Covid-19 (?) update

 So a totally weird thing happened!

Kevin, Isaac, Joseph, and I all had antibody testing for COVID.  And all the tests came back negative!

HUH????

Now keep in mind that of all of us, only Naomi had a positive COVID test.  The rest of us were too weary and sick to bother running off to the doctor for a COVID test in the early days. We just assumed since we had similar symptoms that we caught COVID from Naomi.

Now the boys admittedly were not very sick.  Isaac's toes got weird for a few days -- puffy and very red.  COVID toe. We thought.

Kevin and I were tired -- no, not tired, exhausted. Melt into the mattress fatigue. We had bad headaches. I had horrible body aches. I still have chilled feet off and on.

No fever or cough, and we didn't lose our sense of taste and smell.

So now we just don't know. Was it something else altogether? Was Naomi a false positive and she was sick with something else?

I really have a hard time believing that it was not COVID.  I mean, I wasn't just sick, I was WEIRD sick.  Some of the symptoms were downright crazy. The horrible pain in my back, the chilled feet!

But why would all 4 antibody tests come back negative? Did we do them too soon?

My doctor friend said ideal time is 4 to 12 weeks post symptoms and we were just beyond 4 weeks for me, at least, and Kevin was sick a little later. So yes, maybe?

I hate the uncertainty. I was happy that we had gotten COVID and were done with it. But...now I don't know.  But such is life. Life is uncertain at times.

We will continue to be careful, to wear masks, to wash hands, to isolate when possible.

Whatever it was, it was miserable and we are happy to be feeling better.

Christmas!

 When I was little, I was excited about Christmas because PRESENTS.

So I am realistic about our own younger kiddos. Of course they are excited about the PRESENTS and that is totally fine!

But, Jesus.  Jesus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, came down from Heaven, made himself nothing, took on the form of a helpless infant.  Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Kevin graciously takes care of most of the gift purchasing and in particular, the stockings!  Aren't they marvelous?

For the first time in years, we had a white Christmas!  It was very cold and a great day to stay cozily inside.

Hmmm, not a great picture of the tree.  There were lots of packages.

The clan setting up for a rousing chorus of the 12 days of Christmas

Rose is thrilled with her plushies!

Lots of kids, lots of presents.

Naomi got a funny shirt!

Daniel got a plush cat, Steve, from Naomi in memory of the kitten we lost.

Kevin picking his way carefully through the piles of presents.

Frustrations and Thanksgiving

 I will start with the Thanksgiving. We all continue to do comparatively well. My back is better than a week ago though still not perfect.  I have a really hurting right hip which makes me naturally tend to walk strangely to favor it.  That in turn pushes everything else out of whack. BUT I am functional.

Kevin has been really tired off and on.  One day he didn't get up until noon and then went back to bed at 5 p.m. for a few more hours.

Our bodies are obviously still annoyed by the whole process of recovering from COVID but I do praise God for being in decent shape.

For a couple of weeks, I just was in survival mode. Bad headache, very very tired, occasionally other issues.  Now I am much better but I am still tired with serious back and hip aches.

So I have to balance my abilities with what needs to be done. I have a bunch of appointments to schedule for the kids (not to mention chiro appointments for me) but when I am gone from home, much less gets done here.  So then I come back and there is so much to do!

Today was like that; I took Joseph to get a filling for a tooth and then we went to the library.  We got home at 11 a.m. and the table wasn't cleared yet from breakfast.  Then Kevin and I sat down to talk and a child knocked Kevin's cup of coffee (FULL!) all over the family room floor and couch.  Fortunately said child was old enough to clean it up but it was another delay. So here it is, 12:15 p.m. and I feel like I've hardly gotten anything useful done today.

Of course I DID.  I ran a couple of errands.  That is cool. I am totally a homebody and I am "behind" here after all those week of COVID-19.

I am reading a book about a mom who had triplets and then had major complications which resulted in an emergency hysterectomy.  She was not in great shape after her babies were born, obviously.  She discusses her frustration at her own weakness.  YEP!

Ok, kids need me!

More COVID (sigh)

 It has been too long since I posted.

First, we are all fine. No one is having any horrible COVID symptoms, thankfully.  I mean, we are not necessarily happy campers but no one is having breathing problems, etc.

Kevin is mostly doing Ok though he has been more tired the last couple of days.  One of the fun things about this virus is that the symptoms come and go, apparently.  It isn't like we are just getting better every day.  

I have been dealing with significant back pain. Like, ugh!  Not all the time, but when I stand up there are muscles screaming in outrage at me.  Ouch!

I finally went to the doctor yesterday just to make sure I wasn't ignoring something important.  I wasn't.  It is just muscular pain from the virus, probably combined with me sitting around a lot.

So I am working on stretching and moving even though it is uncomfortable. My body is all out of whack right now.

But everything else is improving. I am not as tired and my headaches have diminished.  Yeah!

My feet keep being cold. That is a very odd COVID symptom -- chilled feet!

Here is something interesting -- they did a COVID test yesterday and called me within the hour to say it was negative.

There is no way this is not/was not COVID.  I have been at home for weeks, hardly venturing out at all. I live with someone who was COVID positive.  BUT it has been 18 days since I first had obvious symptoms and I read that the best time to test is within a few days of being symptomatic.  

So yeah, I guess I am over it?  Except the back pain tells me I am not. But lingering symptoms are a thing.

Nevertheless, we are OK!  I am so thankful to the Lord for that.  I prayed against major problems and the Lord answered.  I can and will whine about the back pain, but it is a minor thing in the grand scheme of things.

COVID update

 Well, of course we got it.  I mean, COVID is super contagious.

So far we are doing really well.  I have had symptoms for a week now and while I am incredibly tired and have headaches and (oddly) chilled feet, I have no breathing problems and no coughing and no fever.  Swine flu back in 2009 hit me way harder so I am very thankful.

Kevin is also sick. Very tired, occasional headaches and body aches.

Lydia is sick.  Very tired with headaches and body aches.

There is a theme, isn't there?

The younger 7 kids are showing a few signs of fatigue and Isaac seems to have COVID toes.  It is 10:23 a.m. and none of the six girls have emerged from bed so I'm guessing they are sick and tired.

But really, so far we are doing great.  I've done some poking around and a 51 year old woman and a 50 year old man with 9 kids under 21 should all do fine with this. But still, it is a SCARY disease so if we sail through this with a couple weeks of extreme fatigue and aching, we'll be happy.

Various kind people are bringing us food when we need it.

Oh, Naomi is recovering. She was the sickest (so far) and is past the headache stage though she is still very tired.

COVID-19!

 Naomi has coronavirus!  

She works retail so it isn't a HUGE surprise.  But it is still a surprise. It is and it isn't.

She got sick about ... 10 days ago. I heard about the headache but a lot of people have had headaches thanks to allergies and the like. So like a dolt, I ignored it.

A week ago Saturday they sent her home from work as she had shared her symptoms, which included headache, fatigue, and aches and pains. NO COUGH NO FEVER!

How are we supposed to know someone has COVID when the symptoms are so variable?  It is just RUDE of the virus.

So Monday she got a test and Friday they finally told her she had COVID.

So all this time we have sort of been quarantining but...not really. Because I convinced myself she did NOT have COVID.  No one else has been sick and COVID is horribly contagious so...yeah.

Now we are super quarantining.  So far no one is obviously sick.  I have had a mild headache and very occasional nausea but I also have a lot of allergy drainage.  So yeah.

Naomi has been working and/or in her RV a lot but we still have had exposure.

So we will see how the next week goes. Naomi has done great.  She feels lousy but no problems with coughing or shortage of breath so we are thankful for that.

Thursday

 

1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV

 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Like most people, I am not fond of uncertainty.  As of this moment, it seems almost certain that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States but it isn't quite over yet so yes, we will see.

And I am disappointed since I don't like his political views, or those of his VP Harris.

Yesterday as I was trying not to be anxious, I remembered the verse above. What can I do, Laraba, about our country's future?  I can pray for our leaders.  I can do the job I am supposed to do, which is to raise my children to love God, serve him, and serve other people.  I am just a midwestern woman with a passel of children. I am not a world changer and I won't be.  There is no point in freaking out about a future I cannot change, but there is every reason to pray.

I am finishing up another Pride and Prejudice book; this one is called Darcy Sails After Her.  I have found that most of my books have themes; this particular one is about love and devotion, and recognizing that one cannot fix everything that is wrong around us.  We all have tasks and we all have seasons in our lives.  During one season we may be at home a lot (well -- that describes most of us through COVID-19!) and another season we might be singing worship on stage at church or feeding the homeless in the streets.

I am, I admit, quite passionate about this issue which is no doubt why it has popped up in my writing. There seems to be a general feeling in the Church of Jesus Christ that the only true way to serve Jesus is to serve within the church community. Simplistically, that seems right. Of course you have to serve God's children if you are a Christian?

But what if the children in question are YOUR children.  I have had littles ones for literally decades now.  Rose, who is 6, is not happy when Mama is gone a lot.  Balancing the needs of 9 children is like a tightrope.  There are days when my brain is whirling much of the morning with trying to help 9 kids with this and that.

If I tried to add on an outside ministry, I would neglect my primary calling during this season, which is my family. I am very certain of this.    

Tired

 It has been a busy and hard week.  I am still mourning our cat Steve, who died recently of an upper respiratory infection. The other 4 kittens are in the sun room and all are on antibiotics now. The girls seemed Ok until yesterday, when Peach (our all orange one) started looking lethargic.  We have enough meds for them all so I decided to just cut to the chase and start dosing the girls as well.

Of course, the cats are not ecstatic with having antibiotics forced down their throats but we know they need it.

Here they are ALL piled in one box.

I am also stressed over the presidential election.  It sure seems like Biden will win but they thought that about Clinton. I do not want Biden to win; I am an ardent pro lifer and Biden's pledge to push abortion right up to full term is horrifying to me. 

Having said that, God is on his throne. I realize that many people I like loathe Trump for different reasons. Some of them are pro-life but to them, it is not the major issue; they are more concerned about immigration and women's rights issues and so on.

Whatever happens, God is on His Throne. I believe sometimes nations get it wrong (we do have free will as voters) but He can work even with a really horrible leader.  Hitler comes to mind.  The dude was actually ELECTED by the German people, which must go down in history as one of the worst democratic election decisions in history. The Holocaust is one of the worst things that ever happened but in the midst of it were people like Corrie Ten Boom and other brave souls who risked their lives for the freedom of others.  

Thankfully we do live in a republic so even if it is a sweep for the Democrats, the Republicans will be able to provide the brakes on occasion. 

And vice versa. If the Republicans do pull out a win, then the Democrats will provide the brakes on occasion.

I think I will be happier on Wednesday just knowing which way it is going to go, one way or the other.

Kids have had a lot of doctor, dental, eye, and orthodontist appointments lately. That is one oddball thing about having a huge family; there are just a lot of random appointments.  Of course, we could just not go to them but we are responsible parents.  Teeth are important. Eyes are important.

So I go.  But it is stressful to be gone a lot from home.

But what a blessing to be able to have my kids cared for well by medical people!  Every time I get whiny, I remind myself of that!

Kitten Tragedy

 We lost one of our kittens, the black and white one, Steve.

He had been sick for at least a week but he was a strong boy (we thought) and life has been heinously busy and we didn't even have a vet...

We put him back in the barn with a heated cat house and gave him succulent wet food and water and love but he wasn't eating well and he didn't look good...

So Monday night I decided I would take him to the vet the next morning, which turned out to be too late. He was gone on Tuesday.

His brothers (the two black cats) were also showing signs of the illness by then so I did find a vet (our old one has been difficult to schedule with) and took them both in. They have some upper respiratory infection.  They got a shot of penicillin and antibiotics. One of them, Morro, looked super lethargic but today he looks better.

I feel very sad and guilty about Steve.  I have been SO busy lately; we have had dental appointments and college stuff and all that.  I just missed that he was so sick.

We will miss him. Yesterday was a pretty lousy day as I found out he had died at about 7:30 a.m. and then every kid who came down was told, and everyone was sad. He was the favorite kitten of several of the children.

As Kevin says, life with pets isn't always the fluffy fun stuff.  Sad things happen.  Animals often hide how poorly they are feeling and I really did not realize how bad off Steve was.

We rescued the kittens from a woodpile after their Mom went missing and Steve had a great life, but it was too short.

Rest in peace, Steve.

Oh, and after all that work to get the sun room cleaned out, it is now a kitten haven again. We decided to have all four in the sun room for now to keep an eye on illness and to make it easier to administer medications.  The girls (the orange ones) SEEM Ok but they have been around their brothers a lot so it seems like it will be a miracle if they don't get it also.  If so, we'll make sure to intervene quickly.

Kittens are Outside!

 We made the transition. Our barn kittens are now outside kittens.

We sprang for collars plus little dangly tags with their names on them.  The collars are reflective.

I bought a heated cat house for winter.  Moonbeam, our biggest fattest cat, thinks it is quite nice.

This Week in Pictures

 

I nobly took the kids to a park yesterday morning.  Well, the younger three kids.  We met Lydia with the two children she is nannying. I am not posting their pictures because I do not have permission. It was a lot of fun, really.  There were other families that came and went and the kids had a great time.

This is our sun room.  We moved into this house 15 years ago and the sliding door at the end was a disaster at the time. You can barely see it through the new door; it was all opaque and ugly. Kevin and the kids worked very hard to put in a new sliding door. Also, we moved out a climbing gym and the cats, so the sun room looks amazing right now! 

Kevin is really good at projects like this.  It is incredible how gifted he is!

I am happy that most of my kids love to read like I do.  

Neighbor kids have been over a lot with lovely weather lately.  They like to play these complicated neato games.  Rose and the neighbors' 4 year old love to draw in chalk on the floor.  Awesome.

Cats

 And just like that, all the cats have been fixed!

No babies, no MAKING babies.

As I said in the previous post, it was an ordeal because of this and that, but yesterday I took the three boys to be neutered at a lower cost facility.  They emerged full of beans; they seemed very relaxed about the whole thing.

We will be transitioning them out of the barn in the next week or so. The plan was always that they would be outdoor cats and they are VERY ready to be outdoor cats. Every time we open the barn door, they surge outside now with enthusiasm.

I let them out this morning to roam a bit.

There is one more, Peach, not pictured. She is all orange and scurried off to hide under the fifth wheel.

They are truly just so cute, and also so ready to be out and sniffing at everything.

I just bought a heated cat house for our front porch because winter is coming.  It has a heating pad and two escape doors.  It sounds lovely. We have two other tubs which are insulated and warm so the cats should be fine.

Busy Week

 I was looking over the calendar for a few months ago and April was frankly amazing.  Just day after day with nothing scheduled thanks to the coronavirus lockdown.  I know a great many people found the whole experience depressing but I loved it. I am an introvert by nature but of course with 10 other people around all the time, I never get lonely.  

I really do not like having to dash around a lot outside the home.  It stresses me out.  So those weeks of peacefully getting up every day without having to go anywhere was very freeing.

Of course, that was delaying the inevitable; we still had to deal with dental appointments and eye appointments and the like, so the blank days of April and May have given way to busier weeks than usual.   That has definitely been part of my anxiety though I am happy to report that I am doing better. I think starting up school stressed me more than usual  this year and now that we are in the groove, I am calmer.  Isaac is doing great in college, which is to say he is just doing his thing.  He is a self starter and just toils away to figure things out. He is even managing his chemistry lab class with aplomb, which I find most impressive since we never did much formally in the way of labs.

We are dealing with CAT PROBLEMS :-). As many of you may remember, we adopted 5 kittens found in the woodpile of some friends around the corner.  They are charming and adorable and in every way wonderful. They are also mixed gender; namely, 3 boys and 2 girls.

We arranged to have a low cost spay/neuter facility get them fixed 11 days ago.  The morning we were supposed to bring them in, I got a cancellation call because someone tested positive for coronavirus at the facility.  ARRGHGHHH!

They are 6 months old so at the age when breeding is just barely possible so we separated them by putting the girls in the barn and the boys stayed in our sunroom.

I made phone calls and scurried around and managed to find other places to get them taken care of, though not until later in October.

Then we got a call from the original place and they were able to work the two girls in so they were spayed this week.  Hooray!  No baby cats!!  The boys are being neutered at the end of the week. So all that is good.  It is involving more driving around than is desirable but that is life. Far better to cope with coronavirus interruptions than actually have coronavirus so, yeah.  No whining!

What else, hmmmmmm....

Oh, my next book is being released this coming week. It is called A Fortuitous Fall.  It is funnier than my last books thanks to one rather oddball character.

I made over $5000 last month on writing!  That is CRAZY.  However, the Banished Uncle (my last book) is falling steadily in the Amazon charts so if I were not launching another book, this month would be way lower no doubt.

So the key to making money writing is, not surprisingly, to keep writing.  I write quickly and I have about ten million ideas so yeah, I can keep doing this but of course I also have a busy life with kids and husband.  So I keep praying for wisdom about balancing my responsibilities.  I will say this, though -- writing clears my brain and helps me stay sane so there is that.

But I will also say this, God and Kevin and the kids are my main priority so I will keep working to keep my life in balance.  

Parental Visit

 My parents came to visit for a few days this week!

They live in Michigan and my dad says his car pretty much just knows the way here.  He doesn't even have to steer.  :-)

My parents don't have cats anymore as lifestyle doesn't really permit it. But my dad loves cats so he visited the kittens in the sun room. They swarmed him. They were particularly fond of his shoelaces.

We went to Pearl's Fen together.

And had fun. The weather has cooled off which is actually really nice.  It is very pleasant outside and the bugs have either died or are hiding.

Yesterday we had a fine brunch at home (my mother provided muffins, sticky buns, and omelets) and then they headed home. We had a great visit. I am thankful they are still very healthy.

Finances

 I was born a cheapskate. Seriously.  Or frugal, if you prefer that word.  I truly believe people are born with money personalities and mine is, save save save.

Of course, if you look at my pictures, you will see that we spend plenty.  We have a lot of stuff and we take exotic vacations once a year to St. Croix.  And then there are the nine kids, who of course require a lot of money so we can care for them well.

 

 But Kevin and I both are fairly cautious with spending.

These last years have been easier financially for a variety of reason. Kevin keeps getting raises. Hooray!  We paid off our house, which was so fun.  Interestingly, as soon as we paid off our house, we found ourselves saving rapidly to replace three cars. We had been running them into the ground and it was time to replace them.

Now I am making real money writing.  No idea how long this will last or even whether it will, but we do have extra money right now.  

Oh, I actually got paid by Amazon for the first time. There is a 2 month delay in sending royalties, so it wasn't until the end of August that I got paid for June.

I have worked a little for many years, but very little. So I am making more right now.  I do feel more mellow about spending money.

I have been recently analyzing my new spending habits.

I am spending more on the children.  I am buying them throw away toys more often to encourage them to do various tasks.  I am tired, what can I say?

I am buying more books that the kids want.

I am buying more clothing from Amazon. A responsible mother who wanted to save money would go to Once Upon a Child (which is an awesome place) BUT 6 of the kids are too big for Once Upon a Child. Also, if I can stay home, I want to. So yes, I have been buying a bunch of clothes for the children on Amazon.  It is nice.

And I am buying clothes for ME from Amazon too. Also nice.  I don't buy many clothes for myself, not really because I am cheap (though that is a factor) but because I hate, with a deep and abiding loathing, going to clothing stores and trying things on. It is so boring.  So so so so boring.

Yes, I am whining.  I am such a turkey, really.  All these nice stores with all these nice clothes and I am whiny about trying things on.

But yeah for Amazon. Just a few clicks from the comfort of my home and I can order things!

I am definitely relaxing in my purchasing.  It feels freeing to not be as concerned about mortgage payments and food and clothing and all those vital needs.  We have never been poor at all, but we have been aware of the great responsibility of caring for the offspring, of planning for the future.  

Here is a funny and/or pathetic thing. When I was younger, I had a pretty arrogant view about retirement.  My thought was that as Christians, we should be willing to work as long as is necessary and therefore retirement shouldn't really be a priority.  (Thankfully for both of us, Kevin never had that view.)

So I will say that a Christian should never retire from being a Christian. Clearly we all need to serve the Lord as He directs us until the end of our days.

BUT, one does not need to work a paying job in order to work for God, clearly.  In fact, once a Christian has retired, he/she will probably have more time for ministry.

Also, and this is really really really important, our bodies wear out with time!

Obviously some incredible people with good health and/or incredible wills work very very long.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who just passed away, was 87 years old and still serving as a Supreme Court Justice. And not a healthy one!!  She was battling cancer for YEARS.  

But normal people just get worn out.  Some jobs require a great deal of physical strength and with time, the body just isn't having it. Even a white collar job requires energy to come and go, to attend meetings and type lots of reports and emails.  Eventually, if a man or woman lives long enough, he or she will not be able to work.

So yes, saving for retirement is a wise thing, definitely.  

Hmmm, I got off track.

So yes, more money is rolling in because at the moment, my books are selling.  We don't know how long this will last.  I would need to keep writing new books to keep making a lot of money.  Book sales go down with time based on three months of data from my own books.

So I am more relaxed about money, but still not a spender.  Our house is full of stuff and I find it a little obnoxious so I only want to buy things that I really want, not add things that are not of much interest.

I have never been huge into experiences and quail with horror at paying, say, $100 to go to a fancy dinner with Kevin.  (We have done it once in our lifetime, on our honeymoon, but only once.)

So I am still cheap. But I'm spending more than I was.  I hope it is a reasonable and healthy shift toward enjoying money but not being wasteful.

Random Pictures of Random Interest

 

This is funny, I think.  With September, and autumn, upon us, the pool water is cooling down rapidly. There is no one in this house who likes really cold water, so...

Kevin tried heating the water.  He put hoses into the pool and connected them to a pump, purchased, of course, off Amazon.  In this iteration, he put a bucket of water onto a hot plate and turned on the hot plate. Water got hot.  Hoses were connected to a copper coil sitting in the hot water.  So water from pool went through hose though copper tubing into another hose and back into the pool.  

In this iteration, Kevin put copper tubing inside our chiminea, and stoked up the fire.  Again, hose brought water from pool into copper tubing into another hose back into pool.  Oh, there is a pump in series there, because there has to be.

Neither method worked amazingly well.  There is SO much water in the pool that this just was in the noise.  But the copper tubing in the water was better even though the fire was far hotter than the water in the bucket.  BUT heat transfer between copper tubing and water was far better than heat transfer between copper tubing and hot hair.

The kittens are getting enormous. Here, they are suffering a lot, obviously. We are getting them fixed in about two weeks.

Sometimes Kevin has to dress up for a work meeting.  Obviously anything below his waist doesn't matter!

Anxiety

 A few years ago, I went on Lexapro, an SSRI.  What is an SSRI?  Well, I am glad you asked. It is a selective seratonin reuptake inhibitor.  Say that ten times fast!

It was honestly LIFE CHANGING.  I have been anxious for as long as I can remember, seriously. I was anxious at the age of four. I remember it.  Lexapro dialed down my anxiety to a reasonable level to the point that I feel distressed when things really are bad, but I don't have this constant underlying agitation.  It seems pretty obvious to me that we have a genetic thing for low seratonin levels.

Unfortunately, I have had an uptick in my anxiety levels.  Ever since I got back from St. Croix, I have been struggling.  I think it is just LIFE.  We have had so much going on and I don't like it.  I don't like lots of doctor appointments. I don't like running off every single day here and there.  I don't like a messy house because I am not around enough.

Good things are spurring on my anxiety too.  We launched another book (see previous post) which is awesome and fun, but it is one more thing on our plates. Isaac is taking 13 credits at a local community college and I have to take him to labs on Thursday afternoons.  I am so proud of him; he is a real self starter and is doing things on his own.  It is awesome.  It is just one more big thing.

Lydia is working full time now so is not around at all during the days Monday through Friday.

Naomi has a lot going on; she is trying to buy a car and is planning to move out soon.

I feel like there are 23 balls in the air that are constantly moving and I am trying to keep them all off the ground.  Our younger 3 have been particularly clingy and/or grumpy and/or combative.  Mom and Dad disappearing for a week to St. Croix was probably a bit unnerving. 

Anyway, I will survive. It is interesting that I can feel my increase in anxiety.  If it doesn't go back down, I may kick up my Lexapro intake a bit (under a doctor's direction -- I see her in a week or so and will discuss it.)  Right now I am at a pretty low dose so I have wiggle room to go up.

I know that I can trust Jesus.  It isn't that I don't trust him.  It isn't that I feel terrible things are going to happen. It is this feeling that there is too much to do and I don't have enough time to do it.  It is stressful.  

I don't really know why I am writing this except I want to encourage people that anxiety is real and sometimes medication helps and sometimes more sleep helps.  Sometimes prayer helps. Often the solution is a bunch of things.

The Banished Uncle

 I wrote another book and published it!

https://www.amazon.com/Banished-Uncle-Pride-Prejudice-Variation-ebook/dp/B08GRZ6L7H/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+banished+uncle&qid=1599062835&sr=8-1

If you are keeping track, I have published 3 books in about 3 months. That is not one a month; it is more like one every six weeks.  If you think that is ridiculous, you are right.  I mean, really, that is FAST!

I am not just writing them as quickly as I can. I'm writing stories and thinking about them and so far I have finished one every six weeks.  I am sure that will change now that school has started up for the kids. Life is way busier and I have less time to write. Which is fine.

Back from St. Croix

 I see I have not posted here in WEEKS!

Kevin and I just returned from a week in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. This is our fourth year that we've gone to the very same Cottages by the Sea. We are not adventurous folks, obviously!

We had a fabulous time. We were originally going to go to St. Croix in May but, quarantine. It was cancelled.  So then St. Croix opened up and we arranged to go in August (obviously.)

We rose insanely early on August 15th, boarded a plane which took us to Atlanta, and were waiting for the St. Croix plane when another couple nearby told us that St. Croix had locked down again due to coronavirus.

WHAT!!

We looked at our tablets and sure enough, there had been a surge of cases and so the governor of the US Virgin Islands had ordered the population to go back to stay at home.  Visitors were allowed to check into hotels or cottages by the sea until August 19th, so we were Ok. Grocery stores were open but no tourist attractions.

It turned out to be a wonderful week, and a very quiet one. We went to our cottage and we swam and snorkeled and talked and slept and had a wonderful time. We used the rental car to buy groceries (twice), to drive a little way to snorkel (once), and to get to and from the airport.  When we filled up before leaving, we had used all of about a gallon and a half of gas the whole week!

I love being simple. I love sitting on a patio watching the waves. I love walking down the beach and looking at the little sea creatures and the tidal pools and the water pouring this way and that.

I love snorkeling, except when I am stupid and don't put on enough sunscreen and get badly burned legs.  Yep, that happened.

However, it was still a fabulous week and a very refreshing one.

Where were the kids, you ask?  At home.  Naomi and Lydia were working quite a bit (Lydia has a full time nannying job, hooray!) and so Isaac was pretty much running things, though we gratefully thank Kevin's mom for coming over a few hours a day to help out. Isaac and the other big kids did a fabulous job.  We got home and everyone was alive and the house was not burned down. In fact, the house was in decent shape!

This week we have to hit the ground running as it is a busy busy week, but we both feel refreshed.

Also, there will be pictures soon on this blog. Kevin took thousands, literally.

Finding Balance

So Kevin and I wrote another short book called I Have Been Jaeled.  It is the same story as I am Jael except that it is from Wickham's perspective. It is short and not romantic.  It is, in fact, rather grim because the main character is evil.

https://www.amazon.com/Have-Been-Jaeled-Prejudice-Variation-ebook/dp/B08DQS1P97/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=i+have+been+jaeled&qid=1596286778&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

I write very quickly because I have 9 children who swirl around me so I have learned to put down words rapidly.

I have a couple of great editors so while a few mistakes have made it through final edits, there aren't an egregious number of them.

Unless, of course, any mistake is egregious.  I respect that position.

So in 2 months I have  published 2 and a third books. I say that because the latest novella is very short and includes some text from my original book I am Jael, so it really is not very long.

I know how to write and make people happy.  I could presumably pump out a book every month or two and make quite a bit of money.

But I shouldn't. Because writing, while a lot of fun, is not my highest priority. My priorities are Jesus and my family. Jesus is pretty much good on His own so my worship of him is for my own benefit. The family needs me rather desperately.

I have read of many women whose primary desire in life when they were young was to marry and have children. They are BORN moms.

I am not that woman.  I am something of an intellectual and I adore projects that I can complete in a timely fashion.  Most projects involving children are life time ones.  Kids just keep growing and changing and while a few things have a finite end point (like potty training), mostly the relationships keep altering and evolving as the years go by.

It is frankly exhausting to me. I do love a good project with a good end point.

So my natural tendency is to focus on projects and neglect the children and Kevin.  I don't usually do so because God keeps giving me firm nudges in the right direction. I do have to be aware of my own tendencies, though. 

Kids are complex beings and often not very appreciative of ones efforts to raise them. In fact, sometimes they get downright crabby about things. 

Rose has been hilariously irritable the last few days.  She is probably a little sick but still, I either have to laugh or cry over it and I choose to laugh. Like, really child??

Anyway, I have to keep jerking myself away from the path of a money making project which will stroke my ego and towards the children, who need an attentive and devoted mother.

Next week we start up school again.  It will be a "soft start" -- I always spend August working up to full strength.  This year I only have six children to teach.

Ha!  That is funny. Only 6 children.  Isaac is still legally homeschooling but he will be full time at Clark State. He is also a self starter so while I will help him as needed, he'll probably be able to do most things on his own.

 

Masks

My mother has made us lots of masks.  She is a very accomplished seamstress.  Lydia is also very gifted.

That gene missed me.

Anyway, they are awesome.

We are like a bunch of colorful bandits who will not spread coronavirus.  Thanks, Mom!!

I do not have coronavirus!

There's a great title, huh?

I did get tested.  I got sick on Monday and had a bunch of symptoms, including shortness of breath. No fever, but I don't get fevers easily.  In an ordinary year, I would have just waited it out but because this is 2020, I went to the doctor and got tested for COVID-19.

They called yesterday and the test was negative. Hooray!

I am feeling better, too. Still tired, but not so drained.  For a couple of days, I felt like a cooked spaghetti noodle.  A limp spaghetti noodle with no energy.

I was kind of nervous.  I'm 50 but people get really sick from coronavirus at my age.  Some die.

I love Jesus so much and I am absolutely sure about my salvation because I know my sins are paid by the blood of Christ on the cross.  So death is not, in itself, scary except that it is because I have a husband and nine young children.  I mean even Naomi is only 20! 

I pray that God will allow me to live a good long life so I can raise the children to adulthood.

Today I feel better than yesterday, which was better than the day before.  So praise God, I'm on the mend.

And I don't have coronavirus.

July 21st

It has been very very hot. We had rather a cool spring and then bam, it got super hot. There are summers when we have had but one day hit 90 degrees. We've had many days in the 90's. The pool is delightful, thankfully!

Rose is swimming like a champ now, which means all 9 kids can swim.  Hooray!

She learned with about three lessons from Kevin, which was awesome.

I am writing a lot these days.  I will start school in early August and will have less time then but for now, yes, writing.  I really, really enjoy it.

A few pictures.  We had guests on July 4th and a few days later, which was fun.

Obviously we weren't social distancing from our friends but mostly we have been pretty careful, and our friends have as well.

Naomi is working quite a few hours. Lydia has a couple of part time jobs. Life is rolling around quite smoothly.

Totally Testing

Um, they have changed some things on blogger which is kind of rude.  Oh well.

I hate figuring out new things.

Anyway, we are doing fine. I published my second book, The Blind Will See

https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Will-See-Prejudice-Variation-ebook/dp/B08CKCRHLZ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+blind+will+see&qid=1594394857&sr=8-2

It is doing pretty well so far.  I have 4 reviews on Amazon, all of them 5 star so at least some people like it.

Also, my kids are being super loud right now, so I will get off.

June 27th

Tomorrow is our 23rd anniversary, which is awesome.  We don't have any particular plans. Maybe, if we are very fortunate, we will go out to eat :-).

But yes, 23 years is a long time.  We are truly blessed.

So what have I been up to?  Well, one thing is sorting out Isaac's college classes for the fall. He has been leaping through various hoops and is accepted to both Clark State University and Wright State University.  Clark State is a community college (with far lower tuition) and Wright State is a 4 year state college.

Isaac wants to get a materials science degree from Wright State. Yeah, Materials Science!!

There is a class that he should take this fall at Wright State. But.

He won't.  The logistics just don't work. He doesn't drive yet on his own and I already will be busy shuttling him to and from the Clark State Springfield campus on Tuesday and Thursdays. This class he should take is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for an hour, plus a Tuesday lab. I will go stark raving mad if I have to run him around 5 days a week.

He turns 18 in December and we hope he'll get his license after that. Of course, we could try to get his license before then but it doesn't really work.  COVID and various things have conspired against us.

So for now, he is taking Chemistry and Pre-Calculus at Clark State and I hope to add another humanities class.

It has been really FUN working with two different colleges getting this all sorted out though I will say that at both Clark State and Wright State, the people I have been emailing have been super helpful.

I've also been writing furiously on my second Pride and Prejudice novel.  I find myself a bit nervous about it because people REALLY liked I Am Jael.I have 23 Amazon reviews and they are all 4 or 5 stars.  I worry that people won't like the second book as well.

But oh well if they don't!  I mean, I think it is a good book, an interesting book (the second one, I mean.)  I'm doing the best I can.  They don't have to like it, right?

Is this why some people produce only one book?  Nerves?  Like the Gone With the Wind author only wrote that one book, I think.

Anyway, I am just going to finish it, edit it, publish it.

Birthday Girls

Busy Life!

Let's start with kittens. Aren't they just the cutest?  We fed them kitten formula the first couple of weeks we had them.  Now they are old enough to just eat dry food, but I have a little left that I am finishing up. They are always so adorable when they gather around to drink it. Enjoy it while you've got it, kittens!

We have had a lot of doctor, dentist, eye, chiropractor, and orthodontist appointments lately. None of it is urgent or emergency in nature, we just took a long break during the lock down and are catching up.

Lydia is still job hunting. We keep praying God will guide her to the perfect position.

Our pool was happily hanging in the mid 80's for a week or so, and then we had a cool down.  So now it is about 81. Not bad. The kids and Kevin love it. I want another few degrees before I will really be happy.  My chiropractor is urging both me and Kevin to swim regularly as swimming is good exercise, obviously.  I just want it really warm in there. Is that too much to ask?

My book, I am Jael, continues to astound me.  I mean, I've been writing for years now and have been improving my writing skills throughout. I'm a reasonably good writer.  But still, for a debut novel from an unknown author, it is really doing well!  Last week it was hovering at around 9000 on the Kindle store list, which means only 9000 books were doing better. I was pretty impressed with that, given that there are hundreds of thousands of books available on Kindle. A couple of days ago, it shot up to about 4000 and has been oscillating around there ever since.  Amazon's algorithm's in ranking books are a complicated business; I wouldn't be surprised if the programmers themselves are slightly bewildered by it all :-).




Here is the link if you are interested:

Amazon link to 'I am Jael'

Anyway, it isn't that important except that it is truly nice that people like the book.  I am writing another Pride and Prejudice book rather frantically right now; not because I have to, but because the story is unspooling in my mind and I want to get it down.

I wrote a Ph.D. thesis back in 1996-1997.  I cannot tell you how arduous and boring that was. Compared to that, any writer's block in a fictional Pride and Prejudice (or Star Wars) fanfiction is nothing. So I keep writing and when I hit a block, I write something.  Often I have to change it, but one of my writing mantras is "You can't fix nothing".  Better to have something down, even if it is lousy, than nothing.  I can usually take at least a little of some rotten prose and improve it.

Well, I need to get moving.  The children are still curled up in bed, mostly, and I need to dislodge them.

Rose is 6!