My Life With Cicadas

I am completely and totally freaked out by all these cicadas. At first, it wasn’t too bad. You’d hear the sound, see a few exoskeletons lying around, and that was it. But in the past week or so, they’ve gone bonkers. Their activity has escalated to the level of Psycho Cicadas. They are everywhere. I spend more time indoors than I should. I rush from the house to the car, and car to the house (or store or wherever) trying to avoid confrontation. My modus operandi: keep my head down and avoid eye contact.

I wondered why I was so worked up about this – I’ve seen a lot of people just living their lives as if nothing unusual was happening all around them every single second of every single day. So I did a little history of My Life and the Cicada Cycle. Every 17 years, right?

2016 – The current year. Year of the Crazed Cicada.
1999 – I was living in east Tennessee.  No cicadas there.
1982 – I was living in south Florida. No cicadas there, either, though it must be noted that there were plenty of Palmetto Bugs. For the uninitiated, palmetto bugs are … well … think of a very large roach. That flies. However, these critters just go around minding their own business, unlike cicadas, whose purpose in life is to fly in a drunken stupor, bumping into my windshield and everything else that crosses their path. And some things that don’t cross their path.

1965 – I was living just outside of Philadelphia. No cicadas.

So there you have it. The reason I carry 26 grocery bags from the car to the house all at once is because THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE THAT I HAVE SEEN THESE THINGS! And I don’t want them to carry me away to the Cicada Land of Doom and Creepiness. Or even touch me.

The next time around, I’ll be 78. With the advances that are made in science and technology every day, my hope is that by then there will be spray-on cicada repellent, or even a phone app that keeps them far away. Or maybe I’ll be wiser and more mature and won’t care.

Naaahhhh. 

How did I get back here again?

If you scroll through and look at the dates of my posts, you'll notice that I'm not what you'd call a consistent blogger. I'm pretty sure there are two reasons for this. The obvious one is being busy. The one I don't want to think about is the fact that, more often than not, I forget that I even have this blog. But that's because I'm so busy, right? (Just nod your head and move on.)

So what am I doing back here again?

In a little over a month from now, Don & I will be attending our denomination's General Assembly, which is a yearly gathering of pastors and elders from churches across the country. There are meetings that the guys attend, to deal with the business of the PCA (our denomination). There are also seminars for everyone, women's activites and meetings, even activities for the kids of those who bring their family. Also, when you've been in the ministry for over 30 years, and you've lived in many places, you accumulate a lot of friends and acquaintances within the church. At General Assembly (aka GA) you have the opportunity to catch up with people face-to-face, either in a brief encounter in the assembly venue, or over coffee, or sitting down for a meal together. Amazing stuff.

So, what's this got to do with a new blog post, I hear you ask. (Okay, I can't actually hear you ...)
Well. I got to thinking that it would be fun for me, and possibly interesting for you, to blog about each day while I'm at GA this year. Then I started thinking that in order to do that, I need to set up a blog somewhere. Then I remembered that I already have one (see first paragraph :P ).

So that's how I got back here again.

And I hope you'll get back here again, too, because maybe this blogging about GA idea will inspire me to blog, once again, about regular life, and about how God is working in my life.

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P.S. When I started this blog, my nest was emptyING, hence the title. Now my nest is empty, but rather than change the title, I'd like to keep the title, but just cross out the I-N-G. So if anyone knows how to do that, please send me directions. :o)

A change of caffeine

So I guess I drink coffee now. I was always a tea drinker, but about 8-10 years ago, someone gave me a gift card to Starbucks. I thought it was odd, seeing that I don’t drink coffee, but I went, figuring I’d get a pastry and some hot chocolate. That particular day, at the Starbucks on Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga, they were giving out tiny samples of Cinnamon Dolce Latte. I love cinnamon, and it smelled really good, so I decided to try it. I immediately became a fan of the stuff, but got it infrequently, and still only considered a latte to be “sissy coffee”. 
Fast forward to September 2014 when  I decided to give up Diet Coke and start drinking water instead. It’s been great, and I never looked back. However, while we were making a trip right after Christmas to visit our three kids (over 2200 miles of driving), I started thinking about the caffeine of it all. But I wasn’t willing to go back to the mass quantities of Diet Coke.
While we were at David & Jen’s, I started experimenting with NOT making a latte. No milk, just a bunch of flavored creamer. Finding it pretty good, I kept adding less and less creamer.
So here I am at home, now making coffee, with just a little Amaretto creamer in it. It’s really good.
I still drink tea (with nothing in it), and especially love the “tea time” that Don & I have when we talk about the upcoming day, or week, or life in general. He declared some time ago that he intends to start drinking coffee when he is 70. I have no idea why he has made this statement. But since that is almost a dozen years away, I’ll still enjoy our tea together.  But on those crazy road trips, or after I come home from school, or when I just plain feel like it? It’s coffee. 

The One-Tooth-Less-In-My-Mouth Blues

So getting a tooth pulled this week wasn't the horrific experience I'd imagined. I've been off from school since then, trying not to use the heavy-duty pain meds they gave me. I used them the first day after, but not yesterday, but now I find I need to again (they told me this would happen.)

It's kind of weird because I haven't really been doing much. I'm always thinking, "Oh, if I only had *insert number here* days off, then I could *insert activity here*. But it hasn't happened this time. Because until today, I haven't felt like doing much of anything (unusual for me!) Even if I'm not doing chores or whatever, I always feel like I have to be doing SOMETHING.

Rest is a funny thing. We all know that we need it, but if you're anything like me, we fight it like crazy. I don't NEED to take it easy for a while. I don't NEED more than 7.5 hours of sleep per night, and I'm perfectly fine with at least 6, thank you.

My dear husband always explains to me that we have what he calls a "sleep bank" and if I keep making withdrawals from it without making deposits, I'm gonna be broke.

I'm sure he and God have been having a good laugh together as they've watched me sleep 9 hours the first two nights, and TEN last night. Yep. I don't need rest. Much.

Again, my tendency to want to do my own thing apart from God is exposed. Like the gaping hole in my mouth, where my tooth used to be. God gives us rest and times of inactivity not to fill them with something, but to draw our thoughts and hearts closer to Him.

Not time wasted, and so much gained.

Art Journal time

I've always been fascinated by the idea of an art journal. My friend Rosanne has been creating nature journals for years, and it is something that has intrigued me.

So ... I've decided to give it a go. I joined a Facebook group called Journal52 that gives you a art/writing prompt each week. I used a $25 Amazon gift card that I got for Christmas to order supplies.

Some people do mostly art in their journal, with very little words. Some do mostly writing with a few illustrations. I want mine to be a random combination of many things: artwork, thoughts, Bible verses ... whatever I happen to be thinking or feeling whenever I make an entry. And, of course, the prompts, which I will try to incorporate as much as possible.

My first thing will be to create a cover for my journal, because it will be a spiral-bound art book with paper suitable for mixed media (pencil, paint, collage, etc.) So I need to cover the cover! Then I have two pages in mind - one being from the first Journal52 prompt ("Up, up and away") and the other being from Don's sermon this past Sunday that God used to speak to me in many ways about many things.

So, for now, I'm watching for an Amazon box on my porch ... better get my chores done before it arrives!

No Way Has It Been 18 Months Since My Last Post.

But then, so much has happened.

Honestly, I can't remember the last half of 2012 without referencing it in my planner, but 2013 was jam-packed with stuff:

-Joel's graduation from the state police academy
-Joel starting his new job and moving
-A 5-week long music subbing gig
-The birth of Jack & Ben
-Spending most of a week in MD to help a little
-Leah's graduation from college
-Summer trips to Bluffton, Greenville SC, David & Jen's, and who knows where else. It feels like we were never home during the summer of 2013. Our pool never got opened ... being away + lots of rain while we WERE home = pool stays closed
-Constantly looking for job openings and sending out applications. I think I sent out about 25 this summer, which netted me two interviews
-Leah's engagement
-Getting Leah home from her summer job in Bluffton and moved to PULSE in about a 48-72 hour period.
-The next day, starting what turned into an 8.5-week subbing job, which kept me incredibly busy
-Going to OCNJ after I didn't get the job
-Back to subbing
-Thanksgiving at our house
-Christmas two days after, then more travel.
I think there was more in there, but, again, I'd have to look it up. If I forgot something that had to do with any of you, I'm sorry.

So, anyway, as I look at 2014 approaching, I know that God is in whatever comes our way. I am re-learning the lesson that what I think should happen and what I ask God for isn't always best, and isn't always His will.

After the whirlwind that was 2014, I'm ready to slow down and draw closer to Him. But whatever He brings my way, even if it's another whirlwind, I can trust Him, look to Him, love Him.

The ABCs (more accurately, ADDs) of decluttering

I have no ABCs - I just wanted to write about being ADD and thought that was a clever title.

So I guess I'm not really ADD ... just focus-challenged. My dad used to call me a "jack-of-all-trades, master of none". I just figured it was because I have so many interests - kind of a Renaissance Woman. Yeah. That's it.

But back to decluttering. I mean well - I really do. See, the problem is that usually I do this whenever we move. For a while there we were moving fairly frequently: 1993, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2005. And now we've been in this house for 7 years. Seven years worth of junk. Some stuff that belongs to people who don't live here any more or who don't live here very often. But mostly stuff because I haven't had time to sort through it lately.

I'm NOT a hoarder. That title would belong to my dear husband. Because my theory is that in every marriage, there is one who likes to keep and one who likes to throw/give away. The latter would be me.

So what's the problem? Part of it is time, and with having been in this house so long, it has become overwhelming to deal with. However, the bigger part is being focus-challenged.

I go into the family room and decide I really need to deal with paperwork - sort, file, shred, organize. So I start doing that. Then I have to put something away in the bedroom and I get distracted by things that need to be done there. On my way, I go to throw something away in the kitchen. But I need to empty it and put a new bag in first. I finally put the thing away in the bedroom. While I'm there, I grab the laundry basket and go to the basement to put some things in the washing machine. Oh - the basement - while I'm here, I'll grab those boxes of books to take to Half Price Books and put them in the van. Done. I grab a piano book from the van and put it back in its place in the family room. Oh yeah - the family room. What was I doing in here?

And so it goes. I accomplish quite a bit, but it never looks like I've accomplished anything because it's a little here and a little there. In fact, in some ways it looks worse because I have things "torn up" in several places.

I need to focus on one spot at a time. Hm. I wonder if I'm capable of doing that? I'm a great list-maker. Awesome list-maker. Not so great or awesome at working my way through the list.

Oh well. My porch is pretty and I can just go sit there and think about it. 
But first I'll unload the dishwasher.