Day 166 - Assorted Items (Throw)

All sorts of items are headed toward the trash (or recycling) or tomorrow's garage sale.  Plus, I've found several more boxes of bizarre keepsakes, so be looking for those in the next few days!  (Very exciting!)

This is an inflatable chair that we got for Dats (almost age 10) before he could even sit upright without help.  We always joked that his head was so round that we'd always dress him up as either Elmer Fudd or Charlie Brown for Halloween.  Unfortunately, it's got a hole in it.  So sad!

This is for year 2000 ... I'm guessing it's a bit out of date.

We're more interested right now in "Road to Freedom from Home Ownership"...

Some doll of Melissa's that was in a box in the bottom of a bigger box ...

A backpack from Saudi Arabia.  Loved this thing, but it's falling apart.

Day 165 - Lamp (Sell) and Day 166 - Laundry Hamper (Sell)

These are just a couple of items that will go into a big (hopefully!) garage sale this Saturday at Steve and Keri's house.  We really need to gather more things together to sell - tomorrow evening will probably be rather busy.

I hope we will be able to put whatever money we make into the Haiti fund.  The kids' passports have arrived and I am trying to nail down dates with the folks in the field and flights with the same group that set up the itinerary for the groups from our church this past year - Men for Missions International. 

I think we better get some flights booked before the cost of tickets skyrockets along with fuel costs!

Day 164 - Hubcap (Throw)

This hubcap belonged to a van that was junked years ago.  It fell off and I couldn't get it to stay put after that so it hung in the garage for the past four years or so.  Not sure what it was waiting for exactly.

 Time to move on, little hubcap. 

Go into the light!

Day 163 - Running Bibs (Throw)

Found some more running souvenirs - bibs from various races.  Once pinned proudly to my shirt as I ran around downtown Indianapolis ... now just clutter on a shelf.  Thought I should toss them.  No big deal.

I have a co-worker who is trying to sell her mini-marathon spot.  I didn't register this year because it costs $50 and we need to be saving money wherever possible.  My co-worker is selling her spot for $25.  I'm tempted, but even if it were free, I haven't done any serious long runs for 7 or 8 months.  Nothing over 7 miles recently and the mini is 13.1 miles! 

I did go for a run last night and it felt really good.  4 miles.  Now that I'm done with Lenten fasting, I have some spare calories to keep me going.

Speaking of Lent ... I have to tell you how proud I am of Dats (age 9 ... for one more week!) and The Drama Queen (newly age 9) and Ida (age 7).  The first two gave up candy for Lent and Ida gave up chips.  (And just so you know, it wasn't because I pushed them to do it ... they decided on their own.)  Honestly, I didn't think they'd last more than a couple of days.  But they all stuck to it!

I learned something the other day about Lenten fasting and it was kind of embarassing!  Fasting for Lent was not a part of my church's tradition while I was growing up.  It was seen as a "Catholic thing".  I was always told that Lent was 40 days leading to Easter but I never looked closely at a calendar.  This year, about one point mid-way through Lent, I was trying to do the math in my head and something wasn't adding up right, but ... again... I never consulted a calendar. 

Well, the day after Easter I was reading in a book called "Sacred Waiting" and discovered something I never heard before (even in seminary!!):  Lent is actually 46 days long!  And traditionally, the Lenten fast would be maintained for 40 of those days - but excluded Sundays since they are "resurrection days"!  That means, Melissa, the kids and I could have enjoyed Sundays off from our fasts without guilt of conscience!  Who knew?

Not me. 

Now I do.

Day 162 - Plastic Easter Eggs (Give and Throw)

Typically, Easter has signaled the beginning of weeks of finding stray strands of plastic grass and various plastic eggs scattered around our house.  This year, Melissa and I sat down with all the eggs we've collected over this year and past years and sorted through them, throwing away all the mismatched halves and bagging the whole eggs. 

The whole eggs I am giving to a co-worker whose church has an egg hunt each year.  Our kids participated on Saturday and had a good time even though the weather was pretty crummy.  Apparently, this church fills something like 11,000 eggs each year!  Saturday, the rain started just as the hunt finished, so most folks didn't stick around to open their kids' eggs, empty the candy and return the eggs to the church - they all went dashing to their minivans and took the eggs with them, so I'm sure the church will be glad to get these eggs.

And I will have fewer things to step on over the next few weeks.

Day 161 - Vase (Give)

The night before Easter, our friend Beka came down from Greenwood to spend the evening with us.  Melissa made a great meal and Beka stuck around to enjoy the spectacle of our kids dyeing Easter eggs. 

Beka is a stateside missionary with OMS who lives very simply, in a plain one-bedroom apartment (with the tiniest kitchen you've ever seen!).   She is transitioning this week to a new position within OMS and our prayers are with her - she started out in journalism and is now starting work within the mobilization department.  This means she'll be helping to recruit potential missionaries and then supporting them in getting to the field.  She'll do wonderfully!  I am certain God will be able to use her talents and abilities to impact the Kingdom in profound ways. 

Recently, Melissa learned that when Beka returned from a trip to Africa a few weeks back, a friend of hers presented her with flowers - but Beka had nothing to put them in but a plastic cup.  So Melissa wanted to send a vase home with Beka.  Like I said, Beka lives without a lot of frills, so it's a real privilege to be able to give her something decorative for her apartment.  Now she just needs some more flowers...

You can check out her blog at bekamech.blogspot.com!

Days 158 and 159 - More T-Shirts (Give)

I'm taking the easy way out for a couple of days - just grabbing a few pieces of clothing each day to add to the pile going to the Ginormous Clothing Drive at our church.

I record some of them here more for my benefit and interest than yours!  Somehow, it seems easier to part with them when I have at least a photograph to remember...

(I know it's goofy!)



Ah, Ichthus!!  What can I say.  So many great memories of this
Christian music festival.  My friends and I, under the name FishForce,
led a teaching tent for several years in the late 90s.  Among other
things, Ichthus is where I proposed to Melissa!

Tye-dye never goes out of fashion!



A great youth conference organized every few years
by the Free Methodist Church.



This turned out to be the last mission trip I led as a youth pastor.
It was an excellent trip.  Much accomplished - not only in Mexico,
but within the group.

I grew up going to South Dakota for vacations
since that is where my Dad origninated.  LOVE South Dakota.
So I took Melissa and Dats (age 2 at the time) and
 the Drama Queen (age 1) out to SD to show them around.
Turned out to be one of the LEAST relaxing vacations in
all of recorded history.  But Melissa got matching shirts for
Dats and me.  Dats long ago outgrew his.  Time marches on.

Someone gave me this shirt long ago
based on the fact that I do a pretty mean
Bullwinkle impression!
"Hey, Rocky!  Watch me pull a rabbit
outta this hat!"

I think I got this shirt on our honeymoon (nearly 11 years ago now!)
in the Smoky Mountains.  I always loved this motto.  In fact,
maybe I will modify this and design a T-Shirt for our upcoming
venture to Haiti!  Incidentally,  a few years after I bought this shirt, Dats
rolled off his Grandma's couch and broke his arm...

Day 160 - Toy Handcuffs (Throw ... before somebody gets hurt!)

I was called into the boys' room this evening to the sight of Dats (age 9) squirming around with his wrists handcuffed together behind his back.  And these aren't the cheap plastic type - they are full-on metal.  We eventually freed one hand, but the other side of the cuffs was stuck and getting tighter.  It seemed to have something jammed into its "lock" mechanism.  Once we finally pried the cuffs completely off, Melissa insisted we throw these things away.  OK by me since I hadn't yet found anything to toss today.

I love a good excuse to throw some of the kids' toys away - especially since they tend to collect new toys  faster than we can dispense with the old ones.  The other day I took The Princess (age 4) out to lunch - just the two of us - on an impromptu date since The Drama Queen (now age 9) had banned The Princess from a birthday tea party.  The Princess and I had a great meal together and then popped over to Walmart for a few items on my grocery list. 

I told The Princess that she could get a SMALL toy since she had been so good.  She said, "Yeah, I already have lots of BIG toys, so I don't need anymore big toys... but I do need more small toys."  I told her that she actually had plenty of each, but that I would be happy to get her something small. 

All the toys that caught her eye were in the twenty to thirty dollar range!  After getting a few NOs from me, she finally said, "Well, show me which toys are ON SALE."

After looping up and down several aisles and still not finding any toys that interested her but were in my price range, she lamented in a sad little voice, "Well, I guess I'm not going to get a small toy today...."

I was so proud, thinking that my little girl was going to just let it go so easily!

But then she perked up and proclaimed, "I'm just going to have to get a BIG toy!"

Day 157 - Harmonica (Sell)

This was another attempt on my part a few years ago to "get musical" - but it was a lot cheaper than the $200 guitar mistake.  Same results though:  a couple of hours of nerve-tangling experimentation followed by surrender.  I am just NOT wired for music.  And I am very jealous of folks who are.  Maybe one of them will give me 50 cents for this harmonica when we have our garage sale.

P.S.  I have been careful to keep this hidden from my own kids!!  I have enough headaches as it is....

Day 156 - Sentimental T-Shirts (Give)

I found these t-shirts in a box of "keepsakes" some months ago and I put them aside because they do have sentimental value and I wanted to figure out a way to keep them.  But now there's this ginormous clothing drive happening at our church and they are sending the clothes to Kosovo and Honduras. 

I've decided that much better than these shirts rotting in some box for years in my own possession would be imagining them on the backs of some brothers in Kosovo or Honduras!  These shirts will get to see the world!  And they'll have a real purpose again.

The first one is a t-shirt I designed for my good friend, Tim Price, back when we were in seminary.  He had just written a bunch of original songs and then recorded them on a CD called "Come to Know":

The front pocket logo.

The back of the shirt.

These other two shirts were designed by friend named Aaron.  Have you ever known a TRULY unique individual?  The sort who deserves to have a book written about him or her?  That's Aaron.  (As a matter of fact, he DOES appear in a book ... called "Beyond Fear" - the story of Aaron and his friend, Joel, crossing Papua New Guinea without use of a motor when Aaron was just 19 years old!  They budgeted one month's time for their adventure ... and it took 100 days!  And along the way, they cheated Death about 4 or 5 times each.)

Anyway, for security sake, I probably shouldn't go into the details of how and where I met and worked with Aaron, but I can tell you these t-shirts were designed by him some time ago to be wearable by believers in a part of the world where outward expressions of Christianity are, shall we say, severely frowned upon...

I get a real kick out of the thought of these shirts, with their covert Christian imagery, making the rounds of Kosovo or Honduras a few months from now.  Bon Voyage!

Day 155 - Scratchboard and Straight Edges (Give) and Vehicle Update

These are some art supplies I found mixed in with my water-damaged artwork from a few weeks back.  I set them aside to give them to the art teacher at school.  I've never seen her use scratchboard before, but it's expensive stuff, so maybe she'll be happy to have some donated.

If you're not familiar with scratchboard, I should explain.  It is a sheet of paper about the weight of posterboard which is coated with a layer of fine chalk and then overlaid with black ink.  So a picture is created by scratching away the black ink.  Therefore, you are cleaning away everything that you don't want to keep in your picture.  It's a good activity for art class since it is the opposite of pen and ink work.  It really makes the artist think about negative space.

By the way, we spent yesterday evening attaining a new vehicle for me to drive back and forth to school.  I think we got a good deal ... but only time will tell!  I'll have to tell you some other time how we got our hands on $2,700 in cash on a Saturday evening while out of town.  I'm too tired tonight. 

Day 154 - Cassette Tapes (Sell??) Correction: THROW!

I put question marks in the title because who even uses cassette tapes anymore?  But I don't want to just chuck them in a landfill, so I will put them in the garage sale and see what happens.

Actually, I wrote the above a couple of days ago and I have taken a second look inside this box.  Most of these belong in a landfill, buried under coffee grinds and used paper tissues and tin cans.  I couldn't even put the box down on the carpet to take a picture, because I realized that the bottom of the box is covered in mold!  Ummmm... gross. 


Some of the titles and artists:
Johnny Cash:  16 Biggest Hits
The Mask Soundtrack
Spike Jones and His City Slickers Greatest Hits
The Best of Neil Diamond
20 A Cappella Hymns:  Volumes One and Two
The Gospel Side of Ray Stevens
Victor Borge: Caught in the Act
Brownsville Worship: Live from Pensacola
Beethoven's Greatest Hits
Spike Jones is Murdering the Classics
Dumb and Dumber Soundtrack
Tom Petty Full Moon Fever
Psalms Set to Music by Ian White (Volume One) [This guy is amazing - too bad he's not well-known in this country!]
VeggieTunes
John Mellencamp:  Uh-Huh and Scarecrow
Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D
Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
Multiple albums by Runrig - a fantastic Scottish rock band [I may have to keep these - if they're not moldy]

Day 153 - Scotland Posters (Give)

Found these posters and decided I'd give them to my former student, David - the one I gave the cap to a week or so ago.  He's into all things Scotland and I told him I would keep an eye open for other Scottish things I could send his way.

A terrible picture, but this poster has been rolled up for over a decade so it's going to need to be ironed out.  It's such a cool castle, though, I just had to include the picture.

The castles are one of the most amazing aspects of Scotland.  I remember walking into my first Scottish castle and seeing a bed labeled as being 400 years old.  I stood there and tried to comprehend a piece of furniture nearly twice as old as my own COUNTRY...

Day 152 - Halloween Decor (Throw)

These are some of the ceramics I painted as a kid.  But I can't think of a good reason to keep them.  And who would want them?  Especially this time of year?

Actually, now that I have a clear webcam, I might start offering some of these things on Facebook more often.  Some of my students will take anything!  I'll let you know what happens to them.

Day 151 - Webcam (Give)

I turned 43 this week.  As it turned out, not my best birthday ever, but we had some good family time around the dinner table, and really, who could want anything more? 

I took a bit of my birthday money and got myself a better webcam because I was tired of posting dark, blurry pictures on this blog.  It was a splurge, but the rest of the money is going into the Haiti fund.  I figure that some day we might be doing a lot of skyping with friends and family back home and then it might be something that gets quite a bit of practical use.

I thought I'd take my old one and put it in the mail to my old college friend Mark, who lives in California.  I think he hates to talk on the phone as much as I do, but it's a little different when you can video chat.  We rarely talk on the phone and whenever we do, I tell Mark that he needs to get a webcam and he says he'll look into it.  If I send this old one to him, it takes away his excuse.


Can you see the difference in picture quality? 
I used to have to drag out my regular camera to get a picture this clear!



Day 150 - Bunny Teething Rings (Throw) and Standing with My Hand Out

It's been hard getting back in the habit of writing after taking nearly a week off.  The recent illness and busy-ness broke my stride!

But I think there's more than loss of momentum at play here.  I've been a bit down lately.  Ever since my car bit the dust, it seems like one thing after another is sneaking up to sucker punch me in the back of the head.  I never see them coming!

Oh, none of these recent hassles is life threatening and most I can't really discuss here for one reason or another, but they've got me down as they have piled up.

Always in the background, the car situation has served to complicate all the other problems that have come up.  I haven't had time to find a new (to me) vehicle.  So...for a while I was borrowing my brother's truck.

It broke down.  So I returned it to my brother and slinked away.

Most of the time I have been bumming rides to school from a particularly kind co-worker.  She has been more than gracious and willing ... and yet I still feel like a LEECH. 

There's nothing that goes so thoroughly against the American grain quite like carlessness and dependence on others!  In America, hitchhiking is for losers and/or moochers.

I don't like asking for handouts. 

In truth, this issue has been gnawing at me since Melissa and I decided to move to Haiti.  Part of the deal is that we will have to raise our own support - which will mean sending letters and talking to folks - looking for "handouts".  It's one of the reasons we know we can't get on the mission field any earlier than August of 2012:  we anticipate it being a rather lengthy process to gather support.  Especially while continuing to work full-time.

And even though we haven't started fundraising yet, the issue of our own neediness is already a part of our present reality.

A few weeks back, as we made a final push to ready the house for the market and cousin Phillip repaired our garage roof, providing all the labor and all the materials at no cost, I rejoiced, because we really couldn't afford to cover that cost and it HAD TO BE DONEl  But I have to admit that I rejoiced only half-heartedly.  All my instincts screamed, "We've got to PAY him!!"

And when the father of Ida's best friend fixed our van two weeks ago for nothing more than the cost of the parts, I rejoiced ... half-heartedly!  He has expertise far beyond my own and not only did he fix the van, he fixed it QUICKLY.  Which was crucial since it was our only vehicle.   He did the repairs to help us on our path to missionary service.   Again, my gut said, "We've got to pay him!!"

Being dependent on others for rides for a solid two weeks now has brought this struggle out into the open.  I was asked the other day if I was prepared to spend the next few years begging friends and family for handouts.  I didn't have an immediate answer, but it's a legitimate question.  After giving it some thought, I now have a simple answer:  "At this moment... honestly ... no, I'm not ready."

I'm just now starting to wrestle with this aspect of being a missionary, but at first glance, it looks to me like a pride issue:  before I'm ready to "ask for handouts", God is going to have to break my pride. 

But if my pride stands in the way of God having an entire family of believers who are willing to join in His work among "the least of these" in Haiti, then it looks like I better give God permission to break my pride, right?

As I've already hinted, I believe our American culture shapes our values when it comes to cars ... but also to so many other aspects of life.  American culture puts a lot of value on independence and "earning" a living through our own sweat and hard work.  We take PRIDE in those things.  But as I've started to mull these things over (and I've got a long way to go!), I've already generated a couple of pertinent questions:

1)  Right now, I am a public school teacher.  The government, through the force of law, takes money from citizens all over this county and state - who may or may not have children in our school system - and uses that money to pay my salary.  This arrangement is certainly more socially acceptable than me asking friends and families to support me and my family while working in a school in Haiti - where none of their own children attend - but is it more virtuous?

2)  The members of a church voluntarily give weekly or monthly to the church.  That money is pooled and then used to pay the pastor enough to support him or her and, probably, the entire family. The church often even provides a house for the pastor to live in.  Do we view pastors as living on handouts?  Why not?

Well, like I've said, these are issues with which I am just beginning to wrestle.  I'm sure I will bring this up again here in the future as I continue to discern God's voice in this matter.  (Obviously, for instance, I will need to search Scripture to see what God can teach me there.)   I would love to hear some feedback from you, though.  I need your insight here! 

I need to be willing to stand with my hand out ... soon.

I almost forgot:  my Throw for Day 150 was a set of old bunny-shaped teething rings.  You can't really tell they're bunny-shaped from this webcam photo, but they are.  Sadly, there are no babies around this house anymore...

BTW, this is the last blurry webcam photo I will be posting - I got a new webcam for my birthday.  I'll tell you about that tomorrow, God willing!

Day 149 - Moldy Pillows (Throw)

I stopped by the mechanic's place last night and said my final farewells to THAT CAR.  I had to clean out some stuff before I have it towed away somewhere.  I am hoping to get a couple hundred dollars out of it when I do - and maybe when I add that to the tax refund, I'll be able to afford something that will last at least a year or two without any major repair costs.  It makes me nervous to commit - especially since the last time I did not choose wisely.  (What was I thinking when I bought an older model foreign car?  Prices for parts and labor on that thing were outrageous!)

My clean-out included the trunk - where I did not tend to venture too often.  There I found a couple of old throw pillows that had been moved into the car a couple of years ago when the power seats quit moving.  Melissa found it nearly impossible to drive the thing with the driver's seat all the way back, stuck in the position that I prefered for my 6'3" frame.  She'd stuff these pillows (that came as freebies with the sectional we bought for the basement and she never liked anyway) behind her back and still have to stretch to reach the gas and brake.  She tried that a few times and then gave up, refusing to ever drive that car again.

I found the pillows in the trunk all moldy and unusable - the trunk was ONE of the places where the rain water tended to collect - so I decided to Throw them instead of spending the time and energy to clean them up and truck them to Goodwill. 

Like I said - they'd been in the trunk a couple of years.  Rather gross. 

Even Goodwill has standards.

Day 140 Through Day 148

It has been at least a week since I've updated this blog with info about my Throws, Gives and Sells.  I haven't been writing about it, but I have been DOING it.  Nothing too big or exciting here, sad to say.  I was just trying to survive this past week and not much else.  I got run down and sickly just as our final week of play practice got underway.  And there were all sorts of last minute things to be done regarding props and concessions for intermission and t-shirts for the cast, etc.  Dress rehearsal was scary, but the cast and crew pulled off a good show on Friday and Saturday evening. 

Now it's Sunday - the DAY AFTER - and it was a good day.  We slept in a bit.  Attended church.  The temps hit the 80s in the afternoon.  I killed some dandelions.  And I went for a 7 mile run (well, maybe 5.5 miles were actually running!).  It was all very relaxing.  I am looking forward to being at school tomorrow and being able to leave at 3:30!!  I need to go to the mechanic shop and clean out my old Saab so that I can get it towed away soon.  Later in the week is the Drama Queen's 9th birthday!  And my 43rd...

So I will take the opportunity tonight to get caught up here.

Back to Day 140...



Marthon Bag to Give.  I got rid of the medals, so might as well move some of the other souvenirs - to Goodwill.

Day 141:

Book on Japan to Give.  I got this book from my good Japanese friend, Masato Suzuki, who spent a year at Wabash College when I was a Sophomore.  If I had more time, I could tell some great Masato stories!  He was one of a kind.  I have thought about him recently with the earthquake in Japan.  Unfortunately, we lost contact with him years ago.  Anyway, my brother Spencer was also good friends with Masato and Day 141 was his birthday, so I am passing the book on to him.

Day 142:

More marathon souvenirs:  some hats to Give to Goodwill.  I have a lot of hats for a guy who never wears hats.

Day 143:

Halloween candle to Throw.  This one is admittedly pretty lame, but I was in a hurry.  I might have even been tempted to throw it in the garage sale stuff, but it's totally the wrong time of year.

Day 144:

Horseshoe from my Grandpa Henke's farm to Give.  It was my nephew's birthday.  I didn't get to give it to him personally because it was the night of dress rehearsal, so I don't know if he appreciated it or not.  This was from his great grandfather's farm.  And Alex's dad was the one of us who was really, really into the horses.  I remember how devastated Spencer was the time a storm knocked down an old barn, killing several horses that had sought shelter alonside the barn.

Day 145 and 146:

These two are the lamest yet, but they had to go.  I tossed the biscotti for Day 145.  I don't even like biscotti typically, but this was part of a Starbucks Christmas gift basket some time ago and so I figured it was expensive and should eventually be eaten.  When I pulled it out of the kitchen cabinet, I looked at the "best by" date on the wrapper:  March 2009!  The tea was from the same basket, but I didn't figure dead leaves would really ever expire, so I Gave the tea to one of my students who was in the play.  He's been talking about tea a lot lately.  I've mentioned him before:  Nerd Supreme.  Over the course of this school year - and especially having him on stage these last few weeks - I have really grown to appreciate him all the more.  He's hilarious.

Day 147:

Scottish Cap - Give to David.  This student was the one who picked the play we performed:  12 Angry Jurors.  He ended up only having time to take on a bit part - that of the guard, but it was good to have him be a part of the production.  He showed up for the last night in a kilt for some reason and so I ended up giving him this cap that I brought back from my year in Aberdeen, Scotland.  It's real Harris Tweed.  He was very excited to have it.  He wore it the rest of the night - all through the cast party.

Day 148:

While I was out running today, Melissa got the kids together to clean out the van.  She brought in this remote to clean up.  It belongs to the little portable DVD player we got for the kids to watch in the van years ago.  It has been floating around in the van ever since (notice the years of sticky grime!) and we've never used it.  In fact, it ocurred to me that there is absolutely no point to having a remote like this.  When the DVD player is strapped to the back of the seat in front of you, why would you need to point a remote control at it??  So we tossed it.

Woohoo!  I'm caught up!

So Much Going On Right Now ...

This is the longest I've gone without writing something on this blog... and I have to admit that I kinda miss it!  (And it's only been a couple of days!)  It's become a normal part of my routine, even though it doesn't ever fall at a regular time on my schedule.  It helps so much for me to do a bit of writing every day or so. 

(I try to convince my students that writing has value even beyond contributing to academic and career success - it's a great personal exercise for life in general.  My 8th graders didn't buy it.  I gave them 20 minutes to write a "journal" entry of their choosing and at least a third wrote about how useless journal writing is and how boring school is!  Sad...)

Anyway, two things have kept me away from the keyboard recently.  1)  I'm feeling sickly.  Sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, TIREDNESS.  And 2) We are spending extra hours on play practice.  Opening Night for "12 Angry Jurors" is just three days away.  Tomorrow is dress rehearsal, Thursday we are taking some down time because several cast members have other activities going on then, and on FRIDAY the curtain goes up at 7:00 PM sharp. 

So this ends up being a stressful week.  It will all come together in the end, though. It is nice to sit back sometimes and recognize that all I'm sweating are piddly details - all the big stuff, the important stuff, the ETERNAL stuff - is in much more competent Hands than mine...

P.S.  Just because I haven't written, does not mean I have not kept my commitment to Throw, Give or Sell on a daily basis.  I have kept on top of it and even taken pictures ... just haven't written all of them up yet.  I'll get caught up soon.

Day 139 - Fake Poop (Give) April Fool's Day appropriate! and Car Update

Being April Fool's Day, it seemed a good time to give away some fake poop - even though my kids get ahold of this every few months and think it's hilarious all over again.

I just left it on my desk at school and the first kid who asked about it, got it.  It was one of my 7th graders - a genuinely sweet-natured 7th grade boy (a rare find!).  He wanted to use the fake poop to surprise his mom (but he'll find a sweet way to do it, I betcha!).

Car Update:
The car got towed to the mechanic Thursday after play practice.  It was a hectic evening and Melissa was not feeling well.  Actually, that's an understatement:  by the end of the evening, we were debating whether or not to take her to the emergency room.  She decided she didn't want to spend the money, even though she was running a fever, was achy, nearly incoherent at times, and her throat was swelling shut.  We finally got some of the kids' bubble gum flavored liquid Ibuprofen down her throat and some ice water and hot chocolate (she was in the mood for both!) and she bounced back enough to wait until the next morning to see our doctor.  The verdict:  bad sinus infection and strep throat!

The mechanic called the next day.  The verdict on the car:  dead alternator and wheel bearings out.  Price tag: at least $1,000 for parts and labor.  The problem is that this price only gets it moving again.  Before it died, the car was sputtering and struggling and I don't think it had anything to do with the alternator.  So who knows what else needs to get fixed in order to get it running for another year or so?

On the bright side, the father of Ida's best friend from school called and said he read about the car here and wanted to offer his mechanical skills if he could be of help!  We will see what happens...

(Also on the bright side - I remembered today that I had originally scheduled the opening night of our play for this weekend!  That would have sent me over the edge! I'm so glad I bumped it back a week.)

Day 138 - Running Medals (Throw)

I grew up thinking of myself as a non-athlete.  (I was an ARTIST, uninterested in throwing an inflated leather ball repeatedly through a hoop.)  Everyone assumed that because I was tall, I must love/play basketball, but I only ridiculed basketball (because I was no good at it!). 

I was well into my adult years when I started running on a regular basis.  It was the year before I met Melissa.  I ran because I had a hyperactive dog and no fence around my yard.  She needed exercise and she dragged me along with her.  I still didn't think of myself as an athlete.

During the early years of our marriage, my desire and drive to run (now without the dog) came only in periodic spurts, and I could not imagine running more than 3 miles at a time.  Not an athlete.

In 2007, we were living back home in Indiana and my sister-in-law talked me into running the Indy Mini-Marathon with about 6 weeks notice.  Once I committed, Kristine made me run with her on a Saturday morning and it was the first time I broke the 6 mile mark.  I was huffing and puffing (and slowing her down), but I DID IT. 

I was hooked.  The Mini itself was quite an experience.  35,000 people elbow to elbow at the starting line.  Little garage bands performing along the route.  Getting passed by gray-haired men as if I were standing still. Part of route winds around the Indianapolis 500 race track.  That's halfway - and as I ran that section, I could watch the big screens showing reporters interviewing the race winners! It took me over 2 hours and 20 minutes to finish the 13.1 miles, but I did it.  I was officially an athlete!

I ran again the next year and the next.  When I turned 40, I ran a full marathon as part of my mid-life crisis.  (Much more affordable than buying a convertible.) 

At the end of each race, volunteers are there to hang a medal around your neck.  They are all quite big and gaudy and all the racers wear them with pride.

Once at home, my medals went into the closet.  The sense of accomplishment was real enough to me that I didn't feel the need to display the medals where I and others could see them often. 

So why keep them at all?  What am I going to do with them in the future?  With the passage of time, they will only become sad reminders of something I once did ... something I was once able to do. 

Who needs that?  Tonight I threw them in the trash.

All but the first one.  It was actually the smallest and it holds a bit more meaning than just the running.  That year, the race bib came with a free pass to a Saturday morning pancake breakfast and qualifications at the Speedway.  I took Ida and Dats - who were looking super cute in their baseball caps and sunglasses. 

Ida spilled syrup all over the front of his shirt.  And Dats couldn't stand the noise the cars were making as they zipped around the track.  But it was a real father-and-sons day and an overall pleasant memory.  I'm going to hold on to that first medal and put it in my box of memories to keep...

Ida and Dats looking so cute in 2007!