So I went to my mom and dad's over Thanksgiving. Sorry I missed your call, CBB. :o( I should have called you back. My cell phone died while in Arkansas. So besides thinking about you, CBB, I was thinking of how my family is like a country song. Well, not my immediate family, but some of my cousins. It was fun to see them all (my dad has seven brothers and sisters), though I'm sure not all of them were happy to see one another. Especially two of my cousins who are brothers, who have a wife in common. Well, she divorced the older brother and is now married to the younger one. But all three of them live in my aunt's house, with their children. Yep. Jeff Foxworthy would be proud.
I have also been thinking about the new blog in which I'll be taking part over this Advent. Please look every day of Advent, as there will be a new devotional each day. I am the pity partner - no, really, it is true - for this endeavor. Did I spell endeavor right? Somebody? See what I mean? My co-bloggers for this project are geniuses. Literally and truly. So on the days when it is my turn, please expect very little, compared to what has come before. It will be a great project, though, and I am excited about it.
Here's the last thing I want to mention that's been going on in my head: I'm thinking about becoming a teacher by getting my alternative (? or alternate? - see, I don't even know what I'm doing) teaching certificate. That way, we'll have a little bit more of a financial cushion so that I can finish the last 30 hours of my seminary degree. I don't know, though. Will I be a good teacher or a bad teacher? Can I deal with the stress of it? I am going between excited and apprehensive at the thought of it. What do you think?
I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving with your families! CBB, I'll see you Christmas. Did you eat some ham on Thursday? Seeing as you normally eat ham. :o)
And to my Apron Ladies (check out my link to Peanut), THANK YOU and please let me know payment and mailing details. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Funny Pictures
Closeup . . .
. . . of Banana when he climbed into the bathroom cabinet while I was doing my hair.
Chicken Nugget helped me "edit" this picture of her.
Potty Princess . . . it cracks me up that Noodle will completely disrobe, all except those shoes, just to use the potty.
I just thought this was a great smile!
"I love my toes!"
Friday, November 17, 2006
Rendezvous with Retail, and Other Tasty Tidbits
I may be writing a lot about all kinds of retail things for awhile. It is interesting stuff. People are interesting creatures.
Two nights ago, just as we were closing up, one of my (female) coworkers dashed into the men's room yelling, "Oh, no!" and then came out, fuming mad.
"Go in there and look," she said to me.
I wasn't quite sure . . . being a men's room and all . . . but I went anyway. Someone had plugged up the drain in the sink and turned the faucet on, intending to flood the whole place. Ms. Alert, my coworker, had caught the prank, pre-disaster. The sink had not yet overflowed. She had a few choice words for the little *%#@'s that had done the deed (her words). Had she not heard the water running, the entire store would have been flooded by morning. Makes you wonder why they did it. What were they thining?
We are always worried about "shrink," which is shoplifting. When I worked at the same store two years ago, our loss was enormous. The store has since come under new management, and the difference is noticable. Departments have been moved and the whole store is neater and better run, and I like that. The ship wasn't so tight before, and we were all stressed as a result, because our manager left stressful tasks to the last minute. It's so efficient now and loss is down quite a bit.
The store where I work is located in a mall, and the mall is dwindling. There are many empty storefronts in the mall. We have a few things, like a Bath and Body Works, Sears, JC Penny, Macy's, movie theatre, and those kinds of things; but we're missing an Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, American Eagle, and other stores that would generate a good shopping crowd. Someone told me that we were supposed to get those stores, but the mall manager didn't want the kinds of people in his or her mall that would come to those stores.
I said, "What kind of people? The kind with money?"
The look I got told me all I needed to know - it is about race. No one wants to shop next to Hispanics. This could start an entirely new blog post, so I won't go there. I'll just say, I don't get it, and I prefer to stay naiive. My neighbor likes to say the "N" word a lot. She drops it at will. She does not like African Americans at all. (She doesn't have a racial slur to use for Hispanics, so she just says "Mexicans" in that case.) A few of my other neighbors have said that "if all these houses in this neighborhood get bought up by Mexicans, I'm moving!"
It was the same way in Iowa, where there was a large Hispanic population. Only there, they were called, "foreigners." There were two towns near where we lived in Iowa that you could find Wal-Mart, grocery stores, doctors, etc. We chose the closer town, but my neighbor chose the one farther away, and I asked her why. She said, "It's because there are less foreigners there."
I said, "Oh, you mean Mexicans?"
"Yeah," she said, "I guess that's kind of mean, huh?"
"Yeah," I said, "It is."
I had to walk away from a group of moms on the playground once as they discussed "the Mexicans" and how they stole from Goodwill and would talk about you in Spanish if they saw you in Wal-Mart.
So this post started with tidbits from retail, and ended up with racism. But they really do tie into one another. Just last night, a coworker was telling me of a huge sale last week that happened when I wasn't working. She said, "We had tons of people all at once. I mean, I turned around and there were all these Mexicans," she whisper-hissed the word.
One of my friends says that one day she wants to move somewhere where (I know this sounds bad, she says), there aren't as many Mexicans (or any probably). I told her, good luck finding it. I've never lived anywhere that there wasn't a Hispanic population.
Like I said, I want to stay naiive, because I know there are issues. And I don't want to make this blog any longer than it has to be. But I think a lot of the issue has to do with ignorance. People don't want to take the time to look into what is really going on, but choose to remain angry about what they precieve is going on.
Oh, and I don't worry too much about my neighbor using the "N" word a lot. I have to overlook it. After all, she is a redneck. ;o)
Two nights ago, just as we were closing up, one of my (female) coworkers dashed into the men's room yelling, "Oh, no!" and then came out, fuming mad.
"Go in there and look," she said to me.
I wasn't quite sure . . . being a men's room and all . . . but I went anyway. Someone had plugged up the drain in the sink and turned the faucet on, intending to flood the whole place. Ms. Alert, my coworker, had caught the prank, pre-disaster. The sink had not yet overflowed. She had a few choice words for the little *%#@'s that had done the deed (her words). Had she not heard the water running, the entire store would have been flooded by morning. Makes you wonder why they did it. What were they thining?
We are always worried about "shrink," which is shoplifting. When I worked at the same store two years ago, our loss was enormous. The store has since come under new management, and the difference is noticable. Departments have been moved and the whole store is neater and better run, and I like that. The ship wasn't so tight before, and we were all stressed as a result, because our manager left stressful tasks to the last minute. It's so efficient now and loss is down quite a bit.
The store where I work is located in a mall, and the mall is dwindling. There are many empty storefronts in the mall. We have a few things, like a Bath and Body Works, Sears, JC Penny, Macy's, movie theatre, and those kinds of things; but we're missing an Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, American Eagle, and other stores that would generate a good shopping crowd. Someone told me that we were supposed to get those stores, but the mall manager didn't want the kinds of people in his or her mall that would come to those stores.
I said, "What kind of people? The kind with money?"
The look I got told me all I needed to know - it is about race. No one wants to shop next to Hispanics. This could start an entirely new blog post, so I won't go there. I'll just say, I don't get it, and I prefer to stay naiive. My neighbor likes to say the "N" word a lot. She drops it at will. She does not like African Americans at all. (She doesn't have a racial slur to use for Hispanics, so she just says "Mexicans" in that case.) A few of my other neighbors have said that "if all these houses in this neighborhood get bought up by Mexicans, I'm moving!"
It was the same way in Iowa, where there was a large Hispanic population. Only there, they were called, "foreigners." There were two towns near where we lived in Iowa that you could find Wal-Mart, grocery stores, doctors, etc. We chose the closer town, but my neighbor chose the one farther away, and I asked her why. She said, "It's because there are less foreigners there."
I said, "Oh, you mean Mexicans?"
"Yeah," she said, "I guess that's kind of mean, huh?"
"Yeah," I said, "It is."
I had to walk away from a group of moms on the playground once as they discussed "the Mexicans" and how they stole from Goodwill and would talk about you in Spanish if they saw you in Wal-Mart.
So this post started with tidbits from retail, and ended up with racism. But they really do tie into one another. Just last night, a coworker was telling me of a huge sale last week that happened when I wasn't working. She said, "We had tons of people all at once. I mean, I turned around and there were all these Mexicans," she whisper-hissed the word.
One of my friends says that one day she wants to move somewhere where (I know this sounds bad, she says), there aren't as many Mexicans (or any probably). I told her, good luck finding it. I've never lived anywhere that there wasn't a Hispanic population.
Like I said, I want to stay naiive, because I know there are issues. And I don't want to make this blog any longer than it has to be. But I think a lot of the issue has to do with ignorance. People don't want to take the time to look into what is really going on, but choose to remain angry about what they precieve is going on.
Oh, and I don't worry too much about my neighbor using the "N" word a lot. I have to overlook it. After all, she is a redneck. ;o)
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Good Fortune
It was a long day yesterday. I had to be at work by 4:30, and didn't get off till about 9:30. I had to go buy groceries after work. I had to ya'll; I normally go on some afternoon when BW gets home from work, but now I'm working every afternoon, and our cupboards were bare. By the time I got out of the grocery store, it was WAY past my bedtime, and I still had to go through the CVS drive-through.
Thankfully, there is a Starbuck's on the way to CVS, and I still had some birthday loot. Since it had been such a trying day, I decided I needed a treat. I was thrilled that they were still open at the late hour. I ordered a tall Cafe Mocha (yum yum!!!), but they had shut something down that prevented them from making anything like that. I then asked for a hot cocoa. They couldn't make that either. So I just asked them what would be easy and quick for them to make for me (I understand - it was just moments before closing and I was their last straggling customer), so they made me a grande Mint Mocha Frap - FOR FREE!!!!!!! And it was decaff, too, thankfully at that hour of the night!
It's always a treat to get some coffee, and I love a good frap, even if it was a bit chilly outside last night. BW doesn't drink coffee (thanks BW for my fun Senseo you gave me for Christmas last year!!!), so I rarely have any, and anything from Starbuck's is a very special treat!
Can you believe I got something so yummy and wonderful and large for FREE???? So I gave them a great tip, since they were so sweet to give it to me on the house. Yay for Starbucks! Thanks for letting me be your last customer and not even making me pay for it!!!!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Well, then!
I was working last night, and enjoying some conversation with my friend R as we were doing markdowns. (I'm thankful to work with some great and interesting folks!) R was called away to the fragrance counter to help a gentleman, so I returned to my wrap station with some more markdowns. A few minutes later, the gentleman who had just purchased some cologne came up to my counter. I asked him how he was doing and if I could help him with anything. He said he was fine, and then said:
"I need to ask you a question. Are you a married lady?"
It may sound silly, but t his is not an uncommon question in the world of retail, especially around the holidays when a husband might be picking out a gift for his wife. I've heard the question many, many times, usually followed by, "What would you say if your husband bought you such-and-such?"
So I told the man that yes, I was married, and waited for him to ask me an opinion on some kind of merchandise he was thinking of buying for his wife. But that's not what happened! Instead, he looked disappointed and said:
"Well, there is a reason I asked you that. I was going to see if you would go out with me sometime. I think you are an attractive lady and I figured, why not? There's still single people out there, you know?"
I told him that I was very flattered but that I was happily married with three children, and that I would pray for him to find that special lady and that he would be as blessed as I was.
He was a very nice guy and we chatted for a couple more minutes; again I said thank you and that I was flattered and then he said something that he was very serious about, so I couldn't laugh until after he left the store:
"You tell that one to your husband. You can take that to the bank, and I promise you it won't bounce!"
"I need to ask you a question. Are you a married lady?"
It may sound silly, but t his is not an uncommon question in the world of retail, especially around the holidays when a husband might be picking out a gift for his wife. I've heard the question many, many times, usually followed by, "What would you say if your husband bought you such-and-such?"
So I told the man that yes, I was married, and waited for him to ask me an opinion on some kind of merchandise he was thinking of buying for his wife. But that's not what happened! Instead, he looked disappointed and said:
"Well, there is a reason I asked you that. I was going to see if you would go out with me sometime. I think you are an attractive lady and I figured, why not? There's still single people out there, you know?"
I told him that I was very flattered but that I was happily married with three children, and that I would pray for him to find that special lady and that he would be as blessed as I was.
He was a very nice guy and we chatted for a couple more minutes; again I said thank you and that I was flattered and then he said something that he was very serious about, so I couldn't laugh until after he left the store:
"You tell that one to your husband. You can take that to the bank, and I promise you it won't bounce!"
Monday, November 13, 2006
Thanks, Jarvis and Kelly!
In addition to the cards and phone calls, and my husband cleaning the house for me, Jarvis and Kelly stopped by with a cake, ice cream, and gifts! I think Banana was more excited than the rest of us!
Just a little fun thing -
Per the Lumpkin's blog and the McNary's blog, here is a little activity:
"Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that 'cool' or 'intellectual' book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest!"
Like I've got time to dig . . . however, I do really like the book that I am using, and it truly was the closest (except for the phonebook); it was sitting on my printer.
Sorry it is nothing as spiritual as Dallas Willard, D/S Mcnary!
From The Giver by Lois Lowry:
"They hugged one another.
"The small child went and sat on the lap of the old woman, and she rocked him and rubbed her cheek against his.
"Jonas opened his eyes and lay contentedly on the bed, still luxuriating in the warm and comforting memory. It had all been there, all the things he had learned to treasure."
"Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that 'cool' or 'intellectual' book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest!"
Like I've got time to dig . . . however, I do really like the book that I am using, and it truly was the closest (except for the phonebook); it was sitting on my printer.
Sorry it is nothing as spiritual as Dallas Willard, D/S Mcnary!
From The Giver by Lois Lowry:
"They hugged one another.
"The small child went and sat on the lap of the old woman, and she rocked him and rubbed her cheek against his.
"Jonas opened his eyes and lay contentedly on the bed, still luxuriating in the warm and comforting memory. It had all been there, all the things he had learned to treasure."
Friday, November 10, 2006
Ma'am I Am
I started work last night. It wasn't bad . . . until I went over to help some teenage girls who were shopping. I asked if they were doing alright and if they needed any help. They said, "No, ma'am, we're fine."
Ma'am. I've tried to deny it for a long time. In fact, when I was a youth minister in Arkansas, one of my posted rules was, "Do not call Amy 'ma'am!' " I was admonished (remember, Shane?), because the kids were being raised to say, "ma'am," and "sir," and I needed to encourage that, but I was only 24 years old at the time and certainly didn't feel like a ma'am!!!!
But last night wasn't the first time, just recently, that I've been called "ma'am" by teenagers. I don't know what magical point in life makes you a "ma'am" or a "sir," but apparently I have reached it. It is six years after I declared to a group of teenagers in Arkansas that I wasn't a ma'am, and at some moment in those six years, I have become a ma'am. So I concede. I don't tell them anymore not to call me that. Ma'am I am.
Ma'am. I've tried to deny it for a long time. In fact, when I was a youth minister in Arkansas, one of my posted rules was, "Do not call Amy 'ma'am!' " I was admonished (remember, Shane?), because the kids were being raised to say, "ma'am," and "sir," and I needed to encourage that, but I was only 24 years old at the time and certainly didn't feel like a ma'am!!!!
But last night wasn't the first time, just recently, that I've been called "ma'am" by teenagers. I don't know what magical point in life makes you a "ma'am" or a "sir," but apparently I have reached it. It is six years after I declared to a group of teenagers in Arkansas that I wasn't a ma'am, and at some moment in those six years, I have become a ma'am. So I concede. I don't tell them anymore not to call me that. Ma'am I am.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
New Links
I've finally updated some of my links.
Look at:
Friends from way back:
CBB (sorry it took me so long to change your URL)
Joye and Family
Friends who are missionaries:
Charley
Barlow Girls:
Rebecca
Elizabeth
(I updated Anna's right when she joined blogger. If you haven't visited hers yet, you should stop by!)
Friends from Marin:
Adam and Erin
These crazy kids are about to have their first baby and they are very special to me! I need to blog about them later because it is a great story and I am the WHOLE reason they got married!!!!!!!
I love all of you so much! Even if I haven't updated a blog link recently, you should go visit them all!!!!!! They are very fun!!!!! Right now on Charley and Marianne's blog, they are taking us through their "journey to Joshua," in which they are adopting their son from China! They are there RIGHT NOW, so go take a look as they prepare to take Joshua home for the first time! Praise be to God - this has been emotional and exciting, and I love to read it everyday and look at the great pictures.
Speaking of babies, The Henrichsens just had twin boys, bringing the total to six boys! How blessed are they!!!! And Boss (Meaty Chunks) is going to have a baby in February! A GIRL!!!!
And don't forget to look at CBB's pictures of her sweet little puppy - he is so cute!
I'm sure I could do updates on everyone . . . just go visit!!!!!
Much love to all of my blog buddies! I'm so happy to have you all in my life!
Look at:
Friends from way back:
CBB (sorry it took me so long to change your URL)
Joye and Family
Friends who are missionaries:
Charley
Barlow Girls:
Rebecca
Elizabeth
(I updated Anna's right when she joined blogger. If you haven't visited hers yet, you should stop by!)
Friends from Marin:
Adam and Erin
These crazy kids are about to have their first baby and they are very special to me! I need to blog about them later because it is a great story and I am the WHOLE reason they got married!!!!!!!
I love all of you so much! Even if I haven't updated a blog link recently, you should go visit them all!!!!!! They are very fun!!!!! Right now on Charley and Marianne's blog, they are taking us through their "journey to Joshua," in which they are adopting their son from China! They are there RIGHT NOW, so go take a look as they prepare to take Joshua home for the first time! Praise be to God - this has been emotional and exciting, and I love to read it everyday and look at the great pictures.
Speaking of babies, The Henrichsens just had twin boys, bringing the total to six boys! How blessed are they!!!! And Boss (Meaty Chunks) is going to have a baby in February! A GIRL!!!!
And don't forget to look at CBB's pictures of her sweet little puppy - he is so cute!
I'm sure I could do updates on everyone . . . just go visit!!!!!
Much love to all of my blog buddies! I'm so happy to have you all in my life!
Monday, November 06, 2006
The SRC
If you do not know about the Stash Reduction Contest, you need to look at Boss's post.
I am asking for help from those of you craftier than I!
Have I mentioned that I cannot sew? My mom is a master seamstress and she tried to teach me once or twice when I was little. I vividly remember hand-stitching a quilt piece, and finding it very tedious and boring. I never learned on the sewing machine, never wanted to after that hand-stitched quilt piece thing. A few summers ago, my friend told me to come over and she'd teach me to make a dress for Noodle. I laughed and laughed! Just the thought of me sewing, even in my own mind, is comical. I can't imagine it. I wish I did know how to, but I just can't imagine it!
So, for those of you who can sew, here are two options for you:
#1 - make a special trip to Texas, with your sewing machine, and teach me how to sew
OR
#2 - help me out with a little project!
For Christmas, I have found the kids a great kitchen, one of those huge ones with stove, sink, cabinets, etc. I found it at a yard sale for $10! So I've been trying to outfit it, and I've had great luck there too. At Target, in the Dollar Spot, I found tons of canned food and other notions. At Walgreens, I found dishes and pots and pans. I even found a cute mixer that makes sounds and everything! While at Target with a friend, I also saw some kid-size play aprons, but pardon me for not wanting to spend $15 apiece on them!!!!! Especially since I'd been so thrifty with everything else.
So, here's what I'm asking from all of you wanting to take part in the SRC. Would any of you be willing to use some of your fabric stash to make a couple of simple, kid-size aprons? I'd be willing to either pay you for your labor (and of course for the shipping), or I could send you a pack of goodies from my own stash!!!!! I'm ALWAYS trying to get rid of stuff myself. So . . . what do you think???????? All you SRC-ers, think about it and let me know!
Thanks from your friend who is "sew challenged!"
I am asking for help from those of you craftier than I!
Have I mentioned that I cannot sew? My mom is a master seamstress and she tried to teach me once or twice when I was little. I vividly remember hand-stitching a quilt piece, and finding it very tedious and boring. I never learned on the sewing machine, never wanted to after that hand-stitched quilt piece thing. A few summers ago, my friend told me to come over and she'd teach me to make a dress for Noodle. I laughed and laughed! Just the thought of me sewing, even in my own mind, is comical. I can't imagine it. I wish I did know how to, but I just can't imagine it!
So, for those of you who can sew, here are two options for you:
#1 - make a special trip to Texas, with your sewing machine, and teach me how to sew
OR
#2 - help me out with a little project!
For Christmas, I have found the kids a great kitchen, one of those huge ones with stove, sink, cabinets, etc. I found it at a yard sale for $10! So I've been trying to outfit it, and I've had great luck there too. At Target, in the Dollar Spot, I found tons of canned food and other notions. At Walgreens, I found dishes and pots and pans. I even found a cute mixer that makes sounds and everything! While at Target with a friend, I also saw some kid-size play aprons, but pardon me for not wanting to spend $15 apiece on them!!!!! Especially since I'd been so thrifty with everything else.
So, here's what I'm asking from all of you wanting to take part in the SRC. Would any of you be willing to use some of your fabric stash to make a couple of simple, kid-size aprons? I'd be willing to either pay you for your labor (and of course for the shipping), or I could send you a pack of goodies from my own stash!!!!! I'm ALWAYS trying to get rid of stuff myself. So . . . what do you think???????? All you SRC-ers, think about it and let me know!
Thanks from your friend who is "sew challenged!"
Friday, November 03, 2006
Poor Thing . . .
Noodle is sick today. This image is uncharacteristic of her behavior. It's five minutes till 11 in the morning, and she's curled up on the loveseat, sacked out. She fell asleep in the chair and I moved her. Bless her heart. She's been coughing and coughing and sneezing. Normally she'd be running around, laughing, messing stuff up, playing. I hate it when little ones are sick like this and just lay there. Banana isn't feeling so great either, but he had a traumatic day at the doctor yesterday. I took him for his 12 month shots and the doctor discovered that he also has a virus because his throat was inflamed. :o( He also had blood drawn, and that was so sad. So he's sleeping right now and I'm doing laundry. My poor sweeties. I hope they'll be playing again tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Halloween
Noodle and Chicken Nugget, pre-candy.
"Look at my impressive wingspan!"
"Rah, or whatever."
"Dang, is she done taking pictures yet? I want some candy!"
The remains of the pom-poms. I walked in this morning and found my two little sweeties in the middle of it all.
"There are no pom-poms here. These are not the pom-poms you are looking for. Go about your business."Our church had a big festival with games, two bounce houses, a hayride, pony ride, hot dogs, and at the end of it, lots of church members sat in the backs of their cars (mostly trucks and SUVs - state-issued vehicles of Texas) and handed out TONS of candy! I'm sharing some pics of the girls before we left. Chicken Noodle went as a bat (she's got this book about bats and is fascinated with them. I thought she'd want to be a cat, but the bat outfit caught her fancy instead) and Noodle was a cheerleader. Both were cute with lots of glittery-sparkly dust stuff I sprinkled all over them. BW and Banana stayed home to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood.
This morning, Noodle and Banana were playing with Noodle's really cool pom-poms from her costume. As I was doing other things around the house this morning and thought they were watching tv in the living room, they were quietly destroying the pom-poms. As you can tell.
Hope all of ya'll had a fun and very candy-filled Halloween!!!!!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Why My Life is Bad
OK, I'm just kidding. My life is not bad at all. I just thought that might be an attention-getting title for this post.
My life is great! I have three beautiful, healthy children and a loving husband who works hard to take care of us. I enjoy many fulfilling activities during the week (not the least of which is spending time with my family).
But . . . well . . . even though I have a great life, sometimes it gets stressful.
Take potty training, for example. Noodle was going along like gangbusters for awhile, but then she just starting peeing her pants every ten minutes. I was taking her every thirty minutes, and that was working like a charm. But then she started to balk, not wanting to go at the appointed time, then peeing in her pants before I could get to her again. She thinks that all things that come out into her pants are poop, so she comes up and says, "I poop," and I think, "Oh, great," but really it's just pee. Which isn't exactly nice, but better than cleaning out poop-filled training pants.
Which is exactly what I did this morning.
Normally, Noodle will wear pull-ups in the morning. She will pee in the potty, but not poop, so if she poops in her pull-up, it's no big deal. But we are out of pull-ups, so it was training pants or nothing, and I keep hoping against hope that she'll magically poop in the potty. Well, she didn't. After a very successful peeing morning, I smelled the dreaded smell. And this was a bad one. And Banana has a fever today and he was crying, so I'm changing Noodle, trying not to get poop literally everywhere as I'm taking off her training pants, I was thinking some things:
"I have a college degree, and I'm doing this?"
"My house is a wreck - how am I ever going to get everything done today?"
And then, as I'm washing out the training pants in the bathtub and then cleaning out all the poop that didn't go down the drain:
"Did I make the right life choices?"
Yep, staring at a tub-full of poop will do that to you. You'll wonder why you didn't finish those last 30 hours for your master's degree. You'll wonder if you'll ever be worth anything more than just a poop-washer-outer. You'll wonder if what you are doing matters to anyone, anywhere.
And to top it off, I just got a retail job. I'll be starting in a couple of weeks. It won't last forever, and we really need to extra money. I'll be on nights and weekends, and I'm starting just in time for the holiday rush. I worked at the same store a couple of years ago, so they were happy to hire me right back on.
And working retail makes me feel very humble. If you want a lesson in humility, or if you have a problem with pride, working retail will knock all of that right out of you. Already I'm thinking, "what kind of a job is this? how humiliating . . . "
And I can look back at this entire post and see it oozing with counterfeits. You know why? Because all of those thoughts are attacks from the enemy, who wants to steal my joy. And any of Satan's lies are direct counterfeits of God's truths. Do you know what that means?
I really must be doing something special. I am worth much more than I can even fathom. I have made good life choices. And as for the job, it's a great job. You know why? So many reasons. I displayed good work ethic, so was happily rehired. There are many people who can't work. There are many places in the world where someone couldn't just walk in one day and get a job right off the bat. I'm able to help my family. I have the ability and desire to do so.
Thankfully, I am not unaware of Satan's schemes. When I feel the attacks of the enemy this hard, I just start to praise God, because I must be doing something really great, something I don't even know that I'm doing, that Satan wants to stop from happening. Christ through me is doing some amazing things, as long as I don't stand in the way. That's pretty exciting stuff! It may not feel like it, as I stare at a tubful of poop, but it really must be. And anyway, if God is for me, who or what circumstance can be against me? The fruits of my labor are only just budding, and I see them in the faces of my family. God help me just do right by them and to disbelieve the lies of the enemy.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
My life is great! I have three beautiful, healthy children and a loving husband who works hard to take care of us. I enjoy many fulfilling activities during the week (not the least of which is spending time with my family).
But . . . well . . . even though I have a great life, sometimes it gets stressful.
Take potty training, for example. Noodle was going along like gangbusters for awhile, but then she just starting peeing her pants every ten minutes. I was taking her every thirty minutes, and that was working like a charm. But then she started to balk, not wanting to go at the appointed time, then peeing in her pants before I could get to her again. She thinks that all things that come out into her pants are poop, so she comes up and says, "I poop," and I think, "Oh, great," but really it's just pee. Which isn't exactly nice, but better than cleaning out poop-filled training pants.
Which is exactly what I did this morning.
Normally, Noodle will wear pull-ups in the morning. She will pee in the potty, but not poop, so if she poops in her pull-up, it's no big deal. But we are out of pull-ups, so it was training pants or nothing, and I keep hoping against hope that she'll magically poop in the potty. Well, she didn't. After a very successful peeing morning, I smelled the dreaded smell. And this was a bad one. And Banana has a fever today and he was crying, so I'm changing Noodle, trying not to get poop literally everywhere as I'm taking off her training pants, I was thinking some things:
"I have a college degree, and I'm doing this?"
"My house is a wreck - how am I ever going to get everything done today?"
And then, as I'm washing out the training pants in the bathtub and then cleaning out all the poop that didn't go down the drain:
"Did I make the right life choices?"
Yep, staring at a tub-full of poop will do that to you. You'll wonder why you didn't finish those last 30 hours for your master's degree. You'll wonder if you'll ever be worth anything more than just a poop-washer-outer. You'll wonder if what you are doing matters to anyone, anywhere.
And to top it off, I just got a retail job. I'll be starting in a couple of weeks. It won't last forever, and we really need to extra money. I'll be on nights and weekends, and I'm starting just in time for the holiday rush. I worked at the same store a couple of years ago, so they were happy to hire me right back on.
And working retail makes me feel very humble. If you want a lesson in humility, or if you have a problem with pride, working retail will knock all of that right out of you. Already I'm thinking, "what kind of a job is this? how humiliating . . . "
And I can look back at this entire post and see it oozing with counterfeits. You know why? Because all of those thoughts are attacks from the enemy, who wants to steal my joy. And any of Satan's lies are direct counterfeits of God's truths. Do you know what that means?
I really must be doing something special. I am worth much more than I can even fathom. I have made good life choices. And as for the job, it's a great job. You know why? So many reasons. I displayed good work ethic, so was happily rehired. There are many people who can't work. There are many places in the world where someone couldn't just walk in one day and get a job right off the bat. I'm able to help my family. I have the ability and desire to do so.
Thankfully, I am not unaware of Satan's schemes. When I feel the attacks of the enemy this hard, I just start to praise God, because I must be doing something really great, something I don't even know that I'm doing, that Satan wants to stop from happening. Christ through me is doing some amazing things, as long as I don't stand in the way. That's pretty exciting stuff! It may not feel like it, as I stare at a tubful of poop, but it really must be. And anyway, if God is for me, who or what circumstance can be against me? The fruits of my labor are only just budding, and I see them in the faces of my family. God help me just do right by them and to disbelieve the lies of the enemy.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
I was starting to feel bad . . .
. . . because on The View the other day I heard Rosie say that her kids don't watch TV. And then I started to hear that a lot of other people say that it's not good for your kids to watch TV.
But then I stopped feeling so bad, because I realized that all those people who are playing with their kids all day, doing arts and crafts and reading books and all those things, those people who keep their kids from the evil television, those people:
-have housekeepers
-have nannies
-have lots more money than I do to afford such things
-probably have people to go grocery shopping for them
And I don't have any of that!
So, Rosie, much as I love you, I have to dispute you on this issue.
Send me your nanny, your housekeeper, some of your money (you know, to buy cutsie arts and crafts and etc.), and your grocery shopper person, and I'll gladly turn off the TV! As for this moment, the TV is useful for me for these activities:
-keeping the little ones occupied so that I can clean my house and do my laundry
-keeping the big one occupied while I care for the little ones (e.g. - potty training, bathing, etc.)
-scraping together whatever arts and crafts supplies I have on hand in order to get ready for arts and crafts time
-spending time on the phone while I make Pampered Chef and Avon calls (so that I can gain some money for more fun arts and crafts stuff)
-doing my grocery shopping
To my credit, I try to make sure that we watch fun and instructional television, such as:
-Count With Maizie
-Veggie Tales
-Everything I can possibly squeeze out of PBS kids
-sometimes a Disney flick (ok, so not so educational, but usually a great way to teach warm fuzzies)
Sorry, Rosie. And all you other people who are anti-TV. I do the very best I can. And I got an extra boost at parent-teacher conferences with Chicken Nugget's teacher. They said, when I asked if, on the whole, she was doing ok, "She's doing ok. In fact, she's doing better than ok. She's obviously getting some kind of good instruction at home."
So TV hasn't runined at least my oldest kid. I hope it doesn't ruin the little ones.
But then I stopped feeling so bad, because I realized that all those people who are playing with their kids all day, doing arts and crafts and reading books and all those things, those people who keep their kids from the evil television, those people:
-have housekeepers
-have nannies
-have lots more money than I do to afford such things
-probably have people to go grocery shopping for them
And I don't have any of that!
So, Rosie, much as I love you, I have to dispute you on this issue.
Send me your nanny, your housekeeper, some of your money (you know, to buy cutsie arts and crafts and etc.), and your grocery shopper person, and I'll gladly turn off the TV! As for this moment, the TV is useful for me for these activities:
-keeping the little ones occupied so that I can clean my house and do my laundry
-keeping the big one occupied while I care for the little ones (e.g. - potty training, bathing, etc.)
-scraping together whatever arts and crafts supplies I have on hand in order to get ready for arts and crafts time
-spending time on the phone while I make Pampered Chef and Avon calls (so that I can gain some money for more fun arts and crafts stuff)
-doing my grocery shopping
To my credit, I try to make sure that we watch fun and instructional television, such as:
-Count With Maizie
-Veggie Tales
-Everything I can possibly squeeze out of PBS kids
-sometimes a Disney flick (ok, so not so educational, but usually a great way to teach warm fuzzies)
Sorry, Rosie. And all you other people who are anti-TV. I do the very best I can. And I got an extra boost at parent-teacher conferences with Chicken Nugget's teacher. They said, when I asked if, on the whole, she was doing ok, "She's doing ok. In fact, she's doing better than ok. She's obviously getting some kind of good instruction at home."
So TV hasn't runined at least my oldest kid. I hope it doesn't ruin the little ones.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
We Won!!!!!!!!
The girls and I got into the action!
BW and Banana were having so much fun!
Noodle wasn't quite so sure about what was going on, but she looks cute anyway!
Banana was busy giving play-by-play commentary to the crowd, while Chicken Nugget worked hard to try to figure out that game called "football."
The scoreboard! Yay for Kris Brown!
The cheerleaders. Thank goodness they were there to fill in all those commercial time-out lulls.
Some of the action on the field. GO TEXANS!!!!!
Love that huge Texans flag!
Let's not forget Torro, our mascot! Below, the girls and I celebrate the win with Elvis Guy. His Elvis jumpsuit was emblazoned with a sequined Texans symbol. Out of control. I think Noodle was a *little* unsure of him.Go Texans! We won over the Jaguars, 27-7!!!!!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
I can't help it!
I'm excited, ya'll!
BW got FREE tickets to the Texans game this weekend and we are ALL going!!!! The kids all have cute Texans shirts (but the grown-ups don't). It is going to be so much fun! I was going to wait till I had pictures, and I'm not sure how many of you readers (all both of you) are going to care about this, but I am so excited that I had to blog about it RIGHT NOW!!!!
The Texans are my favorite NFL team, even though I never had a favorite team before we moved to the Houston area, and even though they are in last place.
But that's not the very best part about getting to go to the game! We're playing the Jaguars, and Matt Jones plays for the Jaguars! So I'll also get to see my all-time favorite Razorbacks player too!!!!!! I will be torn, so it will be an interesting game. I of course want the Texans to win, but how can I not want the best for Matt Jones? I can't wait to let you all know how it turns out!
More of the Best
The kids - Chicken Nugget, French Fry, and Noodle, the morning that everyone left. These pics are in reverse chronological order. :o)
Aunt Alligator. Sure was good to see her. She recently got porcelin veneers; doesn't she look great?
Before the storm - it was so windy and the breakers were some of the biggest I've seen at Galveston. It started raining the next morning and we've gotten little relief since. 
Looking for seashells
I love this pic of French Fry running into the waves.
Brother and sister and Mamma. Crab Cake and I have almost the same hairdo.
Family fun.
Get ready for the cousins picture
Important conversation
That coy pond was the most fun. There were wooden boats to play with and everything!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Best of the Family Reunion
Banana having some fun of his own in one of the coy ponds
playing around the coy pond
My mom (far right) beside her brother (Uncle Buck) and all the first cousins, except for my grandmother's last living sister, Aunt Theresa, in the red shirt
Barbecue Sauce and Noodle playing at the coy pond, Daddy behind them
Uncle Crab Cake and our little cousin, Barbecue Sauce
The beach is good for the soul
Chicken Nugget and French Fry - cousins and best friends
playing in the surf
the brother and sister pose
Chicken Nugget and Uncle Crab Cake
With the frog at the Rainforest Cafe, where we ate after our beach adventure
With the Tiki guard
With the gorilla
We had a family reunion this weekend.
When BW and I moved to Houston, I was coming back to my roots. My maternal grandmother was born and raised on Galveston Island; my grandmother and grandfather met in Galveston; my mother was born in Galveston; many of my family members on that side have remained in and around the Houston area.
The reunion was at the home of my mother's first cousin, but I have always called her "Aunt Phyllis," even though she's a cousin. Many, many people piled into Aunt Phyllis's (and Uncle Paul's!) home this weekend. I'd like to share some highlights:
*seeing lots of relatives that I haven't seen in a long time
*looking at pictures and hearing stories from days gone by
*being able to have Banana spend his first birthday in such a special way - he celebrated an October birthday with about four other relatives, and we had TWO birthday cakes!
*all the food! my, my . . . we had a MAJOR fish fry with all the fixins
*spending a quiet afternoon out in Aunt Phyllis's and Uncle Paul's lovely backyard, sitting by the coy pond with Daddy and Uncle Paul. There's just something about old men sipping coffee at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and having pleasant, peaceful chatter.
*time with my brother (let's call him Uncle Crab Cake, because that is what he ate when we went out yesterday) and taking him and the "big kids" (Chicken Nugget and her favorite cousin, French Fry) to Galveston
*watching all the little kids play and have fun
*discussing Arkansas sports highlights with BW, Crab Cake, Daddy, and Uncle Buck (my mom's brother - not his real name)
*just a relaxing time of laughter, fun, and yummy food - we don't get together near enough!
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