(throat clear - throat clear - cough - cough - cough) Maybe if I had taken all these crazy looking pills I would feel better today! Eric passed along his wretched cold to me! (I had just finished saying on Sunday "I haven't gotten it yet") I did have activities to pursue today, but now feel like moving from this computer chair would require too much effort. But, I must sally forth and try to get on with it! Enjoy your healthy day and think of me in my misery! (hack - hack)
I'm officially starting the "Clean Sweep" for this week. This is what I want to accomplish by Friday:
1. Clean out kitchen cabinets and re-contact paper them.
2. Clean out clothes (and coat) closet and donate items to Goodwill.
3. Make a list of our worldly possessions for insurance purposes
4. Catch up on ALL laundry and paperwork (the paperwork has been piling up for a couple weeks now!)
5. Reevaluate our budget and have a "financial meeting" with Eric to discuss. (It makes it feel official if we schedule a meeting.)
I know that list is not long, but each task if very labor intensive! So, I'll update towards the end of the week and let you know how everything turned out! This is a great time of the year to do those tasks that pile up - it's cool and today it's cloudy, so I'm ok with staying inside for the day. Have a great week everyone!
Friday started off our weekend very busily as we ran 5 errands in preparation for our departure from Lincoln! So, instead of leaving Lincoln around 1:00 or 2:00 as we had hoped, we ended up heading down the interstate at 3:30 instead! I am choosing to believe this tardiness on our part wouldn't have made a difference to the weather at Lake Calamus when we arrived 3 1/2 hours later. Even though we had seen the rain on the windshield for the last 75 miles of our trip, we didn't realize the the temperature had also been dropping 10 degrees every hour. When we arrived at the lake, we noticed the water was covered in "white caps." Thinking nothing of it and not noticing how hard it was REALLY raining, we traveled through 3 different campsites looking for "the ONE" - void of people, close to water, and some trees for protection. (Little did we know how MUCH we would need that "protection.")
On the furthest side of the 10 mile diameter lake, we found our site. Eric and I hopped gleefully from the truck to do a close-up inspection.......only to do to quick hop right back in! Driving rain, freezing temps, and frigid wind! (We had left Lincoln with 80 degree weather and I was wearing shorts and t-shirt!) Gasping for breath, we sat dumbfounded. What do we do? Wait for the rain to subside? Turn around and see if there was a motel in the area? Go home? Or set up camp any way? If you chose Option #4, you would be correct. Eric thought we should get our ginormous (gigantic+enormous) tarp set up as a rain shield first.
So, being the "helpful" wife I am, I set out to get the tarps from the camping tub and he scouted a spot for the "shield." Unfortunately, we had picked a camping site with only 3 trees - and tarps have 4 corners. After battling the wind, rain and the tarp (which was given superpowers by the wind and rain) for almost an hour and getting nowhere, we moved our attention to the tents. By this point, we are both soaked - my hair is dripping in my eyes and the ONE sweatshirt I brought with me is heavy with water and failing to keep me warm. At some point in the set-up process, we also discovered that the one thing I asked Eric to throw in his clothes bag (clean t-shirts) was missing! He was wearing his ONLY shirt and it was also soaked and wet.
The tents went up with minor setbacks - mostly because my fingers were too numb to be of much help to me - and we quickly tied all our belongings under a tarp for the night. We talked about chucking it all in and heading back to Lincoln (this was around 11:00 p.m.) and I said "We could be at IHOP by 2:00 and have pancakes!" But we ended up staying that night and ate cereal on our air mattress by the bowlful. I'm glad we stayed (now) because it turned into a great couple of days. The next day, the sky was clear and we had perfect weather for the next 2 days. We hiked with the dogs, took a LONG nap and went wading in Calamus River. Sitting around the campfire was WONDERFUL in the morning when my nose was still frozen from that night before and we made an emergency trip into Burwell for chocolate chip cookies. All-in-all, we had a fun, relaxing weekend that left us refreshed and ready to face our real lives again.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately...Eric and I have been housesitting at an acquaintance-of-a-friend's house for the past 10 days. Even though we got to spend the day and early evening at our own house, the owners wanted us to sleep at their house to thwart their teenage sons' parties while they were gone. Things went pretty well for the first 7 days and then we had to break up activities for 3 nights in a row - these kids are 17 & 20 years old! And they couldn't obey the ONE rule their parents had set out: "No friends in the house while we're gone." So, we had a few late nights waiting up to make sure no other "friends" got in the house and tonight will be the first night in our own bed in over a week!
It has been MANY weeks since I reported that Eric and I were going to try to get into shape! :) And yes, for a while we just loafed around the same as always, continually saying "We'll do ________(physical activity) tomorrow." But today, I am pleased to announce that we are beginning our SEVENTH week of running! I don't think we have ever stuck to any exercise program as long. Besides the constant aching in my previously neglected leg muscles, (which I try to ignore) I feel great! For anyone who knew me before the birth of my blog, you know I had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue and was sleeping 10 hours a night and 2-3 hours during the day. Since beginning our running regimen, I haven't napped AT ALL during the day and have had energy to spare! If you think about how hot it has been here for the past 3 weeks (90-100 degrees every day), this is amazing! The heat hasn't drained me and I feel better than I have in a loooooooong time. So, that is my "Ode to Running" post. I hope this inspires you to get out and exercise, even though it is the middle of summer - your body will thank you!
I have "discovered" a great new group! Check out the songs at www.myspace.com/leelandmusic and if you are excited about the songs, make sure to get their first CD when it comes out August 15th!
Yesterday, Eric celebrated his 26th year on the planet! The scary thing we realized last night as we were falling asleep is that he is now starting on his 27th year! Wow! He is now older than me (for another six months) and we had a great time celebrating with Scott and Renee' last night.
We had a great day on July 4th. We started the day with Eric fixing our deck umbrella (which I had left open in a windstorm!) and working in the yard. I prepared TONS of food for our lunch with my family (we're still eating it) and we had a great meal with "bombs bursting in air." The kids had a great time shooting off a zillion fireworks and then we swam for hours at Paul & Barb's pool - they were very generous to open their yard to 15 extra people! After swimming, it was off to Oak Lake Park for the City of Lincoln's "Uncle Sam Jam" with the BIG fireworks. We had great day, although we are recovering from Tuesday - and today is Saturday! :) Happy Independence Day everyone!
The big name in evangelical circles right now is Rick Warren. He is the author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and many others studies and books. Even after reading "The Purpose Driven Life" I was still skeptical of his "ministry." How could someone who was making so much money and who had so much influence, keep his focus on what truly mattered? I received a forward this morning that answered my questions and turned my whole day around. I've enclosed excerpts from that email below. I hope you'll be encouraged and inspired. 
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