Starting Over: How Life Is Different Here Now (The Summary)

To say it's been a while is an understatement.  One measly post with some mediocre pictures stood in for my usual string of winter complaints.  Maybe that's a good thing.  If I'm going to complain about winter in Minnesota I can at least not publish it for the world 10 people (5?) who read my blog to see.  I'd love to report that winter is over and spring is here and all is well with the weather world, but, alas, we got a big snow in almost-mid-April, right after nearly all the snow in our yard had melted...

The family is doing great.  The kids are all racing to outgrow me and eating us out of house and home.  Here are a couple of pictures from our Easter hike at Minnehaha Falls.  It's what Easter looked like in Minnesota this year, and it's another example of how Life Is Different Here:

I hope to begin writing again; time will tell if I follow through.  I decided to pop in today for a short post because I feel like I have arrived at a running milestone following that pesky running injury.  Here's the summary of the last nine months or so, as it relates to running anyway!

• 4 weeks of running through the pain (including my first half-marathon)
• 4 weeks of hoping to get better (but getting worse)
• 13 weeks of non-weight-bearing crutches
• 5 weeks of remembering how to walk without limping
• 15 weeks of retraining: walking, biking, & running
• Today: Ran 3 miles, all in a row, under 30 minutes.  Feeling done with the tibial stress fracture!
• Enjoying pain-free running again, feeling very thankful...

I've been thinking a lot about what should be different in my training this time around.  I really don't want another injury! I have made a few changes and I am definitely on alert for signs of trouble, taking the whole "listen to your body" thing much more seriously now. 

More on how Life Is Different Here coming soon!

Blah, blah, blah...

It's official.  This is not a family history blog.  Just the thought of having to write up a summary about what we have been up to makes me want to shut down the blog forever. :)  It's not that bad, really, but I have realized over the last few months that I can't make promises here.  I am a blogger, though it's so low on my priority list that I will choose not only to watch Olympic gymnastics before blogging, but I will also choose to watch Olympic handball, or maybe even water polo.  I hope you get my drift!

So here's the quick run-down, and then I am off the hook:

• The Lego tournament was super-fun!  The Cavemen were awesome, with a fourth place finish in robot performance.  We liked the Magic Kingdom, but I think we liked Sea World better.
• Anna's ballet performance was great.  She was beautiful and graceful, of course!
• All five kids were involved in a home school drama group this summer, Class Act Theatre.  They worked with a bunch of great kids and a professional director to put on The Secret Garden.  Their acting debuts were terrific.  We'll get a DVD of the play soon and we will subject many of you who may have missed it.
• The Roystons came to visit, and we had a wonderful time!
• I completed the half-marathon, much to my surprise, really.  I peaked a bit too soon, suffered from shin splints, took 10 whole days off from running BEFORE the big day (which made me really panic), but made it through just fine.  By that evening I could hardly walk, and am still recovering.  All in all, I think becoming a runner was a good thing for me, and I am actually looking forward to running again as soon as next week, I hope.  Rest is the best thing for my problem, but I have begun biking and walking and am feeling much, much better.
• Summer is coming to a screeching halt.  It's 67 degrees outside, and the pool is still open for another week.  There are at least two flaming orange maple trees on our street.  I plan for school to start August 27.  This year we have 4th, 5th, 8th, 10th, and 11th grades.  Wow!

So I will no longer attempt to give the family play by play here.  I do love to talk about it, so if you want to hear what's going on just ask me, e-mail me, call me, facebook me, whatever.  But here I will stick to weird kid stories, cooking highs and lows, complaining about the weather, and whatever else comes to mind.

And thank you, if you're actually still out there.  Life is still different here; it's just a lot busier!

Busy, Busy

Well, well, yes, it has been a while since I have visited my blog!  So I would not be surprised at all if no one is out there to read this...

I've been a bit busy with work and fun over the last months, and that really hasn't changed now.  I do hope to get back to writing here sometime soon, but what used to be my early morning computer time has now been largely replaced by morning runs and (for once) keeping up with school planning and grading.  I have to admit that those activities are probably a better use of my time than blabbing away here about whatever comes to mind.  But I am not ready to say I won't be back here eventually.  Winter is coming, and the time seems to slow down then...

I do hope to finish up a quick update to post here soon, maybe with a few pictures.  The super-quick summary is this: the kids are really tall and happy, Las Vegas had some fun stuff even for a nature-nut like me, the beach is beautiful as always, I have run over 300 miles this year, and school gets more complicated every year!

Hope to see you soon!

Summertime and the Living is Easy...

You may have noticed I am taking a bit of a summer writing break.  We've been happily busy with summer life, so I have not spent a lot of time in front of the computer.  All is well here and there will be much to tell one of these days when I sit back down.

This a great time to mention that the easiest way I know of to keep up with an infrequent blogger is to set up a Google Reader account.  I know I wrote a blog post about this a long time ago, but I can't find it now! (Please leave a comment if you are more familiar with my blog than I am!)  But I am sure I linked to this great post on Molly Piper's blog, written by her husband Abraham, since that is where I learned how to set up my Google Reader account! 

Google Reader allows you to go to one page to keep up with all of your favorite blogs.  You can read the posts from there or click into the actual blog.  Either way you can see right away whether there is a new post (or not, in my case).  Easy peasy!  If you have included Life Is Different Here on your Google Reader, will you please leave a comment so I will know?  Thanks!

Thanks for checking in now and then.  I will eventually get back into blogging more, but for now I will concentrate on being a wife and mother of some busy kids. I hope you all enjoy summer as much as we do here.  It is one of the ways that life is different here in Minnesota - summer comes and goes in what seems like the blink of an eye.  We don't want to miss it!

The 100th Post - Why Life Is Different Here, Still

Well, this is the 100th post on Life Is Different Here, but I just can't see the necessity for a lot of fanfare.  Maybe I'll save that for the 1000th post! ;)  Still, a short(-ish) but somewhat random list has been floating around in my head for a little while, so I thought I could use this as an opportunity to share it.

• Something one of my children said that I know no one in Alabama would say: "There are always frozen raccoons in the drains."  This statement was met with no surprise and general agreement among the siblings.
• Here is what the first day of spring looked like; though, admittedly, it could have been worse.

• We had about 80 inches of snow this year (with more forecasted for tonight and tomorrow), making it the Twin Cities' seventh snowiest winter ever.  That made it our family's snowiest winter ever.
• There has been snow on the ground for the last 130 days.  The picture above shows the least amount of snow that has been on the ground during the last 129 days.
• My first blog post was published on November 11, 2009.  Since then the blog has been viewed 3510 times, most of them by Edwin (my views do not count) or my sweet mother-in-law, I am guessing!
• Shockingly, this blog has been viewed by people in 10 different countries!  I think it may be due to random clicking on the "Next Blog" button at the top of the page. 
• My favorite blog posts so far would have to be the ones in the "metamorphosis" category.  I mean, if you have a whole category for metamorphosis that is saying something!  If you have time, start at the bottom of the category and read your way up.
• I would love it if everyone who reads this 100th post would say hi in the comments.  You can introduce yourself or remain anonymous if you'd rather.  I would be pleased to meet you!  Thank you for reading!

What's Coming Up...

My old friend Jill (who is not old since she is as old as me, but is a friend from long ago) has a blog called Jumpin' In, and each Wednesday she shares a recipe in a post she calls "What's Cooking Wednesday."  This week I plan to join her and begin to post a recipe or two each Wednesday.  I hope this will encourage me to post something here at least once a week, so my blog will not be lonely as it sometimes is.  Time will tell!

Also, last week I thought that my 100th blog post was coming up so I began to feel pressure about what to write for such a monumental occasion!  Then I noticed that several posts that were being counted were drafts and revisions, making the 100th post a little further removed.  But it's coming.  No clues as to if it will be worth reading!  But I am planning a little report from my statistics page, which I only very recently realized I had.

Lastly, what's coming up is a perfectly normal school week, for which I am thankful.  Decent weather, in the form of 30's, 40's, and maybe even 50 degrees (!) is in the forecast.  I am hoping to take my first four mile run this week; I have never run farther than 3.5 miles, so we'll see.  I am amazed once again at the blessings God has given us, especially in the wake of the great devastation in Japan, and the hard things going on even in the lives of our friends.  There is much to pray for, as always.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8

Comment Trouble

Something weird is going on with my comments.  If you have tried to post a comment lately, it probably disappeared.  I only know about the problem because a few people have mentioned that they commented, and yet I never saw it.  Sorry about that!  I will try to find the time to look into the problem soon.

It is normal for your comments to NOT show up immediately under the blog post.  This is because I have chosen to "moderate" the comments before publishing them.  That means I read them first and then publish them.  It is my blog, and I want to maintain complete control over what is here, not to keep away opinions that might disagree with mine, but to be sure that I know what is published under my name.  This will continue.

But, normally, your comments should be posted within a day or two after you make them.  I usually check for comments more frequently after posting, allowing them to be published quickly.  So please don't stop commenting!  I will try to fix the problem soon.

You could help by trying to post a comment below.  The comments I make get published right away, so I can't really experiment with a fix unless I have some "real" comments!  Thanks!

What He Must Be...

We have enjoyed the book, now you can win a DVD of the conference!

What He Must Be: ...If He Wants to Marry My Daughter by Voddie T. Baucham Jr. is good for parents of girls, but also ones with boys. The boys will, afterall, have to be fit to marry a nice young lady one of these days, and we have to raise them. And it's never to early to start thinking about what kind of young men and women we want our children to be!

Jasmine Baucham is the oldest daughter of the author, and blogs at http://www.joyfullyathomeblog.com/. I enjoy reading it. Click on the links to have a look around and enter the contest!

Joyfully At Home: Next Tuesday

Filling Up

My head is filling up with words lately – words I do not have time to write down. I do hope they will stay around long enough for me to catch up on life a bit, and then I can get around to writing again. I do want to write about how we had our Christmas Eve dinner on Christmas Eve Eve this year, and what we did on Christmas Eve instead. And that reminds me of how we nearly burned down the house after last year’s Christmas Eve feast, and what came this year to fill in for the sadly destroyed centerpiece from our wedding rehearsal dinner…

But for now those words will stay in my head, I hope. And I will go back to dealing with how our house filled up with food, people, photos, gifts, and blessings of many kinds; and I will be back here after cleaning up the mess those blessings create.

Good Idea...

Improv Everywhere - I Love Lunch

Maybe you've heard of one of my favorite rainy day blogs, Improv Everywhere. I usually just watch their videos and skip the text, though it may be entertaining as well. I should say that not everything on their blog is acceptable to everyone, so preview before calling your kids down to watch with you! I found nothing to keep the kiddos from watching their latest installment, "I Love Lunch." Another favorite is "Food Court Musical."

I think I enjoy them so much because I would secretly love to do this myself!

The Trouble with Blogs

I enjoy reading a few blogs, most of them written by Christian women who are similar to me in one way or another. They home school, home make, raise children, suffer losses, and strive to glorify God in the little and big things of life. The trouble is, most of them are much better at these things than I am! Or at least that is how it appears.

I have seen beautiful hand-made dish cloths, season-appropriate centerpieces, hot breakfasts for weekday mornings, successful home businesses, monthly grocery budgets of $400 for a large family, super-creative crafts made with their children, and the list goes on. Some days I come away inspired; other days I come away feeling completely inadequate. These women do not claim perfection. I am sure they have personal struggles, and they do mention some of the struggles in their blog posts. But herein lies the trouble with blogs: they are a mere glimpse into someone’s life. A blog usually shows the high points, and leaves out the lows.