Chez Jennifer

Last Saturday, I hosted a bridal shower in my home for a young woman from church.  I was providing the place, and someone else was bringing the decorations, set-up, etc.  I was only responsible to have the house clean, make my one small contribution to the food table, and be available.   So I cleaned, and I was pretty happy with my results.

This is the counter a bit after the shower–not completely clean, but close!

We have a long, skinny galley kitchen with very little counter space.  So one thing I did was cleaned off the counter surfaces completely.  Our refrigerator stands between two island like tables I have added to serve as extra counter space, so I removed all the papers, notices, pictures, etc., from the refrigerator, too.   Boy, do I love a clutter free refrigerator.  Who knew how good something so simple could make me feel?

In the week since the shower, I have tried to keep the counters and fridge clear of as much stuff as possible. It has been great to have more space for cutting, serving, etc., this week because there’s not a lot of extra junk sitting on my counters.  I have felt more calm in my kitchen than I have in a long time.

Now, with 4 kids and a husband, is it possible to keep up this clean counter-top regimen?  Time will tell.  In the mean time, would you like me to slice you a piece of banana bread on my nice clean counter top?

So, who watched the debate?  I watched it while I cleaned the kitchen.  Doing something physical was helpful to keep my mind occupied enough with something else so as to not scream at the tv.

Seriously though, apart from the time that John McCain talked in a melodramatic way about the bracelet he had from the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq and then Obama said, “I have a bracelet, too,” I was able to keep from too many snide remarks.

I admit to some concern about how McCain would do, but I honestly think he held his own pretty well.  The dem spin is that he talked too much about what he did 30 years ago, but I really felt those points did bring attention to Obama’s lack of experience.  McCain may have dropped too many names and said he loved Petraus too much, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised with his performance.

For a little debate humor, take a look at this.

So I was doing pretty well there with regular blog posts.  What happened?  What always does–life.

Mark has been crazy busy with work projects.  One has a quick turnaround deadline, and it is sort of speculative.  So pray he gets it done, and pray the $$ comes through.

Then there’s been all the kids’ stuff.  The girls are taking swimming lessons; Nevin is taking wrestling; and Calvin only made it on the waiting list for fencing, but he’ll get in the next session in a month or so.  Awana started for the the 3 younger ones three weeks ago, too.  And, Evangeline has been to the dentist twice in the past 2 weeks.  She had a toothache that turned out to be an abcessed tooth.  She had to have it pulled, and she was very brave about it all.  Then we took her back the following week for a cleaning and x-rays.  It turns out she has 2 more cavities that will need to be filled.  Oh, and the dentist informed me that we need to see an orthodontist.  Yay!  We have expected this with Nevin, but we were crossing our fingers that he would be the only one.

So in the midst of the nation’s economic crisis, life goes on.  Nevin asked me today what we would do if the economic system collapsed.  I told him we would be ok because we have practice with economic crisis.  He laughed at my little joke, which I guess is a good thing since he understood what I was getting at, and yet it didn’t make him unhappy.  (I also added that we would trust God and work for a solution, btw. )

Do you remember this post from back in April?

Well, it sounds like the birds are back.  I guess we really do have to do something to close off the space between the roof and upstairs ceiling.  Aargh.

I just finished the little novel, Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell.  I took a long time to finish it after getting halfway through on our cruise the last week of July, but this is not because it is a poorly written or uninteresting book.  I just meandered through it a few pages a day because life got busy with school starting and work stuff and appliances breaking down.  But this morning, I had a little time to myself, and I finished the last 2 chapters.  I can’t recommend this book enough to all you Jane Austen fans out there.  If you like Jane, you’ll like the worlds that Eliabeth Gaskell creates.

Cranford is a small English town inhabited mostly by women.  There are men associated with the town, but they are not on the scene very much.  Gaskell paints a very comfortable picture of country living in England in the late 1800s with characters that you want to know and emulate in your life.  The 2 main characters are Miss Matty and her regular companion, Miss Mary Smith, who serves as the narrator.   The book is very much character driven, with each chapter revealing something about the town’s women through short vignettes of the events and goings on in Cranford.  Gaskell’s narrative has a pleasant ending that makes the reader appreciate Miss Matty even more and that demonstrates the benefits of living a meaningful quiet life being kind to those around you.

Annie Barlow told me there is a BBC dvd series based on this book a few months back.  I am anxiously awaiting an opportunity to watch them now that I’ve finished the book.

This–the dryer staining and chewing holes in the clothes when they get stuck between the barrel and outer casing.

That–the water heater not heating as it should.

The other thing–life getting busy and making time to meet the dryer repair guy and the water heater repair guy.

When the first repair guy showed up today, I showed him a pair of underwear with a black stain and a hole in it where the dryer had taken a bite out of it.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  Then he said, “I’m here for the water heater.”  Ok.  I got a little confused.  I chuckle to myself every time I think of it.

The dryer guy comes tomorrow morning, by the way.

I’ve been thinking about the 1992 election a lot lately.  In November 1992, I was 27 years old, married for just a little under a year, and really afraid of Bill Clinton becoming president.  Then, it happened.  The election was over and Bill Clinton was president.  I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, but I was truly frightened.

However, if we take a little trip down memory lane to the months before the election, we see that incumbent President George HW Bush was thought to be invincible.  He had high approval ratings in the polls because of the success of Dessert Storm.  Then in a few short months, with perseverance and an excellent campaign staff and who knows what else, Bill Clinton rallied to victory.

I am remembering this little bit of history because as the 2008 election draws near, I think there is genuine fear among conservatives that Obama may be the next president.  I can actually say I am more fearful of what life with Obama as president would be like than I was about Clinton.  But, if we look back at that 1992 campaign, we see that it isn’t over until all the votes are in and things can change direction very quickly.  As republicans push toward the election, they can take solace remembering that no matter what the polls and the media are saying in July through October, what matters are the results in November.

After praying, thinking, talking with Mark, thinking some more, praying some more, etc., etc., I have decided to quit the part-time job I started last week.  It is just not a good fit, apart from the political differences I described in my last post.  For now, I am going to try to help Mark with some writing projects and try to help keep him more organized.  Our hope is that my help to him will increase productivity and, in the end, increase our bottom line.  We also hope that my being available for the kids when they are sick or when there’s a volunteer need at school will also be a blessing for the long haul.  This is a hard decision to make as it is an investing type of decision–there is no immediate income benefit.   Thanks for your prayers, and please continue to pray that this plan will be a good one for our family.

Well, I didn’t get the full-time job, so that is off the table.  And, that’s a good thing.  The more I think about it, the more I realize I need to make decent money while having more control of my schedule.  Which brings me to the part-time job.  It’s not a bad little gig–3 days a week during school hours.  However, there are some issues.  First, the person I am replacing was fired for embezzling.  I think that makes the scrutiny over me a little more intense than I prefer.  Second, there’s no one there to tell me exactly how they want things done.  It is sort of guess work on the part of one of the managers.  Third, the manager who has the most contact with me and tells me how he thinks they want things made the most appalling statement I have ever heard in workplace chit chat.

He to me, “What did you think of the McCain speech last night?”

Me to him, “Well, I’m not sure I want to say.  I think we’re on opposite sides of the aisle.”

Him again, “Oh, so you’re a Republican.  What do think of Palin?”

Me, “I like her.  I don’t think I could vote for Obama.  I’m pro-life, and he is just too far opposite of me.”

Him, “Well, I’ll never be pro-life.  My wife has worked for special school district for thirty years, and she says she could never be pro-life after all the things she has seen with these kids.”

Me, in my head, silently sitting there, in shock with no expression on my face, “Wow.  I can’t believe you said that.  Who are you? God?  Are you perfect?  Is your wife perfect?”

My sister-in-law blogged about this at the beginning of the year, and I have wanted to purchase a skirty for each of my girls for obvious reasons since then.  But for a variety of reasons, I didn’t get around to it until last week.  Then, in the last couple of days, Amoretti, the maker of the skirty started a new blog with all kinds of hullabaloo about a new spring line, a “purse” giveaway, and another weekly drawing.  Take a look at what’s going on in the world of fashion for modest young ladies here.