Saturday worship and Sunday morning coffee.

We're smack in the middle of another cold snap here in Western Michigan.

Or ... colder snap. Because, ya' know, it IS the end of January. It's winter. But temperatures will be in the single digits the next couple of days with more snow piling on top of the more than a foot (and several feet where it's drifted) we already have.

A handful of churches in the area cancelled services today because the road commissions just haven't had time to clear everything, and once the snow is pushed back it reveals a layer of ice underneath. Treacherous.

I was bummed. For as much as I wasn't looking forward to going out in the weather, I really need to be "fed" among my church family. I can study the Gospel on my own any time, but it's not the same as hearing it surrounded by my people, who encourage me to live it out every day.

Alas, there is plenty to keep me busy here at home. Yesterday I was the one doing the feeding of my peeps, and it was my own style of worship. I cooked and baked - and prayed - all day. With Steve having been off work for a couple of months we are stretched pretty thin on the financial front, yet we have so much for which to be thankful.

We are well fed. We have a roof over our heads and a warm home. We are together as a family, healthy and able-bodied. We are surrounded by people who love us and provide a support system others only dream about. And so much more.

We've been confined to the house a lot lately with sub-zero wind chills and nothing extra in the budget for outside entertainment. It gives this over-thinker too much time to over-think. Lots of opportunity for the depression and anxiety I fight every day to weasel their way in. So I fight harder. Some days I give in to the urge to sleep all day. Some days I all but ignore my family and escape into someone else's world via books or the Internet. Or TV. And I don't even like TV that much, but I've come to feel a certain bond with the cast members of The Big Bang Theory.

It's bad, y'all.

But not today. Today we have fresh pumpkin bread to snack on and I hear productive activities all over the house calling my name. My morning coffee is kicking in and I know I better wrangle that energy into something good or before long I'll think the snowbanks are closing in on me.

Have a blessed day.

The only thing we can really count on ... is change.

Forget death and taxes. "Change" is forever the word of the day for the Pipe Lifers. What's that they say? "A rolling stone gathers no moss?" I suppose back in the day being a "rolling stone" was not such a great thing. Always moving around, never sticking in one place or with one task for very long doesn't give a person (or family) time to grow roots ... hence, not much stability.

But I look at it differently. My life never lacks excitement; I'm always on my toes. There's no risk of monotony here (with the exception of the weather, but that's par for the course during Michigan winters). And I wouldn't know how to live any other way. Except that my life is all about being adaptable, so if I ever had a stretch of all-the-same-all-the-time I'd figure that out, too.

Here's the thing, though: I'm a girl who loves a plan. I have a need to know what's ahead. Good, bad or ugly, just let me know so I can be prepared ... that's what I'm always telling Steve. I am forever running through scenarios and what-ifs in my mind, and that's not always a bad thing. It's not worry, per se (though I've done my share of that, too), just a need to be one step ahead. No surprises. Even if we're taking the road less traveled, please just give me some notice so I can pack a bag, ya' know?

And so it is, and has been with us lately.

Not more than a week ago Steve was telling me he'd be working in Colorado longer than expected. I was making plans to fly out there with the kids for spring break at the end of March. I was also slightly cranky that our income taxes were still sitting on the accountant's desk, not done yet. I was counting on that refund to buy some plane tickets.

Well. God has His own timing, doesn't He? Steve may be leaving Colorado in the next couple weeks, taking a short-term job closer to home to get us by until the next big project - the one we've been waiting on - starts around the first of May.

And that would be a good thing, because having Steve within a day's drive from home would make it much easier for us to visit. I haven't seen my sweetheart since December 30th and that's just too long.

I'm sure glad I didn't have a chance to buy those plane tickets to CO. Hmph.

Of course nothing is ever "official" until it actually happens, so I try not to get too excited. The key for me is staying busy here at home, and I've certainly been doing that lately. Aside from the usual shuttling kids around and keeping the household running smoothly, there's always plenty of organizing and decluttering to do, and I've gotten some painting done in the kitchen and the hall bath. This week Sam and I tore up the nasty old carpet in the living room. I don't have anything to replace it with yet, but I'm not scared to walk around on sub-floors for a while. (Helloooo, summer project.) My allergy-prone body is already thanking me for getting that carpet out of here. Steve's not gonna' recognize the place by the time he gets home again.

And the dogs, of course, keep me busy while the kids are at school during the day. I'm looking forward to warmer weather when I can enjoy being outside with them as much as they enjoy being out there.

That's about all I've got as far as updates on us. Not a whole lot of news ... and that's not all bad.

It's a hot cocoa and gift wrapping kind of day.

Baby, it's cold outside.

(Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Worse, it's cold and wet. We have this yucky rain/snow mix going on right now, combined with high winds. So there's heavy, wet snow piling up on everything (like power lines and roads) and making a big, sloppy mess.

I was a little surprised the kids had school today considering the forecast is for this stuff to escalate and continue through the rest of today and tomorrow. Lemme tell ya', it was a harrowing ride to school this morning and I am not looking forward to going back out to get the little rascals this afternoon. But I'm confident we'll be fine, and maybe they will get to start their Christmas break early if school is called off tomorrow.

Good news! Sam's leg healed beautifully and he got his cast taken off Monday. Praise Jesus. There was no dancing a jig or anything like that, though. He's still using one crutch to help him get around because his leg is a bit weak from not being used. The doctor said he needs to be able to walk for 45 minutes without stopping and with no pain before he starts running and jumping (or snowboarding). I'm glad he can work on recovering during Christmas break.

Sucky news! While we were in The Big City for Sam's appointment my truck broke down. Fortunately it was after the appointment, but that just meant we sat in the parking lot at a Steak-N-Shake waiting for a wrecker. Long story short: it was the alternator (which just the day before I had talked to my father-in-law about replacing) and we were able to have it fixed at Pep Boys. We were home by 8:30-ish, so not too bad. Except that I was then a little lighter in the wallet. A week before Christmas. Boo.

But good news! My shopping was almost done anyway. And I finished it yesterday! So I'm doing a little wrapping today. I'm one of those people who actually likes this part.

I'm getting excited. Steve will leave Colorado on Saturday to be home Sunday night. Hopefully the storm calms down by then and he doesn't run into any trouble on his drive. I'm looking forward to having him here and just hanging out as a family. Often Steve is off work this time of year because jobs get shut down for winter. This is the first time I remember him being so far away so close to Christmas, and it'll be four weeks since I've seen him. So yeah, I'll be happy to have him home. We have nothing on our social calendar, and that's fine with me.

Snowpocalypse!

Some heavy, wet snow had begun to fall when I went to bed last night, and we woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. Go figure. It's the 3rd of March.

When Sam looked outside he said, "Mom, it looks like Narnia!"

Standing under a tree, looking up ...

It's beautiful out there. And I feel very fortunate that we have just a little snow to deal with while other parts of the country are digging out from under the rubble after tornadoes hit yesterday and last night. I was so glad to hear from a friend in Henryville, IN this morning; she and her family are safe, but her father's downtown Henryville shop where he worked on his race care is demolished. I got a little teary-eyed flipping through some of the photos and news coverage of the aftermath. So much destruction ... and so devastating. My prayers are with the folks touched by these storms.

Be careful out there, y'all.

A cautionary tale: WEAR YOUR FREAKIN' HELMET.

It is after midnight as I begin to write and here I sit in the dim light in our living room half numb, half high on adrenaline, part of me wanting to crawl out of my skin and scream at the top of my lungs, another part wanting to crawl under the covers on my bed and sleep for a week. Maybe it was all a bad dream.

But it wasn't a dream. No, rather it was that nightmare of a phone call every parent dreads receiving: "The ambulance is on its way. We need your permission to send your child to the hospital for treatment."

It was Wednesday. Wednesday is Ski Club day. Sam wouldn't be home until late, so Rachel and I took the opportunity to have a little date night. We went for pizza - her choice - and then we needed to do a little shopping for a few things to finish a school project. As I parked the truck at our final stop I saw my cell phone glowing in my purse.

Who's calling? Nobody ever calls me.

As I grabbed the phone to answer, the screen went dark. Missed it. I checked my missed calls - there were four of them. Steve, my brother, a number I didn't recognize, and then Steve again. Oh hell. My brother rarely calls me. I thought something happened to Steve. He's in Pennsylvania. How the heck could I get to Pennsylvania fast enough?

I dialed Steve's number. "I just got off the phone with Ski Patrol," he said.

My heart stopped.

In my head: Oh God. Please tell me Sam was wearing his helmet.

I don't know what I actually said. It's all a blur now. I do know I had Steve on speaker phone, and as he told me Sam had fallen and hit his head and been knocked unconscious I heard Rachel gasp and then start to cry in the seat next to me. They were waiting for EMS, he told me, and I needed to call Ms. B, the ski club advisor, so someone could tell me where to go.

By the time I got off the phone with Steve I had a voicemail from Ms. B. I spoke with her, then she handed the phone to Sam and I tried my best to console him. He was scared and didn't know what had happened. It felt like someone was ripping my heart right out of my chest - my firstborn hurt, confused and crying on the other end of the line, my baby sitting next to me crying, worried about her big brother.

I spoke with the gentleman from ski patrol. Sam was ok at that moment, he said, but the ambulance should be there any minute and they might want to take him to the hospital as a precaution. I asked him to call me as soon as they knew more, gave my consent to follow whatever procedure the EMT's felt necessary, and I would drive to get Sam wherever I needed to. I hightailed it home to drop Rachel off with my in-laws and wait for the call.

By the time I got home, Ms. B had called to tell me Sam was being loaded into the ambulance and he would be taken to a nearby hospital. She said he could tell the EMT's where he lived, but he didn't remember talking to me just 20 minutes prior. This concerned them.

The hospital he was headed to is about a 1.5-hour drive from our house.

Longest. Drive. Ever.

I asked my future-sister-in-law Sue to ride along with me. Did I mention it was a long drive? With only the knowledge that my kid had been strapped to a backboard and rushed off in an ambulance. Because he fell and hit his head - sans helmet - hard enough to knock himself out.

He was not. wearing. his helmet.

Crap.

Sue and I got checked in, got directions to Sam's room, and I walked in to find him sitting up in the bed watching NCIS on television. He smiled at me. I kissed him. I touched his head. I stared at him. He giggled. "What?" And he kept giggling, that "I'm a little uncomfortable with all of this and I don't really know what's going on" giggle. If I hadn't been so relieved I probably would have smacked him. There he sat looking like nothing ever happened, save for some dark circles under his eyes, and there I was, heart and mind having gone through the wringer a thousand times on the way there.

He has a concussion. A CT scan came back normal, so he was discharged. Praise God in Heaven. It could have been so much worse.

So tonight I keep vigil, checking on him often. He is released to return to school in the morning if he is up to it. I fear he has a long road ahead as the doctor said the resulting short-term memory loss could last for 4-6 weeks. He must have asked me a dozen times on the way home if I had gotten his bags (I did), and if he would be able to go skiing next week (not likely).

While I drove home, Sam texted back and forth with one of the kids who was skiing with him. He asked his buddy to help him piece things together - how he fell, what he hit, how long he was out. He couldn't (and still can't) remember any of it. The ER nurse said he might never remember. Everything from the time he got on the bus to go skiing until the time he was loaded in the ambulance is gone - *poof* - from his memory.

He read the texts to us. I was immediately sorry he had. It was all I could do not to pull over, jump from the truck and vomit on the roadside. I just kept repeating in my head ... thank you Jesus ... thank you Jesus ... thank you for letting us keep him ... thank you for the friends who were with him ... thank you ... thank you.

And, maybe a little selfishly, I am thankful he doesn't remember the trauma.

I'm sure Sam will want to go to school if he's not too sore; he wants to see his buddies and hear everyone's version of what happened. I plan to go with him to explain to his teachers the whole memory-loss thing.

Hopefully while I'm there I'll have a chance to hug a few kids and tell them "thank you" for getting Sam the help he needed. They may never understand how grateful I am.

Snow and rain and ice, oh my!

OK, that sounds kinda' dumb, but that's about what's going on today. The kids are home from school because it rained all night, hence there is a layer of ice on top of all the snow. Where there is not ice there is heavy slush. Bleh.

So we all got to sleep in, which was great. Because remember my dog Ladybug? Who freaks the heck out when the weather changes? Yeah. She was pawing at her crate and yelping at me at 2:20 this morning. So I got up and took her out in the rain so she could do her business ... and then stare at the rain. You would think a dog would want to curl up in her little den and pretend the world outside can't get her. But no, she wants to be out in it so she can see what's coming. I guess. It's like having a newborn with that middle-of-the-night business. And remember how sleep is one of my favorite pastimes? Yeah. Homegirl does not appreciate the 2 a.m. wake up call.

Alas, I still planned to get all kinds of stuff done around the house today. And then school was called off and I thought, "Great! I'll have extra hands to help me!"

Right. Let me describe the scene to you now.

Everyone is still in their pajamas. Elder child is on the couch munching on granola and watching Top Gear on BBC America. Younger child just stuck a giant star tattoo on the top of one foot and is now "dusting" a kitchen chair with a damp washcloth. Every few minutes she says, "Who else could I sell cookies to?" (She's a Girl Scout and taking orders for cookies, if any local readers are interested.) I keep telling the boy to turn the television down and thanking God I don't have to get out of my sweatpants today.

It's a rousing time here with the Pipe Lifers. Time to shake things up and get to work!

Have a great day.

I might just cry.

If we do indeed get the weather we are "supposed" to get over the next couple of days, I might seriously curl up in a ball and cry.

I know it's still early. Sure, spring has technically arrived, at least according to the calendar, but it's late March in Michigan for heaven's sake. I know the possibility for some yucky weather is still in the cards, but dammit! A possible foot of snow? Are you freaking kidding me?!?

Admittedly, I am one of those people who gets cranky when folks complain about the weather. I mean, it is Michigan. The weather can and does change quickly around here. We live here. We know that. But I've been so spoiled by the recent sunshine and warm temperatures, and I have so been looking forward to getting outside and being more active and getting the yard cleaned up. I don't want any more snow!!! And I'm going to pout if we get a foot of it.

Here's hoping the predictions are way off.

Pretty quiet on the homefront.

Our little Advent wreath on the dining room table is one of very few signs of Christmas around here. Life has been busy but no busier than usual, Rachel and I have been sick, and frankly I've been just too flippin' tired to do much more than the absolute basics.

I keep waiting for that burst of energy that comes after you've been under the weather for a few days, but I'm afraid the illness hasn't quite run its course yet. I sure hope it passes soon because the house is a mess and I want to do some cleaning up and making things nice and cozy.

It's looking like our plans to go to Texas over Christmas break won't be happening this year. Steve's work schedule just won't allow enough time to make the trip. We're all a little bummed, but the eternal optimist in me says we'll have a good opportunity to build up our reserves while Steve is working an insane amount of hours. Make hay while the sun shines and all that ... because we know how quickly things can turn around.

We've been getting lots of snow this week. Being near - but not too near - the Lake Michigan shore provides some interesting mixtures of weather. My friends right on the shore have just a few inches of snow while we, about 30 miles east, have about a foot of the fluffy white stuff. Sam and Rachel are going to make a killing getting paid for shoveling our deck if this keeps up.

Christmas countdown: 17 days!

Christmas is coming.

There's no denying it. Christmas will be here in 24 days.

The trouble is, I'm not sure where the Pipe Lifers will be in 24 days. We are considering taking a vacation to see Steve's extended family in South Texas while the kids are on break from school, but the only way we can do that is if Steve has a good chunk of time off work. He may not know whether he'll have any time off until the last minute (that's what happened at Thanksgiving - time off, then no time off, then yay! a long weekend after all).

I'm not concerned about whether we take the trip. Steve and I have decided on a minimum budget we'll need to make it happen and we both feel it's time for all of us to go and see his family - including several aunts and uncles, cousins, and his grandmother - so if we can make it work, we will.

My hesitation is what to do about everything else leading up to Christmas. It's snowing this morning! And that gets me excited to do something ... Christmasy. But we might not be here to enjoy all the Christmas stuff at Christmas time, so I'm not sure I want to expend the effort.

Do I decorate like I normally would? Do we get a tree? We always get a live tree. Should I set up my nativity scene? What about the cookies we bake as a family and take around the neighborhood on Christmas Eve? We wouldn't be here for that if we go to Texas, and that's a tradition I have really enjoyed the last few years.

Not only have I not hauled out any decorations, but because of our plans being a bit up in the air I haven't done any shopping for gifts. NONE.

I'm in Limbo Land and I don't like it here! I'm a girl who needs a plan. And I can't possibly hang out here for the next three weeks without some holiday something-or-other going on.

That's it. I'm going to take advantage of the good mood the snowfall puts me in and do something. I'm not sure what yet, but I have a half a cup of hot cocoa to help me figure it out.

Enjoy your day!


Oh! P.S. ...  lots of excitement planned around here tomorrow ... perhaps to be considered an early Christmas present? Hmmm. Stay tuned!