My speech

Andrew is such a sweetie! He uploaded this video to YouTube so that I could put it on my blog. I had to tease him because he said that, if it went over 10 minutes, I would have to post it in 2 parts like he did with his speech. I listened to it, though, and it was ONLY 9 minutes and 59 seconds. Now you know how much time it will take you if you want to listen to my thoughts on my son's graduation day--June 7th. I thought that you may want to hear some stories about Andrew's life. ENJOY

Geography Song

Cora just showed me how to put this video on my blog from her blog. Do you suppose I'll remember how to do it on my own later? I don't usually like to duplicate what she has done but this was MY favorite part of Andrew's graduation program too. Andrew and I had so much fun doing this and, when Clifford Johnson (seen in the kitchen doorway) got people clapping, I couldn't resist joining in. As soon as Chuck sends us the DVD of the whole graduation, we'll put on more video clips--like the puppet show, the slide show, our family song, and speeches. We can hardly wait for it to come, but in the meantime, there's lots of work to be done in the garden; putting things in order here after the graduation; and doing BT sessions.

Later,

Dawn

Graduation Day

Well, Andrew's graduation day is history now. It was such a wonderful day for all of us that I'm sure it will remain bright in our memories as a highlight in our lives just as Cora's graduation day was. Andrew did VERY well with all that he was required to do but went beyond the requirements and touched people's hearts. Robert and I were both so pleased with him

as he took this step into manhood which Robert calls, "Rights of passage." We both think it is essential for our children to have a day like this to acknowledge that they are no longer children-that they have now stepped over into adulthood.

Cora's former music teacher, Rev. Lane Keister, played piano for about 45 minutes before the program started as people came in and sat down. People were just amazed as he got that old piano rumbling in ways that I'm sure it hasn't since he played at Cora's graduation 4 years ago. He definitely is a VERY gifted musician, the likes of which is not usually heard in North Dakota. Thank you, Lane, for blessing us in this way. This was a great way to begin the afternoon and

the program followed. Here is what was on the program.

Introduction and Welcome by Robert

Pledge of Allegiance & Recitation of 10 Commandments

Instrumental music by boys: BLACKBERRY BLOSSOM

A word from the Principal--(Robert's thoughts) with poem, "IF"

Family song:WITH MY SONG

A word from the teacher (Me) with poem, "TROUBLE TROUBLE"

Valedictorian's Address with Poem, "Farmer's Prayer"

Geography Class Skit by Andrew and Dawn

Presentation of Diploma

Puppet show, "Would you grad-ge-ate Jethro?"

with the Dagley children providing music

Andrew's life pictures slideshow

Open mic--Bring a song to share

Closing prayer with Pastor Steve Kyner

I'm hoping to be able to post the video of Andrew and I doing the Geography Class song soon. Andrew did so well and the people just loved him. I enjoyed being able to share the way that we do things in our school and also some of what we have learned.

During the open mic time these friends blessed us with music or a poem: Angelica Miller, Delores Miller, Clifford Johnson, the Dagley family, my brother Rick, Sarah Keister, Robert's mom, and Cora and I played our piano duet. We did, "Fugue on a Russian Theme" and it went ok. It wasn't like playing it on our own piano but it was a good thing that Lane got all of the dust out of the thing before we played. :) At least we couldn't use THAT as an excuse for our mistakes. :) It was more like a case of weak nerves, but Robert said that it sounded good so maybe others didn't notice our bloopers as much as we did. :)

Our puppet show went ok. We were trying out a new concept of putting the puppets in front of us instead of killing our shoulders lifting them up over the top of the stage. We had done puppets like that in Bismarck Baptist because our puppets were not full body puppets. This means that they had no legs so we had to put them over the top of the stage. However our puppets do have legs so it made sense to try putting them out in front of us. It worked great in that our shoulders didn't weary at all. When we watched the video of it this afternoon, though, we all had a good laugh. Most of the time our puppet's feet weren't on the floor--they were hanging in mid air!!! I had noticed it about half way through the skit and kept Polly's feet down better after that but the first half was pretty bad. Oh well, that's how we learn. If we never try anything, we'll never make any mistakes, to be sure. We'll never accomplish anything though either, right? How's that for a recovering perfectionist? Anyway, it was sooo much fun to be able to work with my children in this way. It was a dream come true for, ever since directing puppets at our church in Bismarck 17 years ago, I have dreamed of having a family puppet ministry. Perhaps this will become a reality in the future?

I'd best move on. This is the picture of the punch table. Jerome, Robert's cousin, is helping himself while the Geiger girls and Amanda Dagley visit having caught up with their work. It's always nice, when home schoolers have an event, to see the young people visiting with each other. Check Cora's blog for pictures of the adults visiting. :)

The boys and I are reciting Exodus 20:1-17 here. This is the long version of the 10 Commandments which we recited at the beginning of every school day for the past 17 years. I don't know if I had the jitters or if we just should have gone over it once beforehand, but in a few spots I blundered. This means that I wasn't perfect--oh my. Andrew chuckled under his breath and kept going. Jacob wasn't feeling the best so he didn't really lead out--therefore it was a good thing that we had Andrew with us. :)

The boys are playing Blackberry Blossom here. What a joy it was to see them enjoying music so much that they would choose to share a song. My mom would have LOVED hearing this!

Here Robert is sharing his thoughts about raising Andrew. It wasn't hard to tell that he has a very deep love and affection for this son who is so much like him. Many of us were wet eyed when he was finished--including Robert!


Me in my yellow dress sharing some stories about Andrew's life that only a mother could know.

Here Andrew is giving his speech. Being I had shared that he taught me how to combine sunflowers, he thought he would explain how I happened to get lost that night in the dark. He is a good story teller, an art which is fast disappearing in the computer age. He did such a good job of explaining why he was glad that he was home schooled and Robert and I wiped our eyes several times. I'm sure that he will post the video of this sometime soon.

Our first born son, Andrew Robert Bornemann, on his graduation day.

Here Robert is reading the diploma and Andrew is waiting for his father to hand it to him.

This is Angelica Miller singing THE VIA DOLAROSA. She is the daughter of our friends, Lyle and Becky Miller. It was beautiful especially when she sang one verse in Spanish. Becky was indispensable in the kitchen and as always, her smile lights up my world. Thanks for coming and sharing Miller family!

These are our friends, the Dagley family. Four years ago, when there family was larger by three children, they sang BE THOU MY VIVISON. Andrew REALLY likes that song and asks for it many times in school or church hymn sings. I wasn't at all surprised when he asked them to sing it for his special day. As always, the hearts of this family blesses ours!

This is Delores Miller whom our family has grown up thinking of as a grandma. She took a poem out of her pocket in the kitchen and said, "I was going to read this for Andrew." It was "IF" by Rodyard Kipling which Robert had just read a few minutes earlier. We laughed together. She said that she had a second selection along and would read that instead. This taught me the value of being prepared with an alternate song or reading when I REALLY want to be able to share something for someone special. Thanks Delores!

This is a picture of our dear friend, Clifford Johnson, who sang about our Lord's sacrifice on the cross. He also helped Ellen and her crew in the kitchen when he wasn't jamming with the Dagleys and later with Andrew and Rick included. Clifford and Ellen are examples of what I wrote about at the top of this blog. They don't know the meaning of the word "Old," and just keep getting

better every year! We could not have gotten through the day without their help and their love.

This is a picture of Robert's mom, Marly Bornemann. She conquered her fear of public speaking and did a great job. She read, "The Farmer's Son" to Andrew. It was as though someone wrote it just about Andrew and we all had lumps in our throats. What a fitting tribute it was to the graduate AND to Marly's own son, Robert. :)

Here is a picture of most of the Keister family. Lane at the piano is playing for Sarah who sang, Psalm 121. This is the song that Lane accompanied for Cora 4 years ago when she sang it for her graduation. Sarah is a former opera singer and now challenges herself by singing with a baby on her hip. How wonderful it was to hear you again, Sarah!

This is our pastor, Steve Kyner, right before he blessed the meal. He was saying that he remembers when he came to Alfred that Andrew was "So tall." We were very glad and honored that he and Vangie were able to join us for the afternoon. :)

This is a picture of Andrew after supper. He was showing Justus Geiger how his turntable works. It's built to hold 90 pounds so Andrew had taken the bathroom scale along to make sure that nobody heavier than that stood on it. He's just a little protective of his Lego creations--kind of like me with my goats. :) Andrew told me one time that he has over a thousand dollars stuck into his Lego collection. He certainly drew lots of attention to himself at his Lego creation display where he shared with everyone what he really loves--creating things. I often wonder if he likes yellow because that's the predominant color that Legos come in or does he like Legos because they're yellow? I wonder if we'll ever know?

This is the litle lady who kept the kitchen running smoothly all afternoon--our friend Ellen Johnson. She manned that kitchen like a battleship and not a minute was wasted in preparing the supper. By the time the program was ended, food was being set out on the tables and I never had to lift a finger. What a gift that was!!!! Then Ellen said, "You go and eat with your family." When I protested that the guests should go first, she said, "If you want me to run your kitchen, then you have to follow my orders." We laughed together and I picked up a plate. She said that the family should eat first and then visit with the guests instead of worrying about the food. How's that for a friend? Other ladies helping in the kitchen were Roxanne Gill from Eureka; Delores Miller from Streeter; Becky Miller from Streeter; and the Geiger girls from Baldwin. Cake cutters were Estella Merkel and Marly Bornemann, both of Eureka, SD.

When all of the kitchen was spik and span after supper, Ellen sat down to rest. This was when she picked up her crochet hook. Talk about an amzing woman!!!!!!!!! I have learned so much from Ellen about preparing food--whether for a family or for a crowd. May God bless you richly, Ellen, for how you have blessed my life with your wonderful friendship!

May God richly bless all who helped us to celebrate Andrew's life yesterday, June 7th, 2009. Thanks for all of your prayers that helped make the day a joyous celebration for Andrew!!! Feel free to check Cora's blog for more pictures and Andrew's blog for some videos of the big day.

One thing that I just noticed, as I proofread this post, is that there are no pictures of Cora. How can this be? Well, it's because she was the one taking all of the pictures. Chuck said that he'll send all of the pictures that he took soon so then we'll have pictures of all of us doing things throughout the program. I'm sure that SOMEBODY here will post some of them and then you can see Cora in her cute outfit that she redid from an old prom dress.

Happily tired,

Dawn

Braddock Hall

Well, it's late and we're all pretty tired but the Braddock Hall is ready for a PARTY!!!!! Oh, what fun we had decorating today. I'll post pictures later of our preparations as I'm too tired to do all of that now. Mostly I'm writing to ask for prayer for our family tomorrow. Robert is still coughing a little so I'm hoping that our program will go well with our leader under par.

The weather took a turn for the worse. We accepted today that the campfire is out tomorrow night as it is RAINING CATS AND DOGS! We came home and got a bunch of our favorite games together to take along to play with those who will stay and play with us afterwards. I asked Andy this afternoon when he came over to help us get the piano out, "We can't have our campfire tomorrow night so would it be ok if we stay here and play games?" I meant, "Is there a time that we need to be out of here tomorrow?" He chuckled and said, "You look old enough not to need a curfew." I laughed and was glad that we have a back-up plan now that the good old outdoors has chosen to be so inhospitable. Oh well, I know that the Lord has a reason for everything. It's up to us to be happy in all circumstances and know that He has our good in mind at all times. Isn't that wonderful?

My friend, Becky Miller, called tonight and said that she can come early to help in the kitchen so I was glad for that. The food is pretty much ready to assemble. Tomorrow I'll need to warm the beans and the meat; make the punch; set out the buns; & put the salads together.

The boys mixed up their trail mix today when we were over there. This is Andrew's recipe so if he doesn't like it, it isn't my fault. :) This is a joke as I had my hands full to keep those boys out of it today so we have some left for our guests tomorrow. :) They took 4 cans of mixed nuts and added a bag of craisins (dried cranberries) and a bag of M & Ms. I wasn't too excited about the M & Ms, but it's Andrew's only graduation so I guess he can have a little sugar. We won't talk about the cake. :)

We also spent some time setting up the puppet stage over there. This is going to be a tricky deal and the only thing that makes me REALLY nervous. We're trying out a new idea in an attempt to save our neck and shoulders. Usually we lift our arms over the top of the stage. Well, Andrew said one day, "Why couldn't we just hold the puppets in front of us? That will save a lot of wear and tear on our arms and shoulders." GOOD IDEA. Anyway, he rigged us up a stage out of PVC pipe and an old sheet. We cut slits in the sheet and slid the puppets through from behind. I felt funny because I know that part of me was visible during the going in and out process but Robert said that he never even noticed. Puppets are so fascinating to people that the human isn't even the object of attention. I'm hoping that it will all go well.

Well, I better get some sleep so that I can keep up with my family tomorrow. I've been doing really well so far, thanks to just having done the master cleanse, but sleep is also a big part of good health. :)

Our family prayer time was really special tonight as it entered Andrew's brain that, tomorrow night at this time, everyone in our family will view him as a man. He's no longer my sweet little boy seen in the slide show we put together for the big event. I'll run the video of that ASAP as he is soooooo special to me!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so pleased with this son of mine--what an incredible man of God Andrew will be.

PLEASE KEEP OUR FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS TOMORROW!!!!!!!

After cleanse day 2

WOW--what a wonderfully busy day it was yesterday. After chores I raced to Bismarck for my session with Gwen. It was so bonding as I realized that she, too, has very bad memories of her childhood in Eureka. Praise the Lord that through His modeling forgiveness for us we too can learn to forgive, which is sooooooooo empowering. Through this, plus the help of BodyTalk (BT) sessions, I have learned that these very negative emotions can be negated. As always, 2 negatives make a positive so YES, we can be free from the things which torment us in our subconscious mind. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!

After Gwen's session I went dress shopping at all of the thrift stores in Bismarck. It was a little more difficult than it was to find one for Cora's. Cora's main color was blue and Andrew's is yellow. Did you ever hit thrift shops intending to find a yellow dress in your size? At one place I found this cute little dress with daisies on it selling for the massive price of 99 cents. SOLD to the lady in love with daisies--that would be me! But, alas, it wasn't yellow or fancy so I knew that wasn't the one for the party.

When I was at SEEDS OF HOPE, I found 2 very lovely yellow dresses with roses on them but both were too small!!! It was disappointing, after working so hard to lose the 25 pounds, but then one was a size 8 and the other a size 14. Let's be reasonable here now, Dawn.

Finally I went to the Hodge Podge which so often has had "Just the thing." Actually what I bought isn't what I was thinking of buying but there just aren't that many yellow dresses. It's a very cute jumper with adorable buttons on. I was trying to find just the right shade of blue blouse to go with it but was running out of time, when I saw this very nice white blouse. Now, I have been looking for a nice, white blouse for ages so this was a bit of a miracle. I grabbed it and tried them both on. Although it wasn't fancy or anything, it was very much home schoolish and I was out of time. Both fit loosely and even I had to admit that I looked MUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCH better than I did 4 months ago when I began with the Master Cleanse.

After this I went to Chuppe's chiropractic clinic where Andrew was waiting for me. We went in to see Dr. Steve and in walked John Martins. After greeting him, I asked if Carrie was along and he said that she was outside. So out I went--into the arms of an old friend.

Carrie told me all about how Chuppes had helped their family but also that my 1 session on her had helped her dehydration problem for months afterwards. I told her that I have an office in town now and gave her my card. I hope that they'll come to see me as I have been praying for so long to be able to break into the home school community with BodyTalk.

From here Andrew and I drove out to FCS in Mandan and I signed the papers for the financing for this year. It'll be nice to get some cash flowing in again as we just made the payment on the land in April; the swather in May; and now the graduation in June-although that 's a small bill in comparison.

Then Andrew and I ran back to Bismarck to get new blades and a belt for the lawn mower. In the meantime, Robert went over to the implement lot where he signed paperwork to apply for financing on the big, square baler we hope to buy. While I did a second session, Andrew got his motorcycle spark plugs as it doesn't run very well without it. After this we went to Runnings to get some more things for the party and Andrew picked out some new wrenches which we're giving him for his graduation gift.

We next headed to Sam's club where we pulled in nose-to-nose with John Martin's van again. We all laughed so hard!!! Another neat surprise that the Lord had for us was we some of Caleb Wandington's family. Andrew enjoyed getting to visit with the twins a few minutes and they told us that they had seen us at Chuppe's too. They were playing their instruments in their van when Andrew had come out of the clinic. Caleb had gone into the back room right before we got there and left after we came out, so we missed seeing them there.

I PRAISE GOD for how He times things so that people can meet each other. Twice yesterday I found myself going the wrong way and was getting a little stressed about it for wasting time. Both times, though, I felt the Lord urging me to remain at peace that it was His will so that things would be timed perfectly. Well, I would call 2 families walking in to Sam's Club at exactly the same time as being timed perfectly. They live 120 miles west of Bismarck and we 60 miles east but God brought us together JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME!!!!!!! Now, isn't that comforting?

So we loaded up the van and headed home. Andrew had finished his last required reading for school on the way up to Bismarck. This book is called HOME SCHOOLING-THE RIGHT CHOICE! So he started working on his speech at Chuppe's and on the way home. I laughed so hard when he read to me his thank you to his mom for helping him learn to write when he hated it; for helping him to learn to read when he wouldn't sit still; and for helping him learn Algebra although some of the times he had to teach ME the lessons. What a great young man he is, if I do say so myself!!!

So this is one last invitation to anyone who would like to come to the graduation, PLEASE COME! We're going to have a ball and I have planned for about 45 extra people whom I think may come but haven't said either way yet. It's at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon in the Braddock Hall, Braddock, ND.

When we got home, chores were done so I had time to exercise yet. What a perfect day it was for me. I got to see friends; I got to help 2 of my clients; we got our financing lined up, AND I got to buy a "New" dress. Perhaps the best part of it all was that I got to eat solid food for the first time in 18 days. I helped myself to half a cup of muskmelon for breakfast; an apple for lunch; and a banana for supper. WHAT LUXURY!!! The rest of the day I drank lemonade.

Now I KNOW this is the best news. This morning, when I weighed myself, I had lost 2 more pounds. That makes 15 all together since I started the cleanse this time and 27 since January. My goal is 6 more by Sunday so I PRESS ON TO THE MARK.................

Now this morning Cora and I just got in from getting the mail. It was so cute as we both got checks in the mailbox. She got paid for her 2 cakes and I got paid for my 2 BT sessions. Sometimes I just have to stop and say, "It's a wonderful life."

Will post pictures of the new bulls later.

Appleseed Shoot pictures

I don't have much time to write but I'll say that I didn't have to drive tractor yesterday as the disc needed repairs before it could go in the field. YIPEE. Although that means that I'll have to do it today. Still, I got to dig in the dirt of my garden and that always makes me happy. Cora planted the rest of the west side, including my red clover patch (long story). Jacob and I put out the cabbages, and other brassicas, and the pepper plants. We also started weeding the potatoes.

Graduation news is that 80 people have responded with RSVP cards saying that they're coming. We finished the slide show yesterday, so that's one thing to scratch off of the list. Now we need to get our menfolk in singing condition. Andrew declares that he is "Over it"; Jacob is almost well; and Robert said that his chest is much looser this morning, so all of these are good news. Please continue praying for our family during this EXTREMELY busy week. I should add that we're making the beans for the graduation and that has added a wonderful aroma to the house. We all just LOVE this recipe so it's been hard not to eat any, but I'm sure that I'll enjoy them EXTRA on Sunday. :)

If you're interested in reading about the shoot last weekend, you can go to Andrew's buddy's blog. Jonathan Bartlett posted yesterday, with some pictures, so you can learn a bit more about it. Here's the link: http://jonathanjbartlett.blogspot.com/. As usual, this young man did phenomenally well! I am so proud of him and, I believe I have said before, love him like a son!!!

Lastly is the news on the cleanse. I am officially done with it. The next 3 days will be spent in adjusting back to solid food. Today I drink, with the lemonade, any fruit or vegetable juices that I like. Tomorrow I can add fruits and vegetables; and on Thursday I can eat one light meal. After that I need to gradually add lighter foods and then back to "Normal". So far I've lost 13 pounds which puts me at 25 pounds less than I weighed in January. I patted myself on the back this morning as I pondered this fact. True, it didn't come off as fast as it does for some people, but 25 pounds less is 25 pounds less to carry around all the time. GOOD FOR ME!!! :)

Well, I need to drain the beans; put them in the freezer; and make a new batch. There are also tomato plants to set out; the door frame to be painted; and plans made for our trip to Bismarck tomorrow. Up there I MUST find myself a dress to wear to the graduation. At least now we know that it should be in the yellow family. You can see Cora's blog for details on this if you're interested in knowing how we decided on yellow. Here's the link:
http://maidenhouseofgod.blogspot.com/

Oh yes, I almost forgot. We received an invitation in the mail today to a wedding in Fargo in July. The bride is Cora's life-long friend, Kjersti Braun. As we walked in from the mailbox, Cora and I were dreaming about being able to attend. We reasoned that, being we didn't get to go to Whitney's wedding, maybe the guys would do chores so that we can go to Kjersti's. :) We'll have to talk about that NEXT WEEK!

Until tomorrow,

Dawn

Master Cleanse 2-Day 15

IT'S THE LAST DAY OF THE FULL CLEANSE!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow I will start the 3 day process of coming out of it. Actually I've been a little discouraged this morning. I only lost 13 pounds instead of the 20 I had hoped for when I had such a great start. I am stronger, though, and my brain is more clear than it has been in 3 years so these are no small matters to be thankful for. Still, when I felt led to read MORNING AND EVENING, as I sipped my lemonade for breakfast, I knew that the Lord had something special planned for me. I JUST LOVE THAT BOOK!!! I plan to read it twice a day but hardly ever manage to do it. At times when the Lord says, "READ" then I know it is EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN NEEDING!!! This is what it said for this morning. The passage is Genesis 1:5. The evening and the morning were the first day.

Was it so even in the beginning? Did light and darkness divide the realm of time in the first day? Then little wonder is it if I have also changes in my circumstances from the sunshine of prosperity to the midnight of adversity. It will not always be the blaze of noon even in my soul concerns, I must expect at seasons to mourn the absence of my former joys, and seek my Beloved in the night. Nor am I alone in this, for all the Lord's beloved ones have had to sing the mingled song of judgement and of mercy, of trial and deliverance, of mourning and of delight. It is one of the arrangements of Divine providence that day and night shall not cease either in the spiritual or natural creation till we reach the land of which it is written, "There is no night there." What our heavenly Father ordains is wise and good.
What then, my soul, is it best for thee to do? Learn first TO BE CONTENT with this divine order, and be willing, with Job, to receive evil from the hand of the Lord as well as good. Study next, to make the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice. Praise the Lord for the sun of joy when it rises, and for the gloom of evening as it falls. There is beauty both in sunrise and sunset, sing of it, and glorify the Lord. Like the nightingale, pour fourth thy notes at all hours. Believe the THE NIGHT IS AS USEFUL AS THE DAY. The dews of grace fall heavily in the night of sorrow. The stars of promise shine forth gloriously amid the darkness of grief. CONTINUE THY SERVICE under all changes. If in the day they watchword be LABOR, at night exchange it for WATCH. Every hour has its duty, do thou continue in thy calling as the Lord's servant until He shall suddenly appear in His glory. My soul, thine evening of old age and death is drawing near, dread it not, for it is part of the day; and the Lord also said, "I will cover him all the day long.

Now I must go and drive tractor all day. Maybe Cora will get a picture of me leaving the yard that I can post tomorrow. This is my duty today although it is not my favorite thing to do. I would much rather be transplanting my plants into the garden; or editing the puppet skit for the graduation; or even finishing my thank yous for mom's funeral--maybe even butchering chickens. It usually makes my neck hurt but this is my duty and my carriage awaits, as Robert usually says when he pulls the tractor up in front of the house for me to take out to the field.

We would all appreciate your prayers for our family this week as we prepare for Andrew's graduation day in 6 days. How can it be that my little boy is now a man? This, too, I must learn to accept. Stacey prayed so powerfully this morning, when she called, so I take comfort in knowing that God will answer all prayers on our behalf and give us strength for this VERY BUSY WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My life-long favorite verse comes to mind now and I close with it. It's found in 1 Corinthians 10:13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." God has ALWAYS made a way for me to escape yeilding to the temptation of self-pity and bitterness of heart. I am confident that He will do so again TODAY!!!!!!!!

Master Cleanse 2--Day 14

Well, this is day 14 and so far so good. Last night I was very glad that nobody wanted any popcorn. We have a tradition here that I make tons of popcorn on Saturday night and the children put all kinds of toppings on it. Then we sit down and watch an old rerun of Bonanza while we enjoy our smorgasbord of popcorn delights. I'm not sure why nobody brought up popcorn last night--maybe they were just trying to be kind to me. Cora said this morning, when I told her that this was day 14, "OH GOOD." I asked her why and she said that it's hard for her when I'm on the cleanse because she needs my opinion on what to cook and food is what I'm avoiding right now. She wants to be kind and not bring it up but we've planned our menus together for years. I was glad that she shared this with me so that I can make others award of this--when you are on the cleanse it will affect your whole family.


Now there are good affects. I feel so much stronger and have so much less pain in my neck and shoulders than before the cleanse. It seems that each cleanse must go deeper into the old garbage and cleanse at a deeper level. My thinking is so much more precise too which really comes in handy with the graduation a WEEK AWAY!!!


The weight loss seems to be stalled, so I've been praying about that. Knowing that weight gain is tied to stress (see THE CORTISOL FACTOR), I'm wondering if all of our men catching this bug has stressed me more than I thought it was. That, plus mom's death last month; the shoot; and the graduation coming up may have all caused my cortisol levels to rise more than usual. Apparently the extra stress has affected our men-folk too as they are having a much harder time than usual shaking this cough. :)


Anyway, today I made yogurt and cheese with the nice supply of goat's milk that we've been enjoying since most of our goats recently kidded. I also worked on laundry as the breeze was just great! Keeping the geese in their new pen was another project. I didn't ever find them swimming but when I do, I'll post a picture of them.

It was such a lovely day and Cora and Andrew finished with mowing and trimming up the yard across the road. We still call this "Glady's place" for the widow lady who owned the farm before us. Her son lived in this house and, when they moved to Minneapolis, they sold her modular home that she lived in over there. Some day I'd like to have a health center in that location. This has been a dream of mine every since '06 when I was so blessed to have a place to go when on my deathbed. I want to give the ill a place to go where they can have have the best alternative health care available complete with our organic beef, grains, milk, and vegetables. I will never be able to repay Paulette for all that she did for me those 18 days I lay there at her center in the Turtle Mountains. Somehow I feel that, by offering others such a place, I will be able to pass on the blessing that she gave to me during those long, weary hours. Thanks again, Paulette.

Now I just finished a BodyTalk session on a client; family prayers have been said; and I'm planning on giving Robert a session too. We have GOT to get rid of this cough BY SUNDAY so that we can sing our best for the Lord at the graduation. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE LORD TO HEAL US COMPLETELY BY THEN!!! If we could only find a way to eliminate stress from our lives, we'd probably never get sick. Oh by the way, so far I'm doing great in fighting off this dastardly bug so that is a BIG plus for the Master Cleanse. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!

14 hours left to sign up...

Dear friends,
Things are in full swing for the boys to head up to the shoot tomorrow. Jacob and I drove to Wishek this afternoon to pick up the camper which they will take with them. My brother, Duard, and his wife brought dad's camper up from Eureka so we got to visit with them a few minutes. A little over a month ago this would not have been a blessing, but they both have been so good to work with since mom's death! They said that dad was over at their house this morning and he was laughing with them!!!!!!!!! Sharel said that he brought her candy and I dropped my jaw from shock. I've never known my dad to think of other people's needs, let alone desires. Still, Robert said to me recently that he'll know that the leopard has changed his spots when dad calls ME to see how WE are doing. This has never happened in my life so I guess that Robert is right not to get too hopeful that I will have a relationship with my dad some day. Duard is dad's favorite child so it is natural that he would reach out to him. I, unfortunately, was born a girl. ):

Anyway, about the shoot at Chris's place--we went on the Appleseed Shoot website and read this article. Fred certainly is an inspiring writer if not technically "Perfect." PLEASE, if you care about the future of the country our children will inherit, PLEASE READ THIS SHORT ARTICLE. Please be in prayer for the shoot this weekend. We checked and there are still 14 hours left to sign up if anyone is considering going. If that is not possible, PLEASE keep this event in your prayers. Pray for safety of all in attendance and that hearts will wake up to the responsibility which is all of ours to defend that which is good and decent in our country. Here's the link to the article we just read. http://www.appleseedinfo.org/as_our_plan.htm

Well, Cora is playing her half of the piano duet which we are working on for the graduation and I can't resist joining her at the piano for a few minutes of practice time. It's getting so close now that we are starting to make lists of things to do before the big day. When I was in Napoleon, I ordered the boutonniere for Andrew so I can scratch that off of the list and replace it with, "Pick up the bout on Friday, June 5th." I picked a yellow carnation, as he has been in love with yellow all of his life--Lego's didn't help that any. :) She will also add 2 small daisies for each one of his daisy-loving parents--it should be nice. I'M STARTING TO GET SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!

MC2-Days 5, 6, & 7

This came as an email forward from organic farming friends last night. We watched it over and over until our hearts were as light as theirs. I thought that I'd add it here to lighten this very imperfect blog post. This is what was said about it on YouTube. "An old couple walked into the lobby of the Mayo Clinic and spotted a piano. They've been married for 62 years and he'll be 90 this year." I feel that this is a perfect example of the thought pattern that I am trying to establish in my mind--that old age is simply a matter of attitude.

Mrs. Perfectionist is feeling pressure here because I didn't keep my word to myself to write every day of the Master Cleanse, like I did last time. I tell you this perfectionism thing is a pain in the neck--literally it causes my neck more pain when I INSIST THAT EVERYTHING BE PERFECT. I think I got some life-changing help, though, on Friday when my neighbor lady, Tamera, came to visit & to pick up Olivia's birthday cake. Cora has posted pictures on her blog of our visit if you'd like to see them (sorry Tamera--maybe the comparison will come next time.)

On Friday I was sharing with Tamera that I noticed lately that I seem to be so obsessed with little things. She, being a true friend and also a medical doctor, told me that she noticed that about me a loooooong time ago. She defined it for me as obsessive compulsive disorder. There, now I feel better that I know the name of it. She also told me that she has seen it disappearing as I get better AND that the fact that I became aware of it recently is a good sign. Usually people are totally unaware of these things when they need them for a crutch. As a person gets well, they can gradually let go of their crutches and just be happy being themselves--THAT IS THE GOAL!!!!!!!

I was telling Tamera that earlier in the week we had had pizza for supper. There were 3 pieces of pizza left on the pan when everyone was full. Two were facing one way and the other was at a very odd angle to them. In my mind I could see that everything would be just "Perfect" if SOMEBODY would slide that 3 piece of pizza into the other 2 so that they would fit together nicely on the pan.

I was getting stressed about this. Why couldn't anyone else see that the piece of pizza needed to be slid into it's "Proper" spot? That night I had finally laughed at myself and explained to my family that I couldn't have peace until the pizza pieces were all lined up correctly. You should have seen the looks I got

Tamera explained to me that the best thing for me to do, now that I can see this as "ODD", is to just go ahead and "Fix the problem" right away. She explained that if I had just slid the pizza piece in it's "Proper" spot as soon as it bugged me, I would have been able to lower my tension level immediately. I wouldn't have had to drag my family into my "Plight" at all and tensions would never have mounted. WOW. Thank you, Tamera, for helping me to see myself more clearly here!!

Since then, I've straightened out my bedspread even though my family was waiting for me to go to Eureka. By doing it right away, it no longer had the power over me to whisper all day, "I'm wrinkled--you're a poor housekeeper." WOW--that was a major de-stressing victory for me yesterday when I had enough stress to deal with just going to the graduation and my brother's house for the reception.

So Friday we cleaned the house; made the feast; visited with the neighbors; and I resolved not to be so PERFECT that it KILLS me if everything in the world ISN'T perfect. That resolution came in handy when we were in Eureka.

First I should say that we most likely would not have gone to my nephew Dylan's graduation in Eureka if my mom hadn't died. I knew that I needed to go and check on dad so we headed down there--it's an 80 mile drive. Andrew was excited to go pick up his new dirt bike that Uncle Ronald brought down from Fargo for him. It helped to have him along--at least somebody was excited about going to Eureka.

Anyway, it was a typical graduation except that they had it out by the lake. It really was a gorgeous setting and the weather was perfect. We got to sit by our home school friends, Donald and Roxanne and their 2 children. I was glad that we were sitting by them when the valedictorian very crudely snubbed home schooled students. We were all shocked!! Apparently the home schoolers keep beating their team at the state level in the brains' division. She thought it a good time to vent her anger about that and neither the Gills nor us were impressed. Robert did say on the way home that we should take it as a complement that the school system HAS noticed home schooling as an effective form of education.

The cool part is that Dylan included me in the list of ladies he honored with a rose. I was pretty surprised but pleasantly so. Also I was so happy that the Lord provided a nice tray of fresh fruit at Duard and Sharel's house. I was dreading going to the reception as it feels plenty silly not eating with my family here at home, but going to a party and not eating would seem "Ungrateful." With things not being good between our 2 families for decades I just did not want to make a scene by not eating. Having to say something like, "I'm on the master cleanse and am not eating anything for 15 days didn't seem like much comfort either." So, when I saw all of the wonderful fresh fruit, I delighted myself. This IS allowed under the phrase in the MC book, "If you simply MUST eat something, eat fruit." I just don't want to get in that habit because I WANT TO STAY TRUE TO THE PLAN AND LOOSE AS MUCH WEIGHT AS I POSSIBLY CAN." Any time a person on the cleanse eats, it slows down the detoxifying process and that is not the goal.

Speaking of this, I should say that yesterday morning I decided to weigh myself and found that I'd lost another 3 pounds in those 2 days. So far then, I've lost 9 pounds in 6 days. I decided to pat myself on the back when I was telling Robert about it and he chuckled. Knowing that the cleanse is working made it easier to sit and watch my family eat their fruit, chips, sandwiches, taco salad, and cake. TACO SALAD TOO--I LOVE THAT STUFF!!!

Well, today is 2 weeks until Andrew's graduation and I want to be the best that I can possibly be, so I press on. I didn't weigh this morning because I don't want to know if the fruit changed anything. How's that for denial? Truthfully, it takes a lot of prayer to prepare food for my family and know that I will have my lemonade for that meal while they enjoy the results of my labor. Friday night feast was the worst but maybe this week I'll have some fruit. :)

Well, we're going to plant the rest of the garden this afternoon; Spring clean the whole house; and take a nice leisurely nap so I'd better close. Then I wonder why I get stressed when I set such unrealistic goals for myself. OH GOD, HELP ME TO FIND THE BALANCE THAT WILL BRING ME TO TOTAL WELLNESS.

Thanks for your prayers and support as I continue on my journey towards wholeness and balance. If others have ideas to share about keeping positive along the way, please let me know.

Love to all,

Dawn

MC2-Day 4

Today was the worst day yet. I was achy, grouchy, tired, and anxious. Still, we got the newly-planted grass covered with a layer of straw; another area planted and covered; my winter clothes put away; and 2 chores finished. Every good thing is worth working for. Please pray for me. Now Robert is ready for his haircut.

The work is never finished on a dairy farm and there is no such thing as a day off. The milking MUST be done twice a day no matter what the weather is and no matter what you are feeling like. I have had to learn to take little siestas wherever I can in order to keep myself going. Sometimes it's a soak in the whirlpool; sometimes a piano duet with Cora; sometimes writing on my blog; often it's doing cortices; and most of the time it's talking to my Heavenly Father who never gets a break either.

I wish that I had known, early in my marriage, that it's important for me to nurture myself in these little ways throughout the day. I thought that I was more "Christian" if I just gave myself away and never expected anything in return. That's the kind of thinking that landed me in bed for months with shingles on my brain. That's not the answer either. I have come to see that true health only comes from achieving balance between serving the Lord; serving others; and meeting my needs. The order of priority here changes from day to day, or from hour to hour, but I have come to see that I MUST make my needs a priority somewhere in the midst of the busyness of EVERY DAY!!!

I have come to appreciate the Reiki principals, which I recite to myself every day. Reiki is the laying on of hands, as spoken of in the Bible, where God's power flows through the person to bless others. I've added a few words to the last one as a reminder of my need to value myself. This is how they go.

Just for today, I will be thankful for my many blessings.

Just for today, I will not worry.

Just for today, I will not be angry.

Just for today, I will do my work honestly.

Just for today, I will be kind to my neighbor and every living thing,

(This is where I add) and to myself.

It's amazing how these simple thoughts have guided my thinking in the past half a year. You see, I used to think that I had to change my whole life before I would be acceptable to God and to myself. I'd give up in despair because how can anyone change their whole life in just one day? Now I see that I only need to be in control of myself ONE DAY AT A TIME!!! Taking control of every day, one day at a time, IS changing the rest of my life. Thinking this way has removed the burden of "Tomorrow." It isn't resting on me today making the burden impossible--all I have to do is live today well and then tomorrow will be well too! :)

This reminds me of another treasure I have to share. These words hang on a plaque in my bathroom and have blessed me immeasurably too. It says, "Today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope."

We only have today to live well so let's pick ourselves up; dust ourselves off; and get up in the saddle again dear friends. HAPPY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought that I'd mention that we reached 50 on the head count for Andrew's graduation today. Please keep the RSVPs coming as I plan to order the food next week.

Printers :)

It has been a looooooooooooong 3 days. Cora, Jacob, and I are working on printing Andrew's graduation invitations. First our printer was totally stupid. It would print one or two and then all of a sudden leave huge streaks in the picture. I picked a picture of Andrew when he was a cute, little fellow sitting on Cora's desk. I imagine that he was dreaming of the day when he would be "Big enough" to have a desk of his own.

The next day we called our neighbors and asked if we could come over and print the invitations on their printer. Tamera said that we could but she only has black and white. Stacey wasn't home, but called later, and said that she would be happy to bring her almost new printer over here. Well, we got 6 printed that night with Stacey's printer when, guess what? All of a sudden we had streaks in the pictures again. Andrew said that it must have run out of black ink.

So yesterday Stacey called and said that she will use the darkest navy, blue ink when she runs out of black, and it's hard to tell that it isn't black. We tried it and IT WORKED--PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!! So we got the invitations all printed AND the RSVP cards all printed and we were ecstatic! SO, after chores last night, we started working on the envelopes. Cora and Jacob worked over an hour trying to get one of the printers to print the envelopes. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Every time that they tried printing one, it spit the envelope out at them again with all sorts of weird, gobble-dee-gook on it.

Well, I am determined that these are going out in the mail tomorrow!!! Now that it's snowing this morning, (yesterday it was 81 degrees here) Andrew can't clean grain. This means that he will be here to try to help us figure out the printer problem. I have decided, though, that even if he can't get it to work, we are going to HAND ADDRESS all 102 of them. Can you believe it? Like actually work at this? Sometimes I think that it would be easier to just do it all by hand--but then I think of my penmanship. ):

After chores this morning, I'll have to drive into Napoleon to buy post card stamps because I forgot to get them when I was in town the other day. Then we will put all of these stamps on the return address cards (which we hand cut by the way). Then we will match the return addresses on them to the addresses on the envelopes. We'll put the cards in the envelopes; stick in an invitation (still not all folded); pick the "Perfect" pictures for each family; put stamps on the envelopes; put them all in the mailbox tomorrow morning; and it will be over. I'm writing all of this so that you can know if you receive one of these in your mailbox on Monday, that we have gone through GREAT LENGTHS to get them to you. I should also mention that Tamera is going to pick us up more ink in Bismarck today so you can know that this has been a community effort. :)I thank you, Tamera, and you, Stacey, and you, Cora, and you, Jacob, and you, Andrew, for all of your help in this very simple task of printing the invitations.

Well anyway, here are some pictures that we took last Sabbath of the graduate who is worth all of the effort in the world to honor as the special son that he is. I love you Andrew! Thanks for letting me dote on you and get you just "Perfect" for your pictures, as is seen in this picture. :)

Robert's favorite picture of his son in whom he is well pleased. :)

It was my idea to have Andrew take his jacket off and

fling it over his shoulder in a casual way. At first he

thought that I was pretty goofy, but now he likes this

picture too.

Cora asked Andrew to sit like this and we all like the

affect of the formal clothing and a casual pose.

Here Andrew is unashamedly posing with

his "Good, old mom." I have to wonder what

our relationship would be like had he been

educated in the system. I love my "Shorty"

soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!!

Well since I started writing, Andrew woke up and worked on the printer. We feel a little better that he's having trouble with the printer too (it isn't just US) but that doesn't get the invitations out in the mailbox today. Still, I am determined to scratch this project off of my "To-do" list for the week. I decided, therefore, that they're going out TODAY even if we have to HAND ADDRESS them--how is that for old fashioned? :)