Of Church Picnics

Yesterday was about as much fun as a barrel of monkeys - maybe even more so!

Instead of a traditional church service, we had our annual church picnic down at "The Base."

There was a fabulous scavenger hunt (prepared by the pastor himself), free throw competition, soccer ball juggling, lots of yummy food, a rain storm that dampened everything but spirits, softball, volleyball, and fellowship to beat the band!

Here's a picture that I gleaned from Melody's blog - thanks, Mel :)

J-6 has arrived!

I'm an aunt for the sixth time!!

Congrats to Darren & Sara on the birth of little Daphne Michele this morning!

God is good!

Lindsay's Ark

No, this post has nothing to do with the kittens being born, or about me seeing a snake last week. It has nothing to with animals at all.

It does however have to do with vehicles (hence the word ark), water (that made the ark float), and me (Lindsay).

On Saturday night we had amazing amounts of rain... So much rain! And each time I would wake during the night to either the pouding of raindrops, or the boom of thunder I'd think, "I sure hope I rolled up my car windows," and then go back to sleep. (In my heart of hearts, I really thought I hadn't, but I was trying to maintain a steady REM pattern)

Finally, at seven o'clock Sunday morning, I got up (it was still pouring!) and went to the window. There, to my major gritting of teeth, was a very rolled-down window. So, I ran out (need I reiterate, STILL POURING!) and when I opened the driver's side door, I was met with almost two inches of rain on the floor of my car... and there was about that much on the passenger's side as well.

I scooped out large amounts of water with my hands, and then rolled up the windows. By this time I was more wet than I sometimes am when I've taken a shower. The floor still had water on it, and the seats were sopping, but I'd done what I could while the deluge was still coming down.

Later that afternoon, I got out the shop-vac and (with Jill's help, as the "on" button doesn't keep it on unless continually pressed) took care of most of the water.

As I travelled to work Monday morning I sat perched on the very front of the seat, covered with a towel, and couldn't lean back for fear of getting wet. And evidently there were pools that I hadn't discovered with the shop-vac, because whenever I'd come to a sudden halt, a tidal bore formed around my feet.

And, as Nanny McPhee so succintly puts it, "hmmh."

Dreams Becoming Reality!

It's been about 12 years since I first began dreaming of being a massage therapist. I was in high school, and dreamt of starting school after I went to Bible School. After I graduated from Bible School, I began working at HSLDA, but the dream was still alive. When I moved back to NH four years ago, it was partly to start school.

To make a 12 year story very short, there were several times when applications were actually filled out for various schools, but God would close the door, and I'd have to deal with the death of my dream. I'd put the desire on the back burner of my mind, but it kept re-surfacing.

Last week I did some further research, felt like I got a green light from God, and sent in an application.

And last night in my mailbox was a letter of acceptance to the NH Tech massage therapy program!! I'll be taking it slow, but I'm on my way! I'll be starting classes Labor day week!

My Evening of Rest That Turned Into Not That

So, on Monday night, after the weekend I just described in the last post, I was excited about going home and playing with the kids a little, cleaning a little, reading a little, and going to bed a LOT!

I drove down the driveway at work, thinking exhausted , yet happy thoughts about the evening ahead.

At the end of the driveway I came upon a sight that I hate more than almost anything... a car accident. And this one was extra bad, because I knew the person involved. She was a sweet lady whom I had trained about a year ago. I parked in the gas station at the bottom of the hill and ran to see what I could do. Thankfully, it had happened several minutes before, and all the people were out of the cars.

Pat* was standing up, but had a huge gash on her right arm, and was looking like she was going to pass out. "Is there anyone we can call?" we asked her. "No," she replied. Her husband was driving on his way home from work and she didn't want him worrying about her as he drove.

She hadn't been wearing her seatbelt, and when her car was hit, not only did the airbags deploy, but she was also knocked around a little. Her neck was sore and her shoulder hurt, so the EMTs came running with a neck brace and back board.

I stood around, answering any questions that I could, and digging through her purse for insurance information when it was needed.

The ambulance came, and they loaded her into the back, and I let them know I'd meet them at the hospital.

Knowing what I do about confidentiality in the health industry (I train it every class I have) I knew that if I was at the hospital, chances were they wouldn't even let me in to be with her, but at least I'd be there if she needed anything.

The nurse came and got me in less than an hour and I went back inside her curtained room to sit with her. We called her husband, and he said that he would come right over. Pat* was thirsty, so I went and got her water, and then tracked down a nurse to get the ok for her to drink it. I also knew that she was diabetic, so even though her stomach was still all shaky from the accident, I made a little picnic of crackers and peanut butter for her on the turnde-upside-down standard issue hospital barf bucket.

After a while she sent me to the waiting room with a picture of her husband, to see if he had arrived yet. I saw a man who was kind of wandering around, so I went over, held up the picture and asked if he was Richard*.

Alas, the door was locked and we couldn't get back in... I also couldn't get any of the nurses attention, so I just walked up to a door that I knew to be unlocked (I'd watched others use it while I was waiting) and just pushed it open. A tentative voice from behind me said, "Should we be going in here?"

"The key is," I said to Richard*, "to act like you belong in a place. If you look like you know what you're doing, people don't ask questions."

He placidly followed along behind me, and we found Pat* finally getting her arm taken care of.

I left soon after that, and can only imagine the conversations that the nurses had about me after I was gone. I'm sure they were very grateful that Pat* had a low-key husband...

And that was my Monday evening.

*names may have been changed due to confidentiality :)

Winter Coats in August

On Friday & Saturday night, Amy & I were outside for long periods of time, watching the sky for falling meteors. We saw several that were completely amazing, and many smaller ones. On Friday, we were out after midnight, and it was freezing! As we lay on the lawn the remark was made, "It's so wrong to be wearing my winter coat in the middle of August!"

This weekend was a whirlwind of a time. But really, busy-wise... it wasn't a weekend out of the ordinary for me - just events that were outside of ordinary.

Friday night Wesley & I went out for dinner and then to a Fisher Cats game. It was a pretty slow game, with all of the runs being made in the first two innings, but the end was worth it, as each Friday night that they play at home they have fireworks. I missed fireworks this 4th of July, but these ones were incredible! They probably lasted for about 20 minutes, and at least four times I thought it was the grand finale, but they just kept on going!

Then yesterday Amy, Craig, Claire & I went down to MA to see Sarah Lower marry Josh Crumlich. What an amazing ceremony! There were so many happy tears, as we saw the working of God's mighty hand come to fruition.

After the wedding and ceremony Amy, Claire and myself (Craig left w/ his family for vacation) went and walked around Rockport, stopping in shops, eating ice cream, watching taffy be made, listening to & laughing at this random man who was walking around the streets singing random babble at the top of his lungs.

We drove home through Gloucester, looking over the ocean, and even stopping to walk on the beach.. but it was SO cold, so we dipped our toes in, took pictures and got back in the car.

I hadn't been to church in two weeks, as my travels had taken me out of state, so it was wonderful to be back home with my family at Chestnut Hill today.

And then it was in the car to drive to Leominster to meet Aunt Jeannette for some Aunt/Niece time. It's been such an easy transition to be an Aunt of nieces, because I had such good examples!

I got home, called Mom & Dad to chat a bit, vaccuumed and swept, and now will do crash-y things for the evening... like read and such, before I get up tomorrow and take on the third week of this latest class.

Happy Birthday, Mom

B - best friend a girl could ask for
E - encouragement personified
V - very wise
E - enriches all the lives that she touches
R - ready to listen
L - loves to laugh
Y - yearns for a closer relationship with her Jesus

M - mom extraordinaire
A - always looks on the bright side
R - relishes her role of mom & nana
I - in love with my dad
E - england traveller

A Whale of a Tale.... (insert groans here!)

Here are the pix from the weekend.

We had such a great time!!

The seagulls rode on the heads of the whales while they were up feeding, and the guy on the boat said that periodically the gulls will get inside the mouths of the whale, the whale will dive, and they'll see it resurface in several seconds to spit the bird out.


Humpback whales eating and diving.

A Tid-Bit Sort of Post

* It's been WICKED hot here in NH... but work is so air conditioned, I feel cold most of the day

* Last night I went out to dinner with not one, but two good guys!

* Wrangler proved once again that she's not a boy, by having three kittens on Jed's bed this morning (she spends most of her time over at the other Joneses house now...)

* I had a guy in my latest new hire class who was 6' 7"... he quit yesterday :(

* This weekend is the much anticipated whale watch trip with Amy & Drewey!