The Start of My Blog

Okay, so I can't believe I'm actually doing this...I don't have time to be doing this...but I am gonna try. Bear with me (or is it "bare" with me? No, don't take anything off!), and share your thoughts. I'll post and reply when I can.

Let's see....Liz suggested I blog and when I emailed her telling her why I don't have time, she said it could easily be pasted into a blog...so I will!

oh, Liz, I'd LOVE to do a blog, but life is way to crazy to even think about it now. Full responsibility for farm and market is pretty much on Tony and me now...I do all the accounting (bookkeeping, payroll, a/c, a/p, tax payments...still have to do the 3rd qtr MN one tonight before bed), scheduling employees, training employees, covering when they call in sick at the last minute (after scrambling to find a babysitter), planning promotional things for the market, updating the website (which it hasn't been in several months because I forget the password, and when I email to get a temporary password sent, the email never arrives...but I don't have time during the day to call the web host about it), baking for our October pumpkin parties (4 dozen cookies, a tray of brownies, a sheet of rice crispies, two different soups, and two pies every Saturday....only two more weeks to go!), ordering products, and doing inventory -- then there is working with AWANA at church (I've been praying about dropping that responsibility....club secretary for four different groups (each with their own secretary), 85 leaders, and about 225 kids from age 3 thru 6th grade), Christmas program practice just started (I direct, and I love it!), Watkins stuff (which doesn't take up too much time and helps our income which we really need), regular housework (what IS a clean kitchen floor? And when raising a boy, when does the bathroom stop smelling like a port-a-potty regardless of how often it is cleaned? I'm thankful when my four to five loads of laundry from one week is folded before the next round is started...put away? What's that???), raising a 2- and a 3-year old (one of who likes to sit on the toilet grasping body parts while singing "my ***** is a fire hose!," one who is extremely strong-willed, and both who were sick this past week...Susanna is finally well, Luke is part way through -- terrible headaches, very high fever, listlessness, no appetite, stinky toots), and being a wife (to a husband who is also fighting the same sickness and is drugged with Nyquil which is why I can type to you tonight...he doesn't like when I type when he's trying to sleep (computer is in the bedroom...and this is the only time I have to try to catch up on the over 150 emails in our inbox which are NOT spam/forwards/etc.). I was really sick this past week, too, but do moms ever get to take time off, even when battling high fevers, aches and pains, and terrible congestion? Then there's the stress of family....dad and mom just left (they were great helps ....well, not counting the van full of toys they brought -- literally. The upstairs room they stayed in was a total disaster, barely any walking room, due to all the toys they brought on their LAST trip here -- I asked them if they could clean and organize it while they were here, which they did...while adding even MORE stuff to the piles!), almost losing my father-in-law a few times this summer only to find the artery to his new kidney was almost completely blocked preventing it from functioning, and all the other regular family things. Oh, and the farm dog died, too. I haven't really had any time to process Gram and Gramps passing, although I am sad in missing them but happy that Gram's suffering is done and Gramp is finally with her again...and Jesus!

Your blog, as well as Mar's and Kar's, are a highlight of my life....I get such joy when I check them each night after Tony falls asleep (usually around 10:30 or so) and find something new. Mar's reassures me that I'm not the only mother going through the ups and downs of preschoolers/toddlers and yours shows me hope for the future when they get older...but shows me life still doesn't slow down.

Maybe some day...but for now, just thinking of doing a blog gives me a headache.

Okay, so I'm tackling the blog, but after reading the above, be patient with me! Hopefully I'll be able to post during nap times or like now, when Tony is downstairs after having just come home from helping butcher and process the three deer his brother and a friend got last week (venison, anyone?).

By the way, some updates from the above....Liz did tell me that her bathroom STILL stinks (her son is a teenager...same smells? different ones? new ones mixed in with the old? She didn't clarify, and I'm pretty certain it's the last). I've got my answer to prayer about giving up my AWANA responsibilities...same as the last four times I prayed about it. God put me in that position for a reason, and I'll continue to joyfully serve Him there (even if there are times when I have to remind myself that I am joyfully serving!).

And some clarification: This past April, my 83-year-old (now 84) father-in-law had a kidney transplant. He is doing well now, and I'll blog more about that at another time. In June, my Grandma Pavkov (Mom's mom) went home to be with Jesus after going through declining years of Alzheimers and other things that happen when one gets to be 95 years old. I think after her passing, Grandpa survived day to day but had a very hard time living without her. I could imagine he probably asked God to take him home, too, each day...and God answered his prayer on September 23. Grampa was 94...they both lived lives that were wonderful examples to everyone who came in contact with them in any way. I miss them dearly, but I know one day we'll be worshipping with Jesus together, praising God! I also mentioned Liz, Mar, and Kar -- they are three of my most favorite people in the world and I've been blessed to have them as cousins. They're sisters, also having one other sister and a brother, as well. I'm sure I'll blog some about them, too (like how Mar and I are the same age --usually-- she just had her birthday so I'm a "year younger" until June! and we both went through later-in-life pregnancies at the same time...twice...along with her youngest sister who we agreed had it so much easier than us, maybe because she's almost ten years younger! And how growing up they filled a void in my life by being like the sisters I didn't have.) At some other time, when I'm not rambling as much, I'll tell you about our pumpkin parties, post pictures of us, and give you links to Liz, Mar, and Kar's blogs.

Okay, can you tell I'm really tired and not making much sense? We'll see how things go in the future.....and if I can figure all this stuff out (blogging, that is).

Abundant blessings!
and good night....or actually, morning