All's Quiet in the Blogging World

...including me.

The part for my laptop finally came and my favourite computer saavy son will be installing it for me soon. All he needs from me is a meal. Not bad eh? I'll probably be posting just a little more once the computer's up and running again.

Wes has been away for a week now. I miss him, I really do but boy oh boy am I sleeping well these days. I was a little worried that I'd be spending a lot of time alone but that hasn't happened. With 4 teens/young adults around, there's always someone to chat with, or cook for. When the kids were little and Wes would be out of town, I would do a lot of house cleaning. I don't know why but I certainly took advantage of his absences. I would put the kids to bed and get out the vacuum. Now, I'm usually the first one in bed and the others who live here don't seem inclined to pull out the vacuum or dust cloth. Too bad.

Having International students living with us has been for the most part a positive experience. They have been interesting and have expanded our understanding of the world. Medardo and Gabriel are our last ones though. We'll be putting our house up for sale this spring and will be moving to something smaller and there will only be room for us and Kristen (Tim's hoping to move out by the summer), with enough space for occasional visitors. No space for boarders. We are looking forward to that.

I always thought that the selling of our house would be our biggest challenge but being in the middle of a fiery hot housing market, I think our biggest challenge will be to find a place that will suit us. Thankfully I have two sisters who have both said we could live with them for a while if necessary. I don't worry about all of this much these days. I pray about it every day and leave it in God's hands.

This has been one of the most random posts I've ever done. But then again, that's how my brain works and I don't feel too inspired today. I will do some cleaning though. I do love a tidy, neat and organized house.

Next time I post it will be from my laptop. I can't wait!

Monday Musings

Email's working-sort of. But now my laptop, which is set up just right for me is broken. The monitor is kaput and I've ordered a new one. Till then, you won't hear much from me.

We're in the middle of another deep freeze here on the Prairies. I'm really tired of the cold. So is Dixie. She sits by the window and watches the cars go by and then turns around and whines at me. I'm sure she wishes she could go out but it's even too cold for dogs these days. It is usually around this time of year that I wonder if it will ever get warm again.

I purchased the book "Eat, Pray, Love" and am enjoying it. If you're interested in travel and spiritual memoirs, this is something you'll enjoy. At times I find it a little boring but there's enough in there to keep me reading. Makes me want to spend some time at an Ashram in India...At the very least it will be warm there!

In church yesterday we had communion (or Eucharist, or Lord's Supper) and I had the priviledge of helping to serve. I don't know what it is but when I serve the bread and wine (we actually use grape juice) to fellow believers in Jesus, I am deeply, deeply moved and honoured to be serving in that way. I am often so moved that I want to cry. It is something I cannot easily describe or understand.

Wes is going to the Dominican Republic at the end of this week to work for Habitat for Humanity. I think it will be a great experience for him.

Kristen wants to do something exciting next year and she is actually considering the "Outtatown" Program at Canadian Mennonite University. I know that we parents need to be careful not to relive our youth through our children but boy oh boy. I hope she goes so that I can experience it vicariously through her.

That's all for now folks. Hope you're staying warm (if you're from the prairies).

My email's not working today. What did people do before email?

Oma Hoornenborg

She would have been 102 last Friday. And had her life been a little easier something makes me think that she might still be living.

My Oma was born in the Netherlands on February 1, 1906. I don't know much about her life except that she survived 2 world wars, bore 8 children and remained married to the same man until he died. I did not see my grandparents often but they did figure prominently in my life as they visited us every two years in their retirement. Oma lived until she was 95, healthy and surrounded by her loving family. My mother, sisters and I had the great priviledge of celebrating her 90th birthday with her in Holland in 1996.

Even though I was English speaking and Oma was Dutch, we were able to communicate. Oma always brought delicious treats for us and was very generous in giving them out. All we kids had to do was ask her the question, "Oma, kan ik een snoepje hebben?" (May I have a candy?) and she would go to the stash in her bedroom and come out with something good. She had dropjes, Dutch peppermints and heart candies that melted in your mouth.

She was a typical Dutch Oma with beautiful white hair, an ample bosom and flowery dresses. Much of the Dutch I knew, I learned from her and I remember a phrase that she spoke often to Opa when he would tease her, "Nay vader, dat is niet waar! Niet waar!" (No father, that is not true! Not true!)

I remember when I was very young we would occasionally get care packages from Oma. There'd be women's magazines, a bit of candy and wool stockings for the girls. Oh how I hated those wool stockings! I have an allergy to wool so they would itch my legs so badly I could hardly walk. I'd go to the washroom numerous times during the day just so I could take them off and get a few moments of relief. I felt guilty about hating them. After all, they were a gift from my Oma, they were supposed to keep my legs warm in the winter and they looked nice-at least that's what my mom said. All I remember is that they were gray and horribly, painfully, awfully, itchy and they turned my legs bright red.

But my memories of Oma are still fond. Her death didn't change my life much because I was quite used to living without her but still, every now and then I think about her and wonder about her. I suspect that there are a lot of things we have in common. I know she enjoyed doing the crossword, which is something I like to do too. She enjoyed cooking, a gift that she passed on to her daughters and then to her granddaughters. She also wrote letters to us on somthing we called "Airmail forms." These were thin pieces of paper upon which you wrote your letter and then licked the tabs which were on three sides to seal it closed. Oma would fill every space on that paper, sometimes adding the last sentences in the side margins. She was accustomed to being thrifty and using every available space.

The last time I visited Oma was in 1999 and though her memory was fading, she knew who I was as soon as I entered her room. She seemed genuinely glad to see me although Wes did not receive the same treatment as she glared at him everytime she noticed him and asked what that man was doing there.

Oma died peacefully in her sleep at the ripe old age of 95. She lives on in her children and grandchildren.

The Forks

Went skating last night on the longest skating trail in the world. We met 2 groups of people that we know and stopped at the 4 km mark for hot apple cider. A great way to spend a few hours on a late Sunday afternoon. I think that next weekend we'll try to do the whole trail from Omands Creek to the Forks and then back again.