Thunder and Lighting

My hubby and I were awakened at 5:45 this morning to all manner of thunder and lightning. It felt like the thunder and sounded like the lightning was inside our bedroom. We definitely weren't going to back to sleep quickly.



It would have been a great time to snuggle and talk about future plans and dreams. To plan vacations where we won't take the kids, to dream of our "dream home," to talk about who we want to be in 10 years. I say "would have been" because we had both kids in between us. Why won't they sleep on the outside of the bed? Why do they HAVE to be in the middle? And why do they put their cold feet on me and not their dad?



It may be a LONG day.

Small Blessings

I bought a new cordless phone and am so excited. I have been talking on the phone to my hubby walking around the house, just because I can. We had a cordless phone before but it crackled and buzzed if you moved more than 12" away from the base. Which basically means it's NOT a cordless phone when you have to stay in one place to use it. I am so excited by "on the move" again. It's the small things in life that make me happy.

A Not So Quick Survey

Earlier tonight, a young man from a local college called to say he was helping with a survey on medical insurance. I felt sorry for the guy and ended up spending the next 20 minutes answering all manner of questions. He started with background questions and moved on to questions about our insurance. We were doing great until he moved to the questions on overall health. He asked me to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 my over physical health. Then we rated the others in my family. No problem. Then...he asked me to rate my MENTAL health on a scale of 1 to 5. And I just burst out laughing. If he could hang out with me for a day, I have no doubt he would rate my mental health as lacking ALOT. I also bet that because of the laughing, he refused to enter the "5" I squeaked out. I bet he fudged the answer and went with his gut reaction of "1."

How I Know I Am Old

Yesterday, I was finishing my grocery shopping, I realized that I was the ONLY ONE in the store under the age of 80. And it occured to me that my life schedule is very much like an old lady's. I shop whenever there won't be a crowd. If the weather "ain't fittin'" I just stay at home. I eat lunch at 10:30 and dinner at 4:30. I went to bed before 9 p.m. at least twice last week and there is nothing I like better than a good nap in the middle of the day.

Here's another way to tell that I am old. My toe that I broke a couple of years ago falling off down 2 stairs was hurting last night. I told my hubby jokingly that I bet it was going to rain. Wouldn't you know we woke up to the pouring rain this morning? Great, I can predict the weather by my toe.

Here's what makes me really old. My husband's grandmothers get together with friends every Tuesday to play cards. Several of the ladies can't play today. One lost a tooth, one's hubby is in the hospital, and one can't drive in the rain. So, THEY CALLED ME. That's right. They know I don't have a life so they call me to fill in for the ones who can't make it. So, today from 10 to 12, I am going to the outlet mall food court and am playing cards with ladies who are over 50 years older than me. But, in spirit and mind, I am right where they are. :)

The Clothing Saga Continues

We are spending our Sat. today getting ready for a wedding. My husband's cousin is getting married today. The wedding date was set for in the fall, but the bride's brother is being sent to Iraq next month so the date was pushed up.

I am really excited for them, but getting ready for a wedding takes so much work. I promise it will take me longer to get the 4 people in my house ready than it will the bride. I was ironing everyone's clothes when Mr T began to complain about what he has to wear. He doesn't mind the short sleeve shirt, but the sweater vest is JUST TOO MUCH for him. He then wanted to know if he was going to match his daddy. (I have used that line before to get him into long sleeves.) I told him that he wouldn't match his daddy because his daddy was wearing a suit. I look up from my ironing to see my son with the biggest frown. He cries, "Daddy gets to wear his bathing suit?" Wouldn't that be a hilarious? If I crack up during the wedding, you'll all know why.

Camping at Home

I am supposed to be working but I just had to post this. My kids are playing "camping" in their rooms. I just heard my daughter tell my son, "It's raining. Get the animals in the tent." She is the one in charge, you know. Then I hear her tell him, "Here's your gun. Go kill a bear or something; we need alot of meat to eat." Bear? We don't eat bear. We don't eat any meat that anyone I know has killed.

We have had a great weekend. My hubby was back home, which has been wonderful. I took my kids to The American Girl store yesterday and we had the time of our lives. Miss A knew all the doll's stories and it was so neat to see them excited over dolls and history. I think ever other young girl was there too. I wish I had come up with that idea. I'd be rich by now. :)

Valentine morning, I woke up and started to get ready. I didn't even remember it was Valentine's Day; maybe I was in denial since my hubby was out of town. I heard my kids telling me to come out into the hallway; they needed me. What I found just made my heart smile. I had 2 homemade Valentines given to me that had "I Love You" written all over them. These were my first homemade Valentines that they made all on their own. They made my day. I am blessed with the 2 most wonderful kids in the world.

I told you so

I know you probably don't care but last night, my daughter realized she had lost her eyeglass case. Thank you Jesus the glasses weren't in it....but, it took us ONE day to lose the case. ONE day. How is that possible?

Life Lessons

Today has been quite a day. It's late and I'm ready to go to bed, but I can't until I've typed this out and my mind can rest. I learned a few things while my daughter got glasses this afternoon.

I learned that my daughter is still a child, not the grown up I expect her to be way too many times. She was thrilled to have new glasses. She kept reading far away things, things she's never seen before. She commented on how things had so many colors now; she said things were black and white where before they were grey.

I learned again (as I'm sure I'll learn again and again) that I am not in control of my life or my childrens' lives. Only God is in control, and thank goodness because he can do it best. But in the day to day living, it's so easy to begin to believe that we can orchestrate our childrens' lives. It's so hard to let go. God is getting me ready daily for some future "let-go's."

I am reminded to slow down and treasure each moment. When I'm old and grey, I will remember these moments. My daughter is absolutely beautiful. I never want to forget how proud I am her for being so brave, so innocent, so sweet. She is truly a treasure. I can't wait to watch her grow into a beautiful lady. (Just don't hurry sweetie. Mommy needs to do this slowly.) :) Protect her Lord and keep her safe.

A Quick Update

It's 11:15 and I'm still in my sweatpants. My hubby hates it when I wear sweats so I really try not to. But, he's outta town today on business so I can be a bum. I got up this morning and cleaned the entire house so that now I can play the rest of the day. I have rented a couple of Janette Oke's movies and am dying to watch one during Mr T's nap.

We go today after school to pick up Miss A's glasses. I'll try to get a picture posted as soon as possible. My hub's has the digital camera with him so it'll be a day before I get it scanned in. We are also going to try to go to the American Girl store and replace the broken glasses that her doll has.

Then, we are heading to gymnastics. After that, we'll go out to dinner, kids choice. I heard them discussing Taco Bell, which tickles me. My kids had never been there until a few months ago when a friend of mine took them. We didn't avoid Taco Bell; there just isn't one really close to us. Now, they love to go there. And I must admit, that was my favorite place to eat as a kid. I wanted to work there when I grew up. I had such high hopes and dreams, huh?

Here is a picture of the "infamous" birthday cake I made. Go ahead and pity my son. I know it's bad. :)

Good times with the family

It's been awhile since I've posted. We got to go to my parents' house for the weekend, and everyone in my family was there. We went to my niece and nephew's basketball games, which were awesome. I love basketball. We celebrated my sister's birthday, which isn't for a month but it was a good excuse to buy a cake and order pizza. We just hung out and were our silly selves, as usual. My family are my most favorite people in the world because I get to be ME around them. There aren't many people I can say that about in my life right now.

We took Miss A yesterday and ordered her 1st pair of glasses for reading things far away. I thought I would be traumatized but it really wasn't bad. She looked so cute in those glasses. I am by far the most reserved person when it comes to clothes and accessories, but I got her a pinkish-purple pair of glasses. They looked so good on her face that I just couldn't resist. She didn't want to take them off; which is good. I'll post pictures when we get them in 5 days.