COUNTRY MOUSE, CITY BOUND

On Monday, this backwoods girl is heading to the Windy City for five days. Going down with Cindy to stay with daughter, Mindy. She will take us on a tour of the neonatal intensive care unit at Rush where she works. I will see, firsthand, the precious babies we're knitting hats for. I know it will be an overwhelming experience. Also, I will be spending a day and night with my friend, Karen, who is taking me to Second City, the comedy club downtown Chicago, and on a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park. We'll find time to go to the Art Institute, do some big city shopping, and eat at a couple authentic Italian restaurants, as well.

I have much to do in preparation to go. I have never left my family for more than a weekend. It should be interesting how things go around here that week! Along with my travel preparations I also have the usual, and unusual, demands on my time in the next few days: school, kids' art class, grocery shopping, pay bills, laundry, work at Klondike Days, work at a house I clean (besides mine). To quote Calvin & Hobbes, "The days are just packed!"

Blogging probably won't be on my to-do list until after I return from Chicago, and I'll have much to write about then. So, to quote another beloved character, "T.T.F.N.!"

WYLER AUSTIN, THOUGHT WE'D LOST 'IM

Today is our youngest child's 11th birthday. Wyler Austin, aka Wylie. The unplanned, unexpected surprise fourth child, arriving 13 months after his sister. Discovering I was pregnant with him blew me away. I had a tiny infant, was exhausted, and had not yet recovered psychologically from her birth. I didn't tell Mark the news for two weeks. He flipped.
Looking back on that time, I don't know what our life would be without this little goof-ball God bestowed on us. From the moment he arrived in our world, with his huge eyes wide open, he has cracked us up. The Lord must have known we would be needing some comic relief through the years.

Wylie has also given us more heart-stopping moments than the other three put together: eating a glass Christmas ornament (helpfully thrown into his playpen by his sister), tumbling all the way down the basement stairs (after the baby gate was helpfully opened by the same sister), choking on a little square of film from a View Finder reel (sis wasn't involved in that one), swallowing his brother's off-limits Legos, nearly drowning in Lake Superior, and (worst of all by far) wandering off at the age of three at a crowded State Park. The first few years were a real rollercoaster! And now you get the title of this blog.

I offer a prayer of heartfelt gratitude for this son of laughter, our "Isaac", for God's protection of him, and ask for wisdom as we guide him on the path to becoming a godly young man. Happy Birthday "Wyler, Wyler, manure piler"...that's another story.

I'M A KNIT-WIT

I have just spent over an hour on-line looking at patterns for knitting and felting tote bags. It's astounding what's out there! There are tons of knitting websites, blogs completely devoted to knitting, yarn shops, and chat rooms filled with knitters chatting about their knitting.

I, myself, have five knitting projects in process (besides continuously cranking out newborn hats for the NICU at Rush Medical): felted clogs, two dish cloths, a sweater, and a pair of socks. And here I am looking for another project! I admit it; I'm a knit-wit. But at least I'm not a misfit --
there are too many of us out there! We are a force to be reckoned with!

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Today was one of those days that kind of rubbed my face in the fact that I am getting older...

Started off top of the morning with my yearly mamogram, picked up my new bifocals at the eyewear center, ran into a high school chum and her granddaughter at the grocery store, and found out my younger sister's former husband suffered a massive heart attack (thankfully, he survived). Finished out the day with our usual Thursday night card game with two other couples, where every hand someone's asking, "What was trump?" or "What was led?" or "Whose deal is it?" You know it's getting pretty bad when your husband is cupping his hand behind his ear to help him hear what someone is saying.

RESTING ON MY LAURELS

Here I have been contentedly resting on my laurels in the blogging department, but that has caused certain parties a minor amount of discontent. If I am to be completely honest, I'd have to admit I've just been too lazy to write. Sorry 'bout that!

I got to thinking about the idiom "resting on my laurels". This means we're satisfied with what we've done and we don't try to improve or make things better. Well, that notion clashed with my desire for contentment. There is always room for improvement in my character and output. But I can be very content resting on Jesus' laurels. He has done it all and there is no room for improvement!