not much time, after all

Maybe I should rename my blog... It was done tongue-in-cheek, but I did used to make time to blog more regularly. Oh well. I do Facebook now, and my new Soduko (Sudoku? I never remember which way) book has a place to make diary entries. Add to that, I usually sit down to the computer when I'm nursing Elijah, and it's hard to type on a laptop while holding a baby in one hand. So there are the excuses, now for the updates.

Retirement is looming large ahead of us. We wonder everyday where we will end up. Do we buy or rent a house? Do we choose a location with a good art school or business school? Do we go for a location that is pleasing to our flesh or close to a Biblical church? Should Bob look for a 'good' job, or go part time to keep the stress low? Do we live in town or out of it? This pot of questions simmers constantly on the back burner.

Slightly ahead of that is our time left in England. We will take 3 weeks of leave this summer, and I've booked 3 holiday cottages. That will give us a week in each of three central locations - North Yorkshire, North Wales, and South Wales. I feel a lot of relief to have the places booked, as many cottages were already full for the summer. But as time marches on, I will have to come up with a specific list of things to see and do at each location, and make lists of things to bring (beyond ordinary vacation things, like laundry soap, and maybe a crockpot, and games to play, and ...). And then I hope to squeeze in all the closer destinations on Saturdays and any upcoming 3-day weekends (I want to spend some time in Lincoln, for example).

Then of course, is work. Bob is part of an exercise this week, and he was gone from 5am to 6:30pm yesterday. Good timing, too, as this week is his final exam for his Math class. I *think* he'll pass it, if they let him off early to at least be there in time. The first half of the book was a struggle for Bob, as he can't accept my way of doing algebra (don't worry about making sense, just follow the formula), but the second half he has left me far behind. When he knows what they're talking about he can understand what it means and do the problem without the formula.

Cedwryck went to the dentist last week and they say he has a "cross bite" and want to put in an appliance. But it should be done after his 6-year molars come in, but if we do it now, it's free. So what to do about that? And I still need to schedule the other children.

Naysha is already planning her birthday party (birthday end of MAY).

But with all that, I feel that I'm in a good place emotionally. Pastor has been preaching about healing, and while I believe healing is provided for but not promised, it has stirred hope within me. I've had a bad toe for at least 3 years; the nail was pretty much gone, and it was funky looking and sensitive. I'd pretty much gotten used to it, but in January we had a foot-washing service, and the next time I happened to look at my feet the toe was normal. The nail is grown back and everything. So I am taking that as a deposit, and I do believe God can heal my arthritis. I think it is linked to a spiritual condition, as the Bible says "A broken spirit dries the bones." If a merry heart does good like a medicine, it isn't an immediate healing, but an improvement in health, and that's what I'm looking for.

We tried to sell the cross trainer/eliptical, but that fell through. So I figure I may as well use the thing. I uncluttered the den so that I can get to it, and have been going 10 minutes at a time. And I'm on day 2 of no junk food. AT ALL. I'm having Tesco delivered today, and didn't even order a chocolate croissant. sob.

SO that's me caught up, more or less. Now on to the laundry - starting the washer should help Taryn get out of the shower. hehehe.