Passports

In the middle of April Chad noticed that his passport was about to expire. We were going to be moving to Canada at the end of May, so we thought we'd better get a move on and send it off for renewal. We knew the timing would probably be close as it ususally takes about 6 weeks for anything like that.... little did we know......

Here we are in the middle of July, and still no passport. There is a number I can call for an update to assess the progress of the passport. Normally when I call, I get a busy signal. A few times I do actually get through to the voice prompts, and am then told that the agents are all busy, and the queue is full. TWICE I have actually gotten further than that, to be told "there are more than 25 persons ahead of you." At this point I am so glad to have gotten through that I stay on the line for the next 45 minutes to an hour, to finally be greeted by a customer service rep who tells me "we're about 10 weeks behind the send off date, so if you sent it in April 15th, we wouldn't even have it open until July." So, here we are, in the middle of July, and there are currently 24 persons ahead of me in the queue.

My issue isn't actually that I wonder where the passport is (although that's a thought), we put our old address to send it to b/c we foolishly thought we'd get it back in time. So I just want to change the address of where they send it when they finally get through with it. An agent told me I have to keep calling until they are on the day they received it, and then get an application number from them. Then I have to FAX the new address to them. So, when I finally get through to them, and they are on the right day, I can't just tell them the new address, NO, I have to send a FAX with the info on it so someone can loose that and it won't get fixed and they'll send the passport to the old address anyways. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother......

In case you are wondering there are now 21 persons ahead of me in the queue.

Canada Takes it's Holidays Seriously

So today I realized we were short on some groceries, and thought Asher & I could go do some shopping. I realized after trying to go to the bank this morning that it's a bank holiday (I really should have rushed to the bank Friday before it closed, but I figured the bank would be open Saturday morning....), but I figured the grocery stores would probably be open.

First I went to the discount store, but the lights were all off, so I thought I'd try the Superstore, it's the only big grocery store in town, and I figured it would have shorter hours, but it should be open, right? Nope. Closed all day today.

My last option was Walmart. It's ALWAYS open..... or so I thought. The parking lot was totally empty, as was every other parking lot I passed along the way, so I gave up. I suppose we can make it one more day without milk, and peanut butter, and sugar....

It's difficult to figure all the little details out when you move! Hopefully tomorrow we'll have better luck.

Settling in..... Somewhat

So, here we are in Strathroy. I guess we're all moved in. All our stuff is here and sorted through anyways. I can't say we're all unpacked b/c we aren't. It's a bit of a downsize, so a lot of our things are staying in boxes until we move again.

I am going a little crazy though I think. In GR Asher and I had a whole routine throughout the week of things we'd do, and places we'd go. So far, none of that here. So we've been going for walks, but that's not near as fun when there's no destination. We used to visit Kami. We've also been riding bikes quite a bit. That's more fun, we can explore the area a bit that way. There's also a Walmart in town, so we've walked around there as well. It does get a bit old though, just hanging out w/ Asher all day w/o other people to talk to.

Anyways, that's what's on my mind. Until next time, Asher and I will continue to drive each other crazy.

Moving

So, 4 weeks from today we will be moving. Crazy. I feel like I'm in an insane time crunch, yet I can't do anything b/c we are trying to sell the house, so things have to look nice. We're having an open house on Sunday. After that, everything gets packed.... for the most part. I sure hope someone decides to buy the house before we move.

Yesterday Chad and I were discussing future plans. I think it's kind of surreal that we can't really plan for where we'll be past next year. Most people have a picture in their mind of where they'll be and what they'll be doing in 10 years. I have a big blank. It's unfathomable for me. I guess that's good. I'm not constantly going to be begging to move to Little Rock or some such destination. It's all in God's hands. Sometimes we feel really called to go back to the UK. Sometimes we feel that the CRC is where we should be, keeping us somewhere in N. America. Maybe we'll end up w/ both.

Even our family size depends upon where we'll be and what we'll be doing. Not that we'll change if we want kids, but God knows what will work for us and where. And still we keep moving away from friends. I feel like we have a lot of friends, just none that will be long term, have coffee together friendships. Maybe we'll have to wait until all the pastors retire and we'll all live in Raybrook together.

Of course if we move around enough, and some of our friends also move, then there's a pretty good chance that we'll meet up again somewhere, right? Or at least we'll never have to pay for hotels when we go somewhere.

Good Friends

I feel like I don't really have any good friends around me. I really miss the old kind of friendships I used to have when I was younger. Where you just hang out and talk face to face and your friends understand where you're coming from and if you maybe say something stupid, they still know what you're really trying to say. I guess maybe it's just hard to feel really connected to someone when you only talk to them on the phone once a week... or month.... or maybe less. I'll give you an example of what I mean. We'll call my friend "Amy".

Amy and I grew up together and used to hang out all the time. We were really close. Practically sisters. Now we maybe talk on the phone every 2-3 months. Most the conversation ends up being about old times and the fun we had. That lasts about 10 minutes or so. Now I'm married and have a kid and she is still single. What do we have in common? Old times. But I still consider her one of my closest friends. Maybe she doesn't consider me all that close anymore, I don't know. We did see each other a while ago and even then it was kinda awkward. What do we talk about? If we just me now would we ever forge a friendship or was it just that we had things in common way back when? The main problem now is distance. If we lived close by, we could do things together and keep the friendship current, but we don't and there isn't much we can do about that.

I have another friend "Deb" who lives in town. I used to work with her, but now I am a stay at home mom. She switched companies, so I can't go visit her at work anymore. She isn't married and has no kids. She'd say she's kind of nervous around kids. Asher is a big part of my day/life now. How do we stay close? She works all day, so we can't get together then. Often in the evenings she isn't free until later, 7 or after. I am then trying to give Asher his bath and get him in bed. I don't want to stay out too late b/c there will be no sleeping-in in the morning. When Asher gets up, I have to as well.

So, what am I to do? How do I stay current with my friends that don't live close? How can I remain close to those friends who are living nearby, but who are in different stages of life? Do I just have to get all new friends each time I enter a new phase of life and wait until my old friends catch up? What about my friends in other states/countries? Do I just leave them behind?

Spring

Well, it's been awhile since I wrote, so I figured I should. The snow is pretty much all melted now. It was taller than my mailbox last week. Now I have an ugly brown lawn to look at. I suppose it's better than slogging thru slush. I'm really looking forward to nice weather again. Last summer I was in maternity clothes, this summer I will return to short and t-shirts...... at least if it's warm enough.

We are in the process of selling our house. I find it quite stressful b/c now I have to keep all our stuff hidden in closets, and the baby gates are gone. Asher decided the radio wasn't loud enough the other day, so he pulled the speaker onto his walker so he could carry it around.... the wires only stretch so far though! I think the hardest part though is keeping the house clean. I've never been good at vacuuming regularly, and I tend to leave dusting for a few months at a time, and now I have to try to keep up and do them EVERY WEEK just in case someone wants to see the house. :)

My Poem

So there seems to be a problem in the Mug cupboard at the seminary. The idea is simple. Bring your own mug and you have a mug there so you can have coffee or whatever. You'd think Seminarians are smart people, but it seems to be too difficult to grasp that concept, so I wrote a poem and got it published in the school paper this week. Go to Kerux to see it!

Oh ya, Chad also wrote an article about the Oral Comps.

What's New About This Year?

Yesterday Chad passed his Oral Comp. That's basically a big test that covers all he's learned while in Seminary. So he has 5 months left of school, then we'll be going somewhere to do an internship in a church. I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now. It's still kinda faint. Chad's been in school ever since I met him 8 1/2 years ago. It's kinda surreal that in 6 months he's going to have a JOB! Don't get me wrong, it's a good weird!
Life for me goes on as usual. I stay home and while away the hours with Asher. Some days really seem to drag, especially when he's tired and won't sleep. He's very frustrated with his station in life right now. He would LOVE to be walking, but just doesn't have the balance yet. He's only 6 months old, but don't tell him that! The funny thing is that he can hold himself up on stuff, but if he falls over, he hasn't yet figured out how to sit up on his own so he's like a little turtle. He just wants to do so much more than he can.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

After 2 months of sheer drudgery at bedtime (crying, nonstop nursing, general sleeplessness) we finally HAD it! Asher simply would not sleep unless Chad or I was holding him. He wanted company. He did not need to eat, for he was nursing simply b/c that meant somone was there w/ him. His diaper was clean. He was tired, but strong willed.
After 2 weeks of trying a technique in which we would go in every 5 min, and he would cry for 4 hours, we finally decided to let him cry until he fell asleep on his own. Three days later we are all sleeping at night. No more tip-toeing around once he's in bed. If he wants to wake up and cry for awhile that's ok! He goes to sleep like an angel, wakes up once to nurse, and generally sleeps about 11 hours at night now. PRAISE THE LORD!