Mayhem On The Homefront: Update On Everything

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I really need to learn to pace myself!

by Vyckie

It’s been a while since I’ve given much of an update on the what I’ve been up to.

Not that there hasn’t been plenty to tell ~ just that I’ve had at least a million-and-one other things keeping me occupied. (My gift of exageration is a family trait ~ I get it from my mother, LOL)

Here’s the short list:

1) I’ve been feeling MUCH better lately. 

All the symptoms of chronic pain, exhaustion, anxiety, migraines, etc. which had me nearly incapacitated for several months abruptly disappeared ~ I feel good and have energy.

Even though I am “No Longer Quivering” ~ I haven’t lost that urge to be abundantly productive ~ so the second that I started feeling better, I felt compelled to get to work catching up on all those things which I’d wanted to get done when I couldn’t get out of bed.  Only I was delayed …

2) My computer crashed! 

Thankfully, it wasn’t the hard drive so I didn’t lose any files or important information.  The problem was that the Windows operating system had become corrupted and so my computer needed to be wiped and everything re-loaded.  Ugh.  This turned out not to be a simple process.  The wiping and reloading was easy enough ~ but when I got my computer back home ~ I could not get an Internet connection. 

While I was waiting to get my computer fixed, I borrowed John’s ~ which was very helpful, but his is a Mac which I’m not used to ~ so everything I did on the computer took much longer than usual.  And to make matters worse …

3) My sump pump quit working.

Two summers ago, the sump pump got clogged with debris and when the spring rains came, water backed up and flooded our basement.  THAT was a mess!  Wow ~ we had collected a bunch of stuff in nearly 20 years of living in one place ~ the good news about that situation is that it forced me and the kids to clear out the basement which made it much nicer.

However ~ I had no intention of going through such a hassle again.  So when the pump quit again this spring ~ I determined to waste no time in getting it replaced before the rain came. 

My first thought was, “I need to find a man to take care of this for me.”  Without going into all the details, let me just say I soon discovered that there were several flaws in that line of thinking.  I didn’t want to pay for a plumber because something in the back of my head was telling me it’s not that complicated ~ plus, I’m needing to save money to catch up on the house taxes.  I was tempted to feel sorry for myself, but instead I got kind of sassy …

I went down to Menards to ask their guy in the plumbing department what all is involved in replacing a sump pump.  He told me that I needed to disconnect the old pump and bring it in so he would know what kind of new pump to sell me.  So I went home and figured out that all I needed was a flat screw driver to loosen the clamp that was holding the pipe fittings together ~ and I got it disconnected ALL BY MYSELF ~ but couldn’t get the pipe off of the pump ~ so took the whole thing ~ pump and pipe together ~ into Menards.  

The guy was very helpful ~ he set me up with a new pump and even cut the pipe to match the length of the old pipe ~ and gave me the right connectors ~ told me to take it home and make sure it was all going to fit back together right ~ and then glue the pieces.  The new pump and pipe pieces alone cost $205 ~ so I really am glad not to have had to add on the cost of a plumber.  After I explained to John my discovery ~ that sump pump replacement is not rocket science, he came over and did the actual gluing of the pipes for me ~ and we put it in and hooked it up ~ and poured a bunch of water in to test it ~ and TA DA! ~ it works.

And just in time ~ it’s been raining like crazy for the past couple of weeks here.  Roads have been closed, the south part of town was evacuated, a railroad bridge collapsed ~ Ugh!  It’s been pretty bad. 

Please don’t think I’m mean, but I couldn’t help singing to myself, It’s raining, it’s pouring .. and I don’t care because the new sump pump that I figured out how to put in myself is working!! ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪…

My triumph of having saved myself a repair bill on the sump pump was short-lived.  Two days after replacing the pump, the stuff in my freezer started thawing out ~ had to call Chuck’s Refrigeration ~ installation of a new thermostat cost me $175.  Darn.  

What’s the name of that guy in Greek mythology who was doomed to push the same boulder up a hill every day ~ and every night it would roll back down to the bottom?  Now there’s a “true” story, huh? LOL

But finally ~ things have settled down.  The sump pump is working, the freezer is working … I’m feeling good … and the kids are all gone to camp and/or to Warren’s for summer visitation … so, with nothing preventing me, I set to work and have been making lots of progress ~ which makes me happy.

5) I spent last week fixing up the Take Heart Project website.

I’ve organized the pages, updated information and added articles and resources ~ including a forum which is restricted in membership and is more private than the NLQ forums.  We have about a dozen exQF members on the THP forum who are there to support, educate and encourage women who are questioning their quiverfull beliefs and/or are in the process of escaping the lifestyle.

I’m getting private emails on a regular basis from Quiverfull women who have discovered No Longer Quivering, read the stories and articles, and they write the most desperate letters!  Through the Take Heart Project, I’ve been able to offer free counseling, mentoring, plus lots of education and support. 

We’re working to do more networking so that THP will have access to more services for these women.  If you haven’t done so already, please check out the ”Volunteer” page on the website to see if you have any of the skills and/or experience that we need to keep this project going.

6) I spent two whole days just trying to catch up on email ~ a never-ending job that actually seems to perpetuate itself.  If you’ve emailed or PM’d me lately and haven’t heard back from me yet ~ please be patient ~ I really will get to you!

7) I’ve also been working on recruiting NLQ forum members to add their stories to the growing collection of exQuiverfull “testimonies” here at No Longer Quivering ~ be looking for their introductory posts coming soon.

8 ) I’m also working with “Egalgirl” from the NLQ forums to develop educational materials for the Take Heart Project to use as resources for pastors.  We’re hoping to develop the following articles:

* What is “Quiverfull” ~ the cliff notes version for busy pastors

* Prevention: How To Talk About Quiverfull To Potential Converts

* Intervention: Dealing With Quiverfull Church Members To Minimize Risk

The titles are open to suggestions, but the basic idea is to address all these points. We will provide this info. on the Take Heart Project website and also print brochures.

9) I’ve also been working hard to attract more No Longer Quivering followers on Twitter.  I figured out that by building a sizable list, we increase awarness and bring new readers to NLQ.  I started out this week with a mere 133 “followers” ~ set a goal to double that ~ and as of this writing, “NoQuivering” on Twitter is up to 404 followers. 

Following No Longer Quivering on Twitter is a great way to share this website with others ~ we’ve had a substantial increase in traffic to NLQ coming from Twitter since I started this campaign.

So, if you haven’t already added “NoQuivering” to your Twitter following list ~ please take a second to do that.  I post updates fairly regularly ~ passing along choice tweets, some humor, sometimes sharing frustrations, little triumphs, etc.

Here’s a small sample of “NoQuivering” tweets from the past couple of days ~ just to give you a taste of what NLQ Twitter is all about:

@a_okafor007 I’ve found that writing and sharing my story is a good way to process and recover from past hurts and spiritual abuse.

I’ve decided to devote a few NLQ posts to ‘American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War …’ by Chris Hedgeshttp://amzn.to/ahjiXv

RT EvolvedReason  “I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence.” ~Doug McLeod #atheism

@Buffy2q I keep telling people that I need a wife!٩(๏̯͡๏)۶

@redheadedskeptc Weekend’s here ~ time to take it easy, relax, … have a beer …LOL

˙˙˙dn sı ʎɐʍ ɥɔıɥʍ ʍouʞ ʇ,uop ʇsnɾ ı sǝɯıʇǝɯos

RT lauriemathers @NoQuivering HOW DO YOU DO THAT CRAZY STUFF?! Tweeting upside down and backwards?

@lauriemathers LOL ~ it’s the magic of copy & paste!

RT WeareTHATfamily  Links I Love: Top 10 List of Inventions that could change the lives of the poor in third world countries-hat tip M… http://bit.ly/aQLomc

RT @atheistincanada Best gay-rights picture ever:http://bit.ly/bjdq9e // Love, love, LOVE IT!!! Please RT

RT moosebegab Look in the mirror to see the hero of your life!

“If you can’t laugh at yourself you’re missing the best joke of the day!” – Charlie Sheen

Oh crap ~ that olfactory hallucination smell of pencil shavings is coming back … hope this doesn’t mean a relapse for me .. ugh.   ٩(๏̯͡๏)۶

Yikes! It’s true ~ I’ve been feeling so much better, but the past few days, all those horrid symptoms seem to be wanting to come back.  Shoot!  I’m guessing it’s ‘cuz I overdo it ~ so now I am going to get away from the computer for a while, relax and take it easy.

Think I can?

Discuss this post on the NLQ forum!  Also ~ comments are open for readers who do not want to register for the forum.

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