Out with the Old....

In with the not as old. Just a mere 8 months after saying bye to an old friend, we have another slow dying vehicle. A gracious Uncle in Arlington gave us a 1989 Mazda 626 with 192,000 miles after the Roomy Lumy died last summer. For the last year, the Mazda has been doing a great job for my 4 mile round trip commute each work day.

In the middle of April the power steering pump started making noises that scared dogs and turned heads in the neighborhood when I tried to turn the corner. I nursed it for another month until the pump finally died in mid-May. For the last month I have been building my arm muscles for the 6 turns I have to make to get to work.

Finally, this past Saturday, after 3 weeks of searching, I found another vehicle, one with 65k less miles, a functioning power steering pump, and air conditioning to boot.
Introducing our newest member of the family, a 1996 Isuzu Rodeo, which my lovely(sarcasm) wife has gleefully nicknamed Rodito!

Number 83...

Not the corn... but the Cob

Busy...

We have been a little busy recently, with a trip to Amarillo and the subsequent struggle in returning to normal life, all of which was made more enjoyable with the continued recovery of my foot, three throats from strep, three others from a viral bug, and a few ear infections thrown in the mix.

Here is Luci helping me get all those extra diapers out of the bag while I was putting up the rest of the kids' clothes.

She was so proud of herself.

Prior to this picture Luci was chasing after me, with the threat of big tears all over her face, until I pulled out the camera. She promptly sat down and posed for me. Daniel couldn't miss a photo opportunity either. I'm going to start carrying this camera everywhere!

Small Successes

This week I have been walking the line between the responsibilities I, as a mother, have to my children and the responsibilities my body, as a possessor of my foot, has to rest and healing. Given a child's need to run, jump and generally expel a large amount of energy restructuring their world, and the obvious contrast this has with taking one's ease and a general sense of order, has forced us all into a state of compromise. Thankfully, our Father is gracious to show his blessings in all things, and so I have been remembering something a friend told me recently, "don't let the best get in the way of the good." And so this week has been about humility in the good.

1. It would have been best to vacuum up the outside that had come in during the day, but it was good that I crawled around with a dust pan and broom to sweep up what I could while Luci slept.

2. It would have been best for me to cook dinner the other night, but it was good that we didn't spend money eating out but found an assortment of left overs in the fridge.

3. It would have been best for me to return my friends phone call, but it was good that I offered some of my work in prayer for her.