This weekend my parents celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary! Wow!! Four decades together, four children, eight grandchildren (so far), years of ministry and faithful service to the Lord. Many, many lives touched. And God chose to place me in this family. Grace. A gift. A rich Christian heritage. Undeserved. Treasured.

Sarah and Grandad snuggle after dinner.

What better way to celebrate 41 years together than with the purchase of a new computer. Being married to a computer geek myself (albeit a totally cool one) I know without a shadow of a doubt that a computer is the ultimate gift. It speaks care and love and thoughtfulness. It says I want you to have fun (movies, games, blogging, digital camera wizardry). I want you to be connected to friends and family (e-mail, Skype, more blogging). I want you to be able to work efficiently and easily (Excel spreadsheets, Publisher newsletters or brochures, Word documents, blogging – really for me it’s all about the blogging these days). I want you to have room for plenty of pictures and music.

Obviously a computer is the ideal gift for any occasion. So Tim and I were eager to help Dad pick out a new computer for Mom. Isn’t hardware the gift for the 41st year?? Tim did the research and put together a great package, even timing the delivery just perfectly. The only problem is that the UPS guy didn’t drop Tim off as well. As much as I love my computer(s) and can find my way around things proficiently enough, I am NOT a computer geek. That’s pretty much why I married Tim, so I would have a live in computer techie guy.

I won’t embarrass myself by revealing how many times I’ve called Tim in the past two days, trying to work out the details of the new computer and high speed internet. This morning, when I asked him how to put the new computer together (“Where do I start? What do I do??? Why are there so many cables?”) he blithely said, “Let Daniel do it. He’s done it lots of times.”

Um. Daniel is 10. Is this a sign of the times? I help my parents get a new computer but I need my child to help put it together? Look how the generations care for each other. Maybe while he’s at it Daniel can program the DVD player.

Daniel was wandering a bit aimlessly around the house at the time of Mom’s Great Computer Assembly of ’07. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hit David WITH the ping pong ball or play ping pong WITH him. It’s a tough choice and both options offer tremendous entertainment possibilities. He abandoned both at my cry for computer assistance.

The next thing I knew he was opening up boxes, pulling out cables, making space on the bed and lining up everything neatly. He grabbed the basic instructions and started connecting cables before I could say, “Now is there a red and blue wire on computers?”

I guess Tim was right. Maybe I have more than one computer geek living in the house. That might be more than my fair share.

The computer worked beautifully. The high speed internet, however, was another story. When I made the arrangements with Comcast, I didn’t think to request a wireless modem. Tim (leave it to Computer Geek #1) suggested I go with that approach but not until AFTER I had already scheduled an installation date. Of course, the Comcast dude (dude seems to fit) didn’t have that kind of set up in his truck. Right, we wouldn’t want to make things easy. He was very helpful and patient with my dithering (should we reschedule? Should we go with the basic cable and have Tim figure out a wireless solution later? Where is the nearest Starbucks when you need it?). Tim, the rascal, was on a conference call (trying to get some work done of his own between my calls, the nerve) and couldn’t be reached. Mom and I made an executive decision to reschedule.

Wouldn’t you know it, they don’t have any more installation dates available until next week.
Tuesday. So much for having high speed internet this weekend. Yes, I’m blogging on dial-up here. Does that make me quaint or pathetic (please don’t answer that)? Hey, we have a tree house, creek and lots of mud, you can’t have everything.

Well, at least not until Tuesday.

This left me in a bit of a computer installation dilemma. I had a beautiful new computer with a gorgeous monitor, wireless keyboard and monitor ready to go but no internet. Since e-mail is very important to my mom (our family writes nearly every day, maybe more than that), this was not acceptable.

By this time Daniel had abandoned me. His technical services were obviously no longer in demand. I’m pretty sure he went to find David and some ping pong balls. In his absence, I came up with a great solution (I might have a little bit of computer geek in me after all). I decided to hook up the new accessories (monitor, keyboard and mouse) to the old computer. Now Mom can still connect with friends and family and play that occasional game of Solitaire (gotta do something while the dial-up connects and SLOWLY gathers mail), but she’ll do it all in the luxury of her settings.

Whew! Not quite the hero but close.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 166

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A kitten or a baby sister.

Every year on my birthday, as I blew out the candles on my cake, I wished for a kitten or a baby sister. I wasn’t really particular about which one. Didn’t happen. No kitten. No sweet little snuggly kitten to love and hold. No gray and white adorable little kitten to call my very own.

No baby sister either. Instead I got three brothers.

Uncle Phil is here!! Grab the camera and start shooting. How’d my ‘baby’ brother get to be so tall??

God does, however, delight in reaching out and fulfilling our hopes and desires, often in ways different from what we expect. And also in His timing. Next week my baby brother is getting married and giving me a sister. The Lord has blessed me with wonderful sisters-in-law. My husband has one sister. His brother is married to a fantastic woman. My middle brother has an amazing wife. It turns out having brothers can still yield sisters!

This evening I was finally able to meet my newest sister-in-law to be. The kids have been so excited! They love all their aunts (and great aunts!) and were quite upset with Uncle Phil for planning to marry someone they had NEVER met. Really, the nerve.

Don’t they look young to have five children? Such a nice family.

Phil and Almost Aunt Emily joined us for a delicious dinner, dessert, some Stone Soup (the game not part of the meal) and several rounds of Five Crowns. Daniel sat close to Uncle Phil for most of the game time, playing a mean game of bluff in Stone Soup. It was one of those sweet sibling gatherings that are much too rare when family is spread out around the US.

Phil, we love Emily and are so glad to welcome her into the family. Thank you for making sure I get another sister.

Kathy

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Does it get much better than that?

Well, baked French toast for breakfast.
Sleeping in until 10:30 am.
Lunch with an old friend out on the deck.
Gorgeous sunshine.
Ping pong in the basement.

Look at that concentration! How many times can you bounce the ball without stopping, Joshua???

High speed internet on the way.
Beef wrapped around feta, red peppers and spinach for dinner.
Bike rides on country roads.

Rachel’s gorgeous new cut (not too short – fresh and pretty).

Highlights and color for me – some of us ‘blondes’ need a little help.

Baby brother and fiancee coming for supper on Friday.
Another brother and beloved sister in law coming for Father’s Day on Sunday.

Mamie’s fun short haircut. Thanks for treating us to some beautifying today, Mom!!!

A park date with a great friend planned for Tuesday.
Phone call from yet another brother.

Topping it all off…

VBS next week for ALL five kids!!!! And somehow my wonderful, wonderful mother managed to tell the sweet Vacation Bible School coordinators that “no, Kathy just couldn’t help with the program this year.” That means we have mornings all to ourselves with time for shopping or visiting or relaxing or whatever. Pure luxury.

Along side the treehouse is a little creek with some fabulous mud and plenty of itty bitty fish and frogs to keep any kid happy.

Yes, this is certainly the good life.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 165

P.S. To those of you whose blog I read (normally very faithfully) I will not be popping by for comments until that high speed (wireless too I hope) arrives. It took me over an hour to get my e-mail this evening. Yikes!

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Let’s see, traveling with children:

Snacks – check
Books – check
Sugar – check
Presents – check
Blanket – check
Movies – check

That pretty much fills up my bag. I should probably pack something for the kids.

Just kidding. About the sugar. I’m off sugar these days.

The children and I flew to Michigan on Tuesday night. Tim is home (working from home most of the time). We took a red-eye flight which, in my opinion, is great. The kids are excited about going on a trip, which keeps them in a good mood until the plane gets started. At that point the Dramadine (or Benadryl, take your pick of over-the-counter meds) kicks in and they sleep for the rest of the flight. Perfect. It’s a little difficult for any grown up in the bunch (who can’t, in good conscience, take sleep-inducing medicine while flying with five children on an airplane) and who can’t scrunch down across the seat and fall into a deep sleep.

This trip we used up every spare frequent-flier and credit card mile we had (and most of my parent’s as well). One of the tickets was in first class. I chortled with glee when the travel agent told me it was available for the same about of frequent-flier miles. “Oh yeah,” I said to myself, “a red-eye flight in first class. I can definitely handle that.” I booked the ticket and went on to figure out the rest of the flight arrangements. It wasn’t until a couple of days later, when I was bragging about my great deal, that my mom asked me if Tim was flying with us. “No,” I said. “Well,” she answered, pausing, “who is going to get that first-class seat?” “Um, that would be me!” (Doing a little happy dance over the phone.) Another pause and she gently dropped the bomb:

“Who will sit with the children?”

Back to reality in row 33.

Oh NO!!!!! I reserved a first class seat, at no extra expense, and wasn’t going to be able to enjoy it. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Great sadness. Just like I can’t really take some Valium (I mean Benadryl) before the flight, I guess I can’t really sit up in first class while my five children (one being a four year old) sit 31 rows behind me.

When I checked in at the counter, I didn’t pay any attention to the seat assignments. It was enough of a challenge to figure out how many bags we were checking, how many children were flying (okay that one wasn’t too difficult), and not lose any of the carry-on bags (or the children). Luckily we were all wearing matching shirts. Yep, that helps. Or at least it makes for some cute pictures.

It wasn’t until we we said goodbye to Tim, navigated security (with two laptops), found our way to the gate, made several trips to the bathroom, handed out goodies, and bought me a salad that I had a chance to look at the boarding passes. It turns out there were TWO seats in first class!!! I don’t have any idea how THAT happened. Of course, Rachel immediately began to beg, cry and plead for the second seat. Tim (consulted via cell-phone) suggested I have Rachel and Daniel take the first class spots and then I could switch with one of them half way through the flight. Daniel was oblivious to the whole thing and didn’t seem to recognize the elite status and glory awarded to the first-class traveler, so I wasn’t sure what to do.

We boarded early as befit our new-found prestige and status. I can’t imagine how many frequent-flier miles you would need to fly a whole family in first class. The person checking tickets laughed and laughed at my dilemma (big help, thanks) and advised me to take Sarah up front with me and leave the rest in the back. Now that’s an idea I hadn’t considered. Hmmmm. Ultimately, I realized Sarah wouldn’t remember this trip, but Rachel and Joshua will, and what a fun opportunity to say, “I flew first class when I was 11.”

The trip went well. I didn’t get any pictures of Joshua and Rachel schmooozing it up in first class, no doubt exchanging business cards and investment tips with the other travelers and helping themselves to drinks (on the house). My plan to low-crawl up the aisle and switch with one of them half way through the flight was never realized. Thirty-one rows is a long distance and the flight attendant didn’t seem to thrilled with the idea:

“We prefer our passengers choose a cabin and stay there throughout the flight.” Small plastic smile.

“Really,” I thought to myself. “Well, then I’d like to choose first class from now on and stay there!”

No doubt my face reflected a little of my thoughts on the subject as she quickly said, “But we do our best to accommodate the situation. Don’t you trust them up here?”

“Hello? No, I just want to sleep in first class rather than back with the other peasants,” I said.

Sarah woke up in the middle of the flight and needed to use the bathroom. She was awake the rest of the time, whispering to me every time I started to doze off.

I guess I was destined for row 33.

Thankfully we are now safe and sound in Michigan and beginning a wonderful visit with my parents.

Blogging from MI
Kathy

Project 365 – Day 164

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