What's new?

There have been interesting things happening for the McCorkindale family lately and I figured I should probably share before the rumours get out of control.  ; )

Nathan and I have always dreamed of living on an acreage one day.  We weren't sure if it would ever be possible because being a pastor often means that you don't stay in one place long-term, not to mention the simple fact that living in the town where the church is often just makes sense.  People can drop in, you can easily make it to church-related events, etc.  It's easier to be a pastor when you live right there.  So, after having been pastors/students for our entire married life thus far, we had pretty much put the thought of an acreage out of our minds.  Retirement, maybe, but not now.

Jump to this summer. We've lived here for two years now and haven't really felt like living IN town was a huge advantage in the pastoring game (the church is about 15 minutes from town).  That said, we weren't looking for a new place when we happened to hear about an acreage that was for sale. We went to look at it but mostly just put it out of our minds because it was a big chunk of change and the house didn't seem workable for our family.  But a month later we started thinking about it again and couldn't get it out of our minds.  We went to see the house again and, with fresh eyes, it seemed very workable indeed!  We fell in love with the yard and location all over again (between town and the country-church where Nathan pastors - perfect!) and really started looking into how we could make it work.

We had the dreaded meeting with the bank and they gave us the go-ahead to pursue this property.  All we needed was to sell our house.  The market in town seemed to be at a stand-still with around 80 properties for sale in a 10km radius of town and few of them moving.  But everything so far had been falling into place so we decided to list our house and see what happened.  We met with an agent a week ago today, Friday.  Our house was listed the next day, Saturday, with one showing that day and another one the next.  Low and behold, Monday afternoon came and we had an offer.  Now, if all goes well, conditions will be removed in a few days and we will be moving to the country at the end of the month!

So that's what's happening.  If you've noticed that our house is on the realty site, no, we're not leaving town...well, we ARE...but not really. : ) No, we're not building.  We're just living the dream!

This just seems to be such a God-thing.  We had a dream; God knew that dream.  He brought the perfect property at the perfect time.  Our house sold in record time for more than we'd been hoping for.  And now we'll be spending Christmas in our new home.  What a blessing!*

Today I took Levi and we picked out kittens that will become farm cats once we move.  But they were available now and my inner child came forth and claimed two of the cutest little 8 week old kittens for my very own.  I had been hoping that Levi would just be naturally gentle and nurturing with them.  He loves animals so much so I'd love to see him be good with animals...a born animal-whisperer if you will...but alas, it has been a day of explaining time and again how kittens don't like to be fenced in, how they don't like to be picked up by the tummy all the time, how they don't want to be forced to eat or forced to sleep or forced to do anything.  He'll learn.  Maybe.  Hopefully before we move out to the farm cause otherwise it'll be a long month!

*Yes, I realize that there are some questions that come up when God makes some people's dreams come true while others are praying for more "serious" things with (seemingly) no answers.  I've got nothing except that I can't NOT thank God for this blessing when it seems so much like He's making it all come together. 

clean and tidy

Tonight as Levi has been falling asleep, I've been tidying the house.  Not cleaning, per se, but just putting things back into their place.  I've been working my way from one end of the house to the other, top floor and basement, just straightening and organizing and setting things right again.  And here's what I've realized:

I've become way too accustomed to seeing things out of their place.  

For example, I tidied the basement rec/family room and thought, "There.  That's pretty good." And then I stepped back to look at it again and saw that there were still two or three remotes laying around, one right there in the middle of the floor.  There were still a couple of alphabet blocks scattered along the walls.  And I hadn't even touched my desk!  Wow.  I came upstairs and there was still a pair of Levi's socks in the hall that I'd meant to take to the "too small" box downstairs.  Levi's belt was still sitting beside the dryer where it fell as I did laundry today.  I just have gotten too used to seeing random things around the house in random places.  Now, that is partly due to having a son who loves to carry things around the house and drop them wherever he sees something more interesting to pick up.  It brings me great joy to find some of these treasures (broom in bedroom, hairspray in living room, cup at the end of the hall by the deck door).  But I bet that's not the whole reason.  I think I've just become a bit lax when it comes to keeping the house tidy. Instead of putting things away when I'm finished with them - like my mom tried to teach me over and over again growing up - I've gotten into the habit (anyone else tend to spell "habit" like "hobbit" with two "b"'s?) of just moving on to the next thing and leaving my project sitting on the floor for days or putting something in a pile to be dealt with later.  I still have Christmas cards/letter sitting on the microwave from December for crying out loud!  It's been two months!  And yet, I am just so used to seeing them there and have no idea what to do with them, so there they sit.

Today I was watching Levi play, like I often do.  He was playing with his Little People Barn that he got for Christmas.  It is interesting because, when he plays, he is very intentional about all his animals standing on their feet.  If he puts the goat in the barn and it falls over in the process, he'll carefully reach in and set it back on its feet.  Seeing this got me thinking about whether this will be a life-long characteristic of his...will he always be particular and want things to be proper and in their place?  I have had phases in my life where I have been like that.  Everything had to be in its place, facing the right direction, and no clutter piles whatsoever.  (My dorm rooms at Bible college, both first and second year, were amazingly clean and tidy ALL.THE.TIME.)   And you know, life is alot less stressful like that!  I enjoy having a place for everything and putting things back where they belong as soon as I'm finished with them (or at least at the end of the day).  But it's easy to get lazy when there is a house full of people (and animal) who don't necessarily have the same vision as you.

Well, all this is to say that yes, my house can get untidy.  It is usually clean (enough), but the clutter builds up.  I'm human.  I admit it.  BUT, my goal after this evening, is to designate a place for everything and then, instead of just getting lazy and making piles everywhere of things to be put away, I think I might actually try putting stuff away right away!  Could you imagine?  Putting something away as soon as you're finished with it instead of just setting it aside to be cleaned up later?  Oh, what freedom the evenings would bring!  haha.  Well, it's been nice to dream.  Back to tidying the house...!

A list (the random kind) - in no particular order

• I love sunshine.  Today there is sunshine.  Therefore, today will be a lovely day.
• I bought a sewing basket yesterday.  My sewing supplies were taking over the denim bag that I was trying to keep them all in so I splurged and spent some of my allowance (yes, we do allowances...best idea ever!) on one.  But don't picture a typical "basket".  Oh no.  This is a heavy duty plastic one with compartments galore!  If you couldn't tell already, I'm pretty excited about my purchase!
• We are now back in Hepburn...for another week.  And then we head to PA!  Time for a visit with Marsha!
• I dreamed last night that my mom was having another baby just a couple weeks before I was due.  I was pretty excited because I would get to spend tons of time with a baby but didn't have to wait ALL THE WAY until my due date.  Random crazy dreams I have these days.  Nathan thinks it's something that I eat before bed (no clue what that would be???).  I just tell him that I've always had random, weird, vivid dreams and pregnancy probably just isn't helping matters much these days!
• We bought our nursery furniture yesterday!  We found a great deal on Kijiji (of which Nathan and I are rapidly becoming fans) and went to see it/pick it up yesterday.  We got a crib, armoire, and small cupboard/change table all for less than we were hoping to spend on the crib alone!  And I really like it too!  It's really simple, but I love simple.  I'll post pictures once we have it all set up.  It'll be more exciting then anyway... : )
• I realized yesterday that, when we got pregnant, I was super-excited but the idea of this pregnancy actually ending one day with a real, live baby was a pretty abstract thought.  Have any other women out there had this feeling?  It just sorta feels surreal and like this pregnancy is a new reality that you just have to live with now (forever!).  Well, I'm over the halfway mark now, almost in the third trimester, and time is flying!  Seriously...there are only 15 weeks left until we meet this little person who likes to punch and kick and squirm in there.  Fifteen weeks is a long time and yet...it's not really that long!
• Nathan and I have been enjoying having our dog back.  True, he does spend alot of time outside, but last night Nathan made a comment about how he's glad that we have such a decently well-behaved dog.  It really is a good thing that I had so many hours to spend training him when we first got him.  For the first few weeks/months (starting September 2006), I would spend literally hours at a time just working with him and training him.  And as a result, he (usually) does listen to me quite well.  I'm so glad for that.  I don't think I could ever keep a dog that doesn't listen!  I've been on farms with untrained dogs (or even worse, been with untrained indoor dogs) who just don't respect and listen to humans and I just couldn't do it.  There are certain habits that, if our next dog had them, they would be out the door in a matter of weeks!  Really, the longer I have a dog, the more convinced I am that the joy in having a dog comes from having a well-trained dog.  There's my little rant.  I guess now I should actually make a point of spending some time with Lennox today!
• I guess I should also give a little update on McBaby.  He/she is around 2 lbs now and 9+ inches long.  I'm definitely feeling the extra length.  When baby lies sideways across my stomach, I am quite comfortable and marvel at the feeling of movement both on my far right side and, at the same time, near the middle of my belly...about 9 inches apart.  When the baby decides to turn, though, and goes into the "upright" position, life is quite a bit less comfortable.  My ribs have been sore the past couple days as the feet/head press and push and try to make room in there.  There's no slouching now when I sit!  Baby needs all the room he/she can get in there!  Sleep is also progressively more disturbed.  I haven't slept through a night in months already.  And some mornings when I wake up, I'm convinced that my hips are only a fraction of an inch away from being dislocated.  Ouch.  But oh the joy of knowing that this pain and discomfort is due to a tiny baby growing in there and needing more space.  What a blessing!
• Let's see...what else?  I mentioned a couple months ago that I love to read during the summers.  Well, I haven't been reading anything interesting lately.  Ever since the end of last semester, I just haven't been able to really get into a book and have it hold my attention.  I used to get lost in books for hours upon hours.  Now my mind just wanders while I read and I end up having to re-read pages over and over again just to track with what's happening.  I think I may pull out some of my old childhood fiction.  Maybe that will be able to hold my attention!  I got a few suggestions back when I last posted about summer reads, but I'm open to more suggestions!  One of these days I hope to stop by the library, pick up a stack of books that you have recommended, and spend a good long time sitting on the deck, with Lennox at my feet, reading the summer away.  Ideally I would be in a hammock, but I doubt it would be very comfortable at this stage in the game. (game being pregnancy and stage being 6 months)

Dreams

I just found out last night that one of my dreams is farther away from attainable than I'd previously thought.

I've always wanted to take a leisurely train trip across Canada.  I'd like to stop at least once in each province and see what there is to see and then continue on.  Just imagine traveling through the mountains and prairies and Canadian Shield and valleys and...everything!  You would get such a sense of the varying Canadian landscapes and cultures. 

Well, to see if my dream was possible, perhaps for this summer (when else will we have a month to dedicate to whatever we want?), I went to the Via Rail website and mapped out my ideal trip.  And then I saw the price of said trip.  And then I knew what we wouldn't be doing this summer. 

So there went my dream.  I suppose it might be a more relaxing trip at a retired pace anyway.  Oh well.  Hopefully trains are still around in 60 years when we retire...