Huston Woods

The boys and I had a fun day trip with Cousins Tom, Melissa, Abby, and Elizabeth last weekend. We jaunted up to Oxford to feed the deer at Huston Woods. The boys were facinated! Of course, they also ate some of our deer food - the carrots. Funny. When I put them on their dinner plate, they aren't usually that excited about them. But hand them an entire carrot that they are supposed to feed to the deer, and suddenly it's like a candy bar or something! :)

"Hurricane Day"

Snow, yes. Cold, yes. Tornadoes, yes. Water main breaks, yes. But Hurricanes? In Ohio? No freakin' way.

Way.

Apparently the very eerie, weird, "sand storm on Tatooine" type storm that blew through here yesterday was technically a level 1 hurricane. What is left of Ike. The only thing that keeps if from officially being called a hurricane: the 80 plus mph winds were in gusts, not sustained.

Power is out. Businesses are closed. Roofs are damaged. There is a run on gasoline and ice. But overall, everyone is being nice, helpful and laughing about it. We got power restored today just in time - we didn't loose any food, but the fridge was cutting it close. Trees are down everywhere. And not just little dead limbs. Trees that I could not get my arms around are snapped in half like twigs and lying in roads, porches or even in people's homes. It's freakish!

We are all safe. Last I heard, the death count was 4 - and all were tree-related accidents. 2 involving motorcycles. The first responders were busy all night - sirens were ceaseless. Mostly electric wire fires from what we've heard. Those darn trees, again.

Now, we are on a boil alert. Meaning we can't drink or cook with our water until it's been boiled. Looks like I'll be doing a run for bottled water.

Here is some irony for you. I was prepared for ALL of this in MN and never once had to use it. I had bottled water, batteries, flashlights, candles, matches, radios, tools, canned heat, etc. all downstairs in my little carpeted under-the-stairs storm nook. Complete with pillows and blankets and a wooden door to use to shield our heads if need be. In Ohio - they got nuthin'. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, er, I mean, hurricanes in Ohio.

One more thing I can add to my "now I've seen it all" list. Hmmmm....that list keeps growing. Maybe I HAVEN'T seen it all! :)

It's always kind of fun kicking in to "survival" mode for a few hours...just to see what you and your fellow man are made of. I'm rather proud of these Ohioans...good people. Good natured. Looking out for one another. Patient. One woman even offered to go grab me a bag of ice when a new pallet was rushed in as I was checking out. Kept me from having to get back in line. We had fun finding ways to entertain ourselves sans electricity last night. It was no picnic grading papers by candle light, I can tell you. But we found ourselves sitting on the porch listening to the radio as in days gone by. Only we were listening for school closings! :) And they did not disappoint.

"SNOW" day, everyone!

2 weeks down

With 2 weeks of school under my belt, I'm finally getting in my groove. Feeling pretty good. Found my first bit of graffiti on my tables. It said "Ms. Funderburk rocks!".

I love my job. :) Can you believe they pay me to have fun all day?

Miami River Days

I took the boys to River Days at Miami U Hamilton Campus today. We had a lot of fun. Free face painting and balloon animals (of course, both got super hero masks painted on their faces - their ENTIRE faces - my camera went kaput. AND they didn't want a balloon doggy. No, they opted for balloon laser guns and swords.), inflatables, a long horn steer, speed boat races, water skiers building a human pyramid, a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator (what HE had to do with Ohio history/Miami river I'll never know), a Native American pow wow complete with costumed dancers, singers, and drummers, a hayride, and some civil war "re-enactments"...mainly just firing off of very loud cannons. The boys were completely in their element.

The Timeline For Grief

Is much longer than I anticipated. I know I am healing. But I have moments of set-back. I just started attending a Divorce Care group at a local church. They also have a class for Ethan. I think it will be good - he's been very angry for a while now. But I surprised myself when I started with my introduction (a VERY brief synopsis of your "story") and had to have the box of kleenex passed to me.

Why do I, after 15 months, still weep over this? Why do I still feel loss? Surely something is wrong with me, right? Well, apparently not. According to a lot of research, it can take upwards of 5 years to fully recover. Ugh. But I want to do this right - I want to allow the grief to happen. Otherwise it may take longer and I may end up doing stupid things like rebound relationships. Don't get me wrong - I want to date. I'm ready to date. But I am in NO WAY ready for anything serious or even semi-serious. I must allow grief it's agenda - not try to conform it to my own.

I'm learning that the extreme pain I feel is OK... and much better than the excruciating pain I would feel if I tried to hurry this process or medicate it away or supress it. The pain tells me I am human. I am OK. I am alive. I will survive this. AND it reminds me that I loved correctly...with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. The pain is the mark of covenant. When God made covenant with Abram, the animals were cut in two. This part of the ceremony was signifying the seriousness of this relationship: "may it be unto me as one of these if I break this covenant". When I married Rob, I joined my soul to his. That is the "one flesh" aspect of the relationship. When he broke covenant, it is not a simple "unzipping". It is a ripping of flesh - a tearing of the seams. It was more than a legal contract to be entered and exited on a whim. We became family. Closer than family. More than family.

One very important insight I got from my first class: I'm not so sure it is Rob that I love - at least not now. It's more that I am addicted to or infatuated with what I believed my relationship with Rob to be. With the dreams, plans, and ideas that formed my life until June of 2007. But all that was based on lies and deception - not from my end, but his. And it was a mockery to God, therefore, HE removed Rob. For those dreams, plans, ideas and that relationship cannot exist with him in the picture - at least not as he is right now. Does that mean my dreams were wrong? Nope. Same play, but it needed to be recast. God knows His plans for me, Ethan, and Noah. He said so. Those plans could not be fulfilled with such deception in our lives.

Today I saw a big difference in Ethan, too. This class will be good, I think. Another step in helping me to preach with my life. To SHOW my kids what a relationship with Christ Jesus looks like, not tell them. To let them witness my communion with my Savior - often and in the daily grind, not just on Sunday or Wednesday.

Back Home

Well, they arrived back just fine with the exception of a little mix up with the luggage (ie-Rob accidently took it to MN with him and will have to overnight it back to Ohio because Noah's meds are in his luggage). Ah, well. There's bound to be some glitch anytime you try something new.

Thanks to all of you who may have prayed for me and my sons this weekend. I appreciate it.

So tomorrow begins the new adventure for me as a Lakota East Thunderhawk. I meet my 9th graders and get a feel for how the school day will go, including my commute to and from at my regular contracted hours (which, by the way, I still technically have no "contract" and have no idea what I'm being paid. Weird, huh? You can bet I won't be patient any longer if come my first paycheck I don't get one! grrrrrrr......)