Yay! Today was yet another test... this one was on rifle drill, and in spite of being a little nervous, he passed it. A couple more tests later this week, then next week they're out for field exercises. I sent him a care package last week, which arrived today, loaded with energy bars, beef jerky and snacks to take out there with him, plus some odds and ends that I though might come in handy. He got some teasing when a few of the guys saw that I sent along baby wipes - but one of the officers pointed out that baby wipes are a soldier's best friend out in the field.

So there, boys. LOL

Philippians 4:6-7

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Bring your needs to God - don't just sit around and worry or be stressed! God can meet all your needs.

By coming to God with my needs, by coming to Him about everything, I open myself to His peace, which will fill me and keep me from the fear that could otherwise grip my heart and mind.

Philippians 3:12-14

Philippians 3:12-14

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

- I'm NOT there yet!
- Don't get hung up on the PAST
- "Strain toward", "Press on toward" = actively pursuing the goal, not sitting back waiting for something to happen!


Philippians 3:16

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Does my life reflect salvation, redemption, righteousness, peace, joy, and an active pursuit of Christ and Heaven?


Philippians 3:17

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

Don't do it alone! Find others to join together with, both peers AND mentors.

DH has one more week of classes, then off to another course... we're in week 8 now I think... I've actually started losing track. All I know for sure is, it's less than two calendar months left til Christmas leave!!

Philippians 3:4,7

Philippians 3:4,7

If anyone thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more... but whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

Don't put your confidence in yourself, your talents, your gifts, your family line, etc. All of that is worthless compared to what you have in Christ! Seek to serve Him and to walk in the righteousness that He gives, not just to do well in your own strength and ability. You can do good things on your own, but truly you are powerless.

Philippians 2:12-16

Philippians 2:12-13

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.

I am to do my part and to work out, live out, act on and demonstrate my salvation, acting in a manner worthy of Christ. But it is only through God working in my that I will be successful, that I will be able to serve his purpose for my life!

Philippians 2:14-16

Do everything withouth complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

Obedience with a poor attitude is not true obedience. Joyful obedience, with no complaining or arguing, will set me apart and make me stand out in the world around me. A reminder of the power of the tongue here as well - complaining and arguing is a common trait among all of us in our day-to-day conversation, but what is the impact of that?

I’ve started doing some Bible study at night before I go to bed – I decided on Philippians for no particular reason, but it seems to be an appropriate place to be right now. It’s where Paul is writing from jail, and there are some pretty good nuggets to pull out of it. Like making sure that no matter what your circumstances might be, that your conduct is above reproach. And recognizing that even though things might look bad to you, God’s plans are bigger than ours and the very thing you’re suffering through might well be serving to advance the gospel. Or that people will look on you in your troubles, and what you do or say is going to affect their perception of God. I guess I got quite a bit out of the first chapter. :)

A doesn’t seem to have suffered any ill effects from her tumble last night... she fell down a couple of stairs. :( She was quiet and snuggly for about ten minutes then back to her normal self and today she’s trying to go up them again. Yeesh.

C’s cold is yucky today, she’s got a bit of a temperature and took a really long nap this afternoon. Now she’s up and seems content enough but she’s obviously sick. Poor kiddo. Needless to say we didn’t go anywhere today. I’ve got a few things I’d like to get done over the weekend but we’ll play it by ear. I’ve got to bring the nursery stuff in for Sunday, but probably I’ll try to do that tomorrow, then if she’s feeling icky I won’t have to get her up and out early on Sunday.

I hired someone to come build the back steps. He'll be here on Sunday. Once he’s done, then I can finish painting the deck and that project will finally be done. I need to get the rest of that dirt spread out and some grass seed planted asap, too, before it gets cold.

Philippians 1:12 & 27

Philippians 1:12

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

God can use even what looks like a bad situation! In the midst of trial, consider what opportunity there might be to share the gospel, to testify to God's presence and power, or to be a powerful witness through how you deal with your circumstances.

Philippians 1:27

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

In mu situation, be it good or bad, what do my attitudes, actions and words say about Christ? What is my witness when I am put under pressure? Am I conducting myself in a worthy manner, bringing glory to God and walking with Christ, or am I falling, relying on myself and so telling others that the gospel is powerless?

Philippians 1:9-11

Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.

- Seek to GROW in love
- Become MATURE in knowledge and insight
- Develop DISCERNMENT to see what is best
- Live a PURE life, have a clear conscience
- Righteousness comes from CHRIST, not from me
- GOD'S glory, not mine

Growth and maturity will be marked by increased discernment and a closer walk with Christ, resulting in righteousness displayed in a pure and blameless life that brings glory and praise to God.

"Salute to a brave and modest nation"

Sunday Telegraph Article From today's UK wires
Salute to a brave and modest nation
Kevin Myers, The Sunday Telegraph

LONDON - Until the deaths last week of four Canadian soldiers accidentally killed by a U. S. warplane in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops were deployed in the region. And as always, Canada will now bury its dead, just as the rest of the world as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.

It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored. Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.

That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts. For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.

Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.

Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, its unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the "British." The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone. Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth-largest air force in the world.

The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time. Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.

So it is a general rule that actors and film makers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British. It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.

Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.

Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular on-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.

So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan? Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun.

It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This week, four more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.

A little time to slumber

It's too true...

This poem is from here - Great website, great writer!

A little time to slumber
All my days spent in the sun,
My idle hands were folded,
My daily chores not done.
I wasn’t at all rebellious,
As into the sky I’d gaze,
I just left my daily duties
As in the sun I bathed.
I read my book for hours,
Dishes soaking in the sink,
The meat still in the freezer
For I didn’t stop to think
What I needed for dinner,
It lay frozen in a lump;
I’d serve meat of something,
Be it chops or steak or rump.
Just a minute of my surfing
Turned to hours of my day,
As I sat online chatting
To people far away.
Imagine then my panic
As at last I looked around,
To see the clock now telling
My man was homeward bound.
What a rush of my adrenaline,
Making me quickly scamper
To launder clothes still waiting
In the dirty laundry hamper.
The bed was pulled up in a hurry,
The dishes washed and left to dry,
As I boiled up some veggies
And set the meat to fry.
Which would likely take forever
For it hadn’t completely thawed
And I so wanted dinner ready
As soon as my man hit the door.
I felt so really guilty
as I served our dinner late,
That I decided my many forums
Would henceforth have to wait.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Book Reviews

Diary of a Fat Housewife
I'm currently in the middle of reading this. It's a no-holds-barred, no-punches-pulled, gut-wrenchingly honest look at life from the inside of a woman's struggle with weight. Being pregnant and hormonal, I'm surprised this book hasn't had me in tears already. It's definitely had me chuckling several times. I can't relate to all of it - I've been overweight for years but not to the extent of the author, and I haven't had to battle the overwhelming compulsions she talks about. But I love her honesty and her willingness to share her entire story (not just the successful parts). Written with sincerity, and at times very real, very raw emotion, this diary is a bit of a roller coaster, and I'd call it a must read for anyone who is struggling to lose weight and feels like they're alone in their plight.

The Surrendered Wife
It's challenging, it's controversial, and boy, do eyebrows go up when you start talking about this author's approach to a successful marriage! Setting aside the need to control, to be in charge, to take care of everything - it's a tall order, especially in this day and age when we have been raised to embrace the "do it all" dream. It's difficult to step away from years of one way of thinking and start embracing what feels like the opposite. To stop nagging, controlling, and micro-managing when you've been in that place long enough that it just comes out unconsciously, to hand over the reins to your husband and let him take the lead, it can feel so foreign, but yet so refreshing! Highly recommended.

Hush, Little Ones
Quite possibly a perfect bedtime story. Very soothing, rhythmic and repetitive, this book goes along softly saying goodnight to animals around the world. Also a great book for teaching some animal lessons, as each animal family is pictured in its natural habitat - nests, dens, burrows, fields. My two year old loves it but I think it would be a keeper for several years.

Down by the Station
This must be C's favorite book right now. A great little rhyme laid out beautifully in a book where each turn of the page reveals something new through peek-a-boo holes in the pages. On the right is a picture of the station and on the left appear all the sounds of the various trains, buses, tractors etc. C has been walking around the house "reading" this one to herself for days now, "chug chug chug, off we go!

Canadian soldiers seize Taliban weapons, supplies

Canadian soldiers seize Taliban weapons, supplies
The Canadian Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have seized a series of major Taliban supply depots containing everything from winter clothing and medical supplies to bomb-making equipment and anti-tank weapons.

The discoveries came after three days of patrolling in a village long believed to be an important staging point for insurgents.

The operation was intended to increase security in Kandahar City by disrupting the flow of Taliban fighters into the region.

Together with soldiers from the Afghan National Army, the Canadians found dozens of homemade explosives, mines, mortars, radios and an 82-millimetre recoilless rifle -- a weapon capable of taking out an armoured vehicle.

The soldiers also found what appeared to be a Taliban infirmary, complete with IV bottles, bloodstained clothes and two 50-kilogram sacks of dried peas from the United Nations, originally donated by Canada.

Insurgents declined to tangle directly with the heavily-armed battle group from the Royal Canadian Regiment, although the operation did encounter several improvised explosive devices.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081010/Afghan_bomb_20081010/20081010?hub=Canada

The BEST Play Dough Recipe!

Traditional Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients, adding food coloring last. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled. Will last for a long time.

This recipe is from here: http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/art/playdoughrecipes/traditional.html



Personal notes:

I used a medium-size pot to make this and it was about the perfect size. When it's done cooking, it will be quite thick and starting to stick to the bottom of the pot. I do not add the food coloring until afterward because I only want to make a small amount of each color at any given time. So I cook it and cool it as above, but I knead the color in by hand during the last step.

I have found that empty used Play-Doh containers make great storage (and we have plenty of them since Play-Doh dries out so quickly!). You could also use small Tupperware-type containers, or even Ziplock-type plastic bags as long as they have a good seal. Check flea markets for old Play-Doh playsets - most of them will be pretty cheap (and will probably include several tubs of dried-out dough if your experience is like mine!).

We left this dough out on the table overnight once by accident and I was VERY pleased to see that it didn't dry out. It got just a little crusty on the top, but a few seconds of kneading with warm hands and it was as good as new!

Thankfully my car checked out okay and doesn't need to be replaced. It does need new brake lines, but we're talking about a few hundred dollars tops. HUGE load off. (One guy told me I needed to get a new car in the next year, another that I was looking at $800+ just to fix my brake lines.)

So I'm going to town with mom this morning, picking up my car, then running errands. Two big boxes of books to take to the used book store, a few groceries to pick up, that kind of stuff.

DH talked to his clerk and found out our paycheck next week should be a normal one, no more dinky partial paycheques.

SO happy it's Friday, looking forward to the long weekend and being able to chat with honey. No holiday plans yet...

Recipe: Amish White Bread (for bread machine)

I came across this one day and filed it away... well, today I tried it and it is SO good!

Amish White Bread (bread machine version)

2-3/4 c flour
1/4 c oil
1 tsp yeast
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c + 2 tbsp warm water

Add to machine in order according to manufacturer's directions. Settings: 1-1/2 lb loaf, light crust.

The recipe noted that it needs to have two full rising cycles, so if your machine doesn't raise the dough twice, stop it and restart the cycle after the first rising is finished.

C has been a little off lately. Yesterday she was saying “I want all the leaves to be gone!” I asked her why, and she said “So it will be winter.” I asked why she wanted it to be winter, and her answer was “Because then Daddy will be home for a visit.” Oh.

She thinks a lot, you know? I think people don’t realize how much goes on in those little brains… but she’s analyzing things and coming up with her own conclusions, not always good ones. Like the other day when she figured that no one was going to buy the house and we were going to have to stay here without Daddy. She came to that on her own, from me saying we needed someone to buy the house before we could move to a new one, and then the people who came over didn’t buy it, so this is where she ended up. Scary.

Speaking of scary… apparently the world banks are getting together and starting to argue the benefits of a global currency. Eep.

We've been sending Daddy some of C’s school work. She is doing REALLY well… this week she decided we needed to be doing school again, I think because her cousin was doing homework at Grammie’s house. And she dove right in, finishing two of her half-finished workbooks in two days. LOL

Part of me wishes we’d made the effort to get together this weekend, but it’s a little late now. Besides, it still stands that it would have been really, REALLY hard to put him back on a plane after only a couple of days. It’ll be hard enough to do it after Christmas. Although I am hoping and praying and pleading that it won’t happen, that we’ll sell the house and things will work out that we can move after Christmas. We’ll see, though. Whatever will be, will be...and out of it will come whatever it is that God wants us to get out of it. I just hope He wants us to do it together. This long-distance thing… well, it’s manageable, but it’s certainly no fun. And the crazy part is, we’re signing on to a career that will make this a commonplace occurrence. We should both have our heads examined. LOL

Quotes of the Day

"You can't make Socialists out of individualists - children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming, where everyone is interdependent." - John Dewey, considered the founder of public education in America
(http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/2001/sept01/socialism.shtml)

"Some say it takes a village to raise a child. I've seen the village... and allowing it to raise my child is not an option."- Gena Suarez, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s18yj57iwU

52 days left til graduation, but still more than 60 til Christmas leave. That’s what I’m more looking forward to.

The kids’ colds are on the mend. They’ve still got a little bit – A still has a runny nose and C still has a cough – but it’s way better than it was a few days ago. We stayed away from Baby & Me today, though. Next week we’ll resume our social calendar. :)

C was all dejected today. I asked her why and she was like, “We’re NEVER going to move to a new house. I miss our new house. We’re going to have to stay in our old house for EVER. So I’m sad.” Poor kid. I had to laugh, but I hid it from her. She was pretty serious about it. So I explained that no, we won’t be here forever, we have to wait til the right person comes and wants to buy it, and even then we won’t be moving until after Christmas, or maybe even longer, that we can’t move until Daddy is ready for us. I don’t know if that helped or not. I guess yet again I didn't give her little brain enough credit... we were on a cleaning frenzy the other day to show the house to someone, and then they didn't have any interest, so she took that quite to heart.

I got rid of another trunk full of stuff today, four boxes off to the Tabitha Center and the little wooden table & chairs given to a friend. I’m getting there… I’m at the point now where I have to think about what I’m looking at before deciding whether it’s clutter or useful. We still have a ton of stuff here, but what’s here now is harder to part with.

I was reading an interesting blog entry today… the girl who wrote it thinks we might be in the beginnings of the 7 year tribulation period, or that if we’re not, we’re at least in the birth pangs for it. She has a theory that the first seal may have been broken last year when the EU and Israel signed a peace treaty. I’m not sure about all of what she wrote, mostly because I’m not half the bible scholar I would need to be to follow what she writes about. But she did make an interesting point about the Mark of the Beast. She said it will follow after the Rapture. And she was sketching out a possible scenario… you have hundreds of thousands of people suddenly go missing. Planes crash, cars crash, utter chaos ensues. The government steps in with this little implantable gizmo about the size of a grain of rice that can be traced from anywhere, everyone has to have one, it’s for your safety, there won’t be any more of these mysterious disappearances. I thought that was interesting.

Scary stuff today… I was listening to Glenn Beck… talk about fanatical support for a politician. I am seriously a little scared of what the outcome of the US election will be. Whoever wins. If Obama wins, then these freak people are going to be the ones running the show. If he loses, these freak people very well might be dangerous! He played a couple of clips. One was of a group of teen boys, dressed in camo pants and green t-shirts, doing a chant that started “Alpha Omega Alpha Omega” over and over as they marched into the room. They all one by one gave their “Because of Obama, I … “ testimony. They did a chant. Then they left. All very militaristic. Glenn was like, how would people react if supporters of a right-wing candidate did this? I found the video on YouTube. Apparently it’s been pulled down repeatedly, but people are making copies and reposting it because it’s so freaky. View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxJ7t3U3TDg

But it’s not as bad as the second one. The second one… well, Glenn played a clip from an audio track from the Nazi children’s camp that sounded eerily similar. It’s of children, singing a song about "Obama's gonna lead us" and “we’re gonna change the world”. That one was just plain frightening. It's on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdPSqL9_mfM&feature=rec-fresh

This, I think, is powerful... watch them both.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH-2Fwx5RU0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANn-1LpBZTQ

We're almost halfway through basic!!

DH gets his C7 this week, he's looking forward to that... and looking forward to seeing how their platoon does this week. They had 5 VRs last week under the increased pressure and higher demands.

I’ve been working on advertising the house for sale… finding places online that I can advertise it for free. Sometime this week I’ll probably make up a flyer, too, that I can post around town. Free first, cheap next, expensive as a last resort :)

C seems much better this morning. They’ve both still got snotty noses, but at least no one is dragging around. Her appetite is much better, too… she’s sitting here eating a snack of fruit loops, applesauce, chocolate pudding, baby cookies and a candy necklace. LOL I’m keeping her home from dance class, though, just because I don't know that she's really better.

C was SO tickled to get a letter of her own today from Daddy. She just held it and looked at it and tried to read it… then took it in to show Grammie. It totally made her day. LOL

I am so looking forward to seeing hubby again… knowing that we’re almost half done this run, and knowing that there’s even a slim chance we can move before the July date I was expecting… I’ve been given a real morale boost this last few days. A very timely one, too, because I was starting to get a little down. Not terribly so, but a bit. Just enough that I was struggling with motivation. Now I’ve got that back and then some. :)

In spite of my fears and moments of negativity, I am recognizing more and more that there can and likely will be several positive changes in us both that will benefit all of us in the long run. This is a time to embrace the good, try to avoid the bad, to learn much and to grow.

I talked to DH last night for a long chat... that was nice. 10 minute calls during the week are all right, but it's much better having a chance to just kind of talk about the trivialities of life. And he had a chance to talk to C, too, which was good. She's missing him quite a lot lately and all she's talking about is moving to a new house with him, and what we're going to pack, and how she thinks our moving truck must be stuck in its garage somewhere. LOL



I have to say, crockpot oatmeal is REALLY convenient. It is nice to just come down stairs and grab bowls for breakfast, and still know it's healthy. Here's the recipe:

Apple Oatmeal with Wheat Berries

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups steel-cut oats
1/2 cup wheat berries
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup cranberry or apple juice

First, grease the slow cooker stoneware with butter, margarine or oil. In the cooker, combine the steel-cut oats, wheat berries, apples, cinnamon and vanilla. Add water and juice. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or on Low for 8 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, stir well, spoon into bowls and top with fruit, nuts or sugar of your choice.

Thoughts on Job

During a recent discussion about God's will and suffering in our lives, of course the story of Job came up. Afterward I got to thinking a little about that story and what it's really all about. I never considered before just what that story does. It shows me every perspective on a time of trial. There's much more to it than just a really "patient" man enduring a struggle.

There's God's perspective - He chose to allow Job to endure the trials he was afflicted with, but He still had His hand on Job's life, He still remained in control, and He never left Job's side.
There's Satan's perspective - He asked for and received permission to test Job. This tells me that for one thing, he doesn't have that much power, if he had to go and ask God first before he could give Job any real trouble. It also reminds me that when trouble comes, it's not coming from God.

There's Job's perspective - In the middle of everything, he could have just fallen down and denied God, he could have decided that God wasn't real after all, or that he'd been forsaken. But he didn't - he still believed and he waited to see what God's grand design was for him through all of it.

And then there is the perspective of all those around him, those who should have been supportive and encouraging but instead were negative, even hateful. They didn't see the truth, that God was using the trials to teach Job, to accomplish something for His greater good, because they were too wrapped up in themselves and couldn't see the big picture.

C has totally latched onto the idea of moving. She brings it up at least twice a day now in some way or another. I hope we do manage to sell the house and move sooner rather than later… she could be pretty disappointed otherwise. I’m trying hard to avoid talking about it around her, and when she brings it up I’m being somewhat noncommittal… I don’t want to get her hopes up too high about things working out just the way she thinks they will. Hmm. Perhaps there’s a lesson for both of us there.

I think we’ll be missing church on Sunday… maybe not, but right now it doesn’t look like C’s cold will be gone by then. Hopefully it is, though, because we’re supposed to be having a meeting after the service with all the toddler teachers. If necessary, I guess I could just go for the meeting and ask mom to take the girls for an hour. At any rate, I’ve got to get the lessons finished up and dropped off at the church before then! I had planned to do it mid-week, but one of the girls has been sick every day this week and that is not conducive to spending long periods standing at a photocopier! I think this time around I’ll just run them off here at home, it will be simpler.

I think I’ll have another yardsale tomorrow when I get home from Weight Watchers. But I think I’ll drag it out to the front yard instead of keeping it all in the barn. I need to get the barn cleaned up a bit if I’m going to start showing the house; right now it doesn’t show so well because it’s full of junk.

Well, that’s about all I have to say for tonight. The kids are both in bed, A’s asleep and C’s on her way there, and it’s only quarter to eight. I love it! LOL Might be a good night for a bath and a book… or maybe I’ll go paint the porch for a while.

It’s pretty dismal here today. Hoping that it does clear up on the weekend, they’re forecasting sun. That will be nice. It’s been wet and/or rainy all week so far except for a little bit of sun on Monday. *sigh*

The 'girl' in me is starting to have a hard time with this separation, with the lack of just having hubby here to make me feel special. Phone calls and letters are nice, but the day to day contact is something I’m starting to really miss. I’m glad I have the kids and the house and stuff to look after, though, because that’s keeping me busy enough that I’m not really having time to dwell on the things I miss. It’s becoming ever more tempting to think about moving to Angus or Alliston while he's in Borden for training after Christmas. I’ve been warned that even if we did live together we still wouldn’t see much of him between classes and study time – but I’m thinking that would be pretty close to what we had before. LOL

Anyway, we’ll just wait and see what happens, I guess. There are still the remaining weeks of basic to get through before we can really think about what we want to do afterward. There are so many “maybes” right now that if I start thinking about them too much they’ll drive me crazy. So mostly I’m not. Mostly I’m just thinking about each day as it comes and doing what needs to be done until bedtime, then doing it all again the next day.


DH has one more milestone under his belt - he passed his first aid course. That's one of the mandatory ones that can get you re-coursed if you don't pass it. So that's one more check-mark. :)

The course is tough, but it will get better. Or if it doesn’t get better, then at least we know that it will be over eventually. It strikes me as just a bit odd that this is a career training path, which generally is something one would be looking forward to, and yet we keep talking about it in terms of how soon it will be over… it’s like all of a sudden he's a masochist and I’m party to it.

I talked to him for a bit last night. Part of their platoon is dragging the rest of them down and not pulling their weight. Stupid stuff like leaving pee on the toilet seat just before an inspection, meaning the four guys who spent an hour cleaning the bathroom all get penalized. Poor quality inspections, etc. As a result the whole platoon is severely limited this week. 20 minute break in the evening, the rest of the time they're to be doing something productive. No electronics. No free weekend this week. etc. etc. etc. He's doing all right with it all but judging by the cursing in the background there are a few who are more than a little upset by it. Hopefully those are the ones who are causing the problem and they'll shape up or ship out. I figure it won't be long before they'll feel the sharp end of the platoon's combined wrath.

I'm just hoping he'll be able to call home this weekend; he doesn't figure on being able to make any other calls this week.


Fall is definitely setting in. It’s windy tonight. And cold. I’ve got a fire going downstairs and the kids tucked in with quilts. I heard that Petawawa had hail today. Not quite snow, but close. It’s still cold and white. Brr.

It was kind of funny… C and I have been talking all along about the progression of events. Daddy will come home for Christmas, then go back to school, and when he's all done school and ready for his new army job then he will come and get us and we’ll move to a new house. Then today she writes about moving to a new house next to his school. Weird. Funny kid, she is. Sometimes it’s almost like she picks up on things before I even say them.

The kids still both have colds. A’s is improving and C’s is just getting bad (guess who had it first). She had a rough afternoon, very sooky and whiny and so on, didn’t eat much of her supper, then fell asleep on the couch about 5:30. I woke her up at 6:00, put her in a warm tub, got her into her jammies with Nyquil and Vaporub and put her to bed at 7:00. She was out like a light. A went soon after, which meant a nice quiet evening.

A is doing a little better at sleeping in her bed. She just woke up here a few minutes ago, but all she wanted was a cuddle and her teddy bear then she laid back down and was back to sleep in under ten minutes. We’re getting there. Now, last night she was in our bed for a good part of the night but mostly because I was WAY too tired to want to stand by her crib to get her settled.

Today I took a bit of a break from the world. We didn’t leave the house except when I went outside to put the garbage in the barn. Stayed home, and CLEANED. Put stuff away, tidied, vacuumed, wiped up the kitchen floor… all the stuff I’ve been neglecting the last few days while wrapping up a work project. I’ve got some other projects I still need to tidy up… then I’ll be all caught up, I think, and able to get back to work on the house. I still haven’t finished my painting projects, and I really do need to get them done. I’d like to have an open house or two through October if I can possibly get the place into shape for it.


DH is doing okay but frustrated that part of the platoon isn’t getting it together. I suppose what will start to happen is the platoon will turn against those who really aren’t pulling their own weight, and they’ll end up getting out or getting kicked out. Sounds kind of brutal but I guess that’s what tends to happen. Unfortunately it will mean the rest of the team taking some extra heat for their failures. Sometimes I wish there was some career path we could have picked that didn’t involve all this game-playing and manipulation. Ah, well… it’s less than two months left, less than 60 days. A few more weeks and there will be less time left than has already passed. I’m seriously counting the days until Christmas break.