November 1, 2012

• a wintry fall

  30 minutes until time to go pick up the four school children in their little basement school at Bay Tree Mennonite.  That is minus the time it takes to start the suburban to let it warm up on this wintry day.  It was -27 degrees Celsius this morning, which translates to -16 F.   I know.  Don’t fall over.  It feels leisurely to be sitting here by the stove in the big chair with my french vanilla mocha made in the classy black SMS cup from the school reunion we went to in Sparta, Wisconsin this summer.  Confession:  I love luxury.  I have a post I want to write about all of that which includes this line:  “But I don’t want to live in mediocrity, sipping life away on $5 starbucks coffees.”

  

  It didn’t seem fair when Dan dressed up in his full line of winter clothes after lunch and I stayed here where it’s warm washing dishes. 

  The dogs love to spend cold mornings in the porch and we humour them along.  The magpies are back to eating all the dog food like they do when it snows.  And it’s the time of year when it’s not unusual to see moose and elk in the fields on the way to church or school.

  

  I introduced Andre to tomato sandwiches not long ago and he’s had one for lunch every day since. 

  We had a special weekend with sweet company from Idaho and a very good communion service at church.  Small church life has its pros and cons.  I love the hearty, honest folks that make up our little group.  But  a few more hearty, honest folks would be altogether lovely.  Conservative Mennonite style, we have communion twice a year in the interest of keeping it a reverent, soul-searching time.  After communion we wash each others’ feet, taking the words of John 13 literally:  “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.”

  Two burnt coral dresses for Natalia and Victoria to wear to my niece’s wedding next weekend are slowly being completed.  I  also hope to sew a black dress with a white pin stripe for myself.  Aside from putting a sleeve in backwards and having to adjust patterns and trim and measure and losing my seam ripper every time I turn around, I’m kind of having fun.  Sewing has never been my forte, but maybe I can get okay with it yet.

  Life with just the two preschoolers at home is hilarious lately. They’ve  been playing a game where their names are Hillary and Samson. I think it’s from watching a Berenstain Bears episode, “The In Crowd.” This morning they were playing doctor and Andre told Liesl to pretend she was pregnant.  She laid on the couch with her baby on her belly and then he said, “Ok, when I say 1, 2, 3, POP then the baby is born.”  I watched and she flung the child off of her stomach at the right time.  Then the doctor took it in hand and fed it water out of a medicine dropper.

  Later they were playing Cinderella and the prince.   He picked her out of the crowd at the ball and later they were married and eating noodle soup for lunch.  She said, “Pretend that I made this noodle soup and you think it’s the best noodle soup in the world.”  He was Prince Tyler and I heard her telling him that she will always stay married to him because he’s the most handsome man in the world. 

  They fight a lot too and get terribly silly  One great pastime is to sing This Old Man and say, “Give a dog a lamp…or a pizza …or a couch”— instead of a bone.  They get louder and louder and crazier and crazier.    Or knock on the fridge door and pretend that the Ranch dressing or the carrots answer you.

  When Alec bought a new 4 wheeler this fall I told him that he had to read classics all winter to counteract  the quadding/snowmobiling craze that’s so huge in this country.  I was kind of joking but he thought I was serious.  And I love seeing his room light on late while he reads Jane Eyre.

  I’ve been seriously beseeching God every night to wake me up early enough to spend some time with Him and it’s so cool because He seems to honour that.  I read Donna Kauffman’s book The Treasury of Careful Planning again and was inspired to try more of a schedule. Again.  It’s  been far too lax for far too long around here…and it’s serious business, this making of a home for so many people.   Of course this is only Day 4 of reform.  But it’s a start.  I used to be a perfectionist.  Hard times and babies and laundry and life have taught me flexibility.  But it seems like I struggle to find a middle road.  I’ve been honing my flexibility for so long that it borders on haphazard laziness. 

  

  If you should visit us, the deep tracks in the ditch at the bottom of the lane are mine.  I forgot that it was winter and brakes don’t work well on snow covered roads. 

  Coming soon on this blog:  The Day the Glasses Fell Down the Toilet Hole ( a story from my childhood) and my first giveaway later this month.  The giveaway makes me laugh because I remember when I first started blogging and I wondered What in the world giveaways had to do with blogging.  I still don’t really know the answer to that.  But I think you will like this one.  I’m excited about doing it.

  Day 2 on this bit of writing.  It’s dull.  Must publish or forget it altogether.    Prayers and warm thoughts for all the good Americans suffering the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

  That concludes my winter thoughts for the time being.  Bring on November!

  

  • 6:26 pm
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