It's been a while....

I think it's been about 2 weeks or so since I last posted. I don't really have a lot of new stuff to say, but thought I'd jot a little something before you all write me off and stop reading my blog.

I've been doing a good job of connecting with people the past little bit here. Having folks in for dinner, making plans to meet friends for a meal out, hosting another poker night, stuff like that has been keeping my extrovertedness fed! :)

My friend Rebecca got home from a year in Oxford, England on the 20th. It's been great to have her around and we have seen each other or at least chatted on the phone a bit every other day or so. I LOVE not having to check and see if she's on skype just to talk to her. And being together in person is so much better than on the phone.

I go back on contract on Wednesday. It is with a mixture of contentment and dread. I know my job and do it well, so there isn't any anxiousness about it - just contentment that I'll be back doing what I enjoy. The dread comes in when I think of how I am going to manage my schedule this year. I know I can handle the work from Grad school, but I don't know where having a personal life is going to fit into things. I'm also a bit worried that I will have to take my "weekends off" as the nights I'm in Huntington for school and will end up feeling like I haven't really had a break until Christmas break. I'm also not sure how the other RDs are going to be with me being gone so much. I know they are supportive of the idea of me going back to school, but when it really starts happening and they are covering for me I'm not sure how supportive they are going to feel. I'm planning on having some good discussions about it before the school year starts so that we can set up a plan of action if any of us are feeling uncomfortable with the situation - a plan for discussing it as a team rather than it becoming a 2 against 1 situation.

That's all for now!

Strawberry Pie

Tracy invited me over for dinner with her family and in-laws this evening. It was a welcome diversion to my day alone. Tracy hinted that it would be nice to have one of my desserts, so I made a quick trip to the grocery. Strawberries were on sale for a really good price, so I decided to make a strawberry pie. I have a pretty good sugar free recipe that I used to make for Dad, but since I have been good about watching my calories today I decided to go for it and make a full sugar version....one with no jello used for gelling assistance. I found a great recipe on my favorite food site www.allrecipes.com. It was very very yummy! Everyone enjoyed the pie and I came home feeling like I hadn't totally mooched off the Buller family!

Here's the recipe in case you need a good Strawberry Pie recipe...

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
  

1. Arrange half of strawberries in baked pastry shell. Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. Chill for several hours before serving.
   

An oddly un-busy period of time

I LOVE to be busy. I enjoy days when I'm running from one thing to the next and end up at home after being gone for 12 or so hours. Falling into bed exhausted feels good to me.

Though I seem to be in a particularly un-busy period of time right now. I work in the mornings, but my afternoons and evenings hold very little structured activity. Something that somewhat unnerves me. I don't like hours and hours of time alone at home.

I've spent a lot of last week reading...finishing 4 novels in a little over a week. Not little books either - each ranging from 350 - 750 pages long. It was fun to disappear into a different little world for hours at a time. A good friend told me that she had done the same thing recently on vacation with her spouse - sort of as a way for her extroverted self to keep in contact with other people on their little getaway...us crazy extroverts! :)

I combated it over the weekend by planning a busy day on Saturday and when faced with an afternoon and evening alone on Sunday I invited myself over to Paul & Kirsten's place. I was there for about 8 hours - it was a saving grace that they were home and open to my just hanging out with them. I talked with them, read my book, played with the kids, talked some more - it was wonderful! I love hanging out at their place. It's chunks of time with them that I most miss during the school year. Being at the Housholders refreshes me and is a who lot of fun too! :)

This week I see the next several days as being pretty wide open again. I'm trying to get household tasks done and to take time to enjoy it - because a month from today my staff returns and it'll be weeks until I have time to just sit and enjoy the quiet - if I can find quiet on a campus with 600 or so residents at that point! :) Even next week things will start to pick up again - my dear friend Rebecca returns from 10 months in England and I'm sure we will spend some significant time together. I just about cant wait - but I will remind myself to savor these days that I do have and to make the most of them so that I can recall the calm in the midst of school beginning.

Some days are tougher than others....

This weekend has been tough. I think it is a culmination of several things....attending three weddings last month, my sister getting married, reading "Pretense" - one of my favorite Lori Wick books, watching chick flicks while cleaning my apartment the past couple of days, PMS, being at home alone the past couple of days, and gaining a few pounds on vacation. Most of those things are good or at least a reality of life that normally doesn't bring my spirits down, but all combined together have got me in a little bit of a pity party today...asking questions like, "Why is my sister prettier than me?" "Is anyone ever going to love me?" "Why don't I have more friends?" All quite ridiculous questions when I look at them from the big picture and think clearly, but not today. Today they seem to reflect an unfortunate truth about my life.

Today I feel lonely, ugly, unloved, fat, destined to be alone, sad, etc... I know that these things are not true...at least not wholey true...
-I may be lonely today, but I won't be lonely every day.
-I may feel ugly, but I'm not really...at least not in a way that frightens small children.
-I may feel unloved, but that's SO not true!
-I may be overweight, but thankfully that doesn't define who I am.
-I live alone and may never get married, but I know that God is always with me and won't ever leave.
-I may be sad tonight, but I probably won't be tomorrow!

When I feel like this, I like to say, "It's OK to visit Pity Partyville, but you can't set up camp there!" I can cry a few tears tonight, but in the morning it will be time to buck up and look at things through clearer eyes. And since I often can't do that on my own, I'll be asking God to shine His truth about me into my heart so that I can!

Vacation...day ten

Day ten = finally home!

We left my brother's place in the morning with the intention of going straight home stopping only for fast food meals and gas as needed. Well, about 2 1/2 hours into it we decided that we needed a little visual variety and decided to go off the interstate and drive through Huntington, Indiana. That way mom could see where I will be taking classes in the fall. After we drove through the pretty campus we deiced that we should drop by and see my brother Gary's family in North Manchester. Gary was at work, but Linda was home with the kids, so we stopped there to visit for a while. We stayed about an hour, watching some dvd footage from their recent vacation and looking at some scrapbooks. It was a nice break in travelling, but then we hightailed it that last hour back to Goshen.

I was very happy to see my little Geo Prizm there in Mom's garage. I drove home and took a nap on my bed right away! In the evening I went over to visit the Housholders who had returned form Oregon on the 4th. It was good to see them and hear about their fun travels. I came home around 10:30 and spent the rest of the night reading until I fell asleep. I took my phone off the hook and silenced my cell so that I could sleep as late as I wanted on Friday!

Vacation...Day Nine

Day Nine...the 4th of July...time to start traveling home! It's been fun to see friends and family, but I am quite ready to be back in Goshen at my apartment and no longer living out of a suitcase.

Mom and I drove from Barbourville to Elletsville, IN - a town near Bloomington and where Jack (my brother) lives. We took our time, stopping to eat and shop along the way. I found a great pair of short winter boots at a Bass outlet store for a little over $7. (What a deal!)

My niece (Sarah) was at Jack's place. She is 6 and quite precocious. She had me in stitches much of the time that I was there. We all went out to dinner at Fazolis and then went back to Jack's place to talk and watch some fireworks on tv. It was a relaxing evening.

Vacation...Day Eight

Tuesday was pretty relaxed too...most days in Kentucky usually are for me! We slept in again. Mom and I went into Barbourville to do a little shopping and stopped in to see my cousin - Zach - who had gone into the hospital the day before with an infected knee wound. It was good to see Zach. He's always been one of my favorite cousins. It was disappointing that I didn't get to see him for long, but I'm thankful for the time we did have. After that we got cousin Barb and went shopping for the afternoon down to Middlesboro and Tazwel. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to be out. I spent the rest of the day and evening reading a novel.

You may have read in my "vacation...day one" entry that I am not a friend of dogs...especially not my uncle's dog. Well, I did end up making a dog friend on vacation! My cousin Megan has a little dog named Binkie that spent most of it's time over at Cousin Barb's place. This little dog became my buddy and cuddled with me while I read on Tuesday. Mom had taken a cute photo of him with me, but unfortunately it got erased from the camera before I got it put on the computer.

Here's one of him with Cousin Barb.

And here's just him.

Vacation...Day seven

Monday was a relaxed day. We slept in, Mom made biscuits & gravy for breakfast, I dyed Deb's hair, painted Mom and Deb's fingernails, and went shopping in Corbin with Mom. Before we went back to Barb's we went to visit my cousin Brenda. She had been in the hospital until earlier that day, so it was good to be able to see her at her place. She had added on to her apartment since I had been there last (in 2003).

The highlight of my day was when I got back to Barb's and I made dinner for everyone. It was a good way for me to help out a bit and I got to cook - something I that I had missed doing! I made my chicken enchiladas, salad, and Susie's Raspberry Delight. Everyone loved the meal and so, of course, I felt good about it all. It was the first time I had made that recipe without the recipe in front of me and I was happy that it turned out well. :)

Vacation...Day Six

Sorry this all getting posted late, but I did not have internet access while I was in Kentucky visiting my family.

So, on to day six... I decide to leave for Kentucky on Sunday morning, rather than staying in NC to see Dawn & Rick open their gifts. I had spent lots of time with Dawn's family and decided that I was ready to see my family! I drove a couple of hours and stopped in Greensboro at the Harley Davidson store to buy a tshirt for my brother (Jack). He is a huge Harley fan and likes to collect tshirts from the various stores through out the states.

The sign at the Harley Store.

After I stopped there I put the pedal to the medal and didn't stop the car until I hit the Tennessee line and needed gas. It was a gorgeous trip. The mountains and trees were stunning! I would post a photo, but I didn't take any! I decided it was better to keep my hands on the wheel rather than the camera! :)

When I got to Kentucky all of my aunts and uncles were at Cousin Barb's place. Since I wasn't planning on staying in Barbourville for along time it was good to see all of them in one place. We spent most of the evening sitting around talking.

My mom with her brothers and sisters...
Ruby and Mom
Jack, Crit, and Lois

On Friday (June 29) my sister - Debbie - and her boyfriend - Wilbur - got married. They have been together for about 5 years. They made the impromptu decision to get married a week ago and went to the courthouse in Lagrange. They came down to Kentucky for a "honeymoon", so we had a little party for them on Sunday evening while everyone was there.

Deb and Willy

I slept in the camper with Mom, and while it was not the most comfortable bed, it was clean and since I was worn out I slept pretty hard.

Vacation...Day 5

The bride & groom exiting the sanctuary!

Saturday was the main event...the thing that brought me to the South...Dawn's wedding! I was the bride's personal attendant/wedding coordinator the day, so I was pretty busy all day! In the morning Dawn and her bridesmaids went to town to get their hair and make up done. I decided to opt out of that trip - I figured that since I wasn't asked to be a bridesmaid I shouldn't do everything that they were doing. I did my own hair (which ended up looking great in my opinion) and had a little quiet time around the house before all the action began.

Once I got to the church I was on my feet non-stop. Everyone (well, most everyone) was helpful and cooperative to work with. The one person who wasn't in the past has brought me to tears, but not today! I was able to keep her in her place, not make her too upset, and keep my cool! I was quite proud of myself!

The wedding went off with just a few hiccups....the bridesmaids started walking in a bit soon and the pastor called Rick the wrong name once. Not bad for a ceremony with so many people involved.

Dawn's uncle, Keith Rodman, walked her down the aisle. It was so sad not to have her dad there, but I thought it was neat that his brother was there to do it for her. There was a candle on the stage that was lit in Dale's memory. When the pastor mentioned it during the service there was hardly a dry eye in the house!

Dawn's parents wedding rings were her "something old."

Here they are in her bouquet.

The reception was nice too. The food spread was gorgeous and tasty! The room looked nice and people seemed to be having a good time. The Rodman clan from Indiana took care of the fact that there were no glass to cling to get the couple to kiss...they brought a triangle...the kind that they used to use in the old west to call the men in for lunch! They'd cling it and then the couple would kiss. One of her cousins walked around the room letting various people cling it to share the fun with the other guests.

Me with Dawn and Rick.

After Dawn & Rick left we spent several hours cleaning up the reception hall. It was so good to get back to the house and get off my feet! Later in the evening the rest of the Rodman family came over. We talked and laughed till our sides hurt! After they left around 11 we spent another hour or so sitting around chatting and then headed to bed.