Tag: sleep

Focus on What is Important

What is most important in your life?
What came to your mind? Your career? Your family? World peace? Your children? Leaving your positive mark on society? Your business?

Focus on What is Important

September 10, 2023

What is most important in your life?

What came to your mind?  Your career?  Your family?  World peace?  Your children?  Leaving your positive mark on society?  Your business?

How about Jesus?  For me, when I heard those words this morning (sitting in the Good News Church first service), my mind created a list like words from Jillian’s history and science lesson she has to look up:

Jesus

Family

Showing Jesus to others.

Whatever is the most important in your life directs everything else in your life. 

Don’t believe that?  Seriously.  Consider it objectively.  Whatever you consider most important shapes and directs your life to achieve each step in your life to honor that important thing. 

My mind reflected back to decisions I made as a young person: a lot of decisions as even a preteen are life-shaping. 

I chose to keep myself pure for my future husband. 

I chose to honor my parents and respect them even if I disagreed.

I chose to better myself so I could love my brothers and sisters better. 

Each of these I decided to do because I loved Jesus.  I saw it as my honor to be able to shine Jesus’ light reflected through my life.  I wanted my life to be lived in worship to Jesus.  I wanted people to see that I was different and ask why.  The “preteen/teen” choice that led to me having the most conversations with other teenagers was my choice to love Jesus by honoring His desire for my sexuality.  It was counter-popular-culture to stay sexually pure (yes, as my kids can’t understand, I am young enough that I was laughed at for being a virgin after 18).  I wore a birthstone ring my Daddy gave me on my ring finger and told others it was to remind me that I belonged to Jesus first; He wanted me to stay pure for my future husband.  So many people laughed.  A few asked deeper questions and I would get to share about Jesus and how He loved me first and my joy was to honor Him with all of my life. 

Later, in the business world, I was faced with repeated pressure to falsify information on forms to cut financial corners.  I held my ground and honored God.  When I was told I could choose to either “serve the company” or there wouldn’t be any more hours for me.  I actually told my boss that because I loved Jesus, I couldn’t lie.  The hours available to me dropped to where I would spend more time driving to the office than working; that would have made it a financial burden to work rather than an income.  I was unable to stay.  I often wonder if that choice did any forever good (did my decision or words help anyone see Jesus?); but would I change my decision?  No.  I choose to honor Jesus’ commandments because I love Him.  I get to honor Jesus because He first loved me. 

I pray my children discover that it is an honor and privilege to love Jesus.  We are loved by Him from the foundations of the world.  Even while we were yet sinners, He loved each of us so much that He died for our sins and rose to conquer sin and death!  Because of that, we have the honor of choosing to love Jesus and serve Him with our obedience. 

I looked at little Laud sleeping in my lap and smiled.  I choose to look at every part of loving my babies as a privilege and honor!  I wonder at how blessed I am that God would allow me to raise one of His children!  (Okay, 8 of His children so far) Still, each one is specially loved and was created piece by carefully knit piece by God as they were formed inside me.  God has gifted me the honor of being their mother; one at a time and altogether.  I am humbled, awed, and enthralled by the enormous blessing each child is.  I thank God for them when I think of them. 

Thank you, Jesus, for loving me!  Thank you, Jesus, that I get to love You!  Thank you that I get to love my children!  Keep reminding me of how I should always choose to love You first.

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

A Girl and her Doggie

A Girl and her Doggie

February 19, 2020

Sometimes you choose a pet. You know, you excitedly go to the shelter or the pet store and the perfect friend snags your heart instantly.

Sometimes you are fostering a litter of puppies and one looks up at you with a connection that will never break.

(Christina and Primrose: Pretty sure this was the day she decided to keep her!)

This was the way with Christina and the little black puppy that became our Primrose (Primmy, Prim, or even Primrose Everdeen Tart – when she has chewed something).

Prim has been in our home for two baby births. Until Lucas was about 2, he was her little pup. She followed him around, protected him, and I used to say if dogs choose their people, Prim chose Christina and Lucas. The second birth she’s been here for is Theadora.

Thea loves Prim. She gets excited when Prim snuggles up next to her and squeals “my doggie!” and will either pet her gently or snuggle her whole little face into Prim’s soft fur. Thea also feeds Prim everything… if it tastes really “yummy!” then a bit of it gets dropped over the highchair after “doggie!” gets yelled. Prim knows that means – come get food.

It’s hard for me to get these as pictures because Thea knows what a phone is. If I try to take a picture while I’m sitting next to her, she drops what she’s doing and grabs said phone!

Lucas has grown away from Prim and animals – he likes things with wheels right now. He gets super excited about small animals like helping with the Guinea Pigs or Minuit, but big ones are pillow to him, that’s it.

Prim is a pillow or sleeping buddy for anyone on the couch – although she isn’t supposed to be there; she just took up Sheba’s lookout position. At night, she snuggles curled up in a little ball on the end of Christina’s, Lucas’ or Jillian’s bed. She loves her people. She’ll snuggle next to Thea’s baby pen if Thea’s sleeping there – nestled under the table but up against the baby pen.

We went to visit a friend & they had a Jack Russel puppy. When Thea got home she grabbed Prim in a hug and stroked her saying softly, “my doggie, my doggie.” My baby is thankful for her special doggie.

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

Study & Playtime

August 8, 2019

Study and Playtime

Your bed.

A place of rest.  Calm.  Peace.

Unless you are a mom! 

I got the baby all ready, got myself all ready, even get Lucas ready for his bed!  Lay down and *boom* here come the troops!

Lucas does an aerial front flip onto the bed, continuing into two connected forward rolls. (I almost die each time he does that!)

“What are you doing?  This isn’t the gym?”

“Going to bed with you.”  Nice.

As I start getting him settled (someone must have shared a red skittle with him, as the equation for crazy energy = red food dye + sugar + Lucas), Christina comes in with her new laptop.  “Mom, I need help setting up.”

So this is my bed & it’s 2300:

I’m trying to sleep, need to be up at 0545 to get Thea ready, me ready, walk dogs, and beat the bits of traffic; 0615 if I don’t care about eating breakfast or packing lunch.

I smile and remember – they won’t be little long.  Soon Christina will be 16, how much longer will she even ask for my help? Lucas is 4, when will he suddenly stop coming in to snuggle?  Thea is 5 months, but I can remember Christina being that little and it seems like yesterday. I take a picture as Christina gasps, “Thea! Computers are not for eating!”

Yummy! Thea tastes Christina’s brand new laptop

No, they won’t be little long.  I choose to cherish every moment… even the late night Mom’s bed gatherings.

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Watching & Analyzing

Watching & Analyzing

April 27, 2019

I’ve always been a watcher.  I watch the world around me and (most of the time) analyze it.  I look at a beautiful blue sky and my mind says “wow, how pretty,” and quickly follows with “it won’t rain for the next few hours.”  (Yes, hours, we live in Florida – if you walk outside and don’t like the weather, go brush your teeth and check again.)

Honestly, I analyze too much.

I shouldn’t catch a glimpse of something and try to analyze it.

In relationships, that is nosy.  See someone and instantly turn on your inner Sherlock Holmes… (Four different cat hairs on her skirt, four cats – her house must be smelly… unless she uses that whatever-name-it-is-I-saw-on-tv multi-cat litter.  Is her purr-fume laced with tuna?)

That just isn’t nice.

In normal life, it can suck out the joy.

20190423_1109587165363620796550375.jpg

I catch this glance of my angel sleeping.  Instant thought: “My Mom will love this.” Second thought: “She was two months old on Easter Sunday.”  Third thought as I’m sending my mom the picture: “Daddy never saw her.”  Followed quickly by a flood: Daddy didn’t get to hear about Christina flying, Lucas will not remember his Grandfather, they won’t get to learn how amazing Daddy’s brain was – like talking to an educated encyclopedia with an open mind.  He was always listening, always talking, always making connections where we couldn’t see them; always the analyst.

Within two minutes (from the time I took the picture until Mom texted back), my mind had sent my mood from joyful to sorrowful.  From excited about young life to regretting the passing of my Daddy.  I had just rode an emotional roller coaster at work and nothing had changed on my face.

I forced myself to refocus.

Daddy always expected Christina to achieve her dreams – he once told me to “look out, she has your determination and a friendlier world; just you watch what she does!”

Lucas loves watching family videos and listening to stories of his “Santa Boompa” told by his big sisters.

I inherited Daddy’s knack for soaking up knowledge (probably why I can make myself learn any new job rather quickly) and if you want to start me talking… (yes, the girls call it lecturing) enter at your own risk because I’ll make strange connections, see beyond what is easily seen, and read into situations for what “could be.”

I remind myself that we can always shift our focus to the positive, and that’s what Daddy would have wanted.  He didn’t want anyone sad when he left us.  He always wanted the joy, smiles, and laughter that he tried to cultivate.  So, now I’m back to joyful.

Then music runs through my head: “I Choose Joy!” (For King & Country – I love that song!)

Yes, I choose joy.  Everyday.  I pray you do too.

 

Type at you Later…

~Nancy Tart

Yummy Harvest

Yummy harvest for us, fried treats for our doggies!

August 4, 2018

Yummy Harvest

Primrose (Christina’s 4-year-old Aussie mix) is waiting by the stove while we walk in and out.  Nothing is cooking there yet, but she knows this is harvest day, and she knows Rebeccah’s special treat is to fry up livers in butter.  Mom likes them, but it started as a treat for the doggies.

Funny how they know.   Sheba (our family’s 11-year-old Aussie mix) pretends she’s too old to move and half-wags her tail from her favorite spot in the house – curled up on top of the air vent in the den.  She strategically puts herself in the room where most people congregate, next to the shoe shelf so as they are leaving she can shoot them with sad eyes to see if she can guilt anyone into talking her outside.  Sheba perks up each time one of the kids comes in the back door, but since no one is carrying the big canning pot yet, she knows it’s still sleeping time.

In I come with the canning pot – Louis has decided to barbecue the chickens, but only three fit on the grill, so the fourth and all the trimmings are in that pot.  Usually, all the chickens are in the pot to be dissected, wrapped, and put away.   The gizzards and hearts are wrapped and frozen (I’ll fry them next time we have fried chicken).  Today’s harvest was tender young chickens and the preferred method of cooking is grilling or baking, whole.  So the fourth is wrapped and frozen.  This leaves the trimmed skins and livers.  The skins are saved for broth (I’ll add the bones and whatever trimmings from the birds being barbecued and simmer with some seasonings, this round should net about 2 to 3 quarts of “concentrated” broth.)

Rebeccah takes control of the livers.  Now Sheba and Prim are sitting by the stove, wagging their tails and almost begging.  They know that stuff is going in their bowl.  Livers don’t freeze well.  They are best fresh.  The only one in the household who likes liver is Mom (me), but I don’t like to eat a ton of them.  So I’ll take a few ounces and leave the rest for the pups.

Finally!  Rebeccah is done (it really only takes about three minutes, but looking at the dogs, you’d think they were waiting for years).  She rinses the pan in just enough water to make sure all the yummy goop is washed into the dog bowls and splits the contents of the pan between the two dogs.  They’ll get all the skins and other meat bits off the bones after I’ve boiled and strained the broth the next day too, but fried livers are their every-two-month treat, and they LOVE it.

Our theory is that Prim realizes the chickens are the liver treat source and therefore protects them jealously from any other animal – but she’s never hurt a chicken because she likes the finished product.

Yummy barbecue for us, yummy treat for our canine protectors.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Fireworks Over the Matanzas

July 8, 2018

Fireworks Over the Matanzas

Ask any of my kids what their favorite day is one answer will be… “Fourth of July!”

Why?

Because we always go downtown to watch the best fireworks show ever! (Okay, maybe I’m a little prejudiced because I live here, but I get a travel magazine and it listed our “Fireworks Over the Matanzas” as one of the top 5 annual fireworks shows!)

20160704_183744

We make is a production! (Yes, that was not this year, but our longest “train!” because it included me – taking picture – and the buggy!)

FB_IMG_1530796743088.jpg

(Jaquline at the Fireworks Over the Matanzas years ago – photo credit, my amazing friend, Stacy Moorehouse)

This was the first year we went without the baby buggy – took a foldable wagon instead. And yes, it doubled as Anastasia’s buggy from the van to downtown and Lucas’ back to the van.

20180704_215821560658078.jpg

We bring snacks, water (hydration, as Christina calls it – thank you, Civil Air Patrol), juice (Becky wanted juice to refill the water bottles this year), and lots of energy! The girls always make new friends at the bayfront.

20180704_212524.jpg

This year a new friend family from Atlanta, Georgia shared their bag of glowsticks with the girls and Lucas! (This made them very excited! As you can see, Lucas made glasses to “see very far away.”) Even though Christina said she was “too big” for glowsticks, between Becky and Kimberly, they had her wearing one! (Kimberly has “a pirate earring” and Christina is covering her bracelet!)

20180704_212431.jpg

Finally, after enjoying awesome music (before the city music came through the speakers, we could hear Evan D’s music from Harry’s! He’s a local artist I like to hear.), playing and talking with new friends, snacking on lots of fruit and sweet potato chips from Currie’s and Aldi’s, and having Aunt Becca join us, we got to the main event

The best fireworks show on the bayfront! (I can’t record more than about 22 seconds at a time on my camera, so we only caught a few snippets of the show, but it was amazing!)

We trudged home, (Lucas slept in the wagon, in a picture back up there^ somewhere) laughing, singing, and enjoying our family time! Oh, and yes, Lucas fell asleep during the fireworks! 🙂 I was so excited and even mentioned “this is the first year everyone is awake to see the fireworks!” haha! Then he was out.

20180704_212455.jpg

Will we face huge crowds, packed potties, and no-see-ums again? Oh yes! And look forward to an amazing 6 hours or more next year at our special bayfront spot, making new friends and enjoying each others’ company!

We love the City of Saint Augustine’s Fireworks Over the Matanzas!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

The Demon – (aka jab test)

March 2, 2018

The Demon (aka jab test)

Well, it ended up that the evening of the day someone broke into our van and I got sick, it wasn’t just a fever and go thing.  The fever didn’t want to go away (all my life low fever & cough might take a while, but rest, food, and a few days and it’s usually gone) and the cough felt deep and odd.  I have a sneaky feeling I’ve fought this off before (as a kid, when “sleep, hot potato soup, and pink medicine” made it disappear in a week) but at this stage in my life the distant memory of a thing called “sleep” and the vibrant energy of my work and home was not working in my favor.  Nine days and low fever, I wasn’t doing a good enough job – I needed antibiotics.

I didn’t want to go to the clinic because, although Louis thinks we have a “plan” nothing ever works in my family’s favor financially when I get hurt/sick.  So I was worried about the cost of clinic plus antibiotics.   Louis is like, the clinic is free.  (no, it was $75)  Then when I see a doctor, she’s like “we can’t help you because your O2 (oxygen) levels are too low, you have to go to the ER.” (2 pts, just 2pts!)

Really?  I was so frustrated and totally wanted another clinician’s opinion as hopefully someone would just give me the antibiotic I needed and send me home.  I did not want thousands of dollars of garbage so I could get a bottle of pills.  (I knew it was pneumonia: why couldn’t I just call old man Gower’s Drugs and get a prescription delivered to my house?  I don’t care how many release of liability forms I have to sign.)

Instead, Louis has my mom on the phone when he picks me up – and instead of trying Healing Arts for a second opinion (where I wanted to go in the first place) – it’s just ER.  (Oh, side note?  I think the O2 machine at the clinic was straight-up-kooky-dooks because my O2 levels at the ER?  94.)  Supposedly way higher than at the clinic.  No wonder the physician looked at me like I was hissing words. And have you ever done a flu “jab” test?  (I will 100% avoid the hospital FOREVER simply because of that demon – I now have a fear worse than needles! this makes my white-coat-phobia totally valid!)  After that assault, my perfectly healthy nose was bleeding, swollen, running, and the next CNA to enter asked if I had been like this for 9 days?  (HAHA, no, some dude jabbed a stick up my nose, and this eyes watering and burning, nose running, bloody discharge, is brand new.  Want to know how afraid of this place I was before this?  Now you won’t get me in IF I’m really dying.)

At least these two came in to do the one thing needed that I guess a clinic can’t do.  XRay.  Bingo, with that picture, even a laymen could see junk in half of my left lung.  Great.  The blood guy (who used to work with Louis – everyone in this town knows Louis) asks if I know why I’m here.  I’m like, yes, pretty sure what I thought was a normal cold with a cough is pneumonia.  He asks about pain.  Only in my nose.  Supposedly there’s great chest pain associated with pneumonia that I had lacked to mention (guess my body is just a unique biological specimen – maybe that’s why taking Benadryl for a few bites turns my entire body into a solid rash worse than chicken pox for a week).  Louis says I have a huge pain tolerance.

Becca, Mom, and Anastasia show up (I’m sure Becca is here just to remind me of children.) By this time they know its pneumonia the only guess is am I staying?  Another nurse does a breathing treatment, during which Becca is constantly asking me questions and I’m giving her eyes.  Anastasia sits with her Ipad and Minnie Mouse and is smiling.  Louis still looked worried.  Then we’re told, “oh, you can go home, we’re just waiting on paperwork.”  A pill for 10 days with orders to sleep and not work.  (WHO am I kidding??  That isn’t going to happen.  But I will try my best.)

So I’m home, trying to rest playing a weird game with my girls.  The perfect question pops up (this is some teen personality game for “what faction would you be in Divergent” so I do not know why this question is there) it reads “you are trapped on an island with your crush: you do… a) b) c) d) or e) relax and enjoy! You finally have some alone time!  (And this is making me laugh the entire evening away – because I’d totally be YIPPPEEEE NO PHONES because I could totally go all Swiss Family Robinson and LOVE it forever as long as my family was there.)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

 

Follow me!

Get my latest posts delivered to your email: