Mid-Year Review

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Well, we’re halfway through 2010, and I’m supposed to be writing a book review for my SPED law class. Which, of course, means I’m writing a blog post instead. Here’s my half-year in review, in no particular order.

We’ve celebrated 5 years of marriage, 28 years of life (for me), 6 years of sobriety (also, me), 3 years of life (Jocelyn) and 1 year of life (Robs). We’ll celebrate Lee’s 29th birthday in August.

We scheduled Jocelyn’s birthday party four times and had to cancel it three times. We finally had it about two months after her birthday.

We planted a fruit, veggie, and herb garden for the second year. And Jocelyn has, once again, eaten every ripened tomato before it made it to the kitchen.

I completed 15 credit hours of grad school. (In other words, I disappeared from the real world.) To be honest, I completed 9 in the spring, and I’m a couple assignments short of completing the other 6, but it’s close enough that I’m counting them now! Which also means that...

I completed my last semesters as a full-time grad student for this program. I’ll have three hours in the next summer session and six hours in the fall (three of which include finishing my research and writing my thesis), but those are part-time student hours.

I decided, despite the work involved, that I would readily earn another degree after this if someone else would finance it. I have a lengthy list of academic areas in which I’d be willing to pursue another graduate degree. I love academia. I am a nerd.

I discovered Trader Joe’s. And Joe-Joe’s. Mmm.

We drove approximately 3300 miles to visit friends and family in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas. We could be crazy, but we’re planning to do this again every year. It was a wonderful trip – both the visits and the drive itself.

I haven’t posted on the blog about that trip or much else this year. See the item above about my grad school work and the one below about my TFA work for the reasons.

I have not gotten MRSA or c. diff. This isn’t something most people would include on their lists, but I’m special like that. Last year: three bouts of MRSA and one of c. diff. This year: none.

We registered Jocelyn to start preschool this fall.

We decided, after much prayer, that we’ll be forfeiting our preschool deposit and teaching her preschool stuff at home instead.

We had the sweet blessing of Lee’s sister living with us for several weeks as she and her husband were in the process of relocating from Wilmington to Durham. I miss having another girl to chat with (a girl who isn’t three, that is)!

I took the kids strawberry picking for the first time.

I took Lee strawberry picking for the first time when I learned that he had never been.

I weaned Robbie after 13 months of nursing. This is a huge answer to prayer because there were several health obstacles that made it seem unlikely that we would meet the goal of 12 months without formula, and we regularly asked friends to join us in prayer that I would be able to breastfeed him as long as I was able to nurse Jocelyn. Praise the Lord that I was able to do so!

I left the kids with Lee for a girls’ weekend at the beach. It rocked.

I rejoiced to see some of God’s work come full circle as two girls who I led in Bible study were teachers for Jocelyn’s Sunday school class this year.

I received three IV treatments for my rheumatoid arthritis (and will get more infusions in August, October, and December). They’re helping, but I’m still in some pain every day, which serves as a sweet reminder that my soul was not made to spend eternity in this body or in this world.

I finished my first year in LAMBS (Ladies A.M. Bible Study) at our church. We studied Daniel this year, and I’m excited about our study of Revelation next year!

I’ve worked out at least two or three times a week almost every week this year.

We attended our church’s marriage retreat for the first time. And have planned to go again next year. It was wonderful, and the timing was perfect. Yay, God!

I worked 15 hours a week for Teach For America. While I’m thankful for the work I was able to do there and still value their mission, I’m also happy to say that

I resigned last week from the land of people who receive a paycheck. I am a stay-at-home momma full time now (and a grad student until December). We were blessed by the opportunities that TFA provided for me to stay connected to work against educational inequality from home and add to our savings and set my own hours, but it has been past time for me to quit for a while now.

I have not slept enough. I hope to remedy that in the second half of this year (which was one reason for the previous item on this list). So, hmm, if I want to get more sleep, perhaps I should stop blogging and get back to that paper…

Flashback Friday: Five festive years!

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I have loved holding hands with and looking into the eyes of my husband since June 18, 2005.




And, of course, battling it out when necessary,


climbing over obstacles together,


and smooching (both in tradition wedding-style


and not-so-traditional Dinglefest-style).


Yes, all of these pictures were taken at our wedding and reception.

What?!? There wasn't a dunk tank, climbing wall, or jousting ring at your wedding?!? Dude, you missed out. As it says on the sidebar of our blog, "Dinglefest was the name of our carnival wedding reception, complete with a dunk tank, rock climbing wall, moon jump, bungee run, jousting ring, foosball and air hockey and pool tables, video game systems, Dippin' Dots, and t-shirts. A wedding reception is basically a celebration of the union of marriage that God created through that wedding. While our lives aren't always a carnival, we do celebrate our marriage each day."

Our celebration of Dinglefest isn't about us, though. While I do love being united as two who became one with Lee, it is the first strand - our Lord and Savior - who makes our intertwining meaningful and strong:

Two are better than one,
       because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
       his friend can help him up.
       But pity the man who falls
       and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
       But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
       two can defend themselves.
       A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Praise be to God for five sweet years of learning and failing and succeeding and serving and celebrating and grieving and loving and growing together!

Sticks and stuff at the church playground

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What happens when you beat the rest of the group to the church playground?

You get a little photo shoot in before the crowd comes!








































I would have had more of Jocelyn, but she wasn't as cooperative as her little brother! We love hanging out at the church playground on Friday mornings, and we're so thankful that they open it up to us in the spring and fall. I'm a little bummed that this Friday is the last one until the fall, but I'm sure we'll find other fun things to do!

No longer a fan

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I used to be a fan of The Arthritis Foundation on Facebook (and I can say that honestly because my fan-dom predates the switch to "like"). But that ends today.

You see, I have no problem with the organization. I am still on their mailing list, and I still think it's a cause worth investing in. Because, you know, I don't like pain. And I don't like having to ask strangers to unbuckle my kid from his car seat or unscrew the cap on my gas tank (both happened this week due to stiff, swollen joints in my hands and arms). And I don't like the possible implications for heart and lung problems that RA can cause. And I wish there were a treatment (or cure!) that didn't involve yucky side effects.

(However, once again I must proclaim as loudly as I can that God has been indescribably GOOD to us in all this. I wouldn't take back the health trials of the past three years because He has taught us so much through them. That said, I wouldn't mind if I woke up tomorrow completely healed from my health issues. I know He is able to do that, but I also know that His plan is much greater than my present circumstances, so we're submitting to His perfect will in all this.)

But, as much as I support what they do, I am clicking "unlike" for The Arthritis Foundation. Because if I have their posts - which are informative - in my feed, I also see the comments left there. Here's a sampling:
  • My beloved son was diagnosed with gout yesterday and I could just spit! When will a cure be found? Husband has SEVERE RA and OA and now this. BOOOO, hissssss, I hate arthritis and all it's many facets!
  • it's about d*** time someone started paying attention to how a chronic illness affects the mind and attitude of a person.
  • I've been "blessed" (haha) with both RA & fibromyalgia ... so lucky...
  • This disease makes me hate everything. I hate the disease. I hate people who think they know what I'm dealing with. I hate getting up in pain every day. I hate it all.
  • [In response to someone else's posting:] That's great, Ellen; I mean it's great you CAN get in the tub. I haven't been able to do that in several years!
And those are the ones that hadn't been deleted by the time I went back to find examples, so be glad that I couldn't find the truly negative ones. The amount of vitriol and bitterness and anger in the postings has gotten ugly enough for me that it cancels out any benefit of information posted by the organization itself. Plus there's a general spirit of one-upmanship. For example, if someone says he has RA and it's tough, someone else usually tries to raise the stakes by saying that she has severe RA or that her young daughter has the juvenile form. If someone says she's had it for four years, someone else has to pipe up with something like, "Four years? That's nothing. I've had it for 24. And my labradoodle Fluffy has had it for 17 years, and she's only 8 years old. Take that!" (Okay, perhaps the last one is an exaggeration. But it's almost that bad!)

True, The Arthritis Foundation seems to moderate and delete nasty comments, but not before I see some of them. And while reading that junk, I have trouble heeding these words from Philippians 4:6-8:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
There's not much to like in the majority (or at least a significant minority) of the comments left for The Arthritis Foundation. But there sure is plenty to like in the passage above, isn't there?