Yesterday was an interesting day-unfortunately, not a day of rest.

We had lunch with some old friends who are going through a hard time with family situations. They are really gracious people and very hospitable, and we agree on many issues, for example politics and the war. After lunch I shared a little about my trip to NC and I mentioned that I am looking for something to do now, and our hostess told me I ought to leave home, to be on my own and to do “my thing”. At least I am past people telling me I need to go to college! Now I just need to get out of the house away from my family and do my own thing! If only people understood: I do want to pursue my interests, but I love being with my family and I don't want to live away from them for long periods of time. Being away from my God-given support system is not healthy.

After that we went to look at two houses that had their good points, but it's not likely that we would seriously consider buying them. Next we went to look at the only straw bale house in Omaha. The owners are catholic and have eight children- a really neat family. The house itself is obviously unique. While we were there another couple came to see the house as well, and the husband turned out to be from Scotland. What an interesting day! We visit a straw bale house and meet someone from Scotland.

Is YOUR house ready to show?

It most certainly is not. With so many people living in one home, the three levels of our house cannot possibly all be clean at the same time. It is not humanly possible. We are trying to pack what we can now, and that makes the house even messier, with stuff lying around in stages of indecision and half-packed boxes. One room we have been trying to pack is the guest room. We have accumulated in the guest room closet enough costumes from other countries to set us all up for a costume party. What else do you do with clothes from other countries? We are going to have so many books to pack, ohhhhhhh. There is a bookshelf in pretty much every room in our house. We have an estimated 1000 books in high school history alone, so maybe we have about 5000 books total, but that's just a guess. Anyway, it's a lot, and I don't want to get rid of any of them. And guess what- our favorite book sale is in two weeks!

Cute boys are fun to kiss

...as long as they are your younger brothers.

Well, we thought we had a possible buyer for our house and business, but after Mom and Dad got together with them on Friday we saw that it wasn't possible because they didn't have any money to PAY for the house and business. So we are back to square one, advertising our business. I am less and less not looking forward to living somewhere else, namely the city.

Yesterday I had all four boys with me at the business and home school co-op all day while Mom, Dad and Jen were away. Whew! I am teaching an art class at the co-op this month, so that makes it busier too. Today I went with Dad and Caleb to the St. Benedict Monastery to help out at a Christian men's conference. There wasn't much work for me to do, but it was good to be with the other Christian ladies helping out there, and the food was great! The monastery itself is beautiful.
So we are all worn out from being away, emotionally drained after thinking about selling, moving and deep Christian things.

1141 update

It now appears that LB 1141, the bill threatening to outlaw homeschooling in Nebraska, will sit in committee for the rest of the legislative session and will not be voted on. The Education Committee has taken no action on the bill so far. I was in Ohio the week of the hearing of 1141, but there was an estimated 1,300 home schoolers at the capital that day. My family was among them, and they reported every room was packed and everyone was well behaved.
Since we now have more of a feel of what our legislative body is like, we will be sure to keep an eye on the capital much more than we have in the past, because our politicians are decidedly not friendly towards the freedoms that NE homeschoolers currently have.

I am sorry to report that Dr. Patrick Johnston, the fellow we worked for in Ohio, lost in the primary last Tuesday. Ohio will be worse off for it in in the next few years, but Dr. Johnston is committed to politics for the long haul and I know he plans to run again in the future. You can be sure we will be back out there in Ohio, working to get him into office!

A pet that could EAT YOU!

Did I mention that the Johnstons have a pet Python? Along with several smaller snakes, a baby alligator, and a dog? So I got to hold a python for the first time ever. And I'm not sure I want to ever hold one again! Here is a picture of other team members holding the 15 foot long python.

Back from Ohio after a week of campaign work

Caleb and I arrived back in NE late Saturday night and rejoined our family at Church the next day. After getting an average of five hours of sleep all week, it was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night! We had a great trip. It took us about 13/14 hours to get to Zanesville, Ohio, where Dr. Johnston and his family live. Dr. Johnston is running for State Representative, and you can check him out at johnstonforohio.com. There were nine people on our team, and we worked for the Johnston campaign Tues., Wed., Thurs. and Friday. Usually we did door-to-door literature drops in the morning, waved "Vote for Johnston" and "Honk for Johnston!" signs at a busy intersection during lunch hour, went back to doing door-to-door for the afternoon, and waved signs again during evening rush hour. My legs were pretty sore after doing all that running. The weather was miserable, too, but the good company and good cause made standing out in the wet, snowy cold worthwhile! It either rained or snowed almost every day we were in Ohio.
The Ohio primaries are tomorrow, and I am eagerly awaiting the election results. There weren't any polls done, so we have no idea what chance Dr. Johnston has of winning. Whatever happens, I am glad I could work for such a godly man, committed to being a public servant and using Biblical principles in our government.