in-love, not in-law

The word is out! My youngest son, Mark, will marry his high school sweetheart, Jill, in about a year. He proposed to her last night in front of her house, catching her completely off guard! It's been a fun few weeks with Mark ring-shopping, talking with her parents, planning the proposal and generally keeping me a nervous wreck because I'm a terrible secret-keeper.

I once heard someone refer to her mother-in-LOVE rather than mother-in-LAW because it best described their relationship. It was one of love, trust and affection and one she would have chosen, as in a love relationship. I like that. So I've adopted it for my own. So far, I boast one daughter-in-love (Dan's beautiful wife of one year, Jenny) and now another, Jill, on the way.

Before it's all over, we could have 3 daughters-in-love and one son-in-love. (No hurry, David & Katie.) We'll see. For years, I have prayed for my children's future spouses....that God would protect them and grow them into women and a man after God's own heart. It's about the coolest thing ever to see him honor that prayer. I am thankful!

And someday, we might have grandchildren. From what I hear, there's no love-label needed for those.

Operation Delaware

I'll admit it. I can be lazy. Especially in the summer, I love sitting on the porch, reading and sipping a tall iced tea.


Thankfully, my church, Delaware Christian, has decided not to be lazy this week. About 120 of us are banding together to make a difference here in Delaware. It's called Operation Delaware. We start the day at church with a light breakfast and devotions. Then teams of men, women and teens go about town, pulling weeds, washing windows, painting porches, hauling trash and doing light construction .... the kind of stuff I'd rather not do on a hot day. Then back to church for a quick lunch. And back out to new locations to serve others. There's an evening session, too, for those who need to work evenings.


This isn't the Peace Corps. We're not digging wells or teaching children. But we're seeing that people right in our town need some care and attention. It's giving people a hand. Some elderly people just needed a box taken to Goodwill, so we're helping them out. How simple is that?

We pray that we're much more than helping hands. We want to be helping hearts, too. The kind that care about the spiritual state of our neighbors.

It's not dozin' or sipping tea. But somehow it feels a whole lot better.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Beth!

Good friends don't forget each other's birthdays. But I did. My friend Beth, who lives in Florida (a fantastic place in January but beastly in July) turned -?- this week. She remembers my birthday, which isn't easy since it's right after New Years. And I missed hers. Darn!

She told me to either send her a funny belated card or feature her on my blog, so here goes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETH! And my sympathy to your dear mom, who birthed you in July in South Florida. whew!

I'm even including 'then' and 'now' photographs. (OK - I'm not, after spending an unsuccessful hour looking for the 'then' photo - trust me, we looked pretty good)

If we looked a lot better in 1982, blame it on our kids. She has two and I have four. These photos - which you will see when I find the old one - make it plain that full-time mothering will age you and cause your body parts to head south. And the hair! Beth and I are proud of our gray hair (see Proverbs 16:31) but wow, we look like a 'before' photo for a Clairol ad. Um, she's the one with more gray, btw. Come to think of it, maybe we aren't exactly proud of our hair, but we just don't care when others have a problem with it. (Read the book Going Gray by Anne Kreamer.)

That's ok. In this new season of life, we can catch up on our dozin' and even act silly if we want, without kids around, rolling their eyes. In fact, Beth and her husband will be visiting us in October. We probably will act silly . . . and the gray hair stays!

Liking biking

It was another excellent day weather-wise in Ohio. Sun! Breezes! Chores, especially all those tedious indoor jobs, can wait for the 5 months of lousy weather that arrive too soon. I led my friend Donna on an hour-long ride of the bike trails around town.

Funny how familiar suroundings can take on a whole new feel from a bike. Whizzing by century-old homes, up hills, around curves and stopping at the Dari-Point for some refreshment made for an enjoyable outing. It all took me back to the days as a kid when I rode around my town like a maniac.

Thing is, we can act like ten-year-olds and maybe even feel like them for an hour. But we must not look the part. As Donna & I waited to cross a busy street on the bike trail, a car slowed down, the driver waving us on. We laughed and realized he was deferring to a couple of middle-aged women on bikes. Our start-up was a little slow and wobbly; he might have even thought we were heading home for our naps. I laughed at the thought and pedaled on.

Nope, we're no longer ten. We'll probably hurt tomorrow. That's ok. Biking is a blast, no matter your age.

Trip to the country

I wish I'd had a camera for my trip to the country this morning. I meandered away from town to visit a young-mom-friend, Kellie, from Bible study. The drive was luscious. I don't know where you'd find more beautiful corn than our 8-foot tall stalks here in central Ohio. The fields undulated with tall corn and short soybeans. Country-folks' flowers screamed their colors along the roadway....oranges, reds, yellows and lavender. The heat wave has broken and the air was clean and sweet. A treat for the senses!

At Kellie's home, I was treated to the most wonderful coffee (with cream, of course) and raspberry coffee cake. Scrumptious. The July breeze blew through the windows of her country home and her young children offered hugs. We shared the goodies and more importantly, we shared our hearts. Though we're in different seasons of life, our hearts are knit together as mothers. Thank you, Kellie!

No dozin' today!

So...here we go

It's 2:00 a.m. and I can't sleep and I think it's about time to create a blog. Bear with me...I'm 53 and wasn't weaned on computers, you know.

OK...so what's with this blog name? Welp, (that's what David, my oldest & cleverest son, says instead of 'well'....I've no idea why) from the time we first got a computer and had to come up with an e-mail addy (David says that, too, instead of 'address') . . . I came up with "halfdozn." The computer guru said "halfdozen" was too many letters. So. It was halfdozn. Because we were six. Hubby, me and four rambunctious kids.

At first glance, DOZN might seem like DOZIN' instead of DOZEN. Now Hubby might say that's fitting because I love to doze and I've probably had less than my desired amount of dozin' through the years. Four kids, after all.

Now the nest is emptying and you might just find me HALF DOZING any time of day, especially in the afternoon, because I DO NOT HAVE TO MEET THE SCHOOL BUS, FIX THE SNACK, CHECK THE HOMEWORK, DRIVE TO SOCCER OR ORTHODONTIST OR MAKE SURE DINNER'S ON THE TABLE IN TIME FOR A BOY TO GET TO BOY SCOUTS! In fact, I might just eat peanuts and a coke for dinner and not even care.

I'll tell you, this dozin' will be mighty nice. Maybe.