55 Hours

Wanna knows what's nice? Finding out that the event that booked your husband for Friday, Saturday & Sunday is canceled because they made a mistake and booked another group instead. They felt horrible and offered to pay us since we tied up a weekend on our schedule for them. We just asked them to book us sometime within the next 6 months. So, Water in2 Wine isn't really out much.

...and our little family now has Friday, Saturday & Sunday completely free.

That's roughly 55 hours to use at our own discretion. 55 hours of breathing easy. 55 hours suddenly given to us that we didn't think we would have. 55 hours to do WHATEVER we want.

Wow.

Already I have thoughts popping in to my head of what I should do. I desperatly need to give our house a really late spring...um...I mean early fall cleaning. You know, the kind where you pitch and toss bags full of stuff, dust every imaginable square inch, & re-organize every drawer & closet.

Then there is grocery shopping. Yep, we're over due on that too.

Not to mention, I REALLY want to take Emily to the park or do something silly & fun with her. I actually wouldn't mind taking her back to the zoo. (We opted for an annual pass.)

Then...there's Jane Eyre. I've been trying to re-read it, but have only found myself to be on chapter 12. That's not for a lack of enjoying it, though. I just have only found time to read a chapter here and there.

Since Aaron is back on 2nd shift, we are also over due for a date.

Oh! We also have a bunch of free rentals for McDonald's Red Box. Wouldn't mind cashing in 1 or 2 of those.

There is always the pictures and recipies that I've been wanting to organize since I first found out I was pregnant with Emily.

Recipies??? That's right, I need to plan some meals that would be easier to fix on our schedule. (Which, by the way, I'm VERY open to suggestions.)


Suddenly 55 hours makes my tummy tighten up a little bit and my breath come a little quicker. The excitement deflates. Too many decisions. Too much of a battle between what I SHOULD do, and what I WANT to do. Too much debating about whether or not what I THINK I should be doing is what I ACTUALLY should be doing. Do I strive to make good use of every waking second...or do I give in to the luxuries of spontanaity and making things up as I go along?

I guess we'll find out. I think blogging about it before hand gives me a sense of accountability...especially if I commit to blogging on Monday about what I did.

Am I normal? Does anyone else go through this? I sure hope so.

An Ode to Taxi Divers

Spring semester of my freshman year of college, I signed up to take "Creative Writing" with Mary Brown. I'm not sure what I expected going into this class, but after the first 2 sessions, I called my Dad and told him that "These people have issues". I felt like you had to all but "become" the poem in order to get a clue what the professor and students were talking about. I presumed that if you were gifted, you could naturally "feel" what the poem was trying to express through it's abstract words and layout. I, however, thought I deserved a gift if I could just figure out why the title fit THIS poem and not the poem three pages before.

And then...

We had to write our own.

What had I gotten myself into?

Actually the semester proved to not be a total failure. In fact, I was quite proud of myself once the segment on poetry was over. I managed to come up with a few poems that were...well...not all that bad! I even found myself enjoying the class. The people that I thought "had issues" I realized I actually respected and admired them for the pieces of writing they produced. My professor told me that she could tell the point when I started "crossing over". She could see it in my writing. I still think everyone wrote far better than I did, but at least she could see I was trying.

Once we were done with poetry, we moved on to creative fiction. The outcome of the project was less than desiarable to say the least. My short story had something to do with 2 people getting caught in a tornado. (Look...it was the end of the semester, summer was right around the corner, and I had already spent my creative energy on the poetry side of things. I still ended up with an A or a B in the class, so...I was happy!)


The other day, Aaron and I went out to buy a new cell phone for him. After conducting our business, the salesman needed to write down a number for Aaron to call and activate something on our account. The salesman grabbed a business card that was sitting on a desk. It was advertising a taxi driver named Craig. As we were later driving home, I flipped over the card and discovered this poem on the back. As I read it out loud to Aaron, we were really "feeling" the poem. We were laughing sooo hard. I couldn't help but thinking to myself what Mary Brown and this year's Creative Writing students would have thought of this poem....or what they would have titled it. Better yet, what grade would I receive if I had turned in something like this:

The taxicab driver sits in his car,

And waits for calls from near and far.

He knows all the crooks, and he knows all the

rooks,

He knows all the bad roads, he knows all the nooks.

He knows our sorrows, he knows our joys,

He knows all the girls who are chasing the boys.

HE knows all our trouble, he knows all our strife.

He knows every man who ducks from his wife.

If the taxicab driver told half that he knows,

He would turn all our firends into foes.

He would sow a small breeze that would soon be a

gale,

Engulf us in trouble-land us in jail,

He would start forth a story, which gaining in

force,

Would cause half our wives to sue for divorce.

He'd get all our homes mixed up in a fight,

And turn our brightest days into sorrowing nights,

In fact, he could keep the whole town in a stew,

If he told half the things he knew.

So here we are- just pay us our fees, we don't know

a thing about our ABC's.

Craig...for what it's worth, your poem would have still probably faired better with Mary Brown than my tornado story did. Thanks for the laugh!

Quiet Greatness

My Grandpa is still with us, though we doubt he will be for much longer. The doctors say it's just a matter of time. I'm so very thankful for the precious visits I had with him this weekend, and I'm so thankful for the chance I had to say good bye.

My Dad will be giving Grandpa's eulogy at the funeral. As the family came in to visit Grandpa this weekend, Dad asked each one to send him comments about things they remember about Grandpa. As a result, my cousin Jeff sent the following e-mail to Dad.

I don't know how anyone could possibly say it better.

The most I can remember of Grandpa isn't specific stories. I remember the type of person he was. He was the kind of person that was always calm and centered. It was that consistancy that allowed him to affect those around him. You could see what he left in people. He didn't say "Do as I say", nor did he have to. Who he was spoke louder than he could speak. Through who he was you would learn more than a few thing. Through his actions he could tell you "You don't need to beg, you can earn", "You don't need to say 'I can't', because I could always find a way", "You don't need to feel anger or hatred, because I can find the good in all people." I know we'll all miss him greatly, but he's left a little of himself with each of us. He's left us memories, values, and shaped who we've become in a variety of ways. He's touched each of us in his own way, and each a little differently. However, every way has lead us closer to the best of who we could be. We'll eventually pass his lessons, his values, his memories to those that come after us. Even though he'll be gone from this world, he'll still be a part of us. Jeff

Grandpa...you are so loved by so many. As for me, I don't know how a girl could love her Grandpa more. Leaving the nursing home for the last time was so very hard. Thanks for touching my face, for telling me your memory of our walk in the woods & for telling me how much you love me. Thank you for living in a way that leaves me no doubt of the fact that I'll see you again. Oh Grandpa...my heart aches, yetI don't want to hold you back. You would never be so selfish, and I can't be that way either. I told you at the nursing home that you could go on home if you needed to, and I meant it. Each night I find myself praying that Jesus will just take you. I know his timing is perfect and I'm just thankful that you aren't suffering and that you are at such peace.

I don't really know how to end this. Do I say goodbye? Do I say I love you? I don't know. I feel right now the way I did when it was time to leave the nursing home. Wanting to find the exact words...stalling to leave.

I guess Heaven is all the conclusion I need.

Grandpa...please pray

Last night at 7:00, I received a call that my Grandfather in Michigan is dying. By 7:45, Emily and I were packed and on the road. Sometime between 1:00-1:30 AM we pulled into the hospital. We were there until 3:00AM, and finally went to bed at my parents at 4:00AM. The doctors say this is definitley the end. It's just a matter of time. They knew he was sick, but the rapid decline took us by surprise. Please just pray for our family, especially my dad. There are so many strenuous family dynamics involved in the situation that would take 30 posts to blog about. Not to mention, my dad is losing his dad that he is very very very close to.





There are many things to be thankful for in this situation.



1. Emily did a fantastic job on the trip, at the hospital etc.



2. We made it in time to have a precious visit with him while he is still lucid.



3. Things at work are going so smoothly, it doesn't phase me or stress me out to be off for several days.



4. My Grandpa is a Christian. The peace that surrounds his countenance is a blessed comfort to see.



5. I have the promise of Heaven. This is not good bye. It's "see you later". I can't tell you how much this means to me, or to the extent that I was praising God for this promise while sitting in the hospital waiting room.

6. Grandpa is getting ready to go home. He's going to be so happy there. He'll never have to stress or be upset again. Just perfect peace. He's blind, so Jesus' face will be the first thing he's seen in years. He's going to get to see his family that's gone before him.

God is good!

My new favorite DVD

So....

Last night I excitedly used some spending money to by this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5495331


I could listen to them forever. Maybe it's my Irish roots, or maybe I'm just a big nerd. Either way, I wish I could have had front row seats at the recording of this concert.

An Ashlock Family Summer (a.k.a.: A list of excuses as to why I haven't blogged)

The 2007 Ashlock Family Summer has consisted of fun activities such as:






1. Aaron getting another "A" on his latest class. 3 classes completed + 3 "A's" = VERY proud wife! He started a new class on Monday.







2. Blowing Bubbles

2. A quick weekend home that entailed an afternoon at the beach with dear friend Marcy & baby Conner (Emily can not talk about the beach without talking about "her baby Conner".) Emily also got to see her "Aunt" Amanda and her beautiful house, but mommy didn't get any pictures. We also had to say a tearful goodbye to some very special friends. Tim, Marcea, Emma, Taylor, Maddie...our next trip home won't be the same without you there! We love you!

3. Exciting Water in2 Wine travels. We've hired a new driver.

4. Directing a week of VBS. This year's theme was "Water Works" (A water park). We had entirely way too much fun. Emily LOVED it! I think her favorite part was the bubble machine. Surprised?

5. A trip to the zoo. Unfortunately, Mommy didn't take the camera AGAIN. In her defense, the battery was low on the camera after snapping VBS pictures. Daddy saved the day by taking the video camera. Ever since our zoo trip, Emily tries to swim like a dolphin during bath time. This usually leads to a soaking wet Mommy(dolphins splash a lot), but Mommy just splashes back. :)

6. Recording a CD of our Wednesday night Kids Club singing their favorite songs...Thanks to our wonderful producer, Aaron!

7. A surprise b-day party thrown for me by my WONDERFUL in-laws whom I DEARLY love! The party came complete with details like good friends, grilled food (my favorite summer treat) and my very own pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream. :) God has blessed me with in-laws that I just love to pieces.

I "think" that wraps up the highlights of our summer so far. It has definitely been busy but blessed. There's even more fun in store, though. In 1 1/2 weeks my hubby is going to be singing here: http://www.unitymusicfestival.com/ We are soooo excited. They sang here last year as well and we had such a good time. The fact that the festival is in my hometown & near the beach is a nice perk too. :)