lizardblog ( the blog of liz creech

February 21, 2005
Why does there have to be a title?

Well, I was just blog browsing and decided I wanted to blog.

Seems as if things are coming along in this old house. I have been buying things here and there and still need to buy some more but I have enough projects to keep me busy from now til the end of the year - HA! I was over on Mike and Amber Bishops blog and discovered that they are in the same boat as us - new house and doubts and such. AAAh! now I remember what I was really going to blog about.

The Bishops were talking about intentional community and how Mike kind of felt bad about not being able to have a house like V.C. Made me think that there are a lot of us out there wanting a lot of the same things. A great place to have people stay and live and learn and love together. Seems like the major thing obstructing the goal is MONEY. I just think of all the places in the world where there literally is no money. They have dirt floors and their children are starving to death. It also makes me wonder if we have the wrong idea about it. Maybe it isn't all about the big piece of land with little houses all over for retreatants, or a big house with lots of rooms for lots of people. Maybe it is just the regular house and being put into some form of inconvenience to help someone out. Maybe it is taking a day off to help someone else clean their house cause they work all the time, or just handing the guy on the side of the street with the sign a little money, or buying someone's dinner just cause, and all manner of little things. I think our society has made us unable to see what we can really do, accomplish, and have with little or no money.

Now, I still want a bigger house, I still want nice things(mostly just a clean house), and I want my kids to grow up to be good God loving people who are kind and generous to others, maybe even to a fault. I am not saying that having things is bad or evil, just that maybe we should rethink the intentional community thing a little.

posted by Liz at 8:30 AM - permalink - -

February 18, 2005
Commitment

Something has come to light at Macaroni Grill that has made me think about stuff. I wonder what makes some people, whether they are Christian or not, committed to their marriage? How can someone take vows they say to another person so lightly and disregard them so easily?

I believe the answer is total selfishness. Thoughtlessness and total disregard of any one other than themselves. We live in a fallen world. And what is even worse, I think, is when Christians do the same thing.

What makes a good marriage? Not fighting? Great sex? No money troubles? Perfect kids and a clean house? No, I think it is the opposite of all those. Dealing with things together and working it out and hollering at each other and just deciding to love each other whether the butterflies are there or not. The waking up and realizing that you don't like this person you have committed the rest of your life to, and still choosing to stick with it and work through things. Communication, commitment. I am not saying that divorce should never happen, I am talking about when people hit one little bump in the road and then bail out because it is too hard to work through something. Or keep their clothes on.

Now, I know most of the people who read this know and believe this. I just have to shake my head at people sometimes and wonder why they do the things they do.

On a different note: We have gotten a lot of stuff done here in the mess we live in. Pre-packing is going good. Everything is everywhere and mess, mess, mess. But, I know that it will all be ok. I know that it is one step at a time. Conor and I worked all day yesterday and got his room packed up and clean. Now I just have to paint in there and replace the blinds and then that is one room down. The girls room is still in flux. For some reason, it seems that I am the only one who can do anything in there, and right now that room isn't a priority. It is funny how trying to pack all your stuff up makes you realize just how much crap you actually have. I think the most depressing thing I have done is take the wall paper off the walls in the kitchen. It just isn't as pretty in there as it used to be. But, I am not doing things in this house for me any more. Neutralizing!! I have to make people be able to see their stuff in my house.

Enough ranting. The day and boxes call!!

posted by Liz at 9:42 AM - permalink - -

February 16, 2005
Palmer

A big shout goes out for Palmer today!! Thank you God for putting him and his family in our lives. Thank you for enriching our lives and all those touched by him.

Any one coming by here, go take a journey through a little of his life over on his blog.

posted by Liz at 8:50 AM - permalink - -

February 15, 2005
ANXIETY

Wow! Usually I am pretty easy going. Usually I just do stuff and only freak out every now and then, but nothing like this morning. My heart is racing, I feel like crying and I just want to hide. "What is causing this, Liz?" you may ask. Well, it is the new house. And the house I live in. And all the stuff that needs to be done. I couldn't go to sleep last night with all the stuff going through my head, and it was too hot. I dreamed about all the stuff that needs to be done. I woke up with stuff in my head. How am I going to be able to do all this? Just all the doubts that we won't get what we need to get, money wise, out of this house. That it all won't get done and no one will even want to buy this house. You hear that one of the most stressful things in a marriage is buying a new home, I really believe that now. Oh, Alan and I are fine, we went out last night for Valentines day and had a great time. Then I get in my head by myself and all the doubts and fears creep right in. I thought about calling some friends, even my sister. No one is there this morning. Too early in other parts of the U.S., other people have jobs they are preparing to go to or are already at. I can't really call my mom crying, she would just kind of brush me off. No, she would over dramatize everything and make it Alan's fault some how. I feel like a failure in schooling my kids. I have so much to do to this house that seems to be all I can think about and we aren't getting enough school done. Oh, it is not a good morning. I will make it just fine, the bad feelings will go away eventually. This is crazy, why do people do stuff like this?

posted by Liz at 8:52 AM - permalink - -

February 07, 2005
Reinforced knowledge of selfishness

With all the stuff that has been happening to me recently with the new house and such I have not been doing my normal surfing of blogs. I usually don't read the guys, nothing against them, I just connect with the ladies more. So, by way of surfing today I got to Palmers blog and read all his news. I had known of the possibility of cancer but actually hearing that it was confirmed kind of made me realize just how selfish I am. We all are to some degree or another, that is human nature. It is just reading other peoples lives and realizing how good I have it or how little trauma I actually experience that makes me see stuff about me. Ultimately these blogs are our way of talking more about ourselves. Yes, it lets people in on our lives and what is going on, and it also allows us to say things that we wouldn't normally say or have the chance to say. I am not saying anything bad about blogs, or even myself. It is just a reflection of how the human race is very self centered. Being aware and choosing to do something about things that we realize and see needs to changed is a good thing.

posted by Liz at 9:06 AM - permalink - -

February 02, 2005
The Plunge!!

Well, the numbers have been calculated and re-calculated. All the options have been looked at and analyzed, although not all are final. From this moment I can say with quite a bit of certainty, that we are going to be buying a bigger home!! We are hopefully going to go today and look at the options we have to pick from to seal the deal and then we will go from there. I went to the mortgage company yesterday and he said it all looked good. Scary and exciting at the same time. The Charleston is the floor plan we picked. It is nice. It has 2869 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, formal dining room, living room, family room, eat in kitchen and (heavenly voices here) a laundry room. Why so excited about a laundry room? Well, right now I have just a set of doors and a "closet" with the washer and dryer in it right off my eat in kitchen. That always leaves the kitchen a mess when I am trying to do laundry. There is a 2 car garage with a storage space to put all my tools in. Oh my! And plenty of space for bikes and lawnmowers and Christmas decorations. And...you all...The master suite? Lord, lord!! It is huge and the bathroom is huge, and the closet is huge. AND...there is a sitting room! I swear, when everybody comes to visit we could sleep our entire family in there comfortably and open up all the other beds for you!! There is a den/office too that we would use as a guest room. We plan on turning the living room into an office study for Alan. We are going to ask how much it would add on to have them put French doors so we could close it off if we wanted. That room could be used for guests as well if we needed! Ok, I am just really excited about it all. Still, getting this house ready is daunting and just something that has to be done and we have time to do it. Fortunately, the new house won't be finished until September or October. I promise that the novelty will wear off and I won't be talking about this house forever. It will be come a normal part of our life and it will become mundane, maybe.

You all just pray for patience for me and Alan with each other and all the details that have to be ironed out. And for wisdom about getting this house ready to be sold and favor for when the time comes to list this house and that it sells for what we need and on time. Then you all pray about coming and visiting us sometime, cause we will have the room!!

WOO! HOO!

posted by Liz at 9:28 AM - permalink - -

spiritual

> vine & branches
> vineyard central

blogs

> Garden Escapades
> Trish Hiduk
> Maryann
> Alan Creech
> The Vine
> Little Houses
> Amber Bishop
> Jody Nixon
> Laura Ogle
> Debi Warford
> Jason & Brooke Evans
> Eric Keck
> Beth Keck
> Pete Matthews
> Trudi Matthews
> Brian Phillips
> Bryan Sherwood
> Malie
> Kim Johnson

Homeschool

> vegsource homeschool
> discovery school channel
> saxon math and phonics

general interest

> john rosemond's affermative parenting
> lisa welchel
> thunderstruck
> Homestar Runner

gardening

> Kids Gardening

books i like

Here are some books I suggests if you are looking to homeschool or just for information. I gleaned a lot from them. Our church gets credit if you buy through these links.

In their Own Way
by Thomas Armstrong

Seven Times Smarter
by Laurel Schmidt

How to Talk So Kids Can Learn
by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish

Teen Proofing
by John Rosemond