thirty

That's the number of hours that I "twenty to twenty-five a week would be perfect, thanks" put in last week.

I covered for our senior beauty advisor so she could go to a family funeral. That wasn't a problem and I was happy to do it.

This week, after two very long, eleven to eight days, I was looking forward to being able to get away until Sunday afternoon.

I've been working eleven to eight quite a bit lately.

Until last night when as the assistant manager was about to take a phone call, he said "Don't go anywhere." Um, okay.

He gives me extra projects at work from time to time, so I just figured that he was going to give me something to do for the last two, very long hours of my shift. Uh, nope.

"Would you be able to cover So-and-so's shift on Saturday? She has a school commitment and can't be here."

Enter where my mouth responds faster than my brain can think. That happens often, sorry, Mom.

Immediately forgetting how dog-tired I was, I mentioned something about impending work for Jon and if that wasn't happening this weekend, I didn't see any reason as to why I couldn't cover the shift.

Jon didn't answer his cell the first time I tried. When I tried fifteen minutes later, I was sorta sad to be informed that the work has been put off until November.

For good reason; namely our anniversary get-away at the end of the month, but there goes my built in excuse. Lovely.

If I'd been taught to lie, I'd have been able to come up with something on the spot, you'd think. Something like Kayla's excuse about needing to help chop down a tree. While AB (assistant boss) could tell it was a totally manufactured excuse, ahem, a lie, he couldn't do anything about it. Thanks, Mom and Dad...to wrestle with my conscience wasn't really what I needed at the end of a long day. haha.

So I entered the office and said that I'd be happy to cover the shift on Saturday. And I'll do my best to be cheerful about it, at least until noon.

I sure hope they remember this.

Almost Wordless Wednesday- trumpets*

*Matthew and Jon's sister, Kathryn.

lift me up

Tuesday night, Jon took me to dinner for my birthday. We went to Red Lobster and I throughly enjoyed a pound and a half of snow crab legs, ceasar salad and baked potato.

Who has room for dessert? I didn't.

After we finished dinner, we headed to Shopko. I was in need of new tennis shoes; I'm finding myself in them more often for work and the pair I owned were pretty worn out, aka, losing the padding inside the left shoe.

This happens about every 18 months or so.

We've gotten fortunate enough to hit a major sale every time I get to the point where "okay, I have put this off long enough, and I need new shoes NOW". The last three times we've gotten away with a good pair of shoes under forty dollars.

Jon was really helpful in finding the brand I was looking for and he helped me decide between one size or another. I decided on the seven and a half and we started to head for the checkout.

This is when I spotted the section of "wide width". That's so me.

In about 15 seconds, I spotted the shoes I needed in seven and a half wide. Jon put the first box back on the shelf.

Then, as we're wandering the store looking for a glass vase, I keep tripping. Like the floor is jumping up at me about every three steps. Jon teases me about whether my drink was spiked at dinner.

About five minutes go by and suddenly it dawns on me that my shoe is feeling like the fit is wrong. The shoes that I'd worn all night. I stop to the side of the greeting card aisle and then the light goes on.

My half-inch lift is not in my shoe. Where is it then?

I'd left it in the first pair and it was now in the shoes on the shelf.

Thankfully, Jon retrieved it for me then I put it in my shoe and we paid and left.

How weird would it have been for some other woman to find my lift when she tried on that pair of shoes? Good grief.

Wordless Wednesday- birthday surprise

(if only I didn't have to keep them upstairs so the cat didn't eat them)

perfection personified...or not

This post is running around on facebook. I read it. Part of me was glad I did and part of me was screaming "WHY can't you mind your own business? Must you read every link that people post?"

Here's the deal. Just like in highschool, people still put on a front. They portray what it is that they think you want to see. Perfect body, perfect hair, perfect husband with perfectly obedient children.

"Hogwash", my grandpa would say.

And the following is where I get down and dirty. Read if you want, or stop here. Either is fine with me.

I'm so far from perfect that it's scary. (I better not hear my husband scream "AMEN" over cyber-space or he is DEAD.)

I carry around close to fifty pounds on my body that I don't need. I liked to blame it on pregnancy, but that kid is fourteen now. Even blaming his brother, that ship has sailed. I eat way too many sweets, not enough vegetables, drink too much fully-leaded coffee and I haven't been on the treadmill in weeks.

My husband sometimes drives me NUTS. He's sometimes a know-it-all who deserves to have his opinions shoved down his throat. But aside from that, and the fact that I sometimes feel like his mother and not his wife, we get along pretty well.

Seriously.

We have money worries, but really, who doesn't? Sometimes they keep me up at night; like losing sleep will add thousands of dollars to our bank account. Nope. Losing sleep just makes me cranky and then I yell at my children over every little thing and feel horribly about it for hours afterward.

Sometimes I wish the boys didn't fight so much. And while we're being real, sometimes I wish that we hadn't had children at all. But I feel guilty about that. A lot. To be able to travel to Paris or London or take in an African safari instead of having to constantly supply new pants and shoes to replace the outgrown ones would be heavenly.

Until my husband and I got sick of each other. Which would totally happen.

Our house is sometimes cold and drafty. I can't decorate at all and I haven't even finished painting the dining room, which I started in March. Some days I wish that we hadn't left Appleton at all.

But I have a couch to die for. Or so I've been told.

At times I am bored to tears in church service. Some weeks I hate the music, I hate the tradition, I hate the cliques. Even in our small congregation, that stuff gets in the way. The class I teach is most frequently only my kid, and I feel like I can teach the lessons at home, so why bother prepping for Sunday morning; but I do it anyway. While I'm in awe of what God has done for me, sometimes I'd just like to be able to sleep in on Sunday morning and treat it like any other day.

And my dad was a preacher while I was growing up. It's true.

Sometimes I'm terrified of losing my parents. My Mom especially. My brother and sister don't really like each other that much and I feel like Mom is what holds us together. So when the time comes that she isn't there anymore, what then? Will I never again have the chance to have all my neices and nephews in the same place at the same time?

I wish my siblings would put all the crap behind them. And as the oldest, I feel like I have this to say..."GROW UP". We're adults now, guys. Or at least we're supposed to be.

I spend the first 10 minutes of every day at my new job terrified that my boss will come to me and tell me that he's decided that I'm not really a good fit for the job after all. And I love my job, but there are already customers (and one coworker) who really get under my skin. The one woman who will find the ONE ITEM in the store with an incorrect sign and demand two of said item...she bugs the crap out of me.

Thankfully, I haven't seen her in a week or so. Of course, I'm sure that now I just jinxed myself.

And maybe we can't even afford to send the boys to state schools when the time comes. Maybe I know that in my head the college degrees that they work for will mean more to them, but I still feel guilty and a bit terrified that we won't be able to afford to help them at all.

And in addition to all the other things they'll blame me for, they'll blame me for that too.

I'll nap if I want to

It's my birthday. Again. I told a customer at work last night that I plan to stop aging now. This is it. Thirty-six is all.

If only it worked that way.

I'm so blessed. I miss my family tremendously on my birthday, but I know that they are thinking of me. And I have amazing friends who send cards and greetings every year. That means a lot.

I have HUGE plans for today. I'm having coffee with Esther this morning while her daughter is at preschool. Then I plan to come home and sneak in a bit of a nap. Or at the very least, rest in the peace and quiet.

Then maybe I'll eat some ice cream. In the middle of the afternoon.

And finally, I'm going to enjoy dinner with my husband this evening.

Can't think of any better way to spend this day!

blah, blah, blah

Again, I'm posting totally late. I blame Walgreens for hampering my blogging. If only I could blame Walgreens for the fact that the dining room table is littered with papers, bills and objects of all kinds.

I got the weekend off work but it'll be hardly restful. C and I leave in the morning for a missions event about two hours away. We should be home around six pm. Jon will take M to his nine-thirty soccer game in the morning. I hate missing soccer, but I promised C that I'd take him tomorrow. It's just one game.

Then Sunday will be my father-in-law's final service at the pulpit . I've lost track, but I think that it's over 40 years. And of course the family is getting together for that 9am service. We'll have to leave here around 6am to get there just in time.

I called my mom this morning to tell her that we weren't going to be able to visit for Thanksgiving. Again, I blame Walgreens. Something about "all hands on deck" for Black Friday.... I was sorta relieved that she didn't answer; it's easier to NOT cry to the voicemail. Oy.

Guess Jon got something booked for our anniversary. He sent me an email today that included the word "whirlpool". And I don't think he means the dishwasher. At least I hope not.

Tuesday is my birthday. I've got plans with my friend Esther for coffee in the morning and plans with Jon for dinner in the evening. In between, I may take a nap and eat some ice cream. It only happens once a year, after all.

Have a great weekend!

granted

First, there was #5 of this post.


Then, there was this post.


Guess some couldn't stand the suspense. I hadn't thought to ask permission initially to share what I'm about to tell you, so I had to leave you hanging while I sought out whether I was in the clear to divulge the secret.


Turns out, this part isn't a secret.

Lucky, huh?


I shall leave you in suspense no longer, my dear friends.

My best friend's baby who will be born in early December is.......









































another BOY! Woohoo!

that won't work...and a new baby

I'd originally set out to do a Wordless Wednesday post, then it dawned on me that Jon had taken the tower to the office. Something about needing the harddrive. And I don't have any pictures loaded to the laptop; I only have access to them from the desktop.

Oh well.


C told me this morning that his teacher has the same game that we have here. And she has the Clue Jr. books too. And she spent a lot of her own money for the things in her classroom. And her husband told her not to spend anymore, but she spent an additional $100 to repair the math books.


I said "Wow, she tells you guys everything, huh?"



I had dinner with my bf last night and her baby boy. He's almost 9 months old and so adorable. And as I mentioned in this post, I've known for only a couple of weeks that she's very pregnant with baby #2.

Now when she was pregnant with baby J last year, I could have possibly been the only one who didn't know that he was a boy. I'd simply asked her not to tell me, as I like that kind of surprise.

When we sat down to dinner last night, one of the first things I said was "So, did you find out the gender of this baby last week?" She said yes.

"And you're not gonna tell me?" She reminded me that I didn't want to know. Right. I like surprises.

I played with the baby the whole time we had dinner. When it was time for me to head home, she asked me to stay with J so she could run to the bathroom. No problem.

When she returned to the table, I said "Hey, I have a question. If I was to ask you if you'd tell me the new baby's gender, would you tell me, but keep the name a secret once you choose it?"

Obviously aliens had taken over my brain. Who am I?

She said "Sure"

I took a deep breath and said "Okay, tell me."

WHAT?? This is nuts! I don't really wanna know, do I?

When she said "It's a .....", I got so excited I started to cry.

I can't wait for the birth of the new baby!

monday musings...on a positive note

Why is it that weekends away from work go so quickly? At least Jon and I got to go for breakfast on Saturday morning; seemed forever since we'd been able to do that.


All the football teams we care about in this house posted wins over the weekend. That's exactly how it should be!

Worship was great yesterday, with the exception of my "technical difficulty". Seems that in our rush to get to church early for choir practice, I left my purse on the kitchen counter. That left me without my phone, without offering for Sunday School and most importantly, without my thumb drive containing the lyric powerpoint for worship. And we were over halfway to church when I said to Jon "Where's my purse?" Gah. I confessed my blunder to our music director who told me just to type in the selections not in the hymnal and that we'd just use the hymnal for the rest.


A copy of all my powerpoint files will find its way onto the desktop in the church office this next weekend. No crisis, but I was a bit nervous that on the very first weekend that I forgot the powerpoint in two years the district superintendent and his wife would be visiting. Yep. And Shawn Del didn't even fire me.


But on a positive note.....

Beth over at Laugh Until You Cry created this carnival that I thought was great; to start off the week with something positive! So here's my entry...

I'm working two 11a-8p shifts this week, but the upside is that I get time to myself in the morning once everyone else is out of the house...to watch the news, slowly enjoy my coffee or write (or read) blog posts. That almost makes up for being at work till almost bedtime for Caleb.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. I apologize for the lateness of this post, but I worked the opening shift this morning and got home at 5pm. Then I changed clothes and made dinner, checked homework and spent some time with Jon and I'm finally getting the chance to sit at the laptop.

2. I'm back to teaching the first through third grade Sunday School class. I really enjoyed the first time around; had some great students, most of whom are either in middle school now or right on the verge of middle school. I feel a bit differently this time around; there aren't as many children in my class and one of them is my own. It's more challenging to teach with my own boy in the room. But it's gonna work out fine.

3. Speaking of work, every customer with a problem came in to the store today. Our manager just handles one problem at a time. But my favorite moment of the day was the lady who came in and bought a pack of Newport Light cigarettes in a box. When I asked her if she wanted a bag, she said no, that her husband was out in the truck and he doesn't know she smokes, so she'd just put them in her purse. Instead of chuckling, which I wanted to do, I just smiled and said "okay". I'm not sure what she was thinking.

4. I got my first full paycheck this week. And all but about a hundred dollars went to put new tires on the Honda the next morning. Easy come, easy go, I guess.

5. Come to find out this week, my best friend and her husband are expecting baby #2. The surprise comes in when I say that she just had an ultrasound this week that confirmed that the baby is already 25 weeks gestation instead of the 8-10 weeks the clinic staff thought. Baby J (#1) is gonna be a big brother before his first birthday! Crazy stuff, but I'm super pumped for another baby to get my fix!

6. Fall has arrived and I even made the first batch of potato soup this week. And had leftovers in my lunch at work this afternoon. I love fall; too bad I have to get a year older every time it comes around.

7. I had an irritating experience this week at a retail giant. And I won't be visiting that local establishment again. But that scored me some points with my boss, since that would potentially mean some more business for Walgreens. My discount on items is only an added bonus.

Have a great weekend!

labor day

* if you follow this blog via networked blogs on facebook, you'll need to click on 'view original post' to see this post complete with the pictures. thanks!*

It's sometimes hard to believe that fourteen years ago today, I had my own personal labor day and gave birth to the most perfect six pound, six ounce little man. From the minute I held him, I was in love and he has never ceased to be the best thing that ever happened to me when I was the ripe old age of 21 years and 344 days.

(two days old- just sprung from St Vincent Hospital)

I've enjoyed watching him grow. I loved watching 'Pooh's Grand Adventure- the search for Christopher Robin' again and again. And again.

(nearly three, with his favorite blanket)


I cried when I left him on his first day of Kindergarten. I was the only one. He'd been home with me almost every minute since that warm September Sunday when we sprung him from the hospital and I wasn't ready for his independence. But he was and his teacher loved him.

(how is he ready for school already?...two days short of six years old)

He's a great big brother who lives life with an interesting mix of protecting Caleb and teaching him all he needs to know and wishing that Caleb would just go away.

Aren't all sibling relationships like that?

I'm proud that he's our son. I'm pleased at the smart, responsible, caring young man he's become. I'm more than thrilled that he loves Jesus with his whole heart, soul, mind and strength.

Happy birthday, Matthew. You make us proud.

And God said "Let there be balance." *

God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.

He inquired, "Where have you been?"

God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused."

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things."

God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?"

"That's Wisconsin , the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful rivers and streams, lakes, forests, and hills. The people from Wisconsin are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things. Champions shall come from here!"

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance."

God smiled, "I will create Minnesota, wait till you see the clowns I put there. They will field a football team to provide entertainment; they will wear purple and play in a domed stadium."

Michael inquisitively asked, "Why a domed stadium?"

God chuckled and said, "You see Michael,...even I don't want to watch them play football."

*thanks, Steph!

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist....

if she weren't so cute....

maybe he'd stop making her wear his cap. Nah.

It's Monday, but on a positive note.....

What a weekend!

And I mean that. Parts were great, and parts weren't so great.

J took the boys and a friend of M's to the minor league baseball game Saturday evening. Even though the team lost, I think that a great time was had by all. A visit to BK before the game and then soda and cotton candy during the game were the highlights for the little brother, that's for sure.

Work on Saturday went well, with the exception of that I couldn't get to the customer who was trying to carry three gallon jugs of water before she dropped one and it spilled all over the floor in front of the photo counter. After I called for the manager and every drop was cleaned up, she apologized to me saying that she knew that she should have gotten a cart to carry her water. And I just reassured her that these things happen and that really, it's not a big deal. She did get a cart to carry her water out to her car though; a gallon jug always loses the fight with an asphalt lot.

Don't ask me how I know that.

And for the not-so-great part, let's just say that my 13yo son is heartbroken. Through no fault of his own, a relationship that he treasured looks to be over, at least that's what I understand, and he's not happy about it at all. And there are extenuating circumstances to this too. It's not pretty.

But on a positive note.....

Beth over at Laugh Until You Cry created this carnival that I thought was great; to start off the week with something positive! So here's my entry...

....we've had more than one opportunity this last week to stress to M that it's really important that he make some decisions in life NOW and stick to them, because there can be lifelong consequences if you don't. And he seems to understand and be on board.

I wonder if it's too early to start with C.

seven quick takes Friday

1. Here we are again, Friday. Most people look forward to the weekend, I just look forward to which ever days of the week (usually three) I don't have to dress in navy and tan and go to "the pharmacy America trusts". But I'm loving my job, some cranky customers aside, AND I finally got paid this week, so that makes it even better!

2. As I'm sure you know, school starts Wednesday. C can't wait. And I can't wait! Teacher meet and greet is this afternoon. I'm so excited, yet a little sad, that my baby is in grade THREE. Where was I when this happened?

3. Speaking of my baby, my other one who's growing taller than me by the minute- he got to go to the Brewer game yesterday with his Poppa and Uncle and some of his cousins. It's always a great time, I hear, and yesterday was no exception. Except that the Brewers lost and M has never seen them pull off a win. But it's a win for Poppa, since he's a lifelong die-hard Dodger fan.

4. My mom's having her other hip replaced in October. She said that her doctor said that she could live with the pain or look at the surgery schedule, so she's taken his (at that time) next available opening. I won't travel to be with her during the first week of her recovery this time (sob!); she didn't want me to have to worry about taking time off work so she said that Dad has plenty of pto and he'll stay home and take care of her. I'm still gonna call and check on her every day. :-)

5. I'm headed next weekend for a quick trip to IL to visit some friends and I can't wait! I was lucky enough to get all of Labor Day weekend off (WOW!), so I'm gonna take advantage and go away alone for the day. I'll get to hug my friend (YAY!) and play with her adorable son (YAY!) and I'm super excited.

6. J got a new phone this week. He got the Droid, so he's been having fun installing apps and stuff. He's happy; I'm not. Why, you ask? His new toy came in lieu of a raise, and he hasn't had a raise in three years. Not cool. The phone won't buy the eighth grader new pants or shoes. Or feed the "always hungry" third grader. But whatever. Enjoy your phone, babe. (For the record, I know it's not his fault...it just ticks me off.)

7. And finally, would you believe that in just over a week I'll be the mother of a FOURTEEN year old?!? That's nuts. Even as I typed that, I don't believe it. I don't just live in denial, I enjoy every minute of it, thankyouverymuch.

Have a great weekend!

Check out more Quick takes at conversiondiary.com

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday- once bitten, twice shy...*

alternately titled: manicure bound!

*and if you know me at all, you're pretty amazed that it's been two weeks since I've bit my nails. Frankly, I'm amazed myself.

Monday Musings

*While logically I appreciate getting all my work hours (26.5 this week) in in a span of three days, I wasn't sure that my body was up to the challenge. Fortunately, things went well and I made it through and will happily go back to work on Wednesday.

**Don't get me wrong, I totally felt as though I deserved a reward for keeping this body on the move all weekend, so I chose two pints of ice cream from the freezer case as the final thing I did at the store last night. And then I came home and ate until my tongue was frozen and I could no longer taste the creamy deliciousness; which, for the record, was about half a pint. It awaits my return to the freezer this evening.

***Just so there's no confusion, I do sincerely hope that most of my work weeks no longer contain the 11-8 cosmetics shift Friday through Sunday. I felt as though my weekend was not my own.

****Jon was tremendously helpful over the weekend making sure that the house was maintained and the boys were still alive and fed. As a matter of fact, when I came through the back door last night, everyone was happily doing their own thing upstairs. That was a good sign that things went well.

*****And payday is Wednesday; woohoo!

******Soccer season practices start tonight. M has played every season but one since he went to Kindergarten. Check out how adorable his picture is!

He was quite cooperative when I said "Hey, can you go get me your kindergarten soccer pic? I wanna scan it in." But then when I started gushing about how adorable he was, he got all embarrassed. Teenagers!

in the dark

Somewhere around 5:30 this morning, I noticed that there was something wrong.


I was hearing intermittent squeeking and couldn't decide if the fan in the window was just set out to not allow me to sleep or if it could be a squirrel outside the window perched on the deck roof.


About ten minutes later, Jon was awake and went downstairs. When he came back up to the bedroom, he had his flashlight and looked behind the door.


Next thing I hear is "Oh, great...you're gonna want to get under the blankets."


Yep, that's right.


A bat. A nasty, disease-ridden bat.


Behind our bedroom door.


Two seconds later, I heard the "thump, thump" of his shoe making contact with the creature.


Then I could finally sleep.

sixteen or five

I've known my husband for sixteen years.

In that same amount of time, my co-worker, Aggie, has worked at four different stores. She tells me that she's not sure that she'll make it to seventeen.

I don't know whether to believe that or not.

Five years ago, Caleb was three. Matthew was in school all day and Caleb still took a nap every afternoon.

Five years from now, Matthew will be starting his freshman year in college.

How's that for a little perspective for ya this morning?

seven quick takes

1. Work is going well. Everybody's really nice and it's a small store, so we get regular customers whose names I get to learn. I'm not really looking forward to working all weekend next weekend, but hey, it's money, right?

2. I spent both of my scheduled shifts this week completing requirements for my new job. Such things as "this is how we provide excellent customer service" "everything you need to know about what to do if a robbery should occur on your shift" and so on. It was all done on the computer, complete with a narrator to complete my "beverage server/seller" class. I had to turn that feature off; I could read faster than she could talk anyway. Monday and Tuesday I actually get to interact with customers which I love. I hated being stuck back in that room.

3. Tomorrow is the annual Fireman's Parade. M is marching, of course; so we will attend. It's a pretty lengthy parade but fun for the kids. The best part of the parade this year is that afterward we're taking the boys to Grandma and Poppa's house to spend a couple of days. Peace and solitude and couple time; woohoo! Minus time spent at work, of course.

4. I didn't get her permission to tell you this, but I have to tell you anyway. You know how my Mom is a breast cancer survivor, right? Click here for the cliff notes on that. I talked to her this week and she casually mentions that she had to have a repeat mamogram. Because there was a "spot"....huh. I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing. But, thanks be to God, it's been determined by several professionals that the spot in NOT cancer; it must just be from reconstruction surgery she had this past January. whew. Talk about a scary few days. But once again, God is good!

5. No ants for a few days. And then suddenly, just one late last night. Ugh. Jon did say he only sprayed about three-quarters of the kitchen, so once he finishes it, we should be good to go. Or else we'll have to hire an exterminator. One or the other.

6. Our fifteenth anniversary is this October. Seems hardly likely, and yet, here we are. We only go away every five years and this would be the year. Normally you'd think we had plans in place already...nope. Guess Jon had a plan in his head for this year while we celebrated our tenth in '05 and he's a bit disappointed that the plan didn't pan out. But I'm not of the opinion that just because that didn't work out we shouldn't do anything! I suppose I'll just have to keep proding him. hee hee.

7. School starts two weeks from Wednesday. I can't wait, C can't wait, M would just really rather not ever go back to school. Of course, I'm sure that's due to the fact that he's been taking full advantage of sleeping very late the last few weeks. The six o'clock wake up on September first is going to be brutal. hee hee hee.

Check out more Quick takes at conversiondiary.com

red

Remember this post from a few weeks ago?

Well, here's the first of what our patience has afforded us.

And there are more to come!

dance

Originally published August 7, 2009


Today, August 7th, after thirteen years, our Grandparents are reunited on their anniversary.

And do you know what they're doing?

They're dancing.

I had forgotten how much they loved to dance until one of my Aunts mentioned it this week. In the last couple weeks of her life, Grandma mentioned that she would like to do several things that she had not had the chance to do in years; most frequently she mentioned dancing.

She had been bedridden due to stroke for seven years and I don't honestly think that she had been dancing since Grandpa passed away, but she remembered what it was like and that she loved it.

Mom told a story this weekend that Grandma had told her. She said that Grandma and Grandpa used to go to Lansing and dance whenever Bob Crosby and his band played Big Band music there. And they would dance the night away.

Every chance they got, they'd dance. And they were good at it too.

So today, on what is their 68th wedding anniversary, we miss them both tremendously, but we take comfort in knowing that they are celebrating together today.

Dancing.

stream of consciousness

C and I had a great time at our church's annual district assembly this week. The conventions were informative, the preaching anointed and the youth-led worship AH. MA. ZING. It's so great to be able to gather with friends from other churches and get reports about what God is doing.

C had a great time in that he got to make some new friends and he did quite a bit of swimming in the hotel pool. Props to the childcare coordinator and her team; nothing quite like dropping the boy off and not having to worry about keeping him entertained for the afternoon!

I got to bring home a souvenir of sorts from Madison too. Seems that I have come down with quite a deal of a head cold. And my throat feels as though there's a Brillo pad stick in it too. Good times. I'm hoping that with some diligence in taking medication and fluids for the next few days that I am good as new very soon. It's not the worst cold I've ever had but just the same I'd like to be rid of it.

I started my new job today. It went well. Everybody is very nice and extremely helpful in offering advice as I navigate my way through the process. Fortunately, I've worked a cash register before, so that's the easy part. It's nice to be back in the "working" world again.

Remind me of that last sentence the next time that I report that I'm completely overwhelmed if you would, please.

Seems as though we have quite a major ant problem as of late. And not tiny red ants either; nope, the big, black ones that can carry away a small pet if it sets its mind to it. Ick. Jon is bringing home traps tonight. We had some spray, but it says right on the can "hazardous to humans and domestic animals" so I don't want to use it around the kitten. Or on my kitchen counter, frankly. Hopefully the traps will do the job.

With that, you're caught up. And I'm off to veg in front of the tv until my next dose of medication.

Toodles.

let it go

It's no secret that I'm a control freak. Put me in charge and it needs to go the way I say, in the time I say...blah, blah.

But the good news about me is that if somebody else is in charge of something and I'm just taking part in the fun, I'm all good in letting myself go with the flow.

The director of music at our local church giggles when I say "Whatever you want, boss!"

And I mean it. Who wants to upset her anyway?

Alas, my flexibility is not really what we're talking about here. It'd be a really short post anyway and not really worth anyones time, believe me.

Things are about to change around here; don't worry, it's all good. Or at least it will be.

I got a new part-time job; and after being home full time for the last year and a half, I'm gonna be out of the house making money twenty to twenty-five hours a week.

I'm pretty excited because who am I kidding, I really haven't wanted to be home so much in recent months...but finding work near our home proved to be more challenging than I was ready for, actually.

I got lucky in that the manager of my new job felt nostalgic when he saw on my application that both he and I used to work for the same company. Not at the same time, mind you, but whatever.

See? All good.

Here in lies my problem. My very gracious husband has made it clear that he'll see to it that whatever he and the boys need to do to pick up some of the slack while I get used to my new work schedule, they'll do.

But I have to let them. AHEM.

See my problem? If you know me at all, you do.

So who cares if Jon turns the towels wrong side out as he folds them? At least they're folded. Right now, I care. And last week, I couldn't stop myself from making a comment about how he had done it backwards.

Don't worry, I hated myself for it. And you know what else? In my repentance, I put them away just like they were. And then left them that way. That's pretty big, for me.

It's not just towels, either, as I'm sure you figured. Will the dishes get clean enough if I'm not the one to load the dishwasher....I left veggies for supper every night and no one has eaten a single veggie all week....there is cat hair everywhere, can you not see that?.....

The thing is, I've realized that I can't pick apart my help and still expect to get help. Call it maturity or desperation or whatever...I'm gonna have to channel my mother and just be gracious and grateful for the help. That ultimately means that I'm just gonna have to go with the flow around here too.

God help me.

the rain came down...

We've had so much rain since the boys and I made it home from Michigan that the mosquitoes have quadrupled, in size and number.


Normally, this is the time of year where people around here are complaining about how brown their lawns are and wouldn't it be nice if it just rained so purposeful watering wasn't necessary.

Not this year.

With most of this rain comes the event of some sort of severe weather. Last Tuesday, it was tornado warnings about an hour into band camp at the middle school. Last night it was reported that there was quarter-sized hail falling; we drove into the storm from sunny skies and back out of the storm into sunny skies.


All we saw was quarter-sized raindrops, in case you wondered.

But it rained like crazy again over night. And I know this because I had another one of those nights where I was dead-tired by nine-thirty, so I went to sleep; only to find myself wide awake around quarter after two.


Thank goodness we have DirecTV. Otherwise I'd have to read a book or something.


Fast forward to around ten till seven this morning, Jon kisses me goodbye and walks out the front door. I don't hear him open his car door right away, so I wait...and see that he gets a 6 pack of Coke bottles out of the back of the van.

But then all I hear is "HOLY COW!"

He comes back inside and says "Guess we don't need Eric after all...you gotta see this."

When we talked about taking this tree down on our own, it needed to miss the clothesline post...

and it better miss the wishing well that my Grandpa built for me, or heads were gonna ROLL.

Guess it worked out okay. And we have more firewood to boot. Jon'll just have to uncover the firepit there somewhere. Lucky him.

Wordless Wednesday- you say "toe-may-toe", I say "yum!"

if you build it....

It's no secret that Caleb's medicine is helping him immensely. And wouldn't ya know that after three weeks of sharing legos with cousins, he'd have a new appreciation for the stash of blocks that we have here at home. (Small by some standards, I'm sure; but while no one has sat and counted legos recently, we estimate our stash to be around 4,000 pieces.)

Ask Matthew. I guess he had too much time on his hands at some point.

Over the last several days, I've had everything from an army of lego robots to a fleet of cars spread over my coffee table. Regrettably, I didn't think to get pictures of either of those. But Saturday, Caleb decided that he needed paper for a "blueprint". I got kinda excited when he brought me this:

It's widely reported that not to be outdone, his brother built this:

It was later used to smash the rocket to bits.

Many tears followed.

sometimes you gotta laugh

or you're gonna cry.


Trust me when I tell you that I've done plenty of both in recent days.


The van was in the garage all week. Last night, I finally got clearance to drive it, as the problem seems to be not "drive threatening". That's good. I think.


We've had plenty of rain over the last several days. We spent a portion of Wednesday afternoon in the basement due to a tornado warning in our corner of the county. While we had the radio on for updates we were treated to a waterfall show. Seems that there is a fairly significant crack in the foundation on the west side of the house. Wonderful.


There also seems to be a leak in the roof over the bathroom. If you remember this post, you'll know that I was very happy with the new ceiling.



Now the ceiling looks like this:

I realize it could be worse, but COME ON!

And our 13 year old decided that since he was upset with me yesterday, he'd disappear. When I sent him a text telling him it was dinner time, I assumed he was just a block or so way up at the park. Imagine my surprise when his reply was that he was in the town thirteen miles away.

When I asked him what in the world he was thinking, he said "I was mad at you." Nice.

He's without any tv or computer games and chained to our property for a week. And his phone has been confiscated for an undetermined amount of time.

And the kicker was that he acted like it was no big deal that he took off without a word.

I don't wanna be a grown-up anymore.

promises

I waited patiently for the Lord;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and the mire,
He set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand. Ps 40:1-2

The Lord is my light and my salvation-
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life-
of whom shall I be afraid? Ps 27:1

As for God, His way is perfect… 2Sam 22:31a

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of His covenant. Ps 25:10

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Ps. 4:8

For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Mt 6:32-34a

give thanks!

Money is tight, our options limited but God is still on the throne. In everything that seems to have been going not quite right in the last few weeks, we still have our home and family. We're safe, there's food in the refrigerator and (most) of the bills are paid.

On the whole we are healthy, happy and continually blessed. We refuse to let Satan do his damndest to break up what we have going; our faith in what God has done and is doing and will do for us is bigger than that!

"MY grace is sufficient for you; for MY power is made perfect in (your) weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9

That's good news!

days to weeks

When we loaded up the van for vacation to Michigan on June 12th, we had no idea that getting home would involve one bus ticket, the boys and I would get two extra weeks with family and we'd have just seventeen hours at home before we were away again for a long weekend.

I'll be back and tell you all about it. Just as soon as the house is cleaned, the fridge and cupboards stocked, the bills paid.......

bunches

Last night at Caleb's game, his team was down by just a run at their final at-bat. Matthew and I heard Coach Pat say "Boys, do you wanna win this game? Let's get a bunch of runs this inning then!!"

All the boys cheered.

Matthew and I then started talking about what comes in bunches, since we didn't think that either of us had ever heard of homeruns coming in bunches.

Grapes...check.

Bananas...check.

Nuts?

I look at Matthew like he's crazy (haha) and I say "Nuts don't come in bunches, silly."

His reply?

"The Andersen's do!"

Can't argue with that.

mustard, relish and my dad

If you know me at all, you'd know that I'm kind of an emotional person. Heck, my little (age 25) brother still gives me grief about the time that he saw me cry at the Cheerios commercial that was popular at Christmastime several years back.

I'm sure you know the one.

The baby's sitting in the highchair and there are cheerios scattered all over the tray. The grandmother (I can only assume) talks about several cheerios as though they are family members living in various areas of the country.

But then she scoots two pieces of cereal together and says "But we'll always be together for Christmas".

Excuse me while I hunt down a Kleenex.

There. ahem.

I live 400 miles plus a few from my family. They're on one side of Lake Michigan and I'm on the other. While I know that this is pittance of a distance to some families,(my mother-in-law, God love her, always reminds me that I could have an ocean separating me and my family...helpful, isn't she?) it is difficult for me at times.

And silly things remind me of when I was a kid.

Take last night, for example. We had hot dogs for dinner. While I am normally just a "plain yellow mustard, no ketchup, please!" kind of girl, I happen to have sweet pickle relish in the house at the moment. I made a potato salad a couple weeks back and I needed relish for that.

My dad always, always, always put mustard and relish on his hotdogs and his burgers when I was growing up. And on the burger, he always makes a continuous circle with the mustard from the outside of the burger to the center and then closes the bottle and dabs the remaining bit on the bun top.

Always.

But last night while I was putting mustard and relish on my hotdog, I started to think about Dad. And how much I love him and he loves me and how much I miss him when I don't get a chance to see him often.

When I do get to see him in two weeks and three days, I can't wait to hug him.

how does your garden grow?

ice cream

...it's what's for dinner!

good sport

Caleb's playing baseball. And believe me when I tell you that I use that phrase loosely.

When his team is up to bat, he's all for active participation. Sometimes a little too active, as he's been reminded more than once that he shouldn't walk in front of home plate to retrieve a bat when a runner is coming into home at full speed.

Good thing when that happens, he's always "on deck" so he's wearing a batting helmet.

He's gotten several hits already this season, as long as he uses his own bat. And he's only been tagged out on base once, and that was at third.

The outfield is a totally different story.

If there were awards given for pirouetting, ala 'Sound of Music' style out in left field rather than backing up third, he'd qualify for High Honors.

If "sand-castle making" were part of the criteria for making the team, he'd definitely be chosen first. During the first game of the season, Jon swears that he heard Coach Pat tell Caleb to "save the sandcastles for the backyard."

His coach is so patient with him, and we are definitely thankful for that. He stands near Caleb most of the time and redirects him.

And if he's paying attention, he does fine. But that's a big "if".

I've taken to sitting in the van with my head in a book and the windows up during practice. Ignorance, even partial, is bliss.

customer service epic fail

*alternately titled: Why surprises aren't always a good thing.

Early Tuesday morning last week I was still sorta searching for an idea for Mother's Day. Suddenly I remembered that I had wanted to order a rose of sharon for my mom (she'd left one behind in a move once that she really liked) and I asked Jon if he thought that his mom would like one.

"Sure. That sounds like a good idea."

That's as close to excitement over such things as he comes.

Fast forward to late Tuesday morning, I had chosen and ordered plants at the best price I could from a fairly trusted online site, complete with gift messages to be contained in the boxes which were, of course, being shipped to two different locations.

I was a bit disappointed in the knowledge that I hadn't ordered early enough for the plants to arrive in time for Mother's Day, but I just figured that I'd mention to my mom (and Jon could mention to his) to be on the lookout for a shipment this week.

Done.

So yesterday afternoon, imagine my surprise when the convo with my mom goes like this:

Me: "So I sent you a plant....."
Mom: "Oh, good!"
Me: "....but I didn't get it ordered in time, so it should arrive as soon as tomorrow."

Mom: "a rose of sharon?"
Me- sorta shocked that her "mom ESP" is still that sharp: "Yeah, how'd you know?"
Mom: "It arrived on Friday."
Me- now it's my turn: "oh good!"

But here's the kicker: There wasn't a bit of information outside of the box or inside the box...ahem, NO gift message...to indicate that I had sent it. Not a shred.

She'd even emptied the box of all the packing peanuts and looked at all the attached paperwork...NOTHING.

Since it was Mother's Day weekend, she assumed it was from me and had Dad plant it in the yard over the weekend.....I had failed to indicate in the card I'd sent separately to expect the package ..... not wanting to spoil the surprise.

That fifty percent turned out okay......

Jon's mom has green thumbs; heck her hands are green. She can make anything grow. She orders from bulb and plant sites all the time.

So when a package arrives at her door on Friday morning with what she later tells me is a bill inside, she gets on the horn with customer service. There isn't any answer from the first number she dials so she finally reaches someone named Pam when she dials a second number.

Believing that she's been shipped something that she did not order and will not pay for, she tells customer service that she will ship it back. And that's just what she has my father-in-law do early Friday afternoon.

So she is horrified and extremely apologetic when she learns from her son yesterday afternoon that she has returned her Mother's Day gift in error. So horrified, in fact, that she calls me specifically to apologize yesterday afternoon and to get the order number to attempt to remedy the situation first thing this morning.

No matter who's at fault.. me, for deciding that the surprise would be fun; or customer service for not including the specifically ordered gift messages... I learned something.

The "surprise" element is never worth the stress.

who's your daddy?

When I was very young, I remember hearing my mom call my dad "daddy" from time to time. Most of the time she called him "honey", but sometimes.....


Jon's birthday is tomorrow. Caleb loves to create, so I suggested to him that maybe he'd want to get out the card making supplies and make a card to give to Jon. He was excited and immediately started talking about markers and ink and glitter, oh my.


I helped him with the cutting and the ink and he took over with the color. He asked me if orange was an okay color to write with on the inside of the card and I agreed.


I'd vetoed yellow; it's hard for ageing eyes to see, you know. Ahem.


He asked me if he could have an envelope and I agreed. I said "Why don't you write Daddy's name on the front; that way he knows it's for him."


I turned my back to begin cleaning up the card-carnage.


In just a minute, I couldn't help my shock at seeing what he'd written.

It says "Joe".

Trying not to laugh, I said "Do you see what you've written?" It takes him a second, but he looks at me sorta sheepishly and says "Oops, I think I need a new envelope. It's supposed to say 'Daddy'.

Maybe he knows something I don't.

outside looking in

I've written before about Caleb's struggles in school. They really stemmed from his inability to concentrate on anything and began surfacing when he went to Kindergarten.

His kindergarten teacher, bless her, suggested that maybe he needed a sugar-free diet. We weren't particularly opposed to that; but we tried it and it seemed to make little difference in his behavior in the classroom.

He was still as flighty as a bumblebee and as talkative as his mother. Ahem.

His first grade teacher laid down the law with him and he did fine in her classroom. Not perfect, but acceptable. In fact, I remember how shocked Jon and I both were in that first parent/teacher conference with her when she said "Caleb? He's just fine!" We both were thinking "Are you sure you mean our Caleb?"

What a relief!

But three months into the school year we made this move and landed in our current school district. Caleb's classroom had twenty seven students and two teachers (thank GOD for that!) and you'd have thought he'd be fine.

Oh, no.

He wasn't getting work done, ever. He never stopped talking. He was constantly on the move, whether at his desk or around the room. His classroom teacher complained via email almost every day and it was frustrating for all of us.

When he entered second grade last fall, his teacher had never even met him. By Christmas, she started saying "Maybe we need to implement some strategies for Caleb to be better at getting his work done." We told her that she was the boss and whatever she wanted to do in her classroom was good enough for us.

Poor lady.

She tried giving him a sticker chart and prizes. That worked for about, oh, two days. She then resorted to moving his desk away from the others. I'm sure you remember what happened there.

Just after his birthday, she called me and suggested that maybe she should speak to the school counselor and see about getting him tested for what seemed to be increasing attention issues. I had told her that it sounded like a plan to me. I had missed her call due to this excitement and had to call her back.

You see, Caleb wasn't just having issues at school. Caleb was not able to listen at home, not able to stop wiggling at church; no consequence we imposed for not following the rules was working.

Not a single one. This kid even lost the privilege of going to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday, something he'd talked about for months and he didn't even care.

The school counselor and Caleb's teacher put their heads together and then they sent me a pile of paperwork to fill out. I made an appointment with Caleb's pediatrician on the advice of my Mom (thanks, Mom!) and his pediatrician said that as soon as I received the counselor's written report to bring it and Caleb back to his office.

He took me seriously, thank God. I was starting to lose it.

In the mean time, the clinic sent me some more questionairres to fill out and one additional one for his teacher. Did I mention that Caleb's teacher wrote the pediatrician a letter expressing her concerns for me to take to his initial appointment? Dr. S said it was "very helpful".

Man, am I glad I thought of it.

Almost ten days later, which was last week, I had all the paperwork together and picked Caleb up from school and took him in to see Dr S. Doc took one look at the numbers on the counselors report and said "Yep, we have a case of ADHD here."

After what has been months of prayer, consideration of what's best for Caleb and our family, and discussion with each other, Jon and I decided that the best course of action at this time is medication for Caleb.

He started a very low dose of Adderall last week and it's already helping tremendously. His teacher is amazed!

Frankly, so am I!

Now, I know that there are definite reasons why medication is chosen and definite reasons why people feel that it's a bad idea.

I get that. Believe me, I do.

I just didn't expect such a strong reaction to even the suggestion that we were thinking of using medication to help Caleb.

And from church family, too. It wasn't pretty. It was painful.

"You know, if you choose medication, you'll never get him off of it."

Like I haven't had days where I've felt guilty enough for choosing this, thankyouverymuch. But a very wise friend (thank you, E!!) has told me that if it's what's best, screw what others think. They have no idea what we've been dealing with day in and day out and have no basis to decide the validity of what we're doing.

For now, it's what's best. For all of us.

ah, wisconsin

The boys were on spring break last week. That's most of the reason that I haven't been posting; that and there was really nothing to say. haha.

Matthew got home around 9pm on Monday. He was a bit sunburned and pretty tired, but he couldn't resist showing me all the "stuff" he bought at the park gift shops. He took a few pictures, but they're mostly of his friends sound asleep on the bus.

Caleb and I had a great time on our extended weekend. The weather was PERFECT and we spent a TON of time outdoors; we even ate meals outside too thanks to our new patio set.

I realized on Monday morning that I hadn't taken one single picture all of Easter weekend. Not one. I hate when I do that.

Most of the tulips and daffodils are up in the yard.

And this morning, they are MAD. I know, I know; dogs get mad, people get angry. No one says that poor flowers covered in a freak April accumulating snow can't be mad. I would be.

There's rumor that by next week, we'll be back to spring again. I'll believe it when I see it.

leavin' on a jet plane coach bus

I've spent most of the last two days getting Matthew ready for his trip to Florida.

At 5:45am, he hugged me and boarded the bus. After about two minutes, I followed the lead of about half of the parents and got in my car and drove away. No sense of watching the buses pull out, that was just gonna increase the chance that I was going to have dramatically impaired vision for the drive home.

Tomorrow morning's first stop is Magic Kingdom.

I should have stowed away under the bus.

get up

Being at retreat was definitely a "mountain top" experience.

Being home this week has been a rather harsh dose of reality.

Caleb's struggling. We're struggling to help him. His teacher is an eternal optimist, bless her. But the school psychologist couldn't be dragging her feet any more, and that's frustrating.

I had more than one huge moment this week where I felt like everything we're doing for Caleb is wrong and that I just wasn't cut out to parent any child, let alone one who is experiencing all this difficulty with school and having issues at home as well.

But it was pointed out to me that no parent is perfect, just as no child is perfect; and that the most important thing we can do for Caleb is to love him. And to let him know that we love him.

And to remember that God loves Caleb even more than we do and He wants what's best for him infinitely more than we do.

We'll plod along and figure it out, knowing that Caleb is in God's hands and there is no better place for him.

process

I'm still sorting through all that was placed on my heart at retreat. While I promise to tell you all about it in the next few days, I have to tell you this.

Satan did a number on me last week. He had me completely convinced that I could not do the job that was placed in my hands for retreat. And I was in the thick of believing it too; so much so that when the transmission on my van went out just hours before I was to leave, I seriously considered calling the director, who just happens to be my Pastor's wife, and telling her that I decided that I couldn't lead music after all and I needed to stay home.

I'm more glad than EVER that I went to retreat.

And while I'm working on telling you all those details, I have to share with you yesterday afternoon.

One good thing about our retreat location is that it was in the town where our church's music director and her husband live. And the one other time that ladies retreat was held there, we were invited to lunch at Shawn Del's as a group after conclusion of retreat on Sunday. And she is an amazing cook, so we don't say "no".

We're not idiots.

After an amazing lunch at Shawn Del's, I headed back to my brother-in-law's to return his vehicle, which he had graciously loaned me for the weekend. And Jas, if you read this, you still have my garage door opener....haha.

Anyway, I took what my husband calls "the long route" from the house back to the interstate and this song started to play from the CD changer in the car. I'd heard it before, but it had been awhile. It really spoke to me, and the entire ride home I just kept hitting the 'back' button to make it replay.

I just wanted to share it with you, since in a nutshell, it's a great way of kinda encapsulating my retreat experience.

nerves

Retreat doesn't start for two more days. And I'm already in a shallow breathing kind of state of nerves.

Contrary to popular belief, you know because I tend to be bossy and I talk a LOT; I don't want the focus on me. And whether I like it or not, some of it will be.

This is definitely out of my comfort zone.

Can I ask you to just pray that my "gentleness be evident to all"?

I tend to get super anxious when the little plan in my head starts to fall apart, whether I have control or not. And let's face it; whether the praise and worship part of retreat goes well isn't all in my control. There's a pianist and a powerpoint person. And then there's me.

No, I won't go there.

Things happen. I need to deal, no matter what.

I hope all will go well. And retreat will be amazing no matter what. It will be full of fellowship and fun and most of all, GOD always meets us there.

That's my story and for the sake of my nerves, I'm sticking to it.

I am...

....the mother of a child whose hands are now bigger than mine. Yikes.


.....not ready for said child to be taller than me; he's gonna gloat something fierce.

joys

Only as a mother can you find yourself having a conversation that in few sentences goes from "what's for supper?" and "A bird pooped near me today, it just fell out of the sky!" to "So-and-so got a chip caught in his throat at lunch and puked."

All in one van ride home from school.

white

After more than twelve years of living in apartment after apartment, I couldn't wait to get into our house where I could decide what color I wanted to look at day after day.

To be fair, one apartment was off-white, which is a variation, I guess.

I wanted to start painting right away, but it was nearly Christmas, and Jon said that we needed to wait until spring. Some blah, blah, blah about being able to have the windows open.

Spring came and went.

Not that I could decide what colors I wanted what rooms anyway, but that's beside the point.

I wanted color and I didn't really care where it was; just that it was.

But after more than fourteen months of looking at a yellow dining area and a peach living room, white didn't seem like that objectionable of a color.

I've spent the better portion of the last two days coating the dining room walls with primer. Up on a ladder. Down off a ladder. With a roller and then a brush. And it's white. And it's almost done. And I wouldn't really mind just leaving it that way for a bit.

Strange, I know.

But don't worry, I'm picking out COLOR!

Wordless Wednesday- cousins

celery

Caleb was able to participate in the fourth- sixth grade Sunday school class this week; his teacher was away celebrating a family wedding.

Having spoken with the teacher of the older class prior to class beginning that morning and learning what she was planning for the students, I asked Caleb that evening what he did in Sunday school that day.

"We acted out Noah's Ark" he mumbled, unable to take his eyes off a tv rerun of Home Improvement.

I was instantly curious. "What part did you play?"

"I was the raven", he stated matter-of-factly.

After he endured me asking what it is in fact that the raven does in the story, he pryed his eyes from an instantly captivating commercial to tell me that the raven came back to the ark because it couldn't find dry land.

"But the dove leaves the ark and comes back with celery, I think."

"WHAT?!" I couldn't help myself, honest.

"Yeah mom. The dove leaves the ark and finds dry land and comes back with celery."

No amount of persuasion from me convinced that child that it was an olive branch rather than celery. He was insistent.

His regular teacher will be so proud.

on the menu Monday

Chicken and Dumplings

2 cups cooked chicken, diced

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 2/3 cups milk, divided

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

2 1/4 cups biscuit mix

Combine chicken, soups and 2 cups milk; heat slowly to boil. Add veggies and cook till just tender.

Combine biscuit mix and milk until soft dough forms and drop onto boiling soup. Lower the heat and cook 10 minutes uncovered. Cover pot and cook an additional ten minutes, then serve.

ch,ch,ch,changes

One thing that makes my husband crazy about me is that once I get in my head that a project needs to be done, it needs to be DONE. From start to finish, same day if at ALL possible.

It makes me seriously anxious to start something and leave it unfinished. I don't care if to finish something is going to take me into the wee hours of the night; if I can finish before I have to succumb to sleep, so be it. All the better.

And he thought that all of my "less desireable" qualities were from my dad. Haha. This one has "mom" written all over it....you should have seen Jon's face when he heard the cold, hard truth straight from my mom. Priceless!

Anyway, when we bought this house, there were lace "curtains" all though. We went and put mini blinds up in all the bedrooms for privacy's sake as well as looks, but we left the lace curtain on the bay window in the living room. Mostly because I just couldn't decide what to do there anyway. I hated how it looked, but not really enough to change it.

Well, adding to my growing desire for change is this darn kitten. She saw the long lace as an invitation to climb to the top of the window; and climb she did. Several times. Leaving little tiny holes all up and down the curtain.

Yesterday, I decide that NOW IS THE TIME for change. Something MUST be done. Thinking that it'll be quite a bit harder for Miss Dina to climb a valance, that's what I was thinking needed to go there. I was almost giddy with excitement when I discovered that the Wal-Mart closest to me did indeed carry a navy blue valance! Like dance- in- the- aisle kind of giddy. I obviously need to get out more.

It took me about an hour and a half to complete on my own, as I took the old rod and hardware down and added all new. Go big or go home, I guess I was thinking. If I'd have had an extra hand, that've been good. But I managed. And here it is.

I apologize for the picture quality, I didn't remember to take one until this morning. But trust me, it's better.

Jon noticed right away, which is a record for him, and his response was "I like it." That's approval right there, I tell ya. High praise indeed. Now if I could just decide what color to paint the room.

Wordless Wednesday - "cool!!"

on the menu Monday- poke cake

aka Caleb's birthday cake!

What You Need!

2 baked (9-inch) round white cake layers, cooled
2 cups boiling water

2 pkg. (.3 oz. each) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Make It!

PLACE cakes, top-sides up, in clean 9-inch round baking pans; pierce tops with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

ADD boiling water to gelatin mixes; stir at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Pour over cakes. Refrigerate 3 hours.

DIP bottom of 1 pan in warm water 10 sec.; unmold cake onto serving plate. Spread with 1 cup COOL WHIP. Unmold second cake; place on first cake. Frost with remaining COOL WHIP. Refrigerate 1 hour. Keep refrigerated