Crocheted Insanity

Well, the Attaway household is now running over with winter hats, crocheted by yours truly. I made Ella one, and Edwin became jealous and begged me to make him one. I'm not sure why. I've never seen him wear a hat unless it was a baseball cap. Oh, and it is 100 degree most days. Still, he wanted one, so I made it. I've made two others, for what purpose, I am not sure.

I'm working on an afghan. It's going to take a little while longer than the hats, I'm afraid. I hope that DeLaynie will enjoy playing with it with her dolls, and maybe she'll even cuddle up with it on occasion. Now, I never thought I'd say this, and I'm a little embarrassed, but I have found my favorite yarn. It's called "I Love This Yarn!", and it's only available at Hobby Lobby, a Christian owned and operated company. It's wonderfully soft, inexpensive, and I highly recommend it to all you crafters out there.

Well, the end of my one-year commitment is coming to a close. I will hit the mediocre age of 25 on July 24th (as you should see from the address). I haven't developed a plan for the blog after that date, though I do plan to keep on blogging. Because of the frustrations surrounding dial-up, I haven't been blogging at my normal rate anyway. I'll try to pick up the pace, but I'm running out of things to say. I hate to say it, but there's just not much going on right now. I can only talk about yarn for so long.

Keep on praying that God will open some doors to a new job where we can be used and DeLaynie can get all the therapy she needs. Thanks for your support. It still matters!!!

Meyers-Briggs

The very last class we took at the missionary training center was on the Meyers-Briggs personality instrument. We learned a lot about working with people whose personalities differ from ours, and we also discovered a few things about ourselves.

I was shocked to discover that I tested well into the extrovert category. I was not shocked, however, to see that I am a thinker, as opposed to a feeler. The woman teaching the class made the comment, "Most people just don't know what to do with a woman thinker." Well, that's true. Only 30% of the world's female population fall into such a category. We have a little trouble with male feelers (who make up the same percentage, 30%, of their own sex), but female thinkers seem anti-instinctive.

Applications? Maybe I would find housework more bearable if I were a feeler. I mean, spending a grand total of an hour and a half on preparation and clean up for a meager fifteen minutes of eating just isn't logical. If I were to get a buzz from knowing that my family is full, happy, and grateful, maybe it would be a more desirable task. For me, though, it's just something that I do because it's my job (although I still think a frozen pizza makes more sense and accomplishes the same, basic task).

Beyond that, it's helpful to know that I'm not heartless, just thinky. Just because thinkers prefer logical analysis to mushy emotion, it doesn't mean that we don't have feelings. In fact, right now I'm feeling quite thirsty. See? Maybe I can be emotional.

I Did It... Sort Of

I have been trying to learn to crochet. I have a hard time keeping the rows a consistent length, but I'm making progress. I finally finished a hat. It's the simplest of hats. It's pretty much a tube with one end pulled tightly together. Unfortunately, I didn't make it big enough for anyone in our family to actually wear, except for Mrs. Bunny here.

Last night I went to a 31 party, yarn and needle in tow. It just so happened that the hostess crochets, as I was hoping someone would. She showed me the basics of the Granny Square, and I'm making some progress in that area. It's slow work, but while I keep trying, focus your eyes on this bad puppy. I know. It's one impressive work of crafting... or something like that. Mrs. Bunny has been very grateful as she has bad circulation, making her quite chilly. At least someone is benefiting from this little endeavor. :)

Housebound (and pictures, too!)

We're going to be home this week. All the time. We're using this opportunity, with two stay-at-home parents, to get DeLaynie potty trained. I've made the commitment that until DeLaynie is completely trained, or until church Sunday morning, we will be here.




Progress? Well, 4 successes and 0 failures for the day so far! Maybe we'll get to leave the house before church on Sunday!

Well, I figured out that I can compress the pictures and upload them, even on dial-up. So, here are pictures. They're in no particular order, I'm afraid. I just couldn't move them. I don't know why, but I dedided that I shouldn't push my luck.

DeLaynie, lounging in the grass, just daring a tick to get her.

Edwin and DeLaynie yesterday after church. That girl is a daddy's girl to the core.

Ella, looking out the window. This picture has no significance. I just liked it.

DeLaynie and Ella riding on the gardening wagon at Granny and Pa's house. The first thing she said when we went outside to the lovely backyard was, "Where's the wagon?"

Ella and her good friend, the straw.

DeLaynie.

My dad and Ella.

A family picture.

Edwin's dad, Bill, and Bill's wife, Cindy. Oh, and our girls.

Edwin and his dad.

There Is No Common Thread For This Post

I have some fabulous news! No, we don't have a job. I'm not totally sure that the English language has an adjective to describe such an announcement. But, we do have internet! It's slow, good, old-fashioned dial-up, but it works, and I am now able to blog from the den of our mission house.

Moving on...

We received a package this week that made us especially happy. It was an envelope full of prayer cards from missionaries who are leaving for other countries. Some are leaving tomorrow. Some have already left. Others are going to be delayed for a while because of legal issues with their visas and other hold-ups. We now have a photo album full of 4o cards representing 40 families and individuals who are sacrificing their ideas of normal for the sake of Christ.

Today we went to Dothan to see my grandparents, the girls' great-grandparents. The girls had a great time. Unfortunately, it was just too ridiculously hot for the girls to spend much time in their gorgeous yard. DeLaynie still remembered the garden wagon that she so enjoyed in February, and she asked to play on it. She only lasted a few minutes, but she really seemed to enjoy those minutes. I'll post some pictures from today when we have the pleasure of high-speed internet.

Don't forget Father's Day this Sunday. And don't eat any Tollhouse Cookie Dough, even if you cook it. There's a recall on it due to E-coli. Just a thought to ease you into the joy of the weekend. Though, what is a weekend without raw cookie dough?

Happy Commissioning

Today is the commissioning service for the missionaries with whom we trained. Congratulations! Obviously, we wish that we were next to you today. We desire nothing more than to be getting on a plane in two days. That just wasn't God's plan for us. We are glad, however, that it is God's plan for you. We are honored to know you. You are in our prayers. (For those of you who are not missionaries, you should know that those being sent are incredible people. They are worth every penny that we Southern Baptists invest in them.)

As for us, we have a few leads, but nothing particularly promising. We are sure that God has something for us out there. We look forward to finding out what, exactly, that is.

We designed a prayer card of sorts, though we didn't want to pay money to have them printed. I figured that I would just share it with you this way:

In other, far less eternally consequential matters, potty training is going much better. She is using the potty seat all by herself now. We are going with the nudist approach, not that you really needed that image burned in your brain. We are very proud of our little Laynie Bug.

Summer is in full, muggy swing here in Alabama. I've determined that Alabama is a more lovable state when in a long-distance relationship. It's just so hot! I know, we were going to move to Nicaragua, which is somehow hotter and more humid. Somehow it's less bearable without fried tortillas.

DeLaynie loves the kiddie pool her Granny 'Wina (Edwin's mom) bought her. We love that there's a backyard to put it in. Ella doesn't care for it, though. She seems pretty freaked- out about it. They also have an inch-worm sprinkler. Ella likes it a little more, but DeLaynie is more fond of the pool. I hope to have some pictures soon. It's hard for me to remember to take pictures right now. If I ever finish a crochet project, you can be sure I'll remember to post a picture of it. But I wouldn't count on that. It probably won't happen.

A Study in "Almost"

We almost had internet. Technically, we had dial-up for a day and a half, but then something happened, and our motem kicked the bucket. We have no desire to buy an all-new dial-up motem for a few weeks on internet. I didn't even get a chance to blog from the house. (I'm at my parents, my favorite wi-fi hot-spot.)

I'm almost crocheting. I don't know what I'm doing, but it isn't actually crocheting. I'm playing with yarn in the hopes that something will eventually be produced. Nothing so far. I have a $4 book from WalMart on the subject, but I'm not following. I'm fairly good at learning things from a book (cooking, for instance), but I wish this thing had a glossary. I may run to the local (tiny) WalMart and see if they have a more in-depth book on the subject. About thirty years from now, I may just have a scarf to show for the experience. Probably not, but I am trying to talk myself into believing it.