Still Here

Yes, I’ve been plagued by house repair and a completely full teaching schedule—with a few fun activities sprinkled on the schedule.

But I am still here.

Waterproofing a basement is not for the faint of heart. Neither is re-routing a septic system. Add to that the finishing and we have a project that is taking up over 7 months of thought and energy.

So I’ve been otherwise occupied.

Home ownership isn’t easy, and I have been quietly camping for the past four years, trying to keep things at homeostasis.

Entropy wins, and I needed to activate my thinking cells for a full-on assault on it.

Sometimes I just wonder about my inabilities, but somehow God helps me through the worst of it.

I’ve had a lot of self condemnation throughout this time of making decisions and going forward. I simply have to trust that God is bringing the right contractors to me, that they are not taking advantage of me, that all will be rightly fixed.

Yesterday I had a couple of Chinese students and one from the Philippines out for the afternoon. Cheri has quite a collection of swords. She comes by it honestly, since I was a fencer at the University of Minnesota, also for awhile in a “fechtverein” in Ingolstadt, Germany. Foil.

Cheri’s swords are more flash than function. My friends were interested in seeing them. One of the students is a graphic artist. Her work is absolutely stunning, extremely impressive. She was fascinated by the swords, and appreciated the beauty. I think Cheri’s swords may appear in a future graphic novel! This student graduates this weekend from college as is returning to her country.

I feel a pang of sadness as I say good bye to the brief (year-long) acquaintance.

Good byes. The pain of relationship. Separations are always factored into meetings, and when they happen too frequently we suffer.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to attend a trauma workshop online. These are extremely helpful when dealing with loss. No one should apologize for wanting counsel. Life is hard. Counsel helps and affirms that truth.

Two more weeks of school for me. Both packed. Then the summer begins and all of its hard work. The house needs so much attention. I’m hoping for energy and motivation to tackle all of my issues.

God provides.