The Story I Know I Shouldn't Tell But I'm Going To Anyway

This whole 'fixing the house to get it ready to sell' thing is really getting to my husband. I've made peace with the fact that God already has someone in mind for this house. We're just getting it ready for them. I'll just keep working and we'll get as much done as we can in the amount of time we have and with the set amount of money God provided. We do what we can and God does what we can't.


My husband, however, is totally stressing about getting everything done on time. I'm learning to trust God and I'm also learning to keep my mouth shut and be supportive. I guess if our marriage is strong enough to survive adding 4 kids from foster care, it's strong enough to survive moving.


Yesterday I brought home two new light fixtures for the kids' upstairs bedrooms. Steve took down the old light in the boys' room easily and then attempted to install the new one. He had all sorts of trouble. I was painting in the room next door and decided from the sounds and words I heard, I wasn't going anywhere near the light project! But in the middle of painting, Steve asked me to help him. Being a good wife, I went. The current problem involved a wiring nut that wouldn't come loose. I asked him if he turned off all the power before working on the wiring. He snapped back at me, "Of course I did.!!!" You see where this is going, right?


After enduring a few more snide remarks from Steve, I left him to his project and went back to painting. Not long after, I hear a loud pop, a yell, a thud and then a few choice words. Since I could definitely hear him, I knew he wasn't dead or dying. I didn't know whether to rush in with sympathy, say I told you so, laugh hysterically or just sit quietly where I was. I opted to sit quietly and laugh internally. 


PS: He asked my dad to help with the remaining lights. I think he's coming over today.

This is how you eat breakfast when you're trying to get a house ready to sell.

Today's Projects

Some of the trim is finished. The dark door is the old one. The light door is the new one. I also did a lot of packing and painting today. My kids are very hard on our house. Yesterday we had to clean blood off the light carpet in the hallway because Zeke got mad and punched Riley in the face. Never a dull moment.

New Doors

We have five new doors stained and installed. Riley and I became experts at installing door knobs and hardware. Tomorrow will be lots of painting, including, but not limited to the dang dining room ceiling. Tuesday's fun will involve cutting, staining and putting up trim around all the new doors.

Winter Formal

I'm not a very foo-foo mom so Brittney had to plead with me to go take pictures.  It was really nice of them to include Sophia in some pictures too.

A Few Quick Notes

*So far, my LEAST favorite part of getting the house ready to move was getting the blue stringy gunk off the ceiling downstairs. It was originally shot from some sort of gun that the boys received for Christmas a few years ago from Staci. I'm thinking of buying a few more and taking the boys to visit Staci and her house ;)


*Anthony has been obnoxious the past few days. I received not one, but three emails from his teacher just yesterday. He went into one of his refusal/defiant modes at school. This morning he tried it again with me but I just don't have time or the will to deal with it right now. I informed him that I'm not going to argue with him today and since he seemed to be having a hard time getting along with everyone, he could just stay in his room by himself today so no one bothers him. I'm painting his room last because I can almost guarantee that he'll do damage in there today.


*Steve's working at the bank this morning so I'm on my own.


*We're hoping to replace some interior doors this afternoon and possibly take another load of boxes to our storage shed.


*Brittney is at the high school teaching little girls to cheer at the cheer clinic this morning and Riley is spending the weekend at his friend Patrick's. My other kids are probably getting more TV time in the next few weeks than they've had in their entire lives. I seem to be using it as a babysitter so I can pack, paint and clean. They don't seem to mind so far.
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More Cleaning

Brittney & Sophia are cleaning the stairway. Then Brittney took down my favorite border from downstairs :(
It had to come down so I can paint. I didn't think that new owners would appreciate that a few years ago, Riley and Taylor had written their names in permanent market all over one wall.

Painting

I've decided painting is therapeutic. It relaxes me. It also has real world applications. I could just quickly paint over everything. It would look good for a while but eventually the stains would show through. I have to take the time to scrub and sometimes scrape away the old grime so that the fresh new coat of paint will continue to remain beautiful into the future. I guess sometimes in life it takes a lot of cleansing before moving forward.

On a good note, I have finished two kitchen walls!

BIAC

Tonight was a little bittersweet. I attended my last meeting of the Brookings Inter-Agency Council. I've been on the board for three years and have been the secretary for the past year. It's been a great experience but it was time for me to let someone else take over and to begin a new adventure.

Riley

My giggle of the day came when Riley was putting away his clean laundry. He wrinkled up his nose, held up a little piece of laundry with only his thumb and one finger and questioned, "What's this?"

I took one look and laughed. Brittney had done her laundry right before Riley. I guess she left a pair of her skimpy pink girly panties in the dryer!!!!! Poor Riley!
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Hoarders

I'm not kidding when I say say some of my kids are hoarders. This particular stash of wrappers and trash was behind Zeke's bed.

Think Before You Speak

Even though my kids will probably give me lots of material for blogging over the next few weeks, I doubt I'll have much extra time. When I do write, chances are it will be about the house. Just know that my kids will be in chaos mode because they don't do well with change or the unknown. I don't either, so it will be a learning curve for all of us.


Meanwhile, here's a fun story that has nothing to do with the house.


 It's ironic that I was just telling someone the other day that I always think before I speak. Apparently, I didn't think on Tuesday.  I was drinking coffee before bible study with some ladies I know and one that I didn't know. She was kind of quiet so I asked her some questions about herself. After she told me she was married and had a son, I was asked about my family. I was thinking about all the people usually in my house: the kids, Gerald, Steve, Buddy the dog. So before I really though about how it would sound, I simply said, "I have six kids, a husband, a boyfriend and a dog."  Totally sounded like the boyfriend was mine instead of Brittney's!!!


Teach me to speak before I think! Gave them all a good laugh though :)
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Help!?

It has recently come to my attention from a number of people that it's ok to ask for what I need. There are a lot of people willing to help but they can't if they don't know what we need. I don't ask because I always assume everyone is too busy or can't help. But I need to ask because I can't do it all myself this time.


So here goes:


*I need people willing to take my kids just to get them out from underfoot while we're doing house stuff the next two weeks. I don't mean someone has to take all of the kids. Even just getting one or two out at a time for an hour or two is helpful.


*I could really use help wiping down cupboards and woodwork. With 6 kids, things get grubby. The better it looks, the more quickly it will sell.


*We need someone help Steve install the new laminate flooring in the kitchen and office. We will save over $600 by installing it ourselves. However, we've never done it before.


We are anticipating officially putting our current house on the market on Tuesday Feb 4th so it's definitely crunch time!

Yesterday's Project

Yesterday I painted the ceilings in the hallway and kitchen. Then last night, one of our projects was making our old grubby stove hood look like new so we didn't have to spend $200 on a new one. $3.97 for a can of heat-resistant spray paint :-)

House

They counter-offered. We accepted! We now have 60 days to sell our current house! :-)

Steve

I posted this to my husband's facebook page this morning:

Hormones

Pre-teen girls are temporarily insane. Taylor was completely psycho this morning. Steve was trying so hard to be a good dad and reason with her. I kept telling him that there is no reasoning with hormones, but he kept trying anyway. It was like watching someone repeatedly beat their head against a brick wall. I solved the problem by taking her to school.

More Random Pictures

Random Pictures

Mini Story #3

I was getting worried yet again about the money it will take to get our current house ready to sell. We've already done some work with the $250 I wrote about before. I've completely cleaned out the dining room,  given it a fresh coat of paint and moved things to storage. Steve has patched three holes in walls, fixed a broken window (the one that Anthony put his head through last summer), purchased some trim, fixed some outlets and some lights.

We have three bedrooms and a bathroom on the main level of our house that have older doors that don't match the trim and doors in the rest of the house. It was like that when we moved in 10 years ago. We always intended to replace them but it always seems that the money was better spent somewhere else. We also have laminate flooring in the kitchen and office that really needs to be replaced.

Steve and I were discussing whether to replace the laminate flooring or to put in linoleum if we put the house on the market. He priced out what we decided. It would be $300, if we install it ourselves. I went back and forth. Kim continues to remind me that if God wants our house sold, He already has the buyers and I don't need to stress over what we think we need to do. That being said, we know that the better the house looks, the better the chance of selling. I guess it comes back to "I do what I can and God does what I can't."

So I told Steve that we would continue to work on all the little things that we could do with the money and time we already have. Money continues to be tight and I'm leaving for Guatemala in two weeks, but God is in control. If God choses to provide the money for the flooring in a miraculous way, then we would know that's what we are supposed to do. Steve agreed.

That was yesterday. Did I say that this was a mini-story? I guess it's a long story!

This morning, I was attending the first morning of a new bible study on the life of David. (More on that in another story :) After the initial discussion and then a video, I quickly left to visit the bathroom because of all the coffee I'd had that morning. As I was alone in the restroom, I realized that as much as I want this new house for lots of good reasons and probably a few selfish ones too, I've told God that I trust Him. That in itself is a big step for me. But I realized this morning that I've never actually asked God for the house. I don't like to ask. It's been ingrained in me for a long time. But I felt God needed to hear it from me. So I did. I told God that I really wanted to move into this new house and asked Him for it.

It occurred to me that God already knows what I want and need but He loves it when I'm comfortable enough to ask Him for what I need or want. It reminds me of a child asking a parent for something they really want. The parent's joy isn't in the question, it's in the trust involved in the asking. Maybe I didn't ask because I knew He already knew. Maybe I didn't ask because I was afraid of a 'no' answer. Maybe I'm just afraid of giving up my independence and asking for help. My therapist has been trying for a long time to convince me that it's ok to ask for what I need. Maybe I'm finally getting it a little ;)

I was returning to class after my prayer in the bathroom when I received an email from Steve. He was letting me know that they had a bank meeting this morning  and he will be receiving an unexpected bonus on his paycheck this Friday!  Almost $3,000!

I guess God is ready for us to get some fresh coats of paint on the wall, purchase the doors and put new flooring in the kitchen. We'll definitely be obedient!  The best part is, even if we don't get the new house, we'll have lots of things done in this house that we've been putting off for a long time.

God is so good!!!

Ironically, I just told Steve yesterday that I hadn't been under the umbrella of God's grace for a few months but I'm feeling secure there again. Just to be clear, both times I moved; He didn't. I told Steve that now that I was following God's leading again, who knows what spectacular things will happen. There have already been so many miracles in our lives in the past. I told Steve to hang on because he was in for a roller coaster ride!!!

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Patience via House Update

God is teaching me patience yet again. We won't know anything more on the house until tomorrow. Their realtor took her time getting back to our realtor today and they are meeting at 4:15 today to go over our proposal. They requested an extension of our deadline of 5pm today. They wanted until 5pm tomorrow. Part of it might be a realty game as the other realtor had someone else interested and might be giving them a little extra time. I don't really know. Ultimately, we still remain firm in our belief that if it's supposed to happen it will happen, regardless.  But we did only give them until 10am tomorrow to respond ;)
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I'm Leaving

Big news! I've been invited on the Guatemala missions trip! We leave in two weeks. And yes, my husband had given his approval :-)

Anthony

There's no school today so I've got my super-powered headphones on again this morning.
Currently playing: Miami Sound Machine; next up God of Angel Armies, then Every Rose Has It's Thorns :) 


I did connect with my kids earlier this morning though. We did some chores around the house and then Riley and Zeke packed lunches so they could go to the Boys & Girls Club. It's a bank holiday so Steve went to Lowes to get some more home-fixing stuff.


Steve and I are going to a funeral later this morning. Her death was expected but still a bit sad. We're taking Anthony, Taylor and Sophia with us. After the funeral, Sophia and Taylor will be staying with my parents and I'm taking Anthony to his therapy appointment in Sioux Falls. During this current school year, he goes about once a month. My parents usually take him but I need to visit with his therapist so I'm taking him today. I'm kind of hoping that Steve will go along too.


I've been struggling with Anthony lately. He is a very smart kid and can easily get along with people. When we have issues, it is usually when an authority figure tries to correct him or get him to do something he doesn't want to do. In just the past two weeks, we've had issues at basketball, the Boys & Girls Club, church and at home.


Basketball: He likes it and wants to play. I drop him off every Tuesday night and Saturday morning for an hour of practice. Last week when Steve picked him up at the gym, all the other kids were running drills with the coaches and Anthony was on the other side of the gym throwing his basketball at garbage cans. Steve watched as another kid approached him and asked what he was doing. Anthony then tried to throw the ball at the other kid. Steve intervened at that point.  When I talked to Anthony later, he just said that it was hard work and his arm hurt from dribbling so he didn't want to do it anymore.


Boys & Girls Club: Last Thursday there was no school because of an impending blizzard. Zeke and Anthony went to The Club because I had an appointment in Sioux Falls. I probably shouldn't have gone but the weather was ok when I left and I really needed to go. In spite of everything, I'm still glad I went. Anyway, while at The Club, Anthony had a run-in with the gym teacher. Anthony was grabbing a bar and doing pull-ups on it. The teacher asked him not to do it again Anthony did it anyway. Then the teacher told Anthony that because he wasn't following directions, he could not help clean up. Then Anthony told the teacher, "Now I'm going to start getting pissed off."  According to the teacher, Anthony was upset and didn't understand why he was receiving a checkmark. The Club staff write up a report, discuss it with the child, have the child sign it and then give it to the parents at pick-up time.When the teacher wrote his paperwork, Anthony refused to sign it. It became a battle of wills and ultimately, Anthony won. Later, Anthony went up to the front desk and just stood there staring at the staff without saying anything. They were very unnerved and called Steve after The Club closed.


Church: Last Wednesday, instead of participating in large group, Anthony was messing around and hiding behind curtains and just generally not paying attention and distracting himself and others. He seems to think he can do whatever he wants there.


Home: I can't even begin to list all the times Anthony and I have butted heads. It usually involves his actions with his siblings. He always believes that it's not his fault or responsibility. Which is difficult at the moment but impossible when trying to get him to understand why he needs to change his behavior the next time.


His therapist believes that basketball is good for him so we haven't pulled him from basketball. I'm not going to be utilizing The Club for Anthony if at all possible, at least for a while. I've also kept him home from church on Wednesday nights but I kept him with me during my class on Sunday. He wasn't very happy and neither was I, but it worked out ok. If I was going to do some good parenting, I'd just go with him to his class and large group. That's what I did for quite a while with Riley. I'm not ready to be that good of a parent for Anthony yet I guess. I selfishly want to go to my own class.


I wish I could take my therapist with me to Anthony's therapy appointment :/


Kim reminded me that we only have a short amount of time to impact these kids so we don't have any time to lose. The longer Anthony struggles, the harder it will be to help him.
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Sophia Says

Yesterday Sophia informed me, "You're the best mom in the WHOLE city!!!l

Mini Story #2

In our quest for the best housing situation for our family, I've said before that we've completely put the process in God's hands. I have moments of panic and feelings of being overwhelmed but then I'm reminded that God promised me that if I just trust Him, he's got it under control.


Last Sunday morning I joined a new bible study at church. I knew that I'd been avoiding hearing from God for a while now and I've also been avoiding groups, so I knew it was time. I knew the leader, Cynthia, and trusted her judgment about a topic but other than that, I only knew it was a video/discussion series from Sheila Walsh.


It was another one of God's sacred echoes when I sat in class and learned that the topic for the study was "The Shelter of God's Promises". Perfect!!! (For more about what a 'sacred echo' is, I wrote about it quite a while ago somewhere on this blog. Or ask me in person. I don't have time to search and link it now)


One of the key statements that I heard that day was, "We can trust a God who is holding the entire universe together to hold us together, even when everything is falling apart". SW


In Exodus 33, God tells us that He will put us in the cleft in the rock and cover us with his hand. Sometimes we struggle with all the pain and injustices of the world and we forget that we can just let God hold us in the cleft for a while. It doesn't mean God lets us stay there forever but we can rest there and let Him be our shelter. Sheila described a personal story and ended with, "when I was at my most vulnerable, I was the most secure."


I'm on a journey to learn to trust again. Fortunately, Sheila also reminded me that "our faithlessness does nothing to diminish the faithfulness of God".
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So in this journey of finding the right housing situation for our family and also in my daily life, I have again been reminded that God has promised me that I can trust Him.
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Zoey

For the last three weeks we've had a little foster dog staying with us. Her name is Zoey. She's part terrier, about 6 years old, completely trained and even does a tricks. She was a good dog from the time Brittney brought her home from the Humane Society. In the past week, she'd become really attached to Gerald and me. When she would hear the garage door open, she would stand at the back door and cry until I came inside. Then she'd get so excited that she'd jump right up into my arms.

Every Saturday, all foster dogs return to the Humane Society from 11am-4pm to be available for prospective owners to adopt them. Because Steve and I had quite a few errands to do, we took Zoey with us. She happily rode with us all over town. I thought she needed to be at HS at 10am, so we took her in at 9:40. There were a few workers there and a few dogs. They pointed me towards an empty kennel. I placed Zoey into the kennel, petted her for a minute and then walked out the kennel door and locked it behind me. Zoey immediately started crying. As we walked away, she started climbing the gate. She actually made it halfway up and just hung there. It was so pathetically sad.


Fast forward through a really busy day. Brittney went to pick up Zoey again and texted me that she had been adopted. I had such mixed feelings. I definitely knew that she wasn't a dog we were going to keep. I was happy that a family wanted her and was willing to adopt her. I think Steve believed I was sad because I wanted her to stay but that wasn't really it.




If you're not a dog or animal person, don't bother reading the rest of this because it won't make any sense. I was upset because I left Zoey alone crying in the empty kennel and walked away. I felt like she would think we just abandoned her and would always think we didn't like or want her. I should have asked Maya at the Humane Society to let me know that Zoey was being adopted. I would have gone in to snuggle with her for a little while and then calmly handed her over to the people that were going to love her so she knew it was ok. The staff at the Humane Society are all animal people so they would have let me if I'd just asked. But I didn't.




It's still messing me up a little. Ok. A lot.
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Quick Update

Just a quick update. We completed all the paperwork for our proposal on the new house. Our realtor will be submitting it on Tuesday morning so we'll know something by 5pm Tuesday. They can accept our proposal, reject our proposal or counter-offer.

House

We're meeting with our realtor today at 12:30 to write up a proposal for the new house.

Brittney

Brittney's cheer team all decided to wear colored jeans today.

Home

I made it back home to Brookings just in time to meet Steve, Sophia and grandma Sandy for lunch.

Good Morning From Sioux Falls

As I'm sitting here in SiouxFalls waiting on my van to warm up, I guess it might be a good time to blog. I don't normally like so much writing on my phone, but I've got a few minutes. I was going to write about Anthony's current issues but that's been overtaken by Steve's current issues.

Joan offered to help get the kids to school this morning but I couldn't get ahold of Steve. Apparently he was outside jump starting his car because it wouldn't start. After he finally got it started, he dropped some kids off. The latest email from him said that he noticed his tire needed air so he took it to WWTire. He ended up having to leave it there because they found a gas leak. I don't really know what that means, but it can't be good.

Hoping for a safe and uneventful drive home for me. See ya!

SF

Started my van, having coffee, then I'm going to try to head home.......again.

Kim

I absolutely love my Thursday night phone calls with Kim. Since she moved a few months ago, we can't have late night coffee anymore. However, she managed to talk me into a phone call every Thursday night. We always make ourselves stop talking when we hit the two hour mark :-)

Stuck in Sioux Falls :(

Took me an hour to get from sf to Crooks. couldn't see at all, turned around to go back to sf. Finally made it back an hour and a half later. Zero visibility, cars in ditch, cars randomly stopped on road, rollovers, vehicles driving down the wrong side of the road because they couldn't see.

Haircut

Since I really needed a haircut but I didn't want just anyone touching my head and I won't be traveling to Rapid to see my sister-in-law anytime soon, Amy said she'd come to my house and cut it here.  I got a nice relaxing haircut and good conversation and our foster dog Zoey got some extra attention.

Taylor's having a bad hair day!

House Update

Just heard back from our mortgage banker. We've been approved for what we need and can now put in an offer on the house.

Next step is to meet with our realtor and draw up paperwork with contingencies on selling our current house.

Gerald Is Awesome

Brittney's boyfriend, Gerald, has once again proven just how great a guy he is. They were home during their lunch hour today. Sophia and I needed to leave so Sophia handed her stuffed puppy to Gerald and asked him to keep it safe. He promised her that he would. Brit and Gerald were gone by the time we got back but this is what we found :-)

It says "protective shield".

It's a good Tuesday morning. These are the only two kids at home with me so I'm taking it easy today :-)

Mini-Story #1

In this quest for what is the best housing arrangement for our family, a few things have already been happening. We are very firm in our belief that we will let God direct us. If there are open doors, we'll go through them, even if it's scary (mostly me) and if there are firmly shut doors, we'll stop and head in another direction (mostly Steve). We balance each other well.
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I was concerned because we are always on a fairly tight budget and I know that with any move comes expenses. I was especially worried about all the little things that we'd need to do to our current house before putting it on the market. There really aren't any 'big ticket' items and we've already remodeled both bathrooms but there are lots of little things that come with having lots of challenging kids in our house over the years. We have at least three holes in various walls that have been bugging me for a long time, some flooring that needs to be replaced, etc.


So as I was worrying about the cost of fixing things like that, especially right after Christmas when money is the most scarce, God again reassured me that He's got it under control. Later that morning, I got an email from Steve letting me know that because of a referral he made at work, he would be receiving an extra $250 on his Friday paycheck. That night, we discussed the money and we both agreed that it would be well spent on fixing things in our current house. Even if we don't move, there are things that need to be done. We can do all the work ourselves and just needed to purchase materials.  We've already patched the walls and have the paint to finish those projects.
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PS. Special thanks to Doug B for fixing our back door on our garage yesterday!!!  :)

Trust Issues

Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!!    I'm going to let you in on two little secrets.


1) I have trust issues. I don't trust anyone, although I'm gradually learning to trust a few people a bit. Ok. Maybe my trust issues aren't really a secret. But it plays into the second bit of information I'm going to share.


2) We are seriously considering moving. Not far, just to another house. One that has a dining room where our whole family could eat together. One with a bathroom just for Steve and I. One with space for the kids and some big windows for sunlight. One with a garage that would fit both of our cars and the kids' bikes. Lots of pros and a few cons. We've looked at it twice now. The price is right because it's owned by the bank but there's some serious work to be done on it.


The important fact for this story is that a number of things would have to fall into place for a move to occur. We have to be approved for a loan, we'd need to get our current house ready to sell with eight of us living here and we'd need to do some work on the 'new' house. We've done all the bank paperwork and are just waiting on the response from them before we decide to officially make an offer or not.


Steve is a dreamer and, as such, has been very actively pursuing this house. I am an eternal pessimist. My reaction is not be excited at all in case it doesn't work out. Every time I find myself getting excited, I reason myself out of it. I start to worry about finances, fixing our house, moving, being turned down by the bank, etc. As I was busy worrying once again, I very firmly heard God speak to me. Not in audible words but I heard Him just the same. As I was telling Steve this story later, I got to this point and he quickly said, "God told you we're going to get the house?!"


No. God very nicely but firmly said, "Trust me. I know what's best for you."


My old self would have argued at least a little bit. Especially if I really want the new house. It would fit us perfectly! But I know in my heart that God knows me and our situation better than I know myself. God knows if that's the right fit for us or not, He knows if that's what we need and what we can handle. Don't get me wrong, we've filled out paperwork, had contractors look at work to be completed, talked together and with others, but ultimately, it's in God's hands whether or not we make this change.


That's the first time in a long time that I've been able to confidently say that I've completely put my trust on God's shoulders for this entire process. Considering that I live my life by not trusting anyone, taking care of myself and making sure that I'm not dependent on anyone, this is circling back to where I really belong. It's impossible to live a life close to God with a trust-less mentality. So God and I are on speaking terms again and I can honestly say that there's a lot less stress when God is in control and I don't have to be!


Hopefully tomorrow I'll share one or two of the mini-stories that have already shown us God is firmly in control of this situation!
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Lunch

Qdoba lunch date with 3 friends that ended up lasting three and a half hours = just what I needed today.

I sense I'm coming out of my self-imposed isolation :-)

QUESTIONS I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE TO ASK..............
These are all questions that came out of my mouth at some point during this past week. You have no idea how ready I was for school to start again today, even if it was a late start.


"Why is the dog completely covered in flour?"


"Why is there a hot dog bun in your bed?"


"Why are you wearing your sister's underwear on your head?"


"Who peed in the bathroom garbage can?"


"What is that smell? Why does our dining room smell like a high school boys locker room?"


"Why is the little dog wearing a pull-up around his neck?"


and these are just the ones I remember!


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Expedition

I'm now 17 days into the experimental journey to the south pole. The weather here is awfully cold, sometimes registering downwards of -50 degrees with wind chill. I thought I could continue forward on the expedition but I've come to a standstill. I've been trapped in our makeshift shelter for 4 days now.

Our dog sled still runs but it's just too cold to go out. The food we had is getting scarce. We may have to resort to bow hunting ramen noodles & PB&J.

I do have my trusty companion, Buddy, to help keep me warm. Unfortunately, it's so cold outside that wild animals keep trying to stay inside with us. Fortunately, if I can trap them and pack them a sack lunch, the boy's & girls club will take them until they can be released safely back into the wild.

This is what vacation looks like!