the go and mostly upright. He kind of wobbles like a drunken sailor, but it is really cute and funny. Charlee came to show us her first lost tooth and Simme came in to be comforted by her mum, but most of our conversation was with Anne, a rare, sweet time.

A really nice day.

Little Lambs

One more New Zealand story:

Near the end of our summer visit, James took their lone sheep down the road to another farm “to get knocked up.” When I returned in winter, Merida still was living down the road, but one afternoon James and a neighbor brought her home, looking very pregnant. She spent the first hour or so in the paddock bleating loudly, as she missed her mates. Soon afterwards, I noticed James and the neighbor backing the trailer into the yard again with a second, smaller sheep.The bleating stopped.

I was really hoping Merida’s lamb would be born before I left. Our “little lamb” Simee was born six days into my visit and we purchased seven chickens and three ducks in the weeks that followed. I thought a lamb would make a perfect ending. It didn’t happen.

A few days ago, James found not one but two black lambs, a boy and a girl, that had been born during the early morning hours. Anne skyped me when they all went out to meet the lambs, a call I took sitting outdoors at a nice restaurant in Geneva, having dinner with a friend. It was a short, but fun call as I shared in the excitement. I got to watch Charlee hold one of the lambs (briefly).

 

 

 

Simee’s baby quilt has a “sheep” theme. Ever since my first trip to New Zealand, when we visited the Bruce family sheep farm, I’ve been drawn to sheep motifs.

I made Charlee a big girl bed quilt in a safari pattern to go along with the elephants and giraffes that decorated her room

and decided to make the baby quilt in sheep fabric with similar, though muted, colors. Here is her quilt, with Merida and Maudie in the background. (Maudie is also “with child” but probably wont have her lamb until October.

Here are the new lambs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some pictures of our other lambs (on Simee’s quilt, wearing hats I knitted for the girls and Charlee’s baby doll.)

(Sorry not sorry for all the pictures πŸ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peepo!

Here’s a little grandbaby
One, two, three,
Cuddled in her gramma’s arms
What does she see?

PEEPO!

She sees Gramma’s crepey neck
and a great big smile.
She sees her sister Charlee,
but only for awhile.

She sees her Daddy watching
eyes pleased and shining bright
She sees her Mommy resting
from the long, long night.

Here’s a little grandbaby
One, Two, Three
Laying in her basket
What does she see?

PEEPO!

She sees the blanket Granny made
Hats and sweaters knit
She sees the soft warm lining
And tiny little mitts.

She sees the sheep quilt
made with loving care
She sees the soft warm sheepskin
Fuzzy as a bear.

Here’s a little grandbaby
One, two, three
Snuggled in her Mama’s arms
What does she see?

PEEPO!

She sees loved ones gathered round
On Skype, Facetime, and here,
She surely will be blessed with friends
And family that will care.

She hears them say her name
Sim-e-a A-re-li
You can call her Simee if her
name’s too hard to try!

I thought I would adapt my favorite New Zealand childrens’ book (PEEPO! by Jan and Allan Ahlberg) to announce the arrival of Simea Areli Bruce, born at 1:15 a.m. on Monday, June 25th weighing 6 lb 7 oz (or 2.91 kg). It’s full of UK-isms like “grandma pegging washing on the clothes-line to be dried” and references to cots and pushchairs. The gramma in the book also looks a bit like my Gramma Christie.

She was born after a long night and day–and second night of labor, moments before they were going to go for a c-section. At the last minute, they checked once more and found her ready to deliver! Simea was born fifteen minutes later–naturally. This has been a huge blessing for Anne as she enjoys recovering from a normal birth.

Dad, Mum, and baby are home and doing well.Β 

Be Our Guest

We have a new guest room in our home. This weekend we welcomed our first “guest”–Johnny.

He spent the last ten days in the hospital, following a particularly bad manic episode. We will spare you the details, but we still want to share our news so that you can join us in prayer for the days ahead. This week there will be several appointments and then he will start an outpatient program the following week.

We have renewed hope for Johnny’s future. Our hope is not in the programs, doctors, counselors or anything that John and I plan for Johnny. We’ve pretty much come to the end of our ability to trust John, ourselves or others for the change needed. Our hope is in the Lord.

May I tell you my story?

The first sermon of 2018 at the Edge Church challenged us to “Make Room” for God, miracles, relationships, and ministry in our lives and in the life of the church. Afterwards, I prayed with the ministry team, asking God for a miracle in Johnny’s life this year.

Later, as Lent was underway, they launched a series of sermons on the biblical practice of fasting. I began fasting and praying, specifically for John. In April, I decided to try a 21-day partial fast, called the Daniel Fast (no meat, no dairy, to grains, no sugar=basically a vegan diet. It wasn’t particularly difficult to eat less or skip meals, but coming up with a diet of vegetables, fruit and legumes was a bit challenging. I bought a spiralizer and two cookbooks, but most of the recipes still included meat or cheese so there weren’t a lot of options–and very little variety. I’m pretty sure I could never be vegan.)

The last day of my partial fast happened to coincide with John’s manic episode. John and I were up all night with him and finally called for help as the sun rose the next morning. I was more than a little stunned, but still sure that this was more than a coincidence. It is not how I imagined God would answer my prayer, but I was able to trust that somehow this would “work together for good” in spite of how things looked at the moment.

I woke up at 4 am the next morning and immediately thought of Johnny, now a resident of a chronic psych unit. I got up to pray for him and started reading my Bible. I’d been reading a lot of the lament literature–Psalms, Jeremiah and Lamentations. I was looking for verses about a “new heart” which had been my specific prayer for John–tho I often told God I wasn’t sure how to define a new heart. I noticed Ezekial 36, reading verses 22-38 and then read chapter 37, the Valley of Dry Bones.

I didn’t take it as a promise from God for John but as a beautiful picture of what God could do in his life. It was extremely encouraging in light of all that had transpired that day. You can read it yourself and imagine my encouragement, my hope.

John was, of course, miserable in the hospital. He begged to come home and for the first time we weren’t sure that we could let him return home. His counselor told us to clear out his room and make it into a guest room, so we spent a couple days doing that. Although we visited John when we were able, our best conversations took place over the phone. Gradually, we walked him through the events of that night (he doesn’t remember much) and then, through his goals and ours, long and short term. He had one short term goal and that was to come home, but we were slowly able to work through a negotiation process together. We talked with his counselors, doctor and life coach and the case worker at the hospital and feel confident that we’ve got a good plan in place. Even so, we know that unless God gives him a “heart of flesh” and his Spirit within, all the plans in the world will likely fail.

Will you pray with us? Choose some phrases from Ezekial 36 or 37 to ask God to fulfill in John’s life. Pray for us. Pray for a miracle!

 

P.S. One of my good friends told me this joke: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? Three, but only if the lightbulb wants to be changed :-).

 

Sew Organized!

We are continuing to settle into our new home–and getting ourselves organized.

I started with my sewing area in the basement. I bought an Ikea Kallax 8-bin unit to define my space and set up a boundary with the kids’ play area. Bins organized toys and fabric and an attached table made a nice home for my new sewing machine. I returned to Ikea for another table for my serger and a cutting board, and an even bigger–16 bin–unit to store my fabric. A re-covered design board, a new ironing board cover, and a table skirt to hide more bins of stuff, completed my sewing room by mid-July.

 

With Lizi moving back home, I organized the closet in her room to compactly hold–and organiez–her clothes and my (non-sewing) hobbies.

 

I needed to cram a lot of books and files into a small space. Back to Ikea (several times) to pick up pieces of the Algot system and figure out how to use the space well. I finished our new, organized closet by the end of August.

 

 

 

 

 

Last, but certainly not least, we were able to get our garage organized by the end of September. Another Kallax system and more bins, a massive workbench and pegboard, and numerous shelves. Our bikes are stored up high on pulleys for easy access and sports bins hold the balls, discs, and skates. A rail system holds gardening tools, etc. Plus we either stored (garage attic) or threw out the rest of our junk.

Best of all, we are able to park two cars in the garage for the first time since we left our Bellwood home in 1980! We are so excited to be able to pull in and out of the garage,
away from the elements. And yes, I have ball hanging from a rope to guide me into my space πŸ™‚

 

One more thing: My threads for weaving are finally “organized” after what seems like months of stops and starts. Before we left Elmhurst I laid out 400+ threads on the warping board and tied them neatly. In August, I managed to get all the threads onto the loom, but didn’t finish dressing it until this week. For me, that means going over and over it to get it right: the pattern, the threading of the heddles, the sleying of the reed and then, the tension. I love how it looks when it is all done, though I have to say the process of getting to this point is more than tedious. Now I’m ready for the fun of weaving πŸ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really, sew organized!

 

Sixty-four!

I will be sixty-four this week, so you know what song is going through my head.

Paul McCartney wrote the tune when he was sixteen and the Beatles recorded it in 1966, the year his father turned sixty-four. It was released in 1967 on their album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I was thirteen.

And probably thought sixty-four was really old.

So, like most of my friends, I’m kind of surprised to find myself singing the song about a real birthday, wondering how we got so old, so quickly.

I’m going to spend my birthday working. Somehow that seems appropriate since I haven’t managed to completely retire yet. I’m taking it month-by-month and for now, it still seems like a good thing.

Will you still love me? Will you still need me?—I’m sixty-four!

 

P.S. I also shared a birthdate with John Lennon πŸ™‚

Lizi 101

A recent conversation got me thinking that maybe I need to write a manual for being with Lizi. If you are her Facebook friend, you will know that she has been struggling with relationships and loneliness for the past few years. She longs for friendship, but often doesn’t know how to make it happen.

Occasionally Lizi invites herself to visit one of her out-of-town cousins. They have always been happy to have her visit, but not quite sure about planning for her visit. I usually tell them that Lizi really just likes being with people. She is quite happy to just be with someone, even if they aren’t talking or doing anything special. An occasionally trip to Kohls or Walgreens (or, back in the day, a Christian bookstore) will satisfy her need to “go,” which is minimal.

When I go out for a meal with her, I often bring a book. We’ll have a short conversation, and then she is happy to let me read. She will answer questions and ask a few basic ones herself, but mostly she isn’t much of a conversationalist and she doesn’t need you to be.

Remember side-by-side play? It’s basically like that. She is happy to go along, or not, but simply loves being with others.

Recently, the Mathiesons invited her to a dance recital that was taking place in Elmhurst. Aunt Linda and Uncle Larry often take her along on trips to the Arboretum or to free concerts in the area. They also watch TV and movies with her. Our old neighbors Lark and Alicia both are great about letting her simply hang out with them.

Lizi still has a couple more months of independence before likely moving in with us at the end of the summer. Currently, she stays with us Sunday afternoon through Wednesday morning. She goes back to her apartment to work three (W-Th-F) lunch shifts and stays through Sunday morning, sometimes at a loss for things to do–or people to see. She especially likes the company of dogs and children (though admittedly, not all children know how to handle her.)

It’s really quite simple. Lizi 101.

In Summer!

Olaf’s song, “In Summer” keeps going through my head, especially that last belted-out line.

Lizi and I enjoyed a taste of summer for a few days at Balgownie, the Bendelow’s cottage in South Haven. It was hot and sunny most of the time we were there, perfect for a few beach days to start off the summer.

Returning home last night was a little weird: I drove home via I-80 and then up Rt 30, through farmland and fields for the last few miles, then came into our subdivision from the south, avoiding the busy roads that I’m used to transversing. When I got home and unpacked, I had an odd feeling of surprise that this was actually my home.

It feels a bit like a summer home with the light, bright basement, the deck(s), the lush grass, and the big blue skies. No pool, no lake, but still summer-y.

In a week, we’ll have a small body of water on our property: We bought a new hot tub and it should be installed this weekend. John has been busy planning a second level deck and building the base for the hot tub. He also is installing the electric wiring from the house to a circuit box and then to the tub. In the next few weeks, he will put in a fence and later this summer, build the deck around the hot tub. He has good helpers.

In the meantime, we’ve enjoyed eating and entertaining on our deck. When we first bought the house, John thought the deck was too big. He planned to cut it down by about a third, knowing he would be adding a second deck for the hot tub. But as we have lived with it, we find it is not too big at all! Tables, chairs and people fill it up just fine.

My gardening plan for this year was limited to the area just outside our front door. It looked like the previous owner had simply put mulch down, never developing the soil or planting much but bushes across the front of the house. I was dismayed when I started to dig (thick clay) and disappointed when we paid to have it rototilled with added compost. It will be a work in progress for a few years.

I planned to wait until next year to add a garden for vegetables and herbs. However, my new neighbor to the north has four terraced raised beds on the south side of his house, facing my kitchen window. I asked him if he was planning to garden and he said he didn’t know much about gardening. I asked/offered to work on it for/with him. I dug out weeds today, will add compost tomorrow and hopefully have it planted by the weekend. I brought several plants with me in pots that need to be transplanted. It felt good to be digging in relatively good soil today–a definite sign of summer.

Next weekend we get to host a summer birthday party for Olive, our only summer grandΒ child (and her Birkey cousin, Eva.) Laura’s friend owns a blow up water slide. Laura took one look at our backyard and wondered if we wanted to host the party πŸ™‚

I have a feeling summer will fly by while we continue to settle into our new house. That’s okay because we are planning on a second summer in December/January and possibly February: New Zealand! Meanwhile, we plan to enjoy our new house…in summer!

10 Things I Like About You

I thought I’d write about the 10 things I like about our new home:

1. I like my kitchen. Actually I’m finding it simply amazing (without being over-the-top.) It is big, open, and has tons of storage. It’s been fun having people over for dinner and it really is a good thing that I like my kitchen/dining room so much because it is the only place we can sit down inside the house.

2. I like my island. It has become a comfortable place to cook and feed others, but it is also my place to sit and read or plan, or work on the computer. John has his office and I have a loom room/sort-of-office, but I find I gravitate to the island for most of my quiet moments.

3. I like our deck (when the sun is shining.) Even though we are planning to make some changes to the deck (a second level with a hot tub πŸ™‚ we’re enjoying what we have for now.

4. I like our very first master bedroom/bath. Our master “suite” is really four rooms: a bedroom, a bathroom, a separate toilet room, and a walk in closet. The bathroom has a shower and a deep whirlpool tub tha is helping me get over the temporary loss of a hot tub.

5. I like our first-floor laundry. Way cool.

6. I like our garage. So far it is a staging area for unpacking, but we are gradually getting things put away. John built triple decker shelving along one wall of the garage, which lets us store things, basically in view. His next project is a workbench.

7. I like our “lower level.” We are working on dividing the big room into sewing area /play area/ and place to relax together with friends. Last week I made a trip to IKEA and set up a desk and bookcase to make a separate space for my sewing. This week we ordered a sectional couch for the other end of the room. These two spaces bookend the kids’ play area but they all kind of flow together. John2 has a bedroom and a large “media” room that we are letting him take over.

8. I like our neighborhood. It’s really different, but pleasant. I’ve become a dog-walker, enjoying looking at the different homes, gardens, etc. There are ponds and paths and miles of places to walk. It’s not like Elmhurst, where we could walk to town and ogle some really big and beautiful houses, but it’s open and quiet. I like that we routinely pass farm fields as well. Our new neighbors seem nice. I was especially happy to find that one of my nursing school classmates, Cheryl Fornelli, lives just two blocks from us. We had fun getting re-acquainted with her and her husband, John.

9. I like our new town: Aurora. It’s really diverse and interesting. It’s sprawling suburbia mixed with a downtown area that is struggling to survive. An Elmhurst “kid” told me that we have a cool venue in River Edge Park. Today we got a flyer for the Summer Concert Series. (Our own Ravinia?) Aurora has miles of bike trails, lots of parks, a small zoo, and Blackberry Farm. Aurora is also home to Wayside Cross Ministries, where John has volunteered as a mentor and occasional teacher/speaker.

10. But best of all, I really like being near Laura and Taylor, Kellen, Oaks and Olive! It has been a lot of fun to share our lives and our new home with them. Besides babysitting and casual drop-ins, we were able to enjoy the end of the soccer season, seeing our kids at church, and taking field trips with them. Laura and I are also co-cooking: we plan our meals and double our portions so we don’t have to cook every night πŸ™‚ Loving that!

The Big Check

We moved! We’re still settling in, of course, but we’ve moved–lock, stock and barrel–out of our Elmhurst home and into our new home in Aurora. I can finally check off a major goal that I’ve been pursuing for a couple years.

Every time my dad moved he said, “We should have done this five years ago.” I was determined to move sooner rather than later, never regretting waiting too long to make a move. My experience with cancer also planted a desire to move so that neither John or I would ever have to make such a big move alone.

The whole process was much more difficult than we imagined. We spent a year getting the house ready for market; four months stressed by the processes of selling and buying; three weeks of crazy packing; and four days actually moving. We attempted to clean the whole house in about four hours, but failed, stretching the final move into the evening and again the next morning. We were out about the time the closing ended (after two more soaks in the hot tub.)

We were debt free for about two hours: Our second closing was scheduled 5 hours after the first one. (We pre-signed so we didn’t have to go to the Elmhurst closing.) When we finished the Aurora closing, we headed out to the new house, where we spent the night and waited for the POD and the movers to arrive the next morning.

Laura and the kids joined us soon after we arrived and were back the next morning, ready to help. The whole family was back in the afternoon for play and pizza. The next morning I picked up the boys and took them out for a Mother’s Day breakfast and then went to church with their family (while John went back to Yorkfield to teach Sunday School.) Monday was soccer and today I watched Oaks in the morning and Kellen all afternoon. A big reason for our location choice was to be closer to the grandkids so it has been great fun to reap the benefits right from the start.

John2 has been less-than-thrilled with the move. He seemed to enjoy moving into his space the first night, but since then he has slipped into a deep depression, sleeping away most of the last three days. When Kellen saw him this evening, he said “Johnny, I’ve been looking for you for three days!” We expected the transition to be difficult so we’re not surprised by this, though we wish it could have been smoother.

Lizi has been with us since Friday afternoon. She will return to Elmhurst tomorrow for three days of work, Saturday, and church on Sunday morning. Then she will come back out and stay with us until Tuesday night. This is our compromise for the time being: It allows her to work and enjoy her church fellowship, and hopefully will help her learn to be more independent. Her lease lasts through August so we have some time to decide–with her– what to do next.

Annie face-timed with us a couple of times over the weekend, saying goodbyes to the old house and enjoying a tour of the new. She and Charlee always cheered us up when we were exhausted and discouraged.

I’m really enjoying my new kitchen. It turns out there is 26 linear feet (63 square feet) of counter top, 33 cupboards and 16 drawers! I also discovered two glass panelled doors in a closet and a conversion set for a sink front tray. Laura and I had a lot of fun finding places for everything. My used Ethan Allan table (bought from friends years ago) is a perfect match for the countertop and cabinets: the wood top matches the cabinets and the green base and chairs coordinates perfectly with the formica. My “Malone” also fits in perfectly.

There is still plenty to do, but we have lots of time and no deadlines. John bought wood to build garage shelving today and has several smaller projects in mind. I have enjoyed unpacking and starting to organise our various rooms. Today I started unpacking my sewing room and tomorrow I may set up my loom.

Our new address is 2225 Roaring Creek Dr., Aurora, IL 60503. Our Welcome Mat is out!

P. S. My “Malone” is a print done by my cousin, Daniel S. Malone, gifted to me this past January.