End of September now, really!

 

So our pool is chilly now. Like 74 or 75 degrees.  The days have been above 80 but at night it gets cold.

Isaac AND Daniel jumped into the pool a few days ago. They are very tough! 

I went in yesterday and just stuck to walking up and down in the shallow end. It was an unpleasant experience for a few minutes, but I got exercise. My upper body was dry so I didn't die from icy water.

It isn't that cold, of course. I am just a wimp.

We published a new book four days ago. It is doing reasonably well but not amazingly well. But reasonably well is good, and I am happy.

I love that Angela is driving now. It makes our lives much less complicated.

We have kids doing interviews and drug screens and this and that. So busy.

The world is still being sad. Yesterday some madman murdered four people in an LDS church in Michigan. Absolutely heartbreaking and horrible.

I am not dwelling on it or deep diving because there were children there and I don't want to know too much.

The Detroit Tigers did manage to crawl into the post season. They had a horrible end of the year. I am genuinely mad at them for blowing their huge lead in the AL Central. They will be playing Cleveland starting tomorrow in a Wild Card series. Cleveland was on a positive tear at the end of the year and beat the Tigers five out of six times in the last couple of weeks of the regular season.

Of course, they are more upset than I am about doing so badly:-).

It doesn't matter that much but I am still annoyed.

I sound annoyed a lot in this post. Sorry about that. Really, things are going fine all in all. Lots is still in the air with regards to jobs and stuff like that. I am frequently giving my uncertainties to God.

He is good.

End of September

 It finally got cooler. Last week was in the mid to high 80s. This week it is in the 70s which feels really good. Also, we got a bunch of rain after weeks of no rain. The green beans are still producing and will probably be happier with cooler weather and more rain, which makes me happy.

I love green beans so much. So yummy!

I did drop my Lexapro some weeks ago, and I am feeling it. I have lost a little weight, which is nice. My anxiety isn't horrible, but it is definitely higher than it was. I THINK it is probably the Lexapro change that is causing higher anxiety.

Or not. I don't like uncertainty and right now there is a great deal. I have three kids job hunting, and it is stressful. When the children were very young, I could solve their problems. I could give them baths and feed them and kiss them and I could give them medicine if they were sick.

Now they are young adults and are venturing out on their own. They are making phone calls and receiving phone calls and making choices about this and that and the other.  Which is SO good. We can be supportive and provide guidance, but they have to make their own choices. It is all good.

But certainly as a parent it isn't easy either!

I have also still been struggling with grief over Charlie Kirk's death. Again, I am aware that worse things have happened in the sense of school shootings in elementary and high schools where there are multiple fatalities.

As I said in the last blog post, I am careful not to delve too deeply into those things because I don't need that additional fear in my life about my own dear children.

Charlie Kirk's death has been the cause of rejoicing by a lot of people, which makes me very sad. Political violence is never the right answer.

Melissa Hortman and her husband, the former a Minnesota Democratic legislator, were murdered by a horrible evil person in June of this year. That is equally tragic to Charlie's murder.

Lots of people we follow on line -- conservatives with whom we agree -- were close friends to Charlie Kirk, and they are mourning.

Also, I don't think anyone with two brain cells and any degree of honor rejoices in the deaths of kids in school, and the murder of the Hortmans.

And yet, there are all these people lying about Kirk and his words and saying it is good he is dead, and saying that they wish his wife was taken out next so their children can be raised by "good" liberals who will raise them to hate their parents. I actually did see someone say that.

It is sickening. The truth is I need to stop looking at stuff like that, of course. And I will. No more. Lots of people are entirely sensible on both sides of the aisle, and most people did come out against the celebration of the assassination.

But it is still sad and frankly outraging to me. I am a scientist by training and know that in order to make good analysis about a person, you need to take their words in context. And they don't. They don't. They take little snippets of Kirk's words and paint him as an evil person.

Not that HE cares. He is in Heaven with Jesus.

So yeah, I need to just let God be God and pray for healing in our land. It is sad, and lots of people we follow are grieving because Charlie Kirk was a close friend. 

And there are people in Minnesota who have a giant hole in their lives because of the death of the Hortmans.

And there was another shooting in Minnesota recently where two kids were murdered by a shooter.

So there is a lot of grief in this world. Part of life is accepting that, and part of it is looking to the future, when every tear will be wiped away in Heaven with our Lord.

Charlie Kirk

 My last blog post was September 10th, and a couple of hours after I wrote it, I learned that Charlie Kirk, a young and very influential conservative, had been shot. A couple of hours later, I learned that he had died.

One of our kids came home from work near tears, and asked me, "Is he going to be all right?"  I said no, he had died, and we clung together and wept.

Now I haven't even followed Charlie Kirk that closely, but I have watched a number of his interactions with college students. He was doing a question and answer/debate thing in Utah at a college when he was assassinated.

I liked him so much, and my kids did to, and even now, days later, I feel a heaviness in my soul about the whole thing.

I have tried to analyze that grief, because other horrible things have happened in the last months and years that didn't cause this level of sorrow on my part. Not long ago, a nut shot up a Catholic church and killed two children and wounded a bunch of others. Two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot by a crazy person in the not too distant past and one couple died and the others were wounded.

Just a day or two before Kirk's killing, a young Ukrainian woman was murdered on the train by a crazy person.

I think the reason it hits so hard is that I have watched Charlie Kirk on video so I don't know him, but I kind of do know him. I have pictures of the Ukrainian girl murdered, and the kids murdered at the Catholic church, but I didn't hear them speak. I didn't see them move around on screen. I didn't see them full of life.

Also, since I have children, and am prone to anxiety, I deliberately do not do deep dives into news on killings of children because it will freak me out. I do not need to add fuel to fear.

Anyway. Charlie Kirk is dead, leaving behind a young wife and two little kids who will not understand why Daddy is never coming home again.

He was a really good guy, but the sad thing is that many people on the far left have taken his words out of context and twisted them and called him a Nazi which is the dumbest thing ever, along with being evil.

I watched a vignette yesterday when he interacted with a trans female (so born male) and the young person was saying he wasn't too sure about his life and wondered about Charlie's view on it. Charlie was very kind and asked gentle questions and finally said, "I won't tell you what to do with your life, but I think you would be happier if you lived as a male." The person said, thanks, and that was it.

Oh, one thing this person DID say was that he had been put on puberty blockers at age 11. That is SO young to be going on long term drugs...

Anyway, he was a good guy, and yet I keep seeing these posts where people are taking little snippets out of context to paint him as evil.

I also am heartbroken for the murderer. Assuming they got the right guy, he is very young, like early 20's, and he has taken a life, and is gonna go to jail or be executed. That is so sad. And his parents! It seems his father figured out what his son had done and told other people and his son was arrested.

There is a book I read many years ago by Carol Kent called When I Lay My Isaac Down. She and her husband had one child, a son, and their son stalked and murdered his wife's ex husband. Assuming the son is still alive, he is in Florida in prison for the rest of his life.

The thought of having a child who murdered someone else...

The thought of a child who has ruined his life and that of many other people...

So sad. I am praying for the killer and his family. And the Kirks and their family and friends.

One thing that keeps popping up on Facebook is that we should never rejoice in the death of another human being.

I remember that when Osama Bin Laden died, I was glad, because he was an evil terrorist. But even then, I was sad that he never knew Jesus as Lord, and that he had lived such a terrible life. I felt sorry for his children, who had such a violent father. I mean, I don't know if he was a good father to his kids, but he was one of the masterminds behind the September 11th attacks on the USA. So it was a war, and Osama Bin Laden was a leader, and I think it was definitely a righteous attack that took his life.

There is a difference between a single person assassinating someone they disagree with, and a country taking steps against the leader of an enemy organization.

Anyway, I obviously have lots of roiling thoughts about this. But the basic truth is that the whole thing is terrible and sad.

Driving test and other stuff

 

Our sweet Angela passed her driving test!  Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

Now we have six legal drivers. It is so amazing.

We have so much going on, or at least it seems like it. Angela and Joseph and Isaac are all job hunting. It is not a super easy time to find a job, truthfully. We are praying for God's guidance and direction. The government has a hiring freeze and that means most contractors are affected too. Angela is working at Wendys for now and the big boys may have to take some kind of job like that while they look for a permanent position. We will see!

Joseph was laid off along with five other people in his IT group. The group went from ten to 4 people!  Miriam was not laid off and is probably going to be way busier now for obvious reasons.

Yeah, just seems like a lot is going on. I was a little sick the last few days. I think it was a cold. My breathing was a little wonky but not bad which is the biggest thing I worried about. So yeah, I am mostly fine now.

I have been entertaining myself by watching Caleb Hammer, a financial guru who works with singles and couples about financial stuff. Dave Ramsey is a Christian financial guy who does similar things. Dave is calm and gentle, though sometimes stern. Caleb has many of the same ideas as Dave Ramsey, but he is way more dramatic. He yells a lot, and swears a lot (though that is bleeped out) and carries on in a most entertaining way. Also, his guests are always train wrecks financially. 

It is a little like slowing down to stare at a car crash, but I also find it interesting because I was BORN a saver and just don't understand people who get into a tons of debt through dumb stuff like eating out every day or worse yet, Door Dashing every day of the week while debts are piling up. I just don't get the mentality. And yet, I have nine children, all of whom are different than me, so understanding how different people look at money is fascinating and maybe useful?

I think a common theme is the desire for instant gratification.

Also, sometimes there are parents enabling the guest. Like one situation was a couple living with the husband's parents, and they were in tons of debt, and not paying rent all the time, and yet the wife (who worked from home) was Door dashing doughnuts from Dunkin' Donut five days a week. Like WHAT!

There was a lot of yelling in that episode, but I am inclined to blame the parents of the husband, because they shouldn't be putting up with that. Oh, and the husband also randomly bought an $1800 necklace one month instead of paying rent to his parents. 

Just unbelievable. But then again, as a mom of kids whom I love, I do get it. But I wouldn't put up with that if it happened (it has not) because it is so bad for EVERYONE involved. Caleb kept saying "you two are like CHILDREN" which is true.

I think that is about it. It is warmer this week than last. Pool is still a decent temperature. I plan to swim this afternoon.

September!

And it feels like it!

We had such a hot, hot summer, and then a few weeks ago, it suddenly got substantially cooler. So it does feel like fall now. Our pool is desperately hanging onto its heat thanks to sunny days and solar cover, but it won't be long before Wimpy Mommy (that is me) refuses to swim anymore.

Rose likes to dress up in blankets. Kevin says, and the kids agree, that we can never, ever have too many blankets.

We went to Pearl's Fen, a boardwalk, with my parents this weekend. It is charming and it was lovely with so many beautiful wildflowers.

My mom and me and the three younger kids. Older kids were sleeping because they had the day off for Labor Day and sleep is nice.

My father and Rose drank tea together.

I did an at home A1c test and it said 5.7. Can that be right? That is VERY good compared to my last check.

What has changed? I have been taking my meds at a different time, and I have been swimming a lot.  Or maybe the test was off. Anyway, I will take it.

So now it really feels like fall, both temperature wise and with school and all that. The three younger kids are doing school and everyone else is a young adult either working or currently job hunting. 

I find being the parent of a young adult to be hard because of course so much is outside of my control. Which is reasonable and right, but unlike when the kids were very small, I can't just swoop in and fix any problems they are having. 

But God loves them even more than Kevin and I love them, and I need to trust in that.

Mid August

 

We have had five "warm weather" birthdays so far this year and those kids are shown above.

Kevin is peeking behind them which is funny :-).

We had two birthdays this month already. Angela is now 18 and Joseph is 21.

It seems like a lot is going on. Angela is taking her driving test and is looking for a job. Isaac graduated with a materials science and engineering degree and is looking for a job.

We started school back up for the younger three. 

I took Rose to the doctor for a well child checkup today.  She is about 45th percentile in height and 25th percentile weight. She got a shot and was not happy but did pretty well.

Hmmm, what else?

Detroit Tigers are doing moderately well. They had a long losing streak after the All Star break but have bounced back.

The Milwaukee Brewers are on a total tear! They have the best record in MLB I think!

I am busy but that is good.

Early August

 It is still very hot which is nice for the pool. I love water temperatures in the mid 80s. So so so nice.

About a week ago, Angela took a big, ugly, Security Plus test and PASSED. This is the same test three of her siblings took, and passed, so now she has Security Plus certification.

She turns 18 this month and will be able to get a job in IT. So she is going to be job hunting. She also will be getting her driver's license, we hope. So lots of grown up stuff for our girl!

That Cyber Truck is not hers. They just found it in a random parking lot! Ha ha!

Tree frogs keep climbing up our umbrella near our pool. This dude fell off the umbrella when I opened it. He is handsome. Or she is handsome.

This week school started but it was super mellow. Younger three kids did fine.

I also worked really hard on my latest book. It is very long, like 110,000 words. I am almost done with editing it.

I will be glad when it is done. I am always glad when I am done. So glad. So so so so glad.

It won't be published until next month.

Very End of July

I haven't posted in two weeks, I see. 

Tomorrow is August!

I like summer a lot, but I am not mourning that autumn will soon be upon us with cooler temperatures. The end of June and all of July were hot, and we have also had a lot of rain. The grass is very excited. Our pool is like swimming in warm bath water. SO warm. I have been swimming every day almost which is good for my joints and all that.

Today and tomorrow highs will be only in the 70s, but then it will heat up again. I do like the seasons. I don't even mind winter all that much anymore, which is a change, because I used to be cranky about cold temperatures.

Now that I am post menopausal, I get hot very easily so am super thankful for air conditioning!

Last week was full of doctor and dental appointments. We had dentist visits for four people, and orthondontic checks for three kids, and I had a trip to a gastro surgeon. That proved to be useful as I discovered that I have an anal fissure, not hemmorhoids. It is healing but still painful. Annoying that something so small could be so uncomfortable.

I don't think I have a high pain tolerance, though. So that is part of it.

Anyway, this week has been much more mellow. I am on Epilogue 2 of my latest long book so almost done. That makes me happy.

The younger three kids start school next Monday. We always ease into it slowly so it won't be a heavy work week.

I hope to have the new book edited by the end of the next week and then I can pass all the other work off to Kevin like making a cover and marketing and stuff. He is a total boss with that kind of thing.

That is about it! 

Younger Kids in Michigan

 Last week our younger four children went to Michigan to spend the week with my parents and their cousin who is a little older than Rose.

They went to the zoo and rode a camel.

They helped serve a big dinner at my parents' church

Another zoo pic

They had dinner with my younger brother (and my parents)

They played checkers.

They went bike riding. You may notice that my parents have gorgeous flowers. Yes, yes they do. My mother, and to some degree my father, are incredible gardiners.

Flight simulator at the Air Zoo

Another zoo ride, one that is crazy with lots of ups and downs!

Something artsy.

Boys on camel.

So yeah, it was a great week for the children and I am so relieved it all worked out.

Kevin and I were home the whole week, and our three older kids (who live at home) were at work during the day and it was so so so quiet. So quiet.

The original thought was that Kevin and I would go on vacation while the children were at my parents, but then my little health issues cropped up. I still have kidney stones rattling around and also hemmorroids. Like, who wants to talk about the latter? I don't like TALKING about it, but wow, they can be really uncomfortable! They are! Riding in a car for many hours does not make me happy!

I am on meds for them and also seeing a surgeon next week to see if I will need surgery, and then in August I will see a urologist to discuss the kidney stones, which are not hurting but still presumably there.

So yeah, this summer has been a bit disappointing with minor health issues.

Also this week I had a mammogram like a responsible woman, and then yesterday several of us got our teeth cleaned, and then today I went in to get a cavity fixed. So I am tired. Oh, and I ran Sarah to the eye doctor yesterday because an eye is swollen. She is on antibiotics for it now.

It reminded me of my life ten years ago when I would have a great many doctor appointments because back then, I had 9 kids under the age of 18! Compared to those days, I really don't have a lot of doctor appointments. None of the children have chronic health issues so it was all just normal stuf in the past.

I am thankful. I have a friend who has a child who has some issues and when the child was young she would have six medical appointments a week for that one kid.  That is hard.  But when you are a parent, you just do what needs to be done.

I did write quite a bit last week. I finished a novella and now Kevin has to figure out when to publish it and cover design and all that.

I am 70,000 words into another story and will finish it up soonish.

I am a machine where writing is concerned. A big part of being a successful author is just trucking along on books whether it is "fun" or not. I like writing but sometimes there are sections which are just not much fun. But I just write and write and write.

That's about it! Oh, Kevin purchased a robotic vacuum cleaner during Amazon Prime Days and has been playing around with it. It cleaned our room today three times, and our floors are super clean. We vacuum every week, but Robbie the Robot can get under beds and stuff, so he (it?) is doing an extra good job.

 

Three Birthdays

 We have started birthday season. We have zero Kendig birthdays in January, February, March, and April. Then the remaining eight months have 11. It is kinda silly but it is what it is!

Daniel had a birthday in May.

Here he is playing with a Lego gift from my parents. He has a scientific and engineering type of brain.

Rose had her birthday in mid June.

 

My baby is growing up!

Lydia also has a June birthday. Rose's due date was ON Lydia's birthday, but since Rose was a repeat C section, she was born a week earlier in June.

There are no July birthdays, two August birthdays, no September birthdays, one October birthday, two November birthdays and then we finish out the year with three December birthdays!

I am not a "big party" kind of mom at all, but we always have a cake and presents on each child's birthday. The December children are close to Christmas but we always celebrate their individual birthdays!

Sometimes I am in awe that I am blessed with so many wonderful kids. Often I am in awe.

I have a friend whose 10th child is due next month and I do miss the baby days, but I am also mid 50s so too old for babies. This season is awesome too!

Very warm pool!

 Our pool is super nice right now! Usually there is a little bit of a shock getting into the water but not now. It is probably 85 degrees in the pool. We have been doing a lot of swimming, or at least the kids have.

I continue to be a lifeguard when the younger kids are in the pool. They can be reckless and silly.

My kidney stones still aren't doing anything unpleasant. I have an appointment to see a specialist next month. Earliest appointment I could get.

I have another minor medical issue which is annoying. I am trying to be grateful for medicine and health care. I AM grateful.

Kevin is a very well rounded person, way more than I am. I have numerous areas where I am completely clueless. I am also really good at some things, of course.

Anyway, Kevin LOVES to be efficient. We are talking about our heat pump (which also provides AC) and it is 20 years old. Probably will need to be replaced soonish, and when it does, we need to decide how much to pay for efficiency.

Kevin has a big project now where he is wrapping various pipes in insulation in the basement to prevent leakage of cold air. Our upper floor, especially our boys' room, is often rather warm in summer. The AC doesn't quite manage to keep it chilly enough. It is the farthest away from the heat pump and piping. Plus there are three boys sleeping there so yeah.

So Kevin is buying insulation and wrapping pipes and twisting and contorting to get to the pipes and it is all very admirable.

I am sure it will help.

What else?

Naomi broke up with her boyfriend. They were going together for four months and came to the mutual conclusion that they aren't compatible. I liked the guy quite a bit, but totally agree that there were areas of incompatibility that were serious enough to cause a break up.

It is wise to use intellect when making decisions about romance. I keep hearing about people with MAJOR differences who stay together and it isn't a good idea. Marriage is hard enough without some epic disagreement about life. It doesn't have to be anything moral, either. It can just be about major preferences. Like I probably would not have married Kevin if he had said he really wanted to live in  New York City. I am not a big city girl.  Kevin and I have a lot in common and that has definitely made married life easier for us.

It is hot. It is July. It is good.

My Body is Broken (Not Really)

 I like the Lord of the Rings movies from a couple of decades ago. In the second movie, the Two Towers, a king named Theoden gets beaten up by baddies and expires dramatically in the arms of his niece, Eowen. Before he dies, he says, "My body is broken" which is a far more elegant way of saying "I'm dying" than it could be.

Anyway.

I have kidney stones. Joy! I had a CT scan yesterday and kidney stones! Three!

I am not in pain from the stones I don't think. I do have massive lower back pain but I am pretty sure it is from not stretching and sitting strangely a lot.

I went to chiropractor this morning and got adjusted and I think it helped some. My body is fractious about me sitting strangely and not stretching. So I need to work on that.

Re the stones, maybe they will pass normally. Best guess is that I have had them off and on for more than six months now. 

I watched not one but two Titan submersible documentaries in the last week or so. Fascinating and crazy making. The guy in charge, Stockton Rush, was arrogant and stupid. He was also rich and well connected and had an authorative tone AND had a degree in engineering so he should have been smarter.

He wasn't a materials engineer. Not that you had to be to know that they were headed for complete collapse of the carbon fiber hull, which did of course happen, killing Rush and four other people. Carbon fiber is NOT a good material for the ocean depths! It is light and cheap, though.

Wow, the stupidity! The arrogance, the hubris!

For some reason I am noticing "people dying in stupid ways" the last couple of weeks. The news is full of info about three men who jumped over a waterfall in ... California, I think... and didn't come up. Rattlesnake Falls. I mean, they drowned.

The waterfall was pushing the water down and so they couldn't get to the surface. Some crazy gifted diver managed to retrieve all three bodies which was noble of him.

Last but not least, a 24 year old wing jumper died in the last few days. Wing jumping is insanely dangerous.

Stockton Rush was quoted as saying that all of life is risky and if you don't want to take any risks you might as well just stay home and never leave the house.

But that is a false argument, I think. There are risks and there are RISKS. Jumping off 50 foot waterfalls is super risky. Wingsuiting is risky. Ignoring signs that your carbon hull is failing is suicidal.

Life is definitely not entirely safe, ever. Riding in a car can result in a crash and death. But car riding or driving (when one is in charge of one's faculties) is way safer than diving 13000 feet to Titanic, or wingsuiting, or leaping off of waterfalls.

Speaking of cars, our Angela is learning how to drive. She drove me to and from the chiropractor today and did a good job.

Late June

 Finally getting ridiculously hot, starting tomorrow. Temps in the 90s! Our pool has been struggling to maintain 80 degrees or so, but after a few days in the mid 90s, should be far warmer still. Hooray!

Me and Rose, obviously!

She turned 11 this month. I will have Bday pics at some point, maybe. They are on Kevin's camera and don't get downloaded all that often because we are busy :-).

So yes, our baby is 11!

Miriam and Joseph had Juneteenth off, and today they are working from home, so we have had more people bumping around then usual, which is fun and a little weird. Usually it is "just" the four youngest kids during the day as Isaac and Joseph and Miriam are at work during the weekdays.

Speaking of Angela, age 17, she and Kevin have gone out most days this week to practice driving. Yes, it is that time, for Kevin to teach a kid to drive.

I am currently watching a documentary called: Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster. Very fascinating along with being very sad. People were stupid. The guy who owned the Sub, who died in the implosion, was stupid.

He was reckless and made big engineering mistakes and five people died, including an eighteen year old boy. Heartbreaking.

Not much else. I continue to write. I am enjoying a break from homeschooling the kids.

Oh, Lydia has taken a second part time job so is working quite a few hours now (like 50+) a week. She was sick and off work last year for awhile and needs to build up her savings. I am proud of her for being willing to work so hard. Part of me feels sad that this is necessary, but this is also life. When I was her age, I was putting in incredibly long work weeks in graduate school. I was young and strong, and so is she.

So yeah, summer is nice, pool is nice, I am grateful.

Pool open and other stuff

 

May was relatively cool, and we only opened the pool this week. It is now a blistering 73 degrees in the water. That is too cold for my blood. Rose and Daniel are full of vim and vigor, though, and have gone swimming three times. The first time the water was 65!

I always watch them, even though they are excellent swimmers. But they are young and not always as careful as they could be so yes, I think they need a parent keeping an eye out.

I took Daniel to his well teen checkup last week. He is a chunk and the pediatrician said something about how maybe we needed to keep an eye on his weight.

If he was my first son I might be nervous, but given that his older two brothers grew like crazy during puberty, and were far too thin, I am very happy Daniel has some stored calories to fuel his growth. He is fine.

I also had a doctor appointment. My latest A1c was 6.1. I am up to 2000 mg of metformin a day.

Sometimes I get really whiny and tired of my eating limitations. And then I pull myself up by my metaphorical bootstraps and remember how blessed I am that there are a bunch of things I CAN eat.

Maybe if I reach 95 years of age I will just start eating lots of carbs. At that point, maybe it won't matter?

That's a long way off.

Anyway, it was a good week and I am thankful the pool is open. Our latest book is doing well, in spite of Amazon having some issues with the ranking. Every Kindle book that has ever sold a copy, or is in KU and had at least one page read, has a ranking from Amazon. This changes over time, of course; new books in the P and P variation niche usually rise to at least #5000 quickly. When we released this latest book 9 days ago, it sat at #30,000 for several days. That ... is not right. Amazon sometimes has trouble with things getting hung up, and it does matter because Best Seller Banners in various catagories help drive sales.

Anyway, finally Amazon pulled together and the book rose to about #1100. That isn't bad, but usually our books hit at least #500. So yes, still not quite right.

Whatever. We are selling quite a bit and people like the book so I am going to be happy with that!

 

Another Teen in the House

 

Daniel turned 13 this month. Now we have four teens again. 

Here he is playing with a gift from my parents, a Lego gear bots toy. He loves building things. 

One of the things that is nice for Daniel is that he has two older brothers. He is stranded in the midst of numerous sisters, and he likes and loves them, but the big boys, especially Isaac, are willing to chase Daniel around and tackle him and do boy things.  To be clear, Daniel LOVES this.

We have some new friends at church who have only one son and multiple daughters, and the mother has said to me that she appreciates that Daniel and her son will wrestle and chase and be rough and tough. Most boys thrive from some rough and tumble.

Hmmm, what else? I am toiling away on another book and it is coming along but sometimes it is boring to write.

However, the only way to make progress as an author, or at least for this author, is to work every day on it, or at least almost every day. I occasionally have something else going on, but almost every day I settle down after lunch and work for a few hours.

And I do enjoy writing.

It has been a cool week and today it is rainy. Kind of dreary, really. We will have warm temps eventually. So far, the pool is closed because it seriously hasn't been warm enough to open it.

This means lots of frogs are growing in our pool. Our kids keep going down and saving them and releasing them.

We may have an extra bonus bunch of frogs next year.

Octopus! And other things

 

The first full day I was in St. Croix, Kevin and I went snorkeling and Kevin found this octopus. I was out of shape and didn't swim for more than half an hour, but he spent a full hour and a half interacting with this octopus and taking lots of pictures.

He or she was an amazing creature. We have seen octopuses before, but always in holes or crevices. This dude or dudette was on a rock, camoflauged initially, though he flared white when Kevin got too close and curled up his tentacles to look bigger.

He had a mollusk and Kevin, once or twice or thrice, stole the mollusk and moved it, and Mr. or Miss Octopus swam down and retrieved it. Totally totally cool.

There are so many amazing creatures in the waters of St. Croix!

Ok, back to our life here in Ohio. It is cold this week! When I got up this morning, it was 48 degrees, which is chilly for late May!

We have also had a lot of rain and wind. Kevin put some tomato plants out and some of them were snapped off. Sad!

We have had a mild illness moving through the house for a couple of weeks now. It comes and goes. That is kind of annoying but no huge deal.

When I was in St. Croix, I had a strong desire to purchase a Major League Baseball subscription but it s $150 or so and I hesitated.

The very next day they had a half off sale and I jumped on it, so now I can watch the Detroit Tigers. They are doing very well this year so far. The main announcer is very good.

Busy busy busy week

 A few things.

 Our big girls have moved into a new apartment! It is very convenient to Naomi's job and pretty close to Lydia's job so that is good. It is also way closer to our house which makes me happy. It is about 15 minutes away instead of 30 minutes away.

We have a virus floating through the family. Some people are fine. Some people are a little sick. Some person (Isaac) has felt rotten for a few days, poor guy.

I finished editing our new book, which comes out at the end of the month. Yesterday I worked really really hard and my brain is fried. But I got it done! Which makes me very happy.

Daniel, our 12 year old son, is growing like a weed. He is in the middle of a growth spurt and is literally growing an inch every two or three months. He is currently a little over five foot five inches. His two big brothers are over six foot tall. No idea where Daniel will wind up. He has a different body type than his brothers, so maybe will top out at five foot eight or nine like his parents. We will see!

In the middle of all this busyness, we are mostly sorted after the vacation. The food situation has been a bit odd, with people coming and going and our big girls' stuff in our refrigerator. Lydia is gluten free so needs a different diet than us. It is all good, but we still don't feel totally normal.

Are we ever normal?

Anyway, busy week.

Mid May

 Yesterday, Mother's Day, Kevin and I got home from St. Croix at 1:30 a.m. in the morning.

This is our ... 9th trip to St. Croix? I think. It has been an annual tradition.

Kevin was there two weeks, the first with two of our daughters, the second with me. We had a great week together and the girls also had fun.

We stayed in a condo on the ocean and we spent a lot of time snorkeling. I succeeded in not getting sunburned even a little bit. Which is impressive!  Kevin took lots of lovely pictures of plants and animals under water.

So yes, we had a great time.

We got home to controlled chaos. The big girls have moved in for a week or two with all their stuff as they are between apartments. We hope and believe that will be sorted out shortly.

I got to see all nine of my kids on Mother's Day, which is all I really want for Mother's Day.

This week will be a lot of catching up on stuff, plus we have a book we need to do second edits on.

It was great to go to St. Croix, and great to be back.

End of April

 I haven't blogged in two weeks. Lame!

Ok, what has been happening? Answer, a lot.

Yesterday, Kevin and Miriam and Angela flew to the Caribbean for a week in the fun and the sun and the water.  So enjoyable!

Naomi and Lydia are struggling through a challenge with housing. They were supposed to move into a new apartment in early May, and recently received a message from the apartment complex that the apartment needs a fair amount of work and they can't move in until Mid May.

But their lease on the old apartment ends in about a week!

Sigh.

So they will move their stuff to our barn and garage, and stay here for a few days, and the move to new apartment. 

My allergies have been bothering me quite a bit. I feel tired a great deal and I think it is becuase of allergies? Maybe? Not a huge deal but it is nice to contemplate that Heaven won't have any allergies.

A few minutes ago, I finished the first draft of my latest book.

Now I am gonna take a nap!

Chilly April

 So far this month has been chilly. One morning this week it was 25 degrees when I got up. Brrr!

I am at 60,000 words on my latest book. I think that it is going to wind up in the next twenty thousand words or so. This one has been tough for some reason. I have a lot of plot threads to manage which is making it difficult to get everything sorted. But that is Ok.

I have said before that while I admire Stephen King as a writer, I don't like reading most of his stuff because I don't like horror. But I like his autobiographical book, On Writing. In it, he said he was like 150,000 words into The Stand and had to take a break for a couple of weeks because he had written himself into a corner. He finally decided to wipe out half the characters in some cataclysmic event :-).

I decided a couple of weeks ago to drop my Lexapro a bit. I keep gaining weight and am hopeful that dropping my Lexapro will help, as I gained a quick 20 lbs after going on Lexapro eight years ago. I can feel the effects even though I am only dropping it a bit. Anxiety is such a strange beast. A big part of it is feeling worried about stuff that a.) I have no control over and/or b.) are not my problem anyway. Intellectually I know I ought not to worry about things, but actually not worrying is a different animal.

I am not bad, just feel a little more inclined to fixate on random things.

I don't think I mentioned in this blog that we have started attending another church. For the last eight years we were going to a church about 25 minutes drive away.  That isn't crazy, but it was far enough that just popping there for something was kind of a big deal. I have a lot going on at home, with homeschooling the kids and writing and all.

So some months ago, we considered whether we ought to look for a place closer to our house. After some consideration, we tried a church which is less than ten minutes away and really like it. It is a tiny church but we have met another homeschooled family with kids close to the ages of our younger three children.

More than a week ago, Kevin and I actually led worship which was fun.

New Car

 

We bought a new car this week. That is unusual as we generally buy used cars, but this one was not a lot more expensive than used cars of this model, and new is nice. It cost a substantial amount of money, of  course, but we decided it made sense to buy a new car right now.

It is obviously yellow. Yellow is fun and eye catching.

It is a hybrid Prius. We bought an older Prius a few weeks ago which Angela will use to learn to drive on.

Many years ago, when hybrids became more common, Kevin and I agreed that hybrids were a bit dubious because you have two systems -- batteries and gasoline -- in the same car so it seemed likely there would be more problems with hybrids.

Priuses are not like that. They are very reliable. They have amazing gas mileage too, like 50 mpg.

We toyed with the idea of an all electric car but the nice thing about a gasoline engine is that you can just buy gas easily. Electric cars are nice for buzzing around nearby but it is challenging to find charging stations when on longer trips, plus charging takes a long time compared to pumping gas.

I am well aware of the absurdity of our family. We have 11 people total in the family, and we now have 8 cars total and seven legal drivers. BUT Angela will soon have her license and she needed a car which we wouldn't mind being bashed up a bit. Our new drivers usually run into something at least once, though they have never hit another car. They hit trees and stumps and mailboxes.

Kevin will be driving the new car. It is very fancy with lots of new tech. It has some wonderful safety features like it will nudge the car back into the middle of a lane. I am kind of a luddite in that I don't like new tech because I have to learn it.  :-)

So all that is exciting.

Also, the kids seem to finally be over their stomach bug so that is good.

Late March

 We are having a few cool days which is no surprise in late March. I am excited about April as we will soon have flowers blooming and trees covered with blossoms.

The next few days will be warmer and wetter. Very thankful for a dry house to live in along with heat.

My friend D. whom I visited at the beginning of this month passed away a few days ago. I am sad for her family and friends, including me, but so happy for her.

I have another friend who lost a son to a sudden medical problem. It was out of nowhere and heartbreaking, of course. With D., she had been sick for many years and battling more and more medical problems. She loved... well, she loves... Jesus, and was so ready to be in Heaven with Him.

So yes, I am sad for us and so happy for her that she is in a new body and walking Heaven's streets.

It was a gift that I was able to see her one last time before her death.

I am trudging along my latest book. I have three to four hours a day set aside for writing. I don't do it constantly; I often watch a TV show off and on while plugging away. I often need to take a break as new scenes develop in my mind. I am grateful for a bunch of gifts that allow me to write books. Not only am I good at plots, I am also good at forgetting previous plots. I have 28 novels now, all based on Pride and Prejudice characters, and I am good at forgetting scenes and ideas from previous novels so each one is moderately fresh and new, or at least as much as is possible given I am using the same characters!

Almost Spring

 Tomorrow is officially spring!

We have had some lovely days of late but today is not one of those days. It is in the lower 40s and dropping, and it is raining dismally. Good day to stay indoors!

Last week was a full lunar eclipse. I decided to go crazy and have it as a wonderful learning experience for any children who wished to stay up. It was a full eclipse at 2:30 a.m. or so? Late!

I stayed up the whole time and Angela did as well. Miriam and Joseph and Isaac, all of whom needed to work, did not.

The younger three kids stayed up for awhile but finally got super tired and went to bed, with requests that I would wake them up at totality.

So about 3 a.m. or so I went upstairs and woke up Daniel and told him to go look at the eclipse. He sat up and talked to me and then I went in and woke up Rose and Sarah, who both went to their window to look at the eclipse before going to bed.

The next morning Rose and Daniel were both sad because they missed the eclipse, claiming that I had not woken them up.

In both cases, apparently they were talking in their sleep. Daniel apparently just went back to sleep after we talked, and Rose while she did look out the window, has no memory of it.

So ... not a great success. We did talk about eclipses so that was cool, but D and R really wanted to SEE one, and did not, or at least, in Rose's case, has no memory of seeing it.

Next time I will try to march them downstairs in the hopes that that will wake them up sufficiently!

Hmmm, what else?

Kevin has been working on another audio book with one of our narrators, Harry Frost. It will be launching soon. Audio books are expensive to make because we have to pay the narrator, but eventually we will make money. 

Harry is in England and is excellent at portraying different characters with his voice. He sometimes does voices for video games along with Regency romance books.

Not a whole lot else going on. We are healthy. We have food. We are grateful.

New family picture

 In the header! Isn't it nice?

The kids are growing up!

Warm weather at last!

 

It is truly warm today, as in over 70 degrees! It feels like it has been a cold winter and early spring so hooray!

We have spent a fair amount of time outside and are thoroughly enjoying it.

Last night we had a chimineya fire. Think the spelling is wrong on that.

The last week has been moderately mellow. We have been healthy and a lot of friends have been sick so I am grateful for that.

Our older girls have found a new apartment which is much closer to us so that is awesome.

That is about it!

 

Trip to Michigan

 I am not a big traveler, and rarely am away from home overnight. Kevin and I go to St. Croix once a year and sometimes we visit my parents. Other than that, I am here. As time has gone by, I have been less inclined to go somewhere and I think it is because for so many years, we have had our beloved Horde to deal with and packing for the Horde, or making sure the Horde is fine while we leave, is a lot of work.

So anyway, yesterday and today I made a quick trip to Michigan alone to visit a friend. She and I were in college together and I truly adore her and very sadly, she is in hospice care with cancer. 

I visited her at her parents' house and we were able to reminisce and say good-bye. She is a Christian and very ready to see Jesus. It was wonderful seeing her, but very sad too of course.

Last night I stopped in Ann Arbor and spent the evening and night with old friends, and this morning I attended the church that I attended when I was at the University of Michigan. The pastor of that church presided over our wedding. I attended the very first Sunday service of this church and I think there were ten people there that day. This was more than 30 years ago.

We haven't been back in more than a decade and today was amazing. The church is huge. Like four hundred people maybe? It was awesome.

Then I drove home. I am tired and sad about my dear friend, but grateful I was able to see her and that I made it there and back safely. I am not used to driving so much but everything went fine.

End of February

 We have one week until the end of February and March will bring the very early snippets of spring. We hope. 

This week has been super cold and we have a lovely blanket of snow over everything.

I think we got four inches or so last Sunday? And it has been really cold this whole week so the snow has stayed. It will warm up the next few days and everything will get muddy and wet.

Kevin likes to make snow ice cream for the children. Get clean snow, add condensed milk and vanilla, mix up, and voila!

It was so cold that olive oil which was shipped was this weird solidified goo when I brought it indoors. It melted nicely but wow. I have never seen that before.

I finished a 1000 piece puzzle this week. I used to whine about 1000 piece puzzles and now I love them, at least so long as the picture has a lot of variety. If it is all just shades of blue I would hate it :-).

This was a lot of fun!

I bought flowers at Trader Joe's. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

So the big news of the week is that I have finished the first draft of my latest book. It is over 100,000 words so a long one.  Now I have to edit the whole thing (that is the sound of my teeth grinding.)

It is fine. I don't like editing but still, it has to be done.  Usually once I get in the groove I am fine, but just the thought of facing 300 plus pages of the printed out document is intimidating.

But I will be strong, and I will do it!