Queen of his Double Wide Trailer

   Marlin bought me a camera a couple of years ago. A shoot and point that i thought would fix my lack of picture taking woes. Didn't work. So now i snap pics on my iPhone but haven't figured out how to upload on computer so......still no pictures. And Marlin and my computer savvy son Eric are so busy working that i never remember to ask them because i want to sit and talk with them when they are home, and possibly chase Marlin around the house if i have a spare moment or two. Because chasing him is what i do best. And by the way, i LOVE having a 16 yr old son. Sometimes we get into heart to heart talks and i marvel at this young man who thinks and feels so deeply. And then i go find his daddy, tell him what an amazing man he is, and chase him around the house a few times or two.

      The last number of weeks have been down right hair raising in an American kind of way. We did a bit of painting in our new house (can you call a double wide a house?) and i do believe we will move in this coming Monday. It's been great seeing our boys take such an active part in the little bit of remodeling that we did. Of course i changed my mind on the kitchen paint after it was finished but even our strong marriage wouldn't withstand the thought of repainting it. Maybe i can show pictures after we move altho i wouldn't count on it if i was you.


  Last wknd we were at a cabin with 3 other returned missionary families plus several singles that we had served with in Kenya. Ahh, what an amazing time we had. I soaked up the fellowship and laughed myself silly with these people that became so special to us, and came to a startling realization. Those two years in Kenya were brutal ones in so many ways. I think God did a lot of pride stripping and humbling in my life and quite frankly, i wanted to curl up in a corner and never leave my comfort zone again. Until this weekend when God did a work in my heart and i surrendered all over again. I sat out on the back porch by myself on sunday afternoon, and told Jesus that when i gave Him my heart almost 15 years ago i gave Him ALL of it so if He ever calls us back to Africa or any other corner of the earth, I'm all His and i'm willing to go. But for now, (and maybe for like 50 yrs) i'm settling into our new life and will revel in being the queen of Marlin's double wide trailer.

   I didn't put this on the blog because i was going to post pictures of our date night but the pictures never happened. Shock, shock i know BUT, we celebrated our 20th anniversary in April. 20 years people!!! And i'm not just saying this because it's the politically correct, christian thing to say but seriously, it just gets better. We actually PITY newlyweds, the poor wee sucklings. So many things to learn, not the least of which is too personal to talk about on a public blog. I mean, i'm so much better at chasing Marlin than i was 20 years ago and he's doing a much better job at being caught. And those of you that know Marlin well will agree that he seems to enjoy, nay, even revel, in being chased.

  Onto other things. Hmm, let me see. Do i have a garden? Sort of. 35 tomato plants and several lima bean plants. The men ordered and planted the tomato plants and that explains the inordinate amount of tomatoes that will most likely be showing up at my front door step, Lord and tomato bugs willing.

  Um, do i sew my own clothing? Some. Except that i've seriously fallen off the healthy eating wagon and have been stuffing my middle aged face with sourdough donuts, pizza, and brownies. Ooey, gooey brownies and ice cream. So now that i've been enjoying the forbidden fruits, i may need to sew some new clothing because i'm feeling bloated and looking it. I'm thinking i need to start an exercise program for my self esteem. Marlin tells me that chasing him is an excellent way to get my calories worked off but i think he's just being kind.

  Let me see.....our local cat had kittens and our little boys adored them and then we left for the wknd and when we came back they were gone. All gone and no trace left. Which is rather sad cause i wanted to take a couple of them to terrorize any mice at our new house. They were also kind of cute in an emaciated, scraggly kind of way.

  Are we finished with school? Sort of. It IS July so it would be cruel and unusual punishment to force them to sit and do algebra or anything that remotely smacks of school. Even more so for their mother.

  I think i will close this small blog post and maybe next time i will post a few pictures. Or maybe not. Either way, it will most likely be awhile because we won't have internet for a while where we're moving too. I feel rather depressed at the thought. But lo, i just had a cheerful thought. I can always chase my man while being the queen of his life AND of his double wide.